Church Planting

Students of Ouachita Hills College are actively involved in church plant project in Arkadelphia and Mt. Ida Arkansas.

If you would visit the Arkadelphia Seventh-day Adventist church plant on a typical Sabbath morning, you would find an enthusiastic friendly group of about forty. In the spring of 2004, a group of staff and students and OHC united their efforts to plant a church in Arkadelphia, a multi-racial city of just about 11,000 persons; nearly 40% of these are students at the two local universities, Henderson State and Ouachita Baptist. Our outreach activities in Arkadelphia have included door-to-door surveys, canvassing, community service days, personal and group Bible studies, music concerts, health seminars, and children’s programs. Since the fall of 2006, evangelistic series have been held in Arkadelphia every year. This year has been an exciting one in Arkadelphia: 7 of our Bible study contacts gave their lives to Christ in baptism. Eugene Prewitt, co-ordinator and founder of the Arkadelphia church plant, says “We’ve had zero apostasies, every member is active and we always have greater attendance than membership.” What is the key to their success? Active and earnest commitment from every member. The new members quickly catch the spirit of enthusiasm and the joy of evangelism. Already the newly baptized members are starting Bible studies with their neighbors and inviting their friends and relatives to church. Students speaking about their experience at Ouachita Hills College often speak of their work in the church plant as a highlight of their educational experience.