In this video, the speaker discusses various books and materials available for purchase, including DVDs showcasing the work of God in different nations. They also mention teachings on the life of Christ and a program called Bridge of Hope, which provides education and healthcare to children from the Dalit background while teaching them about Jesus. The speaker also mentions two books, "Come, Let's Reach the World" and "Revolution World Missions," which provide statistics and information on global missions. Additionally, they talk about the Road to Reality Internship, a year-long training program for young people that focuses on discipleship and commitment to the Lord. The speaker emphasizes the importance of living a radical and sacrificial life for Christ, giving examples of individuals who have given up everything for the sake of the Gospel.

Good afternoon. So I'm asked to mention about some of our books and materials that are on the table. I think there are a lot of mission tables out there. A few DVDs, if you like to see what's going on in some of these nations, what God is doing, this will be a good one to get. And a couple of teachings, to live as Christ, a DVD. I think I spoke this at Skip Heiser Church in Albuquerque. Then Christ's Call, Following the Footsteps. And then we have this neat program, Working with the Children, some 50,000 children that are from the Dalit background that will never have a chance to grow up, to get an education or any hope for the future. And we have now started the ministry among them, bringing them to what we call Bridge of Hope Centers, where they get the education and healthcare, but every day at least a couple of hours of teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ. So that's about that one. Then a couple of books, Come, Let's Reach the World, with a lot of statistics, what is going on, information that might help you a lot. Then Revolutionary World Missions, now I'm told is 2 million copies in print. So I don't know the cost of these books. If they're uncharging, you can take them free, I guess. But then, too, we have a thing called Road to Reality Internship. This is a year-long special training for young people who finish their high school. We take about 10 or 15 a year, and the year they spend with us, they actually see the kind of life the Lord wants us to live, of discipleship and commitment to the Lord, prayer, and so on. And they come and be with us after that, kind of close to a month or so, I think, three weeks or so. They go overseas, and their lives are totally revolutionized, impacted, turned upside down, revolutionized. And then they go home to their church, university, or wherever. So if you've got kids that you're trying to get rid of, this is something you may want to think about. Send them for a year. I guarantee their life will never be the same. And then Possibilities of Serving the Lord with Us, another brochure. Then we have a conference coming up, Renewing Your Passion Conference. Once in two years it takes place. People from around the world come for this, in Dallas, Texas, where some people believe God lives there. Because all the Southern Baptist churches, I think, maybe they say so. It's really, really nice, and I'm happy to be here. Two things I like the most in ministry, as far as my teaching involvement is concerned. One is, whenever I get a chance to speak to young people, I'm extremely thrilled for those opportunities. I was, a week ago, in Niagara Falls, speaking to some 3,000-plus young people. And it was absolutely amazing to see almost 90% or more of those kids just stood up, making very serious commitment to the Lord, to follow him. And it was such a blessing. And then the next group is missionaries. And I understand there are quite a lot of missionaries. May I see the hands of those who are on the mission field that you are here now for this conference? Wow, quite a lot of you. Well, blessings on you. And quite a few more missionaries, they're back soon. They're out there drinking coffee. They'll be coming in soon. You know, you don't get cappuccino out there, so now you get it here. I heard, you know, Pastor Chuck Smith mentioned about whether you are a missionary or you are a sender, sending others to go. I heard also that quite a few here that kind of made a commitment, thinking and praying about going to the mission field, wherever the Lord leads you to go. But obviously, there is a very significant number of people here. You are not on the mission field, nor are you thinking about going overseas right now. So the question is, what are you going to do? The only option you have is to send someone in your place. And so you are the sender. Romans 10 says, how will they go to preach except they be sent? So I like to pray for you. I like to ask you, if you are one, you are not somewhere overseas, and you are not one that kind of saying that I'm, you know, thinking to go tomorrow. I'd like you to stand with me so I can just pray for you. Well, being a sender, what does that mean? Prayer. Obviously, you will make a commitment for praying for these people or different countries of the world. And you will be sending your resources for missionaries that are on the mission field or those who now said, I'm thinking to go. So that is one thing you will do. Maybe there are countries that, you know, somebody from here cannot go there as missionary. But then you will find ways to help missionaries that are already there. It could be a thousand other things the Lord will give you the grace to do. So if you are one of those nice human beings, please stand. I want to pray for you. All those who are going to be senders of people who are on the mission field or will go, please stand with me. A lot of pastors here, I know. What a blessing that you are here as a pastor, being a shepherd. The possibility is so huge. So I just want to pray for you. Lord Jesus, we want to thank you for the example you showed us. You came to this wretched, sinful, hopeless world, giving your life to save us. And your Father sent you to do that. Today, Lord, I want to thank you for my these precious brothers and sisters who are here that heard your call, obeyed you, and went to serve you in some country, some community away from their home. And thank you for those that are praying and seriously considering about going to serve you. Then, Lord, thank you for these dear ones that are now standing with me, saying that we will do our part. We will pray. We will give and we will encourage and write letters and emails and whatever we can do so that we will have that share in reaching the lost world. Oh, Lord Jesus, I pray you will bless my brothers and sisters and give them, give them, Lord, your compassion and give them your understanding and show them your ways. Thank you for this gathering. And we pray you will minister to us in Christ's name. Amen. Amen. Please be seated. Now, this is one of the longest speaking time I'm given, one hour, believe it or not. And so my 10 minutes are already gone. Recently, I was given a little booklet. It's all full of funny jokes. I'm not one that usually tells jokes. But I thought I will read one of these to you, kind of wake you up maybe. An Anglican bishop, don't get offended, an Anglican bishop once happened to read an article on leprosy. He was greatly intrigued to learn that an indication of the disease was an absence of sensation in the affected parts. Shortly after, the bishop attended a lecture with his wife. As they sat side by side listening, all of a sudden, the bishop felt his right leg began to itch. At once he bent down to scratch. But as he did so, he was amazed to find he felt nothing. The bishop turned to whisper to his wife in horror, Dear, I think I have contracted leprosy. I just scratched my leg and there was no sensation. I don't think so, you got leprosy, my dear, reassured his wife. The leg you just scratched was mine, not yours. Now you can go and tell that to somebody else now. Okay, I'd like to take this few minutes just to talk to you. And I hope you will think with me as we go through this time of discussion. C.S. Lewis, in his book, Mere Christianity, said these things. Just a quote. It is so easy to think that the church has a lot of different objects. Education, building, missions, holding services, and so on. The church exists for nothing else but to draw men into Christ, to make them little Christ. If they are not doing that, all the cathedrals, clergy, missions, sermons, even the Bible itself are simply a waste of time. God became man for no other purpose. It is even doubtful, you know, whether the whole universe was created for any other purpose. Wilheimer, in his book, Destined for the Throne, has this thesis that is, God created the whole universe and man for one reason, to find a bride for his son. And if you want to get that book, it's called Destined for the Throne. It's worth reading, it's a small paperback. The Book of Acts is not a book of theology or doctrine. It is a historical document. Stories of the first, the early church, the early Christians. And these were normal, simple, rather poor, not so educated people. They were not, by any standard, superstars and all the credentials after their name to make any kind of big news at all. But, in the Book of Acts, chapter 17, verse 6, we read about the persecution, the problems, and all these things. And then, the accusation that is made by the enemies about the Christians. These that turn the world upside down have come here also. In one translation, it is these world revolutionaries have come here also. Now that sounds quite strong. It was not that they had all the plan about world evangelism, or big buildings, or huge budget, or they were prominent figures in the community. No, it was rather the way of life, living with a radical commitment. They were not normal people, a bit crazy. A bit crazy because they were living with the understanding of a different world, that they are going to be there forever. And the love of Christ, the encounter with Christ, knowing Christ, turned them kind of a little crazy. And wherever they went, people said, these are troublemakers. Because their very presence, the character, the demeanor, what they lived for, just confused everybody. You know, it's like you go to a hamburger shop, my favorite place in and out in California. And we are trying our best to get them to come to Dallas. They are not obeying me yet. You know, you go there every time, and the waiter says, I don't want to serve this guy. What do you mean? He's going to give me another 10 gospel tracts. Or he's going to ask you, are you going to heaven? All kinds of questions, you know. No matter where you go, even to the church, you are a troublemaker. And this is the kind of life that you find in the book of Acts about these people. And by the way, the Lord is not looking for superstars to be the answer to the chaos, the problems of this world. He is looking for simple people who love him enough, foolish enough, kind of, so he can do something significant in and through their lives. And I read through the book of Acts once in a while, just to remind me of the kind of Christianity that I must live, and not let the guards down. So I like you to kind of walk with me through the book of Acts a little bit. I don't think we can get through. It will take another five hours to do that. But we'll do a little bit, talk and see how far we can get today, looking at some of these things we find in the book of Acts. And, you know, the Acts basically is a missionary book. Those of you who are missionaries, I would encourage you to read this. Oh, by the way, you know, the 56 Bible colleges we have with 7,000 plus students go through three years of training. One of the first things we tell them, these young people, your blueprint and your model to do missionary work is the book of Acts. You don't read it for theology. You read it as a roadmap to see how you can do this. I think the Lord gave the book of Acts to us so that we will know how to go about doing His work today in our time. I can assure you why we have tested this out the last 25 years on the mission field, and we found it really worked. That's the amazing thing about it. And the book of Acts is a result of what Christ said. You go and preach the gospel. You baptize people. Teach them to obey everything I told you. And I'm going to come back soon. And I'll be with you. Don't worry about it. And the book of Acts is basically, they believed Him enough. They didn't go and try to figure out how this all, they just went. And God did something so absolutely significant. All of you say, I'm so happy you are here because you are either on the mission field, you are interested to go, or you are going to be somehow involved in mission work. And you are, and I'm grateful that this many people are here. Now as we look at the book of Acts, one of the first things we see in chapter 1, it is, Jesus said, you wait. You wait in Jerusalem. Don't run off and do stuff. Wait until you have the power of the Holy Spirit. Am I right? And chapter 1 verse 8 says, when the Holy Spirit come upon you, then you will receive power and you will become my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea, Samaria, and the end of the earth. Now, this is fundamental. That is, if you are a missionary on the mission field, may I just gently remind you again that you know already. Be filled with the Holy Spirit and continually being filled with the Holy Spirit. Without the power of the Holy Spirit, you will not be able to deal with the dark forces on the field. And you say, Brother KP, I was baptized in the Holy Spirit 20,000 years ago. Great, but what about today? I remember hearing George Orwell long ago, he said, you know, he asked the Lord to fill him every day with the Holy Spirit because he leaps. And we all do. And the Holy Spirit didn't come to give us goosebumps and knock people out, you know, and do strange things. The Holy Spirit came to give us the power to have supernatural courage, sensitiveness, understanding, and discernment to rescue people that are going to hell. And I have great trouble with people who say, we go to the Holy Ghost and are so self-centered, so drunk by their own agendas, they care nothing about the lost world. I do not know if it is the Holy Spirit or some other spirit. Word was said, the Holy Spirit gives a holy goat. That is saying, go, that don't just mean geographically you pick up your sleeping bag and your bicycle and go to Alaska or Europe or rather. It is a heart that burdened and aches and concerned for the lost world. You watch the television and they talk about Iraq or Afghanistan or Pakistan or Uganda. You don't look at that anymore like any other American or Canadian or European. Man alive, them dumb stupid people again, they are killing each other. But rather, you begin to weep because you see people dying and going to eternity without Christ. Your heart breaks. You are not tied down to the normal stuff, what people live for. You as a sister, a pastor's wife, you go to one of those ladies' studies. Everybody is sitting around talking about the latest fashion, the newest house, or whatever else, or this book or that book, all those things. But somehow your eyes, your heart is thinking about something else. You are lost in the world where Christ still walks as a stranger. And that happened through the power of the Holy Spirit. I remember my wife telling me this story as a young girl growing up in West Germany. Came from a Lutheran family and she came to know the Lord in a Pentecostal youth gathering. And went home and felt the Lord was calling her to give her life to serve God the rest of her life. And she was praying and asking God for grace. And then she went on her studies and one day she was alone praying in the room and the Lord baptized her with the Holy Spirit. She didn't know much about these kind of doctrines and began to speak in languages that she didn't know. And the next thing happened, she was so absolutely broken hearted for dozens of her friends studying in college with her that did not know the Lord. And she would witness to these young people and every evening go out on the streets witnessing and leading dozens of young people to Christ. Started a Bible study. I'm talking about a girl at the age of 19 or so. So what I'm trying to communicate with you is this. That is, somehow we need to understand the call of Christ on our life to be a witness for him. And when the Holy Spirit fills us and gives us empowerment, one of the natural results will be that. And I can tell you the same thing happened in my life many years ago on the mission field. So this is not an option. I will think about it. No, you can't think about it. If you are not living by the Holy Spirit and led by the Spirit, I am telling you, you are in trouble, especially on the mission field. I know some years ago, a couple of our brothers went to the mission field and ran into a man who was demon possessed. Not one or two demons, but a whole bunch of them. And I tell you, they really got in trouble. And that's when they realized they could not continue serving God and dealing with the powers of darkness without the power of the Holy Spirit. And thank God for their heart and their willingness to seek God and experience that power so they can continue to serve the Lord and they are still on the mission field. Now, the second thing I want to point out about these people, not only they waited and they were full of the Holy Spirit and that gave them power to witness, but they bought into the passion for the lost in their life. Now, chapter 2, verse 14 on, you will read, if you've got the Bible, you can look at that. But many of you know the Bible by heart, so I guess. And you will find the whole book seems to be 30 years of history God gives to us, but he kind of painted this picture throughout the whole book about people, no matter where they went, they were preaching the gospel. They were gripped with the reality of the lost world. In chapter 4, verse 12, we hear this statement, salvation is found in no one else for there's no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved. I mean, do we really believe that? Ajit Fernando, a friend of mine, a godly Christian leader from Sri Lanka, wrote a book which is very powerful about the reality of hell. I am told there's a whole bunch of so-called evangelicals now in pulpits who really don't believe the lost is lost, that hell is a real place. I'm not here to argue with you, debate with you about these things, but I'm telling you something. Jesus said there was a man, a rich man, and he lived fairly well. And there was a man, his name was Lazarus, and they both died. And the rich man went where? And from there, he sees far away Lazarus sitting with Abraham. It is not a parable. It is not a made-up story. It's a real historical event Christ now tells because he, the living God, now walking on earth as a man, he's telling something that we have no way to figure this out until he told us this. And this man from hell, he cries out. What was it for? A bucket of water? You read there, he said, Father Abraham? Yeah, I am in big trouble. Yeah, I know, son, I'm just paraphrasing it. Is it any way possible he can send Lazarus so he can just dip his finger in the water, just one drop of water? Is it possible? I just can't handle it. If you've ever been to Texas during the summertime, especially no air conditioning in your car, you will have experienced a little bit. But that is nothing, nothing compared to a man in hell, literal flames, and it's lit. He burns, bottomless pit, utter darkness, worms that never die, torment non-stop, and millions and maybe billions of demons that haunt him. Just the bad memory itself is enough to destroy someone. But he cries for a drop of water and says, son, it's not possible. My brothers and sisters, this is one subject I don't like necessarily to talk about. But I'm telling you something. There's enough documentation from near-death experience of people, and more so from the scripture. There is a literal place, a real place called hell. And people that die without our Lord Jesus Christ are destined for there. You can ask all the questions in the world. I may not know all the answers. All I know is what I read. But I can tell you something. This man still is crying out, not for a drop of water, but he must be crying out, says, I just want to die. Please let me die. Let me die. But answer comes again and again and again. I want you to think about it. Call to serve God. Being on the mission field is not a simple matter of feeding the poor, educated and illiterate. Being on the mission field saying, I'm suffering. No, it is a call like a medical doctor who lives among one million people, everyone dying of cholera. And this man has medicine stocked up in his house. He can't say, I got my two children, my wife, and I'll take care of them. No. People are dying all around him. You know, if this building catches on fire, I pray it never happens. And the whole thing is going down and here I am speaking. Are you going to sit here and listen to me then? You say, oh, Brackett be such a good speaker. I like his world trip and all that. I'm not going to leave. I don't care about that fire. Doesn't matter. No way. I will run out before you run out. Because it's panic time. You don't think about anything else except one thing. Rescue people. Those who cannot walk and get out. Run out. Save people. Get out there and scream on the top of your lungs. Come! Please come help! The building is on fire! That is the desperation that you and I must have if you are in China or India or America, anywhere. If you know Christ as your Lord and Savior. Because the reality of the lost world is so real. And people are lost for eternity without Christ. It is not a simple matter of education and nice Bible teaching. I do not know. There are people that leave the United States. Especially from among us Calvary chapels. Other denominations also. And say, you know, we are going to this country because they have no churches. We have to teach them, indoctrinate them, and bring them back to balance and biblical teaching. Hey, listen to me. If God called you to do that, do that. But I'm telling you something. You're walking among millions of people that never heard Christ's name. You have no business to be overseas and think about your little life. And 10-15 people you meet for Bible study, you must be spending the majority of your time walking on the streets. Fasting, praying, crying out to see the people that do not know Jesus going to hell. That they may come into the kingdom. Without that kind of understanding, we are wasting our time, I must tell you. C.T. Studd was a great missionary as a youngster. World War I and his people gave me a little book called True Discipleship by William Macdonald. William Macdonald just recently passed away. And I was quite sad to hear that because his writing had a huge impact on my life as a 17-18 year old young person. And in that book, True Discipleship, he writes about C.T. Studd. He was a cricketer. I mean, not the American cricket. I'm talking about sports in England. And born to a rich, affluent man. And he had everything going for him. World fame and money and whatever else. And he was a born again Christian. One day, he happened to read this little article written by an atheist. And the article goes like this. This man who didn't believe in God, he mocked the idea that there is God. He wrote this. If I firmly believed, as millions say they do, that the knowledge and the practice of religion in this life influences destiny in another, then religion would mean to me everything. I would cast away earthly enjoyments as draws, earthly cares as follies, and earthly thoughts and feelings as vanity. Religion would be my first waking thought and my last image before sleep sank me into unconsciousness. I should labor in its cause alone. I would take thought for the moral of eternity alone. I would esteem one soul gained for heaven worth a lifetime of suffering. Earthly consequence would never stay my hand or seal my lips. Earth, its joys and its griefs would occupy no moment of my thoughts. I would strive to look upon eternity alone and on the immortal souls around me soon to be everlastingly happy or everlasting to be miserable. I would go forth to the world and preach to it in season and out of season. And my text would be, what shall profit a man if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul? And reading this article gripped the heart of Sittister, this young man. And he decided to give up his ambition of a normal, happy, wonderful, evangelical believer's life and finally somehow get to heaven. No, he said, this man who mocked at the idea of God says, if I, Sittister, if I believed what you say you believe, that Christ is the only way to heaven, that he is the only one, the Savior, this is what I would do. I would give up all this nonsense and walk away from it all and become an extreme radical to see the world come to Christ. And he decided he would make an exchange of everything. He was engaged to be married and he kept some 600 pounds or more in the bank so he can now get married and go to the mission field. And his fiance said, Charlie, what did Christ say to you? He said, to sell all and follow me. Then why are you keeping these pounds in the bank? And the last little money they had, took it and sent it to William Booth, Salvation Army, and then went off to the mission field to give all and everything for the sake of him who died for him. That is the kind of Christianity that God is looking for. Grace is wonderful. But if grace is giving us license to live any way we want and spend the time any way we want, I'm telling you, that is not grace. That is misuse of freedom. That is in Christ. Now, the church grew daily. The Lord added to the church. And I'm telling you, it happens because they worked daily. We have a policy on the mission field, and you don't have to accept our policy. We say, you know, if you are a missionary on the field, you should be out there eight hours a day, knocking doors, talking to people, and seeking to preach the gospel. I had a very strange experience, which obviously you may not be able to relate to. Many years ago when I was in Bangkok, and with a colleague of mine, I said, you know, let's go for tracts distribution today. We ran out of our little tracts. We had English tracts. And so we searched out a missionary compound. And so we went to these missionaries, and they were from not Bangkok missionaries, Thailand missionaries. They were from overseas, Western countries. And so we said, you know, we are here for a couple of days, and we'd like to have some gospel tracts or gospels or whatever you have. We'd like to do some distribution. This is a real story. And this missionary's eyes got so big. At the end of the story, there was not one single gospel tract or a gospel that we can get from there for distribution. And it sounds so strange to them. Some years ago I met a missionary in Nepal doing medical missions. He was there 22 years. I asked him how many people he led to the Lord during these years. And he got kind of upset with me a little bit. He didn't beat me up. And he said, what is that to you? I said, oh, I'm just curious. He said, I'm here to teach these people how to dig wells on the mountainside. If they want to become Christians by seeing what I do, it is their business. I'm not going to tell anyone. That's not the reason I'm here for. I said, but you're a missionary. He said, I'm a different kind of missionary. Well, that makes sense. I'm saying this to you. Whether you are going to the mission field, you are sending missionaries to the field. Please let us understand this. Our call is to preach the gospel. A social work that is done on the mission field without preaching the gospel is a good social gospel. But it is not fulfilling the Great Commission. Now you're saying, oh, brother, why are you not? You are here to speak to us, not all of you. Listen, I'm not against helping the poor, the needy, and doing social work. We do. I told you, 50,000 children from untouchable Dalit background, we embraced. And we have seen now some 400% church growth in some places through the compassion and love that we are able to demonstrate. Work among the slums and leper colonies. Just a few months ago in Haryana, 800 people got baptized, adults, on one Sunday morning. All came to Christ through our compassion ministry among the Dalit community. I'm not against it. But, listen to me. If you think feeding the poor, building schools, building hospitals, helping the tsunami, it's all wonderful. Let's do more. But if you think that is fulfilling the Great Commission, you are off the wall. Off the chart. No matter what you do, please keep in mind that unless they hear the gospel, Jesus died for you on the cross. There's a heaven waiting for you. Your sins can be forgiven. He rose again from the dead. Believe in Him. Would you receive this Christ? If they say yes, they don't know what to do. Read them a little prayer or tell them whatever else you can and somehow do this thing. You know, we have a policy. Our policies are not your policies. We have policy. That is, we say no missionary should go anywhere except going to bathroom and taking a shower. Without gospel tracts with them. It's a very serious policy. We produce over 25 million pieces of literature every year in 80 languages. And right now, yesterday, my people said we got money in to print 35 million gospel tracts in the last two months. And I told our people on the mission field, there's no way we can have that done with our printing process. We have so many presses running three, two, three shifts, 300,000 Bibles and New Testaments every month. But that many tracts extra, we cannot do. So I said, let's find our mission organizations who are among the unrich people groups and the needy people. Let's just get them do this thing. Get the word out. Why? Because 150,000 people die every single day and punch into hell. And that is not a joke. And we cannot say, I will come next year. You cannot say, I will send money to the missionaries next year. You cannot say, brother, you want to go missionary to China, to Bangkok, to Eastern Europe, to Mexico? Brother, you please pray and wait upon God, and God will give you the money. Nonsense! Why don't you change your budgeting, your programs, your building programs, and put your money to send the missionary overseas? Our leader in Nepal, Narayan Sharma, he was born and raised in upper caste Brahmin home. That means super caste. His brother is a university professor in Kathmandu. And Narayan Sharma, as a young college student, desperation, no peace in his life, somebody handed him a gospel tract in Nepali language. This young Nepali Hindu Brahmin man, he read the gospel tract about Jesus Christ dying for him on the cross. And that day Narayan Sharma gave his life to Christ. He was kicked out of his home by his own parents. He walked and walked, finally ended up in Bangalore, India to a Bible school where he finished his Bible college training. And the Lord told him, go back to Nepal. Sixteen years ago, he went back to Nepal with us. And today there are 295 churches, thriving churches, first generation Christians in the country. Two Bible colleges, radio broadcast on 26 FM stations. Or 2,000 little children rescued and been trained in schools. It all began with a single gospel tract. Many of you gone overseas. And you know what, I'm sad for you some because the suffering is so much. I mean, you don't get your hamburger and especially in and out and all that. I know it's not easy life. But you know what, it may take you a long time to learn the language. And figure out what these people are trying to say. At least I ask you in the name of my Lord, make a commitment from today on that you are going to go back to the mission field. And you will spend quality hours every single day going from market to market, house to house, wherever you go, handing out gospel tracts and booklets. I'm a firm believer in it because I can tell you we have seen tens of thousands of people have come to Christ through God's word being given to them. You say, I'm working on illiterate people. Don't worry. Give that illiterate a gospel. And that illiterate boy will take it to his friend. And the father will take it to his son. And they will read it. I can tell you story after story. Mahatma Gandhi said, missionaries taught us to read, but communists, they gave us materials to read. I pray your heart's passion for the lost world and conviction that Jesus, Jesus is the only means of salvation will propel you to action. Please forgive me. I know enough missionaries, not just Americans, but Indians and Germans and Bangladeshis and Nepalese who went out to the mission field. And somehow because of the attack of demons and the temptations, somehow they lost the burning passion. And now they are surviving on the mission field, taking care of their wife and children and husbands and homeschooling. And the letters come back of the suffering and difficulties. You know what? I'm glad for the homeschooling stuff you do and whatever else you need to take care of for your children. But then I thank God for a couple of you that I met. One sending their children to a Japanese school to get educated in Japanese language because they want those kids to be able to witness. I thank God for someone else that came from somewhere Russia, putting the children in the homes in the local school. Please forgive me. I'm not trying to get you to throw your kids on the streets. But I'm telling you, living overseas with all the troubles and pain and agony, just maintaining a little family is not missionary work. I'm telling you to think soberly about it because you may be the only hope for the two million people there. And you need to and I need to get to the place where we will become little crazy and maniacs for the sake of Christ. And they say, this American has really gone crazy. And you can say, I am really crazy for Jesus. That confused them. Thirdly, you know, my watch is running too fast. The third thing about you read in the book of Acts, if you want to look at the Bible verses, chapter 4, verse 3, chapter 5, chapter 7, chapter 12, chapter 16. You read it all. Willingness to suffer for the sake of Christ. I am not saying this for missionaries that are overseas. I'm saying for all of us, including my life. Without suffering, we will never accomplish the task of world evangelism. Jesus said, I'm sending you as wolves among sheep. Just checking to see if you're sleeping. I'm sending you as sheep among wolves. I wish he said, I'm sending you as wolves among sheep. That would give me a better chance. Adoniram Judson, America's first foreign missionary. He was born in Massachusetts, August 9, 1788. While preparing for his departure for India and Burma, in 1810, he met this young, beautiful girl, Nancy Haseltine. As the prized daughter of a socially prominent family, she was a fun-loving young woman before being born again at the age of 15. After that, she became a devout follower of Christ. But Judson could not marry her without her father's consent. Now listen to the letter young Judson writes to John Haseltine asking permission to marry his daughter. Quote, Sir, I have now to ask whether you can consent to part with your daughter early next spring to see her no more in this world. What are we to ask? Whether you can consent to her departure and her subjection to the hardships and sufferings of a missionary life. Whether you can consent to her exposure to the dangers of the ocean, to the fatal influences of the southern climate of India, to every kind of wound and distress, to degradation, insult, persecution, and perhaps a violent death. Can you consent to all this for the sake of him who left his heavenly home and died for her and for you, for the sake of the perishing, immortal souls, for the sake of Zion and the glory of God? Can you consent to all this in hope of soon meeting your daughter in the world of glory with the crown of righteousness, brightened with the acclamations of praise, we shall redound to her savior from heathen saved through her means from eternal woe and despair? I'm glad I was not John Haseltine. And strange enough, he, being a believer, left the decision with his daughter. They got married and went off. There was a time when I was reading the kind of letters she wrote to her friends about her decision. You know, if you are a wife of a missionary going overseas, I tell you, your commitment to pay the price will be twice as your husband. If you do, you both will make it. The Judgesons labored for almost seven years before winning their first convert. After nine years, they had baptized only 18. Their first baby was stillborn during the initial voyage from Calcutta to Burma. Their second baby, Roger, died before reaching his ninth month. Judson himself was brutally imprisoned for 17 months during a crackdown against all the foreigners, barely surviving the horribly inhumane treatment. One night, while his raw and bleeding feet were hanging elevated in stalks, swarms of mosquitoes settled on his bare soles, producing excruciating torture. Then, not long after his release from prison, Judson's beloved wife, Nancy, died. Her constant life of sacrifice and service had finally taken its toll. Just a few weeks later, little Maria, their third baby, was suddenly taken from this world. Judson was left utterly alone in a hostile Buddhist land, almost shattered with pain and grief. Before him lay the prospect of tiger-infested jungles, bat-infested houses, and a fever-infested climate for life. Behind him lay an almost unimaginable trial of hardship and loss. But he did not leave off his work. He did not abandon his Bible translating or his preaching and teaching labors. How could he? Eternal souls were at stake. Who else could reach the Burmese as well as he? So he remained for 20 more years, returning to America only once, and that by necessity, not by choice. For Judson, missions was a lifetime commitment, and he had no place for those who wanted to come to the mission field for a short-term basis only. Judson's devotion to the Lord was not in vain. On one occasion, during a great annual festival held in the towering Golden Buddhist Pagoda in Rangoon, where I'd been a couple of times, he recorded that he had distributed, quote, nearly 10,000 tracts, giving to none but those who asked. Some came two or three months' journey from the borders of Siam and China, saying, Sir, we hear that there is an eternal hell. We are afraid of it. Do give us a writing that will tell us how to escape it. Others came from the interiors of the country where the name of Christ is little known. Are you Jesus Christ, man? Give us a writing that will tell us about Christ. For Judson, it was worth it all. Today, there are more than one million believers in Burma. We have a work in Burma with some 475 churches. They are now sending missionaries to Laos and Thailand and Bible College. And our people, even today, say what we have in Burma is all because of Adoniram Judson and his suffering. I'm not saying you should go and look for suffering and pain. Some of you are pastors, church members. You are saying, KPI, if I go to Burma or India or Bangladesh or Nepal, yeah, I get beaten up and I'm willing to suffer. I tell you what, you will not. If you are not willing to buy an alarm clock and turn it on to wake you up 2 in the morning, 3 in the morning, and open the world map and pray for these countries, if you are not willing to take a day or the week to fast and pray for 2 billion people that do not know Christ and are dying without Him, if you cannot say no to the new car, new fashions, and if you cannot have the courage to throw away the dumb stupid catalog sitting in your bathroom that you are going through an hour after hour to buy what is the newest thing out on the market, and if you are consumed about a new church building to compete with someone else, I tell you what, it is a joke. You will not make it. And I'm dead serious about it. Suffering is not something someone is going to impose upon you. It is something that you say, Lord, I want to partake in your sufferings. And that is saying no to myself and my flesh. And ask God to give me His burden. That is saying, I want you to take a week to fast and pray for these people. I want you to say no to this. I will not make you do this. You know, until this day, I left my home to serve Christ when I was 16. I'm 57 now. Until this day, He never forced me to give up anything. He only lovingly said to me, will you walk away from it? And He let me make the choices. And it was not easy. It was never easy. I cried sometimes out of pain and stress, but there was joy. The Christianity that cost you nothing, no inconvenience, no suffering in the flesh, not giving up the stuff that your flesh longs for. I tell you, we can have 10,000 conferences like this, but it's all for nothing. And someday, maybe 50 years from now, 100 years from now, a million years from now, you will discover the lost opportunity. Because Christ is not calling you for an easy life, especially if your heart is concerned for the lost world. And the book of Acts littered, filled with the lives of people who were abused, misunderstood, ostracized, kicked out, suffered, but they never gave up. Because they loved Him enough, more than their own life. This is the church that will make a difference in our generation. I'm grateful for your life, for your commitment. And I share these thoughts with you, never, never with the intention to make you feel dumb or little or stupid. No, I say this because I lead a movement in many nations. And I live on the mission field. I know the struggle is going to get harder, but the end is going to be great. In Orissa right now, many of our churches burned down, missionaries beaten up, 2,000 believers lost their homes, anti-Christian fanatics destroyed them. But you know what? They are still baptizing hundreds of people every week in the midst of persecution. It is possible. May the Lord give us His grace. Let's pray. Lord, thank you so much for your grace and for your mercy. As we look into your word and see the way you work and the call you give us, Lord, it is not easy, Lord. Even as I share these thoughts with my brothers and sisters, Lord, you know in my own heart I have a long, long way to go. I know it, Lord. And thank you that we are pilgrims and strangers on this earth, following you, the one who laid down your life for us and for the world. And Lord Jesus, I pray that you bless my brothers and sisters, those who made the commitment to be on the mission field. Lord, their lives have not been easy, I know. It's been hard. They were tempted a thousand times to run off. But Lord, thank you for the mercy. And I pray that you will continue to give them your passion, your burden for the lost around them, Lord. That they will not give up, they will not walk away. Lord, I pray that you baptize us with a fresh passion for the lost world. That our hearts will be broken, not by our doing, but Jesus, by your doing, as of Judson and his wife and so many that went before us. Lord, I want to thank you for the good news I heard about so many saying that they are thinking to go to the mission field. Lord, please don't let the little demons come and discourage them through relatives or friends or whatever else. Lord, give them that grace to take that bold step of faith. Meet every need in their life. I pray for my precious brothers or pastors or churches that are here. Lord, I pray that help them to remember that they are the shepherds. You are going to hold them responsible for a world that they lived in that do not know you, Lord. That they will become people that will motivate, encourage, send, give, and whatever they can do to see the gospel go forth. Then Lord, I thank you for those that made a decision. Although it is not your call upon their life right now to go to the mission field, rather Lord, they will get involved. Whatever Lord, I pray you will speak to them clearly, help them know what you are saying. Then Lord, give them grace to obey also. Thank you Lord that this next year, this whole year Lord, this 2008 is going to be the best year ever in terms of people coming to know you, churches planted, disciples made. Lord, we thank you and I ask you help us Lord, help us to humble ourselves and walk with you and serve you all the days of our lives. In Jesus most precious name we pray, Amen.