North Country Evangelism

Evangelist Steve Wingfield Yesterday we had a pastors meeting to continue the discernment process for having evangelist Steve Wingfield come to the North Country. Tentatively we have dates of June 1-5 at the Fairgrounds Arena. This was the second such meeting we had. The first was on May 27 with about 10 pastors present and had meetings with several others that day. This time we had about 20 people present with about 16 new faces. We need about 30 churches to be on board. By my count, we have about 27 who have expressed some degree of support and about nine others who will likely do so. Do you ever have those experiences when you just know something is of God's plan? It's nothing tangible that you could explain .... kind of a sixth sense type of experience. Here's mine but I would love it if you would post any similar experiences you have had. So far I have been the one leading this project. Back in May, several days before our meeting I made calls to set-up things up for the day. Normally very busy pastors were available or made time for us. I knew something was up even before we go to our breakfast meeting that day. The day of the breakfast came and the pastors were arriving. I didn't know what to expect. The North Country is littered with little pentecostal/charismatic and Bible/Baptist/fundamentalist type churches. They don't normally mix well. The senior pastor of one of the larger Baptist churches arrived. He and one of the pastors from one of the larger independent charismatic churches greeted each other like they were old friends, glad to see each other. Right then, I knew. I just knew it. I knew that this whole event was going to happen. Every time I work on this project everything seems to fall together. We have no finalized dates or even a committment from Steve Wingfield for the event. But I know that a year from now, in June 05 there will be a great harvest in this land. In 1983, John Wesley White came and did a crusade. One pastor told me his preaching was awful. Another said his style was weird, he was unattractive but his preaching was anointed. But others have told me, there are several area ministers of vibrant ministries that trace their conversion to that event. I read the first few pages of Charles Finney's Autobiography in a Christian bookstore the other day. Finney's life is intimately linked to the North Country. He was born in CT but early in life moved to Oneida Country (just southeast of here) but then moved during his teen years to Sackett's Harbor, a little North Country town right on Lake Ontario. After returning to CT for sometime and then NJ, Finney returned to the North Country moving to Adams to study law. It was during his time here that he was converted and began following Christ. After sometime, the Lord's miraculous revival work began working through Finney as great spiritual awakenings begain happening in North Country towns like Evans Mills, Antwerp and elsewhere. His work spread all over NY State including the city of my birth, Utica but also into Rome, Auburn, Rochester, Buffalo, New York City and then into PA and OH. "Almighty God, you have started revival here before. May a new wave of your Spirit come over this land as in the days of Finney O God, that you would be exalted here again, and throngs of people all over the North Country would again repent and follow You. And may it spread like a fire that cannot be quenched through our land. Amen."