When Taylor Choate accepted an invitation 11 months ago to pastor an Assembly of God church in southeast Texas, it had dwindled to just two widows. Now, it’s grown to a congregation of 30 and is making a major impact on the small town and its residents.

“When he came to our community, he hit the ground running — he has made a huge impact,” states Daisetta mayor Eric Thaxton, who notes the growth and impact of Harvest Church in their city over the past year. “His outreach ministry is just wonderful. He is very much involved in our community.”

Some of that impact was felt last month when Daisetta and nearby Hull faced a water crisis, due to a mechanical break that occurred 200 feet below ground on Oct. 6. It left the communities with no water pressure, much less water to drink.

Although the well was repaired within days, the process for making the water drinkable continued on for nearly two weeks, with authorities struggling to get bottled water in significant quantity into the communities for the roughly 1,500 residents.

Choate reached out to nonprofit group Convoy of Hope, whom he knew had provided water to many Florida communities in the wake of recent hurricanes. Shortly after, a representative was able to offer 18 pallets of water for the small town. 

The pastor confirmed with Thaxton that the city could use the water, who was thrilled with the prospect. At that point, the cities had been without potable water for 11 days.

On October 15, the Convoy of Hope truck arrived early that Saturday morning—but instead of the 18 pallets promised, the driver unloaded 27 pallets of water at the church to bless and distribute to the community.

“My first thought was, Where are we going to put 27 pallets of water today?” Choate admits with a laugh. “But we didn’t have time to figure it out because we already had a line of vehicles ready to receive the cases of water.”

Since the church had earlier scheduled a workday for that Saturday, volunteers were readily available to help with the water distribution – loading vehicles with cases of water. Throughout the morning hours, 10 pallets of water were given away. The school, which needed water for students, was given seven of the pallets.

“In the afternoon, we gave out nearly seven more pallets of water — after church on Sunday and into the evening, there was only one pallet left, which the city picked up on Monday morning.” The resources came right on time.

Ethan Forhetz, national spokesperson for Convoy of Hope, said in a statement: “We know the importance of clean drinking water, so when we heard of the problem, we immediately worked on ways to get a truckload of bottled water to people who needed it.”

More than water

Choate, who lives with his wife Morgan, and 3-year-old daughter, Matilda, is a bivocational minister — teaching geometry at a nearby high school.

Since he accepted the pastorate about 10 months ago, he has been excited for the church body to become an active and integrated part of the local community. That emphasis played a role in renaming the Daisetta church, from First Assembly of God to Harvest Church.

“We’ve done big food drives, giving out food boxes to help 200 families each time, we gave out 65 backpacks filled with school supplies to kids who needed them,” Choate says. “We also have little block parties, where we provide free hot dogs and things like that.”

That community outreach emphasis has been a key factor in drawing people to the church who have the same passion.

He says he told his two congregants at the beginning of this year: “If this church dies, it is going to die while we are working in the harvest field. But if it is going to revive, it will be because we committed to working in the field before us.” Now they’re a body of 30 and growing.

The town mayor, who attends a local Baptist church, said they are tackling community needs together. “I just love what he’s doing for our community,” Thaxton says. “We all know it’s God’s will that put it on his heart, and our community has been blessed for it.”

Choate posts regular social media updates on the church’s latest outreaches and receives enthusiastic responses from the community. And be believes the future “harvest” requires more laborers in their church field.

“I’m praying for kids’ workers, nursery workers, youth workers, and worship leaders,” he says. “We need Spirit-empowered workers to labor with us . . . people who are willing to listen to God’s call to go to the hard places and revitalize churches and communities for Christ.”

Josh Shepherd contributed to this article, which was originally published at AG News.

Dan Van Veen based in Springfield, Missouri, is news editor of AG News.