In this sermon, the speaker shares his personal testimony of how he was once a worldly and ungodly person. He explains that despite being born into a Christian family, Christ meant very little to him. However, through the power of prayer and the work of the Holy Spirit, his heart was transformed. He also talks about his involvement in a church where he and the other young people were living in sin, but eventually, he realized the need for a change. The speaker concludes by expressing his gratitude for the opportunity to share his testimony and encourages the audience to seek a personal relationship with God.

I praise God for the privilege of being with you during this conference. I've been out here now the last five or six months. By God's mercy, for the last ten years, I've been able to do that, spend half of my time here in India. Well, next week I will be going back to Europe. That's my address on that little card. So if there's some burden on your heart or some questions, then feel free to write. I was very, very happy a few days ago when someone showed me my book, finally in the Orissa language. And I hope you'll have the opportunity to read that. And then perhaps write what you think. For about twelve years now, I've been praying continually for this great state of Orissa. And some years ago when I had the privilege of visiting your state, I only prayed that God would give me another chance to return to that. Since I'll be speaking to you again, I'd like to begin tonight by just giving a word of testimony. Because I think that will help you understand what I will feebly try to say in the coming meetings. Most people do not understand this ship's project and the work that we are in. And it is truly amazing to hear some of the stories that eventually get told about this ship. One story down in Madras was that I had a father who was a millionaire. He was giving all the money. Well, actually my father is a rather poor working man. But they probably got this confused with my heavenly father. Maybe the interpreter made a mistake. Of course, my heavenly father, he truly has the power of a thousand humans. I was born in a nominal Christian home. Christ meant almost nothing to us. My grandfather is from the land of the Netherlands, Holland. Very small country in Europe. He was an atheist. Did not believe in God. God was nonsense. My other grandfather, he was from Scotland. He was a drunk Christian. Of course, he called himself a Christian. In many of these countries, everybody calls himself Christian. Drunkards, thieves, liars, murderers, Christians. But of course, he was not a Christian. Well then, my own father, also from Holland, he was just a materialist. His little religion was okay. But his job was money. And he taught me as a very young man of five and six years of age to live for money. And so he was a materialist. Well, he never had very much. And I was reared in this kind of home. Where Jesus Christ is a swear word. Where we did not read the word of God except maybe twice a year. Well, the only prayer we prayed was when we were in trouble. When I was about fifteen, I became interested in church. By that time I had gone into business. And next to money, my big interest was girls. And of course, in the West, this goes a little bit different than in India. So every weekend I was in very evil places with these girls. Every weekend. So I went to churches. Well, I saw some nice girls in these churches. So also I went to And this particular pastor, he was very similar to me. He also did not know God. He just had a nice job. He was getting paid. He never could find a better job than that. He did not have to work very hard. He thought I was wonderful. He made me the youth leader in the church. And I decided we need to make this church alive. So I thought we will teach all the young people how to dance. That is the answer for this dead church. So I got the jukebox, the music box into the church basement. And of course I love to dance. This rock and roll, all this kind of dancing. Sometimes all night I would dance till early morning. Then I would go swimming to wake up. And I taught the young people in the church how to dance. Almost none of those young people knew Jesus Christ. They were all living double lives. Two lives, the church life and the rest of the life. On Sunday morning, we were there sitting in church. We were Sunday evening, we were singing in the choir. We were like little angels. But Monday through Saturday night, we were the devil's band 100 percent. But by the mercy of God, an elderly lady began to pray for me. She sent me through the throes. A gospel of St. John. And slowly I began to read this. And I began to realize that I didn't have what this little book was talking about. I didn't have eternal life. So I was a leader in my church. I did not know what it was to be born again. I did not know what it was to live by faith in the blood of Christ. I understood nothing of the blood of Christ. And as I read this gospel, the spirit of God began to work in my heart. That's that time I became the president of my school of about a thousand students. The student leader. So many students were listening to me. And God was working in my heart. This lady was praying. Now she not only prayed that people would be converted to Christ, she prayed that they, after being converted, would go all over the world preaching the gospel. Can you imagine praying such a prayer? For an ungodly, worldly high school. For people like myself. But she kept praying. She had been praying for that school for a thousand years. For sixteen years. And I want to tell you, beloved brethren, there is no greater force in the world tonight than the power of prayer. And the minister, the pastor who learns how to pray is the man that God used in these days. So she prayed for me. Then just before my seventeenth birthday, when I was about to go to university, Billy Graham came to my city. At that time I was living in New York. My father had moved from Harlem to New York City. And Billy Graham, the evangelist I know many of you have heard of, came to that city. Now I didn't know anything about evangelism. I didn't know what these people did. I just heard certain stories. Oh, this Billy Graham, he's a hypnotist. He comes and hypnotizes the people when they come and they leave. He hypnotizes the people. Some of the religious leaders in my town, they were very much against Billy Graham. Oh, this is emotionalism. This is extremism. These same people thought that the Bible was old-fashioned. And people like Billy Graham, they're just 100 years behind the times. You know, when God brought that man to New York City, then he shook. And I was one of those. So when Billy Graham spoke very clearly about the need to repent, the need to be converted, the need to be born again, the need to turn around and away from sin in the power of Jesus Christ. I say this, I practice Christ. It was on March 5th, 1955. 19 years ago. And every day these 19 years, I have no new reality of this salvation. It is not by my work. I'm a very ordinary person with problems like anybody else. But Jesus Christ came into my life that night. John 1.12 said, as many as receive Him, to them He gives power to become the Son of God even to those who believe on His name. Now, I never wanted to start an organization. I just began to witness for Christ. Within one year, over 150 students in that school came to Christ. That was the very, very, very beginning of this work which today has spread to 50 nations all over the world. In direct answer to the prayers of that elderly woman. Then I went to university. Then I met a few students who knew God, who wanted to grow in their faith because when we are born again it is very important that we grow day by day in the Lord. So we met together to study the word of God. We met together to pray and God burdened our hearts to move in evangelism. I was then 18 years of age and I began to move into prison ministry, preaching in the prisons. Then I went into the bus stations in evangelism, in tract distribution. Then I went down and worked among the children and then God opened the door for me to speak in some of the smaller churches and at young people's meetings. I didn't know how to preach. I never studied. So I began to memorize the word of God and in my preaching I used the word of God and I saw the power of the word of God. Almost every week people were coming and experiencing salvation in the jail, in the street, in the bus station through simply giving out the word of God. We know the word of God is powerful. It's powerful than a two-edged sword. Next to prayer is what we need to use in our ministry. The word of God. Then as we were praying the Lord put it on my heart to go to Mexico Mexico was a very poor country. Many people had no Bible. Many people had never heard the gospel. Through the work of Billy Graham many many other groups most of the people in New York at least had heard the gospel but in Mexico many of them had never heard. So we were very young and Mexico was four thousand miles away We prayed God take us to Mexico as a team of three young people We asked God to give us a vehicle gave us an answer to prayer a very old vehicle nobody wanted We only paid about two thousand rupees which came from our own money selling our possessions We sold our possessions that these believers sold their possessions They had found the pearl of great price and everything else was of little value I sold my business drained my bank accounts sold everything I had and others did the same and then as we prayed God took our little bit like the loaves in the fish So we were able to buy literature in Spanish language and it was all trust God took us four thousand miles I can speak your mind about that one trip So many answers to prayer we saw So many dozens who accepted Christ there in Mexico That was the beginning of a more permanent work We still had no name and no organization We were just teenagers But we had a few older people like that lady praying for us When we came back I decided to leave university and to go into Bible training and to learn the Spanish language It was a burden of going to Mexico and then to the land of Spain Six months later another team went This time there were five of us God opened books radio broadcast correspondence school Mexicans joined with us and they became the leaders of the work That work has gone on now in Mexico it has continued 17 years Each summer each holiday students went to Mexico This same concept has spread all over the world now under the name of Operation Mobilization which means young people mobilizing to spread the word of God I know some of you have been on these kinds of efforts right here in Orissa When I finished at Moody Bible Institute I was in Spain Then I began to learn the Russian language and my next burden was the land of Russia After one year I was in Russia Of course the work had to be done secretly and I was soon arrested by the secret police and taken out of Russia for the terrible crime of distributing the Bible When I came back from that trip going back towards Spain I was in the mountains spending a day in prayer Then I climbed the trees in order to spend some more time in prayer There God gave this burden of Operation Mobilization The burden was to see hundreds, hundreds of European young people moving to reach that concept for Jesus Christ We asked God for two hundred People said you're crazy You're just young people Nobody's going to come with you God gave us two hundred The next summer we asked God for two thousand We still had no big backing No big church No big organization God stood him to believe that God was alive God gave us two thousand young people including our first Indian brother That same summer I asked a friend of mine to go to India and find out what the situation is in India At that time our main burden was the Muslim world Our teams were moving in the Arab world in Turkey and in Iran and the Arab world And we wondered about India Now we knew there were many good Christians in India So we thought no need to go there These people need to come to us But as this brother went to India He went to North India He found there were fifty-five million Muslims One of the largest Muslim populations in the world He wrote back to us He said we must reach these Muslims People are not They're not being reached Meanwhile this Indian brother Thomas Samuel with us in Europe was challenging us about India So in 1964 ten years ago two old almost broken down trucks arrived in New Delhi to work among the Muslims But as we worked we discovered there were many others of other religions who had never heard the God In UP In Bihar In Rajasthan In many of these states there were millions who had never had the word God I never had any plan of coming here But in 1964 I came just to see I traveled around this whole country And everywhere I went the Holy Spirit spoke to me This is your land This is your country And I knew that this was where God had called me For the last ten years by the mercy of God I was able to spend half of my life in this land Or in the land of Nepal Or Bangladesh Involved in training young men in evangelism and discipleship In that first year people said no Indians will join you They're not paying any salaries Not paying any salaries No one's going to join you Don't be crazy We sing for Europe not for India The Spirit of God was working God gave us a few Indians And after one year these Indian brothers caught this vision And here it proved Now there are two hundred and fifty of us in India A large percentage And here it proved Now there are two hundred and fifty of us in India A large percentage of them, India Moving out by faith Making many mistakes Learning Learning what it is to live like Jesus Now I think missionaries are evangelists But simple disciples learning at the feet of Jesus Christ And as this is spread all over the world it has become firstly a training work We don't keep the young people They come with us for a year or two Then back to the church Back to national missionary organizations And continuing on So it has become a training ministry Now of course there are many problems One of them was transportation Another was a training center Moving people moving equipment moving millions of pieces of literature God gave us old, old vehicles that nobody wanted And God gave us mechanics who loved the Lord Jesus And they gave their time free of charge to fix these things And God right now is working This year we have 900 people moving in these various countries And this summer we are planning the largest crusade we have had in the history of our world We don't know how We don't know where the money will come from We don't know where the literature will come from Many times we don't know where we'll get the next day's food God has taught us something of prayer and fasting Seeing God move mountains All over the world hundreds and hundreds of local churches have united with us We hold campaigns in these churches We pray for revivals We go together with the believers learning from one another out into evangelism And God has answered our prayers So that literally hundreds and hundreds of lakhs of people have received the word of God Over these 19 years During these 19 years of my Christian life many many temptations many disappointments many discouragements Praise God He is safe Even when I fail He is safe Even when I am not as dedicated as I should be He is safe Nine years ago I had this burden for an ocean going ship A group of us prayed Some thought we had gone crazy Some people thought we had gone crazy Do you mean a small boat? No We can paddle down the river That's what some people thought But we said no God is going to give us a ship That can take 150 people Hundreds of tons of literature Vehicles That can be a school An evangelistic place To reach millions and millions of people in every month with the word of God To go into closed countries To be able to carry people from one country to another Like Indians to Indonesia For six years we prayed Very little happened No money No many people were not interested Where would we get a ship? God works He brought men for us Very highly qualified men Nine engineers Officers Who were willing to leave very high paying jobs A lack of rupees a year For God's sake And they came to pray Some came before we even had a ship Some came by faith Others sold their possessions Gave them earnings Like the loaves in the fishes Through prayer The crew People around India Sent their gifts Five rupees Ten rupees Like loaves in the fishes It exploded Three and a half years ago From the Danish government Government of Denmark We bought this ship With gifts from all over the world But truly this ship belongs to all believers We are the only stewards This is God's ship Prayed into reality by God's people I think of one little lady Who lives in Hyderabad She lives in a tiny room Just a small place She has nothing of this world She has spent thousands of rupees That this ship may sail The ports of India For the glory of God As we came to this port It was with much fear and trembling We know the state of Odisha People were talking Letters were being opened Telephones were being listened to World is this picture This must be some government organism How could Christians have allowed this ship to sail For six days We were not allowed off the ship At first we were not even allowed here We had to wait in the harbour Nobody could go off Nobody could go on It seemed completely impossible We were thinking of returning to drive that ship back It seemed this would be the first and only port in this nation that would refuse the visit of a lager But you were praying We were praying Thousands around the world were praying and are praying for the state of Odisha And as they investigated They discovered the truth Students from 25 nations With no special attention Other than the love of God To love people And to share the love of Christ Not to force people to become Christians No one is interested in doing such a foolish thing They came here to the doc And they asked How much you pay me I become Christian How much are you paying so I become a Christian And we could share with them the love of God We never pay you anything My friend it will cost you It will cost you your sins To be a follower of Jesus Christ We are not interested in changing religion We don't want people to change their religion We want to see people change their lives We want to see people walking in newness of life And we praise God For the way he has worked And soon the young people were coming on the ship To that tremendous conference of 12 days No difficulties Now you have been able to come And teams have been around the state There are book exhibitions Only God knows what has been happening in these days And we know it's a great miracle The general public is coming to the ship Already today And going away Some with education Some with a world of God New choices there Whatever they want to read Well this is a testament of this work There is a lot more But I think many of you are tired And we want to close the meeting So let me close with these few thoughts In the book of Hebrews Chapter 1 It says God who at sundry time Spoke in times past under the fathers by the prophets And in these last days spoken unto us by his sons Whom he has appointed heir of all things by whom also he made the world All through history God has been speaking Praise God The world has never been without a witness God speaks Through the prophets Through his sons And today God wants to speak I believe God has been speaking to them But you are faithful even listening to the word of God I know many of you have journeyed a long way You are tired But as we go tonight I believe God wants to speak A further word to our hearts At the end of this day In many ways God speaks through this ship Through the story of this ship God is speaking in many ways What is he saying? Firstly The prayer is the most important ministry we have This includes worship Do you know the reality of worship? In your Christian life what it is to worship God? What it is to commune and keep in a real way with the Lord Jesus Christ? The Bible says Jesus is seeking worship Then who worships? Jesus accepted worship What is the truth of his deity? Prayer and praise and thanksgiving This is one of the most important parts of a Christian life Now if we can have some prayer time here Praising the Lord Worshiping the Lord We are not important Our number is But we are here to speak to the Lord To worship the Lord I believe God wants to speak Who is one of us? To become men of worship Men of prayer Men who know God in a deep and a personal and an intimate way Secondly I believe God wants to speak about this matter of love I believe love is the greatest need in the church today I preached all over the world many times to pastors We've had over 8000 pastors all over the world who have gone through these training courses So many of these men have spoken to me They have written to me They said we have a problem in our church The believers are not loving one another They love each other The devil is attacking the church Trying to divide us Trying to destroy us Family against family Disunity Lack of love I don't know anything about Orissa But in many other countries This is the greatest need We need more love The Bible says I can have everything else and if I don't have love I am nothing That's God's teaching I may be a great preacher A great man of faith I may have a picture I may have many things I may even give up my body To be burned I may have all the toxins But I will be mine But I don't have love I still live in my life So easy to talk So easy to provide a religious talk But the heart is full of the power of love For all people Everywhere in the world today Patriotism And even in the church I remember when I first went to Canada I've been there many times And I was preaching in a very nice church And I asked them What is this building down the road? This poor old building Who goes to that church? The same denominator I said, why don't they come here? They didn't know how to explain They didn't know to talk any further It was an embarrassment But I asked them Who are these people? And I was told These are scheduled castes I said, are they not Christian? Are they not believers? They said, oh yes But they are scheduled castes Similar story This is a nice church Oh no They go to their own Scheduled castes I went to God And I will speak for God How can such things be in the church? One person lower than the other Sir, how are you, sir? Sir, something is going on Perhaps you know That in the past few years These people have had a revolution They have all left the church They have started their own church They know the fight The court Do you not speak here? About people who bear the name of the Lord Jesus Christ And this story is spread all over the world In England In America In Europe We know this story Because they have their problems Because this is a universal disease I had to love one for another That is humility A lack of the grace and the reality of Jesus Christ I believe God wants to speak to us That is needed in our own lives For more love In our homes In our families For our children For our wives For our congregation Many people have written to me Said Brother George You are right This is the crisis God wants to speak to me Tell me, have you read my books? My earlier books Called the revolution of love Spiritual revolution And I believe we need that God wants to speak about these things In my next session Tell me other things that I believe God wants to speak Let us be speaking here Let us be open to Him We are not speaking because we know more than you Most of you know much more than us We know many of you are more dedicated to Jesus Christ than we are But we come to share what we have had the privilege to see all over the world to be just kernel of God's name God wants to speak about prayer about knowing things spiritual women women Hey darling father Hey Prabhu We thank you that you answer prayer You have raised up this word You have raised up this ship This army of young people all over the world You have given us this unity with hundreds, thousands of churches Of almost all denominations And we praise your name Speak to us in these days O God Open our heart Make us willing to obey your word Open our mind Open our heart That we may be true followers of the Lord Jesus Christ For we pray in His precious name Amen