Hey Fam! Hope you’re doing fantastic!
I am beyond excited! In just a few days, myself and a handful of others will be bringing the light of the Gospel to one of the darkest places in our state…at one of the darkest times of the year- Key West during Fantasy Fest.
If you’re not familiar with Fantasy Fest, just Google it. You’ll be shocked. I’ve been told that it is like Sodom and Gomorrah on steroids.
The reason I’m so excited is not just because of all the lost souls that will hear the Word and experience the Presence of God, but because this is one of the last major demonic portals left over our state that we have yet to push back against. Just this year alone, we’ve already ministered at:
Gasparilla in Tampa, which is one of the top 5 biggest parades in America, and filled with drunkenness and a glorification of darkness.
Spring Break in Ft. Lauderdale, which is arguably the biggest youth sex party in America.
Miami Pride on South Beach, the largest Gay Pride rally in Florida.
Fantasy Fest, the adult version of Spring Break (with a special emphasis on homosexuality), will complete the circuit.
We’ve got Paul coming from the 941, Mike and Rochelle traveling in from Myrtle Beach, our bro Alex (who I met when he was leading worship for Todd White), from West Palm, and several people are coming from Calvary Chapel Key West. It will be a lean team, but we are expecting big breakthroughs!
As I’ve mentioned before, I don’t think it is any coincidence that our state has transformed so much over these past 5 years that we’ve been ministering here. The Word of God and the Presence of God being sown into our state makes such a difference in its direction. This is one of the reasons why David was so adamant about having these things go forth from his tent in Jerusalem for the entire 33 years of his reign.
This hit me in a new way today because I just saw that here in Manatee County, a park was just named after our Governor, and he came there yesterday and made a speech. In it, he mentioned some pretty amazing statistics about our state that are super encouraging.
Pretty darn cool! I can’t to see what else happens after this demonic portal over Key West gets pushed back!
In addition to keeping the trip in prayer, please keep in prayer the retirement home ministry. The last service we had there was very powerful, and the people want us back as much as possible. We will be there again on Saturday and the ladies said that once we get into a routine, they will be inviting people from all over the facility. It could very well turn in to a huge outreach so we’re excited!
Another thing I’m excited about is how many believers are waking up to the urgency of the hour after the war in Israel began. A friend even sent a picture of a billboard that she saw on a highway, that showed that. Keep in mind these cost thousands of dollars to display every month, so clearly God is trying to blow His trumpet.
On that note, as you may have seen, I shared an entire message about this last week, which you can see by clicking on last week’s blog post. Several people have told me that it really opened their eyes and encouraged them, so I thank God for that.
Onto to the weekend, which was nothing short of amazing.
On Friday night, we were all taken back by the rock festival that was going on across the street from Bayfront Park, because their sound was drowning out a good bit of our sound. I prayed before we started for the Lord to carry His Word further than our voices could go, and within just a few minutes, He answered that prayer so beautifully.
A young man on a bike came up towards us just after we started, and he was wearing a big motorcycle helmet. He came right up towards me, took his helmet off, and said to me “this is going to sound crazy, but I usually can’t hear s**t with my helmet on…but I was WAY down there and all of sudden I heard a man’s voice say “Hallelujah.” I looked around and I didn’t see anyone so I started riding back this way and I saw you guys, so I figured I’d come and talk to you.”
Then he asked me “what does Hallelujah mean anyway?”
Long story short, we shared the Gospel with him, he confessed his sinfulness and his need for Jesus, he asked Jesus for forgiveness, and he prayed to make Him Lord of his life. Then we baptized him with water (on his head anyway) and got his contact info. We’re in the process of following up with him now. So cool how the Lord orchestrated all of it! And I seriously don’t know whether he heard my voice or Jesus’ voice because I say a lot more than just hallelujah and he didn’t say that he heard anything more than that.
Here’s us praying for him. His name is Jacob.
Overall, the traffic that night was less than usual but we still got to touch 50-60 people I’d say. 3 guys that just escaped from Cuba prayed with us in the prayer circle too and we also got to bless a man who had just been released from 2.5 years of prison just a few days earlier. Definitely a good night.
BIG thanks to Nate, Mike, M, Amber, Laney and James for coming out to serve. Great work!
On Saturday. things got off to an interesting start. While I was getting ready to unload, a woman came up to me in the parking lot and she was frantic. She said “Pastor, you have to help me, I’ve lost my kids!”
She went on to tell me that her 3 kids, plus one of their friends, had run off and were missing. They were each very young and she had been looking all over for them but saw no signs of where they could be. I told her that I would help her, but that I first wanted to pray. I asked God to bring the children back, and then she showed me their picture, and I went looking. It wasn’t but 2-3 minutes later that I saw the woman across the park reunited with her kids! She was so happy! I told her that God did this for her to remind her of His Presence in her life and she was touched. I also got to speak into the kids and tell them to always obey their parents, which I’m sure will be something they remember.
Such an unusual way to start the night!
After that, we started the service, and once again we were joined by the team from the local Hispanic church. It’s always nice when they come. They really love what we are doing and they have so much passion. Here’s a video of most of them as the pastor was preaching.
The rest of the night was so powerful. Several adults and one child prayed to receive the Lord early on at the gift table and lots of people were coming over for tracts and prayer. One young believer came over and asked for prayer and the Lord moved on her so mightily that within a few minutes, she was bent over, throwing up, and crying. This is her after:
Later on in the night, a couple came by who were unsaved, and Laney talked to them for a while and then they prayed to receive the Lord also. As they were being prayed over, they were both crying, and the woman was shaking. Afterwards the man even said that the anger he had been feeling so intensely when he got there was gone. This is them after and I’m pretty sure that puddle is from her tears.
Also, because of the weather, there were SO many people at the park getting touched throughout the night. I’d guess 4-500 easily. Such an amazing night all around!
BIG thanks to Jackson, Mike V, Carol, Mike, Stefany, Laney, Karina, Pastor Jose and the 10ish evangelists that he brought! Great job!
Sunday got off on a slightly different foot than Friday and Saturday- with a believer coming over a complaining about what we were doing for several minutes. This was the first complaint we had in a long time, and we had another before the night was done. It was so sad to see “Christian’s” doing this. It didn’t stop us though; we were still able to touch several hundred before the night was over and a number of people received prayer too. One Philippino man, who had never heard the Gospel, even prayed to ask Jesus to come into his life. He also took tracts and a book. This is him:
I also got to go into the drum circle for a bit and connect with several people that we’ve been ministering to over there, which was nice.
Such a great night overall!
BIG thanks to Amber, Michelle, Laney, Sean, Angel, Paul, Mike M, and Deb for coming out! Great job!
This weekend has a great weather forecast too, so we’re believing once again for large crowds and mighty moves of the Spirit!
Please pray and please come when you can!
Blessings and love,
Chris