| Mission America - 48 - 58 SC |
We headed out of Atlanta going north, and not sure what to expect in our next city. Within a few hours we drove into Columbia, South Carolina arriving in the early evening. We headed towards downtown to see the lay of the land when I noticed a beautiful Capitol building: 
As I looked across the manicured lawn; I saw a small group of people and a man standing on the steps of the Capitol building wearing a Ku Klux Klan outfit. I could not believe what I saw; I found a place to park our truck and trailer and headed towards the people. 
As I walked towards the Capitol steps I looked around at the statues and memorials circling the park, another disturbing sight caught my eye. The Confederate flag was flying at the entrance to the park; someone said, they at least removed that flag from flying at the top of the Capitol building; yet this flag represents a strong rebellion which caused death and destruction; and while it is still flying at all, is an outward expression of a stubborn spirit which is still alive hidden away in South Carolina. 
Columbia, South Carolina a very beautiful city, with magnificent trees and beautiful sweet smelling flowers blooming everywhere and at the same time symbols of darkness appear in the same landscape. To see this man boldly parading around in a Ku Klux Klan outfit representing such hatred and pride, in 2009, this deep entrenched stronghold which captivates this city, state and bleeds across the region. I knew within minutes of arriving the Lord was revealing strongholds of this area and it was clear we were in the right place. This city and state is in need of a touch from Jesus, and its people who need more than just church, but healing deep within the core of man’s heart. I could not just stand by and watch so I headed towards the platform, towards the group and told the MC I just arrived from San Diego, CA via Atlanta, GA; then I explained who we were and about Mission America. I asked her if I could speak, she welcomed me, thinking I had come for her rally. As I was waiting for my introduction, I asked the young man standing next to me, why were the people assembled. They were there in protest of the moral failure of their elected official. Another stronghold in this place, lurking behind the scenes; secret sins committed, not just by trusted leaders, but many caught in this trap. 
As I stood waiting for them to call me up, I asked the Holy Spirit what I should say, within less than two minutes my name was called. I thanked everyone for coming, then I cried out, with boldness, for Jesus Christ, calling for Christians, and every American at every level to live according to God’s standard; explaining the cause of moral failures in our government is the result of turning our backs on the foundation of our country; the Bible, Jesus and Almighty God. Amazed and surprised at the unbelievable response as the audience roared and clapped. How long has it been since somebody stood boldly for Christ? How long has it been since God’s Word was proclaimed in power? As I finished speaking and gave the mike back to the host, the people continued to clap. As they ended the rally, I walked down the Capitol stairs and was surprised by the media attention. As I looked around I noticed; CNN, Fox News, the other local TV networks, newspaper and radio reporters. I was approached and interviewed by several. God was working out something for a bigger plan, in this state! That all happened in a matter of less than 30 minutes driving into Columbia, South Carolina. 
Well, we never know where we are going to stay, whether in a motel, campground or someone’s home. We pray, “Lord open the door.” I knew I better find a motel before it was any later. Here we go again, stinky, stinky, and stinky, this motel was bad. I’m learning to just hold my breath, I said, “Ok, this will be only for one night.” I should have gotten the clue as a woman was checking out as she had just checked in, she was disgusted at her room, AND she just checked in! Oh well, what can I say, I was tired and the girls were tired too! As the girls were walking the dogs, they noticed a parade of large; two inch long cockroaches in the hundreds were running around outside the motel. They were making a b-line from the trash can outside to the motel sidewalks and running all over the parking lot. The girls didn’t tell me until after we left, thanks girls. I knew the Holy Spirit told me, “Keep your bags zipped tight,” for a reason! The next morning, troubled in my Spirit after seeing the night before, the man in the KKK sheets. I asked the girls “Give me some time alone, I need to pray.” As I prayed, I felt really strong in my heart, to contact the Foursquare church in the area. Everybody was packed and ready to leave, I told Beverly to get me the phone number and address. Something inside told me, “Contact the Foursquare Pastor.” Putting his address in the GPS, we headed off towards his direction. On the way there, I noticed a campground, “Okay, campground or cockroaches, cockroaches or campground!” Guess what we chose? Even though the temperatures were hot, everybody was pretty excited about the campground, OK so it’s not like the wonderful Bed and Breakfast in Prescott, Arizona or Craig’s nice basement apartment, but at least we escaped the cockroaches and we had fresh air. Driving into a housing development, I thought to myself, “There can’t be a church here, Beverly, are you sure you have the right address.” We continued on and ended up at the end of the road in the cul-de-sac. There’s the address, pointing to a beautiful brick house. I thought to myself, “Oops, Beverly did we make a mistake?” Not wanting to turn around for some reason, I said, “Beverly, knock on the door and see if this is the Pastor’s house.” A gentleman came to the door, his little Dachshund was barking up a storm and in one hand a phone, he was talking to a computer technician for his broken printer. Beverly standing at the door, he looked beyond her to see our great big trailer sitting in his front yard, our driving billboard, “Mission America, Our Hope Jesus Christ!” He smiled and had a twinkle in his eye and motioned for us to come on in. He finished up his phone conversation, and we were sitting in his front room. He saw our t-shirts, “Mission America” and we shared with him our mission. He just was a little stunned and surprised, but I could see by the Holy Spirit there was something stirring inside of him. All of the sudden, he said, “I was just praying this morning feeling like, “What are we doing God?” He said, “Then you guys show up at my door.” He said, “Wow, what is God doing?” We talked about an hour and we knew we were one in Spirit, he asked us to come back for dinner, “Let’s share a meal.” His wife was at work, we headed out to eat lunch, and it was already 2:30 p.m. Looking around for a place to eat, we found a restaurant close by. We were hot, tired and hungry; we knew we needed to eat and set up at the campground for the night. As we were sitting down at the restaurant, a precious family came walking in, I noticed the wife as she kept trying to read the message on the back of our t-shirts, I just smiled at her as she passed, I nodded my head and said, “Hello!” We finished up our meal and as we were walking out, I turned the wrong way to get to get back to the truck; we had to walk all the way around the building. Passing the patio, the same family had moved out to the patio; as the girls passed I noticed the husband and wife were both trying to read the t-shirts, I stopped and said, “We are five single Christian missionaries to America, traveling to every state to tell people about Jesus.” I shared with them, “We had just left 47 days ago,” at that time, “we prayed with over 390 people and we put out over 20,000 tracts.” He was so touched; he jumped up and said, “Can I please pray for you?” I was moved by his compassion and thoughtfulness to pray for us, we gathered around and he led us in a powerful prayer, asking God to protect us and keep us in the palm of His hand. I almost wanted to cry, I felt such compassion, and the Holy Spirit was all over him. We said, “God bless and thank you.” Getting to my truck, I was just sitting down and closing the door, when a vehicle like a black SUV came around the corner, this same precious man who just prayed for us, reached out and gave me $100, he said, “Here just a little bit of something.” That precious man did not know he just filled both of our gas tanks and paid for our campground for the night. I knew we were the right place. After setting up camp, we went back to the pastor’s house to meet his wife. What an incredible couple, filled with the Spirit! As we sat around his table, had dinner, shared about God’s goodness, mercy and grace. We shared how God always shows up. They were so touched and we were too! Before we knew it, Pastor Jack brought communion to the table, as we sat around that table, the Holy Spirit showed up; all of us felt God’s presence as we prayed, cried and thanked God for His grace which is always sufficient. By now it was almost midnight, Kaweah sang a few songs and we gave our hugs to say goodbye, his wife Becky said, “You girls can stay at our house, we welcome you in the peace of God.” She said, “I have enough beds.” We told her we had dogs, they just smiled and said, “See you tomorrow, there is plenty of room.” Thanking God as we went to the campground, it was now 1:00 a.m. We just had church, on a Friday. 
Packing up the camp the following day, we headed to the house, a tremendous blessing sent from God. After setting up our rooms at the house, we decided to head over to the mall because we wanted to look for a lot for the tent. We drove into this beautiful outdoor mall surrounded by condominiums, a round about, and a large water fountain. Lo and behold, guess what I saw? A covered pavilion used for music concerts, and benches throughout and lots of people. Kaweah started singing and more people came, I lifted up my voice and started preaching in the market square. I was surprised by the positive response. We must have witnessed to over 50 people and prayed with a few for salvation. They were so open, kind and honest. I knew the Holy Spirit is already doing something great in this place. The next day, being Sunday, the pastor invited us to his home church; Kaweah and Rhonda led worship; what a powerful presence of the Holy Spirit. There was such a hunger in the people to experience more of God. I shared about the Holy Spirit; and being led by the Spirit, and the importance of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. We prayed for those who wanted more of God. The pastors are so hungry for more of the Lord, we had a great time. That evening, we went back to the mall with the pastors. This time we did one-on-one witnessing, over 10 people prayed for salvation; we talked and prayed for many others who are broken and searching for answers for their lives. This has been the Book of Acts experience in Columbia, South Carolina. Troubled because I could not find a place to set up our big yellow and white tent, not knowing God has a bigger plan. The Holy Spirit woke me up about 4:30 a.m., as I laid in my bed, praying and asking the Holy Spirit, what were we supposed to do; all of the sudden, I thought about the Capitol. I just lay there, asking the Holy Spirit, “Are you trying to tell me something?” All of the sudden, it hit my heart; “Mission America,” the Capitol is the seat of authority for every state, and government decisions which impact the whole state are made there. Getting a clear direction from the Holy Spirit, I waited to share what the Holy Spirit had put in my heart; I decided I would go to town and set up a few appointments. Bingo…! I prayed that morning, “Lord, give me wisdom for the media.” Within an hour, we had set up a three day meeting; another two day meeting; and met a wonderful gentleman from ABC who knew everything about media. He was a Christian and helped us. He took us into their Conference Room at ABC and asked us what our mission was. I told him, “I have been praying for God to help us find someone who could give us wisdom for media and marketing.” He got up, went to the other room, pulled out a phone book, walked back and wrote out a plan for us. I knew we were in the right place and the right state. The Holy Spirit is going to do something very powerful in these meetings. I covet your prayers, please bind, rebellion, pride and hatred. We have a full schedule of ministry in the next few days; continue to pray as God has opened up three major meetings, I will be ministering in open air, at the very same spot where the man with the Ku Klux Klan sheets was standing. 
But I come in the name of the Living God, Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior. Like David came against Goliath, I will tear down this giant stronghold in South Carolina; he will bow and be defeated in the name of Jesus. Copyright Dr. Luauna Stines, July 2009 |
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About ATFA Mission America Mission America - 48 - 58 SC
About ATFA Mission America Mission America - 48 - 58 SC