Happy Thursday Beloved! I hope you’ve had a blessed week!
What an honor and privilege it is to serve the Lord with you! And what a blessing it is to be able to do it so freely and so boldly. This past week, as we celebrated our 3-year anniversary of ministering at Riverwalk, the Lord spoke to me about the importance of what we are doing and the impact that we’ve been able to make. This happens every time we celebrate a ministry anniversary, but it hit me even harder this time. This was partly because earlier in the week, a study was released by Barna Research group stating that according to recent surveys, only 10% of Americans identify as being truly born again with a biblical worldview (what they termed evangelical).
They say that the reason is because believers are not being taught or encouraged to take their faith outside the 4 walls and to influence culture.
Of course, influencing culture sounds like a big task, but it really just boils down to each and every believer truly living for God and allowing Him to use us to bring Jesus boldly into the spheres of influence that He’s given us. That means our families, our workplaces, our schools, our other government institutions, and also into ALL public places.
This is something that David knew very well- that God’s Word and God’s Presence needed to be permeating the public square in order for the culture to remain God centered. Why? Because the less people are exposed to those things, the easier it is for them to forget about God, fall into sin, and become rebellious. This is why God had him raise up 4000 musicians, 288 singers, and dozens of priests to operate the Tabernacle 24/7/365 for 33 years with these instructions:
Give thanks to the Lord, call upon His name;
Make His deeds known among the peoples.
9 Sing to Him, sing praises to Him;
Speak of all His wonders.
10 Boast in His holy name;
Let the heart of those who seek the Lord be joyful.
11 Seek the Lord and His strength;
Seek His face continually.
12 Remember His wonderful deeds which He has done,
His marvels and the judgments from His mouth,
Sing to the Lord, all the earth;
Proclaim good news of His salvation from day to day.
24 Tell of His glory among the nations,
His wonderful deeds among all the peoples.
Imagine if an expression of this was happening in every public place, every single day? How would culture shift? And on that note, why do you think the devil has worked so hard over the generations to take the mention of God and His Word out of every public place possible? Because he knows the power that it has.
Of course, we are just a little team in a little corner of America, but I still thank God that we get to do our little part. The Lord was encouraging me with this the other day, and I think it will encourage you too. In 6.5 years of doing outreach, we’ve been able to do over 750 outreaches and expose roughly 192,000 people to the Presence and the Word of God.
We’ve also been blessed to see an army raised up of over 50 people, representing nearly 10 different churches. About half of them currently minister with us between 1-2 times per week and 1-2 times per month and the other half participate more sporadically. We’ve also helped launch 3 other teams into doing their own outreaches across the are also, which adds up to about 28 total outreaches per month. When we started there were ZERO.
We’ve also been blessed to minister in over 10 different cities and at some of the biggest events in the state. This has led to 10’s of thousands more being impacted. God has also provided over $70,000 to do this in just the past 3 years, which is truly awe inspiring also.
I say all that to say…God is so good and so faithful, and He is using EACH OF US to take back the ground that past generations have squandered. All Glory to Him!
Speaking of that, this weekend was great.
On Friday, it started raining shortly after we got the Bayfront, so we were delayed by about 90 minutes. While we were waiting for it to clear, we had the coolest little surprise party because Chris, Geraldine, Mike, Rochelle, Lucas, Caitlyn, and several others unexpectedly came to minister with us. They had all been traveling for the past few months, so it felt like a little reunion. Once they got there, we kept praying for the storm to break and it literally parted like the Red Sea!
The crowds were pretty small that night, but a number of people still got ministered to. We ended up being out until after 11, and even up to the very end people were getting touched. One woman got radically filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in tongues in front of her family too which was awesome. This them all together.
On Saturday, we had good weather and a really good crowd as the night went on. We also had two people drumming, which helped give us a really cool sound.
Many people were listening and engaging throughout the park, and I got word that several people prayed to receive Jesus at the table. 2 people even experienced physical healing. God also gave us a really nice rainbow (despite there being no rain) as a little anniversary wink.
The most memorable moment of the night for me though was when a woman came up to us and asked us what church we go to. We had spoken to her briefly before, and ministered to her kids several times, but this time she was really showing hunger for God. She joined us for prayer, and the Lord gave me a word for her. She then started crying as she told us how much the ministry has meant to her. She said that she has been coming to the park for years and that she has seen us many times. She said there were moments when she felt such despair when she came, and God used us to touch her. She also said, “even when you don’t think people are listening, they are, and you are making a difference.” Here she is:
What a powerful testimony to hear on the 3-year anniversary! And what an encouragement to keep going for another 3! We then shared some next steps with her, and we are keeping in touch.
On Sunday, we had another great day at the beach. We set up in the pavilion again and many people listened and engaged, received gifts and prayer and several prayed to receive Jesus. Some of the people getting touched were there for the drum circle, which is awesome. Almost no pics though unfortunately!
The coolest moment for me was watching this young girl pray along with me as I gave the altar call, and then seeing her get ministered to by several of the ladies and deciding to get baptized.
I was told that she got filled with the Holy Spirit and started speaking in tongues when she came out of the water too. So cool!
BIG thanks to all the mighty warriors that joined us this weekend! Mike M, Amber, Laney, Rene, Maria, Jack, Rachael, Tom, Julie, Chuck, Debbie, Mike, Rochelle, Chris, Geraldine, Lucas, Caitlyn, Anna, Patrick, Joe, Gene, Mauricio, Jenny, Sarath, Psalm, Paul, Daniel and Roy. Great work everyone!
Lastly, I want to share this short message with you. As I was worshipping at The Front on Monday, I began to sense that many people were battling concerns over what was going to happen in the future. The Lord gave me a message about this from Psalm 139 and several people said that it blessed them. It sure did bless me too! Grab hold of it today for yourself too.
Love you! And we hope to see you soon!
Chris, Sofiya and Natalie