Revival

We parked our cars in an open field surrounding the grounds of City of Light Church. Couples, singles, children, grandparents -- entire families -- walked up the hill leading to the main stage where the man was to speak. Crowds had already reserved their spots, laying blankets down, arranging lawn chairs and applying sunscreen. Those best prepared brought jackets. The revival was to extend well into the night.

City of Light Church is other-worldly, a glorious center of worship and spiritual learning big enough for its own zip code. People live here. A girl I know is a teen leader there. She calls it "the base", which sounds dangerous, like some underground league of guerrilla survivalists, huddled in musty bunkers, awaiting the Second Coming.

Surrounding the towering hotel and banquet halls, various castles, like something out of a fairy tale dream, convey a theme park ambience. The castles were the former pastor's idea, they told me.

I met up with them at the concessions and retail areas, near the big blue castle and projection screens.

T-shirts were on sale, black ones with the word "Shaba" written on them. They told me this was the word the man used when speaking in tongues, when delivering God's healing.

We found a spot for our blanket among the sea of cheering thousands.

Ray -- the speaker, the main event -- didn't have the prototypical look of an evangelist. He was covered in tattoos and wore loose-fitting blue jeans, a black t-shirt with an enormous gold silk screen and a watch the size of a coaster.

"Ray, this is Sandra, who is responding to your word of knowledge regarding cataracts in the right eye."

The man speaking was probably an assistant of some kind.

"What did you feel?" Ray asked.

The woman stammered and spoke words in short bursts, directionless yet joyful.

"When you called that word of knowledge... I, I've had cataracts in the eyes for 18 years, but when you gave that word of knowledge, I felt a warmth. A warmth coming over me."

Ray folded his arms while she spoke. He looked almost skeptical.

"So. Cataracts for 18 years?"

"Yes."

"Tonight you feel a warmth?"

"Yes."

"You prayed to God and said, 'Let me see', and you can see?"

"Yes."

"No pain?"

"No pain."

A smattering of applause arose near the stage and grew loader. The woman raised her hands to the heavens and wobbled at the knees. If a stage escort were not at her shoulder, she would have fallen over.

"It's the glory!"

Shouts of "Amen" came from the left, right, front and back.

"The glory! The fire!"

In a single violent motion, the man threw his right arm toward the woman.

"BAM!"

The woman shook and tumbled backward, eyes closed, limbs everywhere. A man caught her, leading her to the ground.

"The glory!"

On the ground, the woman convulsed. The crowd applauded and cheered.

They came with a variety of afflictions: Nerve damage in the finger tips, heart valve defects, liver damage, colon degenerations, back spasms, cancers, bull legs, crooked knees and legs, epileptic seizures, deafness, blindness, issues of blood.

"Wait. Wait," Ray interrupted. "An angel just showed me a vision -- a man with a growth on the face. You've had it all your life. It's a growth or a defect you've had from birth, and it's...it's...it's a discoloring of the skin around the face, something like a growth. You're being healed this second. If that's you, I want you to raise your hand right now, wherever you are. Just raise your --."

Someone raised a hand.

"Sir, Amen. I want you to come to the stage right now. Praise God."

A line was forming just off stage. These were the healed, excited to share their testimonies of faith and deliverance.

"Steve, what do you have for me?"

"Ray, this is Donna. She's had pain in the ankles for...How many years?"

"Thirty-plus years," she said.

"Thirty years?! For 30 years, you've had pain in the ankles. Then what happened?"

"She said she feels no pain."

"No pain," Ray said.

Roaring applause surrounded us.

"Jump up and down," he said.

The woman bounced awkwardly in her white tennis shoes.

"BAM!!"

She leaned backward and fell gently and more controlled than Sandra. Ray muttered something in tongues, but it wasn't "Shaba".

"An angel just spoke to me and said there's a woman named Cathy to the right of the stage who has a heart condition."

He paused to scan the crowd.

"Cathy, where are you, honey? Just raise your hand. A woman, the angel said, by the name of Cathy. You've had a heart problem or issues in the chest. Cathy?"

Someone raised a hand.

"Ma'am, are you Cathy? No. The angel specifically said 'Cathy'."

The testimonies continued. A child with eye issues could now look into the light without pain. A young woman, who wore a leg brace to the revival, removed it on stage and handed it to Ray.

"This woman...What's your name, dear?... Kelly. Kelly is responding to your word of knowledge regarding a leg brace."

"Glory!"
                                         "Amen!"

"Hallelujah!"

                                                                "Praise Your name!"

            "Father!"

                    "Amen!"

                                                                                            "Glory!"

"We will receive a double portion from the Holy Spirit tonight!" Ray yelled.

Pockets of people began to lay their hands on one another, whispering prayers, while notes from the electric piano came through the PA speakers.

"Ray, we're being told that healings are happening right now in the overflow room in the congregation."

"Amen! Amen! Let's give praise for those in the overflow room, in the church, who are being healed by the second."

The sun had set, and portable spotlights were being set-up behind us. Those healed kept coming.

Sometime later, Ray left the stage to the sound of synthesizers and distorted guitars. Headlights from slow-moving vehicles could be seen in the fields. Some stayed behind to pray while others quickly bagged up their leftover snacks and hurried out. Whole families hugged one another. Husbands kissed their wives on the forehead.

The glory, the anointing of the Holy Ghost, had come. Word was He had to catch a plane to Spokane.