In early 2022, Rob Ketterling, lead pastor of River Valley Church in Minneapolis, asked Assemblies of God General Treasurer Wilfredo “Choco” De Jesús what he would do with a $150,000 gift. De Jesús quickly responded that he would invest the money in evangelization efforts across four American cities.

Ketterling, who serves on the 21-member AG Executive Presbytery with De Jesús, came through with the money from his church. As a result, Seek and Save outreaches took place in Yuma, Arizona, and Chicago during 2022. This past spring, two more followed in Detroit and Newark, New Jersey.

Named for Christ’s mission statement in Luke 19:10, Seek and Save involves local congregations partnering with AG districts. With additional funding from constituents, congregations, and affiliates, the Seek and Save tour is spreading to seven cities and regions this summer and fall: St. Louis; Columbus, Ohio; Aurora, Colorado; Southern California; Memphis, Tennessee; Los Angeles; and Oklahoma City.

Another two cities — Tampa, Florida, and Charlotte, North Carolina — will be targeted early next year, with an additional 10 on the drawing board for 2024.

The collaborative efforts bring hope to communities as AG churches and ministries, in conjunction with nongovernmental charities, provide spiritual and material help to under-resourced neighborhoods. The five-day campaigns in urban areas mobilize church volunteers, Chi Alpha Campus Ministries team members, FREE International staff, Youth Alive student missionaries, and Convoy of Hope workers.

De Jesús believes the comprehensive ministry is especially necessary in metro areas. In recent decades, church planting and revitalization have tended to focus on growing suburbs instead.

“We think people are going to come to our church just because we’re in that community, but that’s not so,” De Jesús says. “So we need to go out like Jesus did and find those who are lost.”

De Jesús is familiar with urban ministry. Before starting his national post in 2019, he spent 19 years as senior pastor of New Life Covenant (AG) in Chicago. The megachurch regularly ministers to people in crisis, including the homeless, prostitutes, drug addicts, and victims of violence.

“America has drifted, and the answer to that drift is the Church of Jesus Christ,” De Jesús says. “We need to go out into the streets, be present, and pray for folks.”

De Jesús says he didn’t want to go to comfortable spots, but instead chose locales in desperate need of the gospel. At the Chicago Seek and Save last year, 68 congregations came together and more than 400 people accepted Christ as Savior.

One aim of each outreach is revitalizing an existing church or planting a new one so ongoing ministry results.

Before an event, trained U.S. Missions prayer teams from Chi Alpha, Adult & Teen Challenge USA, and elsewhere mobilize for intercession. Pastors seek the cooperation and input of local officials, including the police chief, mayor, and school principals.

“America has drifted, and the answer to
that drift is the Church of Jesus Christ.”
— Wilfredo “Choco”
De Jesús

“We must engage agencies that exist in the community and bring them together,” De Jesús says. “Collaboration is crucial for the local church to have some sort of meaning.”

Each Seek and Save experience starts on a Tuesday and goes through Friday, involving 50 teams of five individuals canvassing neighborhoods, walking the streets, knocking on residential doors, connecting with business owners, and offering to pray with people.

Prayer team members ride metro buses and trains in an effort to engage residents. Missionaries with FREE International (an AG U.S. Missions organization combating human trafficking) work with local law enforcement authorities. Youth Alive teams conduct assemblies in local schools.

The culmination of each outreach is a Saturday block party. This includes grocery distribution, inflatables for kids, live music, a clear presentation of the gospel, and opportunities for visitors to receive prayer.

From his experience as a pastor in America’s third largest city, De Jesús knows a presentation of the gospel may not be effective without accompanying compassion. As an example, he recalls New Life Covenant helping a homeless family that lived under a bridge.

“They needed blankets, they needed something to eat, they needed clothes, they needed shoes,” De Jesús says. “For me to go in there with a bullhorn and start preaching is not what they needed at the time. The gospel and compassion work together.”

By ministering to physical needs, a church gains credibility in the community, according to De Jesús.

The first Hispanic member of the AG’s Executive Leadership Team, De Jesús says the Seek and Save ministry makes a concerted effort to bring together Hispanic, Black and white churchgoers.

“We want to galvanize the churches of those particular cities, go out for one week, and throw the seed of the gospel — the seed of bringing hope and love to people,” De Jesús says.

Temple Rock Community Church (AG) in Newark served as the hub church for the Seek and Save outreach in New Jersey’s most populous city in June. Pastor Pablo Pizarro Jr. says the collaboration allowed the inner-city church to expand existing efforts, including its food pantry and grocery distribution ministries.

A church of 500 regular attendees, Temple Rock partners with seven schools in Newark’s North Ward, providing everything from uniforms to drinking water for students. Thus, the church had access to those schools to conduct Youth Alive rallies with speakers during Seek and Save.

On-the-spot baptisms took place during the Saturday block party. Twenty individuals won free bicycles — which they picked up the following day during a Temple Rock service.

“We reached out to the marginalized, the lost, the disenfranchised, prostitutes, the hurting,” Pizarro says. “There will be lasting fruit from this. The Lord himself tells us the harvest is plentiful. The Assemblies of God helped turn the soil.”

Pizarro says national executives coming to the inner city to serve impressed him, as did De Jesús getting his hands dirty by driving a forklift.

De Jesús brought his bent for compassion from the pulpit to the AG national office. As general treasurer, he has spearheaded summits on human trafficking, foster care, and disaster relief that have spurred participants to join forces.

This article appears in the Summer 2023 issue of Influence magazine.