Sometimes you see the immediate fruit of your labors, and other times, you see how God is preparing to go far beyond the immediate. That’s how our week in Green Bay went. We were in Green Bay back in 2019 and ministered to mainly Wisconsinites, but upon our return this year, we discovered a large Slavic (Russian and Ukrainian) population in the city and in the school. We were grateful for what God was able to do in the school, but a theme that thrilled our hearts is how God had brought the mission field to our door step.

Recruiting had its own challenges this week because the public school was not yet in session; however, God delivered many times. On Monday, Will, the Ranger team captain, prayed for thirty recruits. God led several team members to a middle school open house where there was a steady stream of people going in and coming out of the school. Will talked to the school security, and they gladly let the team be there. That day, Will got thirty-three recruits. The next day, Will asked God for twenty recruits. God answered prayer and gave him thirty recruits.

While out recruiting, Abigail, the Ranger co-captain, talked to a girl at the middle school who didn’t seem to be very interested in coming. It was exciting to see her come to the War night on Wednesday and get plugged into the competition. When it was time for the invitation, the girl was one of the first to respond. She was not ready to make a decision that night, but the Lord gave our team a burden for her, as there were obviously many more needs in her life. She came back on Thursday, and Abigail was able to talk to her again for a long time. As they discussed different hurts in her life, she realized her need for Christ. She was gloriously saved, and she then started to get a hold of victorious living. Before she left the church building that night, she talked to her dad and confessed the sin she was involved in. God truly did abundantly above what we asked. 

In the Christian school, a few girls responded to the chapel invitation on Wednesday. One girl spent multiple hours with Esther, the Seal co-captain, and Rebekah working through a lot. They felt led to ask about her salvation and proceeded to spend the rest of the counseling time that day explaining salvation to her. She seemed confused, but came back the next day. As she spoke on Thursday with Abi, the Marine co-captain, and Rebekah, it was clear that she now understood salvation and had made that sure on Wednesday. She was able to take some other significant steps forward in her life regarding letting go of bitterness and learning to trust God. It was a huge victory for this girl when she stood up to give this testimony Friday night:

“This week…I was with the co-captains…and they showed me that I can’t do it alone! It’s…only Him, and no one else can…help me, not even family, friends, deacons, but only Him.”

One young man from the school came back during a War night invitation, and he was clearly broken over his sin. Will led him to the Lord, but this was only the beginning of what God did in his heart this week. On Friday night, he again responded during the invitation. He talked to his Seal team captain, Caleb, about the sin in his life. He then went home, talked to his dad about his sin and got clean. 

Will preached to the Ranger team on Thursday about going to Jesus for satisfaction. Afterward, Will had a deep conversation with one young man on his team who wanted a deeper relationship with God. He expressed his desire to turn to Jesus rather than to video games. He later testified that he wanted to go to Jesus more and be totally surrendered to Jesus. 

God worked in several hearts about bitterness. One girl gave this testimony:

“God just really touched me in the service about…bitterness, and I realized there was some people, where, if you said their name, I would roll my eyes, and just like…‘stop talking about them’. And, I don’t know if it was bitterness or what it was, but it was something and this week…God really worked in my heart, and I got right with them…”

Below are a couple other testimonies that were shared:

“…I’ve been falling into temptation and falling in sin, and I was like trying to get it off by myself, I was like, ‘you know what, I can do this all by myself, you know, like, get back up there and be a good child and earn my forgiveness.’ But this week has really…showed me that…[it’s not] my own strength that can get me saved, it’s only through Jesus. And only He can change you so that you won’t fall into temptation.” 

“…I’ve been struggling with these thoughts that I was insignificant and unimportant, and that if I were to leave, it wouldn’t matter that much. And every night I would sit in bed and I would just lay there and just cry because I felt like if I were to die that night that it wouldn’t matter and someone can replace me….And today I got to talk with one of the co-captains, and she showed me some verses, showing that I had a purpose and that that purpose couldn’t be fulfilled without me, and that God meant for me to be here. He didn’t mean for my friends to take my place; He didn’t mean for someone else to fulfill my purpose. I have a purpose…and I’m so glad I got to talk to that co-captain because I finally feel free from those thoughts and finally feel like…I can go on.”