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History and Vision
In November, 1927 a group met because they wanted church to do more than meet and greet each other. They wanted to let everyone in the valley know about Jesus. They called a pastor, elected leadership, and named themselves. The name came from our first pastor, Walter Wandell, when he was coming home from
Lawton.
He crested the hill at
Medicine
Park
, looked down at the terrain, and said, “Look, it’s a
Valley
of
Paradise
.” The name fit, so we became Paradise Valley Baptist Church. Then they we nt to work, telling people about what Jesus had done for them. The original building, finished in 1929, has been fully enclosed now with four different additions, but it was about two-thirds of our middle building.
A lot has changed since then. In the summer of 1959, new outdoor restrooms were built. (All of the restrooms are indoors now. Honest.) 1965 was the first year we averaged over 100 in Sunday School. In 1971 sixteen people were baptized at Kimbell Ranch. In 1981 the church gave away 800 New Testaments in the community and sent 11 people to
Mexico
where 101 people accepted Christ a s their Lord and Savior.
In recent years, we have bricked all of the buildings, extended the fellowship hall, remodeled the indoor restrooms, and completely remodeled and expanded the kitchen and fellowship hall. We have sent groups and individuals on mission trips to
Mexico
,
China
,
Romania
, Hungary,
Turkey
, South
Korea
,
Japan,
Mali, Nepal, Germany,
England, Okinawa,
Uganda, Washington
,
Alabama
,
Missouri
, Illinois,
Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Texas, Vermont,
Mississipi, Utah,
Oklahoma City
,
Owasso, Lawton
, and our valley. We’ve handed out Jesus videos and batteries for smoke detectors and provided a safe place for the children of our valley to enjoy Halloween.
We have taken a gospel presentaion to every house in our valley.
Our history and vision continues to be linked together. Our most important reason to exist continues to be to tell people what Jesus has done for them. God has just extended our borders from the
Valley
of
Paradise
to the ends of the earth. So our vision for the future is to continue to follow our God as He leads us, just like they did in 1927, go to every house, every person, everywhere.
   
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