3rd Semester

Nathan's Life Action Site

3rd Semester

8/2/03

Don't worry, this is still my website. It's just new! You know, because it's a new travel year for me.

It's so good to be back, though! Actually, our team is not completely here yet, and I shall explain (and then you can know how to pray too!). Dave is home with minute tonsillitis (strep throat perhaps?). He will be here on either Monday or Tuesday (August 4 or 5). Brad has been having headaches for a long time (for the last 5 months or so), so he had an MRI done yesterday, and they still don't know what's wrong with him. He comes in tonight. Jennifer is working on getting here...she's had two cancelled flights and is now en route to here from Detriot via ground transportation provided by the airline. So all of that to say, please pray for the health and safe travel of our team!

Our "revival week" begins tomorrow, and I am looking forward to what God is going to teach us and me personally during that time. It will go through Thursday, with morning and afternoon sessions scheduled, and then the evenings off (rehearsal maybe?). So please pray for us...that God would refresh us, grow us, and prepare us for another year of ministering, whether on the road, at headquarters, or wherever else Life Action staff find themselves.

I will probably be updating more frequently this summer than I did throughout the year because of easy internet access and possibly more free time (we will see about that). Thanks for checking up on me, though, and may the Lord bless you today!

8/16/03

I will begin with a quote from myself: "I will probably be updating more frequently this summer than I did throughout the year..." I had forgotten how busy training camp is!

Well, let's just delve into it, shall we? All of my team is finally here (praise the Lord!), with the last one being Stephanie (my team director's fiance), who actually got here yesterday. She had been home doing therapy on her neck/back and planning for the wedding. I believe we're all in pretty good health, if you don't include significant vocal fatigue in the case of several individuals, including yours truly. Yes yes, we sing quite a bit here at training camp. Basically we sing from 10 AM - 12 or 12:30 PM, then from 2 PM - 5 PM, and then from 7 PM - 9 PM. I won't deny that it is a lot of work, and is not always bundles of excitement, but I do enjoy what I do and CAN'T WAIT TO GET ON THE ROAD! Not that I don't like camp, but I love the road, and am excited about what God's going to do this year, and I'll tell you why. Please go to the next paragraph.

During revival week, I was expecting God to really do a lot of work in my heart and life, and I felt I was ready for it. Last year I was struggling a lot spiritually...doubting my salvation and different things, but this year I was really looking forward to revival week. Well, the speakers were great, and the messages were great, and there were a few things that God did speak to me concerning, but there was no major heart-wrenching thing that happened, and honestly, I was almost surprised. He did show me some things in my life, and perhaps, by His grace, I was just able to respond to them better...who knows. Anyways, something I find very exciting was what He did in many of the other team members' lives. We had a testimony time on Wednesday night during the revival week (the last service was on Thursday), and there were returning team members that stood up to say God had shown them they had sin in their life that had been a hindrance to His work last year on the road, and they had repented of that sin. Some new team members came up to share what God had told them or done in their life during the week, and that was very good. I share that to say I really believe God is going to work HUGELY this year in the crusades because WE are more out of the way with our sin. I can honestly say I saw God work last year, but if He has cleaned us up more since then, how much more does He plan to work and possibly use us? Yeah, so I'm ready!

I'll share a bit about rehearsal. Josh Canfield is the Blue Team Music Director this year. He is my team director, JJ's (aka Jeremiah, Jeremy, Jaje, whatever), brother, and therefore our revivalist, Steve Canfield's, son. He is doing a great job of directing: we actually have about 13 new songs that we will be singing this year, and while Josh did nix some songs that I love that we sang last year (namely a song called "I Am," and another called "I See The Lord"), not because they are bad songs, but because they have been around for a while and he wants to bring some new stuff in, the stuff he did bring in is really good, and I am enjoying singing it. It looks like we will be doing many more solos this year, which is fun and is a nice change instead of the whole team singing the whole song. I am hoping that this year will bring about more maturity in my voice, especially since Josh's voice is incredible and he will probably be sharing tips and pointers with us about how to improve our vocal quality as the year progresses.

Now I shall bring this update to a close, as I have written a fair amount already and there is someone waiting to use this computer. Thank you for your support and for checking my site. Have a great day with Jesus! (that 's a Steve Canfield quote...)

8-25-03

Grace and peace to you from our Lord! I'm still here. (Of course, technically, you can never be anywhere but "here"...but we won't debate semantics for now.) "Here" being the Life Action Retreat and Conference Center...LARCC. Times have been interesting since I last updated.

We (my team) survived "Glory Week." That's the week where a team spends around 7-8 hours per day working on the Bring Back The Glory program. Normally I think they spend Monday-Friday working on it and then do what we call "Dress Rehearsal," which is actually a performance in front of other teams and people at the camp, on Friday evening. But, our team actually only did it from Sunday night through Wednesday, and did our Dress Rehearsal on Wednesday night. It went well, so that was good.

Last week and the week before, my voice was really beginning to bother me...not the sound of it as much, but the feel of it. Basically, my throat hurt. I was actually considering making an appointment with an ENT, but I decided not to, and actually, I think my voice has pretty much healed up and is ready for rehearsal today (we haven't had rehearsal today yet...I'm writing this at like 7:30 in the morning).

A couple of prayer requests that I would....request. Please pray that we would be able to keep our focus in rehearsal and otherwise as the time draws near for us to hit the road. Please pray for our vocal health (mainly for singers in that aspect) and otherwise general physical health. Especially pray for one of my good friends on the team named Dave. He's sick right now, and has been that way sorta off and on since before training camp. And please pray that God would prepare the hearts of the members of the first church we will be conducting a crusade in this Fall.

I went golfing yesterday. That was pretty enjoyable. Others that went were JJ (my team director), Ben (his brother), Josh (another of his brothers), Dave (the one I previously mentioned...he started feeling worse towards the end of the game, I believe), Jimmy (he's kind of in charge of things here at the camp), and Adam (he's a cook here at camp). It was only like $6.50, and it was a pretty nice course...we got the "after 4:00 special" or something like that.

Must go now. Breakfast time! It is supposed to only be served from 7:30-8:00, and it is now about 7:45. Thank you for your prayers (my mom told me last night that people were asking about me, and I do appreciate that very much). If you have any questions or comments or ideas or suggestions or anything else that you desire to share with me, please don't hesistate to email! Have a beautimous day!

9/17/03
Grace and peace! I'm in Indiana. The town in which we are doing our crusade is named Albion...it's right in the middle of the cornfields. I'm really slackin on my updates...this is the first I've done since we hit the road, and we are nearing the close of the crusade. But, it has been wonderful so far. The turnout has been really great...the attendance is not as high as on Sunday mornings, but the sanctuary still looks pretty full in the evenings, and that is a blessing and encouragement! My host family is really fun. They are only in their twenties, and have been married for about four months. Their names are Brandon and Elizabeth. They've had some of their friends over to the house, and that has been fun, too. One of their friends, named Nathan, actually taught me how to use a manual transmission on Sunday night. He took me out in his Volkswagon Jetta (one other guy went with us) and I learned to drive a stick! We had a good time, and I just need more practice now. First gear is kinda rough.

Our team is really coming together well, praise the Lord! The new people are doing well, as far as I know (this is their first crusade, so that can be kinda tough). I'm really enjoying the new people on our team this year. God has really blessed us, and I am looking forward to spending this year traveling with them (and the returning ones). I stay pretty busy during the day, with rehearsal for team songs and for choruses (I play my djembe [african-type drum] in the services), and other various assignments given to me and others. I am in charge of materials this year, which means I'm responsible for setting out the handouts and pencils and prayer cards that will be needed for the evening services, and then other times when materials are needed, too. It's nice to have a responsibility. We've been hanging out alot with the people from this church. We had a cookout/hayride at one family's house on Monday. Last week, some of us went to what is called the "party barn," which is this big barn with everything from a basketball goal to a ping pong table to a refrigerator in it. This coming Saturday, most of the team will be coming to my host home for a bonfire/cookout. AND one afternoon last week, some of the team guys played basketball against some of the teens in the church. So it has been really good to get to know the people here and fellowship with them. Actually, tomorrow (Thursday), I am going with one of the teens to get ice cream and talk.

That's one thing I've been doing more of and wanting to do more: ministering. I'm learning to actively minister, and not just do whatever happens to be scheduled for me each day. Even though it's a bit out of my comfort zone, God is stretching me in this area and it's good! :) I've been tasting a lot of His goodness lately, and it's so wonderful! He has been answering prayers, and blessing me in lots of different ways...little things that just say "I love you." (Gotta love those.) We got to do a chapel today at a church which serves as a Christian school during the day, and that went pretty well. It was kinda hard for Dave, who spoke, because he had an audience that ranged from kindergarteners to seniors in high school. But, he did well, and I trust the Lord spoke to those to whom He desired to speak.

I've actually been taking some pictures of things here, so hopefully, if the next church has a high-speed network (or if not, perhaps), I will put them online for your viewing pleasure! Please pray for me and for our team and for our schedule, which God is still working out. Thank you!

9/28/03 (actually, it's the 27th as I type this, but I know it won't be until the 28th when I actually post it, so I'm putting the date of posting on here...just thought I'd let you know)
As I type this, I find myself no longer in Albion, Indiana, but in Peoria, Illinois. Peoria is not a bad place to find onesself, so I'm not at all disappointed with my location. The church in which we will be conducting a crusade here is called Bethany Baptist Church, or something like that. Honestly, I'm not even positive that it's Bethany "Baptist," but I do know that it's "Bethany" something....it should say it on the Life Action site...check there: they're more reliable than I. The previous crusade ended very well. We actually carried the services over for one day, meaning that we had crusade services Monday night too. Testimonies were on Tuesday, Sept. 16, Wednesday, Sept. 17, and Sunday, Sept. 21. There was increasing freedom as the week went on, and things were shared that proved God was working wonderfully and miraculously, as only He can! He restored marraiges, cleared consciences, and brought people back into deeper fellowship with Him. He proved Himself to be good again (not that He needs to...), and I thank Him for it. Thank you for your prayers. I am ready to see Him work again here in Peoria, so please join with us in praying that God would descend and revive! Sunday morning, we will be doing three morning church services, which will be unusual for us, but will be a good chance for God to be strong in our weakness! Sunday night is the Bring Back The Glory program, so if you read this before then, please pray that God would speak to those in attendance. Honestly, there's not much else to tell, though, at this point. I have not yet met my host family for this crusade: I have stayed with a guy from the church Friday and Saturday night, and will meet my new host family Sunday night: I think they have been out of town for the weekend. I'm by myself currently, but will join with two other guys from the team (Jeremiah and Will) Sunday in our more permanent host home. Please pray for our team, as many of us are sick (I wouldn't include myself in that category...maybe a few allergy problems, but nothing major), and that can difficult in this environment. Please also pray that we would feel and be supernaturally rested, as this first week can tend to be strenuous, especially since we're starting it off with an early morning (we have to be at the church at 7:00 Sunday morning). I know God is good and will provide the strength we need. I put some pictures online of training camp and of our first crusade, if you haven't noticed, so just click on "Nathan's Photo Album" at the top (or whatever it says). I'll try to update as more things happen! Grace and peace to you!

10/2/03

I have high-speed Internet this crusade...in my bedroom! Such a blessing. This will be helpful in putting pictures online (I will soon...gotta take a few more and put them on the computer first), and in updating this site more frequently and in checking email. I like technology. Yes, I do.

Obviously, I'm with my new host family. They are really great people...they own a mortuary, and supposedly morticians often have a great sense of humor. If this is true, then my host family is not breaking the tradition, because they really are enjoyable and my host dad really likes to joke around and laugh. I'm here with a guy on our team named Will (he's from West Virginia and is new this year...he helps out with the children's ministry and with other miscellaneous jobs during the day), and Jeremiah (JJ, Jaje, whatever)...my team director. It's been good.

The crusade has gone well so far. This church (as I think I may have already mentioned) has a sanctuary that does not hold the amount of people they actually have in attendance, so we did three services on Sunday morning, and during the weeknights it's just pretty full, and we have the kids sit on the floor in the middle aisle and in the front (they are only in the sanctuary for about 10 minutes of the service...during the music section). The response here has been encouraging...it seems many people are responding to the Lord in going to the prayer room, and through different people sharing with individual team members, we know God is already working. He is so good and worthy of all praise! I'll try to update with more specifics whenever we get to hear testimonies in the services.

Thank you for praying for this crusade...I know God has been moving. Here are some ways you can pray specifically for the crusade and our team right now:

-Team members' physical health: we have sick people on our team, namely JJ...coughing and other various symptoms that are not preferable, so please pray that the Lord would quickly heal them. Also, it's easy to get physically fatigued on the road, which can lead to emotional and/or spiritual problems, so please pray that God would bless and multiply our rest, and that He would give wisdom concerning going to bed at a reasonable time, too! :)

-Team members spiritual health: there are some on our team that are struggling spiritually...worry and depression are a couple of things that have been mentioned. Spiritual weakness or impotence can render us ineffective, should God choose to use us, and besides that, it's not desirable and I don't like to see my team members hurting, so please pray for those that are struggling spiritually...that God would be their strength, their joy, their resting place, and their healer.

-The church members: please pray that God would send brokenness and show people (that haven't already realized it) their need for Him and His holiness. Praise Him for what He is doing in marriages and families and individual lives (because He is faithful to do it to some extent in every crusade)!

-Team leadership: Steve needs wisdom about what messages to preach and in discerning the needs of this church. Please pray also for Trent (the family revivalist) and JJ (teen speaker), that the Lord would anoint their minds, hearts, and lips, and would speak through them and pierce the hearts of those who hear.

That's all for now...I have to get ready for bed. Thank you for your support, and may the Lord bless you until...well, may He just continually bless you! Have a great day with Him!

10/16/03

Two weeks since I updated...

This crusade is, practically speaking, over. God was so good and gracious: He, once again, was faithful to perform spiritual overhauls on individuals and families for the praise of His glory. Many testimonies I was able to hear dealt with bitterness issues that people were resolving. Moral issues were mentioned, as were family relationships (one 66-year-old man got up and shared that he had not been an open, communicating father to his children, and he reconciled and was transparent with his youngest son for two hours on the phone one night during these weeks.), idolatry (television), and anxiety. God did a great work here. But He hasn't stopped since the meetings have stopped, for I went to the Wednesday night prayer meeting tonight, and many people asked for prayer: some concerning physical issues and others dealing with spiritual matters, which is encouraging because that means God is still bringing brokenness and awakening and freshness and repentance to peoples' lives.

I love my job. Seriously, I get to sing, meet (usually) fellow believers in Christ, and watch God work. Of course, there's more involved than just those three things, but you get my point: it's great seeing my Lord work!

I'll fill ya in on some of the details concerning events during these past couple of weeks. Services were normal for the most part (except on Sundays, which I've already discussed in prior updates). My dad actually came to see me during the second week of the crusade, on a Wednesday evening (that would be October 8). He attended the service that night, and then we went to Steak 'n Shake afterwards, ending with a nice long trip to his hotel (it was kinda hard to get to). I spent the night with him there at Fairfield Inn, and the next day I embarked upon the busiest day of the entire crusade. The morning was early, and the day was long: we did a chapel at the local Christian high school, and at the middle school (Peoria Christian School). We also had someone from headquarters come see us that day, and video us singing during the afternoon at the church, so as to get some updated footage of road team members, which, I assume, will eventually be formatted and used in some fashion. Spent that night with pops too, and he left early the next morning to drive to Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri, and I had my roommates from my host home pick me up at the hotel. It's been a tiring crusade, especially with me being somewhat sick (I began feeling sickly on Tuesday, October 7, I believe). But, I've decided that my bedroom here is the best that I've ever had. It has high-speed internet going into it (I know I've already mentioned that), and, if I could close the door all the way, it would be nearly pitch black, because there are no windows. It's in the basement, and the only window in the basement leads to a...I don't even know what it is...escape hole thing going up to ground level. So I sleep late in here. AND, it has those icicle-style Christmas outdoor lights hanging all around the room, which make for a really nice atmosphere. My host dad also has a Gibson 12-string acoustic guitar which I have not played yet, but may just strum a bit on before we leave Friday. So God is good, and provides for my needs and beyond. We've had like 3 "theme days" on the team: "thrift store day," "orange day," and "borrow somebody's clothes day," not in that order. I complied for one: orange day, and you can see the picture. We also got to (today) go to this couple's house for lunch, and the lady is Korean and she made us an INCREDIBLE lunch. AHHH!!!! SO good fried rice and this beef stuff. Seriously in the top 3, if not the best lunch I've had on the road ever. And we hung out at their house after that and went on a swing they have and played some badminton and volleyball and croquet and did other fun stuff (see pictures). We got to go to an FFH/Big Daddy Weave/Warren Barfield concert (not today...like last Saturday, October 11) and it was GREAT! We had a good time, and I'll put pictures online. I guess that about covers it, activity-wise, except for a golfing excursion (may go again Thursday unless it rains).

Please continue to pray for team members' health, including my own. I don't know what the deal is, but I think seriously about half of our team has felt somewhat under the weather at some point in the past 3 weeks. Most, it seems, have a cough and not much else, but some have struggled with flu-like symptoms. Praise the Lord, He provided about $49,000 in the love-offering this crusade! Jehovah-Jireh provides! Also, praise Him because He provided a trailer for JJ and Stephanie to live in for the first 3 crusades after Christmas break! They're getting married in November, and would have preferred not to stay in host homes for a while, so that's a blessing!

I've made this long enough. Any questions, comments, email me! Check out my new pictures...I finally put pictures from one-nighters online, so you can see them, and I put some online from the crusade here in Peoria! Praise and love the Lord today!

10/21/03

We're actually only about 30 minutes from Peoria this crusade...actually, that depends on how well you follow driving instructions and can navigate these parts. For a Mackinawian (that'd be a person from Mackinaw, Illinois, where we are...and I made that term up), Peoria might be about 30 minutes away. But, for a Texan like me, a trip to Peoria and back (with a few stops in between) could take as long as two hours, and be about 100 miles. You guessed it, I tried to drive to Peoria last night to return a DVD I had rented at a Hollywood Video in that city on Thursday night (October 16) and had inadvertently kept (the case was returned, the DVD wasn't). I left at a little before 10:00 pm, I believe, and didn't get back here until about midnight. It was sad. Mackinaw is southeast of Peoria...we (Robbie Ginn, my roommate was with me) drove around the city on highway 474, then took 74W back through the city, failing to find the road we were looking for, so we turned around and took 74E BACK into Peoria, finally finding the evasive (or simply hard for us to find) Knoxville Road (or is it Avenue?). There is more to the story, but I'll save it. We made it back, so praise the Lord for that.

I'm staying with the pastor and his wife this crusade. Gotta be on my best behavior (per Barry Bechtold...)! They live in a parsonage that is right next door to the church (of course), so it's quite nice. If call time is 10:00, Nathan leaves the house at about 9:55. I love it.

The name of this church is New Castle Bible Church. Dave (teammate) thinks it's a cool name, and I agree. The pastor of this church is actually a friend of the pastor of the church where we previously did a crusade: Bethany Baptist Church in Peoria. So far, things have gone pretty well here: I'm enjoying my host family, the services are going smoothly (although that's not always a sign that things are going well spiritually, it's still something to be thankful for...but honestly, if God came down in the revival we desire to see and pray for, I doubt the service would continue as if nothing were out of the ordinary...). Please pray that God would show us our need for Him...not just the congregation, but the team members too. Until we see our need for God, His work will be minimal. SMILE time is tomorrow (which stands for Sharing Moments In Living Effectively...it's a luncheon for the women in the church during which either Debbie Canfield or Andrea Griffeth [the wives of our revivalists] will share from their experience and encourage women to live for Christ in different areas of life) and next Wednesday (that's almost always the case) so please pray for Debbie and Andrea (Debbie shares tomorrow; Andrea is next week)...they have both been sick recently and need strength and grace. Please continue to pray for our team's physical health, as some of us are still struggling in that arena, and please pray for brokenness on our team, that we would not be a roadblock to what God wants to do in this church and in our lives.

Personally, you can pray for my physical health (as I already mentioned)...I'm still coughing, and I don't feel like I'm getting any better...I don't like that. If it's the Lord's will, I'd really like to be done with this (the cough, I mean). Also, I need to find a cheap airline ticket to use to get back to Michigan after Christmas break. I have one, but it's for the wrong day, so I have to get another one, because I'm pretty sure the one I have isn't refundable (it's ok, it was the second half of a round trip ticket...I used the first half to fly home in July). I found one with Southwest, and might get it, but, you can pray anyways, if you want. :) Spiritually, please pray that God would would give me a fresh excitement about my salvation and my relationship with Him. Pray that I'd have renewed peace and joy and purpose in my walk with Him throughout the day. Thank you much!

That's all for now, folks. Thanks for checkin this thing. Thank you for your prayers and love. May our Lord richly bless you today! Amen!

10/28/03
It's a good day! I have a correction and praise. Last update I said that my airline ticket is non-refundable, well, it is, according to my dad, but I'll probably just have to pay like $100 to change it. So that's a blessing.

I've been busy. I give piano lessons to Zac Canfield (Steve's 14-year-old son), so that takes up time, and with various other responsibilities and tasks, I don't spend a whole lot of time doing absolutely nothing. Tomorrow (Wednesday) we have a team outing to an indoor ropes course/wall climbing place that is also a restaurant, so we'll spend our afternoon there tomorrow. Thursday I speak on moral purity to the Dynamite Club (in a way that 2nd-5th graders would understand it). And Friday is our day off! We're actually doing a service next Monday (normally the service would be over Sunday night): Steve felt that it would be good, so we're going to have an extended time of worship in music, with Trent speaking on worship occasionally throughout the evening. It should be good though. I get to share next Wednesday night in the junior high department also, the topic being "the importance of your quiet time." So, please pray throughout these next days as I will be fairly busy (on some of the days at least). I do enjoy being busy and having things to do, but I don't want my focus to shift from God to my tasks, and I don't want to get irritable either.

During the last crusade before Christmas (we have one more between now and then), in Oklahoma, I get to speak to the teens, so that will be exciting for me. Please pray that God would show me what He wants me to say, and enable me to minister to and love the teens there.

This crusade has gone really well. The turnout has been good, and the testimonies have been powerful. People have shared with individual team members, and with the congregation, what God is doing in their lives, and He is working. Tonight during testimony time, issues were brought up concerning bitterness, a parent disciplining in anger, pride, surrender, and a husband who didn't lead his wife spiritually like he should. I've noticed a pattern developing: God is faithful to lovingly bring His children out of sin, back into fellowship with Him! He has been, is, and will be so good! He's got me convinced of that.

JJ preached to our team about selfishness last week, and God has really used that, since then, to work our lives. The evening he spoke to us about that (it was on Thursday, Oct. 23 during our team meeting from 4:00-5:00), we had a time of confession and reconciliation in areas of selfishness God had convicted us about. God has definitely been showing me that I'm selfish in that I have a hard time sometimes whenever someone is doing something in a way that I think might not be the best way. If I think my way is better, then I tend to get frustrated. This has been somewhat of an authority issue for me: whenever someone in authority makes a decision, and I think that my idea is better, I get bent out of shape sometimes. Not that the authority is wrong, but I'm just selfish in that I want my way with things. So that's where God found me. You can pray for me in that if you so desire.

Thank you for your support and love and encouragement. May the grace and strength of our Lord be with you today! 'Til next time....

Crusade #4
Frankfort, Illinois
Peace Community Church
11/8/03

Well, I'll review the events of the past week.
Monday: Rehearsal most of the day, honestly. We were preparing for a worship service scheduled for that evening, so we spent a fair amount of time in either vocal or instrumental rehearsal. The worship service itself went quite well. I feel like the Lord was glorified and enjoyed and praised during that time. It was cool, because God kinda helped destroy the possibility of us singers receiving glory for the service through two incidences that made the first several team songs not go really smoothly. It was good because (in my mind) it kept the focus on God and not on the singers. The final crusade offering was around $40,000, praise the Lord! God did a lot of things in that church. I'll share a couple of testimonies with you (I love hearing testimonies!). One woman shared that her lost husband had nicknamed her "the cusser." God, during the crusade, changed that in her and she is keeping her speech clean now, by His grace. What a witness to her husband of God's power and grace! A man shared that his morning priorities before the crusade were coffee and FOX news. God worked in his life, though, and now he's spending time with Him in the morning. He had also never prayed with his wife before God worked in his life during the crusade, but he is now. One more that was really cool. A woman shared that God has changed their home and family, and that was evidenced through their young son. He told his mom, "Maybe we should join Life Action." She said, "Well, maybe we should," and he asked, "Would we have to give up our dog?" She said they might, and he then replied with, "Well, could we at least visit him sometimes?" God works in s and in children, and it's so exciting to see!
Tuesday: We loaded the semi, and then had the rest of the day off. I went to the chiropractor at 6:45 AM to have him work on my left shoulder, that I hurt last Saturday night playing baseball at a family's house. He did it for free (praise the Lord!)
Wednesday: Day off, except we had to be at church that night. I actually got to speak to the junior highers, and that went really well. I talked about spending time with God, and actually spent a fair amount of my time Wednesday afternoon preparing for that.
Thursday: Day off. My roommate (Robbie) and I went with a freshman from the church, whose name is Jared (and whose house I was at when I hurt my shoulder), to a place called InPlay, which has lots of video games and stuff, so we had a good time with that. I also went back to the chiropractor at 9:00 AM and he worked on my shoulder again, free of charge!
Friday: Time to leave! We left at a little after 11:15, I think, and arrived here in Frankfort at about 3:00. As we were unloading our equipment, Dick and Patti Smith, a couple from Big Bone, Kentucky who have become friends of our team and our ministry, showed up at the church. Our team ate supper at Applebees, and the Smiths paid for all of us. They're great folk.
Saturday: We finished setting up, rehearsed, and went home to our host families. That's a simplification of what happened, of course, but I think I'll spare you the gory details :).
It's Saturday as I write this. Sunday, we will be doing two morning services. We will have a service going on in the gymnasium and one in the sanctuary, and when those are done, the people will switch, theoretically. Please pray for God's movement in the services tomorrow. Pray for revival!
Thanks for visiting the site...I will try to post pictures from the last crusade on Monday. God bless you today!

BEFORE YOU READ THIS, I WILL GIVE A DISCLAIMER. I WROTE THIS UPDATE BEFORE THE CRUSADE IN FRANKFORT, IL WAS OVER, BUT WAS NOT ABLE TO ACTUALLY PUBLISH IT TO THE WEB. NOW SOME OF THE INFORMATION IS OUTDATED BUT I'M POSTING THIS ANYWAYS, AND WILL POST SOME MORE RECENT INFO SOON. THANKS! CHECK OUT MY NEW PICTURES!

Well, here I sit, at the church, with a few spare minutes. This crusade has been incredible in several ways.
-I have been incredibly busy. For the next crusade, Dave, Brad, and I are speaking to the teens in Jeremiah's stead, since he will be on his honeymoon. I therefore have 4 messages to prepare. One of them is close to being finished...just needs some polishing and reviewing and an ending. The other three are, well, mostly non-existent. I offer no excuses, but I do ask for your prayer: that God would grant me wise time management, optimal time usage, and discernment in what He wants me to say. Teresa Spitzer (person in charge of the music directors...she works at headquarters) was here for the first week of the crusade, so extra time was spent with her in rehearsal and lessons. We had a Thanksgiving skit to do today and yesterday for the kids who go to preschool here at the church (I'll put a picture or two of this wonderful production online soon). I also had issues to work out with Cingular and American Airlines on the phone (both of which got resolved on Friday, Nov. 14, actually, except I have a little more work to do with the Cingular issue). Also, all of the team members were supposed to read 2 books this Fall (one was our choice, the other had to be Don't Waste Your Life by John Piper), and I've not even finished the first, being The Normal Christian Life by Watchman Nee. I also have to take note of what crusade materials we need to order so that we can receive them next crusade and have minimal stuff shipped out to California in Jan/Feb. I also need to apply for a college and work on scholarships. I love my host family (Joey and I actually got a new host family on Sunday, and they're great...the Kavanaughs: they have a 7-year-old , 4.5-year-old boy, and 2-year-old boy...love em!), and wanna spend time with them, but don't really have lotsa time for that. All of these things are GREAT! I just have a lot to do, so please pray for me! God showed me recently, though, through Nancy Leigh DeMoss's book "Lies Women Believe and the Truth That Sets Them Free" that I do have all the time I need to do the things that God wants me to do: I need to let Him set my agenda. I'll just ruin, right now, the harassing emails I could potentially receive concerning that last sentence, by saying that, although directed towards women, and written by a woman, Miss DeMoss's book contains things that are helpful and applicable to men, too. (By the way, it's now Friday as I write this...) So, despite quite a few chores, I'm learning to quit striving and stressing, and let God work out my day. Good stuff.
-God has worked in incredible ways. One of the deacons of the church and his wife got saved on the second Sunday of the crusade. A husband and wife both shared during testimony time on Tuesday that they had been bitter at each other for different things and were working that stuff out now. One of the teens started out this crusade as a skeptic, but now God has changed him, and he's learning to desire to know God and grow in Him. Last Sunday morning, though, was probably the greatest day of the crusade (that was the second Sunday...Steve preaches on bitterness, and then salvation). My friend Dave basically said, "God was in that room." "That room" was the church gym...we did Sunday services in there because the church sanctuary cannot fit all of the people that come (this church normally has two morning services). During a song about salvation that we sing, called "Were It Not For Grace," Josh couldn't sing part of his solo because he began to cry. I spent the majority of that service in the prayer room, with God revealing things to me about my freedom from the love of sin, the power of sin, and the condemnation of sin...things that I needed Him to work on in me. Dave was in the service, and he said he just felt the presence of God in that room. Steve had everyone bow their heads and close their eyes after the salvation message, and he asked if those who knew that they were lost would raise their hand so he could pray for them. I am told that about 40 people raised their hands in a congregation of over 500, I would assume. Steve then encouraged them to go back to a prayer room (we had 2 set up) and be obedient to God, and I think there were probably about 30 that did. One man said afterwards that as people were raising their hands signifying that they were lost, and Steve was saying, "Thank you....thank you....I see that...." (you know what I mean), he (this man) thought Steve was making it up because he said it so many times. But, the man said, once Steve invited them to get up and go to the prayer room, there was a lot of noise and the man realized that there were a lot who had raised their hands. I was priveleged to counsel and pray with one man who basically said there were things in his life that were not like Christ, and that God was calling him to change those (alcohol problem, worries about his job). But Sunday morning was great, and I really do think that God was there more obviously than He has been in other services.
This church is of the Christian Reformed denomination, and Steve shared their beliefs with our team during the first week of the crusade. It was quite interesting, and I honestly agreed with most of it...good stuff.
Please pray for this church, though. God could do a great work here on Sunday, and we want Him to. We don't know when He'll send nationwide revival, but why not start it here? Please pray...it's all we really can do anyways.
I appreciate you. If there's anything you're curious about, please email me and let me know, and I'll try to either post it on here or write you back! Now, I release you!!! :) Until next time...

I'm home! I know I did not post an update for the entire last crusade, and I'm sorry I didn't, but I'll tell about it during this update.

First, I'll tell about the end of the crusade in Frankfort (two crusades ago). God did some amazing things in that church, to be sure! The closing night was Sunday, Nov. 23. There had been some issues in the past with that church that gave Steve the desire to hold a "confession" service. That took place Sunday night. We (as a congregation) read through Ezra 9, Nehemiah 9, and Daniel 9. Each contains a confession that "I" or "we" have sinned. It was a time to say "it wasn't so-and-so's fault...it wasn't that other person in the church who blew it...WE...I have sinned." Steve led us through these passages, sometimes having us read out loud with him. Then, he had the pastor come to the front and pray. The pastor broke down and began to cry as he prayed. He wept silently for a minute, and then, voluntarily, people began to walk towards the front, surrounding, and laying hands on the pastor. There seemed to be much brokenness. It was an incredible service, and it was exciting watching God work. I really enjoyed that crusade, and wanted to stay longer.

From there, on Tuesday, we (most of the team) went to Springfield-area Missouri, to Brad's (a team member) house/church. Jeremiah went to Nebraska on Monday to prepare for his wedding, taking Ben, Josh, and Amanda with him. Dave went home and then flew to Nebraska on Friday. The bulk of the team, though, spent Tuesday night and Wednesday in Springfield. We led the service at Brad's church on Wednesday night. Thursday, we drove to Alva, Oklahoma (the site of our last crusade before Christmas break). We set up most of our equipment Thursday night, and then retreated to our host homes to sleep. My host family wasn't home, and my roommate was Ben, who was in Nebraska with his brothers (Jeremiah and Josh). So I was there by myself. That night, unbeknownst to me, the pilot light blew out for the heating system in the house, so when I woke up on Friday morning, I believe the thermostat read 54 degrees. Quite cold. I didn't know what had happened, but that was ok, because we left on Friday at about noon for Nebraska. We drove all day and arrived in Lincoln that night. Jeremiah and Stephanie's wedding was Saturday afternoon. It was fun, and everything went fairly smoothly. I was an usher. We left at like 3ish to go back to Oklahoma. We got into Alva at about 1:00AM Sunday morning, went to our host homes, and went to bed. The crusade began about 8 1/2 hours later.

This church was different than any other church we have been to this fall. It was a Baptist church...the first we had been to this travel year. And the Sunday morning attendance was around 300...the only church like that was our first crusade, in September, in Albion, Indiana. Also, Jeremiah and Stephanie were not there...that means we lost a keyboard player, 2 singers, a team director, and a youth speaker. Rachel Nelson took Stephanie's spot on the keyboard, Jeremiah's responsibilities as team director were given to Rick mostly, and some were divvied out to guys on the team. Dave was placed in charge of teens, but he, Brad, and I were all responsible for speaking to them at different times. Also, Steve Canfield was not there (he takes "vacation time" for the last crusade before Christmas every year), so Trent Griffith became our main revivalist, and a man named Aaron Dickinson (he was a part of our ministry for a short time, and then he left) came from Louisiana to be the family revivalist. Yet, despite all of these different things about the crusade, I believe God still worked. I was stressed out at the beginning of the crusade...trying to get my messages prepared to speak to the teens. I stayed busy for most of the crusade, actually. There were several struggling marriages that God began to work on, and on the second Sunday of the crusade, God saved, I believe, at least 3 people! Teens mentioned getting right with God and/or their parents.

We loaded up our stuff on Wednesday night, and everyone left on Thursday...some went north on the bus, and others (namely Gretchen, Crystal, and me [along with my mother, sister, and friend Roxanne, who drove up to get me]) headed south by green van. I'm home now (as I stated at the beginning of this update), and as such, will not be posting any new updates on here until early January. I DO plan to post some pictures of Frankfort (actually just the picture of the confession service I mentioned, if possible), the wedding, and Alva. Until next time, may the Lord bless, keep, fill, and be near you....

Nathan