Letter from Pastor David

Each year we as a leadership prepare this annual report, this numerical snapshot of what we at Beltway Park are graciously allowed by God to have been a part of in the previous year. And at some level we do this as a form of accountability.

Annually our church leadership prepares this numerical snapshot of what we at Beltway Park are graciously allowed by God to have been a part of in the previous year. And part of the reason we do this is to be accountable. People - thousands of people - invest in the ministries of this church with their time, talent and money.   We as an eldership pray together each Monday morning before work, asking God for the faith and wisdom to steward well these investments.  And we prepare this report to show that we are seeking to be faithful in stewarding the investment you are making.

But this report goes far beyond mere accounting.  This is a cry of worship, a shout of praise because we know:

Every number has a name, every name has a destiny, and every destiny matters to God.  Numbers matter when we remember people matter.

Just a few weeks ago, I was participating at our Walk to Bethlehem outreach at the Abilene Zoo, an outreach that had almost 9500 people come through to hear the true message of Christmas.  I was, of all things, part of a team of “Christmas Carolers” who would sing to people as they waited in line.  And if you wonder why I am a bit facetious about being a caroler, you have obviously never stood beside me in worship.

During one of our breaks, I was speaking to a fellow caroler I didn’t know.  He told me that he had surrendered his life to Jesus just a couple of months earlier, and had confessed Him as his Lord and Savior through baptism.

As he was describing the change in his life, he said, “It’s like I’ve been given the cheat-codes for life.  I now know what life’s all about.”  And I thought, “That’s it – that’s why we exist.  We want to bring hope to people through Jesus, and we want to help them grow in that hope by taking their next step with Jesus right in the middle of this messed-up, fallen world.”

His story is one of literally thousands of stories from this year alone at Beltway Park and among our 95+ mission partners around the world. I don’t have words to adequately communicate how overwhelmed my heart is that we get to be part of stories like this, stories that number in the tens of thousands.

So let me encourage you to worship and give thanks as you look over this report.  And when you finish, would you ask God to do even more in us and through us in the days to come?