There are thousands of churches all over America. Some
are fully immersed in this "river of revival", many
are experiencing the refreshing waters of the river,
and many, many are doing church "as usual" and
wanting no part of this present move of God. And
unfortunately, there are many more who don’t even know
there is a river of God flowing or a present move of
God. But, I am encouraged by the many pockets of
revival across the US. Churches that have become an
oasis for the dry and thirsty. The Father’s House is
such a place in Stockton, CA. This is a dry and
thirsty land, very hard spiritually. But Farris and
Connie, who have pastored this small work. for close
to 2 years now, have continued to provide a watering
hole for the people of this area, and for the people
of many different churches to come and drink. They
have had many known and unknown speakers in to lead
revival and this past week they held 8 meetings under
the banner of "Hot August Nights." They had Bob
Gladstone from the Fire Ministry School in for Sunday
morning thru Tuesday night, then us in for Wednesday
and Thursday nights, and finally the Argentine
revivalist, Conrad Lampan, in for Friday thru Sunday.
It’s now been a week since we were there, and I’ve
wondered why I haven’t written a report before
now--but today I got an email of a testimony and I
think it was so I could include it.
MISSED IT--BUT GOD DIDN’T
God is sooooo gracious. Even when we miss it, He still
backs us up. And then he says, "come on son, let’s
work on hearing me better." We don’t miss it often,
but when we do, it’s great to know that we have such a
loving, gracious, forgiving God who still comes in
power anyway. I just "felt" like Carol was to bring
the message Wednesday night and me Thursday night. And
I thought it was to be a new message He has given
Carol on "The Wine, The Fire and The Wind." I would
then stay in the same vein on the next night, doing a
whirlwind tour of the first 19 chapters of Acts to
show that those healings, trances, visions, angelic
visitations etc. are what "normal Christianity" is
supposed to look like. And Carol "knew" we were to do
healing and didn’t tell me, and I never asked God
exactly if that’s what He wanted us to do. Thankfully,
I was at least smart enough to recognize some things
after the meetings to not do that again, and I
realized some more about our calling. So, what did
missing it look like. Probably to most people they
wouldn’t have known anything out of the ordinary--but
we did. Carol gave a great message Wednesday night and
when people came up for prayer, God did all kinds of
things. Rhonda sent us this testimony to tell us how
God was gracious to work thru us.
"Hello and God Bless. I wanted to share what the Lord
has done for me, I have attended many meetings at the
Fathers House now and have been touched by God when I
have come... I was able to make it to one of the
meetings scheduled for the Hot August Nights, Thursday
the 7th [we actually think it was Wednesday the 7th]
with the Dews and it was a good meeting. I have to
say when I left that night I really didn't know what
God had done until the next day and well, everyday
since I left. I have been experiencing the Mercy and
Compassion of the Lord in my heart and it has been
wonderful, it has been a real manifestation of Him.
The night of the 7th I went up to get prayer, I was
very tired, and well, had a healing of another sort in
mind...I have come a long way but what God did at this
meeting has really been different and wonderful, I
really do have new eyes, it is coming out in my talk,
my prayer and my actions, and only he could do
that...Bill prayed for me and simply said "the
compassion and mercy of the Lord" and then I rested--
it was a quiet time, no shaking and baking for me that
night... Next night I went to church to a worship
service and felt God very strong and started to cry
and said to myself "this is the mercy and compassion
of the Lord." The day after that, I walked into the
store, looked at this women who I have known for many
years in my town who is not saved, and felt the
compassion and mercy of the Lord,. This was different
then just knowing that she or anyone needs to be
saved. I actually felt compassion for her because she
was separated from him, and its happening with
everyone I see, I am very evangelistic and have shared
the Lord with a lot of people but have never felt this
way before." Isn’t that awesome, how God can
accomplish such a change in such a short time, and all
He did was give me the words to speak.
THROW OUT THE MESSAGE--JUST MINISTER
Thursday night, to be honest, I think you could have
thrown out everything I said, and just gone straight
into ministry. I was in the middle of my altar call,
with some people coming forward, when He reminded me
of several words of knowledge for healing I had gotten
at the first of the meeting. I don’t think I would
have gone for them, but His impression was so strong.
As I gave them all kinds of people responded and we
started praying for them. Bam, just like that, healing
erupted. There were lots of healings, but these two
stand out. Three ladies, who are not from this church,
came and were tracking with me the whole time (God can
even turn the wrong message into something good). When
healing erupted, I prayed for Diane, who had sciatic
pain down her right leg, into her knee, and all the
way into the bottom of her foot. It’s so wonderful to
see the power of God come on someone, all the pain
leave, and then they try it out. And she did something
great. When I asked her "how is it now," she didn’t
answer "well, it’s doesn’t hurt" now" When people
answer like that, the implication is that "it doesn’t
hurt now, but it’s going to again." There’s unbelief
and it’s an open door for the enemy to come back in.
She just said emphatically "IT DOESN’T HURT" as she
walked all around. Then she and I prayed for her
friend Jennifer who had back, knee and foot pain. The
same thing happened to her. You should have seen the
smile on her face as she crawled back to her chair and
tried to sit up again. God, thanks for bypassing me
and doing what you wanted to do all along.
SAN DIEGO
This next Sunday night the 17th at 6 PM we will be at
Vista Christian Fellowship in Vista, CA (San Diego).
This is their regular bi-lingual service with the many
Hispanic believers they have coming. This is a great
"river" church and we are excited about going back to
this church and seeing many old friends. If you’re in
the San Diego area, come jump in the river--the
water’s fine. Blessings.
Bill & Carol Dew
Dewnamis Ministries, Inc.
dewnamis@sbcglobal.net
Diane
Jennifer & Diane