Dripping Springs church brings foreign missions home

DRIPPING SPRINGS—When churches want to share the gospel overseas, they often plan construction projects, prayer efforts and service initiatives. Leaders of First Baptist Church in Dripping Springs wondered: “Why can’t we do something very similar in our own community?”

Out of that spirit, three years ago the congregation birthed Mission Drippin’, an annual weeklong effort to invest in their community.

Youth from First Baptist Church in Dripping Springs do service projects as part of Mission Drippin’.This July 28 to Aug. 4, mission teams met in homes across the area to pray for their neighbors and neighborhoods. The next day, they prayed specifically for the schools their children attend.

Then they took to the streets, cleaning up part of the Dripping Springs from which the city’s name is derived. They cleaned up a ballpark. They worked extensively on one local resident’s house. Members filled more than 90 gift baskets for first-responders such as firefighters, thanking them for their service.

The congregation held a family movie night that also featured a skit by the church’s youth. The church sponsored a student dodge-ball tournament to share the gospel and connect with the community.

Pastor Craig Curry said Mission Drippin’ continues to transform how church members view neighborhoods, schools and town.

“When you have a mission experience outside your community, people always come back different,” he said. “When you have it within the community, they see their community differently; they see their relationships differently.”

Ryan Jespersen, director of urban missions with the Baptist General Convention of Texas, spent part of the week in Dripping Springs. He is working on an effort that encourages congregations to see themselves as missionaries in their communities and act accordingly, and he wanted to learn from the Dripping Springs church. For more information, contact Jespersen at (888) 244-9400 or [email protected].

Jespersen praised First Baptist Church in Dripping Springs for being deeply rooted in its community and in Scripture.

“We need to be on mission in our community,” he said. “Churches need to be on mission in their own communities. We certainly want to do missions overseas and other places, but we need to begin doing missions in our own Jerusalem.”

Through Mission Drippin’, church members come in contact with people they normally do not, Curry said. Local officials suggested cleaning up the dripping springs, creating a connection between city workers and the church. A family noticed a church team working on a house in their neighborhood and decided to come to worship the following Sunday.

“The stories that come out of this are powerful,” he said. “It’s everything we want to be about as a church.”

Mission Drippin’ energizes First Baptist Church, Curry said. Members enjoy the new relationships they develop and are eager to see continued ministry opportunities arise.

“When you talk about Mission Drippin’, people are excited about it,” he said. “They’re planning on participating.