"Glory to the Name of Jesus!" for
such a remarkably fruitful and "Presence-filled" series of services to cap
of the year's work in Oukasie and surrounding villages, South Africa. This
last event of 2006 was filled with the usual mix of huge challenges and huge
victories, though the challenges seemed so much more "in the face" than
previous crusades. In fact, neither Pastor Martin or myself have ever seen
so much "resistance."
There is no time to list it all
but above and beyond the standard bus problems, I arrived in SA to discover
that our MarchMin bank here in the states failed to wire the crusade funds
in time. Talk about getting on my face to pray! Still, in His faithfulness
which is always perfect (Isaiah 25:1), God gave us miracle favor with the
South African bank simply on our word that the funds were on the way, and
the Crusade went forward. Glory to Jesus!
Now here's one none of us ever
heard of before... We arrived for the first night of the crusade, buses
full of people were pulling up, only to find the venue was locked tight,
lights out. It seems the caretaker was unhappy with her boss and decided to
go on a "worker strike," literally planning to hijack the crusade to get her
way.
For me personally it was one of
those "Now this is too much." Praise God for Pastor Martin as he stood
undeterred (shocked, but undeterred). He was able to locate the caretaker's
shack amidst the thousands of Oukasie shacks. The two of us went there
and he put his diplomacy to work. Finally at 9 PM the doors were opened,
and we again praise God for His faithfulness (and for
the super-human patience of these precious African people who stood quietly
and waited). Glory to Jesus!
God did a great work that night
in spite of the shortened service and the great work continued every night,
truly climaxing on Saturday where we saw God specifically touch the women's
lives in a dynamic of "suddenness" (hard to explain) I'd never before
witnessed. It sounds weird to say but it was almost "scary" - that's how
sudden, out of nowhere, and "big" what happened was. Who can know the deep
and intimate work that God was doing? Certainly not I. I mean I can't even
adequately describe it, except to say there were spontaneous tears and
explosions of emotion everywhere, completely out of nowhere, completely
without any prompting from the platform.
By way of example I remember one
young woman breaking down during worship, literally weeping in heaves, her
head dropped in her lap in the middle of the congregation. She went on and
on, weeping and weeping... the point being, completely out of nowhere.
God
was just meeting her right in the middle of where her life was at. Glory to
the Name of Jesus.
But as it all unfolded - what I
feel strongly was the Spirit of God doing a sovereign work in these many
women - I sensed the Lord "show" me that it was the outflow of the women's
meeting that MarchMin's Administrator and leader of the Kiddies Crusade,
Sharon, had held for the women earlier in the day. She'd taught on
dependency on God and how He was carrying them every step of the way and the
need to cast one's all and everything on Jesus. She gave them each a gift
of a little cross and a "Footprints" pin, based on that poem we all know,
where the one set of footprints in the sand was God carrying us through our
troubles.
It was a message Sharon had
prepared long in advance, and if she ever had any doubt it was straight from
God's Spirit and specific to these African women in the bull's eye of where
they are at, she need only look around that room and see what all of us
saw. God took that most simple and at the same time most profound reality,
and touched these women, again, like I've never before seen in all my
ministry. There amidst all the salvation that flowed and
Lord-only-knows-what-other-wonders, for me this was the hallmark work or
this crusade - God touching the women. Glory to the Name of Jesus.
This crusade was more of a focus
on the believers than an outreach, although many non-believers came and many
were saved. Our December events in Oukasie are always about thanksgiving
and worship, and ministering to the body. And within that the flow of
worship was breathtaking, building in dynamic, service upon service. The
glaringly evident hunger among these precious people for Jesus and more of
Jesus blew my mind as always.
If I may, one of the specifically
African things they do during worship is repeat a chorus over and over - and
over and over. One time I remember sitting next to the keyboard
player/worship leader and she kept playing the one line over and over,
"Call the Name of Jesus and be saved; Call the Name of Jesus and be
saved..." This will shock our western minds but we sang it for a full
25 minutes before she brought it to a close - just that one chorus.
You know what the Lord showed me
in prayer about that? That this repeated "pressing in," although I'm not
even sure the Africans realize it is what it is, is like battering and
battering the bastions of darkness; like waves of God's
kingdom pounding it
and pounding it, eroding and eroding it, wearing it down and wearing it
down, pushing it back and pushing it back, establishing more and more God's
will and order and kingdom of light.
And what "happens" in that room
as a result is always mind-blowing. The manifest "Presence" of God, as
if someone opens the roof and pours in waterfalls of joy, peace, and
thankfulness - all the "things" that are God. Truly, it is a wonder to
behold - again, very hard to explain - and so, so... Jesus. Glory
to the Name of Jesus!
So each service was all of the
above, culminating Sunday in the establishing of 2007 as "The Year of Fear
of God." For this concluding service Martin asked me to repeat the message
I'd given to the teens Saturday morning in the teen service. It was a
message where my hope was to open their understanding to the fullness of who
they are as children of God and, in Him, all that is at their disposal: The
access to divine leadership, the hope no matter what happens, the freedom
from sin, the all-sufficient hand of God in their daily affairs, the power
of God in their daily affairs, the power of God to do the impossible and
redeem any circumstance or sin no matter how terrible... I spoke of how the
fullness of God isn't just for "special people," but for them, today, just
as they are - and they need only seek Him with all of their hearts! Glory
to the Name of Jesus!
But on Sunday the message took a
bit of a different path. King Solomon came to mind, and how God told him to
ask for anything and it would be his. I spoke to the people of Solomon
asking for wisdom as opposed to physical riches. Then the Scripture hit me,
"The beginning of wisdom is fear of God." So I told the people
that what Solomon was really asking for was what amounts to the
treasure of all treasures - the greatest treasure any of us could ask for - fear
of God.
Oh, wealth beyond all wealth!
The key to everything I can be in Jesus and every value of life He has for
me! The key to all understanding of Him and intimacy with Him! The
breathtaking glory of fear before God!
It was a stunning word to be sure
- a word that would tend to empty most churches both here and in South
Africa, dare I say. But Martin (and this is one of the reasons I love this
man) took the microphone and ran with it. He told the people that the
moment I mentioned "the fear of God," God spoke to him that this was to be
the "theme" for 2007; that 2007 was to be "The Year of
Fear of God."
Glory to the Name of Jesus.
Then he did something that I
would guess has rarely ever been done anywhere. He gave a "fear of God
altar call." He called forth anyone who would say, "I need fear of
God. I need to need fear of God. I need more fear of God!"
It was so stunning because it was
so "not about self," if you know what I mean. It wasn't "God help me," or
"God do this for me." It wasn't "God fix this for me." And please know
that these are all healthy and legitimate cries before God. But suddenly it
was about Him and so beautifully about Him, honoring of Him, in awe of Him,
entirely unto Him.
I confess that I expected the
room to freeze - but it didn't. People streamed forward. They
were crying out for God, humbling themselves before Him, repenting before
Him...
In the middle of it all I also
realized that I needed fear of God myself. And I can say that openly
because there isn't one of us who can say they don't. Above and beyond
anything you or I can ever guess or think that we need, it's all about Him
and it's got to become even more about Him.
"Fear and trembling." "Humbling
and awe." A lifestyle of seeking and obedience; on my face in
worship... GLORY TO THE NAME OF JESUS! And so I left the platform to join
the crowd in line for prayer. It was a bit confusing to the leaders who
were praying for people (I mean, I was supposed to be one of them!) but
again, all I can say is... glory to the Name of Jesus.
And so... thank you to you who
joined us in prayer and you who joined us in support. People were healed.
People were strengthened. People were saved. God did a specific work in
women's hearts... And it was all because of you. Thank you, thank
you, thank you. We look forward to 2007. Glory to the Name of
Jesus!
How does
one describe seeing literal masses of salvation
night after night? How does one describe hearing
testimony after testimony of God's healing touch?
How does one describe, well... Jesus being who Jesus is?
Glory to His blessed Name!
This
latest Crusade we've just completed was nothing short of
spectacular in kingdom fruitfulness, and the extraordinary
"earmark" is that it was so entirely effortless. There was
simple, humble worship of God - a keyboard,
drums, and five singers - each night bringing
the undeniable, tangible reality of His presence. There
was a simple and short message of the love of Jesus and
the need for His salvation followed by an entirely
non-emotional call. Each night was exactly the same...
and the souls just streamed forward. Glory to the Name
of Jesus!
If I can
share just a couple of stories (keeping in mind there are so
many)... One service a woman testified that she was a
sangoma (what we would call a witch doctor), but truly in a
most dark way. She described terrible rituals, sacrificing
goats, sheep, dogs; having people bathe in their entrails,
drinking their blood... things that even within their
society are done in secret and in the dark. This woman
testified, "Today I am born again. I've
found Jesus and I've destroyed all the terrible things of
darkness that were in my house."
As these
sangomas are well known in their communities, most everyone
knew this woman. So word quickly spread and from then on
our venue was too small with people were standing in the
aisles. And again, the salvation was
simply awesome. Glory to Jesus.
Now enjoy
this story... Following the final service I was
looking through the mountain of salvation follow-up
forms. Under "Prayer Requests" a woman named Rosinah Baloi had
written, "I want to be healed and walk like everybody." Oh
Father, have mercy! On the backside of her form, dated two
days later, Rosinah had written the following testimony: "I
was not able to walk for a distance. I had a serious
walking problem. Yesterday I was prayed for. When I arrive
at home I can now walk for a distance. I
would like to thank God for my salvation." Breathtaking!
I could
tell so many stories like Rosinah's - Every night people
would approach me with them. Every night people would
testify to them. Glory to Jesus! And then there was the
Kiddies Crusade, with "Sister Sharon" going
into the local schools and on the streets during each
day,
literally reaching thousands even outside
of the actual services. Well, if I can put it this way,
Sister Sharon has been a bit too successful. We had
budgeted and planned for 400 kiddies each night but from the
first night we were way over, culminating in 800
kiddies attending as best we could count.
Each night
they were offered salvation and each night scores
came to Jesus. Each night they were taught about
Jesus, they were fed a fabulous meal and given treats in His
glorious Name... The Kiddies Crusade was nothing short of
"an explosion."
There were
teen services and sports tournament, a
seniors ("Gogos") service and feast, a Sunday
community feast... and God's hand
was on it all. Glory to the Name of Jesus.
Thank you so
much to you who supported this Crusade. We hold
another 2006 Crusade in just weeks -
December 7 - 10, and we would humbly ask all of you
who are visiting this page to consider partnering with us.
Souls are coming to Jesus, and as we move
together in giving of ourselves that will just grow and
grow. It really is as simple (and as breathtaking!) as
that... and so we thank you. Thank you,
thank you! Looking forward to December! Glory to Jesus!
years
old. Sharon asked him where his parents were as she
hadn't seen him with any adults the entire week. He
told her that his parents were dead (probably from AIDS)
and that he lived with "an auntie." We found later that
this auntie was nothing more than some caring
"under-aged" girl who took him in. 