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).