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In Times Like These
December 27 2011 / ShareHim in Delray Beach #521by Denise James
Campaign Site Narrative from James, Delray Beach. The speaker assigned to this site was Denise James.
The Ghana trip in 2009 was a milestone for me—that is when I caught the evangelism bug. The original plan was for me to sing for the leader of my church, Juliette Tracey, who was to preach at one of the sites. But I ended up preaching my own campaign for 2 weeks, with the Holy Spirit leadingmore than 29 to accept the message. My assigned site was the beautiful North Kwashieman SDA Church in Accra, Ghana. The people were beautiful—devoted, active, supportive, and eager for souls; they had done the preparatory work well.
Upon returning to the US, I didn’t know how I would be able to do it again, not having the necessary money to travel overseas (I was only able to go that time because of the great generosity of my family), and not having the social contacts to do it stateside, either.
But I left it up to the Lord…and He blessed.
I considered doing my first US campaign at my small apartment in Boca Raton, even though I could only accommodate 2 or 3 people. Then my pastor, Pastor Harold Brooks, suggested that we hold it at a small SDA congregation affiliated with our church (Daughter of Zion SDA Church) called United SDA Church. Surprised, I readily accepted.
Subsequently, there were some issues, but I felt finally that obstacles, dangers and the fear of leaving my comfort zone were not reasons enough to prevent me from doing what the Lord commands—and that is to “Go!”
We started on November 4, 2011 and ended December 3, 2011, having sermons only on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights plus Sabbath mornings. The campaign was called the In Times Like These Revival.
The attendance each night was made up of the 20 or so church members, including children—averaging 8-12 persons. The devotion of the leaders and members was apparent, and they were supportive and encouraging to the speaker. This tiny church has potential, with its solid leadership and committed members. With God’s grace, they can reach out and just love the community in ways that are necessary, individualized, appropriate and effective—all for the Lord.
The clearly and interestingly written sermons and the accompanying graphics made an impression on the children of that congregation especially. They seemed many times to “get” what was presented. Activity Sheets were made based on the sermon to engage them in the presentation; these they seemed to like and tried hard to get the right answers. We had two quizzes—one for the children and one for the adults. These also helped solidify the concepts being taught and encouraged careful listening, along with critical thinking.
The only advertising was the distribution of door hangers and flyers in the immediate community. No response has been seen so far. No one from the community came out. However, they know that we are there, and maybe one day the Holy Spirit will impress them to check us out.
After the revival, we baptized one lady, praise God, who had been waiting for a while for this—even before the campaign. Now she has fulfilled God’s requirement to be an official part of His family, sealing her commitment to Him.
There were several people, children included, who had expressed a desire to be baptized or are contemplating it. Please pray that they can move forward with baptism in the future and continue to live for Jesus until He comes.
Elder Tokumbo Abiose, the first elder of the group, was a creative, thoughtful and firm leader, giving advice and accepting suggestions as needed. He was easy to work with and things got done. He handled the technology when Kent Antoine, the very dedicated tech guy, wasn’t there. Sister Carlota Abiose helped out in many ways, like conducting song service, handling the CD player, and being generally supportive. Elder Yonny, Brother Antoine and Elder Sainvil were the prayer team for each night. Elder Sam’s children’s stories on Sabbaths were beautiful, and you could see that he had a rapport with the children that was warm, patient, and respectful.
Most of the congregation is of Haitian background. Elder Sainvil many times translated for the Creole-speaking attendees. Elder Abiose is from Nigeria and Sister Abiose is from Panama.
Another important partner in ministry was Cedric Long, our Minister of Music. He brought his keyboard out, played for song service, and sang the meditation songs. On Sabbaths, when he couldn’t be there because of responsibilities elsewhere, I sang the meditation numbers. I hope that they were appropriate to the sermons, helping more with the internalization of the truths. Also, on Sabbaths, a small electric “organ” enhanced our service with the playing of Sister Bennett.
We usually had a short song service, opening prayer, theme song (In Times Like These), quiz, meditation, sermon and closing prayer. However, on Sabbath mornings, we had a more Sabbath worship format with the appropriate items and responses, the collection of tithe and offering and so on, ending with closing song (Give Me The Bible) and prayer.
Each Sabbath we had fellowship dinner provided by Elder & Mrs. Abiose and the members.
While most of the members live elsewhere, Elder & Mrs. Abiose and the Bennets live in the immediate community. It is apparent that it is small, insolated, quiet, older, with narrow roads, and very family-oriented. It is mixed culturally, with mostly Jewish and Catholic residents.
From this experience, I understand a little more the commitment; strength; prayers; hard work; financial responsibility; scheduling challenges; technological requirements; advertising; manpower and team power; spiritual power; risks; skills; talents; tenacity; physical, social, and mental issues; balanced life; oh, and the synergy of them all that are necessary to be efficient and effective for the Lord. It all seems so overwhelming, but not with the Lord calling and leading, wooing and guiding, strengthening and empowering.
I feel that the theme songs and sermons worked well together to impress minds and hearts. They converged as a conceptual, spiritual and emotional unit, supporting each other effectively. Even I came away having learned more because of being a part of the experience each night. Praise God for the Holy Spirit’s leading and presence in our planning and execution.
I still have the bug. I want to do this evangelism thing again and again for the Lord. I want to prepare myself to do many types of evangelism so that the Word can always be relevant, meeting the needs of its hearers/observers. Pray for me as I pray for you, my fellow evangelists, in this wonderful work.
Upon returning to the US, I didn’t know how I would be able to do it again, not having the necessary money to travel overseas (I was only able to go that time because of the great generosity of my family), and not having the social contacts to do it stateside, either.
But I left it up to the Lord…and He blessed.
I considered doing my first US campaign at my small apartment in Boca Raton, even though I could only accommodate 2 or 3 people. Then my pastor, Pastor Harold Brooks, suggested that we hold it at a small SDA congregation affiliated with our church (Daughter of Zion SDA Church) called United SDA Church. Surprised, I readily accepted.
Subsequently, there were some issues, but I felt finally that obstacles, dangers and the fear of leaving my comfort zone were not reasons enough to prevent me from doing what the Lord commands—and that is to “Go!”
We started on November 4, 2011 and ended December 3, 2011, having sermons only on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights plus Sabbath mornings. The campaign was called the In Times Like These Revival.
The attendance each night was made up of the 20 or so church members, including children—averaging 8-12 persons. The devotion of the leaders and members was apparent, and they were supportive and encouraging to the speaker. This tiny church has potential, with its solid leadership and committed members. With God’s grace, they can reach out and just love the community in ways that are necessary, individualized, appropriate and effective—all for the Lord.
The clearly and interestingly written sermons and the accompanying graphics made an impression on the children of that congregation especially. They seemed many times to “get” what was presented. Activity Sheets were made based on the sermon to engage them in the presentation; these they seemed to like and tried hard to get the right answers. We had two quizzes—one for the children and one for the adults. These also helped solidify the concepts being taught and encouraged careful listening, along with critical thinking.
The only advertising was the distribution of door hangers and flyers in the immediate community. No response has been seen so far. No one from the community came out. However, they know that we are there, and maybe one day the Holy Spirit will impress them to check us out.
After the revival, we baptized one lady, praise God, who had been waiting for a while for this—even before the campaign. Now she has fulfilled God’s requirement to be an official part of His family, sealing her commitment to Him.
There were several people, children included, who had expressed a desire to be baptized or are contemplating it. Please pray that they can move forward with baptism in the future and continue to live for Jesus until He comes.
Elder Tokumbo Abiose, the first elder of the group, was a creative, thoughtful and firm leader, giving advice and accepting suggestions as needed. He was easy to work with and things got done. He handled the technology when Kent Antoine, the very dedicated tech guy, wasn’t there. Sister Carlota Abiose helped out in many ways, like conducting song service, handling the CD player, and being generally supportive. Elder Yonny, Brother Antoine and Elder Sainvil were the prayer team for each night. Elder Sam’s children’s stories on Sabbaths were beautiful, and you could see that he had a rapport with the children that was warm, patient, and respectful.
Most of the congregation is of Haitian background. Elder Sainvil many times translated for the Creole-speaking attendees. Elder Abiose is from Nigeria and Sister Abiose is from Panama.
Another important partner in ministry was Cedric Long, our Minister of Music. He brought his keyboard out, played for song service, and sang the meditation songs. On Sabbaths, when he couldn’t be there because of responsibilities elsewhere, I sang the meditation numbers. I hope that they were appropriate to the sermons, helping more with the internalization of the truths. Also, on Sabbaths, a small electric “organ” enhanced our service with the playing of Sister Bennett.
We usually had a short song service, opening prayer, theme song (In Times Like These), quiz, meditation, sermon and closing prayer. However, on Sabbath mornings, we had a more Sabbath worship format with the appropriate items and responses, the collection of tithe and offering and so on, ending with closing song (Give Me The Bible) and prayer.
Each Sabbath we had fellowship dinner provided by Elder & Mrs. Abiose and the members.
While most of the members live elsewhere, Elder & Mrs. Abiose and the Bennets live in the immediate community. It is apparent that it is small, insolated, quiet, older, with narrow roads, and very family-oriented. It is mixed culturally, with mostly Jewish and Catholic residents.
From this experience, I understand a little more the commitment; strength; prayers; hard work; financial responsibility; scheduling challenges; technological requirements; advertising; manpower and team power; spiritual power; risks; skills; talents; tenacity; physical, social, and mental issues; balanced life; oh, and the synergy of them all that are necessary to be efficient and effective for the Lord. It all seems so overwhelming, but not with the Lord calling and leading, wooing and guiding, strengthening and empowering.
I feel that the theme songs and sermons worked well together to impress minds and hearts. They converged as a conceptual, spiritual and emotional unit, supporting each other effectively. Even I came away having learned more because of being a part of the experience each night. Praise God for the Holy Spirit’s leading and presence in our planning and execution.
I still have the bug. I want to do this evangelism thing again and again for the Lord. I want to prepare myself to do many types of evangelism so that the Word can always be relevant, meeting the needs of its hearers/observers. Pray for me as I pray for you, my fellow evangelists, in this wonderful work.