Miracles Made Abundantly Clear!
The miracles of God were made abundantly clear during the Santa Maria Valley National Day of Prayer this year in a variety of ways. Taking on the task of hosting the 24th annual National Day of Prayer seemed daunting. With a complete leadership change, my Vice President, Dean Linnens, and I felt like the blind leading the blind. We had no other choice but to put our Lord, God in the driver’s seat because we really had no idea what we were doing. What we found is that God’s plan is always the best plan.
We had developed an Agenda and time and again God delivered the right servant to share His message and Glory. The most telling of all was the addition of Brandon Lambert and Father Masseo. Father Masseo had originally been identified to deliver the prayer over our Church Ministries, Youth, and First Responders. When I called El Padrecito Ministries in Guadalupe to ask Father Masseo, I was told he was going to be in Texas the week of our event and was unavailable. With that in mind, we asked Brandon Lambert, Executive Director of Fellowship for Christian Athletes (FCA), to lead the prayer.
As Dean and I were meeting to put the final touches of the program and advertising together, we received an unexpected call from Rosa Castro, one of our Board Members. She shared the news that Father Masseo was available after all. I was excited, shocked, and bewildered. What would we do? We were double booked. Surely the program would extend beyond the 2 hours we anticipated. I looked at Dean and he said: “let’s run with it. God is leading this!”
As it turned out, the addition of both speakers kept the flow of a very powerful event to the very end. But that’s not all. What has compelled me to share this story is the additional miraculous fallout afterwards. A few days later, an acquaintance, Clarissa Nagy, reached out to thank me for the event and asked to get together. I had known her husband, Jonathan, over the years but only knew Clarissa as an acquaintance and Winemaker of Nagy Wines.
It didn’t take long for Clarissa and I to connect through our love of the Lord. As it turns out, her husband Jonathan is very passionate about counseling the youth and using his talents in coaching the St. Joseph’s Basketball team. Having heard Brandon’s speech, Jonathan asked Clarissa if I would connect him with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.
In August, Jonathan took time off from work to assist Brandon with his Bible Camp, administering God’s Word and promises to 5th-8th graders. The program brings together campers, young athletes, coaches and several local churches to develop athletic skills along with Christian relationship. The Program covers 4 messages:
God’s love is unconditional;
Sin separates us from God;
Jesus rescues us from our sin;
Will you trust in Him? During the program 13 campers, 5 young athletes, and 1 coach committed to Trust in Christ and 10 more renewed their commitment to follow Him.
This is truly a miracle of God and a reflection of what we prayed for during the National Day of Prayer on May 6th. God is always at work, and we are always called to pray for His doing in our lives. Remember to pray daily for our Community, our State, and our Nation. See the good works come alive in your life and share your testimonies!
If you have a story or account of God’s many blessings in our community and would like to share in our Newsletter please submit to:
smvcommunityofprayer@gmail.com.
Keep looking for miracles, they are clearly abundant!