Jesus said to them: “Watch out that no one deceives you. Many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am he,’ and will deceive many. When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, and famines. These are the beginning of birth pains. “You must be on your guard. You will be handed over to the local councils and flogged in the synagogues. On account of me you will stand before governors and kings as witnesses to them. And the gospel must first be preached to all nations. Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit. Mark 13:5-11
After more than a week of persecution, false doctrine, several falling away and sadly some false brothers, God has given us great victories as we bonded together and found security in the shadow of God’s wings! The more you preach the more likely you are to face difficulties and attacks from Satan. YET- What an amazing week as Laura was baptized on Thursday and today at Barnett Park in Orlando the OICC hosted a 5k race, 3 mile Walk-A-Thon and International Day in one epic worship service! We are hot on the trail to raise $60k for our special contribution coming up on November 24. The 5k/Walk-A-Thon was just a part of that. It was 74 degrees with a cool breeze this morning at 9am when the 14 disciples took off in the competitive 5k. It was a two lap course around the picturesque park where our brothers OJ, Devon, and Brady took an early lead out. In the end those three kept very close together and came in as follows: 1st OJ Nduka 21:54, 2nd Devon Hairston 22:11 and 3rd Brady Vaughn 22:18.
After the race, our Walk-A-Thon kicked off as almost half the church did a different 4 lap course around the lake in the middle of the park. It was a great day full of fellowship and a bit of godly competition. Following the race and walk, we participated in our International day! There were 18 countries represented not only in language, spirit and body- but also in food! An 18 foot set of tables displayed food from all around the world and were enjoyed by the 124 at service today.
To kick off our worship service, we sang “Glory, Glory” in Spanish lead by Jose Pepin, and Siku Ri Wana in Swahili lead by Will Davenport. Then Ray Cholad lead us in prayer in German, Peggie Ferrall in Dutch, Jasmine Hurey in Creole, and Louis Reyes in Spanish. Following that, Jose Pepin lead us with “Lord God Almighty” in Spanish and Matt Sullivan gave us a bit of the announcements in Spanish followed by a lesson in English. During communion Jasmine Hurey and Tia Taylor sang “Sing Hallelujah to the Lord” in French. Finishing the day was the buffet from 18 different countries! Later Sunday evening, Devan Gleason was baptized into the Lord at the Cheramie’s! This event helped raise over $4,200 towards special missions, with more money coming in each day! Our God is Awesome!
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