Best Gift 2022

The future is bright at Orchard Community Church!

It has been an amazing year. We have seen much change in our community. In some ways, our lives are still in transition. Amidst the transition, God has sought to make a way for our church. I am grateful for you, your faithful support in attendance, giving, and serving at our church week to week, especially during my Sabbatical. Thank you for joining me on the journey of living as a Christ follower in 2022! You are truly a partner with me in the Gospel ministry of Jesus Christ.

Every year I have the opportunity to share with you a bit about what the Lord has done through the ministries of this church, using faithful people like you. I also have the privilege of asking you to help give an end of year financial gift that will help us fund ministry into next year. Last year, our church gave an amazing gift of $40,000! We were wise with our finances last year and saved them to get through our first summer. God used your amazing generosity to carry us through the tough months. In faith, I am praying that God will fund our efforts even more. In fact, this past week, someone who wishes to remain anonymous approached me and offered a $40k matching gift in order to inspire our congregation toward greater generous giving.

That means, every $1 we raise as part of our best gift campaign, will count as $2 up to $40k. Meaning, if we did what we did last year, we can raise $80k above and beyond our regular giving.

This past year at Orchard, this is what we saw God do:

  1. Launched children and youth ministries in February.
  2. Started a Marriage Course with 22 people in March.
  3. Had three services, with 300 people on campus for Easter.
  4. Took our Youth Ministry to Catalina Island for camp.
  5. Had a brand new VBS in June.
  6. Started multiple book groups over the summer and even more life groups this fall!
  7. Had over 70 women at a Ladies Tea and Fashion Show this Summer.
  8. Started a Children’s Choir - W.A.M. (Worship Arts & Music), performing three times in December!
  9. Sent 14 youth and adults down to serve at an Orphanage in Tecate, Mexico.
  10. Started a new weekly recovery ministry called “Celebrate Recovery” that meets on Wednesday nights.
  11. Raised over $10k to put into our building fund to begin fixing our facility.
  12. Started a foster closet to support foster children in our community.

I could fill the whole page with amazing stories. These 12 amazing things I have listed all happened between February 1st to November 1st. Just nine months! There is much more yet to accomplish this year, and I cannot wait to share with you what God has done at Orchard one full year from when we moved into our new facility.

As I think about where we were last year, in November 2021, I remember making Classical Academy Personal Learning Center our home. We have come a long way… and I cannot wait to see where God will take us next. Please consider joining me and my family in making a generous end of year gift, a best gift, to God’s work here at Orchard Community Church.

Thank you,

Assad Saif