By Grace Thornton
The Alabama Baptist
About a year and a half ago, Bob Cox realized God was tapping him on the shoulder.
“I told a coworker, ‘You know, we have our briefing meetings. We should have prayer before,’” said Cox, a line worker for Pea River Electric Cooperative in Ozark.
So they did, for anyone who wanted to participate. It was a blessing, Cox said. So he decided he wanted to take it even further.
The next day he started a Bible study.
“I went before our board and asked if we could do it, and they said as long as it wasn’t connected to the company, we could,” he said. “I knew God was burdening me to do this.”
So Cox — who also serves as pastor of Spring Hill Baptist Church, Clio, in Barbour Baptist Association — has been gathering with a group of coworkers every Wednesday morning at 6:30 for the past year and a half.
Co-Ops for Christ
They call it Co-Ops for Christ. Sometimes they have special speakers and sometimes Cox leads it. They pray. They read a passage of Scripture. They talk about how to apply it to their lives. They encourage each other.
And they webcast it to anyone else who would like to be a part.
“We share it live every week through our Facebook page,” he said, noting that you can find it by looking up Co-Ops for Christ on Facebook. Their page has a white logo with a cross in the middle.
“In the time since we’ve started, we’ve been able to tell crews in other states about it as we’ve gone there to help after a storm,” Cox said. “We have some people in South Carolina who participate and some from North Alabama who watch too. We’ve had anywhere from 100 views to 2,000 views on any given week.”
On one recent week as the East Coast was bracing for Hurricane Florence, he read the passage about Jesus calming the storm and they prayed for people who were in the hurricane’s path to know the peace Christ offers. On another week, he taught the Three Circles method of sharing your faith with others.
“It’s been a blessing to be a part of,” Cox said. “I enjoy it. Our main goal in our job is to keep the lights on, and that’s our main goal as Christians too.”
That’s why they chose Matthew 5:16 as their group’s theme verse — “In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”
Don Hatcher, associational mission strategist for Barbour Association, said Cox is always looking for ways to share the gospel.
Reaching the lost
“He works with a group of men who respect his consistency in his Christian walk,” he said, noting that Cox told him his burden was to reach the lost and encourage believers at his workplace.
“Bob is making an impact by planting the seed of God’s Word, watering it and believing that God will honor his efforts to make an eternal difference in the lives of the men to whom he ministers,” Hatcher said.
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