International Christian Fellowship Lubbock

“Declare HIS glory among ALL nations”

About ICF

Our church is unique because of its congregation, which consists of Texans and other Americans, as well as members of the  international community.  Songs, prayers, and praise are encouraged in any language, though English is the common language.  The church has expanded to offer not only church  services, but also Bible classes for adults, youth, children, toddlers & infants, and an ESL class.   A weekly prayer meeting is held in the home of a church member.  

 

Brief history

 

The idea for the new congregation began as a project for a doctoral student at the Golden Gate Seminary, Dr. Larry Jones, and Missions Director of the Lubbock Area Baptist Association.   Brother Larry created a project to lead a multi-cultured core group to develop a strategy for reaching people from varied ethnicities, cultures, generations, sub-cultures, and socio-economic classes.  The project resulted in the creation of this unique church. A core group began to hold prayer meetings in the fall of 2005.  By concentrating on a home or apartment ministry, they believed they could carry the Gospel to people who were not coming to church buildings. Also, another goal was to teach internationals to conduct worship services in small quarters, like an apartment, when they returned home.   In the beginning this group met in an empty house owned by Randy and Mary Ann Gallaway.  Later, as the numbers increased, the church sought a new location.  God answered our prayers when an apartment was offered, rent-free.  ICF moved to the new place and began the tradition of the dedication of the flags of the nations.  When people joined the church, their flags were dedicated.   Eight flags have been dedicated: USA, Egypt, Kuwait, Nigeria, India, China, the Philippines,

and the Ivory Coast.  By mid-summer, more prayers were answered, for a larger building

was found.  The church members had a “moving party” and relocated all the property and supplies.  Here we found the wood relief carved map of the world with the quotation “Declare His glory… among all nations” and we felt at home.  Though there is no baptistery, we carry on. Our first baptisms were conducted in a swimming pool, and a sister church has offered its baptistery for future baptisms.   The first persons baptized at ICF were Bo Xing and his wife Liz Ma, who now live in Phoenix, Arizona.  We offer internationals who join the congregation opportunities to serve  Church members from Nigeria, Vietnam, India, Mexico,  the Ivory Coast, and the Philippines take leadership roles in the church. We mentor the internationals in the congregation, so that, eventually, they will be given full responsibility for all volunteer jobs. Throughout the summer months, visiting ministers filled   the pulpit weekly.  Those who served were: Judge Sam Medina, Dr. D. L. Lowrie, Jeff Taylor, Dr. Russ Gibbs, Wayne Hast, Otis Cooks, Michael Christian, Russ Murphy, and Al Gary.  On August 3, we met in the home of the Joneses to pray for ICF’s future and to interview a prospective pastor.  Dr. Jones described the evening as “a touch of heaven.  Life doesn’t get much better than what we experienced that night.” The members heard the prospect’s testimony of God’s miraculous work in his life and his wife’s.  It was an awesome evening of fellowship, prayer, and personal

sharing.  On August 27, Porfirio Bas preached in view of a call to become the church’s first Senior Pastor. The call was extended, and Bas agreed to accept the position of Senior Pastor.  On that day, thirteen new members joined the congregation of ICF.   We celebrated the arrival of Pastor Bas with an inauguration service on October 1, 2006.  ICF is currently involved in a mission project “ 25,000 Bibles for India.” Dr. Justin Rajesh, an Indian is chairing the committee that seeks to secure Bibles in English to send to India. Finally, we celebrated our formal grand opening on October 29, 2006.  All who joined the church by that date are considered charter members.  Since our inauguration day, the church continues to progress as it ministers in this community.  The church remains focused on declaring God’s glory among peoples of all nations.