Hey everyone!
What a blast this new year has been so far! We as a team have had ups and downs; highs and lows. But God is constant and still very much in control!
We started out the year in Laurinburg, NC. We went into this first summit with expectation of some possible resistance because of things that had been going on in the church the previous year. The pastor and church had been under very heavy attack by members that did not like where their godly, Spirit-led pastor was leading the church. There had been quite a bit of resistance, even to the point of taking a vote on firing the pastor. The vote did not pass and the pastor courageously stayed to lead this body of believers as the Lord had called him to do. The summit started out slightly slow due to weather difficulties. It snowed about 8 inches on Monday night so we did not have services Tuesday or Wednesday evenings. This was slightly discouraging to our team because we had geared up and we were ready to see God work and move in extraordinary ways in this church! However, once we got geared back up on Thursday night, God showed us that He does not need our timetable or our schedules. He works outside of them! He started a healing process in this church to rid them of the hurt and the pain left from members who had caused so much turmoil and resistance. To cap it all, on Sunday the majority of the church laid hands on their pastor and prayed for him all together, sharing God's love and continuing the healing/forgiving process!
We then traveled a little south to Elgin, SC. The church in Elgin has had Life Action teams a couple of times in the past, but this time they were wanting God to do a work in them that would completely change them and leave them broken before him. I grew to love this church a whole lot! I started out this summit, personally, struggling with sickness that had not completely left my body before going back on the road from Christmas break. It started to flare up at the end of the summit in NC and proceeded to get worse. As a team, we wanted God to change this church and so we began crying out in prayer for the people there. As the Summit went on, I continued to get sick. However, in our weakness He is made strong and God started to move mightily in this church! He awakened families to their need of him. He broke fathers over their failure to be the spiritual leaders of their homes. It was incredible! Towards the end of the summit, about the time when it was getting for me having to go home due to being sick, God had the men of this church pray over me. Now, we are not talking about wimpy, weak prayers or prayERS. We are talking prayers of POWER and CONFIDENCE in their God. They laid hands over me and cried out for our Jehovah Rapha (Healer) to heal me and make me whole again. God heard their cry and healed me the next day! Praise His name!
Going off of that incredible experience, we traveled on to St. Mary's, GA. Now St. Mary's is the second oldest city in our nation (the first being St. Augustine, I believe) and when the first Sunday rolled around, we discovered that this church was a very tradition-rich church. That is not a good thing, by the way. There were quite a few areas that stood out that God would have to break this church of if He was going to move in a fresh and reviving way. We had some resistance with music at first as well due to some who were just not open and receptive to change. However, through all of this, God still moved in a powerful way as He always will with people who are willing to be broken before Him! One thing that will always stick out in my mind from this church was the opportunity that the Lord gave us as a band to minister to the resident praise band at this church. The Lord gave us the opportunity to share our hearts with them and vice versa. It was a simple conversation that stretched into an hour and a half. We were able to share some things that God had been teaching us and they were able to share ways that God had been growing them. It was so very encouraging and uplifting for both bands that were involved and I believe that God will use that to help their church be more open and ready for change especially in the area of music!
We then pulled away from the coast and drove over to Dothan, AL. I know what you must be thinking and we were thinking the same thing. "Wait, haven't we been in Dothan before?" Yes it is very true. And not just once. As you can see from previous posts, we have been in Dothan, Alabama 4 other times! Count them: FOUR! But we were so very excited to come back. You see, we believe that God specifically placed us in Dothan 5 times so that when He started something there, it wouldn't be about Life Action OR about one particular church. He placed us there so that when He started to move mightily and extraordinarily, it would be solely about Him and His glory! And boy did He move at this fifth church. Dothan is a special place and we, as a team, were excited to go back. You see, we have spent hours upon hours on our face crying out for this particular city. We wanted God to do something BIG. It was so exciting being there. The church was growing and each service we had a packed out house! But get this: there was no air conditioner at all. Zero. Nada. Nothing. Yet, people returned each night ready to seek His face. You see, when people truly seek God, it doesn't matter whether they are physically "comfortable." It does not matter what their schedules are. Schedules get thrown out the window. Our american view of "comfort" does not matter. They want to seek the Lord and see Him move in their lives and in their church! Probably one of the most incredible things that happened took place when people were asked to give testimony to what the Lord had begun and done in their lives throughout the summit. First person up was a man who not only gave testimony and asked for forgiveness, but he also stopped right there and prayed for himself and the other men in the church! That started a flood of men coming to give testimony. We, unfortunately, do not normally see men coming up to give testimony. That is usually due to our pride and "egos" as men. However, this body of believers, decided to break the mold! They decided to humble themselves and seek forgiveness. They decided to actually be REAL men and be the spiritual leaders of their home! Praise the Lord!
I thank you all for your prayers, love, and support!! It means so much to me and keeps me going here on the road for sure. Candies Creek, I am encouraged to hear what is going on in preparation for the summit in about a month! I'm so excited to finally be coming home! Continue to seek the Lord for brokenness and repentance in your own lives. Remember that the Red team does not bring revival with us when we come; nor do we take it with us when we leave! It would be the most amazing thing for us, as a team, to come and just take part in revival already happening at Candies Creek before we get there! I love you all!
Reid
