Gabriel was asked that summer to preach at the Twenty-Four Elders Revival Meeting. There he would preach with distinguished ministers. Gabriel was honored and nervous about his performance, and he and Deborah prayed and fasted before he was to speak. On the appointed night, Gabriel and Deborah went together to the revival, and Gabriel asked Deborah to sit where he could see her. He mounted the pulpit, asked Deborah to read a passage from the Bible for him, and then began his sermon — a lecture on sin and salvation and the mercy of Jesus. At the conclusion of Gabriel's sermon, a young man knelt on the altar weeping, seeking forgiveness. Gabriel felt that the Lord had spoken through him, and he saw that the elders approved of his sermon.
The Sunday of the great dinner came, and Gabriel was uncomfortable around these men of faith. He found them too worldly and too well fed. He discovered that they all had a repertoire of sermons that no longer really came from their hearts and so felt that they were not giving God his full due. Deborah served the ministers that night, and after her departure from the room, one of the elders joked about her rape. Enraged, Gabriel rebuked the ministers for their laughter. Gabriel believed that the others were shamed by his purity, and he saw himself sitting by the right hand of God. Suddenly, he questioned God's plan concerning his relationship with Deborah. Perhaps it was God's will that the two of them should wed. Because Deborah helped him to stand as a man, now he could erase her shame and raise her to a place of honor as a woman. No longer would she be the girl who was raped, the girl looked at with a mixture of lust and repugnance; instead, she would be the esteemed wife of Reverend Grimes. Through her, Gabriel thought, he would sire his line of holy children. He decided to pray and to ask the Lord's will.
That night while walking her home, Gabriel asked Deborah to pray to help him to discover God's will over a matter that God had placed upon Gabriel's heart. Later that night, Gabriel had two dreams, which he interpreted to mean that God did intend for Gabriel to marry Deborah. Gabriel proposed the next day, and Deborah accepted.
