“How the lord miraculously delivered the bus”
If you know the story of how we received our tent to start doing tent revivals… then you might have a clue on how the bus came about… We started doing Tent Revivals smack dab in the middle of the COVID pandemic. Many thought we were crazy, but we just followed what the Spirit of God told us to do and kept busy doing what we were supposed to do. We traveled throughout the State of Michigan and hosted 5 Tent Revivals in various cities.
We had an amazing time and learned so much in our first year. The winter weather here in Michigan pretty much shuts down the idea of doing outdoor Tent Revival Events. That didn’t stop our team from meeting, studying, learning, training and growing. The Lord continued to connect us with people who were searching for Truth. A brother in Christ, Levi Yoder, was connected with a family in the thumb of Michigan. He heard directly from the Lord that he needed to go there (2 and a half hours from where he lives) and minister to them. After spending the weekend with them, he told the the family that they had to get connected with me. They called me on the phone and had a conversation, I told them we were meeting weekly as a home church and they were more than welcome to come join us and so the following week they brought the family down and I shared my heart about the Kingdom of God.
Justin and Levi at the Sturgis Tent Revival 21′
Pastor Mike Smith, Lifesong Church blessing us with the title.
The family was touched and after they went home, we had a long conversation about everything and the dad says “You know, I know a Pastor who has a bus for sale, maybe you would want it for your ministry.” I said well if it’s the Lord’s will that he would want us to have a bus then let’s pray. I prayed, touched and believed that if the Lord wanted us to have the bus, we would have it.
A few days later, I called the Pastor, Mike Smith, and shared my heart with him. I shared my testimony and talked about the Tent Revivals. I explained that we’ve been to 5 different cities hosting these Revivals and as I went over each city… he stopped me after I said “Sault Ste. Marie” (Upper Peninsula). He says “Did you work with any churches in The Soo when you did your tent revival?” I said yes, actually we worked with a church, The Soo Christian Fellowship and the pastor there helped me baptize my daughter in the St. Mary’s River. A very long awkward pause… I said “Hello?” He says “Ya, Ya, I heard you… so you know Pastor Scout then!?” I said “Yes! I love Pastor Scout, when I met him, we hit it off and knew right away that it was a Kingdom connection.” Pastor Mike says “This has got to be God” I said what do you mean? He says Scout Hester is my best friend. He’s on the board of my church! I’ve known him since I was a young!”
Check this out… The Pastor I was talking on the phone with was 300 MILES away from the Sault Ste. Marie! We did 5 Tent Revivals throughout the State and it just so happens that the Pastor I’m talking to is BEST FRIEND’S with the Pastor we worked with in The Soo? Only God…
I never mentioned a word about the bus. We were so excited that we knew the Lord was calling us together for something, he thought I was asking him to do a Tent Revival with his church! We ended up hanging up the phone and I just started ballin’ like a baby. I knew God was in this and He was up to something. I just started crying tears of joy and told Candace what happened and our jaws dropped. I called Pastor Scout on the phone and explained everything to him and he was like “WOW!! Sounds like the Kingdom to me!” I just sat in awe for a few days…
Pastor Scout Hester, Soo Christian Fellowship – Sault Ste. Marie, MI
I didn’t mention anything about the bus. It was a week later, Pastor Mike was holding an “Ignite The Thumb Rally” at his church – Lifesong, in the thumb area. I heard from the Lord that I needed to be there. So the family and I went, sat in the back and was taking part in their worship service. All of a sudden, a leader of the Rally stands up and starts talking about laying hands on the sick and how we have authority and walking in dominion and I’m getting all jacked up because he’s speaking my language! He says for everyone to raise their hands if they need healing, a lady in front of me raises her hands. I pray for her, she says she feels heat all inside her body and all the pain left. Then she hands me a note… I’ve never met this lady or seen her before in my life. She says “I need you to give this note to Pastor Mike”. I said “Me? Really? Why me?” She says “YOU NEED TO GIVE THIS TO PASTOR MIKE”. I said “OK!” took the note and sat down…
As I’m sitting down, I’m just in a daze… Candace says “What’s going on, what’s that in your hand?” I told her what happened and said The Lord just opened the door to go talk with Pastor Mike. She looks at me, I look at her and we’re both just like…. Wow….
After the service, I go find Pastor Mike and start to talk with him. I start out by introducing myself and he kind of looks at me with that “I’m not sure who you are but it’s nice to see you” look. I mention that I am the guy who does Tent Revivals and mentioned Scout and he immediately is like OOOHHHHHH JUSTIN!!! We give each other a hug and I hand him the note that the lady gave me. Afterward talking for a minute, I said “Hey, I heard you had a bus for sale?” He immediately says “It’s yours, you can have it.”. I stuttered “uh… uh… really???” He says yes you can have it for free.
He explains to me that he tried to donate the bus to the local Rescue Mission and that the guy on the phone said he wanted it… but for the past 2 weeks he’s been avoiding his phone calls, wouldn’t return voicemails and just couldn’t figure out why he wasn’t calling back. Then after I asked him about the bus, he knew. God was moving things together in order to fulfill His plans and purposes!
The next week, we went to service there at the church. Pastor Mike (not even knowingly) prophesied that we are traveling missionaries and that they were donating the bus to the cause of advancing the Kingdom on Earth. He and the board signed over the paperwork and title and we drove the bus back to Saginaw. You see… God is faithful. He showed Candace and I way back in January 2019 that we would be traveling and preaching the Gospel. Many people thought (and still think) we were crazy, but we hold onto that vision that he gave us. We had no idea what or how it would happen, we just knew what GOD told us. I just wanted to share a little peak into our lives and how real He is to us. As we continue to share stories and testimonies – we pray that this will encourage you, strengthen you and build your faith in Jesus Christ because He is not a respecter of persons – what He does for me, He can and will do for you! We pray that God will get the glory and you will have more courage and faith to follow God’s plan for your life.
Follow and Share with Friends: