Churches prepare to reach thousands at widespread fall Go Tell America Crusade

Published 11:00 am Wednesday, July 30, 2025

Churches in and around Lincoln County are working together to offer a free-to-attend gospel crusade in October. 

On Sunday-Wednesday, Oct. 19-22, at 7 p.m. nightly, the Go Tell America Crusade will take place at King’s Field, the Brookhaven High School football arena. 

The multi-night effort will feature professional musicians, speakers, and a Christ-centered atmosphere, with a focus on reaching school-aged children and teenagers Wednesday. It’s all spearheaded by evangelist Rick Gage, a former football coach.

When Gage was coaching running backs for Liberty University, he had ambitions of being the next Tom Landry or Nick Saban. But God had other plans for him.

It was 1986, and Gage had been on the coaching staff for two years, having joined not long after committing his life to Christ in January 1984, in his mid-20s. He was now in the middle of Dr. Jerry Falwell Sr.’s worldwide evangelistic ministry base in Lynchburg, Virginia. Falwell was building Liberty Baptist College, which later became Liberty University.

In his two years on staff, Gage said God began to remove the ambition and passion for coaching football from his heart, and replace it with a passion to preach the gospel of Jesus as an evangelist. He was familiar with what it would take — his father, Freddie Gage, was a well-known evangelist who conducted many crusades in the 1950s and 1960s 

After seeking the input of Falwell and other men he respected, Gage resigned his position as a coach and took advantage of a scholarship to the Liberty seminary, provided by Falwell himself. 

“And I’ve been on what I call the sawdust trail since 1986,” Gage said. “It’s been an incredible journey, and really, I believe I’m just getting started … I’m 67, and I feel like I’m just getting into my prime … I got saved on Sunday night, Jan. 15, 1984, at a James Robison evangelistic rally, and I’m not so sure that night at the altar that God didn’t call me (to preach) that night, and I just didn’t know it … but here I am.”

In his first semester of seminary, evangelist Dr. Bailey Smith asked Gage to consider joining him at his crusades to help reach teens. He eagerly said yes and after just one campaign joined Smith’s staff full-time for four to five years. 

“And I’ve had the honor to be with Dr. (Billy) Graham in a couple of his stadium crusades, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, back in the early ’90s,” said Gage. “So, I believe that crusade evangelism is one of many methods to reach people for Christ. I heard Dr. Graham say years ago that a bicycle wheel has many spokes, but they all lead to the center. A crusade evangelism is one of those many spokes to reach people for Christ.”

Crusades are successful, if the preparation and leadership are in place, the evangelist said. A recent crusade in Denham Springs, Louisiana, with 45 churches involved in the planning and execution, saw more than 13,000 people attend over the four nights, and more than 1,300 people make decisions for Jesus. In a recent small-town Texas event, more than 5,000 people attended and more than 700 decisions were made for Christ. The fall 2023 Brandon Amphitheater event brought the largest crowd the venue had ever seen, with more than 11,000 in attendance on the final night — more than 30,000 were there over the course of the event. Approximately 2,000 people made decisions to follow Christ during that campaign.

“You get out of it what you put into it,” Gage said. “And we have learned over the years that it’s a lot easier to get a lost person to come to a football stadium to hear the gospel than it is to come to our church sanctuaries on Sunday morning. That is the crowd these campaigns are reaching for and going after. This is not a pep rally for the saints of Lincoln County, Mississippi. This is an opportunity for the people of God to bring their lost friends and family members, co-workers, classmates, to a neutral site to hear a clear presentation of the gospel, where God can radically impact their hearts and lives for His honor, for His glory.”

The need to hear the good news of Jesus is huge across America, said Gage, with most communities today being made up of 70-90 percent unchurched, lost individuals. 

“The need for this type of campaign and the need to reach people for Christ has never been greater.”

So Gage said the three greatest things the people of God can do to prepare for the campaign are: pray, pray, and pray. The next thing is to use their gifts, skills and talents to volunteer and work on teams to prepare for the campaign — youth, outreach, publicity, set-up, counseling, etc. Approximately 500 people are needed to help counsel anyone who makes a decision on the nights of the crusade. Training will be provided to anyone who volunteers. Everyone who makes a decision will also have follow-up to do what Jesus commanded in the Great Commission — “make disciples, teaching them” — Gage said. 

“Pray, pray, pray … invite, invite, invite … (and) follow-up, follow-up, follow-up.”

Every night of the crusade, attendees will be able to feel that it has been bathed in prayer, said Gage.

Banquet

The Kick-Off Banquet will be 6:30-8:30 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 11, at Lincoln Civic Center.  The dinner sets the tone for the crusade and is the central fundraising effort that makes everything possible. It’s the place where the Go Tell vision will be cast for everyone to understand.

“The banquet has a two-fold purpose. Number one, we want to raise human resources. You’ve got 500-plus people there that night (who will be) challenged … to serve and use their gifts and talents on all the different preparation teams,” Gage said. “Secondly, we’re trying to raise financial resources. There’s a cost involved to put on this campaign. There was a cost involved for our salvation — the cross, where Jesus paid it all, paid for our sin in full.”

Volunteer training will follow on the very next night at 6:30 p.m. at Lincoln Baptist Association, on Halbert Heights Road. The training will give everyone a clear overview of the teams and exactly what is expected in the roles that will support the crusade and help guide people to faith in Christ. 

Youth night

The final night of the crusade, Wednesday, Oct. 22, will focus on the youth of the area. A pre-crusade Youth Rally will have taken place on Sept. 24 in conjunction with the annual See You At the Pole prayer focus. Free pizza, worship music and possibly giveaways will all be part of the night. 

“ON TRACK” motivational rallies will also be conducted at area schools in the days leading up that final night. These rallies are not religious programs, but are all about making right choices.

“This has nothing to do with religion, but it has everything to do with being a winner in the game of life,” Gage said. “And taking a stand against anything that could ruin or destroy your future, your mind, or your body.”

Get behind the effort

Gage wants pastors in the area to know this is not a job for them to attempt to accomplish on their own, but they should take advantage of the influence of their pulpits to encourage others to get involved. Every church needs to have the mindset that this is all for the glory of God, and then it will have the impact it needs to have, he said.

“This is not a Baptist event, right? This is not a Methodist event. This is not a Pentecostal event. This is all about Jesus,” Gage said. “And we’re calling on the family of God, the people of God, to come together in unity, for one purpose, to reach every unsaved soul that we can with the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. There’s no hidden agenda.”

The crusade was introduced to Southwest Mississippi after the success of the Brandon campaign, when Gage and his staff contacted Lincoln Baptist Association Mission Strategist David Williams. 

“I had a burden on my heart about how I could reach Lincoln County for the cause of Christ across denominational and racial lines,” Williams said. 

When Gage contacted him, Williams took it as confirmation from God and seized the opportunity. 

“We have an opportunity to make an impact in Lincoln County like we’ve never seen before,” said Williams. “Let’s let go, let God, and say yes to see people come together for the cause of Christ. I don’t want any more of our young people to die, by gun violence, suicide, etc. This can be the beginning of a change across the board with our young people, families, etc. The time is urgent. We’re closer today than we were yesterday to the end of times.”

With participation from other churches in Pike and Franklin counties, involvement is open to every Christian. The cost — a projected $135,000 — will not be spent to pay Rick Gage or Go Tell Ministries, but will be spent on equipment, travel for speakers and musicians, etc. Every penny is accounted for and those records are transparent, Williams said. 

“If we have 500 professions of faith, that’s less than $300 spent on each to determine if that person has a future in heaven or hell,” said Williams. “That’s definitely worth it.”

Whether people can participate on a team or give financially doesn’t eliminate anyone from serving, Williams said. 

“Because everybody can pray.”