This is my fifth month as an intern and thank God that I have made it this far! Working with the kids is amazing; I watch them grow in the things of God. For my first time as an intern I felt really stretched out in the past two weeks, but I thank God because at the end I didn’t really feel like I was so tired. During these last two weeks I learned flexibility. In my heart I was stressed out with how I was going to handle the schedule that was given to me. I have been here for three years and have never missed a camp meeting or ministers conference. When I saw my schedule and it showed I was supposed to serve every morning, my heart dropped.  I started thinking on it and before I realized it, sadness began to creep into my heart.  The Lord directed me to Psalm 100. As I was reading it, the words “serve the lord with gladness” came to me as a light bulb that has been turned on. I just felt all the burden and stress lift off me and I was so happy serving.  The Lord was also dealing with me to keep my eyes on Jesus and to get me out of what I always like to do or the way I like things to be. I was to be flexible and go with the flow of the river, am so thankful that I allowed God to use me during the camp meeting and the week after that. It was amazing! Thank you Lord for every opportunity given me to serve at the River.

–Valentina

What did I learn during Ministers and Leaders Conference 2012? On the funny side, 80’s Christian music could be relevant again, serving is worth it but we also need to relax, faithfulness pays off :-). Don’t let my smile fool you; there is a lot of pain and family turmoil inside of me.  I honestly don’t feel worthy of this high level of leadership, thank you God and The River at Tampa Bay church!!! Things are still out of sorts in my personal life, but all I know is that God loves me and the plan that He has for my life will come to pass according to HEBREWS 11:1.

–Sandra

God has been doing a lot in me, especially in the area of finances. Since coming to RBI I’ve become a faithful giver, and tither. And all I can say is every need has been met. I don’t have to strive for anything; it’s always there. Money for an unexpected bill, or need, it’s always there.  People come up to me and bless me all the time, sometimes with things I desperately have a need for and sometimes with things I just really wanted. God has blessed me. There was a time when I didn’t have much food but now I always have food, and every bill is paid. God blessed me with a great job, with great hours and pay. He has given my favor wherever I go. He has totally blessed my life. I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to grab hold of this principal, because every believer should be living this way. You don’t to be living paycheck to paycheck.  Press in, the breakthrough will come, be faithful, and He will reward you. It’s funny because even people I work with, who don’t know the Lord have noticed the blessing of God on my life. I rely on Him, He is my father, my provider, and he takes care of me. Even when it looks like there’s no possible way for my needs to be met in the natural, he always comes through for me. And I know He always will.

I came back to Tampa 3 weeks ago expecting God to do great things this year. I have decided to make this the year of breakthrough and surrendering everything I have to God. He has done an amazing work in me since I’ve been here and He has taken me to a new level. I have grabbed a hold of the principle of sowing and reaping and it has become a major part of my everyday life. The great commission is not and event but an everyday life style to me. God is a God of love and mercy and He reveals His goodness to me daily in different ways.

God is there to comfort you in times of need and He promised to give you the desires of your heart. He will provide in all of our needs and He will take us from glory to glory. He wants to see us prosper and wants to open the flood gates of heaven for us. God has provided me with everything I needed and He is still providing. We just have to ask Him and remind Him. Have the faith to believe that you have already received it and then wait for the manifestation….

It all started by the broadcast, one day I was home and a friend of mines told me about The River church she attented and she was talking about the presence of god felt strongly in the church, After she was done talking she told me “Watch Channel 2” and so I was curious about what she told me I turned it to the channel and started watching .Well, at first, I was being kinda polite by listening to what she was saying but really I didnt want to hear it because I was brought up catholic and my families beliefs are also witch craft So I believed in many things but all that I was hearing and watching on tv was a bit like “Oh wow all they talk about is winning people to the lost”.

Well sooner than later I ended  up attending the river and they mentioned the River bible Institude and School of worship. That day I filled out the paper and placed it in the box I honestly was not planing on attending a bible Colege I was prideful and I though that it would be a waste of time , BUT also remember im not only prideful but I had such a religious mind set that I didn’t know the truth from the lie and I was not yet even SAVED .Well , I keep attending the River – something keep on pulling me back (it was the love of god ) my spirit cried out and my flesh didn’t want nothing to do with what I was feeling inside.

Till one day I was laying in bed and I put CTN P.Adonica was preaching and what she said touch my heart in such a way that I couldn’t refuse Jesus Into my heart I called the prayer line and accepted christ in my heart. So, remember in the beginning how I was saying that on The broadcast all they talk about was souls, once I got saved and saw the passion that the Pastors had for the lost I understood everything in a different way. I prayed that I would get accepted to the school because I wanted that fire, that passion for the lost. Ever since the first day of school I went in expecting a touch from the lord.

P.Maldonado came to visit our church the week of revival week and I got touched like I never have before I cried from the inside for the Lord to touch my heart to change me I wanna see people like I never seen them before I wanna walk by my brothers and sisters and not be able to walk away without telling them “YOU KNOW THAT GOD LOVES YOU and HAS A WONDERFUL PLAN FOR YOUR LIFE”.Then, the day that the bible students filled the alter with their most prize possesions without holding anything back from the lord. It showed me that our treasures are in heaven we are followers of the Lord and we cant hold nothing back from him we have to trust him in everything.

The next day I beleive P.Adonica preached. She prayed for everyone and all I remember is this peace coming upon me that I can’t even explain it … Super soul winning saturday was that very next day.. I was so excited to go out .. 18 people recieved the lord as their savior ,but ,when I go to knock on another door a lady opens the door ,, sweet lady ,, she listened to what I had to say but when I was going to pray with her she stopped me and said I have my sin in my hand right now (she was holding Crack , Cocaine ) I Told that lady how God loves her . I told her ,”grab my hand lets pray” I prayed for her and while she had her eyes closed and grabbing on to my hand as tight as she could, she repeated after me the Soul Winning Script.

We all have freedom in us and by the way she held my hand and repeated the prayer after me to accept Christ in her heart , I beleive that she felt that freedom in her ! We are all free because Jesus payed the price on Calvary we dont have to be bound by sin , destruction , hate , sadness nor depression because he paid the price so we can be free . The lord was pouring into me so I can pour out to my brothers and sisters. Its only been 3 weeks and so much has happened already I cant wait to see what the lord has next for me………

One night I just happened to turn on the television to the Great Awakening.  My spirit witnessed with what they were saying and how they were reaching out to people.  When I heard they were offering a $2,000.00 scholarship.  I prayed if it was Gods will for me to go to Bible School, He would open the door for me.  I always wanted to go to Bible School but never had been able to go.  I called in that same night and requested an application form, which came very promptly.  After completing all the requirements I submitted my application.

About six weeks later I received a voice-mail saying I had been accepted to River Bible Institute.  Halleluiah!  I was so happy at first but then I began to think that the voice-mail didn’t say I had received the scholarship, only that I had been accepted to the school, so the next day I called River Bible Institute and kept playing phone tag with the people I was trying to reach that afternoon.  The next morning I called the number back and the operator told me the number could not be completed as dialed, so, I tried about four or five times with the same results.

I called information and asked for the River Bible Institute telephone number in Tampa, Florida.  The information operator told me they had no such listing.  I told her I had used the same number yesterday with no problems.  She asked me if I wanted to speak to her supervisor and I replied yes.  He looked up the number on the computer and said the same thing.  I realized there was no sense in arguing with him so I hung up.  As soon as I hung up my mind took off like a rocket ship.  It started telling me this was a fly-by-night deal and it was a scam and the people had pulled the plug and had run off.

Finally I began to get ahold of myself and realized everything was in Gods hands and if He didn’t want me to go to Bible School it was ok with me, He knew what was best for me and I did not have to worry.  He would not let anything happen to me.  It was in His hands.  I got peace again and continued with my day’s plans. That afternoon I decided to call the same number again, just for grins.  The phone rang and the Institute operator said, “Good afternoon, River Bible Institute”.  I couldn’t believe it.  I had made contact just as it should have happened.

I told the lady my name and asked if I had received the scholarship.  She said, “Let me check”.  She came back on and said congratulations; you have received your scholarship.  Then I began to tell her what had happened previously that morning and as I was speaking to her I realized that satin was fighting me to keep me from coming to this school.  I told the lady, ma’am, God is going to be doing great work in me.  I now know because if it were not so, satan would not be fighting me so hard to keep me from coming there.  He is afraid.  Halleluiah!

As I meditated later on what had happened, I understood that this whole incident was to confirm to me by the Spirit that I was being sent to River Bible Institute by the Spirit.  If this had not happened I would have come to the school not really knowing by the Spirit I was in Gods will.  Because although initially I witnessed that what was going on at this Great Awakening was a good thing and I agreed with what I was seeing.

I still didn’t hear God say go.  Without this experience, later on I probably would have questioned whether or not this was just a good idea. This is my first testimony of River Bible Institute.  Since then God has revealed Himself in so many ways to me and we are experiencing Gods pouring out of His Holy Spirit on us here at the River.  May God Bless you all……

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.

God has had me on a fast track for the past three years.  I was crying out to God and he literally ripped me out of the mess I was in. In the beginning it was not a fun ride. I was a drug dealer and an addict for seven years. I was severely addicted to men.  On December 8, 2008 I got arrested for selling drugs.  It turns out that those men in the uniforms were actually angels with badges.   I went to jail for a year and on my court date I was sentenced to Drug Rehabilitation program for a year.  I went to a faith based program at New Beginnings in Martin, Georgia. About three months into the program the love of God consumed my life and gave me a reason to change. I felt worthless.  I was always thinking about suicide and I didn’t care about anything or anyone.  When Jesus set me free he started to show me who I really am.  He gave me a life worth living and a reason to live.

So, I completed the one year program and then stayed on in student leader ship training for six months. My dad kept telling me about how awesome The River was and about the bible school. He said that the fire of God was burning so strong down here.

So the children of Israel, they accused God of deserting them and God plans his response carefully in verse 15.

The way the Lord has touched me the most since I have come to RBI. I have always wanted to speak in tongues. I have pressed into the Lord many times to try speak tongues but I was never able to. On the 30^th of August worship was coming to a close but I felt the desire to try to speak in tongues again. It was during the song “Let your fire fall.” I started to pray to God that I wanted to speak in tongues. So while praying I just started to focus all my attention on God.

I kept praying/singing “let your fire fall Lord, let your fire fall on me.” Then slowly I feeling of heat, of fire, came upon me. It started to feel like the inside of me was burning up. My hands began to shake, and the words that came out of my mouth were not English, at first it was a few short words then, came sentences, then it was like a stream of the heavenly language came pouring out of my mouth. I also believe that God was breaking me free from some things on that day. Since then I have been able to speak in tongues. Praise God…

Now being God, God could choose from a panorama of word pictures and examples to illustrate His love, to give the response to the children of Israel, to show them that their accusations were totally absurd and what did God do?

My testimony may be small compared to others but it is very encouraging to me when I reflect on my past. I will start at the beginning before I was saved, forgiven, and on my way to heaven. I was raised in a small town and there was very little to do. In the eighth grade I began stealing prescription drugs from my grandfather. I won’t go into detail but the drugs I was using were powerful enough to knock out a herd of elephants. I also started drinking, smoking, and engaging in sexual activity. Very many times I came close to death. For example I took a substantial amount of muscle relaxers and passed out and my friends had to beat me to get me conscious enough to go home.  This lifestyle of sin continued with very few dry spells and an ever increasing new variety of drugs and a higher tolerance level.

Last Christmas two weeks prior I took 4 dextromorphan and 3 vicodin. I headed off to school and that night me and my friends went somewhere about 30 miles away and ended up having an experience I could only compare to as a stroke. The after effects of this experience lasted roughly 2 to 3 months give or take. During that time however my life was changed because I finally became a true believer in Christ Jesus. During those months I had many assignments due including a 12 page paper. I couldn’t believe it but I got a “B” on that paper. Keep in mind I could barely speak in complete sentences. At the end of the year of going through hell, persecution, breaking a 10 month relationship off with an unbeliever, and ending many lifetime friendships, I graduated.

God chose a picture that all of the Israelites, that all of us can understand. God compared His love to a mother.