Sunshine? Check. Tacos? Check. Awesome people who love Jesus? Check. All of these things were present during our trip to visit our friends at Harvest. You may be familiar with Harvest because of their crusades, which have reached millions of people all over the world with the gospel. We love hearing how God is using Pastor Greg and the rest of the Harvest team to reach the ends of the earth, but Harvest isn’t focused solely on crusades. During our conversation with their team, it was apparent to us that Harvest has a strong heart for the local church as well. In fact, the success of Harvest Crusades would be impossible without a) the power of Jesus (duh!) and b) the help of local churches.
If you aren’t familiar with Harvest Crusades, they are essentially large-scale events held at stadiums around North America that feature worship music from popular artists, a clear, gospel-centered message from Pastor Greg Laurie, and an invitation to receive Christ as Lord and Savior. After the message, Pastor Greg invites those who have made a profession of faith to come down from their seats to receive prayer. Since the inception of Harvest Crusades in 1990, almost 500,000 people have made a profession of faith in Jesus Christ. So awesome, right?! But what happens to those people after the event?
This is where the local church comes into play. In addition to putting on huge crusades, Harvest also is a local church, with congregation spread throughout Southern California and Hawaii. On top of that, Harvest also teams up with local churches in each city where a crusade is hosted to follow up with new believers after they have received Christ. Once a person comes to the front of the stage after making a profession of faith, they are connected with a Decision Follow-Up worker who prays with them and gives them a free Bible. The Follow-Up worker documents that person’s decision to follow Christ, and at the end of the evening, that documentation is shared with local churches that Harvest partners with. Each local church connects with the new believers within 48 hours, giving them information about how to learn more about Jesus and how to get connected to a local congregation.
We love the work that Harvest is doing and we are super thankful for our partnership with Pastor Greg and their team. Check out this video to learn more about what Harvest does and their heart for reaching the ends of the earth with the good news of Jesus: