SOC Missions Convention 2022 Report
The 2022 School of Christ International (SOC) Missions Convention has come to a close and what a moment it was! Blessed beyond measure!
There are not enough words to say “Thank You” to all those who participated in making this year’s Convention a blessing to all. We would like to give a special “Thanks” to Pastor Robin and Sister Malissa St. Clair, together with their Church family, Pottsville Assembly of God (PAG), for opening up their doors and their hearts in hosting our SOC Family. You washed our feet and we are blessed for having been with people of precious like faith.
What a wonderful testimony of the presence of God that we felt in every service. We have been challenged by the men of God in making God’s glory known in these last days leading up to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. We cannot “Thank” these Brothers enough for making themselves available for the ministry to the Saints. Eternity will show forth the fruits of this labor.
I would like to share with you in this report an abbreviated summary of what the Lord spoke through His Ministers.
Brother Daren Downs started the Convention on Tuesday night with the title “Why Do the Godly Suffer?” He then continued Wednesday night with the thought that “God has a plan even in the midst of everything that goes crazy”. In his messages, Brother Daren stressed that as Christians we are going to have to demonstrate a total dependence upon God. It means that our faith in God is going to be tested just as it was with Job.
Insurmountable challenges will have to be faced by the child of God in these last days and our faith in God will prove God’s Word to be true. Brother Daren also said that we need to see the word “Faith” as a verb in our lives and not just a noun. It means that our faith in God is to be based upon an action which simply means that we are living what we believe. He also challenged us in the message with the question, “Which side will you believe: Hath God said? Or God hath said!” Today, we have the Anchor to hold on to, and we need to hold to Christ our Anchor of our soul till the very end!
Brother Joel Pledge took his message Wednesday morning from Isaiah 8:13 “Sanctify the Lord of hosts himself, and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread.” Then he took us to 2 Chronicles 29:1-3 “Hezekiah,…did that which was right in the sight of the Lord…He… opened the doors of the house of the Lord…” Brother Joel reminded us that “The Glory of God in the Church must be seen! And if the doors of the House of the Lord are not opened, how are people going to know how to come to God! What a responsibility for us today!
We also had the privilege of receiving a pre-recorded report in one service from Brother Keith Malcomson, Director of the SOC in Europe. He shared in his message how he was introduced to Brother B.H. Clendennen in 1994 through a cassette tape that was given to him entitled, “The Prodigal Church”. From then on he was able to hear the message again from Brother Clendennen first at the 2001 SOC Missions Convention in Beaumont, Texas, and then finally in 2009 in the country of France. Brother Keith also said that the number 30 represent “mature ministry”. He reminded us in closing that The SOC is needed more especially in this hour and left with us a quote from Brother Clendennen, “The best is just ahead.”
On Thursday morning I had the privilege of presenting the state of the School of Christ International. We had previously heard a report from Brother David Jacobson, SOC Director ministering to the Karen people throughout the world. We are looking forward in the future to holding schools where we can bring these precious people together in order to equip them in taking the Gospel to every creature. Brother David shared that the Karen people believe and live the Word of God. He said if you preach the Word they will in turn believe and live it. “Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest” (Matthew 9:38). While the Missions Convention was taking place we had two schools operating one in Omsk, Russia under the direction of Field Worker Brother Andrea Sekhin, and the second in Monrovia, Liberia in West Africa under the direction of Field Worker Brother Bedell Horace. Doors are opening up all over the world. I shared in my report that we have received contact from a Baptist institute located in Oberá, Misiones-Argentina that wants to use the SOC material and discipline within their curriculum to train future missionaries. I was also able to share about the trip made earlier this year by the SOC Director of East Africa, Brother Richard Goebel. Also, we have received word from our director from the Philippines, Brother Roland Tabilangon that the 101st SOC will take place sometime in May. Brother Pledge shared a little of his recent trip to Kyrgyzstan. You can read the full report in the May 2022 edition of the SOC Missions Report. It is evident that the Lord is opening doors throughout the world for the end-time harvest.
The message that the Lord laid upon my heart was focused on the thought of “Finishing The Father’s Business”. That is, becoming the end-time vessel that is totally submitted and completely surrendered to the will of God. Can we honestly say from the heart to the Lord in prayer just like Isaiah did when he saw the Lord high and lifted up, “Here am I; send me?” Can we say from the heart to the Lord, “I’ll go wherever You want me to go; I’ll do Lord whatever You want me to do; I’ll be Lord whatever You want me to be; Lord, here I am just using my life.” This is what the Lord is looking for today, a willing vessel for His purpose. Will we be found faithful to such a high call? Finally, Pastor Lee Shipp brought the Missions Convention to a close taking his text from Mark 15:43 “Joseph of Arimathaea…craved the body of Jesus.” The Word preached calls for a response from you and I, the Body of Christ, the Church, to rise up in the power of the Holy Ghost exhibiting the life of Christ as we stand on the brink of the rapture. James 5:7-9 gives us three instructions: To be patient; to establish our hearts, and that the Lord stands at the door of His coming instructing us not to grudge one against another. This means that we should be living and walking in God’s love that is found in Christ. And when we are found in His love then we are in the place where the Holy Spirit can work in and through us in order to accomplish God’s perfect will for His Kingdom.
So as I close I would like to encourage you today with the words commanded to us in Hebrews 10:24-25, “And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.” Hebrews 10:24-25.
God bless you and thank you for your continued support and prayers for the School of Christ International! Let us make haste in being about our Father’s Business and finishing what He had called us to do!