The Macon Telegraph
'Small Town Billy Graham' bringing crusade to Dublin
Rodney Manley, TELEGRAPH STAFF WRITER
Staging a crusade is a lot like getting a team ready for a college football game, says coach-turned evangelist Rick Gage.
Gage remembers the 15- to 18-hour days he put in as a coach at three colleges, including Texas Tech. The days might not be as long now, but there's still a lot of teamwork and game planning required.
"If the preparation has not been done properly, don't expect results. That is the key to a successful evangelism crusade - preparation," Gage said. "It's hard work. It takes a lot of time, a lot of effort. But it's worth it for every soul that is won."
That explains the half-dozen or so trips Gage will have made from his offices in Atlanta to Dublin by the time his next "Go Tell" crusade kicks off May 7 at the West Laurens High football stadium.
Gage, 48, has been dubbed the "Small Town Billy Graham" for his focus on smaller communities. For more than a decade, he has been filling football stadiums in communities ranging in population from 5,000 to 150,000.
"Our vision, our calling, is to do the Billy Graham-type crusade in the county-seat towns of America," said Gage. "There's a lot more Dublin, Georgias, than there are Atlanta, Georgias. People in small towns need Jesus just as much as big towns do."
Gage's father, Freddie Gage, has been a leading evangelist for a half-century, but his son had no plans of following his father into the pulpit. That was before attending a crusade by James Robison and, he said, surrendering "to Christ totally and completely."
He launched his own ministry in 1990. In addition to the crusades, Gage holds summer youth camps and has an overseas ministry that reaches into the former Soviet Union, helping at Russian orphanages and placing some children in U.S. homes.
His crusades often draw well-known guests speakers, including Robison, Jerry Falwell, Florida State coach Bobby Bowden and NFL Hall of Famer Mike Ditka.
Scheduled to speak at the Dublin crusade are Rick Stanley, the stepbrother of Elvis Presley, Pilgrim's Pride Corp. board chairman Bo Pilgrim, and Georgia Bulldogs players Blake Barnes and Brian Mimbs. Georgia coach Mark Richt and Georgia Tech coach Chan Gailey will share video testimony on a giant television screen.
He and his crusade staff also visit area prisons, youth homes and high schools. His "On Track" school assembly program uses a "secular message," he said, to discuss choices high-schoolers face with drugs, alcohol abuse, teen suicide and premarital sex.
"We need to remind these kids that they were brought into this world to be a winner in the game called life. We're here to tell them they can be winners, but it starts with making right choices, right decisions."
The Dublin crusade has been months in planning. Gage's crusade director also has made about a half-dozen trips down I-75 and I-16, meeting with "an army of lay leaders" from area churches.
The crusade runs from Sunday, May 7, through Wednesday, May 10. The final night will be geared toward youths, with the UGA players speaking and Gage serving up 350-400 free pizzas.
The "Pizza Blast" is idea borrowed from his father, who started offering free pizza at crusades during the 1960s.
"He knew the hippies would show up to eat free food."
IF YOU GO
What: Go Tell Crusade with evangelist Rick Gage
When: 7 p.m., May 7-10; Pizza Blast at 6 p.m., May 10
Where: West Laurens High football stadium, off Interstate 16 at U.S. 441, Dublin
Cost: Free
Phone: (478) 274-9470
Wednesday, April 26, 2006
Friday, April 21, 2006
Rick Gage Crusade Draws Crowds of More than 13,500
The Messenger
Hartsville, South Carolina
Rick Gage Crusade Draws Crowds of More than 13,500
Four-night event makes history in Hartsville
By Ruth McClellan
Rick Gage has often been labeled the Billy Graham of small town America. There are not many places you can go in Hartsville, South Carolina, which boasts 8,000 as its official population, where people are not still talking about the recent Tri-County Crusade with Evangelist Rick Gage at Kelleytown Stadium.
The local paper, The Messenger, reported the amazing event as drawing more than 13,500 of its citizens for the four-night crusade. By its conclusion, 660 spiritual decisions had been recorded, including 356 first-time professions of faith. More than 100 churches joined forces, forming 13 committees, working together to bring revival to their area.
“The powerful way God moved in this crusade with Rick Gage,” says Co-chairman Jack Westmoreland, “made it the most worthwhile, overwhelming experience of my life.” He chokes back tears as he continues, “It is hard to put into words glorious enough to do it justice. The Spirit of God swept through night after night, saving and changing lives. It is beyond anything I could have imagined this side of heaven.”
Youth night was the culmination of Gage’s outreach to young people of the area through his “On Track” School Assemblies. More than 5,000 students attended these assemblies where Gage talked about life’s choices and addressed issues such as drugs, alcohol abuse, and teen suicide.
The last night of the crusade ended with a youth pizza blast attended by over 1,700 young people. “Young people flooded the altars making decisions for Christ that last night,” said Counseling Chairman, Warren Arthur, of Lakeview Baptist. “We had 100 counselors standing by, but we needed 300. It was phenomenal how powerful and strong the Spirit of God was as the Lord worked in hearts. Many were saved who had no church affiliation at all.”
“As I left the stadium that night,” said Judy Lyles, Prayer Chairperson for the crusade, “I felt as if my heart would burst with thankfulness to God. My husband and three sons had been saved at the crusade. I was overwhelmed with an awesome sense that the work God began in this miraculous crusade will go on and on. We are praying seriously about that.”
Following the crusade, churches in three counties canceled their Sunday evening service plans to conduct testimony services. “We couldn’t do anything else,” said Pastor Gary Colbach of Emmanuel Baptist Church. “People are excited! We couldn’t stop talking about what God had done.
“Our school administrator, Jim Tritle, told us a moving story about one of the students from our Christian school whom he had had to expel the week before the crusade. He had been deeply burdened for that young man. The last night of the crusade someone tapped him on the back. There was that boy. He gave a powerful testimony about how he had never been saved but how the Lord had saved him that night. The glowing stories just went on and on.”
Several who attended the crusade remarked that they had never seen a spiritual awakening of this magnitude in their lives. “The only thing I can think of that could come anywhere close to it was when Freddie Gage, Rick Gage’s father, came here 30 years ago, in 1973” said Iris Rice. “I don’t remember much about the crusade except that many people were saved and a great impact was made at the high school.”
Co-chairman David McFarland of Jerusalem Baptist Church spoke of the exciting future of the Hartsville area, “The revival that was begun by this crusade will always continue. We are making sure of that. Barriers that had been forged for years with denominations and races were broken by the power of God. We are unified in our mission. We are praying together, meeting together, working together, contacting every person who made a decision for Christ and loving our city and our world to Christ.”
“The old-time gospel still works,” says Gage. “Crusade evangelism still works. Saturating our communities across America with the gospel must be done at all costs. It takes time, money, and involvement to reach lost people.”
Gage has witnessed more than 250,000 decisions for Christ through his many evangelistic outreaches in America and abroad. Rick Gage GO TELL Ministries include crusades, summer youth camps, school assemblies, one-day church revivals, and overseas mission trips.
For more information about Rick Gage GO TELL Ministries, please call 1-866-I-GO-TELL; email at info@gotellministries.com or visit his website at www.gotellministries.com.
McClellan is a writer for the Rick Gage Crusade team.
Hartsville, South Carolina
Rick Gage Crusade Draws Crowds of More than 13,500
Four-night event makes history in Hartsville
By Ruth McClellan
Rick Gage has often been labeled the Billy Graham of small town America. There are not many places you can go in Hartsville, South Carolina, which boasts 8,000 as its official population, where people are not still talking about the recent Tri-County Crusade with Evangelist Rick Gage at Kelleytown Stadium.
The local paper, The Messenger, reported the amazing event as drawing more than 13,500 of its citizens for the four-night crusade. By its conclusion, 660 spiritual decisions had been recorded, including 356 first-time professions of faith. More than 100 churches joined forces, forming 13 committees, working together to bring revival to their area.
“The powerful way God moved in this crusade with Rick Gage,” says Co-chairman Jack Westmoreland, “made it the most worthwhile, overwhelming experience of my life.” He chokes back tears as he continues, “It is hard to put into words glorious enough to do it justice. The Spirit of God swept through night after night, saving and changing lives. It is beyond anything I could have imagined this side of heaven.”
Youth night was the culmination of Gage’s outreach to young people of the area through his “On Track” School Assemblies. More than 5,000 students attended these assemblies where Gage talked about life’s choices and addressed issues such as drugs, alcohol abuse, and teen suicide.
The last night of the crusade ended with a youth pizza blast attended by over 1,700 young people. “Young people flooded the altars making decisions for Christ that last night,” said Counseling Chairman, Warren Arthur, of Lakeview Baptist. “We had 100 counselors standing by, but we needed 300. It was phenomenal how powerful and strong the Spirit of God was as the Lord worked in hearts. Many were saved who had no church affiliation at all.”
“As I left the stadium that night,” said Judy Lyles, Prayer Chairperson for the crusade, “I felt as if my heart would burst with thankfulness to God. My husband and three sons had been saved at the crusade. I was overwhelmed with an awesome sense that the work God began in this miraculous crusade will go on and on. We are praying seriously about that.”
Following the crusade, churches in three counties canceled their Sunday evening service plans to conduct testimony services. “We couldn’t do anything else,” said Pastor Gary Colbach of Emmanuel Baptist Church. “People are excited! We couldn’t stop talking about what God had done.
“Our school administrator, Jim Tritle, told us a moving story about one of the students from our Christian school whom he had had to expel the week before the crusade. He had been deeply burdened for that young man. The last night of the crusade someone tapped him on the back. There was that boy. He gave a powerful testimony about how he had never been saved but how the Lord had saved him that night. The glowing stories just went on and on.”
Several who attended the crusade remarked that they had never seen a spiritual awakening of this magnitude in their lives. “The only thing I can think of that could come anywhere close to it was when Freddie Gage, Rick Gage’s father, came here 30 years ago, in 1973” said Iris Rice. “I don’t remember much about the crusade except that many people were saved and a great impact was made at the high school.”
Co-chairman David McFarland of Jerusalem Baptist Church spoke of the exciting future of the Hartsville area, “The revival that was begun by this crusade will always continue. We are making sure of that. Barriers that had been forged for years with denominations and races were broken by the power of God. We are unified in our mission. We are praying together, meeting together, working together, contacting every person who made a decision for Christ and loving our city and our world to Christ.”
“The old-time gospel still works,” says Gage. “Crusade evangelism still works. Saturating our communities across America with the gospel must be done at all costs. It takes time, money, and involvement to reach lost people.”
Gage has witnessed more than 250,000 decisions for Christ through his many evangelistic outreaches in America and abroad. Rick Gage GO TELL Ministries include crusades, summer youth camps, school assemblies, one-day church revivals, and overseas mission trips.
For more information about Rick Gage GO TELL Ministries, please call 1-866-I-GO-TELL; email at info@gotellministries.com or visit his website at www.gotellministries.com.
McClellan is a writer for the Rick Gage Crusade team.
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