Past Outreaches

Freedom Within Bars!

On our 22nd wedding anniversary, we were invited to give three, one hour-long concerts in a row for the minimum security men, maximum security men, and the women prisoners of CCNO (County Correctional Facility of Northwest Ohio). As always, the delight was ours as we were met in all 3 concerts with individuals aware of their need, desperate for change, and openness to receiving from God. A total of 15 - 20 men and women (put their trust in Jesus for the first time) made first time commitments to Jesus and almost every one of the 125 total people attending, received encouragement and sustenance from the Lord in deep ways!

The last concert - which was for the woman - was filled with an unusually strong Presence of God and the ladies were nearly bursting with desire for God and His Word! The prayer time was filled with weeping and calling out to God in heartfelt pleas for His mercy and He filled us all in such a way that the Amen was followed by an outburst of spontaneous and uncontrollable shouts of joy!! It was amazing. One particular young woman sat back in her seat at the very end of our time, threw her arms back over her head, and blurted out, "I've never felt so clean in all my life!"

Taking a Leap of Faith

A teacher, comfortable in her 18-year position in the local school district, had felt God prompting her to take a new position in a town several hours away. It meant a move for her whole family, meant leaving old friends and church she loved. The day we were ministering in her church, she was feeling particularly frightened, and a little unsettled. Was she doing the right thing? And then Geoff shared about our experience in starting Full Sail back in July of 1999. He talked about how scared we were to leave a ministry we'd been with for 18 years and to start out on our own, but that God had made it clear He wanted us to take a leap of faith. That even if we couldn't see where our feet would land, He was there waiting to catch us! This woman could not believe her ears - that God would be so specific to her situation and care about her so much to confirm to her that she was on the right path! She truly received God's encouragement that day and praised Him for ordering her steps.

The Safest Place for Loved Ones

As a middle-aged woman poured out her story of two beloved grandsons making destructive choices out of the wounded and broken places of their lives, Jill couldn't help but weep with her. She told Jill that her heart was so heavy, thoughts of her grandsons were with her every moment of every day. "I've tried to give them to the Lord, but I can't seem to let them go," she broke.

She and Jill grasped hands and poured out their souls to God on behalf of these precious young men, calling their names to the Loving Shepherd, who seeks out and saves His lost lambs. At the end of the weekend, there was a peace in her eyes that hadn't been there before.

"I wrote their names on a piece of paper and left them at the prayer altar. I'm going to leave them there," she whispered to Jill at their time together. Psalm 84:3 says, "Even the sparrow has found a home...where she may have her young - a place near your altar, O Lord Almighty." The safest place in the world for our loved ones is at His altar.