Calvary Baptist Church in Greer, SC scheduled the team to come to their Christian school in January, so we were hopeful the weather would cooperate! We have been here several times, and the students are always “all in.” This year was no exception. The weather was great, and the students were all behind the War of Special Forces. Two years ago, we had rain during all of the competitions one of the nights. The students said they loved it! This year, there was no rain and the attendance was way up!

Joshua, the Marine team captain, met a young man at Walmart on Monday night. Joshua asked him if had heard about the War of Special Forces and gave him a flier. He showed Joshua a large scar on his chest and talked about the motorcycle accident he had been in. He said that he needed to get back in church. He texted Joshua throughout the day on Wednesday asking about details. During the invitation on Wednesday night, he raised his hand for salvation. Praise the Lord for his salvation that night!  

Rebekah, the co-captain for the Marine team, was recruiting when she saw a young man in a grocery store. When she started telling him about the teen rallies, he was interested and gave his dad’s number. When Rebekah contacted his dad, the dad was also interested, asked about directions, and said that they would be there. The young man came on Wednesday night and got involved in the competitions. During the preaching service, Joshua talked to the dad and found out that Wednesday night was the only night that the young man would attend. He did not respond during the invitation but was clearly listening. As soon as everyone started to leave, Joshua pulled the young man aside and asked him where he would spend eternity. He admitted he would go to hell and was under obvious conviction. Joshua reviewed the gospel with him, and he was gloriously saved!

A young man in the Christian school responded to the invitation during chapel. He had things he needed to get right with his parents and with classmates. When Aaron, the Seal team captain, talked to him on Thursday, he had taken care of everything he needed to. God kept working in his heart, and by Friday, he had a growing burden for reaching the lost.

One young man who had attended a youth group came on Thursday night. He was clearly not saved and did not raise his hand during the invitation. One of the team captains asked him afterwards if he thought he was going to heaven. The young man said that he was depending on church to take him to heaven. The team captain told him that according to the Bible, he would go to hell. After walking him through the gospel, the young man prayed and was saved!

One young lady from the Christian school, who responded during the invitation, took a step of faith and wrote out all the lies that she was believing. She started finding verses about God and His attributes that she could write next to those lies. During a prayer time on Friday, she expressed her thankfulness that she didn’t need to be lonely anymore.

A young man in the Christian school got some things right in his life this week and gave the following testimony on Friday night:

“The Lord’s really worked in my life this week about some things that haven’t been right, and I fixed them with the people that I needed to talk to ‘em about. And it’s an incredible change—an incredible change, incredible feeling. It’s like the burden’s not even there. And you have joy in the Lord, and it’s incredible what He’s doing to our school and the revival that’s taking place. And it’s just really cool to see what the rest of this semester’s going to hold for our school.”

Below are a few other testimonies from the week:

“I just wanted to say that I was bullied a lot when I was a kid. I grew up in a Christian home, but it was hard. And…I tried just for years to get over it, but it didn’t help. I’ve been bitter at them for years…God’s been working on my heart this week that I should stop being bitter because you guys have stuff going on in your lives too and sometimes you can’t help it. It’s just a defense mechanism, and I’m sorry for ever being angry…”

“The Lord’s been really working in my life this week, and I just wanted to say that…I want to surrender my life to Him and serve Him. This world is so wicked and needs Jesus a lot, and I want to give the world Jesus…”

“So….I just want to say that for a long time I had lying in my life; I thought it would keep me safe. And…that it would keep me alive, if I lied. And…finally God broke it; I broke my habit. But then something came into my life and I started lying again because I was hanging out with the wrong friends and the wrong crowd…And so….the revivals, each one really touched my heart in different ways that not many things touched it. And…I just want to really thank ‘em for coming here, for touching me, and I just don’t know that I would have fixed the problem because lying is really addicting… I want to be known that when I leave this earth, I want to be known that every word I said was the full and 100% truth.”

 “I’ve had some sin in my life, and I got it right with God and my parents. And I just want to challenge you guys if you’re sitting in your seat, and you’re struggling to come forward and confess your sins and ask Jesus to come into your heart, I challenge you to come forward. It’s 100% worth it. It was hard to go to my parents and tell ‘em what I was doing, but it was totally worth it. I wouldn’t go back if I could. I just challenge you guys to follow Jesus Christ with all your heart.”