THE CHURCH
Acts Full Gospel Church of God in Christ in Oakland, California
THE CHALLENGE
Find a way to connect with people who need to hear the gospel.
ONE BIG IDEA
Start a door-to-door witnessing ministry.
When Bishop Bob Jackson started Acts Full Gospel Church of God in Christ in 1984, only 15 people were in attendance. After seeing little growth, he prayed for God to bring more people.
According to Jackson, that’s when God said, That’s not what I’m supposed to do. That’s what I told you to do.
Jackson launched a door-to-door witnessing ministry called S.W.A.T., which stands for Soul Winning Across Town. Every Saturday church members divided up and spread out across Oakland, California, returning to a tried-and-true evangelism method of knocking on doors.
“When you take off the ‘p’ in ‘preach,’ you have ‘reach.’ Take off the ‘r’ in ‘reach’ and you have ‘each,’” explains Kerwin Davis, S.W.A.T. team commander.
The ministry has been effective in both people accepting Jesus and growing the church. At one time, Acts Full Gospel Church’s numbers swelled to more than 6,000 active members, and 300–400 people would go out on Saturdays to evangelize. But then COVID-19 hit. Today about 150 people are involved in S.W.A.T. every third Saturday.
Although not everyone the team contacts is receptive to the message of salvation, a seed is planted. For those who do receive the Lord, the ministry follows up with a call to ask if they need prayer.
“You never know what people are going through,” Davis observes. “This one lady who accepted Christ into her life told us that just before someone knocked on her door, she was getting ready to end her life.”
At one point, Acts Full Gospel Church was located in one of the most notorious projects in Oakland where stray bullets flew during drive-by shootings and drug deals were common.
“Davis emphasizes, “We have always been where the gospel needed to be spread the most.”
Because the church wants to preach God’s Word to all, they have translated their printed materials in several different languages.
“God has already touched so many people, you wouldn’t believe it,” Davis concludes. “We look forward to touching more.”