Dear Friends,
Thank you for your support and prayers as Ben and I traveled to Cuauhtémoc, Mexico, recently. The 12 hour day of repentance and prayer was powerful. The fact that so many area pastors and churches came together to pray and cry out for their community is being called an historic event, as it had never happened prior to that day. Many said that the Lord’s Presence was so tangible that no one was restless or physically hungry or thirsty the whole day. It was remarkable, and we are eager to see what comes next for Cuauhtémoc. We heard several stories of hit-men entangled in the violent culture of smuggling arms, drug trafficking and family feuds who have been changed by the power and love of Jesus Christ.
(from the 12 hour repentance and prayer time in Mexico)
Last week I spoke in Williamsport, Maryland, for the second time, about transforming revival. I shared the story that I have shared with you before, about the young children in Indonesia who wake up at 4am to cry out to the Lord and worship Him. I received this last Monday morning from the pastor's family about their 7 year old son, Luke (it was written to the family members who are away at college):
Good Morning Everyone,
I wish you all could be around to see some very cute, amazing, and touching activities going on here. So I thought I would write and maybe capture a bit of it for you.
Since Dad has been preaching for awhile now about transformation and revival, he brought in Bob Royce again this past Sunday to preach for him since He was away in Lynchburg. He spoke on the Book of Acts and had lots of stories of his own about God moving. One story was where God moved children at a very young age (4 - 6) to wake up early and pray spurring on revival. He was very encouraging to all of us each time he spoke, once in August and last Sunday. At the end of his talk, he opened up a time where he asked the congregation to share what we thought God was doing here. There was a lot of unity, everyone seemed to be sharing similar stories of confession and God waking them up early to pray.
Luke and I left almost right away to come home early to prepare for lunch for we were having the Royce family over. They have 5 children.
As I was in the kitchen, Luke went, got Daniel's Bible, sat in the chair in the living room and began to read Genesis 1. He would call me and ask for help in sounding out a word every once in a while. He sat there for about 15 minutes reading, then he told me he was going to stay in the service from now on. I said, " that is good because next week you will be 8 years old - no more children's church for you."
We had a very nice afternoon with the Royces and their kids. That evening, Dad wanted to have a "technology" fast so we all sat in the family room talking and laughing. Luke said, "lets read the Bible in Acts," so Dad read a chapter. Luke wants to read and be together every night now.
That night Luke made a date with Elizabeth to get up early and have devotions with her. They sat together on the love seat, he reading Daniel’s Bible and she reading hers. He asked me if he could have his own Bible, not a children’s Bible. So Dad and I took him out for his birthday lunch and stopped by the Christian Bookstore and he picked out his Bible. He wanted one with a ribbon and a soft cover. He came home and started reading it right away. I saw him outside walking around with his Bible and every once in a while he would put both hands up, then he sat in the grass and read.
That evening, he told me he now needed an alarm clock so he could get up early to have his devotions. I found one and we together set his alarm for 7:30. I told him he needed to go to bed early if he was going to get up early. He decided to go to bed at 9:00 and kept an eye on the clock all evening. He was promptly in his bed at 9.
We all got up at 6:30 and we were having our devotions when Luke came down at 7:30. He was so excited. He yelled, "IT WORKED", I sat right up. He sat between Dad and I reading his Bible. At some point, he realized that we had all been up since 6:30 so he set his alarm for 6:30 and was waiting for us this morning. He was the first to get up.
You should have seen Luke sitting on the sofa concentrating on reading his Bible. I couldn't stop smiling. When he was done, he said, "Mom, I'm going to make myself an omelette, you might want to come and spot me." We ended up making some for everyone and we all ate breakfast together. Dad says, "let's do this every morning."
Luke told me this morning that now he wants to play on the worship team. Bethany is teaching him the piano while I write this. About a week before all this, Luke came in from outside and said he went on a prayer walk.
Looking forward to what God has for all of us. I know we will all see and experience Him when we are in heaven...I want to experience His power on earth. May His Kingdom come and His Will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
On behalf of the Royce family, I want to say thank you for supporting us as we spread the message of awakening and revival in America and beyond.
To join our support team, click on Field Staff Support at IFA Royce Team.
Bob
Bob Royce
Intercessors for America
Mobilization Coordinator
PO Box 915
Purcellville, VA 20134
800-USA-PRAY
