Happy Thursday Fam! Hope all is Glorious!
I’m so excited that our website is back up and running again! And as you can see, the name of it has changed from “Awaken 941″ to Awaken Florida.” That is very purposeful because I feel like the Lord is really stirring me to begin to shift the way I see the ministry. That rather than seeing it as a “local ministry” with a statewide expression, He wants me to see it as a statewide ministry with a strong local expression. Now we just have to get all our logos changed!
On that note, it is amazing to think in just the first 6 months of the year, we’ve already completed mission trips to 10 Florida Cities- Palm Beach, Tampa, Daytona Beach, Fort Lauderdale, Boca Raton, Miami, Wynwood, Jacksonville, St. Augustine, and as of this past weekend- St. Petersburg.
I believe that in the days to come, there will be many more missions across the state, and even a few outside the state (I which’ll tell you about another time). As for the recent mission to St. Pete- it was awesome. Here’s the team of warriors that were there:
Here’s a video with a few highlights:
As you may know, St. Pete is home to the biggest gay pride parade in the state of Florida. In fact, the estimates are that around 300,000 people attend this demonic event every year. Interestingly, the event takes place right next to a place called “Demens Landing”
We were there last year, and it truly was a mob scene. This year, it actually felt like there were fewer people, which wasn’t surprising given what I’ve been reading about how “pride” is losing massive amounts of money and support.
It was also interesting that right as I was pulling up to the event, I saw this vehicle draped in pride flags:
I’m believing that it was a sign that this demonic movement is on its last breaths!
The entire outreach was way more fruitful than last year too. From the very beginning, there were people that stopped to talk to us, and throughout the 5-6 hours we were there we prayed with dozens of people. Here’s a few pics:
Here’s a few more:
We saw some pretty amazing displays of Holy Spirit power too. Several people were visibly filled with the Holy Spirit, and several were physically healed, including the two young girls in this picture:
I’m so bummed that I didn’t get a video of the girl above in the purple shirt. After Mike prayed for her wrist- her face LIT UP in shock when she realized the pain was gone. I did, however, get her girlfriend on video sharing about how she was healed:
So cool to see how the Kingdom can show up in these dark places!
The moment that was most meaningful to me though was when I came up to 3 girls and began sharing my testimony of how I was delivered from same sex attraction in 2006. All 3 listened to everything I shared and then they all, one by one, came up to the gift table to get Gods Promises books and receive prayer.
Here’s two of them talking with one of our team afterwards.
Of course, there’s much more work to be done, but I was thankful that we got to do our little part that day. On Monday, I shared a few testimonies about the outreach along with a brief message about what the church needs to do in the days to come to see these altars crumble. You can see it here:
Here’s the message I preached the previous week that I referenced in the video. Be warned there were some mic issues:
Interesting too that during the same week we went there, the Supreme Court issued a ruling that is yet another blow to this demonic altar and agenda.
Now, parents can opt their kids out of these demonic curriculums to avoid indoctrination. Hallelujah!
And this was in addition to them decreeing that planned parenthood could be removed as a Medicaid recipient by any state that wants it to:
What a time to be alive!
Prior to going to St. Pete, we had a short but beautiful time at the Riverwalk. Multiple kids came up and prayed to receive Jesus, but the interaction I will remember the most was with this young boy who was about 7 or 8. He had darker skin and looked like he could be of east Indian or middle eastern descent. I asked him if he knew what Jesus did for him and he looked at me very confused and said, “no I don’t, what did He do?“
After he asked this question, I felt the Holy Spirit prompt me to answer differently than I usually would and to magnify Jesus as Creator. I said, “well Jesus made the trees and the birds and the fish and the stars and everything else including you.” His face changed IMMEDIATELY. His eyes got big, he had a huge smile on his face, and he said “really?!” Then I shared a little more with him about Jesus’ love, and I showed him the water bottle image and told him about the cross. I then gave him some tracts, and I led him in the prayer “Jesus show me who You are.” It was beautiful.
At another point, a young woman came over with her daughter to get a gift and after asking her some questions, I realized that she was a bit of a prodigal. I witnessed to her a little bit and she also prayed with me to receive Jesus. This is her from the back.
Then, a few of the girls that had prayed with us earlier came and started writing Jesus loves you messages on the sidewalk…and I ended up recruiting them to pass out tracts to kids and adults in the park. It was so cool to watch them go around and be the hands and feet of Jesus, especially when we had a lean crew of only 5. Here are the two girls:
And even up until the very end, people were coming for prayer. It was awesome:
Sunday at Siesta was great too. It rained, so the drummers were in the pavilion, but we implemented our new strategy of playing Passion of The Christ while they are playing, and a number of people watched. Here’s one family who stayed for probably 20 minutes. They didn’t even speak much English but the film witnessed to them plenty:
Many people took tracts too and we got to pray for several people also. Here’s one pic of Bridget praying with some youth, she’s a warrior!
The most meaningful interaction I had though was with a Hispanic/American man in his 50’s whose 8-year-old son brought him over to pray with us during the opening prayer circle. He told me his name was Raphael, and I told him that it means “God heals.” He said, “you don’t even know bro, I used to be in a wheelchair.”
Afterwards, I talked with him for about 30 minutes, and he told me that he grew up in the hood, never knew his father, and started selling drugs at age 11. He told me that he has been to prison 4 times, and that he was in a wheelchair because someone shot him 6 times. He also told me that he had faith in Jesus but always felt like he was “on the fence.”
When I asked him to explain that to me, he went on to admit that he still has never had a job and continues to sell drugs because he is afraid he will not be able to provide for his family otherwise. He was very tender hearted, so I shared with him the story of the children of Israel and how they had to rely on God for the manna, and it really ministered to him. By the end, we prayed together, and I believe he had taken a step towards God. So thankful that we get to plant seeds in those who are so broken.
Here he is:
Friday night was great too. There are a lot more souls at the Bayfront than just a few months ago now that O’Leary’s is open again, so we are super thankful for that. We gave out some tracts and had some prayer opportunities also. The most meaningful interaction that I had though was one that I believe was also prophetic. I met a man who had just arrived from Texas to see his father after having been estranged from him for 30 years.
He told me they had a major falling out and that just recently he was led to reach out to him and to reconcile. How wild that we met him the day he got here and before he even saw his dad. Here he is:
May it be a sign that many in our region will reconcile with their earthly and Heavenly Father in the days to come.
“Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord. 6 He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I will not come and smite the land with a curse.” Malachi 4:5-6
BIG thanks to Amber, Augast, Gene, Thom, Bridget, Eduardo and wife, Ken, Mike F and Mike M for coming out to serve! Great work everyone!
Blessings and love!
Chris