April Showers

A Report on the Revival Ministry of Dr. Rick Flanders in April of 2016

We want to thank all of our friends who pray for us and our work on some regular basis.  The Lord answered prayer and did wonderful things as we went from place to place in the month of April.

• FINISHING THE WESTERN REVIVAL CONFERENCE on April 1, at the Prince Albert Baptist Church in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. Many of you prayed for this event, and God answered your prayers.  We saw people make significant revival decisions, had a part in people getting saved, and partnered with Pastor Dave Webster as well as Dr. Jim Van Gelderen in teaching important truths about revival.  We are planning to have another WRC next year about the same time.
• A FAMILY REVIVAL CONFERENCE, April 3-6, at the Vision Baptist Church at Leduc, Alberta: Pastor Jim Price designated this series of six meetings in this way, and encouraged his folks to attend them all to get help from the Bible for their families. We saw revival blessings from the first service to the end as well as blessings in lives and homes.  We are praying about planning another revival event at Vision down the road.
• REVIVAL MEETINGS IN DECATUR, INDIANA, April 10-12, at Decatur Baptist Church: Pastor Lyons arranged these meetings with me some time ago to seek spiritual renewal and a fresh start for his congregation in east Indiana. I was thrilled with the open attitude of the people of this church to revival truth, and with things that happened as a result.
• TWO NIGHTS ON REVIVAL IN COAL VALLEY, ILLINOIS, April 13-14, at Believers’ Baptist Church. It is unusual to do this, but we held just two meetings, two nights in a row, to emphasize two important but neglected truths in this small but very good church near Moline.  On Wednesday, I preached and taught from Luke 11 on “Bread for Others.”  We learned how Jesus taught us to prevail in prayer for the power of the Holy Spirit to bring others to Him.  Then on Thursday, I spoke from Matthew 18 on “How the Church Gets Things Done.”  It was about using “The Keys of the Kingdom” in prayer meetings in order that certain things may be “done,” according to the amazing promise of Matthew 18:19.  Both nights were used of God to instruct and inspire the saints to pray and see God work. The series ended with a corporate prayer meeting. I continue to pray for Believers’ Baptist Church as they move forward, and I hope you will, too.
• REVIVAL CAMPAIGN IN RANSON, WEST VIRGINIA, April 17-20, at First Baptist Church. This town and this church are located near Harper’s Ferry in the tristate region of West Virginia, Maryland, and Virginia.  Pastor Withem has a hunger for God and for revival in the church, and it was a blessing to work and pray with him.  We had both preaching services and very powerful prayer meetings day after day.  The sermons started and ended, in part, with Peter’s backsliding and restoration.  One night, a young man came up to me to say, “Brother Flanders, I believe that many people have been revived already.”  Then he said, “Last night I went home crying, but now I’m not crying because I am free!”  These were wonderful meetings, attended by God.
• REVIVAL CAMPAIGN IN MOUNT JOY, PENNSYLVANIA, April 24-29, at the Faith Bible Church. Just south of Harrisburg not far from Lancaster is the lovely, growing town in which this good church is located. We started by looking at real Christianity as it is presented in the Bible.  Then we looked at how to get up to that level (this is called revival). Pastor Madrid designated Wednesday’s service as “Outreach Night,” and we saw several people come for the first time, in answer to prayers offered in the prayer meetings.  That night I preached both to saints and sinners a sermon from the book of John, that I call “The Journey of a Lost Soul.”  Thursday the message was or how and why to have unity in a marriage, and Friday’s message was from First Corinthians 3, titled, “We are Labourers Together with God.”  Every service, those who attended responded well to the truth and many are testifying that God revived them this week.  We had visitors that I think are going to stick there.  Pray for the pastor and the church right now, since their plans are to venture out into an intense evangelistic effort in the days and months ahead.
• THE LADIES’ PRAYER ENCOUNTER in McVeytown (near Lewistown), Pennsylvania. Led by Evangelist Tom Palmer, these “encounter” retreats are having a great impact upon many Christians these days, and my wife Toni got to speak to a large group of women from several states at this one, April 29 and 30.  I took her up from Mt. Joy on Friday, went back to preach in the final revival meeting of that series, and then went back up to McVeytown to rest at the Penn Valley Christian Retreat and wait to take her with me to our next assignment near Youngstown, Ohio.  Her theme was faith, and I believe God used all four of her talks to gender faith in the ladies.  May great things happen in response to the faith of the women who went home revived.

In May I am set to preach at Gospel Baptist Church of Poland, Ohio (near Youngstown) on the first; at the LaGrange Baptist Church of LaGrange, Indiana, on the eighth; to teach the History of Revival class at Indiana Baptist College in Indianapolis, April 9-13; to preach in revival meetings at Grace Baptist Church of Springfield, Illinois, the fifteenth through the twentieth; and to preach in a revival campaign at the Baptist Church of Greenfield, Missouri, April 22-26.  Do pray for me as I minister in these places, and attend the meetings as you can.  Call me if you have any questions about me itinerary at 989.863.0784.  You preachers will want to look into taking that revival class on the seminary level.  It’s not too late to contact the college to enroll and also to arrange for housing the week of the ninth.

If there is any way Toni or I can help any of you, don’t fail to call or write us.  We appreciate you, and desire to do all we can for you.

These are troubling days for Christians in our land, obviously.  The events on the political scene are disturbing and discouraging to say the least.  But every day you and I can have an audience with the Ruler of the Universe, and He can overrule the plans of sinful men to further His wonderful Cause and His ultimate purpose.  So, let us pray, and encourage other believers to pray as we never have before.  Read again Romans 8:26-28.

RICK FLANDERS

Acts 1:8