The “Baja 1000” is a 1,000-mile off-road motorsport race held annually across the Baja California Peninsula in Mexico. The race often begins in Ensenada, where we have a conference of 10 Advent Christian churches, and sometimes ends in La Paz, where we have two others. It is a legendary and unforgiving endurance race that tests the durability of both the vehicles and the drivers. On the odd years when the race designers move the finish line farther south, La Paz’s identity changes from being the finish line to being a pit stop.
A “Pit Stop” most accurately and honorably describes Pastor Adrian’s church in La Paz. The church’s vision is simple: to stay on mission. It is a congregation that restores and refuels its members on Sunday so that on Monday they are refreshed and ready to go back out on the road, ministering to those around them.
When entering the worship service, guests are immediately embraced with genuine warmth and drawn into heartfelt worship. The loving and safe environment allows the deep personal needs of each person in the room to be expressed and immediately prayed over. As a visitor, you might look around and think, “So this is how a true body of believers operates.”
Then comes the Testimony & Tell Time, a moment when members stand and humbly share their personal outreach victories and struggles. The body of Christ in this church truly lives out Ephesians 4:12, working together to build one another up.
Church members come on Sunday for their refueling pit stop: to fill their tanks, share prayer needs and get new “tires” so they can continue their race. Each one is indeed running their own race, a race to share Jesus with those in need. Just as the Baja 1000 isn’t a circular track repeating the same route, this race of faith is filled with decisions, what path to take, which dune to cross and how to keep pressing forward.
Each member has chosen a path in the race to win and disciple souls for Jesus. For some, the path leads to helping at a women’s shelter; for others, it is serving in a men’s rehab center or reaching out to neighbors in need. During Testimony & Tell, they share stories of victory and struggles that need prayer. Through these moments, members see how God is working and are encouraged to pray together and meet one another’s needs as God provides.
On one particular Sunday, one “racer,” wanting to help the women in the shelter become more self-reliant, surveyed church members for spare ingredients that could be used to teach the women how to make homemade soap and even wooden turtles to sell in the markets for food.
The pit stop is quick, a small portion of the total race time, but its importance is immeasurable. Without it, we cannot finish the race. May all our churches continue pressing on toward the prize of the high calling, striving to be more like pit stops than parlors.
Like every pit stop, this church depends on steady support to keep its ministry running strong.
The WH&FMS Bread of Life program helps strengthen ministries like this one. These are local, grassroots efforts, nationals helping nationals, that are mostly self-funded but sometimes need a little extra help to climb over the sand dunes along their race. Your Bread of Life support encourages, enhances and enlarges the ministry of this local church in its calling to reach the lost in its community. Thank you!
If you’d like to donate today to Bread of Life, you can do so here.
