Christmas in July

We woke up very early Sunday, 7/14 - the day of Extraordinary God since Susie, our gracious hostess on Kiawah Island, had an early morning flight to the Bahamas.  We were full of excitement and joyful anticipation about what our Abba Father had in store! As we lay awake in bed, one of us commented that it felt very much like Christmas morning! We didn't know what gifts lay beneath the tree, but we certainly knew that our Abba Father had already given us a beautifully wrapped present by allowing us to be a part of this extraordinary event! We had felt his presence in a mighty way all week long, but we knew that this day would be extra special and well - EXTRAORDINARY.

While laying there, the Lord impressed upon us that we should walk down the beach and pray in front of the Sanctuary Hotel where we would set up for the event.  We jumped out of bed, put on a comfortable outfit, and began to search for disposable coffee cups for the journey.  As the Lord would have it, the only disposable cups that Suzy had were Christmas cups! This only added fuel to our fire!

We were hopeful that the weather would be as beautiful as it had been during the day on Saturday, but it was not to be. Seeing the clouds,we were even more thankful that the Lord had answered our prayer the day before and allowed Moore Arts Movement a sunny day to play on the beach and in the pool.  The morning of the event, the clouds had reappeared overhead, rain was threatening and the winds were whipping.  

It appeared that God was going to require us to exercise our faith right up until the time of the event.  We were prepared to do just that and headed out for the Sanctuary Hotel, Christmas cups in hand.

What awaited us at the hotel was more glorious than any Christmas present we had ever received! Terrance, one of our partners, had been prompted weeks earlier to pray that a rainbow would appear on the day of the event.  A rainbow did not seem likely as the wind whipped around us and the skies were black and heavy with rain. When we arrived at The Sanctuary we thanked God that we FELT His mighty presence and would also welcome His VISIBLE presence. Kristi began writing EXTRAORDINARY GOD in big letters in the sand right in front of the hotel. When she finished we turned around to face the ocean and noticed the skies had parted and, in the clouds, was the most beautiful rainbow we had ever seen! God's visible presence was there!  

We had just received the best Christmas gift ever and we jumped up and down, much like we might have done when we were younger. We took pictures of the rainbow and sent them to Terrance and Matthew so that they also would be blessed! We were full of praise for our EXTRAORDINARY GOD!!!!!

We drank in the beauty of the rainbow, but quickly had to turn back towards home in order to prepare breakfast for our guests. As we walked home, the rain began to fall and soon the wind was blowing quite forcefully.  The wind and the rain continued as we all got ready for church and as we walked into the sanctuary of Church of Our Saviour, we had the opportunity to speak words of faith about the weather to just about everyone we saw.  We shared the story of 2 Chronicles 7:13 several times and walked by faith, surely not by sight, as the service began.

The Lord was sweet and the rain was replaced by sunny skies as we worshipped in His sanctuary enjoying a preview of what Moore Arts Movement had in store for the afternoon.  

We had moved from darkness into light as we praised our heavenly father through prayer, praise, dance and song! We basked in the feeling of sun on our faces as we made the final preparations for the event.

When we began to set up that evening on the beach we had to make a quick decision to completely reverse the direction of the service because of the wind. The Lord had given us knowledge that we needed to have everyone speak with the wind so the crowd could hear everything. Unbeknownst to us, we then set up the service so that Matthew gave his testimony right where he washed ashore in 2005.

The skies remained sunny as the event began and the first words of welcome included a praise to our God for doing just as He said He would in 2 Chronicles 7:13 and "closing up the skies"! Extraordinary!

Then, although it had not been in the script, as Kristi introduced Terrance, she told the crowd of the rainbow that she and Nena had witnessed that morning. 

The knowledge that we had been praying for a rainbow allowed the crowd to enter into our full measure of excitement as they saw our Lord and Saviour light up the skies with a fireworks display of rainbows, concluding in a double rainbow near the end of the event.  It truly was one of the most EXTRAORDINARY displays of God's presence that we had ever witnessed!

If you look closely you can see the double rainbow. One is to the left of the other.

Our evening of worship included David Childs providing beautiful praise music accompanied by Emily Richardson on percussion, with Moore Arts Movement dancing with their 'toes in the sand', Christal Brown-Gibson's amazing special music, 'What Are Little Girls Made Of?' singing two sweet numbers and Matthew Pridgen's testimony. The evening concluded with a wonderful time of prayer ministry that included salvation, healing and deliverance. We hope you enjoy reading every word of Matthew Pridgen's blog (see link below) for a beautiful reflection of the full evening that our sweet Lord gave us, which was more of an EXTRAORDINARY 'Christmas in July' gift than we could have ever imagined! (Enjoy the pictures of the event at the conclusion of this blog.)

http://reawake.org/miracles-at-extraordinary-god-2013/

P.S. The next morning Susie emailed us from the Bahamas to see how the service went. She had lifted us up in prayer the whole evening. We couldn't type an email fast enough to share an update including the beautiful display of rainbows that God had provided. Later that same morning she was spending quiet time reading the Bible and God directed her to Chapter 1 of Ezekiel. God spoke to her in a mighty way when she read verse 28 and she knew God was showing her something about the rainbows at Extraordinary God. God, You are so amazing and we love you so much!

Like the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the radiance around him. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. Ezekiel 1:28

Extraordinary God is here!

The time has arrived and all the prep work for Extraordinary God has been completed. There is one more wonderful piece of the advertisement left to happen which is for The Sanctuary to include our event information in the 'Pillow Turn Down' service for all their guests Saturday night!

We have safely arrived on Kiawah Island and are anxiously awaiting Moore Arts Movement's arrival. (We are beyond blessed that Jerry & Susie Keefe have opened their home up to us for the weekend!) There is a definite buzz in the air about the event and we are humbled to be a part of the Lord's plans. 

NOW...there is just one aspect of the event that is 'interesting' and that is the forecast of rain. A number of people have reached out with concern about rain chances so we immediately went to the Lord in prayer to seek His voice. We knew the Lord had taken us this far on a journey filled with amazing signs and wonders so we knew He also had a plan for the weather. The Lord has gifted us with unwavering faith for every aspect of this event so we began exercising faith that it would not rain Sunday night.

On Wednesday morning (after a wonderful time of faith prayers about the weather for the event) Nena attended a praise & worship service and was turning to one of our theme verses, 2 Chronicles 7:14, that we have been mediating on over the last month. Her eyes were drawn to verse 13 instead. The verse began (we have chill bumps right now as we write about this awesome sign from God)

“IF I SHUT UP THE HEAVENS SO THAT THERE IS NO RAIN...”

Wow, God!!! Nena was blown away,

BUT…that wasn’t all the Lord had to say about the weather. 

THEN…Terrance, a dear friend and prayer warrior, then asked Nena to turn to James 5:17 which read, “Elijah was a human being even as we are. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years.”!!!!!!! 

Additionally, another worshipper, Steve, read a message he had received from his wife (right after Nena shared 2 Chronicles 7:13 and how we were staying in faith about the weather), which said, “Faith is a gift.  God rewards those that exercise it.”

We stand in awe of the fact that we serve a Living God who hears our prayers and speaks into our lives!!! With the event just one day away, we are anticipating mighty works from our Lord…including the weather! We love you Lord!

We Covet Your Prayers!

 I ask—ask the God of our Master, Jesus Christ, the God of glory—to make you intelligent and discerning in knowing him personally, your eyes focused and clear, so that you can see exactly what it is he is calling you to do, grasp the immensity of this glorious way of life he has for his followers, oh, the utter extravagance of his work in us who trust him—endless energy, boundless strength! Ephesians 1:21-23

Come, Holy Spirit, Come. Weave this verse into every second of "Extraordinary God". We are blown away by the utter extravagance of your work in us and those you have brought along side of us! We look forward to seeing your Glory on Kiawah beach in less than two weeks!! We need your endless energy and boundless strength to finish this good work that You have started.

This week's prayer praises:

• The banner has been placed on John's Island!
• We have received additional funding from various sources.
• Advertisement distribution is underway and progressing well.
• The music has been decided on and coordinated between the performers and the dancers.
• A few precious people from Church of Our Saviour have offered to coordinate and provide the meal for the children from The Biblical Center on the night of the performance.
• Church leaders have been contacted and we anticipate a good response from the people that they invite.

This week's prayer requests:

• Pray that the Lord will prepare the hearts of all the people that will attend, whether they are vacationers on the island, people coming from other parts of Charleston or those traveling from out of town.
• Pray for the Lord to bless each person that is a part of our service and their families.  Pray for the Lord to give them full protection.
• Pray for God's favor in continuing to provide the money for the fundraising budget.
• Pray for each aspect of the advertisement that will take place for the event - posters, email blasts, banners, Facebook and flier distribution. Specifically pray for time, ideas for, and locations for posters advertising the event.
• Pray that the Lord will fill the buses provided by The Biblical Center with people who want to attend the beach event and need to know the power of a Living God.
• Pray for a vision for prayer services prior to and after the event.
• Pray in faith that the Lord will provide beautiful weather for this event.
• Pray for all aspects of the technical equipment to work well from set up to completion of event.
• Pray for traveling mercies for every one involved and for everyone to remain in good health.
• Pray for God to supply people to act as prayer ministers during and after the event.

Come seek the Lord along with us! We are confident that He has something EXTRAORDINARY in store!