I apologize in advance for this soon-to-be extremely long post...and then again I don't. These past few weeks the Lord has done so much. So I'll start by thanking all of you who have been reading this and praying for our going on in the gospel and now you'll read about the fruits that have come about from all this prayer.
I'll start with the weekend of October 28-30. The internship group (us) went down to the wild and wonderful state of West Virginia (history lesson: only state created during the civil war) where we joined with the churches of Fayetteville to evangelize the town of Fayetteville. Before the weekend even started, a sea of prayer from the Great Lakes area went out for this time. We went down there hoping to help out and see what the Lord could do to a small town in the mountains. On the very first night, the Lord revealed to us how pleased He was with our going to WV.
The young people came the very first night for some awesome singing and more powerful prayer. After the meeting had ended, we started talking about our adventures of getting to Fayetteville. There was a group of us who was listening to the intense survival story of Grace Wang and Peter McNaughton, told by Grace (you'll have to ask her about her story), when this one boy, named Michael, came up to us and told us that he had just became saved. This happened because Grace and Peter got lost, they arrived later and took a breather in a back room when Michael showed up. Grace and Peter talked with him and then eventually someone else joined in. After the talk he realized that he needed to give his life to the Lord. Later on that evening, all the interns went over to the Morey's and crammed into their bathroom to baptize Michael in their bathtub. His testimony is so powerful and would make this blog twice as long, but he will be at the Rock in Toronto, Canada so if you want to hear it you should talk to him. This was only the first night.
The next day our schedules were crammed with a whole lot of Jesus.The morning was filled with back-to-back small groups/messages/skits preformed on Ephesians 1 (If you would like the links for the skits, FB message me). Next came some hardcore door-knocking and preaching the gospel in the cold weather where every house had a dog and most houses were separated by a few minutes of walking. The overall result was very positive.
Later in the afternoon, when most seemed tired, our spirits were revived again with a Christian rock concert performed by Phos (Ian K.'s band). These were songs Ian had written himself and in between, numerous interns gave touching personal testimonies. Afterwards, we had a delicious dinner with the saints at Christ Fellowship Church and then were treated to a violin concert performed by Vios (Julian T's project) that had the put a spin on well known hymns. The violin was the lead, but incorporated were acoustic/bass guitars, a piano, drums, vocals, and even a dance. Julian surprised most of us by bringing out a shiny accordion, which he played beautifully. Here is the link were you can experience some of the awesomeness we enjoyed: http://www.juliantaylormusic.com/music.html. Just click the play button near the title "Belief." Afterwards we were treated to a bonfire under the moon and stars.
On the Lord's day, the interns went to different churches of Fayetteville. This was an interesting/enjoyable experience. Later that afternoon, many of us stayed in WV to go on a fall hike in the mountains. This experience was so breathtakingly beautiful and something that should be placed on many bucket lists. The fall colors blanketing the mountains with a gorge slicing them down the middle. What made this adventure really exciting was when we left the trail and began to blaze our own trail through the underbrush, scale down a cliff, climb on and over huge boulders, squeeze through a crack approximately six feet wide by four feet tall, step over a 30 foot drop, and finally climb up a small ledge to overlook the mountain range...with a group of 40+ people.It was such a privilege to see the artistry of God. Some of us then stayed a little longer to participate in their Lord's Day evening service. We rushed straight there, dirty and all, but we made it. There was one more surprise for us. The pastor asked all the choir groups to come up and sing "How Great Thou Art" all together. The surprise was that we were called up to sing with them! That was a wonderful experience. We then said our good-byes and left the small mountain town of Fayetteville and headed back to the city of Cleveland, arriving at 2AM.
One week later, these Gospel Warriors were off on another quest in another city. Location: Toledo, OH. Mission: Evangelize Toledo and help build up the church. We came in droves and masses, fearlessly stepping onto strangers' porches, rapping upon their doors, and gave them Jesus. Mission results: 99 surveys, 20 contact cards, 2 people prayed with, and 1 clear salvation. Here's a little insight to the power of prayer. The westside bros prayed/challenged the Lord to give us 10 contact cards. Not only did He meet that need, He exceeded it. Jesus is awesome.
The trip was supposed to actually last until 4PM but the westside had a young people's day in Bedford to get to. So basically we left town at 8AM, got to Toledo by 10AM, stayed until 1PM, got back at 3PM, then drove out to Bedford and arrived a little after 4PM. There were close to if not more than a 100 people there. We experienced a Fall filled day. There were caramel apples, a scavenger hunt in the woods, an apple relay, some delicious food, and an 7-8 foot high bonfire. I may have been dead tired that night, but it was totally worth it.
Closing thoughts: I again thank all of you prayer warriors who have been praying for our going on in the gospel. So many of yours and our prayers are being answered as we are getting contacts and follow-ups by the numbers. I will expound more upon this in my next post. Praise God for all He has done!
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