ALEX—The town of Alex is in Grady County, has a population of 550 and was named after an early settler named William Vinson Alexander. Those who want to “fit in” pronounce the town’s name as “Al-ick.”
Tim Carr recently became pastor at Alex, First Southern, and the church members were eager to reach their community for Christ. They decided an effective way to reach families is through connecting with the children.
Carr invited Mike Napier, personal evangelism specialist for the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma, to help train church members how to share the Gospel. Napier helped the church plan and prepare to put on a one-night evangelism rally for grade-school children. He trained 30 adults to share their faith with kids.
On the night of the evangelism rally, 11 children made professions of faith. Also from this rally was developed a new night of emphasis, as Alex, First Southern now runs 60-100 children on Wednesday nights. The church provides a meal on Wednesday evenings, a worship service specialized for children and then small group meetings.
“We have seen children come to know the Lord as their Savior,” said Carr. “It has carried over to our adults. We are seeing lives changed.”
Carr said Napier’s training in evangelism has made a great impact on the whole town. There has not been any resistance from town officials.
“They (church members) love their town and want to see everybody in town saved,” he said. “We have great relations with the schools. This town comes together for each other.”
The next step for Alex, First Southern is forming discipleship classes on Sunday mornings. Carr also commended church members for stepping up to be involved with more ministry opportunities.
“We have such great young families who want to serve the Lord,” he said, as one member told him she wanted to start organizing fellowships on Sunday evenings.
The emphasis on evangelism, training members how to share their faith, started a movement in the town of Alex.
“Our church needed a revival, and it started with the kids,” said Carr.
May God continue to move through Alex and beyond
