Update from Pastor Virgil

Moving Christians from the pew to the harvest.”  Matthew 9:36-38

February 27, 2025

God loves hungry hearts, my friends!

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

Matthew 5:6 ESV 

he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty.

Luke 1:53 ESV 

After our yearly three-day Congreso in Hermosillo, Sonora, I preached in the host church on Sunday. Afterward, I had lunch with the pastor and his wife. This pastor has been in ministry for many years. As we waited for our meal, he sighed and made this comment: “It’s amazing. We had church Wednesday night, all day Thursday, all day Friday, and all day Saturday. Yet there they were again this morning, ready to hear the Word. They are so hungry!” It’s true. The hunger is almost palpable. I could feel it when I got up to preach. God is doing something special.

About 28 years ago, I was praying in my office in Apache Junction, Arizona. As I prayed, I had a vision. I honestly don’t know if my eyes were open or not. I saw an aerial view of the Mexican border. I was above the border looking to the West. I saw a huge cloud, like a dust storm except it was a glowing silvery kind of color. It rolled south into Mexico and grew until it encompassed my entire field of vision. I heard the Holy Spirit say, “I will bring revival to this land. Your job is to prepare shepherds to care for the harvest.”

From that time to this, I have made every effort to do that. It has sometimes been a bumpy ride. We’ve made starts that we thought surely were the big move. Each one has grown rapidly, then hit a snag of one kind or another.  Someday I’ll write a book. Through all the ups and downs, we continued to do what was in front of us to do. One step at a time, we have trained a good number of pastors and church leaders and made relationships that are still bearing fruit today.

What began as a homemade program to train my own people in Oneonta, NY, has developed into Instituto de Entrenamiento Ministerial de Fe. The basic material is being used in a number of churches. We have trained teachers who can teach others to replicate the process. I continue to teach the leadership and ministry level classes, and the demand is growing, not diminishing. People are hungry, not just in Sonora, but in Mexico City as well, where seed we planted 20 years ago is yielding fruit. Something is happening.

I genuinely believe the revival is on. In addition to an extraordinary hunger in every service, I see several other things that lead me to that conclusion. We have seen churches from many different groups working together. There is an uptick in prayer among the churches. Jails and parks and treatment facilities are becoming centers of revival, manned by folks we have trained. It’s fun to listen to the reports.

My battle scars have taught me that we must be vigilant and hang on to the Word, prayer, and one another. There will be pushback. No matter, we will continue to do what we were assigned to do until Jesus comes or He tells us to stop. I said all of this to say, please don’t quit praying. Progress brings resistance, and you can make all the difference. The political upheaval here and in Latin America is real, and has the potential to complicate our mission. Pray for safety for all God’s emissaries. Pray that the unity of the churches continues, and the hunger grows.

My prayer for you is that you and your church get hungry. Not only hungry for the Word, but hungry for God, His presence and His character.  Not just hungry to see growth in numbers, but hungry to see lives transformed, including your own. Maybe it could be revival time here, too!

More Mexico: Congreso was powerful. The theme was “Signs of the end times.” Interestingly, the messages were mostly about getting ourselves and our people ready for the Lord’s return. That’s what happens when you have real pastors as speakers. They want to grow the sheep and prepare them for what’s ahead.

I taught a morning class on the five-fold ministry gifts and the need for a return to that concept of multiple giftings. All are necessary for the work at hand. One of the most frequently mentioned signs of the last days is the onslaught of false teachers, prophets, apostles, and even false christs. Every New Testament author at least alludes to it. It seems to me we should take the time to know the true so we will be able to recognize the false.

God showed up every day and lives were changed. There were testimonies of healings, some even coming in after the meetings ended. On Friday evening, I had the privilege of praying for a dozen people to receive the baptism with the Holy Spirit. The whole banner waving team (6 school age girls) came forward and wept as the Spirit of God moved on them. Even in the morning classes God moved mightily. Pastors filled the altar to receive new strength, new anointings, and fresh direction. It was just good. On our pastors and leaders Zoom call on February 15th we had more testimonies of healings and the impact on churches. It was great.

Next: March 13-14 I will be teaching the first section of our class “Panning for Gold.” (Spanish is “Buscando Oro.”) This class is a hands on application of the principles of Bible interpretation we have been emphasizing for years. We will walk through the Sermon on the Mount and illustrate these principles in familiar passages that are often hard to grasp. You have no idea the impact these classes are having in the churches.

Victory over Addictions: Gospel Rescue Mission of Tucson

We’re still teaching the “Victory over Addiction” class to staff at Gospel Rescue Mission. The response has been very gratifying. I believe that the trajectory of many lives will be changed by the new insights learned in this class. What a privilege! Funny how God uses everything for His purposes and glory.  When I was drinking, then getting sober, then working in treatment facilities, then going to Bible school it never occurred to me that God could bake all that into one pie and use it to help others in this manner. I feel like I’m an interpreter, making treatment talk intelligible to Christian workers, and making our Christian parlance and worldview understandable to treatment professionals.

Heads up, New York! I’m finishing up the schedule for a June trip to New York. I’ll be in Bloomville on June 8 and 10, and in Glenville the next Sunday. I am still scheduling for June 1 and the weeks between these stops.

Judy and I are continually amazed at all the wonderful people who pray and give to help us get this job done. Thank you for making it possible for us to stay steady in the mission we have been given.

Financial support can be sent to Faith Christian Fellowship of Tucson  at the address below or given online at www.fcftucson.org. Make checks payable to FCFT and designate missions or pastorvirgil and it will get where it needs to go.

Here are some things you can do to help:

Keep doing your part, I’ll keep doing mine, and together we will get a lot done.

Virgil and Judy Stokes

3141 W. Ironwood Hill Dr.

Tucson AZ, 85745

520-792-3238

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