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The Sequoia Forest
by Ray Comfort
For many years I prayed that one day God would trust
me to preach at large crusades. This was because I noticed
that some mass crusades had great untapped evangelistic
potential. Let’s say that two hundred churches
combined for a combined church crusade. Of the 100,000
people there on the opening night, it was therefore
more than likely that eighty to ninety percent of those
there were professing Christians. Statistics revealed
that most of those people weren’t sharing their
faith (as low as 2%), so it made sense that as an evangelist,
I should be “perfecting the saints for the work
of the ministry” (Ephesians 4:11--12). With God’s
help, I proposed to challenge those who professed to
love God about their lack of evangelistic concern, and
then teach them how to share their faith. D. L. Moody
said, “I would rather set a thousand to work,
than do the work of a thousand.” While Billy Graham
said, “Mass crusades, to which I have devoted
my life, will not do the job. But one-to-one will.”
Then I would preach the gospel to the unsaved at the
crusade.
It seems that God heard my prayer. When Kirk Cameron
listened to “Hell’s Best Kept Secret”
and called our ministry, I had no idea what would unfold.
In January 2003, when Kirk shared the teaching on a
major Christian television network, our website received
over a million hits in one day! The Network’s
ratings went through the roof, and they asked him to
regularly host their program. Kirk instead suggested
that we produce a program that taught Christians how
to share their faith, and they screen it. They loved
the idea, and that’s what happened.
There is no doubt that The Way of the Master television
series was the biggest and most exciting evangelistic
exploit in which I have ever had the privilege of being
involved. The weekly television program would reach
more than a mere 100,000 people in a stadium. It would
air in over 100 countries and be watched by millions.
It shouldn’t therefore have come as a shock to
us that the enemy battled with us every inch of the
way. Take, for instance a film shoot we decided to do
at Sequoia National Park. The week we were due to film,
I developed a cough. It was no ordinary cough. Each
attack was so violent it gave me washboard abs in just
one day.
The same week, Ron our cameraman became so sick he
said that every bone in his body ached. Kirk’s
kids got horribly sick and consequently his wife got
no sleep. The day of the shoot Scotty and Carol (our
sound man and photographer) had to put their beloved
dog to sleep, and both were in tears. Duane, our producer/director
had bronchitis so bad he could hardly breathe. The day
before we left to film we found out that Sequoia National
Park was at an 8000-foot elevation, and Duane’s
doctor said that that would add to his breathing problems.
The doctor was right. The night before the shoot, Duane
was a mess. We prayed, and the next morning he was completely
well.
Hume
Lake Christian camp (which is in the Sequoia National
Park), very kindly gave us permission to film on their
property. After one program had been filmed, Kirk located
a beautiful stream about two miles from the camp. We
broke down our gear and relocated.
There were four stepping-stones in a scenic winding
stream that were perfect for illustrating the four stepping-stones
of sharing our faith. It was as though God had made
the area for the program. As we were mapping out shots,
there was a call from above us. It was the park rangers.
We were off private property and therefore needed a
permit to shoot. We did have a permit to shoot in the
“Sequoia National Park,” but this was “The
Forest Service,” and they required a separate
permit…and they wouldn’t budge. Not an inch.
They did, however, allow us to call their boss.
We drove back to the campgrounds and put in a call
to the Forest Service boss to plead with him to allow
us to film. He couldn’t be located, so one of
the Hume Lake staff members mentioned that they had
a stream on their property, and we were welcome to film
there. Kirk, Duane and myself jumped onto an open golf
cart and were driven by the man to scout the location.
After a few minutes we drove onto unsealed road, and
he mumbled, “Sorry about the dust.” I looked
behind me saw and both Kirk and Duane had their shirts
pulled over their heads, and were gasping for breath
in a huge cloud of fine dust stirred up from the road.
I immediately thought of Duane and his bronchitis.
A few minutes later, we arrived at the stream, and
our Hume Lake guide apologized for its appearance. Since
there had not been much rain lately, the stream was
almost completely dried up. It looked like a drain.
It was pathetic compared to the picturesque area in
which we wanted to film. Things seemed hopeless. We
would have to break down the gear again (which took
time), and it was getting late in the day. We had hired
a lighting crew, and they were due to leave at 5:00
p.m. We didn’t even have an alternative shooting
location.
It was ironic. God created and owned the stream, and
we were forbidden from even filming it. We weren’t
exactly going to wear out the rocks. Besides, if we
had been a group of guys who wanted to break out the
booze and have a party at the stream, there wouldn’t
be a problem. Our clothes and shoes were covered with
dust. Kirk’s dark hair looked gray with the fine
dust. I was still coughing my little lungs out, and
Duane could hardly breath. We decided to pray.
The three of us gathered together, and Duane asked
God to move on our behalf, saying that the whole project
was for His glory. It was a simple and earnest cry for
help. Minutes later, we were told that the top man had
been contacted, and he had given his okay for us to
film. Pharaoh had let God’s people film. What
a blessing.
Other than a hired lighting man falling over and breaking
his wrist, and Ron getting altitude sickness the next
day, we came through unscathed, with two new programs.
One was on the subject of atheism, and it was filmed
in front of Hume Lake. It looked so picturesque we were
concerned that viewers would think it was a fake backdrop.
The second program was unique. It was called WDJD and
was filmed at a beautiful little stream with four stepping-stones…thanks
to God, and the top man at the National Sequoia Forest
Service.
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