Greetings Beloved! Happy Wednesday!
Tomorrow is going to be a BUSY day, so I wanted to get this to you early. Tomorrow is the 75th annual National Day of Prayer and I’ve been invited to pray and serve at both the Manatee and the Sarasota gatherings. Here are the times and locations of each:
The National Day of Prayer (NDOP) is something that is firmly embedded into our American story. From the Pilgrims calling for days of prayer in Plymouth Colony in the 1620’s, to the 1st Continental Congress calling for the first official NDOP in 1775, to Harry Truman officially making it an annual observance in 1952- The NDOP is one of the ways that American’s have consistently reaffirmed our National Motto- “In God We Trust.”
This site gives some more facts and history about the NDOP-About Us – National Day of Prayer Task Force
Events like these, that gather believers from different churches, unlock something in the Spirit that will lead to greater power being released upon our region, particularly for evangelism (John 17:21-23). For that reason, I encourage you to join one or both of these gatherings if you are able. Even the Mayor’s will be there!
And how exciting that this year we will gather in the midst of God already answering prayers that believers across the nation have been praying for decades. That should make it extra fun and special.
On that note, if you haven’t heard my “good news” presentation from last week at The Front, be sure to check it out through the link below. In it I share stats and testimonies that clearly demonstrate that we are in the middle of a HISTORIC move of God. You can find the message on this page- Team Jesus Update: April 24th, 2025 – Awaken941
Speaking of that, check out this little fun fact- 3 of the top 6 songs on iTunes right now are Jesus songs:
People across America are clearly hungry for worship, and how cool that just the other night, worship even came to the White House:
God is on the move!
It was another great weekend on the mission fields too. Friday, I was so impressed by all the laborers that came out- almost 10 people total. I came around 7:45 and heard some great reports too- good traffic flow, lots of seeds sown, and several people paying to receive the Lord including a Mormon! I think that’s the first time I’ve heard of a Mormon coming to Christ at the outreach, so that was exciting.
On Saturday, we got to Riverwalk, and we were joined by about 15 Hispanic evangelists, which was great. Throughout the night, many kids got ministered to and I personally got to pray with about 5-7 of them to receive Jesus. Others had some great interactions as well. For me, the best moment was with this 11-year-old boy named Michael. He came up and asked me to pray for him, and when I asked him if there was anything specific I could pray for, he said- “I want to go to heaven.”
I asked him if he had ever surrendered his life to Jesus and he said that he didn’t really know what that meant. I explained the gospel to him and told him what it means to follow Jesus, and he said he wanted to do that. Then he prayed with me to receive the Lord. Such a sweet moment!
I also met woman in her 40’s that night that recently came back to Christ after being a prodigal for several decades. She had been at the park the week before and she really was touched by our ministry. She heard me say that we would be back the following week, so she came with her kids to expose them to more of the Word. She was very appreciative of what we were doing, and she wanted to serve any way that she could, so she drew this on the platform as a witness:
Also, Chris and Geraldine posted this powerful testimony recently from the previous week at Riverwalk, which I didn’t know about when I wrote last week’s update:
So cool!
On Sunday, there were SO many people at the beach it was crazy. Many people stopped and listened, took tracts and gifts, and received prayer. What I was so amazed by was the hunger in the young men. I got to talk to and pray with several of them that night and two young men even came up and prayed with me to receive Jesus while I was preaching.
Another memorable moment was when Natalie came up to 5 college aged kids and started waving and smiling at them. They were all very enamored by her, as you’d expect, so I started talking to them about her testimony, and then I showed them the newspaper with her story on it. They were very intrigued. I then asked if they had a relationship with Jesus and 4 of them said they were Hindu, and the other said he was Muslim. I gave each of them a copy of the newspaper to take with them and all 4 of the Hindu’s prayed and asked Jesus to reveal Himself to them. Unfortunately, the Muslim man said it would be a sin to do that, so he declined. However, before he left, I gave him a big hug and told him “Just remember, Jesus really did die on the cross and was resurrected from the dead.”
What a cool opportunity the Lord provided, all because of Natalie! So cool!
One other thing that was encouraging is that one of the drummers just started following me on Facebook and he sent me this message the other day.
He’s good friends with Mark too. Love to see God working in these guys!
BIG thanks to everyone who came out this weekend- Rene, Maria, Augast, Karson, Thom, David, Sherell, Tatiana, Meredith, Solomon, Debbie, Chuck, Laney, Paul, Jeremiah, Amber, Mike M, Gene and Bridget. Great work everyone!
One more thing I’ll leave you with before I sign off is this- a Cece Winans song that was sung on American Idol on Easter night. I tear up when I listen to it, not only because it is so powerful, but also because God allowed it to be broadcast to millions of people across America.
What a time to be alive!
Hope to see you soon! Love and blessings!
CV