We love coming to First Baptist Church of Westwood Lakes and Westwood Christian School. Of course, Miami is beautiful, but the crew here at Westwood is such a blessing with which to work. As always, the week was a battle, but it was neat to see the Lord break through. By Friday young men were standing and praying publicly during the men’s session. It is great to see the Lord work!
Annaleese, the Ranger co-captain, met a girl on Sunday who was very excited about the event. She took some brochures to invite kids from her homeschool co-op. She came out recruiting with our team each day. On Wednesday, four of her friends came and they all got saved. On Thursday, one of the friends that got saved the night before brought another friend who got assurance of her salvation. The friend who came on Thursday night gave this testimony at the testimony service:
“The relationship I’ve had with God has been struggling…I talked to…Annaleese yesterday…[and I realized that I’ve been] relying on myself…for salvation…and for trying to be a good person…And I learned from the preacher that I do have to put all my dependence on God, and I have to trust in Him and rely on Him for everything, and that He will help you. He will strengthen you. He won’t ever leave you.”
Annaleese talked to a girl on Wednesday during the junior high invitation. The girl had come from a very hard home situation, but she was struck with her need to forgive her dad. She forgave him that day.
One of the older guys in the school came to the War night on Wednesday. He responded during the invitation after the Gospel message. It was quite remarkable how courageous he was—he was sitting in the middle of a bunch of his friends, but he did not let that stop him. He talked to Josiah, the Marine team captain, that night. The young man got assurance of his salvation, and Josiah was able to give him more Christian life counseling. It was sweet to see his friends embrace him when he was done getting counseled; they were encouraged to see him respond to God working in his heart. Here is the testimony he gave on Friday:
“This past week, the preaching has really been making me second guess my salvation…and my relationship with Him. And I think it was on Wednesday where we had the preaching that they asked whoever doesn’t feel certain of where they’re gonna go after they die…I was one of the ones. I raised my hand. I went to the back…I spoke with Josiah, and he helped me understand that you can’t lose your salvation, and that God is the only way…to heaven. And he also explained to me about forgiveness.”
During the team meetings on Thursday, the Seals did a salvation emphasis for the junior high group. Several kids raised their hands indicating that they were not saved. One of the girls who raised her hand came to the evening rally and heard the Gospel again. Janna, the Seal co-captain, talked to her after the War night. She hadn’t responded during the team meetings, but she was so glad Janna had talked to her then. She got saved there that night. Janna was able to talk to another girl from her team the next day, and lead her to the Lord as well.
Judson, the Seal team captain, talked to one young man on Friday morning. He told Judson that every year that the War of Special Forces had come, God always worked in his heart, but he never told anyone about his viewing habits. This year he was so sick of his sin that he finally got open and honest.
Abi, the Marine co-captain, talked to a girl on her team after the Gospel message on Thursday night. The girl was so confused about many things. Abi shared the Gospel with her, and it was clear the girl was not trusting Jesus for salvation. That night, the girl cried out to God to save her. She was overjoyed to realize her salvation did not depend on her good works at all.
Here are some more testimonies from the week:
“God has taught me this week that we are more than conquerors in Him, and all of us, even if you are saved, that we’ve all given ground to Satan and through Christ that we can gain the ground back…But we have to not fear what other people say about us, because all that matters is what the Lord says of us….All of us have a ring on our nose, and we need to take that ring out because we’ll all be much more free without the ring.”
“When I was like nine to ten years old, that was my first time to learn about [the] Bible, to learn about Jesus, learn about God, and I really [got] interested in [the] Bible…[Now this week, on] Wednesday night, we have Brother Van Gelderen here…he shared a testimony that really touched me. And I got saved that night.”
“I always thought of myself as a good kid as I grew up. I got good grades…I got saved when I was six…[later] there were always kids in my class who would make fun of the teachers or…stuff like that…I always felt like I needed to stand up [to] them and tell them this is wrong, but I never felt the strength…I learned that Christ gives me strength and God gives me strength, and I can stand up to the people who are being dirty and…making horrible jokes and making fun of people…[Also] one of Mr. Van Gelderen’s messages showed me not to be bitter anymore.”
It was a blessing on Friday to hear the testimonies. There was no time to preach because of the many testimonies. When I asked at the end of the campfire service on Friday evening for those who had gotten saved or gotten assurance of salvation to go and kneel around the fire, many teens got up and knelt around the fire. It was a blessing to see all the Lord did this week!
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