Revival Coming

"Do you think the children will come?" I asked Rebeca as we arrived at church - a tree under which people had already started to gather. 

"It doesn't look like it," she said as she sighed, obviously discouraged by the small size of the group of people. "Is it even worth it to come back here next week?" she added. 

We came here last week to do children's ministry for three consecutive weeks as is our custom. Last week, since not many children were present, we decided to remain with the adults and encourage them instead. And it's a good thing because this region is one of the weaker and more struggling regions when it comes to the strength of the church. It has been known as hard soil even by Stanislas, who, when he heard we were going out here, wished us luck and told us to have courage. This week we hoped more children would show up, but from the looks of it, it wasn't likely. 

In addition, we had been discussing some difficult, more personal news. Emily's upcoming departure and her persistent illness. A child who fell in a well and died. We were just a little low. 

So we parked the car and sat there quietly and reflectively for just a second before Rebeca started to fill the silence with her beautiful voice, singing "he's got the whole world in his hands." We changed the words to fit our various worries, like "he's got our lives and our health in his hands..." Then I prayed and we got up and went to church. 

The church had sufficiently gathered with enough people at this point to start singing, so they gave Rebeca a calebasse (a hollowed out gourd, cut in half, with beads attached - a percussion instrument similar to a tambourine), somebody started tapping the djembe, the people stood up, and we started singing. 

When we started singing, things started changing. 

The singing wasn't normal; it was inspired. Instead of words just being sung, it was truth being proclaimed, and the people were receiving and believing it. The children were dancing, the women smiling, the men stomping their feet and raising their hands as we sang about how Jesus has rescued us from darkness, how the enemy is defeated, and how we never have to walk alone. 

It reminded me of Jehoshaphat and the people of Israel when they marched against an enemy army that outnumbered them greatly. Jehoshaphat appointed singers and worshippers on the front lines, and the enemy fell before them. 

It was like we weren't just singing, we were fighting an unseen spiritual war, and we were winning. 

The time of worship must have lasted at least an hour and a half, and we didn't really want it to end. However, the spirit and attitude of worshipped continued as we transitioned together into a time of communion. The church leaders had just returned from a biblical training seminar, where they received teaching on the Lord's supper from Acts 11. Fired up from what they had just learned, they passionately shared with the church the meaning of communion as a memory of Christ, a proclamation of his return, and a participation in following him. Rebeca also stood up to exhort the church on the meaning of communion, especially emphasizing the importance of confessing any idolatry or belief in fetishes. Then in silence on our knees, we individually yet together examined ourselves before God and then came forward to receive the cracker dipped in juice, the body and blood of Christ. It was the first time I had ever seen Rebeca take it at a village church. 

Then the message was given and Rebeca again stood up to explain her interpretation of the passage and add her thoughts and encouragement. This is a very traditional and acceptable African thing to do, and Rebecca does it well. When the time came for testimonies to be shared, she also stood up to testify. Every time she stood up to speak, I could see her fill with strength, passion, and momentum. With every eye fixed on her, she powerfully testified of her faith and God's faithfulness during certain difficult times in her life. The people hung on her every word. They were so intent and listening so closely, even the women preparing beignets nearby and the shepherd boys passing by stopped to listen. 

Elisha asked for a double portion of Elijah's spirit before the Lord took him to heaven in the chariot of fire. I told Rebeca if the Lord would give me even just half her spirit, I would be happy. She laughed and told me that when she gets surrounded by a crowd of people, she can't help but get up and speak. The Word of God fills her so fully that she feels like will explode if she doesn't share it. It's like a fire in her bones. She comes alive when she preaches, and her dynamics draw people in like moths to a flame. The woman has a gift, and it clearly comes from the Holy Spirit within her who boldly proclaims the truth of God through her. 

We spent five hours with the church there, and as we were leaving, Rebeca said that what she saw today reminded her of a revival that recently happened in a nearby village where people received the gospel, burned their idols, and were being filled with the Holy Spirit. "I feel like God is stirring me to prepare a message for next week. A message about faith. These people are ready to hear about what faith really is, and they need to be given a choice of whether they are going to believe and follow or not."

"Then I support you with all my heart. Looks like we have to come back here next week!" I exclaimed, and our hearts were humbled because we remembered the state in which we arrived that same morning, and how God changes the atmosphere. 

We set out feeling down and discouraged, wondering if it was even worth it to come back again. We left seeing the seeds of revival, and we can't wait to get back and see how God continues to move and transform lives and souls with the amazing liberating gospel of Jesus Christ. 

Praise God with me for using his humble servants, like Rebeca, even in our weakness and discouragement. Praise him for the power of his word and the promise that he will send it out and it will never come back void. Pray for the church in this village, and for those who believe, who are on the verge of belief, who are hungry for a message of hope and salvation, and who have never heard. Pray that they will come, hear, receive, and believe. May the Holy Spirit go before and behind, drawing hearts to himself, tilling the soil of hearts, and bringing spiritual awakening and revival for the glory of his name and fame in all the earth.