Answered Prayer....It's a God Thing!

Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed. Proverbs 16:3

A GOD THING….

Buck, Diane & Kerry left San Angelo Friday, July 27, to drive to Dallas for what Kerry says was one of the most blessed weekends he ever spent in his 59 years. As we drove, we talked about all that we hoped the days ahead would bring. The weekend was all about our dream…a crusade in Caracas, Venezuela in January of 2008. We were to meet with Jacobo from Venezuela, Gail Graves (former SBC church planter, now a Simple Church planter), Tom Robuck (partnership coordinator, Baptist General Convention of Texas or BGCT), and Drs. Tony and Felicity Dale (authors, physicians, and national leaders in the house church movement). God had brought these people together at this particular time to follow His will into a great adventure for Him.

As we drove, we talked about the hopes and fears. We discussed the need for professional American league baseball players from Venezuela to agree to share their faith during the crusade…they are key to drawing the 40,000 to 50,000 people we expect each evening. We need money, close to $300,000, to fund the various aspects of the crusade, including buying a sound system capable of handling a large stadium. We need offices both in Venezuela and in the U.S. to handle all the logistics of sending hundreds of North Americans to Venezuela. We need permission and funds to rent the baseball stadium there in Caracas, the largest venue available. We need to get the publicity rolling. We need to know what the BGCT will do and how they will help. The questions seem never-ending.

As we neared DFW Airport, we realized that we have several immediate problems. We know that Jacobo is due in from Atlanta at 5:55pm on Delta…but what gate? Will he know to look for us at the baggage claim exit? How can we contact him? Gail is coming in from Boise, Idaho…we do not know when or which airline. As we turned onto Hwy 114 and approached the toll plaza into the airport, Kerry’s cell phone rang. It was Gail! His flight out of Boise was delayed, and he was put on another flight going through Atlanta…and he found Jacobo on his flight! Their plane had just landed, he said, and they would be at Gate E-23. As we pulled into the arrival area, there was Gail and Jacobo. They had just walked out the doors only moments before. We all agreed…it was a “God thing.”


He answered their prayers, they trusted in him. 2 Chronicles 5:20

GIVING THE VISION BACK….

The five us sat in a circle and prayed, asking God to reaffirm the vision if it was from Him. There were still many unknowns and unanswered questions hindering our progress in the planning of the crusade. We still had no assurance in reserving the baseball stadium for the crusade. We still had no commitments from any professional baseball players to go and share their testimonies. We still had many logistical details to work out.

We were in our hotel room, having spent most of the evening talking about what we felt God wanted us to do and how we could make it happen. There we were…Jacobo, Diane, and Kerry sitting in the floor, and Gail and Buck sitting in the two chairs in our room…and we did the only thing we knew to do…we prayed. We realized that we alone could not make it happen…only God could. And we needed to be reassured by Him that we were indeed on the right track. We agreed as one to give the vision back to Him, laying it before Him and taking our hands off of it. We prayed for guidance and direction and for open doors and made ourselves available to His work, fresh and anew.

Wow! Don’t ever pray like that and not expect something to happen!!!


May the favor of the Lord our God rest upon us; establish the work of our hands for us – yes, establish the work of our hands. Psalm 90:17

AND THE ANSWER IS….

The morning came early. We all met together in the breakfast room about 8:30. After breakfast, the breakfast room became our conference room. We began to plan and strategize for the crusade and in preparation for the afternoon’s meetings. As Gail and Jacobo worked out plans for the ten-day Simple Church leadership training in September, Kerry felt an urgency to get in touch with Juan Rivera, outfielder for the Los Angeles Angels. Kerry had tried the night before to get into his office e-mail where he had phone numbers for both Juan Rivera and Carlos Subero, manager of a farm team for the Texas Rangers out of Bakersfield, California. He had not been able to connect, but on a hunch, he decided to try again. He was able to connect immediately! He got the phone numbers and called Juan. He told him who he was and that Carlos had given him his number. He told him that he wanted Juan to share his faith at the crusade in Caracas. The phone went dead. Perhaps he thought it was a prank call. Kerry’s heart sank, and as he told the group what happened, he could see the disappointment in their eyes. However, a few minutes later, Kerry’s phone rang. It was Juan! They spoke a few minutes, then he handed to phone to Jacobo to speak to Juan in Spanish. When they finished, Jacobo related that Juan had agreed to be at the crusade for 3 days! Wow! Thank you, Lord! Thank you, FCA! Thank you, Carlos Subero!

About 15 minutes later, Kerry’s phone rang again. It was Carlos! Kerry told him he had just spoken to Juan and what his response was. Carlos was ecstatic! He had contacted two other athletes, one a soccer player who is on one of the best teams in Venezuela, and they had both agreed to come. At this date, we believe that we have 4 professional athletes committed to share their testimonies at the crusade! Yes, it’s still a “God thing” and yes, He does answer prayer!


Many, many other things were accomplished including searching through Google to find a phone number for Bill Cashion and talking with him about working with the ballplayers during the crusade. We adjourned for lunch, basking in the victories God had given. (And we got to have lunch with one of our grandsons who lives in Lewisville…icing on the cake!)

At 2:00 Tom & Libby Robuck arrived at our breakfast room conference room. They are a warm and very caring couple who have passion for missions. Tom had just gotten back that morning from a mission trip to Brazil. As we talked, he let us understand that the BGCT leadership had decided to make the Caracas crusade a “project” as opposed to a part of the partnership between Texas Baptists and Venezuela set to begin in 2008. This would allow more immediate freedom to fund and form teams for the crusade. They have even already begun to publicize the crusade in a couple of events and have received quite a bit of interest! Wow! What an answer to prayer! The details began to fall into place. Our thoughts and hearts began to meld together. Tom and Jacobo make a great team. Tom speaks Spanish quite well, and the plans began to roll. Another answer to prayer!

At 4:00 Drs. Tony & Felicity Dale showed up, along with some of our friends from San Angelo, Sherryl & De McCleery, who are involved with a house church here and plan to be a part of our Caracas team. The Dales are well known across the nation in the area of simple churches. They have written books for the House2House group and have had one of their books translated into Spanish by Rick Warren’s group to use as follow-up material. What an honor it was to meet them. There was an instant affinity with them and our group. They will be going to Venezuela in September (as will the McCleerys) to help Gail train the simple church leaders! Praise God! They will be with us in Caracas for the crusade! Praise God! They will give Gail time at their national convention to present our dream for Caracas! Praise God!

Often during our meetings we stopped to pray and offer praise to God. It was hard to go to sleep that evening. Wow! God had given so many answers, so many open doors, so many assurances. All we needed to do was step back, walk by faith, and let Him work.

Sunday morning we took Jacobo to the airport early for his day of travel back home to Caracas. (As it turned out, it became two days of travel because of bad weather in Miami.) We were able to send back with him a notebook computer and video projector to be used in the office and in trainings there in Caracas…another answer to prayer! Buck, Gail, Kerry & Diane drove to Frisco to attend Stonebriar Community Church where Chuck Swindoll pastors…and where our kids Rich & Christi attend church. Chuck was away, but we did get to spend time with two of our other grandchildren! After lunch, we took Gail to the airport for his flight back to Boise, then we, along with Buck, began our trip back to San Angelo. It was a journey punctuated with praise, plans, and Dairy Queens! We probably got great gas mileage on our way home because we were floating…it had been such an awesome weekend.

It is our prayer that we not get to where we are asking for God to bless what we are doing but to find out where he is working and join him in it. We believe God is working in South America, and we believe He has placed in our hearts a passion for the people of Venezuela. And we will do whatever we feel led by Him to do in order to share the Gospel with them.