| Mission America 2-Billings, MT |
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Report from Billings, Montana September 1st - 14th Time for writing and uploading has been a bit hard this 2nd Mission trip, finding a place to upload has been even harder. At times we have been in mountain passes, and unable to have even a phone connection. 
So, there are many VI CTORY reports…! Let me start with Billings, Montana, as we drove into Billings on September 1st, I felt a strong urge by the Holy Spirit, to stop and find a KOA, and just to be still. I looked on the map for a KOA and bingo, we found one, checking in and settling down for the night and not knowing why the Holy Spirit had us come to Billings, after all it was not on our schedule. God’s Word is so powerful, “Many are the plans of a man, but it is the Lord who puts it all together,” I felt a strong urge to call a foursquare church in Billings. Beverly made the call and at first it seemed non-productive, so I figured the following day we were going to head out. The next day Kaweah started packing everything, and again I felt uneasy as the Holy Spirit spoke to my heart not to leave Billings, Montana yet. I asked Beverly to check and see if it was ok to stay in our cabin another night at the KOA. I must say this KOA was beautiful and filled with mosquitoes, and we had no repellent, OUCH…! 
Sitting in the cabin, praying, and thinking to myself, “Holy Spirit why are we here?” My phone rang, to my surprise it was the foursquare secretary, I told her about Mission America and what the Lord put on our hearts, we desired to be a blessing to the church. I made sure she knew we are true missionaries to America. She said, “I saw your website, are you sure you didn’t mean to call the big church?” The minute she said that, I felt the Holy Spirit speak right to my heart, “You called the right church.” I told her, “You are the right church!” I told her we were not asking for money, she said, “Why don’t you come by the church and let’s talk and pray.” The team loaded the car and we headed to their church, only to discover, it was less than a half a mile from our KOA and it was in an area perfect for revival. Going in to meet the secretary, Teresa, our team sat around the table, after about 30 minutes, then Pastor Grove came in and sat down, as we shared our heart and mission, I could tell a thousand thoughts were going through Pastor Grove’s head. He sat calmly and listened as we shared about our first Mission America trip, I could tell he was a bit nervous or unsure. I could see Pastor Grove was meticulous and was the type who was attention to detail, (all his ducks in a row…!) He must have stood up about four different times, getting a cup of coffee, answering a phone call. I reiterated, “We did not come for money, I know my calling.” The Lord put Mission America on my heart, before we start the University, we came to be a blessing, to win souls, and build up the local body. I shared, “We have our own flyers, we are His laborers, and we work to blanket your city, bring in the lost, if you allow us to have a three day meeting, we will see a harvest come in for Jesus.” We talked for about an hour, as Pastor Grove’s piercing green eyes looked at each of us intently, trying to figure us out, who is this group? I must admit, I have noticed it is hard for some pastors to understand, we are doing Mission America for Jesus. No strings attached, just to win souls for Jesus. Having pioneered my second church, and knowing the great need, having been a part of the largest Spirit filled church in the world, Dr. Cho’s church, knowing America is in GREAT need for revival, and a touch from the Holy Spirit. So many people are lost, and unsaved in America, that is why Mission America was launched. Teresa said, “Let’s go upstairs and pray,” we went upstairs to the prayer room, we love prayer and I knew God wanted us in Billings. I knew even more so, because this was a praying church. We started praying in the Spirit, worshipping and praising God, after about 20 minutes, God’s overwhelming presence was in the room I knew the Holy Spirit was doing something. I asked Kaweah if she had a song, she lifted up her voice and sang, “Amazing Grace.” We continued to pray and Beverly began to prophesy about the Holy Spirit leading Cornelius to Paul in the book of Acts. Then we began to worship again, then we stood up and everyone said goodbye. No decision was made about the meetings when we left. But I knew Teresa was a prayer warrior, she said, “Just give Pastor Grove time to think about it, he is a good man, and he prays.” Saying our goodbyes; Jill said, “We only want to be a blessing, please let us know as soon as possible, because if it is not God we will go to the next town.” Getting into the truck with our Jesus trailer, we drove throughout Billings, catching the eyes of many people as we drove throughout the city. I saw so many broken people, casinos on every other block, and thousands of Indians and others in need of Jesus. After driving throughout the city, I thought, “This place needs a touch from the Master’s Hand.” Getting back to the KOA, I sat down on the porch swing, I felt like crying over Billings, Montana. “I prayed Lord we want to be a blessing, open the door you desire.” Our team prayed again; “Lord, we want nothing but Your will.” Knowing Labor Day was just around the corner, we had to make some crucial decisions either to stay or go. Later that evening, my phone rang; it was Pastor Grove, he asked, “How can we work this out?” He said, “I don’t think it would be good to do the revival this week, because a lot of the leaders of the church are on vacation for Labor Day.” But a decision was made we would attend the church on Sunday morning, Kaweah would sing, and I would share Mission America, and our three day revival would start the following week. We would trust God for lodging for the next ten days. When God opens the door, He always opens lodging. I knew God was going to do something great. Hanging up the phone, I shared with the team, “Hallelujah, revival in Billings!” We were rejoicing and praising God when the phone rang again, Teresa called, she had a place for us to stay, lodging was provided we would have a full basement, with bathroom, and our missionary puppies were welcome. I thanked Teresa, and said, “Ok, we have to plan; we must get out as many flyers as we can.” A great opportunity, our team would have seven days to blanket the city with flyers. We were like horses biting at the bit, ready to labor for Jesus. The following day we packed up our stuff at the KOA, and later met with Teresa. We pulled out our flyers; we asked for a map of Billings and prepared a strategic plan. I was excited to find a church ready to labor right beside us, to win their city for Jesus. Teresa was just as excited as we were, the moment I met her I knew she was an amazing woman, she had been praying about an outreach to the city. Sharing with her that we would blanket the city 5-6 hours a day, Teresa was in tears, she also went right to work preparing labels for the bottom of our flyers. To our surprise, they also prepared flyers; they had them printed on the back of our Mission America flyer. 
Later that afternoon, we went to meet the couple who opened their home for us to stay while in Billings, Montana, Chip and Diane. What an incredible couple! “Our house is your house!” We each set up our rooms unpacked and got ready for our 10 day stay; we would be ready to labor. 
The following day, our team was up early, 5:00 am, to pray for a few hours before putting out flyers. Heading out for the first day, we later discovered there was going to be a classic car parade at 7:00 pm. My heart skipped a beat, what could be more of a classic than our “Ancient of Days?” JESUS, He is timeless, a classic for sure! Finding out how to join the parade, our team went into action. What a great opportunity, I thought, “I mean if we are going to make impact, let’s make BIG impact for Jesus.” Beverly signed us up for the parade and we were in the line of cars, with our Mission America T- shirts. We pulled out our speakers and a chair for Kaweah to sit in the back of the truck, Kaweah looked like the queen of a parade. One microphone set up for Kaweah, and another microphone was stretched out for me the driver! Before we got started, I called and asked Teresa, “Would you or Pastor Grove like to ride with us in the parade?” Teresa said, “I’ll call you back;” the Holy Spirit was surely taking them out of their comfort zone. (Ducks in a row…? Right…, NOT..!) 
We lined up for the parade, classic car after classic car; hundreds of them were lined up. Then there we were; Our Mission America Trailer, “Our Hope JESUS CHRIST!” What a treat, as we were preparing and lined up for the parade, I looked up and Pastor Grove and his beautiful wife, Bev came walking towards us. They looked a little nervous, I think they were surprised we were in the parade, I said, “Pastor Grove if you like, you can ride in the front seat.” 
The parade started up, Kaweah started singing patriotic songs from her CD, Our Liberty, and “God Bless America.” As we drove down the street; both sides of the road were lined with people. Sorry, I didn’t have my camera on me, what a sight, and we must have driven through a crowd of about 10,000 people. I could see a spark of hope and joy in the people who were Christian; they would give us the thumbs up, as our Mission America trailer went by. In some areas, the crowd would go wild and clap, as Kaweah sang boldly, “God Bless America.” Jill and Beverly walked behind the trailer, passing out flyers, putting out over 2,000 flyers, running out fast, and of course, I had a microphone. I welcomed everybody to The Hope Center, Sunday morning, and to come to the Revival Meeting, “You don’t want to miss it.” In the midst of all those classic cars, Jesus was lifted up and He always has dominion. We were taking dominion of the city of Billings for the glory of God; and we had just begun. The following days we passed out flyers and then the first Sunday service came, Kaweah sang, and I shared about Mission America. Pastor Grove preached and shared about Mission America. Pastor Grove smiled as he told his congregation, “I like my ducks in a row, yet Dr. Luauna, and the Mission America team they are not only taking my ducks out of a row, they are taking me out of my comfort zone.” Everyone laughed; Pastor Grove then shared about the upcoming meeting. We had four more days to finish blanketing the city with flyers and posters. Everyday our team was up early for prayer, then out to blanket the city for five hours, with hundreds of posters and a map of the city of Billings in hand. Labor Day, we labored! Smile! Having discovered how convenient it was to set up the microphone and place a speaker in the back of the truck, (after all we were a driving billboard) from park to park, shopping mall to shopping mall announcing our revival meeting. Seeing the response of the people; as they looked all around trying to figure out where the voice was coming from; then they would see the trailer, “Our Hope, JESUS CHRIST!” It’s fun and adventurous laboring in the Kingdom of God, there is never a dull moment. Wednesday night Pastor Grove, asked me to preach at the Montana Rescue Mission, there were about 30 to 40 men throughout the building. As I looked around, I knew many of these men had given a dull ear to the gospel. The Holy Spirit stirred like a fire in my heart saying, “You shall never see them again; preach it straight.” That’s just what I did, the uncut, unadulterated Word of God. I shared my story, preached and gave the altar call. Nine men answered the call that night; I encouraged them to be in the meetings at The Hope Center. There was excitement in the air; the Holy Spirit was working on hearts. As we walked out the door, Pastor Grove asked, “Did I get a sample of your preaching?” I smiled and said, “Paul said I become all things to all men. Don’t worry; I don’t preach that direct, but these guys needed it.” 
The following day the three day meeting was to begin, the team went out early every morning, I prayed and prepared for the meeting. The first night of the meeting finally arrived, and we were ready for action, prayed up and read up. We arrived at the church at 4:30 pm for prayer; another group came to pray at 6:00 p.m. The first night nine people came forward to answer the altar call for salvation, there were about six others who raised their hands for salvation but did not come forward with the other nine. The Holy Spirit was working in the hearts of the people. 
Throughout the three nights it was amazing, every night the crowd grew, 70 people were saved, and about 20 people were filled with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit added new believers to the church every night. What a joy, to see each person come to Jesus, a man named Dennis, a tall Indian man, recommitted his life back to Christ. Now with a purpose and a destiny to live for, Jesus makes all the difference. 
There were many healings throughout those three nights. Friday night, a lady came to church with a broken toe and three jammed toes on the same foot. During the altar call, she was helping to pray for others, she did not ask prayer for herself. When she left the church, she was walking to the car and realized her toes did not hurt anymore. She could not wait to tell us she was healed as she came the next night. 
Another woman was experiencing pain in her hip and on her left side from a previous car accident; on Friday night, during the music, she felt God’s healing touch and the pain stopped, she was healed. Another woman had continual stomach pain and she was also healed on Friday night, this does not include all of the spiritual healings which took place. 
I love this church, I knew from the first time I met Pastor Grove, we had a kindred spirit, when he shared with me about a vision for a facility called, “Hope House,” it stirred my heart. I knew God had a bigger plan! God’s desire is to fill “Hope House” with hundreds of men and women for discipleship; whose lives will be changed for eternity. This is just the beginning for The Hope Center, God is building an army of men and women who will be faithful, obedient, and filled with the Holy Ghost power! God is doing something powerful in this church, called “The Hope Center,” in Billings, Montana. 
What a privilege and honor to be just a little part of what God is doing in His church, I am humbled and honored to have had an opportunity to be used by God, in Billings, Montana. At The Hope Center, eyes have not seen, ears have not heard, neither has it entered into their heart all the things that God has prepared for them who love Him and trust Him and are called according to His purpose. Pastor Grove and his wife, Bev are true shepherds. 
I noticed how wonderful it is when we find a church that prays, and is led by the Holy Spirit, we see doors open. I desire to always work with a local church in the area where our Mission America Team labors, why? Because as we win hundreds of souls throughout America, we desire to see each new believer continue their growth in God, and a local church is where the Holy Spirit finishes His work. I am saved to save, I am also called to help the body of Christ, to help leaders grow, and to become stronger in JESUS. I know my calling, I love people and I love His church. 
Pastor Grove, his wife Bev, and The Hope Center will forever be deep in my heart, this is a new start for this wonderful church. At the end of our three day meeting, Pastor Grove with a humble heart, announced, “I was spiritually starving inside and I know I was doing better than most people here. We have been touched in a special way.” As I listened I wanted to weep, because I knew right then, that was why the Holy Spirit did not allow us to leave Billings, Montana. God’s love for this church, and these people, touched the very heartbeat of the MASTER. 
I pray everyday, “Holy Spirit lead us to the cities and the pastors, who are crying out in prayer, those who are open to the Holy Spirit, His servant, and the Mission America Team.” Matthew 9:37-38, “Then He said to His disciples, ‘The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.” The King is coming for His Church; we must labor while we have time. Praise God for the Holy Spirit who leads us and directs our path. At the end of our meeting at The Hope Center, we were all rejoicing and praising God for He has done glorious things in our midst! 
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About ATFA Mission America Mission America 2-Billings, MT
About ATFA Mission America Mission America 2-Billings, MT