June 2018: Freedom!

Dear Family!

Sorry it’s been a while since my last update! Here’s what God has been doing in my life and in my community:

This past Spring semester has been filled with personal growth, corporate revival, and (of course) and excellent education. My favorite Spring classes were Introduction to Teaching and Microfinance! God’s been leading our small group at Covenant College in a new direction by teaching us to follow His voice more than we follow a schedule. We ask God when and where to meet and what He would like us to do… and then we do it! This has resulted in members of our group hearing God’s voice for the first time, all of us receiving emotional healing, and going on “treasure hunts” around campus praying for students as God leads us, resulting in corporate breakthrough!

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At the start of this school year in Fall 2017, God told me He wanted me to start doing street ministry on Saturday nights. Afraid to go it alone, I asked God to heal my fear, and on March 30 (Good Friday) I took my guitar to a pedestrian bridge downtown and starting praising Jesus in public. It was extremely humbling, and surprisingly difficult to engage with God when so many people were watching me. But it was also incredibly rewarding. I watched a woman stand nearby and brush a tear from her cheek. I got to serenade and prophesy over several Muslim and international families and pray for a sprained ankle. Someone even offered me a beer (I declined). And at the very end, God led me to talk about Him and pray with a couple for about an hour!

Then some people from my house church started a “Spiritual Bootcamp” and I got to learn to do street ministry with others every Saturday night for six weeks! We witnessed countless immediate physical healings, received incredibly accurate prophetic words, made lots of mistakes, and learned how to love people in this capacity. I’m excited to see where God takes our community next!

This semester God gave me a dream that highlighted an area of my life where I needed freedom: the fear of man (ie caring more about what others think of me than what God thinks of me). In my dream a demon used my fear of what others think of me to quench the Spirit and keep me from obeying God by praying in tongues. As soon as I decided to obey God the demon’s power was broken. From this point on I made a commitment to obey God no matter what others may think. I started freely expressing my worship in my college chapel (which is more conservative and traditional) and praying in tongues whenever I felt led. I stopped holding back the prophetic words God had been giving me and started sharing them with my fellow students (many of whom don’t believe in modern-day prophecy). When I obeyed God in this way, it unlocked breakthrough in the lives of those around me and four other students learned to prophesy for the first time!

Chapel at Covenant College! (Photo taken from www.covenant.edu)

Our obedience on campus has been so influential that students I’ve never met are spreading rumors of an “underground revival” happening on campus! Because some of our beliefs and actions (like praying for the sick and prophesy) are unfamiliar to other students, I had the opportunity of discussing these things with some of the leaders of my college! I was honored to be able to explain to them how to hear God’s voice in a practical way.

• One night I was up working late and Holy Spirit highlighted to me a young man sitting on a bench outside my dorm window. I felt I was supposed to go pray for him, but felt too shy and asked God to confirm what he wanted me to do. Just then another guy walked past and asked the one on the bench, “Are you ok? You look kinda down,” before receiving a dismissive answer and passing on. I walked out there and sat down next to the young man, whose name was Ben. Over a period of three hours, Ben told me his story of loss, anxiety, and confusion, and I was able to walk him through a SOZO exercise (for those of you who aren’t familiar with SOZO, check it out here) and he heard God’s speaking love and comfort to him for the very first time. By the time I left, he was sitting in peace.
• This semester God has intentionally led me to love on people whom the church has traditionally avoided, feared, or abused. It was an honor to partner with Him in this way:
• I was passing by a gas station at dusk when Holy Spirit pointed out a truck to me. I felt like I was supposed to pray for its owner and give them $20. I walked up to the young man who owned it and he said, “Maddie?” Turns out he was a friend I’d met about a year ago who had recently been accused of sexual assault. I got to share the love of Jesus with him and pray for him. When I handed him the $20, at first he objected saying, “others could use it more than me,” and then when I insisted he said, “well thank you for the present!” “Present?” I said. “It’s my birthday today,” He said. “Well God wanted to give you a birthday present!”
• One day God told me to go to Walmart, even though I had nothing to purchase there. When I asked Him why, He told me there was a woman with curly red hair who needed to hear about His love, and who needed His peace in her family. Holy Spirit guided me through the store until I saw a woman with curly red hair walking toward me and He said, “That’s the one!” During the course of our prayer I realized she was transgender, and she walked away touched by the love of God.
• One day God told me to go to a megachurch. As I sat in the service I noticed a young man dressed in black, and Holy Spirit told me that He was a witch. Then God gave me a picture of Holy Spirit wrapping him in a rainbow, representing joy. A little nervous, I walked up behind the young man and asked him if I could pray for him. When he turned around I noticed he had a pentagram on the front of his sweatshirt. He smiled and let me pray for him. As I walked away I could sense the demons that had been bothering him were angry at me, but I shook it off… I was so full of joy and hope for this guy!
• The funniest healing testimony from this semester happened at a house downtown where college students gather each week to worship. At the end of the night Holy Spirit led me to announce that anyone wanting healing could come pray with me (that was out of my comfort zone!) My friend Angela wanted healing for her cold. I felt like God wanted me to be silent and let him do the work, but I as I was too nervous to try that I just prayed instead. Nothing happened. Finally I decided to sit holding her hands in silence. “How does it feel now?” I asked. “I can breathe!!!” She exclaimed. Holy Spirit led me to ask “Are your sinuses draining?” Immediately she coughed and mucus flew out of her mouth. We dissolved into laughter and she shared the testimony with the entire room. I shared with her that Holy Spirit said the next morning would be significantly better… 12 hours later she texted me to say that all the congestion was gone. Catch her full testimony on my Instagram @comebearwitness !

Angela after getting healed!

I felt led to quit my part-time job at the rock-climbing gym last Spring and I am currently working on developing my photography business with the Lord. This summer I am also interning on a local farm, Natural Ways Homestead! (Check out their website here.) I’ve always wanted to work on a farm and it’s a great opportunity to prepare for mission work in third-world countries, many of which rely heavily on agriculture. God has been teaching me how to develop strong friendships by being vulnerable, a growth process that has been difficult but enriching. He’s also been teaching me how to take dominion over my life and how to see in the Spirit! I am currently visiting my family in Florida for several weeks late May – mid June for my brother’s graduation! Who knows where else God may take me this summer??

Happy farm chickens!

• For an amazing semester filled with personal growth and spiritual fruit. (Yay God!!)
• In just a few short weeks I’ve already received several promising leads for photography jobs, and I recently shot a wedding! (If you need a photographer, hit me up! I do weddings, births, families, businesses, etc. You can find my website here!)
• God has given me roughly $24,000 in just this last year. I’ve been experiencing so much more peace as a result of trusting Him with everything! 🙂

• Divine financial and entrepreneurial strategies! I want to be completely debt-free, and that means either paying off my car or selling it and buying a cheaper one. I also want to steward my business as well as possible so that it bears fruit in the Kingdom as well as in the natural! Pray also for God’s financial provision.
• Spiritual breakthrough for my family!
• Unified revival for the city of Chattanooga! I’m praying that the efforts of believers in Chatt will be unified and therefore more effective in announcing the Kingdom of Heaven, healing the sick, raising the dead, curing the lepers, and casting out demons (Matthew 10)