Beth Haven Baptist Church is out in the country next to a tree farm. I have been visiting this ministry since the early 2000s. Each time the church is alive and moving forward. I love the time with Pastor Crowell and his people. There is always great involvement and support from the people there. This year was no exception!

On Monday evening, after a difficult afternoon of recruiting, Abigail, the Ranger co-captain, was recruiting in a nearby town. She saw a teen walking down the street in the rain, so she went to talk to him. He wasn’t able to come to the first War night, but the church van picked him up for Thursday night. He was plugged in all night, from the competitions all the way through the preaching. When it was time for the invitation, he acknowledged that he did not know where he was going when he died, but he did not go back to get the matter settled. Judson, the Ranger team captain, talked to the young man out in the parking lot. By the end of the night, the young man placed his dependence on Jesus alone to save him. It was exciting to see him get saved the one night he was able to come. 

We saw God use the church members and encourage them in the area of outreach. One person in the church invited a teen from a restaurant and had him sign up online. This church member was so thrilled when she saw the teen come on Thursday night. After the invitation, as Caleb, the Seal team captain, talked to him, the young man clearly saw his need for Jesus and got saved that night. On Friday night, he got up and gave this testimony: 

“About a month ago, I lost my aunt due to cancer and I really didn’t believe in God because I didn’t understand why He took such a lovely woman from this world…With the help of Caleb though, yesterday he helped me believe in Him, and with his help I prayed to Jesus and confessed my sin to Him.”

One young lady on the Seals team responded to the invitation after the message preached on bitterness. As Esther, the Seal co-captain, counseled the girl, it was clear the girl was not saved. Esther shared Bible verses with her and led her to the Lord. After that foundational matter was settled, Esther was able to counsel her on the issue of bitterness. This girl later testified of what God did in her heart: 

“I didn’t really know [who] God was until this week…so my sister ran away around May and…my family has been really burdened about that. So…this week God has given me the courage to forgive her for what she’s done to our family…I also did get saved this week.”

Our team was very burdened for one girl in the school who was holding onto bitterness about her very difficult family situation. Abi, the Marine co-captain, counseled her several times, but she kept saying, “I cannot forgive.” Our team prayed for this girl on multiple occasions. It was a huge victory when she came back after the final testimony service and said, “I am ready to forgive!”  God answered prayer and freed her from the bitterness. 

Jonathan, the Marine team captain, counseled one of the upperclassmen in the school and encouraged him to take steps of faith in outreach. The teen sensed that God was calling him to serve the Lord more faithfully. God used this young man when he went out recruiting with our team—he recruited two people himself. This was a huge encouragement to the young man’s faith. He gave a testimony on Friday night about how God increased his faith to believe God to do the impossible through him. 

Here are some more testimonies from the week: 

“Before this week I’ve had a very hard time trusting God with pretty much anything, but this week He has really shown me who He is…He has shown me that I can trust who He is because I now know who He is better than before.”

“This week God has been really working on my heart to be more proactive in sharing the gospel and just like because there are so many lost souls and there are so many people in my life that God has been like, ‘Hey you should go reach out to that person.’”

“So this year I have been having some family problems and…now that War of Special Forces has been going on…I thought I was saved, and I wasn’t and I got saved.”

“God really was working in my heart and gave me reassurance of my salvation and…He was telling me that I need to reach out to the people that I know and tell them about Jesus.”