milpitas_inlineOn a recent Sunday morning, Pastor Sidney Capillas of Northside Harvest Baptist Church in Milpitas, California, reminded his church family and Regular Baptist Ministries guests Clare Jewell, John and Daria Greening, and Darrell Goemaat of the anti-Bible culture prevalent in the surrounding area. According to Barna, San Francisco “has high numbers of people who identify as atheist or agnostic or as having ‘no faith’—22%, over two times the national average. . . . There is low levels of trust for the Bible—approximately half disagree that the Bible is totally accurate in all the principles it teaches, and only 14% are Bible-minded (having read the Bible within the past seven days and agreeing strongly that it is accurate).”

In this prosperous, high-tech area, the Bible seems to be the last thing on people’s minds. Yet Pastor Sidney and Anna Capillas, bi-vocational missionaries sent by Sunrise Valley Baptist Church in San Jose, California, are faithfully laboring to plant a church in the heart of Silicon Valley. Anna warmly greets guests and provides activities for children around a back table in the Milpitas Community Center room in which the church meets. She also teaches music to their young children, who provided special songs through voice and piano during the worship service. Pastor Sidney extends his ministry to the community by providing loving care and spiritual encouragement as a hospice chaplain, endorsed by Regular Baptist Chaplaincy.

In living the life of faith he proclaims, Pastor Sidney challenged the attending believers from Hebrews 6 to continue to do good works for those in the house of faith, as it is clear evidence of their salvation to a watching world. Also, he encouraged them to hold on to the hope they have in Christ so that they can persevere in their faith. His teaching takes on special significance in the skeptical Bay Area environment.