Okotoks Adventist Church Buys Church Building

This command instilled in the hearts of some members from the former Calgary Southside Church, and they got the idea to start an Adventist congregation in Okotoks. With the direction of Pastors Romy Daquila, Norman Cid and Don Corkum, the vision, mission, and core values were formulated and over 30 members signed in to support the group. With approval from the Alberta Conference the first church service was officially held in the Elks Community Centre in Okotoks on October 7, 2017, with more than 60 people in attendance. Praise be to God.

Under the guidance of Pastor Romy Daquila, together with the leadership team, church activities were put in place. Adults and young people were involved in both outreach and in-reach activities. On April 28, 2018, the Okotoks group was organized into a company. On June 20, 2018, the Alberta Conference voted to assign Okotoks Seventh-day Adventist Company with Pastor Jinwook Lee, who was also pastoring another congregation elsewhere. On November 28, 2020, Okotoks Seventh-day Adventist Company was organized into a full-fledged Church via zoom.

In 2022 the Lord tremendously blessed the Okotoks Church. Several groups in the music department started up. A choir was formed, as well as The Ladies Ensemble, The Male Chorus,

Okotoks Ukelele and String Ensemble, JASS and String and the Kids Group. Another blessing came on May 17, 2022, when Pastor Reuel Manlongat was hired by the church as a Bible worker to assist Pastor Lee. December 3, 2022 was a miraculous day in the Okotoks Church. Head Elder, Nimrod Loriezo, announced that the church would rent another room for the children’s Sabbath School for $50 every Saturday. Some members agreed to pay for the extra amount of rent. As a treasurer, I stood there sighing and suddenly questioning the Lord. Lord, when are you going to give us a piece of land? Lord, when? You give other churches a piece of land and even a church, so why not us? Just a piece of land, Lord. I was standing in front of our church clerk, who said to me, “It is not good to question God because God knows what is best for His children.” Sometimes I do not have the faith of Elijah. On December 4, 2022, I was informed that Glen Carr, our building committee leader and with the help of the realtor, found an acre of land with a church building on it. Everyone was very happy and thankful. When God moves, He moves quickly, and we hope to be able to relocate to this church by the middle of February 2023. Thank you, Lord; You truly know what is best for Your children. —Submitted by Sally del Socorro, Church Treasurer