PADUCAH, Ky. – The Hope for West Kentucky crusade may have ended two weeks ago but the Gospel message proclaimed throughout the week has no end.
Ross Buchanan, an associate pastor at 12 Oaks Baptist Church, learned that lesson immediately upon the crusade’s completion Sunday night Nov. 10 at the Paducah Convention Center. Most everyone had left the building when he was struck with the reality that God’s message keeps breathing.
Buchanan was celebrating with one of his church’s families whose son had made a profession of faith. He was exchanging high-fives with the father when he saw a woman sitting by herself looking disconsolate three rows behind them.
“She was all by herself,” he said. “My flesh wanted to ignore it. My friend saw her too and said, ‘Should we go say something to her?’ I said, ‘You celebrate with your son when he comes out and I will go talk to her.’ So, I went and sat by this lady – her name was Tara – and asked her if there was anything I can pray with her about.”
She gave him a chilling answer. “I don’t think I’m worth praying for,” she said.
Buchanan’s heart sunk but he also saw a Gospel door opening. “I told her, ‘That’s where I would definitely disagree,’” he said.
Tara then began unburdening herself to him, and Buchanan saw the threads that God had put in place that brought her to attending the crusade. Her daughter, a student at Callaway County Middle School in Paducah, had heard evangelist Ken Freeman speak at an assembly, talking about his life and what he overcame through the help of Jesus. He invited the students to come to the crusade and hear the “Jesus side of the story.”
Tara lives in Union City, Tenn., about a 90-minute drive from Paducah. Because her daughter was going to Paducah schools, he assumed she did not have full custody of her or her younger brother who was also at the crusade.
The mom had driven to Union City to be able to take her son and daughter to the crusade, Buchanan said. “That’s why she was by herself. Her daughter had given her life to the Lord. A decision counselor came out with her daughter, shared the news, and said ‘Aren’t you so proud of her?’ The next thing I know, the young boy walks up, and he had given his life to the Lord, too.”
Buchanan asked the mother if she considered herself a believer. She looked down at the floor and answered in a hopeless tone.
“I failed too much,” she told him, giving him a laundry list of reasons why she was not worthy of being a Christian.
“I turned to her daughter and said, ‘Do you feel like your mom is a failure?’ She said, ‘No, I don’t.’”
Buchanan looked at the mother and said he was sure the most important thing to her was her children. “I said, ‘Look at your daughter and let her tell you what she thinks.’ It kind of got emotional. It took some convincing, walking through all that and spending more time with her. The testimony of her children was so important.”
He told her that it was no coincidence that God brought all three of them to the crusade. “She was willing to drive an hour and a half, and I don’t think it was just for the kids. I was able to lead her to the Lord.”
Buchanan said it was evidence that even though the crusade was over, the speaker had left the building and the 4,000 who attended were mostly gone, the Gospel was alive and the Holy Spirit was still working in lives.
“I pray there are more stories like that,” Buchanan said. “We were about ready to walk out the door and God said, ‘I’m not done yet.’”
Buchanan said the crusade, at which nearly 350 people made professions of faith, will have a rippling effect throughout Paducah for years to come. Watching the churches work hand in hand with each other since March proved that a cooperative spirit could bring about so much more.
“Seeing our church get behind that and then having the Kentucky Baptist Convention (Annual Meeting) here was so good for our people who were asking questions,” said Buchanan, whose church hosted the Hispanic festival that drew 250 participants. “Everyone was so kind. They felt valued getting to talk with the KBC folks, seeing Jesus’ grace through that. We’ve had several other conversations with people having a better understanding of how we are better together at making Jesus known. Seeing our church get behind that was so good.”
This article originally appeared in Kentucky Today.
