In Acts 1:8, Jesus promises the Holy Spirit will come with power on his disciples and that they shall be his witnesses in Jerusalem, in Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. At Church of Our Savior, Palm Bay, this promise is captured in the phrase, “When the Spirit comes, the people go out.”  God is doing great things in our parish as He fulfills that promise in our midst today.

Church of Our Savior is not a large congregation, but it has an impact far beyond the parish into the world. We have active partnerships with St. Mary’s Church in Bolahun, Liberia, and with Father Stephen and Mary Dass in Sa᷉o Paulo, Brazil. Our advocacy for the unreached Dong people of China has grown from a small prayer team into a multi-church network. Both of the parish clergy have traveled overseas—Deacon Tom Williams to Liberia and Father Loren Fox to Asia. There are other projects sponsored by the ECW, DOK, and Brotherhood of St. Andrew that support efforts in Haiti, Honduras, and elsewhere.

Church of Our Savior was instrumental in organizing the Light2Ignite conference in April—the first ever conference in Brevard County mobilizing the church for the least-evangelized peoples of the world. Tim Born, senior director of strategic partnerships at Wycliffe Bible Translators and member of the Cathedral Church of St. Luke, was the keynote speaker. The Light2Ignite conference spawned three major initiatives in Brevard County: the launch of a Perspectives Course in Palm Bay in January 2017, training to effectively reach the Muslims in our community, and a multi-church outreach to international students at Florida Tech.

Missions, local and international, is the evidence of the Spirit’s arrival. When the Spirit comes, the people go out.

A Swiss Chalet in China
When our team went to China last summer, none of us expected to find a Swiss-style chalet—still being built with fresh-cut aromatic cedar. We had arrived for two weeks of building friendships as part of Church of Our Savior’s commitment to pray and care for the Dong people.

The Dong are a minority in China, with their own language, culture, and history. They do not have the Bible in their own language, and most Dong have never met a Christian. The small number who have had the opportunity of becoming believers are now looking for ways to share their joy and hope with neighbors and family.

One creative opportunity has come through the importance of growing and drinking tea. This year, our team gave a try at picking tea leaves, picking perhaps a quarter of a basket in an hour. Our host picked the same amount by himself in five minutes! The chalet is on one of these tea plantations. The owner hopes people from all around China will come to the chalet to pray and seek the Lord.

We have now sent five teams over the last five years. Each year the team finds a new open door to expand our circle of friendships. This time, we were especially touched by the invitations to return in 2017. One such invitation focuses on high school graduates, who must pass an English exam before they can begin college classes. We are looking for college students and young adults to join the team, to make friends and give our Dong friends the opportunity to practice their English.

For more information, contact Fr. Loren Fox at office@oursaviorpalmbay.org.