Festival includes "real talk" on Apopka issues

The Apopka Family Faith Food Festival has it all - food, fun, fellowship and gospel music. Oh, and one other thing - a panel of pastors and a county commissioner talking candidly about issues facing Apopka.

They call it The Real Life Panel.

Pastors Darrell Morgan and Hezekiah Bradford will participate on the panel, hosted by Pastor Justin Miller.

Pastor Justin Miller of The Real Life Church in Clermont will host the panel, which will focus on unity, God working in this community, issues facing Apopka, community vision, solutions, neighborhoods and a church's role in today's world. Miller hosts a show called Real Talk that airs on Goodlife 45 Thursdays at 9pm.

Among the panelists are Pastors Hezekiah Bradford, Richard King, Darrel Morgan, Ronda Rieves and County Commissioner Bryan Nelson.

Bradford is the Pastor of St. Luke Missionary Baptist Church (later to be named St. Luke Full Gospel Baptist Church) in 1995. He is committed to community service and serves faithfully on the following boards and/or committees: Founder and CEO of W.A.U. Mission, and President of the South Apopka Ministerial Alliance.

King really wants to encourage people to vote and stick together to continue to help Apopka grow and grow for the better. He has seen many hard times, and during some of them he heard a quote that really stuck, and committed him to his service to others.

“Everyone can be great, because everyone can serve…” – Dr. Martin Luther King.

Commissioner Bryan Nelson will also offer his thoughts to the discussion.

Morgan is the senior pastor of Word of Life Church in Apopka for 27 years. To date, he has ministered and taught in Bible schools in over 11 foreign countries, including India, Russia, Haiti, Africa and Central South America. In December of 2011, Morgan received an Honorary Doctorate from Faith Christian University in Orlando. He is the President of the Apopka Christian Ministerial Alliance.

Orange County native Ronda Rieves is the founder of Hoops Church, which is dedicated to reaching and improving the lives of young men and their families through the sport of basketball. She also serves as Executive Pastor for Calvary Church of the Nazarene in Apopka. Her vision is to impact the lives of young people for positive change, pushing towards a brighter future for families in our communities and in our nation. She has served many years as a Youth Pastor, Pastor to Families and Pastor of Outreach in Apopka as well as serving in denominational leadership roles. Ronda also serves her community as a member of the Apopka Christian Ministerial Alliance.

Bryan Nelson is the Orange County Commissioner of District 2 which includes Apopka. He was elected in 2014 after serving in the Florida Legislature since 2006. He was born and raised in Apopka, graduated from Apopka High School in 1975, and the University of Florida in 1979.