Two years ago, in 2021 the War of Special Forces team had the privilege to go to Mount Pisgah Christian Academy for the first time. Just a few weeks ago, in April of 2023, we had the opportunity to return. It was great to hear Pastor Garvan Walls preach on Sunday morning, and to work with the youth pastor, Doug Barone, during the week. Pastor Doug did a great job preparing for the team. He began to promote the outreach, as well as line up opportunities for the team to invite more teenagers to come to the rally nights. We were thrilled with all the Lord did in Oliver Springs!
Several young people went out recruiting on Monday with the youth pastor. They went to a nearby high school where they were able to go on property and talk to teens. One of the guys from the Christian school was burdened to see God use him to reach people. He recruited a kid from the high school who came out Wednesday and was gloriously saved. The guy from the Christian school was so encouraged that he came back during the invitation on Thursday, and talked to Titus, his Marine team captain, expressing his desire to walk with God on a deeper level. Later in the week, he told me that he felt God was calling him into the ministry. The other exciting part of this story was that he had gotten saved just the last time we were in Oliver Springs, in the fall of 2021. He gave this testimony Friday night:
“Recently in my reading I feel like I was disconnected with God…And this week God made known to me that I am just not prioritizing Him, and I just want to prioritize God above all else rather than just say it and not mean it.”
One of the contacts from two years ago was recruited by Abigail, the Ranger co-captain. He was only able to come one night, Wednesday, but he loved every minute of it. Thomas, the Seal team captain, talked to him out in the parking lot after everyone was dismissed. That young man got saved on the only night he was able to come.
One young man in the Christian school went out recruiting with the team both Monday and Tuesday. On Tuesday, Esther, the Seal co-captain, asked him when he got saved, but he was not sure that he was. She gave him the Gospel, and he knew he was not saved, but did not make the decision right then. Our team began to pray more earnestly for him. He came to the War nights, and on Thursday, he responded during the invitation, and he got saved. This was his testimony:
“I didn’t grow up inside a Christian family, I grew up with an abusive step-father…This week I got saved.”
A young man from the church and Christian school confessed his viewing stronghold. He planned to confess it to his parents, but didn’t actually do it until the team left. He gave a bold testimony on Friday (below). Titus stayed in contact with him after the team left and heard that he had come all the way through on talking to his parents.
“At school if I would hear a bad joke or something I would either go on with it or not say anything about it instead of defending God, and I just want to say that I’m done doing that and I’m ready to stand for God.”
On Wednesday, we had our first in-school invitation. There were two young men on the front row, who, as soon as the invitation was given, shot up and walked back to get help. One of those young men told the team, later in the week, that he felt God was calling him into ministry. He gave this testimony:
“First, I just want to thank the team for coming and preaching to us…a lot of what he was preaching about, I was dealing with. I knew it was wrong, but in my mind I was just like, ‘it’s just this one time, it’ll be alright.’ But it really wasn’t. I was also dealing with a lot of bitterness and anger toward my father and a lot of things that he had done, and after hearing Esther’s testimony, it made me realize that I need to let go of it and forgive him for the things he’s done in the past.”
God was also working deeply in the heart of the other young man. Thomas counseled him more on Thursday. He had been struggling for a very long time, but for the first time sensed the presence of God as he began to get open and honest. He too felt God leading him into ministry. He had gotten injured in one of the competitions earlier in the week, but God used that to get his attention. He later said,
“…because I couldn’t participate in the competitions, the only thing I could focus on was the preaching and the spiritual application for me.”
One girl, in the church’s bus ministry, came and brought friends every night. A couple of the friends got assurance of their salvation. One young man she brought came on Thursday and he got saved.
There was a girl on the Seal team who hadn’t responded during any of the invitations, but God was doing a work in her heart. She gave a testimony on Friday night (below), and afterward, Esther was able to counsel her more and hear more specifically what God was doing in here heart. She told Esther that during the girls’ split session on Friday afternoon (when the three co-captains showed the girls how to spend time with God and emphasized their need to meet with Him every day) God really used the personal time that day to show her that she still had some bitterness in her heart. She got that right and made a decision to pursue God.
“All of my life I have been worried about what’s coming up in the future, and these past few weeks I have been worried about something that I feel like is going to happen, and I prayed about it and tried to trust God…This afternoon we had an afternoon session and I read somewhere where you shouldn’t be afraid because God is the answer, so I prayed about it. Also, Esther’s testimony really spoke to me because I’ve been angry at two people in my life and one of them is a family member and I decided to forgive them in my heart and just trust God.”
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