A number of people have claimed that revivals or evangelistic crusades no longer work. If you attended one, or all, of the services in Forest you know the Central Mississippi Go Tell Crusade was a divine success. Even challenging weather could not dampen the spirit brought to town by Go Tell Founder Rick Gage and his crusade team during the four night event at Forest High School.
People from cities, towns and communities all around Central Mississippi traveled to Forest to worship, and the final tally shows that over 4,000 attended the four night crusade.
The kickoff night last Monday saw the event moved inside due to inclement weather, but not even the weather could dampen the spirit. Lyn Irby, Central MS Go Tell chairwoman said that the crusade drew thousands of people to Forest High School football stadium for one simple goal.
“The one purpose of this event was winning people to Jesus,” Irby said. “We feel like we had great success in doing that as we had hundreds of people come to salvation during the four nights here in Forest.”
According to Gage, more than 600 decisions for Christ were witnessed during the four nights, including over 200 first time decisions to follow Jesus.
“The work of the crusade is only now beginning here in Forest and Central Mississippi,” Gage said. “The work will now be turned over to the local churches in the area for continued support. The work to win people to Jesus is never ending.”
Over 4,000 people attended the evening services with an additional 5,000 online users tuning in on Facebook Live.
“The need for grassroots and local crusades is vital to Christianity in America,” Gage said. “These crusades like we just completed here in Forest are hugely important to rural America. People in the small towns of America need Jesus just as much as people in large cities. God has called us to the areas just like Forest.”
While the crusade worship services were taking place at night, the crusade team was busy visiting local schools and the Scott County Jail during the daytime hours. “Our team visited all the local high schools and middle schools and spoke to over 3,600 students about motivation and how their decisions matter,” Gage said. “We also had 29 inmates in the Scott County Jail make a decision on Christ this week.”
“The support we received from the community and churches played a big role in the success of the crusade,” Irby said. “I first went to a crusade in Tennessee and it was one of the most incredible things I have ever witnessed. Now to be part of the same experience happening right here in Scott County is almost indescribable.”
All crusade team members echoed one another when indicating that the crusade is the beginning of things to come. “The actual crusade is the catalyst for great things to come here in Scott County and Central Mississippi.” Gage added.
The Go Tell crusade team is looking to hold a follow up rally in 2020, but a date has not been set.
Another main focus of the crusade was the youth events held prior to the crusade kicking off, and to finish up the fourth night of worship. Hundreds of local kids and teens have been invited by Gage to attend the Go Tell Youth Camp in 2020. Everyone who attends the camp will do so free of charge because of Go Tell Crusade scholarships.
Gage said, “The key to the spiritual impact we all witnessed in Scott County was a result of many months of God’s people praying. Also, there were hundreds of local volunteers working for nearly a year preparing for the event. The strong local leadership of this evangelistic effort is truly what made this event so successful.”
Kim Reeves of Carthage said, “This crusade has really, really impacted my life. It helped me grow in my faith. The outreach team spent time and taught me how to witness. I was scared to, but I rededicated my life on Monday night; and now I am not afraid to take a stand and be bold for Jesus.”
Even with the successful event and so many people making a decision on their salvation, Gage said the work has only just begun. The local churches will now take the lead and work to fill the spiritual appetite of those who found their way to salvation during the crusade.
“This week showed that there are so many people that are at church every week, but they have no real relationship with God. But in His presence during the crusade they finally established a real relationship through salvation,” Gage said.
