The Acevedos didn’t meet through conventional means and don’t lead conventional lives.
Al and Mariana Acevedo drove six hours to participate in the Send North America Conference at First Baptist Church in Woodstock, Ga. The couple, who married after meeting through an online dating service, learned about the North American Mission Board gathering online.“We met online,” Mariana Acevedo said of herself and Al, her husband of three years.
It’s that digital savvy that brought the couple to the North American Mission Board’s Send North America Conference.
“We got that email,” Mariana said. “I follow NAMB on Twitter. We thought it sounded interesting.”
“We prayed about it,” said her husband. “We believe coming here was a step of obedience to God.” Al, who is pursuing online a master of divinity degree at Liberty University, was impressed by the entire Send North America experience.
“I’ve been to some good conferences, and this one is top notch. From the relevant speakers, the sessions, the networking, you can sense the Spirit of God in what people are doing,” he said.
The Acevedos are members of Watermark Church, a year-old plant in Orange Park, Fla., near Jacksonville, where he is the volunteer Serve Teams coordinator and she is a worship leader and prayer team member.
“We are excited about church planting,” he said. “It is the greatest form of evangelism, and that excites me. I’m not sure God is leading me to be a lead planter, but that is part of why we are here. With each step of obedience, [God] gives us more direction and more light. We have to be obedient.”
Other participants echoed the Acevedos’ positive experience across the two-day conference, including David Holland of Norwich, Conn. Holland, a deacon at Cornerstone International Church, who works with church planter Shaun Pillay.
Said Holland, “This has been amazing. God is speaking to me and telling me exactly what I need to hear. I lost my cell phone yesterday and I started to get upset, but God told me not to worry about it. He took away something that might distract me so I could listen more closely to him.”
The 2013 Send North America Conference will be held at Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, Texas. – NAMB