Revival with Bob Swope Refreshes Oceanside

In February we had revival services with Evangelist Carl Cooper. Pastor Cooper shared an analogy that stuck close to the heart of Joseph, a new convert and Marine Corps Staff Sergeant from Camp Pendleton.

Pastor Cooper shared a word with him about how just as the waves in the ocean are constantly cleaning and filtering the shore, so God does the same with our lives through his Word. Joseph recognized how God was “cleaning and filtering” him and doing a miracle in his eight-year marriage to Anna. So in April, in front of a packed church full of mostly unsaved friends, family and fellow Marines from the base (many in Dress Blues for the occasion), they renewed their marriage vows and testified to God’s miracle power and faithfulness in saving their souls and their marriage.

What a blessing that God’s word can stir such a change in our hearts! On a related note, in the weeks leading up to the ceremony God provided in such a way that we were able to renovate our building, replacing carpet, flooring and lights throughout. Thank God for the faithfulness of the church!

In the weeks leading up to our annual healing crusade, we had another revival with Evangelist Bob Swope, who brought a lot of encouragement and words from God. It’s always nice to have a man of God bring great words and stir our faith, but we need to remember to keep the revival going in our own hearts and outside the four walls. With that we’ve seen fruit from our Military Base Bible Fellowship, our Friday night downtown Street Meeting outreach, neighborhood events like our Family Fun Festival, and out-of-town Guerrilla Impact Team outreaches to help our fellow churches.

Our annual Oceanside Healing Crusade is the highlight of our year. This year’s Crusade was a tremendous blessing with lots of fellowship churches from surrounding areas involved. The Crusade gives us the opportunity to establish dominion in our city by holding this event in the heart of Oceanside; a weekend filled with outreaching, street preaching, great music, God’s presence and seeds planted in hearts of sinners. A total of 165 people gave their lives to Christ and 57 were recorded as healed by God on the platform!

Three months after the Crusade, we received a letter from a man who visited from Victorville, Calif. He and his wife had come to the Crusade desperately seeking miracle healing for prostate cancer and kidney disease respectively. He testified of medical confirmation of complete healing for both of them! Praise the Lord! We don’t always see the miracle right away but with continued faith and contending God moves, and that man’s letter was proof!

In September, we planted a new church in Ramona, Calif, with Pastor Derek and Kristina Ash. Since their first meeting they’ve had 15 faithful saints coming out. We will continue in prayer for that work and watch God move in that city. We also had another powerful revival with Evangelist Shawn Davis, locking in critical new fruit from our summer outreaches, leading new converts in the Baptism of the Holy Spirit and imparting fresh faith for the work in Ramona.

This past October we did our first haunted house outreach called, “The Dark Room: Whatever Happened to the Class of 2013?” about the issues and the outcomes of a sinful lifestyle.

We touched on the topics of the party life, suicide, cyber-bullying, abortion and joining the military to run away from problems. We had a total of 168 visitors walk through and 60 who gave their lives to Christ!

We followed that up with a tremendous five-day revival with Evangelist Steve Annichiarico. Not only did we enjoy his rapping and special music but he brought exceptional preaching, words of knowledge and inspiration from God. He challenged our faith, to be like blind Bartimaeus by getting rid of our cloak or our “just in case” option and trust God completely. Other messages challenged us to turn the page in our lives, to evaluate our friends and relationships in and outside of the church and to be healed from our past. Over all, many were healed, filled with the Holy Ghost and spiritually edified by this revival.

As this year quickly comes to an end we look forward to all that God has for us as we head into the New Year! What an exciting adventure it has been and will continue to be. Where there is no vision, the people perish - so we pray, as we enter into 2014, that more people will catch the vision and real revival will sweep across SoCal! God bless you all!