When Todd Unzicker, the new executive director-treasurer for the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina, asked North Carolina Baptist churches to celebrate “Fill the Tank” on Sept. 12, 2021, Red Bud Baptist Church in Castalia was inspired to accept the challenge.

We registered as a participating church and began praying that God would allow us to celebrate new life in Christ with several new believers that day.

The past year has been a time of tremendous blessing as God filled the church with unity, an outward focus evidenced in new highs in missions giving, and an expectation that God was going to do things that are unexplainable in human terms. We want to be in the center of God’s plan by bringing Him glory, blessing and preserving our community, and making disciples.

It didn’t take long for God to give our church reason to celebrate.

One Sunday in June, the wife of a church member, a devoted follower of Christ and a charter member of a sister church, came saying that she wanted to join the Red Bud Baptist Church family.

The next week a young woman whose fiancé is a church member also joined.

We want to be in the center of God’s plan.

God was strengthening our church family through healthy additions. We were excited and kept praying for new believers. Our commitment was that on Sept. 12, as churches across the state celebrate new life in Christ, we would celebrate with them.

On Aug. 1, the first day of the “Fill the Tank” prayer emphasis, a young man named Colton stepped forward to share that he has committed his life to Christ and wants to celebrate his baptism on Sept. 12.

Praise God for the movement of His Spirit. There will be water in the tank at Red Bud Baptist Church on Sept. 12. Other parents are excited about what God is doing in their children’s lives as well and expect that several of them will make their decisions public in the next few weeks.

The glory of the Lord will shine brightly on Sept. 12 as churches all across the state celebrate new life. We are overjoyed that we will “Fill the Tank” on Sept. 12 and we hope you will too. In fact, Red Bud Baptist Church is praying for your church to have the most incredible celebration of new life you have ever had.