While serving as a missionary in Europe, I arrived in Colmar France for an evangelistic crusade with little money in my pocket, my brakes having gone out and screeching loudly each time I used them, and my gas tank gauge almost on empty. I had just left a US Servicemen’s convention in Germany where the Spirit directed me to give the money I had in my wallet. But I was ready for God to do great things because I had asked our guest speaker at the Servicemen’s Convention, T. L. Lowrey, to pray for me when he got back to the USA. He told me he would be conducting a crusade in Dalton, Georgia and on the first night he would have special prayer for our revival.

The opening service was good but I didn’t see the openness to the Gospel I’d hoped for. Each night we had good singing and fellowship, but no one raised their hand to be born again. After a few nights of not seeing anyone come forward, I made a vow to God that I would go on a fast until someone came forward for salvation. A few days later, later as the pastor and I walked through the local city park to pass out fliers, inviting people to the meetings, people were courteous and accepted our fliers, but made no further inquiries.

Just as we were about to exit the park, we heard a young female voice hollering something in French. The pastor and I stopped and turned around to see a young lady running toward us with her hands waving in the air. When she got to where we were standing, somewhat out of breath she asked the pastor, are you preachers? The pastor nodded, and pointing toward me said, “We both are.” She began to cry as she poured out her story. Earlier in the week, she ran away from home. She was disillusioned by life and didn’t know where to turn for help. She had been living in the forest just above the town for several days. Even though she wasn’t a born again Christian, earlier that day she knelt beside a log and asked God to come to her aid. When she finished, she said a voice spoke to her, and told her to go down to the park and she would find two ministers there who could help her. At first, she hesitated, because she’d never heard a voice like that before. Finally, she decided to find out. Therefore, as she entered the park just as we were leaving, her heart told her we were the two ministers the voice spoke about. So, right there in the park we prayed with her to receive Jesus as her Lord and Savior.

That night the church was full, and the pastor told the story of the young girl. After the sermon, when I gave the invitation a number of people came forward to be born again. After prayer we asked them to give a testimony of what brought them there and what it meant to be forgiven. One lady told how that for months she was so desperate to get closer to God, to know Him better. She was a telephone operator in a business, and earlier that day she accidentally overheard a conversation in which one person told the other about an evangelist who was in town. At first she didn’t know what to do, but her hunger for God was so great she called the person back and asked where the church was located. Needless to say, not only did a revival break out, not only were people saved, filled with the Spirit and slain in the Spirit, but I was able to eat again with joy. I always believed in the promise Jesus made before His ascension that signs and wonders would accompany those who go out in His name, but after this experience it taught me that the list of those signs and wonders is a lot longer than the one Mark gives us in his gospel.

Later I received a letter from Dr. T. L. Lowery asking how the meetings went. I joyfully shared with him what God did through the Spirit during those ten days. Each time I saw him after that we both would smile in gratefulness to the Lord for answering prayer. It certainly instilled in my heart more faith in the words of the Lord Jesus when He said, “Truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven.”¹