Indianapolis 500 Outreach 2013
May 23-May 26, 2013
We had a tremendous time of ministry in Indianapolis this year. There were only seven men on the team that were able to go with us from Oklahoma, but God always provides us with tremendous testimonies when the numbers are down.
It seems to me that people are really hungry for the Lord these days, and God is ready to give them just what they need. We were blessed by seeing many of our friends as well, and God showed us how much He loves us through each one of them.
Our band was set up just out side of Acapulco Joe's where we were ministering to the people through songs and preaching as they walked by us to go to the parade. The No Greater Love teams were gathering up on the same street corner to catch the bus back to the church. There were clowns everywhere and then I saw a women standing on the other side of the street right in the middle of them all. She was singing along with us on every song.
Now normally I am very cautious about inviting people that I don't know to come and help us sing. But I felt good about her and invited her over to help us. I was totally shocked as she began singing "Amazing Grace" with us and she stopped the crowd dead in their tracks. That woman could sing, and then she preached a powerful message as well! It was one of those times that I will never forget. We were praying for the sick and saw many people receive what they needed from the Lord.
On the way home we were having trouble with our bus. It sounded like one of the idle tension pulleys was going out. There was no place to get one since it was on a Sunday evening, and Memorial Day weekend too. So we were praying that we could get it back to Tulsa before having to fix it.
About fifty miles west of St. Louis, out in the middle of nowhere, it went out on us. We pulled off on an access road and a man by the name of Mark pulled up in a white pickup truck to ask if he could help us. Our driver, Roy, said that he thought it might be an angel. We got the belt off the part and drove the bus across the bridge to a gas station that was open all night.
It was after 8:00 pm and all of the auto parts stores where closed. There was nothing around us for at least five miles in either direction. Mark came back to the gas station with his nephew who was a manger of one of the auto parts stores in a near by town. They took the part with them to see if they might have it in stock.
This was not a normal part that you would find in any auto parts store and the possibilities of getting one ordered in on Memorial Day was slim to none. Well, we did the next best thing that we could think of and pulled out our guitars and started worshiping The Lord.
People that knew Mark were getting worried about him. His wife knew that he was helping some men fix a bus on the road, but had not heard from him in a while. So she sent some people out looking for him. Every time I opened my eyes there was someone else standing there worshiping God with us.
Believe it or not, Mark and his nephew returned with the part and while we continued worshiping God, one of our team members, Mike, put the bus back together again. A young couple was gassing up their vehicle and they came over to worship with us as well. They were on their way to Wisconsin and asked for prayer for their baby, which is due to be born in a few weeks.
To finish off this testimony, when I ask them how much the part was they said that it was free and they wouldn't let me pay them for it. God is so cool and is always working things out for our good; praise God!