During that time of prayer, God gave him a sign. As he prayed, the wind blew in four different directions, and he understood this to be a sign of what God would later bring to pass.

He later dreamed of an old church building standing in a broomstraw field. The building was in a dilapidated condition. Its windows had been knocked out, a piano had been pushed up against the door, and pews remained inside.

When he awoke, he understood that God was directing him to Carthage. He knew nothing about Carthage, North Carolina, but that same night he spoke with a brother on the phone and shared the dream. The brother told him that he knew of an old, abandoned church building that had been built by a preacher who had since passed away.

He asked the brother to take him there. That same night, he drove to meet him, and together they went to the location. There stood the building — just as he had seen it in the dream.