“Then they spoke the Word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his family were baptized… He was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God – he and his whole family.” (Acts 16:32-34)
We have been studying the Book of Philippians in Orange County for a few weeks now and I love how the beginning of the church in Philippi is documented in Acts 16 by Luke. Through persecution and suffering, God set “the exact time and place” (Acts 17:26-27) where Paul and Silas are put in jail so that they can preach to those also in prison and so that God can save the jailer himself and his entire family through the waters of baptism! And the Bible simply says, “He was filled with joy!”
We too are “filled with joy” in the OC Region over the four new disciples that have been baptized in the last three weeks! Excitingly, three of these precious souls (Allen, his wife Griselda, and Estela) are from the Married Ministry which is being led powerfully by Sal & Patricia Velasco!
Sandwiched between the Sanchezes and Sal Velasco are the OC Marrieds Ministry converts: Allen & Griselda with Estela!
The fourth was Maria from our Campus Ministry! She was met at Fullerton Junior College by Kyrstal Legarda and Jennifer Garcia. Sadly, she stopped studying the Bible after receiving persecution from her family but after a few months, she realized that her life of sin was not something she wanted to continue in and she started making radical changes! Even before her baptism, she contributed greatly to all of Orange County’s Missions Contribution efforts including “tagging” and the “Clothes for the Cause!” The OC Region is so thrilled that with a goal of $121,421, God blessed us with $129,300 and more is still coming in!
We are also “filled with joy” over our Orange County family! Three weeks ago, the entire OC Region met at Craig Regional Park for a Mother’s Day Service and Picnic to honor our physical moms and our spiritual moms!
The beautiful OC Moms – Gloria, Suzette, Therese and Maricela!
The Grill Masters – Russ Preston and Tony Untalan!
We also honored our 2014 graduates; thirteen amazing individuals who are graduating from various programs ranging from elementary school to the college level!
The euphoric OC Grads!