Executive Director/Treasurer – Chris Martin HPBC 2021 Annual Meeting Report for November 2020 – November 2021 Congratulations on 79 years of cooperative gospel ministry across Hawaii, the Pacific, and Asia! Mahalo to you, Hawaii Pacific Baptists, for allowing me the honor and privilege of serving you as your Executive Director/Treasurer for the past eight years. As of January 1, 2022, begins my ninth year, Wendy and I remain humbled at the marvelous things Christ is doing in us and through us together. My prayers are that our sharpened focus on the gospel and our efforts toward biblical unity will propel us into the year ahead. Together, we are much more able to accomplish God’s Kingdom works laid out before us to fulfill. In these Kingdom plans, we must give our very best efforts. In following through with plans and schedules, 2021 proved to be equally daunting as 2020. Yet, across our network of churches, God has been faithful through the challenges we faced. This past year, we experienced victories while enduring sufferings. However, through each circumstance, God allowed us the grace to persevere and remain true to his plans without compromising or quitting on his unique designs. His powerful presence led us to continue to search for creativity and authenticity as we rose to the obstacles ahead, knowing that He would be more than sufficient for our strength. Although we may continue to battle with pandemic-based issues surrounding us, like lingering unemployment, loss of friends and family, and assorted restrictions, our opportunities for proclaiming the hope of Jesus Christ have never been more needed or pronounced. Our message will always be unchanging, applicable in every situation, rising above the chaos of our nation and the world. The unmerited grace of God flows through the message of salvation in Christ alone for the hopeless in every location, reaching to every corner of our great convention of churches. We have experienced his mercy upon us through the stories of redemption, restoration, and baptisms from churches across the HPBC during the most pressing days of this pandemic. Give God the glory! Despite the difficulties, God brought several encouraging moves to our convention in 2021. Your HPBC Executive Board diligently developed three initiative areas to enhance and enrich every HPBC church in one of these moves. Through theological, leadership, and missional development initiatives, the Cooperative Program gifts from HPBC churches will directly resource avenues of local church growth and development better than ever before. This strategy comes from a deep-rooted desire for the churches of the HPBC to be empowered to develop self-directed ministries according to God’s leading, without undue influence from others. We respectfully embrace the involvement of others in assisting our efforts to reach our regions with the gospel of Jesus Christ but not at the expense of the contextualized designs needed to deliver the truths of God’s word in our communities and nations. Through these initiatives, your Cooperative Program dollars will fuel the growth of local leaders, the mobilization of local missionaries, and the placement of local ministry personnel while increasing our support of the national level work of the Southern Baptist Convention.
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