The second week of the tour, we were at Mississippi Valley Christian School in Alton, IL. The church, Faith Baptist Church, is a few miles away in Godfrey, IL. I believe the last time the team was here was in 2004. The campus for the school is an old military academy, giving the feel of a walk back in history. There are some fairly famous military men who went there.

It was great to have fellowship with the former pastor, Tom Olney as well as to meet the new pastor, Alan Waddell. We also enjoyed working with the school staff.

Two young men from the neighborhood were riding bikes in the church parking lot on Sunday. Joshua, the Marine team captain, invited them to come out to the rally nights. One of these young men came on Wednesday night and got saved. The other young man got assurance of his salvation this week. 

A grandmother who attended Faith Baptist Church brought her grandsons to the rally night. On Wednesday night, one of these young men went back in the invitation. Josh, the Seal team captain, went through the entire gospel plan with him. He knew he was doing wrong, was in sin, and was on his way to hell. He was saved that night! 

Joshua, the Marine team captain, walked around the neighborhood on Tuesday night for over an hour looking for teens to invite to the evening rallies. One teen was interested and took Joshua to all the teens on the street. Two brothers came on Wednesday night. Their older brother came on Thursday night, heard the gospel and was convicted. He didn’t feel like making a salvation decision was important enough, so he left. The following night, he came back (along with the fourth brother) and again God worked in his heart. Both of these two young men accepted Christ as their Savior on Friday night! 

One young lady came with her boyfriend to the rally night on Wednesday night. Her sister had been recruited along with a friend by Hannah, the Seal team co-captain. They were laughing during the message and did not respond; however, they came back on Friday evening. After the rally, Hannah went to talk to this young lady with her boyfriend and asked what they thought of the message. Hannah went through the gospel with the girl. She understood that she was a sinner and that she had to trust in Jesus alone to save her. She prayed and asked Jesus to forgive her of her sins and take her to heaven. She thanked Jesus for dying for her. 

One young man in the Christian school was sick of his lifestyle and decided to get right with God. He had some difficult circumstances in his life and was using things of the world to cover up the pain he was experiencing. He understood this week that God was going to use these hard circumstances for good in his life. As God worked in his life, he went to his parents and told them everything. He got free and felt peace and joy for the first time in a long time! 

A young lady in the Christian school was struggling with assurance of her salvation. Hannah, the Seal team co-captain, took her through verses from the Bible. The young lady realized that she couldn’t base her salvation on her feelings and decided to take God at His Word. Another young lady was fighting conviction all week. She finally responded on Friday afternoon. Rebekah, the Marine team co-captain, was able to talk to her about letting go of bitterness. Another student in the Christian school admitted that sleep was impossible on Thursday night as the bitterness message kept coming to mind. Caleb, the Ranger team captain, was able to share truth from God’s Word!

A young lady from the Christian school responded to the invitation during the Wednesday night rally. She said that she had never understood the gospel for herself before. She placed her dependence on Jesus alone to save her and said, “I thanked Jesus that He had given me another day to live so I could make this decision.” 

One young lady responded to the invitation on Wednesday night. Emma, the Ranger team co-captain, talked through the verses on the sheet with her. She understood that she was a sinner and that Jesus was the only way to heaven. She shared a testimony of her salvation on Friday evening: 

“…Last night I got saved because I wasn’t doing right things, and I wasn’t being a child of God so last night whenever I got saved I learned that whenever you get saved you and God become one so you can’t go to hell because God can’t go to hell, and…you can only go to heaven.”