DALLAS — A sweltering Saturday in Dallas served as the capstone to a week of gospel-centered outreach and service to the communities in the Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) metroplex as Southern Baptists gathered for Crossover Dallas to reach the city.

Volunteers from churches across the nation gathered to serve alongside more than 80 churches who were hosting events and visiting homes throughout the week to meet and encourage their neighbors.

For Faithful Believers Church in DeSoto, going door to door and hosting a prayer line outside their church’s meeting space led to people giving their lives to Christ, with several planning to attend the church Sunday.

“Seeing the impact that this event has had on our community, I can’t even begin to really get you to understand just how valuable it is,” said Walter Johnson, pastor of Faithful Believers Church. “My members are so excited, from the youth all the way to my seniors. They have just embraced what we’re trying to do to impact the kingdom of God.”

The work to spread the gospel throughout Dallas stemmed from cooperation across all levels of the convention: the North American Mission Board (NAMB), local associations, the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention (SBTC), the Baptist General Convention of Texas (BGCT) and local churches in Dallas and from around the nation.

“We are grateful for the partnership with churches, NAMB, the SBTC, the BGCT and several surrounding associations to intentionally bring the gospel to the DFW metroplex through local churches,” said Ryan Jespersen, executive director of the Dallas Baptist Association (DBA).

“This has been an encouraging and exciting effort for many of our churches,” Jespersen said. “Church plants, established churches and churches seeking to be revitalized have been blessed by the effort.”

Several of those revitalizing churches, with congregations that had dwindled but have embraced a strategy to grow once again, saw Crossover as an extension of their efforts to remind their communities that they were there for them.

“We are concerned about reaching everyone, no matter their race, no matter their gender,” said Larry Brice, pastor of Trinity Love Church in Seagoville. “We love everybody, and we have tried our best to share the gospel of Jesus Christ in this community … that’s our desire: to reach everyone regardless of who you are. Our desire is to get you saved, get you in the body of Christ and know that your life is sealed by the blood of Jesus, and eternal life is granted to ‘whosoever.’”

In Irving, Iglesia Nueva Esperanza (New Hope Church) held a drive-through prayer station on its campus. The church is a bilingual congregation that formed after a primarily Anglo congregation merged with a Hispanic church led by Juan Pecina.

Judy Heady, a longtime member, prayed for a mother whose son had started running with the wrong crowd and a daughter whose mom had dementia.

“It was nice, the prayer was, and I know God’s going to hear it, and he’s going to answer it one way or the other,” Heady said.

Crossover student rallies

As part of Crossover, Shane Pruitt, NAMB’s national next gen director, spoke at a pair of student rallies Friday and Saturday night hosted by churches in Rockwall and North Richland Hills. Between the two events, 635 students attended and 57 professed faith in Christ.

“It was good to bring a lot of different ministries together to push the call for inviting people to Jesus,” said Daniel Simmons, student pastor at Cross Church, North Richland Hills, who hosted the rally Saturday night. “To see 14 people come to faith, you never know what to expect. It always goes beyond your expectations whenever you see God move in that way.”

Dylan Chase, a songwriter and speaker with RAGE ministries, rapped and shared his testimony at Cross Church, and Dallas Baptist University’s collegiate worship team led worship at the Friday night rally at First Baptist Rockwall.

Pruitt’s messages centered on Jesus, and he extended clear, gospel presentations to both audiences.

“We’re always looking for something. We’re always looking for more. We’re always looking for something to fulfill us, to complete us,” Pruitt preached Friday night. “Nothing can do that besides Jesus Christ. You’ll always feel like something is missing in your life as long as someone is missing. And His name is Jesus.”

JP Black, minister to students and college at First Baptist Rockwall, aimed to design an event that kept Jesus at the center where lost students could hear the gospel, and Christian students could take their next step of faith. By evening’s end, at least 43 students committed their lives to Christ.

“The Spirit showed up in incredibly profound ways, ways that we can’t even begin to fathom or imagine. We saw dead souls raised to life,” Black said. “We saw lives forever transformed that eternity will testify to because the gospel was proclaimed and Jesus was exalted. Ultimately, He’s the only one who can draw sinners to repentance and change and transform hearts. We saw Him do that in this place.”

From seminary students visiting homes to churches hosting block parties, washing cars and feeding the homeless — Crossover Dallas made an impact on DFW that NAMB vice president Tim Dowdy prays lasts for months and years to come.

“One of my favorite things about serving in this role is seeing pastors personally leading and engaging in evangelism; then to come alongside them to help identify ways to fill their communities with the gospel,” said Dowdy. “My prayer is that these churches will live on mission every day, proclaiming the good news about Jesus until the whole world hears.”

EDITOR’S NOTE — Brandon Elrod writes for the North American Mission Board.