Ministry Summaries

Terry Cohea's Ministry Report:

Another Great Outreach in the books. Many souls reached, many Gospel sermons preached, Many conversations had, and many hours were labored for the Kingdom of God. 

I was by the Grace of God given the opportunity to lead 13 to 14 men over the course of 3 days to proclaim Christ in the face of many enemies to the lost souls at the Bonnaroo music festival in Manchester, TN where roughly 100 thousand attended.

We all had such a wonderful time of fellowship each day, as well as teaching, and of course preaching Christ together. This past Thursday, Friday and Saturday for roughly 6 hours each day we had 3 teams spread out in 3 separate locations within the area of the festival and we all had 1 unified mission: To preach Christ Jesus with urgency and boldness in a dark situation, to the Glory of God and to the hope of lost sinners. At the end of each day all 3 teams would have great stories to tell; about conversations had where lost unbelievers came under conviction, many professing Christians who were in obvious sin were given compassionate rebuke, and stories of personal and corporate persecutions all of us faced. 

We faced intense heat from the blazing sun, as well as intense opposition from people who hated Christ as they did the bidding of their father and slave master the devil. It's a level of hatred toward God and His servants that is not quite as common any where else I have ever preached. Yet we were all truly rejoicing, it's hard to put into words how that coincided in our hearts, feeling pity toward these people and being compelled all the more to press harder for the cause. Many people would stop and listen and ask questions, some to mock, but still creating opportunities to engage. Many people we talked to were broken and could see the evil and darkness around them and this obviously created unique opportunities to share the gospel. As we would take shifts preaching, people were often drawn in to talk with one of the other brothers standing by or to take a gospel tract. 

Our enemies would do things to purposefully try to distract us or to taughnt us, this included lewd acts, yelling, and threatening's. One man said to one of our evangelists: I am going to kick you and throw you in the ditch.... Our brother responded..." That would be an honor sir." People played loud music and lewd sound effects to try and drown out the preaching. People called the police and made false accusations against us. And we were constantly dealing with mockings and being called names and cursed at. One day a satan worshipper stood near by with a sign that said: hail satan... Many people would salute him and cheer for him in hearty approval, while at the same time cursing us. 

Yet for all the opposition, the outreach was a complete success: People heard Christ, people listened and people were convicted. Many felt uncomfortable during conversations but that is always the case when we are dealing with sin and how it works in the hearts of the lost. Many hours of Gospel preaching brought the Law of God and the Grace of God into the darkness and if you know what to look for you can see the effects. A couple people came to tears as they realized the state they were in as Christ was made known to them. Hundreds maybe thousands of Gospel tracts and literature was handed out. Many people, more than I have ever experienced before at this event, claimed to be Christians but where in obvious league with sin and the world. To this each time I would ask them: What are you doing here? This started several sincere conversations where I had opportunities to talk more deeply about what the Bible says about these issues and to show what genuine faith in Christ looks like. I was personally distressed over this particular issue because these people were "Almost Christians" that had their conscience seared and they were difficult to reach because they were at some point convinced by someone that because they had said a prayer in a church service, or were baptized, or they simply confessed Christ that, that was true faith in Him. I believe a few I talked with were probably true Christians, but they had not been discipled properly and they were misguided. But most of them were obvious false converts that did not have faith, they had only agreement with Christ intellectually. This is the fruit of many decades of churches preaching a man centered gospel and not the true Christ centered Gospel of the Bible. 

I was so blessed to be apart of this work. I am simply another spoke in the wheel. I have had so many thoughts going through my mind since it ended, at times an emotional roller coaster. I thank the Lord that I was there and able to do the work of an evangelist. That He would see fit to use me. And I know all the men I labored with would say the same. 

Blessings to you friends and thank you all for your prayers and continued support. 

• In the service of Christ, Terry Cohea. 

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