A leading drug dealer surrenders his life to Christ, with the revivals breaking out in Bakersfield, California. He ran to the preacher, gave up his large bag of marijuana buds, and professed, “Give me Jesus right now!”
Mario Murillo Ministry
Christian evangelist Mario Murillo founded a ministry in Bakersfield, California, to win the lost back to God. The evangelist believes that the Presence of the Lord could “change the heart of the city.”
Anne, Bree. (Photographer). (2020). Praise & Worship, Retrieved February 27, 2023, from: https://unsplash.com/photos/1vR0TtVM9bo
Despite the odds in doing ministry in the city, Mario and his team expect God’s mighty moving “bigger and better” than in the past. And they are passionate and hopeful to God about it.
In an interview with Charisma News, he shared that they’re “going to do a tent crusade on March 12th through the 15th in Bakersfield.”
“It is a city that is trying to turn to God,” he explained. “It’s a city where our workers are going door to door and masses are being born again.”
Revivals In Bakersfield
The evangelist shared one powerful testimony of a drug dealer who surrendered to Christ during one of their crusades.
“The last time we were there… I’m preaching in Bakersfield. We can’t get the people in the tent,” Mario recounted. “The temperature outside is 40 degrees and people are shivering in the cold, standing out there for hours, lost souls, people that don’t know God.”
While giving his sermon, a leading drug dealer in the city suddenly interrupted him. He had a large bag of marijuana buds with him as he ran to the front towards the evangelist.
“He’s quaking,” Mario described. “We have it on video, he’s quaking. He throws it on the floor and he says, ‘I cannot do this anymore!'”
The “security came because they thought he was going to attack” Mario. But then, he surprisingly exclaimed, ‘No! Give me Jesus right now!'”
Miraculous events like these are a picture of the radical power of the Gospel. According to the report, it’s a “rare occurrence but a reality in the lives of Christians who are filled with the Spirit of God.”
Charisma News. (2023). Tent Crusade In Bakersfield, February 27, 2023, from: https://www.charismanews.com/us/91424-give-me-jesus-the-bakersfield-tent-revival?
Shortage Of Workers
Evangelist Mario stressed that the harvest time has come, but there is a shortage of workers.
“They want God,” he remarked. “And what are [in] critical shortage? Workers. We don’t have nearly enough workers. That’s what led me to the book that I wrote called ‘It’s Our Turn Now.”
“This what I find 12 minutes into a sermon,” Mario further explained. “I have to stop because the audience wants to get saved…this is why I sit there, and I’m watching prostitutes, homeless people, drug addicts [get] saved, I can’t get enough workers.”
Reference | Charisma News
Header Image: Anne, Bree. (Photographer). (2020). Praise & Worship, Retrieved February 27, 2023, from: https://unsplash.com/photos/1vR0TtVM9bo