Revolution in World Missions

Chapter 1. Only the Beginning The silence of the Great Hall in Cochin was broken only by soft, choking sobs. The Spirit of God was moving over the room with awesome power, convicting of sin and calling men and women into His service. Before the meeting ended, 120 of the 1,200 pastors and Christian leaders present made their way to the altar, responding to the call of the North. They were not saying, I am willing to go, but rather, I am going. They made the choice to leave home, village, family, business, or career, and go where they would be hated and feared. Meanwhile, another 600 pastors pledged to return to their congregations and raise up more missionaries who would leave South India and go to the North. I stood silently in the holy hush, praying for the army of God crowded around the altar. I was humbled by the presence of God. As I prayed, my heart ached for these men who came to the altar. How many would be beaten and go hungry, or be cold and lonely in the years ahead? How many would sit in jails for their faith? I prayed for the blessings and protection of God on them, and for more sponsors across the seas to stand with them. They were leaving material comforts, family ties, and personal ambitions. Ahead lay a new life among strangers. But I also knew that they would witness spiritual victory as many thousands turned to Christ and helped form new congregations in the unreached villages of North India. With me in the meeting was U.S. Christian radio broadcaster David Maines, a serious student of revival. He had joined us in Cochin as one of the conference speakers. He later testified how the Lord had taken over the meeting in a most unusual way. It would hardly have been different, he wrote later, had Jesus Himself been bodily among us. The spirit of worship filled the hall. The singing was electrifying. The power of the Holy Spirit came upon the audience. Men actually groaned aloud. I have read of such conviction in early American history during times like the two Great Awakenings, but I had never anticipated experiencing it firsthand. But the Lord is not simply calling out a huge army of native workers. God is at work saving people from sin in numbers we never before dreamed possible. People are coming to Christ all across Asia at an accelerated rate wherever salvation is being proclaimed. In some areas, like India, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Thailand, it is not uncommon now for the Christian community to grow as much in only one month as it formerly did in a whole year. Reports of mass conversion and church growth are being underplayed in the Western press. The exciting truth about God's working in Asia has yet to be told, partly because the press has limited access. Except in a few countries like Korea and the Philippines, the real story is not getting out. Typical of the many native missionary movements that have sprung up overnight is the work of a brother from South India, a former military officer who gave up a commission and army career to help start a gospel team in North India. He now leads more than 400 full-time missionaries. Like other native mission leaders, he has discipled ten Timothys, who are directing the work in almost military precision. Each of them, in turn, will be able to lead dozens of additional workers who will have their own disciples. With his wife, he set an apostolic pattern for their workers similar to that of the Apostle Paul. On one evangelistic tour that lasted 53 days, he and his family traveled by bullet cart and on foot into some of the most backward areas of the tribal districts of Orissa State. There, working in the intense heat among people whose lifestyle is so primitive that it can be described only as animalistic, he saw hundreds converted. Throughout the journey, demons were cast out, and miraculous physical healings took place daily. Thousands of the tribals, who were enslaved to idols and spirit worship, heard the gospel eagerly. In just one month, he formed 15 groups of converts into new churches and assigned native missionaries to stay behind and build them up in the faith. Similar miraculous movements are starting in almost every state of India and throughout other nations of Asia. Native missionary Yesudas was horrified when he first visited one village and found no believers there. The people were all worshiping hundreds of different gods, and four pagan priests controlled them through their witchcraft. Stories were told of how these priests could kill people's cattle with witchcraft and destroy their crops. People were suddenly taken ill and died without explanation. The destruction and bondage the villagers were living in are hard to imagine. Scars, decay, and death marked their faces because they were totally controlled by the powers of darkness. When Yesudas told them about Christ, it was the first time they ever heard of a god who did not require sacrifices and offerings to appease his anger. As Yesudas continued to preach in the marketplace, many people came to know the Lord. But the priests were outraged. They warned Yesudas that if he did not leave the village, they would call on their gods to kill him, his wife, and their children. Yesudas did not leave. He continued to preach, and villagers continued to be saved. Finally, after a few weeks, the witch doctors came to Yesudas and asked him the secret of his power. This is the first time our power did not work, they told him. After doing the pujas, we asked the spirits to go and kill your family. But the spirits came back and told us they could not approach you or your family because you were always surrounded by fire. Then we called more powerful spirits to come after you, but they too returned, saying not only were you surrounded by fire, but angels were also around you all the time. Yesudas told them about Christ. The Holy Spirit convicted each of them of their sin of following demons and of the judgment to come. With tears, they repented, renouncing their gods and idols, and received Jesus Christ as Lord. As a result, hundreds of other villagers were set free from sin and bondage. Through an indigenous organization in Thailand, where more than 200 native missionaries are doing pioneer village evangelism, one group personally shared their faith with 10,463 people in two months. Of these, 171 gave their lives to Christ, and six new churches were formed. More than 1,000 came to Christ in the same reporting period. Remember, this great harvest is happening in a Buddhist nation that has never seen such results. Documented reports like these come to us daily from native teams in almost every Asian nation. But I am convinced these are only the first few drops of revival rain. In order to make the necessary impact, we must send out hundreds of thousands more workers. We are no longer praying for the proverbial showers of blessings. Instead, I am believing God for virtual thunderstorms of blessings in the days ahead. How I became part of this astonishing spiritual renewal in Asia is what this book is all about. And it all began with the prayers of a simple village mother.