“You did not choose Me, but I chose you. I appointed you that you should go out and produce fruit and that your fruit should remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in My name, He will give you.” John 15:16
When I followed God’s call to serve with Time to Revive one of our biggest-felt losses was being so far away from family. I knew that there would be fruit to our sacrifice. All the while I knew in the back of my mind that some day we could do ministry in Wausau, WI - Erica’s hometown.
After we sold our house in MN and before we found a house in TX, we took a trip to Wausau to visit Erica’s parents. During our trip here I took some time to meet with a local pastor who has become instrumental in organizing the local congregations in this area. That was last spring.
Throughout the summer our team has been visiting Wausau preparing for the kickoff to reviveWISCONSIN. In the preparation phase earlier in the summer we met with local pastors and business leaders. Many of these people had an instant connect to because they had been impacted by the relationships with Erica’s family and, in many cases, Erica herself. “Oh, she used to babysit our kids,” was a common refrain. Erica and her family had invested in building relationships with the people in their community. Then, she moved away and went to school. Her parents formed new community no longer bound by the common bond of children.
Her family has produced “fruit” as John refers to in verse 16. But not only fruit, fruit that lasts. Who would have thought that the relationships created in a small town over things like babysitting, work picnics, and church outings, would one day open doors for a ministry from Texas to walk alongside the local churches for a couple of weeks.
We have been officially doing reviveWISCONSIN for just over a week. In the first week we saw 22 churches work together and 459 teams made up of 1,842 people hit the streets to pray with people and share the Gospel. Its pretty special. The locals have noticed the impact so much that they asked if we would continue. This week we are resting and the team will be back to do it again next week.
There have been pastors and leaders from communities around Wisconsin coming to see, calling and asking and wondering what this would look like in their community.
Imagine that - relationships built in childhood contributing to a statewide revival. I can’t think of a better way to illustrate “fruit that lasts” than that.
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