We are so thankful that God opened the door for our team to come and minister with Memorial Baptist Church just outside of Bellevue, FL! Pastor Michael West and his assistant pastor, Tim Farley, have a real heart for teens and God blessed faith abundantly where it was found!
The Lord had been preparing our hearts by steadily increasing our desire to see a real breakthrough. Though we were thankful for all the Lord had done, we knew that He was able to do so much more. During our times of prayer, God met with us and as we stood to our feet, we knew that things would be different. This was our team’s first real experience in breakthrough on our knees.
With a conscious awareness of God’s blessing, I stood up to preach on the first night. Things didn’t feel any different. No change in delivery—delivery actually seemed a bit drier at first. As the message went along though, I noticed the conviction: a girl with a low-cut tank top tried to pull it up to make it more modest, a young man stared with furrowed brows, another nodded fervently with the points I was making. At the close of the sermon, I asked for a raise of hands for those who knew they hadn’t made the decision at hand and thought they might go to Hell. Hands shot up around the whole room—at least a dozen. I sensed a real spirit of seriousness, so I cut to the chase with the invitation and invited them to respond with at least half the explanation I usually do. People moved and more than 15 went back to the counseling rooms. In the end, I believe that the number was 15 souls—11 guys and 4 girls—who trusted Christ. Of those who trusted Christ there were several thrilling stories of God’s working.
One man was walking down the street during one of the recruiting days. The Navy captain talked to him about The War. He looked at the captain with shock and told him, “I just got fired from my job. I think God sent you to me to help me in the right direction.” He signed up then and there. His name was Manny, and he was among those who trusted Christ on the first night. After he got saved, he told his team captain that after his conversation by the road, he called his employer back and they restored his job 3 hours after it was terminated. A God-led detour, for sure!
On Friday night, one of the team captains was making one final recruiting stop at a Wendy’s to get two teens he saw walk inside. The ladies behind the counter had heard about what they were doing and were very much for it. Just before he left, a group of 14 teens walking into the restaurant. The ladies behind the counter told the teens that they refused to take their order until they signed up with the team captain for The War. He told them about it all and all 14 of them signed up!
Well, many of them came the first night. One of them, I could tell, was right with me through the whole message—so much so I thought he was saved. At the invitation he went back, he even tried to get one of his friends to come back with him, though he refused. As I was questioning him, I was thrilled at the clarity and conviction in his answers. It was Christ alone! Absolutely nothing else!! Afterward, he told his team captain that on Friday night, they had been having engine trouble with the car carrying the group which delayed their arrival at Wendy’s about an extra 20 minutes—making them arrive just in time for the team captain! He told him that he believed that God allowed it so that they could hear about The War, come, and get saved.
Another one from the group was locked in with furrowed brow through the entire message. He told Matt that he was a bit upset at the ladies at the Wendy’s when they said they wouldn’t take their order right away, but now that he got saved, he was pretty glad they did it.
In all, the week was a great success. A total of 83 teens attended the event and 22 young people put their trust in Christ. Everyone in the church was excited with what God had done in answer to prayer.
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