God is revealing His glory along in California through mass conversions, healing and more in a series of tent revivals hosted by Mario Murillo Ministries. These events mark the fulfillment of a prophetic encounter six years ago, when God told me of a miracle that would occur along this 425-mile stretch of road. At each site, in each tent and in every changed life, He reveals His supernatural power.
It happened one Sunday afternoon. I took an afternoon nap before preaching, and a vivid dream overtook me. All at once, I was hovering high enough over California that I could see the entire length of Highway 99, from Red Bluff in the north to Laval Road, 45 miles south of Bakersfield.
I hear a voice say, “This is a corridor of My glory.” At that moment, the highway became a river. I saw trees popping up along the river, and God told me their leaves were for the healing of the people.
At the time I had that dream, I couldn’t imagine it would ever come true. Today, that dream is the only way I can begin to describe what is happening along this corridor of glory. And to God be the glory!
However, it will not be wise for me to share my story without first commenting on two passages of Scripture:
First, “It seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write to you an orderly account, most excellent Theophilus, that you may know the certainty of those things in which you were instructed” (Luke 1:3-4, NKJV).
In this age of self-promotion, we need both orderly accounts and certainty. All too often, when ministers tell about what “God is doing,” they embellish the testimony, thinking it will bolster their story. Instead, such exaggerations cheapen God’s work and raise doubts.
Second, the apostle Paul said, “not boasting of things beyond measure, that is, in other men’s labors, but having hope, that as your faith is increased, we shall be greatly enlarged by you in our sphere, to preach the gospel in the regions beyond you, and not to boast in another man’s sphere of accomplishment” (2 Cor. 10:15-16).
God is using many ministries in California, and we deeply honor them all. We will not claim their results as our own but only as more evidence of His supernatural work.
Experiencing Revival
The tent is the site of the presence of God, so thick at times that I experience a deep fear of the Lord just walking in.
People come early, even in California, a state long notorious for late-arriving crowds. In every service along Highway 99, the tent fills up well before the planned starting time, and the Lord compels us to begin singing at least 30 minutes early.
Most of the time, all the seats are filled, and hundreds more people listen from outside the tent.
Today’s modern, seeker-friendly churches boast of 12-minute express-sermons, but I frequently preach two complete sermons averaging 45 minutes each. The first is a soul-winning sermon, the second, a revival message.
Not only are there two sermons, but I break them up with an altar call for lost souls to come to Jesus. The number of people who come forward nightly ranges from 150 to upwards of 900.
Sinners groan in their seats, convicted by the power of the Holy Spirit. Several times, the weight of the Spirit moves me to stop preaching and bring them the cleansing balm of salvation. At times, the many lost in attendance move to the front as a group. Within just a few minutes, there is no room at the front, and the line stretches outside.
Two elements combine to make follow-up successful: our focus on true conversion and our intentional partnership with churches on fire for Jesus. We are also indebted to Inner City Action, a ministry to the homeless and hurting led by Frank Saldana. ICA’s laborers are the soldiers on the streets, battling the devil and helping us in our effort to bring souls from darkness to light.
Our team has seen evidence in every revival of yet another wonderful fact: Lost souls hear the voice of God drawing them to come to the tent.
A drug dealer in Bakersfield not only heard the Holy Spirit tell him to come to the tent, but he disrupted the meeting when he obeyed. He charged to the front, holding a bag filled with several pounds of marijuana. He came right at me!
Security started toward him, when all of a sudden, he threw the bag on the ground and stomped on it, crying out, “I need Jesus right now! Right now!”
In Fresno, another young man, about 19 years old, was driving to work on Highway 99 at 4:30 p.m. As he came in sight of our meeting place, he heard a voice say, “Get in the tent.” He phoned his boss and told him he would not be able to come to work. He was fired immediately, but he didn’t care. He had heard from the Lord, and he had no choice but to follow.
When I walked out to preach, the Holy Spirit told me, “Go over to that young man and ask him to stand. He is a heroin addict. His kidneys and liver are diseased. Lay your hand on him, and I will heal him.”
When I told this young man what God had said, he broke into tears. Demons fled. He told me the power of God was healing him. “I want to be born again,” he sobbed. After he received Jesus, the crowd rejoiced loudly as I walked away.
But the Holy Spirit stopped me. “Go back,” He said. “You are not finished yet. He must receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit.” Moments later, this newly saved man began praying aloud in a glorious unknown tongue, heard by all. Imagine the thrill that went through the audience!
Receiving Miracles
In the 99 corridor of glory, healings abound. God has placed us under a severe discipline to preach a clear, certain and unfiltered message—the catalyst to the miracles.
A key verse for us is Acts 14:3 (TLB), “Nevertheless, they stayed there a long time, preaching boldly, and the Lord proved their message was from him by giving them power to do great miracles.” We are preaching the message that comes from Him, knowing He will provide the undeniable proof of His presence. That is why we call these crusades “Living Proof.”
We have held Living Proof tent crusades in Marysville, Stockton, Modesto, Fresno, Hanford, Dinuba, Bakersfield and—our largest meeting ever—in Sacramento, California—all cities along Highway 99.
Many Californians wonder why the Lord would choose to send His presence to what many consider a God-forsaken place. In 2010, the list of the top 10 worst places to live in America included five cities along Highway 99, and the Highway 99 corridor leads the nation in fatal accidents per 100 miles. Because of this, one law firm termed the route the “highway to hell.”
My dear friend Manuel Carrizalez, who directs Stay Focused Ministries in Bakersfield, preached at 52 funerals in 11 months for young men killed in drive-by shootings. The Central Valley church has been battered, beaten down and rejected by the coastal cities. Leftist Sacramento politicians have robbed the entire area which, already suffering, found itself decimated by the pandemic.
When Jesus began His ministry, it also baffled Israel that He would begin in Capernaum. “And leaving Nazareth, He came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the regions of Zebulun and Naphtali, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: ‘The land of Zebulon and the land of Naphtali, by the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles: The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, And upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death, Light has dawned” (Matt. 4:13-16, NKJV).
As a ministry, we will continue to lean into the grace God is releasing in fulfillment of the prophetic dream He gave me so long ago. We watch and celebrate as He turns the highway to hell into a highway of holiness. May it be merely a foretaste of what He will do across the nation, from sea to shining sea!
READ MORE: Explore God’s work in revival at revival.charismamag.com.
Mario Murillo is the founder of Mario Murillo Ministries (mariomurillo.org) and his voice has been heard by millions around the world. He presents Christ with clarity and intellect, openly declaring the power of Jesus to totally transform a life.
This article was excerpted from the September 2021 issue of Charisma magazine. If you don’t subscribe to Charisma, click here to get every issue delivered to your mailbox. During this time of change, your subscription is a vote of confidence for the kind of Spirit-filled content we offer. In the same way you would support a ministry with a donation, subscribing is your way to support Charisma. Also, we encourage you to give gift subscriptions at shop.charismamag.com, and share our articles on social media.
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