Three years ago, the War of Special Forces came to Bay City Baptist Church and School for the first time. This year, the spirit picked up where we left off last time! Several of the students remembered the War of Special Forces, and there were many new students as well. There are some good athletes in this school, so there was some great competition! When all was said and done, the Mighty Marines had won!
Two teenagers from the church youth group went out recruiting with Josh, the Seal team captain. They were all in to recruiting, and helped connect with many young people. One of these young men came out to the rally night on Wednesday night. He came an hour and a half late, but came inside to hear the message. He heard the gospel message, and got saved that night!
A young man in the Christian school also went out recruiting with his team captain. They were able to have some good conversations about life situations and different struggles that this young man was dealing with. After team meeting on Thursday, the young man responded and made a decision for God. On Friday, he went back for counsel and made some key decisions to get right about some sin in his life and to give up some wrong music.
A young lady in the Christian school was obviously touched by Hannah, the Seal team co-captain’s testimony. She responded after the message in chapel and couldn’t hold back tears. She had been deeply wounded by someone who was close to her. She felt she could never live up to the standard being held for her, and she felt rejected. As Hannah counseled her, she really battled with releasing her bitterness and forgiving the person who had hurt her. After a long talk, she decided to pray. It was a prayer of sweet yielding to God, and she finished with a light and freedom in her eyes. That evening she got right with the people that she needed to, and immediately started reaching out to hurting friends. The next day, she brought back another girl who needed counsel. Rebekah, the Marine team co-captain was able to talk with her. This young lady also came to a point of willingness to forgive the person who had wronged her.
One young man in the school connected with Josh, the Seal team captain. Our team was praying for him throughout the week, and on Friday night at the campfire service, he raised his hand during the invitation. Josh went to talk to him afterward and asked him where he would go if he died. He admitted that he would go to hell. He wanted to get it settled, so Josh walked him through the plan of salvation. He was saved that night!
One student in the school looked troubled all week long. Hannah asked her after the rally on Wednesday night if she knew 100% for sure that she was going to heaven. She said that she did not know for sure. Hannah asked if she wanted to know for sure, but she said that she wasn’t really worried about it. The next morning, Hannah saw her in the hallway and said that she was still praying for her. The young lady could not come to the rally on Thursday night. During the split session on Friday afternoon, she sat in the back crying. As soon as it was finished, she told Hannah that she needed to talk. She really opened up, admitting that the fact that Hannah was praying for her really scared her. She hadn’t wanted to get saved, and she knew that she had a lot of sin in her life. She started praying right then, and it was like she was literally talking in person to God. She prayed a sweet prayer of surrender asking the Lord to set her apart and use her story. Praise the Lord for her salvation!
One young man responded to the invitation after the chapel message on bitterness. The young man was already working through things in his own life and could clearly articulate what steps he knew God wanted him to take. He was able to walk away from the counseling session with an understanding of how to get victory daily. He gave a testimony on Friday night:
“…for a long time I’ve been harboring a lot of anger and bitterness towards my family, friends, close people. And…it wasn’t ‘til I think it was about Tuesday when Dr. Jim was preaching about…the strongholds that Satan forges inside of you. And it took that to really make me realize how much…hurt and stuff I let get to me. You know I usually pretend to be a really, you know, upbeat guy, you know to take things or to take it all…But I started to realize you can only take so much until God says, you know, ‘You don’t have to take this anymore.’ …Caleb was my counselor and he really helped… Through our talks and through the messages…I was able to realize that it’s time to give up the anger and bitterness and forgive the people that wronged me.”
Below are some other testimonies from Friday night:
“…I’ve just been battling with a lot of things and…depression mainly…the first night Pastor Van Gelderen came he talked about…you shouldn’t call yourself worthless ‘cause God’s never called you that, and you are worth a lot. And…I found more joy this week than I have in the past 2 or 3 years which is amazing.”
“…So the past year…I’ve been struggling on where to…put my trust in…not necessarily…in like my faith. …I know I’m a child of God, but I’ve been struggling on where to run to with my problems. And…so I’ve run to sports and friends and…music that I shouldn’t be listening to. And I’ve done it behind my parents’ back and…so hearing the message. And so I stopped…on my own strength and that did not work and I ran back to it. And so I prayed to God and asked Him to give me the strength to stop…but it wasn’t ‘til Dr. Jim preached on…that you have to uncover your sins…so I talked to my dad, and…it was freeing. It felt so good just to get that off my chest.”
“For the past maybe like 7 years, I’ve been struggling with…extreme anger and bitterness…this week…God just really laid on my heart that I need to forgive them even though I was the one being wronged.”
“…I’ve been running on the sideline of the boat for way too long, way too long. And then today God was telling me, ‘It’s time for you to take that step of faith and step out of the boat, step onto the water, come running towards me. And today I finally realized that I need to put Christ ahead of everything else.”
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