A going ministry for a coming savior – that’s how Bradley Harrington of Liberty, Texas, describes the new Christian non-profit organization he founded named Outrider Ministries for Christ. The stated mission of the group is to “encourage the disheartened, proclaim the message of Christ, serve those in need, and pray for you.”
“It’s a four-pillar mission focused on sharing the message of Jesus Christ and the word of God,” said Harrington. “Specially, we want to laser focus our efforts on encouragement, evangelization service, and prayer.”
Harrington moved to Liberty County back in 2000 to serve as the editor and publisher of The Vindicator and the Anahuac Progress newspapers. Then, for the past 11 years, he worked as a reporter and on-air personality for KSHN Radio. An award-winning journalist, he’s been in the news business for more than 25 years.
“It’s time for me to stop reporting the news of the day and, instead, start reporting on and telling the Good News,” he said. “With that in mind, Outrider Ministries will use our online presence to focus on telling stories of faith as well as accounts of God’s love, forgiveness, healing, power, pursuit, and grace. In addition, our website will include weekly devotionals as well as teachings on prayer and powerful personal testimonies of the impact of Jesus Christ and God’s word on people’s daily lives.”
Harrington said it’s all designed to be an encouragement to those people whose stories the ministry tells and a spur to action for others to create a story of faith with their own lives.
“Matthew 5:16 says to ‘let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven’,” said Harrington. “The objective of our stories of faith is to shine a spotlight on those people whose lives are truly a beacon leading others to glorify God. It’s a positive way to encourage Christians to live out their faith with actions that ultimately bring glory to the Creator.”
In addition to the online efforts, Outrider Ministries has an evangelistic component, or as Harrington puts it, “We are committed to boldly proclaiming the word of God, both on the internet and in our personal encounters along the highways, byways, streets, and back-alleys of this world. We long to spread the gospel – the Good News of Christ. While we willingly do that anywhere and everywhere possible, we are committed to one-on-one evangelism, street ministry, and targeted evangelistic outreach.”
In regards to the service component of the mission statement, Outrider is specially committed to bringing attention to the plight of the homeless while also reaching out with resource kits, needed supplies, and encouragement.
“There are more than half a million homeless people in our nation, and some nine percent of those are military veterans,” he points out. “We not only want to serve these hurting and lonely people but also encourage the church to reach out and lend a helping hand to our neighbors who happen to sleep in shelters and on the streets at night.”
The final part of Outrider’s mission is focused on prayer.
“That includes teaching about the important Christian discipline, encouraging others to petition God, and actively praying for those who need our daily intervention. In addition, one category on our website is called ‘Spur to Action’, and it brings attention to areas of concern within society while calling on Christians to unite in intercession seeking God’s intervention while also considering what we can do with our own lives to improve the situation.”
Harrington graduated from West Texas A&M University and has additional studies at the University of Texas in Austin, Texas A&M University and Texas Tech. After earning his bachelor’s degree from WT, he worked for IBM before attending Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary where he focused his master’s level divinity studies on missions. Through the years, Harrington has also served a youth pastor at two churches. Now, after more than 25 years as a journalist, he has founded Outrider Ministries for Christ and serves as the non-profit group’s board president.
As for the origin of the ministry’s name, Harrington said it harkens back to the American West. The outrider was the cowboy who went after strays that escaped in the brush.
“While others stayed with the herd, the outrider concerned himself with the ones that drifted away, got lost, and were separated,” he said. “It reminds us of Jesus’ teaching in Luke 15:4-7 where he talks about the shepherd leaving the 99 sheep in the wilderness to track down the one which is lost and then calling all of his friends and neighbors together to rejoice when the lost sheep is found.”
Learn more about the newly formed ministry and keep up with their stories of faith, other writings, podcasts, and video productions online at www.outriderministries.org. Harrington also encourages everyone to follow the group on Facebook at Outrider Ministries and on Twitter via @iamOutrider.
Anyone interested in making a financial contribution to the newly formed ministry to aid in their work can send a check to Outrider Ministries for Christ, P.O. Box 1578, Liberty, Texas 77575.