The Xperience just finished our annual tour; this year we toured throughout the Carolinas. We visited Hickory, Camp Agape, Raleigh, Wilmington, Oak Island, Myrtle Beach, Charleston, and Beaufort. Needless to say it was a busy week.

As many of us are aware, there was a major heatwave that rolled in Sunday. Real Feel temperatures were reaching upwards of 111 degrees. This can obviously drain the energy out of you when you’re out on the road and working in that heat. By the second day of tour we were already getting a little worn out.

We spent the morning touring Lenoir Rhyne University which meant we spent a decent amount of time out in the sun as it is. Our show for that night was set to be at Camp Agape. As we arrived, this was at the peak of the heatwave. It just so happened that the A/C was out at camp, which did not help.

Here’s the good news – whenever we take time to stop at a camp, we can always feel the Holy Spirit move. The fire inside us and the campers surely burned much hotter than any Heatwave ever could. Once we began dinner and started interacting with the about 40 campers there the heat no longer mattered.

As the show began, I could feel those Holy Spirit goosebumps in the air. Many of our students and leaders were led to tears as we felt the energy in the room when our students led worshipful songs like “Hard Fought Hallelujah” and “O Come to the Altar.” But once we reached the mid-point of the show and we sang the first line of “Old Church Choir,” which says “There’s revival, and it’s spreading, Like a wildfire in my heart,” you felt the energy in the room as that revival started spreading. Everybody was clapping, singing along, standing right in front of the singers.

These students had the blessing of sharing the message with students their age and younger who already have that brush fire in their heart and all they need is the wind to blow as it wishes and it to spark a fire that will consume their entire world.

As we finished off the set, not a single person in that room felt the heat in the air. These kids thought this was the coolest thing in the world and couldn’t get enough of the show. Our kids were taking pictures and giving out hugs for about 30 minutes after the show because everyone was so moved.

By the grace of God, no one got any sort of major heat exhaustion or sickness throughout the week, because everyone was a vital part of God’s plans for this past week. We couldn’t have done it without every last member of the Xperience. We happily returned to Charlotte to get some much-deserved rest on Saturday afternoon. We may have returned a little tired and a little sunburned, but our hearts are full and the Spirit’s fire is still burning bright.