Introduction
Hemet, California, located in the San Jacinto Valley, began to experience revival after at least two pastors heard from God and made commitments to Him to serve the community, even though initially they were strongly reluctant to live and work in that area.

Those commitments to God brought a revival that began to change many things in the area, which some have referred to as—transformation.

Condition of Hemet, California, Prior to the Revival
► There was a “nasty spiritual feeling” to the community.
► Churches were stagnant or in serious decline.
► There was a competitive spirit among the churches and the pastors in the community, with many of the pastors merely going through the motions of leading their congregations.
► Occult activity was widespread, with remains of animal sacrifices commonly being discovered.
► Citizens reported that on Halloween, dozens of ritual fires could be seen in the distance, scattered throughout the nearby mountains.
► Cults were very active, including the Moonies, Mormons, Church of Scientology, and the Transcendental Meditation Center, lead by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.

Methamphetamine Manufacturing Center
The San Jacinto Valley was known as the methamphetamine manufacturing capital of the West Coast. Some reported that there were at least 9 production laboratories in the area.

Those involved in the production said that some of the local police were involved, even transporting drugs in their police cars. The same person who reported this said that they themselves produced enough meth in a month to supply more than 1 million people.

Pastor Bob Beckett

Turn Around
Changes began to take place when at least two pastors made a commitment to serve the community. Bob Beckett, pastor of The Dwelling Place Church, said that he and his wife didn’t love, care for, nor want to be part of, ministering to the Hemet community. But God asked him if he “would be willing to spend the rest of his life in this valley.” When he made that commitment, that was when this pastor began to see changes.

Pastor Gordon Houston

Gordon Houston, who eventually became the pastor of San Jacinto Assembly of God, drove through the area when a pastoral position opened up in 1984, but seeing the condition of the community at that time, he wanted nothing to do with it.

Yet, a few years later, in 1986, the Houston family moved to Hemet, and God spoke to him, saying,

I have a plan, and I’ll share it with you – if you make a commitment to this place.

It was only after Houston and Beckett said “yes” to God’s invitation that the changes begin to occur.

First Street Gang
For several generations the notorious First Street Gang had been in operation. At this time the gang members included those whose fathers and grandfathers had also at one time been part of that gang.

The risk of going into the area of First Street was so great that the police refused to go there without significant resources to back them up.

Pastor Gordon Houston, while out in front of his church (located on First Street) one day, was threateningly confronted by 7 gang members, asking him why he was in the area.

Spiritual Mapping
Pastor Bob Beckett, of The Dwelling Place Church, began realizing that there were locations in the community that had heightened spiritual activity. The areas of high crime, as well as areas where cult and witchcraft practices were prominent, were delineated on a map.

In addition to centers of spiritual activity, Beckett also discovered that the native people believed that there was a ruling spirit over the region, named Tahquitz. Through a revelation given by the Holy Spirit, it was discerned that this spirit had stretched its control over the community.

Intercessors began to focus on the issues noted on the map and were praying with real targets and timelines, and they then watched for the answers to their prayers.

Gang members turning to Christ

Results of their Prayers
► Cult membership was reduced to less than 0.3 percent of the population. All groups left, with the exception of the Scientologists.
► After praying for the removal of the Transcendental Meditation Training Center, a brushfire started in the mountains on the west side of the valley. The fires spread and consumed that TM center but left the surrounding buildings untouched.
► According to a former drug manufacturer who had converted to Christ, the illegal drug business took a major hit and decreased its influence by 75 percent.
► The police department, which at one time was deeply embedded in the drug business, even escorting drug shipments, made a 180-degree turn. Those that were previously involved in the manufacture and transportation of drugs, said:

The Christians out here took a multimillion-dollar drug operation and made it run off with its tail between its legs.

► Church attendance rose to 14 percent, and that was double what it was ten years earlier.
► During one 18-month period, San Jacinto Assembly of God witnessed more than 600 people give their lives to Christ, while another church that was engaged in prayer for the community grew by 300 percent in 12 months.
► During a church service at San Jacinto Assembly of God, a gang member walked to the front, and interrupting Gordon Houston’s sermon, said,

I want to get saved right now!

Soon, all the inhabitants of a notorious First Street Gang house were converted. One of the first demonstrations of their newfound faith was to remove graffiti from vandalized church walls, and the word went out in the community:

You don’t tag this church with graffiti; you don’t mess with it in any way.

Officer Brady Hill of the San Jacinto Police Dept.

► Officer Brady Hill, of the San Jacinto Police Department, said that

Officers working on the graveyard shift or swing shift, could camp out on main street where the bars are, and just go from one fight to another, taking people to jail all night long. Now that doesn’t happen anymore like it used to.

► The former drug manufacturer and dealer, who gave information about the level of drug activity in the area, said that at around 8 a.m. one Saturday morning, he was driving to a location to commit a murder. When he drove past The Dwelling Place Church, it was like the Holy Spirit took control of his car and he drove into the parking lot. There was a men’s meeting that had started at that time, and the man is quoted as saying,

Before I got out of the car I looked at the silenced pistol laying on the seat. I remember thinking, ‘oh my God, what am I doing.’ So I covered it with a blanket and walked into the prayer meeting. As soon as I did that it was all over… That was the beginning of my journey home.

► By the late 1990s, Hemet had a professing mayor, police chief, fire chief, and city manager. In addition, Beckett estimated that about 30% of law enforcement, and an exceptionally high number of high school teachers, coaches, and principals, are now believers.

Major turnaround in the school system

► God turned the school system around, from what used to be one of the laughingstock school districts, to have students with some of the highest academic ratings and one of the lowest dropout ratings in the entire Western United States (from 4.7 dropout rate to 0.07).
► Churches began working together, with pastors swapping pulpits and churches conducting community outreaches together.

Counselor praying with a young man during a community evangelistic event.

Sources
► Practical Steps Toward Community Deliverance by Bob Beckett
► Snapshots of Glory by George Otis Jr.

Video
► Transformations by The Sentinel Group

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Chet & Phyllis Swearingen

(260) 920-8248
romans1015@outlook.com

Beautiful Feet
P.O. Box 915
Auburn, IN 46706