I am here to tell you about an amazing week at Ellerslie, that occurred almost a month ago, but I am finally getting it done now. :P (hopefully I'll add pics to this post later.)
But just to let you know, there is no way that I can grasp the fullness of what all happened.
God was present and lives were transformed.
It started two weeks ago, Wednesday morning. I went over to the school with my dad, kind of expecting a normal day, where Eric would preach four messages, and then we would go home. Well, that did not happen. We had our normal time of corporate stillness, devotions and worship, and then Mr. Ludy walked up to the front. Just to give you some background, on Monday and Tuesday students had been having really-real experiences with the Lord, where they were being set free from sin, and God had been giving them the Holy Spirit and some even got baptized, including my dad! Even though some had been baptized before, they wanted to do it again, as a declaration to God and themselves that they had died with Christ, and now Christ lives in them! It was so cool!
All this to say, that there were those who hadn't been able to "break through," as Eric would say. They hadn't seen the victory in their own lives. They couldn't find freedom, or the peace of the Lord; or were still lost in "self." So, Eric walks up to the front and begins to talk about as the body of Christ, how we needed to encourage and be there for those who were still weak and who hadn't seen the victory. He asked for people to raise their hands if they were still struggling and wanted prayer. Sixteen people raised their hand. Then he said, "We are going to wrestle in prayer for our brothers and sisters, until they see the victory! We will skip meals and sleep if need be to help them along!" Then he went into the back room to pray about who would be the first one to be prayed for, and he was only gone for five minutes, and then he came back and said, "Johnny Wesche!" He asked for three girls and three guys, plus any other staff to go back with him and Johnny, then he exhorted us to wrestle in prayer for Johnny, but also to know that Christ had already won the victory. Then he left us.
I sat in my chair overwhelmed and literally sacred at the task ahead. I've never prayed for hours in my life before! I can hardly pray for twenty minutes! Oh why, oh why did I have to come today? I could leave now, and just go back and do school. OH GOD, HELP ME!!!
Now, this may sound funny to you, but I was literally crying and scared about praying all day. Before Eric had gotten up to speak, one student has shared a passage in Isaiah, and then Mr. Ludy deemed it "The verse of the day." So, while I was panicking I prayed, "God, I'm really scared about all this. And I know I cannot do this on my own. But I know You can! So, I beg that you would help me get through this prayer time!!" (it was something to that effect.) I opened my Bible, having heard before that you can pray Scripture, (since it is, in fact, God's own words). So, being weak in prayer, I opened my Bible to Isaiah 35, the passage that Amanda had read, and this is what God spoke to me:
"They shall see the glory of the LORD and them majesty of our God.
Strengthen the weak hands and make firm the feeble knees. Say to those who have an anxious heart, 'Be strong; fear not! Behold your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God He will come and save you."
Oh! God is SO faithful! He gives us just what we need, just when we need it; and I needed this word from Him! So, in full confidence in my God, and His promise to me, I began to pray for Johnny. I used my own words, but I also used the inspired Word of God. And as I read passages over Johnny, I realized that most of them also applied to me, with what I needed as well! It was so cool! It was such a different atmosphere: people are praying, reading, pacing back forth...etc. Sometime when I couldn't pray, I would just listen to those walking past me, and agree with their prayers. And Ben went up to the mic a couple times, and we corporately prayed. Forty-five minutes passed, and all of a sudden we heard shouts coming from the back room and a chorus of clapping! We knew that the victory had been won!! We all turned in our chairs and waited for them to come out. A beaming Eric came strolling out, followed by a sobbing/ beaming Annie (Johnny's sister) and the rest of the prayer warriors. They made a pathway for Johnny, and we sat and waited for him to come out. The anticipation was like waiting for the bride to come down the aisle! (And in actuality, it was just that, Johnny, the Bride of Christ came walking out of that room spotless, and joyful in his Bridegroom!) Finally he popped his head out, and then when he realized that everyone was looking at him, he went back in the room. Eric brought him back out, and then they walked up to the front and a very broken, very different, and a very new Johnny began to weep. Slowly he began to share his story: how he hadn't wanted to come to Ellerslie, he wasn't trying to have a relationship with God, and he had come to the end of his ropes, and actually when Eric was in the back room praying, Johnny was leaving the chapel...leaving Ellerslie. But, God grabbed a hold of his heart, freed him from all his addictions, and filled him with the Holy Spirit!! It was truly incredible! A soul won for Christ in a matter of minutes! Annie went up front to share her testimony of how she has prayed for Johnny for years that he would come to know the Lord. Oh, it was very encouraging!! Praise the Lord!
(To hear Annie's story of what happened, you can click this link.) Oh! and then, other people who had been in the chapel wrestling in prayer for Johnny's soul, got up and shared how already God was using Johnny's testimony to draw them closer to Christ! It was truly amazing!
After that we had a thirty minute lunch break. My dad and I had been sitting in different places all morning, so he came over and we talked about our personal experiences. I told him about the verse that God shared with me, and how He carried me through the time of prayer. Then he asked how I was doing, because unbeknown to you, I raised my hand earlier that morning. I really struggled because, for one, I wasn't a student, and I was kinda scared at the thought of the unknown. But I had a problem, and I needed help. So, I raised my hand. So, my dad asked how I was doing in regards to that. And I told him my reason for raising my hand: there was a wall between me and God. I wanted to know Christ with all my heart, that's really all I wanted, but for some reason, I couldn't get through to Him. And God revealed to me that my pride, spiritual pride, was in the way; and that I was trying to do this all on my own strength. I wanted prayer, support from others, that my pride would be eradicated out of my life, and that I would receive the Holy Spirit. My dad began asking me questions like, "Do you believe the Bible?....Do you believe that God cannot lie?....Do I believe that Jesus' blood is able to cleanse me from my sin?....." Questions like those. Then he shared the story of Gideon, that there were certain strongholds in his life that had to come down so that Christ could receive the victory - there couldn't be any breaches in his life! He told me that my pride was a breach in my wall. It was allowing enemy access, and was a hindrance to my relationship with God. Then he said, "Bailey, are you willing to remove that breach - your pride?" I sat there trying to decide. I wanted to know God, Oh how I did!! But, I also was relying on past experiences that when I had confessed my sin, had just continued in it. I was scared, I didn't know how to remove that breach. But, I said I was, cause I really was. My dad prayed for a few minutes, then he waited as I gathered my thoughts. I opened my lips and my heart just came out. Before when I had prayed for freedom from pride I hadn't felt anything, I would feel hopeless. But this time, I confessed my sin; really sick of it, and this time it all came out, I felt free of it! Then I asked for the Holy Spirit to come and dwell in me. And then my dad closed. Then I had to go to the restroom to wipe my eyes. :P But when I came back, my dad handed me a note card with a reference on it: Esther 2:9.
"And the maiden pleased him, and she obtained kindness of him; and he speedily gave her things for purification with such things as belonged to her, and seven maidens, which were meet to be given her, out of the King's house: and he preferred her and her maidens unto the best place of the house of the women."
Papa encouraged me to testify, as it would bless others and build my faith. So, I sat in my chair worrying that I wouldn't get an opportunity to share. But then Eric noticed my raised hand, and very nervously I walked to the front. And I shared all that God had done in me that morning: I was crucified with Christ; I died to self; I was risen with Christ, and now His Holy Spirit lived in me! It was hard, but it confirmed to me the work Christ had accomplished!
I walked back to my seat, while Melinda walked up to the microphone. She told us that on Monday she had had an awesome experience with the Lord, and was filled with amazing joy. But, all of Tuesday Satan had been heavily attacking her, like she had never experienced before. He had taken her joy, and even filled her with thoughts of suicide, which she had never had before. Mr. Ludy said that Melinda was to be the next one to go into the back room. So, him, Melinda and a small group of students went into the back room, while the rest of us geared up for our second battle, and with the strength and the joy of my Lord I began to pray. This time it was totally different! I felt God praying through me! Then as I was reading Scripture, God gave me four passages just for Melinda! This was so amazing, because I think this was the first time ever, that God had given me specific verses to share with someone! I was really excited for this battle to end so I could read them to her! It was not more than fifteen minutes and then and extremely, radiant, joy-filled Melinda came walking in the room, and proclaimed the goodness, faithfulness and joy of the Lord! And the freedom the Truth brings! It was so encouraging. I could hardly stand it, I was nervous that there wouldn't be an opportunity for me to share, but there was. =) So, I walked up to the front, grabbed the mic, and began to read the holy, living Word of God. These are the passages I read:
John 16:22 "So also you have sorrow now, but you shall see Me again and your hearts will rejoice, and no one can take that joy from you."
John 13:11 "These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may be in you and that your joy may be full."
2 Corinthians 1:3-7 "....Who comforts us in our affliction so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God...."
Psalm 43:2-4 "Why do I go about mourning because of the oppression of the enemy? Send out Your light and Your truth, let them lead me; let them bring me to your holy hill and to your dwelling: Then I will go to the altar of God, to God my exceeding joy, and I will praise You with the lyre, o God, my God!"
It was really cool, because I knew that God had given those verses to me, specifically for Melinda! After that Eric asked the staff if they had any feeling about who the next person was, and right away three girls all popped up and said "Rhea!" So, Eric, Sandi and two other girls went into the back room with Rhea. The fight was on! :) This battle was a little longer and I continued to pray and read aloud Scripture, but after awhile I just sat and listened. Honestly at this point, I was getting weary, but then they decided to split up into groups and pray together. We sat down, and hadn't been praying for more than five minutes when we heard the joyous claps of victory! Oh, how I love that sound! We got back into our seats and waited for Rhea to come out. She walked into the chapel, and new person - confident in her Savior! She shared that hearing that Truth had helped her, and when she found out that she is seated at the right hand of God, (Eph 2:6) that clinched it! God's Word is living and active, and the truth does set you free! God is so awesome!!!
At that point I was getting ready to be done for the day, and for a minute it looked like Eric was going to wrap it up, but then Sandi wanted to pray for anyone who was dealing with fear. One girl, Melissa, raised her hand, and explained that she was really scared to surrender to God, for fear that He would send her to Africa, away from her family. I felt torn because I kinda wanted to stay and fight, but I felt that I was done. I had this feeling in my heart that it was OK for me to go home. Papa leaned over and asked me if I was going to stay, and then assured me, "Don't let the Devil get you down because you're leaving; you've been a warrior all day!" So I took that as a sign and decided to go home. My parents came home two hours later and told me that the victory had been won, again! Then we all gathered in my parents bedroom and my dad and I told the family about our unexplainable day.
It was an awesome day, not in the way that was so much fun, but in a way that was amazing because God was totally at work, and He was stretching me, yet He was with me the whole time!
And it was so cool, because I knew that God had given me those verses to give to her!
Then Eric asked the staff if they had an ideas as to who was the next person to be prayed for, and three girls popped up and said "Rhea!" Well, Rhea was scared to go back, I think for fear that something wouldn't happen. So, Eric and Sandi went back with her to have a
But, that was just day one - there's still more to come! :D :D
In Him,
Bailey
God is good!
Talk about a great place you have travelled to.