I was jolted awake this morning at 2:05 am. I knew what it meant. It was time to get up and pray. Most of those prayers centered around your town. Prayers for Kermit. A pattern that repeats itself in my life for nearly three years now.
How can a man love a town, a community, a group of people he has never met? How can a man carry such a deep burden for a community he has never spent the night in much less lived in? Only God put such love in my heart and gave me such a heavy burden for you.
By no means do I infer Kermit is a bad town. That is not what the burden means. I think it means God loves Kermit so much He will visit your town in a special way. I believe this so much I am stepping out on a limb, renting a tent, bringing in a revival team and planning on holding meetings July 23-29.
Please hear my heart. I am no expert. I am not a hired gun to come and "fix things." I am just a small church Southern Baptist pastor. To be even more transparent I am the pastor of a church of less than 40 people. Faith Community Church is not large. We do not even have a website. We meet in a rented warehouse. We worship on oil stained concrete floors. We love God's word and dig in it weekly.
I did not choose Kermit. God chose Kermit for me. It all started over three years ago when a lady named Joan from Seminole, TX called and asked me if I would join her in praying for Kermit. I told her I would and did for a couple of months. The burden lifted and I never thought about Kermit again until over a year later.
I had a dream. Most people have dreams. I've had many dreams over the years. In most of them I am either late or unprepared for a preaching assignment. This dream was different. I have chronicled that dream in detail in earlier blogs. I will not do so again here. Kermit played a startling major emphasis in that dream.
I connected the dots between my friend Joan and the dream. Subsequent dreams followed. In most of them I was called to go to Kermit. In many of the dreams I saw the same revival scenes repeated. In many of them I saw myself preaching such a revival meeting under a tent.
In the fall of 2014 I made an initial trip to Kermit for a prayer meeting. A few people read about my dreams for Kermit on Facbook and contacted me. That first prayer meeting turned into a weekly prayer meeting/Bible study. We were all a little confused. Ironically all the people who came were from one church. They were in the process of calling a new pastor and in December of 2014 we suspended the meetings. I did not want to interfere with a new pastor. At the time I really did not know how to move forward.
Time went on and I forgot about Kermit for a few months. Then there were more dreams. Each a little different but in some ways similar. The message seemed clear. God called me to go to Kermit to hold a tent revival meeting It made no sense.
No church or pastor invited me to come to the community. I had no sponsors. I hardly knew anyone. The call of God persisted. The burden intensified. I could not sleep through the night. I awoke with the burden to pray for Kermit night after night and month after month. I did not even know how to pray for you really.
Then it came down to obedience by faith. I had to schedule the meeting. I checked with a Kermit resident about annual summer events not wanting to conflict with any. I settled on the dates of July 23-29. I took another step of faith and contacted Sherman and Tammy Aten, full time music evangelists, to see if they were available for those dates. They were so I scheduled them. I then went a step further and rented a tent and chairs. I made a trip to Kermit to look for a suitable place to pitch the tent. We decided on a vacant lot next to Belvue Baptist Church. All of these things hve been done in faith without the money up front to pull all of this off.
I have felt strongly that I am not supposed to ask the Kermit local churches to support this effort financially. We trust God will call His people all over the state of Texas and nation to get behind this spiritual emphasis and call some to give financially. Just last week someone contacted me a community further way from Kermit than where I live wanting to know how he and his wife can help. I trust God will supply every need.We will take a love offering to help with the travel expenses.
I sent some business cards to be passed around town that simply read "Pray for Kermit." Each step a step of faith. Residents of Kermit. I am convinced God has in mind to come visit you in a very special way. I realize I could be wrong. I could pitch this tent and show up with nobody attending any of the meetings. I realize I am a complete stranger to all of you. Read these blogs and I think you will discover my heart.
I am as bewildered by this whole thing as I am sure you are. A man having some dreams and holding a tent revival as a result is bizarre. God has confirmed this call on my life to come to there over and over again. Not long ago I was at a grocery store in Bridgeport, TX. We are about six hours from your town. When I gave the cashier my phone number for discounts she noticed the 432 area code. She asked if I was from west Texas. I told her I used to live in Seminole. She used to live in west Texas too. I asked where. She grew up in your town. I don't know her name. There is no way that is coincidence.
A man from the church I pastor walks at the Bridgeport football stadium. He met a man one day walking. They struck up a relationship over time. Somehow the Kermit dreams came up. The man also grew up in Kermit. Coincidence or confirmation?
Those are only two examples. There have been others. So God has drawn my heart, my attention, my love, and my prayers to your town. Unorthodox? Yes. Wacko? No. I am just a man seeking God to walk with Him daily. He initiated everything in my life about Kermit. I am only trying to obey what I sense Him telling me to do.
Do I have questions? Yes. Do I have this whole thing figured out? No. Years ago I promised God I would go anywhere, do anything, at anytime He called me. Everything about comping to your town is my desire to obey Go and to walk out my faith.
In the process I have a developed a deep affection for you. I pray for all your churches though I do not know any of you. I often wonder how I can love a community I do not know and where I have never lived. I do. I cannot say I love you like faithful shepherds who have lived and served among you for years. There is still a love in my heart nonetheless.
Here is what I would like from you. Your prayers. Prayers for Kermit. Prayers for me. Prayers for Sherman and Tammy Aten. Then pray about your attendance. Our first meeting will be at 7:00 p.m. on July 23.
There are many of you who read these posts and have been praying for Kermit. I want to encourage you to pray about taking some vacation and coming out to join us. The hotel space is limited though. I may look like a fool to many people in this whole thing but I am convinced I am obeying God. That means more to me than what people think about me.
Kermit, I truly believe a great outpouring from God is coming if it has not already begun. I believe people will be saved. Backsliders will repent. Those in bondage to sin will be set free . Apathetic people will once again be set on fire. Churches will grow adding new members. The love of God will grow immensely among people. The work of God will permeate the whole town.
As my schedule allows I am willing to come out for prayer meetings between now and July. You can contact me personally at followhard638@gmail.com. May the Lord Jesus be magnified and glorified in Kermit. I will see some of you soon. .
Sincerely His,
Matt
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