A Mississippi church that once struggled with decline baptized 59 people during a week of revival in August, as its outreach drew families, students and college athletes.
According to The Baptist Record, First Baptist Poplarville’s concluding revival service at Pearl River Community College ended with 52 people being baptized in concrete troughs outside the Brownstone Theater.
Children, families and athletes entered the water one after another. Some students used FaceTime to let their parents watch, while friends held phones to capture the baptisms live.
“We were in awe of those young people who were so ready to make the commitment and be baptized right then and there,” Pastor Kipp Smith told The Baptist Record.
The parking lot baptisms began with a suggestion from guest evangelist Ronnie Hill. College President Adam Breerwood approved the plan, coaches helped bring in two 12-foot concrete troughs and the Poplarville Fire Department filled them.
Six people had been baptized at the church the previous evening. The following Sunday, another young man responded and was baptized after Hill encouraged Smith to have the church baptistry filled in advance.
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The response followed years of persistence.
When Smith became pastor, First Baptist Poplarville had about 80 members and lacked direction. He began cultivating a culture of revival, continuing the gatherings even when attendance was minimal and decisions were few.
Smith said God had given him a vision of an outreach at Brownstone. After nearly six years of holding revivals, the church pursued that opportunity. It has now concluded its revival there three consecutive years.
The campus location expanded its reach. The entire college football team attended, along with other athletes, churches and youth groups.
Preparation included testimonies of transformed lives, discipleship gatherings and 24 hours of prayer. Smith reported approximately 250 to 300 salvations over the years, most occurring after the concluding service moved offsite.
“But isn’t that like God to go, ‘We’re going to touch the world, but we’re going to do it in a small town’?” Smith said.
America desperately needs revival. We pray that the hunger for Jesus taking root in Poplarville spreads across the country, drawing people to repentance and stirring churches to preach the Gospel with renewed boldness.
James Lasher, a seasoned writer and editor at Charisma Media, combines faith and storytelling with a journalism background from Otterbein University and ministry experience in Guatemala and at the LA Dream Center. A Marine Corps and Air Force veteran, he is the author of The Revelation of Jesus: A Common Man’s Commentary and a contributor to Charisma magazine. For interviews and media inquiries, please contact [email protected].
