October 20, 2004
Tent revival
Tent revivals are a lot of work, especially for a few people.
We arranged for three guest preachers (Pastor Gabriel Medicine
Eagle; Bishop D. L. Rudolph, Jr.; Bro. William Red Bear) to join
Charles and me for the seven nights of services from October 3
through 9 in our home town of Dallas, South Dakota. We designed
an ad for the local paper, spent hours putting up and mailing
posters. We wanted special worship leadership, and needed to insure
a good sound system. We needed lights and a power source that
would reach the pasture. Weeks before we had a neighbor’s
horses graze down the grass, so there was even manure to rake
away! We needed a trailer hitch to haul porta-potties we borrowed
from the county, and a pickup for chairs from the Senior Center
and American Legion Hall. We attended a meeting of the Dallas
Volunteer Fire Department to invite them to set up a refreshment
stand before and after services, to raise proceeds for themselves.
I planned menus to carry me through the week, with informal fellowship
around the table in our home every night—a strong American
Indian custom! Finally, the day before the revival was to start,
we needed extra hands to help put up the yellow and white 40-foot
round tent.
Few people are indifferent about tent revivals, identifying them
with hyper-emotionalism and “Elmer Gantry” antics.
We have specific reasons to defend the use of tents and the seeking
after revival. First, many Christians unconsciously identify “church”
with the building where we regularly worship—worshiping
in a tent can be very liberating. Second, we often identify promoting
membership in our church with the proclamation of the gospel,
forgetting that someone may enter the kingdom of God through faith
in Jesus Christ without necessarily choosing to join our fellowship.
Third, from the perspective of those outside the established church,
there is an inviting openness to public worship in a more natural
setting—such as a horse pasture. Finally, as to the call
to revival, we recognize that God’s first priority is to
work in our hearts.
God is enthroned on the praises of His people, and we praised
Him every night. The second to the last night our worship leader,
Glenn Old Lodge, was suddenly called to work. We planned to make
do with playing CDs during praise time. We had a pleasant surprise
a half-hour before the service. We answered a knock at our door,
and in walked an evangelist/musician we had not seen for over
five years—and he’d brought his guitars along!
There was powerful preaching, calling the church to rise up in
her intended glory. We were challenged to fast and pray in the
simplicity and profound power of faith. We were called to embrace
the cross, to declare the death of our old flesh so that the new,
resurrection life could flow through us. We were challenged to
put our own houses in order to prepare for His coming. We were
reminded that the day is coming when all wickedness will be burnt
up, just as the Sun of Righteousness rises with healing in His
wings for His beloved.
Each night people responded to the invitation for prayer and
commitment. Relationships, at least one marriage, were reconciled.
At least two American Indian boys came forward to give their lives
to Jesus, as did a young couple about to be married. There were
testimonies of physical healing. Several leaders in the community
came forward to ask the Lord to remove all hindrances that inhibit
their service to Him. One older man who had not stepped into the
tent, but had stood outside for two nights by the refreshment
table, came up to my husband and kept shaking his hand as he said,
“I want you to know that I think this is a good thing. I’m
not one of those people who just say something to say it. I mean
it. This is a good thing you’re doing.”
On the final night something special happened. There were about
30 of us present during the praise and worship. Glenn was closing
a song, accompanied by his son Glenn on the drums. Young Glenn
suddenly was all over the drums. His playing rose and swelled
to a virtuosity unthinkable for a 15-year-old. It rose to a peak
and diminished, then rose again. Several of us were standing,
arms uplifted to the Lord. A woman behind me began to pray and
sing loudly in her heavenly language. I joined her, as did others,
even as tears streamed down my face. The music rose a third time
and then subsided. My heart had been broken open, in praise of
and longing for my God. At that moment I knew that God had visited
us. It was as if we were in a theater, and Jesus had walked in
to sit down in one of the box seats. I knew that God was pleased
with our offering, and doubts, fears, questions, or fatigue melted
away in the glory of His presence.
God wanted us to hold the revival so that He could touch us.
We needed to be touched. We needed to be transformed. And we were
revived.
Diane Wonnenberg
The 2004 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p.
63
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