 #TeamOKlahoma is on their final stretch. The last two days they have been serving in Drummond, Oklahoma.
They marched in with crosses and prayer and literally canvased every home in the community with Burgers, Invites, Bibles, & personal testimonies of Jesus. Multiple people surrendered their lives to Jesus tonight at the Family Fun night outreach aka. “The Carnival.” Each student missionary is seeing multiple people come to Christ. Two nights ago our team was challenged to pray and ask the Lord to speak confirming words to their heart and write them down. They were asked to pray in a small group. Write down what God spoke and then as they go minister look for what the Lord spoke as they sat silent in prayer. Amazingly each group returned with stories of God leading them to specific people that included those words spoken as they sat and just listed to the Holy Spirit speak to their hearts. Often in ministry we teach people how to pray, but a large part of discipleship is teaching young believers how to listen. Here is one encounter of how God moved students as they listened and obeyed. “We prayed and as the team sat in silence they listened. One said, “ fire hydrant, another said, “dim street lights,” while another said “blue, and “daily bread.” None of these things came from the same person, but our whole team received something from the Holy Spirit. Our team loaded up and headed in the direction of “The Daily Bread”, the homeless shelter in Enid. Because one of our team members had seen a dim street light, Joey and knew Enid, he took us the “long way” around. As we crept along the street, all of a sudden we saw a fire hydrant, a dim street light, overlaying blue lights in the trees, and a lady walking by herself. We pulled over and 1 by 1 starting getting out of the vehicles. She was pulled back at first but then she recognized Joey who knew her from the Forgotten Ministries homeless shelter and started to relax. We listened to her talk and then someone asked if she had a relationship with Jesus. She confidently said, “ no.” Her name was Carrie and you could tell that she was familiar with the streets. This was our moment. We talked with her, prayed with her, encouraged her, and we know that God moved in her life. She didn’t ask Jesus into her heart tonight, but as we showed her the list of things the Holy Spirit revealed to us, her face said it all, she was seen. She was heard. Carrie said she was self reliant and didn’t need a God to care for her. But when asked if she would like prayer- she said we all need something and asked if we would pray for her to have a right, clear mind. That her head was not on straight at the moment and she needed to be able to think straight. We prayed and loved on her. Gave her a blue Spanish bible that had fallen out of the van and asked her to give it to whoever she felt prompted. She kept saying- “I have never experienced something like this before. “ There was no one else on the streets. They were dark and empty, but she was there under the soft light, by the fire hydrant, near broken homes, and blue lights above her. God had led us to the right place at the right time to encounter Carrie so she would know she was loved by her Father in Heaven. “ Please pray for Carrie! Pray that what God began on the streets on Enid as some young student missionaries obeyed, will lead her to salvation later.
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 Today we had the opportunity to do service projects in 3 different towns.
2 teams had the chance to go back to Waukomis, our very first city, and finish up a few projects that didn’t get done. One was the house of Ronnie and Lisa, a couple that moved to Waukomis about a month ago and live in a condemned home. When our team showed up this morning, Ronnie and Lisa were not home. So they did the only thing they knew to do, pray and be RFA, Ready For Anything. One ministry team went to a house 2 doors down from Ronnie and Lisa’s and knocked on the door. No answer. After a pep talk of knocking more boldly, Alesha knocked a second time, this time, a girl answered the door. She was shy and hesitant but her mom said to let us in to pray for her. The team walked into the bedroom where the mom, Shelley, was in a cast and bedridden. The team prayed over her and began to hear a bit of Shelley’s story. She believed she was unworthy of love. She was angry with God. Alesha and Peggy both shared a bit of their stories with Shelley. She began to weep and longed for that love but didn’t feel worthy. The team shared that this was not by accident. What are the chances that she was at the carnival in Waukomis but wasn’t open to the Gospel. Yet today, as our team waited for further instruction, operated from a position to be RFA, her heart was soft to the Holy Spirit. What are the chances that 2 women would knock on the door of a home, who have similar stories as the bedridden Shelley? She didn’t give her life to Jesus today, but for the first time in her life, she was open to hear it. Would you join us in praying for Shelley? Pray for the seeds to grow in her heart. These Divine Encounter moments are orchestrated by the God who sees all people and knows the deepest cries of their heart.  Today we had an incredible opportunity to go back to Enid and engage with the Marshallese people; as well as, Grill Walk 4 communities sharing the gospel and giving burgers, while praying with each family as we went door to door. We had a unique opportunity to go back into Okeene, a city we were in last week, there we saw the footprint God had left on the local church from our team. For one of the Forgotten Ministries team members, he said, “It was amazing for me to step back into a place, my hometown, and love on a community that i grew up in as that bad kid.” Tonight, he was able to show the transformation God has done in his life through Jesus!
We gathered for debrief and the stories came flooding in. This night was different though. It wasn’t story after story of salvation, but story after story of vulnerability. It was stories of how God was putting this whole puzzle together in joining Awe Star with Forgotten Ministries and all these different churches and youth groups. They were stories of obedience even in the unknown. They were stories of stepping over fear to walk in the courage of the Holy Spirit. They were stories that unified our team. We spent an hour and a half in worship and fellowship (talking about the things of God) and it was special. But the overlying story in it all, we need to pray for those who are laboring. In this part of Oklahoma, it’s harvest season. Several people we talked to, mentioned the harvest. They stood barefoot, weary, and sighed a relief that the harvest was through. It prompted us to pray deeper for the those who labor. Isn’t that the same heart in God’s Kingdom? The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Would you join us tonight as we pray for the laborers in the Kingdom of Heaven? Pray for God to renew their strength, refresh their souls, and breathe rest over them. May they not grow weary in doing good.  As the team Cross walked into Ringwood, the presence of God was heavy. One team member said, “ I got to carry the Cross and the presence of God was so strong in the atmosphere, I just wept as I prayed.”
Ringwood is the 10th community out of 14 that #TeamOklahoma is CrissWalking into on #TheWalk. Every community thus far has been impactful and impacted by the obedience of student missionaries that have refused to stay comfortable this summer. Each community is entered with students carrying 4 large crosses, worship music projected on a loud speaker, and intentional prayers for salvation, repentance, deliverance, and revival. God has been gracious and in every community many are coming to Faith in Jesus. Those that are already believers are being encouraged and prayed over. One elderly man in his 80’s said, “Only two people my whole life have prayed for me. You are the second.” Another lady in Cherokee said, “ I have heard of Jesus, but your the first person to actually tell me about Him.” After the team CrossWalks in they do what is called a GrillWalk. During the GrillWalk each team member divides into ministry teams of three and goes door to door canvassing the entire community offering free hamburgers, invites to a Carnival outreach for the next evening, and prayers. As students go door to door, people are hesitant at first, but as students begin to off free burgers and ask them how they can pray for them, people soften and begin to share their struggles. One family in Meno came out after students had offered burgers and when they were asked how they could be prayed for the woman began to weep. “ We just moved here from Dallas and we have no work and we are living with in-laws since December. Please pray for us to find jobs and that we will be able to live on our own.” Another older man said, “ I never come to the door, but because you knocked 3 times and didn’t give up, I felt like it was important to come. I had no idea how important!” This man prayed to receive Jesus as students ministered to him at his front door. It was the most important knock he has ever had! After each GrillWalk the next morning from 9-4 students renovate homes, clean yards, build porches and put on roofs. They serve the most forgotten people in the community and bathe them in love as they share the gospel of hope with them. Then by 6pm they host a family carnival night in the same community where they give away food and clothing and offer free carnival games for families. At this event every person is introduced to the gospel one more time. Many are coming to faith, embracing hope, and finding purpose again as students love loud, serve strong, and boldly share the gospel to each person. The stories are endless and we could tell them forever of all the great things God is doing. But we would like to ask you to pray as we enter our last week and final four communities. Would you pray with us that the Lord would empower these student missionaries to finish strong and be emboldened with courage to continue to share the gospel with every person they meet!  Last night we canvased the community of Cherokee, went door to door, saw God move and left many flyers at unanswered doors.
One of our teams talked with a man, Demitry, on the street for about 20 minutes. He gave his life to Jesus and was excited to invite his buddies to the carnival (family fun night) tonight. Fast forward to the carnival. Demitry shows up with 6 of his buddies who look like they are gonna start a brawl. Justin, one of our team members who met Demitry, sat down with these 7 men and shared. Mostly, they were closed off but the Spirit was doing something. After Justin prayed for the men, he walked away. Another one of our students, Cole, felt a deep prompting from the Holy Spirit and prayed with these men. They were very open to be prayed for and you could see that God was moving again. The relentless love of God led yet another team member, Tom, to talk to this same guy who was now standing alone. This man began to share how The night before he was about to commit suicide. He had already planned how he would hang himself. He was at the bar and went home to fulfill his plan when he saw a flyer our team had left at his door. The flyer so moved him that he thought about it all night and decided to wait on harming himself. He felt drawn to come to the park to see what the carnival was all about. What are the chances?! Tom and another team member, Justin prayed with this man and he gave his life to Jesus! God is always working in the backdrop of our lives, even when we can’t feel Him. The things we may see as insignificant, could be the very thing that determines life and death for another. Pray for us see the unseen even in the small things we do in serving . Pray for more divine encounters. Pray for us as we go into Ringwood and Meno tomorrow! Darkness is being pushed back and the Spirit is moving!  Tonight our teams sat in AWE as each team member shared the great things God has done in Cherokee. Testimonies of Freedom experienced on the CrossWalk to surrender of hearts as students canvased the entire city with prayer, invites, and gospel conversations.
Several shared story after story of addiction, abuse, suicide, anger and loneliness. It was absolutely heart wrenching but full of hope as the Gospel empowered students to boldly proclaim Jesus. . During the Grill Walk outreach, a few students encountered a home of a former Police Officer. They knocked on his door 3 times, at both the front and back porch. They learned that he recently lost his job due to a suicide attempt and that his wife had just left him. He was lost, lonely and tired of fighting. One of our team members shared that “there is hope, and God can change situations. But even if He doesn’t, He can change your perspective”. After a prompting of the Holy Spirit, they asked if He wanted to pray and ask for forgiveness and invite Jesus into His life and he did! This man was moved to tears seeing young people in the community that cared enough to share and said “I only came because you knocked on the door 3 times. so I figured it must have been important and it is”. Our team responded, “you better believe it is!” As we walk in the Awe of God, each step of instant obedience, and are relentless, God moves powerfully! Would you continue to pray for our teams as they take Cherokee by storm tomorrow with 9 service projects. We are believing for revival!  Several times today our students had to stop and remember that they were in the United States and in their own backyard ( Oklahoma). The movement of God we are seeing is just astonishing us. It was like a holy invasion as the teams moved from service projects to homeless shelters to the carnival outreach and a unplanned outreach with the Marshallese people living in Enid. God showed up and salvation was happening all around us. Several students led their first people to Jesus.
At the Homeless shelter one lady wept as she shared how the day before she was diagnosed with terminal cirrhosis of the liver and was given six months to live. A team leader asked if she knew who Jesus was and she replied, “ No, not really. No one has ever told me who he really is.” She then shared the gospel with her and her tears turned from fear to joy as she received Jesus for the first time. At the carnival event an entire football team what had been invited the day before on the grill walk, showed up. Their coach cancelled practice and asked each of them to join us at the carnival. Every team member on the football team made a decision to follow Jesus! The coach just wept as he saw God move over his team. Folks this is happening in Oklahoma! In your backyard! These student missionaries are seeing first hand the darkness on the streets of our state and are boldly invading that darkness with the gospel! Please continue to pray for us for each community we are going into. God is moving, as we step boldly into obedience!  Today we had the chance to love on 5 different communities. We spent the morning doing #LaundryLove, passing out hotdogs and sharing testimonies, and carrying the cross as we pushed back darkness in Fairview before journeying on to Aline.
As we strolled into the small community of around 200 people, we felt the presence of God flood Aline and knew God was about to do something great! Our team was like a mass army, divide and conquer was our strategy. With a team of over 65 people, we were able to go door to door and hand out burgers, bibles, and prayers (grill walk) in 4 communities! One of our students in Aline, Autumn, felt the prompting of the Holy Spirit to ask a girl deeper questions. As she was engaging in Gospel conversations, Autumn found out this girl wasn’t a believer. Autumn was sharing about Jesus being a friend. Someone to be vulnerable with, to talk to always, not just when you need something. This girl was so moved by the relationship our students have with Jesus, she decided to give her life to Christ right then! That is one of many stories we have from today! God is on the move! We have been practicing the activation of the Holy Spirit which simply means, we allow Him to move in and through us. Would you pray for our missionaries to have more encounters like these? As we do service projects tomorrow and lead a family fun night, the carnival, would you pray for our students to be RFA, Ready For Anything. Yesterday morning we began the day with a challenge to pray big and expect God to move. Boy did He ever! During the Community outreach aka the carnival one of our student missionaries felt a tug to go pray with a girl she saw at the event. A little hesitant but sure it was the leading of the Holy Spirit she took a step of faith and sought out the girl to pray for her, but it didn’t stop there. She began to share her personal testimony about how she came to Jesus and God just opened wide the girls heart. The girl began to share her own struggles and before the night was over, she had entrusted those struggles to Jesus. We praise God for every soul that comes to Jesus! Sometimes God just wants us to listen to the prompting, the tugs, the still small voice asking us to step out side of ourselves. Would you pray that the Holy Spirit would fill our students with boldness and that they would grow sensitivity to the Spirit as they continue to take the gospel to each community.   God moved in a unique way today. During our community outreach, God led us to open a booth to wash feet. As we kneeled to wash, we would share from John 13, how Jesus washed the feet of His disciples. Imagine the Creator of the world bending down to wash the feet of His creation.
Jesus set the example that we are to serve one another. We shared with each person that at the foot of the cross, we all stand equally separated from God no matter where we come from or what sin we have committed. A few days ago, we Grill walked a neighborhood. ( where we canvas a neighborhood by giving out burgers, bibles, and prayer). As one of our teams was headed to the last house of the evening, they noticed a man standing by himself. They walked up to him and engaged him in gospel conversation. They found out his name was Kirby and that he was homeless, living out of a van with his uncle. As Kirby shared his story, he captured the hearts of our students who were listening. They gave him more burgers, prayed with him, and left with heavy hearts. Here we are, two days later. The first people to walk past the foot washing station, Kirby and his uncle Galan. A little hesitant, but willing they allowed us to wash their feet. Overgrown yellow nails, calloused feet, and deep layers of dirt filled the troth as we gently washed their feet and shared the story of Jesus. These men were deeply impacted that we were willing to bend low, clean their feet, and pray for them in the name of Jesus. The water may have been filled with dirt after they got up, but their hearts were full and smiles were brighter because of the love of Jesus. Would you pray for Kirby and Galan? Pray that what they experienced tonight will put a longing for more of Jesus. |
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