A trip to the largest arts festival in the world A.K.A "Burning Man" “A voice of one is calling out, clear the way for the Lord in the wilderness {remove the obstacles}; make straight and smooth in the desert a highway for our God.” Isaiah 40:3 The going… Jesus said, “Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to all creation.” Mark 16:15 Burning Man chirped into 2019 on August 25, I wondered what God was going to accomplish this year. As I headed out to the airport with my girlfriend at 3:30 in the morning, I packed light; shorts, t-shirts, some burner essentials, sunglasses, dust mask, and natural oils... Pulling up to the gate and saying good bye was a tough one, we had both hoped she would be traveling with me and yet the Lord had other plans. I made it to the gate just in time to catch my breath. Sitting down in the dreaded middle seat, is where my testimony begins. I started speaking with a young man mid-flight. The plane became stuffy and everyone knows that at 30,000 feet, amidst babies crying and necks cramping, sometimes the best fix is saying hello to the person suffering along with you. That man was Josh and he works with people in crisis... funny so do I... I began early on to see the Lord at work! Praise Jesus. He is a special kind of crisis counselor, one that is realizing America is in need of help, not only with an opioid addiction, consumerism, or technology fixation. I could tell the Lord had set me in this seat! We exchanged numbers. I will be contacting Josh soon. He asked me if I would help him with interventions; right up Recklessly Loved Ministries lane! And of course, I said yes! DEEP PLAYA Camp was a breeze; 98 degrees during the day, as low as 40 during the night. We had a tent. This consisted of two cots and two chairs; all the fringe comforts of home. I woke up the first morning to the sound of techno, a little groggy from the time change and heat acceleration. Putting on my sunglasses, I headed out to the playa. I had to find some other Christians, have some fellowship and see what they had heard from the Lord. By day three honestly, I had no idea if there were any. Is it just too pagan of an event? I remembered inviting a couple of my friends to come, they had decided it was not the right type of environment for them. Biblically, I side with the founders of my faith. Paul went to Corinth 3 times, starting churches and writing letters to help them. Jonah went to Nineveh. Black Rock City, NV is an official city with a population of 77,842. It is the largest art festival in the world. This is the type of place God sends people! TESTIMONIES I lost my sunglasses. I have to admit, I was upset. I had set my sunglasses down and forgotten them; when I returned someone had taken them! I instantly began talking to the Lord. God responded. “Go and read the burning man book,” I heard him say. “Map out the city.” I sat down in my tent, 98 degrees out, and began. Reading the Burning man book is for adults, let’s leave it at that. I poured over it; mapping out all the cool and interesting things, playa glass, silkscreen t-shirts, Macgyver’s union, fresh baked bread daily! Then I found it FREE sunglasses! There was a camp that gave away FREE sunglasses?? I had to check it out! HOLY SPIRIT LEADING I motored on, found the camp and the FREE sunglasses. To my surprise, directly across the street from that camp was a Christian camp! I was amazed! The Holy Spirit was re-introducing me to a camp I had come in contact with in 2014; the first year I had gone to the Burn! I had no contact info! I had no way of finding them! Trust me I had tried. In a city of over 77,000 people, finding this place was more likely to be a mirage than reality. Yet, the Holy Spirit knew! He had it all worked out! Upon entering the camp, I found the leader and introduced myself. We began to talk about stewarding the call of the Lord and intertwining it with the culture of Burning Man. He also led me to a few other camps that love the people of Black Rock city. Jesus at the playa! I was excited! The Holy Spirit was leading me! I was introduced to Kerilee Van Schooten, a lover of Jesus who had such an experience with Jesus, she wrote a book “Risky and Real” Experimental Journey Towards Authentic Spirituality. And then there was, “Over the Rainbow” God’s Eye for the Gay Guy, written by Angel Willson. Angel was working at one camp while giving his book away for free I went back to the tent excited about what He had instore for me over the next couple of days! FOLLOW THE LEADER I woke up feeling like I should go to the airport. The airport at Burning Man offers FREE flights around the city and has a rather large line, considering no one pays! Yup, we all get flights for free!! Standing in line, I met Naomi. She had been trying to get a flight for the last two days. Her boyfriend, William, was running late. As we talked, Jesus came up. He is the reason for hope! I found out that her parents are Christians! Her boyfriend believed in God but had never gone to church. Over the course of six hours, waiting in a line for a free plane ride, I was able to share the gospel message with William and Naomi, as well as Armond and Lauren, another great couple seeking the sky’s! Naomi told me about her hatred for the church. How she eventually got sick of not meeting the standard, so she left. Occasionally, she would allow her mother to pray for her. I sensed the lies of religion. She wasn’t loved; she was told to perform. She had to DO! Rather than except what Christ had DONE! I broke in! Jesus Loves you! Her face stunned; she could tell I meant it, and the walls began to tumble as I shared the gospel clearly. Its not about a building, its about a relationship with the Heavenly Father! It’s not about whether you attend, it’s about listening to HIM. All of this, lead her to say she believed. William believed, maybe for the first time in his life, that God wasn’t after him for a Sunday service but rather a lifelong relationship. One he can now have through Jesus. CONCLUSION I witnessed to an artist on the out skirts of Burning Man. I shared that Jesus was in fact in love with her. She asked if I got any push back for saying such a thing. My response was NO. She said, “Thank you.” I visited the Temple before the Burn and read the sorrows of so many people looking for somewhere to put their guilt and troubles. I tremble at the thought of going through life without knowing a loving God. How sorrowful. How much despair, is the soul, without the light of Christ. I bumped into a kid, coming out of the café. Burning man sells 2 things ice and coffee, and their coffee is AWESOME. I told him Jesus loved him, he responded Jesus loves everyone and then I stopped him. Jesus loves YOU and he died for it... He stopped. I asked if there was anything I could pray with him about, he passed. Later that day, he came out of a camp I had been introduced to. He was weeping. He wondered how I had known about the camp, I said Jesus was looking for you early this morning! With tears in his eyes he said, “Thank you!” I witnessed to a few other people day in and day out until we pulled camp. Im writing this to fill you in on the out-reach and the Holy Spirits movements while I attended. I have seen the Holy Spirit take sunglasses to get me somewhere. I believe this city is important to the Lord, I believe he has a heart for all 77,842. Do you?