Calvary Baptist Church in Fort Walton Beach is pastored by Mark Stevens. We met years ago when our team came to his church in Keystone Heights, Florida. Wow! There are some great memories of those times there when it seemed like the whole town came to The War. For years now, we have had the privilege of coming to CBC and now have a whole new set of memories. We are thankful for all the Lord did in hearts this time.
Judson, the Seal captain, was at a local high school and recruited several inner city boys. Later in the week, some of them told Judson that they would like to come to the event, and that they had friends they were bringing. On Wednesday, Janna, the Seal co-captain, picked up six of them, and they all had a blast at the War night. When the invitation came, all six came back for salvation and were gloriously saved. Many of them came from rough homes and lifestyles, and it was a blessing to see the joy of salvation on their faces! On Friday, one of them told Judson,
“Jesus changed my life this week!”
Annaleese, the Ranger co-captain, talked to a young lady and her mom at Walmart on Monday. The teenager brought two of her cousins on Wednesday night. All three of them enjoyed the competition, and were focused during the gospel message. All three responded during the invitation and trusted Christ that night.
An older couple in the church was burdened for the teens in their community. The husband took many flyers and passed them out to teens he saw. On Wednesday night, they brought a young lady. She got saved, and the next two nights, she brought a friend along. On Friday, she gave a testimony of how she had gotten saved that week. The older couple was thrilled that God had used them in the young lady’s life!
During the invitation on Friday, several girls responded for counseling who were in need of salvation. Abi, the Marine co-captain, talked to one girl who was trusting Jesus and other things for salvation. She realized it was Jesus alone and accepted Christ that day. Afterward, she commented she was just so overwhelmed by God’s unconditional love for her!
Janna was talking to one young lady who was struggling with bitterness towards her parents who had abandoned her. When Janna asked her if she was sure her sins were forgiven and she had eternal life, she answered quickly, “No, I need to be saved.” She had heard the gospel the night before but did not have the courage to respond. Right there in her seat, she accepted Christ’s forgiveness of her sins and then went on to forgive her parents.
Here are some testimonies from the week:
“This week there was a message about how we need to rely on God to help us through things that may have hurt us or we may be struggling with, rather than relying on ourselves or other things that may be unhealthy…That was something that really spoke to me. I know I haven’t been trusting God recently and so I’ve been turning to things other than God to help me get through things.”
“This week I learned that no matter how hard you try to fight it, God wants you to forgive…it takes that burden off when you forgive them. If Jesus can forgive me for my sins, I can forgive them…”
“I brought two of my friends and they’re not Christian or anything like that…and he started preaching, I turned and saw them listening…I never thought I’d see someone I brought get saved, but I guess I did…”
“I’ve had a really bad habit of lying and stealing from my parents. This week it really got through to me that I should get rid of that habit and start trusting in God and letting Him follow through with His plan for my life”
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