Saturday, October 10, 2015
Wednesday, September 23, 2015
Would you help us lead a million people to Jesus?
I am asking God for three hundred faithful partners who will help us lead 1,000,000 people to Jesus every year. Would you be one of the 300 to join the MillionHeirs Club?
Click HERE to give in the United States.
Click HERE to give in Canada
Tuesday, August 4, 2015
Miracles in Madagascar
When I landed in the capital of Madagascar, I received a report from our Festival director. He said,
Madagascar is the fourth largest island in the world, but
our Festival was on a small island just off the northern coast of Madagascar.
It was in the city of Nosy-be, a city that is fifty percent Muslim. There are
many places we could go to preach the Gospel, but Nosy-be is the type of city I
like to visit. There are a few small churches in the city but the majority of
the population does not believe in Jesus.
As I flew into the city, I prayed, “God, help us to lift
Jesus up in this city. I pray that everyone in the city; Muslims, animists, and
Christians have an encounter with the living God this week.”
Our festival director still had a stack of posters that he
had saved. At 5am in the morning a team of young people from the local churches
marched out into the neighborhoods and put up new posters in order to replace
the ones that had been torn down. Our persistence in the midst of persecution
would produce results.
Despite the difficulty with the posters, the first night’s
attendance was strong. Everyone loved the upbeat music. When I started to
speak, I announced, “I welcome our Muslim friends and I welcome our Christian
friends. This festival is for everyone. Jesus will perform miracles for anyone
who trusts Him, regardless of your religion.” About one dozen people were
healed on the first night. The outstanding miracle was a man who was deaf in
one year who was suddenly able to hear perfectly. As I tested his hearing, the
crowd started to celebrate.
The next morning, about two hundred pastors and leaders
attended our Fire Conference. I taught on the importance of evangelism and
challenged the believers to go out into their neighborhoods and invite people
to the Festival. In the afternoon, I had some free time so I visited the local
food market to talk with the locals and invite them to come to the Festival. In
the market there were dozens of food stands full of carrots, tomatoes, spices,
eggs, meat, live chickens, fish, and open bags of rice. As I walked around, I
asked the shop owners, “Did you go to the Festival last night?” Many of them
had attended. One shop owner said, “I am a Muslim but I went last night.” I
asked him, “What did you think?” He replied, “I saw many miracles. My wife is
very sick. Tonight I will bring her for prayer.” Right there in the public market
place, this Muslim shopkeeper allowed me to lay hands on him and pray for him
and his wife.
That night, the crowd size increased. Word had spread about
the miracles that Jesus was performing. We announced, “Jesus is more than a
prophet. He is also Lord and Savior. Jesus came from heaven and gave His life
by dying on the cross to pay the price for sin. Everyone who calls on the name
of Jesus will be saved.” When the altar call was given, I noticed Muslim people
throughout the crowd that were praying with us for salvation.
On the final night, the crowd increased again. Four
thousands decision cards were passed out by our councilors to people who prayed
for salvation. Many of the people who decided to follow Christ came from Muslim
families. The local churches will be meeting with these people and they will
start the long process of discipleship.
The Bible tells us there will be great rejoicing in heaven
when a single sinner repents. I also rejoice when people decide to give their
lives to Jesus Christ. This is why we do what we do. Tears of joy fill my eyes
every time I have the privilege of introducing people to Jesus. There is no
greater feeling then knowing that a person has turned from darkness to light,
from sin to holiness, from a false religion to a true relationship with a
living God.
Thank you for helping me to preach the Gospel. Because of
you, the Muslims of Nosy-be, Madagascar had an opportunity to hear the good
news about Jesus Christ. Because of you, many sick people received miracles.
Because of you, heaven will be a little bit fuller and hell will be a little
bit emptier.
Making Jesus famous,
P.S. At the end of this month, I am headed to the Central American
nation of Belize. This is the only nation in Central America that I have never
ministered in. I will be preaching in several churches and meeting with a group
of pastors who want to invite us to do a crusade in this country. Your gift
this month will help with the expenses of this trip. To give a financial gift, CLICK HERE
Monday, July 20, 2015
New York, NY with Evangelist Luis Palau
This month, I was invited to observe and participate in a
massive evangelistic effort by Evangelist Luis Palau in New York City. Luis
Palau is originally from Argentina and is a well-known evangelist in Latin
America. God has also given him great fruit here in America. I am a member of
the Next Generation Alliance, a group founded by Palau to train and encourage
young evangelists.
For the past six months, Palau’s organization has been
preparing for City Fest: New York City. They have conducted mini-fests all over
New York City and it culminated with a two-day massive outreach. On Friday
night, there was an evangelistic gathering in Times Square and on Saturday
night there was a Festival in Central Park. Thousands of people made decisions
to follow Jesus.
I volunteered to serve as a counselor. At my Gospel
Festivals, I ask local church members to serve as counselors, so I figured I
should sow a seed by serving as a counselor at another evangelist’s event. When
Luis Palau gave the altar call, I saw a woman near me raise her hand to respond
to the invitation. Her name was Sofia. She is 45-years-old and was born in a
Christian home but had wandered far away from God. She heard the music as she
was walking through Times Square and paused to listen. The message captivated
her and she decided to rededicate her life to Jesus. As I led her in a
salvation prayer, her eyes glistened with tears of joy. She was really impacted
by the Gospel.
In Times Square there was a group of performers dressed up
in costumes. They make money by taking pictures with tourists. I approached a
man dressed in a Super Mario Brothers costume. I found out that his name is
David and he is Hispanic. He has been in the United States illegally for
thirteen years. In Spanish, I explained the Gospel to him and he decided to
make Jesus the Lord of his life.
At the event in Central Park, I prayed with a Chinese
family. Two sisters, a husband, and a son all made commitments to follow
Christ. The family heard about the Festival through a radio advertisement and
they managed to get tickets at the last moment. They asked me to pray for their
family members who live in Mainland China to be saved.
Here are some of my thoughts after participating in this
evangelistic event:
* I am inspired to
dream big dreams. Luis Palau said he has dreamed of doing an evangelistic
event in New York City for over fifty years. There is no dream too big for God
to bring to pass.
* I am inspired to
reach America with the Gospel. This nation needs God just as much as the
villages of Africa and Asia. Far too many churches in North America have become
anemic in the area of evangelism. It is time for us to do more to preach the
Gospel here in America.
* I am inspired to reach
big cities with the Gospel. Every two seconds, five more people enter the
world than leave it; this adds 3,600 people to the population daily. With this
rapid population growth, there is a migration from the village to the
metropolis. We need to reach the small towns, but millions of people live in
big cities and we need to have a strategy for reaching them.
* I am inspired to
believe God for more resources. The total budget for Palau’s outreach in
New York City was twelve million dollars. To me, this sum appears to be
enormous. Most of our events cost between $10,000-$30,000 and sometimes,
despite the generosity of people like you, it is difficult for me to raise even
this smaller amount. I am believing God for more resources so I can reach more
people for Jesus.
* I am inspired to build a team for evangelism. Palau does not work alone; he has a large team around him that works together for people to be saved. In our ministry, we have seen amazing fruit, but our staff basically consists of me and my wife, and my wife is busy raising our two children. My biggest prayer request is that God would bring several staff members alongside our ministry to help us reach more people for Jesus.
Thursday, July 16, 2015
Monday, July 13, 2015
Friday, July 3, 2015
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