Harvest Bible Chapel celebrating their first anniversary

The year has indeed been a good one for the Harvest Bible Chapel, as they have seen the transforming power of God and His work in the lives of their members.{{more}}

The Harvest Bible Church celebrates its first year of existence on September 5, 2011. The Church conducts services every Sunday at the Aquatic Club, and according to Pastor Al Blake, they now have a congregation of about 150 persons each week.

Blake seemingly excited about the church’s success, spoke to SEARCHLIGHT about the amazing year that they had.

“We saw one year of changed lives, one year of unapologetic truth from God’s word, and through that, we have seen a change in a church that was started from ground zero, from scratch,” he said.

Admitting that persons were initially skeptical about a church being housed at the Aquatic Club, Blake said he has always encouraged persons to just come and see, and experience God. He added that the church is not about the building, but about the people.

“Obviously we had a lot of skeptics, but what God has done throughout the year has been amazing,” he said.

The ministries within the church have seen great improvement, Blake said. Ministries such as the children’s ministry, grew from having 5 children, to an average of about 45. Blake explained that the children’s’ ministry is different, in that the children have their own worship session on Sundays.

“They have their own church, their own worship, their own teaching time, their own time in God’s court,” he said, adding that the church intends to instill the word of God into their members, even the young children.

The “Small Group”, Blake added, has also seen an improvement, with 90 per cent of the church involved in this ministry. “Small groups are groups designed for people to do life together, so it’s not just a group that meets for Bible study. They are groups that meet for Bible study, prayer and accountability,” Blake said.

“So the accountability aspect of our small group is a major emphasis, because what we do is we have guys meeting with guys and girls meeting with girls, and finding out how are you doing in life, how can we help you, how can we pray for you and how can we encourage you…” He continued. The church also has a men’s ministry “Iron Men” and a women’s ministry “Refresh”.

After having such a successful year, Blake hopes that God will continue to use the church to transform lives, especially those of families.

“One of the things that we will really love to see is for God to continue to use Harvest Bible Chapel to transform families: husbands, wives and children. We plan on being very intentional in ministering to the family by hosting seminars and by doing family events,” he said, adding that a recent Family Fest this year at Arnos Vale was a success.

He added that the church also hopes to focus on bringing young men to Christ. This, Blake says, will change the society on a whole. “We have lost our young adult men in SVG to crime, drugs and just immoral behaviour, and our goal is to reach these men and see God work in their lives and transform their lives and that we transform their families and the nation on a whole.”

The church also plans to do training for its members in special Discipleship programs and theological training.

The Harvest Bible Chapel will celebrate its first anniversary with a concert at the Aquatic Club, on Sunday, September 4, 2011 at 6:00 pm. The concert will feature worship songs done by the Harvest Bible Chapel worship team, video showcases and featured artist Rondell Patterson and Angelus of the Kingstown Baptist Church. Verrol and Norma Blake, parents of Pastor Al Blake, will also be honoured as they will celebrate 40 years as missionaries.