We just finished our Awakening in Washington State.
An Awakening is a time where WR America Racers, World Race alumni and their friends/family can get together for a 4 day conference of teaching, outreach, worship, encouragement, sharing testimonies and prayer.
Here are some Racers sharing testimonies of how, during this conference, they went evangelizing behind Wal-Mart in an area called “The woods.” There they gave out a Bible, shared the gospel and saw a woman accept Jesus!
Gisele is someone who has come into the office at Adventures in Missions to work with me on WR America. If you know her, you will know she is on fire. The first night she joined us, I felt so encouraged. We fan each other’s flames. This is us with our sweatshirts we made for our words from God for 2020.
Mine is “Fear God and Live.” Hers is “Consuming Fire.”
We had to get the backs too.
Gisele and I had a two-on-one with Erica Jenkins, one of our leaders for WR America. She told us how she is about to go on a 40 day fast for the lost in America. She has the heart of God in the urgency she feels for them hearing about Jesus.
LEZZZZZZZGO. You can read her blog here.
Gisele and I got to eat Thai one night for dinner. There we met “Jennie” our waitress from Thailand. I got to invite her to church and she said she had never been. (She has been in America maybe 15 years.) She was Buddhist but also didn’t go to the temple. This is America….the nations right here.
We did a panel of WR Alumni where people could ask them questions about what life is like back home in America.
Erica Everett taught on Offend-ability.
I asked Hannah and the pastor to come up and pray for people who have laid down offenses, to not pick them back up again. I picked Hannah and the pastor because they have been tested in this area and proved to overcome.
TT went first for prayer. Though I don’t sense I have been offended recently, I do sense I could EASILY take on offense in confronting false teaching.
I need to make sure I keep the “demolishing arguments that set themselves up against Christ” what they are and not demolishing people. So, in this picture you see me bowing before Jesus, humbling myself, knowing I could give in to that temptation to take it personal.
Hanz, from Lighthouse Mission Ministries, came to talk to us about homelessness before we went to minister to the homeless. It was very powerful.
The poverty is not material as much as it is relational poverty. That really stuck with me and something I knew from my previous times choosing to be homeless.
These are some beautiful souls we met, shared with and got to encourage.
Caleb (on the right in the pic below) came to the Awakening. He was on X squad that I mentored in 2017/18. Following that, he squad led for our Gap Year Race. He also has been a ministry host for WR America and just hosted B squad in Oregon. I love to watch disciples continue to grow and minister. Such a joy to see him and minister with him again.
The lady that Caleb, Sabrina and I got to talk to was “B.” Sabrina offered her a Bible and B responded she didn’t want it…that she would “live.” Sabrina and I shared our testimonies with B and I incorporated the gospel. Caleb offered her the Bible again and said it was the living bread that she could eat.
She accepted the Bible. I felt to tell her to read Eph 3:20. Then Ephesians 6:10-18. She read through to verse 17 and stopped and kinda made a grunt. “Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”
And after that, we lost B’s attention. She just devoured the Word and kept flipping and reading like we weren’t even there.
I told Caleb “She’s eating dinner.”
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The air was smoky through the conference from the wildfires that blazed in Cali, Oregon and Washington.
One morning in my quiet time, during the conference, I heard “Run Wild.”
If you see me in worship, you may know I can get a lil’ rowdy. Maybe even shout out “You’re the best!” or kneel, sway, stand, dance and act a little wild. I get excited about Jesus and Him getting glory.
The pastor of the church we worked with said that I reminded him of one of his congregants….apparently she worships like me. He told me people have left the church because of her. He lets her worship as she desires and that is so encouraging.
People can act “wild” for worldly things, like dress up like the team mascot and go berzerk and everything is cool, but try to express your heart for Jesus corporately and people leave the church?
Welcome to America’s twisted worship.
We can worship sports and celebrities and act a fool at sport’s games or concerts but bring that in the church and people leave. Wow.
We got too domesticated. We got too tame.
We got too…not excited. We got too…not in love.
But catch me being a wild fire that runs wild.
Fires in the west coast of America have produced smoke in Europe.
I believe this is a spiritual picture of revival.
These fires of revival we have heard about in Cali will spread.
You can’t help but have the quality of the air you breathe affected by this kind of fire. I went for a 7 mile run in the midst of the very unhealthy air quality and ya gurl felt the affects in a banging headache the rest of the day.
This fire in us is unconfined, uncontrollable….it’s wild and it affects your whole being.
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On the last night of worship and prayer I said to them “I want us to stay here together and keep this going.” (Corporate worship, prayer and encouragement.)
I sense we are living in the overflow of the Holy Spirit in our lives. They are sharing the gospel fearlessly, giving out Bibles, seeing people get saved, healed and delivered. It’s Matthew 10 in 2020. Is John 10:10b in 2020. They are praying for people and for each other. They are encouraging and building up the body of Christ.
But I told them, it’s better that we go. We must spread this fire.
We all are going in different directions. The three vans to their new states. Me in my RV across America. Some on flights.
After our final encouragement to them, they asked to pray over us as leaders.
For an Awakening, we must be awake.
We can’t be asleep in such a critical wave of Revival Fire in our nation. We must be alert in prayer…and being devourers of the Word of God to know the real fire of the Lord from the faux contained, controlled fireplaces we make.
Will you fan the flames of revival or try to tame them? Will you stay awake and pray?
May we be the same spiritually.
As we burn, may we be easily visible having an impact as He changes atmospheres.
