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The
idea for the Oilfield Christian Fellowship of Houston began in
the spring of 1991 with a phone conversation between Jim Teague,
a drilling engineer and John Bird, a salesman for a service company.
Each realized that they knew a lot of Christians in the oil patch
and felt that a breakfast would be a good place to get to know
other believers. The first meeting was advertised by word
of mouth and 46 men and women met at the Houston First Baptist
Church for breakfast. Because everyone enjoyed this
first meeting, it was decided they would meet monthly on the
first Wednesday for lunch. This continues to this day, with the
exception of the one day of the year they meet for the annual
prayer breakfast during OTC or if holidays should conflict.
Today
there are chapters meeting monthly in Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Dallas,
Lafayette and New Orleans. Currently there are several cities
with plans to start new chapters. John and Bible supply
chairman, Mike Chaffin recently spoke at the inaugural meeting
of the Illinois Basin chapter in Evansville, Indiana during the
two day Illinois Oil and Gas Exposition held there.
In
May 2007 the Eighth Annual Prayer Breakfast was held with over
800 men and women in attendance at the Park Plaza Hotel across
from the Reliant Football Field. This event is always held on
Tuesday during the OTC conference held at the Reliant Convention
Center. Randy Limbacher, V.P. of Drilling and Production for
ConocoPhillips was the keynote speaker and last years speaker,
Mark Albers, President, ExxonMobil Development closed for Randy. Internationally
known Grammy and Dove award winner Larnelle Harris was the singer
and received a standing ovation.
At
each monthly area meetings a guest speaker shares how he or she
came to know Christ as Savior and what God is doing in their
life. This format is based on the scripture found in Proverbs
27:17, “As Iron Sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.” As
many as 250 people meet for lunch and sharing in Houston, the
largest chapter.
The
Oilfield Christian Fellowship’s mission is to share the
good news about Jesus Christ, give men and women in the oil industry
the occasion to accept Christ as their personal Savior and to
encourage them in their walk with our Lord. This same opportunity
is provided through the Bible supply ministry that began in 2000.
To Learn more about OCF you may visit the
website at:
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