Hey my friend! Happy Thursday!
As expected, Easter weekend did not disappoint. As it has been in years past, the vast majority of people we witnessed to were open and receptive. Lots of smiles, thumbs up, thank you’s, donations, asking for gifts, you name it. It’s a lot like it is around Christmas time, but even better, because there are WAY more people outside.
In fact, on Friday, I would guess that there were 100-150 people out at the park, which is much more than usual. When we arrived, there was a man playing the saxophone by the statue, so we left the speaker off while we set up to be respectful. After we brought all the stuff over, he saw that we were Christians and he started playing “Goodness of God” on the sax. I recognized it right away and went over to talk to him. He just moved here from Brazil a year ago and only spoke a little bit of English. After we talked, he decided to stay, and he ended up playing with us almost until the end. He said he really liked what we were doing, and that he wants to come back. Here’s a video:
On Saturday, we had our second outreach near the skatepark. Although the crowds were slim, there were some very meaningful Divine appointments. One happened right after we got set up. A woman on a bike rode over and after talking with her a bit, she told me that she is a believer, but that she is addicted to meth and living on the streets. I got to pray with her and minister to her for a while and the Lord really touched her heart. She was in tears and feeling the peace of God afterwards. I also found out that she had been extended an invitation to enter a program called His Girls, and when I told her that I knew some of the same people that she knew from the program, it seemed to give her confirmation to go. She is such a sweet woman, and I am praying that she follows through.
Later on, a man named Chris came over, who was newly saved but needing a lot of help to get to the next steps. Mike ministered to him for about an hour and he got filled with the Holy Spirit and was able to forgive someone whom he had been holding offense against.
Later on, a woman came up who was a believer on vacation from Jacksonville. The Lord really encouraged her through our testimony and even gave her a prophetic word that really blessed her. She ended up talking to me for over 20 minutes and was so thankful that she even sent me money. So cool how God can orchestrate people’s paths to cross even though they live so far away from each other!
All in all, we witnessed to around 50-100 people and prayed for around 10-15. Definitely a fruitful night. One other cool highlight was that our 15-year-old friend Jackson came and ministered with us the entire night. It is so cool to see this on fire young man getting so activated. Here’s one video I took of him preaching.
On Sunday, we had a pretty slim team, so we met in the pavilion. So many people (particularly kids and families) came over to talk to us and receive gifts, and I even knowingly shared the gospel with a girl who had never heard it before, which was amazing.
Later in the night there were a number of people that had gathered to listen to me preach, and this guy came through the pavilion and started cussing me out. I blessed him on the microphone, and then he came back around and unplugged it. He did this two more times, and each time I just kept blessing him. By the third time, the crowd had all turned against him, and he was even told by several people to leave. What was so funny to me was that I had just gotten done preaching about God’s unconditional love and how even when we reject Him, He still loves us the same. The man ended up creating the perfect illustration to my message because after he was ranting and raving, I told everyone that even when people act like he was acting, God still loves them the same. I feel like the entire drama really helped make the message more meaningful to everyone who heard it. Hallelujah for persecution!
A little while after this, a group of about 7-8 teenagers came over. They initially seemed like they were going to mock us, but when I asked them if I could pray for them, they all got on one knee, bowed their heads and joined hands. It was so surprising that I wanted to take a picture, but as I was about to, one of them raised his head and said very reverently, “are you going to pray for us sir?” I put the phone away and prayed for them. They were all very thankful. So cool how the Lord is working in the youth!
One other VERY cool highlight was meeting this little girl named Audra, who came over with her parents. She told me that she sings songs at church and really liked what we were doing. I asked her if she wanted to sing a song on the microphone and she did. The first was a song was one she had learned and the second was a song she made up right on the spot. It was legit prophetic worship and I told her that. It must have been strange to hear, given that they were catholic! Here’s a video of her:
Our sister Jeanine led a few very fruitful outreaches on Holmes Beach last weekend too. I heard 6 people got baptized there on Sunday, which is so cool!
Thank you SO much to Carson, Amber, Mike M, Rochelle, Mike K, Lucas, Michelle, Deb, Jackson, Mike V and Jeff for coming out to serve with us this past weekend!
Also, thank you to everyone who prayed for me on Monday night. I feel the Lord said what He wanted to say through me at The Front, and a number of people told me that what I shared really ministered to them. It was all about the beauty (and the necessity) of being a devoted bride to Christ. Definitely one of my life messages. You can watch it here if you’d like-
Also, I’m glad so many could make it to “Come Out in Jesus Name” on Tuesday night. We had a solid Jesus crew in there. Laney, Diana, Dan, Michelle, Deb, Thom, Mike M, Mike K, Rochelle, Lucas, Joe, Rose, Grace, Joy, Jeanine, Dave, Laura, and Cindy were there, and I even saw the 3 women that prayed me into the Kingdom 17 years ago, which was really cool! The movie was amazing and there was a ton of ministry going on outside the theater afterwards. Here’s a picture we took beforehand. It’s missing a few people though unfortunately.
This weekend, we will have the 3 outreaches like usual, but I will only be there on Friday and Sunday. On Saturday, I will be in South Beach Miami ministering with a team at Miami Pride, the biggest gay pride rally in south Florida. They expect 170,000 people to be there so it should be exciting! Please keep us lifted up!
Because of this, brother Paul will be leading the outreach on Saturday. I encourage you to come and join him, Sofiya and the rest of the team.
This weekend the schedule is:
Friday at Bayfront Park (160) at 6
Saturday at Riverwalk (87) at 5
Sunday at Siesta Beach (264) at 4
Please pray and please come when you can!
Also, please join us tonight for prayer for this weekends’ outreaches. Here is the login info:
Topic: Prayer Meeting for Outreaches
Time: Apr 13, 2023 09:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us04web.zoom.us/j/76322321601?pwd=WrZfJFqBDPYaFw0plAVHR9bcistjj0.1
Hope to see you soon! God bless!
Chris