www.slenkfamily.blogspot.com
On Monday, we arrived in Louisiana just outside of New Orleans. We have just completed four great weeks of seeking the Reviver at Mayfair Bible Church in Flushing, MI, Emmanuel Baptist Church in Wabash, IN, First Baptist Church in Poplar Bluff, MO, and First Baptist Church in Marion, IL.
To see people set aside the time and step out of the traffic of life to hear from the Lord has been of great encouragement to us these past few weeks. So many lives changed as individuals step up to the responsibilities that God has entrusted to them as men, husbands, fathers, women, wives, mothers, employees, neighbors, and friends. Below are just a few of the two hundred plus testimonies that we have received in just the past few weeks:
“I could write a book, but I will lift off and land the plane on this page. My idol has become trying to fix my family through books, counselors, worry, prayerlessness, etc. How is that working for me? Not so well. We/I have been walking a dry, lonely, messy road going through what we have never experienced before and not knowing how to fix it. I finally have come to the point of understanding – I CAN’T DO THIS ON MY OWN. I quit trying. I have confessed boxes of sins (on your page). I asked my husband to forgive me(who has hurt me and whom I have hurt – husband/daughter). I plan to confess and ask my daughter to forgive me this afternoon in therapy (long story – needs to happen there. Praying for protection of time – this will be hard!) I’ve been a Christian for almost 29 years. The walls I have up with others I have had up with God. I have been a baby Christian for 29 years because I didn’t understand how to have a personal RELATIONSHIP with God. Thanks for showing me. The theme of God’s voice in my life lately has been it is about relationships. I’m getting it – the light bulb is on!! Praise be to God.”
“I prayed for Jesus to come into my heart about 2 ½ years ago. I did not grow up in the church and have been coming when I can. I haven’t really had a real understanding of what it is to walk in the light. I have not had a full understanding of all that I do that is actually sinning. I find myself feeling ashamed and that I will never be free of sin, so why try to stay in the light. So I find myself falling back to the old habits of staying in the dark. Over the past few days, I feel that my understanding of what it is to be a Christian has grown more than I ever thought it could. Every question I have asked in prayer over the past few nights gets answered the next day. I know now that I am the Lord’s. No matter what I do, I can’t be taken from him. I have a better understanding of what I need to do, how I need to walk, who I need to forgive, who I need to ask for forgiveness from. Most of all I feel him with me and his love for me. The Lord certainly brought me closer. I met the Lord a few years ago, I got to know him these last four days.”
“I was skeptical of this conference, not of you guys personally, but of the idea that 4 days (4 DAYS!!!) in a row could whip up something meaningful. I confess I was wrong. Your transparency and talents combined to set an ideal environment that truly was ‘set apart’. I’ve been on a 10 year drought due to anger, stress, stubborness, (you name it) due to family health issues, business issues, sons walking away from the church – a slow death occurred. I hid it from most –staying very active in church, but hating it more and more. I tried several times to ‘revive’ out of it – to no avail – leading only to more deadness. I feel so much softening and renewal in these 4 short days. I believe dryness and emptiness have been healed and am excited about what comes next. I also wonder what it will look like and if it will persevere. I believe it will, but not because of me. I already tried that. I feel God doing things, and its been a long time since that happened. I don’t think things will ever be the same, and that the future will be unlike anything I’ve known. Thank you for coming and letting us just ‘be’ and just concentrate on the important. May God bless all of you with the same as you carry on this important work.”
“Wow! So much has been going on in my heart and life these past few days I can’t possibly express what has happened but I’ll try to share just a few. First, my husband and I have been married 49+ years but there has not been any joy in my heart as I look toward our 50th anniversary. Bitterness, selfishness, pride, resentment, grudge – I could go on but I think you get the picture. This week the Lord has been peeling layer after layer of sin and revealing these sins in our lives. The Lord is healing our marriage. Still needs work, but it is the beginning! Also, depression, anxiety has plagued me for years and I felt as if I had a huge hole in my heart and God is filling that hole not with meds, but with His love and grace.”
“God was never real to me until this Thirst Conference. I’ve grown up in the church since before I could remember and I prayed the prayer around age four but even though I never knew it, I never truly loved Jesus until yesterday through the words of the speakers and the music of the praise team. God revealed Himself to me. I had my first real devotion time this morning and for the first time I was certain He listened. I feel joyful and I keep bursting into tears simply because I am so happy. God bless you for sacrificing so much to follow His direction, for there is no doubt in my mind that He sent you to minister to me and help change my life. To God be the glory.”
The next five weeks has us in Slidell, LA, Rome, GA, Milton, FL, and Brownsburg, IN before coming home late November for some time to rest, reconnect, refresh, and prepare for a long winter/spring semester (January through early June) that will be taking us into Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, California, and Colorado. Jennifer and I and our family continue to be amazed as what God is doing in people’s lives as they continue to move in obedience towards Him.
Below are a few ways you can be praying for us as:
· Continued safety for our team (29 individuals) as we travel.
· As parents, Jennifer and I would continue to minister to Christian and Elizabeth as they grow up.
· That we would stay fresh and committed to what it is God has called us to, that it would not become routine or mechanical in nature.
· Jennifer is scheduled for much needed foot surgery as soon as we get back home (November 28th). Please pray for wisdom and discernment on the part of the doctors as well as the healing process for Jennifer while we are home for the holidays. We also have a high deductible HSA health insurance plan that requires a $5,000 + co-pay that will be required and we are trusting God for the funds necessary for this.
Thank you for your friendship and support over the past four years as we have had the opportunity to minister in over one hundred local churches thus far. This truly is a great adventure.
Sincerely,
Ben, Jennifer, Christian and Elizabeth
No comments:
Post a Comment