This last 3 weeks being back at The River has been life changing to me, I got in the first week back but in the middle of the week so I asked God please to extend the meetings, and He did 2 weeks more of revival meetings. The Funny thing is the 1^st Sunday of my 1^st year I got a $100 from someone and the crazy thing is the 1^st Sunday of this year I got $200 from someone, praise God! After the 1^st year in bible school you get a good foundation and Jesus sets you free from stuff, but what I have experienced in the beginning of this 2^nd year is that Jesus comes and He goes deeper and deeper, and especially where you don’t want Him to go, He wants my everything and for that I have to give Him everything I have to allow Him to come in and take everything. In this week’s Jesus came and dug deep into my heart setting me free from some stuff, showing me step by step to give Him everything.

In South Africa I don’t have a church that is so on Fire so it’s hard to keep that Fire Burning by yourself, it was a experience for me, but this week Jesus just came and stoked that fire back up, the igniting I was missing over the summer he came in one morning service and stoked it back up, like with fuel on fire. The Alabaster morning God just moved is such a deep way, everyone was bringing up this crazy big stuff and money and expensive stuff to the altar, and I didn’t have anything with me, so I prayed Jesus I don’t have anything with me, but what do you want me to give? And He said exactly nothing else matters to me but you alone, give yourself fully to me that’s what I want. I mean when He said that I was a crying baby and my heart melted for His love for me, nothing and I mean nothing in this world mean more to Him than me. There is so much more about this RBI revival weeks that God has done while I was serving and sitting in the services Breaking me free in areas and teaching my stuff. These 3 weeks was life changing.Thank you Jesus….Eben G.

Since school started God has been revealing to me where in my character he wants me to improve. I have started to tackle my pride, laziness, and impatience.

I used to be worried about how I appeared to others when I worshiped in the church. God spoke to me in His Word that if I exalted myself, I would be humbled. However, if I humbled myself, He would exalt me. I realized I didn’t need to worry about what others might think of me but I should hold nothing back and press into His Presence.

In our second week of our revival, Pastor Todd gave what seemed to be an unpopular message about faith that spoke to me. I learned how to correctly apply faith to my job search. I now rest on the promise of God’s favor over the work of my hands.

God has increased my patience as well. I learned that the more I trust God, the less I worry about His timing. I started school without knowing how it would work out money-wise. I had even sown my Bible right before school started. Since I have started school, someone has already given me a textbook and I know more of God’s provision is on the way.

I am excited about what God has been doing in me. My wife said she can already see a change. I look forward to growing more in character, knowledge, and relationship with God here in RBI…..Gary W.

I haven’t been an intern that long, but this year has definitely felt so far like the most stretching I’ve ever been through. But like Pastor Todd says, your spirit is like Gumby – it loves to be stretched! So while it’s uncomfortable, I’m so glad I’m going through it, because I know I need to grow in a lot of things. Different situations with my finances came to a head, and through it I have been learning more responsibility and I feel like I’m just now getting to the place where I truly HAVE to lean on the Lord and there’s no plan B! God has grown me and set me free in so many areas in the last two years in school, but it’s like the focus has turned to this area because I haven’t grown much in it. I have already been seeing God’s miraculous provision – I didn’t know where I was going to stay, and He provided a place just in time – I got a new job, someone offered to pay half my current rent, I’ve been blessed with unexpected cash, food, clothes and more. I am so grateful to be in the department I’m in and for the people that I have been placed under; they have pushed me forward to press in not just spiritually but practically. I am so excited for everything the Lord is going to do this year and all the things I’m going to learn!

–Victoria

Man, when the Word of God becomes alive to you and gets rooted in you then revival starts to break out. When that word settles in your heart you began to see people as Jesus sees them. The Word of God has helped me in areas like working onto the Lord, spending more time with God and my love for people. Since listening to Pastor Rodney’s series on the Word being sown into the hearts of man I have begun showing more love. I have just kept pressing in and God has been using me. Just the other day, I went to play basketball and everybody was cussing and doing other things. I just showed the love of God and through that everybody that played basketball got saved. Hallelujah! I am telling you when the Word of God penetrates your heart and you apply it to your life then every devil in hell knows that damage is coming to the kingdom of darkness. The Word of God has me so pumped up because it is so rooted in me. It has become a part of me. It is like I am in combat with the gospel strapped to me like C-4 and exploding it everywhere I go. The Word has made me bold and on fire for God and it shows through my life. The Word of God will change your heart and then change your actions and way of thinking. Since this message Pastor Rodney has been preaching, God has been more real to me than ever before.

During this time, I was growing spiritually and my heart was good soil and produced fruit.  Over the years, as I was raising a family, active in the church, my life became busier and sometimes I would find myself not spending time in the Word and not receiving fresh revelation and it was so much easier for the things of the world to creep in and some of that hunger for the Word to lessen.  Now I understand more than ever how important it is to put the Word first, to make it the foundation for every area of my life, to build my life around the Word.  It is my responsibility to stay hungry and stay excited about the Word, whether I am studying it or hearing it preached.

–Patricia

My hearts cry had been for God to speak to me, to show me something because I want to take that next level with Him.  When God spoke to me by the word, my heart was changed.  I got a new and fresh fire that I had been desperately seeking.  If your heart is not ready to receive the word, then it will go in one ear and out the other. Of course it will be sown on the inside of you but you won’t truly get the revelation of the word until you open your heart & be ready to take that step to change.  When you let the word transform you though, it will fill you with a joy & will change you from the inside out. Open up your heart to receive what God has. You will never be the same!

–Adrian