Evangelism Grant Celebration Stories

Cove City Church, Cleveland, Merry Mart Store Outreach
Thank you for supporting us and partnering with us in our 4th annual Merry Mart Store. I wanted to share an update with you on some of the key things that came out of this event.

• 222 kids served, (283 signed up).
• 100 Bibles given to families, some for the first time.
• Praying for families and inviting them back to be a part of our church family.
• Two families, along with their kids, have since returned for several Sundays in a row now which is a huge success for us.

Our connections deepen each year through this event and we are so grateful for this opportunity to be the hands and feet of Jesus this past year.

“I want to personally thank you and the State of Ohio Baptist Convention for contributing $1500 toward the special evangelistic event we had with Kenny Evans at Mount Carmel Baptist Church.
We had eight decisions for Jesus Christ in our Sunday evening service. Praise God! To get people who typically would not attend a worship service, we had Evans, a Southern Baptist evangelist, who is an entertainer in Pigeon Forge,Tennessee, to do a “Pigeon Forge Dinner Theater in Cincinnati.
At the close he shared his testimony and there were eight decisions for Jesus. That evening we had around 150 in attendance and about 30 guests. This is the second year I have used Kenny Evans and he is both a great singer and an excellent preacher.  
We have him already scheduled again for November 9, 2025, and may do a special evangelistic event/revival where the first four nights will be for the revival of the church and the final night will be a “Bring your friends to Jesus” night. We are trying to change the method but not the message.
Again, I want to thank you and SCBO for assisting us in accomplishing this evangelistic event.”

Edgewood Baptist Church, Trenton, Kid’s Camp Ohio/Youth Camp Ohio 2024

I wanted to thank you for the SCBO’s support for our 2023 Kid’s Camp season. For various reasons, my follow-up to the 2024 camping season has been slow, but it doesn’t change the fact that the Lord blessed our efforts. 2024 marked the third year of running a week of camp for Southern Baptist churches at a facility just south of Camden, Ohio.
After the first two years of hovering around 150 in camp, we added a few new churches and saw our numbers climb by over 40. We effectively sold out. We are looking forward to a new building to add additional capacity.
More importantly God used adults pouring into these kids’ lives and God did what God does. Kids began a relationship with Jesus for the first time. We saw spiritual growth and spiritual restoration. We were once again reminded why many of us are called to the work of camp ministry.
Secondly, we launched a week of youth camp this past summer for those coming out of the sixth grade through twelfth grade, also located at the same facilities, but during the first week of June.
It was a humble beginning with just over 40 in camp, but no less impactful. Three churches partnered together to make it go. We were blessed to have Matt Pardi as our Camp Pastor for the week.
We saw several decisions for Christ, decisions for recommitments, and youth interested in exploring calls to missions. One girl, Kiki, who was bold and stood when Pastor Matt called for a response during an invitation encouraged a couple more to stand, affirming their desire to follow Christ. Kiki recently finished a new Christians class and was baptized. We also had three other youth make public their new faith in Christ. One had attended camp and had taken a spiritual step forward, but was now ready to begin a serious relationship with Christ. We praise God!