Prayers, planning, invitations, running around, phone calls, coordination, verifying attendees, more prayers, soulwinning, announcements, placing an emphasis, preaching, picking people up, preparing food, clean up, decorating, cleaning, housing, giving directions, discussion, more prayers, order of service, encouraging, pleading, going to bed late, making sure everyone is on the same page, more prayers and waiting on God were the ingredients that made up the Gospel Day on the 3rd and the Evangelistic Conference on March 8th-10th of 2012. However tiring it was, we are so happy to have been a part! God truly blessed and we look back knowing that God used the preacher, blessed the music, and turn hearts toward himself.

• 27 people called upon the name of the Lord.
• 7 churches were represented.
• 100+ people participated.
• Several folks had their first experience soulwinning.
• Jesus Christ had the preeminence.

The spirit of the week was thrilling. People really gave of themselves to be in the services, invite others and help where they could. From the special music to the preaching to the food preparation to the canvasing, we were blessed on all sides. 


We deeply appreciate your prayers. It was an extra special blessing for people to write us and tell us they were praying for the meeting. Thank you! 


On the last night a huge storm took the power out, and I was not able to enter the house or church for an hour. When I finally got inside, a significant amount of water had gotten in, and soaked many of the seats. On top of this, mud from the roof had so saturated with water that in large clumps they fell to the chairs causing quite a mess. I was in a great hurry trying to clean up and rearrange the chairs, unsure who would be able to make it for the last night. The night before, we had had about 50 (which is probably a pretty good limit for our size auditorium), and though I had expected a good bit more this last night, I wasn't sure who could come due to the terrible weather. 


Then, soon before the service was to start, I received a phone call. A new couple to our church asked if I could pick them up. I made my way to their apartment and found roads blocked by fallen trees or accidents. I ended up being quite late, but did get this family to the service. I entered the auditorium and it was packed with about 80 people! From front to back and on into the church "kitchen and bathroom area" there were people. I started by showing a video on the history of the Bible in Brazil. (I used this time to go into our house and grab every chair we had to help get everyone still standing a seat. Thankfully, everyone eventually had a seat.)


God blessed the service too. From the altar in the front to the bathroom in the back around 7 people raised their hands because God had touched their hearts about salvation! We were able to work with each individually personally, as God had provided a great number of people to help us.


One of the main reasons I wanted to host this conference was for the sake of two ladies in our church (a mother and daughter) who always have struggles with their salvation. Sadly, they did not attend the conference! The next day, Sunday, they were in church, as they always are on Sunday morning. One lady, who had come to help us during the conference, was with us, and after the service she was able to help them both with the assurance of their salvation! 


Also, last night, one teenage girl who has interest in an unsaved boy, brought him to the service last night. I took it as another divine opportunity. I began my message by completely giving the gospel and then I applied it. At the invitation, he raised his hand expressing his uncertainty of his eternity! May the Lord continue to work in all these lives, that they all may know the way of the Lord--Jesus Christ!


We now have many new contacts and more people to work with. Please pray. There is much to do, and we need the Lord's very clear direction. May the Lord bless each of you for your steadfast prayers on our behalf!

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--John

I early on made an online flyer and made contacts with pastors. It was a delight to find so many people interested! One by one, pastors and their churches committed to participate. I began to realize we were going to have quite a crowd, and I was estimating at around 70 people. Julie bought 70 plates for the food. The highest number we had seen before, on earlier Gospel Days, was about 45.

I had put together a conference flyer to be passed out in conjunction with the soulwinning, but it was disappointed with delays. After repeated conversations, I was told that the flyer would be ready on Tuesday! That's tomorrow! I needed them at 9am this past Saturday! So, needless to say, I cancelled the order. Then I quickly grabbed the flyer and made a Word document, took it down to the local paper store, and got 3,000 copies made. I then had to return to the church to cut them. This kept me up well passed 2am, the morning of the Gospel Day. Julie was busy preparing food, and I think she got even less sleep than I.

Breakfast was to start at 9am, but I set it to last until about 10:30, a time that would also include instruction on how to win a soul and explanation of what the day would involve. As 9 o'clock rolled around, there were just a handful of people here at the church. Busily, our ladies were in the kitchen preparing a mountain of food, which was to be served to a whole lot more than a handful of people. I tried to keep my heart and mind focused on doing what I could with whatever the Lord gave us.

As time passed from 9 to 9:30, more and more folks came--on foot, by car and by bus. By around 9:30 there were about 90 people at the church!! The auditorium only holds about 50 people, so needless to say, everywhere you went, there were people! Everyone was in awe at the tremendous amount of laborers who had come to participate! (And, the greatest blessing of that, is that the great majority of them came from other churches simply to help ours!) We ran out of plates and some of the food, but God truly blessed. It was a wonderful time of fellowship, and best of all, as people went out to win souls (some for the first time), they were able to lead to Christ some 18 people and also pass out thousands of flyers and tracts! All in all, seven churches were represented among us. 

God blessed in a tremendous way!

I am deeply grateful for your prayers, and also for every participant. People worked so hard to be there and give their hearts to the work. These Gospel Days are proving to be a very powerful and effective tool in our arsenal. Let's pray God continues to open doors!

(I have pictures, and hope to post them later.)

-- John