How one couple is making a differencein the lives of New Orleans residents
The rain finally subsides enough to walk around the neighborhood where an Operation NOAH Rebuild volunteer team is hard at work painting the inside of a school. After asking God for guidance and for receptive hearts, they head down the street hoping to meet residents and chat with them for a moment.
“The hardest thing is knocking on that first door,” Glennes Brassfield says.
Sensing the moment is right, they head to the door, knock, and strike up a conversation. Sometimes they’re turned away but more often than not, the Lord has pricked the heart of those they are speaking to and before long the three are engaged in a conversation about spiritual matters.
Ken and Glennes Brassfield consider their ministry in New Orleans as a way to carry out God’s calling to be His messengers. The results they say, “are up to Him.”
Within an hour of heading out into the neighborhood, the Brassfields speak to five residents. Two of them accept Christ as their Savior, one in her home and another on a street corner.
The Lord has blessed their commitment to personal evangelism. More than 275 people have surrendered their lives to the Lord through their ministry. “They’ve been one of the most effective evangelism ministries down here,” says North American Mission Board chaplain Joe Williams.
The Oklahoma couple traveled to New Orleans, post Hurricane Katrina. They got their ministry feet wet in August 2006 and have returned one week out of every month since. Originally they thought they’d be assisting residents who needed to talk about their loss after Hurricane Katrina or helping volunteers cope with everything they saw and heard. What the Brassfields discovered were residents who needed Christ in their lives.
Ken feels the main contributing factor to the receptive hearts of residents is the volunteer work in the area. In particular, those working with Operation NOAH Rebuild, who’ve prayed for the city, witnessed to residents, and poured countless hours into homes across New Orleans.
“It seems like almost everyone we talk to makes a decision,” Ken says.
With follow-up in mind, the Brassfields gather contact information, provide a devotional book, and encourage new believers to share their faith with a family member or friend. The contact information is given to a local church as well as to NOAH. A large number of those they share with aren’t connected to a church. Follow-up is an important step in the strategy of personal evangelism.
“We’re here a week and then we’re gone, but we like to check in with the pastors and NOAH to see how the follow-up has gone,” Ken says.
“Rebuilding earthly homes is important to NOAH, however, they’re only earthly homes. What the Brassfields and others like them are doing, is allowing God to use them to help people receive Christ,” says David Maxwell, project coordinator of Operation NOAH Rebuild. “And with salvation comes an eternal home not made with hands.”
The Brassfields hope to continue to see the Lord work in the hearts of the people there. “We want to train and equip others to be out sharing the gospel since the harvest is so ripe in New Orleans,” says Ken.
Their passion for personal evangelism is contagious. As they visit NOAH work sites, they invite team members to join them. “When we were here in June, we had some members of a team follow us to see what we were doing to lead people to Christ. Then, they began to share themselves. It was so exciting!” Ken says.
“Ken and Glennes have been a great blessing to the New Orleans area,” says Keith Manuel, evangelism associate, Louisiana Baptist Convention. “They’ve embraced this city with the love of Christ. Not only have they worked tirelessly but they’ve sought to equip others to share the gospel message.”
While the Brassfields do have numerous years of experience and training in personal evangelism, they insist that what they do is neither special nor difficult. It’s simply a matter of being obedient. “God showed me 2 Timothy 4:17 recently, He’s our strength and all we need,” Glennes says. “It becomes easier the more you do it,” adds Ken.
Ken and Glennes encourage teams to incorporate personal evangelism in their mission trip planning. They suggest teams either schedule their evangelism efforts for the evenings or designate two teams to rotate between working and walking through the neighborhoods sharing Christ.
Keith Manuel sees the need for many more volunteers who are willing to go door-to-door to share the gospel. “I’m praying for God to send more servants like the Brassfields to work alongside our local churches in the fertile fields of New Orleans.”