600 years ago (1400 AD), a man by the name of John Hus started a work among the people of Moravia (close to Czeckslovakia)
John Hus was faithful in teaching these people the Bible, but the Roman Catholic Church at that time didn’t want him teaching people the Bible, they wanted their doctrine taught
And so they had Hus burned at the stake because he refused to stop teaching the Bible
Before Hus was martyred, he predicted that the Bible teaching and praying that he had done with these Moravian people would be a “hidden seed” buried in the ground… and that one day it would spring up into REVIVAL
200 years later (1600 AD), John Amos Comenius led the Moravian Christians out of their native land (where they were being persecuted) and led them to a safe haven
the Moravians were to be refugees for the next 100 years (constantly wandering with no home)
Before Comenius’ death, Comenius predicted that the “hidden seed” that John Hus had prophesied about would sprout up into Revival in 100 years
Comenius died… and the next generation forgot his dream
In 1700 AD, Count Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf was born into a wealthy aristocratic family
History calls him “the rich young ruler who said YES”
He was a faithful Christian brought up as a Lutheran and died a Lutheran
When Zinzendorf was 27 years old, he took into his home a single Moravian refugee
Before long, Zinzendorf had 300 Moravian refugees living on his estate and he became their spiritual leader
They all lived in a village called Hernnhut, Germany
Under Zinzendorf’s leadership, they all prayed together, studied God’s Word together, and grew spiritually together
As Zinzendorf was studying the history of these people called Moravians, he came across a document that talked about John Amos Comenius’ 100 year prophecy – that in 100 years, Hus’ “hidden seed” would sprout forth in revival
When Zinzendorf looked at the date of the prophecy, he realized that Comenius had made this prediction exactly 100 years before that week
Zinzendorf called the 300 Moravians together that very night, August 12, 1727, and they conducted an all night prayer meeting
The next day is referred to in history as “The Moravian Pentecost” (August 13, 1727)
The Holy Spirit came down upon the group of 300 Moravians in a powerful way
None of the accounts that I read mentioned speaking in tongues – they just had a powerful encounter with God
The “hidden seed” was sprouting forth into revival
They decided to start a prayer vigil
They designated a place of prayer in the village, and they prayed in groups of 3 for 1 hour increments
So… at any given hour… 3 people were praying together in the place of prayer
There are 168 one-hour time slots in a week.
They filled all 168-hour time slots with 3 people per hour
Check this out: 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 3 people were always praying in the place of prayer… for 110 years.
110 years!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
110 year long prayer vigil!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Do you know the kind of supernatural power that is unleashed when you pray for 110 years straight!?!?!!!!
The Moravians’ hearts began to burn with the things that are on the heart of God
Their hearts began to burn for the unreached peoples of the world – people who had never heard about Jesus Christ
This small group of 300 Moravians over a 15 year period sent out 70 missionaries who went and lived among an unreached people, learned their language and culture, and then told them about Jesus Christ
One of the churches that the Moravians started sent out 200 missionaries
One of the Moravian missionary teams voluntarily sold themselves into slavery so that they could identify with slaves and share the gospel with them! WOW!!!!!!!!
The Moravians started the modern missionary movement
One historian estimates that the Moravians would be the largest denomination in the world except that, whenever they planted a new church, they gave it away to another denomination.
One Moravian missionary team was on a ship headed for the American colonies in Georgia in 1736.
The ship was caught in a horrible storm and everyone on board (including the captain) thought that they were going to die
Gut the Moravians on board this ship had gathered into a circle and were singing hymns!!!!!!
There was an Anglican minister aboard that ship who realized in the middle of the storm that, although he had gone to church his whole life and was now an Anglican minister, he realized that he did not know if he was going to heaven if he died on that ship
This Anglican minister was astounded at the faith of these Moravians – what did they have that he did not have.
The Moravians told this Anglican minister about being born again through faith and belief in Jesus Christ and how (because of that) they had absolute assurance of their salvation
A couple of months later, this Anglican minister had an experience of being born again as he placed his faith and trust in Jesus Christ as the Moravians had told him.
The Anglican minister’s name was John Wesley, and he started a movement called Methodism.
Wesley ordained a man named Francis Asbury who came to America and sent out circuit rider preachers to the four corners of this new world.
One of those circuit riders started a Methodist church in Texas, and today there are over 2000 Methodist churches in Texas.


from: http://www.thewellumc.com/623515

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SI Moderator - Greg Gordon