Every pastor prays for a smooth start of their evangelistic series … but for some churches, it doesn’t go quite as planned. Renton (Wash.) Church was preparing for their Thunder in the Holy Land DVD series when the lights went out only a couple hours before the series was supposed to start.
A transformer had blown and knocked all the power out just in the immediate area around the church.
Randy Maxwell, Renton Church pastor, recalls his secretary calling him to tell him that it would be an hour or two before they’d have power at the church.
“I cried out to God, ‘Lord, you can’t let this go down this way! The devil cannot stop You with darkness when You are the Light of the World! Please get those lights on before I get to the church,” Maxwell remembers.
Maxwell arrived at the church to find everything still in total darkness. As the darkness prevailed and the time neared the start of the series, Maxwell and the church members struggled to decide whether to cancel for the evening.
“As we got closer to 7 p.m., some began to ask if we should cancel,” says Maxwell. “Soon the members began singing in the darkness, and as our prayer leader was reading us some passages from EGW’s Prayer book the lights came on. It was 7:03 p.m.”
Their classroom for the series was quickly filled with people from the church and community to hear the DVD series.
“Even though we started a bit late, we still had to add more seats and tables, as we were running out of room,” says Alex Bezman, Renton Church media director.
Despite the trials of no lights and possibly having to cancel the first class, 24 people attended the series.
“Our faith was tested — especially mine,” says Maxwell. “But God prevailed, and the devil didn’t win.”
Members of Renton Church gather in the darkness for the Thunder in the Holy Land evangelistic series.
Church and community members attend the first class for Thunder in the Holy Land.
Church and community members attend the first class for Thunder in the Holy Land.
