All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had. With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all. (Acts 4:32-33)
The Winter Workshop of the Orlando International Christian Church was wind beneath our wings as we dive into 2010 with faithful expectations. During the workshop we were reminded of the Biblical mission of all of the sold-out discipling churches in our movement: to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ to all the world! We reflected on the incredible victories of 2009:
*The Orlando ICC tripled in number during 2009 through baptisms and restorations!
*We collected over $19,000 in our Special Missions Contribution to support local missions: Orlando!
*We spearheaded our UCF Campus Ministry and raised up Corey Jones to lead Campus Bible Talks!
*We prayed for God to set up the West for a Bible Talk and John Goss was baptized in May and June Fisher moved here from Georgia in the summer to be restored! Now they are our West Side Bible Talk Leaders!
*Seeing the need to strengthen the parenting in the church, we began having monthly Children’s Devotionals!
*God raised up John Goss and Paula Harpole to lead our first Single Professionals Ministry!
*We prayed for talented musicians to lead our Arts, Entertainment and Sports Ministry: Steve and Melanie Coyle were baptized over the summer! They are now our Worship leaders!
After recapping these great victories, Anthony raised our expectations and vision as he preached about the ‘Biblical Strategies for World Evangelism’ that was written by Kip McKean. Anthony preached about reaching our piece of the world, Orlando, Florida. Orlando is a melting pot of international natives who have connections all over the world. The University Of Central Florida is the sixth largest University in the United States! By reaching Orlando we will reach people all over Florida and the world. He encouraged us to be in daily prayer, studying the word daily, and continuing to be unified in heart and mind (Acts 4:32-33), sharing our lives and giving everything we can to reach the world! Specifically, we were challenged to “spread the Word of the Lord throughout the whole region” (Acts 13:49). To honor this calling, we are pleased to announce that John Goss and June Fisher are leading our first West Side Bible Talk in the Orlando International Christian Church! West Orlando is especially dear to the Eckels since they led the west region in our former fellowship. We welcome all to visit our West Side Bible Talk as we embark on spreading the Good News all over Orlando
from East to West!
Additionally, we were challenged to follow the example in Acts 19:9-12 where the disciples had daily discussions in the lecture hall of Tyrannus, targeting opinion leaders that would take the message back to their home towns and home nations. We were reminded that the youth are our future leadership to spread the gospel throughout Florida and the world. To help achieve our goal to reach opinion leaders at UCF, we are pleased to announce that Paula Harpole will be the first intern for the Orlando International Christian Church! Paula will be assisting Corey with our campus ministry at UCF, having almost daily Bible discussions in the halls of UCF. We are excited to have Paula on staff as she has been an excellent example of a sold-out disciple, continually sacrificing for the mission. Paula and Corey are cranking it out at UCF, averaging a dozen visitors at each of their 3 Bible Talks! Joining the campus ministry is Daphne Graeff, Marie Graeff’s daughter who was recently restored to the Lord. Daphne, who was baptized in our former fellowship, had wandered from her first love due to a lack of discipling and weak relationships. As the sisters encouraged and strengthened Daphne, her desire to seek God first was rekindled. We are excited about Daphne’s restoration to God and the Kingdom.
During the women’s portion of the workshop, Elizabeth preached a powerful message entitled, “Mary Magdalene: Unwavering Devotion to God”. The women were challenged to imitate Mary Magdalene’s unwavering gratitude to God. Following Mary Magdalene’s miraculous healing, she left everything and followed Jesus, caring for all of His needs. She was sober to the fact that the minute she stopped following Jesus, the demons would come back: (Matthew 12:43-45). As Mary Magdalene deeply loved Jesus, referring to him as “My Lord” (John 20:10-18), she couldn’t stop talking about him, nor could she live without him. Although she was a woman living during a time in history when women’s testimonies were not considered valid, Jesus revealed himself first to her after his resurrection! Mary Magdalene had won his heart through her grateful, deep, devotion. All the women were inspired to imitate her deep, unwavering devotion to Jesus and to share with others their heartfelt love for him.
The following day, we continued our workshop with inspiring training on our new Kingdom Kids curriculum and ministry. Betty Mesarina, an incredible mom of three Kingdom Kids and our new Kingdom Kids Coordinator, shared with us the importance of our children’s ministry! She shared that these kids are our future disciples and leaders! It was refreshing to see the excitement of the disciples about serving in our Kingdom Kids ministry. We truly had a blast learning new Kingdom Kids songs, and the adults had so much fun they didn’t want it to end!
As we embark on 2010, Anthony stated, “This is the year of the Lord for Orlando!”. Please pray for the Orlando International Christian Church to be able to hire a male campus intern for the summer of 2010, as well as for Elizabeth Eckels to go on staff. Pray that we can spread the message through Orlando, multiply, divide, and glorify God! To God be the Glory!
Leave a Reply