I’m so very appreciative of the prayer and support for the Christian Outreach International, inaugural full week mission project in Orlando last month. So blessed by the Lord’s strong presence on all!
The team from Robinson, IL, Porterville Missions, led by Brenda Cowdrey, is a 15 year COI alumni team! God bless Brenda and her teams’ mission efforts! This team had five first time missionaries. They shared at the debriefing that their lives were dramatically, and forever changed by the Lord!
They did a three day VBS in an “at-risk” neighborhood where about 30 kids came out, and 10 kids made sincere decisions for the Lord. Thanks to Wanda, our partner there. We also had a great night at Powerhouse Church with Pst. Christian, Karen and the team there who work hard with the homeless and the needs of the people on Orange Blossom Trail. I shared in the service how God called me to service, ministry and the nations on a sports short-term mission trip, when I was just 18 years old. The team did a puppet show. We all became like kids and blessed the Lord.
COI started our relationship with Ronald McDonald House with the team providing and serving dinner for 60 people…families whose children are undergoing cancer treatment at the nearby Children’s Hospital. Blessed night of love, hope, and faith. We also enjoyed working in the Garden of Hope, helping them provide herbs and veggies to hungry, needy people. We served at Harvest International, too.
The Porterville team worked very hard, pouring 383 hours of volunteer time into the local community on this outreach. Thank you Porterville Mission Team for your labor of love and generosity!
We are grateful for our new ministry partners, and friends in Orlando, and look forward to making many new friends as COI teams continue to come in to serve the community as missionaries. Kingdom collaboration is key to impact and breakthrough…so, we join our faith, work and prayers with the ministries, churches and saints in the region for a revival of hope and move of God.
Short term missons in Florida is not new to COI. My parent’s, COI founder’s, started receiving mission teams in 1997 in Indian River County. Because there was nothing like it in the area, COI’s influence in the county grew. Seventeen years of hands-on experience pioneering short term in Central Florida has given us expertise at making missions successful here. Over the years, hundreds of volunteers and mission teams have been blessed serving with COI in Florida, and at our ministry sites around the world. Now, when it comes to Florida, we are pursuing working in the Orlando area. Please consider coming down and making an impact with your team at COI Orlando!