I am in an amazingly good mood...why? Well let me see. This past weekend was a college conference at Ashland Woods, I'm going to Akron this weekend for the young people's day, Mark Greenwood is came over to hang out, I got free Chick fil-A the other day and this weather is supposed to be sunny almost all week and in the 70s all week!
I know I haven't posted in awhile and this sad habit may continue seeing as the labor keeps becoming more intense, but it'll be all the more epic when the next post comes out!
So last weekend there was a college conference at Ashland Woods. Normally these conferences attract around 80 or so people. However, because there was a strong push in the internship to bring friends ans overwhelm the facility, the final head count was 156! That is number that we get only for a week long event that is in this summer...and this was practically 2 days! Plus there were at least 20+ new people.
The Lord answered many prayers that weekend. Two sisters were baptized into the Kingdom of God! Since the pond was too cold to baptize them, a make-shift baptismal had to be built. Daniel Schmitkons came up with the idea of taking mulch bags and building a rectangular pit out of them. Then a tarp was put into the middle and filled with warm water. Plus the sun painted the sky with a sweet sunset.
On Saturday we played a 10-on-10 game of ultimate frisbee which was awesome and so much fun because of the soggy field. I don't think one person left that field without "getting nasty" from the mud and puddles.
This upcoming weekend is the Young People's day and right before that I am going to visit the Church in Columbus to be with the young people there. I hear we are going bowling in Akron and then we will be going back to the hall for some stellar music, food, fun, and Jesus.
As for spreading the Truth, I'd like to give a shout out to T-Mills for his friend's clear salvation and his heart turning to the Lord.
The Lord has been moving like a thunderstorm and I pray that the winds keep coming. Thank you all for your prayers and keep them coming for the labor, the people we are with, the events, the young people, the gospel and our strength to continue on. JEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSUUUUUUUUUUUUUUSSSSSSSSSSS!
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Saturday, February 18, 2012
A Conference to Remember
This past weekend, the young people of the Church in Cleveland hosted a conference for those in fifth grade to those in 12th grade. The topic of the weekend was that Jesus is Real and Relevant today. We sent out an invitation all over the Great Lakes area and we maxed out at 130 people! They came from the land surrounded by four Great Lakes (Michigan), the Capital of the Buckeye State (Columbus), the land where the hairy beasts roam (Buffalo), the place where humans are grown (Mansfield), and the cities surrounding the home of Rock N' Roll (Lorain, Willoughby, Akron, and Cleveland Heights).
The first night we broke up into small groups and asked the kids to share their "AHA!" moments which were the moments in their life when knew Jesus proved Himself real to them. At first, I thought only a handful of them would share very small and simple moments...boy was I wrong. These kids were like a floodgate waiting to open and release the many rushing waters kept at bay. The stories they told ranged from quite hilarious, to bizarre, to sincere, but through their own lips, they proved that Jesus is real. Even when I asked them to pray, I didn't have to encourage/volunteer/force them. The majority prayed on their own.
The next morning we were up bright and early at 7:30AM to go tobogganing. The week before this conference, the weather fluctuated between the upper 30s and 40s, and it wasn't looking like good tobogganing weather. But when Saturday rolled around, lo and behold, it was 21 degrees and snowing...hard. We had a blast. It was especially fun flying off the track with snow pelting you and trying to see who could claim the fame of the farthest distance. There were also nice, warm fires and plenty of hot chocolate.
There rest of the time consisted of power full messages and killer activities. The three messages portrayed Jesus as the friend of sinners, Jesus walking on water and calling us to Him and to have faith, and the story of the paralytic and of all the people that were at this scene the question was "Who are you?" There were also two really good testimonies of Jesus being real to these people.
The activities for the time were Live Guess Who and Fort Knox. Live Guess Who was the board game "Guess Who," but played with people as the game pieces and Fort Knox was a game where you had to steal "gold (a.k.a. medic balls)" from your opponents forts while defending your own. Also we had Chipotle for dinner that night. Booyah!
The Lord answered a lot of prayers during that weekend and I think it's safe to say it was a success.
One last note (changing topic) when I went to preach the gospel at CSU on Fri. Feb 17th, Paul Mann and I ran into a Deist, which is someone who believes that their is only one deity, but that deity has many different forms (Allah, God, Zeus, all Greek gods, all hindu gods, and every other God throughout time). It was a very interesting conversation, but it's too bad it ended up being a wild goose chase.
This week (19th-24th) the interns will be going to Ashland Woods for a corporate time with Brother Titus. Please pray for this time as well as the upcoming summer events because the summer is fast approaching!
Song I've been enjoying this week: "I Lift My Hands" by Chris Tomlin.
Have a God week everyone!
The first night we broke up into small groups and asked the kids to share their "AHA!" moments which were the moments in their life when knew Jesus proved Himself real to them. At first, I thought only a handful of them would share very small and simple moments...boy was I wrong. These kids were like a floodgate waiting to open and release the many rushing waters kept at bay. The stories they told ranged from quite hilarious, to bizarre, to sincere, but through their own lips, they proved that Jesus is real. Even when I asked them to pray, I didn't have to encourage/volunteer/force them. The majority prayed on their own.
The next morning we were up bright and early at 7:30AM to go tobogganing. The week before this conference, the weather fluctuated between the upper 30s and 40s, and it wasn't looking like good tobogganing weather. But when Saturday rolled around, lo and behold, it was 21 degrees and snowing...hard. We had a blast. It was especially fun flying off the track with snow pelting you and trying to see who could claim the fame of the farthest distance. There were also nice, warm fires and plenty of hot chocolate.
There rest of the time consisted of power full messages and killer activities. The three messages portrayed Jesus as the friend of sinners, Jesus walking on water and calling us to Him and to have faith, and the story of the paralytic and of all the people that were at this scene the question was "Who are you?" There were also two really good testimonies of Jesus being real to these people.
The activities for the time were Live Guess Who and Fort Knox. Live Guess Who was the board game "Guess Who," but played with people as the game pieces and Fort Knox was a game where you had to steal "gold (a.k.a. medic balls)" from your opponents forts while defending your own. Also we had Chipotle for dinner that night. Booyah!
The Lord answered a lot of prayers during that weekend and I think it's safe to say it was a success.
One last note (changing topic) when I went to preach the gospel at CSU on Fri. Feb 17th, Paul Mann and I ran into a Deist, which is someone who believes that their is only one deity, but that deity has many different forms (Allah, God, Zeus, all Greek gods, all hindu gods, and every other God throughout time). It was a very interesting conversation, but it's too bad it ended up being a wild goose chase.
This week (19th-24th) the interns will be going to Ashland Woods for a corporate time with Brother Titus. Please pray for this time as well as the upcoming summer events because the summer is fast approaching!
Song I've been enjoying this week: "I Lift My Hands" by Chris Tomlin.
Have a God week everyone!
Saturday, January 21, 2012
First Post of 2012!
I cannot begin to comprehend where 2011 went and that it is truly 2012. It seems like time is like the wind. One second it's there, the next it's gone. I am happy to say that 2011 left in a blaze of awesomeness.
The very last week of December, approximately 200 people (112 high school and 88 serving ones) went to Toronto, Canada for a conference called The Rock. This was a time for the high schoolers to get into God's word and really come to know and love His Word. The topic covered was the trial of Jesus, through His crucifixion, to His resurrection. It was eye opening to take a closer look at something that started so dark and evil that ended up the being the most glorious, most wonderful, most amazing thing that this world has experienced.
One big highlight of the week was the gospel outreach activity we did in downtown Toronto. We first went to a populated square and spread about 130 people across the streets and each person had a portion of the Holy Bible. All at once we read the entire Bible for everyone within that vicinity to hear. Then after that, we moved near city hall and had a giant flash mob of frozen people pretending to read the Bible or holding up signs with verses on them. We got a lot of weird looks and it was freezing cold, but for Christ we suffer willingly. One person was even frozen in wearing shorts and flip-flops!
The second half of the week, around 150 college age and older gathered at the church retreat center called the Ashland Woods Manor. This time was called Empower and we spent an intense 3 days diving into and dissecting the book of Galatians. Just being with all these people, whether it was in the meetings, in small groups, eating food, or just hanging out, is something I cherish and treasure deeply. It's amazing to see what God can do in one week.
The very last week of our break, 10 interns (4 from Cleveland, 5 from Buffalo, and 1 from Ann Arbor) went down to North Carolina to visit the saints and have a little vacation as well. This trip moved me in many ways, the first being before I even left.
When I first heard about this trip, I was down for going right away. Who wouldn't want to ditch the Cleveland snow and hang out with some pretty awesome people for a week in 70 degree weather? Well, on the first day of break (a week and 3 days before departure) I got a grand jury summons for the day I was supposed to leave for NC. And that puppy is not easy to get out of. And then a few days after that, a situation came up at the apartment I live in (I was at my parents house for break) that was going to hinder me from going. So I did the only thing I could do. Pray. I just gave everything to the Lord. I told Him that I really wanted to go, but if I was meant to stay, I would. I also told Him that I knew He could take care of these problems.
Five days later, on the way home from Toronto, as soon as I crossed back into the good ol' U.S. of A. I checked my email and there in my inbox was and email saying that my jury duty was not deferred but rather I was released...meaning instead of being re-selected around a specific time, my name gets put back into the pool and I am as if I wasn't even selected before. As for the issue at the apartment, we had to take a brother with us down to NC but he couldn't leave until 2 days later. So in that time, we managed to take care enough of the issue that I was able to go to NC. The Lord is so amazingly sovereign.
The trip was amazing! On the non-spiritual side, we did things such as ice skating, shooting 12-gauges, toured Duke and UNC, scavenger hunt in downtown Raleigh at the history and science museums, mini-golf, laser tag, go-karts, launching a home-made parachute of the roof, manhunt, bonfires, and getting fed lots and lots of food. On the spiritual side, we went over to Cody's cousin's house where we got to meet a chunk of his family, had some good fellowship and sang hymns for over an hour. The next night we went to a saint's house (Luke) where we met his family, had more food, and shared some experiences in our lives. Saturday we went to the YP meeting. They sing some songs, then get into a book of daily lesson by Witness Lee. So we went over the lesson on ministering and shared some of our own testimonies. Then on the Lord's Day, we attended the meeting of the Church in Raleigh. The saints there were so warm and welcoming. All the interns gave testimonies and the saints were all very appreciative of our coming. Finally to end such an amazing adventure...you guessed it. Food. That was the biggest love feast I have ever seen.
This new year has started off with a bang and I hope and pray that the Lord will outdo Himself as he has done year after year.
The very last week of December, approximately 200 people (112 high school and 88 serving ones) went to Toronto, Canada for a conference called The Rock. This was a time for the high schoolers to get into God's word and really come to know and love His Word. The topic covered was the trial of Jesus, through His crucifixion, to His resurrection. It was eye opening to take a closer look at something that started so dark and evil that ended up the being the most glorious, most wonderful, most amazing thing that this world has experienced.
One big highlight of the week was the gospel outreach activity we did in downtown Toronto. We first went to a populated square and spread about 130 people across the streets and each person had a portion of the Holy Bible. All at once we read the entire Bible for everyone within that vicinity to hear. Then after that, we moved near city hall and had a giant flash mob of frozen people pretending to read the Bible or holding up signs with verses on them. We got a lot of weird looks and it was freezing cold, but for Christ we suffer willingly. One person was even frozen in wearing shorts and flip-flops!
The second half of the week, around 150 college age and older gathered at the church retreat center called the Ashland Woods Manor. This time was called Empower and we spent an intense 3 days diving into and dissecting the book of Galatians. Just being with all these people, whether it was in the meetings, in small groups, eating food, or just hanging out, is something I cherish and treasure deeply. It's amazing to see what God can do in one week.
The very last week of our break, 10 interns (4 from Cleveland, 5 from Buffalo, and 1 from Ann Arbor) went down to North Carolina to visit the saints and have a little vacation as well. This trip moved me in many ways, the first being before I even left.
When I first heard about this trip, I was down for going right away. Who wouldn't want to ditch the Cleveland snow and hang out with some pretty awesome people for a week in 70 degree weather? Well, on the first day of break (a week and 3 days before departure) I got a grand jury summons for the day I was supposed to leave for NC. And that puppy is not easy to get out of. And then a few days after that, a situation came up at the apartment I live in (I was at my parents house for break) that was going to hinder me from going. So I did the only thing I could do. Pray. I just gave everything to the Lord. I told Him that I really wanted to go, but if I was meant to stay, I would. I also told Him that I knew He could take care of these problems.
Five days later, on the way home from Toronto, as soon as I crossed back into the good ol' U.S. of A. I checked my email and there in my inbox was and email saying that my jury duty was not deferred but rather I was released...meaning instead of being re-selected around a specific time, my name gets put back into the pool and I am as if I wasn't even selected before. As for the issue at the apartment, we had to take a brother with us down to NC but he couldn't leave until 2 days later. So in that time, we managed to take care enough of the issue that I was able to go to NC. The Lord is so amazingly sovereign.
The trip was amazing! On the non-spiritual side, we did things such as ice skating, shooting 12-gauges, toured Duke and UNC, scavenger hunt in downtown Raleigh at the history and science museums, mini-golf, laser tag, go-karts, launching a home-made parachute of the roof, manhunt, bonfires, and getting fed lots and lots of food. On the spiritual side, we went over to Cody's cousin's house where we got to meet a chunk of his family, had some good fellowship and sang hymns for over an hour. The next night we went to a saint's house (Luke) where we met his family, had more food, and shared some experiences in our lives. Saturday we went to the YP meeting. They sing some songs, then get into a book of daily lesson by Witness Lee. So we went over the lesson on ministering and shared some of our own testimonies. Then on the Lord's Day, we attended the meeting of the Church in Raleigh. The saints there were so warm and welcoming. All the interns gave testimonies and the saints were all very appreciative of our coming. Finally to end such an amazing adventure...you guessed it. Food. That was the biggest love feast I have ever seen.
This new year has started off with a bang and I hope and pray that the Lord will outdo Himself as he has done year after year.
Monday, December 12, 2011
Last Post of 2011
Wow! Where has this year gone. It seems the older you get, the faster time passes you by without so much as a glance in your direction. That's why one must treasure every moment, record every memorable moment in their mind, dwell not on the past, but enjoy the present, because the second you blink, that moment is gone forever. Keep your friends near, keep your family closer, tell the ones you love that you love them, and above all put God first and love Jesus.
This year had its joys and its pains; its victories and defeats; its laughs and its cries. But the biggest highlight of this year so far is joining the year-long internship. I know it has only been 3 months (wait 3 months?!!) but it has been so worth taking the year off school for. Yes there have been highs and lows and you may be wondering what is keeping me going. The other interns. Yep that's right and you heard it here first. Just being around these people who also sacrificed things for the Lord makes me proud to be a part of this internship.
What makes these people special is that I am spending an entire year with them and getting to know them better than I did before. Sure there was the occasional "Hi how are you?" at church events, and maybe the once in awhile dinner/lunch chat or same team for a pick-up game, but for many of the ones participating, I hardly ever knew them or hung out with them the way I do now. And don't think for a second that I am talking about a select group of people. I am talking about each and every single one of you: Mark, Timothy, Jeremiah, Jesse, James, Julian, Zane, Peter, Paul, Daniel, Ian, Rosie, Emily, Esther, Grace, Kayla, Sarah B, Sarah D, Sarah W, Bethany, Jean, and Micah (this also includes everyone in Buffalo and Ann Arbor). Whether it's spending 20 hours in the Bible a week, playing ultimate Friday nights, traveling to towns in the mountains or cities afar, or even just hanging out on our own time, you all are awesome and near to my heart.
Even though 2011 is drawing to a close, we still have one last hurrah for this year being The Rock Conference in Toronto and Empower @ Ashland and I have a feeling the Lord will do great things there and in 2012.
I thank all of you who have kept me, us, this labor, and the church in your prayers. The Lord has done many marvelous things this year and it's all through the prayers of the saints. For those who aren't doing the labor and I proudly call you my friend, I also hold you near and dear to my heart. Some of you I will be seeing at one of the two year-end events and I am excited.
Praise God for every breath I breathe, Praise the Lord for answered prayers and blessings, and praise Jesus Christ my Savior, Master, and Friend for everything.
This year had its joys and its pains; its victories and defeats; its laughs and its cries. But the biggest highlight of this year so far is joining the year-long internship. I know it has only been 3 months (wait 3 months?!!) but it has been so worth taking the year off school for. Yes there have been highs and lows and you may be wondering what is keeping me going. The other interns. Yep that's right and you heard it here first. Just being around these people who also sacrificed things for the Lord makes me proud to be a part of this internship.
What makes these people special is that I am spending an entire year with them and getting to know them better than I did before. Sure there was the occasional "Hi how are you?" at church events, and maybe the once in awhile dinner/lunch chat or same team for a pick-up game, but for many of the ones participating, I hardly ever knew them or hung out with them the way I do now. And don't think for a second that I am talking about a select group of people. I am talking about each and every single one of you: Mark, Timothy, Jeremiah, Jesse, James, Julian, Zane, Peter, Paul, Daniel, Ian, Rosie, Emily, Esther, Grace, Kayla, Sarah B, Sarah D, Sarah W, Bethany, Jean, and Micah (this also includes everyone in Buffalo and Ann Arbor). Whether it's spending 20 hours in the Bible a week, playing ultimate Friday nights, traveling to towns in the mountains or cities afar, or even just hanging out on our own time, you all are awesome and near to my heart.
Even though 2011 is drawing to a close, we still have one last hurrah for this year being The Rock Conference in Toronto and Empower @ Ashland and I have a feeling the Lord will do great things there and in 2012.
I thank all of you who have kept me, us, this labor, and the church in your prayers. The Lord has done many marvelous things this year and it's all through the prayers of the saints. For those who aren't doing the labor and I proudly call you my friend, I also hold you near and dear to my heart. Some of you I will be seeing at one of the two year-end events and I am excited.
Praise God for every breath I breathe, Praise the Lord for answered prayers and blessings, and praise Jesus Christ my Savior, Master, and Friend for everything.
Friday, November 25, 2011
Sowing Seeds
It's been two weeks since my last sign of life among the blogging world, but fear not for my fingers are yet again furiously pecking away, scrawling the thoughts out of my brain for the whole wide world to see. I do not have an exciting story to tell this week, but any story about the gospel is worth sharing.
So recently we have started to spread the gospel on the Cleveland State campus. This is a preaching experience that every Christian should experience (yes I know I was repetitive there; just making sure you were paying attention). You'll never know what type of people you will meet. For some strange reason I cannot comprehend, it seems that every time I go out, I manage to meet one particular group of people, with little diversity.
The past two trips I have found myself in this predicament. The first time I was slammed into a wall of "don't care," "don't believe," and "don't need anything," which basically comes out to agnostic after agnostic after agnostic. Yet the day was not a total loss. The last guy of the day I talked to was willing to attend a bible study. The second time I meandered over to CSU I ran into Christian after Christian after Christian; very encouraging, but no one to share Jesus with...well almost. Caleb Fei and I ran into a Muslim who was in a hurry but was willing to discuss things later.
Even though there wasn't much response, a student who Jeremiah and Jesse preached to recently got saved by watching a Kirk Cameron video and a friend who I haven't seen in a few years (I have been praying to the Lord to but him back into my life) showed up in a Gamestop I was in today. I had a good talk with him and got his new number! Jesus is amazing!
I'm sorry I don't have more at this time, but my final word is this. The Rock is coming upon us fast and the need for prayer is there. This is a time just for high schoolers to get into the word and come closer to Jesus Christ. If you are coming bring a friend, saved or unsaved, it will be something they will never forget. Until next time. Lord be with you all.
So recently we have started to spread the gospel on the Cleveland State campus. This is a preaching experience that every Christian should experience (yes I know I was repetitive there; just making sure you were paying attention). You'll never know what type of people you will meet. For some strange reason I cannot comprehend, it seems that every time I go out, I manage to meet one particular group of people, with little diversity.
The past two trips I have found myself in this predicament. The first time I was slammed into a wall of "don't care," "don't believe," and "don't need anything," which basically comes out to agnostic after agnostic after agnostic. Yet the day was not a total loss. The last guy of the day I talked to was willing to attend a bible study. The second time I meandered over to CSU I ran into Christian after Christian after Christian; very encouraging, but no one to share Jesus with...well almost. Caleb Fei and I ran into a Muslim who was in a hurry but was willing to discuss things later.
Even though there wasn't much response, a student who Jeremiah and Jesse preached to recently got saved by watching a Kirk Cameron video and a friend who I haven't seen in a few years (I have been praying to the Lord to but him back into my life) showed up in a Gamestop I was in today. I had a good talk with him and got his new number! Jesus is amazing!
I'm sorry I don't have more at this time, but my final word is this. The Rock is coming upon us fast and the need for prayer is there. This is a time just for high schoolers to get into the word and come closer to Jesus Christ. If you are coming bring a friend, saved or unsaved, it will be something they will never forget. Until next time. Lord be with you all.
Friday, November 11, 2011
Preaching Life: One of God's Greatest Gifts
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!
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!
Saturday, November 5, 2011
God's Love: A Personal Testimony
For this post, you all get a special treat. A lot of things have been going on in my life lately and I have a river gushing in me to write so many things, but time eludes me. This post is going to be short because it's late and I just wanted to put this up while I have the feeling to.
Some of you know that one of my main aspects of writing is poetry. A year ago, while I was in college, it was the day of midterms and I was a mess. I had to be at a test at 8:30AM for a class that was normally at 3:00PM, had to walk a half mile in freezing cold and drifting snow, ride 40 min on a smelly/crammed bus, to take a test for a class i absolutely despised, had to go to work right after, and had some personal issues. As I was walking through the snow, I was complaining to the Lord about something dealing with love. Right as those pathetic words escaped my lips, He struck me with powerful words of His own; they were "Now you know how I feel." He stopped me dead in my tracks. I could not believe that I had been so selfish in my whining. Feeling slightly better, I eventually made it to CSU, took the test, and then listened to some Christian music to relax after an insanely hard final. The song was "True Love" by Phil Wickam. That song and the words the Lord spoke to me earlier inspired me to write this poem. This poem has only been read by two people and for the first time it will be available to the public eye.
Some of you know that one of my main aspects of writing is poetry. A year ago, while I was in college, it was the day of midterms and I was a mess. I had to be at a test at 8:30AM for a class that was normally at 3:00PM, had to walk a half mile in freezing cold and drifting snow, ride 40 min on a smelly/crammed bus, to take a test for a class i absolutely despised, had to go to work right after, and had some personal issues. As I was walking through the snow, I was complaining to the Lord about something dealing with love. Right as those pathetic words escaped my lips, He struck me with powerful words of His own; they were "Now you know how I feel." He stopped me dead in my tracks. I could not believe that I had been so selfish in my whining. Feeling slightly better, I eventually made it to CSU, took the test, and then listened to some Christian music to relax after an insanely hard final. The song was "True Love" by Phil Wickam. That song and the words the Lord spoke to me earlier inspired me to write this poem. This poem has only been read by two people and for the first time it will be available to the public eye.
Love Amazing
By Josh Watkins
What is so great
that wars have been ceased?
What is so marvelous
that makes life exist?
What is so miraculous
that the dead have been raised?
What is so powerful
that mankind was saved?
That was the love of Jesus Christ.
It was this love
that tore down walls,
that shattered every barrier.
It was this love
that moved the mountains,
that made the earth shake.
It was this love
that created the eagle, the lion, and the lamb,
that gave the gift of life to man.
It was this love
that walked upon the sea,
that feed the hungry,
that healed the sick.
It was this love
that left the heavens,
that humbled to the form of a man.
It was this love
that took every hit, every beating, every hateful word,
that was betrayed, scorned, and killed.
It was this love
that caused the Father to give away His only Son.
It was this love
that as it was passing away, it grew stronger.
It was this love
that conquered death, that destroyed the devil, that rose again.
It was this love
that forgave a distraught race, that took away the sins of the world, that died for all.
It is this love
that saved me.
This is my encouragement to you. Go out and share this love with the lost, confused, torn, helpless, hopeless, godless, and unsaved generation that they too may have this love and may spread it like wildfire until the earth is consumed.
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