Action Plans: 

• Seek to conduct a Biblical and Historical Study in every church and association on “Prayer for Spiritual Awakening in the Twenty First Century.”  Resulting in an Evangelistic prayer ministry.
• Help churches in organizing themselves to practice all forms of praying found in the New Testament.  i.e. private place of prayer, two praying together (prayer partners), two or three gathering in Jesus Name (prayer groups) and the whole church praying together.
• Encourage Pastor’s and other leadership in the Church to develop a more intentional and faithful prayer life.  i.e. Prayer Walking and driving, 3:16 Initiative, and creating a 10 most wanted list of the lost they are praying for.
• Encourage the churches to pray for the lost by name and for God to help believers focus on holiness.
• Encourage every church to have a designated place for prayer by developing ideas for a prayer room, and an on-line prayer room.
  
  

Seek to enlist or engage every believer in witness training so that each person, becomes both relational and intentional in sharing the Gospel with the lost.

      Action Plans:

• Lead every Pastor to seek to create an environment for passionate Evangelism in every church through his modeling soul winning to the membership.
• Train people in multiple approaches in witnessing that will enhance effectiveness through individual personalities.
• Encourage testimonies be given at State convention meetings, Associational meetings and church services from Christians who lead people to the Savior and from persons lead to Jesus by a Christian witness.
• Encourage regular reports in staff meetings, among accountability partners and groups about witnessing encounters.
• Offer training using proven witnessing tools provided both by the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention and the North American Mission Board.
• Train people in both relational and intentional witnessing.

Encourage and educate believers concerning the Biblical principle of sowing the Gospel until every lost person receives a witness about Salvation provided by and through Jesus.

         Action Plans:

• Teach the “divine appointment” principle of sowing, watering and reaping as taught in scripture.
• Teach believers that sowing is as important as reaping and always precedes the harvest.
• Encourage sowing both publicly, house to house, and person to person.
• Teach how to give a public invitation and a personal invitation.
• Teach people how to give their personal testimony and the importance of sharing it.
• Use television, radio, and movies to help sow the Gospel.
• Plan to use small group Bible Studies, scripture distribution, Jesus video, tract distribution, community gatherings in homes, and back yard Bible clubs to sow the Gospel.
• Have special giveaways such as school supplies, back packs with Bible’s and tracts for school children, Thanksgiving and Christmas gifts and food pantries to sow the Gospel.
• Encourage churches in parts of the state with the most churched population to “Adopt a County” that is unchurched and join with believers in those counties in sowing the Gospel among the unchurched.
• Use special events like July 4th, Fall Festivals, Christmas, Easter, Baptismal celebrations, and others to sow the Gospel.
• Plan sports camps for kids, music camps for kids, hunting and fishing trips, golf tournaments, and other areas of special interest in communities and towns to sow the Gospel.
• Train people in Servant/Ministry Evangelism

Encourage Churches, Association, Sunday school classes and other organizations associated with the church to celebrate the harvest of every salvation response.

        Action Plans:

• Teach churches ways of celebration through baptism, assimilation of new believers and praise through the private and public testimony of new believers.
• Train churches in understanding contemporary approaches to giving an evangelistic invitation in a celebrative way. (Different ways of responding.)
• Create an environment of expectation of harvest.
• Lead churches and associations to have an annual baptismal goal. i.e. 20% of attendance in Bible Study
• Develop simultaneous harvest events state-wide and in associations.
• Have a harvest focus in the Sunday school and in small cell groups.
• Utilize the gifted vocational evangelist.
• Encourage churches to plan Evangelistic events away from the church campus and in public venues.
• Teach how to bridge and connect with neighbors, family members, work associates, and friends who are lost.
  
  

Suggestions for Implementing GPS Initiative in Associations

• Encourage and assist when called upon by associations to develop their own action plans using GPS  as a guide in reaching the unchurched in their areas.

• Be certain that every Director of Mission’s and every pastor has received a copy of the GPS strategy.  Teach the GPS Strategy in regional rallies already calendared.

• Be certain that every association and church understands that we are partners with them, but the strategic plan must be their own and can be an added tool to help focus on the unsaved.

• Make the association aware of training events offered by the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention and the North American Mission Board that will aid the association in addressing GPS.

• Inform associations that this initiative is broad enough to be flexible and focused enough to be adaptable to any association.  Concentrate on saturation by communication about the initiative to the churches.

Suggestions for Implementing GPS Initiative in the Local Church

• The pastor should have received the GPS National from the North American Mission Board, the strategic plan from the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention, the initiative from the association so that he can lead the church he serves to adopt GPS. The pastor is the key leader in making this a local church plan.

• Encourage the pastor to seek out committed pastors in his association and throughout the state and look at how they are developing the GPS 20/20 in their church.

• Ask the pastor’s to give testimonies at association meetings and state convention meetings about victories attributed to GPS.

• Make certain the church is well informed about GPS.  In creative ways communicate the GPS Strategy to the local church.

• Encourage and train pastors and churches using the evangelism planner provided by the North American Mission Board.  It provides resources that will help any size church accomplish their strategic action plans for the GPS.

• Encourage the pastor to gather the leadership of the church together in a retreat setting to develop the action plans necessary for the congregation to claim ownership of the GPS.  He may want to preach a sermon using Prayer, Engaging, Sowing, and Harvesting as the main points.

• The church must pray diligently about this process perhaps introducing it alone with “Soul-Winning Commitment Day.”

Suggestions for individual believers implementing GPS on the street, block, or in the residential area where they live.

• Members should receive help from the pastor and church leadership to assist them in developing their action plans to reach their neighbors.

• Members should be encouraged to prayer walk or prayer drive their neighborhood asking God’s help in reaching people in homes on their street.

• Members might plan backyard Bible Clubs, block parties, invite neighbors to a cookout, plan weekly home Bible studies, and involve themselves in random acts of kindness (mow yard, invite to go fishing or play golf, take food to a neighbor who is ill) to open doors for witnessing to neighbors.

• The following suggestions might create opportunities of witness in neighborhoods:
• reach out to fire and police stations with acts of gratitude
• gather prayer requested from neighbors
• discover special need in the area and address those need (after school help for single parents, etc…).
• organize neighborhood cleanup day
• plan a wild game supper in the community away from the church
• place yard signs in church members yards in support of the church
• watch for new move-ins, new babies being born, grieving families, and respond with acts of kindness

In all the above, use the occasion to share Jesus with the lost in your neighborhood. You might gather other believers in your neighborhood into your home to help develop action plans to reach people for our Savior.