by Jason Hershey | Jul 20, 2016 | 24/7 worship, ASL, community, house of prayer, jason, News Update
Jason Hershey, Founder DavidsTentDC
There are people who know how to mathematically come up with a generally accurate number as to crowd sizes at large events. I am not one of them. However I do suppose that several hundred thousand people gathered in DC in the name of Jesus for Together 2016.
It was a HUGE win for the Home Team!
Though it was super sad to see it end early due to an excruciatingly high heat index, it was at that very moment that I heard what I believe the Lord Jesus wanted to tell the Whole Church of America. The single greatest message of the day. It was the sermon on the Mount. Jesus speaking to His people through Nick Hall, straight out of Matthew7:24. Nick basically concluded that they didn’t gather people there to just stay there, but to send them out. And with that, Nick challenged everyone there to go out and actually spend time doing all that they were just charged to do.
If we the church would only actually do all that Jesus has instructed us! It’s in plain language written down clearly in a book for all to read! A house build on a rock, hears the Word and put’s it into practice!
Pastor Dave Owens at Embassy Church in NW Washington DC (One of my home churches) reflected with me on Sunday that as he walked away he was watching people minister to one another and to the lost on the streets all around the mall!
At David’s Tent we saw a ground swell at about 4:30 as people were exiting Together. People packed into the tent. It was full and overflowing. Then is started to rain. People packed even closer like sardines underneath the canopy of the tent and worshipped with all their heart, soul, mind and strength. As the clouds departed and the rain held it’s peace, four rainbows appeared at the same time over Washington DC! And a crowd of people encircled David’s Tent while holding hands and worshipping with all their voice.
It was a picture of Together. People that didn’t know each other before, holding hands in a unified circle, around the worship of Jesus Christ.
As the worship circle ran it’s course, a “fire tunnel” (Two rows of people facing each other pray for people as they walk down the center between them.) was born and for the next two hours people were getting prayed for, ministered to, and encouraged anew with the Holy Spirit. All of this happened spontaneously outside of the direction of any of the David’s Tent staff. I can say with certainty that many left Together and immediately began putting the Word into Practice.
When I left the tent at about 9:30pm there were still a remnant of worshippers filling the tent and the courts of the Lord with their worship.
Wow! What a day…
Four rainbows! I’ve never met a single human being that could do that…
For His Glory, Always,
Jason Hershey
by Derek Packard | Jun 28, 2016 | ASL, 24/7 worship
Divine Appointments are the best! Hello, my name is Carole McClelland and my husband, Daniel, and I lead the American Sign Language (ASL) house for David’s Tent.
Even though neither of us are Deaf, God placed a passion in our hearts and a calling on our life to make Him known within the Deaf population. Our staff, a mixture of hearing and Deaf who share this vision, all live in one house in NE Washington DC. The unique thing about our house, and our watch when we are at the tent, is that our common language in conversation and worship is ASL. Every day we serve at the tent for 3.5 hours, worshipping in ASL, and if there is a guest praise team scheduled during our watch, we always have an interpreter signing along with that team.
When we are not at the tent, our focus is knowing God and making God known in the Deaf community here in DC. Since our staff house is near Gallaudet University, the only all Deaf university in the world, our team has many opportunities to make God known in the Deaf community.
We can be found having lunch with a college student from Gallaudet University, attending Deaf social activities, building relationships one-on- one, encouraging the youth at a young adult Bible study in MD, or sharing at a Deaf church in VA. No matter what the activity, our heart is to see the Deaf grow in their personal relationship with Jesus. What a joy it is when we have the opportunity to partner with God in this way through a David’s Tent encounter.
I would like to share just one story to illustrate how God delights in setting up divine appointments for us as we follow Him. If we plug into Him, His networking system is amazing!
For this story, it all started with a sweatshirt. I often wear my David’s Tent sweatshirt when out in the community, but only once in nine months has a stranger come up to me when I wore it to tell me they knew about the Tent. On this one particular day, it was a couple, Miriam and Aaron. It turns out this family knows the Hershey family from their homeschooling group and were familiar with the 24/7 worship occurring at David’s Tent. After we talked for ten minutes and met each other’s children, this couple and I went our separate ways.
Later that day I texted Kimberlee Hershey sharing that I met her friends, Miriam and Aaron. In response, Kimberlee texted back saying how awesome that was since their youngest son was born Deaf. She added that the family had decided to learn ASL but were overwhelmed with it all. “What!” I thought to myself, “Their son is deaf, and it never came up in our conversation!” I always talk about the Deaf community, yet, on this day, Miriam, Aaron and I did not discuss sign language. Bummer!
It felt like a missed opportunity. However, our heavenly Dad was not finished with His incredible, divine appointments. The following day at David’s Tent, Aaron, the husband, walked into the Tent to take a break from his jog. Of course, it was during our watch! He approached me and said hello. Without hesitating I said, “Kimberlee Hershey told me your son is deaf.” I went on to tell him that Dan and I both know ASL and led a ministry in DC for young, deaf adults to know Jesus more. We talked for a while about the Deaf community and language. Encouraged, he shared the signs he knew and asked me to teach him a few more.
Before leaving the Tent, we exchanged emails. Since that day, we have been over to their house twice for dinner, and Dan has played basketball with Aaron and a Deaf man that Aaron randomly met. God has brought us alongside Aaron and Miriam to encourage them that they are amazing parents to Jesse, their youngest son, and to give them hope through our stories that God is reaching the Deaf.
You see, their greatest desire is for Jesse to know Jesus in a real and personal way. However, as they did research on Christianity in the Deaf culture, they were disheartened to learn what a low percentage of Deaf follow Jesus.
Then they met us. We could give testimony to God’s living hope that through their actions and through living out their faith, Jesse will grow up knowing Jesus.
Our amazing Father, who understands their parents’ hearts, did not just leave it with our assurances though. Through our contacts, we were able to connect Miriam with another hearing, Christian mother who went through the exact same thing 25 years ago when she learned that her son was Deaf. That Deaf boy grew to be an amazing man of God who pursues Jesus with his whole heart.
We had this connection because this young man, Caleb, serves full-time with us here at David’s Tent. He is boldly proclaiming that Jesus is worthy of worship and all praise everyday in his nation’s capital through ASL worship!
I love having the opportunity to work with our Dad to bring his kingdom here in Washington DC, and I love his divine appointments!
