2019 Washington DC Youth Revival

The theme of the revival was taken from Matthew 4:19, “And he saith unto them, follow me and I will make you fishers of men.” At the opening, youth leader Sister Blessing Mbang preached on how the Holy Spirit first brings us to the church and then to the altar to be saved. Then God continues to draw us into a deeper walk with Him. Just as Jesus asked Peter, “Lovest thou me more than these,” after we are saved our love for Jesus must grow. From Hebrews 10:38, Sister Blessing encouraged us not to look back but to run for our lives and to press towards the mark of the high calling of God.

The weeklong revival continued with prayer on Monday night and evangelistic services on Tuesday through Friday nights. On Tuesday night, Reverend Eli Segres spoke from John 10:10 saying “Stay with Jesus because he has the light to eternal life”. He stressed that we must keep the blood of Jesus in our souls and we can go down to the grave and still have Jesus in us. He concluded saying that money and cars are for here, but when you die you must have Jesus Christ! The sermon drew many into prayer after the service and a child of nine afterwards testified that she had given her life to Christ.

On Wednesday Sister Esther Ajayi, who is a youth minister, reminded us that that call of Jesus is twofold: The first is to the sinner for salvation, and the second to the journey of walking with Christ. She pointed to the example of the disciples in Matthew 4:18, saying “straightway, they left their nets and followed him”, challenging us that we must heed the call of God immediately. Sister Esther challenged that following Jesus is not a childish game where we can tell lies and just say, “Jesus please forgive me, I lied” because God is not a joker

On Thursday our guest speaker, Brother David Ekpen—a minister from the Apostolic Faith Church in Alabama—joined us along with his wife, Sister Priscilla, and their two children. Brother David spoke gravely and passionately as he preached from Psalm 133:1-3 and 1 John 2:9-11, admonishing that saints of God must walk in obedience to the word of God. He said that following God was walking in unity with the saints. The power fell when the disciples were united. Jesus said “follow me”; He wants to make us like Him! He closed the sermon exhorting the brethren to have the spirit of love..

On Friday night, saints from our sister churches visited—including East Bridgewater, MA and the pastor and wife from Philadelphia, the parents of the guest speaker, whom Brother David was glad to see. Preaching from Psalm 34:1-6, Brother David spoke about difficult times in the life of David the son of Jesse. The title of the sermon was “He Promised” and we were encouraged that no matter how difficult the situation we were going through, God is there with us. Our situations may not always be a bed of ease, but greater is He that is in us that he that is in the world. Closing with Psalm 34:6, David challenged us to cry out to the Lord for He will hear us.

On Saturday many more saints joined from sister churches including Oceanside NY, Brooklyn NY, Bronx NY and Richmond VA. It was a sweet fellowship and we sang songs of praises to open the meeting. Sister Carrie Keju, also a minister from Washington DC, taught about social media. She had vivid illustrations that made the teaching very lively. In one demonstration, to show that there were right ways and wrong ways to use social media, she showed a McDonald’s combo meal and asked the congregation their preferred way was to eat it. People gave different opinions and then Sister Carrie suggested there might be another way—why not eat them all together? Piece by piece, she put the burger, fries and soda into the blender and turned it on, amid everyone’s protestations. It was a powerful visual aid about misusing all the good that social media can be. She also encouraged users of media not to become vain or abusive in one’s posts as it destroys something precious within us. To emphasize this, as she spoke chopped up some beautiful fresh roses to drive home her point.

On Sunday the church was packed full. There were words of encouragement from our Pastor, Josephine McElveen, Brother Johnny Wyatt, Pastor from Brooklyn NY, and youth leaders and ministers from Wharton, NJ, Oceanside NY, Brooklyn NY, Reston VA, and Bronx NY. Sister Angelis Ortiz from Bronx, NY glorified the Lord for His strength and grace, saying that she didn’t consider herself to be worthy to serve in the position as youth leader but God. Sister Priscilla Ekpen, the revivalist’s wife, gave her testimony, sharing how she had been in a terrible accident that left her with shattered hip bones and a neck bone and had put her on a wheelchair for months, but God had raised her up. She then sang the special song, “Mercy Said No.” It was powerful and the congregation felt the touch of the Holy Spirit, joining her in singing

Brother David spoke from Daniel 3:24-25 about Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who were young men and friends of Daniel and believed to be of royal lineage. He said young people go through troubles but that God always helps you to overcome. But to overcome, we need to be in touch with the power of God. What we have available is God’s power, not a form or fashion but the Almighty God on high working in us. Brother David challenged us to walk in the God’s Spirit because there is an enemy who is seeking to devour every believer. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego had something on the inside that enabled them to stand and gave them victory. There is coming a day when we each have to give an account. While we might occasionally feel that we are in a temporal fiery furnace, there is a final fiery furnace that is coming and to be prepared for! He closed saying, “My prayer is that that the love of God will keep you.”

On The Youth Revival 2019 has been a time of fellowship and a time of consecration. We pray for God to perfect His work in the hearts of all who attended the meetings. Amen.