Orlando — a destination of faith and family
By Dan Van Veen
As the 53rd General Council services begin this evening, an estimated 25,000 to 30,000 Assemblies of God adherents of all ages will have, for the most part, poured into Orlando.
As most people know, Florida’s nickname is the Sunshine State as on average there are 361 days of sunshine here every year. And who isn’t familiar with the Florida orange juice (liquid sunshine) commercials?
Referred to by AG General Superintendent George O. Wood as a “destination point” — in the sense of the location being both ideal for a General Council gathering as well as pleasing to families — Orlando may very well be the epitome of a family-friendly destination point.
With world-famous attractions that range from the land of mice and princesses (a.k.a. Disney World) and SeaWorld to Universal Studios and Busch Gardens, the attractions located within or nearby Orlando would likely take months — if not years — to fully explore.
This is the second time General Council has been held in Orlando, as the 48th biennial event was held here in 1999. And once again, in this first week of General Council, there will be such a concentration of Assemblies of God members in Orlando, that attendees can be assured that nearly any place they visit, someone from the AG family will also be there — perhaps you will even share a restaurant table or most certainly a hotel elevator!
Hold it . . . first week?
Yes and no. Although officially General Council has not been extended, there is better than a small chance that several thousand AG families will be looking to extend their stay in the Orlando area following General Council. So, in a sense, the direct impact of General Council continues upon Orlando and surrounding communities for more than just this week.
The financial impact this General Council gathering will have upon Orlando over the next two weeks is mind numbing. However, one would be safe to say the impact will easily reach into the multiplied millions of dollars.
Although the financial impact Assemblies of God members will have on Orlando is fairly predictable with the countless entertainment options, there’s another impact that is far more important and telling — our opportunity for spiritual impact.
In years past, this opening day edition of The Council Today typically led with an article about what the host city offers attendees. Yet, as exciting and totally entertaining as Orlando can be, the truth is, all of the incredible hotels, restaurants, parks, shops and “worlds” combined don’t hold a candle to what the Assemblies of God can — and needs to — offer Orlando.
Over the next two weeks, thousands of Orlando employees, residents and visitors will be rubbing shoulders with individuals from our Fellowship. These people may be hired to serve or perhaps they’ll just be everyday Floridians focused on their life’s agenda or they may even be people on vacation. But consider this: Would God bring thousands of Spirit-filled people together simply to blindly fellowship and receive, but then be oblivious to the needs of the people around them?
Although there will be purposeful ministry efforts going on in the community, such as the AIM outreach with local Hispanic AG churches, the opportunities for each person to make a spiritual impact upon individuals in crisis will be plentiful. In light of the economic uncertainty in the United States (which has struck Florida hard) and even globally, people are coming to grips with the fact that faith in money or governments or even themselves is a dead end.
However, if we place our spiritual lives on “autopilot” instead of actively including God’s Spirit, lives who could have been impacted for Christ, may not ever experience His witness, or worse, may be negatively impacted — a “human-led” Christian life falls far short of the Spirit-led Christian life.
Of course, even those wearing a General Council ID badge may be in need of personal spiritual attention, even though there is a tendency to get lost in the flood of faces. There will no doubt be Christians attending this year’s General Council who desperately need someone to notice their pain and pray for them — and sometimes only through the sensitivity of the Spirit will anyone ever become aware of another Christian’s personal struggle.
Although doing a daily prayer walk along the sidewalks of Orlando the next two weeks may be something God has led you to do, for most people, that’s not what God has in mind. In fact, God knows that many believers attending this year need the break, need to be refreshed, need to experience some fun and fellowship.
All He asks is that when you visit with people, when you go out to eat, when you visit Gatorland, Disney World, a local museum or hundreds of other sources of entertainment, or even when you attend a General Council event, intentionally invite the Spirit along. For what better way to top off an experience like General Council in Orlando than to make an eternal difference in someone’s life?
Enjoy General Council. Enjoy Orlando. Enjoy being the person God has called you to be.