ELEVEN WEEK REVIVAL at MFC – March 20-June 3,2011

REFLECTIONS ON MARANATHA FELLOWSHIP SPONTANEOUS REVIVAL

MARCH – JUNE 2011

What a glorious season these past eleven weeks! I was present with you nearly every one of the 89 services. I had a close-up seat. You didn’t see me, but I saw you! I prayed with you, laughed with you, worshipped with you, cried with you, and shouted with you. As I watched the services night after night, I was reminded how the angel was sent to an obscure village, to an unknown girl named Mary. The angel delivered the message to her that she had been highly favored of God and would be overshadowed by the Holy Ghost to bring forth Emmanuel. Mary appeared to others to be just an ordinary young woman, but she was serving an extraordinary God and yielded her body for His purpose.

Likewise, God saw the seemingly insignificant town of St, Albans, WV and a group of devoted disciples. Up to March 20, 2011, Maranatha may have appeared to others to be just an ordinary church, but they are devoted to an extraordinary God who highly favored them and overshadowed them. They provided the spiritual womb and God’s Spirit, through the grace and blood of Jesus Christ, birthed sons and daughters for the King, and they’ll never be the same.

May Maranatha’s unified praise to God be the same as Mary’s song: “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior… For He who is mighty has done great things for us, and holy is His name.”

I marveled that unbelievers came to church on weeknights. Jesus was being lifted up and He said, “If I be lifted up [on the Cross] I will draw all men unto me.” We watched Him add to the church daily those who were being saved-more than 650 by the end of eleven weeks. In addition, many received miraculous healings and deliverance and marriages were restored. There were no popular preachers brought in to draw crowds. Each service was different as were the local speakers: different people, different styles, different topics—but the same Spirit. While the focus was souls being saved, those of us who listened were taught and inspired. Services could not be advertised because they were announced from night to night. If another person made a profession of faith in Christ, they had service the next night.

Outside the church walls, reports came of people responding to the nudging of the Holy Spirit and leading people to Christ in the doctor’s office, in the grocery store, in the parking lot, in the barbershop, in the pizza parlor, in the workplace, and on the road. Jesus touched their lives. They were changed.

Thank God for revealing the knowledge to those who pioneered the Internet. How marvelous that I as well as people all over the USA and several other countries were able to attend these MFC revival services via the webcast. And thank God for a pastor and staff who were willing to invest the necessary time and resources to use these tools to reach the world with the Gospel. As a result, people were saved in other states and countries.

These eleven weeks will be talked about and remembered for a lifetime. As Mal. 3:16 says: “Then those whose lives honored God got together and talked it over. God saw what they were doing and listened in. A book was opened in God’s presence and minutes were taken of the meeting, with the names of the God-fearers written down, all the names of those who honored God’s name.” And they all say, “Not to us, but unto God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost be all the glory” (Psa. 115:1).

Thank God for the hundreds of people who came faithfully each night to the services, for the many who came for pre-service prayer, for the MFC staff and volunteers who were at their stations each service. Sacrifices were made. People came from work to church without dinner. The focus for eleven weeks was on winning souls to Jesus, and He honored that focus. The season may have ended, but bringing folks to Jesus will continue.

May God accomplish Kingdom purposes through Maranatha and move her on from glory to glory so her latter days will be more glorious than the former. These eleven weeks have been like a pre-revival. There’s more, so much more, to come.

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The above account was written the week after the revival ended at Maranatha Fellowship, 2910 Kanawha Terrace, St. Albans WV 29177. Pastor James Wright. Associate Pastor, Darren Powell. Worship Pastor, B.J. Roberts. The services were live-streamed, and I was able to listen/watch the services at my home in Las Vegas – 2200 miles away from St. Albans WV. It began on a Sunday night when several people gave their hearts to the Lord. At the end of the service, someone passed a note to pastor asking if this was the beginning of revival. He received that note as from the Holy Spirit and made the announcement that there would be service the following night and every night thereafter that another soul came to Jesus. The revival continued nightly Sunday through Friday for 11 weeks: March 20-June 3.

UPDATE: As of July 2017, I now live in South Carolina.

Email: yvonnekarl@gmail.com

Below: First week of revival