Annual Church Letter Form

SOAR 2010 opened with an address by DiscipleGuide Conference Ministry Director, Donny Parrish, explaining why the event had been moved at the last minute from the downtown Sheraton in Dallas to the Convention Center. Those attending were asked to forget about the challenges and focus on making the arena a “holy place where God can move among us.” The challenge was accepted and God’s Holy Spirit moved all week in a mighty way. Dozens came to Christ. Many more made commitments and made the decision to become a disciple of Jesus. Several surrendered to full-time ministry. And hundreds left challenged to focus on making disciples in their local church.

Highlights from the week included messages by Darren Neely, a church planter in Little Rock, Donny Parrish, (Scheduled SOAR speaker Bobby Tucker was forced to have surgery the night before SOAR began. He is recovering nicely.), by Baptist Missionary Association Executive Director of Missions, John David Smith and by SOAR Producer, Steven Carroll. There was a concert by Know Hope Collective featuring members of Audio Adrenaline, and late- night fun with Comedian Thor Ramsey, Boarders for Christ and the SOAR Village was a huge success under the direction of Jason Prewit and Andy Comer.

A new highlight for SOAR was an Interactive Prayer Room. This special feature was sponsored by BMA Missions, DiscipleGuide and Fellowship, Forney, Texas. Over 1500 students took the time to make their way through the stations of the prayer room. There were stations designed to allow students to spend time in praise, confession, intersession, mediation on God’s Word and reflection. Many said that the Prayer Room was the most impacting aspect of the week.

In addition to enjoying SOAR, hundreds of students came in a day early to be a part of SOAR Serves. For the past two years SOAR has teamed with Mission Arlington to minister to the inner-city of Arlington and Dallas. BMA students were involved in all sorts of service projects, letting their light shine so that people could see their good works and glorify their Father in heaven.

Jacksonville Baptist College and Central Baptist College both gave away scholarships to attend their schools! Almost all of the respective Association of Baptist Student College Ministries of the BMA were represented and were recruiting students for the fall. Missions, LifeWord, DiscipleWay and, of course, DiscipleGuide, were there to support students and promote BMA ministries.

Finally, those attending SOAR gave over $22,000 to help DiscipleGuide Conference Ministry produce Pastors Oasis and other events during the coming year. Conference Producer and DCM Student Ministry Consultant, Steven Carroll, said that SOAR exceeded his wildest dreams. “You know, I had to wonder what God was up to the weeks preceding SOAR. We’d never had so many issues… major issues. What God was up to was proving Himself mighty in everyone’s eyes! His presence was felt in every part of SOAR, from start to finish. This was one SOAR that I was sorry to see end.”

There were hundreds of others who felt the same way.