Pastor Mike Ascher and Mark Taylor are very familiar with The War. Mike Ascher had traveled as a college student at BJ; Mark Taylor had hosted The War numerous times throughout the years. Our burden for this final week of the tour was to finish strong. Praise the Lord, that’s exactly what He enabled us to do.
On Wednesday evening, I preached the Mentorship Mandate again and the Lord mightily blessed. There were over 30 people who came down to the front to shake Pastor’s hand and tell him, “I’m in,” referring to the call to disciple and mentor those who would come to The War over the weekend.
Recruiting went very well. We were able to get more than 150% of the names and numbers that we normally hope to get during a week. The guys were in the public schools almost all day for the two days preceding the event. That was God’s doing.
When we found out, however, that the first night was going to run in conflict with the prom, my optimism deflated. When phone calling on Saturday did not yield much promise, I was feeling quite nervous about the whole event. Yet, when registration rolled around and the cars started rolling in, I was blown away by what God had done.
During the first night, we had 91 teens in attendance. During the second night, we had 115 show up. The competitions were outstanding; the spirit was intense! We had a total of 180 teens show up for the event. All three nights we had an abundance of fruit, with a total of 32 young people trusting Christ! What was even more exciting to me was the fact that every single counselor that I observed handed the young person the first lesson of a discipleship course and started making plans for bible study meetings.
Seeing souls saved is exciting, but seeing disciples multiply is thrilling. Please pray for the 204 young people who trusted Christ during this tour. They all need a mentor who will make a difference in their life for the cause of Christ and the gospel.
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