Camp Meeting Prayers

Last Sunday I returned from camp meeting. While there were many blessings and highlights, the greatest for me was seeing God work miracles in the teen tent. Early in the week one of my pastor friends working in teens shared with me some of the spiritual battles taking place there. One young man was demon possessed and there were two nights when the demons manifested themselves. At one point the young man said that the spirits had told him that the pastor and all those working with him would be killed. Myself and many others began to earnestly pray for this young man, the other youth, and the faithful pastors who were working for their salvation. The passage I claimed over and over in my prayers was Isaiah 49:24-26.

Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captive delivered? But thus saith the LORD, Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered: for I will contend with him that contendeth with thee, and I will save thy children ... and all flesh shall know that I the LORD am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob.

The last Friday night just as Mark Finley began to speak in the auditorium a terrible storm popped up out of nowhere. I was working safety that night and our radar did not show any sign of a severe storm but the ominous clouds coming told us we were in for something big. Just before it hit, I was riding a golf cart through the campground loops urging people to tie down their RV awnings and take shelter. A friend was riding with me taking photos of the coming storm. Below are the photos she took.

The sky was green and an eerie black. When the storm hit the rain was torrential, the winds very strong, and debris began flying about. I saw someone's tent sailing through the air over the exhibit tent! As soon as it had passed, we discovered that a small tornado had touched down in F & G Loop. I was one of the first on the scene and the devastation looked awful -- awnings torn off, tram shelters blown apart, lightpole down, and a long stretch of G-loop a mess of strewn personal items, tents 200 feet up in the trees, and in some cases nothing left at all. Royce Snyman (my boss) immediately set in operation a disaster response plan and for the next several hours volunteers helped us clean up the debris and find housing for families who had lost nearly everything. The response from everyone was amazing.

It wasn't until Sabbath when talking with the Teen leader that I realized that they had somehow been missed in the evacuation order of all the youth tents and had been inside their tent when the storm struck. A look at the path the tornado took through campus showed it was headed right to them. Jay Gallimore I believe said it best, "This was a supernatural storm. We had no way of knowing it was coming." Satan sent that storm to kill and destroy, but praise God that His hand was over our grounds and no one was injured!

Sabbath evening my sister and I went to the teen tent and prayed once more for God to appeal to these youth who had been in the center of this spiritual battle all week. Praise God - 30 young people made decisions that night! I understand there were more decisions for baptism this year than previous years. And the young man who was demon possessed made a final surrender. When he returned home on Sunday he cleaned out all his entertainment, music, etc. 

We serve a God who sets captives free and still works miracles in answer to earnest prayer. Will you commit to praying with me?