The final day of the Circuit Rider training school was a perfect opportunity for the 175 college students to put into practice all they had learned from the last 4 days. Huntington Beach is known for hosting one of the largest 4th of July celebrations west of the Mississippi with 75,000 people filling the beaches and downtown area! Nervous energy rung in the room, as we geared up to release these freshly trained evangelists to go seek and save the lost. In our final moments together, we asked if there were any questions, and hands went up across the room. One of the girls stood up and confessed that she had never shared the gospel on the streets before, and she was terrified that she would be put in danger, because she had heard many stories about when evangelism went wrong. We assured her that if she found herself in that situation, she should leave get out of that situation immediately, but that ultimately the hardest thing she could encounter would be rejection and possibly some rude comments. Shortly after this, we sent out 175 young adults on the streets of Huntington Beach for 2 hours to evangelize or share the gospel in groups of 2-3.
A couple of hours later, all 175 of us met up to debrief & share testimonies. Guess who was one of the first to share a testimony? That’s right, the girl just hours prior was terrified! The first girl that she approached, was open to the gospel and wanted to give her life to Jesus! But that was not the end of the story, the same girl then wanted to be baptized. So right there, in the Pacific Ocean, one of the largest bodies of water, this once terrified student found herself baptizing this new believer!
Can you imagine if the fear and worry of what COULD have happened would have continued to dictate what this Circuit Rider student was willing to do?
Fear is the greatest thief of opportunity!
This student is now compelled by what COULD happen in every opportunity where she feels the prompting of the Holy Spirit to share the gospel.
Evangelism is not a personality or character trait that only some have and others don’t. is an expression of following Jesus
Later, a group of students noticed a stage set up by the pier. Most of those performing were singing popular pop hits, to listeners eating their lunch or passing by. and the attendees were people eating their lunch or passing by. At one point, an announcement was made that if anyone from the crowd would like to perform, they could come and talk to the stage manager.
The group of Circuit Rider students rushed over to the stage manager and asked if they could sing a song and share a brief message. The stage manager agreed, and so they made their way onto stage. One student sang a simple worship song, and her friend shared the gospel to the crowd that had formed around the stage. I can’t remember response of the group was because I was not physically there when this occurred. butI am seeing this again and again, a generation walking in boldness that is driven by the love that is not going to allow fear, reputation, or personality stop them from the opportunity to share the greatest love the world has ever known. The world is longing for this love revolution that is being ushered in by people willing to go do what no one else will.
All of this took place at our Circuit Rider School at the beginning of July where 175 students from around the nation flew into Huntington Beach, CA for a week of freedom, breakthrough, discovery of dreams, visions, and burdens to carry back to their campus or workplace. Our goal as a ministry was to empower and equip them to accomplish the calling God has placed on their life and we are confident that took place based upon the stories we have heard from this school!