International Commission Prepares Vermont Church Leaders for a Statewide Evangelism Thrust in October
Laura Meloti of International Commission trains church leaders from three states on the “Operation Andrew” approach to evangelism. The meeting was held in Randolph, Vermont. Photo courtesy of Bucky Elliott.
Most visitors arrive in Vermont as tourists to experience the mountain vistas and quaint villages that dot America’s most bucolic state, but Shara Cowen, Laura Meloti, and Bucky Elliott came to the Green Mountains with a higher calling: to pave the way for a statewide evangelism thrust in October.
As key staff representatives of International Commission (IC), a Lewisville, Texas, ministry that boldly proclaimed on their podcast that “revival is coming in Vermont,” the trio visited Baptist Churches of New England (BCNE.net) and other pastors while driving around Vermont and simultaneously recording their podcast— “a road trip” that had a goal to discover “how God is preparing the ground to see a great harvest for his kingdom in New England.”
Preparing for an Evangelism Harvest
IC’s focus on Vermont began last October when First Baptist Church, Georgetown, Texas (FBG), sent mission teams to Vermont on their annual partnership trip. For twenty years now, the Texans have held “encouragement dinners” for pastors, and (if married) their wives, in Bennington, in the southwest; Randolph, in the mid-state; and Lyndon Center, in the Northeast Kingdom.
Brent Edwards, a former president of IC, traveled with an FBG team last year. He talked about the purpose of IC, an evangelism ministry that sends Christ-followers to more than 180 countries to partner with churches as they develop or enhance their prayer and evangelism efforts.
Russ Rathier introduced International Commission to church leaders meeting in Randolph, Vermont. Photo courtesy of Bucky Elliott.
As Edwards spoke at these dinners, several of the pastors asked Russ Rathier, the BCNE’s Vermont regional coordinator and pastor of Grace Bible Church, in the Stowe area, to invite IC teams to return. They agreed that Vermont “would be a very good area for their first-ever campaign in New England,” said Rathier, who arranged three training sessions from April 25-27. Six pastors attended the session at Northeastern Baptist College, Bennington; eight attended the session held in Randolph; and six churches were represented at the final training in Hyde Park.
For their first-ever venture to New England, IC hopes to recruit at least twenty-five volunteers to “share the gospel cross-culturally and [demonstrate] how those teams build upon the foundation of personal relationships built by church members, to share the love and message of Christ with gentleness and respect,” according to an IC online description.
“With very little exposure to [evangelical] Christianity, Vermont is full of lost people who, for multiple generations, have not heard the true gospel of Jesus Christ,” the IC website also stated. Like much of New England, Vermont is predominantly Roman Catholic.
“As a native New Englander, God has burdened my heart for the folks who live in this region of the world, 97% of whom are unreached. While many see this as horrific, I see it as an opportunity. More than nine out of every ten people we encounter do not have a relationship with Jesus,” Rathier wrote several years ago in an open letter to Vermont church leaders.
“Let’s get the folks in our network of churches trained and equipped to share their faith! It’s a beautiful thing when a life becomes transformed by the power of the gospel—chains fall off and healing occurs,” he challenged. IC is playing a role in fulfilling Rathier’s faith-sharing challenge.
Give to a Baptist Foundation of New England Fund
People like choices! The BCNE’s foundation offers two different investment options for supporting Vermont ministry.
The new CHAIR OF VERMONT MINISTRY FUND, when fully subscribed, will underwrite the salary of the regional coordinator.
The VERMONT SPECIAL PROJECTS FUND helps churches by giving a limited number of grants for ministries when needed.
Consider giving generously to either Vermont fund. Thanks!
While IC staff returned to Texas to prepare for other “harvest campaigns,” Brent Edwards and his wife, Sherry, remained in Vermont for a month to visit, encourage, equip, and train churches in IC’s chosen evangelism strategy, the “Operation Andrew” model used by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA).
Most Christians recognize Andrew as the first apostle whom Jesus called to a lifetime of service and as an exemplary evangelist because he brought his younger brother, Simon Peter, to encounter Jesus (John 1:40-42). The BGEA website features a printable poster, a simple outline on Operation Andrew that pastors may wish to follow, distribute to church members, and adapt as needed to their own contexts.
Following the Operation Andrew approach, Rathier stated, “Prayer cards are passed out to people in our churches and they are asked to list the names of up to ten people they know who do not have a relationship with Jesus.”
“After a six-month, intentional, step-by-step season of prayer and relationship building,” Rathier reported, “IC will bring several teams of folks to go with our church folks to prescheduled meetings with people on our prayer cards and share the gospel with them. The week for us is October 11-18.” Most if not all of these meetings will be private discussions in homes, not revival gatherings in church buildings.
These churches are among the eighteen that decided to be involved in the International Commission’s interdenominational “Operation Andrew” ministry:
International Commission’s advance team visited the Vermont State Capitol in Montpelier. (Left to right) Bucky Elliott, Laura Meloti, and Shara Cowen. Photo courtesy of Shara Cowen.
Southern Vermont
Stamford Community Church, Stamford, VT
First Baptist Church, Williamstown, MA
First Baptist Church, Wallingford, VT
Central Vermont
Crossroads Christian Church, East Montpelier, VT
Baptist Fellowship of Randolph, VT
Valley Bible Church, East Middlebury, VT
Northern Vermont
Lamoille Valley Alliance Church, Hyde Park, VT
Eden Mills Congregational Church, Eden Mills, VT
Lyndon Center Methodist Church, Lyndon Center, VT
With BGEA’s permission, IC leaders augmented the model to ensure, what the Vermont director called, “steady relationship building, which leads to salvation opportunity discussions, and then on to discipleship.”
IC provides a free and easily followed leader training guide, “Enabling and Equipping Gospel Conversations for Your Church.” It begins with a list of “five common fears believers face when thinking about sharing their faith with others” and concludes with a “final encouragement” that “we are Christ’s representatives everywhere we go, every moment of the day.”
A Relational Approach to Evangelism
The IC volunteer evangelists take a decidedly relational approach because God is a relational God.
“They really know how to do it and they are very personable. They’re very sensitive to their environment and the needs around them. They’ll come in and just begin to help us share the love of Jesus while we're there,” said Shara Cowen, vice president for North America.
The International Commission, which a West Texas farmer named Ben Mieth started in 1971 when he led a missions team to participate with churches in Mexico, “has been very intentional about taking the gospel internationally.” In recent years, their leaders felt God shifting the ministry’s focus from only “going to the uttermost.”“In the meantime,” added Cowen, “America is not becoming a more Christian nation.”
It was then that Edwards started discussing with Rathier “the possibilities of doing what we do all over the world—in Vermont. I was so excited when they called me and asked what I thought about it. I said, ‘Man, I’m in,’” commented Cowen, who made her first trip in April to the Green Mountain state. “I loved driving ‘off the beaten path’, seeing the mountains and the rolling hills. I wanted to stop at every little spot,” she said.
“I learned a lot of history just by being there. We were just amazed at how gracious everyone was and very friendly, very helpful to us, and very kind. So, that made our trip just great!” she concluded.