Team: Revival

That year Debby was planning two trips to the Philippines. And the second one I would be on. And so would Bill and Cathy, and her son Tim…But Debby kept feeling like there was supposed to be a 6th person on the team...and so far, two people who had at first both said maybe, ended up saying no. And so she continued to search and pray.

At first I thought she was weird. I mean, how can you know the exact amount that are supposed to be on the team? ...And the time was drawing closer and closer till time to leave. We'd even already got all our tickets already. How could anyone else join now, anyway?

We had several ladies conferences planned for the weekends before we were to leave. The first being in OH. Then Debby's one here in Olean. Then one in NH.

But first God had to tell me something in a dream...yeah, there was supposed to be a sixth person! What's more, I heard that person’s full name! ...If only I could have remembered it when I woke up in the morning. (I knew I should have woken up and written it down even in the middle of the night!)... So I told Deb. And then we tried to call a couple other people I knew and ask if they wanted to go (there was something oddly familiar about the feeling I'd had associated with the name of the person; if that makes any sense?). But they said no. And I was left stumped and frustrated! I felt like I should know the person, and yet not know them. More like I had never met them before, but knew enough to feel like I had? All I can say was that it was odd... And so I continued to pray for that, now, as well as the friendship/s I was seeking.

I remember feeling frustrated even the morning before we left for the conference in OH. I woke up and was lying in bed staring at the ceiling. And I asked God, that whoever that sixth person was, that one way or another (consciously or unconsciously) God would bring them our way and that I would some how recognize them upon meeting. And if I didn't know how or why I recognized them, that in my spirit I would desperately want them to come with us to the Philippines...little did I know! ...And then I gave both requests over to God and decided for the rest of the weekend I would not worry one bit about it. It was in God's hands... though, I could not shake the momentary feeling that I was going to find the answer in OH!

Well, once again God heard me! (I think it's what happens when you and Him are in line with what you both want for your life!)

On the drive out to OH, God broke through (figuratively) the vehicle Tim and I were in and began to speak to us. I began to cry, and I think I cried for nearly two hours of the four-hour trip! And God broke me of something personal (perhaps I'll tell you sometime what that was)...And when we arrived in OH, I found out that in the other vehicle, God had been speaking to Deb, Cathy, and M-L in some profound ways too! ...What God started as a revival in our hearts, though we had little idea of such at the time, was about to spread to other peoples' hearts through the conference in OH!

You see, revival doesn't jump from place to place, or spread from building to building. It's a heart issue. And it starts with your own, and spreads and overflows from there!

Anyway, we had awesome services there in OH. God delivered one lady of a demon, healed several others of different afflictions (including tumors!), and continued His work in many hearts including our own! I, for the first time, danced in the front during worship; I could not seem to get enough of God, of praising Him, and I for the very first time, did not seem to care what anyone thought--but a person will find if their sole focus is on God, no one else is even in the room sometimes (just like they say in romance novels between two lovers, eh? That's as it should be: between God and us!)

And as if that weren't enough, He was still working out the Philippines team (and more later) and, of course, the answers to His precious daughter's prayers (that would be me)...