The past few weeks have been so God-charged that just when we experience one incredible wave of His presence, another one quickly follows.
Our awesome God buoyed a neighborhood near Wyoming St. in Detroit, plunged in the news after several vicious assaults. We walked the very streets days after these horrendous crimes and witnessed God’s balm to a hurting people. A woman who was the victim of a carjacking that resulted in a foot injury received healing after we prayed for restoration. One in need of a spiritual rebirth received God’s redemption and expressed a desire to join the church. Hearts were touched, and lives were changed.
After Wyoming Street, we plunged back into the most dangerous neighborhood in Detroit with Metro Life Church. While we were there, others with back, neck, and stomach pain were healed, and one who was deaf had her ear open. Glory to God!
Then we went full speed ahead into Detroit to teach a week on evangelism at the Youth Summer Day Camp with House of Help. We worked alongside Pastor Ray Anderson with children and youth ages 6 to 16. We shared the Gospel and several got right with Jesus! We then taught them how to pray for the sick and 8 kids were prayed for by their peers and each received healing. They learned how to share the Gospel, how to receive prophetic words from God, and then went out on the streets to minister to the neighborhood. With baptisms, teachings, and putting the lessons in action, it was a packed week (there were also slushies and water gun fights, after all, they’re kids!). Imagine an energized group of young people, racing to knock on doors to share the Gospel, to pray, and prophesy…yeah, it blew us away too! By the end of the week, they saw healings and salvations while ministering in their neighborhood.
Our next port of call was the Detroit Tent Revival. By day, we passed out food and evangelized from the back of a jeep (with the aid of a microphone system). During one encounter, a prayer team came across a house party in full swing. With love and boldness, they turned the secular shindig into a Holy Ghost party, witnessing to the occupants and sharing the Giver of true fulfillment. There was also a guy with an Islamic background who heard us ministering was convicted by the Holy Spirit and gave his life to the Lord.
In the evening when the Tent Revival was in full force, a man on a nearby porch heard us preaching that God is the restorer of broken relationships. This man was so convicted that he ran across the street to the Tent Revival and confessed to the broken relationships in his life. God touched him powerfully!
Taking it to the streets!
“An answer to prayer!” That’s what one pastor proclaimed after our ministry team spent two days professing Jesus on one of the most notorious blocks in Ypsilanti. For decades, this Washington Street block has housed a strip club and numerous bars. In the two nights we staked out the territory, Jesus was center stage.
In the heart of downtown, we worshiped God through a range of traditional and contemporary music, preached His Word, and glimpsed the hearts of hungry people:
- A woman seeking healing rose from a wheelchair and declared the ability to walk better than she had in years
- Individuals with various physical pain where healed
- A man from a partnering ministry who had recently been saved was attending the event and felt God urge him to be water baptized immediately. We filled a bathtub at the University Christian Fellowship Center (on EMU’s campus), baptized the young man who said he felt “reborn,” and saw a vision of God as Light. He also received the Baptism of the Holy Spirit!
Just when we thought our street revival work was complete in Ypsilanti, God showed us it’s not over until He says it’s over. We had packed up the stage into the U-Haul vehicle and were saying one final prayer before driving away when we heard a knock on the window. There stood a young woman who had a simple question, “What are you doing?” When we explained we were praying and confirmed that we had been part of the street ministry, she shared a poignant confession: she had been inside of a bar and was drawn to the Truth that was being preached on the street. However, she was afraid to join the gathering because she didn’t trust her emotions. We began to speak words of affirmation over her, and when we finished, she rededicated her life to the Lord.
After an awesome two-day tent ministry, this final encounter gave us pause. Seeds were sown in the spiritual realm, and God did so much beyond what we see in the natural. What a powerful testimony proving that God moves beyond what we can see.
There are no words to fully express appreciation to the many devoted believers who prayed, evangelized, prepared food, played instruments, and showed God’s love in countless ways. This is kingdom work at its best.