The Ohio Independent Baptist, March 1968

• uc1ng • • • Ohio's Operation Out-Reach • by Rev. Ben C. Jennings Chm., Council of Ten Challenged anew by our Lord's command to "go out into the high– way and hedges, and compel them to come in, ' provoked by the door to door ·methods of the culti&ts and spurred on by a slogan ugge ted by Pastor Erne t Riley of Ber]in Heights to "Cover 'f.he State in '68," the ~ Council of Ten has dared tJo offer a new and challenging program o,f ~ evangel i m to our chuvches. The whitened harve t and the withering laborers seem to demand 1lhat we act now. • We have dared to a k God t,o give us 100 to 150 volunteer laborers , who are willing to 1aorifice all and rally to the aid of churches when called upon. A team of from ten to fifteen men will be ready to go, either to the call of a pastor or to help estab]i h a new church in a needy area. We have over ix hundred communities in Ohio, ranging in pop– ulation from a few hundred to half a million, which have no GARB church. It was late September of last year that a so called "Jehovah's Wjtness" came up to where I was mowing my lawn and started his line. r· ' 'argued" with him for half an hour. Finally I said, ' 'Man you don't have anything to offer the people. Why do you go f~orn house to house disturbing people when you have no message for them? You say there is no hell, and you can't promise that they will make it to heaven, why do you do ·it?" I wondered why I hadn't thought of saying that before. Boy, did I get him told. Then he let me have it. As he walked away he said, ' 'You go to your pulpit on Sunday and give out your message, I'll go from house to house and deliver mine, and in the !nd we will see who is right.', Wow! Did he ever get me told. He went to he next house and I went back to 1y n1owing. As I mowed God was >peaking to me. ' ' ure iyou have the ~ight message," He said "but that ...u]tist has the right method." From hat moment I knew thart l must 1itcf1 111y n1c sage to his method, and l 0 liver it to the people. Afiter all, I ~,a not atisfied with the distai1ce 11y 111e age was reaching f1rom my rHE OHIO INDEPENDENT BAPTIST pulpit, nor wa I satisfied with the number it wa bringing ito hri t. 11he next Lord's Day I laid the challenge before my people. As a result, fif,ty people came forward and igned pledges to go with me to deliver the me sage house to hou e. We went and God ha been blessjn1g. At this writing we have five adu]ts awaiting baptism - all of them won by the effort of the visiting teams. "God commanded me <to make ha te" said Pharaoh Nech,o to Josiah. II Chr. 35: 21. The Oounoil of Ten has really been ' 'redeeming the time." What migh,t have taken moSit of a year to accompli h by way of plan– ning has been done in three months. The fir t mention of thi program wa at a meeting of the Trustees and the Council of Ten who met in First Baptist Churrch, Medina Ohio for another purpose. That was Novem– ber 28, 1967. From that moment to the pre ent time all has been ' 'go." Art one poinit the Council of Ten met in a Historic First Telephone Con– ference. All the member were hooked together in a oonference ca11 that lasted 38 minute . Surely this unprecedented speedy action is be– cause ' 'the King's business requireth haste.' ' I Samuel 21: 8. Rev. Earl Umbaugh has been a ked by the Cot1ncil of Ten to head the program. He has accepted, and in co-operation with Dr. James Jeremiah has et up several regional confer– ences across the tate ito discuss rt.his and other areas of our state work. Even before you get this issue of the O.I.B. we will have had three regionals. The Akron-Canton region– al wa 1held at Brown Street Bapti t Church in Akron on February 26. The Bethany Association brethrren met at Fir t Baptist Church oif Mc– Donald on February 27. The North– east Ohio A ociation brethren met at Calvary Baptist Church in P,ains– vi lle on February 28. No thi i not going to develop into a tate convention. It is imply an army oif volunteers g1iving their time to focu on needy areas in order to help pa tors arouse their churche and Teach the lost. The only co t to the locaJl church will be to erve one ho,t meal per d·ay at the church, or ome central lo– cation. The Council of Ten sugge t that the teams be afforded dormitory type lodging. Perhaps cots could be et up in the church ba ement. May God give u hundreds of vol– unteer prayer warrior who will go on 1iheir knees daily for tho e who are willing to go on their feet from door to door. REGIONAL CONFERENCES MARCH 11 MARCH 29 APRIL 1 APRIL 4 APRIL 22 West Moriah Association - 10:00 a .m. to 2:30 p .m. - Bible Mission Baptist Church, Reynoldsburg, Ohio Hebron Association - 10:00 a.m. to 2 :30 p .m. - Emmanuel Baptist Church, 5046 Broadway, Lorain, Ohio Xenia Pastors' Fellowship - 9 :30 a .m. to 2:00 p.m. - Emmanuel Baptist Church, 1120 S. Detroit St., Xenia, Ohio Portsmouth and South Central Ohio - 7 :00 p .m. - Wheelersburg Baptist Church, South and GaUia Sts. Wheelersburg, Ohio. North Bethel Associa tion - 10·00 a m to 2 :30 p .m. - First Baptist Church, Fostoria Rd. and Plaza Sts., Findlay, Ohio (Ea~t Moriah Association - time and place to be announ ced .) MARCH, 1968 PAGE 5