Last year the Lord opened the door for our team to come to Heritage Baptist Church in Arcadia, FL for the first time. I had met the pastor, David Bedell, years ago when our family was on vacation in Florida. This year the Lord worked it out for the team to return.
The first blessing when we arrived was hearing that a home schooled young man who came to our chapels all week the year before had really made some lasting decisions. He was now teaching teen Sunday School.
The first “War” night a young man responded to the invitation who was an atheist. He told me that he had been spiraling downward in a lot of sin and thought he would come and give God a chance. You could tell he was guilty over his sin. I told him to think about things while I dealt with another young man who was a student in the Christian school. While I was dealing with this student, the “atheist” young man said to me, “Could I say something?” In so many words, he said that he was ready to get saved. He prayed and clearly answered questions revealing his faith in Christ and His finished work. I love seeing unbelievers become believers!
The Navy Seals team captain recruited five guys playing football in a field. On Thursday night they walked and biked to the church. They even brought their dog. At the end of the evening they all responded to the invitation to be saved. One of them, who had just gotten saved, even attempted to help another one of them get saved who was struggling with understanding salvation. It was really neat!
Another young man wept his way to the Lord on the first night as the team captain led him to Christ. The next night he brought a friend.
On Wednesday the Army Ranger team captain, David, recruited a high school teen who had walked over to the middle school to help with their ROTC program. When he came that night, the team captain remembered his name and called his name when he arrived. He did not come Thursday because he was working. He came Friday night, but the team captain did not get a chance to talk to him. Saturday night the team captains were still in town and went to eat dinner at Taco Bell. This young man was working that night and the team captain was ordering his food when he saw him in the back working. He got off work while the team captains were still there and sat down waiting for a ride. The team captain went over and began to talk with him. The young man brought up salvation. “I was thinking about getting saved,” he said. He began to tell the team captain that he was going to wait to get saved. The team captain challenged, “Why wait?” The captain presented the Gospel again. “Do you believe God could save you if you asked Him?” the team captain asked. The answer was “yes.” “When do you think God would want you to do that?” the team captain questioned. “Right now,” he answered. The young man prayed. The team captain questioned him and he gave clear answers. The Sunday School teacher was there and invited him to Sunday School and church the next day. The next day he came to Sunday School and church at Heritage Baptist Church.
Sunday morning there were several new ones at the Sunday School. On Saturday the pastor and several in the church had visited with many of those who had gotten saved. We were encouraged with all the Lord did in hearts. I think we had around 30 young people who had made a salvation decision!
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