For several years now, the War of Special Forces team has had the privilege of coming to Faith Baptist Church and Deltona Christian School every two years. Our team loves partnering with the faculty and staff in this ministry. Pastor and Mrs. Herchenroder have become good friends, and we always look forward to our time laboring with them. This year was no exception.
Esther, the Seal co-captain, was at her host home on Sunday afternoon when she recruited a young man in the neighborhood. He came Wednesday and Thursday. On Thursday night, God was clearly working in his heart, and that night he got saved.
Abigail, the Ranger co-captain, recruited a boy at a middle school let-out. He came late on Wednesday but brought a couple friends and a cousin. All four of the young people got plugged in during the events of the night. When it was time for the invitation, three of the four responded, and they got saved. Abigail talked to the fourth young person in the parking lot as he was waiting for the others, and he too got saved!
Isaac, the Ranger team captain, recruited a guy at the high school right across the street from the Christian school. He came on Wednesday night and got involved in every aspect of the night. God was obviously working in his heart. When he responded during the invitation, Isaac brought one of the Christian school kids with him to counsel the young man. The visitor said that he was an atheist. It was definitely a battle throughout the entire conversation, but God won as the young man trusted Christ that night.
God used team meetings on Thursday to work in many hearts. There was a very big response, and the counseling took over an hour. Several of the guy leaders in the school responded, and God broke them of their need to trust God. One girl who responded was someone that many of the students and staff had expressed concern for. She was not saved, and everyone knew it. On Thursday, God drew her to Himself. She knew she was not saved, and she knew she needed to be. Abi, her Marine co-captain, counseled her and led her to the Lord. The girl told some of her friends who had been praying for her, and they were so excited. Here is the testimony of one of the praying friends:
“Me and two of my friends had been praying for this one girl in the school that we knew wasn’t saved…almost all year. When we found out about it, we started praying for her. We took it to our team leaders and the whole team started praying for her, and this week God just opened up her heart and she got saved.”
While there was a battle all week, it seemed to get even more intense on Friday night. There was a bad thunderstorm in the forecast, but we normally stay outside all night for the testimony service. It started to thunder and lightning, so we had to move everyone inside. There were many distracting things: people leaving, loud rain during the testimonies, and a restless crowd. Amidst all the distractions, by the end of the night, several young people trusted Christ as their Savior.
Here are some other testimonies of what God did:
“This week God spoke to my heart through every message, but what really stuck out to me was Dr. Jim had preached about doing what’s right even though no one else is…and also having a walk and relationship with God. I haven’t been spending time with Him like I should be and the Lord really spoke to my heart about that.”
“This week God spoke to me about trusting in Him and depending on Him for what I need to do for the Christian life…He spoke to me a lot about that…I’ve heard Dr. Jim preach on this before and made decisions and haven’t kept them like I want to…this week a lot of my friends and schoolmates got saved and it really touched my heart. I encourage you if you got saved, even if you don’t go to the school, to just keep pursuing God.”
“I got saved on Wednesday night.”
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