Ryan Wade A MODERN DAY CRUSADE YOUTH RALLY Sunday, October 1, 6pm Pearl Pirate Auditorium METRO MS GOTELL CRUSADE Sunday, October 15 through Wednesday, October 18 7pm nightly Brandon Amphitheater YOUTH NIGHT Wednesday, October 18, 7pm Brandon Amphitheater Free Pizza & Car Giveaway 28 • SEPTEMBER 2023
An excitement is welling up among people in the metro area about the soon-coming Metro Mississippi GO TELL AMERICA Crusade with Rick Gage which will take place at 7pm nightly on October 15-18 at the Brandon Amphitheater. Gage is sometimes called “The Billy Graham of Small Towns” as he preaches the same message of Christian hope in smaller venues across the nation and the world. “Our purpose is to bring together all Bible-believing churches to present the Gospel message in a powerful way,” says Gage of the metro event. An evangelist from Georgia, Gage has been conducting evangelistic events since 1986. At that time, Gage surrendered his life to full-time evangelistic ministry after coaching college football at Texas Tech and Liberty University. Gage followed in the footsteps of his late father Freddie Gage, an evangelist who was credited with leading over a million people to Christ during his 50 years of ministry. This October will not be the first time Gage has led an evangelistic effort in this area. In 2019, Gage led the Central Mississippi GO TELL AMERICA Crusade at Forest High School in Scott County. Over 600 decisions for Christ were recorded during that four-day campaign. The spiritual impact is still being felt from that effort. Since that time, work began to bring a GO TELL AMERICA Crusade to the metro area. A recent survey revealed that eighty percent of the metro-area is not connected to a church. With churches on every corner in our area, a large-scale event at a neutral site is often an effective way to share the life-changing message of Christ with those who are more apt to come to a place like the Brandon Amphitheater than an unfamiliar church building. A successful evangelistic outreach involves hundreds of Christ followers from local churches, businesses, and communities working together to reach their area. Conducted in cooperation with GO TELL AMERICA Crusades, each crusade begins with and is carried to completion by the local church, Gage noted. “These churches receive not only joyful benefits from the crusade but also spiritual renewal for many of their members,” Gage said. Leadership is the key to a large-scale effort like this. Chip Miskelly, a well-known local businessman, is leading this campaign along with hundreds of other volunteers. Miskelly noted, “I was at Billy Graham’s crusade in Jackson over forty years ago and it changed my life. My heart is for the youth and I’m excited to help bring this experience to our area to impact thousands with the life-changing message of salvation in Jesus Christ.” According to the North American Mission Board, more than 57 million students in America are lost and going to a Christless eternity. In the past two decades, there has been a 42% decline in youth baptisms. While the crusade will be an inter-generational event each night, there is a large youth focus. On the final night of the crusade, October 18, students are invited to come early at 6 p.m. for a special emphasis called The Awakening. Free pizza will be served along with entertainment and giveaways. Noel Daniels of Noel Daniels Motor Company has donated a car to be given away to a student at the end of the evening. In addition to the crusade week at the Brandon Amphitheater, the effort will impact many in the metro region through outreach efforts such as neighborhood block parties. The crusade will also bring a condensed version into the prison system to share with thousands of incarcerated men and women. A byproduct of this effort is the unity of over one hundred churches working side-by-side for the common goal of sharing the good news of Jesus with people in need of hope. The crusade will happen every night at 7pm at the Brandon Amphitheater. The event is free, and all are welcome to attend. Believers are strongly encouraged to invite their family, friends, and neighbors who need to hear the message of change that Jesus can bring in a person’s life. Local churches provide personnel for the months of preparation, the crusade days, and the extensive follow-up with those who make decisions. Area churches are invited to participate in this crusade and can volunteer at the event website: www.metromsgotell.com. You can contact the local team by email at GoTellMetro@ gmail.com. As the crusade nears, updates will be posted on the Facebook page at “Metro MS Go Tell Crusade.” Hometown MADISON • 29
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