For years we have had the privilege of coming to Tabernacle Baptist Church and Heritage Prep School. We were so encouraged with a good spirit in the student body. It was good to work with Cameron and Jamie Ford. Cameron was saved a few years ago when the team came to Tabernacle. He is now the youth pastor and it was great to see him in action! We’re thankful for all the Lord did in hearts!

On Thursday night after the War rally, Matthew, the Ranger team captain, asked a visiting teen what he thought of the gospel message. The young man responded that he had never heard anything like it before. He admitted that he did not know where he would go if he died. Matthew was able to open the Bible and lead this young man to Christ right there in the parking lot. 

On Friday after chapel, Simeon counseled a young man who responded to the invitation. His dad left when he was young, and he was dealing with bitterness as a result. Simeon was able to encourage him with the truth of God being our Father. The young man chose to forgive his dad. He testified on Friday:

“Before I came here, I did a lot of sinning, I lied to many of my friends…and I disrespected my parents in ways I very regret doing, but after I came here, Jesus forgave me from my sins because He died on the cross for all of us.”

Julianna, the Seal co-captain, talked with a girl on Wednesday. She was dealing with bitterness towards her dad and another person. She chose to forgive them. She shared her decision with her mom and is taking steps forward to restoring her relationship with her dad. She gave a testimony on Friday night:

“I’ve been struggling with…[bitterness] and I’ve resented multiple people for several years, and I realized this week that I need to stop being bitter towards them and need to forgive them, so I did…another thing I was struggling with is depending on myself instead of on God…I was really deep into sin and I couldn’t get out, but then I realized it was because I was relying on myself.”

Simeon, the Marine team captain, recruited some girls on Monday after school. One of the girls came on Wednesday night to the rally. She was listening intently through the message and raised her hand that she knew she was not saved. The night she responded and was wondrously saved.

After the morning chapel on Friday, Polly, the Marine co-captain, talked to a young lady who had been hurt by a recent relationship. She was struggling with a lot of bitterness with the situation. Polly was able to help bring her to the point of forgiving the offender. That night, at the testimony service, she testified of her decision:

“I’m going to try not to cry but basically this past year I’ve had a lot of hurts in my life…it just really messed me up to the point where…I was actually cutting myself, I overdosed a few times, I was extremely suicidal…and this message I heard yesterday showed me I did have bitterness towards this person…I just let God have it.”

Annaleese, the Ranger co-captain, connected with a teen girl on Sunday. She was not a part of the school, but had plans to join during the week for chapels and competitions. On Thursday night after the gospel message, she responded and talked with Annaleese. She had made several decisions before, but each one had been made to please someone. She commented that she had never felt conviction before until that night. She clearly understood her split trust and with tears accepted Jesus into her heart. On Friday, she stood and gave her testimony to her peers how she had gotten saved the previous night:

“I thought I was saved before this, but it turns out that I really wasn’t. And last night when He was speaking on lying and the other…I just knew that if I died I was going to hell…I went up with Miss Annaleese and she took me through step by step…I came home and I was crying tears of joy because I got saved last night.”

Here are a few more testimonies from this week:

“This week the Lord has dealt in my heart about bitterness because ever since I was a little girl, I’ve had a very rough relationship with my father…it was so hard on me because I loved my dad and I just hated that I felt like I was hated by him and rejected by my father…a couple years ago…my dad went to prison and now…not in my life anymore…I had a lot of insecurity…I just felt so lonely…not too long ago, I told myself ‘I’m never going to…forgive my father for what he did to me as a child’….The first day in the afternoon service…Pastor talked about bitterness and having father wounds and forgiveness, and it really, really spoke to my heart like I felt like the preacher was speaking right to me…it felt like I was having one-on-one conversation…I talked to my teacher and she helped…I haven’t relied on Him [God] yet, so this week I made the decision to put my dependence on Him and faith in God 100% and just depend on Him and build a relationship with my Heavenly Father that I can never get from an earthly father.”

“I’ve been struggling with sin a ton…4 months ago…Mr. Ford preached on having sin that’s debilitating, and then this week it was about having strongholds and having 24 hour accountability…I’ve been having it for 2 days and it’s been really helpful.”

“When I was 9 months old, my dad left me and went to jail for things that he did when I wasn’t even born yet…I would just find myself crying sometimes, just sitting there asking God, ‘why?’, ‘why did he do this to me?’ ‘why did he leave me?’ I’d try to pray. I’d try to ask God to help me, and I feel like He’s not there for me…I have trust issues with the Lord…but last night I just found myself sitting on the ground praying to the Lord, just asking Him to stay there with me, to always be there for me, to be sure I stay close to Him whenever I find myself leaving Him.”