Wooster Baptist Church is situated in an older part of the community that is slowly being bought out by the large oil refineries (Texaco, Exxon, Mobil, etc.). In order to accommodate their rapid growth, these large oil companies needed to do something with all the profit they’re making—so why not expand their facilities and kill a community? It’s really strange to drive through a neighborhood that at one time had over a thousand homes and now sits as a vacant bird sanctuary. In one neighborhood everything was completely leveled. The only trace of this once thriving development were the remains of driveways for each house. It’s so discouraging.
From all outward appearances, the church seemed to reflect the community—bleak and lacking. However, this was not the case within the core church. Even though attendance seemed sparse at times, the core group of believers and leaders kept coming and responding to the Lord’s Word.
On testimony night a third of the church gave powerful testimony to what the Lord had done within their personal lives, marriages and homes. PTL! We were particularly encouraged by the response of the deacons. A third of these men were vividly moved and spoke of radical personal transformation. One of the highlights of our time at WBC was the salvation and baptism of a young married couple with 2 children. Talk about a “Damascus Road Experience”!! They were totally transformed. Please pray for Amanda & Jesús (pronounced Hay-soos) as they get plugged-in. Upon leaving the church it was neat to hear how excited the pastor was with the overall renewing work of God’s spirit.
Please keep praying for our team as we continue to minister in the strength of the Lord. There are still many opportunities for us as we continue our travels.
—Ryan Loveing for the Red Team
“When I first heard how long this revival would be, I was negative, to say the least. Now, I don’t want it to end. I prayed for God to change and grow my church. Instead He changed and grew me.”
Testimonies of God @ Work…
In Salvation...
“I was found—lost deep in the darkness of this world. Confused, but also seeking answers to what was going on in my life. My life had come to a point where I was about to lose two of the most precious things...my marriage and my family. And my own eternal future, simply put: I was on my way to hell—first class ticket. But God pulled me off that train and I am so glad for that. He also saved my wife who I had led the wrong [way], but last Sunday, we both gave our lives to the Lord and are going to fight to get our family and lives back in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
—José de Jesús Murillo
In the Home...
“My wife and I identified things in our hearts that displease God, shame us, and damage our witness of Christ to others. We found ourselves broken down and rebuilt by God’s grace and love by His hand, through this ministry. We see hope and determination among our church family to live and worship in a manner that pleases God and strengthens our unity.
We are aggressively scrutinizing influences (particularly television) that we expose ourselves to that are impure in nature and eliminating them from our lives. We are striving to love and care for each other and our son in a Biblical manner that honors each other and God.”
-Chris Gotlus
In Parenting...
“The home life café has shown me new ways to deal with issues that come up with my kids. We have taken the handout on the 21 rules of the house and copied them and put them up all over our house so no matter where you are you see a set of rules. The rules have helped change the whole attitude of our family.”
—a mom
In a Heart of Worship...
“This summit found me in a stagnant state, I thought I was playing my guitar on the praise team for God, but I was just filling a gap on stage. I feel now what true worship is, it’s not just praises in music but praising Him with ALL of my life, and with ALL of my possessions He has given me.”
—Roel Garces
In Teens...
“Life Action Ministries helped me and my family become closer. My father and I were on a hello—goodbye basis and we got to apologize to each other and even went four-wheeling today together. It’s really helped my family and we appreciate it.”
This young man used to fight with his mother constantly and he had no desire to change that fact: “I came into this summit saying, “I really don’t want to go to my mom.” But as the summit progressed, God changed his attitude and gave him the grace to reconcile: “Now we are always getting along, I even gave her a hug this morning. I have felt so much better…”
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Mineral Wells is a small community about 45 minutes west of Ft. Worth, Texas. The church in which we were serving, Fairview Baptist Church, was formerly a private family chapel that is approximately 115 years old. It’s located far off the beaten path. As a matter fact, it is at least fifteen minutes away from any commercial business, and the only way you’d be able to find its location is to be bound and determined. Our immediate neighbors to the east and north of us were a bunch of mooing cows. This is BEEF country!
The pastor of this church is a young man by the name of John Tunnel. John’s faithful ministry and the Lord’s sovereign hand have allowed this church to grow from a small chapel, into a light within its community. Although the attendance is somewhat smaller than the average church we minister in (average Sunday attendance, 175) and the nightly attendance was a little on the low side (50% excluding children) we had incredible life-altering testimonies. Sixteen in all—and 80% were men! We praise God for all He’s done and is continuing to do within this dear body of believers!
Here are a few God size (that’s bigger than Texas) testimonies of what we saw and heard! It truly was an incredible time of ministry! Here y’all go:
Testimonies of God @ Work…
In Marriages...
“I am truly at a loss for words. God is so awesome! Why am I surprised by the revival in me, my husband, and my home...when God did create the heavens and earth in as little as one week?! I was able to share and clear my conscience with my husband. My husband was able to repair hurt in me with just forgiveness and encouragement...which obviously was delivered through the Holy Spirit! We removed all pornographic material from our home. We pray over each other. We pray over our children. (there wasn’t much “we” in our lives before!) we lived separate lives before the summit! Now, we are united! We renewed our wedding vows...when just three weeks before, I had feared divorce. Praise God! I am excited to embrace my family’s future with God as our center and leader! God has developed excitement within me...for He has allowed me to fall in love with my husband again!”
—Ann Gourley
“I am 52 years old, the father of two grown men and a 12 year old daughter. My wife and I had become so complacent with each other to the point we were strangers living in the same house. My family had gotten to where we no longer shared in prayer time. It really seemed as if God had just become a word and no more. The first lesson we went through revealed so many things to me and my family. We were all dumbfounded from that first meeting. It has been one thing after another as how far from God we had become. We all looked at ourselves as God was seeing us. Since that first meeting we have made a complete turn around. My marriage has been restored and a new excitement has taken over our home. And I have finally been able to forgive my dad after 52 years of bitterness and real hatred for him. God has been so good to me and my family during this time. We have experienced revival in our lives and in no way would I ever go back to the person I was.”
—David Fowler
“I was going thru the motions in my marriage—doing what was necessary and my heart was angry and bitter at my husband. I knew there was more to God than us going to church and praying at meals. This summit showed me what I was looking for: how to be holy before God. God lovingly showed me all my sin and I confessed before God and my husband and for the first time in my life my rebellious spirit inside was at peace—wanting to submit to God and be the loving helpmeet God designed me for. I did not have to fight to think of God first—He was/is first—as easy as breathing. I will keep a pure heart, clean conscience, and continually ask for grace to get thru each moment.”
-Kathryn Perley
In Submission...
“God has shown me during this revival that I need to allow my husband to be the head of our home. You see, he is not a Christian. I have been so involved in church and my own ministry (Hearts to Him Ministries) that I have neglected his needs. I haven’t been obedient when he has asked me not to go to minister in prisons and other areas. Ryan was asked “What does a woman do if her husband tells her not to go to church?” Ryan said that you shouldn’t go. This really spoke to my heart. I realized that I had been disobedient to God because I didn’t respect what my husband wanted me to do. I asked my husband to forgive me for not giving him the honor he deserved as the head/man of our home. I believe this is just the beginning of a much better marriage. Please pray for him that God would speak to him through my obedience.”
-Dorinda Brown
In Cleansing the Home...
“The Lord showed me through this revival that though my life is full of sin I have the power to overcome it with His grace. One specific area that Ryan hit on when he said regarding parents that what we do in moderation our children will do in excess. Though I am not an alcoholic, I do drink probably on a weekly basis. I do this under the excuse that drinking is not prohibited in the Bible. However, I do know that we shouldn’t be stumbling blocks to others. So I had quit drinking in public and even being discrete when I buy alcohol. What I hadn’t realized was that I was being a stumbling block to the ones that I love most, my two sons. They took great joy pouring out the three beers that had been sitting in our fridge all through revival. I told them that I would try to be a better reflection of Jesus. We look forward to the changes in our lives to come.”
—Daniel Vargas
In Teens…
“Our youth group hasn’t really been too close the last few months. It’s needed help and guidance, but we haven’t been able to find it. This revival has really helped bring us together. We’ve been praying daily with each other and been encouraging each other a lot...God is great and He has truly been working in our lives this week.”
“During this summit God really convicted me in a way that only He could. He showed me that I was hanging out with the wrong crowd outside of church. He also showed me that I wasn’t coming to church for the right reasons. I was mainly coming just to be with my friends and now I believe that God will help me to come for the right reasons.”
—Joseph
In Children…
Dear God, thank You for teaching me…
“to have self-control and not to get upset at my siblings. Thank you for helping me let others go first. And not to always be the boss of things. And for teaching me not to be shy. To always pray for people when they need it. and for me when I need it. to really think about your word more often and not to just fly through it. I Love You JESUS!”
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ABILENE, TEXAS
Abilene, Texas posed one of our greatest challenges of the year: How do you minister to a church that is basically dead or at least dying? 90% of our attendees were over 50. There were almost no youth and a few bus children. One of the pastor’s primary goals for being at the church for the past four years was to get Life Action to come minister. As we approached our second Sunday, our hope that God was going to do something was almost gone. Then there was a slight break-through in the deacons meeting Sunday afternoon. Due to time restraints, however, there was not enough time to explore the sins of the past and why God might be removing the lamp stand from here.
Monday evening, an 84 year old deacon stood and listed several things from the past that he felt God was not pleased with. To make a long story (an hour and a half) short, the pastor then began repenting for sins on his behalf, and on behalf of previous pastors who didn't lead in the right way. Several other men confessed their failure to confront sin, and to stand by the pastor now and/or in the past. They also recognized and confessed having a contentious spirit. These men sought the forgiveness of the congregation and publicly encouraged and supported their pastor.
Eventually, all were called up to surround the pastor, his wife, and his 16 year old son, to pray for them. A little later we broke the church up for a season of prayer. There were still a few that continued to pray long after the crowds left to go home.
During the summit, the pastor shared that his son had been going through a season of rebellion. This was common knowledge within the church as well as the community. On the last night, his son was so overwhelmed and convicted by the undeserved love of God and God's people towards him. He couldn't get away from people as they would just come up and pray for him. He finally got away to get before the Lord and repent. He went home to seek his parents forgiveness and reconciled (two-way street) over several issues. He came out of that time to see two of our team guys on the floor praying for him, again he was overwhelmed.
By his own admission, he has a long list of people from which to seek forgiveness. I am reminded of Romans 2:4 "...the kindness of God leads you to repentance." (please see his written testimony below)
By the pastor’s request, we had a daily early morning men's prayer meeting that was sparsely attended, usually by five of us. Two of our staff, the pastor, the chairman of deacons, and one or two other men. The final morning, we had fourteen total. Praise The Lord!
Only time will tell, but there is more hope than ever that God is restoring His bride here.
Grace and Mercy, the Red Team.
“Even though I asked the Holy Spirit to show me my sins, I must not have listened all that well. I am so thankful He showed me through you how far I had strayed, while still thinking I wasn’t doing badly at all...those of us who don’t commit actual “crimes” sometimes forget how God sees our sin.”
Testimonies of God @ Work…
In a Prodigal Son…
Pastor John Tunnell and his wife, Sherry, had been concerned about their wayward teenage son, and had been praying for him for a couple of years. The Lord answered their prayer, and towards the end of the summit their son, Jordan, gave testimony to God’s working:
“God found me a few nights ago drowning in my own sin...selfish, conceited, and just full of my self. Showing me how much He, my church family, and worldly family loved me and how I was so unworthy and undeserving of His love, mercy, and forgiveness. Immediately I was convicted, and God told me how I had to ask forgiveness from everyone who was effected by my sin, I am still going through the list. The next morning in the men’s prayer time God revealed this verse: Prov. 21:21 “He who pursues righteousness and love finds life, prosperity, and honor.” My dad and I are memorizing it together and I asked him to keep me accountable to pursue righteousness and love for the rest of my life. Now I find myself closer to God than I ever imagined possible. I am giving my sin to God and running away as fast as I can. God is constantly blessing me, I love Him so much. To God be the Glory!”
“Of all the hopes we have had for this revival, nothing could mean more to us than to see our prodigal son wake up from the pig pen and run to God and his family.”
—Sherry Tunnell
In Freedom from Sin...
“I hadn’t been to church on a Sunday morning in months until you all got here. I had lost my faith in God and was living just for myself...i was cutting myself every time something bad or sad happened or just when I felt I couldn’t deal. Now every time that happens or I get the urge to cut—I pray. I want to thank you for showing me I was wrong for hurting myself for almost 4 years and that by hurting myself, I was hurting the Lord.”
—Christie Wagley (teen)
In a Surrendered Life...
“God, this is MY life, I will do what I want,” this teen girl had inwardly been saying before the summit. “I had been so stressed and I was dealing with it the wrong way. I snapped at everyone who came near me, I had foul language, I did not honor my parents, and I certainly did not honor God. I thought about drinking and drugs, but God was holding me back.” But through the course of the eleven days, God changed her heart: “He has shown me that this is NOT my life, this is HIS life, and I cannot run it by myself. I am lost without Him...It hurts me so much that I have hurt Him and brought shame upon Him, but I know He has forgiven me for my sins, and just knowing that makes me want to get on my knees and worship...no matter how many times I wish I hadn’t done the things I’ve done, I can’t take them back, but I no longer have to live with that burden on my shoulders.”
—Jessica Farquar
In Repentance...
“The Lord has touched my life in many ways this week. He broke open the concrete wall around my heart and made it tender once again. I admitted the numerous sins that were a part of my life. Sins such as pornography, lust, and gossip. I now find myself looking for other things to do because I have no desire for my old lifestyle. I also, use to give God maybe five minutes of my time each day. Now that God has opened my eyes to His truth, I look for ways to serve Him throughout the day. I used to think, I can’t fit an hour of my time in for God. However, now an hour is not enough. I now feel more secure in my salvation...To God be the Glory for ever and ever.”
—Tanner Kilpatrick (teen)
In Finances...
“God found me in a state of apathy and where I was not surrendering my all to Him. We moved to Abilene 3 days before you came to our church and money in our house was tight to none. I was not sure where we were going to get our next meal from or pay any of our bills let alone buy diapers for our daughter. I stressed and worried about this for many days and nights. One evening as I sat here and listened to Laine preach about our need to surrender EVERYTHING to God, I made up my mind and heart to give everything to Him, no holding back. God has blessed our little family time and time again over the past few days. We now realize that all we have is His and He will take care of us if we let Him.”
—Samantha Cox
In Children…
Dear God, thank You for teaching me…
“To forgive people and to have respect for others young or old.”
“that the hard times you take us through you do that so we can be prepared for our future.”
“about grace, humility, and the meaning of the word order. All this stuff really means a lot to me and everyone else, so we can have a closer bond to You. For You are the mighty God, Prince of Peace, Saivor. Since You died on the cross for our sins, we all should be humble, You did that for us, for everybody in my life. I have never felt closer to You God. I am grateful You did this for us. And you gave your life.”
