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By MARGARET DEMPSEY-COLSON
Florida Baptist Convention
COMMITMENT “Who are you living for? Why are you living for who you are living for,” John Cross, FBSC president asked at the final session of the Florida Baptist State Convention annual meeting convening in Pensacola, Nov. 10. In a commitment service and concert drawing in guests from the community, Cross said the event is a model of “event evangelism.” FBC photo
McDonnall, along with her husband David and three other international missionaries, were ambushed in Iraq in March 2004. The five had just spent time in an Iraqi community helping residents with water development. “We were all five excited about what had taken place,” she said. “We wanted to return there and invest our lives in theirs. We wanted to give them Living Water.”
On the drive home, they were ambushed by men with automatic weapons. The other three missionaries died on the scene. With the assistance of “compassionate” Iraqis who had witnessed the ambush, McDonnall and her husband were transported to a medical unit for emergency treatment, where McDonnall underwent 10 hours of surgery before being medically evacuated to the United States. When she awakened eight days later, she learned that her husband—and best friend—had died. “My world spun,” at the moment she learned of his death.
“Even when I experienced pain and hurt and sorrow at depths I thought I would never have to face,” she said, “God was faithful in my darkest moments.”
McDonnall spent about a month in the hospital and has since gone through numerous surgeries and extensive occupational and physical therapy. “It’s a medical miracle that I’m here tonight,” said the woman who is reminded of her experience every time she looks at her left hand, where she lost three fingers.
People ask her, she said, why she and her husband went into such a dangerous place for their mission work.
“The Lord clearly called us” to Iraq, she said. “We did not take the decision lightly.”
She challenged those in attendance, “God is calling us to live our lives in a much different way.” Saying that some believers are still “sitting with grave clothes on,” she cited 2 Corinthians 5:14-15 and emphasized that “God’s love compels us to go into the darkness of the world.”
She read from an e-mail her husband sent her in 2000, while they were still dating and both were serving in short-term missions with the International Mission Board. He wrote to her that he loved telling people about Jesus, the best thing that’s happened in his life. He stated that he had “no hesitation” in doing so.
Even after the loss of her husband and her traumatic injuries, McDonnall stated that she today has no hesitation in sharing her faith and challenged those in attendance to do the same.
Following her testimony, a blue-jean clad John Cross, who is beginning his second term as Florida Baptist State Convention president, asked, “Who are you living for? Why are you living for who you are living for?”
He then acknowledged, “Some are sensing the tug of God’s Spirit to take God’s name where He has not yet been named.” Three billion people are waiting, he said. “Hell is too hot, and the Gospel is too sweet for people to never hear the message of Christ,” said Cross, who serves as pastor of South Biscayne Church in North Port.
With participants bowing their heads in prayer, he then asked those who were ready to respond affirmatively to God’s call to raise their hands. He invited those who had raised their hands to “solidify” their commitment by coming forward to the altar. High-fiving some of those who approached the altar, Cross prayed and directed them to Florida Baptist leaders standing nearby to encourage them in their call. Thirty-five people indicated they were answering a call to vocational missions.
After that altar call, Cross issued a similar appeal for those desiring to make a profession of faith, calling this second appeal, “part two.”
NEWSONG Contemporary Christian artists performed during FBSC commitment service. FBC photo
With Cross urging participants to “give it up” in applause to encourage those who were coming forward, 10 persons made professions of faith, and another 10 rededicated their lives to Christ. These individuals were also directed to Florida Baptist leaders for follow-up prayer and encouragement.
“It was wonderful watching God move,” said Florida Baptists’ Director of Evangelism David Burton, who served as a counselor to those making decisions. “I was thrilled to see the intentionality of evangelism, the intentionality of presenting the Gospel and giving people the opportunity to respond.”
Describing the evening as an “unconventional Convention night,” he suggested that church leaders might take the “event evangelism” model back home to their churches as one way to reach people with the Gospel.
The closing service featured the music of contemporary Christian recording artists NewSong. Following the service, Blue Tree and Rush of Fools, contemporary Christian bands, joined NewSong for a concert.
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