Southeastern California Conference
Hispanic Churches in Orange County Come Together for Camp Meeting
Jose Rojas, president of MOVEmentum, addresses the congregation.
A
group of six orange county Hispanic churches recently came together for a camp meeting event at Orangewood Academy in Garden Grove. The guest speaker was Jose Rojas, president of MOVEmentum, a ministry-focused organization designed to develop and empower people. The idea for the event came about from individual church members as well as leadership who were seeking a way to bring churches together in order to create and foster a sense of community. Joel Soto, pastor of Santa Ana Broadway church, was instrumental in bringing the leadership together. Pastors from each of the churches convened months prior to the event to discuss the details and come up with a budget. In order to find a centralized location for the participating churches, the leaders contacted Orangewood Academy and agreed to use their gym. The participating churches included Santa Ana Spanish, Broadway Bilingual, Emmanuel, Costa Mesa Spanish, La Habra Spanish and Anaheim Spanish churches. “The focus was not necessarily to host an evangelistic event,” said Oscar Pereda, pastor of
34
pacificunionrecorder.com
Costa Mesa Hispanic church, one of the event organizers. “Instead, it was geared toward current church members in order to build relationships and establish a sense of belonging to a greater whole.” The event started on Wednesday night with a presentation by Rojas, and continued nightly. His theme for the meetings was “Transformed by His Grace.” On Sabbath, he also presented to a congregation of approximately 1,200 people. He talked about how God accepts every individual regardless of their background, and further, empowers them to ministry and leadership. “I appreciate the sermons from Pastor Rojas,” said Susy Garcia, a member of the Costa Mesa church. “They were simple and straight to the point. They surely made a big impact in my personal and family life.” Although a meal was not formally organized, many families from the churches brought food for a picnic on the grounds. Many individuals crossed the boundaries usually set up by church walls and communed together. In the afternoon, there was a musical concert and another presentation by Rojas to close out the spiritual portion of the event. Afterwards,
there were different sports activities hosted at the academy for the youth and young at heart. “It was beautiful to see the engagement of all the people serving,” said Pereda. “From people in the parking lot, to greeters, to those planning the worship, the praise and worship team, ushers and many more, everyone was happy to interact with each other.” Ricardo Ortiz, a member of Pereda’s church, agreed. “What I really liked most was to see the engagement of all the people serving at this event. They had a smile and a visible passion to serve,” he said. The event was a reminder of how all are part of the body of Christ. Everyone who participated was excited and encouraged. Although this was only the first time an event like this has been organized, the leaders and members are already looking forward to next year. “It is possible to work together as a church and have good experiences,” said Pereda. “Once members of different churches come together, they see how we can fellowship together in spite of our differences.”
Mario A. Munoz