Wauchula, FL

WOW IN WAUCHULA...

...was the headline in the local paper Monday morning, following our Fan the Flame county-wide revival effort.

Drive two hours from Wauchula in any direction and you'll find the cosmopolitan life of Tampa, the sandy beaches of the Gulf Coast or the Magic Kingdom of Orlando. But spend time in Wauchula and surrounding Hardee County, and you'll understand why it is called Florida's Heartland. It is a tranquil treasure in central Florida where moss hangs from the trees, wild turkeys roam the fields, wild boar are hunted with crossbows, and there are more cowboys than any other county in the country. On August 8-10th, the Heartland certainly had Heaven's attention as Christians gathered to ask God to Fan The Flame of revival in their region.

More than one year ago, Pastor Ken Smith, of First Baptist Church in  Wauchula, extended an invitation to Anne Graham Lotz for an intensive weekend of ministry to reach area church leaders, the people who attend their churches, and his own church congregation. Anne and her husband, Danny, accepted Ken's invitation and God's call to the Heartland.  We are  now praising God for the evidence of personal and corporate revival that took place as a result of Fan The Flame:Anne Graham Lotz in the Heartland.

Fanning the Flame of the Leaders

On Friday, August 7th, two hundred area pastors, Bible teachers and ministry leaders joined for a full day of Bible study and teaching.  The day was opened in worship as Fernando Ortega helped set the atmosphere and the focus on Jesus through his incredible music.  As the plaintive final notes of Give Me Jesus echoed from the piano, Anne took her place at the podium for the first message, drawn from Ezekiel 1.  She reminded the audience that God often uses storms to help the leader get people's attention so that they will receive the message.  And she challenged them not to forget the message, which is Jesus.

After her first message, she shared with the audience how she reads God's Word in her own daily devotional time in order to insure that she herself is consistently receiving God's Word before imparting it to others.  After breaking for lunch, she led in a second workshop that gave practical tools for studying the Scripture on a deeper level, then preparing it for preaching to others.

The enthusiasm of those present was evident in the din of discussion that occurred among the leaders during the interactive sessions. In the final Question & Answer portion, one near-retirement pastor summed up the apparent sentiment of the entire group when he used his "question" to ask, Where were you 40 years ago when I was just starting out?! This is what I have wanted to know how to do all my life.

Praise God with us for fanning the flame of revival in the hearts of these leaders.

Fanning the Flame of the People

Teaching her "I Saw The LORD" message from Isaiah 6 that has almost become the "signature" of her heart for God's people, Anne faced an overflow crowd of men, women, and children on Saturday evening, August 9th. Fernando opened with a concert that was truly Spirit-led and Spirit-inspired.  The crowd responded by filling the sanctuary with voices that seemed to lift the roof off.  Because one overflow room was filled with Spanish-speaking people listening through an interpreter, Fernando sang Con Que Pagaremos, an exquisitely beautiful Spanish hymn.  Putting the words on the screen, the audience was able to sing with him in such a way that even those who didn't understand the words were moved to tears. The Lord seemed to descend, so that when Anne described what Isaiah saw, everyone there saw Him, too.  One by one, they stood at the end of the evening to repent of their sin, return to the Cross, then recommit their lives to Jesus. When Fernando's benediction song, Jesus, King of Angels, reached the line, ...tomorrow let me love you even more.... it was as if every heart in the room was resonating in the Spirit.

Praise God with us for fanning the flame of revival in the hearts of the people.

Fanning the Flame in the Church

With the glow of the all-day Friday Leaders' conference, and the sweet aroma of repentance still lingering in the sanctuary, Sunday morning dawned with the First Baptist Choir proclaiming Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty!  Early in the morning our song shall rise to Thee...All the saints adore Thee. Continuing the challenge her husband, Danny, had just given to a record Sunday School crowd, Anne stepped into the pulpit for the final time.  Using the first five verses of John 17, she issued a strong invitation to  the host church, urging them not to "stand on mainstreet watching the parade go by," but instead, to "step into a personal, permanent, privileged relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ, discovering His specific purpose for their lives."  Many did. And now, because of the bold and courageous leadership of Pastor Ken Smith and his leadership team, 1st Baptist Church will be spending the next eight weeks in intensive study of God's Word using the I Saw The LORD Bible study curriculum in Sunday school and in small groups.

Praise God with us for fanning the flame of revival in the church!

NOW please join us as we not only continue to thank and praise God for the outpouring of God's blessing in Wauchula and the surrounding Hardee County, but pray also that the flame which has been fanned would become a raging revival fire in the Heartland!

Beloved people in the Heartland, in Hardee County, and in Wauchula, "Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you.  See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the Lord rises upon you and His glory appears over you..."  --Isaiah 60:1-2