In a time of financial challenge, and despite being between pastors, the Hillside O'Malley (Anchorage, Alaska) Church board decided they needed to hold an evangelistic series. Brian McMahon, Revelation Speaks Hope seminar speaker/leader, was invited to speak, and Don Barnt, a layperson from Wasilla, Alaska, came to lead the organization and conduct preparation for the meetings. The outcome was phenomenal.
Out of hundreds of visitors that filed into the sanctuary, 30 made decisions for Jesus and 25 fully surrendered their life to Him through baptism or by profession of faith.
Paul Jones, a retired judge who served in Alaskan courts for years, always wondered why people didn't keep the Sabbath since it was clearly mentioned in the Ten Commandments. He enjoyed reading Liberty magazine and for years watched It Is Written and 3ABN. All this exposure to God's Word prepared him to go to the Revelation Speaks Hope seminar when the brochure came to his mail. Jones was baptized at the end of the series.
Young people came every night with their Bibles in hand to listen to McMahon's message. Three teenagers made decisions to be baptized: Andrew Wagner, Amber Daniel and Katie Daniel. Katie Daniel wasn't sure how to have a devotional life, which suggested her decision was more mechanical than from the heart. She was given a copy of Mark Finley's Studying Together along with a Bible and was shown how to use these. Soon her face glowed with excitement. She had written page after page in a notebook of things she had learned. The knowledge of Jesus went from her head to her heart!
Hillside O'Malley Church board members are so thankful they listened to the prompting of the Holy Spirit to reach out to the community through evangelism. Not only did the church experience a rich harvest of souls, but a spiritual revival spread throughout the church family and financial troubles disappeared. This gave members a new understanding of what Jesus said: "Do you not say, 'There are yet four months, and then comes the harvest?' Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, that they are white for harvest," (John 4:35, NASB).
New members are welcomed to the Hillside O'Malley (Alaska) Church family following evangelistic meetings.
Paul Jones, a retired Alaskan judge, is welcomed into the church by Brian McMahon, the main speaker for the Hillside O'Malley Church's evangelistic meetings in Anchorage, Alaska.
