It has taken me some time to sit down and try to capture my thoughts on what took place in Hayward. I’ve talked to the Lord extensively about it, or more accurately He has talked to me about it, and I think I can finally get some things expressed. It is somewhat long, but I encourage you to take the time to read it.
This past week was like nothing I’ve ever experienced. The team that we took was incredible. We were faced with numerous difficulties, and yet, were not swayed from the mission God had set upon us. From abnormal physical exhaustion to oppression, this team continued to honor one another and encourage each other throughout the entire week. It was amazing to watch.
For the first two and a half days, we saw almost no manifest fruit in the Spirit. God is always at work, and things are always happening, but it is exciting to see it manifest instantly. Scott and Dan did an awesome job bringing the Word, and yet we were hitting a wall in the Spirit. At one point we discussed the importance of making war in the Spirit throughout the week, but for the first time in ministry I had the acute awareness that people outside our group were interceding on our behalf. I can’t explain how I knew, but we actually got to see the manifestation of God’s reality break in to the realm of earth.
The second to last night, after watching the power of God’s impact increase steadily for two and a half days, Ed and I shared something that God had confronted both of us on “forgetting to mention.”
“Will you tell them Who I Am?” I cannot tell you that either of us “felt anointed,” or anything of the sort. I think we were both quite exhausted, and maybe a little disheartened. But when Ed spoke of God as He was revealed in the Old Testament, and I introduced them to Jesus, His Son, I tell you the response at the end of the night was like something books are written about. It was no warm-fuzzy message, it was about dying that one might know this Jesus. But when we invited the young people to meet Jesus themselves, ALL BUT ONE YOUNG MAN RESPONDED IN REPENTANCE!!!
I have never seen anything so sovereign, and so glorious, as to see about forty young men and women come and stand before the Lord, waiting to have Him transform their souls. After a period of heaviness in which we didn’t pray for anyone, the joy of the Lord began to break out upon these youth as they experienced the joy of their salvation. And as these who would not sing to the Lord, now danced before Him, the music was turned off, and at that moment, the skies tore open and a deluge like I have never been apart of poured forth from the Heavens, and the young people streamed out into it to receive their water baptism from their Father in Heaven.
But it did not end there, no, God would have disciples as well as children, and when the last day dawned, we lay forth a challenge to forsake all thoughts of pursuit other than Jesus. And on the last night, as hungry and empty vessels came forth, God released a Baptism of His Spirit upon these young people, that as they prayed for one another, some fell prostrate before the Lord, and others received His joy. But not one person in that camp left that week without encountering the power, the love, the mercy, and the goodness of God. Not one left without being touched powerfully by His Spirit. And by the last night, every young man and woman in that room had had their eternity changed forever.
Praise be to you Jesus. Never in all my life have I seen such a wonderful move of Your Spirit. Never have I felt so helpless, and so delighted as I watched you move in my weakness. You are incredible, My God, and I love You. Amen.
