Dear Family, Partners and Friends, I hope this finds you doing well. I just returned from three full weeks of ministry, first in Brazil and then in Cleveland, Tennessee. I had the privilege of participating in a weekend of intense youth meetings with my friend Perry Stone. Every spring he and his team at Omega Center International hold back-to-back events called “Warrior Fest” which several thousand teens attend to experience a touch from God. When I arrived in Tennessee I had only been back in the country for 24 hours and was running on fumes; God, however, gave me the grace to share the Word with over 4,000 young people. As usual, the energy was charged and the response of the teens to the Spirit of God’s presence was at times overwhelming. The altar calls lasted for over an hour as we laid hands on hundreds of hungry hearts. The impact of the events will most assuredly be felt for months to come. I will be returning to their summer Reformation events, specifically addressing the problem with suicide in this generation. I know God is going to do something wonderful. The two previous weeks found me in the state of Brasilia in the nation of Brazil. As usual we arrived and hit the ground running, excited about holding some of our first “Life Events” in this wonderful nation. As you know, the Life Event strategy involves me utilizing the Sea of Trees video that we filmed in Japan as well as my personal testimony. Having held this type of event in other nations, I was anxious to see how it would be received in Brazil; the results were staggering. At each event, the spirit of God filled the churches, confirming that He was in fact ready to address this topic in typical God-fashion, with great power and freedom available to those who would respond in faith to Him. The churches we were working with were all new contacts and they did not know me or Jovembytes, which probably worked in our favor as there were no preconcieved ideas or expectations; what God did confirmed the we had no other agenda but HIS!
Each night the Spirit of God filled the arena as the Name of Jesus was lifted in worship!
As with many of the churches in Brazil, video technology and wifi can be hard to come by, even in some of the biggest churches. I was a little concerned because my implementing the video section of the sermon was key to communicating the message effectively. By the grace of God, each church had some sort of video display system available and the meetings went as planned. In each event, the process was the same. I show the 12-minute section of the video then I preach for about 30 minutes, sharing the testimony of my father’s death and a portion of scripture that explains the spiritual battle behind what we are seeing around the world. As soon as I finish the message, I make a short invitation to those who are not only battling darkness and thoughts of suicide, but to those who have been impacted by this sinister spirit and are needing to forgive and accept life. Each and every time, hundreds came forward. At times it seemed like the entire church was at the altar crying out to God. What was happening was different than what we have been seeing in our other meetings in Brazil. We literally had young and old coming forward pouring out their hearts to God. As the worship team would begin to minister songs of life and freedom, the intensity would crescendo and you could feel your hair stand on end. We rebuked spirits of death, commanded demons to leave, and without fail people would begin to be set free, at time manifesting demons, who left in an awful shriek.
As the Spirit of God began to move at the altars, young and old began to weep and express their need of Jesus and His mercy!
As with every event, we always make our discileship and leadership materials available. I’m so glad we were able to translate all of them into Portuguese six years ago.
The pastors and leadership of the participating churches were amazed that there was such a response, and to see the power of God’s Spirit move in such dramatic fashion was at times breathtaking. This not only confirmed to them and those in attendance that God was in fact ready to deal with this issue first in his church, but ready to minister life to those who did not know Him. Many who were at the altar were not members of the church and were invited to come to our meetings as a last resort. In one memorable event, a pastor’s teenage daughter had been suicidal and depressed for weeks, having attempted suicide at one point this year and was determined not to come to the events. Through a series of God-ordained events she was in fact present and had a dramatic encounter with God. She came forward and as she said “something happened.” She was overcome by the Spirit of God and said she felt like something “left her”. She was visibly shaken after the event and was anxious to tell her parents what had happened. Apparently they had made an appointment for her with doctor the next day, to discuss what needed to be done to get her more help. I would have enjoyed hearing this girl’s story of freedom to her desperate parents! Jesus answered the prayers of many people and set this young girl free!
At each and every event, hundreds came forward in faith, receiving a powerful touch from Jesus.
In another church the meetings spilled out into the street. At the altar there was young girl who came forward under great duress. She would not come into the church and at one point was clinging to a streetlight pole refusing to come in the meeting. After the message, a pastor took her by the arm and struggled to get her to come to the altar. When she saw me, she refused to look at me. She sneered and looked away. I descended the stage and walked to her. I knew that this precious girl was battling for her life and that she was under the influence of a spirit. As I approached her, the pastor turned her head to look at me. With desperate tear-filled eyes, she gathered the courage to move towards me. As she did, I could feel the anointing overcome her and she began to manifest. I laid my hands on her head, she was overcome by the Spirit of God and collapsed, weeping loudly. God did to her what only He can do. She was gloriously set free!
I could go on and on about how God honored this unique message and through the power of His Word, changed the hearts of thousands of desperate people. Thanks to your continued support, we are chasing a generation for Him, proclaiming that there is life and in freedom in the son, Jesus!
Thanks for your continued support - we could not do any of this without you!