Issues@Hand

AFA initiatives, Christian activism, news briefs

October 2020 – First Baptist Church in Navasota, Texas, found a unique way to minister to people during the onset of COVID-19.

Chad McMillan, pastor of students, evangelism, and missions, said it all started with toilet paper. The church staff would drive a flatbed truck through neighborhoods, launching rolls of toilet paper to people from the back of the truck. McMillan soon added a worship leader along with a pulpit, sound system, and piano, to the mobile ministry.

“Then one day,” recalled McMillan, “I made a joke that we ought to put a barbecue pit and serve people barbecue.” Before long, the idea came to life, and the group began serving people barbecue as they ministered in different towns.

Eventually the group reached out far beyond Texas. “We took a mission trip from Navasota all the way through East Texas, and Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas, Missouri, down through Oklahoma, [and] back to Texas,” said McMillan. “So, our focus was definitely outside of our own community.” The creative outreach eventually became known as “Barbecue Baptist Church.”

onenewsnow.com, 8/4/20