I have never experienced a mission trip like this before. I am in a dream like awe that we experienced God in the manner we did. The gospel of Christ was conveyed so well by the students. They lived the message of Christ out every day. They submitted themselves to the Spirit and were used in a mighty way. We truly are wrecked to live life any other way than in the center of God’s heart, spreading the gospel of Christ, and living by the Spirit. We saw hundreds come to faith in Him. As a result we saw countless miracles. Your students were used by God to do great things. And I don’t think they want to go back to “normal” life. I pray that God won’t let them! I pray that we (including you reading this) will walk arm in arm as we seek out what God has for us back home in Roswell! We know He has greater things in store for us and the students are running to it!
Pray for us as we rest tommorrow. We will be enjoying Sao Paulo before we get on the plane to begin our journey home. Check out the prayer calander for the flight details. Pray for our saftey in travel and comfort as we try to sleep on the plane. Also pray for our students as they arrive and begin the process of living new lives. As with all trips they will be physically, emotionally, and spiritually drained. So don’t be surprised if it takes a couple of days to start getting the story of the week out of them. They aren’t upset with you, they are just worn out. This will probably be the last blog entry before we see you at the airport. We can’t wait to see you. Your hugs are missed more than the American food. We love you and will see you soon. (I love you Stacia!)
Thanks for your encouraging words and prayers. We just read the most recent comments as a team and were truly pumped. We agree with you that we will return and see God just as powerful there as He is here. You all have been such a source of encouragement as you have fought on our behalf in prayer. You are like the people holding up Moses’s hands while the Israelites were in battle. Thanks for your prayers. There is a name in the Kingdom of heaven that is attached to your every prayer.
Today we saw several open their eyes to a God that loves them. They are saturated with the message that God is angry and can’t wait to flush them into the fires of hell. They approach God like they have to have clean lives before they can approach Him. Our team has simply taught the gospel of a loving God who cared so much for these people to lay down his life for them. It is an amazing love and we are still amazed by it. Our kids have the passion to share this love. Just check out this next video as we wrap up today. No matter how hard the enemy tried to attack us the students would not give up. They overcame challenges that are extremely difficult. They did Redeemer three times today without music. We shouted the Gospel, when the enemy took out our sound equipment. God was not thwarted. If you would like to contribute to purchasing Bruno a new sound system, please let us know and we will do our best to get him a new one swiftly. Check out this video.done
On any other night tonight would have been amazing. We saw students come to Christ. We went to a new school and presented the gospel to College students. They were less attentive and though we sought to bring the same intensity as we have the last few days, it felt different like heavy lifting. Our team is really being careful not to run on emotions. As we have seen the Spirit move we are always aware that the miracles are to reinforce the message. The greatest miracle is the redemption of people through Jesus Christ.
So tonight it felt like heavier lifting in the Redeemer, Josh’s sketchboard and Kevin’s testimony. Keith gave an invitation and to our surprise there was still 75 – 80 out of 150 people that raised their hands that they had made that decision tonight or recommitted themselves in one way or another. After the meeting we had more people come forward to prayer. We had a woman come forward and give her life to Christ after the meeting. The principal asked us to pray for the school so we closed out the night in prayer over the whole school. One woman gave praise for being healed from cancer.
We are very tired so we will cut our report short tonight. Please pray for the team as we have a morning meeting in Pocos De Caldas and then we hit the road for Sao Paulo. Pray for Keith to keep his voice as Larengitis is knocking at the door. Most of the team feels the affects of weariness setting in. Pray that we will stay under His controle so we can be used by Him at every opportunity. The students are also expressing thier desire to be able to bring this home with them. They have fallen in love with the gospel and want to continue to live this way. However they are scared that “life” will make this difficult.
Today, we returned for a morning meeting at the same school. This was our third and last meeting at the school. Every time we saw a tremendous harvest. Numbers of decisions may conservatively approach 800 – 950 at that one school. It was unbelievable. Each time, because the message was so impactful and the peace of God rested on that school we sought to allow God to use us to do miracles, heal people and set captives free. Salvation happened for so many. Some during the meeting and some after the meeting. Claire felt sick during the redeemer and was “taken over” by the Holy Spirit and doesn’t even remember performing. She was sick and pressed through the sickness to be available to God and look at God! Making her a human puppet in the story. Awesome.
Anna tore it up sharing chemical cross for the first time in Portuguese. She personalized the story and it was powerful with several high school age students crying during her presentation. Lindsay followed Anna with a personal testimony that was completely real and helped students to identify with God’s redemption in the midst of our sinful life.
The after meeting time has just been incredible. Today we gave the invitation. There was at least 600 in attendance and virtually everyone responded to the gospel. These were high school students who made a decision to receive Christ and to be bold for Christ in their high school environment. We prayed over several students and challenged them to take leadership in their school and home. We prayed over some teachers who were seeking healing two from bone disease and one from diabetes.
Courtney Z was praying over the meeting before it started. A tall man approached her and was speaking to her. She didn’t understand him and then he said to her “Benjamin Michael praying.” Her brother’s name is Benjamin Michael. The guy then walked out the door. We thought it may have been an angel. Immediately after the meeting wound down, we went to a phone to call and were happy to here that there was not an emergency involving Ben. We will look to God to further confirm to Courtney Z what he wanted to communicate.
All the students did an amazing job praying over the Brazilian students and encouraging them to stand strong in their faith. We are so proud of the way they are representing Christ and working in tandem with the Holy Spirit.
Right now we are headed out to our evening meeting. We know some people are gathering to pray for us and the Ecuador team tonight. We are anticipating the prayers of you warriors in a might way! May God receive Glory for all that He is doing here. He is stretching us, teaching us, and showing us His power. We are learning so much about the agressive nature of the Holy Spirit. We’ve viewed Him as timid for far too long.
Hundreds were led to Christ. God’s peace rested over the school as they receive the message of Jesus Christ. 350 of 400 people responded tonight to the Gospel. Lives were dramatically changed. Then the principal declared the school for Jesus and told people that if they didn’t like it they could leave. We declared the school as holy ground and then under the Authority of Jesus Christ, we cast demons and out of a drug lord and prayed healing over people with kidney trouble and cancer. We prayed over 30 to 40 people tonight. The night ended with a woman at the school speaking prophecy over our team and team leaders. This was the most awesome night of ministry of my entire life. Our kids are seeing God flex His muscles and conquer the Kingdom. done
More to come later, but just wanted to get something on the web that says we are safe and sound in Pocos De Caldas. We had a great afternoon of ministry at a local school with excellent results. More details to come. We are now heading out for an evening of ministry.
Emergency prayer request: I (Keith) had a credit card make a double payment (a hefty amount) and I am trying to solve this from here with Susan’s help there so that we don’t bounce checks in a few days. Pray that it will get resolved quickly and that I will be able to relax and stay focused on the task at hand here. This just seems like a stupid attack, from the enemy. I’m going to punch him in the nose extra hard tonight! For the glory of God, Keith
The other day we were in a plaza seperated by 100 feet from a group of angry street preachers. They yelled at everyone sharing their need to repent and come to God or He was going to send them to a firey hell. They even came over to us at one point to make sure we knew that “America would never rise again.” Their message contained some truth, but their voices were the most annoying sound in the plaza that day. Here is an excerpt from my journal.
I write this from a plaza in downtown Campinas Brazil. “You hold the universe! You hold everyone on earth!” is blasting from our ipods to the people. Not 100 feet from where we are is the gospel of Gods judgement wailing out, “Repent for an angry God is poised to judge you in the fires of hell.” People skate by him hurrying to pass. A few reluctantly take a handout from him only to discard it 50 feet later. No fruit. Only numbness and anger emerge. People are repelled by this gospel message.
In front of me the Redeemer team portrays the story of mans entrapment into sin and Gods redemption of love. The sketchboard tells it in story form, then chemical cross, then a real life story of redemption from our team. Grown men cry. Large crowds gather. Intense eyes stare and see. Ears listen and hearts beat, perhaps for the first time. There is a God who loves me so much that He gave me the greatest gift of sacrifice anyone could ever give. There is fruit. Forgiveness and love emerge. People are compelled by this gospel message.
I am reminded of times when one of my children in my home sees another one of my children doing something they know I would not approve of. They take it upon themselves to pass along to their sibling my desires because I am not in the room. They lack vision for the heart of the offender and throw it on thick. Thicker than I would have as I would have taken time to explain why I do not want them to do it. The child who emphacizes obedience to my desires at the expense of nurturing the other childs heart is forgetting how I love the other child and am patient for them.
May the people of the world see on our faces the heart of God giving away his compelling love today. May He shine through us!
Keith
Today, Monday please pray for us as we have 5 or 6 school meetings from morning to late at night planned. Our audience is High School, Junior High and College age. There will be 700 in the morning, 500 in the after noon and 200 plus in the evening who will hear the Gospel today!
Everyone is healthy. Please pray for continued good health. Pray for God s annointing on the time and the reception of the students. Blessings!
