OCSBA Family!
June is here and that means that the SBC Annual Meeting is right around the corner! It is going to be an excellent time where the greater SBC family gathers to talk about the issues of the day! I hope we remember that we are a family and that there is more unity than there was at the Star Wars Convention I just went to at the Anaheim Convention Center this past week! I mean we should be more unified right since we have the Holy Spirit which is way more valuable than the force.
I am so proud of all our churches who are hosting and participating in Crossover on June 11th. I hope that it is a shot in the arm for all of them as we come out of the thick of the pandemic and put out our nets in our communities. Our own OCSBA youth ministry strategist has been working as the main coordinator of the Crossover event and doing an amazing job. I can not tell you how challenging it was amidst all the changes that were constantly being made due to the nature of this particular convention but I am proud of our team that helped organize it all especially Pastor Josh Sanchez.
I am proud of all our OC churches who have taken the lead in the Local Arrangements Committee and gathered volunteers to help in every single category! I just hope that they get to attend the convention as much as they are volunteering at it. I will be driving the volunteer shuttle at 6 am every morning until about 9 am when I hand it off to one of my team because I would not ask anyone to do anything that I am not willing to do myself. We have OC church volunteers greeting, ushering, giving information, translations, cleaning, security, transporting, and all sorts of stuff and I am so grateful to God for all your partnership in ministry. They like to say this hasn’t happened here in 42 years but that is only if you consider Los Angeles the same as Orange County which I don’t. It is still the Anaheim Angels to me and in the same vein of thinking, this convention has never been in Orange County, and we are doing it with are partners from OC and all the surrounding areas like Inland Empire, Los Angeles, San Diego and Long Beach and our friends from across our state! We are #bettertogether. It is my hope and prayer that amid the all the challenges of the day whether that is political, racial, or just plain sin, we can rise above through the power of Jesus Christ to help create a stronger Southern Baptist Convention that operates as a family, with people who want to be part of the solution to those challenges.
I have been blessed to be the DOM now for 3 months and I am grateful to God for my team of Joni, Faye, Ronald, Josh, Trevor, Carol, Bailey and Bill. Along with advice from our former DOM DR. Proud and the partnership of our 148 OC churches, we have had a successful 3 months with an amazing Sunrise Service, unifying gatherings like the upgraded pastor’s breakfast, prayer meetings, and such. This is why it is with a heavy heart that and we had to say goodbye to our church planting strategist Bill Egan. After great prayer and discussion with family, Bill has decided to step away from the OCSBA Admin team. As someone who has watched him grow and work the season he was with us, I appreciate the hard work and sacrifice he has put in with all our church planters and supporting Dr. Proud and me as we ran the association. He will be missed in the office but we acknowledge and understand that this is the season where God is moving His people all over the map and so it is not surprising He would do that with Bill, one of His best missionaries. Thank you, Bill, for all you have done, all you continue to do, and for your patience and grace with me as I established myself as the new Director of Missions of the OCSBA.
The future is uncertain but one thing we can control and one thing that is true. We can control how much we work together and live together as family so let’s continue to do that in the OC and be part of the tip of the spear for the Kingdom of God. Let us continue to be sharp and ready to serve so that God may use us in the way that He wishes. We also know that God knows what is happening and is in control and we place are hope and faith in Him. It will never come back empty when it is truly in Him and I am grateful and thankful to be able to participate in His Mission on this earth and to be able to do with the churches of the OCSBA!
May God Bless you and keep you as we accomplish the mission together! See you at the SBC Annual Meeting! I will be the one highly caffeinated and ready to go! I love you my OCSBA Family!