I recall the words of Dr. Joe Davis Heacock, my Education Administration professor at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He said “Ladies and gentlemen, if you want to grow your Sunday School and reach people for Christ, you have to ask the Lord for souls. I keep a prayer list of five people in my Bible all the time. I pray to get them enrolled in Sunday School and come to Jesus. When one 
comes to Christ, God adds another to the list. God just keeps busy.” The practice still works.
I recently visited Second Baptist Church in Houston, Texas while on my way to a Mid-South Strategy meeting. They are people friendly from the parking lot to the Sunday School class and into worship. But, I remember one power statement at the end of worship. The final words, “Remember the ONE, the one you will reach this week for Christ.” I asked about that statement. They told me that was their outreach motto. “Remember the One”. It is working for them.
One of our local churches has been experiencing steady growth over the past five years. As they prepared to move into a new Multi-purpose building, also providing fourteen new class rooms, they challenged each of their Sunday school classes to enroll at least two new people. Their goal was 70 new members in 40 days. They got excited when they learned they had enrolled 129 new members!
Reaching people is not hard. They want to be reached. It takes prayer, intentionality, and persistence. God will reward our efforts.
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Kiely Young
Director, Sunday School
Mississippi Baptist Convention Board
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