A Crusade!

SAVN.tv spent the last two days participating in Harvest America - an amazing evangelism campaign founded by Greg Laurie (the next Billy Graham to my mind).

Allow me to set the stage ... imagine, if you will, a large baseball stadium (Angel Stadium to be exact) filled to capacity with 45,000 believers and seekers all gathered together for the same purpose... evangelism.  Some were there to be evangelists, others were there to receive evangelism.  All were there to be blessed.

Bands like Mercy Me and Jeremy Camp (who sat down for an interview with SAVN) rocked out on the massive stage which encompassed half the infield.  TV Networks, radio stations, and bloggers blasted the event over the airways and internet, nationwide. 1500 churches across America tuned in and volunteered, aiding in the execution of this massive effort.

Both evenings concluded with a "call to seekers" where Pastor Greg invited people down to the field to accept the Lord.  Are you ready for this?  ... 10,000 PEOPLE RESPONDED TO THE CALL.  Each night, 5000 seekers crammed the outfield and were greeted by volunteers who helped them make a decision for Christ.  From there, contact information was taken and disseminated to churches in the area for follow up.  To be clear ... the follow up with these new Believers does not come by way of Pastor Greg's church.  It's done by ANY church that expresses an interest in attracting new converts.

On average, every church choosing to participate in follow up typically gains 8 new church members per Crusade.  Harvest does all the work, spends all the money, brings them in, gets them saved ... then GIVES them away!  "One Savior, One Mission, One Church." It's all about Salvation.  Nothing else matters.

I stood in the outfield, surrounded by this enormous ministry, watching thousands of new souls enter the Kingdom simultaneously.  Clearly, these Harvest guys have figured it out.

Here's the amazing part:  They didn't NEED us!  Their mission is not dependant on any single ministry in order to succeed.  The place was crawling with TV networks (TBN and CTN) and ministries from all over Southern California... the last thing they needed was SAVN.tv running around, getting in their way.

Did they close the door on us?  Did they look down their noses, push us aside, and insist we stay out of their way?  NO!  On the contrary, this enormous evangelistic crusade went out of its way to welcome The Salvation Army in and make us feel like one of the family... the family of God.  They were kind, humble, compassionate, and patient.  When we asked to be carried a mile, they carried us two.  When we asked for their robe, they gave us their tunic as well.  Not once did they ask for a single thing in return. They simply wanted to help another ministry spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

The members of Team SAVN were blessed to be involved in this incredible outreach.  Be sure to keep an eye out for our upcoming series, "Harvest Daze."  You're sure to be blessed as well.

If you would like to get your corps or church involved in this outreach, visit www.harvest.org and click on "Crusades" (there's another Crusade around the corner).  I promise, you'll never forget the experience!