Why This Church Has Been Doing Good for 30 Years

Zechariah 4:10 — Do not despise these small beginnings, for the LORD rejoices to see the work begin.

Isaiah 60:22 — The smallest family will become a thousand people, and the tiniest group will become a mighty nation. At the right time, I, the LORD, will make it happen.”

Matthew 17:20 —  … if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it would move. Nothing would be impossible.”

God loves small beginnings. He creates mighty nations out of the smallest of families. He can make the impossible happen with just the smallest kernel of faith. 

That’s why God rejoices to see us begin good work. We don’t have to know the road ahead of us. We just have to decide to take one small step.

Together at the Bay Area Christian Church, we have spent the last 30 years believing this and taking steps to do good for the world around us.

In 1996, we realized that parents couldn’t sit through a service because there was nowhere for their child with special needs to be. So we started something new called Spiritual Resource Ministry, a place where kids with disabilities and their families could be fully included in the church. It’s grown into a model that helps people around the world.

In 2000, a small group of kids — some with disabilities, some without — gathered on the same field to learn how to play soccer together.

Today, that little group has become 28 programs with 500 volunteers that have spread the hope of inclusion to countless families around the Bay Area and beyond. 

In 2001, a small group of kids became the first class at Hope Technology School, a place built on the vision of inclusive education. That school is now a licensed preschool and accredited K-12 institution and considered a national leader in inclusive education. Administrators have flown in from around the world so they can build the same thing at home.

In 2008, a group of teenagers started a toy drive for foster children. Years later, it’s one of the largest in Northern California, reaching thousands of children in need every year.

A group of friends created a program called Turn-180 to do good for people as part of their recovery from addiction.

What we’ve learned over the last 30 years is that doing good doesn’t have to mean creating a program. God can do so much with individual people who just take one small step of faith.

In 2012, a single mother in West Oakland started feeding people in need in her neighborhood. Then other small groups in our church heard about it and joined in, too. As a result, more than eight hundred people were fed that month.

Parents of children with disabilities have created countless support groups that meet consistently so that no family has to struggle alone.

Members at our Tri-Valley campus have worked together with the Office of Violence Prevention to change the lives of people affected by gang violence in Stockton.

Over the years, hundreds of thousands of dollars have gone to churches and communities overseas, and to families displaced by disasters at home.

And every year, we create a benevolence fund so that when anyone in our church loses a job or faces an unforeseen crisis, we can be there.

1 Corinthians 3:6 (ESV) — “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.”

Over the last thirty years, we’ve seen that when we simply plant and water, God makes our efforts grow beyond our wildest imagination. He works through us to reach and change the lives of people we haven’t even met yet. 

Today, we are looking forward to the next thirty years, expanding our efforts to do good to new places and new generations. Our plans for the future to expand disability inclusion were recently featured on KLOVE, one of the country’s largest radio networks. 

Take a faithful step today. Get ready to contribute to our Doing Good Fundraiser between November 1-15. Every step you take and every donation you make can be the beginning of something incredible.