In the States, a friend invited me to this “time of worship” that was held every Thursday. It seemed like all that we were going to do was our personal devotions while listening to live worship music and then pray with strangers afterward. This was not appealing to me at all. I figured that I could pop in a CD at home, do my devotions, pray alone and get the same result. Finally my friend invited me to this Thursday worship time on her birthday. All she wanted for her birthday was for a bunch of her friends to come … She’s one tricky friend!
Just want to say “thanks” for your incredible ministry in my life. As you know, I came back from the field hurting, grieving, and completely drained. I’m so glad that I was invited to Tidewind because every Thursday was a blessing from God to me. I would remove other activities from my plate but would rarely miss Tidewind because it refreshed my soul that much. You are a true worship leader. I loved sitting in the quiet and peace of the church reading the Word (Psalms), praying, singing along with you, worshipping, grieving, and most important healing! The times of prayer were very precious to me … Your ministry refreshed my soul and allowed me to return to our field of service a different person. I cannot even begin to thank you for your part in the healing that took place in my heart. I will always be grateful.
– L., missionary to Thailand
Having been schooled in the occult/New Age for many years before coming to Christ I was caught off guard when I slipped back into some of those beliefs many years later. I was seeing a counselor whom I thought was grounded in the Word – but as time went on I began to see more and more occult influences. I knew my faith was being compromised but because of the therapeutic alliance it was hard to see clearly.
Finally after 9 months, on the verge of a true breakdown, I left the therapist and cried out to God – telling Him I was willing to lose Him in order to find Him – but I had to know – was He the God of the Bible or was He the New Age God that is constantly evolving and that we are creating with our universal consciousness along with creating reality. It was several hours of absolute terror waiting and not knowing what the answer was going to be – but then I started to feel some confirmation that my faith was true. Still – it was shaky at best having been exposed to so much occult influence again. The next day I walked into Tidewind and as soon as I entered the sanctuary the words coming from John’s mouth were:
You are not a God created by human hands
You are not a God dependent on any mortal man
You are not a God in need of anything we can give
You are God, that’s just the way it is.
You are God alone from before time began
You were on Your throne You were God alone
And right now in the good times and bad
You are on Your throne You are God alone*
I went to the altar and fell on my knees weeping and thanking God. It’s really hard to put into words the meaning that song had for me that day – but it was truly God answering me in a time of deep, deep need and I will never forget it.
– A., Indianapolis
Beth first invited me to come to Tidewind a few weeks after I had started chemo for breast cancer. I met the group that day bald, scared for my life, and desperately wanting the presence of God. I wanted to fully trust Him. They listened to my story and prayed over me. They sang songs that spoke directly to my heart and encouraged me.
Tidewind confronts me with my reality in Christ and I cannot be there and deny His presence or that He wants to speak to me. Attending is an invaluable gift to me. Life is hard. It’s apparent that I have become an expert at attempting to mask the pain of fear and doubt. But when I am there God doesn’t let me pretend and likewise no one there wants a show. In this place of truth God helps me reorder my life.
– K., Indianapolis
Tidewind to me has been restoration … It was beautiful … we just sat [during worship] and I had to deal with God. He did open heart surgery on my heart and it has been a healing balm for me. It really reaffirmed that He is a solid foundation and that God is really truly all we need. It was good to just linger with God and let Him do what He needed to do in our hearts.
– B., Indianapolis
The first 6 months of my relationship with John was talking a lot and worshiping together just by ourselves in the [Tidewind Prayer Room] basement, and I had never learned so much in such a short amount of time about worship or about God as I did in that time just hanging out with him. I would say that my first interaction with Tidewind was an incubator for me to learn about what it meant to be a worship leader, what it meant to love the Lord. We would open up the Word and see what it said and I felt like I was actually growing and it was safe.
– L., Indianapolis
“I just want to THANK YOU Marty for mentioning your friends … and the ministry God has given them and having them up. The intimate time of worship and prayer together REALLY blessed me and encouraged me, at times I felt like I was floating up to heaven in praise…please THANK them from me….it did my heart good to worship with them and you all.”
– T., Chicago