Mahnomen Report: The Smile of God

Tom with Mahnomen Mayor Curt Uran

Hope for Mahnomen Brings Joy to the City and to the Heart of God

Dear precious people,

There are times in life and ministry when you sense the smile of God. You just know in your heart that the Lord is happy with what is taking place. The event we called Hope for Mahnomen was one of those times.

Our Father smiles when His people love one another and work together. He smiles when the Good News of His Son is proclaimed. He smiles when His wayward children come home.

Hope for Mahnomen brought together people of different races, backgrounds, and ages. We are all people, made in the image of God. There were Native Americans, white people, and people of other ethnic backgrounds. There were pastors from Catholic, Lutheran, independent, and Assemblies of God churches. Children, teenagers, elders, and everything in between. People coming together under one banner, Jesus Christ is Lord!

From the start, people were commenting on the warmth of the Holy Spirit in an atmosphere of the pure love of God. Ministry and fellowship began immediately and continued after the services.

Young people receiving prayer.

Holding a community-wide service involving lots of people, organizations, and churches is a great challenge. It involves hours and hours of preparation, coordination, labor, and prayer. But seeing people come together to worship, and knowing that seeds are planted that will impact an area for years to come, made it all worthwhile. Hope for Mahnomen truly provided a reason to hope, a time to heal.

Many people lent their hands to this community gathering—putting up posters, passing out flyers, praying their hearts out, setting up and taking down chairs each night, ministering to people one-on-one, taking photos, providing and setting up sound equipment, doing a Facebook live stream, manning our book table, and much more. It was very much a united effort, and God was pleased.

We tend to evaluate events such as this by the number of people attending and the decisions made for the Lord. But there is something more evident in the spirit—a heartbeat, a spiritual tide rising, something happening in the realm of the spirit that changes everything. You simply know in your heart that lives have been changed, and the future of a community has been redirected.

Hope for Mahnomen was held in the high school gymnasium … a huge venue … probably too big for the crowd. But it was a statement. God is alive in Mahnomen! There is hope! There is healing!

All ages attended Hope for Mahnomen.

For me, it was such a privilege to preach the gospel to such a group and to see hearts changed. Nearly 30 people indicated they were making decisions for the Lord, including children, teenagers, adults, and older adults. On the first night of the event, over 100 people attended, and I estimate about 20 raised their hands to indicate they were praying to receive Christ or rededicate their lives. On the second night, we handed out cards to everyone who came into the service. Many returned the cards, indicating that they were making a decision to follow the Lord.

It is not often that you get to work with the mayor of the city in an event like this. It’s like being given the keys to the city. Mayor Curt Uran was the key local coordinator for the event and served as host (emcee) for the two nights. Curt also shared his testimony of coming to Christ and getting set free from drug addiction.

Working with Curt was pure joy. He has a way of connecting with people on a personal level and putting them at ease. Whether by walking through the streets of Mahnomen passing out flyers for the event, coordinating workers, reaching out to high school students, or connecting with people by text or phone, Mayor Curt was the catalyst for the success of this event.

Pastor Norm Gullingsrud of Good News Fellowship in Gary, MN (left) with Pastor Joel Kanges and wife Lisa from Resurrection Free Lutheran Church in Beltrami, MN.

It was interesting that, of the three people who gave their testimonies during the event, Curt, I, and Jesse Fain all had an experience with the Lord as children but had been pulled away by the world. Each of us got into our various quagmires of darkness and addiction, but eventually the seed that was planted in us as children came up again, and we found our way back to the Lord.

Sometimes we wonder about the decisions that children make. I know in my own case, I did not surrender to the Lord when I prayed a prayer for salvation at age 9. But yet I believe that was the seed that later grew and produced the harvest in my life. I believe in praying the prayer of salvation with people, because it’s biblical and effective.

There were also other key people. Pastor Norm and Lori Gullingsrud of Good News Fellowship in Gary, Minnesota served as coordinators of the prayer team. Katie Baker of Perham, Minnesota, brought a great blessing through her music and worship

Katie Baker leading worship.

In some ways, Hope for Mahnomen was birthed out of the Iron Sharpens Iron Men’s Group that meets weekly at Dave and Lois Oakland’s home in Mahnomen. This is a group of men from different churches and backgrounds who have been coming together, growing in the Lord, and desiring to do something in their community. God has been moving mightily.

During the meeting, we also promoted a local organization called Celebrate Recovery. It’s a 12-step, Bible-based, addiction recovery program held weekly in Mahnomen. Curt said that there has been an explosion of growth and excitement about Celebrate Recovery, and attendance has doubled. Ladies from the local Lutheran Church are providing food. Others are stepping up to help, as well. He sees it as a genuine move of God!

Curt said that he is also seeing a spiritual stirring in the community as a result of the Hope for Mahnomen event. One man, whom Curt and his wife, Danielle, had visited and invited to Hope for Mahnomen, did not attend, but contacted Curt after the event to say he was touched by the visit and wanted to reconnect with God and Church. Curt said the event has opened spiritual connections for him with many other people in the community.

This is a region where so many of God’s people have been laboring, sowing seeds, and praying for years. The White Earth Reservation has been afflicted with much addiction, suicide, and spiritual darkness, but God is bringing light to the entire region. God is love, and his love is healing. I believe that the tide of love is rising in Mahnomen.

I want to thank everyone who helped with labor, prayers, and finances for Hope for Mahnomen, and all individuals and churches who continue to help us with this work of taking the Good News to everyone in the world. We love you and pray for you every day!

Your partner in the Gospel!