Submitted by philip on Fri, 06/27/2014 – 13:26
Randy Carruth
By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer
A series of revivals 40 years in the making involving hundreds of Native American pastors is closer to fruition and the location will be none other than at Louisiana Baptist churches.
“It’s one of those God things,” said Randy Carruth, director of I Am Able Ministries of Forest Hill. “God has been at work among the Native Americans for many years and finally the dream for revival among them is starting to really take shape. And to think God would use Louisiana in the process is pretty amazing.”
Scheduled for the spring and fall of 2015, the Louisiana All Nations Revivals will be the result of decades of prayer and become closer to fulfilling a dream that Henry Blackaby, writer of the Experiencing God series, said he received from God to spark worldwide revival through Native Americans. Those plans were announced recently by Carruth and the Louisiana Baptist Convention partnership missions division.
The first series of revivals in the spring will bring Native American pastors to preach in at least 300 Louisiana Baptist churches.
A second series of revivals in the fall will involve African-American pastors preaching upon invitation in Native American Southern Baptist congregations.
By 2016, plans are for the revivals to expand throughout the entire United States, involving not just Native American but many ethnic groups preaching National Ethnic Revivals in churches of all races and ethnicities.
“Our hope is we will have much more than 300 churches host Native American pastors,” said Wayne Sheppard, executive assistant to the executive director of the LBC. “We’ll match each pastor to preach in a church that is comparable in size and other factors. It’s so significant that Native Americans are coming to Louisiana, as something on this large of a scale hasn’t been done before.”
The vision to reach Native Americans began with Blackaby and eventually resulted in summits of Native Americans in 2009 and a national summit in 2011.
“Henry Blackaby has long believed that God might use the Native American peoples to ignite and spread revival worldwide,” said Richard Blackaby, the son of Henry Blackaby, in a statement released to Carruth. “God often chooses to use the ‘least’ of the peoples, much like He used the Israelites when He delivered them out of bondage. These people are connected to indigenous peoples around the world. Should they gain a sense of divine purpose for their lives, they could travel down an established highway to carry the good news around the world. Henry continues to pray that God will begin a revival in a least-likely place among a least-likely people so that God receives all the glory.”
In 2009, Carruth was working as an electrician and felt led to share his heart for Blackaby’s vision.
Carruth and Sheppard in part helped organize 44 revival mission teams who participated in simultaneous revivals in Native American churches in several states. Most of the teams committed to long-term, multiyear partnerships with each of the churches with whom they ministered.
As times passes, Sheppard said the number one way Louisiana Baptist churches can participate is through prayer. Additionally, churches who have an interest in hosting a Native American pastor to preach in his church should contact Carruth at 318.623.2554 or rcarruth@iamableministries.org, or Sheppard at 318.448.3402 or wayne.sheppard@louisianabaptists.org.
“Pray for these intiatives,” Sheppard said. “Pray for the specific tribes. God is moving among the Native Americans and we are excited to join God for what He has in store for this movement.”
Carruth encouraged all Louisiana Baptists to pray about the movement and how they might join God in work among Native Americans.
“God isn’t just calling out Native Americans/First Nations, He is calling out to Louisiana Baptist to join Him in what could be the beginning of a revival that could go throughout the world in the least-likely place with the least-likely people,” he said. “Only God.”