Amazed...

Day 1 -

So many of you heard that my getting to Devils Lake, ND was quite the experience on Monday.  While many challenges arose, there were no worries - God had a plan - thank you Lord for the blessing of getting to serve in Devils Lake and arriving safely.  (Thanks again for all those who helped out on Monday, and for all those who prayed for Drew’s eye!)

Day 2 –

Prayer, that’s how it started and what a sweet time!  The Lord calls us to pray and to lay everything before Him, fully believing that all that we ask for will be granted (Mark 11:24), and that’s what we did.  The Spirit of the Lord was with us and we had such a sweet time Tuesday morning in prayer.  Next, we headed to Dakota Baptist Church at Fort Totten, where Pastor Paul Young, his wife Sarah and quite a few others (who had arrived early to pray and ask the Lord to bless our time on the reservation) were waiting to join in. 

As our 7 teams organized, it was pretty quiet, not many had an idea of where to go or how to find people so our team went with the 2 leads we had - Martin and David.  As we headed out, we went to find Martin at his place of work.  Driving up, it was evident we were either in the wrong place or the business was closed that day.  So we headed to the house where I knew we had dropped Martin off back in January after he spent he day with some of our team.  At the house we found Martin's mother and had the opportunity to pray with her, but that she wasn’t sure where Martin was, as he lived in Toyko, dead end.

We headed next to the High School where we believed David worked.  As we approached, we were skeptical that we would get very far, especially as all signs indicated “no solicitations,” and “check in with security.”  Seemed like another dead end, yet, when we walked in we were greeted by Curtis.  Curtis was kind and persevered to see if David was working and whether or not he would see us.  Curtis affirmed that David was there and would see us, so he proceeded to lead us to his classroom.  Curtis was so pleasant chatting with us all along the way and from the beginning, I thought, I bet this is who we are here to talk to.  As we waited for David we talked with another teacher and learned about the school.  It was a time of learning patience, and asking the Lord – is this where you want us – are we getting anywhere?  As 2 men entered the room where we were waiting my team member noticed this was not the David we were looking for.  As he responded that he was in fact David, we quickly learned we were looking at David Jr., not Sr., dead end.

As we left, we thought Lord, what do you have for us here?  We have ran into 2 dead ends and now we have just a little time left to find someone to share with…

As we walked down the hallway, we ran into Curtis and there the Lord just gently showed us, I have a plan, even when you can’t see it.  Curtis greeted us pleasantly and we told him how we had the wrong person and with the kindest heart he said – well, would you like a tour of the gym?  OPEN DOOR.

As we walked into the gym we said, “It’s apparent you have a lot of pride for the school here and for all that’s going on here.”  He went on to tell us he had been part of the tribal counsel, he had grown tired of politics and was now enjoying working security for the school, he had two grown boys himself and just loved working around the kids.  As we talked it was evident – the Lord was opening a door to share the Gospel.  And from there, as a team, we sat down on the bleachers and went through the Gospel.  As we shared it was evident that Curt needed clarity, it was amazing to watch was his face as he read and as we shared.  His humbleness shined through when he said, “I really want to learn, and I just don’t know how.”  He had never heard this message, he had challenges in his own life and had been seeking counsel and been left with dead ends of his own.  The sheer joy of clarity in the Gospel message brought tears of joy to our team and to Curtis.

As our team headed to the car we were tearful just amazed at how the Lord had orchestrated our morning, you see we cast out our nets, we pulled them back, cast them out again and 2 times they returned empty.  And then when we had all but just started to doubt, He allowed us the blessing of sharing with Curtis.  Reflecting on Curtis and his salvation…tears of AMAZEMENT and joy just continued to flow freely through our team.

When we returned to the church that morning we heard more stories 8 salvations that morning – GLORY!  Just as Jesus assured Simon Peter on the shore of the Sea of Galilee He was assuring us to cast our nets and just as Simon Peter stood amazed and feeling unworthy, we also stood feeling that emotion.  “For amazement had seized him (Simon Peter) and all his companions because of the catch of fish which they had taken...” (Luke 5:9).

The afternoon of discipleship was also a blank slate for many of us – we were trying something new…so as our team headed to the Holiday Mall – door after door after door just continued to open – to share, to encourage, to pray!  AMAZED! (Oh and one more GLORY!)

The evening went on and as many more went out, a bit discouraged about the silence of the day (less attendance, not finding many people out) it was as if the Lord was just conveying to us – CAST YOUR NETS, TRUST ME… (Luke 5:4).

And so as we returned GLORY occurred 6 or 7 more times that evening!  New believers in Christ were accepting the gift of salvation.  Praise the Lord, His faithfulness even when we couldn’t see assured us, just as He assured Simon Peter on the Sea of Galilee…“And Jesus said to Simon ‘Do not fear, from now on you will be catching men” (Luke 5:10).

Scared to death…

Sitting on the plane coming back from Richmond, California, looking out the window and seeing the mountains and just reflecting as the song “Oh how He loves us” by David Crowder, and my heart just keeps reeling on the time spent with Dionte yesterday.  Dionte Jackson – “Fly Guy Tay” for short.

The time spent with our team giving Dionte clarity…clarity about who Jesus is and what Jesus did for Dionte and you and for me, it just gripped me.  I was overwhelmed by emotion when Dionte described a dream that his mother had about him.  He said his mother had a dream that a black car was rolling through the neighborhood and there was a shooting, everyone in the car was shot and Dionte was going to save them, but he ended up getting killed.  Now some of you may think, why would a mother tell her son about a dream like that?  But for Dionte, he needed to hear that dream, because it was pointing him to Jesus.  Not only that, but he went on to describe how it’s known (either in his family or between him and his brother) that his brother has a ‘gift’, his brother is able to flip open the Bible and just find life, a verse that describes life.  And what Dionte didn’t say, but we all felt was his brother also found hope in that, that the word of God was encouraging his brother through that ‘gift.’  But when Dionte attempted the same thing, looking for that ‘gift’ or that hope – all the bible verses reflected was death. 

Scared to death.  Scared that he was going to end up dead, on the street in front of a black car, trying to do what was right, being in the wrong place at the wrong time.  And the feeling of being ‘scared to death’ was all over his face.  It was a weight, you could feel, a weight that I know some of my friends and family, if they were really honest carry in the back of their minds, maybe in the front, maybe it just pops in once in a while?  But it was felt.

So here’s a 20 year old looking at his mother, looking at the Bible and finding death.  Surprising?  Aren’t we supposed to get hope from those things?  Parents are to uplift and raise up their children. 

And then Dionte read the following verses one after another:

            “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.”  Ephesians 2:8-9

            “that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.”  (Romans 10: 9 -10)

And then we went a bit further and emphasized this:

            “for ‘Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.’” (Romans 10:13)

And then Dionte couldn’t stop smiling, his countenance changed.  He found hope.  He found the words in the Bible he had longed for, he had searched for, he had prayed he would just open to.  He found clarity.  As I sat there watching, I was overwhelmed with joy, with love with just an immense amount of compassion.  I remember feeling scared to death.  I remember sitting in rooms by myself, crying out to the Lord knowing that He was the only one that could fix the hurt, the fear the sheer terror that I felt and not feeling hope, I remember searching, trying to find it on my own.

And then I was flooded with the immense emotion, the weight of glory you could say, maybe even the joy that I now have in knowing that I don’t have that same fear, that Dionte doesn’t EVER have to have that fear again…and tears flooded down my face.

So as I sit here thinking, scared to death, when was the last time I was scared to death, it’s a funny term that we throw around like nothing, but it holds a lot of weight.  And as I sit here, I can’t think of the last time I was really scared to death.  It’s a weight that I don’t have to carry anymore though, and neither do you, because “it is the gift of God,” (Ephesians 2:8-9) that He “demonstrates His own love for us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)

My prayer for you today is that as you read this, you think of your scared to death moment and instead of searching for hope in your mother, father, spouse, your seatbelt, your helmet, your parachute, your bottle, your drug, your escape… you look to the Lord and to the offer of salvation, it’s a gift and it’s free and it SAVES!

Thank you Lord for saving me…

PS - Check out Dionte at the end of this video

Join In, Listen, Obey...

And here's the devotional I wrote for Day 2 training in Devils Lake - thought I would share...since officially I'm writing and the purpose of my blog was to write more!

Enjoy - kt

Join In, Listen, Obey...

WOW! Summing up day 2 of trainDEVILS LAKE #3 it has been tough...the Lord showed up in BIG ways, starting on Tuesday morning. About 25 people met to pray and go out in the Devils Lake region and right from the start the Lord began to encourage His disciples who were showing up scared, nervous and a little hesitant. It reminded me of a quote I read earlier today:

“The Spirit of God meets us where we are and calls us to take the next step . . . This is where we find God - one step ahead, inviting us forward. And as we follow Him we may live the lives that display the irresistible beauty of 'the light of the world, a city on a hill [that] can’t be hidden' Matthew 5:14” - Jeff Cook, Author/Pastor


It could not have been more true yesterday. Right from 8:00 a.m. on, the Lord was one step (or years of prayer) ahead of us.

As one first-timer showed up yesterday morning and made herself available She sat down to listen to the training of how to use the Gospel wristband and Step-by-Step Holy Bible and when the presentation was over she realized that sitting next to her was a young mother whom she had never directly shared the Gospel with, whom she had been praying for - for years and she had just been presented (through Gary’s training) the complete Gospel message. WOW!

Now, while the young mother had to leave quickly after the message was delivered, God was setting her up to have a chance to follow up with the message she heard! Our God is an awesome God! - Psalm 68:35 This first-timer felt the Lord just gently say, “I’m here to help you every step of the way!”

During lunch there were similar experiences where the Lord encouraged and spoke to team members to let them know “You are not alone.” And whether it was another team member helping out at just the right time with the words of the Gospel or a prayer or even if it was complete recognition that the Holy Spirit was directing their steps and speech, our first-timers, and even our seasoned veterans were encouraged! Just by taking one step forward they saw the Lord meet them where they were.

And because of that what we see, “The word of God kept on spreading; and the number of disciples continued to greatly increase” (Acts 6:7). Never before had we ever taken out 60+ people for night time outreach. So as we took our first steps and they took theirs, we continued to see the Lord show up in all his glory.

And just like what happened that morning, a young college student was able to be encouraged that God was answering her prayers. By someone else taking a first step and sharing the Gospel with her friend, we were able to celebrate by saying, “GLORY!”

Be sure to check out the video below too!

The Joy of the Lord is my Strength

I wrote this for our Time to Revive email communications last week and thought I would love to share it with others as well!  Enjoy!

The Joy of the Lord is my Strength

Joy is all I can think about today...and for many days leading up to this day. Today was joyful in that we didn’t travel in blizzard conditions, I got to have great conversations with coworkers, I was able to hug some great friends from Arizona and North Dakota and I didn’t wear a jacket all day (not even in ND!). JOY!

But seriously, for the past few months the Holy Spirit has had me focused on this little song. “The joy of the Lord is my strength, the joy of the Lord is my strength, the joy of the Lord is my strength, the joy of the Lord is my strength...”

It all started in Devils Lake too, the first time I had heard this song, if ever, was on Day 6 of prayDEVILS Lake (Click here to see Gloria (Kyle’s Mom) sing it - Love it!). And my roommates, friends and coworkers can also tell you, I haven’t been able to shake this little saying and song, it just keeps popping up!

I can’t shake how gracious the Lord is to me. He gives me strength whenever and wherever I need it and His love NEVER FAILS! (Psalm 136).

The Lord was so good to me in Seattle, He gave me unending joy, so much so, that I remember saying to Emilee that I couldn’t explain it. He gave it to me even when I should not have felt joy, when I didn’t deserve it. His joy abounded. And in return I give thanks, glorious thanks.

And that’s what we got to see tonight. God’s joy arcing from Seattle to Devils Lake. As Gary talked tonight, when Jesus sent out the seventy-two, they went in obedience to the Lord. Jesus did not promise it would be easy, in fact He stated just the opposite, you will be sent “out like lambs among wolves”Luke 10:3. As Gary said tonight imagine being a little lamb in a pack of wolves, not a fun picture!

Now we didn’t tell that to Pastor Les, Kim, Jessica, Andy, Vanessa or Michelle when they signed up for reviveSEATTLE, it’s just not a cool tag line for a mission trip. And in fact it may be a little harsh to describe how these North Dakotans felt when they arrived in Seattle, but truth is it was hard. It was hard because it was different, because it was a new city, because it was stretching and each one went knowing it would not be easy.

They trusted the Lord, they held onto His promises and they returned with joy. Just like it says in Luke 10: 17 - “The seventy-two returned with joy.” And tonight we got to share in that joy. We got to see how the Lord worked in and through each of them in Seattle and how he’s continuing to do that as they are obedient to be sent out.

And now that same joy is multiplying in Seattle and in Devils Lake! You too can get in on that joy just by allowing the Lord to be your strength and joining us...whether you are reading this from Seattle or Devils Lake - it’s not too late, come...let the joy of the Lord be your strength.

Kristi

Check out the video that accompanied this writing too: