Pastor Ron Allen and I graduated from the same college and the same year. It was great to be at Bible Baptist again and labor with Pastor Allen and his staff. Mr. Brad Parker is the principal of the Christian school, and he and his wife do a great job preparing for the team and assisting us all week long. Two years ago we had a great week, and from my vantage point it was another wonderful week this year.
Recruiting was a huge encouragement to those in the Christian school. Several young people went out with the team, saw answers to prayer, and saw God use them. Esther, the Seal co-captain, had one girl with her when they recruited two big, athletic guys. The girl was so excited to find the teens, and she was even more thrilled when they gave Esther their numbers. These two young men came late on Wednesday, but they still got plugged in. After everyone was dismissed, Esther sat down with them to have them fill out registration cards, since they came late. Then she went into the Gospel with them, and by the end of their conversation, both of those young men got saved. The girl in the Christian school was so thrilled to see God answer her prayers and use her.
On Monday, the Marines had about eight of their team members go out recruiting with them. None of them knew specific houses where teens lived, so they just went to McDonalds to see if they could find any recruits. That proved to be a great spot, as they spent over an hour there, and every Christian school teen was able to help recruit. One eighth grade girl was very aggressive in recruiting. She got the numbers of two young men, whom Titus, the Marine team captain, contacted about coming to the War nights. The two young men came the first War night, and they loved every minute of it. When it was time for the invitation, they both responded, realizing their need for Jesus. Before those boys left that night, they were gloriously saved.
Titus was out recruiting by some apartments on Monday when he talked to one young man who didn’t just give him his phone number, but also a back-up number in case the first one didn’t work. Due to a lack of a ride, the young man was not able to come the first night, but there was a man in the church who was able to pick him up the second night. He ended up bringing a friend; both loved the War night competitions. God was working in their hearts, and both raised their hands during the invitation, indicating their need to be saved. Titus led his recruit to the Lord that night. The friend who came, talked to Aaron Simonsen, a Special Forces veteran who was passing through the area, and the friend also got saved.
One of the young men in the Christian school had some cousins visiting from Utah. The cousin, who was a teen, was only able to come on Wednesday. The Christian school young man was so encouraged when his cousin got saved that night – he had been praying for his cousin for a very long time.
Another guy in the Christian school had a co-worker whom he was very burdened for. He had been building a relationship with his co-worker, and praying for a Gospel opportunity with him. The co-worker came on Thursday with his younger brother. During the invitation, the younger brother raised his hand because he realized he needed to be saved. The young man from the Christian school went with the younger brother, and the co-worker came back with them too. Isaac, the Ranger team captain, counseled the two visitors with the Christian school kid. By the end of the night, the two young men trusted Christ as their Savior!
Several sixth and seventh grade girls came back after the chapel invitation was officially over on Wednesday. Esther talked to one girl on her team, and found out that she was not actually saved. Although the girl had grown up in a Russian church, she had never truly trusted Christ as his Savior. It was neat to see the girl who just got saved on Wednesday, translate the Gospel message for her friend’s cousin at the War night on Thursday.
Abigail, the Ranger co-captain, was burdened for one senior girl on her team, and prayed for her throughout the week. She responded during the invitation on Friday, and Abigail was able to counsel her. God was working in the senior girl’s heart about being surrendered to whatever God had for her future. It was encouraging to see her take steps of faith. She gave this testimony Friday night.
“I would like to talk about what happened in chapel today…total surrender and total dependence. [The preacher] made an invitation at the end that God really spoke to me that morning…I realized that I was depending on myself and…I decided I needed to answer…that invitation, so I went and prayed and cried out to Him begging for forgiveness and begging that He help me depend on Him, because no matter how much I push Him away I am very thankful that He is always there with open arms ready to accept me back….”
One of the leaders in the school responded during the invitation on Wednesday. God began doing a deep work in his heart; he was broken over his pride, bitterness, viewing issues, and lack of standing up for right. Titus counseled him with biblical truth, and by end of their conversation, the young man was very encouraged in what God had for him. He gave this testimony on Friday:
“First off, I would like to say thank you to the War of Special Forces team, they made a huge impact on my life. The thing I learned most this week is that without God, nothing is possible and with Him everything is possible. Two years ago I made a lot of decisions and eventually they faded away because I was trying to do it just by myself and I was confused why it wasn’t working. This week I learned that I need God more than anything and that I have to ask Him to enable me to do His will.“
Here are some more testimonies from the week:
“On Wednesday, Dr. Jim talked about bitterness and anger…I have been saved for four years now and since that time some things have happened…I got really angry about this one instance, and I just set it aside and though I’d deal with it later…that anger just turned to bitterness and I didn’t realize how big of a problem it became but over time I just got more and more bitter and more and more angry and it started to change how I acted, changed how I thought and changed my life completely for the wrong way…this week it really hit me how much it affected me…I went out and talked to my captain, Isaac, and he was showing me these scriptures on how God has done so much for us and forgives us every time and how through Christ I can forgive anything. I was very convicted…I was able to get rid of that bitterness and truly live how I should be. Serving God and not letting my focus be on the bitterness or whoever I am angry with, letting my true focus be on God.”
“During this week we had team meetings where we split up and Titus gave us a challenge about following Jesus…He told us a story about a man and Jesus having a conversation. A lot of times especially in my life I say, “Ok Jesus I want to follow you and I want to love you and I want your blessings, but first let me go enjoy my life, first let me enjoy this, first let me go watch this thing.” It was just a great challenge saying that we should put God first in everything and we should put God as our top priority because He can use us today. It’s not like we have to wait till we are older and out of high school, He can use us now…”
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