Joshua 4:1-7 (NKJV)
“And it came to pass, when all the people had
completely crossed over the Jordan, that the Lord spoke to Joshua, saying: 2 “Take
for yourselves twelve men from the people, one man from every tribe, 3 and
command them, saying, ‘Take for yourselves twelve stones from here, out of the
midst of the Jordan, from the place where the priests’ feet stood firm. You
shall carry them over with you and leave them in the lodging place where you
lodge tonight.’”
4 Then Joshua called the twelve men whom he had
appointed from the children of Israel, one man from every tribe; 5 and Joshua
said to them: “Cross over before the ark of the Lord your God into the midst of
the Jordan, and each one of you take up a stone on his shoulder, according to
the number of the tribes of the children of Israel, 6 that this may be a sign
among you when your children ask in time to come, saying, ‘What do these stones
mean to you?’ 7 Then you shall answer them that the waters of the Jordan were
cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord; when it crossed over the
Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. And these stones shall be for a
memorial to the children of Israel forever.””
September 13th of this year, I had the
honor of accompanying my parents to the 40th anniversary of the
church that launched my father into ministry.
Maranatha Chapel in Chicago, Illinois was planted 40 years ago by Stone
Church (also in Chicago) which was where my father accepted Jesus as Lord of
his life! As I prayed, God showed me
some things that, at the time, I didn’t quite understand but felt the magnitude
of what it meant for us.
In prayer, the Holy Spirit showed me that this trip
was significant in that we were going back to our roots, to where it all began
so that it would come full circle and that the “baton” would be passed on to me
and my husband, Joe to continue the work of evangelism. I was excited to be able to step into the
shoes that have gone miles for the Kingdom of God.
The service and banquet was amazing and I loved
meeting people who have known me since I was a baby and have influenced our
lives tremendously! Pastor Warner
preached the message of Joshua 4, “What are these stones here for?” I thought it was a great message and took it
to heart but didn’t completely understand it’s magnitude until this week. My parents were taking us to our family’s
pile of stones and showing us what God had begun in the Knapczyk/Runion family
line.
This week, a month and a half later, I completed
training in Dallas, Texas as a Missionary in Process with Time to Revive. The Sunday before departing for Dallas, one
of our pastors at First Assembly, Fort Wayne (Pastor Josh) preached Joshua 3
& 4, resting on Joshua 4:1-7! Not a
coincidence but a reminder to pay attention to what God is trying to show
us! I believe He shouts His messages to
us so that we can see Him clearly! Well
this was another time that I got excited but forgot about it again, soon
after.
In Dallas we had a lot of information shot at us
like a machine gun. There was planning,
training, coaching, and a lot of new names and faces to love and pray for in
this new family. On Saturday, there was
a change of plans from the original itinerary.
We all hopped in the cars and headed for Gaston Ave. This is the original sight of the 40 days of
prayer that took place in a 6,000 sq. ft. tent during a torrential down-pour
which flooded the field, which birthed Time to Revive in 2006. As Kyle Martin (founder of Time to Revive)
was talking about what had happened those 40 days, God began to speak to me
about the stones that were here (spiritually, not physically). These are Kyle’s stones and the stones that
mark what I did then to remind you who birthed all of this. I pulled up Joshua 4 and shared what the Lord
had placed on my heart. We were led by
Kyle to do a prayer walk around the property and as I walked, I found a stone
to add to the ones I had received in Chicago to serve as a reminder of where
our predecessors have come from.
The next stop was a picture of where God is taking
us. In March of 2016, we will begin #reviveDALLAS! What is the heart of Dallas? The State Fair!
We saw really awesome
things as we entered the park, such as the pillar at the entrance, the 10 Commandments monument, as
well as the Olympic fountains and statues erected for the Dallas Olympic bid a
few years ago. We stopped in front of
the long pool of fountains and was directed to do another prayer walk and head
towards the entrance of the Cotton Bowl.
It was at that time that I walked towards the Vietnam Memorial area of
the park. I was under a remodel and
mostly the ground was torn up but on the ground were pallets of piled
stones! They were all around the
fountain and just waiting to be used! It
was a magnificent thing to see after hearing for the past month and a half
about the stones that have been laid. I
felt the Lord say, “These are the stones that you will lay for your children to
see as you step into what God is doing in your life and in the ministry of Time
to Revive as you build and work for My Kingdom.”
As we went on, we were (by the grace and favor of
God) able to enter the cotton bowl and have a mini praise and worship session,
in the entrance, in the bleachers, and on the field!!! All while a bunch of people were setting up for
the Indian/Hindu festival of Diwali (festival of lights), we were peacefully
singing the praises of Jesus Christ. We
were not stopped or asked to leave. In
fact, some of us were asked why we were there as we were leaving. I simply responded that most of us are from
Indiana and had never seen this before!
They welcomed us and we thanked them for their warm welcome!!!
All of this was confirmation after confirmation of
God’s plan for our lives and fuel to launch is into it!
Thank you to everyone who has supported and prayed
for us as we begin this amazing journey as missionaries to Indiana, the United
States, and the world!
Congratulations Mary!
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