“When it rains, it pours.” That phrase has been used not only to market salt, but also to describe an unrelenting series of challenges and mishaps. Our week in Tucson was a challenging one. And yet, in the midst of the challenges, God was at work in hearts!
To preface an account of the week, I want to make abundantly clear that I am not complaining nor am I bemoaning the week. As far as I am concerned, the week was full of weakness so that God’s strength could be put on display. In addition, the results that we see are only the “tip of the iceberg” of what God is doing below the surface.
The challenges began before we even arrived when I heard that the youth pastor was down with the flu. Both he and his wife were through the worst of the suffering, but they were still contagious, as I would find out shortly. The youth pastor did his best to keep away from us so that we wouldn’t get sick, but the net result was that we were largely on our own when it came to recruiting and I still got sick. Lovely.
But before I get to that, the days of recruiting were also full of unforeseen challenges. Seemingly from the first moment we stepped out to speak to a teen to the last, it rained. While rain isn’t necessarily unusual in most places, what was unusual was that we were in the desert during a season that doesn’t normally receive rain. Even more odd was that the rain lasted nearly every minute of our recruiting time. Arizonians in these parts aren’t used to the rain and they stayed indoors. In addition to the rain, the school schedules were different than posted. Some schools were not in session and others released at random times, so we ended up missing most of the rushes. By the time the guys were done recruiting, we had accumulated a whopping 107 names and numbers—an abysmal failure by any estimation.
As I alluded to earlier, things got worse. As I was helping the guys with a few details in their skit on Saturday before the first rally, I noticed I wasn’t feeling quite right. When I took my temperature, the thermometer confirmed what I had feared. I had a fever. I didn’t think too hard about it at the time, but I ran the War night with a 101º fever.
The first night was poorly attended, though there were several lost present. We had to adapt some of our games to make them work with such a small crowd. I had decided that no matter what size God gave us, I was going to make it fun for the young people. I do believe I succeeded. Though our attendance was in the single digits, two young ladies immediately stepped out to trust Christ at the invitation. These two young ladies were some that church folks had been specifically praying for.
We rejoiced in what God had done, but we still longed for more. That night, my fever progressed into the full-out flu. My temperature skyrocketed above 103º and I was miserable. The next morning, I dragged myself out of bed still nearly delirious and preached in the morning service. I hope it was a blessing. Honestly, what I was dreading was running The War in the evening in my condition. I was also majorly concerned that my four week old son did not contract the flu, so I kept myself quarantined in the bedroom in our trailer.
I had contemplated asking the youth pastor or a classmate of mine who was in the area to run the event, but I felt that God wanted me to push through anyway despite the high fever. God gave strength. Our crowd increased by 150% (to 13 people) and the spirit of the night was good. As much as I preached the gospel with all of my heart, I discovered at the end that no one lost was present, so I gave an invitation to deal with sin. Several responded and had conversations about issues that God was dealing with them about. As soon as I finished the invitation, I felt the strength go out of me immediately and I managed to crawl into the trailer and collapse in my bed.
Leading into the final day, my flu symptoms were still present but getting slightly better (101º). Our crowd grew even more and we had several more lost present. The young people enjoyed the competitions and listened to the preaching intently. As I gave the invitation, four responded. At the end of the night, one young man and two young ladies trusted Christ!
Though the week was full of challenges, I was reminded this week of the value of a soul. As much as we say, “If we only see one person trust Christ, it will be worth it”, at times it is hard to process low numbers. Yet, I was reminded once again that if I was the only sinner on planet earth, Jesus would have died for me. If the Shepherd was willing to leave the ninety-nine to rescue one, I’m pretty happy with rescuing five! To God be the glory!
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