Thousands attend Gospel Festival in Pakistan

Week #1 in Pakistan

Sunday: Mute Boy Speaks!

Last Sunday I arrived in Pakistan at 4:00 am, weary but eager to see what God would do these next 2 weeks. After waiting 90 minutes, my contact finally arrived to pick me up and take me to my first service in Lahore. While ministering on soul winning, I told the story of John Hyde, a pioneer missionary in Pakistan over 100 years ago. I shared 5 steps to lead someone to Jesus, using the story of Jesus' encounter with the woman at the well.
That afternoon we drove two hours to the city of Gujranwala where I met up with my father and mother, and then held an evening service in the village of Botala Genda Singh. 200 people listened intently as I preached on the paralyzed man who was let down through the roof.
A teenager was broght to me by his mother. She explained that he was mute and he could not speak since birth. We prayed for him and he began to speak and imitate the noises we made. God had loosed his tongue!

Monday: Gas Runs Out Before Testimonies Do

On Monday we traveled to the village of Machrala. It was a long journey on dusty dirt roads through fields of rice. It felt like the middle of nowhere, but when we arrived over 600 people were waiting to hear the Gospel. I preached on the four greatest miracles in the Bible. The villagers clearly enjoyed the message and almost every person responded to the altar call for salvation. The service took place inside a church courtyard, but we heard reports that a group of Muslim mullahs were standing on the other side of the fence in the darkness listening to every word.
So many people were healed that night, our generator ran out of gas before we were able to hear all the testimonies! Even with the courtyard plunged into total darkness, the people continued to praise God for what He had done.

Tuesday: Sialkot, the Epicenter of Revival
On Tuesday, we split up to fight on two battle fronts at the same time. My parents traveled to the village of Qila Dedar Singh where they ministered to over 700 people. My father preached on loving God with all your heart, mind, soul, and body.
Simultaneously, I preached at the historic Sialkot Convention, a yearly gathering of church leaders and believers. The convention began in 1904 when revival spread throughout Pakistan from the epicenter of Sialkot. This year's theme was "Peace" and I preached about how God gives complete peace in spirit, mind, and body through the completed work of the Cross.

Wednesday: A Gunshot Rings Out

On Wednesday night, we held village festival in Chan Da Qila. At the last moment the police made us change the location of the festival because our first location was near a dark wooded area. The police were worried that militants could hide in the trees and attack the crowd. But, even though the location was changed last minute, over 800 people gathered. I opened with a story about my friend who dropped his precious camera into a toilet and had to rescue it. I told the people that God values us so much that He reached down into the filthiness of sin to rescue and redeem us.
The miracles kicked off with a woman who was partially blind demonstrating that she could see. Another testified that she had been at the previous night's service where my father preached. She had a tumor in her belly, but as she slept the tumor disappeared. She returned to give God glory publicly!
As I was finishing the service, a shot rang out and fireworks exploded into the sky. At first, my translator said that one of our policemen was celebrating, but then our festival director rushed us off into a nearby house. We hid for 45 minutes before driving away down back alleys. Word came that our guards had seen a suspicious looking car headed toward our service. They fired a warning shot and the car turned around and quickly raced off.
The next morning, the head of the local Pakistani Intelligence appeared at our home and began asking questions about the incident. He took a copy of our passports and told us we had to have 24-hour police protection. As I write to you now, two policemen are in the guesthouse nearby.

Thursday/Friday: Jesus Heals

On Thursday, I spoke at the Sialkot Convention again and encouraged the 5,000 believers to be bold soul winners.
Oh Friday both my father and I spoke at the Sialkot Convention during the afternoon. The crowd had swelled to over 7,000 people plus thousands more outside the main tent. I preached on the woman with the issue of blood and my father preached on Psalm 91. I asked everyone who had received a miracle to stand to their feet. Over 100 people across the tent stood up to show that Jesus had touched them!

We need YOUR Prayer!My wife Jessica joins me next week for our main 5-day Gospel Festival. Please pray for many people to be saved and healed. Pray for our safety as we share the Gospel in the second-largest Muslim nation in the world. Thank you!

John Hyde: His Prayers Changed a Nation

I am on my way to Pakistan. In Pakistan we will be holding two massive Gospel Festivals. We will be preaching good news to thousands of people who have never heard of Jesus as their Savior.

As I studied the history about what God has done in this part of the world, I discovered the amazing story of a missionary who changed an entire nation with his prayers.

John Hyde: His Prayers Changed a Nation

John Hyde was an American missionary who ministered in northern India and Pakistan over one hundred years ago. Today, he is known as “Praying Hyde.”

In 1896 Hyde traveled to many villages in the state of Punjab. He wrote, “This year there were no conversions in the villages. There were last year. What is the reason?” His solution was to fall to his knees in prayer. He began to cry out to God for lost souls. He often prayed all day long and through the night, foregoing food and sleep. He was often seen crying as he prayed, “O God, give me souls or I die.”

Hyde saw a need to encourage and train pastors so he invited a group of local pastors to the city of Sialkot for a convention in 1904. Before the first meeting, Hyde spent thirty days on his face before God in prayer. In this prayer-saturated environment, there was a great outpouring of God’s Spirit. Many confessed their sins and pledged themselves to seek God.

At the Sialkot Convention in following years, there was great “brokenheartedness for sin” and a burden for lost souls. One brother who attended the convention describes what he saw, “Oh, what an awful vision I have had! Thousands of souls in this land…being carried away by the dark river of sin! They are in hell now. Oh, to snatch them from the fire before it is too late.”

In 1908, John Hyde announced at the Sialkot Convention he was believing God for at least one soul to be saved everyday. He asked God to give him, not just a seeker, but “a soul saved, ready to confess Christ in public and be baptized in His Name.” In a nation where some churches went years without any conversions, many thought his goal was impossible. But, John Hyde began to pray and travel and preach. He encouraged those who worked with him to save the lost.

One of his friends reported that Hyde “would engage a man in a talk about his salvation. By and by he would have his hands on the man’s shoulders and be looking him very earnestly in the eye. Soon he would get the man on his knees, confessing his sins and seeking salvation. Such a one he would baptize in the village, by the roadside, or anywhere.”

By the end of that year, over four hundred new believers had been baptized! In 1909, John Hyde asked God for an even more audacious request. He wanted two souls to be saved every day. If the daily quota was not filled, his response was to stay up all night in prayer crying out for God to give him souls. As he focused on soul winning, he found himself drawing closer to the heart of God. He preached, “When we keep near to Jesus it is He who draws souls to Himself through us.”

Over eight hundred people were saved that year and at the Sialkot Convention in 1910 the vision was enlarged once again. That year, Hyde set a goal of leading at least four people to Jesus every day. His example challenged other pastors and missionaries. Some ministries that had experienced years of little or no fruit suddenly saw hundreds coming into the kingdom of God. Much of what God has done in Pakistan and northern India in the past one hundred years can be traced back to the original Sialkot Convention and John Hyde.

Will you pray for souls to be saved?

This year 2009, I have been invited to be a speaker at the historic Sialkot Convention. We are holding open-air meetings next to the house where John Hyde used to pray. I believe God is bringing us to the epicenter, ground zero, of what He has done in Pakistan.

This is not by accident. God is raising up a new generation of preachers who are passionate about soul winning. The prayers of John Hyde still ring true! The greatest harvest of souls in Pakistan is still ahead and my wife and I are privileged to play a part in what God is doing.

John Hyde made a difference with his prayers and you can make a difference with your prayers! Would you commit to pray for us for the next three weeks as we minister in Pakistan and Afghanistan?

We still need financial help to complete the budget of the ministry we are doing. Will you help out? Click here to make a donation: https://co.clickandpledge.com/sp/d1/default.aspx?wid=9448

Do you want to IMPACT an entire village?

Next week we begin a series of Gospel Festivals in the villages of Pakistan.

Jesus ministered to "every town and village" (Matthew 4:23) and we are endeavoring to do the same.

Our team has chosen a strategic central location for each of our Gospel Festivals to take place.

Buses from surrounding villages will bring people to the central location of our Festival.

97% of Pakistan is Muslim, so the vast majority of these villagers are unreached Muslims who have never heard that Jesus saves!

Each bus that comes to our Gospel Festivals will be filled with villagers. They will ride on the roof and hang onto the back railings. Fathers will come with their children and wives. Each bus seats fifty but can contain over a hundred people crammed everywhere possible, eager to come to the Festival.

Since the villagers are unable to pay the bus fare, we are helping by paying the cost of gas for each of the buses. It costs about $50 for every bus that brings people to hear the Gospel.

Would you sponsor a bus to bring people to come hear about Jesus?

Your gift of $50 TODAY will bring an entire bus from a Pakistan village to the Gospel Festival. Perhaps you could sponsor two buses, or five buses, or ten buses?

I fly to Pakistan this Friday, so I need to hear from you TODAY. The villagers are waiting right now to hear if a bus will be available to take them to the Gospel Festival.

Will you help us IMPACT an entire village by sponsoring a bus today?

Click HERE to sponsor a BUS

You Can Change a Life...With a Book.

Our next Gospel Festival is in the nation of Pakistan. We want to print 10,000 books to give to new believers. Each book will cost us $0.15 to print.Would you be one of fifteen people to give a gift of $100 today to make it possible for us to print these books?
Click HERE to help print books for Pakistan

The Power of a Book

Let me tell you a story. Several years ago, I was in the nation of Congo, Africa. I was preaching in a small dirt floor hut which was jammed full of over two hundred people. Chickens ran across the floor as the congregation enthusiastically praised the Lord. I glanced over at the young pastor and noticed he was holding his Bible and another dog-eared book which was carefully covered in gray tape.

"Show me what you are reading," I asked him. 

When he handed me the book, I recogized the cover. It was written by my friend and mentor, the great missionary-evangelist T.L. Osborn.

I asked, "Where did you get this book?"

He said, "Twenty years ago, Dr. Osborn came to my nation. My father got saved at his meeting and decided to become a pastor. Dr. Osborn gave him this book and for twenty years my father preached his sermons from this book. Last year my father died and I became the pastor of this church, and now I preach from the same book."

When I heard that pastor's story, I realized the impact one book can have on the nations. At each of our massive Gospel Festivals, my goal is to put a book in the hands of every new believer.

Why is it so important to invest in books?

1. Books help new believers grow spiritually. One of the challenges of every evangelist is to turn converts into disciples. How can a new believer grow from saying a salvation prayer into a strong follower of Jesus? I believe one key to solving this problem is putting a book in the new believer's hands.

2. Books continue to preach the Gospel long after I have returned home. Books can go farther then I can go, stay longer then I can stay, and impact lives I can never reach. By giving away books, I am imitating God. Our heavenly father sent his Son (Jesus) for a season, but He left His book (the Bible) forever.

3. Book are often passed from hand to hand and read by many different family members and neighbors. After one of our festivals we did a survey and discovered an amazing fact. Each book which we gave away was read by an average of ten people. So, if we give away ten thousand books, we can potentially impact over one hundred thousand people.

4. Books are treasured by new believers. In all our festivals, I have never seen one of our books thrown to the ground and trampled underfoot. Each one is valued and read. Recently a woman named Maria gave her life to Jesus during one of our Great Gospel Festivals. After a counselor handed her a book, tears poured from her eyes as she said, "Thank you!" I saw her reading the book as she walked toward her bus. She would take a step and read a page, then take another step. I am sure she read the entire book before she ever arrived home.

I need to hear from you RIGHT NOW so I know how many we can print. It would be a great tragedy for even one new believer to leave the festival without receiving a book. Please, respond to this e-mail today and help us print books.

We need 15 people to give a gift of ONE HUNDRED dollars. We want to print at least 10,000 books at a cost of $0.15 each.

Would you be one of fifteen people to give a gift of $100 today?

To Sow books into Pakistan, CLICK HERE

What is an Evangelist?

Here is a short excerpt from a new book I am working on called "The Work of the Evangelist." This book project will be used to train and release hundreds of new evangelists into the mission field. 

The word “evangelist” comes from the Greek word euangelistes which comes from the root word euangelion which is translated as “gospel.” These words are both derived from the word angelos which means angel or messenger. This type of messenger is one who brings tidings of a great victory or good news. When a battle was won, a messenger (evangelist) would be sent to all the surrounding cities to announce the victory. The word “gospel” means good news, and the evangelist is one who preaches the good news.

            The word “evangelist” is used three times in the New Testament. Philip is called an evangelist (Acts 21:8), Paul mentions evangelists in his list of ministry offices; along with apostles, prophets, pastors, and teachers (Ephesians 4:11), and Paul tells Timothy to do the “work of an evangelist” (2 Timothy 4:5).

            However, the root word of “evangelist” which is the Greek word for “gospel” is used ninety-five times in the New Testament. Jesus is the first evangelist of the New Testament since he went about “preaching the good news of the kingdom” (Matthew 4:23). Throughout the writings of Paul, the heart of the Gospel message is that God provided for the salvation of humankind through the incarnation, death, and resurrection of Jesus.

Thank you for your help!

Last month, in the Pakistani villages of Korian and Gojra, over 150 Christian homes were burned and at least eight Christians were viciously murdered for their faith.

The survivors were left with nothing. No food. No clothing. No homes. They desperately needed help. I sent out an e-mail about their desperate situation, and many of you responded. Thank you so much!

Because of your generosity we were immediately able to send money to help the people of Gojra , Pakistan . You enabled us to provide food and other help in the time of their greatest need.

More Help is Needed

In just a couple of weeks, Jessica and I are headed back to Pakistanfor our second massive Gospel festival in this Muslim nation.

We feel this is a critical time to minister to Pakistan . Because of the horrible tragedy that has happened, people are more open to the Gospel than at any other time.

The purpose of this trip is two-fold:

1. We want to encourage local believers during this time of crisis.

2. We want to reach out to Muslims with the love of Christ.

Can you send a significant financial gift TODAY to help us minister to the people of Pakistan ?

To help us minister in Pakistan, CLICK HERE