Recently, I led “The Kingdom Study” with four women who were studying to become disciples. My heart was moved as I looked around the room and saw the eagerness of these women to have this pearl, the priceless Kingdom, God’s Church. The minor prophet, Micah prophesies about a major, life changing event in history, the establishment of God’s Kingdom and it’s incredible growth. Micah 4:1 says, “In the last days the mountain of the Lord’s temple will be established as chief among the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and peoples will stream to it.” That exact prophesy is also recorded in Isaiah 2:2. God’s desire and expectation has always been for his Kingdom to gather, worship in spirit and truth, and multiply for his glory! The result of the church glorifying God and proclaiming his name is many “peoples will stream to it.” As we strive to glorify God, disciples from all over the southeast United States are streaming to the Orlando International Christian Church, finding the hope, dream, and vision for God’s Kingdom that they had when they were first baptized. God has added to our number every week since our inaugural service just six weeks ago!

Paula Harpole, (on the left) from our former fellowship placed membership after attending our Inaugural Service. She had read our website about the great victories God is performing in the Orlando ICC, and came to see for herself. When she saw the zeal and passion the church has for glorifying God and saving the lost, she spent several hours praying at the beach. Paula read Revelation chapters 2 and 3, seeing for herself how important it is to God that we are wholehearted and souled out to Him individually and collectively as a church. She examined the height from which she had fallen in her love and commitment to God. Revelation 3:2 says, “Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die,”. Paula repented of her lukewarmness, compromise, and bitterness. She placed membership and has already baptized her best friend into Christ. Paula and our awesome brother Rob Deckard are now spearheading our new Singles Ministry.

Another great victory is the baptism of Joan Robillard, a campus student at Herzing College. Lisa Robillard, Joan’s aunt, brought her to our very first church service in February, but she was not ready to be a disciple. She stopped coming to church, but after her friend was killed in a motorcycle accident, she realized how fragile life is. She came back to church with an urgency to be right with God. After radically repenting, she was baptized into Christ a week later. Joan is very excited to share with all of her campus friends!

Mark 4:30-32 compares the Kingdom to a mustard seed, which is the smallest seed you can plant in the ground, but when it grows, it becomes the largest of all garden plants. Jesus says birds flock to it’s large branches to perch in its shade. People are so drawn to the Kingdom and God provides the increase. A great example of this is Charlene Fleischmann’s conversion story.

Anthony invited Charlene to our Inaugural Service, but she did not make it. A week later, we were having church in the park. When Charlene brought her nieces to the park to play, she sat down at a nearby table. While sitting there, she heard the Word being preached, joined us for lunch, and began studying the Bible. She was baptized into Christ 2 weeks ago and is fired up about God’s Kingdom. Now her mother is coming to church and wants to begin studying the Bible!

Another inspiring victory was the baptism of Matthew Vargus, a recent graduate of UCF. Ray Cholod, who was restored into Christ only 6 weeks ago, reached out to Matthew and brought him to Bible Talk. Anthony and I had shared with Matthew and his wife a couple of months ago, as well, so it was exciting to see Matthew study the Bible and get baptized in a week! Now, his wife Natalia is studying the Bible. Matthew was so urgent to be right with God that he was baptized at 3:30 am on Friday morning.

Sunday was truly a faith-building, inspiring day! Linda and Perry Tipton drove 8 hours from Athens, GA through the night to join us for church on sunday morning. They were encouraged by the challenging message Anthony preached on Running the Race to win the prize. After we all ate lunch together, the church went to the beach (which is only 35 minutes away), where we sang songs, shared, and baptized Marie Graeff in the Atlantic Ocean. We celebrated our awesome new sister’s baptism, enjoyed time in the fellowship, and studied that day with Marie’s teenage daughter, who wants to be a disciple! We also had a leader’s meeting on the beach, discussing our future plans for the church. Linda and Perry were so inspired by the faith and discipling in the church, as well as our vision for them, they have decided to move to Orlando next month to rekindle their dream to lead in God’s Kingdom. Linda will be our first spanish-speaking sister, and Perry has the heart of a Deacon by his unyielding servitude. We are so excited about their future in the Orlando ICC.

Please pray for our Special Missions Contribution on October 5th. Our goal is to raise $7,000, to support the mission in the Orlando ICC. Pray that God continues to exceed all our expectations and multiplies our efforts for His glory.

-Elizabeth Eckels