Back-to-school fiesta draws 700; 41 accept Christ

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HOUSTON—When Templo Bautista in South Houston held a back-to-school fiesta complete with a backpack giveaway, health and nutrition fair, and a music and magic show, volunteers saw 41 of the nearly 700 participants profess faith in Christ.

A back-to-school fiesta sponsored by Templo Bautista in South Houston drew such a large crowd, the church ran out of the backpacks filled with school supplies they were giving away. Families who didn’t receive a backpack the day of the event were given a rain check and asked to return the following Wednesday. The church purchased more supplies and finished distributing the backpacks just in time for the start of school.

“It’s not just about giving a backpack or doing a hearing or vision test,” said Mary Ann Garcia, director of education at Templo Bautista. “It’s about reaching out to the community and being light and salt.”

The event kicked off City Reach, a series of evangelistic events that will take place in the Houston area leading up to the Baptist General Convention of Texas annual meeting Nov. 16-17.

In 2008, Templo Bautista first hosted the event for 200 people in the area. The church wanted to reach out to more people this year, so they mailed 4,900 invitations.

To prepare for the event, the church partnered with First Baptist Church of South Houston, the BGCT and other organizations such as the Lion’s Club to recruit 98 volunteers—as well as financial support.  

“One of the Lions Club volunteers told me he was touched as an outside volunteer seeing that we were from so many different countries,” Garcia said.

“He said that he could tell that there were people from many different Spanish-speaking countries. He saw the cooperation and unity to be able to reach the goal of putting this on.” 

Fiesta activities included a hot dog cookout, eye and hearing tests offered by the Lion’s Club, children’s haircuts, blood sugar and blood pressure testing, nutrition seminars, fire safety by the local fire department and children’s activities including a bounce house, face painting, balloon animals and manicures. A licensed counselor and two pastors also were at the event to visit or pray with people about their spiritual or emotional needs.

 To receive a backpack filled with age-appropriate school supplies, families had to complete an information card along with a 10-question survey discussing needs in the community and then attend the music and magic show that presented the gospel. After the presentation, the families were allowed to participate in the health clinic and children’s activities.


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“We hoped to reach as many people as we could to tell the story of Christ and we did,” said Miguel Cruz,  a deacon at Templo Bautista.

Because the crowd was so large, the church ran out of backpacks. Families who didn’t receive a backpack the day of the event were given a rain check and asked to return the following Wednesday. The church purchased more supplies and finished distributing the backpacks just in time for the start of school.
 
The church is forming a follow-up plan so members can continue to minister to the needs of the families who attended the fiesta.

“I hope in six months to have 25 to 30 percent come visit us,” Cruz said. “If the whole church gets involved in this evangelism mission, we are igniting a fire in the church and the community. This is a whole church effort. It’s not just one meeting.”

From this event, Cruz would like to see the church find new ways to minister in the community, intentionally ministering outside of the church building.

“We hope to eventually provide counseling for families, perhaps meetings or workshops on drug addictions or domestic violence and to provide different services to the community,” Cruz said. “The church needs to make noise in the community. This is a way to make noise and offer something.”


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