Greetings!

This is my final video review of the three videos promoting the Edna McMillan Oklahoma State Missions Offering (SMO), which Oklahoma Baptists will observe in September.

Two weeks ago, I reviewed the Crisis Care video, with Ian Robinson and his life-changing experience with Oklahoma Baptist Disaster Relief.

Last week’s DHD reviewed Church Revitalization, and the great work happening at a church in the Panhandle—Guymon, Grace Southern.

The last review is for Compassion Ministries, featuring a church plant in northeast Oklahoma City. Watch the video below:

1. Scenes of northeast Oklahoma City

The video begins with difficult sights of a troubled part of OKC. There has been multiple news reports of how challenging it is for people who live in this area. It wasn’t too long ago that they lost the only fully-functional grocery store.

This helps the viewer understand how important church ministry is needed in this area, and through the video, you can see how you can be a part of embracing brokenness and helping people in northeast Oklahoma City.

2. Rickey Thomas

Rickey is a church planter and the lead pastor of Oklahoma City, Freedom Worship. He is presented as someone who is passionate about reaching those in need, especially in this challenging area of OKC.

“Thirty-seven percent of people who live in northeast Oklahoma City live below the poverty line,” Rickey said. “That’s a lot of people.”

Rickey is likeable, thoughtful and driven. I enjoy the segment of the video that features him preaching. You can tell God is using him to do a great work.

3. Brittany Thomas

Brittany is also likeable. She and Rickey make a great ministry pair, and I love her innovative spirit in meeting many needs, especially with helping educate children.

“We want people to have all the food they need, all the support they need,” she said. “We want to help kids to excel at school. We want to help parents go back to school, and we want all of them to experience Christ.”

Ricky and Brittany have a great start, and I pray God will continue to bless them. I also pray, through the State Missions Offering, they will have the resources they need to “embrace brokenness” where they are serving.

4. Meeting at Tinseltown

If you are familiar with Oklahoma City, you should know about Tinseltown Theater on Martin Luther King Drive. It’s hard to miss when driving the I-44/I-35 bypass.

I’m glad Tinseltown is being used to help Freedom Worship get started. Church plants start in all kinds of places—schools, office buildings, even lumber yards. I’m encouraged to know Freedom Worship started at a place that is a well-known location and is a perfect set-up for having church.

5. Connecting with women

You can tell Brittany has a way to encourage people, especially women. The video talks about connecting with women through a Bible study time at Tinseltown, while children can watch a movie. I know this is a special blessing, especially for single mothers who don’t have much opportunity to connect with other ladies.

SMO is able to make such special blessings possible.

6. Happy people

What I like the most about the video are the shots of smiling faces and people enjoying being with Christians. Go back and see how many smiles you find in the video. Look for the joy that is demonstrated through singing and praising.

Being around people who can encourage you is valuable. This is what Rickey, Brittany and Freedom Worship are offering while advancing the Gospel.

“We are seeing people come to Jesus,” Ricky said. “We are also seeing kids improve in terms of their academics. We are seeing families that have dealt with a lot of trauma be made whole because of the work that we are doing here in the community.”

I hope these videos encouraged you to learn more about SMO and to participate in giving next month. There’s much more information about SMO at oklahomabaptists.org/smo. Check it out!