Update from Pastor Virgil- September 25, 2025

Moving Christians from the Pew to the Harvest. Matthew 9:36-38

There’s Something Happening

Last Sunday, we witnessed one of the most amazing events I can remember. The memorial service for Charlie Kirk in Phoenix was unlike anything I have ever seen. According to estimates, around 100,000 people attended, both inside and outside the Cardinals’ football stadium. The event lasted almost five hours and was broadcast live on Fox. The television networks totaled around 6 million viewers, and estimates of the total digital audience range from 100 to 150 million views. (It is not clear how many of these were viewed by multiple people.) This figure is staggering.

Something huge is happening! God has opened an enormous window, and on Sunday, the Gospel was heard by millions of people worldwide. Even more astonishingly, it was proclaimed by the leaders of the United States of America. Powerful and prominent men and women took it in turns to stand and speak about Charlie’s faith and their own. The event concluded with a message from the President. Almost every speaker shared the Gospel. It was explicit and recurring. (See Marco Rubio for an example.) Several speakers referred to the tangible presence of God in the room.

This is no accident. It’s part of God’s plan in raising up a nation like the United States. We were founded with a divine mission. Below are three quotes from some of our Founding Fathers:

“I have lived… a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth—that God governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid?”

Benjamin Franklin

“He is the best friend to American liberty who is the most sincere and active in promoting true and undefiled religion… The Gospel of Christ is the only solid foundation of moral obligation.”

John Witherspoon

“It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religions, but on the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”

Patrick Henry

Meanwhile, the unbelieving crowd — those who despise our country and our God — is protesting with such vitriol that it must be spiritual in origin. It’s not human. Judy and I were discussing the hatred we have seen in people, including the political class and the media. There are many examples of diabolical hatred, involving lies and curses. It’s frightening.

As we talked about the viciousness of these unfortunate people, I was reminded of an event in Oneonta, NY. Our church invited an elderly Jewish gentleman, a rabbi, who had survived the Holocaust. He was in the concentration camps in Poland, and lost his entire family. After the war, he moved to the United States. He was saved reading Isaiah 53 in his own Bible, then attended Biola College. He then moved to New York City where he started an outreach to the Jewish community. He had a fascinating story, immense bible knowledge, and he was a delightful person.

We organized a meeting at the State University and invited students to hear the Holocaust survivor speak. He attracted a fair-sized audience from the large Jewish student population. However, when he began to share the story of his conversion to Christianity, we witnessed something we had never seen before: a level of violent hatred beyond anything we had ever experienced. Students stood and cursed this precious little man. The language and the accusations were vile. It was the kind of supernatural hatred that could cause a crowd to scream, “Crucify Him!”

The issue is not political. The issue is Jesus. To those who want to know truth, there is a draw, an attraction to the beauty of grace. To those who want to cling to their sin, there is fear and contempt. Don’t be shocked. Pray. “And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil” (John 3:19 ESV).

I believe that, for some time, God has been creating unique opportunities to proclaim the Gospel in unlikely places and through unconventional means. I believe this happened on an almost unimaginable scale last Sunday. Most of us will have the opportunity to talk to people who saw at least part of it. They heard the word that brings faith. Some will have questions about the message and how they should respond. Others may already have prayed, but now need guidance on what to do next. Pray that God will use you to guide someone along the path to glory.

Hot time in Mexico: We are on the last leg of our project to teach our upper level courses in Hermosillo. We graduated our fourth first-year class in 2020, then I began teaching upper level material. Others we have trained are continuing to teach the first level as necessary. All these classes have been open to everyone, pastors and lay people alike. I have taught 16 upper level courses, or about 128 class hours of material.

On September 11 and 12, I taught the third installment of “Panning for Gold.” This course uses the Sermon on the Mount to illustrate Bible interpretation skills. We covered Matthew Chapter 6, where Jesus emphasized the importance of doing good things for the right reasons. The core issue is the heart of man. We’re supposed to help the poor, fast, pray, and manage our finances in a godly fashion. The question is the motivation. It was very rich.

On the first night, there were 59 students in total, including 13 pastors. The second night, there were 70 students and 16 pastors. It was a miracle that anyone came back on the second night. The heat was intense. Staying hydrated was challenging, and the huge evaporative coolers were so loud that it was difficult to hear anything. They came back anyway and brought more people with them. This shows the hunger in their hearts.

On Saturday morning, we held a breakfast for pastors at the same venue. Eighteen attended. The food was delicious. After resolving some issues with the microphone, we managed to stream the teaching to our partners in Nezahualcóyotl via Zoom. Pastor Randy Winkles brought an excellent teaching on staying committed to the call. Every pastor has faced the temptation to quit. It was a timely message, and it was followed by a time of prayer and personal ministry.

Coming up: In November, we will complete the ‘Panning for Gold’ course in Hermosillo. At the Saturday breakfast, we will discuss the changes that will come into effect in the new year. Following the format of the meeting in July, we will hold Saturday seminars aimed specifically at pastors. We will use a neutral location with ample air conditioning. We are also investing in our own sound equipment to enable us to make high-quality recordings and conduct reliable live streams.

The Lord told us to prepare shepherds to care for the harvest. The harvest is here. We have trained a good group of pastors and now have a broader base of influence to reach out to others who want to grow in their knowledge and skill set. It’s gonna be great!

Reports:

  • We got the Mexico vehicle moving with new shocks and a new axle. Chug holes do a number on suspensions in Hermosillo. Thank you for giving to make this possible.
  • Out of the Abundance of the Heart teaching emails in Spanish are getting good reviews. I believe we will be able to continue to put good material in the hands of folks in Latin America. These are also being posted to the blog site at www.pastorvirgil.com.

Help Wanted: A thank you to those who responded to my call for help with the expenses of our new initiative. We are making good progress.

  • The blog site, www.pastorvirgil.com, desperately needs an update. If you have some design/computer skills and some time on your hands, I could use some assistance. Email me at tucsonjefe@outlook.com and I’ll get back to you.
  • I’ve still got several books that need to be updated and re-published on Amazon. Help!
  • Short of finding a capable volunteer to deal with the website and /or the book, I will be looking for someone to hire.

Good Book: This week is baptism Sunday at Goodness Family Church. We give every candidate for baptism a copy of “Water Baptism: believeth and is baptized” to read before the event. Everybody needs to know what they are doing. Don’t just get wet, get delivered! (Also available for Kindle)

Thank you: Thanks for making it possible for us to keep going. He told us to move believers from the pew into the harvest, and we are working to do that. God uses every prayer and every gift to fulfill His mission.

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:

Pray: Provision, direction, protection and anointing as I head for New York to do a little leadership business in a couple of churches up there. I’m also going to take a few days away to pray and wait on God for direction in the days ahead. The times, they are a’changing!

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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