1 877-431-4276

Yearly Archives: 2020

Jonathan Shibley | Global Advance on Fast Forward

Jonathan Shibley is the son of David Shibley and the President of Global Advance. Under his leadership the organization has multiplied their efforts to train front-line leaders around the globe.

Notes: 

What was it like to take up the mantle of leadership from your father?

What does it mean to “ignite change makers worldwide?

Why are kingdom entrepreneurs the sleeping giants of the Christian world?

Website: https://www.globaladvance.org/

If you are excited about evangelism listen to the Evangelism Podcast, with Daniel King, the Evangelism Coach.

Transcription:

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (00:00):
Jonathan Shipley is the son of David Shibley in the president of global advance. Under his leadership. The organization has multiplied their efforts to train frontline leaders around the globe.

Evangelism Podcast Host (00:15):
Well, Jesus said go into all the world and preach the gospel. Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be welcome to the evangelism podcast with Dr. Daniel King, where Daniel interviews, full-time evangelists, pastors, missionaries, and normal everyday Christians to discover how they share their faith, their powerful testimonies, and amazing stories that will inspire you to reach people with the good news. And now here’s your host, missionary and evangelist Daniel King. Welcome to the evangelism

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (00:53):
Podcast. I’m Daniel King. I’m excited about evangelism and telling people about Jesus. I have a very special guest with me today. Jonathan Shibley who leads global advance. Thank you for being with

Jonathan Shibley (01:05):
Me. Hey, it’s awesome to be here. Thank you.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (01:08):
So recently on the podcast, we featured your father, David Shibley and heard some of the story about how global advance got started. And he was telling me about how his father was a pastor and because of his influence, he went into ministry. And now I assume, because of your father’s influence, now you are involved in ministry,

Jonathan Shibley (01:30):
Kinda crazy. Maybe some people can relate to this, but growing up, I never thought I would be doing what I’m doing today. Now I loved and honored my dad and all the work that he was doing, but I never actually had a chance to travel with him overseas to see what he was doing with global Vance until after college. And so growing up, I had a huge heart for the Lord. I did feel a call to ministry, but I also thought, you know, I may go into business as well. I had an interest in it. I actually majored in business at Baylor university. And so I kind of had a little bit of an internal tug of war going on and it wasn’t till 1998. So I was out of college in my early twenties that I went to the nation of Congo, democratic Republic of Congo, which, you know, very war torn nation, went with dad, solid global dancers, doing actually firsthand and saw all these pastors that had come from all over the nation and how God was just digging deep into their hearts. And I could, you could just tell it on their face, the impact that it was having. And I knew that on that trip, God was speaking to Mesa and Jonathan, this is what I want you to do. And I want you to help take this organization to another level. And before that time, we had never even discussed the idea of me working alongside my dad. If something he founded, I wanted to blaze my own trail. And so, but I yielded to the Lord and there’s been no looking back since then. So how ago was

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (03:00):
That trip that you went to college?

Jonathan Shibley (03:01):
So that was 1998. We actually took two years before I actually officially came on staff just to make sure that this was God. I was always really a little bit hesitant about people’s perceptions of nepotism. You know, like I said, I wanted to blaze my own trail, but it was clear that God was calling me here. So I came on in 2000 year, 2000. So now I’m in my 21st year serving here and it’s been, it’s been amazing.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (03:28):
And it was about 10 years ago that your, your father took a step back and you took a step forward and your father really hasn’t slowed down. He continues to minister and is still passionate, but it seems like now you get to do all the work and he does all the funds.

Jonathan Shibley (03:45):
Oh yeah. You know, it’s been in may, we’ve had an incredible relationship, both father, son, and a working relationship, but it was in the early two thousands. When I, about two years in, when I was here, God began to give my, give me a vision that was unique to me, that fit within the overall vision of Global Advance. And that was to raise up an army of kingdom minded marketplace leaders all over the world, especially in the developing world. And very few people were doing that in missions back then. And so that began to kinda get, give my own distinctive a little bit. It complemented our work with equipping pastoral leaders in developing nations. And God has just done unbelievable things. It’s opened incredible doors since then.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (04:30):
So tell me some of what Global Advance is doing. I know you work in many different countries. What are you doing in those countries?

Jonathan Shibley (04:39):
Yeah, so we believe our, our tagline. We say we ignite change makers worldwide. We believe that God has strategically positioned, amazing, capable leaders on the ground and very hard areas of the world. Some of the darkest spiritual areas of the world, some of the hardest economic areas of the world. So we believe that our calling is a junior partner to come alongside leaders. And God’s came to them that have a vision to move the needle forward, to advance the gospel and their nations to do kingdom work and those nations. And so we come alongside them. We help them fulfill the great commission as a junior partner. And we’re learning a lot. We’ve been doing this for 30 years. So a lot of that looks like training events resources in their language. But now we’re going beyond that. We’re starting kingdom business networks around the world that are focused on not only alleviating poverty, but also it’s a way is which something very close to your heart, evangelizing a bank, salt and light they’re in the community.

Jonathan Shibley (05:43):
They’re already integrated into the fabric of culture and society. We’ve got, we want to see kingdom business, raise that around the world, that create jobs that are able to fund the work of the kingdom around the world. Wouldn’t it be great that one and Africa, it’s the African businessmen and women who are funding your crusades. I say amen to that. They’re African businessman and woman who are putting the roof on the church that are helping to bring in the orphans. And that’s beginning to happen. We’re beginning to see that on a global scene. And if you think about a missions force in the world or an evangelistic force in the world, there may be around half a million full-time missionaries right now globally, but there’s probably hundreds of millions of believers that are in the marketplace every day around the world. And as we see globalization happen, it’s an incredible open door for the kingdom through the marketplace.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (06:41):
Yeah. Years ago, God spoke to me and says, Daniel, that the mission field will become a mission force. So those places that America used to view as a mission field, now we’ll raise up a mighty missions force. That will

Jonathan Shibley (06:56):
No doubt. And we’re saying that, I mean, we’re working with guys for instance, in Pakistan who take the gospel into Afghanistan or guys in Tajikistan that could go into other nations like Iran or from Russia to Zika San it. So it’s all this stuff. It’s creative. It’s kind of a fun season that we’re in. There’s all types of strategy that God is using. I don’t think there’s one size fits all strategy for missions in the great commission. It’s interesting. Jesus never really gave us the total blueprint. He just, he gave us the big picture. Right. But here it is, I’d go. Yeah. He didn’t tell us exactly how to do it. And I think that’s part of, you know, he gifts the body of Christ, right? With creativity, with talent, all of us have different abilities. And that’s part of the spirit of God at work around the world.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (07:46):
So tell me some of the different strategies you’re using to reach people.

Jonathan Shibley (07:50):
So we, we equip leaders that are on the ground. So we work with church planters, pastors and church planners that are taking the gospel to unreached or least reached regions of the world. One of the strategies that came about was, and it really wasn’t our idea, but one of the guys in Pakistan that we work with, he identified a lot of unreached villages, a lot of tribal villages there and Pakistan and sin province. And so he said, look, they don’t have clean water. Now we didn’t typically do water projects, but we said, you know what? We believe in the vision that God’s given you. So we’re going to get behind you. We’re going to start to drill water Wells. Well, that opened the door for the gospel. Now, all of a sudden three fast forward, three years later, there’s new Christ followers. Now there there’s been 11 churches planted as a result of this. And it’s all by just meeting needs on the ground. And now we’ve got a business network in the large city of Karachi of guys who are committed to help fund kingdom work and the villages. Wow, that’s

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (08:56):
Tremendous. And you, you often do marketplace ministry. Talk to me about that. What does that look like?

Jonathan Shibley (09:02):
I say that they’re the sleeping giant in missions that kingdom entrepreneurs around the world. A lot of times they’re underdogs. I mean, you think about it in developing countries, especially the corruption is such a massive, massive issue. So we have mobilized hundreds of Christian CEOs and business leaders from the West that have gone all over the world to pour into business skills, training and kingdom, biblically based worldview for business and entrepreneurship and to thousands of entrepreneurs and business leaders throughout the developing nations. So we’ve been doing this for a long time now for about 18 years. Well, what has happened now is God has just blown that thing up. And so we’re, we, we have a vision over this next decade to start 100 kingdom business networks around the world. And those K we call it a KBN he’s KBN’s will do all types of things, community outreach programs, helping support local churches go into the end, reached meeting needs there and their local cities and regions. So it’s an awesome, awesome thing.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (10:05):
That’s awesome. Now I noticed that right now you have a matching gift challenge of up to half a million dollars. And so if someone wanted to donate to global advanced and they wanted to go to your website to do that, how would they find your website

Jonathan Shibley (10:19):
Global advanced.org? And there’s a way simple ways that you can give, but we’re, we’re grateful that the Lord has provided that opportunity and you know, to him be all the glory.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (10:30):
What are some of the future projects and visions that you have for global events?

Jonathan Shibley (10:35):
Well, we see Global Advance we’re we’re working right now and 35 nations. And some of these are the hardest, most persecuted nations on earth for believers in Jesus. We see that work continue to expand where it now we are creating nation teams where there’s a lot of collaboration going on. So we don’t work with just only one person or one ministry. We’re actually work with teams that represent different regions of a nation, and they come up with a strategy to effectively advance the gospel together. And those are the types of projects that we get behind as an organization.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (11:11):
That’s tremendous. Well, Jonathan, thank you so much for being on the evangelism podcast. I appreciate you taking the time to talk to me.

Jonathan Shibley (11:18):
Hey man, thank you for the work you’re doing. God bless you

Evangelism Podcast Host (11:22):
For more information about how to share your faith or to financially support our worldwide evangelistic outreaches. Visit King ministries.com. Again, that’s King ministries.com.

Adam Culp | Missionary to Nepal

Adam and Julie Culp took their five kids and went to the nation of Nepal as missionaries. In today’s program, Adam talks about the challenges and rewards of taking your family to the mission field. He has also done missions work in India and Myanmar. Listen to his stories about what God is doing on the other side of the world.

About Adam Culp: 

Adam Culp was saved and baptized in the Holy Spirit at five years of age. He first knew that he would minister worldwide when he was ten years old. God called him in a vision and prophesied to him that he would help bring “hope and healing to every nation through their children and youth”. Since that day, young people and issues concerning them have been his consuming passion. Adam graduated from Oral Roberts University in 2000 with a degree in International Community Development and from Rhema Bible Training College in 2001 with a specialization in Youth Ministry. He is now an ordained minister through Rhema Bible Church and Kingsway Fellowship International. He has been a full-time minister, along with his wife Julie, since 2002. He first started ministering in India and Asia in 1992. Adam has been an instructor in many seminaries and bible colleges, a youth and assistant pastor at Jubilee Christian Center in Tulsa, and a professional project manager. He is currently the International Director of Leadership & Ministry Training Center – Nepal and Harvest Bible College – Myanmar.

Questions: 

Hear the story of how Adam and his wife decided to go to the mission field right before they found out she was pregnant.

What is it like raising your children on the mission field?

What is going to happen in the body of Christ in America in 2021?

Key Quotes:

Sometimes you have to go through a closed door with faith and trust that God will open the door.

The Greek word “ekballo” ἐκβάλλω means “to cast out.” It is the word used when Jesus commands his disciples to “cast out” demons. But the word is also used in Mathew 10 when Jesus said, “Pray that the Lord of the Harvest would “send out”  laborers into the field.” The word translated as “send out” could be translated as “cast out” or “violently throw out”.

Website: https://www.fhgttn.org/

Interested in Evangelism? Listen to the Evangelism Coach, Daniel King on the Evangelism Podcast.

Transcript:

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (00:00):
Adam. And Julie cult took their five kids and went to the nation of Nepal as missionaries in today’s program. Adam talks about the challenges and rewards of taking your family to the mission field. He’s also done missions work in India and in Myanmar listened to his stories about what God is doing on the other side of the world.

Evangelism Podcast Host (00:26):
Jesus said, go into all the world and preach the gospel. Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be welcome to the evangelism podcast with Dr. Daniel King, where Daniel interviews, full-time evangelists, pastors, missionaries, and normal everyday Christians to discover how they share their faith, their powerful testimonies and amazing stories that will inspire you to reach people with the good news. And now here’s your host, missionary and evangelist Daniel King. Welcome to the evangelism

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (01:04):
Podcast. I’m excited about telling people about Jesus. And today I have a very special guest with me. Adam Colt has been a missionary for more than a decade. He spent 10 years living in India. Then he took his entire family five children to the nation of Nepal. And so he has been on the front lines of what God is doing in the 10 40 window. Some of the greatest on reach nations on earth. Adam, thank you so much for being with us today. Pleasure. I’m really happy to be here. So Adam, tell me a little bit about how you got called into the ministry. Well

Adam Culp (01:46):
When I was a kid, I would always listen to stories from my grandparents. They were missionaries in what was then Belgian Congo became Zaire. I always thought that those were like the most exciting stories and probably the most exciting thing you could do with your life. But I really didn’t know if I was called until I was 10 years old. I was in a revival service at our assembly of God church. And the evangelists gave a word and said, if there’s anyone here who wants to know what the call of God on their life is, come to the front. I believe God’s going to tell you and being 10 and having complete faith that what the evangelist said would happen. I went to the front and I had a vision. And then this vision, I saw myself preaching in a country.

Adam Culp (02:34):
It looked like it was India. And all the adults had on blinders and ear muffs. So they couldn’t see or hear anything I was saying. And I remember in the vision that I was very discouraged, but then I looked down at the front of the platform that I was preaching from. And I saw these children playing with the lamb, no blinders, no earmuffs. And they’re laughing and singing and dancing this lamb and completely full of joy. And the vision ended and I stood up and the evangelists pointed at me from the stage and said, son, God’s called you to bring hope and healing to every nation through their children and youth. So I had this vision I had a confirmation from that, a, a prophetic confirmation from that evangelist, like right after the vision took place, I knew it was from God. So from that moment on, I set my face like a Flint towards accomplishing, you know, that that vision that God gave me.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (03:32):
So then you, you went to, to, Oral Roberts University. Yep. And tell me, how did you, you meet your wife, Julie?

Adam Culp (03:40):
Huh? That’s a good story. Well, I had never been West of the Mississippi river. I grew up in Michigan and God called me to ORU. I had scholarships to other universities, but I think it might’ve been run loose. I don’t remember who was preaching, but I went to a youth conference that totally messed up my life and this youth conference I think it was Ron Luce, but I can’t say a hundred percent. He said that you’ve probably been told that God calls like leads people through open and closed doors. And he said, that’s not correct. He said, if you look in the Bible, you see time and time again, women of men and women of faith who got a word from the Lord for a door that looked like it was closed. And when they went towards that door and faith that opened and his altar call was, I want you to come to the y’all to the altar.

Adam Culp (04:35):
And I want you to take everything you think, you know about your life and lay it at the foot of the cross and let the Holy spirit give you his plan. So I did that that night. Within a week I was broken up with my girlfriend at the time in high school. And I had also decided that I wasn’t going to go and take the scholarships at the universities that I had gotten. But I took a day, three days to fast and pray for three days. All I heard was Oklahoma. And so as I was praying and researching, I found out, you know, the, the, what the Lord was leading me to was oral Roberts university. So I packed up all my stuff. I came here while I was in registration line I was standing behind this girl and for four hours and back then, I don’t know how it is today, but like, you’d stand four hours in one line to get a piece of paper to take it and hand it into another line. So for four hours, I talked to her and she’s my wife today.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (05:40):
Well, that is a good line to stand in for hours is what it took. That’s wonderful. And so what I really like about you is that you took your entire family to the mission field. And so I was a missionary kid when I was growing up. Parents were missionaries in Ciudad Juarez right across the border from El Paso, Texas. And so I grew up as a, as a child and then as a teenager working right alongside my parents. And I’m a big believer that God does not just call individuals, he calls entire families. And so tell me, what was that like taking first year wife, and then you start having kids you’re your whole family to the mission field?

Adam Culp (06:22):
Well we faced a lot of persecution over at first persecution from who well from people that knew us because when we were preparing to move to India for the first time, full-time I had a really good job and we had kind of purchased everything that we dreamed of having, we had a small farm in Quita and we had, I had my sport motorcycle and all these things, and we were finishing up our our education at Raymond Bible training college. And we’d gotten really comfortable, but this fire permissions kept burning on the inside of us. Financially we felt like we were reaching every milestone that we had set or that we desired, but there was one thing that we didn’t have that we desired more than anything that was that my wife and I had gone almost seven years with no children.

Adam Culp (07:23):
And we were praying for a child and years were going by and a child wasn’t coming. So there was a miss, there was a pastor from India who came over. I met him for 15 minutes. He asked me to be assistant director at his Bible college in Northeast India. So my wife and I went out and prayed and we felt like we had peace. So we said, we’re going to come. And two weeks later we found out she was pregnant with our first child. As we were preparing to go to the mission field we didn’t get there until she was seven and a half months pregnant. Wow. So selling off everything taking what looked like security for our family and for our friends and they were looking at the secure life we had and in their eyes, we were just throwing it all away. So when we sold everything, when she went to India with me full time and she was pregnant with our first child and we’re going to meet a pastor that we had talked to for 15 minutes, it looked pretty crazy. Wow. And so tell me

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (08:36):
Some of what God did in your ministry during that time in India.

Adam Culp (08:43):
Well the Bible college that we were working with was getting ready to close God moved to bring partnership and finances. And he anointed me to my right, my first college level curriculum. I had never written a curriculum in Mali, in my Y in my life. But then I wrote to renewing the mind in two and a half weeks as we got ready to start. So the school is still going today. And then he put it on our heart to start an orphanage, which we did in South India. We started with 10 kids in a one-room church building. It grew to over 50 kids and we saw God provide land. And like over 20 acres of rice Patty to provide for the orphanage God put it on my heart to start a 40 day pioneering school because as I would go around evangelizing we had I think it was around 300 villages where in our altar calls, we’d had more than 50 salvations and years were going by.

Adam Culp (09:53):
And there was no pastors going to pastor those flocks. And one day I is, I was teaching a different seminaries around India. I’d always give the call. If you feel called to an unreached village, I know a village where you can, there’s a, there’s a flock ready to be pastored, and I could never get anybody to go. So one day I was praying and I was saying, Lord, I feel like that fruit is you know, how, if you have an Apple tree the fruit that’s really ripe will fall to the ground. If you don’t pick up that fruit, that’s on the ground it’s going to get trampled or worms are going to eat it. So the most vulnerable fruit is the ripest fruit. And I said, Lord, this is the ripest fruit in each of those villages. Like those are the first people who came in.

Adam Culp (10:42):
We didn’t have to shake that tree. They, you know, fell from the tree and if we don’t get someone to pastor them soon, I feel like we’re going to lose them. And that’s when the Lord spoke to me. And he said, if you can’t find the qualified, just take the willing and obedient. So he put out a call to if you feel called to start a church and unreached village, we’ll train you. And we got a one room church building and we trained them for 40 days. Our first batch of students was 15 half of them couldn’t read and write. Most of them worked in Patty fields were Rick Shaw polars, but every single one of them started a church. And over the 40 day pioneering school is we’re doing it in different sessions. Over 150 pastors were trained all, but one of them started a church in unreached village. The youngest was 15, the oldest was 76. So that was probably

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (11:34):
Amazing fruit. That was awesome. Wow. And so now you don’t have just one child, you have five kids and all of them have been on the mission field with you. What, what has that been like raising your kids on the mission field? Well

Adam Culp (11:52):
It can be difficult, especially when you have kids who feel like they’re pulled between two different cultures. It can also be difficult in that. A lot of missions kids end up leaving the church. I mean, I was born to a mission kid. He professed to be an atheist for a long time. And I’ve met a lot of mission kids over the year, over the years. And a lot of them fell away from the Lord. So to raise kids on the mission field, you have to be very intentional about making sure that you minister to your family, that you in part the vision, not just to the people you work with, but to the people you live with. And to make sure that you pastor your family, just as much as you pastor the flock that’s outside your home

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (12:46):
And are your children involved in the ministry with you?

Adam Culp (12:50):
Well, we had a season where we were not on the field full time. It was 10 years long because our middle child while we were in India and all these awesome things were happening our third child was finally born. And when he was born, he had major birth defects. His eyes didn’t fully develop. He didn’t have a soft spot in his skull. He had his features were a little disfigured and he had a hole in his spine. It looked like he had spinal bifida. So we ended up medically evacuating and moving back to the States. For 10 years I worked a month in Tulsa and then I would go overseas and do missions work for a month. And one thing I did to try and keep my family connected with our family vision was every time I would go on a trip, I’d take one of my kids with me. And if you talk to my teenagers, they’ll probably tell you that those were life changing for them. That one side they were there and they were on the front lines of ministry that it kind of changed their heart.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (14:04):
Tell me about the ministry that you you’ve done in the nation of Nepal. My wife, Jessica actually lived in Nepal for a six month period. And at the time that she lived there, it was a very closed nation, very difficult to minister. They actually prided themselves on being a Hindu kingdom and so very difficult. And, and the capital of Nepal was very cold where she, when she lived there still is still is. And so, so tell me what w what was it like doing ministry there in Nepal? What did you do?

Adam Culp (14:39):
Well, I would say that it’s, it was extremely exciting. Up until recently, Nepal had the fastest growing church in the world. I was recently surpassed by Iran. I think Iran has the fastest church growing church now, but you had all these people who got saved very quickly. All these people in ministry. A lot of them didn’t have much training. So as someone who does a lot of ministry training works a lot with Bible colleges, equipping people for the ministry. It was really exciting for me. The students that I had, I had I was teaching in a seminary there, the oldest one in the country. And one I had about 70 students. I’ve taught in seminaries all over the world. And in India, when I would teach in seminary and ask people, you know, how many of you are, are were born into a Christian family?

Adam Culp (15:40):
A lot of hands would go up because a lot of the people that are in Bible college or seminary are pastors kids. I asked this to my students in Nepal about 70, and I said, how many of you were born into a Christian family? And four hands out of 70 went up. And I was thinking, wow, this is very different than, you know, I’ve, I’ve ministered, what are considered unreached areas, but still the people you’re working with are fairly churched. But in Nepal, it’s different. So then I asked another question. I said, how many of you are the only believer in your family? And over 60 hands went up?

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (16:20):
Well, so many of them are first-generation Christians. They have no foundation in the Christian faith. So you’re starting much more basic.

Adam Culp (16:29):
Exactly. But it also is a wonderful opportunity because you can put a very good foundation. You don’t have to deal with a lot of false beliefs or things that are unbiblical that creep in. So you’re really laying the foundation, you know, kind of like Paul was talking about how he didn’t want to build on another foundation. Nepal, Nepal is a great place to build your own foundation of Christ in someone’s life.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (16:57):
Yeah, a few years ago, we, we did a large evangelistic festival in Nepal, had a wonderful time. We’re able to, to build a church that is still there. That’s awesome in that place where we did the festival and saw a lot of Hindus that heard about Jesus, a lot of Buddhists. And we had a lot of a demon possessed people cast the demons out. It was a very beautiful people, absolutely wonderful beautiful people. And so I’m really excited about what God is doing there and the nation of Nepal. And then you’re also working in, in Myanmar as well. W what are you doing in Myanmar?

Adam Culp (17:41):
Well we’re partnered with the orphanage there and we also help start a Bible college outside of, so yeah,

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (17:51):
Come back here to the United States during COVID, because it’s very difficult to do, to do ministry when you’re stuck, locked up in your house. And so I know a lot of missionaries that have come back to the United States during this time, because they’re able to accomplish as much on zoom as they would be just, just living there. So tell me what, what comes next? What, what do you think is going to come next for you for your ministry and family?

Adam Culp (18:19):
A really good question. Like you said, during the lockdown, in, in Nepal, it was difficult to minister, but I took that four months that we were in our house. And just to give you an idea of what our house was like in Nepal they don’t build wide, they build tall, so you would have a bedroom on each floor and then a hallway, a stairwell. And if I put one arm out this way and the other arm out that way I couldn’t stretch them out fully before I would touch my neighbor’s house. And my house so tells you how small our yard was. And we got really stir, crazy being locked up in our house for four months, but I took that time to pray and ask God about the next season. And for four months he just kept talking to me about the United States and about this next season that we’re going into. And speaking to me about what, why even this whole COVID thing was allowed and, and what God’s plan is through it. So when we came back, I feel like I really have a message for America right now. And the big thing, if I had to put it in one word of what God’s doing in America right now is the Greek word Kabbalah.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (19:42):
So explain to our listeners, what does the word egg Caballo mean?

Adam Culp (19:47):
Well, at Caballo BOLO, little Bible teaching Balo means to throw or to cast. It’s easy to remember because you throw a ball

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (19:56):
And act means out. So EQ Balo means to cast out, like to cast out demons. Yes.

Adam Culp (20:02):
So if you borrow something, you throw it. If you ever, Caballo something, you throw it violently with all of your energy. And we see that a Kabbalah is used for casting out demons. The man who was in the marriage supper, but wasn’t clothed correctly, he was echoed hollowed out. But then when Jesus went around preaching and teaching and healing, and after doing everything he physically could do in ministry and just pouring himself out completely he looked and he said, it says that he looked upon the people and they were like sheep without a shepherd. And so Jesus, you know, I can just him, after putting in everything he had in ministry, there was, it still was not enough because there were still were lost people that he couldn’t reach. He said, pray to the Lord of the harvest, to EC BOLO workers and to the harvest

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (21:05):
And to cast out workers to, to, to cast out or violently throw out workers into the harvest field. Correct. Wow. That is a unique insight. I, I didn’t know that that Greek word was the word that’s used there,

Adam Culp (21:17):
That’s the Greek word that’s used there. And the amazing thing is for us, we, we listen to that and we’re like pray for the Lord to send workers into the harvest. And it seems very like gentle. And, but the way that Jesus prayed that prayer and the, and the heart cry that he prayed it from was not gentle. It was almost violent. And if God would take his beloved ministers and workers and children and violently cast them out into something that tells you a little bit about the urgency of what he’s casting them out to do.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (21:55):
Wow. So you’re, you’re praying that God would violently throw out laborers into the harvest fields here in America.

Adam Culp (22:06):
That’s why the things that are happening in our country and in the world right now are happening. And I can give you a new Testament example of it, give it to me. Okay. So in the first seven, six, seven chapters of acts, yeah. How many people were murdered?

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (22:23):
Tell me zero. Okay. Then you have Steven and the seventh, correct? End of the seventh chapter. So before Steven,

Adam Culp (22:31):
Yeah, no martyrs before Steven everybody’s needs are met. It said that there was no one who lacked anything in the church before Steven, they, even when they get arrested, they can’t keep him in prison. They are living graced like amazing grace, amazing. It’s like they, they are untouchable. Even the people that are, their enemies are afraid of them.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (22:57):
And then Steven gets martyred and then people start getting persecuted the assault.

Adam Culp (23:04):
Yes. So it says Saul entered every home in Jerusalem and arrested people. Every Christian home had a family member who’s in prison. And it says that those who escaped. And if you imagine like the police are coming to every Christian home and this citywide raid and the people that climb out the window, or, you know, right away with just the clothes on their backs are the only Christians who are not in prison. That, and the 12 disciples, they weren’t imprisoned, but every like family and the church, someone, or even the majority of their family was in imprisoned and being in a Roman prison. You’re going to be sold into slavery, horrible conditions, Coliseum, you know, all kinds of things. It says that those who escaped went everywhere, preaching the gospel. And then we start to see entire cities being saved,

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (24:04):
Acts chapter eight, Philip, the evangelists goes down to some area, preaches the gospel and people are, are saved. They’re baptized, correct. Peter and John come, they’re filled with the Holy spirit

Adam Culp (24:16):
Signs and wonders, but it, it changed because in the, in the first six chapters, we see a possible centered ministry. And when you see the Kabbalah wing or the casting out of the church from Jerusalem, you start to see people like Phillip who were not the 12 apostles. You start to see the ekklesia or, you know, the entire body being mobilized into ministry.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (24:48):
I’ve always found it. Interesting acts one eight says you shall receive power after the Holy spirit comes upon you, and you should be witnesses unto me in Jerusalem, Judea Sumeria, and to the outermost ends of the earth. And so the first seven chapters of acts is all in Jerusalem and Judea. And so acts one eight says you’re going to go to Samaria and to the uttermost ends of the earth, but you don’t get there until acts chapter eight, verse one, where the they’re scattered because of this persecution, they go preaching everywhere. And it’s in acts chapter eight that we see Samarria being reached by Philip. And then Ethiopia being reached by the Ethiopian UNIC, that Philip is able, which for them, that was the, the uttermost ends of the earth for their day. I mean, that was as far as they could think of as Ethiopia is so far away.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (25:41):
And so they, so it took that time of persecution for that prophecy that Jesus gave to, to really start to be fulfilled. So, so the church here in America is being persecuted in many ways in California, churches are not allowed to meet and some churches are anyways, but some churches have completely stopped meeting. And other States have some, some have freedoms, some, some don’t, but there does seem to be a lot of verbal persecution of Christians in America. So far we haven’t seen people being killed, but you, you think that that more persecution is coming before we

Adam Culp (26:23):
We’re getting a lot more intense. Wow. And we have a youth group that we partnered with in Nepal. There, you know, how churches will have prayer for bringing in the new year. We have a youth leader named Paul who had a prophetic word for 2020, which he said, brother, Adam, I feel like the Lord’s telling me that 2020 is going to be like the sifting for Gideon’s 300. Mm. And if you look at what God used to sift out, the 300, you started with 30,000. And then everyone who was afraid was told to go home. And I feel is like in that four months of lockdown from March to July I felt like the Lord was telling me that all of this fear is the first sifting and everyone who’s afraid. And they say, you know what?

Adam Culp (27:21):
I don’t want to be persecuted. I don’t want to take this hard path. I don’t want to pay the cost that it looks like it’s going to cost me to do what God’s called me to do. God’s saying, if you’re afraid, if you want to quit, go home. And that’s the decision so many people are in right now. And 2021 is I believe is going to be the second sifting. If you look at the second sifting, Gideon took his men on military exercises. It doesn’t say this explicitly, but we know from if you’ve ever been in the military, you know, someone who has, when you go on a March in the military, you’re carrying your equipment, your hot they were in a you’re tired. They were in, in Israel, which is a pretty air-dry place. So you can imagine they’re hot, they’re dusty, they’re dirty, they’ve got grit and you know, their color.

Adam Culp (28:16):
They’re hungry, they’re tired. They come to a stream. Gideon says Addie’s. And I believe that we are going to have a season. That’s going to say Addie’s where it looks like everything that we’ve gone through finished, we’ve got a reprieve. And it says that the soldiers went down and the Lord said to Gideon to look and see how they responded to this season of ease, where they were able to take off their equipment, where they were able to wash their face and wash their neck and drink. And it says that all of them went down and just put their face in the water. They’re splashing water over their head. They’re washing their face, their neck. They’re totally focused on on rolling that hunger that fleshed need. Cause our flesh has been such trouble getting comfortable again, after a time of discomfort, but 300 with their spirit, their sword in their hand, we’re still alert like a soldier, bringing the water up to their mouth. And that second sifting, which I believe is going to be taking place after this new year is going to see if people return back to where they were before we went through all this. And those who returned back to the way they were and life is normal. And they don’t learn any lessons from this are not going to be a part of the 300,

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (29:44):
But there will be a remnant. There will be a remnant that will, that will continue to fight for God, continued to evangelize, continue to be bold and sharing their faith. Even in the midst of difficult times, times of persecution, it will stay on watch. And I believe we will see a time of revival in America. Again, we’re, we’re where thousands and thousands of people will turn towards God. Amen. Another great awakening. That’s what I’ve been praying for asking God, God send our nation a a great awakening. And I I’ve been very concerned about America too. In the beginning of this year, I’m going to launch a brand new book called proof. God is real. And it’s a book I wrote specifically to attack the atheistic mindset that you often find on YouTube and on Twitter. Many atheists on both those platforms are very aggressively coming against Christianity, mad at Christianity. And so, so I wrote this book proof. God is real in order to attack that atheistic mindset, that that has attacked our nation, because I do think that God wants America to turn back towards him. Yup. You know, America for many years has sent missionaries out all over the world. Yeah. And now it’s time for America to have missionaries. I mean, we need people, we,

Adam Culp (31:10):
Or missionaries coming into America now than we’re sending out by a large number

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (31:15):
W which is exciting. We need it here in America. Well, I’m so glad that you have dedicated your life to serving God and really sacrificed in your whole family sacrifice, being in different parts of the world. For, for those who are listening, if they wanted to, to support your, your ministry and find out more about you, what’s your website?

Adam Culp (31:39):
Well, the name of our ministry is for his glory to the nations.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (31:57):
Well, I’d encourage you to, to go to Adam’s website, find out more about their ministry and thank you, Adam so much for being on the podcast.

Adam Culp (32:06):
Thank you. I had a great time and God bless all. Everyone who’s listening and watching

Evangelism Podcast Host (32:11):
For more information about how to share your faith or to financially support our worldwide evangelistic outreaches, visit King ministries.com. Again, that’s King ministries.com.

 

Michael Lusk | On the Vanguard of Missions

Michael and Christina Lusk train evangelists in the developing world and give them sound systems to help them amplify their voices. Today Michael shares how some evangelists are like massive container ships and how some evangelists are like tiny canoes. Are both types of evangelists needed? We find out on today’s podcast.

Website: https://www.vanguardevangelism.com/

If you are excited about evangelism listen to the Evangelism Podcast, with Daniel King, the Evangelism Coach.

Transcription:

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (00:00):
Michael and Christina Lusk train evangelists in the developing world and give them sound systems to help them amplify their voices today. Michael shares how some evangelists are like massive container ships and how some evangelists are like tiny canoes are both types of evangelists needed. We find out on today’s podcast,

Evangelism Podcast Host (00:26):
Jesus said go into all the world and preach the gospel. Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be welcome to the evangelism podcast with Dr. Daniel King, where Daniel interviews, full-time evangelists, pastors, missionaries, and normal everyday Christians to discover how they share their faith, their powerful testimonies and amazing stories that will inspire you to reach people with the good news. And now here’s your host missionary and evangelist Daniel King. Welcome to

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (01:02):
The evangelism podcast. I’m excited about telling people about Jesus and I’m joined today with a very special guest. Michael and Christina Lusk have been close friends of ours, and we really admire their passion for Jesus and their heart for evangelism brother, Michael, thank you so much for joining us today.

Michael Lusk (01:22):
Well, thank you for the opportunity. I really am glad to be here and looking forward to our conversation.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (01:27):
So your ministry is very innovative. You are taking sound systems and giving them to evangelists in different parts of the world and also training them what to say, how to preach the gospel. Tell me a little bit about what you’ve been doing

Michael Lusk (01:48):
Well just to give you a little bit of background, and I know you probably know some of this, but for those that will be hearing we founded our ministry about 15 years ago and we started in Argentina in South America and always with the passion to share the gospel, just a simple focus on the message of the gospel. And so as we began to do that initially in Argentina and then in other nations around the world, we began to discover that there were national evangelists in those nations that really had a desire to fulfill their call as an evangelist, but maybe had never had any type of training, very few resources and often a sense of being disconnected. They didn’t feel like they had a network of other people that really understood what they were doing and, and got in there with them. And so as we began to meet these individuals, the Lord began to put a burden in my heart to help them the frontline of Angeles. And so that’s kind of where the name of our ministry came from Vanguard evangelism, Vanguard being the frontline of an advance, a frontline of a force. And so we began to help these evangelists in different ways. And one of the primary ways that we do that, and that’s certainly not the only one, but the primary one that we’re kind of known for is providing portable sound systems to these evangelists.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (03:06):
Now, I remember I first met you at a TL Osborn crusade in Costa Rica. And I remember that Dr. Osborne really liked you because you played violin and he played a little bit of violin. So he said, Oh, we have an evangelist here from Argentina, come up here and play some violin for us. And, and tell me what type of influence did TL Osborn have on your ministry?

Michael Lusk (03:36):
It’d be impossible to measure. I really became familiar with his ministry long distance through his books. And I think that’s a story. A lot of people share with brother Osbourne. He was a very prolific writer, very good writer, and his books are translated in over a hundred languages and they would ship them out literally by the ton daily, all over the world. And so his books are all over the globe and and that was the case for me. I found a copy of his book. It was a small book, not even one of his major books. It was called you are God’s best. And it was on my aunt’s bookshelf. And I just was poking through her books. One day I was about 11 or 12 years old and found this book. And of course, if you’re familiar with Dr Osborne’s books, they have an inset generally with some black and white pictures of their big crusades, big open air evangelism events around the world.

Michael Lusk (04:29):
And I saw those pictures and I saw for the first time that I can remember somebody that was doing what God had been putting in my heart to do. I didn’t know that anybody did that. And so there an immediate connection, this affinity. And so we began after my wife and I married, we began to support Dr. Osborne’s ministry. And then right about the time I met you in Costa Rica, just prior to that I met him at an event in Des Moines, Iowa miracle life conferences, a week long event. And it was like he was talking straight to us. We were already in Argentina at that time. And so we’re just freshly started new missionaries. And it was like he was answering the questions that we had about miracles, about evangelism, how to do the ministry of Jesus. And so through that, then the invitation to Costa Rica, where we met you and we’ve been friends with you ever since. And so, yeah, his, his connection was a heart connection, right? From the beginning, he was a mentor for us and a privileged to have known him. He’s he’s in his reward now. But still very connected to the ministry through his daughter, Dr. Ladonna, I was born that continues to lead and I’m on the board of directors there and also the global events director for houseware ministries. And one of the other hats that I wear.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (05:50):
Yeah. I remember some of those pictures in T.L. Osborne’s books where he would line up preachers from different countries and next to them would be this big Bullhorn with a sound system and a microphone, and he would send them out, preaching the gospel. And you’re essentially doing the same thing. Now, how many sound systems have you planted into the world now?

Michael Lusk (06:17):
So far we’ve done over 400. So we’ve been able to train right around 800 specifically evangelists, you know, in addition to believers, but just speaking strictly of evangelists close to 800 that we’ve trained in face-to-face meetings. And then through that primarily that’s the main method we use. We, we supply these sound systems and over 400 now, in fact, just before I got in here to record talking with our director over in French Africa, and we’re getting a shipment of another 60 or so units. And so it’s just really taken on a life of its own. I mean, when it first started it was just one evangelists and Honduras central America that is a great friend of our ministry. In fact, he’s our director in Latin America now Elvin Serna just saw how he was going up into these village places, mountain villages and Honduras and planning churches and going, you know, sometimes on a dirt bike or even on foot or on mule back to take the gospel to these villages. And I thought, you know, we’ve got to help people like that. Somehow, if we could just give to him, you know, maybe what would be an insurmountable at that time, a huge financial undertaking to get a portable sound system, but we could just give that tool and it would instantly multiply the impact of his ministry, the, the reach of his ministry. And so we, we think of ourselves as multiplying, amplifying the voice of Jesus in the earth.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (07:50):
So, on average, what does it cost to put one of those sound systems in the hands of an indigenous evangelists? Yeah, the price varies

Michael Lusk (08:01):
Is of course different countries, but basically anywhere in the world for about $250, we can put a system in the hands of a national preacher man, woman out there plant planting churches. And it just, you know, one testimony I like to share with people from an Indian evangelists that were able to sponsor. He said, before I had that sound system, I could go and preach in the village. And a few households around a few families would be able to hear my voice. And he said, now with that sound system I can preach and the people and the other village can hear me. And so it just ultimately, you know, how many times we don’t know, but you think that evangelist he’s going to be out there. She’s going to be out there preaching anyway. And so you’re really just taking someone that’s already proven themselves. They’re already making an impact. They’re already producing fruit and you’re just instantly for a small amount of money greatly amplifying their reach, greatly multiplying their impact. And so it just, it makes sense to do it.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (09:03):
And so you’re also coaching these evangelists and, and training them. How do you go about doing that? What’s the process? Well, we, we initially

Michael Lusk (09:13):
I start by w I really believe in as we’re able to do in-person events and obviously this year with COVID-19, that’s been an unusual situation for everybody, but generally speaking, we like to have that initial connection be in person. And so we do, face-to-face in person training. That’ll last about three days. And where we, where we do that is when we go into a city and one of the nations of the world to do a big open air miracle festival evangelism festival. Those are typically in the evening. And so in the daytime, the morning of those days, we will train evangelists. And so we do morning sessions, and then that kind of culminates in the distribution of these portable sound systems. And so it’s kind of a real powerful dynamic that happens. These evangelists will travel in sometimes even from neighboring countries, they’ll come to receive that training formerly be part of the, kind of the real organic relationship-based Vanguard community of evangelists.

Michael Lusk (10:16):
And then through that, you know, they’re getting that training. They’re able to go out in the afternoons with other evangelists that maybe they’re getting to meet for the first time, share the gospel, invite people to the evening event, and then participate in that evening service as well. So all together, it’s just a total saturation in their calling relationships that are being forged. I mean, there’s no better way to build relationships in evangelism than by doing evangelism. And so we’re a testimony to that. We’re still here today after you know, 15, 20 years. So that’s okay.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (10:52):
Powerful dynamic. And then continuing, you know,

Michael Lusk (10:56):
Well, obviously we, we come back to the United States where we’re based and go to other nations, but we are building of touch points if you will, to keep that community going. So some of the ways that are developing, and this is all very much in a growing process, you know these evangelists that meet one another, a lot of times they’re seeing their foreman kind of chapters, if you will, local groups of evangelists that they can actually be face-to-face, we’re providing opportunities through zoom and other technology to allow these evangelists to connect long distance and receive further training. We’ve got a Facebook group that they can be part of shared their testimonies and also see what’s going on with their, their colleagues around the world. So we’re working with a lot of different tools to really build us an continuing sense of community.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (11:49):
So of these approximately 800 evangelists that, that you’ve have you been able to keep track of how many people they’ve been able to impact?

Michael Lusk (11:59):
We don’t have real hard numbers. It’s, it’d be very difficult to do that, but we, we get enough of these snapshots to know that it’s a very significant impact. And just the, the thing that strikes me over and over again is just the sense of gratitude, you know, for for an evangelist, maybe in the developed world in the West, maybe, you know, a $250 sound system, it’d be something they’d be grateful for, but it maybe wouldn’t be the world shaking event that it is in the life of these frontline evangelists in the developing world. But the sense of gratitude, I mean, these evangelists, they just can’t hardly believe that somebody even notices them, that someone cares about them believes in them, wants to you know, propel them in their ministry. And really when I go as an evangelist my goal is that when I leave that place, that they’re not thinking, wow, what a great ministry, Michael Las Kaz, but really that they would say, wow, I’ve discovered what a great ministry I have with my people, the place I’m working. And so, you know, they, they don’t need passports. They’re already in country. They know the culture, they know the languages of these areas, they know the needs, and they’re able to work in a very sophisticated way, a very nuanced way that can kind of roll with the punches if you will, and have an impact in the face of changing circumstances. So it’s a very powerful dynamic that comes into play.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (13:38):
I heard you share an analogy of the difference between a massive ship coming into Harbor and a small canoe that can go up maybe a small stream. Talk to me about that in relationship to evangelize. Sure.

Michael Lusk (13:56):
Well, I think it’s a picture of the Holy spirit gave to me, and it seems to really resonate with people, you know and I’m not saying this against any big international ministries, I believe in international ministries, they do have a role, but I compare it to a huge ocean freighter, a cargo ship, you know, the draft, th the amount of ship that’s under the surface, you know, below level on these ships is sometimes, you know, 50, a hundred feet. And so you can’t just pull an ocean freighter up in any Harbor, any port of call, you gotta have real specific criteria. Everything’s gotta be in line for that to work. Now, when it does work, you can move a lot of material with it. You can get a lot done, but there’s a lot of places that you couldn’t get a ship like that.

Michael Lusk (14:43):
And, you know, to bring that down to the level of ministries like ours, and that do international evangelism, you know, a situation COVID-19 who could have predicted that that what that would look like and what kind of, what dampening effect that had on, on our ministries. And we’re overcoming it. We thank God for that, but it was a real deal breaker, if you will, in terms of doing some of the type of events that we do. And the, the contrast to that would be the dugout canoe, you know, the dugout canoe they’re used all over the world and primitive settings. And you know, you only have to have about six or seven inches of water to take one of these canoes in, and they can go into these backwater unreached places, the places in the we’d call the Backwoods where maybe the name of Jesus has never been mentioned. Nobody’s ever heard the gospel before. No evangelists maybe has ever gone into these communities. And these dugout canoes, these national evangelists can go and penetrate deep into these nations places where an international ministry could never go. And so I think it’s not an either or proposition. It’s not a criticism of one versus the other. It’s just simply to, to recognize the unique role and to validate it and to empower these nationals and what they’re doing, the only they can do in that way,

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (16:09):
Love what you’re doing with doing evangelism coaching of these indigenous native evangelists in the countries that they’re, they’re used to, that they’re working in, and they can have such a potential to reach a huge harvest of souls. You know, Jesus went to every town and every village, and they can literally do that. They can go to every small town, every village and have an impact. If someone who’s listening wants to sponsor a sound system for one of these preachers that you’re training and wanted to give a gift. You said it was average of about $250. How would they be able to do that? Yeah,

Michael Lusk (16:50):
The easiest way is just to go to our website. It’s Vanguard, evangelism.com and Ray in the give tab. You can give right there online. You can mail it in if you prefer, but the easiest way is just right there in line. And you can just leave a memo in there to designate it for sound and put PA or sound system, and we’ll, we’ll know what to do with it. And we’re actively, this is an ongoing program. We obviously ramp up the fundraising when we’re doing a distribution, but it’s a continuing initiative that we’ve got going on year in and year out. And there’s just no limit to the amount of money that we could put to good use by empowering these national evangelists. So what, whatever gift you have is going to be put to good use. So we would definitely appreciate,

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (17:36):
Well, I’d encourage you to, to go and donate to Michael Lusk and to Vanguard to help them train evangelists that are in-country preaching the language that the people speak. They are going often with with very little, they don’t need to have a huge salary, but they’re going everywhere preaching the gospel. And so if you have a heart to help evangelists like that, then I encourage you to go and give Michael, thank you so much for being on the evangelism podcast. You guys are a tremendous blessing and we pray for you all the time. Well, thank you. And same to you. We love you, and we love what you stand for. And we’re in this together. We’re winning together with Jesus

Evangelism Podcast Host (18:24):
For more information about how to share your faith or to financially support our worldwide evangelistic outreaches, visit King ministries.com. Again, that’s King ministries.com.

 

Donna Schambach | All You Need is Faith in God

Donna Schambach is the daughter of R.W. Schambach, an evangelist who dedicated his life to reaching people for Jesus by doing tent crusades in the inner-cities of America. She has taken up his mantle and continues to preach the Gospel.

Website: https://www.schambachfoundation.org

Transcript:

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (00:00):
Donna Schambach is the daughter of RW. Schambach an evangelist who dedicated his life to reaching people for Jesus. By doing 10 crusades in the inner cities of America, she has taken up his mantle and continues to preach the gospel with boldness.

Evangelism Podcast Host (00:21):
Jesus said, go into all the world and preach the gospel. Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Welcome to the evangelism podcast with Dr. Daniel King, where Daniel interviews, full-time evangelists, pastors, missionaries, and normal everyday Christians to discover how they share their faith, their powerful testimonies, and amazing stories that will inspire you to reach people with the good news. And now here’s your host, missionary and evangelist Daniel King. Welcome to

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (00:58):
Evangelism podcast. I’m Daniel King, and I am excited about telling people about Jesus today. We have a very special guest with us, Ms. Donna Schambach. Thank you so much for joining us,

Donna Schambach (01:10):
Daniel. It’s so great to be asked. Thank you for having me. I’m glad to be.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (01:15):
Now. You are the daughter of a great evangelist RW Schambach, who just had a tremendous evangelistic fervor, and actually was one of my father’s heroes. My, my father, he went to one of your father’s meetings in Detroit, Michigan. He had the big tent set up and my dad went every night and volunteered and helped pray. And he learned so much watching your father RW Schambach preached the gospel that my father decided that he wanted a tent. And so he raised money and he went out and bought a tent. So he could do old-fashioned tent crusades, just like your dad.

Donna Schambach (01:59):
That’s pretty awesome. Yes. I grew up in the tent era.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (02:03):
So tell me some of your father’s ministry and what God did through his life.

Donna Schambach (02:11):
When he got out of Bible school, he had a real desire to see people get healed, and he believed in signs and wonders. My mother said his first pastorate, he spent more time in the hospital, praying for people to get healed than he did in the office. And it was around that time, I would say about 1954, something like that. TLS born came to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and my dad went to see him and a friend of my dad who had a blinded eye from it was an accident in a steel mill. He saw TL call him up in front of thousands of people to pray for him. And he couldn’t believe it. He said, why is this man praying for him in front of all these people? What if he doesn’t get healed? And when TL just very calmly laid his hands on the man’s eyes and just prayed in the name of Jesus and instantly that man received brand new eyes.

Donna Schambach (03:10):
And my dad ran up to see because he knew the man. And when he saw that wasn’t that he saw the miracle, but he saw Dr. TL put it on display. He said, that’s what I want to learn, how to do. And that sent him to an apprenticeship with another healing, evangelist, AA Allen for four and a half years. My dad pretty much ran his organization and preach the afternoon services, preached faith. And at night he saw so many miracles and God did so many things that about 1959, God told him. Now it’s time for you to go out on your own and how that started. God sent him to New York city. He did not have a tent. He did not have a crusade team. He went with my uncle, my mother’s brother. And they went and looked at a theater in Manhattan was a Lowe’s theater.

Donna Schambach (04:09):
And my dad watched the people who were coming in and he said, I bet you, I could rent that facility for more than that man’s making in a month. And he went and he approached the owner and he said, I want to rent this facility for a month. And he made up a flyer, signs, wonders, and miracles, Bible days are here again. And he and my uncle passed them out on the streets of Manhattan. They were their own advancement and they had their first service. There was like 30, 35 people that came. But so many miracles took place that by the end of the month, there are over 2000 people in that theater. And that began his ministry. It started in the inner city of New York from there and went to Newark, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Chicago, New York. And he planted wheat Bible centers because there were so many converts coming to the Lord because of the miracles that they saw.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (05:07):
I remember one of the famous phrases that your father RW buck always said was you don’t have any problems. All you need is faith in God. Give me just a minute. I’m going to pull up that sermon. Let’s listen to a little bit. Yeah,

R.W. Schambach (05:20):
Right now, still the hope for the people of God, let them worship their false idols. I’m not bowing down to any false God. God is God. And he’s the same that day as he watched 2000 years ago. And he is the answer to every one of our problems. You don’t have any trouble. All you need is faith in God.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (05:50):
What are some of the things that, that you learned from him as a little girl?

Donna Schambach (05:55):
There’s so many things that I learned observing him. He believed that the Bible was the word of God that if God said it, he would do it. And if he spoke it, he would bring it to pass. He said that many, many times. And so he preached the word and he practiced the word. My dad was a very positive person. He lived by faith. Didn’t mean he didn’t have some struggles that he had to walk through some hurtful days. Some days when he had to believe God for money, like all evangelists, but he always kept his confession. His confession was the word of God. My dad also had a boldness to go out in on a limb and faith. You might say, I remember we were in the Czech Republic for the first time in the city of Bruneau and, and the Pentecostal church invited us, but they rented a big soccer facility.

Donna Schambach (06:54):
And when we got there, the man told us, he said, most of these people in this audience, they’re not saved. They never been saved. And I remember watching them, they had their arms folded and my dad preached a gospel message. I had never heard him preach before. And he just, almost like a lawyer laid out the message of the gospel, but I could see the people were still sitting there with their arms folded. And all of a sudden he spotted a deaf and mute young man and pulled him up in front of all those unbelieving people and put his fingers in his ear. Like you usually did commanded those deaf spirits to come out, had that young boy talking. And when they saw the power of God, put on display, over half of that audience came forward to receive Jesus that night. It just blew my mind. And I, I said, dad, how did you know he was going to get healed? How did you know it? And he was a man of few words, but now I understand it because of my own ministry. He said there was just that inner knowing that God was going to do it. And what we would understand to be a form of the word of knowledge, that’s just the spirit of God working with us. And, but he was willing to put God on display

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (08:13):
And you have a very strong evangelistic gifting on your life. In fact, I think that the, the anointing gets stronger from, from generation to generation. And so how old were you when you started in ministry? Did you grow up, participating in the ministry with him?

Donna Schambach (08:32):
Honestly, my dad would not push us in ministry known as very young. He might have me come and sing and I’m not a singer. And I let him know that I’m straight up, but no, I pursued education. That was, I felt like I was going to be in Christian school education, the rest of my life. In fact, I had been in the Bronx for nine years. I was in the middle of that assignment. When the pastors around me started to talk to me about speaking gifts. And they felt like I should pursue a minister’s license, which I didn’t feel called to preach at all. And I said, you’re not going to call me. My, my parents never pushed it, but I did get honest with the Lord. I said, I’m hearing this enough father, but if you want me to be a preacher, you’re going to have to call me.

Donna Schambach (09:21):
And I’m going to tell you Daniel four and a half years later, he answered that. And he woke me up at five o’clock in the morning, which I am not a morning person, but it felt like God’s hand grabbed me in the pit of my stomach and grabbed me out of bed. I was wide awake. He sent me to my chair. He had me open to Luke chapter one. And when I got to verse 17, I knew he was calling me to preach. He talked about the ministry of John the Baptist, and he said, I’m raising you up in the spirit and power of Elijah to turn the hearts of the fathers, to the children, the disobedient, to the wisdom of the just and to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. And then he said these three words, and I had never heard him use together missionary teacher evangelist.

Donna Schambach (10:12):
And I knew in my heart that everything that I had done with training children and their parents teaching the precepts of scripture, that all of that was formulating a call on my life. That would not just be in one local facility, but would it be global? And so how many years ago was that, that you received that call? That’s going back now almost 30 years. And honestly, even though I worked beside my dad for 25 years, I was his afternoon speaker. God was showing me how to work in the power gifts and do an altar call and run a ministry basically when he died. I remember the day that I had to go back into the studio to do the new openings and closings, to tell people that he was gone. And when I came out, I felt the weight of his ministry fall on my shoulders.

Donna Schambach (11:12):
And I said, Lord, I can’t carry this. I’m not RW Schambach. And he said so quickly to me, he said, I never told Joshua to go back and pick up Moses rod. He said, I told Joshua would he use his feet? And every bit of ground, the soles of his feet tread upon, I’d give it to him. And he said, if you will be obedient to me, he said, I’ll take you places that your father has never gone. And I it’s been a trust relationship since then, but 30 days from that day, I was in my first crusade call-in centers to Jesus and seeing miracles take place. And it’s been happening ever since.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (11:54):
And Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever. The same Jesus that worked in your father’s life works in your life. And your ministry now is multifaceted. You continue the passion for soul winning and even holding crusades in different parts of America. Also doing women’s meetings, which you are sharing with me some today. And also you have a school of ministry where you’re, you’re training the next generation. Tell, tell me about that.

Donna Schambach (12:24):
You know, when my dad was still alive, the last 10, 15 years of his life, he kept saying over and over again in his messages, God is raising up an end time army to do the works of Christ and the power of Christ. And I said to him, I said, dad, you know, there are so many young ministers that want to be the Elatia to you. And he says, I’m not a teacher. I said, I know you’re not a teacher, you’re a preacher, but I believe that we could put some teaching together. We could do a school of ministry and people would come here just to hear you talk and hear your experiences. And so we put together a school of ministry the last 10 years of his life. And when this year hit 2020, and we couldn’t travel, the Lord took me right to all of those notebooks and all of that curriculum.

Donna Schambach (13:16):
And I said, we’re going to put this online because that vision, that the Lord gave him about an end time army of evangelists that needs to come to fruition. And I know that there are a lot of people who’ll never go to seminary and there are things that evangelists need to know that seminaries don’t teach and there’s ministry in the spirit that comes through a tutor Lynch, you know, it comes through learning. And also, I believe two Mo more is caught than taught. And so I’ve put together some of my own teaching, some of the curriculum for that my dad used to teach. And then I’ve invited some of the evangelists that I know to come and be part of that school. And we launched shadowbox school of ministry this year online.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (14:03):
Wow. So if someone wanted to receive training in evangelism from the Schambach school of ministry, how would they,

Donna Schambach (14:10):
It’s so easy rather than trying to spell Schambach they just go to Donna global.com, Donna global.com. And it’ll take you right to our school of ministry

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (14:20):
And you’re continuing to, to do ministry. Can people donate to you at that place too?

Donna Schambach (14:26):
Absolutely. And go to the same place and become a partner or just give, as you feel led to do that. And we’re believing God that this next decade is going to be a decade of great harvest. So when you invest, you’re investing in soles, everything, every book we sell every course goes to winning souls to the Lord Christ.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (14:52):
Well, I’d encourage you if you’re listening and you have a heart for evangelism, go and support Donna Schambach in her ministry she has big vision and she needs all the resources she can get. And so go and, and, and, and help her out. What word would you give to someone who wants to be used by God in the area of evangelism? What would you say to them?

Donna Schambach (15:17):
My dad would say the first word of evangelism is go. And if you feel a call to the ministry, just begin telling people about Jesus right now, what a school that is, you’ll learn about the hearts of people and what they’re thinking, what their needs are and begin to pray with them. But you also need to think about some training, even if it is just a short-term training school. There’s so much to learn about the cultures and people of the world and how, how you go into an area and, and deal with the culture. It’s important to know that and also just knowing about the spiritual gifts and how you can be used in them and how you can flow and hearing the voice of the Holy spirit. These are all important things. So set aside some time to study, but don’t let anything hold you back. You can be used of God right now, be baptized in the Holy spirit. If you haven’t gotten that in yet. And Jesus said it this way, you shall receive power. When the Holy spirit comes upon you and you will be witnesses unto me, and then just let him do it through you.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (16:25):
Amen. Thank you so much for being on the podcast. Miss Donna,

Evangelism Podcast Host (16:30):
For more information about how to share your faith or to financially support our worldwide evangelistic outreaches, visit King ministries.com. Again, that’s King ministries.com.

 

David Shibley | Global Advance

Dr. David Shibley is the founder of Global Advance, an innovative ministry that trains front-line leaders to reach people for Jesus. He is also the author of many books about missions and evangelism. In today’s podcast, he explains how his ministry is advancing the Gospel around the globe.

Questions:

How do you train marketplace leaders?

How did you develop a passion for reaching the world for Jesus?

What are some of the things that you think our generation should prepare for that God wants to do in the years to come?

Website: https://www.globaladvance.org/

Read David Shibley’s Many Books About Missions: https://amzn.to/3aT31OA

If you are excited about evangelism listen to the Evangelism Podcast, with Daniel King, the Evangelism Coach.

Transcription:

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (00:00):
Dr. David Shibley is the founder of Global Advance in innovative ministry that trains frontline leaders to reach people for Jesus. He’s also the author of many books about missions and evangelism and today’s podcast. He explains how his ministry is advancing the gospel

Evangelism Podcast Host (00:19):
Around the world. Jesus said, go into all the world and preach the gospel. Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be welcome to the evangelism podcast with Dr. Daniel King we’re Daniel interviews, full-time evangelists, pastors, missionaries, and normal everyday Christians to discover how they share their faith, their powerful testimonies and amazing stories that will inspire you to reach people with the good news. And now here’s your host missionary and evangelist Daniel King.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (00:57):
Welcome to the evangelism podcast. I’m excited about telling people about Jesus. And today I have a very special guest, Dr. David Shibley, who is the founder of global advance. Thank you for being with us today.

Dr. David Shibley (01:11):
Daniel it’s always a privilege to be with you, and it’s great to be with your audience as well. Thank you.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (01:16):
Global Advance is an extremely innovative ministry. Can you tell us some about what you do and what your vision is?

Dr. David Shibley (01:25):
Our vision is to equip national leaders on the ground for the advance of the gospel in their nation. We exist to ignite what we call Changemakers worldwide to help fulfill the great commission in each of their respective locations to help turn that national church, wherever we happen to be itself into a missionary sending church. So we equip pastoral leaders. We equip marketplace leaders women who many times, even in Christian contexts are subjugated in one way or another in in many nations. And then also the next gen next gen leaders. So we are an equipping ministry for the purpose of bringing people to Christ evangelism and of course discipling them in the context of that national church.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (02:23):
I think one of the things that you do, that’s very interesting is the marketplace ministry going in training national leaders who are involved in, in business or in the marketplace. How are you reaching Christians who are involved in the marketplace?

Dr. David Shibley (02:37):
That has been an amazing open door for us. Even in areas where the training of pastoral leaders has been somewhat limited because of political situations in different nations. Always we have an open door to train people in the marketplace. And so we simply bring biblical economics to bear best practices, outcomes expected outcomes. And we see tremendous openness. I think of a one West African nation where seven Muslim businessmen came simply to hear businessmen from America and their principles of effective business. And they all went away believers in Jesus. And so we’re particularly thankful for how the Lord is using this marketplace outreach. That was really the vision of our current president. Our son, Jonathan, who heads the ministry of global advance and is just doing a tremendous job along with a great team.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (03:49):
You’ve been doing ministry for quite a few years now, your whole life, I believe. Tell us some about how you got started in ministry and how you really caught a passion for reaching the world for Jesus.

Dr. David Shibley (04:04):
You know, I had a very evangelistic father an evangelistic pastor dad who pastored in Tulsa, Oklahoma, his heart was to see people come to Christ, 50% of every offering, every tea ever taken at that church where he pastored went straight to missions and a huge mission heart. And he went to be with the Lord when I was 15 years old. Of course I was a very traumatic experience for me and for our family. And yet the Lord sustained us in such a magnificent way. And out of the heartbreak of all of that, and I was 15 years old searching whereas as Michael w would say my place in this world and the Lord just met me in, in those days in a marvelous way. And when I was 16 years old, he called me to preach. And the pastor of our church at that time, after my dad had gone to be with the Lord, I shared that with our pastor and he said, well, why don’t you speak next Wednesday night at the prayer meeting?

Dr. David Shibley (05:17):
And after I do give a quote sermon at is what he called it. So I did, but there happened to be a Methodist pastor who was in the audience that night and he had compassion on me or whatever, and invited me to preach at his church the next Sunday. And it just began to snowball. And I began to speak at youth camps all over the the, the middle part of our country in Kansas and Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Daniel, it’s just never stopped. I’ve I’ve always had a vision to reach people for Christ. I’ve had the privilege of ministering as an evangelist, but also pastoring churches in Arkansas and Oklahoma. But I started preaching when I was 16 years old. That was 54 years ago now. And the Lord has sustained me. I’m deeply, deeply grateful. I’ve preached in the world’s largest church.

Dr. David Shibley (06:10):
I’ve also preached in little huts in the middle of central Africa as have you. And always just the joy of standing as a representative for the Lord. Jesus Christ has, has always been the same, no matter the context I’ve been privileged to preach to thousands of men and a promise keepers events and large stadiums. One night in Minneapolis at a promise keepers event, I was privileged to be the, the gospel presenter that first night. And we saw a thousand men that night make professions of faith in Christ, just deeply grateful for all that the Lord has done. And I, I just stand back and on and say, this is the Lord’s doing it’s marvelous in our eyes, never lacked for places to preach, but some of those are because I’ve made opportunities for preaching at rest homes. And Sunday school classes never saw any occasion for the ministry of the gospel to be smaller in consequential, all of them count and all of them are important.

Dr. David Shibley (07:22):
And now I just love more than anything else passing on to the next generation and peripherally some of that evangelistic fire that is on you and that by the grace of God, I have received a portion of that as well. Over the years of imparting that to the next generation, to get the gospel out. That’s got to be our great, great passion, the overarching passion of the church to get the gospel to every person. I love the watch word of of different mission movements the gospel for every person and a church for every people group on earth. That’s my heart as well.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (08:04):
Well, I remember when I was just starting out in ministry, I was very young. You had something that you call days with David and you invited me and a group of other young evangelists, young preachers here to Rockwell, Texas to, to spend some time with you. And some of those principles that you shared with me have really helped me in, in building the ministry and in helping me to, to do what God has called me to do. And I, I just so appreciate your, your leadership and your wisdom and how you, you have a passion for passing on the principles you’ve learned to the next generation. What are some of the, the, the leadership principles that you think are really important to pass on?

Dr. David Shibley (08:52):
I think this generation in particular is a very committed to authenticity. And even though they may violate that principle themselves they certainly want to see it in their leaders, particularly spiritual leaders. And so everything that we do Daniel has to come out of this overflow of personal intimacy with Jesus. And so foundational to everything is I try to impart to younger spiritual leaders. Christian leaders is that daily time of intimacy with the Lord getting into his word, letting God speak to you through his word letting the Holy spirit minister to you, and then intercession and prayer and praise and worship all of that together. The reading of classic Christian books. I love many of the, the wonderful authors today, and I read several of them, but this generation also needs to be familiar with Oswald chambers and men and women Elizabeth Elliott and her writings, and those that have really shaped a Bible, believing Christians, evangelical Christians over these last 50 to 100 years.

Dr. David Shibley (10:10):
So I, I’m just very grateful. I I’d say, just keep walking with Jesus. I love what Dr. Bill bright taught. He, he said it was a transferrable concept of keeping short accounts with God, what he calls spiritual, breathing that any time the Holy spirit in any way shows you anything in your life, any thought, any action, any words that dishonor the Lord in any way that you immediately confess and forsake that acknowledging with the Lord that this has no place in my life as a believer. That’s what that word literally means in first, John one nine, if we confess to the Greek word homologeo, if we say the same thing about this sin that God says about it. In other words, if we don’t try to excuse it, but we fully own up to it. We say that’s not to have a part in my life as a believer. If we confess our sin, then God is faithful. And just to cleanse us from all sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness, Dr. Bright said that by the confession of sin and repentance he called that spiritual exhaling and then inhaling by receiving the forgiveness of God and a fresh fullness of the spirit of God to do our assignment, not in our own capacity, but beyond our best efforts in supernatural capacity, the power of God’s spirit within us,

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (11:38):
You are really a visionary looking into the future at, at what God wants to do in the world. What are some of the things that you think our generation should prepare for that God wants to do in the years to come? I do believe that

Dr. David Shibley (11:54):
The Western world in the United States in particular, the church in America will no longer escape persecution. We have experienced harassment but certainly not. Frontal persecution as have so many of our brothers and sisters around the world. I think there’s going to be a stronger affinity of the global body of Christ. The one for the other scripture is clear if one member suffers, we all suffer. And I think that now the Western church, the American church in particular is going to have a stronger sense of identity with our brothers and sisters who have suffered for the cause of Christ around the world. I’m grateful that during this very challenging season that the whole world has gone through with the COVID virus, that there has been a degree of, of a repentance and cleansing in the church.

Dr. David Shibley (12:54):
I don’t know to what degree the Holy Spirit himself measures that, but I do believe it’s preparatory for a greater work that the spirit of God will do in our nation, as well as many nations of the earth. Again, a great sweep of the spirit of God. And, you know, it’s interesting, I, as a teenager, myself, and as a college student, I lived through the Jesus movement and the amazing release of creativity in the church and systemic change in the church, which wasn’t a rebellion. It was just all of this freshness and newness of new born young believers coming into the church and asking the legitimate questions. Well, why do you do it this way? And could we do it another way? And that I, God used that for amazing transformation in the last rate, a national sweep of the spirit, which was the Jesus movement.

Dr. David Shibley (13:55):
Now I believe that God’s going to do it again. And I believe he has young people postured right now. And that’s why I want to get with a young people. I started in history, Daniel in youth ministry. I’d like to go full circle and finish in youth ministry as well, just pouring a want. The Lord has given to me into the lives of young men and women who are themselves passionate for Jesus Christ. I think martyrdom is going to go up. And I, I don’t want to say that in any particularly morbid way, Paul gave us a full assessment of all of that, that to depart and be with Christ is far better. That’s not any kind of death wish we want to fully fulfill all that God has for us in our day, but we need not fear death we’re to be bold and winsome at the same time loving the loss to caring about a broken world and ministering the grace of God by the power of his spirit.

Dr. David Shibley (14:57):
And I see that coming on men and women, young men and women around the world now and in our own nation as well. And I’m very, very grateful for that. God always has people in the wings who are ready, and those of us who have maybe been on the road for a little longer can encourage and strengthen. I want to be the, the Baton runner that is still at full strength when I pass the Baton to the next runner. And then I want to be there to yell, encouragement, and, and to strengthen him and inspire him in his leg of the race. So I’m very thankful. I have no regrets. Boy, I’ve got a magnificent wife who has stood with me for 48 years. She came from a very mission hearted family herself grew up in something of what was then the Citadel of evangelicalism in Winona Lake Indiana, and heard many of those great old preachers like Harry iron and others who would come through proclaiming the gospel.

Dr. David Shibley (16:04):
So it’s a rich heritage, and I want to pass that heritage on if, if in the banking world, if with something as neutral as money. And I realized that there are demonic things that can attach to money, but money itself is a neutral. But if in the banking world, there is this Nayana miraculous thing called compound interest. Should we not see the same effect with our own sons and daughters over two and three and four generations, a compound interest of the impact of the gospel on individuals on nations, on families in particular. And I’m deeply, deeply grateful for the impact of the gospel on our own family, thankful for that preacher in in Bristow, Oklahoma, that whoever he was, and I’m looking forward to meeting him when I get to heaven that was the man who was preaching when my dad came to faith in Christ, thankful for that preacher in Oklahoma city who was preaching when my mom came to faith in Christ in the 1920s all of that has had amazing ramifications, thankful for a great praying grandmother there in Bristow who prayed for me as well as for her son, my father.

Dr. David Shibley (17:21):
So I, I, I’m just grateful Jesus Christ has literally changed everything. I, Daniel I couldn’t be more grateful to the Lord. I only wish that I would have been more fruitful that I would have been more sensitive to the promptings of the Holy spirit bolder in obedience to the Lord. But if the Lord gives me more time and I think he will, I want to ramp up the game and be more fruitful than I’ve ever been. I think we have even an illustration in nature, Daniel here in, in the fall of the year that we have just experienced leaves are at their most pungent and beautiful and brilliant right before they die. And I think it should be the same way with us. We shouldn’t get a weaker in faith or weaker in, in any way, other than a physical body that has a shelf life, that the Lord himself again, is going to resurrect in mighty glory and power. But that our most brilliant work, our most colorful, refreshing, beautiful work for Jesus ought to accelerate toward the end of our lives. And that’s what I’m praying for me and for others of my friends.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (18:42):
And I, I think your organization is so beautiful because now your son, Jonathan is leading a global advance and forging in new directions. And, and, but still continuing to take the love of Jesus to people around the world. And so you see in your father who is a pastor and in your life and in your son’s life, and then into the generations to come, that God is a, a generational God. He’s the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And he doesn’t just see one generation. He has a viewpoint that encompasses many generations and continues. And so I’m excited about what my generation gets to do for Jesus. Global advance is continuing to go to many nations around the world, raising up leaders, training leaders in many different spheres of influence. If someone wanted to go to your website and make a donation to global advance, w what’s your website,

Dr. David Shibley (19:40):
Thank you, Daniel, it’s simply globaladvance.org. And I would just thinking here at this very table, just a few minutes ago, we concluded a an online meeting with Christian leaders in, in Indonesia. And I’m very, very thankful that the Lord has allowed us to live in a day where there are tremendous communications possibilities. I feel that we can say, as Paul said, from a jail cell, he said, you know, I’m personally bound, I’m personally isolated, but the word of God is not bound. And we see that in the same way. It’s been a very strange and prayerfully untypical year. And yet, even though we ourselves have been limited in, in our own capacity to to go, and the word of God itself is never bound. And I’m so grateful for the gospel getting out on many platforms and new platforms that are even this very day being conceived and worked on, and they will be vehicles for the gospel.

Dr. David Shibley (20:51):
The gospel Daniel has always traveled as you know, on roads and the PAX Romana that allowed a a fairly safe passage of people throughout the Roman empire and believers who were going on those roads built by Rome or by that empire were carrying the gospel as they went. We have a pox technology GEA today where we have all of these opportunities to get the gospel out rapidly. I say to young men in ministry, you realize that starting today, you can have a worldwide ministry simply by the click of a few buttons. And so there’s all these opportunities. And I just want to appeal to your listeners because I know they’re listening because they’re interested in getting the gospel out. Let’s take every Avenue possible to get the gospel out. Billy Graham in one of his final addresses to the evangelists that he had convened at one of his great meetings in Amsterdam for itinerate evangelists said let’s use every legitimate means and every ounce of our strength to get the gospel out. That’s my appeal to us as well. Every legitimate means every ounce of our strength, animated and breathed on by the life-giving spirit of the living. God, let’s get the gospel into the minds, into the hearts, into the years of people around the world. And then the spirit of God himself will do what only he can do in taking that wonderful, good news and drawing people to a real relationship with God through faith in his son. Amen. Thank you for joining me on the evangelism podcast. I appreciate it. Thank you, Daniel migrate privilege

Evangelism Podcast Host (22:52):
For more information about how to share your faith or to financially support our worldwide evangelistic outreaches, visit King ministries.com. Again, that’s King ministries.com.

 

Per Akvist | Ethiopia Joshua Campaign – One Chance for Every Person

Per Akvist leads the Ethiopia Joshua Campaign. They believe it is a human right for every person to hear the Gospel at least once in their lifetime. Over the last twenty years, Joshua Campaign has been responsible for leading millions of people to Jesus across Ethiopia and other parts of Africa.

Notes:

Joshua Campaign Website: joshuacampaign.nu

Mercy House Website: familymercyhouse.org

If you love evangelism listen to the Evangelism Podcast, with Daniel King, the Evangelism Coach.

Transcription:

Missionary Evangelist Daniel King (00:00):
Per Akvist leads the Ethiopia Joshua campaign. They believe it is a human right for every person to hear the gospel, at least once in their lifetime. Over the last 20 years, Joshua campaign has been responsible for leading millions of people to Jesus across Ethiopia and other parts of Africa.

Evangelism Podcast Host (00:23):
Jesus said, go into all the world and preach the gospel. Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord. Welcome to the evangelism podcast with Dr. Daniel King, where Daniel interviews, full-time evangelists, pastors, missionaries, and normal everyday Christians to discover how they share their faith, their powerful testimonies and amazing stories that will inspire you to reach people with the good news. And now here’s your host, missionary and evangelist Daniel King. Welcome to

Missionary Evangelist Daniel King (01:02):
The evangelism podcast. I’m excited about telling people about Jesus today. We have a very special guest pear fist from Joshua campaign in Ethiopia. Pare, thank you so much for being with me. Well, thank you for having me. Now. We are in a Buena Ethiopia. We have been having a crusade this week and God has been doing great miracles. Tell me a brother pear. How did we decide to come here to a Buena? Oh, well the leadership from the local churches have asked us for a long time to come here. And as, as of now, it was a real good opportunity to do this and we took the advantage. And so what are some of the things that God’s been doing here? Well, of course I think you know, we have done crusades in Ethiopia for so many years and our strategy is to come in and work with the local leaders.

Missionary Evangelist Daniel King (02:06):
Give them a training, encouragement tools to work with. And in that’s in the, in the leader seminars and at the crusade itself, we demonstrate the power of God by signs and wonders. Now you, along with Joshua campaign have been working here in Ethiopia for, for many years. Can you tell us some of how Joshua campaign came to be and, and what Joshua campaign has been doing here in Ethiopia? Yeah, we, we soon celebrated about 23 years here in country. My my good friend called Tom started the Joshua campaign 1997. And yeah, at that time, the gospel were quite unknown. If you hope as being indigenous and, and eh, through the many years of communism, the wa the border has been kind of locked and the gospel hasn’t had very much exposure. So starting doing crusades around 97, we have seen a tremendous fruit in this country. I mean, we speak just through our own crusades for 23 years, we have seen millions of people coming to the,

Per Akvist (03:29):
And approximately how many crusades has Joshua campaign done

Per Akvist (03:33):
Or K here we need to calculate. But eh, in average, every year we have been able to do between five to seven every year for 23 years.

Per Akvist (03:47):
So that’s well over a hundred crusades and close approaching, 150 crusades that have been done

Missionary Evangelist Daniel King (03:53):
Here, I would say yes, yes. And

Per Akvist (03:55):
I’ve read some statistics when communism fell in Ethiopia, the country was about 3% evangelical Christian.

Per Akvist (04:04):
Oh, no, no, no. You had four to 5 million people in this country in 1992. That’s when the communism were more kicked out, you had 1.8% evangelical believers.

Per Akvist (04:21):
1.8% were evangelical believers. And today how many percentage is evangelical?

Missionary Evangelist Daniel King (04:29):
Well, w you have to have the perspective that if the population has grown from four to 5 million people till today, 110 million people, and the today’s, the statistic is 20% evangelical believers.

Missionary Evangelist Daniel King (04:45):
So in this time period where Joshua campaign has been doing crusades in the country, the growth of the VI evangelical church has gone from 1.8% of 45 million up to 20% of 100 million, a hundred and 110 million people. What a tremendous thing to be excited about this, this, when, when church history is written, I think this qualifies as one of the greatest revivals that has ever happened in church.

Per Akvist (05:17):
Exactly. I, I, far as far as my knowledge, I, I think only South Korea, I’ve seen this kind of growth gone from zero till 30% as, as you can see in Korea. And for the last 13 years, I’ve been the director of the Joshua campaign. And I have seen within this, within this period of time, how even the local church has grown up and take a responsibility, and we really see how the gospel has been established in this country. And you see you denominations up to 708 million people in this country today.

Missionary Evangelist Daniel King (06:04):
That’s tremendous. Now, one of the sayings that has formed the basis for Joshua campaign is one chance for every person. Tell me, what does that mean? One chance for every person.

Per Akvist (06:18):
Yeah. That’s when Karl Hargestam started Joshua campaign, that, that came to him, that it should be a human right to hear the gospel at least one time in your life. And seeing so many unreached people. I mean, we speak people who have not even heard that there is a God that the Jesus have paid the price for their sins, and they were shipping the river. They worshiping the stone or the rock. I mean that came to him that it should be, you know, in the world today, we speak about human rights a lot, but the number one basic human rights should be to hear the, be able to hear the gospel at least one time in your life. And

Missionary Evangelist Daniel King (07:10):
I would add to that one chance for every person, one task, for every believer to share the gospel. Now, another saying that you have in Joshua campaign is that you want to help the helpless and reach the unreached. What does that mean?

Per Akvist (07:30):
That’s this is me and my wife even long ago, 30 years ago, when we got married you know, my wife, she is from here, she’s born here. She grew up here till she was about 15 years old in a, in a situation, almost like a, I mean, she was a domestic slave, a non-paid housemaid but basically a slave. She came to Sweden. It’s a long, long story. As a 15 year old, she got restored. God did miracles and delivered her from bitterness and unforgiveness and so on. And when we met there in the end of eighties, we, we start to pray and ask the Lord for a vision for our lives. And, and very strongly, we felt out of our own personalities and lives together. Reached unreached. That’s my side of it help the helpless that’s her side of it because she had this kind of growing and she was left as an orphan.

Missionary Evangelist Daniel King (08:45):
Father died, mother was unable to take care of her, and she was given to this if European family, as a domestic worker. And I mean, she had a really, really hard life. So our vision and what we felt the Lord wanted us to do was to preach the gospel to the unreached people and help this helpless people who are bounded in, in power T and not unable to raise their children. So with that vision first, we worked for about 14 years in Soviet union, because that was the time when God really opened up Soviet union. Then we came here 2005 and started working with church planting. We met Carl Hargus STEM, and we felt how we would merge our ministries together. So to the one chance for every person, we added reach down, reach and help the helpless. And we built my wife’s side of the ministry, which is the family mercy house, where we now take in in poor women. Mostly many of them have children. So we take them in, we give them vocational education in the same time we add their children into our sponsored children program. So even if the mothers fails, the children will still be secured having a somehow a good upbringing. I mean, we pay for their schools and, and some of the school material and make sure that they have nutritious food as well. But most of the time, the, the mothers also take the opportunity and change their lives.

Missionary Evangelist Daniel King (10:44):
So you have the, the mercy house, which is to the family mercy house. And the purpose of that is to, to help the helpless, you take these women off the street, very poor women and give them skills to help them in life. And then you also want to reach the unreached. And so to do that, you do these large evangelistic crusades, but that’s not all you do. You are also planting churches and starting Bible schools. Tell me some about that.

Per Akvist (11:14):
Yeah, of course the the crusades, it’s one of the backbones then together with a local church planter and evangelists actually he’s an apostil with a passion of, of starting churches. We, we formed this new denomination and within four years we have, we started with three churches. They, of course there is a background history to that as well, but about four years ago, we started with three churches and today we have 65 churches, all in, all on a average Sunday morning, we get her 25,000 people among these churches. And one of the most important thing is to give them education. So we we see a lot of growth, but in the same time, you’re in numbers, you have also, you have to secure the quality of, of these believers. So we, we we run the Bible school program.

Per Akvist (12:20):
I have in Joshua campaign. I have two staff that works mostly with the Bible school coordination. So we do that remotely sending teachers to all the different remote areas. We have this program that we got from the Pentecostal church of God in America called Veritas. And that helps us a lot to coordinate that from the headquarter in Addis Ababa, we send the teachers out, they have a program, we know what they teach and, and, and they can go to every remote area. And, and we have a secured doctrine and good Bible teaching that is given to them.

Missionary Evangelist Daniel King (13:10):
Well, it’s such an honor to be here with you. I think this is now my seventh crusade that I have done in Ethiopia with Joshua campaign. And we always see such tremendous results in just a few minutes. We’re going to go to the field and preach for the last time here in a Buena it’s Sunday morning, lots of people are coming and they’re there, they’re dressed in their Sunday best. And so the choirs that the choir is going to come and sing and dance, and, and it’s just so wonderful to, to see what God has done through your ministry here. So if someone who’s listening wants to invest in Ethiopia and wants to help reach people for Jesus here, or they’re interested in supporting the, the, the mercy house, how can they find you? What’s your, what’s your website,

Per Akvist (13:59):
But Joshua campaign that, and you will be up running with Swedish and English language,

Per Akvist (14:08):
Joshua campaign.in you. If they’re interested in, in helping you with what God is doing here in Ethiopia,

Missionary Evangelist Daniel King (14:16):
Add in that it has been a great privilege to work with you. These seven crusades together, we have partnering very well with the King ministry. And I do appreciate your friendship and the ministry that we’re doing together. And yeah it has been a good, good relationship that we are built for for many years.

Missionary Evangelist Daniel King (14:43):
Praise the Lord. Well, it’s so exciting to see what God is doing here in Ethiopia, and we believe that God will continue to use you to reach many

Per Akvist (14:52):
People here. And of course, we do have the mercy house that is FamilyMercyhouse.org That you have in Swedish and in English. And there you can make any donation to the mercy house. Wonderful. Thank you, pair. All right. Thank you very much

Evangelism Podcast Host (15:12):
For more information about how to share your faith or to financially support our worldwide evangelistic outreaches, visit King ministries.com. Again, that’s King ministries.com.

 

Emmanuel Array Gewe | How to Follow Up After a Big Crusade

Bishop Emmanuel Array Gewe pastors World Harvest Church Assemblies of God Church in Kahama, Tanzania. He served as the crusade director for a Christ for All Nations crusade in Kahama. He considers Reinhard Bonnke to be his spiritual father even though he never met him. In today’s podcast, Bishop Emmanuel talks how his church plans to follow up on all the new believers who get saved at the crusade in Kahama.

Notes:

Bishop Emmanuel talks about the huge impact Reinhard Bonnke has had on his life.

One of the methods Bishop Emmanuel uses to follows up on the new believers is to host a twenty-one day seminar for the new believers in his church.

Also, you will learn how Bishop Emmanuel deals with witchcraft in his city.

 

If you are excited about evangelism listen to the Evangelism Podcast, with Daniel King, the Evangelism Coach.

Transcription:

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (00:00):
Our guest today pastors World Harvest Church in Kahama, Tanzania. He served as the crusade director for a Christ for all nations crusade in comma. He considers Reinhard Bonnke to be his spiritual father, even though he never met him. In today’s podcast, Bishop Emmanuel talks about how his church plans to follow up on all the new believers who get saved at the crusade in

Evangelism Podcast Host (00:31):
Jesus said, go into all the world and preach the gospel. Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Welcome to the evangelism podcast with Dr. Daniel King, where Daniel interviews, full-time evangelists, pastors, missionaries, and normal everyday Christians to discover how they share their faith, their powerful testimonies and amazing stories that will inspire you to reach people with the good news. And now here’s your host, missionary and evangelist Daniel King. Welcome to

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (01:07):
The evangelism podcast. I am here with Bishop Emmanuel, from world harvest church and the nation of Tanzania, the city of Kahama. Bishop. Thank you so much for inviting us to come to this city.

Emmanuel Array Gewe (01:23):
Thank you, evangelists. It’s a pleasure to have you here in Kahama.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (01:29):
Now we are here for the Christ for all nations gospel crusade with evangelist Daniel Kolenda, and you have been working to help to organize everything for the crusade. And so you tell me your position

Emmanuel Array Gewe (01:47):
With Christ for All Nations here is I am organizing the crusade. I’m the, I’m the leader of crusade organizing team.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (01:57):
And so you’ve been helping to organize all the pastors helped to get to permissions for all of the, the permits that are required to be here in the city. Tell me some of the preparations that have gone into preparing for this crusade.

Emmanuel Array Gewe (02:14):
Preparation is started from early August. When, when we, the team Stefan team came here and Urrutia, we had Jacko, we had Lucas and later came my ma my Clift on. Then we started moving church to church and we also went to the government offices to have permits, to have field permits, to have the crusade permits and promotion permits. So we move all around the city and we have been meeting pastors on September three. We also had 450 pastors meeting together. And they were told about the crusade and the sea fan teams were there. And for sure it was a good day and still go from those days everything was going well. And then later the see fun. And as we have been doing some other things, at least to promote the crusade, we had the youth promotion day. We promoted the crusade to the youth and more than one, 1000 youth gathered together. And it was very good. I tell you, and we also had prayers as well, and everything was going good. And we have about 12 committee preparing the crusades. So to now, every committee is doing good. And with ongoing, everything is going on. Well,

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (03:42):
So a big part of doing a crusade is the promotion and all over the city. I have seen posters and banners. People passing out flyers. Does everyone in Kahama know what is happening this week?

Emmanuel Array Gewe (03:55):
For sure. It’s like everybody in Kahama knows because I don’t think if something like this one has happened before. I know there were many preachers around Kahama who came from America, from Europe, from Korea, from everywhere. But I think this one has been different because there were flyers. Everybody’s having a flyers. There were billboards everywhere. There are banners everywhere. And we have trucks moving around everybody. And it’s like, for two weeks I was moving one to one place to another. I want it’s like, I wanted to know if there’s somebody who do not know that there is crusade. So for the two weeks asking if there is somebody who do not know that there’s crusade, I only found one old woman, old woman, and I don’t blame her because it’s like, she’s not good in hearing. She’s also not good in speaking. And because of her age is like, she doesn’t have the company with other people. So I can say every body in Kahama knows crusade. And last day, when we were to the field, one guy say, if I want to be saved in this crusade, I think I won’t be saved anymore.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (05:13):
Well, I believe he will be saved. Amen. And so tell me about some of the needs here in the city. As, as we were coming here, you told me that Kahama is a city of witchcraft. What do you mean by that?

Emmanuel Array Gewe (05:33):
Kahama is having this demonic worships. We can say did this kind of demonic worship people. They are witch doctors, witchcraft. I mean these people who are watching the evil, that the kingdom of darkness, these are the people who are worshiping the kingdom of darkness. And truly speaking. This city is four of these kind of demonic activities because the city of gold, I, we don’t understand, you know, gold mines are many here. So people love that people are doing many business is like they’re doing their business. It’s like they, they, they are relying to the witchcraft thinking that the witchcraft will help them. So that’s how, what they are doing. And it’s not easy. It’s not easy. Even here to start a church. It’s not easy. When we started the church here, 2003, 2000, and 2013, it was not easy.

Emmanuel Array Gewe (06:29):
It was not easy because this place was known to be the darkest place in the city of Kahama. And people are not even building the houses because when you build a house, when you build a goose house, you can die. But even other pastors were opening the churches here somewhere, somewhere, even running. When I came here, we had some pastors, one came here. He is having his family. He is married. But when he, when he got, when he came, he started a church. You know, he left his family. He ran away. He left the ministry. The other one came the same. When I came here, 2012, they told me the same story that my friend, you cannot open the church here. So in 2012, I spent the whole year praying for this place so that when I planned the church, that the ministry will grow and it was not easy. We have been praying, delivering people from demon possession and everything. And from them, there was broke through. I want to tell you, since I started the ministry here, many churches are being open around here.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (07:32):
There is tremendous breakthrough and your churches full on Sunday morning. Oh yes. And many miracles go,

Emmanuel Array Gewe (07:40):
God has been doing goddess. Open the blind here. God has opened the diff God has, God has helped heal. Many people who are having deadly diseases. You see God has helped in him and are men. The church is full of testimonies. If you come around the church and look to the church and ask who is healed from demonic oppression, you will see them rising the hand that they are healed and they are totally free. So

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (08:09):
Reinhard Bonnke had a profound impact on your life. Tell me, what have you learned from Reinhard Bonnke?

Emmanuel Array Gewe (08:19):
Reinhard Bonnke is really interesting. It was 2009, 2009 to eight. When I got saved, it was on March. When I got saved. When I got saved I had a friend called Ezekiel came and brought me a book. I was just a new convert and say, the book of, from evangelists written by Bonnke “Evangelism by Fire.” So he gave me that book. And by that time, you know, I got saved and it’s like, my family has separated me. I was like, I was chest from home. And just because I got seven and I was Holy spirit field, and the spirit of God was really moving around me and I was ready to die for Christ in those few months. So this man came, he brought me a book. I started reading the book when I started reading the book bonkers book, evangelism by fire.

Emmanuel Array Gewe (09:16):
It’s like I found I was burning from inside, outside. I was burning and my heart was full of joy. I was courageous. I was to preach. And there were pictures of Reinhard Bonnke to the middle of the book. When I look at the book and I see the multitudes Bonnke had been preaching and it’s like, I was drinking. I know, I know if Bonnke is preaching, I will also preach. And I become passionate for the gospel. And I finished the book evangelism. I finished reading that book and I started looking for the books. You can even see right now, I have this one mighty manifestation, the gifts and the power of the Holy spirit. I bought many books. It’s like, I’ve read almost all the books of Bonnke. What happened is I become full of God’s fire. When, when with this, with that fire, you know, because of how, because of faith, it’s like, I was fiery my life.

Emmanuel Array Gewe (10:13):
I spend my life to the church. I preaching people all around the villages. My brother is like, he was angry. Say, this one here is going to be a pastor instead of being a student. So he took me and he sent me to the boarding school. So I went to boarding school is it’s like, he wanted me to go to boarding school because there is no church. But truly speaking, when I entered to two school, they choose me to be the CEC chairman of student fellowship. I started preaching the gospel from three students to 20 students.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (10:47):
Wow. So, so you never had the opportunity to meet Reinhard Bonnke, but still, what, what did you consider him to be in your life right now?

Emmanuel Array Gewe (10:57):
Bonnke, I have never met him and I was praying that one day I met Reinhard Bonnke and sometime I have even written him an email. If at all he can allow me to see him. And even I wrote that in one of his book, I think many books Bonnke wrote the story about George Jeffrey, George, different and evangelists from British. So it’s like I was telling Bonnke because George Jeffrey agreed you to go in and he blessed you. Please allow me as well to come to you and bless me as well. But the problem is when he died to that point, I’ve never seen. And the email was not replied 2017 is like, I think [Daniel] Kolenda, I was told that Bonnke is coming to Dar Es Salam and I was preparing to go, but I did not see him, but it was called Kolenda.

Emmanuel Array Gewe (11:51):
So by that time, I did not, that Kolenda is going to be the president of Christ for All Nations. So Bonnke has made me passionate. If you see the ministry growing is because of Bonnke. If you see everything going on spiritually with me, that is Bonnke. Bonnke has made a big impact to my life. My choice lie right now, full of preachers because I’ve been preaching to the streets. Everybody here is to the church is a preacher. So they, we used to go to the street preaching. The same passion I got from Bonnke is the same passion that the church is having from me. So it’s like the church is full of passion and my heart is really for the harvest, really for the harvest. And, and as the church, we have mission. As you see, we are really having a mission to plant a missionary church in South Sudan. That’s our mission that we have,

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (12:47):
Amen. That is such a wonderful vision, and God will make that come to pass. And so one of the important parts of doing a crusade is the followup of new believers. What is your church planning to do to help, to disciple those who get saved at the crusade?

Emmanuel Array Gewe (13:07):
Oh, yes. I’m, I’m prepared, prepared to use this opportunity to, to have a soul that will go that will be saved from Stephan crusade tomorrow from tomorrow. What we are prepared is to the church. We have prepared 21 days for the seminar. So we’ll have different preachers. They will be here doing deliverance, praying for the people, helping the new converse to grow spiritually. So the church you know, the church is right now excited for the concern. And after the crusade, we are also prepared for the seminar. Not only that, but every church member of weld harvest is given flyers and they are inviting their friends. Everybody, not only that, but also we, we, we, we prepare an invitation later. We have sent many invitation letter to the people so that they come to the church. And you can’t imagine the day before yesterday, I received a call from a Muslim teacher. He said, pastor, I have got the flyer. I have got the invitation letter, M as a Muslim, as a share, am I allowed to come to the seminar? I told you, yes, you are allowed to come to the seminar. Not only to the seminar, start with the crusade, then come to the seminar. So for sure, we are prepared our deacons. Last week, we did an election, we added more deacons. We added more deacons and church elders so that they, we have the team of followup. And we are really prepared for that.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (14:36):
You are prepared for, for growth here in the church. And you’re going to do a 21 day seminar starting after the crusade begins 21 days of preaching, healing, deliverance, teaching the new believers, the basics of

Emmanuel Array Gewe (14:52):
The gospel. What are some of the things that you’ll teach them? Of course the first thing is will be, they will be believe they be teaching how to overcome the challenges of the world. They’ll be told how to preach others as well. They will be told how to grow in Christ. Those are very important things and they will be towed the do’s and don’ts that they should observe is as new Christians. Yes. So tell me, what do you expect God to do here in this city this week?

Emmanuel Array Gewe (15:32):
Evangelist? I tell you, every pastor is excited as a crusade organizer. You know, I’ve told pastors to prepare. Every church should have a seminar. Every church should have a seminar so that we have with the city, this opportunity comes, comes come doesn’t come. Always Stefan. When Steven comes it’s can take 20 years again for Stefan to come back because Stefan is moving all around the world. So by grace, you know, we, we, we, we have got this grade, but for sure, what I am seeing is God is going to do great things in this city that everybody nobody has ever seen. And if you go, even to the city, even people of the offices, they are saying we will be going to the concert. So the impact is going to be very big.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King

Awesome. Bishop Emmanuel, thank you so much for all of your work, helping with the crusade. We could not do it without you. You are a great blessing, and I can say you are a great man of God, so God bless you, sir. Thank you, evangelists. God bless it. You are also welcome to come

Evangelism Podcast Host (16:37):
For more information about how to share your faith or to financially support our worldwide evangelistic outreaches. Visit King ministries.com. Again, that’s King ministries.com.

 

Fredrick Andrea | The Impact of Jessica King on Tanzania

Jessica King helped to organize six massive crusades in cities across Tanzania. She made many wonderful friends in Tanzania and today I interview Pastor Fredrick Andrea about her impact. We also talk about how God is moving through crusades in the village areas of Tanzania.

Bishop Fredrick Andrea pastors Light Worship Center in Mwanza, Tanzania. He has planted over two hundred churches by doing mini-crusades in the villages of Tanzania.

Questions: 

What does a village crusade look like?

What are some of the big challenges of ministering in Tanzania?

Is witchcraft a problem when you go into the villages to preach the Gospel?

How has God protected Tanzania from the Corona Virus?

Transcript:

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (00:00):
Jessica King helped to organize six massive crusades in cities, across Tanzania. She made many wonderful friends while she was in Tanzania. And today I interview pastor Fredrick and Draya about her impact. We also talk about how God is moving through crusades in the village areas of Tanzania.

Evangelism Podcast Host (00:24):
Jesus said go into all the world and preach the gospel. Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be welcome to the evangelism podcast with Dr. Daniel King, where Daniel interviews, full-time evangelists, pastors, missionaries, and normal everyday Christians to discover how they share their faith, their powerful testimonies and amazing stories that will inspire you to reach people with the good news. And now here’s your host, missionary and evangelist Daniel King. Welcome to the evangelism,

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (01:02):
Some podcasts where we talk about everything about evangelism. I am in the nation of Tanzania with Bishop Fredrick from Mwanza. And it’s so good to have you here. God bless you, brother.

Bishop Fredrick Andrea (01:16):
Oh, thank you so much. Pleasure to meet you today.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (01:19):
So the reason that I know you is actually through my wife, Jessica, she came to Tanzania 13 years ago in 2004 to arrange a great gospel festival for evangelists, Peter Youngren. Who’s an evangelist from Canada and she was actually the organizer for that event. And you also participated in that it’s. So tell me a little bit about what you remember about my wife from before I even married

Bishop Fredrick Andrea (01:54):
Holistically speaking Jessica was very amazing because I remember that crew said was one of the biggest crusade in one’s at Tanzania. And she came and they stayed there probably longer preparing for the meeting. And she heard your heart to work with the pastors from many different denominations. And she’s a down to us, women of God. And I could see the real missionary spirit in her the way, although that time she was still noted, maybe married, she was looking young, but she could walk well with even there, all the pastors and bishops and hopelessly. Everybody loved it so much because of the heart and the P was spirit.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (02:44):
So what impact did that crusade with pastor Peter younger and have on ones in the surrounding region,

Bishop Fredrick Andrea (02:53):
The crusade was one of the biggest and it impacted many churches because their harvest was so big. Many people, God may not go to saved and many churches got there. I mean the converts and even until now, people are still talking about that meeting. There’s never been any meeting like that. I remember so well, that’s why the meeting had a very big impact. And even Jessica is a witness to this.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (03:26):
Talk to me about evangelism in Tanzania. What are you doing in your church to evangelize?

Bishop Fredrick Andrea (03:34):
A is X actually in Tanzania is very much important because Tanzania is one of the countries in Eastern Africa with many Muslims and many non Christians. So in our church, we have evangelism programs. We have BI, we sometimes train the people and then we send them for pastoral evangelism. And also as a ministry, we organize crusades, especially in the villages because many many preach us. They come to the cities and I realized that the villages are neglected. Many people don’t want to go there. So that’s why we always organize as a nomination, as a church, we reach out to the people and preach the gospel to open air crusades and people have been getting saved.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (04:24):
So your church has been going into the villages, doing crusades in the villages. And then you are also planting churches in these villages. How many churches have you planted

Bishop Fredrick Andrea (04:37):
Prove the evangelism outreach. I’ve planted 200 churches,

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (04:42):
200 churches, mostly in the village areas, but places where a lot of Americans don’t go because they go to the big cities, but you’re going from village to village.

Bishop Fredrick Andrea (04:52):
Do you have any to learn? That’s why I could also realize that even the Africans, we we also are able through the supportive and all the American evangelists, if they can have some system whereby the native people maybe partnering together. So when they come, they can preach in the big cities and then the Africans, we can go to the villages that could be very much impacted.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (05:19):
What a, what a tremendous blessing that is. Tell me about what a village crusade looks like. Do, do you have a team that goes, do you have a sound system? Do you bring a generator? What, what does it take to do a crusade?

Bishop Fredrick Andrea (05:35):
Actually, the village even dealing with some are handy because they are no instruments. So we have to take the P S system with generators to the villages. So we go with a team and sometimes because of the transportation, maybe we hire some trucks. Then you put this S P a system. We hire in the cities and then we to the villages and the many people have been coming because they have never heard about these crusades. Then just hearing the crusades in the cities, but not in the villages. So they’ve really, [inaudible] a lot of impact.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (06:10):
How big are these villages that you’re going to, how many people would come to a village crusade?

Bishop Fredrick Andrea (06:16):
B village crusade depends on the also preparations. So, you know, one village could said, sometimes we have like a 100,000, even to 20,000 because people are so many, they have never heard about this. That’s why, even if we have Americans and even the fallen preachers, if they can go there, they can have a lot of harvest than in the cities, because people have never heard about even the Americans and with these kind of crusades.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (06:46):
That’s tremendous. Tell me some more about your church. Tell me the name of your church and, and when you planted it.

Bishop Fredrick Andrea (06:53):
My church is called the Light Worship Center. It was planted now about six years ago. We are in the ones that CT. But before that, I have been working over 25 years in ministry working to plant churches in the villages, but the church is six years old. Now,

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (07:16):
What are some of the big challenges of ministering here in Tanzania? I was talking to one Bishop here in Kahama, and he told me that witchcraft is a big problem here. Do you find that also in the villages,

Bishop Fredrick Andrea (07:31):
In the villages, their headquarters. So which kind of, because most of the witchdoctors, they stay in the villages, they have their homes there. So also sometimes we have the conflict between the Christians and the Muslims. So that’s why sometimes it’s very hard. When we try to reach the Muslims, they have some resistance, they bring some conflicts.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (07:52):
And so what do you do to overcome that resistance?

Bishop Fredrick Andrea (07:55):
So what we do, we try to make some friendships, some corporations, we have personal friendship with them. We sometimes invite them in some foods. So that’s the key that we try to do. Some of them, most of the leaders of the Muslims, we try to have possible friendships. And then we have some corporations to bring peace in the country.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (08:20):
When my wife, Jessica came to Tanzania, the main person that she worked with was Bishop Isaiah. And tell me he’s now gone on to heaven. Tell me some of how his ministry impacted you and what you learned from him.

Bishop Fredrick Andrea (08:39):
Actually. Yeah, the late Bishop Zenobia’s Isaiah actually is one of the great men in Mwanza. And also in Tanzania, I remember I knew him since 2000 and we were walking together in his church. He could invite me to train, walk us in this church and also do some evangelism and also some crusades. So when Peter Youngren had a plan for the con for the crusade and conference in Windsor, it was one of the main organizers. And that is why we worked together together with that. Jessica was the coordinator of that meeting. So through him, actually, my ministry had been impacted because of though he was older than me, but he was a good man who was very much encouraging and trying to help the people, even who are not from his nomination.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (09:39):
I heard that when Corona virus came to this nation, or it was announced that was coming around the world, that your president declared a time of fasting and that Corona virus has not attacked the nation of Tanzania. Tell me about that testimony.

Bishop Fredrick Andrea (10:01):
This is one of the areas whereby which may cause us to love our precedent. And that’s why even recently we had general election and the people I mean, us elected him overwhelmingly because when [inaudible] came here, he declared the free days fasting and the praying all determinations and even with the holiday. So people prayed and even also you participate in the prayers and even after the prayers and then God intervened. And actually he declared, it tends to near as a coroner virus free. And after that I know many people died in, in, in Tanzania and even homeless different. Now we have no money. We have no any cases. So even after that, he declared the three days, Thanksgiving days to thank God for the intervention. So we really thank God for sparing Tanzania from coronavirus. Well, thanks

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (10:56):
God for a president who declared three days of fasting and prayer, and then three days of Thanksgiving. And thank God for protecting this nation from Corona virus. And it’s amazing because now we are here this week, we are doing a crusade and no one is worried. No one is scared because Jesus is protecting the nation of Tanzania, Bishop Frederick. It’s so wonderful to see you. God bless you. And it’s wonderful to re-ignite this relationship that my wife, Jessica started many years ago, and now I am here and we can be friends.

Bishop Fredrick Andrea (11:32):
Welcome so much to Tanzania. Feel at home. This should not be your last day. When you go back and say hi to your wife, Jessica, she’s really amazing woman of God. And she’s a real, a missionary. She has pioneer spirit. So we welcome you so much to Tanzania. Thank you so much.

Evangelism Podcast Host (11:54):
Thank you Bishop, for more information about how to share your faith or to financially support our worldwide evangelistic outreaches, visit King ministries.com. Again, that’s King ministries.com.

Report from Kahama, Tanzania

At our recent crusade in Kahama, Tanzania a team of students from the Evangelism Bootcamp at Christ for All Nations worked to organize the event. Because of their efforts, a total of 13,457 people filled out decision cards. Today, I interview Joshua Hall, Michael Seth Clifton, and Jacob Ebersole about their experience in Tanzania.

Questions: 

What are some of the biggest challenges of working in Africa?

What are some of the cultural differences between the United States and Africa?

What did you learn from the Evangelism Bootcamp at Christ for All Nations?

Transcript:

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (00:00):
At our recent crusade in Kahala, Tanzania, a team of students from the evangelism bootcamp at Christ for all nations work to organize the event because of their efforts, a total of 13,457 people filled out decision cards. Today, I interview Joshua Hall, Michael Seth Clifton in Jacob soul about their experience in Tanzania,

Evangelism Podcast Host (00:29):
Jesus said, go into all the world and preach the gospel. Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be welcome to the evangelism podcast with Dr. Daniel King we’re Daniel interviews, full-time evangelists, pastors, missionaries, and normal everyday Christians to discover how they share their faith, their powerful testimonies and amazing stories that will inspire you to reach people with the good news. And now here’s your host, missionary and evangelist Daniel King.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (01:06):
Welcome to the evangelism podcast. We are excited about telling people about Jesus. I’m here in Coahoma, Tanzania. We’ve just finished a great gospel crusade with Christ for all nations. And there have been a team of people here on the ground working to prepare this for several months, actually. And so today I am joined by three friends, Michael, Seth, Jacob, and Joshua. Welcome you guys. Tell me a little bit about what it’s been like living here in Coahoma and what God has done.

Jacob Ebersole (01:44):
Yes. So my name is Jacob. It’s so good to be with you, Dr. Daniel King. Thank you for inviting us, finding us. I’ve now been in Coahoma, Tanzania for going on four months now and it’s been a privilege and an honor to, to work with fan. I got here four months ago and I started to, to gather all the pastors. I was going from church to church trying to unify the body of Christ leading up to our all pastors meeting. And that’s something I could talk about a little bit later. But my time here has been wonderful. I always say that day by day, week by week, month by month, I fall more in love with this city. These are my people and I love Gahanna. It’s been a privilege. Yeah.

Joshua Hall (02:31):
Yeah. So I, I haven’t, my name is Joshua. I have not been here for three months. Like Jacob, I got here a couple of weeks ago and already I’ve fallen in love with the people of Kahala and the people of Tanzania. It’s been a real privilege to go from church to church. A lot of what I’ve done is promo and in getting ready for the crusade as we were kind of wrapping up all of the work that they’ve been doing for the past several months. So I got to preach in several churches in a, a youth meeting

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (03:00):
And yeah, already it’s been life changing life altering for me just to be in this whole new place and see the love and passion for Jesus and these people.

Jacob Ebersole (03:09):
Yeah. As soon as Joshua got here, I think you preached in the biggest church with the biggest crowd. It was our, it was our youth event. It was what over. Yeah, it was a big crowd. So we, we, we throw them into the lion’s den pretty quickly.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (03:26):
So how many people came to the youth event? About 1200, about 1200 and just fresh off the plane you jumped in and had the opportunity to, to speak to to 1200 young people. Many of those young people participated in the crusade. Michael Seth, tell me what a involvement we’ve seen from the local churches here. Has everyone been excited and, and participated and in what God’s doing here in Kahama?

Michael Seth Clifton (03:54):
Yeah. Jacob did a great job of creating unity in the church. I was just inviting everyone. He is a, just a gift for a gift for that. Uit was incredible to see the bishops and the pastors come together. I mean, nothing is ever perfect, but they sacrificed and they came together and they gave of their time. They gave of their efforts in order for the crusade to be successful. And it turned out really well.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (04:21):
So how long have you been here in Kahama?

Michael Seth Clifton (04:24):
Well, I actually came in, in Jacob’s story at the all pastors meeting. So he had been going around delivering letters to hundreds and hundreds of churches and inviting all these bastards and bishops to come together. That was like the first great work of the crusade. And then I came in at all pastors in like September 2nd was our all pastors meeting. That’s when I started, I met all the Bishop, started forming relationships at that point in time. And I’ve just been working on all the different projects that we’ve had for the crusade since then.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (04:55):
So what are some of the biggest challenges of working in Africa?

Jacob Ebersole (05:01):
Yeah, I would I would say that for the most part it’s been, it’s been really wonderful. There’s a lot of cultural differences, you know, sometimes we Americans, we like to, you know, one step at a time we’d like to pick up the pace. Here in Africa, it can be sometimes a little bit more laid back. So we’ve had to navigate through some of that, but, you know, we’ve had a lot of angels Brett C Peck, our campaign director the executive campaign director. He always says, when you do this, you’ll find angels here and there. And we’ve, we’ve had many of those come, come in to help us. So for the most part it’s been great. But the cultural differences is what we’ve had to navigate through as far as you know, we, sometimes, sometimes we, you know, we want to meet at eight, eight o’clock and, you know, Africa is a little bit different. So if we say eight to them, it’s more like eight 30, eight 45, nine o’clock. So, so you’ve, you’ve got to calculate that as you move forward, but it’s, it’s been great for the most part. Yeah. Yeah.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (06:12):
So tell me, what did you, you feel as you started to see the crusade grounds fill up with people because you’ve put a lot of work into it. You’ve worked really hard to make this happen. And then what did you feel as you, as you saw people come onto the crusade grounds and, and the music finally start, and then what emotions did you feel as you saw people raise their hands for salvation and give their lives to Jesus? Yes,

Jacob Ebersole (06:41):
For me the first night was, was life-changing. I, I cried on stage multiple times, walked down behind the stage was in tears. Cause our first night was, was phenomenal. I don’t know. I think we had what, 20,000 plus maybe it was a full, almost a full field. Uit surprised me because the night before I could hardly sleep, my heart was beating out of my chest. Cause I didn’t know if anybody was going to show up,uall of these things go through your mind because you know, I’ve, I’ve been here for four months leading up to this. So I think the one,uone word to sum it up is, is, is tears. Tears were running down my face and it was a beautiful day. Yeah.

Joshua Hall (07:27):
I think for me it was just complete excitement and just seeing all the people come, it’s like all the work that you put into it, it becomes a reality. And you know that so many of these people are going to get saved that night and you’re going to get touched by God and going to get healed. And so for me, I, I dance with the people I sang with the people I got to celebrate and got to rejoice with these guys over what God was going to do. So

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (07:52):
What a miracle that you saw really touched you and really impacted you? Because we had lots of miracles every night. Was there one that, that really touched you?

Jacob Ebersole (08:05):
I think it was Saturday night when, when you preached,uthere was this one younger girl that came up and I could tell she had art, she had been touched and you, she couldn’t hear. And so you, you turned her around and you clapped and when you clapped, you would have her clap and you clap once she clapped, once you clap twice, she clapped twice. And as she was going through that process, I saw her break down in tears because this is the first time she could hear this way. And you could just see it all over her face,uhow God had touched her. And it, it, it brought tears to my eyes as well. It was, it was amazing. Yeah.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (08:47):
Last night Daniel Kolenda asked you to do the testimony time. What was that like to, to actually have an opportunity to, to interview the people that were testifying and being touched by God, up on the platform?

Jacob Ebersole (09:03):
My two really good friends, Joshua Hall, And Michael Seth

Jacob Ebersole (09:08):
Nominated me to do that, kind of threw me on, threw me under the bus there. But that was my first time doing that. And I learned a lot, it was extremely difficult. It was more difficult than I thought it was going to be, but I had a blast doing it. You know, we had some trouble with security you know, in vetting people that were coming through that got healed. So there was a little bit of chaos off the stage. But I learned that every person that I interviewed, I learned something that I shouldn’t do that I should do. I got advice from you. I got advice from Paul. So it was kind of a, a chaotic situation, but it was, it was definitely something on, I’ll never forget. I think I was up there for what, 20 minutes. Also the band left the stage. So I didn’t have any transition in between but I, I think it was good. I, I, I tried my best and I can’t wait to do it again

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (10:08):
Next time. You’ll be great. Okay. So that for all three of you, this is your first big crusade. So tell me a little bit about what you thought about crusades now that you’ve seen a big crusade like this. Yeah, I think for me

Michael Seth Clifton (10:31):
Being able to see the ground for the first time I mean it changed my life. What really surprised me was how comfortable I was being in front of all these people. You know, you think in a lot of ways that you’ll be nervous or, or that you’ll feel some kind of a different feeling than when you’re just talking with, with people on the road. But I, I felt so comfortable with the people and they were still responsive. And, and just seeing all the sea of faces, I think for me, it, it, it actually made me more excited for crusades than ever before. I only done one in the past in Bolivia. It was much smaller. So to, so t o see all these people, it was like I was living out what you’ve seen on YouTube and on these videos, it’s like for it to become a reality, it really touched my life. Yeah, that’s good. So, so for me, you know, there’s, there’s some people that criticize crusade evangelism. But what I saw was, you know, if you, if you prep properly people, I mean, people from Monza came to Kahala. People from all different kinds of villages came to Oklahoma from different regions. And if it’s prepped properly and done properly you can really see a region set free. And, and so what I learned is, you know, every face matters. And when I looked out in, into that crowd these are, these are, this is

Jacob Ebersole (11:54):
Generational curses that is going to break all over, come all over Tanzania. And so what I learned is, is, is this, this is probably the most effective way to change a city to change a region to shift nations. And so it just got me more excited to, to do it again and again and again. And it was, it was a life-changing experience all the way through. Yeah. Yeah. I know when I had my first crusade, I got addicted and now I love doing crusades and it’s almost an addiction, hut, but, hhn a good way, a spiritual thing that I’m always anticipating the next one, like when’s the next time I get to preach to people and, and lead them to Jesus. And so, Michael, Seth, what, what are your impressions seeing your first big crusade?

Michael Seth Clifton (12:45):
Let’s see, for me, it’s everything leading up to the crusade is all this preparation. We’re pouring all these efforts into it. And then, you know, even as we pour, you know, our efforts in the work with our hands into it, like our hearts are really involved and just really engaged, our hopes are high. And you know, you struggle through it’s late nights and, you know, early mornings for a long time. So when crusade day comes and you start to see the people like coming, like in streams onto the field, you know, and it’s like, until there just develops this flood of people, like I can’t draw anyone to the crusade. All we can kind of do is like throw a shingle out and pray that the Lord will touch somebody’s heart and that he will draw them. If we lift up the name of Jesus, that, that Jesus will draw.

Michael Seth Clifton (13:34):
And so when you see Jesus really drawing people to the crusade, then you get to see like the unfolding, like glory and goodness of God. And for me, that’s, that’s everything because God’s goodness is so, he’s so amazing. And he’s so wonderful. And so when you get to see that, that tangibleness, like when you see heaven coming to earth and manifesting the glory of God in him touching people’s hearts in a way that we can even see with our, our eyes that that to me is it’s, it’s, it’s, it’s just the best thing in my life. It’s, it’s the joy of my life to see God’s goodness. So all three of you

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (14:17):
Graduated from the evangelism bootcamp with Daniel Kolenda Christ for all nations, and in the evangelism bootcamp, there was a lot of theoretical instruction in the classroom, and now you have taken that instruction in and put it into practice. So, so what are some of the things that you learned in the evangelism bootcamp that you’ve now really put into practice and you see, wow, my instructors really knew what they were talking about. So the easiest

Michael Seth Clifton (14:52):
One is, is engaging with the crowd is, is getting them to respond to something that you’re doing. So immediately coming out and, and, and waving and saying, hello, if you can hear me in the back, let me see your hands wave. And then also, like, I think when you were doing the call for salvation, you were like, okay, you over there on, in, in the tree or you over there on under the umbrella and things like that, if you can hear me, you know, and it just really engages everybody in, in what you’re doing. So if anybody’s attention to somewhere else there, they’re really focused on the message that you have.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (15:29):
Yeah. When it comes time for the, the alter call, you don’t want spectators, you want participators in. So some people think it’s just a show and they’re sitting back with their hands folded. And so I try to, to pull them in and say, guys, this is your opportunity to give your life to Jesus. Yeah. I think for me, voice projection was definitely a huge thing. It’s hard to replicate when you’re in a classroom and you have closed walls. And, but we had a whole section in the bootcamp dedicated to learning how to build your voice and push from your stomach and, and really be able to project and then not lose your voice, doing all of these things. So I think once I got in front of all those people, I realized why we train so much for it, because you don’t want to have a weak voice when you’re up there.

Joshua Hall (16:13):
Like it’s so easy to lose the attention of the crowd. And so, and then also connecting with the crowd was another big thing we learned. Even when you came, how do you engage with these people? And, and I think that was probably the biggest thing I learned from the crusade as well, is that this is a sea of individuals. And even being able to hear their testimonies and see God touching specific people like during the salvation prayer, you look, and you see that one person who’s weeping and really feeling the presence of the Lord. And you realize this is not just a group of, of faces it’s it’s individuals there specific people that, that Jesus wants to touch that night. So I think being able to see that the altar call was another big thing in, in bootcamp that I think applied here you don’t realize how dif ficult those can be until you’re really in front of a group of people and they don’t respond.

Joshua Hall (17:05):
And I, I think we all, we all had our initiation here where we’re learning the culture, we’re learning how to engage and you give the altar call and they don’t understand, and they don’t respond. So learning, learning here and, and being on field, I think all of these things have, have been really beautifully applied. So, yeah, so I would echo what both of Michael and Joshua said, you know, the altar call, the sermon prep, the voice projection, all these different things. I mean, it was, it was awesome to learn these things in bootcamp, but I’d like to take it a different route for me, there was a class that Daniel taught, I think it was the one of the last classes and it was on integrity, Melinda, Daniel Kolenda on integrity. And I remember

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (17:50):
That session, like it was yesterday, it was, it was really life-changing. And I think that has helped me a lot through this whole process. Especially being in a crusade director’s position, integrity matters most. And that, that session, I still have it recorded on my, on my iPhone. And then sometimes I’ll go back to it. It means everything, especially if you’re, if you’re, if you’re leading something, if you’re leading a crusade, if you’re directing something, if you’re over this section or that section, or if you’re doing seminars without integrity and without integrity things fall apart very quickly. And so that’s, that’s something that I learned from that, that session, but it’s also something that I learned watching you, watching Paul Mauer, watching everyone in Christ for all nations. I think without that we have, we have nothing in the ministry. And so that’s, that’s one of the most powerful things I learned.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (18:37):
Yeah. Yeah. I think that’s actually one of the characteristics of Christ for All Nations that has allowed them to operate at such a tremendously high level for over 40 years now is they have operated with absolute integrity in reporting of numbers, in how they deal with, with people. Because if you don’t have integrity, you can get away with that for like a week or a month, or, you know, one crusade, but word will spread. And so the reason for the success of Christ for all nations is, is that they have maintained a very high standard of integrity throughout their

Michael Seth Clifton (19:24):
Ministry. And then, and, you know, before that class, you know, I had been trying to model integrity for Jacob for awhile. So it was just, it was really great to see him come into his own, you know, after that we had a discussion and, you know, he was a little bit weepy. I was consoling him. Yeah, man, I love you, bro. But I wanted to say that as far as like the bootcamp and like how y’all prepared us can I get a little spiritual for a second? Is that okay? Okay. So I had so even Josh hall and I, we came from like lifestyle Christianity before we came to the evangelism bootcamp and in lifestyle. I mean, I would say that it’s 90%, annointing, you know what I mean? It’s 90% drawing on that and just surfing kind of with the Holy ghost.

Michael Seth Clifton (20:07):
And when I came to the evangelism bootcamp and we started to look at the craftsmanship of preparing sermons and seeing how important that these things were, I was like, Oh no, I was like this entire understanding and way of approaching this thing is so different. And I actually, I had a dream and I was driving a semi-truck right. And so I’ve heard, and I’ve seen it played out this way that, that often these vehicles are, are a sign of ministry. And I pulled up to this this shop and on the outside of the shop, it actually said oral Roberts university. And I looked inside and looked at some stuff. And then when I came back out, my was was a a bicycle. I hope this is going, it’s going somewhere. So my semi, so my semi was a bicycle. And what I understood from the Lord was is that you, before this anointing thing that you’ve been doing has been this big truck, but here’s the thing.

Michael Seth Clifton (21:00):
You have to become a child again. And you’ve got to learn about what ministry is from a completely different perspective, and it’s this education and it’s this craftsmanship. So you’re going to be, you’re going from this, this big truck to this little bicycle, but you need to do it and you need to start over and you need to learn things this way. And I think it’s just a very important message for many of us, because I think the anointing, you know, you, you drag on that, but you just don’t realize how important preparation is. And watching you, even in the way that you interacted with people on the stage, the way that you worked with the band, these details are incredibly important. Like the backstory, the backside of a crusade, like I had no idea, you have no idea, you just figure it all works.

Michael Seth Clifton (21:43):
And that’s just not the case. Like every single detail matters because any place, any little gate that you leave open, something can run through that and can cause a disturbance and can mess things up. So that preparation, whether it be sermon preparation, whether it be the fact that you just don’t want to have any even words that are unnecessary, you really want to know exactly what you’re going to say to get the response that you want to get from the crowd, because salvation is on the line. And I just, that was a completely new perspective for me. And it’s, it’s not just answer it’s foundational.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (22:18):
Yeah. The Holy spirit can be in the preparation just as much as he is in the moment. And in God’s a planner, he planned the marriage, supper of the lamb, thousands of years before it’s going to take place. He knew, he knows when it’s going to take place. So he’s planning it. And so I think that, that you need the anointing. If you don’t have the anointing, you’re not going to go far, but if you don’t have organization, you’re not going to go far either. And I really think we see this with Christ for all nations, because Reinhardt Bunky was so tremendously anointed, but then you also have the genius of Peter Vandenberg who came and brought organizational structure and, and brought just the, the, the other element that’s needed. And I think that CFAN has gone far because you have both the anointing and the, the organization.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (23:15):
And what’s really neat. I was talking to Peter Vandenberg the other day in, in, in CFAN is very close to going over the 80 million decision card being filled out Mark. And it may have been, I know he needs to check all the numbers and stuff, but it’s either this week or next week that they’re going to go over that Mark. And so it may have been Kahala that took, see fan over the 80 million market. And I hope it is when they figure everything and add up all the, the final numbers. But isn’t that amazing 80 million decision cards filled out. He said they started recording them. And in 1987. And so since 1987, what a tremendous privilege. And of course, Daniel Kolenda is now going for the decade of double harvest, 150 million souls. They started at 75 million souls. And so now they’re going for, for the double portion.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (24:15):
And I think that, that you guys are a very important part of bringing in that harvest because it’s going to take an army of evangelists to reap a massive harvest like that. And so let’s finish up the podcast just by praying for the people of Kohala here and praying for the fruit. Jacob, would you like to pray for the precious people of Kahala Lord, we love you so much. We give you all the honor and the glory and the praise. And Lord, I ask that you would continue to work here in Oklahoma, continued to work in all the pastor’s lives, continue to unify them like never before Lord, we thank you for what you did in this crusade. Thousands of people were set free, delivered and healed. Lord Lord. I asked that the heavens would continue to open and rain down on Coahoma, Lord touch every soul touch, every new believer and Lord, if there’s anybody else that hasn’t given their lives to Jesus, Lord, I ask that you would convict their hearts. Save them. Lord Joel, every man, Joel, every woman, Joel, every boy drawl, every girl drawl, every mother, every father to you Lord in Jesus name. I pray.

Joshua Hall (25:33):
Yes, Lord. We thank you for all of the souls that were saved here in this crusade and in these churches and in the streets, father, I ask that you would bless them, that you would keep them Lord, that they would become part of the church and the body of Christ that they would be United. We pray for the churches of Coahoma and of Tanzania. And we ask father that you would unify them, Lord that as they bring in all of these new Christians, would I ask that you would give them wisdom and discernment on how to disciple them? Lord, we pray for all of the people who are healed. We thank you for all of the miracles that you’ve done. Thousands and thousands were healed and were touched by you. So we pray blessings over Coahoma. We pray favor in Jesus’ name.

Michael Seth Clifton (26:20):
Lord, I just thank you for what you’ve done here, Lord, I just thank you, Lord. I want to pray Lord for the shepherds and for the sheep, Lord, Lord, it says in this day, Lord, that will have no need for a teacher, but will be taught by the Lord. So I thank you, Lord, that you would instruct Lord the pastors Lord and how to pastor the sheep, Lord God, and how to raise them up. Lord providing for them, Lord, everything that they need in order to seek and to continue to follow you, to have perseverance in the faith. Lord, ask you for gifts of faith, Lord God, for each of them, Lord, for what can be Lord in their families and in their homes, Lord and in their churches, God coming together. Would you just impart vision to them, Lord vision to the sheep Lord for their lives and for their walk with you vision Lord for the pastors and the bishops Lord for what you want to do Lord in their denominations Lord and in their churches.

Michael Seth Clifton (27:12):
God, I just thank you, Lord God that you would impart Lord your heavenly plans, your blueprints and your ideas. Even showing them Lord bigger things, the greater things that you have for them. Lord God, give I just thank you that they would begin to open their eyes Lord and see Lord what you see even as you see it, Lord God. And I thank you Lord for grace Lord, for them to believe and to begin to take these steps of faith, Lord God, to reap an incredible harvest for you, Lord God, so that they can walk Lord in the good things that you have for them from the foundation of the world, Lord, in the meaning and purpose that you created them for Lord, they can walk in those things, enjoy Lord and bless each other in Jesus name

Evangelism Podcast Host (27:53):
For more information about how to share your faith or to financially support our worldwide evangelistic outreaches. Visit King ministries.com. Again that’s King ministries.com.

 

Jared Horton | Calling the Lost to Repentance

Jared Horton loves calling those far from God to repentance. He spent three years as a missionary in Nicaragua and now he is traveling the world telling people about Jesus.

Notes: Jared Horton shares his testimony of getting started in evangelism, Missions in Nicaragua, Evangelist Steve Hill’s influence on his life, how God confirmed his call to be an Evangelist, a recap of the 3 week on-field CFAN Bootcamp initiation in Tanzania, calling the lost to repentance and much more.

Website: https://jaredhortonministries.com

Jared was challenged by listening to Evangelist Steve Hill preach over the internet during college.  Jared prayed a prayer and said, “God I will go wherever you send me, I will go to Africa, I will go to China, just use me lord!” The Lord spoke back, “Jared, IS YOUR NEIGHBOR SAVED?”  It was that question that provoked Jared to start sharing the Gospel with those in his community. Eventually he became a full time missionary.

Main points of Jared’s Ministry
  • Calling sinners and those far from God to REPENTANCE.
  • Expecting people to have their own personal ENCOUNTER  with the POWER God and be Baptized in the Holy Spirit.
  • Challenging every believer to keep their eyes focused on ETERNITY.
  • Challenging every  believer to DO SOMETHING for the Kingdom of Heaven.

Transcript: 

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (00:00):
Jared Horton loves calling those far from God to repentance. He’s spent three years as a missionary in Nicaragua, and now he’s traveling the world, telling people about Jesus.

Evangelism Podcast Host (00:13):
Jesus said, go into all the world and preach the gospel. Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Welcome to the evangelism podcast with Dr. Daniel King, where Daniel interviews, full-time evangelists, pastors, missionaries, and normal everyday Christians to discover how they share their faith, their powerful testimonies, and amazing stories that will inspire you to reach people with the good news. And now here’s your host, missionary and evangelist Daniel King.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (00:48):
Welcome to the evangelism podcast. I’m here with my special friend, Jared Horton, Jared. It’s great to have you on the podcast. Hey, it’s great

Jared Horton (00:56):
To be here. Thank you for having me on this podcast.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (00:59):
So tell me a little bit about yourself and about your ministry.

Jared Horton (01:03):
Well, my name is Jared Horton. Have a ministry called Jared Horton ministries and we just preach in churches, help equip them to do evangelism outside the four walls of their church, as well as help in a crusade evangelism. I recently connected with the Christ for all nations and I’m helping them. I actually moved to Orlando and I’m working with a Christ for all nations, helping them produce more evangelists for a vision that evangelist Daniel Kolenda calls the decade of double harvest.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (01:37):
That’s so exciting. What a tremendous thing that is for the body of Christ to go after millions of souls in this next decade. So tell me some about your, your background and your history in ministry.

Jared Horton (01:51):
Well, I gave my life to Jesus at 15 years old and I begin to begin getting involved in ministry. When I think I was 19 years old, I was listening to Steve Hill preach on the internet. He’s one of the most influential men of God in my life, as far as evangelism goes. And he challenged me through listening to him, preach to start doing things for God. And so I prayed a prayer. I said, God, I want you to use my life. God, if you want me to go to Africa, I’ll go to Africa. If you want me to go to China, God, I will go to China wherever you want me to go, God, that’s where I’ll go. Just speak to me. And I was thinking about, you know, traveling many miles to win people to Jesus, but God spoke back to me and he says, Jared, is your neighbor saved?

Jared Horton (02:46):
And I thought, I don’t know. He says, go see if your neighbor is saved. And so, you know, I grew up in rural Arkansas and in rural Arkansas, you don’t walk to your neighbor’s house, you to your neighbor’s house. So I got my car and w took off down the road and knocked on a man’s door about a mile from my house and never met this man in my life. And he opened the door and he said, can I help you? And I had never done evangelism for it. Didn’t know anything about it. So all the words that could come out of my mouth is I’m Jared. I live about a mile down the road from you. And I want to know, do you know God? He said, he said, well, son, when I was your age, I used to do the same thing you’re doing right now.

Jared Horton (03:34):
But when God turned his back on me, I turned my back on God, this gentlemen was drinking. He was an alcoholic. And he had been through some hard times in his life, but he ended up coming to church on a Wednesday night. He did not accept Jesus, but he did come to church. So my first evangelism encounter resulted in somebody, you know, at least coming to church, I followed up with him and I don’t know if he ever got right with God, but that’s how I got started in evangelism was starting with my neighbor. Yeah. And then

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (04:06):
You had the opportunity to go down to Nicaragua and to learn Spanish down there. Tell me about the evangelism that you did in, in that part of the world.

Jared Horton (04:15):
Yeah. So after I went through when I, I listened to Steve, he’ll preach a lot. So he talked me into going to school of ministry. I went there for two years and when I graduated from there, I thought what’s next on my agenda.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (04:30):
You feel that was with the Brownsville revival in that great time of repentance.

Jared Horton (04:35):
Yeah. Brent, Steve Hill preached the Brown hole. Browns of revival lasted five years. My mom and dad went down there, got their lives, radically changed in the year, 1997. So I’m hungry for God, want to do more for God. And I started listening to Steve he’ll preach. And so he talked me in through his preaching to go to his Bible school. So I went to his Bible school for two years. And after those two years, I thought, okay, what’s next? And I remembered a commitment that I made with the ministry at Chi alpha college campus ministry to give one year of my life, to missions and pray about giving my whole life to it. So I contacted a mission sending organization, assemblies of God, and they connected me with a missionary Nicaragua. And I went there and I did, I, I ended up spending three years in Latin America.

Jared Horton (05:22):
I lived in Costa Rica for six months and I learned the Spanish language. And then I lived in Nicaragua for another two and a half years and admissions work. We helped plant a church. I became the youth pastor of a church of about a thousand people. Actually the first church I ever pastored was in my second language in Spanish. So I got to speak the language, learn the language. And 50% of the ministry that I, that I do is in the Spanish language. So it’s yeah, so that’s what we did in Nicaragua. Seen a lot of people get saved, a lot of people baptized and the Holy spirit and it was powerful. And then I from Nicaragua in a year, 2016, I believe.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (06:03):
And so we are actually in Tanzania right now at the invitation of Christ for all nations, Daniel [inaudible] ministry. The ministry started by Reinhardt Bunky, the great German evangelist. And it is a strategy that Daniel Kolenda has to call. Decapolis going to multiple cities at the same time. And you’ve actually been here for several months working to organize and, and set up everything that’s happening here. And also there has been students from the Christ for all nations evangelism bootcamp that have been here. And I had the privilege of teaching some of them last year, and now they’ve come here and, and been going from school to school marketplace to marketplace, preaching the gospel. Tell me some of the testimonies of what God has done already here in the nation of Tanzania.

Jared Horton (06:55):
Yeah. You know, we had a, we all, there was 50 students that come through the bootcamp and they had to do an initiation. And so a part of them come down and they completed their initiation in three weeks. And I think in those three weeks we saw at least 150,000 people give their life to Jesus. And even more, there are still bootcamp students on the ground preaching in schools, in different places. And I think we’ve succeeded the number of 200,000 people. That’s given their life to Jesus since they’ve been here. But basically the, the bootcamp students that come through the bootcamp, graduated on the initiation. What they guide to do is they got to put in practice what they’ve learned and not just put in practice what they learned, but they also was able to receive feedback on their ministry. We would take them out to a place, put them on a gospel truck, preach in a marketplace and they would preach the gospel message.

Jared Horton (07:54):
And then we would give them feedback. You know, one thing that is different about the Christ foundation’s bootcamp that I’ve seen from any other school of ministry that I’ve been a part of is that, you know, you don’t just, they don’t just graduate them and then send them off and say, okay, have a great ministry. We actually get the, we put them on the field and then we give them feedback and we’re, we’re we’re with them. We help walk them through this call, you know, where God’s called him to be an evangelist. And it’s really cool. I’ve just seen I’ve seen in a full written, and I shared this with you at breakfast this morning, but I I’ve seen and a full RITI and a soup, something supernatural has come up on those that have graduated. You know, they say the anointing is not taught.

Jared Horton (08:40):
It’s caught and I’ve just, I’ve seen it. And you can see it like in the spirit. It’s nothing that you can’t see it in the flesh. It’s just something you can tell. But these students are walking in a supernatural authority that I believe they, they caught being at the bootcamp, just being there with an open heart, open mind, you know, the, the mantle of evangelists Reinhard bunkie, and then even evangelist Daniel Kolenda is just powerful, but something has gotten on these students and they’re walking in great authority and doing powerful things for God. There were great miracles as well. We seem blind eyes open. There was a lady at one meeting. She had a tumor on her chest. And during the prayer time, I watched this miracle, this lady, you could see her face. She something was happening. She kept rubbing her, rubbing her, her chest area. And it got done and we asked what happened. And she said she had a tumor and it disappeared during the prayer. So, you know, those are the kinds of things that’s taken place through the bootcamp graduates.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (09:40):
So you’ve actually been coaching some of these young evangelists. Tell me, what does that coaching look like?

Jared Horton (09:47):
Well, they, they preach the gospel. They get up there and preach. And one thing that I try to do when they’re preaching is I try to listen for that crystal clear gospel message. And so sometimes you hear it and sometimes you don’t. And so sometimes when you don’t really hear a crystal clear gospel message, you just kinda have to give some feedback. You know, you could have, could have said this. She could have got through this a little quicker and just try to help them restructure their message to where the gospel message comes across really clear.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (10:21):
Jared, you’re a great evangelist. You’ve been preaching the gospel, many different parts of the world. What would you say to someone who feels called to be an evangelist? What should they do

Jared Horton (10:32):
If you feel called to be an evangelist? Number one, I would say, take the steps necessary to see that call fulfilled. It’s one thing to have a call of innovators. There are many people that say I’m called to be an evangelists. And one day God is going to use me. I know one day it’s going to be powerful. The Lord has shown me how many people I’m going to win to Jesus. It’s going to be amazing. And you say, well, what are you? What are you doing about that? Well, I, I, I don’t know, but I know that one day God is going to use me. Here’s what you need to do. If you have a call on your life to be an evangelist, you need to go tell somebody about Jesus. Just like I did. I did not. Daniel. I didn’t know that I was called to be an evangelist until it was 150% confirmed for me in the year, 2018. Okay. This is year 2020.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (11:38):
So only two years ago that you knew for sure, you’re called to be an Evangelist?

Jared Horton (11:40):
With out a doubt. And I could walk in that confidence that this is what I’m supposed to do. Now. People had told me that for years, you’re an evangelist. You’re an evangelists, but there was, and I could go through the stories, but I had about four encounters with God when I was in my home. And I’ll, I’ll just share one, very try to be brief. I was listening to Steve Hill breach and as he was preaching on YouTube in the year 2004, I was watching a video on 2011. And he was talking about how God had spoken to him to charts to start a church in Dallas, Texas. He said, out of this church, I’m going to start a school of ministry. I’m going to start a school of ministry. He said, and I, he said, and God told me, he said, Steve, I want you to duplicate yourself.

Jared Horton (12:30):
And I kid you not. I was watching a YouTube video. I was not worshiping Jesus. I was not going after God. I was just watching YouTube video, almost drinking a Pepsi and eating popcorn. And I was just in my own normal non worship atmosphere. But when he said that, he said, Steve, I want you to duplicate yourself. The power of God came down from heaven and knocked me off the back of the stool that I was sitting on. And I fell out on the ground and just begin to groan for like 20 minutes something supernatural happened. And that happened to me again in 2015, when I was in Nicaragua, Steve Hill, he was watching him preach on the internet. And he said, I’m asking Jesus for thousands of evangelists. And God is starting to answer my prayer. And when he said that, the power of God hit me again.

Jared Horton (13:28):
Another time I was in my house in Fayetteville, Arkansas, I’d come back from the mission field. I was watching him preach and the power of God hit me again. And some other times, but in 2000, in April, 2018, I went to the school of evangelism and Michael kuleana Rose was preaching. And he said, everybody on the front row stand up, we all stood up. He said, he any prayed for us. And he came around with the microphone. He said, what are you feeling? What are you feeling? What are you feeling? Did a little interview. And he gets to me and he says, what are you feeling? And before I could answer, he pulls the microphone back and he says, hold on. He said, I know everybody here thinks they’re an evangelists. He said, but you’re a real advantage. You’re a genuine evangelist. And the power of God hit me.

Jared Horton (14:11):
And I vibrated for about 45 minutes while he was preaching under the power of God after that moment. And all those encounters when Steve Hill was preaching, talking about raising up advantages. I think I finally got it. Daniel. I think I finally got to figure it out, okay. This is what I’m called to do no doubting. So if you are called to be an evangelists, God will confirm it. He will make it clear to you. And I would say, don’t stop. I know there’s many people. You’re not sure if you’re called friends, just go forward. If you are called to be an evangelist, if you have a burning desire in your heart to win souls, if you’re telling people about Jesus and you’re doing things, you know, are real, evangelists is not going to sit home and say, one day God’s going to use me. The fact is, is that person may not really be an evangelist. I don’t know. Or maybe it’s the evangelists that if you don’t go, you’re not an evangelist. You just need to get up and go do something. And for me, I think my evangelism started whenever God spoke to me and he says, Jared is your neighbor saved. And so I went and talked to my neighbor and then it’s just been history every since then.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (15:25):
That’s awesome. I think it’s really cool to see the influence of Steve Hill upon your life, how the anointing that was on his life somehow got caught by you. Just, just watching those videos and seeing the passion. And I believe that as people listen to this podcast and listen to you, that, that, that same anointing that’s on your life for evangelism will fire them up. So just pray for everyone who’s listening that God would use them in a mighty way.

Jared Horton (15:53):
Amen. Amen, father, I just thank you for every person that is listening. God, Lord, I pray for those God that are just struggling. Oh God, am I called me in evangelists? Am I not? You know, God, what is my part in the body of Christ? God operate that you would make it clear. God and Lord, just as Steve Hill prayed that prayer. And he said, I’m asking God for thousands of evangelists, God, we need more evangelists in this world today. I pray God that you would wake up that gift of an evangelist in their life. Maybe there’s somebody listening today that maybe, maybe you don’t know, God, maybe you’ve never accepted Jesus to be your Lord and your savior today. We’re talking about evangelism, friends. You, you would find so much joy. If you would give your life completely to God and do something that’s out of this world that will have eternal value.

Jared Horton (16:48):
I would encourage you to give your life to Jesus today, ask him to come into your heart. Be your Lord. Be your savior, be your best friend. And he will give you a life that is very joyful. Maybe you’re listening and you’re in your backslidden. Maybe you’re away from God. Maybe you’ve just came across this and he’d say, well, evangelism, I I’ve told people about Jesus before, but now I’m away from God friends. You can come back to Jesus today and get an interesting life back again. Friends live in, in the world, living in the sin. It sounds fun, but it’s really boring. You come home every night, you’re depressed. You’re sad. You don’t like the decisions you’re making. That’s boring. If you’ll give your life completely to Jesus, he’ll make your life exciting again. And so I just pray God that everybody listening in Jesus’ name, that you would call them to you and God that you would just raise up these laborers. The Bible says the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. I God, that the laborers would rise up and I encourage every one of you to go tell somebody about Jesus today. We bless the evangelists and we just pray the hand of God. Be upon all of them. And may we all, as Christians, pastors, teachers, profits, everything apostles, may we all do the work of an evangelist in Jesus name? Amen. Amen. Thanks for being on the podcast.

Evangelism Podcast Host (18:19):
For more information about how to share your faith or to financially support our worldwide evangelistic outreaches, visit King ministries.com. Again, that’s King ministries.com.

 

Flora Maira | How to Work with a Translator

When ministering in a foreign nation, one of the biggest challenges is working with a translator. In today’s podcast, I talk with Pastor Flora Maira who did a great job translating for me at a crusade in Kahama, Tanzania. We discuss the worst mistakes people make when using a translator and explain ways you can avoid making those mistakes.

Notes: How to Work with a Translator

1. Sit down with your translator before ministering and tell him about your sermon.

2. Use short sentences and pause in-between each sentence.

3. Speak in complete ideas; not bits of sentences.

4. Use the time the translator is speaking to think of your next sentence.

5. Give the translator time to translate.

6. Don’t allow a bad translator to kill a service.

7. Speak slowly and distinctly with good pronunciation.

8. Don’t use puns, idioms, colloquialisms, or slang.

9. Stop using “Christanise” vocabulary.

10. Be sensitive to cultural differences.

11. Be cautious about telling jokes.

12. Be careful using illustrations from an affluent Western culture.

 

Transcript:

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (00:00):
When ministering in a foreign nation, one of the biggest challenges is working with a translator in today’s podcast. I talk with pastor flora, Myra, who did a great job translating for me at a crusade in Kahala, Tanzania, we discussed the worst mistakes people make when using a translator and explain ways you can avoid making those mistakes. Jesus said, go into all the world and preach the gospel. Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord. Welcome to the evangelism podcast with Dr. Daniel King we’re Daniel interviews, full-time evangelists, pastors, missionaries, and normal everyday Christians to discover how they share their faith, their powerful testimonies and amazing stories that will inspire you to reach people with the good news. And now here’s your host, missionary and evangelist Daniel King.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (01:03):
Yeah. Evangelism podcast. I’m excited about telling people about Jesus. I’m in Kahala Tanzania right now. And we are going to talk about translating because often when you go to preach the gospel in a different country, you have to work with a translator and we have had a excellent translator this week. Her name is miss flora, Ms. Flora, thank you so much for joining me today.

Flora Maira (01:30):
Thank you so much evangelist, Daniel. Thank you.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (01:33):
Now you have done a good job working hand in hand with me in, in translating during the great gospel crusade, thousands of people were there. Thousands of people gave their lives to Jesus. And so what would you say are some of the things that make a preacher easy to work with when you’re translating?

Flora Maira (01:55):
Thank you for what you need to share my experience. Who’s there many factors, but one of the things which I have experienced, especially we had time to talk for you to tell me about what the message is going to be about. And of course, because it involves some dramas as well, we released. So it’s kind of gives you a head start of what to expect. And even when you know, like the passage of the scriptures that is going to be read, you can go and read it already. So it’s kind of refreshes you, but also it does help that when the speaker or the preacher, if they’re not very fast, if they are, if they peace, they are talking to that as a help because it gives the translator the chance to translate the words in their mind and get the right words to speak in that language that we would understand.

Flora Maira (02:45):
So of course it takes a lot of experience because once you have worked with many preachers or many speakers, then you build up that experience. And every, every time you get a different experience, but I find getting time to share what the messages is going to be about. It helps to prepare, but also cause praying take a lot of time to pray because as we all know that in all of sense, the translator is just as important as a preacher. If not more, because if you interpret wrongly, then the whole message is distorted. So it’s extremely, the job on their translator is extremely important. So I find that those things that I’m the person who’s preaching as well, once they are experienced with a translator. So they face are talking. So they’re not too fast to allowing the translator to translate, but also taking time together before talk about the message. It helps it as well. They translate that well.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (03:43):
Yeah, I think there’s two mistakes that beginning preachers make. The first one would be to speak too short. So just do one word or two words instead of doing a full phrase or a full font. So that’s one mistake. The other mistake that sometimes people make is they just start talking and they don’t stop. They’ll do a paragraph or two paragraphs and it’s very difficult for the translator to, to catch up. And so I try to give a full thought with each sentence and then stop and allow the translator the time to, to translate. So tell me, how did I do in, in, in working with you this week,

Flora Maira (04:22):
You did extremely well because I don’t remember one single incident where I felt like I’m struggling to concentrate because when you are translating you, you, you you’re concentrating harder because you have to get the words clearly what the preacher’s saying. And when you are listening to them, you are finding the right words to speak. So, but your pace was absolutely perfect. I didn’t feel stressed at all. Sometimes you work with some preachers and you feel less stressed because they are very fast and also they speak a lot. Like, as you say, they’ll speak it all paragraph or two. And it’s like, ah, what am I going to do? So sometimes of course, because I’m an experienced translator. What I do, I speak things in context. So sometimes what I ended up doing is I don’t translate word to word. I take the message and kind of paraphrase to make sure I don’t lose the context because of course, what is important for what to get the message rather than to get every word. So I work with people depending on who, how the preacher goes, if they are, they speak a lot of words before they give me a chance what I do with these four 50 words, I’ll tell you two 30 words just to make sure I don’t lose the message. So that’s how I cope with different types of preachers.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (05:35):
Okay. I have a list here of some ideas for working with translators. One idea which you have already mentioned is to sit down with your translator before ministering into tell her about the sermon. And so that way you can already look up the scripture, be prepared to know where the sermon is going and helps with what you’re doing. So if you have time, sit down with your, your interpreter. Another thing is to use short sentences and to make sure you pause in between each sentence, speak in complete ideas, not bits of sentences. Then here’s another thing that is nice about speaking with a translator. You can use the time that the transmitter is speaking to think of what your next sentence is going to be. So you actually don’t have to think as fast as if you were just preaching, you have time to think, and that gives you the chance to pick very carefully the right words that you’re going to say. And then you must give the te the translator time to translate. Talk to me about that. Sometimes people don’t give you enough time to, to say what you’re, you’re trying to say.

Flora Maira (06:45):
I have actually had that many, many times where people who say they are not used to speaking through a translator. So what they do is like, they go, boom, boom, boom, boom. And it’s like, whatever I taught business, it’s up to you. What do you do with the people? But you know, they kind of continue speaking and speaking. So while you’re translating, they also speaking. So in that situation, it means I am supposed to be what I’m talking. I’m also listening to you. I’m also at the same time trying to find the right words for that. So it becomes a little bit distrustful, but I’ve been through that situation many times before, but by the grace of God, because I’m also very fast to speak up, I talk very fast. So I think I also think very fast. So that helps me to kind of manage with different situations. And yeah,

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (07:29):
Like my wife, she’s very good at speaking. And anytime we have a disagreement, I can never win because she always speaks more and faster than I can.

Flora Maira (07:38):
Good for you. You’re you’re right. And to be honest, I’ve translated for many, many minutes preachers before. And the, this is actually my first experience of having a preacher, asking me to sit down with them and for them to tell me what they are going to talk about. It’s my first time ever. So in my, all the previous times that I’ve translated, I’ve never actually had the chance of sitting with someone, for them to tell me what they were going to talk about, et cetera, et cetera. So it was like, whatever is going to happen is going to happen. But as I say, because by God’s grace, I, I talk very fast and I also am a preacher myself. So that also helps. And then a, yeah, just, I cope with it that way. And so far, I’ve never really had an experience where I felt I was terrible translation or it’s been okay so far.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (08:31):
So another idea is to speak slowly and distinctly with good pronunciation, especially when you go to another country, maybe they have a different accent or a different way of talking. And so you have to speak with good pronunciation. Also, it’s important not to use puns and idioms, colloquialisms or slang, you know, in America we have many different ways of saying things. Then they say them perhaps in great Britain, which you’ve spent some time in great Britain and it may be different than how they learn English in school here in Tanzania. And so have you ever had a chance where a speaker said something in in any of them that you had never heard before?

Flora Maira (09:18):
Probably has happened, but not that many times is you’ve just mentioned that I’ve had the privilege of being in England for 20 years. So, and I’m always like English was my medium of communication every day at my workplace, et cetera, et cetera. So I am quite good at English. So that’s not been a big problem as far as a concern. And of course it was the accent as well, because sometimes it was an American accent. People can have difficult hearing, but because of the experience I’ve had, I’ve really not had any problem with you or with Paul in the, you know, kind of what, what did he say? So it’s been okay so far.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (09:54):
Okay. Let me give you a test. Let’s see. I’m going to give you some things that people say in America and you tell me what they mean. Okay. The lights are on, but nobody is home.

Flora Maira (10:07):
The lights are on, but nobody’s home. You want me to say, what does

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (10:12):
That mean? What does it mean?

Flora Maira (10:18):
I’ve never heard of that Zane before.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (10:20):
Okay. So let me tell you what it means. It means that a person is alive, but it’s not very smart. So the lights are on in their house, but there’s nobody here. There’s nothing up here. Interesting. Yeah. So, so when pigs fly, if someone says, when pigs fly, what does that mean? Okay. So that means that something is totally impossible because if you say, when it’s flying, it means they will never fly. So that is totally impossible to pig out. What does to pick out?

Flora Maira (10:55):
No, I have no idea, but I’ll,

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (10:57):
This is something said in America, lots, maybe not setting great Britain or in Tanzania, but to pick out means to eat like a pig, eat lots and lots and lots of foods. So this is, this is an example of some things that people would say in the United States that would maybe not be understood in all parts of the world. So you have to think about what you are saying, just because they understand it in one area. Now give me an example of maybe a saying that they would say it in great Britain and see if I can figure out what this means. What would be something unique? The way that people say in great Britain?

Flora Maira (11:40):
Typical,

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (11:41):
One thing they say a lot is, Oh, that’s really good. You hear that? Which of course means it’s very smart or something, but we wouldn’t say that so much in America.

Flora Maira (11:54):
Wow. That’s interesting. Because I would think that that probably is very common, common thing to say. So, yeah. That’s brilliant. Wow.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (12:03):
So I’ve got a whole list of things get down to brass tacks, put a sock in it to drink like a fish. Do you know what to drink? Like a fish? It means you drink like a fish. You drink lots of alcohol, someone who drinks like a fish, it means they’re always getting drunk. You know, bet your bottom dollar, it’s a dog eat dog world. It just means that the world is very tough that everyone is like barking dogs. They’re always fighting over everything. Yeah. So there’s many different sayings that would only really apply to maybe one area of the world. And so it’s very important to use clear common language that would be understood everywhere. Another thing is to be careful with using Christianese vocabulary. So by Christian names, what I mean is the language that Christians use. It’s okay to use language that Christians use.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (12:58):
But if you’re speaking to non-Christians, you must define the word. And so I don’t know if you noticed this, but when I was preaching last night, we talked about sin. Maybe someone who’s not a Christian doesn’t know what sin is. So I explained sin is when you disobeyed God’s commands or say, you talk about repentance. Of course, everyone in the church understands what repentance is, but someone who has never been to church or has never gone to church, they don’t know what repented. So if I talk about repentance, I mean, I say repentance means to turn away from your sin and to turn towards Jesus. And so that gives a clear picture of what it means to repent. And so sometimes you just have to be careful with using Christianese vocabulary. Like people often talk about the former and the latter house or the Valley of dry bones or the Rose of Sharon. Well, of course, if you’re familiar with the Bible, you know, those things come from the old Testament, but if you’re not familiar with the Bible, you may not know what they mean. Also it’s important to be sensitive to cultural differences. Also be cautious about telling jokes. Sometimes telling jokes is very hard when you come to another country, because a joke that’s funny in one country, maybe they don’t really understand this. Have you ever had someone tell a joke that was just impossible to translate?

Flora Maira (14:25):
Yeah, not very many times, but I, I think probably for most people who are kind of international, they’re kind of getting to learn that you do have to be very, very careful with the jokes because not only that people might not find funny. Sometimes it may be offensive. So if you are preaching, the last thing you want is to offend people, because then you’re putting them off. It’s like, Oh, this person is not appropriate. So you’re right. That when we are giving jobs, when they’re giving examples, we have to be very careful and cultural sensitive because we have such diversity in cultures from one place to another. So one thing that might be funny, one community in one society might be completely offensive to others.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (15:10):
I, I find that one humor that seems to work well is humor. That is laughing at the preacher. And so like yesterday, I said some words in Swahili and of course I do not speak Swahili. So I am sure that I mispronounced pronounced all the words. I could not say them properly and everyone started to laugh, but they were laughing at me, which is okay. They can laugh at me. But if you make a joke about a person in the crowd, then everyone might be offended or something like that. So it’s always safe to tell a joke about yourself, but maybe not tell a joke about how someone else looks or something.

Flora Maira (15:51):
Absolutely. It wasn’t like me. I just, maybe I don’t know what to say to correct is the right word, but let me be, make you understand. They were actually not laughing at you, but they were actually very impressed that you are actually training. Yes. So that laugh was like, wow, he’s trying really hard. So it was not laughing at someone that they failed, but he was liking the laugh of finding it. Wow. This is hilarious. He’s trying. And some words

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (16:16):
Would like to learn what he leaves a beautiful language.

Flora Maira (16:19):
Well, if you spend a few more leads, I’m sure you will, because everybody speaks to you in this country. So the more you spend time is really people. You will definitely catch up some swear words. So welcome to stay.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (16:32):
Thank you. Now, at the beginning of this interview, you said something that I really believe is the number one key to being a good transplant. And what you said was that the translator must also be anointed. And I think that is really the most important thing that that is so important that not only is the preacher anointed, but the translator should also be prayed up, should spend time in prayer, should spend time listening to God. And the translator must also be anointed because it is the translator’s words that are actually being heard by the, by the people. And so it’s not just the preacher that God uses. God uses the preacher, but God also uses a translator. So talk to me a little bit about your, your spiritual preparation and how important it is for you to be anointed as a translator.

Flora Maira (17:34):
I think for me, because I have the privilege of being a minister myself and apart from translating, I also do teach, I do preach and speak in corner conferences, et cetera. So I am very well aware when you are going to minister, you have to take them to prepare. And for me, like in this Crusader, I understood the magnitude of the burden that is on my shoulders, that I’m not taking it, that I’m just going there because you know, I’m just a medium of communication for people to understand for me to know, I really took me that I’m coming into ministry, I’m coming to a Butterfield and by God’s grace like some of these crusades I’ve had at least two hours of prayer every morning, I would wake up three o’clock in the morning and would have two hours of pray until about five o’clock in the morning, every morning with the crusades.

Flora Maira (18:24):
So for me, that’s given me that preparation time, I’ll be prepared for praying for, for people to come and pray for this food of God, to be present, to be able to deliver, to save and pray for the weather because they know this is a rain season. So I’ve been praying for all that. They’re grateful for the preacher. And everybody in the team, I took really time to prepare, because I understand this is a spiritual warfare and anywhere where there’s a weakness the devil can come through. So I wouldn’t be, I wouldn’t want to be that person that the devil comes through me to, you know, to cause anything to happen or not to work well. And I understand that everybody’s at war. So he’s looking for anywhere where there’s a chance to distort to the crusade. So it is very, very important. It’s actually my, my goal upon all the, maybe the pastors and the bishops who are supervising judges to make sure that the groom and the, they have moody translators and they’re not, they shouldn’t just pick somebody because they just speak the language, but they should be ministers in themselves.

Flora Maira (19:24):
They should be people who are spiritual. They understand this is a ministry it’s not just about translating from English is why he was waiting to English or to whatever language, you know, but they are, they should be people who have to buy. Then they understand this is a ministry. This is a platform they want to minister just as the preacher. And then they take it serious. They take time to prepare, you know, spirituality to feel they’re part of that ministry. So I think for me, that helped for me to, to, to do what I did. And I thank God for all the feedback that I’ve heard from everybody that you have been absolutely good at to giving me the feedback. And I am very humble. And I appreciate for the, all the feedback that I’ve had about what I did in this crusade.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (20:13):
For more information about how to share your faith or to financially support our worldwide evangelistic outreaches, visit King ministries.com. Again, that’s King ministries.com.

 

What Should I Do While I Am Fasting?

Do: 

Spend time in Praise and Worship “I will sing to the LORD, for he has been good to me” (Psalm 13:6).

Read the Bible (on your knees). Confess God’s Word. Meditate on God’s Word. Memorize scripture (Try to memorize a chapter, a whole book, or thirty scriptures on a specific subject). “Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful” (Joshua 1:8).

Pray. Speak in tongues.“… pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. (Ephesians 6:18).

Engage in Spiritual Warfare “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Ephesians 6:12).

Repent of your sins. Repentance is the cornerstone of a fast. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you make a list of all your sins and confess them to God. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

Make a list of everything you are thankful for. “Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good” (Psalm 118:1).

Forgive those who have hurt you. Make restitution to those you have hurt.

“…when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins” (Mark 11:25).

“Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us…” (Luke 11:4).

* “…If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. If he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times comes back to you and says, ‘I repent,’ forgive him” (Luke 17:3-4).

Pray the Lord’s Prayer Meditate on each phrase. Jesus taught us to pray by saying, “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen” (Matthew 6:9-13).

Surrender your life completely to God. “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is, his good, pleasing and perfect will” (Romans 12:1-2).

Meditate on the attributes of God. As you think about His love, grace, holiness, compassion, goodness, mercy, kindness, sovereignty, power, wisdom, and His faithfulness, you will draw ever closer to your Heavenly Father. Read through the Psalms for inspiration. “…Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. The LORD works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed…The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love …For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him” (Psalm 103:1-8, 11-13).

Document all the miracles God has performed in your life. Joshua asked the Israelites to make a large pile of stones as a memorial to the miracle of crossing the Jordan river (Joshua 4:7-8). We can build a similar memorial in our memory by making a list of all the all the wonderful miracles God has performed on our behalf.

Ask God to use you. Ask Him to reveal His plans for your life. Invite God to give you visions of your future. Ask God to show you how to impact the lives of those around you, your family members, your community, your church, your city, your country, and the world. “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” (Jeremiah 29:11).

Expect fresh spiritual insights; expect to be mentally, spiritually, and physically refreshed; expect to gain new confidence and faith in God; expect your prayers to be answered.

Keep a journal during your fast. “The LORD said to me, “Take a large scroll and write on it with an ordinary pen” (Isaiah 8:1).

Document the discoveries you have made about God. As I listen to the sermons of my favorite preachers, I often make notes in the margins of my Bible. One day I was overseas and accidentally lost my Bible. My heart sank as I remembered the thousands of discoveries I had documented within its pages. Fortunately, my Bible was returned to me. Immediately, I decided to type up a record of all my notes in case I ever lost my Bible again. I set aside a time of fasting in order to complete the project. With nothing on my desk but my laptop and my Bible, I went from Genesis to Revelation and typed up every sermon note in my Bible. This process was one of my spiritual highs as I reviewed thousands of wonderful truths God had revealed to me over the years. Now, I have a Word Document full of every secret I know about God’s Word.

What Activities Should I Avoid During My Fast?

Don’t:

Watch television

Be distracted

Physically exert yourself.

Give into the temptation to break your fast early.

Boast about your fast to others.

Go where you can smell food being prepared.

Try to Manipulate God The motive of your heart is more important than the length of your fast. Fasting is not a way to manipulate God into blessing you. God is good, He wants to bless you whether you fast or not. You cannot use fasting to twist God’s arm or to gain brownie points. You fast because you want to get closer to God, not because you are trying to get something from Him.

Fasting, in and of itself, is not what impresses God. Rather, it is the heart attitude that we cultivate during fasting that blesses God. If you fast with the wrong motives, you are better off not fasting at all. Here are some examples of people who fasted uselessly.

  1. Ahab and his evil wife Jezebel proclaimed a fast as part of a plot to kill a man named Naboth because they wanted to steal his vineyard (1 Kings 21:12). After the murder, Elijah confronted Ahab and prophesied that Ahab’s family would be wiped out and his blood would be split on that same plot of land. Ahab immediately put on sackcloth and ashes and fasted as a sign of his repentance (1 Kings 21:27). Because of his humble response to the word of the Lord, the fulfillment of the prophecy was delayed until after Ahab’s death, but once he died, his body was dumped on the land he had stolen (2 Kings 9:26).
  2. In Isaiah’s day, the people fasted as an outward sign of following God, but inwardly they were hypocrites. They would quarrel, fight, mistreat their employees, and hit each other in the middle of the fast. Then they wondered why God did not answer their prayers.“’Why have we fasted,’ they say, ‘and you have not seen it? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you have not noticed?’ “Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please and exploit all your workers. Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife, and in striking each other with wicked fists.You cannot fast as you do today and expect your voice to be heard on high (Isaiah 58:3-4).
  3. After the seventy year’s of captivity, Zechariah asked the Jews and the priests,“When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months for the past seventy years, was it really for [God] that you fasted?”(Zechariah 7:5).
  4. Jesus told a parable about a Pharisee and a tax collector. The Pharisee boasted,“I fast twice a week…”(Luke 18:12), but Jesus was not impressed. In the story, the tax collector who asks for mercy from God is justified, not the religious person who is proud of his fasting.

Jesus thought that fasting had become a hypocritical exercise for the religious leaders of his day. The Talmud tells us the Pharisees fasted every second and fifth day of the week, Mondays and Thursdays. Why did they fast on those days? According to them, it was because when Moses went up the mountain to get the Ten Commandments, he left on the fifth day of the week and returned on the second.

But there may have been another reason for their fasts. In Jerusalem, market day was on Monday and Thursday. The people were out on the streets on the days the Pharisees chose to fast, and the religious leaders made sure everyone knew they were fasting. They would dishevel their hair, put on old clothes, cover themselves with dirt and ashes, and actually put white chalk makeup on their cheeks in order to look pale. Then they would walk through the market places with pained, hungry looks on their faces so everyone could see how spiritual they were.

The words of Jesus addressing this type of hypocrisy were quite severe. “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness” (Matthew 23:27-28).

This is why Jesus told his disciples, “When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you” (Matthew 6:15). Fasting is not for impressing men, but for impressing God.

  1. Jewish religious leaders made a pact not to eat or drink until they had killed Paul.“…the Jews formed a conspiracy and bound themselves with an oath not to eat or drink until they had killed Paul. More than forty men were involved in this plot. They went to the chief priests and elders and said, “We have taken a solemn oath not to eat anything until we have killed Paul”(Acts 23:12-14). But, because their hunger strike was in opposition to God’s will, they failed.

Before You Begin Fasting, Read These Tips

What Should I Expect Before My Fast?

Before you begin a fast:

  1. Ask your doctor for advice before going on an extended fast. This advice is particularly important for those who fight diseases like diabetes or who take prescription medicine. Women who are pregnant or nursing should consult their physician. Some should not fast without professional guidance.
  2. Do not hasten into your fast. You can prepare your body by eating lighter meals without foods that are high in fat or sugar. Eating fruits and vegetable for several days before the fast will make the fast easier on your body.
  3. Set a goal for your fast. Why are you going on a fast? Do you need spiritual guidance or renewal? Are you looking for a solution to a problem? Do you need healing? Are you praying for a revival? What is the specific purpose of your fast? By prayerfully setting a definite goal for your fast, you will be able to focus on a particular spiritual outcome.
  4. Make a commitment before God. I know my physical body will desperately tell me it needs food, so before my fast begins, I made a promise to God by praying, “God, by your grace, and with your help, I will not allow food to enter my mouth until my fast is over.” Then, I write my commitment down on a 3×5 card and sign it. I carry this card with me and when I become hungry, I pull it out of my pocket and pray the prayer again. This written contract with God is what gives me the mental strength to complete my fast, even when food is tantalizing my sense of smell.
  5. Decide how long you will fast and what type of fast you will go on.  Will you fast for one meal, one day, several days, one week, or forty days? Will you drink water, fruit juices, or go on a vegetable fast?  Use wisdom in deciding what kind of fast to go on. During one forty day fast, I drank nothing but water for the first twenty-one days, then I began to drink juices and soups. The reason I did this was to maintain my strength because directly after the fast, I was scheduled to minister for two months on the mission field. I believe it is important to respect your body and not to push the limits of your strength.
  6. Start with a shorter fast and then go on longer fasts. Start with a one-day fast, then do a three-day fast, then as the Lord leads you, go on seven to ten to twenty-one to forty-day fasts.
  7. Do not get discouraged if you are unable to complete your first fast. Keep trying until you are successful. God will honor your efforts. After you know what to expect it will be easier to make it through a second or third fast.

What Should I Expect During My Fast?

  1. From a physical standpoint, doctors believe short-term fasts are beneficial for the body. By fasting food for one meal or one day, the body is given a well-deserved rest from digesting food. A longer period of fasting (3-7 days), gives the digestive system a chance to clean itself out. During this time, the colon, kidneys, and intestines are able to expel poisons that have accumulated. After your bowels eliminate toxins you be more regular.  The cleansing process is aided by drinking lots of distilled water during the fast.
  2. Limit your physical activity during the fast. You can exercise moderately by going on walks.
  3. Be prepared to rest more than normal. You may be physically uncomfortable with symptoms like fatigue, hunger pains, weakness, or sleeplessness. Withdrawing from foods that contain sugar and caffeine may cause headaches.
  4. Rest as much as your schedule allows.
  5. You will lose weight. Generally, you will lose an average of one pound for every day you fast, perhaps a little more during a shorter fast.
  6. During the cleansing process, the tongue releases toxins. This often causes bad breath. Because of this, I allow myself to use breath mints. Just because I am suffering does not mean the people around me need to suffer.
  7. Fasting can help you defeat bad habits like smoking and drinking and will help lower your blood pressure and cholesterol level. Fasting gives the body time to heal itself. Skin diseases like pimples and complexion problems will be lessened. Your heart, circulation, and blood vessels are all given a rest. You will feel less stress. PMS and hot flashes will decrease. Your joints and muscles will function better. Allergies will not bother you as much.
  8. Your brain will function better. Fasting will improve your memory and concentration. Have you ever wondered why everyone takes a nap on Thanksgiving afternoon after the big meal? The stomach needs lots of blood to help it digest food, so after eating, the brain does not have the blood it needs to function at full-speed. This is why we get sleepy after eating a heavy meal. During a fast, the brain can actually function better than normal because blood flows freely to the head.
  9. Fasting will save you time. Taking time to eat food can be a mental distraction. If you really want to focus your energy, skipping meal times can help you concentrate. It really is amazing how much time is wasted preparing, eating, and cleaning up meals.
  10. Fasting will save you money.“For the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty…” (Proverbs 23:21).
  11. Paul gives instructions concerning abstaining from sexual activity while fasting to married couples in 1 Corinthians 7:3‑5,“The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and likewise the wife to her husband. The wife’s body does not belong to her alone but also to her husband. In the same way, the husband’s body does not belong to him alone but also to his wife. Do not deprive each other except by mutual consent and for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self‑control.” 

What Should I Expect During an Extended Fast?

The Psalmist said, “My knees give way from fasting; my body is thin and gaunt” (Psalm 109:24). For any fast over ten days, the body begins to compensate for the lack of food by using the fat that is stored in the body. Eventually, the body begins to feel weak and tired. This is why it is important to approach a fast wisely.

Every person will react differently to a fast, but here is a general guideline of what to expect from a fast.

Days 1-3: The first three days of the fast are the hardest. At your normal meal times, you will feel hungry. This is just your stomach complaining about what you are trying to do. Ignore it. As you feel hunger pains in your stomach, increase your fluid intake.

Days 4-10: You may feel weak for a time, but eventually your body will hit a plateau. Your stomach will shrink and you will stop feeling hungry.

Days 11-30: You will feel great during this period of your fast. It is not wise to engage in any strenuous physical activity, but you will feel good as long as you get plenty of sleep and water.

Days 30-40: The first ten days and the last ten days are the most challenging part of the fast. This is when your body runs out of fat to consume and you may begin to feel deep hunger pains of starvation. You will really need to rely on God for strength during this period. Some optional fruit juice during this period will give you strength to continue.

What Should I Expect After My Fast?

  1. You will be hungry after the fast. After Jesus completed his forty day fast, the Bible says, “…he was hungry”(Matthew 4:2). No duh! This wins an award for the understatement of the Bible.  But, despite your hunger, it is best to break a fast carefully.
  2. Immediately after the fast, drink a fruit juice that has been diluted with water.  Apple juice helps slowly reawaken your food absorption cells. But, do not drink milk products, or citrus fruit juices, because both diary and citrus are hard on your stomach.
  3. Break the fast gradually. Never try to eat a huge meal directly after a fast. Your stomach shrinks during long periods of fasting. One of my friends broke his three-day fast by eating a twenty-four ounce steak dinner. Needless to say, he experienced a lot of discomfort and spent the night running back and forth to the toilet.
  4. Good foods to eat as you finish the fast include: yogurt, fresh fruit like apple slices, vegetables, tomato juice, salads, coleslaw, and soup broths.
  5. Slowly, work your way back to eating normally. A general guideline to remember is that it will take you as many days to recover as the amount of time you fasted. If you fast for one day, within a day you will be eating the same as before your fast, but after a ten day fast, give yourself ten days to fully recoup your strength.
  6. After your fast, maintain your spiritual breakthroughs by continuing to seek the presence of God. Spiritual maturity is not dependent upon a one-time event (like a fast) but on a continuous relationship with God.
  7. After your fast, do not look down on others who have not fasted. This attitude is spiritual pride. The whole point of fasting is to humble yourself before God, not to puff yourself up in comparison to others.

How Long Should I Fast?

You should fast as long as God tells you to fast but use wisdom to not fast beyond your strength. Here are some options for different lengths of fasting.

One Meal Fast

Fasting for one meal is easy. Instead of eating at a regularly scheduled mealtime, use the time to pray and read your Bible. During a designated mealtime, sit down at your dining room table and open up your Bible rather than piling your plate with food.

Fasting for one meal is easy enough that even children can do it. Since kids have growing bodies, they should never go on an extended fast, but if they want to spend a special time with God, a one meal fast is a feasible option.

Some missions experts recommend setting aside one meal every week to pray for an unreached people group, or a particular country. One of my friends has committed to fasting every Monday during lunchtime in order to pray for the country of Afghanistan.

One-Day Fast

A twenty-four hour fast is the good length for your first experiment with fasting. If you have never fasted before, please do not stop eating for forty days for your first fast. It is best to start small and build up toward a longer fast.

My father used to fast from midnight to midnight, but he found himself staying up until after midnight in order to break the fast, so now he fasts from noon to noon. This is easier and perhaps a healthier way to fast.

Examples of one-day fasts in the Bible:

  1. During the times of the Judges, the Israelites were fighting and they declared a one-day fast in order to seek God’s wisdom.“The Israelites, all the people, went up to Bethel, and there they sat weeping before the LORD. They fasted that day until evening and presented burnt offerings and fellowship offerings to the LORD” (Judges 20:26). Subsequently, God gave them complete victory.
  2. The Israelites needed relief from the oppression of the Philistines so the prophet Samuel urged them to forsake their false gods and to dedicate their lives to the Lord. When they had all assembled together at Mizpah, Samuel began to intercede on their behalf. “On that day they fasted and there they confessed, “We have sinned against the LORD”(1 Samuel 7:6). When the Philistines attacked, God used thunder to vanquish Israel’s enemies. This victory was the beginning of a period of Israelite supremacy that lasted during the rest of Samuel’s life.
  3. Saul commanded his soldiers not to eat one day while fighting the Philistines (1 Samuel 14:24).
  4. David proclaimed a one day fast of mourning when Saul and Jonathan were killed in battle (2 Samuel 1:12).
  5. Later David declared another fast when Abner was killed (2 Samuel 3:35).

Three-Day Fast

The first three days of a fast are often the most difficult. A three-day fast is a real sacrifice that allows you to have time to develop a deeper relationship with God.

  1. When the Jews were in danger of being exterminated by Haman’s evil decree, Queen Esther asked all her people to fast for three days.“Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my maids will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish.” (Esther 4:16). The purpose of this fast was to gain favor with the king in order to save the Jewish people.
  2. Saul was on his way to Damascus to persecute Christians when a bright light from heaven blinded him. He fell to the ground and heard the voice of God. For three days after this encounter with the presence of God, Saul fasted (Acts 9:9, 17-19). The humbleness he demonstrated through his fasting was a key element in the restoration of his sight.

Seven-Day Fast

If you are seeking God’s will in a particular matter or if you want extra time to study God’s word intensely, this is the type of fast I recommend.

  1. After King Saul was buried, his men declared a seven-day fast as they mourned for him (1 Samuel 31:13).
  2. King David fasted for seven days when his child was sick (2 Samuel 12:16-23).

Fourteen-Day Fast

The men on the Apostle Paul’s boat fasted for fourteen days in the middle of a storm (Acts 27:33-34). Even though this fast was more because they were seasick then because they were spiritual, it is instructive to read about how Paul broke the fast. “He took some bread and gave thanks to God in front of them all. Then he broke it and began to eat” (Acts 27:35).

Twenty-one Day Fast

Daniel fasted in order to gain understanding and to humble himself. He wrote, “I, Daniel, mourned for three weeks. I ate no choice food; no meat or wine touched my lips; and I used no lotions at all until the three weeks were over” (Daniel 10:2-3). At the end of the twenty-one day period, an angel appeared to Daniel. The angel was sent from God at the beginning of Daniel’s fast but because of spiritual opposition, it took him three weeks to deliver God’s message.

Forty-Day Fast 

This length of fast was observed by Moses twice (Exodus 24:18; 34:28; Deuteronomy 9:9, 18, 25-29; 10:10), Elijah (1 King 19:8), and Jesus (Matthew 4:2; Mark 1:13; Luke 4:2). I would not recommend this type of fast unless you are serious about seeking God’s face.  Expect to be weak and tired after finishing.  Because of spiritual pride or natural folly, some have made the mistake of trying to fast for longer than is physically wise. They have suffered health problems and in some cases have even died. It is best to begin by fasting for shorter amounts of time and work your way up to longer fasts.

6 Different Types of Fasting You Should Try

There are no specific rules about fasting. There are as many different ways of fasting as there are people. Allow the Holy Spirit to guide you as you decide what type of fast to embark on.  Here are some different types of fasts:

The Complete Fast

In a complete fast, you do not eat any food or drink any water. However, you should never do a complete fast for longer than seventy-two hours or you will face serious health risks. This type of fast should be extremely rare. It is found in Deuteronomy 9:9, 18, Ezra 8:21; 10:6, Esther 4:16, Acts 9:9, Acts 27:33.

The Normal Fast

In a normal food fast, you stop eating food for a period of time and drink nothing but water. This type of fast is mentioned many times in the Bible. In a variation of the food fast, you continue to drink liquids like fruit juices, but eat no solid foods.

The Partial Fast

In a partial fast, you limit the type of food you eat for a period of time. The prophet Daniel went on this type of fast when he only ate vegetables and drank water, abstaining from all  “pleasant meat.” Daniel refused to eat meat because it had been sacrificed to false idols. At first, his Babylonian guard did not want to change Daniel’s diet, but Daniel asked the guard to test him for ten days by feeding him only vegetables to eat and water to drink. Daniel said, “Then compare our appearance with that of the other young men who eat the royal food.” At the end of the ten days Daniel and his friends looked healthier and better nourished than everyone who ate the royal food. “…So the guard took away their choice food and the wine they were to drink and gave them vegetables instead” (Daniel 1:16). This type of fast is typically called the “Daniel Fast.”

God honors a “Daniel Fast” just as much as he honors a total fast. This fast is a good for those who fight a physical condition like anemia, hypoglycemia, or diabetes. It is also realistic for those who engage in lots of physical labor in their jobs. Other partial fasts include Elijah’s partial fast of meal and oil cakes in 1 Kings 17, and John the Baptist’s fast of nothing but locusts and honey (Matthew 3:4).

The Media Fast

In a Media Fast, you fast from things other than food that distract you from God. In today’s sight and sound generation, everything happens at the speed of light. Often television, music, and e-mail can become overwhelming. A break from these distractions can strengthen our relationship with heaven.

You can tailor a Media Fast to specifically fit your needs. For example, when I was a teenager my family was spending too much time in front of the television so my Dad decreed we were going to fast from TV for one month. The plug was pulled and the TV was turned to face the wall. For one month, we did not fellowship with that ol’ one-eyed-devil, the boob tube. Perhaps you could fast from listening to secular music, or from surfing the Internet, or from reading romance novels, or from watching the news, or stop doing other activities which have the tendency to inadvertently replace God in your life.

The Specialized Fast

In a specialized fast, you take something you enjoy and sacrifice it on the altar to God. You can fast from chocolate, meat, sweets, coffee, soda pop, or other non-essentials.  By omitting a few items from your normal diet, you are reminded of your fast each time you crave those items. This will prompt you to pray instead of eating. Use your belly as a spiritual alarm clock.

Many Christians do this every year as they celebrate Lent which is a reenactment of Christ’s forty day fast. Lent begins on Ash Wednesday and continues until Easter. During this time it is customary to give up meat, milk products, or other luxury foods. The tradition goes back to the early church who used the fast as a time to prepare for the celebration of Christ’s resurrection on Easter morning. Lent is a time for repentance, reflection, and rededication.   My sister, Esther, has been fasting from soda pop for over three years. She decided to go on this specialized fast because she read that the sugar in soda can harm the body in the long run. In the middle of the second year of her fast, I tricked her into breaking her fast by replacing the water in her glass with lime soda when she was not looking. Mad as a hornet, she spit all the soda out of her mouth. She did not think my joke was funny. Now, she watches me closely to make sure I stay away from her cup.

The Fasted Lifestyle

In a fasted lifestyle, you maintain disciplined eating habits over a long period of time. If you do not rule your appetite, your appetite will rule you. Eating a few hundred calories less each day will result in long-term weight loss over the course of a year. Since your body is God’s temple, you should keep it in as good of shape as possible.

The Nazarites lived a fasted lifestyle. They dedicated their lives to God by committing to a restricted diet and made a vow to never drink wine or eat anything made of grapes (Numbers 6:4). You can maintain a fasted lifestyle through self-discipline by taking smaller portions, not finishing everything on your plate, eating healthy foods, exercising regularly, and avoiding unhealthy, fat-filled, high cholesterol foods.

I think they should call fasting “Christian Anorexia.” When I fasted for forty days, I lost thirty-five pounds! What a wonderful diet! Do you want to lose weight? Stop eating! Guaranteed to work or your money back! Fasting is not actually a good way to maintain weight loss. It is possible to lose large amounts of weight quickly when you fast, but your metabolism goes into starvation mode and when you start eating again your body stores fat in order to prepare for another period of famine. This is similar to the yo-yo effect many experience when going on diets. They lose lots of weight and quickly regain it when the diet is over. The answer to this problem is a fasted lifestyle.

The Corporate Fast

In a corporate fast, an entire congregation or group of people or even an entire nation fast at the same time. There are many examples of corporate fasting in the Bible: Samuel declared a corporate fast of repentance for worshiping false idols (1 Samuel 7:5-6), King Jehoshophat called all of Judea to a fast when enemies were approaching (2 Chronicles 20:3-4), Esther asked her uncle Mordecai to have all the Jews in Suza fast (Esther 4:15‑16), Ezra asked the people to fast for protection before going on a long journey (Ezra 8:21-23), the returned exiles fasted and repented after hearing the word of God read (Nehemiah 9:1-3), Joel encourages the nation to declare a corporate fast of repentance  (Joel 1:14, 2:15-15), Nineveh went on a corporate fast after Jonah prophesied to them (Jonah 3:7), all the prisoners, sailors, and soldiers on Paul’s ship fasted for deliverance from the storm (Acts 27:33-37).

Recently, my friend, Pastor Billy Allen asked his entire church to fast and pray for one week. No one was forced to fast and each person made private commitments to God concerning which days he or she fasted. The pastor reported that almost the entire congregation participated and that the church received tremendous spiritual blessing in the weeks that followed the fast.

Another friend, Pastor Dominic Russo asked his church to fast for a period of forty days. Each member of the church was asked to give up something during that time. One church member called Pastor Dominic and reported, “Pastor, this fast has been really good for me. I decided to stop drinking alcohol during the forty days.” Surprised that one of his congregation had a drinking problem, Pastor Dominic could just say, “Well, good for you.”

There are many benefits of a corporate fast. First, corporate fasting helps unify a church for a common purpose. Those who pray together, stay together. Second, corporate fasting facilitates corporate repentance for corporate sins. Third, a corporate fast releases a corporate anointing. Fourth, there is an element of positive peer pressure during a corporate fast. Fifth, everyone who fasts in a corporate fast shares the blessing of the whole. In Matthew 10, Jesus told the story of the laborers in the fields. The ones who worked all day received the same payment as those who only worked one hour. In a corporate fast, some may fast many days and others may fast only a few meals but they will all share alike in the benefits of fasting together.

Why Fast? Reason #10: To Petition for Help

Are you facing a crisis in your life? Is there a problem in your family? In your country? Is there a crisis in your financial situation or in your physical body? Do you desperately need wisdom?

Years ago, my father faced a physical crisis. His body began to show symptoms of diabetes, which is a hereditary disease in his family. He decided to petition God for healing by fasting for three days. At the end of the fast, he threw up a foul substance; it was a symbol of the demonic power that was attacking him. After the fast, he was completely healed and never struggled with diabetes again.

Fasting during a time of crisis show God you are serious about getting your prayers answered. Here are some examples of people who fasted during times of crisis in the Bible.

  1. Hanna was barren. She could not have children. She fasted and prayed for a child (1 Samuel 1:7) and God answered her prayer. To say thanks, she dedicated her son to the Lord. Her son grew up to be Samuel, one of the most significant prophets of the Old Testament.
  2. When Saul and Jonathan were killed in battle, Israel fasted in mourning (1 Samuel 31:15; 2 Samuel 1:12; 1 Chronicles 10:12).
  3. When David’s baby son was sick, he fasted and prayed for God to heal the boy (2 Samuel 12:16).
  4. King Jehoshaphat was faced with three armies coming to attack him, in response; he declared a fast(2 Chronicles 20:1‑4). God heard the prayers of the people and all three of the invading armies were miraculously destroyed.
  5. The Holocaust was not the first time Satan tried to wipe out the Jews. Five centuries before Christ, evil Haman tried to kill every Jew. He tricked the king into signing a death warrant for all of God’s chosen people. When Queen Esther, a Jew, heard about the plot, she asked all the Jews to fast and pray for three days. She sent a message to her uncle Mordecai, “Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my maids will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish”(Esther 4:15‑16). Queen Esther risked her life by approaching the king to ask for clemency for the Jews, but because of the fasting and prayer, she had favor with the king and God saved the lives of her people.

Why Fast? Reason #9: To Humble Ourselves

D.L. Moody said, “Be humble or you’ll stumble.” One of the greatest dangers for believers is spiritual pride. I have to continually check my motives, my thoughts, and my attitudes in order to beat down the ugly head of the dragon called ego. Pride slinks in subtly. Before you know it you become proud of how humble you are. Fasting is the greatest spiritual weapon for curing the spirit of pride.

Fasting humbles you fast. Seven days without food makes one weak. Suddenly, you cannot rely on your own strength and you are forced to rely on heaven for strength.

Fasting is a vote for God, against your flesh. Your spirit and your flesh are at war with each other over which will control your life. The mind screams, “Eat, sleep, and procreate,” while your spirit quietly whispers “Spend time with God.” Fasting weakens the voice of your flesh and increases your sensitivity to the voice of God. When God’s Spirit controls your spirit, you have the strength to control your emotions and physical desires.  Disciplining the body helps discipline the soul.

King David become so puffed up during the middle of his reign that he committed adultery with another man’s wife, and then had the man killed. But, when Nathan the prophet pointed out his sin, David immediately became contrite before God. Remembering this event, he sings, “…I wept and chastened my soul with fasting…” (Psalm 69:10 – NKJ). In another psalm, David writes, “[I] humbled myself with fasting” (Psalm 35:13).

Because of David’s humbleness, God forgave him. He promises to forgive and heal us too, “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14).

The Bible says, “God gives grace to the humble” (Proverbs 3:34). God loves the humble, but He opposes the proud. The Lord says, “This is the one I esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles at my word” (Isaiah 66:2), and again, “The LORD sustains the humble but casts the wicked to the ground” (Psalm 147:6). Ultimately, you will be humbled. The choice is yours. Will you humble yourself or wait to be humbled forcefully?

Imagine, a proud servant enters the presence of a king and refuses to bow. What will the king do? He will order the guards to arrest the man and throw him into a dungeon until he learns some manners. But, a humble servant bows down and prostrates himself before the king. The ruler takes his hand and lifts him up, exalting him in front of the whole kingdom. James said, “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up” (James 4:10). Peter repeats this idea, “Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time” (1 Peter 5:6).

Jesus also taught this concept. He said, “For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted” (Matthew 23:12). One time, Jesus used a child as an object lesson. The disciples felt they were far more important than little children, but Jesus said, “…whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:4). Do you want to be great? Then humble yourself!

Why Fast? Reason #8: To Overcome Temptation

When Jesus fasted, Satan came to him and said, “Turn those stones into bread.” The devil was a little less confident in my level of faith, he figured I would have laughed at him if he had suggested that I eat rocks. So, he tried a different approach. As I was driving down the road, I saw a sign for a fast-food restaurants and the devil tempted me, “Daniel, turn those dollar bills into hamburgers.” When I fast, I find that not only do I become more sensitive to God’s voice, I am also able to recognize the devil’s voice more clearly.      

Temptation is something everyone faces. “Things that cause people to sin are bound to come” (Luke 17:1). Being tempted is not a sin, the sin occurs when we give into temptation. Fortunately, God has given us the tool of fasting to help us resist temptation.

Temptation is nothing but a gaudy ordainment painted with fool’s gold. It promises much and delivers little. Paul said, “If you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it” (1 Corinthians 10:12-13). The way out will often be revealed to you when you are fasting.

When Jesus was in the desert on his forty day fast, the devil tempted him with the same three temptations he had used on Adam; the lust of the flesh (turn these stones into bread), the lust of the eyes (jump from the temple), and the pride of life (bow to me and I will give you the world). Jesus may have been weak physically, but the fast made him strong spiritually. Satan never had a chance because Jesus was powered up after spending so much time with His Father.

Here are some verses that will help you resist temptation.

“…live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature” (Galatians 5:16).

“…do not give the devil a foothold” (Ephesians 4:27).

“Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes” (Ephesians 6:11).

“When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death” (James 1:13-15).

“Through these he has given us his great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires” (2 Peter 1:4)

My worst bout with Satan came at the end of my first forty-day fast. Throughout the forty days, I had worked diligently on writing my book “Healing Power.” For hours every day I searched the scriptures for promises about God’s ability to heal. I studied the books and videos of great healing evangelists. I memorized scriptures about healing. Finally the book was completed just as my fast was coming to an end.

Unfortunately, I made an unwise decision when breaking my fast. Instead of recovering slowly by sipping soups, I visited a waffle restaurant. My stomach had shrunk. I took only two bites of a waffle, a sip of milk, a sliver of egg, but it was too much for my body to handle. Three hours later, the most severe pain I have ever experienced in my life hit my stomach. I could barely breath. I curled up in a ball, racked with pain.

For seven days, I laid on my bed and suffered. The entire time, Satan was shouting in my ear, “Healer, heal yourself. You wrote a book on healing, but you can’t even get yourself healed. God’s word does not work. Your healing ministry is over before it even began. Give up. God cannot heal you.”

I know the devil is a liar, but it was so hard to ignore him. I rocked back and forth in pain, and confessed healing scriptures. I squeezed each word out of my mouth in between groans, “I…aaaa…am….ohhh…the God….owwww…that heals…..you.” Satan just laughed at me.

I faced intense temptation during this time. You think thoughts when you are in pain that you would never think when healthy. I was wondering if God is real, if He does miracles, if I should even be in ministry, if I should kill myself to stop the pain? But, I kept quoting scripture, just like Jesus did when he was faced with temptation and I came through victorious!

I was hesitant to share this story with you because I do not want to scare you away from fasting. If you use wisdom when breaking your fast, there is no reason you should get sick like I did. The point is that fasting will give you strength to overcome temptation.

Why Fast? Reason #7: To Defeat the Devil

In India, during the best part of my sermon, a woman started manifesting a demon. Her tongue flicked in and out her mouth, she hissed, and started to sway like a cobra. The whole audience became distracted by the disturbance. I continued to preach and as the translator was repeating my words, I began to pray under my breath, “You foul demon, in the name of Jesus, come out of her.” With a loud screech, the demon left and the woman gave her life to Jesus that night. My fasting and prayer prepared me for this confrontation.

In Nicaragua, a crowd of fifty thousand people filled the field. In the front row, a woman started screaming, her face a grimace of ugliness. I got the attention of my friend Emmanuel and pointed to the lady as if to say, “Take care of it.” He took a running leap off the front of the stage, put his hands on either side of her head and spoke directly to the demon, “Shut up! Shut up in the name of Jesus!” Immediately, the demon was silent. We took the woman around the back of the stage, cast the demons out of her, and led her to Jesus. When she returned to testify she had a beautiful smile on her face. The reason Emmanuel had the boldness to confront the demon is because he had spent time in prayer. He knew the power of Jesus was much greater than the power of any demon.

When Jesus was on top of the Mount of Transfiguration, a man brought his demon-possessed son to the disciples. Because of their lack of faith, they were unable to cast out the demon. When Jesus returned, He cast out the demon and rebuked the disciples. Then He gave them a secret weapon that would help them cast out demonic powers. Jesus said, “This kind [of demon] does not go out except by prayer and fasting” (Matthew 17:21).

Have you heard about the evangelist who misunderstood this instruction? God spoke to him, “I want you to fast and pray.” But, the evangelist thought God said, “I want you to pray fast.” You should have seen him trying to cast out demons. His prayers were faster than lightening. He laid his hands on fifty people in two minutes, spitting a dozen prayers out of his mouth every ten seconds.

Jesus tapped into the power of fasting during his forty day fast. When Jesus finished fasting he “…returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit” (Luke 4:14). No demon was able to resist him. There are some spiritual tasks that can only be accomplished through fasting.

Satan is like a roaring lion, seeking prey to devour. If you pray not, you will be preyed on. Fasting produces the necessary faith to defeat every attack of Satan. Fasting is actually one of the most powerful tools we have available in our spiritual war.

Nevertheless, we can defeat the devil even without fasting because Jesus lives inside of us. A preacher was ministering in Africa and a man in one of his services began to manifest a demon. When the minister tried to cast the demon out, the devil began to mock him, “I’m the type of demon that cometh not out but by fasting and prayer.”

“Oh, no,” thought the man, “I have not fasted recently, I can’t cast out this demon.” He started to feel condemnation for not having fasted.

Then the Holy Spirit rose up inside him and reminded him that believers do nothing from their own strength but only through the grace of God. The preacher spoke to the demon, “You evil spirit, I have not fasted recently, but I know someone who fasted for forty days and nights and in his name, the name of Jesus, I command you to come out.” The demon-possessed man was instantly set free.

Why Fast? Reason #6: To Obey Jesus

In the middle of the famous Sermon on the Mount Jesus teaches about three foundational truths for the believer; giving, praying, and fasting. Many churches preach about the first two, but neglect the third truth. Twice in the sermon, Jesus told the disciples, “When you fast…” (Matthew 6:16; 17). Jesus assumed all his disciples should fast.

Jesus did not say to His disciples, “If you fast…,” instead He said, “When you fast…” So, obviously he expected us to fast. If Jesus appeared in your bedroom and gave you an instruction, would you obey him? “Of course I would,” I can hear you saying. Well, Jesus specifically said His followers would fast after He returned to heaven, why do so few believers follow His command? Thousands in the church casually wear WWJD (What Would Jesus Do?) bracelets, but when it comes to fasting not many follow His example.

Jesus fasted at the beginning of his ministry for forty days. It is probable that He continued to fast regularly during his stay on earth because He casts out demons which He says only come out through fasting and prayer (Matthew 17:21). Jesus also promised to continue a partial fast by not drinking the fruit of the vine until His return (Luke 22:18).

Since Jesus fasted, we should fast. Jesus said, “No servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him” (John 13:16). If Jesus used fasting to prepare for ministry, we should use fasting to prepare for ministry.

When Jesus was on earth, the disciples did not fast like the religious people did. Some people came and asked Jesus, “How is it that John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees are fasting, but yours are not?” Jesus answered, “How can the guests of the bridegroom fast while he is with them? They cannot, so long as they have him with them. But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them, and on that day they will fast” (Mark 2:18‑20).   In this story, Jesus clearly indicates to his disciples and their critics that after His ascension to heaven, fasting would be part of the normative experience of every Christian. We should continue to fast until our bridegroom returns in bodily form. After the marriage supper of the lamb, we will never need to fast again because we will be physically present with our bridegroom for all of eternity.

Right after I graduated from college, I decided to fast for forty days as a way to launch my ministry. My main motivation for doing this was because I wanted to be like Jesus. I figured if fasting was a good idea for Him, it was a good idea for me. It was my way of showing myself I was serious about going into the ministry. Those forty days were extremely difficult. I felt like giving up hundreds of times. I expected the days to be full of glory, instead, I was weak and hungry. But, I successfully completed the fast. Since then, as is common for every minister, problems and difficulties have tempted me frequently to quit the ministry. But, every time I am tempted to give in, I remember the lessons I learned during my first forty day fast. I will not give up, the world needs me too much.

Why Fast? Reason #5: To Repent

At times, it may feel like your prayers are bouncing off the gates of heaven. No matter how much you pray, it seems God is not listening. One possible reason for this situation is hidden sin in your life.

Sin is rooted in the desire to please oneself rather then to please heaven. God’s first command to Adam and Eve was to fast from the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The first sin in the history of mankind was their refusal to fast from the forbidden fruit.  By eating, the first man and woman became slaves to their own desires. Sin entered the world when Eve “took and ate” (Genesis 3:6). Salvation came when Jesus said “Take, eat, this is my body” (Mark 14:22). When we fast, we deny our physical desires in order to have communion with God. Fasting is a symbol of our hope to reenter paradise.

God is perfect and it is impossible for Him to tolerate sin in any form. Because of our sinful condition, it is unacceptable for us to approach the throne room of God Almighty based on our own merits. Our best efforts are flawed, imperfect, and dirty in the sight of God. The only way for us to enter God’s presence is by having our imperfections covered by the blood of Jesus. Therefore, before we can intimately connect with God, we need to repent.

As long as we keep unconfessed sin hidden in our hearts, all fasting and prayer will be ineffective. Here are some verses which illustrate this truth.

* “If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened” (Psalm 66:18).

“Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear” (Isaiah 59:1-2).

“We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly man who does his will” (John 9:31).

During your fast, the Holy Spirit will prompt you to repent of various sins and sinful tendencies.

Sins of Commission and Omission

There are two types of sins that are worthy of repentance. The first type is a sin of deliberate disobedience (sins of commission). The second type is an unknown sin rooted in ignorance of God’s commands (sins of omission). Sins of commission are bad things you have done. Sins of omission are good things you have failed to do.

An example of a sin of commission would be seeing a speed limit sign and deliberately ignoring it by speeding. A sin of omission would be forgetting to renew your car’s inspection sticker. In the first example, you are deliberately committing a violation of a law. In the second, even though you are not breaking the law on purpose you are still breaking the law by forgetting to do what the government requires.

A sin of commission would be gossiping about a friend. A sin of omission would be to fail to speak up in defense of a friend when someone else is gossiping behind her back.

A sin of commission would be stealing from the offering plate at church. A sin of omission would be failing to pay your tithe as God commanded you to do.

Jesus commanded us to preach the Gospel so if we are not sharing the good news with people we come in contact with in our daily lives, we are committing a sin of omission. Even though we have done nothing overtly wrong, we are sinning by omitting an important component of our Christian walk. Failing to do what we should be doing is just as much of a sin as deliberately disobeying the Ten Commandments.

List of sins we should repent from:

According to one early church document, here are some areas God may lead you to repent in: personal failings, generational weakness, sinful tendencies, and deliberate sinful behavior by you.  fornication, uncleanness, wantonness, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, jealousy, rivalry, hatred, anger, envy, bitterness, injustice, debauchery, gluttony, readiness to accuse, wrath, disputes, the love of money (which is the root of all evil), foolish talking, gossip, dissensions, ill-will, rage, falsehood, drunkenness, revelry, buffoonery, boisterous laughter, backbiting, insinuations, clamor, abuse, insolence of speech, malice, inventing of evil, talkativeness, babbling, threatenings, gnashing of teeth, jarring, blows, perversions of the right, laxness in judgment, haughtiness, arrogance, ostentation, pompousness, boasting of family, of beauty, of position, of wealth, quarrelsomeness, eagerness for victory, disloyalty, retaliation, overreaching (which is idolatry), love of display, vainglory, love of rule, assumption, pride (which is called death, and which “God fights against”).

Facts about repentance

  1. Repentance is a process. It is like peeling an onion. After you repent of one layer of sin, the Holy Spirit will reveal another layer and then another layer. Each layer is scrubbed away by applying the blood of Jesus. This deep cleansing process continues until you are left squeaky clean.
  2. Repentance is a glorious time of purification. At first it will be painful as the Holy Spirit delves into the deepest corners of your soul and asks you to repent of your human failings, but as you rip out the tentacles of sin, you will feel a tremendous freedom.
  3. Repentance is often accompanied by tears. Crying serves as a therapeutic cleansing of your soul.
  4. Repentance is not a process of condemnation, but of liberation. The Holy Spirit is not trying to make you feel bad for all the things you have done wrong, instead he desires to heal your scars. When a nurse cleans a wound, she carefully removes all foreign debris, pours on antiseptic to kill the germs, and carefully sews the injury shut. This process of cleaning may be painful, but it is essential for the long-term health of the patient. If you have a thorn in your foot, you want the thorn removed even if the process is painful. In the same way, you want sin pulled from your heart, because the long-term benefits outweigh the short-term discomfort of your flesh.  The good news is that once the spiritual pus is cleaned from your wound, you will be free from the pain of that sin. “If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:36).

Biblical examples of people who repented while fasting.          

  1. Fasting for Repentance on the Day of Atonement

The Day of Atonement (also known as Yom Kippur) was the most important day in the life of the Israelites. The word “atonement” means to cover over, to purge, to cleanse, and to make reconciliation. The Day of Atonement was a consecrated time of asking God for forgiveness. Only on this day was the High Priest allowed to enter the Holy of Holies. All the Israelites were commanded to fast as a sign of their repentance.

“The LORD said to Moses, “The tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement. Hold a sacred assembly and deny yourselves and fast, and present an offering made to the LORD by fire. Do no work on that day, because it is the Day of Atonement, when atonement is made for you before the LORD your God. Anyone who does not deny himself and fast on that day must be cut off from his people. I will destroy from among his people anyone who does any work on that day. You shall do no work at all. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come, wherever you live. It is a Sabbath of rest for you, and you must deny yourselves and fast. From the evening of the ninth day of the month until the following evening you are to observe your Sabbath” (Leviticus 23:26-32).

Let us watch the Israelites as they solemnly celebrate the Day of Atonement. (Read Leviticus 16). Since the night before, the entire nation has been fasting. At the break of dawn, thousands gather around the Tabernacle as the High Priest prepares to atone for their sins for another year.

The High Priest begins the day by washing himself. Then he dresses in a plain white robe. Normally, he wears luxurious blue robes embroidered in beautiful colors, a jeweled breastplate, and a golden headpiece, but on this day, he puts on the simplest of clothing. When he is ready, the priest sacrifices a bull as a sin offering for his own sin. Before he can represent the nation, he must offer atonement for his own mistakes.

He carries some of the blood from the bull and enters the holiest place, where God dwells. He passes the Holy place (which contains the golden candlestick, the table of shewbread, and the altar of incense) and enters the Holy of Holies that only contains the Ark of the Covenant. This is a small chest with a lid made of solid gold. This lid is called “The Mercy Seat” or “Throne of Mercy.” Attached to the lid are golden statues of two cherubim (angels).

Hovering above the Mercy Seat is the tangible presence of the living God. The priest sprinkles the blood on the mercy seat seven times to make atonement for his sins. If God forgives him, he can walk out a clean man but if God refuses to accept his atonement he will drop dead where he stands (Remember the movie Indiana Jones and the Lost Ark?). Because of this a long rope is tied to his ankle so his dead body can be pulled from the tabernacle for burial.

After he finishes atoning for his own sins, the priest prepares to atone for the sins of the entire nation. Two goats are chosen to provide a sin offering for the people. The priest places his hands on the head of one of the goats (symbolically transferring the sins of the nation onto the goat) then he kills the goat. The blood is taken into the Holy Place and sprinkled on the Mercy Seat.

Underneath the Mercy Seat are the Ten Commandments that God gave to Moses. These are the commandments the people have broken. God sees their sin and His justice demands punishment. The priest sprinkles the blood of a substitute, innocent sacrifice in order to cover the sins of the people. Now, God does not see their sin, instead He sees the blood of the sacrifice which was killed in their place. “On this day atonement will be made for you, to cleanse you. Then, before the LORD, you will be clean from all your sins” (Leviticus 16:30). The second goat is set free in the wilderness symbolizing another year of freedom from God’s wrath for the nation of Israel.

All of this was a foreshadow of Christ’s work on the cross. Every human being has sinned and God’s justice demands payment. Jesus served as a substitute, as an innocent sacrifice when he died on the cross. He became our High Priest when he sprinkled His own blood once and for all time on the Mercy Seat. Now, our Day of Atonement comes when we accept Jesus as our Savior.

How does this ancient day and its rituals relate to our lives today? We still sin and we still need our flaws covered by the blood of Jesus. On the Day of Atonement the people fasted as a symbol of their humbleness before God as they waited for their sins to be forgiven. Fasting serves as a powerful sign of our dependence upon Christ for the forgiveness of sins. So, if there is a sin in your life that you want to repent for, fasting helps prepare your heart for the process

I recommend a personal day of atonement. Set aside a day to fast specifically for the forgiveness of your sins. Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal any hidden sins in your heart. This can be a wonderful time of release and cleansing.

  1. Samuel led Israel in a day of repentance.“When they had assembled…they fasted and there they confessed, “We have sinned against the LORD.” And Samuel was leader…”(1 Samuel 7:6).
  1. Evil king Ahab adverted judgment because of his fasting.“When Ahab heard these words, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and fasted. He lay in sackcloth and went around meekly. Then the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite: “Have you noticed how Ahab has humbled himself before me? Because he has humbled himself, I will not bring this disaster in his day…”(1 Kings 21:27-29).
  1. The Ninevites repented because of Jonah’s preaching.

After Jonah preached to the evil city of Nineveh, the King of the Ninevites declared one of the greatest fasts in history. Not only did he command his people to fast, he also decreed that every animal (dogs, cats, sheep, horses, oxen) should fast (Jonah 3:7). The purpose of the fast was to repent of the city’s wickedness. From the least to the greatest in the city, everyone put on sackcloth and ashes and stopped eating in order to cry out in repentance for all of their sins. God heard their cries and forgave the entire city.

  1. Jeremiah encouraged people to repent while they were fasting(Jeremiah 36:6-10).
  1. The prophet Joel encouraged the sinful nation to fast and repent.“Even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning…Blow the trumpet in Zion, declare a holy fast, call a sacred assembly. ”(Joel 2:12,15).
  1. Daniel fasted for the sins of his people.Daniel“turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting, and in sackcloth and ashes. [Daniel] prayed to the Lord…God and confessed: “O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with all who love him and obey his commands, we have sinned and done wrong. We have been wicked and have rebelled; we have turned away from your commands and laws…O Lord, listen! O Lord, forgive!”…while [Daniel] was still in prayer, Gabriel…came to [him] in swift flight about the time of the evening sacrifice. He…said… “Daniel, I have now come to give you insight and understanding. As soon as you began to pray, an answer was given, which I have come to tell you, for you are highly esteemed” (Daniel 9:3-23). When we fast and repent, God listens, forgives, and answers our prayers!
  2. Ezra fasted because the people had been unfaithful.“…Ezra withdrew from before the house of God…he ate no food and drank no water, because he continued to mourn over the unfaithfulness of the exiles”(Ezra 10:6).
  1. Nehemiah confessed the sins of Israel while fasting.He says,“…I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven. Then I said: “O LORD, God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and obey his commands, let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servant is praying before you day and night for your servants, the people of Israel. I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father’s house, have committed against you. We have acted very wickedly toward you. We have not obeyed the commands, decrees and laws you gave your servant Moses” (Nehemiah 1:4-7).

Why Fast? Reason #4: To Increase Spiritual Strength

During a crusade in Africa, I was approached by the chairman of the Prayer and Fasting Committee. He told me, “The Fasting Committee refuses to pray for your crusade unless you pay us one dollar every day.” In that country, a dollar is a large sum of money. I was taken aback by the question and I explained that they should be praying, not because I was paying them, but because they were Christians who wanted the lost to be saved. I do not think God is impressed with purchased prayer.

I asked the chairman, “Why does the fasting committee want to be paid?” He explained they needed money in order to buy food to eat. I laughed, “But, you are the fasting committee, you are not supposed to be eating food.” He did not have much of an answer for that. Fasting is not something to be done casually; it is a tool for shaking the heavens and increasing your spiritual authority.

The first thing Paul did after meeting Jesus on the road to Damascus was to go on a three day fast (Acts 9:9).  Later, before the Antioch church ordained Paul and Barnabas as ministers, they all fasted and prayed. After they heard God’s voice, they laid hands on them and sent them out as missionaries “So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off” (Acts 13:3). As Paul traveled to churches, he followed the same pattern before ordaining elders (Acts 14:23).

Here are Paul’s instructions to ministers, “But in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses, In stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labours, in watchings, in fastings; By pureness, by knowledge, by longsuffering, by kindness, by the Holy Ghost, by love unfeigned” (2 Corinthians 6:4‑6 – KJV).

Paul also said, “…when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:10). Fasting makes us physically weak, but this causes us to lean on God for strength. When we are physically weak, we become spiritually strong! When fasting is added to prayer, spiritual power increases!

God will turn your physical fast into a spiritual feast. This is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘The fasts of the fourth, fifth, seventh and tenth months will become joyful and glad occasions and happy festivals for Judah…’” (Zechariah 8:19).

Why Fast? Reason #3: To Appeal for Protection

The world is not a safe place. On the news every night, we see stories of kidnaping, murder, theft, and rape. In modern times, we need God’s protection like never before. Fasting is one way to ask God for protection.

After Ezra rebuilt the temple when the seventy year captivity of the Jews ended, Artaxerxes, the king of Babylon decided to honor God by giving Ezra tens of thousands of dollars worth of gold and silver to provide for the temple’s needs. Ezra faced a problem. In between Babylon and Jerusalem were many bandits and enemies who would be delighted to steal the gold. Ezra did not want to ask the king to provide soldiers for defense because he had explained to the king about how God protects His children.

So, Ezra decided to fast in order to ask God for protection during a journey. In his words, “There, by the Ahava Canal, I proclaimed a fast, so that we might humble ourselves before our God and ask him for a safe journey for us and our children, with all our possessions. I was ashamed to ask the king for soldiers and horsemen to protect us from enemies on the road, because we had told the king, “The gracious hand of our God is on everyone who looks to him, but his great anger is against all who forsake him.” So we fasted and petitioned our God about this, and he answered our prayer” (Ezra 8:21‑23). During the journey, God did protect them and they arrived in Jerusalem safely.

When I travel overseas, I often face unsafe conditions. I visit countries where Christians are hated, where theft is common, and where sickness is a constant threat. Before I go, I do my best to make sure I am spiritually prepared to face the challenges. Often I will spend time fasting, praying, and confessing Psalm 91 over my life. It is a great comfort to know God’s angels are watching over me.

Behind the scenes of everyday normal life, there is a huge spiritual battle being fought. As Paul said, “…our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Ephesians 6:12). Our prayers can make the difference between spiritual victory and spiritual defeat.

Prayer and fasting on this earth has tremendous effect on the spiritual battlefield. Jesus said,  “I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven” (Matthew 18:18). Martin Luther said, “None can believe how powerful prayer is, and what it is able to effect, but those who have learned it by experience.” Even if we do not see the effects of our prayers, we can be assured that our prayers are helping win the victory.

Five minutes of prayer is like a hand-grenade launched in the devil’s direction. An hour of prayer is like an artillery shell aimed at Satan’s camp. But, fasting is our top-secret weapon for defeating the enemy. Bill Bright says “[Fasting] is the spiritual atomic bomb that our Lord has given us to destroy the strongholds of evil and usher in a great revival and spiritual harvest around the world.”

Why Fast? Reason #2: To Seek Direction

Have you ever wondered what God’s will is for your life? Every day we ask ourselves questions like: Who should I marry? What school should I go to? Should I become a missionary or get a secular job? Where should I live? What is the next step for my life? A fast can help bring clarity when making these decisions.

One of my friends was trying to decide if he should romantically pursue a particular girl. He decided to go on a three day fast in order to seek God’s council. While God did not speak to him audibly, he did feel peace at the end of the fast about dating her. When I asked him why he felt he needed to fast, my friend explained, “I needed to hear from God. I did not know how to hear God’s voice and I knew I needed to have a few days of quiet so I could become sensitive to what He was saying.”

One occasion when fasting was used to seek direction was when the Israelites were at war. For two days, they had gone to battle and lost thousands of lives and now they are wondering if they should turn and run or stay to fight one more day. “Then the Israelites, all the people, went up to Bethel, and there they sat weeping before the LORD. They fasted that day until evening…And the Israelites inquired of the LORD…They asked, “Shall we go up again to battle…?” The LORD responded, “Go, for tomorrow I will give them into your hands” (Judges 20:26-28). On the third day, they completely defeated the enemy. Perhaps you have suffered a defeat in your business or job and you are wondering if you should throw in the towel or keep trying. A fast can help answer your questions

A similar situation occurred when “…Jehoshaphat resolved to inquire of the LORD, and he proclaimed a fast…” (2 Chronicles 20:3-4). In response to this fast, God gave King Jehoshaphat precise instructions on how to win the war he was facing. A time of quiet before God will silence the conflicting voices in our heads and amplify God’s voice. This makes God’s will easier to discover and follow. God often speaks during times of fasting.

For example, in the fifth year of the reign of Jehoiakim, a day of fasting was proclaimed for Judah. Throughout the fast, the people came to the temple with their petitions for God. It was during this time of fasting that Jeremiah the prophet finished dictating the word of the Lord to his scribe Baruch and sent him to read the divine revelation in the temple. Jeremiah told him, “…go to the house of the Lord on a day of fasting and read to the people from the scroll the words of the Lord that you wrote as I dictated” (Jeremiah 36:6). The day of fasting was the day God chose to reveal His will. Unfortunately, neither the king nor the people listened to what God was saying. They fasted and came to the temple with prayer requests, but when God began to speak, they did not listen. Sometimes, God may say what we do not want to hear, but before embarking on a fast we should make a commitment to hearing and obeying what God says.

For several years, I have made a habit of setting aside time in January for fasting. This gives me the opportunity to seek direction for the New Year and it serves as a “first-fruits” offering of my time to God.

 

Why Fast? Reason #1: To Meet With God

The first purpose for fasting is to spend time with God. In the hustle and bustle of everyday life, it is often difficult to set aside quality time with our Creator. During the daily grind there are people to see, places to go, and things to do. An amazing amount of time is spent doing mundane things like eating. By fasting, we carve out extra time in our schedules to read the Bible, pray, and to worship God. This directly enhances our spiritual life by putting us in contact with the Heavenly Father. The best steaks are marinated for hours in seasoning sauces. A fast allows you to spend time soaking in God’s presence.

Here are three examples of how fasting allowed Biblical characters to meet God.

  1. When Moses fasted for forty days on top of the mountain, he experienced the tangible glory of God. For forty days he met with God and never even thought about eating. When he came back down the mountain, his face was radiant because of the presence of God (Exodus 34:29). Fasting allows us to spend time in God’s presence and to experience the glory of God.
  2. Anna the prophetess prayed and fasted regularly for eighty-four years, she never left the temple but worshiped day and night. Simeon the prophet was righteous and devout. Together, these two ancient people looked for the coming of the Messiah. God told Simeon he would not die until after he laid eyes on the one who would save Israel. For many years, they fasted and prayed for the opportunity to see the Christ, until one day Mary and Joseph arrived at the temple with the baby Jesus. Simeon, led by the Spirit of God, recognized the baby and praised God that he had seen“the salvation of the world.”  When Anna saw the baby, she also gave thanks to God.  (Luke 2:25-39).

            What were these old people praying for? They wanted to see the Messiah. Because of their prayers, they had the opportunity to meet Jesus. Spending time in fasting and prayer is also a way for you to meet God.

  1. Cornelius was a Roman centurion, a Gentile, who wanted to meet the God of Israel in a time when only Jews were allowed to know God. Cornelius and his family were known as to be devout and God-fearing. Because he wanted to meet God he regularly fasted, prayed, and gave money to the poor.

            One day, at about three o’clock in the afternoon, an angel appeared to him and said, “Cornelius, your prayers and your giving have caught God’s attention. Send for the Apostle Peter who is staying in Joppa.” The angel proceeded to give precise instructions where to find Peter. Cornelius immediately sent his servants to find Peter.

            Meanwhile, God showed Peter a vision to convince him Gentiles could be saved. When the servant arrived, Peter returned with them to visit the centurion. Cornelius had gathered all his friends and relatives to listen to Peter. When Peter began preaching to them, they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. They were the first Gentiles in history to be saved (Acts 10:1-48). The centurion’s combination of fasting, prayer, and giving impressed God and allowed him to become the first Gentile to meet God. Your fasting will help you meet God too.

13 Spiritual Benefits of Fasting

The best passage in the Bible on fasting is Isaiah 58:6-12. God says, “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen…” Then, He lists many of the benefits of fasting. Here they are:

  1. Fasting sets those in captivity free.

“…to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?…” If you, or a member of your family, has been bound by the oppression of Satan, fasting is a powerful tool to set them free! It is particularly powerful at setting people free from addictions, from sexual sins like adultery and pornography, and from sins of the imagination. By denying the body a basic necessity like food, we can be set free from sins that have held the flesh captive.

 

  1. Fasting sets abundance in the proper perspective.

“…Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter‑ when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?…” There are millions of people around the globe who are forced to regularly skip meals because they are too poor to buy food. By skipping a meal and sending the money we would have spent on that meal to a needy person, we use our wealth unselfishly.

  1. Fasting produces revelation.

“…Then your light will break forth like the dawn…” If you need God’s help in a dark situation, fasting will reveal the light at the end of the tunnel!

  1. Fasting causes healing.

“…and your healing will quickly appear…” If you, or a friend, are fighting a disease, fasting puts you in direct contact with God’s healing power. (Note: Make sure you ask your doctor before going on a fast, especially if you are sick).

  1. Fasting is a sign of righteousness.

“…then your righteousness will go before you…” God makes us righteous because of our faith, but faith without works is dead. Fasting is a physical indication of a desire to be more righteous. As we fast, God will notice our sacrifice and answer our prayers.

  1. Fasting allows you to experience the glory of God.

“…and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard…” If you want God’s glory to follow you everywhere you go, fasting is a great way to press into the presence of God. After Moses fasted on the mountain for forty days, he was forced to cover his face when he spoke with the Israelites because God’s glory on his face was too strong for them to look at him. Once you have spent time in the throne room, God’s glory will follow you.

  1. Fasting gets prayers answered.

“…Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I…” When you call on God, He will answer you. When you ask Him for help, He will provide the answer.

 

  1. Fasting helps us focus on solutions instead of pointing at problems.

            “…If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk, and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed…” All too often, we point fingers and gossip instead of helping. Fasting will allow you to be part of the solution instead of being part of the problem.

  1. Fasting provides guidance.

            “…then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday… The Lord will guide you always…” When you do not know which way to turn, fasting will provide direction. As you have time to listen to God’s voice, you will receive the guidance you need.

  1. Fasting releases provision.

            “…[The Lord] will satisfy your needs in a sun‑scorched land…” We serve Jehovah Jirah, the God who provides.

  1. Fasting gives you strength.

            “…[The Lord] will strengthen your frame…” Fasting initially makes you physically weak, but ultimately you will be stronger, both spiritually and physically.

  1. Fasting unlocks spiritual refreshment.

            “…You will be like a well‑watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail…” Fasting help you sink deep roots that allow you to tap into rivers of living water.

  1. Fasting leads to restoration of what has been lost and to a new period of building.

            “…Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age‑old foundations; you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.” Fasting closes the doorways of the past and releases new vision for the future.

Fasting throughout Church History

             After creating the world in six days, God rested on the seventh day (Genesis 2:2). Fasting is symbolic of this day of rest.      

            In early Christian teachings, believers are told to “fast for those who persecute you” (Didache 1:3). Traditionally, the early church fasted every Wednesday (to remember Christ’s betrayal) and Friday (to remember his crucifixion). Of course, after fasting the church members ate the Lord’s Supper together on Sunday morning to celebrate Christ’s resurrection!

            Tertullian in his book On Fasting which was written during a time when Christians were being persecuted said, “…an over-fed Christian will be more [pleasing] to bears and lions, perchance, than to God…”

            St. Augustine wrote, “When a man imposes on himself the burden of fasting, he shows that he really wants what he is asking for.”

            Martin Luther fasted frequently. Much of his translation of the Bible into German was completed during his times of fasting.

            John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist movement refused to ordain anyone who did not fast at least two days each week. He believed no one is worthy to rule the body of Christ if he cannot rule his own belly.

            The first settlers in America often declared days of fasting to pray for their crops and animals. In the summer of 1623, the Pilgrim’s crop was failing. They “set apart a solemn day of humiliation to seek the Lord by humble and fervent prayer…And he was pleased to give a gracious and speedy answer, both to their own and the Indian’s admiration.”

            Jonathan Edwards whose preaching sparked the “Great Awakening” is often depicted holding onto his pulpit while preaching his sermon “Sinners in the Hands of Angry God” because his body was weak from much fasting.

            When England declared an embargo on the port of Boston, the Assembly of Virginia passed a resolution calling for a day of fasting, humiliation, and prayer on June 1, 1774. According to his diary, George Washington joined in the fast.

            John Adams, the second president of the United States, declared May 9, 1798 a day of fasting for the nation when the country was in danger of going to war with France. He said, “As the safety and prosperity of nations ultimately and essentially depends on the protection and the blessing of Almighty God…and as the United States of America are at present, placed in a hazardous and afflictive situation…under these considerations it has appeared to me that the duty of imploring the mercy and benediction of Heaven on our country, demands, at this time, a special attention from its inhabitants”

            Under the fourth president of the United States, James Madison, the United States was in a war with Great Britain. The Senate and the House of Representatives passed a joint resolution declaring a day of fasting on January 12, 1815.

            Abraham Lincoln declared three days of fasting during the time of the Civil War. He wrote, “…We have grown in numbers, wealth, and power as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God…we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own…It behooves us, then to humble ourselves before the Offended Power, to confess our national sins, and to pray for clemency and forgiveness.”

            Charles Spurgeon writes, “Our seasons of fasting and prayer at the Tabernacle have been high days indeed; never has Heaven’s gate stood wider; never have our hearts been nearer the central Glory.”

31 Different Kinds of Biblical Fasts

Who fasted in the Bible? Why did they fast? Here are some of the reasons people fasted in the Bible.

  1. The Eliezer Fast…to Complete a Task (Genesis 24:33)
  2. The Moses Fast…to Receive Instructions from God (Exodus 24:28)
  3. The Wave Offering Fast…for Giving to God (Leviticus 23:10-14)
  4. The Day of Atonement Fast…for Repentance (Leviticus 23:26-32)
  5. The Nazirite Fast…to Fulfill a Vow (Numbers 6:3-4)
  6. The Hannah Fast…for Answer to Prayer (1 Samuel 1:7)
  7. The Samuel Fast…for Confession of Sins (1 Samuel 7:6)
  8. The David Fast… to Humble Yourself (Psalm 35:13)
  9. The Widow’s Fast…as a Seed Toward Your Future Need (1 Kings 17:15)
  10. The Elijah Fast…To Cure Depression and Discouragement (1 Kings 19:8)
  11. The Jehoshaphat Fast…for Deliverance From an Enemy (2 Chronicles 20:1‑4)
  12. The Esther Fast…for the Salvation of a People (Esther 4:15‑16)
  13. The Ezra Fast…for Protection (Ezra 8:21‑23)
  14. The Nehemiah Fast…to Prepare for Rebuilding (Nehemiah 1:4)
  15. The Isaiah Fast…God’s Chosen Fast (Isaiah 58:6-12)
  16. The Jeremiah Fast…to Hear God’s Word (Jeremiah 36:6,9)
  17. The Daniel Fast…To Obey God’s Law (Daniel 1:8)
  18. The Gabriel Fast…for Spiritual Break-through (Daniel 9:3, 21)
  19. The Joel Fast…to turn to God with all your heart (Joel 2:12)
  20. The Jonah Fast…for the Repentance of a Nation (Jonah 3:5-9)
  21. The Zechariah Fast…during Times of Mourning (Zechariah 3:5-9)
  22. The Anna Fast…the Fasted Lifestyle (Luke 2:36-37)
  23. The John the Baptist Fast…to Prepare the Way for Jesus (Luke 7:33)
  24. The Jesus Fast…for Consecration (Matthew 4:2)
  25. The Disciple’s Fast…to Cast Out Demons (Matthew 17:21)
  26. The Pharisee Fast…to Impress People rather then God (Luke 18:12)
  27. The Wedding Party’s Fast…to Wait for the Bridegroom (Luke 5:34-35)
  28. The Saul Fast…for Light in the Midst of Darkness (Acts 9:9)
  29. The Cornelius Fast…to Catch God’s Attention (Acts 10:30)
  30. The Paul and Barnabas Fast…for Ordination into Ministry (Acts 13:2-3)
  31. The Paul Fast…during Times of Hardship (2 Corinthians 6:4‑6)

What is Fasting?

          Do you want more intimacy with God? Do you desire spiritual breakthrough? Would you like more supernatural power in your life? One key to activating these in your life is a time of fasting and prayer.

            A fast is any length of time when you abstain from eating food. The Hebrew word for fasting is tsom. It literally means “not to eat.” The Greek word for fasting is nesteuo. This word comes from a combination of a prefix of negation ne and the word edo meaning “to eat.” So, the word nesteuo means “to not eat.”

            For example, most of us do not eat in the middle of the night while sleeping. This is why we call the first meal of the day “Break-fast.”  When you eat in the morning, you break your all-night fast.

            But fasting is far more than abstaining from food. It is a spiritual discipline. One pastor said, “Fasting is choosing to set aside something natural in pursuit of something supernatural.” Fasting gives us a continual physical reminder to seek God’s presence. Fasting is a sign that you are so passionate about God that you would deny your physical body in pursuit of greater spiritual intimacy with God.

            Unfortunately, fasting has become a neglected spiritual discipline. In place of corporate fasting, many churches host prayer breakfasts, church picnics, mission’s banquets, and potluck suppers. We could have overwhelming power, instead we are overweight. It seems the only acceptable sin in most Christian circles is gluttony. Rather than balancing the scales of justice, we are breaking the scales in our bathrooms. Why do our knees bend because of weight instead of bending for prayer? Do we rule our stomachs or do our stomachs rule us? Is food a servant or a master?

            Many Christians pay lip service to fasting, but they continue to service their lips with food. Jesus prophesied that in the last days people would be eating and drinking (Matthew 24:38). Is the world’s feasting (instead of fasting) a sign of the end times?

            Fasting was frequently practiced during Bible times, it was practiced by church fathers down through the centuries, and it should be practiced today. There are a number of significant benefits and blessings that come when we spend time in fasting and prayer. Fasting should be restored to its proper place in the arsenal of Christian weapons. In this book, I will show you how to release the power of fasting in your life.

The Power of Fasting

By Daniel King

A massive crowd stretches across a soccer field, listening intently to the Gospel. A young girl’s deaf ear is supernaturally opened. Three deaf-mutes boys speak for the first time in their lives. A woman who has been in her wheelchair for eleven years gets up and walks. Thousands of people decide to become Christians.

As I watched these amazing events unfold before my eyes, I asked myself, “Why are we experiencing so many miracles tonight?” The answer came to me as I remembered myself, three months previously, stretched out on a carpet, face down before God. I realized the massive miracle crusade was the direct result of the power of fasting and prayer.

For several years, I desired to launch my ministry with a time of fasting and prayer. Just as Jesus spent the first forty days after his baptism fasting, I wanted to set aside time to seek God’s perfect will for my life. Before this, I had fasted for various amounts of time, but I had never fasted for such a long period.

Finally, I set aside almost six weeks to dedicate my life to God. As I spent time in prayer, I cried out for miracle power to be manifested in my ministry. I was tired of just talking about the power of God, I wanted to experience the power of God. I was desperately hungry to know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that God’s promises are true.

On that crusade stage, God answered my prayers. He showed up and showed off. Hundreds of people received a miracle from God. But, my fasting was only one half of the reason God moved.

The main pastor who was hosting my crusade said, “Daniel, you are the miracle we have been praying for!” I asked him what he meant.

He explained that for over two years, he had prayed for God to send a crusade to his city of Potrerillos, Honduras. Even though he had a passion for the people of his city, he did not have the resources to host a crusade. Day after day, he asked God to make a crusade possible.

Finally, he realized that in order to achieve a spiritual breakthrough a great spiritual price would have to be paid. He called the Pastor’s Association of Potrerillos together and challenged them to fast and pray for God to send a crusade to their city.

In response to this call for spiritual dedication, eighty local pastors and church members fasted for forty days in order to ask God to send a crusade to their city. Amazingly, only a few days after the end of their fast, I called the pastor and asked if I could come to his city for a massive miracle crusade.

I was praying for God to move at the same time the local pastors in Honduras were praying for God to move. Even though we were thousands of miles apart as we sent our petitions heavenward, God heard us. Through a series of divine connections and miracles, God brought us together. The crusade was held and together we touched the lives of over forty thousand people.

Would this crusade have happened without us fasting? Would we have experienced the miracle healings if we had not spent time in prayer? I do not know, but I suspect that fasting and prayer helped pave the way for God to move.

Throughout the Bible, God moves in response to His people fasting. I have proved this in my own life. There is tremendous power when a believer denies the flesh and spends time on his or her knees in prayer.

This is an excerpt from Daniel’s book: “The Power of Fasting.” To order your copy, click HERE.