Sorines Lopez: You Are Complete In Him!
Well, PreachingWoman.com called on Sorines Lopez, Founder of Complete Ministries, recently relocated to Palm Bay, FL, to help us answer these questions. It is our delight to celebrate and feature her on our web site as she graciously accepted our invitation to share and encourage us all that we are "complete in Christ Jesus!" Now in case you have not yet encountered the amazing ministry of Sorines Lopez (Sorines), we are honored to help make the connection.
As unique and beautiful as her name, Sorines, pronounced "Sor-Ree-Ness," is one of the nicest, sweetest, and humble women of God you could ever meet. Quickly emerging as one of the newest, refreshing voices in the Kingdom, especially in the Hispanic/Latin American ministry arena, God uses Sorines mightily to share a practical, relevant, and invigorating Word to inspire those who encounter her ministry towards understanding that they are complete in Christ Jesus.With the expressed hand of God evident upon her life, Sorines, stands as an ambassador of Heaven to convey God's heart for unity in the Body of Christ. Postured at the helm of Complete Ministries, a dynamic Christian ministry of Hispanic descent, Sorines endeavors to help bridge the gap between Spanish and English speaking churches through creating high-impact, cross-cultural, multi-ethnic worship experiences for God's glory.
With a focused mandate to reach families, God has gifted Sorines with a unique anointing to connect with people, especially women, from diverse backgrounds and bring them together upon the ministry platform to minister and worship the Lord in spirit and in truth. One of the forums God has given her to do this is through her annual Complete Women Conference, which has been based in Milford, MA, for the past 7 years.
Although predominantly attended by Hispanic Christian women, the Complete Women conference is one of the first women's conferences of its kind where you encounter Hispanic, African American, Caucasian, and other ethnicities of women preaching and ministering to one another through the Word of God and in song. The atmosphere is charged with power as unified bi-lingual praise and worship is offered unto God As experienced translators interpret the Word of God from English to Spanish or vice versa.
Envisioned in 2005 and birthed in 2006, today the Complete Women Conference stands as an annual event drawing hundreds of multi-ethnic women from all over the nation. Countless testimonies of healing, freedom, restoration and salvation have come forth as a result of the mandate God has given Sorines concerning this conference. When people leave, there is no doubt that they are "Complete in Him!"
PreachingWoman.com's founder, Evangelist Nichelle Early (NE), enjoyed an opportunity to speak one on one with Sorines (SL) to find out more about her ministry and the necessity in this hour to be a complete woman in Him!
NE: Sorines, thank you so much for joining me today. I am so honored to speak with you!
SL: Thank you for the opportunity! I am very excited!
NE: Me too, well let's jump right in!
Please share with us the mission or vision of Complete Ministries?
SL: The mission I feel God has placed within my heart is to reach families. Having complete and whole families is so important, therefore, my mission is reaching families with one message; and that message is simply, "Only Christ can complete you!" This is based upon Colossians 2:10 and I like the New Living Translation (NLT) that says, "So you also are complete through your union with Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority."
The vision of the ministry is to gather people from different walks of life and provide events, such as our Complete Women Conference; and something I'm also excited about are the upcoming conferences we are planning such as our: Complete Men; Complete Young Adults; Complete Teens, Complete Marriages, and other events. These conferences will assist people in defining their life experiences by the Word of God, because the Word of God is the only way they can become complete. As the Lord was planting the seed for these conferences in my spirit, one of the things that kept playing in my mind is that we are always looking for the next step or the next place in our experiences, because we feel as though who we are or where we are is not enough. So, we try to complete ourselves. For example, while some are in high school, all they can think about is college; while they are in college all they can think about is getting out and getting a job; while they are planning their wedding all they can think about is buying the home...people tend not to enjoy the present moment, because they feel like something is missing or broken, or they are so busy trying to get to the next step. They spend so much of their time looking ahead to the very next thing. However, my message to them is simply: "You are complete in Him!" So, live for today, enjoy the day and don't overlook what God is doing for you now! Don't get me wrong, we believe in preparing for the future, but it's very important to live and enjoy our today.
NE: Wow! How true!
Now, God is certainly using you and your husband to be great forerunners in the ministry of reaching families. Why do you believe God has chosen you to be the proponent of such a great mission?
SL: You know Nichelle, let me start by saying I've always been one who was good at being the "wing man." In other words, I was happy being a team player. Maybe it's because of my birth order as I'm number 4 of 8 children. So, whether it was singing with my brothers as the only female in the Gonzalez Brothers Band, or working alongside others in ministry, I felt comfortable being a team player and doing my small part in God's big plan. I didn't have any desire to speak or be in ministry for myself. Honestly, I never asked for this, so to answer your question as to why God chose me, I truly don't know, but I'm so glad he did!
NE: So, when did you first come to know the Lord, Jesus Christ?
SL: Well, my parents came to know the Lord before I was born. In fact, they had three children before me, and so during that time, my Father and my brother gave their hearts to the Lord together. Now also at that time, my mother was a devout Catholic, so she wasn't right away convinced about accepting Jesus. However, the church my father was attending had a revival and he felt in his heart to host the guest missionary in their home. Now, my mother was fine with that, but didn't really want him preaching to her about Jesus. Wouldn't you know that missionary asked her one simple question, he asked, "If the heavens were to open and the Son of Man was to come, would you go to Heaven?" And needless to say, by the end of the conversation my mother had accepted Jesus as her Lord and Savior on her kitchen floor. Shortly after that, I was born into a Christian living family. Now, I don't know how much you may know about Hispanics or Latin American Christian families, but when I was coming up, we were in the church every time the doors opened! Sunday morning, Sunday night, Tuesday, Friday and Saturday night, and if that wasn't enough we would have service in our home the other nights.
Now, as I mentioned earlier, I sang with my brothers for many years and we had the amazing privilege of taking the message of Jesus through song many places. I truly believe that was a result of our upbringing and the home church services we had. In fact, let me tell you this, because it's kind of funny: My parents, Jesus and Digna Gonzalez, who did an amazing job sharing Jesus with us, would lead our home church services. And, I can remember some of us would run into the kitchen to get pots and pans (drums); spoons and cups (percussion); brooms (guitar); and we would even go into our bedroom for rolled up socks (microphones); and those were some of the greatest times!
NE: Sounds like you grew up in my house! {laughs}
SL: {laughs} The best thing was that we never felt pressured or burdened when we would have church, especially at home; we just loved "having" church and loved the Lord!
NE: I can so see what you saying, because it was the same way for me in my family. I can remember having Bible study and church at home too! Those were truly the good old days!
So, would you say that it appears that those times actually prepared you for what God is using you to do today, especially during the Complete Women Conferences and the highly musical and praiseful atmosphere that is created there?
SL: Absolutely! One of the things we strive to do during the conference is create an atmosphere where women can come and experience the Word and presence of God, knowing what they've been through, whether good or bad, it doesn't complete you or define you. Often times, when you attend some women's events, the focus is so much on the "victim mentality." In other words, all you hear is "let go of the hurt," "release the past," "let go of the pain..." And, all these things are necessary for us to do as women, but if we are not careful, they create a focus upon inadequacy and victimization, because it causes you to focus on what you've been through instead of focusing on the fact that no matter what you've been through, you are chosen and complete in Christ Jesus. So, yes, our emphasis at the Complete Women Conference is, "Let it go," but it's letting go of your praises so that you can let go of your pain or your past and live for today.
NE: Yes!
Now, the one thing I love about the Complete Women Conference is that, although the conference is predominantly Hispanic or Latin American in nature, the women and speakers that come are from many different ethnicities, cultures, backgrounds, and denominations. Please share with us what you believe is the importance of people of diverse backgrounds being a part of the conference God has given you.
SL: Well, I think that it brings unity in the Body of Christ. Jesus died for all of us. And the one thing I strive to show the Hispanic church is that we are not here only to reach other Hispanics or Latin Americans. We are called to share the Gospel with all people. So, it is important for us to create a bi-lingual and multi-cultural atmosphere in our conferences where there is freedom for everyone to come and be a part of it. For instance: in this generation, most of our Hispanic young adults are English speaking individuals, including myself; I think and speak in English first, then in Spanish...All and all, my goal is for us to not simply focus on the fact that we are a Spanish speaking ministry, but to focus on the fact that we are Christ's church! Therefore, when we join with others who are not Hispanic or Latin Americans we unite and do some amazing things for the glory of God.
NE: Amen! Well, let me ask you this: Based upon your conference name and mandate, "Complete Women," how do you define a complete woman?
SL: I believe a complete woman is one who, first and foremost, has a personal relationship with Christ. I believe she is one who obeys God's Word, and one who trusts God no matter what.
Being a complete woman is not about what you have, where you've been, who you know, or what you do; it's solely about who lives on the inside of you. Again, Colossians 2:10, [NLV] says, "So you also are complete through your union with Christ..." So, for me, I believe we are complete in Christ through our:
- Union - union comes through our relationship with Him.
- Abiding - abiding comes through prayer, fasting, and supplication
- Connection - reading His Word and obeying it.
I believe this is what brings forth and establishes completion in Him!
NE: That is so powerful!
So, Sorines, what three principles can you offer to women who feel as though they are missing something or lacking something; or they feel like they just are not worthy in Christ, or complete in God?
SL: Well, there is so much I could say, but what I will say is:
- Be happy with who you are in God; God loves you and He is the one who has called you. Therefore, you are important to the strategic plan of God for such a time as this.
- Push yourself to stay in the Presence of God; the more you stay in the presence of God, the more you will learn about who you are in Him. Whatever God is, we are; God is love, so we should love; God is forgiveness, so we should forgive; God is peace, so we should be at peace; In other words, we must activate everything that God has placed within to realize that we are complete in Him.
- Enjoy today! The saddest thing is a miserable woman. I remember my mother always told me that you set the atmosphere in your home and in your surroundings; so many women are miserable because they won't forgive; or they refuse to love; or they refuse to let go of past situations and hurts; however, it's so important to live for and enjoy today...If that means you need to forgive someone, then forgive them; if that means you need to love someone, then love them; whatever the case, enjoy today, because tomorrow is not promised to us!
And Nichelle, let me say this: We all will experience some painful situations, because pain is a part of the process. Sometimes your pain is necessary to prepare you for those that you will be assigned to minister to. Often times we think our ministry is for the "big stage", but it's for the woman sitting next to you that needs to know what you've learned and have experienced in your personal walk with God and share with them that whatever they're going through, He will bring them out whole and complete in Him!
NE: My God! That is so true! Well, I know our time is just about up, so please let me ask you one of my favorite questions: What do you believe God is saying in this hour?
SL: I believe God is saying let us take our rightful place in Him and do what we are called to do. In other words, don't try to do anyone else's assignment; don't try to be anyone else; just do what God has called you to do. This is the only way we are going to get to where God desires the Body of Christ to go. It is our responsibility to fulfill our own assignment and to assist others in fulfilling theirs. In other words, works as a team as were taught in Ephesians 4:16.
In fact, I preached a message using a football analogy regarding this, because it's important we understand the unity of a team. We must understand that time is on the clock and we must stop wasting valuable time. Everyone plays a vital role in the Body of Christ. There are many positions or gifts; and they may not all be necessary to be spiritual gifts to bring God glory; for instance, if you are a seamstress, be the best seamstress you can be to make clothes for the homeless; if your gift is crafts, make toys or things for those who are less fortunate to bring them joy...it's all ministry for the glory of God! So, I believe God is saying focus on your assignment and do it!
NE: Now that is a great word, because you are right, so many people take their hobbies for granted and don't use them for the up building of God's Kingdom, all because they believe they either must have five-fold ministry gifting or they don't feel that their hobby can be used to glorify God when it most certainly can!
Well, last but certainly not least, what does your family mean to you as you endeavor to do God's ministry?
SL: My family is very important, especially coming from a background where I saw my parents raising a family to love and serving God. So, for me, my family and their well-being and participation in ministry is so important. My husband, I would say, is just wonderful. He is so nurturing and he pushes me to be all that God has called me to be. In fact, when I embraced the call to minister, He believed in me, when I didn't believe in myself. I was fine just singing, because I wasn't the preaching type. However, he helped to activate or awaken some things in me that I didn't even know I had so that I could do what God has called me to do. This is why it's so important to keep great people around you, because you are activated by the type of people you surround yourself with. So, I truly believe I am the person I am today because of my parents and my husband.
In terms of my children, my husband Peter and I were blessed to have three sons: Peter Jacob (PJ), 18; Jonathyn 14; and Malachi, 9. My children are so special to me because, as I raise them, they help me to discover more and more about God and who I am in Him. One thing I know about God is that He blesses you with the children because He has placed in you what is necessary to mold them into His purpose; so your children pull that out of you.
NE: That is just so beautiful! Well, if you had one last thing to say, what would that be?
SL: "Only Christ can complete you!" I'm so glad "He completes Me!"
