In an age where the government—both national and local—has seemingly neglected God’s Word, Apostle Joshua Fowler believes Dec. 12, 2012, will be recorded with historical significance.
Wednesday, Fowler and other leaders of God’s army joined local government leaders at Lake Eola in downtown Orlando to proclaim 12-12-12 to be “God Day: Awakening a City to Awaken Nations.” A representative of Mayor Buddy Dyer’s office, city commissioners and a representative of United State Congressman Daniel Webster’s office were on hand for the proclamation.
“When that proclamation—signed by the mayor and city commissioners—was read, the prayer was powerful. God just came in and arrested the place,” said Fowler, senior minister of Life Legacy Church in Orlando. “When the city commissioners left, their words were that they were rocked by this. God just touched them.
“I believe that they invited God into this city. If nothing else, the government of God—the five-fold ministries of apostles, pastors, prophets, teachers and evangelists and the natural government—stood together in this day of divine order. I believe heaven stood at attention for God’s order to be released. Only some of it will be seen in the natural, but the ramifications of this day, I believe, will be written about years from now; that this was a catalyst that changed the city and the world.”
Fowler, one of a few keynote speakers for the event that included John Eckhardt and C. Peter Wagner, said God has been preparing him for this day for the past 13 years, prior to him and his wife Deborah Ashley coming to Orlando to pastor at Life Legacy Church. He said he has average only three hours of sleep per night the past few weeks while working on the project.
The morning and afternoon sessions saw sparse crowds, but Fowler said he anticipated the amphitheater to be overflowing during the evening as churches from throughout the city—including Hispanic, Brazilian and Korean churches as well as those from Pentecostal mega-churches in Orlando—were committed to bring groups to the event.
“It was only me and a few people I would consider this to be a success because we’ve been obedient to God, like Noah getting on the boat,” Fowler said. “I’m pleased and elated because we gathered here to do two things—to restore honor to God and to father the fatherless. That’s already accomplished.”
The latter concerns the Shoes for Kids project in which God Day officials were hoping to distribute 12,000 pairs of shoes to local fatherless children Wednesday. Fowler said he wasn’t sure of the actual count, but was confident that the project had met its goal.
The idea came to him after he and his wife, Deborah, went to Taiwan a few years ago to adopt a child. When they received the child, the shoes he had on were tattered and torn. They immediately got their new son, Ben, a new pair, and the Lord spoke to Fowler about the shoe drive.
Fowler said the project includes shoes that have been donated from churches and individuals in 26 states and 13 countries.
“We’re blown away,” Fowler said. “God simply showed me one day that what we did for our adopted son, we needed to do for many other children. He showed me in a dream that I was putting shoes on their feet. I don’t know where this is going to go, but we hope that it gets much bigger.
“We’re going to make God Day and this shoe drive an annual event in Orlando, but we’re also going to be doing it in different cities in many different states. I feel like there’s a lot of hurt with the children of America right now. We can’t forget those children here in this country.”
Whitaker House, a Christian publishing company, also donated 1,200 copies of Mary Ruth Swope’s book The Power of Blessing Your Children for distribution during God Day Wednesday.
“I sat down with Dr. Fowler at the ICRS conference last summer and when I learned that one of the purposes of God day was ‘fathering the fatherless,’ I thought of Dr. Swope’s very inspiring and practical book,” said Bob Whitaker Jr., president of Whitaker House. “It’s my hope and prayer that God blesses our small contribution to this event, which I believe will make a great impact for the cause of Christ.”
Christian Retailing’s Chris Johnson contributed to this article.
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