August Newsletter 2018
Whatever You Do
Over a period of five years our events reached a total audience of roughly 40,000 people. After that, God began to lead us into a different season, something that we didn’t discern right away. In the next several years we produced three events, mainly because I was in a battle for the survival of Rise Up America, a battle which cost me my house, my farmland inheritance, and left me homeless for a period of about seven and a half months.
In the first year of the ministry God had spoken something to me very clearly, that I couldn’t ever forget, “Whatever you do, don’t quit.” That word stuck with me through all of the years of extreme diversity, and through those traumatic months of being homeless…Whatever you do, don’t quit.
A national television personality once told his story of being in a place of bankruptcy early on in the ministry. His board wanted to shut the ministry down, because they were virtually bankrupt. He refused, because he knew in his heart God had called him to this ministry, and he would not quit. Today his ministry casts a very broad beam of influence across America. It includes a college and a daily national television broadcast. If he had quit, untold millions would not have been reached for Christ.
For me, there were many years of living by faith and trusting God on a daily basis for food, gas and a roof over my head. There were several days when I didn’t have enough money to buy a cup of coffee.
In my case, it was to produce events that would see many people come to Christ. Well, let me tell you, that it is not an easy task when both your gas tank and your pockets are empty. Those are the circumstances I was in when God asked me to produce an event in Jordan, Minnesota.
I had never been to Jordan and I didn’t know a single person there. What’s more, at that time, I didn’t have the gas to get there.
So this is what I did. I kept praying and when I had some money to put gas in the tank, I went to Jordan and just drove around the town praying. Three times I went to Jordan and prayed, still not knowing a single person in the city.
Then I got an e-mail from my friend, Steve Henning, in the Alexandria area. Steve headed up the National Day of Prayer for his area and he gave me two names in Jordan, along with telephone numbers. The first person I called was Bob Schmitz. His response was, “You really have it right that you want to bring an event to Jordan. There is a great need here.”
We produced the event, even though I fell on the ice and broke my hip during the timeline leading up to the event. There was a very unusual snowstorm that came right before the event in late April, so all of the school assemblies that we booked were cancelled. Still, I put the word out to the intercessor network to pray away the snow on Saturday, the day of the event, because the forecast was for eight inches. On the day of the event the sun was shining, there was no snow, and nearly 300 came to our Reach For More event at the senior high school in Jordan. 30 young people gave their lives to Christ. We were projecting for about 1000, but “Hey”… in retrospect I believe Jordan was very hard ground at the time.
Now, I have observed a very peculiar thing. In Jordan and two other cities in which we held outreach events, another ministry has showed up called Revive. Revive Jordan, Revive Fort Wayne, and very recently Revive Bemidji! This ministry rallies churches to great times of corporate prayer and then God’s kids hit the streets to witness one on one to whomever they may encounter. In every city they have been to, I have received extremely enthusiastic reports of God moving in their city, and of many coming to Christ.
Yesterday, I talked to Bob Schmitz in Jordan and he reported further and ongoing movings of the Spirit of God in Jordan. Bob set up a booth at the county fair, and for five days thirty volunteers shared the Gospel and prayed for many people. He reported great favor with the people and an openness and eagerness to hear the Gospel!
God has a plan for every city and if the leaders of that city will hear His voice, they will see the Holy Spirit move and many come to Christ. Unfortunately, in many cases the leaders of a city are not hearing God’s voice, or His plan for the city, because they are too focused on their own church and their own work. In many cases, churches are in competition with one another.
Many years ago, it was prophesied to me that I am a ground breaker. My calling has been to go where the ground is hard and dry and break it up. This, I believe is what happened when we brought events into these cities. We broke up the hard ground. Then Revive Ministries came in, planted, watered and reaped a harvest.
Isn’t this just the way it is supposed to happen?
The great Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 3:6 said,
“I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.”
TO GOD BE THE GLORY!
The month of July was packed full. Whew!
Sometimes God’s work is not flamboyant or particularly visible. Sometimes,at his command, it is going into the secret place of the prayer closet. We spent a lot of time this month battling in prayer. We were primarily on location, spending only about 15 days at home. It was an intense month.
George and Lorraine provided music ministry at the Ecumenical Church Service for the Big Bog Festival in Waskish, Minnesota July 15th, 2018
What’s Next
Sunday August 19th, 2018 – Bethlehem Lutheran Church @ 9:00 a.m.
Waskish, Minnesota
George will bring the message and we will minister with music
In His Service,
George and Lorraine Halama