A Ministry of Bakersfield Street Church

“Because Everybody Ought To Know.”

On March 1, 2006, Street Evangelist Tom Alexander began walking the streets of Bakersfield, California carrying a 60 pound, 10 by 5 foot cross for all to see. The threefold purpose of Cross Walk Bakersfield is:

1. To present the cross of Jesus Christ as God’s plus sign to the men, women and children living in Bakersfield. There is not one thing negative about the cross of Jesus Christ. The cross of Jesus Christ turns everything it touches into something good and positive. One sinner plus God’s plus sign, the cross, equals one forgiven sinner. One addict plus God’s plus sign equals a brand new lease on life.

2. To proclaim the name above all names, Jesus Christ, to everyone who passes by and who comes up to the Crossman and asks why he’s carrying the large cross.

3. To “street” pray in the name of Jesus Christ for Bakersfield’s 329,000 residents, that citywide revival and great awakening take place before this decade comes to a close.

BAKERSFIELD, CALIFORNIA

An All American City In Need Of An Almighty God

Just like Anytown, USA, Bakersfield is a city with its pluses and minuses, but nothing that the cross of Jesus Christ, God’s plus sign, can’t fix. Located in the San Joaquin Valley some 100 miles northeast of Los Angeles, the city’s racial composition is made up of about 43 percent Hispanic, 42 percent White, 8 percent Black, and 7 percent other ethnic groups and races.

Bakersfield has a mayor and is divided into seven wards or districts represented and administered by seven elected council members. The city has about 1,200 square miles of streets with fifty-four official neighborhoods. Some 365 police officers are assigned to twenty-five official police beats located throughout greater Bakersfield.

Some 65,000 K-12th graders attend 125 elementary, junior and senior high schools in metro Bakersfield. Unfortunately, and just like so many other American cities, the city of Bakersfield has a sizable gang presence, with thirteen major street gangs fighting for and maintaining gang and drug turf to expand their numbers and influence.