26 August 2011

 
By Patrick Butler | ResonateNews.com

MAIN STREET, HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. — Fun-loving "locals" descended on a weekly street festival Tuesday at a closed-off main boulevard in this beachside community known as "Surf City." But unbeknownst to would-be revelers, embedded in the throngs seeking pleasures of exotic foods, music or clothing among colorful street stands, were groups of "Circuit Riders" — determined young Christian evangelists from Kona, Hawaii.

Filling up on the fun was the furthest thing from their minds, said "Circuit Rider" Courtney Martin, 20. Martin, an Oregon native, was hanging out unobtrusively on Main Street  with a small group of Riders who were blending in perfectly with the festive environment.

"We're here to share the love of Jesus, to tell people about him, and to introduce them to him if they want," she said with one eye on the crowds. "It's been a real surprise for me how people have responded in the past four days," of the Orange County Uprising "outreach."

Three Huntington Beach boys also evidently got a big surprise after running headlong into Courtney.

"Three teenage boys walked around the corner," Martin said, "so I just approached them, asking them if they had pain in their bodies or had any injuries."

The young guys were absolutely not interested, she said.

"They started to walk away but I followed after them," she said, "telling them stories of the healings we've seen this past week."

Nightly Uprising tent meetings — conveying the message, "God wants to do life with you"  — have been held nightly at Hilton Hotel, 21100 Pacific Coast Highway, since Aug. 19. Martin said many successful prayers for "deliverance" from various addictions and for "physical healings" have been seen at Uprising meetings.

"Eventually I had their attention and they stopped," she said. "Boy No. 1 tells me he has Scoliosis. He allowed me to
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"That," Martin said, "is simply, where God tells you something about someone you could have never known otherwise."

"I did this with all three boys," she said. "Boy No. 2 was skeptical until I got to him. With each one, God allowed me to see their favorite hobby and tell them what it is they love to do. The faith was rising, both mine and theirs."

Skeptical attitudes among the boys began to dissipate she said.

"Once I got to boy No. 3 the two others boys were now praying with me for their friend."

The last was the most serious situation, she said.

"I could see the disfunction in this last boy's family and his childhood hurt as we prayed," she said. " So we all prayed, right there, for the love of God to come into his heart and heal the pain. He recognized the difference in his heart when we ended. With the three boys now all hearing about God — and also experiencing him for themselves — their hearts were softened towards us."

That's the way it's been for her — and many of the other Circuit Riders, Martin said.

RIder Melody Ussery, 20, of Hawaii said, "I've been completely surprised at the totally random way God has been using me since I've been here. What I've learned is to be flexible and ready to do whatever that any person, anytime may need me to do to encourage, strengthen or help them."

No one has become a new Christian as a result of her time in Huntington Beach and the OC Uprising Ussery said.

"But that doesn't matter. What matters is that we do what God is telling us to do," she said. "We are not just here for the unsaved. We are here for the human race. You need to be what any person needs at any given moment.

The ultimate aim of the Orange County Uprising, conceded Martin, is that people would "know the love of Jesus." But she doesn't want to be "pushy" about it.

"I didn't want to lead these boys through a prayer that requires commitments and a change in lifestyle they weren't ready to make," she said. "I explained to them how to have salvation and be 'born again,' so when they're ready to give their lives to God they would know what to do."

Local churches involved in the OC Uprising will be available for new believers to attend for support, get direction or instruction if they need it, said pastor Bill Welsh, senior pastor of Refuge Calvary Chapel church, 7800 Edinger Ave., in Huntington Beach.

This kind  of "evangelism" said Martin — being content to make an impression instead of a "conversion" — is deeply satisfying for her.

"I thank God for encountering these boys," she said. "Tonight when they lie in bed, they'll have to wrestle with the fact that God spoke to them today, is alive and wanting a relationship with each one of them."

Visit www.calvarybeachside.com and www.mysanctuarychurch.com for information.

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