Blessing Ocala

This weekend was full of big moments for our church family. As part of our monthly “Give ’Em Heaven” tour, we traveled to Ocala, Florida for another street preach. For those unfamiliar with what we do, our church visits different cities to share the Gospel in public spaces. Sometimes we’re invited to come, and other times we reach out and ask for permission—but either way, we treat every stop as a blessing and an opportunity to plant seeds of faith.

This trip turned out to be one of the more eventful ones. When we arrived, we discovered that a “No Kings” protest was being held in the same area and at the same time as our street preach. I wasn’t sure what to expect, and to be honest, I felt a little nervous at first. But for the most part, the protestors were respectful of us and what we were there to do. We stayed focused on our message, and they stayed focused on theirs.

There was, however, one man who stood out from the rest. I’m not entirely sure if he was officially with the protest or acting on his own, but he made several attempts to stir up trouble. At one point he tried to remove flags from some of the trucks that were parked nearby, and later he attempted to start a confrontation with some of the men in our group.

What struck me most in those moments was not the tension—but the restraint. We had veterans, bikers, police officers, and our own security team present, and when this man approached, they calmly but firmly stood between him and the rest of the group. They didn’t escalate the situation; they simply protected the space so that the message could continue without interruption. After a few attempts to provoke a reaction, law enforcement decided to remain on site and keep a closer eye on everything.

Through all of that, we kept preaching. By around 2:00 that afternoon, we wrapped up the street preach and prepared for baptisms. A number of people had already left by that point, but many stayed behind. Over the course of the day, we had roughly 100 people physically gathered in the square with us, but we also had an estimated 1,000 cars pass by—many circling back multiple times with their windows down to listen as they drove past. It was a powerful reminder that even when we can’t see every person we reach, God is still working beyond what’s right in front of us.

That afternoon, we were able to baptize twelve people. Twelve!!!! One of those baptisms was especially meaningful—it was the preacher’s own mother-in-law. Watching her step into the water, surrounded by people who loved her and were cheering her on, was a beautiful moment and a reminder that it’s never too late to answer God’s call.

Despite the challenges, the tension, and the unexpected circumstances, God showed up in Ocala. The Gospel was preached. Lives were touched. And twelve souls made a public declaration of their faith. Weekends like this remind me why we do what we do.