The location and God’s people made this site a wonderful place to be, but events that led up to the Feast, and occurrences during and after the Feast showed us that God indeed was with us and had placed His name here.

Daily church services were held in the spacious (94,000 sqare feet) Exhibition Hall of the Ocean Center, and were marked by outstanding sermons, tremendous live and video special music, and warm fellowship. The venue was the perfect place for the Feast held during the pandemic, as social distancing and seating distancing were easily achievable and available to the 687 people who came to this site. 

For those who preferred to wear masks the entire time, a separate room was provided, with services streamed in live from the main hall. 

Throughout the Feast, God’s hand was evident in our meeting and gathering. Leading up to the Feast, the Ocean Center had moved us from the original space for which we had contracted to the much larger Exhibition Hall. During that time, all other events scheduled at the Center canceled, leaving us as the only group that was meeting there for the entire Feast. It seemed that God had cleared the center for us.

In addition to daily services, youth education classes, a “dinner and Bible studies” evening and family day were scheduled. Family day was held at the adjacent Daytona Lagoon water park and amusement center. The city had approved a private party for the Church with up to 500 attendees. Families enjoyed an afternoon of water slides, a water park, endless arcade games, go-karts, mini golf, a ropes course and other attractions. 

God’s favor was evident in our ability to schedule family day and He literally “shone” His presence on us that day. After three straight days of overcast skies and rain, the forecast for family day was the same. But, as we awoke on that morning, the sun was shining. Even Ocean Center personnel commented on the unexpected sun that then remained for the rest of the Feast.

To make this Feast even more memorable and a tribute to God, we saw Him turn tragedy into victory. At the end of the Feast, a Church member’s heart literally stopped beating Friday night, for no apparent reason. Over the next several days, after she was revived (after having been without a heartbeat for 20 minutes or more) she lay unconscious on a ventilator in a local hospital. On the Tuesday after the Feast, with so many praying for her, God opened her eyes. She has made a miraculous recovery, acknowledged even by the nurses who told her husband, “These things don’t happen. This is a miracle.” Praise God. 

The summary for the Feast in Daytona? God is with us. To Him be the glory forever and ever.