God Uses The Willing

When our Pastor, Dennis Miller, made known his plan to start evangelistic meetings on our island, the immediate reaction from some of the members, including myself, was to support his plan. But as Pastor Miller explained that he wanted the members to participate in preaching the gospel, a few of us began to question the plan among ourselves. I could not imagine me standing before a group preaching the gospel, night after night, a total of 18 sermons.

However when the time got closer to decide who would do the preaching, a struggle was going on inside me, and I was hoping that someone, other than myself, would step forward. A few volunteered to be greeters, registration, and sound crew, but no one to preach. There were three of us left, the Pastor, the Head Elder, and me. I could sense the Holy Spirit nudging me inside. But I kept resisting it. It was an awful feeling fighting the Holy Spirit.

Finally when the time came for a volunteer to preach, I spoke out and said, "If no one wants to do it, I will." I think the Spirit's urging promted me to speak out. When I got home I got on my knees and asked God for His blessings and forgiveness and calling on Him for wisdom, understanding, and courage.

Finally, on April 13, 2007 we started the meetings in Waimea town at the Smokey Valley Clubhouse. I was very nervous because I had never experienced this situation before. I remember saying to the Holy Spirit, "You will never let me fail."

He didn't. He used me in a way that I thought was not possible. Every night as I spoke I could sense His presence leading me. There was never a night that we didn't have a visitor. And by the end of the meetings we had one decision for baptism. When we are sincere and honest in preaching His word He will never stop working for us to finish His ministry.
 

 Hola! My name is Leslie Martinez. I’m a junior at Thunderbird Adventist Academy.

Last year I had the opportunity to go on the Mission Trip to the Dominican Republic, but I felt I wasn’t ready to preach for some reason, so I went to work with the little kids. It was a good experience, but I would hear everyone talking about how God was working with them and how that had changed their lives, and I wanted to feel that. I wanted a life changing experience.

I remember they announced the mission trip early in the year, and I signed up—for preaching! But as time went by, and it grew closer to mission trip time, I started to feel like I didn’t want to go. I was feeling really far away from God. I guess it was because I was doing some things I wasn’t supposed to be doing, so I felt like God couldn’t use me like that, but now I know that was Satan trying to stop me from going, and THANK GOD I came! And thanks to you guys at “The Quiet Hour” that made it possible for many of us to come. Thanks to ShareHim for organizing all of this and helping us so much!

I have never experienced God like this! It is so amazing what God can do with your life and how God can use you if you just let him.

One of the things that is so amazing to me is that, at my church, the people are Hatian, and Hatian people speak French. So as I am preaching in Spanish, I am being translated into French. But the crazy thing is that when my translator and I are trying to have a conversation while we aren’t preaching, we don’t understand a lot of what we are saying to each other, but when we are up preaching, he understands every single word I am saying! That is God right there, the only thing that can explain that is the Holy Spirit working through me! And I couldn’t have asked for a better experience then that.

God brought me here for a purpose, not just to tell people about how awesome He is, but also to remind myself that! I had left Him out of life completely. I was living life how I wanted to, and I was letting Satan take control of my life. I think God brought me here to save others for Him, but to also to save myself. He brought me here because He has a special plan for my life, and I think He wanted to open my eyes and make me see what I was doing! I understand so many things now. I understand why God had to get rid of some things in my life that were keeping me apart from Him, and although it did hurt to lose that, at the same time, I gained something much greater! I gained a relationship with a person that gave His life for me—someone who, I am sure will NEVER stop loving me, and that is Jesus Christ!

I will never forget how God used all of us here and how He proved to us that when we ask, He answers. He showed how real He can be if only we let Him.

Thank you guys for making it possible for me and many others to have a life changing experience, it wouldn’t have been possible without you guys! It is because of you guys that my life has changed for the better.

Thank you and may God bless you guys like never before, because what you guys are doing is changing many lives; it changed mine.

“I can do all things through God who STRENGTHENS me.” Philippians 4:13