February 2010
Dear friends and family,
Have you ever had times in your life where a verbal articulation did not fully communicate the expression of joy, anticipation, and thanksgiving your heart was feeling? This past month has been like that for me. We have seen hundreds repent and receive Christ in the month of January alone! It has been utterly amazing.
I’m at the place where I am tired of reading and hearing about how God did it in the past; my eyes want to see powerful manifestations of old today. I experienced something that I have read and heard about, but never seen first hand. Our ministry had the privilege to be in Kansas with Pastor Paul Green a few weeks ago. We saw major miracles; this one in particular I believe will really bless you: The last night I was in Kansas I called for the people who were in attendance for the first time and had never encountered God in the magnitude they felt this particular night. The platform filled up and I called a young man up to share what had happened to him. He confused me at first with his statement that “God visited my house today.” I replied, “Do you mean tonight?” He said, “No; today at home. God came into my house and I was convicted of doing drugs and began to destroy all the drugs that I had. Then I destroyed all of the pornography in my house. Then one of my drug addict friends came over and pulled out some drugs and wanted to get high, and I told him to get out and then ran outside. I was invited to church hours later and came tonight, and just now received Christ. He touched me like never before in my life!”
God just showed up in his house and touched him. I pray that this is a first-fruit testimony of this ministry! As we go out and preach the Gospel, God will just begin to come down and interrupt people with great power and conviction! Do it again Jesus! He was the first one at my table to sign up to attend our Bible College in Dallas. He was serious! Your partnership with this ministry helps make testimonies just like this possible! We are on the same team and we both play a significant part as we work together.
We saw many healed during my time in Kansas, as well. One lady had a condition that has plagued her for 55 years. It was a condition in her back that caused it to become disconnected. She was in severe pain and unable to sleep lying down, so she had to sleep in a chair. We rebuked the infirmity and she hit the floor flat on her back for sometime. The next night she testified that for the first time in 55 years she laid in her bed to go to sleep with no pain. 55 years of infirmity was broken! Many more were healed of infirmities such as fibromyalgia, buldging disks, arthritis, ear disease, and many more. Thank you Jesus!
In a Texas church, we saw around 70-100 receive Christ in one altar call. While at Christ for the Nations Bible school, we witnessed another 150-200 young people repent and get right with God. This is the day of harvest! Salvation is here; we just have to proclaim it! Romans 1: 16, says For I am not ashamed of the Gospel for it is the power of God unto salvation.When you preach the Gospel you will see salvations. When you pray and sow into this ministry, it is my belief that God sees us as a team accomplishing great things for His kingdom, and the people saved are our reward!
Since our last newsletter I have had the opportunity to minister in 10 different venues. I wish I could fit everything onto this one newsletter but it is not possible. Although this next testimony is sure to bless you.
God has opened some doors to allow me to minister to pastors, as well. While at a pastor’s meeting in Austin, Texas this past month with around 40-50 pastors in attendance, God moved in real power. I shared on the need to fulfill the Great Commission through the local church with signs and miracles following, and also on the vision I have shared with you many times on bringing the church together to join forces in reaching their cities. After I shared, the power of the Holy Spirit fell and many pastors were hit by the power of God. Some were shaking on the floor under the Holy Spirit. It was amazing. Through this the city of Austin embraced our vision to partner together and unify our efforts to throw the net across the city and bring in a great harvest of souls. We will be keeping you up to date on this initiative.
Thank you for all of your faithful prayer and support. Without you some of this letter could very well have been empty, instead of many stories being left out due to space. I thank God that he uses us to fulfill the cry of heaven with the advancement of His Kingdom through our partnership with one another and Jesus Christ Himself.
Together in the harvest,
Joe Oden