Last week about 60 evangelists of the Southwest USA International Churches of Christ gathered in Orange County, California for a historic reunion and an amazing time of forming brotherhood bonds.

The theme was from Paul’s charge to Timothy “Set an example for the Believers”. Churches from Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Southern California and Hawaii sent their evangelists to be inspired, challenged and encouraged .

Messages were delivered by brothers from the different congregations among the Southwest that inspired and challenged us all. We prayed often and worshipped God together in powerful devotionals led by LA’s Turning Point (previously AMS) ministers. The brothers shared their struggles, dreams and victories in powerful ways that called us all to a greater commitment to God, each other and the great commission.

As many shared about the importance of relationships in their lives, the emerging theme became “being connected.” As John Causey, LA Metro Heights Regional Leader, put it, “If you're not Connected, you're not Protected.” Some who were there have enjoyed old relationships in the Southwest, but many others are relatively new to the region. Some shared how grateful they were for the encouragement and discipling they had received from each other over the years, while others shared of their excitement about beginning those kind of relationships in the Southwest.

Many new and exciting ideas were shared about how to best serve and equip our ministries for the Lord. Likewise we were all called back to the original basic core convictions of our faith. Everyone was inspired to go back and set an example in “truth, love, life, purity and faith” as the scriptures command.

Of the many developments that will bear fruit from this time together, perhaps one of the most important, was the obvious step taken toward forming family and brotherhood among the Southwest churches. We will always need to grow in our communication, unity and relationships, but this was a great step toward that goal. Leadership of the current Southwest churches is diverse and rich with brothers from a wide range of backgrounds , talents and strengths. Some are "Homegrown" while others are imported from all over the world and mission fields. Working together with such diversity will be a great blessing as we learn from each other and grow together. God has blessed us with a fantastic team of evangelists to help each other mature in leadership and effectively preach the gospel to our part of the world.

The hope and desire to be a Band of Brothers for the Lord is marching forward. Many of us arrived as strangers to this new group, but everyone there left as family. I for one am very grateful for the "iron sharpening iron" that went on this last week and what will happen in the future. Likewise I am thankful for the LA church hosting this event and for Bruce Williams serving all of us as a coordinator of the retreat. Prayerfully, in the future every evangelist from all our churches will be part of a Band of Brothers where we can sharpen each other.

A final exciting announcement is the commitment to gather the churches together this summer in Phoenix, Arizona on July 25th -27th for an amazing conference of all our fellowship in the Southwest churches.

Robert Carrillo
San Diego Church of Christ

Posted by Jerry Maday