A few months ago I attended the IFFB Conference in Orlando, Florida. There I heard  Pastor Garvan Walls preach. I was struck with the blessing of God on his preaching. He connected with me that week and asked us to come to Mount Pisgah Baptist Church in Oliver Springs, Tennessee where he is pastor. We were excited about this opportunity to conduct the War of Special Forces in a Christian school we had never been in. We were thankful for all the Lord did in hearts. 

Rebekah, the Marine team co-captain, was out recruiting and saw a guy walking down the street. She was able to catch up to him and his friend and invite them out to the War nights. He came out on Friday night and was mocking during the message. However he raised his hand acknowledging that he needed to get saved. Matthew was able to lead him to the Lord that night. 

One young lady in the school was convicted every night about her need to be saved. After the Friday night message, she responded and spoke with Janna, the Seal team co-captain. She didn’t want it to be the final time that God would speak to her but also didn’t really understand the gospel. After Janna talked through the gospel with her, she got saved. 

A young man in the Christian school came back on Wednesday. He was holding bitterness in his heart toward his parents and his brother. He confessed his own wrongdoing to God and went home that night and talked to his brother. He was able to talk to his brother, and told Zeb the next day that their relationship instantly improved and they started enjoying each other’s presence.  

“So, earlier this year I got saved. And I thought that would take care of the sin I was doing continuously, but it didn’t, this week showed me that because I had bitterness toward my family, I had to get that right and then the other sin would stop happening. And this week I haven’t had the want-to to do that sin anymore. And I just want to thank the team for showing me that that’s what it was instead of me just trying to stop it.”

One young girl in the Christian school responded after the Seal team meeting. She had some things that she had never told her mom. She talked to her mom on Thursday night and came back Friday telling Janna that God had really given her grace. She shared in her testimony:

“This week the Lord just really worked to tell my mom about the sins that I’ve committed against her which was really hard and it was scary and I didn’t want to do it, but last night I finally did it and everything went well. And I think I’m trying right now to let go of my bitterness towards her and my anger towards her and what has happened in the past. It has been hard, but I’m glad that God let me to try and fix things the best I can.”

One young man held on to bitterness because his dad was never there for him. His dad’s actions and sinful choices had been an embarrassment to him in front of his friends. However, he chose to trust God, and God really delivered him from the bitterness.

A young lady in the school responded to the invitation after chapel on Friday. She admitted that she really struggled with Bible reading and prayer. Rebekah asked her when she had gotten saved. She responded and said that she never had. After Rebekah went over the gospel with her, she prayed and accepted Christ as her Savior! 

A few teens from another church youth group came out to the rally nights. After Friday’s message was over, Hannah, the Ranger team co-captain, talked to a couple of the girls. One of them knew she wasn’t saved, and was very scared of hell. She was saved that night!

A couple more testimonies from Friday night are to follow:

“So for awhile now, God has been telling me to get rid of some stuff in my life and this week I realized that the only way God will be able to use me is if I get rid of those things. And for a long time I knew I needed to but things like peer pressure and wondering what people would think of me kept me from doing those things and this week through the testimonies of some people and through the preaching I realized that it didn’t matter what people think of me. In some ways, it doesn’t even matter what I think of myself, but what matters is what God thinks of me and how He can use me.”

“…just listening through your preaching and everything this week, I have just learned that I need to not be living for the world and caring what other people think and acting like them to fit in. But I need to be leaning towards God and His Word more.”