In January, Pastor Brent Hobbs and church leaders gathered in the picturesque Outer Banks of North Carolina to seek God about their focus for 2023. After much prayer, His answer was clear: evangelism training.
About a week later in his office at New Song Fellowship in Virginia Beach, Virginia, Hobbs heard a knock on the door. Opening it, he found a Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA) field representative waiting outside.
Charles Olmeda had stopped by to talk about the upcoming God Loves You Tidewater Tour, April 29–May 7, and see if New Song Fellowship would be interested in hosting a Christian Life and Witness Course (CLWC). The free evangelism training from BGEA helps Christians grow deeper in their faith and share it with others.
Hobbs’ church determined this was an answer to prayer. They agreed to host the training course, which is open to everyone.
“I definitely think it was a divine appointment,” said Hobbs.
“Just a week ahead of that, we had been talking about how to go about training our people to be more effective in evangelism and be more comfortable in doing that.”
Seventeen members of New Song Fellowship completed the course and nearly half applied to be a prayer counsellor at the God Loves You Tour stop for the Hampton Roads region. Prayer counsellors come alongside those who decide to commit their lives to Christ at the outreach event, praying with them and helping connect them to a church and follow-up resources.
In anticipation of the tour, church leaders moved up a sermon series on evangelism planned for later this year called “We Have Good News.”
The Good News of Jesus Christ is needed in the Hampton Roads region. Many people in the seven cities that make up Hampton Roads are ambivalent about faith, Hobbs said.
“They may assume they’re Christians because they believe in God or they grew up in church, or [because] they’ve been to church before. … Sometimes that can be just as hard as a place where there’s open opposition to the Gospel.”
The training and upcoming tour has church members and area believers enthusiastic about sharing the Gospel, Hobbs said. He believes God will truly work through the tour and “send His Spirit to move among people.”
The six-city outreach is helping bring Christians together with pre-tour events such as a Night of Prayer and Worship in each location.
“It’s a rare opportunity for different denominations to come together around that central and most important reality—that we all need the Gospel and we all need fellowship with Christ,” Hobbs said.
After the May 6 tour stop, his church and others in Hampton Roads will welcome those who commit their lives to Christ during the outreach, encouraging them in their faith and discipling them in God’s Word.
Will you pray for the Holy Spirit to soften people’s hearts along the Tidewater area?