2007 Annie Armstrong Easter Offering

NAMB photo by John K Swain

North American Mission Board resort missionary Jeff Ford (left) plans beach evangelism strategy with summer missionaries Derrick Fields (center) and Matt Goins on the beach at Gulf Shores, Ala. Some six million people visit Alabama’s Gulf Coast beaches each season—only 30 percent of them are Christians, according to Ford.

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GULF SHORES/ORANGE BEACH, ALA. (NAMB)—The Gulf Coast of Alabama is blessed with a usually warm, emerald-green ocean for swimming and sugar-white, soft-sand beaches for sunning. It's a paradise that draws 6 million people a year, but 70 percent of them don't know Christ.

Jeff and Thea Ford are North American Mission Board (NAMB) resort missionaries who head up Gulf Area Resort Ministries in the twin resort cities of Gulf Shores and Orange Beach, Ala., located right on the Gulf of Mexico. Jeff's ministry is supported not only by NAMB, but also by the Baldwin Baptist Association and the Alabama State Board of Missions.

Someone once told me that lost people are most open to the Gospel two times in their lives," Ford says. "The number one time is during a crisis. And the second time is during times of recreation, leisure or vacation."

The Fords are only two of more than 5,300 missionaries in the United States, Canada and their territories supported by the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering for North American Missions. He's one of eight Southern Baptist missionaries highlighted as part of the annual Week of Prayer. The 2007 Annie Armstrong Easter Offering's goal is $57 million, 100 percent of which is used for missionaries like the Fords.

NAMB photo

Jeff Ford, a resort missionary, preaches during a worship service at Gulf Breeze Resort.

Ford's ministry varies in focus depending on the season of the year.

Fall and winter on the Alabama Gulf Coast attract senior adults—"snowbirds" as Ford affectionately calls them—from the north and midwest, who come south to the Gulf for up to six months to escape harsh winters back home.

"During our snowbird ministry in the winter, we hold worship services at local campgrounds and have a bicycle club where Thea and I ride bikes with the snowbirds, just trying to build relationships," he said. "We may have 200 of them at a worship service."

But Ford's busiest time of year is spring break and summer, when college, high school and junior high students—and kids with their families—swarm the Alabama Gulf Coast beaches.

Starting with a web site called www.barefootbelievers.com and a NAMB-developed program called "Innovators," the Fords use a myriad of methods to creatively spread the Gospel on the beaches. "Barefoot Believers" comes from Romans 10:15, where Paul refers to a verse in Isaiah that says, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring the Good News."

"We spend a lot of time barefoot on the beach—handing out bottles of water, Frisbees with the Gospel message imprinted on them, setting up face-painting and hair-wrap booths or feeding people cold watermelon," Ford said. "We just want to have a presence."

Ford says his spring and summer ministry also uses worship services, Christian music concerts, backyard Bible clubs and other forms of beach evangelism.

NAMB photo by John K. Swain

Thea and Jeff Ford are North American Mission Board resort missionaries operating the Gulf Area Resort Ministries in the Gulf Coast beach cities of Gulf Shores and Orange Beach, Ala.

"Last year, we worked with about 1,000 Barefoot Believers. These were senior adults, adults, families on mission trips and a lot of students—from college-aged down to junior high-aged."

Ford also uses teams of "Innovators," college-students for whom he finds summer jobs in the Gulf Shores or Orange Beach areas. They may work most of the day in a local hotel, resort or tourist attraction, and then spend the rest of their day supporting Ford's ministry by witnessing or teaching Bible studies to children at a local hotel, condo or resort.

"A lot of college students say, 'I can't be a summer missionary because I have to work and earn some money for school,'" Ford said. NAMB's Innovators program allows them to do both.

"A lot of the spring break and summer folks are dealing with addiction and the emptiness that comes from a life without Christ," he said. "I remember that life—10 or 12 years ago—when my life was a mess. God can take such a messed-up life and make it beautiful. I'm able to share with them the hope that I found in Christ. I think that's why God placed me here."

Escape and denial are two traits Ford consistently spots in visitors to the Gulf.

"People, of course, come to the beach on vacation to try to find a little peace and quiet—some peace of mind. They want their kids to escape from life for awhile and have a fun time. But the fact is, if they don't have a relationship with Christ, they're not going to find that real peace and experience the best for their families because Christ is not in the equation of their lives," he said.

"Just the idea that someone can run away from their problems because they're on vacation won't work. A lot of people on vacation are running from someone or something. The problems they try to escape from on vacation—the problems they want to leave behind—follow them to the beach."

Ford said the emptiness that people feel in their lives can actually grow stronger while on vacation because they have fewer distractions to take their minds off their troubles and more time to think.

How important is the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering to the Fords and their ministry?

"The Annie Armstrong offering lets me do what God has called me to do and without hindrance," Ford said. "So many of my missionary friends aren't affiliated with Annie Armstrong and spend probably 50-75 percent of their time raising money themselves. And although they're doing wonderful ministry, I think this prevents a lot of ministry because they're always wondering and worried about the money coming in.

"I don't have to worry about the money or the food on the table or the clothes on my back like they do. I think God has allowed the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering—through Southern Baptists working together—to accomplish mighty things. The hearts and minds of missionaries are freed up so that we can be more effective and healthy in our ministry and in our families."