Paul Daugherty | Victory Church Has a Heart for Missions

In this podcast episode, Evangelist Daniel King interviews Pastor Paul Daugherty from Victory Church. They discuss the importance of missions and reaching out to communities. Pastor Paul shares how Victory Church has a long history of being involved in missions and sending young people on mission trips. They talk about the impact these trips have on teenagers, as they are stretched to share the gospel and experience the needs of others. Pastor Paul also emphasizes the importance of starting small and mobilizing the resources and people available to reach out to the lost. He shares some of the outreach activities Victory Church does, such as passing out groceries, ministering at nursing homes, and hosting productions to reach the unchurched.

Join Victory Church for an online church service: https://victory.com/

Transcript:

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (00:00):
Welcome to the Evangelism Podcast. I’m Daniel King and I’m excited about telling people about Jesus. Today I have a very special guest with me, my pastor, pastor Paul Daugherty. Thank you for joining me on the Evangelism Podcast.

Pastor Paul Daugherty – Victory Church (00:12):
Yes, sir. Honored to be with you.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (00:13):
Now we are here in El Salvador. Yes, sir. Santa Anna. And tonight is the first night of a big gospel crusade and we are so honored that Victory is down here helping us and partner with us for this crusade. Thank you for being here.

Pastor Paul Daugherty – Victory Church (00:30):
Come on. It’s who we are. It’s what we’re excited about. And I’m sitting here with my hat on my T-shirt, shorts. It’s 96 degrees in El Salvador, back home in Tulsa. It’s probably 40 degrees, but we’re excited for tonight. We’ll be dressed up in our suits. We’ll be out there ministering to the people, and our team is excited. We got 138 teenagers. We brought from Tulsa from our church just to El Salvador. We have another almost a hundred plus that are out in other places. So altogether 253 teenagers, we brought from our church on missions to Greece, parts of Florida, and then big majority of them right here in El Salvador to partner with you and to be a part of Vista Evangelistic Outreach.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (01:15):
And we are so excited about what God has been doing through these young people from Victory Christian School from eighth grade all the way up to 11th grade is here with us. Yes sir. And my son Caleb, he’s in eighth grade at Victory. He’s been there ever since kindergarten, and he came on this trip and so he’s been out ministering in the schools, helping to deliver boxes of food to some poor people. I heard a testimony about him yesterday. He knocked on one door and gave them a box of food. It was his turn to pray for the family. And there was one woman, an older grandma in the house that wasn’t able to walk very well. And so my son, 14 years old, he said, can I pray for you? And he prayed for her and she lifted her crutch up in the air and started walking back and forth. And the team leaders were actually really excited and gave me the testimony. Then I asked him, he was like, yeah, she was healed.

Pastor Paul Daugherty – Victory Church (02:11):
Oh my goodness. How cool is it though, that you get to go on, you get to do your normal crusades because you do this all the time, every year you do multiple evangelistic crusades. But I think it’s cool that you get to be with your son, with his school teamed up with your evangelistic ministry and your church. Is this the first time that’s happened or has it happened before?

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (02:32):
I think for seeing someone get healed when he prayed for them, this might be the first time. That’s

Pastor Paul Daugherty – Victory Church (02:38):
Amazing.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (02:39):
I mean, we’ve always encouraged him to pray for the sick, but just it changes a young person’s life when they see God work through them. And Victory has actually had a long history of being involved in missions. My parents, Robert and Susan King, they graduated from Victory’s Mission School back in 1988, and they went to Mexico, come on and started hosting groups that came from Victory Christian Center in Juarez in Juarez, Mexico. I went, yeah, they hosted it for like 13 years in a row. I remember there used to be these big groups of young people that would come down. We’d take them running through the streets of Juarez. And Victory has always believed in missions and especially in sending young people out on these mission trips. Why is this so important to victory, to be so involved in missions?

Pastor Paul Daugherty – Victory Church (03:31):
Even as I’m looking at the teenagers right now around us, and if you’re listening to this podcast, you can’t see it, but we’re surrounded by teenagers that are all around the hotel area, and I love seeing their joy. I love seeing them come alive. They come on these trips and they forget about trying to look cool in front of their friends. They forget about all the drama back home that happens in middle school and high school, just boyfriends, girlfriends, even just academics. The focus is totally about sharing the gospel and something happens when they are stretched and pushed to go and pray for someone who’s sick, pass out food, share their testimony, lead someone to Christ. It challenges them to think beyond themselves in such a supernatural way. And they come alive. It’s like they wake up, their eyes are open to life being so much more fulfilling when they are a part of the Great commission. And our church has been doing this, like you said, my parents started Victory in 1981, Billy Joe and Sharon Darty and your parents were a part of one of those first years of missions training ministry that my parents began many years ago and we still do today. We

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (04:41):
Trained. It’s neat. There’s a second generation now and even a third generation. Third generation. Because you brought your son on this mission trip

Pastor Paul Daugherty – Victory Church (04:47):
Too. Yeah, my parents trained your parents who trained you, who’s trained your son, and now I’m training my kids. And it’s amazing to see the generational impact. The church has been around for 43 years. The school started the same year as the church. And when the school began, my dad said, Hey, we’re going to train students up, not just to know math and English and science, and not just to play sports, but also to go on mission trips. And so we have chapels every week at our school, but then we have mission strip opportunities and we really start sending kids on missions in sixth grade and all the way up to 12th grade every spring break. They’ve been doing that since the eighties, the nineties, the two thousands. And now here we are in the 2020s. And so I think over the last 40 years, we’ve probably sent, not exaggerating any numbers, we’ve probably sent 5,000 teenagers on spring break mission trips over the last 40 plus years.

(05:45):
And then from those 5,000 hundreds of thousands, if not millions, impacted by their obedience to share the gospel all over the world in countries like Greece and El Salvador, Republic, Haiti, Ireland, England, China, Singapore, and as teenagers go out, my life was changed. I went to Juarez in sixth grade and I worked with your parents, sharing the gospel, going with my grade. We had probably 50 kids from our class that went, and our lives were forever impacted because we got to share the hope of Jesus. We passed out beans and rice, we did dramas. And your parents showed us what it looks like to really give our lives to the people with the gospel that lived in Mexico. We went to a place, I’ll never forget, called Garbage City in Juarez, an area where all the people lived in garbage.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (06:38):
They would go through the garbage just to find food to

Pastor Paul Daugherty – Victory Church (06:40):
Eat, and they didn’t have shirts. A lot of these kids didn’t have shoes. They were running around in their underwear. And I remember just my heart broke and I was like, if this is the only reason I come on missions, it’s just to be reminded of how blessed I am to live where I live and to have a heart of gratitude and to break off any feelings of complaining or entitlement. I think that’s another big huge win for parents who send their kids on missions trips with victory is of course the kids are going to be stretched to share the gospel, the boldness of Jesus Christ. That’s a forever game changer. But the other part is their eyes are going to be open that 95% of the world lives on less than $2 a day, and so much of the world is impoverished. And when these American teenagers who have five pairs of shoes in their closet, they have have a good pillow, they have a good bed, air conditioning, a heater.

(07:33):
When they come to places where there is so much poverty and these kids don’t have a bed and they don’t have even a pair of shoes, it breaks their heart in a healthy way. And it reminds them the world is bigger than Oklahoma. The world’s bigger than America, and they need Jesus. And we need to live with generosity. We’re blessed to be a blessing. So I think there’s so many benefits of getting our teenagers on mission trips. I mean, it just is endless. And we’re now rotating our kids. We have five kids, a 10-year-old, 8-year-old, 5-year-old, 4-year-old, and a 2-year-old. And we’re rotating which one gets to go on missions each time I go out. So I’ve taken my oldest, I’ve taken my now 8-year-old, I’ve taken my 5-year-old, and eventually I’ll take our 4-year-old, 2-year-old as they get older. But it’s awesome getting to take them on missions.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (08:18):
Well, I’m so thankful for the heart that you have permissions and the heart that victory has had permissions for so many years, and I just want to personally say thank you because victory, when my parents went out as missionaries, victory started supporting them on a monthly basis and they helped to support them every single month for over 30 years. And in this day and age of so many churches, I think sometimes have lost the vision for missions. Victory is really special because you’ve kept this vision for missions, this vision for helping support missionaries. And so victory to this day continues to support missionaries all over the world. You’ve planted over 2000 Bible schools that are ongoing in different nations around the world and continuing to have impact. I mean, I remember I was in Ethiopia a couple of years ago and I was sitting and drinking coffee.

(09:15):
I heard someone talking about a Bible school and I talked to them and it was a victory Bible school that they had started after your father had visited Ethiopia in the middle of Ethiopia. And I just found him in the middle of nowhere, and I went and preached for them that day. It was really cool. That’s amazing. And so your father, pastor Billy Joe Dougherty was a great pastor, but he was also a great evangelist. Yes, sir. And he had a great heart for evangelism. I remember when I was 14 years old, I got to go to the Olympic Stadium in Russia at that time. He was doing a series of 18 months of crusades in Russia in St. Petersburg. And so when I was 14, I remember seeing thousands of people running to the altar call. And that had a big impact on my life, and it really gave me a vision to believe God, to bring people to Jesus. And to this day, that time that I saw the people rushing to the stadium in St. Petersburg, it makes me tear up when I think about it and say, oh God, do it again. Come on Jesus. I want to see people hungry for Jesus that come running up for altar calls.

Pastor Paul Daugherty – Victory Church (10:26):
Come on Jesus.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (10:27):
And so victory has, you have a great heart for evangelism, and it’s not just foreign missions, but you also have a great heart for reaching people in Tulsa. And so we have a lot of pastors that listen to this podcast. What would you say to encourage pastors who want to reach out to their communities and then reach out to the world?

Pastor Paul Daugherty – Victory Church (10:48):
Well, I think one, just the importance of doing one thing at a time, starting one day at a time with what you have. If you’re a pastor of 20 people in a rural town, and you may not have all the resources that a large church like victory might have, but you still have resources, you still have 20 people that could be mobilized to be evangelistic minded. And so mobilizing who you have and what you have to use for the gospel and for the advancement of bringing hope and compassion, people need Jesus. And so whether your town is a thousand people or 10,000 people or a hundred thousand people, there’s a percentage of those people that have not yet given their hearts to Christ and need hope. There’s a percentage of those people that are dealing with loneliness, depression, suicidal thoughts, addictions, and they’ve drifted from God.

(11:39):
And so how do we go after them? I think what I would encourage pastors with is be consumed with that lost sheep. Be thinking about that. Lost sheep. Of course, we want to disciple the 99. We want to give our hearts and lives to the people that are in the church and equip them, but we don’t want to forget about the people who aren’t here yet, the people who haven’t accepted Christ and the people who are not inside church yet. And so I would just encourage pastors, think about what you could do every week to mobilize your people to go and share the gospel telling them like, Hey, let’s use our social media. Let’s use our platforms on YouTube. Let’s use our voice at work. Let’s share the gospel. Let’s get some invite cards to our church. Let’s get some witnessing tracks, and then let’s pass out groceries for our church.

(12:25):
We’re always passing out groceries. We’re doing all types of different physical outreaches to our city, cleaning up parks, showing up and ministering at nursing homes, showing up to apartment complexes where there’s tons of boys and girls. And we will set up a sound system and we’ll just do a pop-up children’s church service, pass out candy, pass out, invite cards to church, and then pray with families. And through those outreaches, it brings in that lost sheep, that person who’s not yet right with God, not in church. A couple of big things we do every year is an Easter production and at Christmas production. And then we do some different carnivals that we do for our city. And we use these as tools to evangelize, to witness to people who are not really following Jesus, don’t know Jesus, haven’t given their hearts to Jesus, and whatever we can do to get them in the doors.

(13:17):
And so we’ve got a big one coming up next week for Easter, and I don’t know when this will be aired, but on the week of Easter this year, 2024, we’re going to be doing six really big half film, half live production like services with 300 cast members. And what we’ve said to people in our church is this isn’t for church people, this is for unchurched people. Now, if you’re a church person, come but come with somebody who’s not in church. Bring somebody with you. Invite your family members. If you don’t know anyone who doesn’t know Jesus, go find someone. Use your social media. Tell people to tune in online. And our goal is not to entertain Christians. Our goal is to reach the lost. So we try to tell the story of Jesus in a creative way. We use all kinds of dance and music and Broadway like production and then film these days.

(14:07):
So many people are reached through movies and through shows. That’s why I’m thankful for some of the great Christian movies and shows out there that are trying to tell the story of Jesus. And no one’s going to be able to do it perfect in the eyes of a religious person. And I think we have to let go of that. I think at the end of the day, we need to go. Are we talking about the cross? Are we talking about resurrection? Are we giving people a opportunity to accept Jesus in their heart and repent of their sins? If we’re doing that, then all the other stuff, the way it’s done, the music the day and all that stuff, we just need to not make a big deal out of. Because if we’re getting people saved, that’s what counts. And giving them really an invitation to know Jesus died for you.

(14:47):
Jesus rose from the grave for you. Jesus cares about you. And so our church does that. And last year we had probably a thousand people get saved in Tulsa through those outreaches. And then we had tens of thousands of people who weren’t in church who came back for the first time and attended a service. And whether they got saved or not, a seed was planted. And so that seed grows in the water and what Paul and Apollo say, but our prayer as a church is we’re going to do anything and everything to reach the lost and disciple the found to go and reach the lost.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (15:20):
Amen. Well, thank you so much for your heart for missions. We’re so grateful that you are here in El Salvador with us. Thank you for bringing over 130 teenagers down here. What a blessing they are. And it is really changed some of their lives. I was thinking about last night, there was a baptism service and some of the team members that came said, I want to rededicate my life, or I want to dedicate my life to Jesus. And right in the pool, right behind us over here, you started to baptize them. And so it is changing their lives forever. And they will remember that for many years to come. And I believe these teenagers will, some of them will become missionaries, some of them will be pastors evangel. They’ll have a heart for evangelism, they’ll support evangelists, they’ll support missions. And so it’s really significant what Victory Church is doing. So Pastor Paul, thank you so much. Appreciate you. Appreciate and thank you for being on The Evangelism Podcast.

Pastor Paul Daugherty – Victory Church (16:18):
Hey, thank you so much.

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The Pentecostal Movement in Sweden | Josef Maxson

Josef Maxson, a representative of the Pentecostal movement in Sweden, discusses the history and growth of the movement in the country. He explains that the Pentecostal movement began in Sweden in 1907 and spread through Baptist churches. The movement grew rapidly under the leadership of Lewi Pethrus, with over 55,000 members after 20 years. Currently, there are around 440 Pentecostal churches in Sweden with 18,700 members. Maxson also highlights the missionary legacy of the Pentecostal movement, with Sweden having sent out more missionaries per capita than any other country. He mentions the impact of Swedish missionaries in countries like Liberia and Bangladesh. Maxson emphasizes that missions are still a key focus for the Pentecostal movement in Sweden, especially among young people. He shares his personal experiences of witnessing the power of the Holy Spirit in missions and the inspiration it brings to his work. The interview concludes with a prayer in Swedish for a new move of the Holy Spirit in the Pentecostal churches of Sweden.

Learn more about the Pentecostal Movement in Sweden: https://www.pingst.se/english/

Transcript:

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (00:00):
Welcome to the Evangelism Podcast. I’m Daniel King. I’m excited about telling people about Jesus today. I have a very special guest with me, Josef Maxson from Sweden. Thank you for joining me today.

Josef Maxson (00:12):
Thank you. So nice to be in your podcast.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (00:15):
Well, we are here in Guinea, and we have been having a wonderful gospel campaign, and you came with one of the evangelists who’s here, and it’s been absolutely wonderful to get to know you. And you are actually working right now with the Pentecostal movement of Sweden. And so over the years, God has done really amazing things through the Pentecostal movement in Sweden. Let’s just start at the beginning. How did Pentecost come to Sweden?

Josef Maxson (00:54):
Yes, so I mean, the Pentecostal movement have been in Sweden since around 1907. So I mean, it started on Ausa Street and some years later it went first to Norway with a man called Barat. And in Norway it was a man called Ros. And he went there for a Bible school and to hear this Norwegian preacher preach about what’s happening over on Asa Street, and I mean the movement started to spread in the Scandinavian and mostly in the Baptist churches. So Lewi Pethrus, I mean, he gets to this teaching and he starts to preach it, and more and more people are listening to him and he starts ministering in a church in Stockholm, I think around this time also in the Baptist Church. And in this new Pentecostal movement, you don’t, meaning at that time you needed to be a member in the church. You took the holy communion.

(02:20):
And this was, I mean, they didn’t like this fault anymore. They wanted to, I mean, everybody could take the holy communion if you are a believer. So then this congregation that Levi Pets was pastoring, they decided to break up from the Baptist movement in Sweden, and they started their own church, so to say. And in that time, you can say the Pentecostal movement started in Sweden when they broke laws and they choose to be on their own. And then it continue in many different Baptist churches, but also people started new churches. So I think the first 10 years, it was around 50 churches that started that connected to the Pentecostal movements, so to say. And the founder in Sweden is Lewi Pethrus. So he was pastoring this church for nearly 50 years, and he was, the Pentecostal movement in Sweden shouldn’t exist without him. He was a real apostle and entrepreneur.

(03:40):
And his church grown a lot the coming year during the twenties and the thirties. And I mean, he was a road model for a lot of pastors. And what he said, they listened to him, so to say. And I think after 20 years there was over 55,000 members. And then they decided around between the wars like 1,930 to build a new church. And they built a church for, I think it was four, 4,000 attendance. And this was the biggest, not stadium, but city hall or church building, church building, or the biggest building to gather people in at that time in the northern part of Europe. So it was really big

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (04:49):
Building. They had big faith

Josef Maxson (04:53):
And I think it was the biggest for nearly 30 years or something.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (04:58):
So the Pentecostal movement has continued to grow and is now very mature. And you serve on the staff with the Pentecostal movement. What’s your position?

Josef Maxson (05:09):
So my position is head of communication. So I work with the marketing with the social media, our webpage, but also a lot connected to our events, leader events, pastors network, summer conference and youth conference, and different kind of campaigns during the year. We do a lot of advertisement around Christmas and during the Easter in the secular media to tell about Jesus and so on. So it’s a lot of different parts. We have a magazine coming out fourth time every year.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (05:54):
And so approximately how many churches and how many members would be considered Pentecostal now

Josef Maxson (06:03):
In the Pentecostal movement in Sweden, it’s around 440 churches right now, and the member is 18,700.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (06:14):
Wow. And so for a country the size of Sweden, that’s quite good.

Josef Maxson (06:20):
Yeah, it’s the biggest. In Sweden, we have had a church for over a thousand years, the state church, but the other churches called Free Church Free Churches. So this is the biggest dominations among the free churches, of course. I mean when it was as big as it was over 100,000 members, but it’s still the biggest dominations.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (06:47):
And so what is the spiritual atmosphere like in Sweden? As you mentioned, Christianity goes back a thousand years, but in that type of atmosphere, sometimes people’s love for Christ grow cold. And so what are the opportunities that the Pentecostal church sees and what are some of the challenges that you feel you’re facing right now?

Josef Maxson (07:12):
I mean, the Pentecostal movement was growing on until 1980s or something, and then this slowly started to getting down in numbers. But the last 10 years we have seen that the Baptist number have been going up, and we’ve seen a lot of new churches planting, I mean, to Sweden. We have a lot of refugee have been coming in the last 50 years, but especially the last 20 years. And they start new Pentecostal churches only in Stockholm, the capital. It had been started over a hundred new Pentecostal churches the last 10 years.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (07:57):
Wow. And do they come under the umbrella of the Pentecostal movement?

Josef Maxson (08:00):
Some

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (08:01):
Of them or some of them stay independent.

Josef Maxson (08:02):
Some of them stay independent, and some of them come into the umbrella. And we are working quite hard to get them in. I mean, some of them don’t know for many years that it exists a Pentecostal movement or domination to be part of. So we work to them to get them in, and we see a lot of growth during that process.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (08:28):
Let’s talk about the missionary legacy of the Pentecostal movement, because I’ve been all over the world and I have seen the impact that missionaries from Sweden have had in different parts of the world. And so this last week I was in Foya, Liberia, right across the border from where we are. And there is a hospital, a school, a beautiful church building and a radio station and some other buildings that were built by Swedish Pentecostal missionaries that came back in the late 1940s, early 1950s and stayed there all the way up until the war. The big war happened in Liberia. And it is just amazing. The Pentecostal legacy continues today we’re working with my friend Billy Bimba, and his father was led to Jesus by one of the Swedish Pentecostal missionaries and pastored there for many years. And now his children and his grandchildren continued to minister in Liberia. And I’ve seen that in different places. I was just not too long ago in Bangladesh. And there’s a church there that has been supported by the Pentecostal movement, and it’s growing by leaps and bounds in a very unreached area. What are some of the other stories of impact that the Pentecostal Church of Sweden has had through the missionaries you’ve sent out?

Josef Maxson (10:01):
I mean before or when many of the churches started in the early 19 hundreds, before you built a church building, you send out missionaries or before you had your own pastor, you send out missionaries. So it’s really in the Pentecostal congregation in Sweden’s DNA to send out missionaries. And I mean, the impact is enormous. It’s hundreds of millions of Christians who have been coming through Swedish missionaries. And I

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (10:39):
Heard that at one time per capita, Sweden sent out more missionaries than any other country on earth.

Josef Maxson (10:45):
Yeah, that’s true. So I mean, I think we had started churches, the Pentecostal movement in Sweden has started churches in over a hundred countries all over the world. And I mean, most of them we have good relationships with today. And even if the work has been changed a bit, we still do a lot of work through our humanitarian organization. And we have a mission organization works with the media like radio and tv, and also a lot of congregation, they have their own relationships with different congregations and dominations and countries. And so to say, so I mean, a lot is in the history, but we still works a lot around the globe

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (11:37):
Today. And would you say that missions is still part of something that the churches want to support and want to be a part of?

Josef Maxson (11:44):
Yeah, I should say that’s one of the keytones in the Pentecostal movement. It have been, and it’s in the future also, but of course I should say it have been the last 30 years. They have been going down a little bit. But the last 10 years, it’s growing quite a lot. And especially among the young people, they got new burning heart for missions in all different ways and to build relationships, and you want to reach out with the gospel. I mean,

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (12:17):
Let’s talk about your burning heart for missions because you’re from the Pentecostal movement of Sweden, but this week you are here in Giga, do Guinea. And this morning, of course, we were at the fire conference with all the leaders from the city, and we were preaching on the Holy Spirit, laid hands on them. Many of them spoke in tongues for the first time. Many of them were filled with the Holy Spirit. Several even had demon manifestations that demons came out and the bad spirits came out, and then the Holy Spirit came in. And so it is really beautiful to see, but what is it that drives you as a young Swedish Pentecostal to go out on the mission field?

Josef Maxson (13:01):
I mean, the experience for myself is one important part of it to learn, to get a sense of the history of mission send out from Sweden, but also to see, I mean, unreached people getting to know Christ today. I mean, I’m growing up in a old church where you tell a lot of stories how it was back as many years ago. Sure, yeah. But it’s so interesting to go out now

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (13:37):
You have a fresh story just from this morning a few hours ago.

Josef Maxson (13:40):
Exactly. Exactly.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (13:42):
And even last night, we saw miracles. You were taking pictures of the people that were healed. There was one deaf woman and her ear was opened. One woman who was blind in one eye, her eye was open and you were taking pictures of them. And so now you have fresh stories that Jesus is still working today.

Josef Maxson (13:58):
And my normal work is a lot about how do we do missions in Sweden and to sometimes every year go out and to learn and to see how other do and what’s happened around the world. It’s getting me very inspiring. And to see that unreached people get to know Christ, even today, it gives a lot of hope when you work with Swedish teenager. And also to see how we can learn from different cultures and so on. And also to go out to meet people who have been infected about them. The earlier missionaries from Sweden, I mean, I went to Bible school in China, and we was out on the countryside, and then a man come in front of us, me and my friend who was there, and he thanked us, and he was crying like, thank you that you bring the gospel to me and my family over a hundred years ago.

(15:01):
And I mean the missionary who sent to China, I mean, this was in the late 18 hundreds. This was one way ticket to go to China from Sweden. You packed everything. You leave everything behind because you had some burning heart to tell the gospel. And I mean, to hear that and to understand that and to see that with my eyes, it’s getting me a lot of inspiring to continue my work. And then how can I both be helping in the mission doing around the world, but also how can we do a better work in Sweden? And I mean, it’s the next generation growing up. They have a hunger for something. In many years, it was hard to preach the gospel in Sweden because a lot of the youth said, I don’t want to hear. I don’t believe in God. I’m an ageist. But today you belong or belong for something and you want to hear and you want to experience spiritually chi and so on. That’s quite interesting to see what’s happening in the coming years. Yeah.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (16:13):
Amen. Well, I believe that every Pentecostal church is always praying for revival. And so let’s finish the interview today by praying together that God would pour out his spirit upon the Pentecostal churches of Sweden. That new fire would come, that new growth would come, and a new heart and passion for missions would come. And so can you finish? But instead of praying in English, can you pray in Swedish, pray for the Swedish Pentecostal Church to experience a new move of the Holy Spirit in this modern time?

Josef Maxson (16:47):
Absolutely. Absolutely. Yes…

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (17:24):
Amen. Well, thank you Joseph for being on the Evangelism Podcast.

Josef Maxson (17:29):
Thank you. Thanks Having me.

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Humanitarian Outreach in Burkina Faso | Samuel Ouedraogo

Samuel Ouedraogo, a pastor from Burkina Faso, discusses his background and the work he is doing in his country. He explains that his father, also a pastor, raised him to serve those in need, and he now leads a social work organization called Word of Hope. The organization focuses on healthcare, education, and farming, with the goal of helping people have a relationship with Jesus Christ. Ouedraogo shares testimonies of lives impacted by their work and discusses the challenges of reaching people in a country with a large Muslim population and ongoing terrorist attacks. He invites listeners to get involved in helping to reach West Africa for Jesus.

Learn More About the Ministry of Sameul Ouedraogo: https://www.paroledespoir.org/

Transcript:

Evangelist Coach Daniel King (00:00):
Welcome to the Evangelism Podcast. I’m Daniel King, and I’m excited about telling people about Jesus. Today I have a very special friend with me, Samuel Ouedraogo from Burkina Faso. Thank you for being on the Evangelism Podcast.

Samuel Ouedraogo (00:12):
Thank you for having me,

Evangelist Coach Daniel King (00:13):
Brother Samuel, you are from the nation of Burkina Faso. That’s right. And you are reaching many people in the nation of Burkina Faso. Tell me a little bit about your background and how God brought you to the point where you are now.

Samuel Ouedraogo (00:30):
So thank you, Dr. King for having me here. It’s a joy for me to do this broadcasting with you. So my name is Samuel Ouedraogo and I am from Burkin Faso and I live in a capital called Ouagadougou. So background, I was born in a Christian family. My dad is a pastor, but he has a unique childhood. So while he was a child, my grandfather passed away and at that time he was in the primary school. So a few days later, the death of my grandfather, they chase him out from school. So he didn’t get any chance of finishing his primary school. So during those difficult time, the Lord called him into the ministry. So he raised us up with some tools into serving the needed one because he was one of them. So that’s how we grew up as a

Evangelist Coach Daniel King (01:37):
Family. Your father pastors a church in Burkina Faso, and it’s an Assembly of God church. And he has influence in the Assemblies of God throughout all of West Africa here. And so what do you see God doing during this time in Burkina Faso?

Samuel Ouedraogo (01:54):
So the Lord hasn’t done with Burkina Faso and he is doing great things. It’s true that my country is going through difficult time because we are under terrorist attack. So the current president usually say that we are at war against the terrorist, but that doesn’t stop us preaching the word of God. So in my country right now, we have three different ways of showing the love of Christ, of preaching the word of God. The first one is door to door evangelism. The second is crusades in those cities where there is not some issues. And the third one is through social work. And this is what we’re doing. So we have, of course, my dad is a pastor of the Assembly of God, and while he was pastoring the Lord gave him the vision of studying a social work called Para Depo. And within Para Depo, we are able to reach thousands of children, thousand of people for the Kingdom of God.

Evangelist Coach Daniel King (03:03):
And so you are helping to lead this social work and you work in several different areas. Tell me about the work that you do.

Samuel Ouedraogo (03:14):
Yeah, so after my studies in the United States, while I was there, I wanted to finish quick my studies so I can go back and help my dad with the ministry because he was very busy with the Assembly of God because at that time he was the superintendent of the Assembly of God, of Burkina Faso and the President of the West African Assembly of God and the Vice President of the entire continent of the Assembly of God. So when I finished my studies, I went back home. So the three areas we

Evangelist Coach Daniel King (03:45):
Work. Now, your studies, you were at Oral Roberts University.

Samuel Ouedraogo (03:48):
Of course, I went to Oral Roberts University.

Evangelist Coach Daniel King (03:50):
That’s the same university that I’m a graduate of. That’s, and so you came and got your learning and kept your burning as we like to say at ORU. But what were some of the things you learned during your time at ORU?

Samuel Ouedraogo (04:04):
Oh, I learned so many things. I did like Chapelle, it has brought to my spiritual life to a certain level. And also I took one class called Spirit and Empower Living, and the teacher was President Billy Wilson. And I have learned a lot about the Holy Spirit, which has helped me grow my intimacy with the Lord and also having friends, Christian friends around me. It has also helped me have a solid foundation.

Evangelist Coach Daniel King (04:45):
So you went to ORU, then you came back to Kinno Faso, and you started working in the area of social work. Yes. And there’s several different areas that you’re working in. Tell me about those different areas of social work.

Samuel Ouedraogo (05:03):
Our ministry is called Word of Hope in English. And within Word of Hope, we have three different areas. So the first one is healthcare. When it comes to the healthcare, we have a big hospital in the city in the capital of Ouagadougou where we have about 100,000 a year. So the vision over there is to provide medical healthcare to the community while showing the love of Christ to the community. And within the medical center, we have a chaplain every day from 7:00 AM to seven 15, we start the day with a little of devotion and we pray for the patient. So everybody gather the doctors, the patients, and then we pray. And after that, the chaplain will go to the hospitalization rooms and pray for the patient. So we have a lot of testimonies about people who have been healed through the prayers. So that’s what we do.

Evangelist Coach Daniel King (06:00):
That’s very interesting coming from Oral Roberts University, that you have that paradigm of ministry because Oral Roberts was one of the first to teach the theology that prayer in medicine should be combined. That we believe in medicine, that all healing comes from God. And God can use doctors, God can use medicine to heal people. But along with medicine, we also bring the healing power of God. And when you combine the power of medicine with the power of prayer to together, it brings healing to people. And so I think this is a very appropriate ministry for a graduate of or university to lead, to go into the hospitals, to pray for people to show the love of Christ. Yes. Okay. What’s the second?

Samuel Ouedraogo (06:45):
So the second is education. So at the education level, we have a primary school, high school and college. So at the primary school and high school, the vision is to make leaders who have the fear of God into their heart for the entire continent of Africa. So we recruit unfortunate kids, orphans kids, displaced children, all over high country. And we take them to our boarding school in where we feed them three times a day. We educate them the word of God, and we also teach them general education. So from age of six, seven years old, by the time they leave, they have a high school degree in their hand ready to go to college.

(07:36):
And at the university level, the college level, the vision of the funder is to give the opportunity of those surrounding countries, Muslim countries, to have a place to pursue their university education within Wago. So that’s what we do when it come to the education level. And then we have farming and agriculture. But before I talk to that, I come to the farming and education. We also have a vocational training center where we teach young girls who don’t want to pursue their general studies. We give them the opportunity to be trained into sewing, hairdressing, and also cooking. And so we train them and then we send them back to their areas so they can be helpful. And while the kids are in the compound with us at the boarding school, we also teach them how to raise pigs, how to raise cows, how to feed them, how to milk the cows, and also how to do gardening. So we teach them how to do vegetables so that when they go back, they can be helpful to their communities.

Evangelist Coach Daniel King (08:49):
And so you are working in the hospitals, you’re working in education, and then you’re working in farming and training people in how to raise different kinds of food. And ultimately your goal is to help people to have a relationship with Jesus Christ. And so what do you feel are ways to reach out to people in Burkin Faso? There’s a lot of challenges. Like you mentioned, there have been recent terrorist attacks in Burkin Faso. And so because of that, there’s potential danger. But in the midst of great darkness, Jesus still shines bright. So tell me a little bit, how does Jesus shine in the hearts of people? You have some testimonies of people’s lives who have been impacted.

Samuel Ouedraogo (09:42):
Yeah. Burkina Faso is a country I that I love, and it’s a special country. So as you mentioned, in the midst of darkness, we should shine because we represent Christ in the nation of Burkina Faso. Right now, we have approximately 1 million of people displaced families. So reaching those people through social work will be a good way of sharing the love of Christ and making them disciples because we have those displaced camps that we can go to and help those people don’t lose hope and let them know that Christ can be their helper and that he hasn’t done with them. And also, Burkina Faso is a Muslim country in the sense that more than half of the population is Muslim. So one of the strategy we have is door-to-door evangelism. We will go sometimes to a neighborhood and just knock the door and tell them we are here to shed the word of God.

(10:58):
If they accept, we’ll, shed the word of God. If they don’t, we ask them if they have any sick person in the house, we will pray for them. If they allow us, we pray and we leave. If they don’t, we close the door and we move to the next door. And we have major cities in Castle where crusades, high skilled crusades can be done, where we can have thousands of people gathering of people to share the word of God. So this can be a way of reaching more people in those measure cities. And as you said, we have testimonies. So the founder of Word of Hope has been putting pressure on me to recruit displaced children. And when those kids comes to the compound at the boarding school, they’re terrorized. When they hear a noise, they get panicked. So the work we have been doing is to a lot of prayer counseling and letting them know that this is a safe community. So at the end of the day, we’ll see that they have their confidence back, and that even becoming prayer warriors, praying for their parents, and also doing good at school. So we have a lot of testimonies.

Evangelist Coach Daniel King (12:19):
Wow. So as people are listening and maybe they have a heart to help per Keno Faso, maybe they want to help with your hospital ministry or some of the education or social work that you’re doing, what is a good website where they can find out information about you and maybe even get involved, pray for you, even give some funds to help out the people of Burkina Faso?

Samuel Ouedraogo (12:43):
Yeah, we would love to have some help. We would love to have people, Tim, come to Kin AFA and to help us reach the unreached and make disciples for the Lord. So a good website to get to know us will be www do ppo, P-A-R-O-L-E-D-E-R-P-O-I-R mean.org.

Evangelist Coach Daniel King (13:15):
Here. Spell that again.

Samuel Ouedraogo (13:16):
So www.paroledespoir.org. And I also have my email address that you can send me an email, which is O ns dot s@gmail.com.

Evangelist Coach Daniel King (13:44):
Wonderful. And so I encourage you, if God puts it on your heart to be a part of the ministry in Burkina Faso, I encourage you to reach out, be a part, and get involved in what God is doing in this nation. It’s landlocked in the middle of Africa, really, the heart of West Africa. That’s

Samuel Ouedraogo (14:02):
Right.

Evangelist Coach Daniel King (14:02):
But I believe that God is doing great things in Kinno

Samuel Ouedraogo (14:06):
Faa. Yes, yes, yes. So we are looking forward to having Dr. King with a team to help us reach the unreached.

Evangelist Coach Daniel King (14:14):
Yeah. Thank you so much for being on the Evangelism Podcast.

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Missionary from Ghana to Guinea | James Obeng

Daniel King interviews missionary James Obeng from Ghana, who is currently serving in Guinea. James shares how he became a missionary after receiving a prophecy about serving in a French-speaking country. Despite not knowing French, he learned the language and started doing evangelism and ministry work. James faced challenges in communicating with the locals but found ways to overcome them, such as using translation tools and working with a young boy who could translate for him. He also established a church in Guinea. James credits his spiritual father, Evangelist Dag Heward-Mills, for inspiring him in his missionary and evangelistic endeavors. He learned from Dag Heward-Mills’ teachings about patience and perseverance in ministry. James also shares how he supports his ministry through various entrepreneurial activities, such as selling perfumes, farming, and baking bread. Additionally, he talks about his journey to finding a wife and how God led him to a Guinean woman named Fatima. Despite initial resistance, James followed God’s leading and proposed to her. The episode concludes with Daniel expressing his admiration for James’ faith and the impact he believes James will make as a missionary.

Transcript:

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (00:00):

Welcome to the Evangelism Podcast. I’m Daniel King and I’m excited about telling people about Jesus. Today I have a very special guest, James Obeng. Yes. Did I say that right? Correct. From the nation of Ghana. Exactly. And we are actually in Guinea right now. And you have come from Ghana to Guinea as a missionary, and it’s a big mission field. I mean, Ghana, you go from an English speaking country to a French speaking country. Exactly. From a country that is majority Christian, to a country that is majority Muslim. Muslim, yes. And very different culture here. Yes. And so how did you become a missionary?

Missionary James Obeng (00:46):

Wow, thank you. First of all, I became a missionary. By one day I was in school. That was when I completed junior high school. In the year 2006. We were youth and we used to go for prayers. So one day we went for prayer and the leader who was leading, he was a prophet and he gave me a prophecy that he sees me in a French speaking country. By then, I received the prophecy bets. I didn’t take it.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (01:21):

And at that time you didn’t speak any French?

Missionary James Obeng (01:23):

I didn’t speak throughout my life. I didn’t go to any French school. So by then I never knew any French. And even when I got here, it was in Guinea here, I started learning French by the grace of God. Wow. So when I received the prophecy, it kept on three times. So we finished secondary by the grace of God. And when I finished secondary, I used to move in the church. I was by the grace of, I was the leader for the youth. So I did the little that I could in the church. And when I completed the secondary school, I got the chance to go to university. So in university too, we used to go to every Christmas we used to go to the villages to go and preach and stay there whilst our parents would be calling us, oh, come home, let us celebrate the Christmas together.

(02:12):

But we stayed in the villages and we used to win soul for Christ. So from there I was a member of Church of Pentecost. Since my childhood, that was where my mother sent me. So I grew up in the Church of Pentecost by James McKeon. So when I completed university and I came to the capital city, that’s Accra. I didn’t know which church to attend the area where I was staying. There were a lot of churches there. So I prayed to God one morning that, oh God, I want to go to church, but I don’t know where to attend. Lead me to where you want me to be. And lo and behold, I attended one of evangelist Dag Heward-Mills church, which is Morning Star Cathedral headed by Bishop Ka Bidden. So when I entered the first day, they had a meeting after church service to teach people how to go out and win souls and how to do something for God.

(03:10):

And it was something that always motivated me to do something for the Lord. So after the meeting the following week, I went back to the church and prophet called out for people who have completed university and who feel that there’s the call of God upon their lives. And I was someone who used to be shy. Anytime I see crowd, I didn’t want to push or go there. But I don’t know what happened. I found myself in front of the church and we were about 30 something people, if I 30 something people who went forward. And among all these people, prophet asked me whether I’m interested to come and work at the church as a receptionist. And I said, Hey. And we just finished university and we were posted to different places to go and do our national service. And it wasn’t possible. There were, it wasn’t possible to get transfer from where you were posted to come back to Accra, the capacity to come and do the service.

(04:13):

So when he told me, I said, oh, this one is very difficult. And he said, well, pray about it and start doing something because I felt that I want you to work with us here. So when I went back to the my station, I went to see the director for the health service, and the director to lo and behold, was a member of this same church, Morningstar. So went after explaining everything to her, she said, okay, if that’s the case, I’ll help you with a letter for release. And with that letter go to the National Service Headquarters and present that letter to them and they will see what they can do and by the great. So when I went there, everything went on smoothly and I was transferred from the town where I was doing my service back to Accra. So a month later, prophet told me that I should prepare.

(05:00):

I’ll be going for missions. And I said, if missions I love do evangelism, and when I see people coming to Christ, there’s this joy that comes to my heart. And Bishop Dag Heward-Mills has been some, anytime I see his crusade, the way people are crying, lifting up their hands, coming to Christ, there’s this burning, I don’t know how to explain it in ways, but I feel this desire and this hunger to also win. So for the Lord. So when he asked me to prepare, I said, okay, I will. So I started praying six months later, he said, it’s time. But initially he didn’t tell me the place where I’ll be going. He said, James, prepare. I think you’ll have to go to Guinea. I said, Guinea, I never knew the language that Guinea speaks, whether it’s a French or so. I went online and I checked, I said it French, and I’m someone who likes French. I’ve never studied French in my life. And that’s

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (05:53):

What the prophecy came earlier, that you would go to a

Missionary James Obeng (05:55):

French nation. Exactly. And it was exactly 10 years. When the professor came in the year 2006, and I completed university in the year 2017, and it was in 2017 that the professor started manifesting the grace of God. When he told me that, I started remembering, I say, oh, if that’s the case, I was afraid initially I say, I don’t have any French background, so how am I going to do this machine work? But I believed in that prophecy and I kept it in my heart and I wrote it in my diary. So I remember the prophecy and I said, oh God, if you are the one me working here, because the church had over 5,000 Sundays, over 5,000 people go to the church. So out of this 5,000, I was new. I was new in the church. The prophet didn’t know. My parents didn’t know me from anywhere, and he called me to work at the reception.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (06:52):

So how long have you been here in Guinea now?

Missionary James Obeng (06:55):

I’ve been here for five years now by the grace of God.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (06:58):

And what were some of the challenges that you faced initially, and what have you seen God do while you’ve been here?

Missionary James Obeng (07:06):

Initially when I came because of the French barrier, I had my phone. So when I want to talk to people, I pick up my phone, I go to translate Google, I’ll see the thing, the words in English, and the Google will translate it into French. Then I couldn’t read the French, so I gave it to the people around those who can read. Or sometimes I click on it, then the audio will play. So there was a name they called me, the pastor who uses his food to translate. That was in Wow. And it was a little challenging for me to communicate with people, but lo and behold, I got this. God brought this young guy who was 11 years old, he used to attend English school. So the mother went to see the mother through evangelism, and the mother said, oh, I can take the boy.

(07:54):

So wherever I used to go to the evangelism, I was with this boy, this boy will translate it in their local dilate. That was gey. So he was the one I used to move with and go told me that whatever he wants me to do, I should continue to do. I shouldn’t look at the barrier, which is the language. That’s the reason why the boy and everything, the thing is I have to have the desire and I have to do what he asked me to do. And through that, by the grace, I started picking it, picking it small, small. And there was this thing to that helped me. My senior pastor, who is Reverend Wanda, asked me to do something, not just come in without working on anything. So I brought some things from Ghana, and when I go out, I used to force to speak the French, communicate with them in the French language. So that was what helped me initially to start forcing with the French language, one by one, one by one, and also with the aid of the Google translator. So that’s where I started picking the French.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (08:51):

And so now you’ve established a church here? Yes. You planted a church? Yes. About how many people would come on a typical Sunday morning?

Missionary James Obeng (09:01):

By the grace of God, our largest attendant has been 96.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (09:06):

Okay.

Missionary James Obeng (09:07):

We had a program called SW Sunday. It’s a program that my spiritual father, Bishop Dag Heward-Mills has been organizing, and we followed one day. So all the members, we told them, I try and invite someone to church because I realized that most of the people come with the mindsets of coming to receive their healing, the miracles and breakthrough. And after that, they go back to the world. Initially, that was the challenge that I encountered. Here, we’ll go out after preaching. Oh, God has been healing a lot of people. So when they heard that, oh, God is healing people in this church, they will come.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (09:46):

Wow.

Missionary James Obeng (09:48):

A day on that

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (09:49):

Sunday, you’ve seen lots of miracles.

Missionary James Obeng (09:50):

Exactly. So when they receive the miracles and they go home, and by the grace of God has been healing, a lot of people, God has been so after that, they refuse to come back to church. When you encounter, oh, I came to receive my healing, or I came to receive a miracle. So I’m a Catholic, I’m a Protestant, so I’ve gone back to my church. Meanwhile, they’ll be in the house, not going to church. So that was the challenge. And also for now, we are in our forties by the grace of God, and there’s a challenge here. Most of the people, those who are committed, they try to move from this city, go to a different place, look for money. They have a mining place called Sigrid, and also manna. So the youth who used to help committed a time will come and they be moving. So those are, the attendance have been fluctuating that by the grace of God for now we are in our forties.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (10:45):

So let’s talk about your spiritual father, Dag Heward-Mills. Exactly. He is an evangelist. He’s a great evangelist from Africa, from the country of Ghana, and he’s very well known all over Africa. He’s been having huge meetings, just as big a meetings as any American evangelist who would come. And people in Africa love Bishop Dag Heward-Mills. And so tell me some of what you have learned being under his ministry about being a missionary, about being an evangelist.

Missionary James Obeng (11:20):

Okay, thank you. Evangelist Dag Heward-Mills has been someone who has been inspiring me a lot. I came into contact with the evangelist. That was in the year 2011. One of my colleagues in secondary school came to visit, and when he came, I was in the process praying and studying, and he told me that there is one man of God called evangelist that you were nurse. And he was in a university by then. I was in my first year in the university. And he said, oh, I would like to share some of his messages and his books with you. And I said, okay. So he shared some of his audios, preaches, and some books with me. And the message that touched me a lot was a message title, the word of my patience. And the evangelist thought on how God called people and how he, after speaking or giving them the prophecy, how it takes the duration, the way for us, it seems that it has delayed.

(12:29):

So the long time it takes before the prophecy come to pass. So I listened to how he spoke about Abraham and the promise God gave to Abraham. He said, you are the father of all nations, many nations. And it took 25 years for this promise to come to pass. He spoke about Jacob when Jacob was leaving his father’s house, when he had an issue with his brother and was going to his uncle. And the way it took long time over 20 years before he saw the prophecies and the promise of Welcom coming to pass, he spoke about David, how God told David that I have anointed you to be a king, and still he has to fight with soul. So the challenges that they went through. And he said, when God calls you, you have to be patient, to be frank. I dunno how to explain, but this message touched me.

(13:18):

And I used to always listen to that message. When I’m going wherever I’m going, I used to have a e piece and I had a Nokia phone, so the Nokia phone will be in my pocket when I’m sleeping, I listen to that message and it has been a message that I cannot forget. And I always encourage those that I meet. And by the grace of God, I’m trained that anytime God speaks to you or you receive a prophecy, be patient with God, do not rush. When you rush, you’ll be making a mistake and always believe in the way that God has spoken over your life. And also, I saw some of his crusades. It was my first time swinging some of his crusades. I used to see the crusades of evangelists, Han Bonky and bein and other men who got bes. It was my first time I saw the crusade by evangelist dark gold mills and how people were crying the way he has the zeal, the hunger.

(14:17):

He said he, no matter nowhere is far for the gospel to reach. So that because of that, no matter what it takes, he try to sacrifice, make sure the gospel go. And also he wants all the villages. He said, the men of God go to the big, big cities, but there are towns and villages where people cannot afford to go or to hear the gospel. So no matter where you are, the gospel must reach you. And it was, we have to go to those places, we have to go to them. He said, those people, every town and village, every town and villages, we have to be there. And they said, Jesus went to the towns and villages so we don’t have to be in the towns only, but in the villages to reach the poor. Because he came to preach the gospel to the needy and the needy people, most of them are the poor people. So as we preach to them and they come to Christ, there’s this joy. I watch one video and I realized how they were Muslims and how it was in Covo, how the people were crying, weeping, and in fact, I couldn’t stand. I also started crying and I said, God, give me this grace. I want to reach out no matter where they are, to go and preach to them. And that’s how I started.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (15:31):

It takes great faith to be a missionary. Yes. Did anyone support you when you were starting to be a missionary? Were there churches or individuals that helped to support you? How do you support your ministry? At least in the beginning?

Missionary James Obeng (15:47):

Okay. When I came initially, it was a bishop, Bishop, prophet Rabin. He’s the bishop for the address of Kadesh Kosh. So he used to send us support and other thing. But when I came, he told us that to be a missionary and to survive, you must try and do something on your own.

(16:12):

So whatever you can do, try and do it on your own to survive. And that’s something that the evangelist has been encouraging us with. That wherever you go, do not put it at the back of your mind that, oh, people have to support me. And when it happens that you try and rely on the people instead of putting your faith in God in order. God is the one who has sent you there. So whatever that we can do. And he used the way he said Abraham was a missionary. Abraham moved to different nations, and as he went, he was working to survive.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (16:48):

And so what have you done to work to survive?

Missionary James Obeng (16:51):

Okay, thank you. I used to, initially I was selling perfumes and other things from Ghana. I realized that Guinea loves things from Ghana. So I started with perfumes and some mosquito repellent cream, some clothes, long sleeves. So I used to sell them in farm. And when I came here to, I realized it was not working here. So I started by farming. And also I started, what’s the name? Baking bread, doing some juice. Wow. So for now

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (17:25):

It And are you still doing that now?

Missionary James Obeng (17:26):

Yeah, the bread. I still doing the bread that

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (17:29):

Wow. Yes. Now God has given you a great blessing while you’ve been here. Yes. You met a girl and you asked her to marry you. And so now God has brought you together and she’s beside you. Tell me, what is her name?

Missionary James Obeng (17:46):

Her name is Fatima ob.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (17:49):

Okay. And she’s a beautiful young lady. Yes. And tell me about how you met her and how you asked her to marry you. Okay.

Missionary James Obeng (17:59):

When I was coming, initially I was single. So it was in 2020, I went back to Ghana and my senior pastor James, it’s not good for you to be single on a mission field. And I was someone who was afraid to propose to a lady why? I didn’t want to give my word a promise and fill the person. So it was very challenging for me to propose to a lady. So when they told me, I said, okay, I’ll pray about it. And there was this lady when I was in Ghana, she used to come and help me at the reception. When I’m busy, I’ll ask her to sit at the reception and help me. So when I came, when I went back to Ghana, I proposed to her and she had said, I said, let’s pray to go so that the will of God will come to pass. So when I came back in 2020 and we were still doing courtship and doing marry school, but it got to a time, I realized the lady was afraid deep in her heart, he was afraid to come for missions because she used to hear about,

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (19:02):

This was a girl from Ghana?

Missionary James Obeng (19:03):

Yes. This was a girl from Ghana. And she used to hear about how missionaries suffer the way their wives still suffer, the challenges. And sometimes when I’m

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (19:12):

Talking, and she didn’t want to suffer,

Missionary James Obeng (19:14):

She didn’t want to suffer. Sometimes when I’m talking with her and I tell her about the challenges that I’m going through, she becomes discouraged in terms of finances and other things. So when it happened, I told our bishop that, oh, to be frank, the lady is trying to pull back. And she said, okay, if that’s the case, we should separate. And when we separated, to be frank, it was very difficult for me because I wanted to get married. And also I realized being a missionary and single wasn’t easy. So I prayed to God and my mind was always in Ghana that I wanted to get a Ghanaian woman. My senior pastor in Zel, Corey told me that, James, I think you have to get a woman here. I said, rev, no Guinea. I don’t want marry in Guinea. Our bishop in Corner Creek also mentioned, I said, my mind was fixed and I wanted a Ghanaian woman.

(20:07):

So one day our bishop came to Guinea for mission to come and visit us. And when he came, he called me one day and he said, James, do you mind marrying a Guinean woman? I said, Bishop, as a Guinean, it has been a fight. I don’t want to marry here. I want to marry from Ghana. He said, well, you have to pray about it. So as I was praying, it’s like God made me go blind the same way I dam slipped. My mind was fixed. And I realized that was my challenge. My mind was fixed to marry a Ghanaian woman. So one day I prayed a certain prayer. There was this friend of mine who asked me. He said, God told him to inform that I should first and pray for three days, drive first. And then it was my first time and my prayer was, father, let your will be done in my life and everything that I do.

(20:56):

And after that prayers, three days later, a bishop called me and told me about this marriage stuff. And I said, oh God, I don’t want to marry from Guinea, but if it’s your world, that job will be done. I want to hear your word, and I want a word from, because I don’t want to make a mistake. I’ve had challenges of marriages because of that, I have trusted you and I have put my faith in you that I don’t want to make a mistake. So one day I was praying and I received a from God. And I said, okay. I wrote a Rima, what both told me concerning my marriage, concerning this lady. I receive an assurance. And there was these friends that I pray with, Rima, took him from their prophecy, came from them, James, you’re going to get married, but you have to be flexible.

(21:40):

I said, Hey, flexible. Okay. So one day I had a dream. After that four days, the fourth day I had a dream and I realized that’s my bishop who came from Ghana, one of my spiritual fellow. He gave me a gift. And that gift, I didn’t see the gift, but I was very excited. And I went back to him. I said, oh, Bishop, thank you very much for this gift. To be frank, I’m blessed. This gift has transformed my life. So after that, in the morning when I woke up and I was praying, I received within my heart, the gift that you need is the suggestion that the bishop has given you, has given you, if you will take it, it’ll become a blessing. That’s the marriage. So I said, wow, three. The first one was the assurance from me. The second one was from the prophet that I pray with, and the third one was the dream. And I said, okay, if that’s the case, father later will be done. I don’t want to fix or be rigid and refuse to flow with you, that here will be done. So that was where I got in touch with the lady. We started chatting and I realized that the chemicals, the connections started,

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (22:50):

The chemistry was good. The

Missionary James Obeng (22:51):

Chemistry. The chemistry was good. So I took a risk and I went to Corner Creek to go and visit her. And it was my longest journey ever in my life, moving from here to Corner Creek. And the car goes forward on the road, and I said, this risk that I’m taking to go and see a woman, that the prophecy came back, that oh, become and be patient. And when I go there, to be frank, I was very excited to meet her. I felt this peace and this joy and meeting this lady, I chatted with her. And that was where I proposed Wow, the grace of God.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (23:30):

And so God brought you together. And I believe that God’s hand is on the two of you together. Exactly. And you’re going to make a big impact. I’m so impressed with your faith coming as a missionary and what God is doing through you. And I think God has many more amazing miracles to do in your life. Amen, brother James, thank you for being on the Evangelism Podcast. I appreciate it. Thank you

Missionary James Obeng (23:55):

Very much. I’m so honored to be here and to be with you. God bless you so much. Bless you. Amen.

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Reaching Muslims in Guinea

In this episode of The Evangelism Podcast, Daniel King interviews Evangelist Oury Saw from Guinea. They discuss a recent gospel campaign in Guinea where many miracles took place, including the healing of a blind eye and a deaf ear. Oury Saw shares his testimony of how he came to believe in Jesus Christ, despite being from a Muslim background. He talks about his experiences of persecution and rejection from both his family and the Christian community. Oury Saw also discusses his passion for reaching Muslims with the love of Jesus and shares some strategies for effective evangelism. He emphasizes the importance of prayer and listening to the Holy Spirit’s guidance when reaching out to Muslims. He also shares stories of village campaigns where Bibles were distributed and miracles occurred, leading to the acceptance of the Bibles. The episode concludes with a prayer for Guinea and a hope for the nation to be saved.

Transcript:

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (00:00):
Welcome to the Evangelism Podcast. I’m Daniel King and I’m excited about telling people about Jesus. Today I have a very special guest with me, Mr. Oury Saw, from the Nation of Guinea. Thank you for joining me on the Evangelism Podcast. Thank you, sir.

Oury Saw (00:14):
Yes, it’s a pleasure.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (00:16):
Well, we are here in Guinea, in Guéckédou, and we have had a wonderful gospel campaign this week, right in the soccer stadium in the middle of the city, and last night thousands of people came. We had so many wonderful miracles. There was a woman who had a blind eye who was healed, a deaf ear that was healed. So many other miracle testimonies. So God is really working here in Guinea and you have been helping to organize this event. So tell me a little bit about this city and the process of organizing.

Oury Saw (00:58):
Well, here is, this is the city is called, well, first of all, I thank you for the interview and everything. Yeah, thank you. The city calls Guéckédou and this is like the Kissi and the Mandingo. There’s so many in this place, those two tribes. So they are mostly unreached people and the Lord put into my heart to come and to have a campaign in this city because now we find out like some churches are here, pastors, the church aliens. So we collaborate together to work to make this thing possible with their own collaboration. Even though I am a leader of this campaign and preparing this with them, and I appreciate what the Lord is doing here and now we see the result of coming together with all the leaders, with all the pastor, with all the churches and what the Lord is doing in front of us with in front of our eyes. So we see it with our own eyes. So praise God for that.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (02:13):
Praise God. Well, you are a Muslim background believer and you have a tremendous testimony of how Jesus rescued you. Can you please tell some of your testimony in how you came to believe in Jesus Christ?

Oury Saw (02:31):
Well, this is something that I could not even imagine in my life. One day a Fulani can become a Christian. I have never imagined this, but

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (02:44):
It became, tell me the tribe that you’re from.

Oury Saw (02:46):
I’m from the Fulani background

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (02:49):
And most of them are Muslim. Is that

Oury Saw (02:51):
Yes, my father, mother and all my family, we are Fulani. So in fact we the Fulani, the adult who brought Islam into the whole West Africa. So in Guinea, the majority, we are majorities and our parents fathers bring Islam in this country. So one day I was in Liberia, but it became a time I was thirsty about God. Really I was looking because I has been trained to be a mom because I study, I memorize the Koran and all this because we as a Fulani age, as seven, 10 years, you have to memorize the Koran mostly in the Fulani tribe because we believe that we are so proud like that. So the ordination or the tribe will be boast upon them to say that we know the current modern you and all this. So you see, I went to Liberia once and something that come into my heart.

(03:52):
I was really thirsty for God and I was saying to myself, God is greater than the religion. But to be honest, I was not satisfied with religion. Something I can do more you more you do more. You think you never do something more you want to do and all. I was tired with that because it is less the religion. What I do is not what God do. So I was very tired of this and I tell the “Lord,” I said, “please, I want to know you. I know you are greater than religion and I want to encounter with you, so maybe you can give me peace because I don’t have peace with no religion and all this.” So every time, that’s my five prayer, I always do it every day. And I was really looking for God. I was thirsty for God. Really. I was not even satisfied.

(04:42):
I tell you, I was not satisfied with this religion. So one day I come, I was passing by a place and I made this people, Christian was standing there and I asked them, I just passing my greet, the people as newsworthy, greeting people normal. And I said, oh, what you doing here? I said, no, we come to pray. Are you a Christian? Yes. Oh, okay. So we just come to pray here. What you are invited if you want to. Then I said, okay, but don’t ask me why did I say, okay, I don’t know why this. I say, okay. And I just say, okay. Then I jump in it. So they started worshiping beating drums, which is not the case in the mos. It was so strange for me and what all they were doing. I was looking at them, oh, this is the way to worship.

(05:31):
This is the way to worship and all this. It’s like I was judging them in everything they do. But after the service, the missionary, the pastor told me, the missionary asked me, how did you feel? How did you, I said, oh, it’s okay. In reality, no, really. I was not happy with that. I was not. But he then told me next week I’ll be here. I said, okay, next week I will come because I always keep my promise when I say this. I will do that. My father teach me. So everything you say, do it. So I said, okay. Next week I will come. You promise? Yes, I will come. I will come. Surely I will come and I continue to come. The next week I was sitting there. Then they started beating all this on the same thing. But my attention started going a little with when he speak about Jesus, that’s why it’s good. It’s good to preach Jesus. It’s good to talk about Jesus. It’s good to really. Then he was talking about Jesus. I started listening because we have Issa in Koha. So I was listening to what he’s saying, the love of God through Jesus and all this and all that. Then I started interesting because I hear love forgiveness and all this and all that.

(06:41):
But the missionary thing, because I came from Guinea and I study French because he’s a French speaking country. So he brought me one carton of Bibles. He said, this is for you. Then I opened. I find 12 Bibles inside. He said, okay, thank you very much, but not knowing I have never studied French and I only studied Arabic. That’s what I studied and I, I opened the book. I could not read because I don’t know nothing about this. When I went home, there’s something that happened and the voice, I just hear the voice, did you want to read? Then I look up, I look down and I come and open my window. I go out. I look and I never see nobody, and I went in the room. Then he said, did you really want to read? I said, I look under the bed and everywhere.

(07:36):
I just say, but the voice is clear. Then I said, but when the voice is talking, then I always have peace. It’s give me peace. Every time he speak, he give me more peace. Then I said, yes, I want to read. He said, okay, follow me, repeat after me. Then I opened the Bible in John one one. That’s the first passage I read in the Bible. In the beginning was the word and the word was God, and the word was God in French. So we read the first chapter. When you read, I repeat the chapter. When we finish, we finished the first chapter. Then he said, you can go. You continue to the second chapter, you alone. Then I was like, my spirit was fixing in French. All the French was given to me. The writing was there. I cannot explain it, but you see something miraculous when God want to do things, he did it.

(08:23):
So I started reading the Bible. Then I started reading the Bible. I started reading the Bible, chapter two. Then I finished the whole Testament. When I read, I understand when I read, I understand when I read, I understand. So I finished the whole New Testament. So I continue to read it seven times in the two days. I finished that seven times. In the two days I could not reading the book of John, leaving the book of no, the whole New Testament seven. In two days I read seven times. I could not even sleep because something grabbed me. I have the grace to open my eyes 24. By 24, I don’t even want to sleep because I find out something that is above my own knowledge that I have never knew in my life. So I was there eating the Bible, eating the word of God.

(09:10):
So when the persecution started that the full brothers became a Christian, this was the problem for me. So the Holy Spirit speak to the missionary into the mission, telling them one morning they were praying, go and pick Oury. Bring him here. So they went and find me. Then pick me, me into the mission, and they give me a room whereby I can stay. Then I have to say, finally I am escaped from my environment, whereby people are starting. But I stay there. There’s one brother that called Matthew Canton, and that was my room mate, and he was on that side. I was on the side. Then one day I asked him, I said, Matthew, will you tell me who is Jesus? Really? Who is Jesus? Then look at my eyes. He see that I was sincere, really. I really wanted to know who is Jesus.

(10:05):
Then he said to me, “He is the God Almighty.” I said, “What?” Yes. Then I turned my face to the wall like Ezekiel did. So afterwards I said this prayer, Jesus, if you are God the creator of the universe, I want to see you full stop. So that night I saw a vision. I saw nobody told me this a real vision. Then I saw heaven open, and when I see this heaven open, then I saw a man was coming out. When he was coming out, I saw people in his back and he was wearing this red robe red one, and these people was waiting the white garment behind it. So he come and he come until he reached down, he was walking in the cloud, coming down. So he come in front of me, side in front of me, like five meter. He just stood up.

(10:57):
Then he look at me. He just gave me a little smile then, and he went with the cloud. I saw him. The heaven was closed. But one thing that I understand, he never speak to me because I have never asked him to speak to me. I said, I want to see you. He respect that He honor my word. Wow, what a God. So really, I wake up at night and I say, Matthew, I have see Jesus today. He come to visit me. I saw you with my own face. So something happened again, and the Holy Spirit had to teach me about God is all knowing God and the Holy Spirit take me first into my body. He take me to cca, and he saw me the whole process, deal that they’re doing there. And he told me, I’m not here. He take me to the Buddhist temple. He said, I’m not here. He take me to the voodoo place. I said, I’m not here. He just make me travel. Yes, in the spirit, he’s told me I am not here. And he bring me back into my body again. And I wake up and I say to Matthew, Matthew, wake up. I have travel all night. You are sleeping there. You see something like that. And it was really something that I, but one of the thing that has broke me, put me down is when the Lord share with me his omniscience

(12:22):
Brother, the Lord has with my brain, little brain that you see, he share with me his omniscience, knowing everything at the same time, not one after the other. He knows the situation. He know what you think. He knows. He share with me what people think, what people say and everything together. Not one after the other. He knows everything. At the same time. He shared with me, wow, that day. And I stood up and I just wake up and I said, I just stand into my room. I was not sleeping. It was real. And I take my two hands. I put on my head and I shout. I said, Lord, stop. Then all of a sudden he stop. Then I come to myself. I realize I touch my body and I notice that I’m here. Really, I am here, and I understand this thing, this God that we are serving. He knows everything. He shared with me for just maybe 60 seconds, 55. Second. I was afraid. I just say, stop. And he stop. That was the final to tell me that I am the God that knows everything you see. And since that time, I will argue no more. Everything was clear for me,

(13:45):
And I have to stand again, study, pray, and get baptized. And I said, I want to go to my country. This is how God bring me here. So praise God. And now the Lord is doing his work to his body. That’s my body. So really, I’m so grateful of what he’s doing right now.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (14:08):
So tell us about the work that you’re doing. You have a real heart to lead Muslims to Jesus, to introduce them to this same experience that you’ve had, and what does that look like?

Oury Saw (14:23):
It’s sometimes when my only goal with them, when I, because I know how to approach them. God give me the grace, approach them to talk with them, the Imams and all this, but I don’t, I see something that touches my heart is like they’re tested individually. Really. They have a problem. They know it. Today, God is bringing the Muslim. Yes, we have some imams. We have some people that get saved. There’s some rabba and all this thing. They’re coming. And the challenge that I have today is like I am, to be honest with you, when Samuel preach the good news to David and he tell him, you will be a king and you will be all this that good news for David. But afterwards, persecutions come. When this persecution come and he run. He went to the one that tell him about the good news that Samuel Samuel have to let him in for the wild.

(15:31):
And I know if you preach, I know there’s so many Muslims right now that I’m hosting to my place because they’re there and they have been cast out. And right now I’m praying for God to give us, to be honest, a place, a hosting place whereby they can stay. And it’s possible even having some learning to do some work like mechanic, like Cary and all this so that they may continue their life later and something like that. But it’s sometimes very hard. And one night I remember three person come together and knock at my door ba. I said, what happened? When I opened my door? I see with the mattress some people which have cast us out and something like that. I was like, wow, come on. You can come in.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (16:19):
So you were very welcoming to them. Yes, yes. And it’s because when you first became a believer, you didn’t feel like you were welcomed anywhere.

Oury Saw (16:29):
Yeah, yeah. They have. Yeah. I know when I come back to Guinea, the churches, I went to the churches, they only, I was having the zeal to evangelize. I go out and preach to gospel and people was getting saved. But for me, they have never welcomed me. My parents kicked me out and the Christian never let me in, and I was just in between. It was very, very catastrophic for me. I sleep outside sometime, brother. I was sleeping on the table just in the bench. My cover clothes is mosquitoes when I wake up in the night and just find out sometimes I spend three days without eating. And I was there. It was so complicated. It was so complicated for my life. But yeah, I was like, people were so busy about auditing and no one was looking. Really, when I think about that, I don’t want those week get converted now for them to pass through that procedure. No, I don’t want it.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (17:24):
Tell me the testimony of evangelist Billy Bimba. He was here this week. We were actually using his platform, his sound system. And when you were a young believer, you heard him preach.

Oury Saw (17:37):
Yes. When I was a young believer, when I come newly freshly to Liberia, to Guinea, and anyway, Liberia is my spirit hometown anyway, because I get saved in Liberia. Anyway, so I met with him during the war, Liberian war, and we meet with him at, and I was desperate, sitting without no help and nothing, spend three days without eating nothing. And one of the funny thing, I evangelize Fuller brother like me, he gets safe and afterwards the parents kick him out. So he come to his Samuel. So he come to me and he tell me, they kick me out. I said, oh, I have no place to stay, but we can stay here. We sleep on the bench here. Something like that. So it’s during that period that I met with Brother Bimba. He just encouraged us and he gave us word of encouragement. He pray for us. He tell me always to look upon the one that called me and something like that. And that build me up that I will because I was having someone that we take his hand and put on my soldiers, something like that. And yes, and it has been a very big encourage for me.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (18:50):
And so then you lost contact with him for many years, for more than years. And now God has brought you back together after 20 years. And it was so beautiful to see both of you rejoicing

Oury Saw (19:02):
And

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (19:02):
Encouraging one another. It’s so wonderful to see how God directs our steps through the

Oury Saw (19:08):
Years. And I was praying for that. And when I was praying, I said, God, I want to see that man keep my alive. I don’t want him to go to heaven without saying no once. And I pray that for God now I’m so happy to, because God has exhausted my prayer. I just want to tell people it’s not when you pray sometimes that you want to see result, but every good prayer, every good prayer that you pray, God will answer that. I tell you, I don’t care the time that we take, but it’ll come to realize. So I

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (19:36):
Take that I love Muslims and I know that God loves Muslims very much. And even in my hometown in the United States, we have many Muslims. Just in the last couple of years, over 800 families from Afghanistan have come. And so at Christmas time, we invited many of the Muslims over to our house and we celebrated Christmas together. But if someone wants to reach Muslims for Jesus, what’s the secret? How can they do it?

Oury Saw (20:08):
Well, I think this is just a direction from the Holy Spirit and you just need to be a man of prayer that listen to the Holy Spirit. Because sometimes when you, you’re coming to them. For instance, for me, I usually wear my Muslim tradition cloth. So they may understand sometimes with the Muslims, you should be very, very pure exterior, exterior, something like that. And you have to be very, very someone that is so quite not much poop, boom. When there are people that listen in their heart. They know how to observe. They always observe your way of living the way observed it. And the way, for instance, for me in my hometown, I don’t eat pork. I don’t go at night. No, I stay at home because I have some neighbors that always watch what we do and observing. When you become a Christian, how you behave because we are here to reflect Jesus anyway.

(21:22):
Yeah, because they really don’t know what is Christianity, but God want them to know them through us. It’s love, brother. When you go to them, pray with them, just ask them always. Maybe you can pray for me, but did you have any situation that you think that we can handle it to God? Yes. This is the first thing that you always, I ask people. Some people told me I’m sick or I have this problem and have this situation, and I know God will always intervene. I know it is his will, so I just check their own situation. They are problem. That’s what I focus on. I don’t focus for them for salvation first, but what is? Because I know when those problems are settled, then they will listen for salvation. But as long they have this thing on their mind and tell you we talk until tomorrow, they’ll always focus on this, their own mind.

(22:24):
So I take my time to pray for them. And when they ask me, when they say right now, when I was coming to my eyes, saw two brothers get safe because they were having some situation, dramatic problem complication. So I lay hands, I pray for them. After two days, problem was resettles and then told me, your God has settled my problem. I said, this is the physical. The biggest one is inside. He can settle that one too. Your relationship with God. You see, it’s just the wisdom with the direction of the Holy Spirit. I think the direction in everything we do, we have to be humble in front of God and ask him, what can I do? Even though you will know what to do, but always ask the Holy Spirit. He will give you more wisdom. He will give you more love for the people.

(23:15):
Some people need deeper love. Yes, to the extent that love is there to support all the make, yeah. You will always support this because the love is there to not for you to feel what they do in repost and all this. I would just want to share this one brother. One day I was doing a campaign. Somebody take a stone and he come and stone my head. Pow. He just come and beat me, and he just beat me. I could not respond even to say a word, never. He was a Muslim. He was not like what I say about Jesus and all this. He just come and stick a stick, started beating me and started putting everything on my. Then the blood started coming out on my face. Then when he finished everything he said down there, then people was gathering. Then my team, I tell my one, so my team, the strongest one in the spirit. I said, come, thank come. Let’s say, let’s go for that now. And we went. We meet the man. Then I said, brother, you know my friend, and why did I have never take a stone or a stick to return to you? What he have did to me. You know why he said no. I said, well, you see, I’m serving the love in God.

(24:42):
Teach me in his life, he has beaten. He never respond because of if I do the same that you did to me, you will feel the same pain that I feel. But for me, I want to receive and endure that pain for you not to have it. You see? Then he wake, he look at me. He said, what? I said, yes, what you did to me, I will handle it. I will take it. I’m suffering. Yes, but if I did it to you, you’ll suffer us. I suffer. But for me, I don’t want you to suffer. Then the guy started crying and he started crying and he hold my feet. He said, forgive me and all this, and he started telling me, who is that person teach you all this? I says, Jesus Christ, and he give his life to Jesus. That’s why I said the Holy Spirit have a way of direction to reach people. Not only one way, but he knows.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (25:52):
Tell me about the village campaigns that you do.

Oury Saw (25:57):
Yes. We do a lot of village campaign with God mission like submissions with some people that help. We go to the, sometimes we have to work three, four hours, go and four hours come into the mountains and going and claiming doing campaign, and people respond. So many people respond, and we even share Bibles, hundreds of them Bibles and

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (26:22):
People accept the Bibles,

Oury Saw (26:26):
Which they’re very, very enthusiasm. Oh, yes, they are happy to have, they’re fighting to have it. Yes, they are. So I tell you, it was some places we go to, we say, please help me to have one. Please, please, and one day I have to heal two brothers that we are going. Two fuller brother, they put their Bible onto there. Then the war one said, he said, it’s not easy to have this one. We praise God to have them. I have to go and keep it somewhere,

(26:55):
And I was very happy to hear that from this. Wow. That’s how God do things here. And I remember we went in the village, we share the Bibles and this muah came. Imams came and they said, and Greece said, give them back, give them back, give them back. They started shouting, and people bring back the Bibles. People can bring the Bibles and my friend son, they were holding her like this, and it was above him. He was there, what can I do? I say, hold them there. You have to hold them. Be strong. Then I said, Anderson, hold the spirit. Tell me what to do now. Please tell me what to do. Hold the spirit. Tell me what to do. I don’t want to do no funny thing here. Then the Holy Spirit say, okay, ask for someone that is, they know he’s not well, he’s sick.

(27:45):
Then I said, did you have any death here or blind or whatsoever here? They said, yes, we have. Madu is here. Madu is, he’s a deaf and dump. Yes, the same. Yeah. I said, okay, will you bring ou here? They said, okay. They bring mama. They said, if you Jesus can heal this mama Madu, then we’ll take your bibles said. I said, okay. Then I lay hands up on Mama Madu. I say, Jesus, now you say it and you know about it. Thank you for the miracle. Then I said to Mamadou, and I said to Mamadou, I have to go one step. If I make like this, you hate your hands. He said, you don’t need to go. I have heard in you. The people said, he said, I hear everything what you’re saying, no need for you to go. Then he started talking. Then his ear was open. Then they started jumping into the second that follow. They have picked everything. Wow. They take all the

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (28:42):
Bibles because of the miracle. They took the

Oury Saw (28:43):
Battle of They take the Bibles and they carry it. So you see, this is some of the challenge that we face, but we will never stop. We never stop. We still own it. Yeah. Yeah, brother.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (28:56):
Well, I believe that Jesus wants to save all of Guinea, and so let’s finish today by praying together for Guinea. Amen. And would you pray? Pray in French. Pray for God to pour out his spirit upon this nation. Pray for Guinea to be saved.

Oury Saw (29:14):
Hallelujah. Let’s pray. Amen.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (30:13):
Amen. Amen. Well, brother, or it’s such a wonderful privilege to meet you. It’s a great honor to be here in your country with you, and I hope that in the future we can see God do many great things as we work together. Amen. It’s exciting to see, so thank you.

Oury Saw (30:33):
Pleasure. Thank you very much. I’m so happy for that, really, and thank you, really, God bless

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (30:39):
You. Thank you for being on the Evangelism podcast.

Oury Saw (30:42):
Amen. Amen. Amen.

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You Can Make a Difference

You may not be able to save everyone, but there is someone that you are able to save. There are thousands of people that need Jesus. Sometimes people look at all the lost people in the world and they get discouraged and say, I could never make a difference. But I want to tell you today that you can make the difference in the life of someone. You may not be able to reach everyone, but there is someone that you can reach for Jesus.

Transcript:

One time there was a little boy and a grandpa who were visiting the beach, and overnight the water had washed in thousands of starfish, and this little boy knew that if the starfish stayed on the beach, they would dry out and die.

So this little boy went running up and down the beach. He was picking up starfish and throwing them back into the water. Then he’d run and pick up another starfish and throw it back in into the water. Meanwhile, the grandpa was up on the porch. He was in his rocking chair and he was rocking back and forth, rocking back and forth watching the little boy.

Finally the grandpa got up and told the little boy, he says, “Son, there are thousands of starfish out here on the beach, and I’ve been watching you. You’ve been working really hard, but you’re never going to make a difference. Thousands of these starfish are going to die.” The little boy looked into his grandpa’s eyes, then he looked down, saw a starfish, picked up one little starfish. He said, “Grandpa, I can make a difference in the life of this one.” And he threw it back out into the water.

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You & Jesus Can Shake the World

Do you ever feel like you are way too small to make a difference for God in such a big world? In this episode, Daniel King talks about how you can shift your perspective to realize that with Jesus, you can shake the world for the kingdom of God.

Transcript:

Evangelism Podcast Host (00:00):
Do you ever feel like you are way too small to make a difference for God in such a big world? In this episode, we’ll talk about how you can shift your perspective to realize that with Jesus, you can shake the world for the kingdom of God.

Evangelism Podcast Announcer (00:25):
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 (00:49):
Once upon a time there was an elephant and a mouse who were best friends. And everywhere the elephant went, the mouse would sit right on his head and they would go on an adventure together. Well, one day they’re walking through the jungle and they see a wooden bridge that’s crossing a creek. And the elephant said, I’m not sure if that bridge is strong enough to hold my weight. And the mouse says, we can do it. Let’s go for it. So the elephant goes out on this shaky wooden bridge, and as they’re crossing the bridge, the the bridge is shaken. It’s going all over the place, and the elephant very gingerly, makes it over to the other side of the bank. And then the mouse said to the elephant, wow, we sure did make that bridge shake, didn’t we? Well, the truth is that the mouse didn’t really do very much to make the bridge shake. And that’s how it is when we go out witnessing, sometimes we’re like the mouse, but Jesus is like the elephant. And together us working with God, we can really make the world shake for the kingdom of God. And so you may have a very small part to play, but remember that Jesus is like a big elephant. He is strong and he is powerful, and he can make the world shake. And so you and Jesus together can change the world for eternity.

Evangelism Podcast Announcer (02:27):
Are you called by God to be an evangelist? Do you wanna lead millions of people to Jesus? Do you desire to be trained in the practical side of building a ministry? Then check out the Daniel King School of Evangelism. Learn how to be an effective evangelist from Dr. Daniel King’s 20 plus years of experience. Daniel King has done crusades all over the world in over 70 nations and has seen over 2 million people give their lives to Jesus. But it wasn’t easy. There was no crusade school. So Daniel traveled the world learning from and observing top evangelists, noticing how they successfully won souls for Christ. Now he wants to share decades of knowledge and experience with you. Topics of the Daniel King School of Evangelism include what is an evangelist, how to be a master soul winner, how to give an altar call, how to organize a crusade, how to raise money for your ministry, and much more. If you wanna be an evangelist, but don’t know where to start, the Daniel King School of Evangelism is for you. Enroll today in the School of Evangelism by going to Daniel King ministries.com/evangelism.

Daniel King (03:29):
Thanks so much for listening today. I am excited about telling people about Jesus, and I want to invite you to be a part of helping us to rescue people from Hell and take them with us to heaven. There’s two things you can do to help. First of all, can you go find the Evangelism podcast on Apple iTunes and leave us a positive review by giving a review, you will help other people find these valuable resources about sharing our faith. And second, would you become a financial partner with King Ministries? Every single dollar that people give us enables us to lead at least one person to Jesus. And so that means for only $1, you can help start a party in heaven. And so today I want to invite you to become a monthly partner. You can start out for just a dollar, but if God puts it on your heart to do more, of course you can do more. But please go to king ministries.com and become a monthly partner with us today to help us to lead more people to Jesus. Thank you so much, and God bless you.

Evangelism Podcast Announcer (04:49):
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.

Subscribe to The Evangelism Podcast on Apple iTunes

Listen to The Evangelism Podcast on Spotify

Subscribe to The Evangelism Podcast on Google Podcasts

Listen to The Evangelism Podcast on Amazon Audible

The Evangelism Podcast is also available oniHeartRadio

Will You Do What Jesus Told Us to Do?

During his time on Earth, Jesus made it very clear what he wants his followers to do before he returns. In this episode, Daniel King talks about the Great Commission and how important it is to fulfill it in light of Jesus’ words in the gospels.

Transcript:

Evangelism Podcast Host (00:00):
During his time on Earth, Jesus made it very clear what he wants his followers to do before he returns. In this episode, Daniel King talks about the Great Commission and how important it is to fulfill it in light of Jesus’ words in the gospels.

Daniel King – Evangelism Coach (00:49):
Recently my wife woke up and the first thing she remembered was that we didn’t have any bread in the house. So she turned to me and said, Daniel, could you please go to the store and bring home some bread? I was still waking up, and so I was yelling. I said, oh, yes, dear, I’ll do that. So then we go to the kitchen table, we’re eating our breakfast together, and again, she wants toast. She remembers there’s no bread. She tells me again, could you please go to the store and get some bread? And I said, yes, dear, I will buy you some bread at the store. So then, uh, I’m putting the kids in the car and I’m backing the car out of the garage when suddenly the garage door opens and my wife shouts out, Hey, don’t forget the bread. And so I blew her a kiss.

(01:38):
So then I dropped my kids off at school and uh, suddenly my phone rings. It’s my wife. Hello honey. Yes, I love you too. Yep. I just dropped the kids off at school. I’m headed to the store right now. Don’t worry, I won’t forget. I will bring you the bread. So then I go to the store, I get my shopping cart, I’m going down the aisle. I get some milk, I get some cereal, and then suddenly beep, beep. It’s a text message. It’s from my wife, Jessica, one word. Do you know what that word was? Bread. Now, what would happen if I came all the way back home and I forgot to bring the bread? My wife told me five times, she reminded me to bring the bread. What would happen if I forgot to do the one thing she told me to do? Well, what happens if Jesus returns and we’ve forgotten the one thing he told us to do?

(02:39):
Now between the time of Jesus’s resurrection and the time of his ascension, Jesus had one thought on his mind and he repeated this thought several different times and in several different ways. And so we have it recorded multiple times in scripture. Let’s go ahead and read it right now. It’s known one as the Great Commission. It’s not just a good suggestion. This is a command for every believer. Matthew 28, verse 19, it says, then Jesus came and said, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always to the very end of the age. And so these words are unread. They are spoken by Jesus to every disciple.

(03:42):
So if you’re a disciple of Jesus right now, just lift up your hand to heaven and say these words of Jesus say, go and make disciples of all nations. Alright, mark chapter 16, verse 15. Jesus said to them, go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, and whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe in my name. They will drive out demons, they will speak in new tongues. They will pick up snakes with their hands, and they will drink deadly poison. It will not hurt them at all. They will place their hands on sick people and they will get well. All right? So if you’re a disciple of Jesus, just lift up your hand and say, go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.

(04:40):
All right, now turn with me to Luke chapter 24 verse 47. It says, repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations beginning at Jerusalem. You are all witnesses of these things. So just lift up your hand to heaven and say, forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations. All right, now let’s look at John chapter 20, verse 21. Again, Jesus said, notice Jesus says again, he’s been saying this over and over again so the disciples would not forget it again, Jesus said, peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, I am sending you. So just lift up your hand to heaven and say, as the Father sent Jesus, Jesus is sending me. Now turn with me. One page over to Acts chapter one, verse eight. Jesus says, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you.

(05:50):
And you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and two the ends of the earth. So five times we have this instruction from Jesus. In Matthew 28, Jesus says, go and make disciples of all nations. Mark 16, go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. Luke 24, forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations. John 20, as the father of sent me, I am sending you. And then Acts one, eight, you will receive power after the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses to the uttermost ins of the earth. And so we are called to obey these words of Jesus and go and tell everyone about Jesus. When Jesus returns, he’s gonna ask us, did we obey the instruction that he gave us?

Evangelism Podcast Ad (06:49):
Are you called by God to be an evangelist? Do you wanna lead millions of people to Jesus? Do you desire to be trained in the practical side of building a ministry? Then check out the Daniel King School of Evangelism. Learn how to be an effective evangelist from Dr. Daniel King’s 20 plus years of experience. Daniel King has done crusades all over the world in over 70 nations and has seen over 2 million people give their lives to Jesus. But it wasn’t easy. There was no crusade school. So Daniel traveled the world learning from and observing top evangelists, noticing how they successfully won souls for Christ. Now he wants to share decades of knowledge and experience with you. Topics of the Daniel King School of Evangelism include what is an evangelist, how to be a master soul winner, how to give an altar call, how to organize a crusade, how to raise money for your ministry, and much more. If you wanna be an evangelist, but don’t know where to start, the Daniel King School of Evangelism is for you. Enroll today in the School of Evangelism by going to Daniel King ministries.com/evangelism.

Evangelism Podcast Host (07:51):
Thanks so much for listening today. I am excited about telling people about Jesus, and I want to invite you to be a part of helping us to rescue people from Hell and take them with us to heaven. There’s two things you can do to help. First of all, can you go find the Evangelism podcast on Apple iTunes and leave us a positive review by giving a review, you will help other people find these valuable resources about sharing our faith. And second, would you become a financial partner with King Ministries. Every single dollar that people give us enables us to lead at least one person to Jesus. And so that means for only $1, you can help start a party in heaven. And so today I want to invite you to become a monthly partner. You can start out for just a dollar, but if God puts it on your heart to do more, of course can do more. But please go to king ministries.com and become a monthly partner with us today to help us to lead more people to Jesus. Thank you so much, and God bless you.

Evangelism Podcast Announcer (09:11):
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.

What is Your Soul Winning Goal?

Have you ever set a goal for how many souls you would like to win for Jesus? In this episode, Daniel King shares his own personal story of his soul winning goal and shares how no goal is too big for God to reach.

Evangelism Podcast Host (00:00):
Have you ever set a goal for how many souls you would like to win for Jesus? In this episode, Daniel shares his own personal story of his soul winning goal and shares how no goal is too big for God to reach.

Evangelism Podcast Announcer (00:24):
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):
When I was 15 years old, I was reading a book about how to be a success in life. And one of the things that this book said is that young people, if they wanna be a success, they should write down their goals. And one of the goals that they said would be good for young people is to try to become a millionaire by the age of 30 to make a million dollars. So would you like to be a millionaire by the age of 30? Or maybe you’re over 30, maybe by the age of 60, maybe by the age of 90. Well, I realized that because of my upbringing as a missionary in the country of Mexico, that money was not what was important to me. What was important was souls. And so at the age of 15, I wrote down on a sheet of paper, I, Daniel King want to lead 1 million people to Jesus before I turned 30 years of age.

(01:36):
Instead of trying to become a millionaire, I wanted to lead a million heirs into the kingdom of God to become a soul millionaire. And so I set that goal and then God started to open up doors for me. I was still a student at the university. When I got to do my first international crusade, it was in the nation of Honduras. In one week, we ministered to over 43,000 people. And then the next year, God opened the door for me to do two crusades and then more crusades. And I’m excited to tell you that by the time I was 30 years old, we had completed the goal of leading a million people to Jesus. And so now we have seen over 2 million people come to Jesus in our ministry. And just recently I was praying, I was asking God and saying, what comes next? And I felt like God gave me a goal.

(02:28):
He said, go for a million souls every single year. Now, in the natural, reaching a million people in a single year is impossible. But when things are impossible with man, they are possible with God. And with God, all things are possible. And so I tell you that story not to impress you, but to make you start to think what is your soul winning goal? How many people do you want to lead to Jesus? I have one friend and he set a goal to talk to at least one person about Jesus every single day of his life. And so every single day he looks for that person that he can share the gospel with. He travels a lot. And so he’s always on planes. He’s always going, uh, into new stores and new places. And he says, God, give me at least one person every single day that I can share the gospel with. And so what is your goal right now? I want you to take out a pen and a paper and ask the Holy Spirit to give you a goal that you can do. How many people do you wanna reach this week, this month, this year, in your lifetime? Set a goal for how many souls you want to bring to Jesus. And I believe that as you set that goal, God will give you the desires of your heart and you will begin to see opportunities to share your faith.

Daniel King (03:59):
Are you called by God to be an evangelist? Do you wanna lead millions of people to Jesus? Do you desire to be trained in the practical side of building a ministry? Then check out the Daniel King School of Evangelism. Learn how to be an effective evangelist from Dr. Daniel King’s 20 plus years of experience. Daniel King has done crusades all over the world in over 70 nations and has seen over 2 million people give their lives to Jesus. But it wasn’t easy. There was no crusade school. So Daniel traveled the world learning from and observing top evangelists, noticing how they successfully won souls for Christ. Now he wants to share decades of knowledge and experience with you. Topics of the Daniel King School of Evangelism include what is an evangelist, how to be a master soul winner, how to give an altar call, how to organize a crusade, how to raise money for your ministry, and much more. If you wanna be an evangelist but don’t know where to start, the Daniel King School of Evangelism is for you. Enroll today in the School of Evangelism by going to Daniel King ministries.com/evangelism.

Evangelism Podcast Ad (05:00):
Thanks so much for listening today. I am excited about telling people about Jesus, and I want to invite you to be a part of helping us to rescue people from Hell and take them with us to heaven. There’s two things you can do to help. First of all, can you go find the Evangelism podcast on Apple iTunes and leave us a positive review by giving a review, you will help other people find these valuable resources about sharing our faith. And second, would you become a financial partner with King Ministries? Every single dollar that people give us enables us to lead at least one person to Jesus. And so that means for only $1, you can help start a party in heaven. And so today I want to invite you to become a monthly partner. You can start out for just a dollar, but if God puts it on your heart to do more, of course you can do more. But please go to king ministries.com and become a monthly partner with us today to help us to lead more people to Jesus. Thank you so much, and God bless you.

Evangelism Podcast Announcer (06:21):
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.

The Three Circles Method of Sharing the Gospel

Do you ever struggle to share the gospel in a simple way that is easy for people to understand? In this episode, Daniel King talks about the three circles method of sharing the gospel that is easy, effective, and can even be carried around on the back of your phone.

Transcript:

Evangelism Podcast Host (00:00):
Do you ever struggle to share the gospel in a simple way that is easy for people to understand? In this episode, we’ll talk about the three circles method of sharing the gospel that is easy, effective, and can even be carried around on the back of your phone.

Evangelism Podcast Announcer (00:26):
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 (00:50):
One way I like to share the gospel is by using the three circles method of evangelism. So I made up these little stickers and I printed them out. And often when I do a workshop, I’ll ask people to put the sticker on the back of their cell phone so that everywhere they go, they can have this little illustration of how to be saved right there on the back of their phone. And they can share the gospel with people when they’re standing in line at the coffee shop. Well, let me tell you how to share the gospel using this simple illustration. The heart means that God loves you and he has a wonderful plan for your life. But many people have run away from God’s plan. And when we run away from God’s plan, this is called sin. And sin leads to a life that is broken.

(01:41):
This little squiggly line here represents a life that is broken by sin. And when people’s lives are broken, they begin to look for a way to bring change to their lives. And some people think, if I can have a relationship with a cute guy or cute girl, then I’ll be happy. But the problem is when two broken people are in a relationship, the relationship is also broken. Other people think that if I study lots of books and I get lots of degrees, then I’ll be happy. But even people that have gone to the university and and they’re really smart, often they are still miserable. Other people think, if I can make lots of money, I can buy happiness. But the problem is that even rich people often have lives that are very broken. And these people, they’re looking for change. The Bible has a word for change.

(02:30):
The Bible word for change is repent. And you’ll notice here, there’s a a person kneeling down and crying out to God in repentance. They are asking God to help them change their life. And then this third circle is what I call the gospel circle. The word gospel is a simple Bible word that simply means good news. And so this is the good news of how Jesus can save you from your brokenness. Jesus, the Son of God came from heaven to earth. He died on the cross to pay the price for our sins, but he didn’t stay dead. After three days, Jesus rose from the dead, and now he’s the king of the universe and he wants to be the king of your heart. And the Bible says that everyone who calls on Jesus will be saved. And so this person has their arms up in the air and they’re calling out and saying, Jesus, save me. If you’ll call on Jesus right now, he will bring you back to God’s perfect plan for your life.

Evangelism Podcast Host (03:30):
Are

Evangelist Daniel King (03:30):
You called by God to be an evangelist? Do you wanna lead millions of people to Jesus? Do you desire to be trained in the practical side of building a ministry? Then check out the Daniel King School of Evangelism. Learn how to be an effective evangelist from Dr. Daniel King’s 20 plus years of experience, Daniel King has done crusades all over the world in over 70 nations and is seen over 2 million people give their lives to Jesus. But it wasn’t easy. There was no crusade school. So Daniel traveled the world learning from and observing top evangelists, noticing how they successfully won souls for Christ. Now he wants to share decades of knowledge and experience with you. Topics of the Daniel King School of Evangelism include what is an evangelist, how to be a master soul winner, how to give antar call, how to organize a crusade, how to raise money for your ministry, and much more. If you wanna be an evangelist, but don’t know where to start, the Daniel King School of Evangelism is for you. Enroll today in the School of Evangelism by going to Daniel King ministries.com/evangelism.

Evangelism Podcast Host (04:31):
Thanks so much for listening today. I am excited about telling people about Jesus, and I want to invite you to be a part of helping us to rescue people from Hell and take them with us to heaven. There’s two things you can do to help. First of all, can you go find the Evangelism podcast on Apple iTunes and leave us a positive review by giving a review, you will help other people find these valuable resources about sharing our faith. And second, would you become a financial partner with King Ministries? Every single dollar that people give us enables us to lead at least one person to Jesus. And so that means for only $1, you can help start a party in heaven. And so today I want to invite you to become a monthly partner. You can start out for just a dollar, but if God puts it on your heart to do more, of course you can do more. But please go to king ministries.com and become a monthly partner with us today to help us to lead more people to Jesus. Thank you so much, and God bless you.

Evangelism Podcast Announcer (05:52):
For more information about how to share your faith or to financially support our worldwide outreaches, visit king ministries.com. Again, that’s king ministries.com.

The Romans Road Method of Sharing the Gospel

The Romans Road is an amazing tool for evangelism that uses verses from the book of Romans to walk through the various aspects of the gospel. In this episode, we’ll talk about how to use this method of evangelism to share the gospel with someone effectively.

Transcript:

Evangelism Podcast Host (00:00):
The Romans road is an amazing tool for evangelism that uses verses from the book of Romans to walk through the various aspects of the gospel. In this episode, we’ll talk about how to use this method of evangelism to share the gospel with someone. Effectively.

Evangelism Podcast Announcer (00:26):
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 (00:50):
If someone called you and said, what do I need to do to be saved? What would you say to them? Well, if I had the opportunity to answer that question, I would invite that person to come to a coffee shop and I would take them through the Romans road. The Romans road is a pathway of several different scriptures in the book of Romans that can tell us how we can be saved. And so what I’ve done is I’ve taken my Bible and I’ve highlighted each of these verses in my Bible. And then in the margin next to the highlighted verse, I wrote the reference of the next step on the Romans road. And so right now, I’d encourage you to get out your Bible and as I go through this, highlight the verses, and then each step you can write the verse that goes to the next step.

(01:46):
All right, so the first step on the Romans road is talking about the reality of sin. And that is found in Romans three, verse 23, which says, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. This tells us that every single person on earth has done so that is wrong. Sin means to miss the mark. It means to fall short of perfection. And so none of us have lived a perfect life. All of us have made mistakes. And because of this, all of us need a savior. That brings us to the second step on the Romans road, which is the cost of sin that’s found in Romans 6 23. And so right here in the margin I, on Romans 3 23, I put the little verse, Romans 6 23, I turn over here and in Romans 6 23, it says, the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus, our Lord, because of the sin and the mistakes we’ve made.

(02:56):
We deserve to be eternally separated from God, but Jesus died on the cross to pay the price for our sins. We deserve to be punished for our sins, but Jesus died to pay the price for us. And that brings us to the next step on the Romans road, which is the payment for sin, which is found in Romans chapter five, verse eight. And so I flip backwards one chapter and Romans five, eight says, but God demonstrates his own love towards us in that wow, we were still sinners. Christ died for us. And so while we were still sitting, while we were living in the midst of our rebellion towards God, Christ died on our behalf so that we could be saved. That brings us to the fourth stop on the Romans road, which is the way to salvation. And this is found in Romans 10, verses nine and 10, which say that if you confess with your mouth, Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised in from the dead, you will be saved.

(04:13):
For it is with your heart that you believe in are justified and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. And then I take them right down to Romans 10, verse 13, which is the favorite verse of every evangelist. It says that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. So the way to be saved is to confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and to believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead. And so often people will lead someone in a salvation prayer and give them some words to say, to call out on the name of Jesus. And some people have said that they don’t really like salvation prayers, that it’s not biblical. But I wanna tell you, it is biblical right here. It says that everyone who calls in the name of Jesus will be saved.

(05:05):
I think salvation is very simple and it’s easy. If you were driving along a cliff and you fell off the cliff, if you called out Jesus before you hit the bottom, you could be saved just by calling on Jesus. That brings us to the fifth step on the Romans road, which is the results of salvation. And that’s found in Romans five verse one which says, therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. And so when we get saved, suddenly we are at peace with God. We have been justified by our faith. That means that we have been made right with God, which brings us to the sixth stop on the Romans road, which gives us the benefit of salvation. In Romans eight verse one, it says, therefore, there is now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.

(06:12):
And then the seventh stop on the Romans road is the assurance of salvation that you can know for sure, for sure, beyond a shadow of a doubt that you really are saved. Romans 8 38 and 39 says, but I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord. And so do you want to follow the Romans road to salvation? You can do it right now. Just say, Jesus, I believe that I am a sinner and I repent of my sins Right now, I believe that Jesus died on the cross to pay the price for my sins. And I believe Jesus rose from the dead. And today I ask Jesus to be the Lord of my life. Jesus give me an assurance of salvation so that I know for sure that I am going to heaven. Amen.

Evangelism Podcast Host (07:25):
Are you called by God to be an evangelist? Do you wanna lead millions of people to Jesus? Do you desire to be trained in the practical side of building a ministry? Then check out the Daniel King School of Evangelism. Learn how to be an effective evangelist from Dr. Daniel King’s 20 plus years of experience. Daniel King has done crusades all over the world in over 70 nations and has seen over 2 million people give their lives to Jesus. But it wasn’t easy. There was no crusade school. So Daniel traveled the world learning from and observing top evangelists, noticing how they successfully won souls for Christ. Now he wants to share decades of knowledge and experience with you. Topics of the Daniel King School of Evangelism include what is an evangelist, how to be a master soul winner, how to give an alter call, how to organize a crusade, how to raise money for your ministry, and much more. If you wanna be an evangelist, but don’t know where to start, the Daniel King School of Evangelism is for you. Enroll today in the School of Evangelism by going to Daniel King ministries.com/evangelism.

Daniel King (08:26):
The thanks so much for listening today. I am excited about telling people about Jesus, and I want to invite you to be a part of helping us to rescue people from Hell and take them with us to heaven. There’s two things you can do to help. First of all, can you go find the Evangelism podcast on Apple iTunes and leave us a positive review by giving a review, you will help other people find these valuable resources about sharing our faith. And second, would you become a financial partner with King Ministries. Every single dollar that people give us enables us to lead at least one person to Jesus. And so that means for only $1, you can help start a party in heaven. And so today I want to invite you to become a monthly partner. You can start out for just a dollar, but if God puts on your heart to do more, of course you can do more. But please go to king ministries.com and become a monthly partner with us today to help us to lead more people to Jesus. Thank you so much, and God bless you.

Evangelism Podcast Announcer (09:47):
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.

Take Up Your Cross

As followers of Christ, we are called to take up our crosses and follow Jesus even in the little things in our lives. In this episode, Daniel King shares a bit about how that has looked in his own life and talks about the importance of taking up your cross daily in your life as a follower of Jesus.

Transcript:

Evangelism Podcast Host (00:00):
As followers of Christ, we are called to take up our crosses and follow Jesus even in the little things in our lives. In this episode, Daniel shares a bit about how that has looked in his own life and talks about the importance of taking up your cross daily in your life as a follower of Jesus.

Evangelism Podcast Announcer (00:28):
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 (00:52):
My parents became missionaries in the country of Mexico when I was only 10 years old. And since they were my legal guardians, I had to go with them In Mexico. We did a bunch of children’s ministry. And one day my dad said, let’s do a drama about the life of Jesus. He said, Daniel, I want you to play the part of Jesus. And I thought that was a good idea because Jesus was perfect and I was almost perfect. And so my sister Esther, she pretended to be crippled and she would drag her foot up and then Jesus would lay hands on her and suddenly she could dance. And then my other sister, melody, she pretended to be blind and she’d come up and she would go like this and, and Jesus would spit on the ground, make some mud. But before I could even touch her eyes, she was already healed.

(01:41):
And then my father said, now we’re going to crucify Jesus. And suddenly I didn’t wanna be Jesus any longer, but my younger brother, Steven, he loved this drama because as the older brother, I’d always beat up on Stephen. But in this drama, he was the Roman soldier and he got to beat up on Jesus. And so he’d bring a big long leather whip, he’d grab me by the arm, he’d dragged me right up the center aisle of the church, and he’d beat me with that whip. And I gotta be honest with you, I think he overact a little bit. And then one day my brother went to my father and said, dad, I don’t think this drama is realistic enough. We need some blood. And my dad thought that was a good idea. So Steven brought a big bottle of ketchup and he put ketchup all over the whip.

(02:33):
And then when he whipped me with it, it looked like blood covered my back. It was worse than the movie, the passion of the Christ. And then he would crucify me to the cross. And I remember hanging there on the cross with all the sticky ketchup on my back. And every fly in Mexico was attracted to the ketchup on my back. And I’d always tell my dad, I’d say, dad, it’s very difficult to hang on the cross. Could you please preach quickly? But my father, like many preachers did not know how to preach quickly. And so he’d start in the first book of the Bible, Genesis and preach all the way through the last book of the Bible appendix. He’d preach the entire thing, and I’d be hanging there on the cross, the ketchup up on my back, flies crawling up and down. And I would begin to pray.

(03:25):
I would say, God, forgive my father for he knows not what he does. And then I would die. And one time there was a little kid, he wanted to see if Jesus was really dead or not. So he came up and he started tickling the bottom of my feet. I’m telling you, I suffered for the sake of the cross. Jesus said, take up your cross and follow me. Well, I did that literally. But the amazing thing is, is that the same messages we used to preach to 10, 20, 30 children at a time in Mexico today, God allows me to preach to 10,000, 20,000, 30,000 people at a time. You see, if you’re faithful with the small things, God will place you in charge of many things. And so if you want to be effective in witnessing to people, just start small. Find one person, one child that you can share the gospel with. And then as you are faithful to communicate the good news about Jesus, God will use you and you will be able to bring many people to Jesus.

Evangelism Podcast Host (04:33):
Are you called by God to be an evangelist? Do you wanna lead millions of people to Jesus? Do you desire to be trained in the practical side of building a ministry? Then check out the Daniel King School of Evangelism. Learn how to be an effective evangelist from Dr. Daniel King’s 20 plus years of experience. Daniel King has done crusades all over the world in over 70 nations and has seen over 2 million people give their lives to Jesus. But it wasn’t easy. There was no crusade school. So Daniel traveled the world learning from and observing top evangelists, noticing how they successfully won souls for Christ. Now he wants to share decades of knowledge and experience with you. Topics of the Daniel King School of Evangelism include what is an evangelist, how to be a master soul winner, how to give an alter call, how to organize a crusade, how to raise money for your ministry, and much more. If you wanna be an evangelist, but don’t know where to start, the Daniel King School of Evangelism is for you. Enroll today in the School of Evangelism by going to Daniel King ministries.com/evangelism.

Daniel King (05:34):
Thanks so much for listening today. I am excited about telling people about Jesus, and I want to invite you to be a part of helping us to rescue people from Hell and take them with us to heaven. There’s two things you can do to help. First of all, can you go find the Evangelism podcast on Apple iTunes and leave us a positive review by giving a review, you will help other people find these valuable resources about sharing our faith. And second, would you become a financial partner with King Ministries. Every single dollar that people give us enables us to lead at least one person to Jesus. And so that means for only $1, you can help start a party in heaven. And so today I want to invite you to become a monthly partner. You can start out for just a dollar, but if God puts it on your heart to do more, of course you can do more. But please go to king ministries.com and become a monthly partner with us today to help us to lead more people to Jesus. Thank you so much, and God bless you.

Evangelism Podcast Announcer (06:55):
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.

Passion for Saving Souls

Although we may share the gospel here and there, many of us struggle to grasp how urgent the message of Jesus truly is. In this episode, Evangelist Daniel King talks about how followers of Christ should have a fiery passion for saving souls that encourages them to urgently share the gospel with the world.

Transcript:

Evangelism Podcast Host (00:00):
Although we may share the gospel here and there, many of us struggle to grasp how urgent the message of Jesus truly is. In this episode, we’ll talk about how followers of Christ should have a fiery passion for saving souls that encourages them to urgently share the gospel with the world.

Evangelism Podcast Announcer (00:29):
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 (00:53):
I was 14 years old when I had the opportunity to go on a mission trip to the nation of Jamaica. And so we went running through the neighborhoods of Montego Bay, passing out fliers and inviting people to come to our mini crusade that we were having that night. Well, Jamaica is very hot and humid, so by the end of the service, we were hot, we were tired, we, we were exhausted. All we wanted to do was to go back to the hotel, take a shower and fall into bed. But when we arrived at the hotel, there was a big problem. For some reason, all the water in the hotel had been shut off. But someone in the group was a smart missionary, and they said, well, let’s just go down to the swimming pool and we’ll wash in the swimming pool. And so that’s what we do.

(01:40):
We took our shampoo, our soap, we went down to the swimming pool, and we were washing off in the swimming pool. And as we were playing around, I noticed that off on the edge of the pool, there was a panel that was smoking, and there were some sparks coming out to of it. And I thought to myself, panels are not supposed to smoke. And so very foolishly, I swam over to investigate this smoking panel. And as I’m looking at it, suddenly the light that was under the water, it shocked my leg and it scared me because you can die from electricity. And so immediately this whole side of my body went numb. I managed to pull myself up out of the pool and I, I walked away dragging my leg, and I immediately began thinking God, saying, thank you God, so much for saving me.

(02:34):
And I was six steps away from the pool. Suddenly I remembered that all of my friends were still in the swimming pool, and immediately I became very concerned for their safety. I rushed back over to the swimming pool and I started yelling at them and said, guys, guys, get outta the pool. Get outta the pool. And of course, they were all teenagers. They said, Daniel’s just playing a practical joke. But I was serious. I said, guys, get outta the pool. If you stay in the pool, you’re going to die. It shocked me. You can die if you stay in the pool. And so finally, some of them were convinced they, they got outta the pool. And then I started grabbing people by the hair and physically trying to pull them out of the pool. And finally they realized how serious I was. And everyone got out of the pool.

(03:22):
And thank God no one died that day in the swimming pool. And right then God spoke to me and said, Daniel, you need to have the same passion saving people from hell as you showed saving your friends from the swimming pool, you see a lot of people, they get saved and they walk away saying, thank you, God for saving me. But they forget that there is a world full of people who are dying and going to hell. And so thank God that you are saved, but let’s not forget about all the other people that need Jesus. Someone said one time that Christianity is like one starving man who found bread going and telling all the other starving men where they can find bread. And so thank God that you have found the bread of life. Now take the bread of life and go give it to other people who are hungry. God bless you.

Evangelism Podcast Host (04:28):
Are you called by God to be an evangelist? Do you wanna lead millions of people to Jesus? Do you desire to be trained in the practical side of building a ministry? Then check out the Daniel King School of Evangelism. Learn how to be an effective evangelist from Dr. Daniel King’s 20 plus years of experience. Daniel King has done crusades all over the world in over 70 nations and has seen over 2 million people give their lives to Jesus. But it wasn’t easy. There was no crusade school. So Daniel traveled the world learning from and observing top evangelists, noticing how they successfully won souls for Christ. Now he wants to share decades of knowledge and experience with you. Topics of the Daniel King School of Evangelism include what is an evangelist, how to be a master soul winner, how to give an altar call, how to organize a crusade, how to raise money for your ministry, and much more. If you wanna be an evangelist, but don’t know where to start, the Daniel King School of Evangelism is for you. Enroll today in the School of Evangelism by going to Daniel King ministries.com/evangelism.

Evangelist Daniel King (05:29):
Thanks so much for listening today. I am excited about telling people about Jesus, and I want to invite you to be a part of helping us to rescue people from Hell and take them with us to heaven. There’s two things you can do to help. First of all, can you go find the Evangelism podcast on Apple iTunes and leave us a positive review by giving a review, you will help other people find these valuable resources about sharing our faith. And second, would you become a financial partner with King Ministries? Every single dollar that people give us enables us to lead at least one person to Jesus. And so that means for only $1, you can help start a party in heaven. And so today I want to invite you to become a monthly partner. You can start out for just a dollar, but if God puts it on your heart to do more, of course you can do more. But please go to king ministries.com and become a monthly partner with us today to help us to lead more people to Jesus. Thank you so much, and God bless you.

Evangelism Podcast Announcer (06:50):
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.

Let Your Light Shine

As a follower of Jesus, you are not only called to preach the gospel, but also to be a bright light in a very dark world. In this episode, Evangelist Daniel King will share a story that illustrates just how important it is for followers of Christ to let their light shine brightly for all to see.

Transcript:

Evangelism Podcast Host (00:00):
As a follower of Jesus, you are not only called to preach the gospel, but also to be a bright light in a very dark world. In this episode, Daniel will share a story that illustrates just how important it is for followers of Christ to let their light shine brightly For all. To see

Evangelism Podcast Announcer (00:29):
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 (00:53):
Several years ago, my family had the opportunity to visit Carlsbad Caverns. It’s one of the greatest natural wonders in the world. It’s a huge cave system in the American state of New Mexico. And so Carlsbad Caverns has this massive cave mouth where lots of bats fly out at nighttime and you can walk down into the cave. And as we began to walk down into the cave, the guide told us stories about the original explorers of this cave. They were extremely brave men and women who would explore using nothing but a tiny candlelight. And when we got to the bottom of the cave, it was over one mile underground. The guide told us that she wanted to show us the conditions that the original explorers exper experience. And so she had us all sit down on some benches and then she walked over to the light switch and she turned out the lights.

(01:54):
And suddenly it was dark. It was so dark I couldn’t see my hand in front of my face. It was so dark I couldn’t see the person next to me, total incomplete darkness. And she let us sit that way for a few minutes so that our eyes could adjust to the darkness. And then she reached her pocket and she pulled out a simple cigarette lighter. Now, when she said that she was gonna light the cigarette lighter, I thought to myself, this darkness is so thick that that tiny cigarette lighter is not going to make much of a difference. But when she lit the cigarette lighter, suddenly we could see the entire cave. We could see the stites, we could see the stalagmites. I could see all the people in that group. The cave was a very dark cave, but all it took was one light to light up the dark cave.

(02:51):
The world is a very dark place, but all it takes is one light to light up a dark world. In Matthew five, verse 16, Jesus said, let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven. You are called by God to be a shining light in the midst of great darkness. As you look around the world today, you can see a lot of darkness. There’s a lot of problems with crime, with racism, with drugs, with parents and and kids that are having trouble with one another, with marriages that are going through all kinds of problems where people are angry, one with with another. There is a lot of darkness in the world, but all it takes is one light to light up a dark world. One proverbs said one time, don’t curse the darkness when you can light a candle. A lot of people spend a lot of time complaining about all the problems that exist in the world today, but instead of complaining, I think we should go find someone who’s living in darkness and be the light of Jesus in their lives. Jesus says, I am the light of the world. And when Jesus is living inside of you, his light will shine out through your eyes into the lives of others. And so I encourage you to be a shining light in the midst of great darkness.

Evangelism Podcast Announcer (04:30):
Are you called by God to be an evangelist? Do you wanna lead millions of people to Jesus? Do you desire to be trained in the practical side of building a ministry? Then check out the Daniel King School of Evangelism. Learn how to be an effective evangelist from Dr. Daniel King’s 20 plus years of experience. Daniel King has done crusades all over the world in over 70 nations and has seen over 2 million people give their lives to Jesus. But it wasn’t easy. There was no crusade school. So Daniel traveled the world learning from and observing top evangelists, noticing how they successfully won souls for Christ. Now he wants to share decades of knowledge and experience with you. Topics of the Daniel King School of Evangelism include what is an evangelist, how to be a master soul winner, how to give an altar call, how to organize a crusade, how to raise money for your ministry, and much more. If you wanna be an evangelist, but don’t know where to start, the Daniel King School of Evangelism is for you. Enroll today in the School of Evangelism by going to Daniel King ministries.com/evangelism.

Evangelist Daniel King (05:31):
Thanks so much for listening today. I am excited about telling people about Jesus, and I want to invite you to be a part of helping us to rescue people from Hell and take them with us to heaven. There’s two things you can do to help. First of all, can you go find the Evangelism podcast on Apple iTunes and leave us a positive review by giving a review, you will help other people find these valuable resources about sharing our faith. And second, would you become a financial partner with King Ministries. Every single dollar that people give us enables us to lead at least one person to Jesus. And so that means for only $1, you can help start a party in heaven. And so today I want to invite you to become a monthly partner. You can start out for just a dollar, but if God puts it on your heart to do more, of course you can do more. But please go to king ministries.com and become a monthly partner with us today to help us to lead more people to Jesus. Thank you so much, and God bless you.

Evangelism Podcast Announcer (06:52):
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.

Five Steps for Leading People to Jesus

Many great evangelists have lived and ministered on this earth. But the best model that we have for evangelism is of course, Jesus Himself. In this episode, we’ll talk about the five steps for leading people to Jesus that are shown in how Jesus shared his message with the woman at the well in John 4.

Transcript:

Evangelism Podcast Host (00:00):
Many great evangelists have lived and ministered on this earth. But the best model that we have for evangelism is of course, Jesus himself. In this episode, we’ll talk about the five steps for leading people to Jesus that are shown in how Jesus shared his message with the woman at the well.

Evangelism Podcast Announcer (00:28):
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 (00:52):
Do you wanna be a master soul winner? You know, the greatest soul winner who ever lived is Jesus Christ. And so I think we should can learn some important lessons from his life that will help us to become effective at sharing the gospel with others. So if you have your Bible, go ahead and open it up to John chapter four. And let’s look at Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman. And by looking at her story, I think we can pull some principles out of this story that will help us to be better at sharing our faith with others. And so John chapter four, verse four, it says, now Jesus had to go through Samaria. So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar. Near the plot of ground, Jacob had given to his son Joseph Jacob’s well was there and Jesus tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the, well, it was about the sixth hour.

(01:54):
And so in, uh, Bible times they started at sunrise and counted the first hour from sunrise, like 6:00 AM to 7:00 AM That’d be the first hour, 7:00 AM to 8:00 AM that’d be the second hour. So the sixth hour means that it was noontime. The sun was high in the sky. Jesus was tired from the journey. He sat down by the, well, he sends his disciples into the town to buy some food. And then this woman comes, verse seven, it says, when a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, will you give me a drink? His disciples had gone into the town to buy food. All right. So this is the first step to leading someone to God is to start a conversation. Jesus started a conversation with this woman. He was a man, she was a woman. Back in those days, men did not speak to strange women.

(02:57):
He was a teacher, he was somebody important. Uh, this woman was a, a sinner woman, but yet Jesus was willing to start a conversation with her. And I think that we need to be willing to start conversations with the people around us. Now, I, I find it difficult sometimes to start conversations. I I’m introverted, uh, in my personality, uh, but my wife, Jessica, she can start conversations very easily. We’ll go to the store and there’ll be a, a woman there who’s a, a clerk at the store, and she’ll just strike up a conversation and say, does this dress look good on me? And, and after five minutes, they’re talking like they have known each other for 20 years. But I find it difficult. So I find that I have to step outside my circle of comfort and step into the lives of people around me who, who need Jesus.

(03:55):
All right? So the first thing you need to do is to start a conversation. And then verse uh, nine, the Samaritan woman said to Jesus, you are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink for Jews? Do not associate with Samaritans. Jesus answered her. If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asked you for a drink, you would’ve asked him and he would’ve given you living water. So now Jesus turns the conversation towards spiritual things. And this is the second step to leading someone to Jesus, is to turn the conversation towards God. And so you start the conversation by talking about the weather, talking about sports, talking about something that you have going on, but then in every conversation, you look for a way to turn the conversation towards God. One time I was, uh, out on the street and someone says, Hey man, can you gimme a light?

(04:53):
I said, no, I can’t give you a light, but I’ll tell you about Jesus. He’s the light of the world. What, what did I do? I turned the conversation towards God. Or one time I was on an airplane and a guy came down the aisle and he said, excuse me, sir, is this seat next to you saved? I said, no, that seat’s not saved, but I can tell you how you can be saved. And so what was I doing? I was turning the conversation towards God. So in every conversation you have an opportunity to talk about Jesus. You know, one time I sat down next to a, a grandma and she pulled out her wallet and started showing me the pictures of her 14 grandkids. And she had stories talking about her grandkids. Why was grandma talking about her grandkids? Because her grandkids were important to her.

(05:36):
Another time I was talking to a guy who was he, he was into cars, and he had some old cars that he was restoring and, and he was telling me all about his cars. Why was that guy talking about the cars? It’s because cars are what was important to you. And so if Jesus is important to you, then you’re going to talk about Jesus. If you can imagine a water balloon filled with water and you prick the water balloon, what’s gonna come out of the water balloon? Well, water’s gonna come pouring out. And so if you’re full of Jesus and you start talking to someone, Jesus should come out of you. And so first you start a conversation, then you look for a way to turn the conversation towards God. Then the woman said to him, sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.

(06:26):
Jesus said to her, go call your husband and come back. And she says, I have no husband. Then Jesus said to her, you’re right when you said that you have no husband. The fact is you had five husbands, and the man you are with now is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true, sir. The woman said, I can see that you are a prophet. So Jesus had never met this woman before. He didn’t know anything about her, but he used a gift of the Holy Spirit in order to minister to her. And he received the, the word of knowledge for this woman. He had never met her, but suddenly the Holy Spirit told him this, this woman has had five husbands. The man she’s living with is not her husband. And so this is the third step to leading someone to Jesus, is to listen to the Holy Spirit.

(07:20):
You may not know what to say to the person you’re witnessing to, but if you’ll listen to the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit will put words in your mouth and he will help you to minister to the person that you are talking to. And so I always try to take a step back from the horizontal conversation, and I I go vertical and I start listening to the Holy Spirit and say, holy Spirit, what do you want me to say to this person? Because every person is different. Now look what happens next. The woman says, our father’s worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem. She tries to start a spiritual argument with Jesus. Has that ever happened to you? Has anyone ever tried to start a spiritual argument with you? You start witnessing to them and, and they want to start talking a a and and arguing about something.

(08:20):
One time I was in California and we are going door to door talking to people about Jesus, and we knocked on on one door, and this woman came to the door and she says, she immediately started cussing at us when she heard that we were from a church. She says, I’m, I’m an atheist. I don’t believe in any of that God stuff. And so we started talking and I asked the Holy Spirit, I said, holy Spirit, you’re gonna have to help me in ministering to this woman. She has these barriers and walls that have been built up against the things of God. And, uh, I, I felt prompted by the Holy Spirit to ask her about her children. And she had a picture on the wall there of a son and daughter. And, and I just a asked her a question about her, her kids, and she started telling me about them.

(09:06):
And it turned out that her son was in major trouble at school. He was being rebellious, and her daughter was a little bit younger and, and she was starting to have problems. And, and she says, man, my kids, they need prayer. And so right there, I said, well, let’s pray right now. And so this atheist woman, she asked me to pray for her kids. And it was because I listened to the Holy Spirit and asked her a question about her kids. And so we prayed together. And while I had her by the hand, I said, Hey, could we pray to ask Jesus to be the Lord of your life? And so I was able to minister to that woman. Well, when people try to start a spiritual argument, notice that Jesus doesn’t really start a spiritual argument with his lady. He doesn’t tell her she’s wrong.

(09:51):
He just says that God is spirit in his worshipers, must worship in spirit and in truth. And so he doesn’t condemn the lady. He doesn’t say that she’s wrong. He just loves her. And so this is the fourth step to leading people to Jesus is to love people. Someone said that people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care. And now when it comes to spiritual arguments, I’m the type of guy I like to argue. I’m intellectual. I’ve studied a lot of apologetics books and, and, and so sometimes I, I like to start throwing out facts and get into an argument. But I’ve discovered that you can win an argument and lose a soul. And so our goal is not to win arguments. Our goal is to win souls. And I discovered this when I got married to my wife, Jessica.

(10:44):
We’ve been married 16 years now in, in the early years of our marriage, we would have a discussion and she would say something that I thought was wrong, and I’d immediately start pointing out where she was wrong in the discussion. And, and I found that I could win the argument and prove to her that I was right, but it would end up hurting our marriage. And so my goal in the marriage is not to win arguments. My goal is to show love to my wife. And the same is true when we’re ministering to people. We’re not trying to win an argument. We’re trying to show them the love of Jesus. And so even when they cuss you out, even when they say something that, that you can’t stand, you don’t need to argue with them. You just keep being kind to them, being loving to them and keep pointing them back to the truth of God’s word.

(11:35):
All right? The woman said, I know that Messiah called Christ is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us. Then Jesus declared, I who speak to you am He. Jesus revealed himself to this woman. And this is the last step to leading people to God, is to reveal Jesus. Jesus said, if I be lifted up, I will draw all men onto me. And so when I go and preach in other nations, I don’t say anything negative about their local religion or their local prophet or holy man. I just point people to Jesus. I tell people, this is what Jesus did in Bible times. Then I’ll share some stories of what Jesus has done in the lives of other people. I’ll share some stories of what Jesus has done in my life, and then I’ll say, and this is what Jesus can do for you.

(12:24):
And my goal is to make Jesus look irresistible. When we lift up Jesus, it draws people to God. As Christians, you might not be perfect, but you serve a perfect savior. And so sometimes people get in a fight trying to defend Christianity. Well, Christians have made lots of mistakes, but Jesus never made a mistake. And so then the disciples of Jesus, they came back and they were surprised to find that he was talking to this woman. And what’s sad is that these 12 disciples had met this woman on the way into this city. None of them brought the woman back to Jesus. But here she is, she’s talking to Jesus, and her life is changed. Look what happens. It says, then leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, come see a man who told me everything I ever did.

(13:23):
Could this be the Christ? And they came out of the town and made their way towards him. And it says, many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony. He told me everything I ever did. So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with him. And he stayed two days. And because of his words, many more became believers. And so these 12 disciples, these 12 professional preachers, they had gone into the city, they’d passed the woman on the way when they were in this city, they saw a blind man. They knew that Jesus healed the blind, but they didn’t bring the blind man back to Jesus. They saw a crippled guy over sitting against the wall. They knew Jesus healed the cripples, but they didn’t bring the crippled man back to Jesus. And so Jesus gets a little bit upset at them and says, guys, don’t you say four more months.

(14:11):
And then the harvest, I tell you, open your eyes and look at the harvest field. This woman, she was a sinner woman. She’d had five husbands. The man she was living with was not her husband. She was in the at the well in the middle of the day all by herself. And back then, all the women would go to the well early in the morning when it was cool, and they would all go to the well together. Just like today, all the women go to the bathroom together. Back then, they’d all go to the well together. Well, here, this woman, she’s been rejected by so many people. She’s stolen half the husband’s in the village, and she’s at the well all by herself. But Jesus changes her life and she goes, and she’s able to lead the entire village back to Jesus. And so this tells me that if we can reach just one person for Jesus, potentially we could reach their entire group of friends, their whole family, maybe even their entire city for Jesus. And so if you’ll follow these five steps, you will be better at sharing your faith with others. Number one,

(15:13):
Start a conversation. Number two, turn the conversation towards God. Number three, listen to the Holy Spirit. Number four, love people. And number five, reveal Jesus. If you’ll follow those five steps, then God will use you to reach many people for his glory.

Evangelism Podcast Host (15:34):
Are you called by God to be an evangelist? Do you wanna lead millions of people to Jesus? Do you desire to be trained in the practical side of building a ministry? Then check out the Daniel King School of Evangelism. Learn how to be an effective evangelist from Dr. Daniel King’s 20 plus years of experience. Daniel King has done crusades all over the world in over 70 nations and has seen over 2 million people give their lives to Jesus. But it wasn’t easy. There was no crusade school. So Daniel traveled the world learning from and observing top evangelists, noticing how they successfully won souls for Christ. Now he wants to share decades of knowledge and experience with you. Topics of the Daniel King School of Evangelism include what is an evangelist, how to be a master soul winner, how to give an altar call, how to organize a crusade, how to raise money for your ministry, and much more. If you wanna be an evangelist, but don’t know where to start, the Daniel King School of Evangelism is for you. Enroll today in the School of Evangelism by going to Daniel King ministries.com/evangelism.

Evangelist Daniel King (16:35):
Thanks so much for listening today. I am excited about telling people about Jesus, and I want to invite you to be a part of helping us to rescue people from Hell and take them with us to heaven. There’s two things you can do to help. First of all, can you go find the Evangelism podcast on Apple iTunes and leave us a positive review by giving a review, you will help other people find these valuable resources about sharing our faith. And second, would you become a financial partner with King Ministries. Every single dollar that people give us enables us to lead at least one person to Jesus. And so that means for only $1, you can help start a party in heaven. And so today I want to invite you to become a monthly partner. You can start out for just a dollar, but if God puts on your heart to do more, of course you can do more. But please go to king ministries.com and become a monthly partner with us today to help us to lead more people to Jesus. Thank you so much, and God bless you.

Evangelism Podcast Announcer (17:56):
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.

Are You Fishing or Fighting?

These days, it seems that there is a lot of fighting within the people of God, but not so much fishing for souls. In this episode, we’ll talk about how important it is to keep the main thing, the main thing, and how we should focus much more on fishing for souls than fighting among ourselves.

Transcript:

Evangelism Podcast Host (00:00):
These days, it seems that there is a lot of fighting within the people of God, but not so much fishing. In this episode, we’ll talk about how important it is to keep the main thing, the main thing, and how we should focus much more on fishing than fighting.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (00:50):
Once upon a time, there were four fishermen, and they heard about a lake in Northern Canada that had great fishing. And so they chartered a little plane. It took them up there and landed on the lake, dropped ’em off at a little fishing cabin. And these four fishermen were so excited that they were going to be fishing. But right as they were about to go out on the lake, suddenly it started to rain. The rain was pouring down and they said, don’t worry about it. We’ll just hang out here inside the cabin until the rain stops. So they go inside the cabin and they’re playing cards with one another, and they’re chatting and they’re talking, and it was great. Well then the second day that they were there, it was still raining. And so they’re still in there having a good time. But the cabin was small and everything was wet.

(01:41):
And so they, they started to get on one, one another’s nerves a little bit. And uh, then the third day, guess what happened? It rained again. And by this time they couldn’t stand one another. They were yelling at each other. They were irritated. They were even about ready to have a fist fight. Do you know why those fishermen were fighting? They were fighting because they weren’t fishing. Do you know why sometimes churches fight with one another? They’re fighting because they’re not fishing. Sometimes people come to church and they start to complain, oh, I don’t like the music. I don’t like the carpet. I don’t like what the pastor said this week. It’s just not feeding me. The problem is not in the church or the carpet or the music or the pastor. The problem is that they are not out fishing telling people about Jesus. Jesus said, come follow me and I will make you a fisher of men. And as long as you keep the main thing, the main thing, and stay focused on what is important to God going after souls, then you won’t have time for one church to fight with another church or one believer to fight with another believer. I believe that the solution to all the different problems that churches have with one another is soul winning. If they will go after souls, there’s not time to be bickering with one another.

Evangelism Podcast Host (03:17):
Are you called by God to be an evangelist? Do you wanna lead millions of people to Jesus? Do you desire to be trained in the practical side of building a ministry? Then check out the Daniel King School of Evangelism. Learn how to be an effective evangelist from Dr. Daniel King’s 20 plus years of experience. Daniel King has done crusades all over the world in over 70 nations and has seen over 2 million people give their lives to Jesus. But it wasn’t easy. There was no crusade school. So Daniel traveled the world learning from and observing top evangelists, noticing how they successfully won souls for Christ. Now he wants to share decades of knowledge and experience with you. Topics of the Daniel King School of Evangelism include what is an evangelist, how to be a master soul winner, how to give an altar call, how to organize a crusade, how to raise money for your ministry, and much more. If you wanna be an evangelist, but don’t know where to start, the Daniel King School of Evangelism is for you. Enroll today in the School of Evangelism by going to Daniel King ministries.com/evangelism.

Daniel King (04:18):
Thanks so much for listening today. I am excited about telling people about Jesus, and I want to invite you to be a part of helping us to rescue people from Hell and take them with us to heaven. There’s two things you can do to help. First of all, can you go find the Evangelism podcast on Apple iTunes and leave us a positive review by giving a review, you will help other people find these valuable resources about sharing our faith. And second, would you become a financial partner with King Ministries? Every single dollar that people give us in enables us to lead at least one person to Jesus. And so that means for only $1, you can help start a party in heaven. And so today I want to invite you to become a monthly partner. You can start out for just a dollar, but if God puts it on your heart to do more, of course you can do more. But please go to king ministries.com and become a monthly partner with us today to help us to lead more people to Jesus. Thank you so much, and God bless you.

Evangelism Podcast Announcer (05:39):
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.

Tina Waldrom | Evangelism in Australia

Tina Waldrom is the host of the Win Win Evangelism Podcast and the director of Evangelism in Australia. She loves to equip believers and churches for evangelism. On today’s podcast we talk about how Aussies do not want anyone to shove religion down their throat but they are open to having spiritual conversations. You will be blessed as you learn about what God is doing on the continent “down under.”

Learn more about Tina Waldrom: https://evangelisminaustralia.com/

Transcript:

Evangelist Daniel King (00:00):
Welcome to the Evangelism Podcast. I’m Daniel King and I’m excited about telling people about Jesus. Today I have a very special guest with me from Australia, all the way from down under Dr. Tina Waldrom. Thank you for being on the Evangelism podcast.

Tina Waldrom (00:18):
Thanks Daniel. It’s a great pleasure to be on your show.

Evangelist Daniel King (00:22):
Alright, we have just finished recording an interview for your podcast, which is called the Win-Win Evangelism Podcast. Tell me about how you got started doing an evangelism podcast.

Tina Waldrom (00:39):
Evangel. That is a great question. Well, before the Evangelism podcast was almost three decades of evangelism ministry. So I’ve worked with local churches and evangelistic organizations and then I kind of had stepped out to start my own organization as such evangelism in Australia. And one of the things that I felt the Lord speaking to us about was a podcast. And I’ve got to say, Daniel, I’ve never been a person that listened to podcasts up until that stage. And I was like, what on earth is this and how do I go about communicating through that medium? So that’s how it came about with the attempt to do the same as I’ve always done, try to equip the everyday believer to share their faith with the world around them. So yeah, had to learn the whole craft. And now we’re three years in weekly podcast. Absolutely love it.

Evangelist Daniel King (01:39):
Now, if you listen to my Evangelism podcast, I encourage you to go and subscribe to Dr. Tina’s Evangelism podcast because if you like mine, I know you’re going to like hers. We have the same heart for evangelism now you are in Australia and your focus is on training the body of Christ on how to share their faith. And so talk to me a little bit about the spiritual atmosphere in Australia and why you feel it’s so important to equip the church in Australia in evangelism.

Tina Waldrom (02:22):
Yeah, that’s a great question. I think like most Western worlds, a lot of people, the majority of people statistics show us in Australia are not interested in attending church. It’s pretty hard trying to get your regular secular Aussie into church, Daniel. And so my question is always, well, how do we move the church into the community? It’s a very biblical illiterate society that we live in now. How do we get the church there and how do we win the most people to Jesus? How do we get the most people to hear about Jesus? The answer for me is to equip every person that follows Jesus and to give them ways that are natural. And could I say easy? Because if Jesus said go and make disciples, he must have thought that everybody could do that. So trying to uncomplicated it, trying to make it a way that people can see this is doable.

(03:35):
Jesus thought this was doable, and so give them the skills to do that. So yeah, that’s the climate. And pretty much in Australia also Daniel, we have what’s called the tall poppy syndrome, whereas if someone’s really good at something, the Australian culture wants to pull those people down. We want everybody on the same level and we want everyone to feel like you are my mate, you’re my mate, my friend. So talk to me like that. Don’t talk down to me. Don’t come across superior in any way. So we like to have those discussions about how we can do that, how we can land it best in the Australian culture.

Evangelist Daniel King (04:13):
Now, I was looking at your website, it’s found@evangelisminaustralia.com, and you have a variety of resources there. Tell me a little bit about what people can find on your website and how you train people in evangelism and how you coach people who have a heart for evangelism.

Tina Waldrom (04:38):
Yeah, so basically our podcast is a fantastic free gift for people weekly. They can hear amazing interviews exactly like your podcast, and we are trying to ground it to the everyday believer all the time of how they can share their faith. But also we have online courses. So our most, well-known course on mission with god.com is a course that has four modules that people can go through basically to share their faith. And there’s a free sample for that course. In fact, you can go to on mission with god.com/free sample and you can see how it looks, the platform that the learning is on, so to speak. So yeah, brilliant stuff. And it’s all outlined there for you about what you can learn, but we certainly can make it easier for you. We can make it doable. We can give you tips that you go, oh yeah, absolutely, I can do that. So very relational, very personable in the approach. Yeah, thank you for asking.

Evangelist Daniel King (05:41):
Now, you have been involved in evangelism for many years now, but how did you first get started? How did you first develop this passion for evangelism?

Tina Waldrom (05:56):
Another great question. I met Jesus in the United States of all places. I’m actually call myself a missionary to Australia. I met Jesus in California in San Diego in 1992, and I went to church as much as I could go. It was such a game changer for me to realize that God was real, such an incredible blessing. And on a Sunday night, I would go to this church in Mira Mesa and the pastor did this series on evangelism, and he started talking about this thing in the Bible called an evangelist, which was all new to me. And as he was talking about that for a number of weeks, I just knew that I knew Daniel, that God had called me to be this thing, like share Jesus with other people and equip people to do that. I just knew that I wanted to do it in a certain way. So that’s really how it all came about. And in hindsight, you see that as the calling of God. I didn’t really know that then, but then I just walked that out and I’m just passionate. Every day I’ll wake up just thinking, oh, how can I equip someone to share their faith? How can I share my faith? So yeah, just love it. I’ve been arrested by the Holy Spirit.

Evangelist Daniel King (07:24):
Now, I noticed that you completed your doctorate of ministry at Fuller Theological Seminary, which is a great seminary there in California. Tell me a little bit about your dissertation or the project you did to graduate, and what did you learn about evangelism through that process?

Tina Waldrom (07:49):
Yeah, so that was a hard one. I really had to work through what specifically could I write about, it needed to be practical. I ended up doing a lot of research around my area of the church that I attend and how we can best engage with society. But then I articulated that into how do we reach people that are spiritual, but not so much wanting to know about Christianity but wanting a spiritual conversation. And so I love interior design and interior decorating. So I came up with a course so to speak, that people would go to over five or six weeks, they travel around to beautifully styled homes. It was really pitched at women. Not to say that guys aren’t into this, but women, some of us just love it. And you would go to different homes and you would go to a space in the home.

(08:42):
Let’s take the kitchen. And you’d talk about, I would have a stylist there talking about how you style a kitchen, how do you design a kitchen? But then I would talk about the angle of the kitchen is the heart of the home. And so I would have a spiritual teaching on the heart and heart issues to engage with these pre believes, let’s call them that would be there. And so I just loved every bit of it because so many people are interested in a spiritual conversation, not so much the Christian conversation. So putting the tools there for that space of the journey that they’re into. Then there was other areas of the home also. So yeah, that’s what I wrote on. I loved it. Love fuller, love it, love it, love it.

Evangelist Daniel King (09:28):
Now let’s say that a pastor heard about you and called you and said, Dr. Tina, I want my congregation to be better at sharing their faith and to have a heart for evangelism. What would you go and offer that church and tell that congregation that would help them to reach people for Jesus?

Tina Waldrom (09:53):
Yeah. Well, I don’t think it’s not information that you wouldn’t share or I wouldn’t share. And over the years I’ve learned that sometimes we can go in to congregations or you can say to a pastor years they’ll come and do something for a weekend. Actually, the real life change is when it’s consistent. So it’s more like, let’s not do an evangelism seminar, but let’s plan out maybe a six month or yearly plan where people are consistently getting resource and encouragement to share their faith. I think it was Bill Hybels years ago that said, every church has a high value of evangelism, but it’s actually, it’s not actualized, it’s not outworked. Of course, we all want to have encouraged people to evangelism, but we don’t get them to do that because they lose heart or they’re not receiving that consistent encouragement. So it’s more about putting weekly things in throughout a year or over the years that keeps that value outworked highly all the time rather than a, so that’s the conversation. That’s the conversation really. That’s the baseline, I would say. Yeah.

Evangelist Daniel King (11:17):
Talk to me a little bit more about Australia. What are some of the unique challenges and opportunities for reaching people in Australia?

Tina Waldrom (11:31):
Yeah, great question. So what are the challenges? Well, one of them, what I said to you, Aussies, just don’t give a rip about church, to be quite honest. And so the challenge is like never before, how do we get the church into the community? I actually think that Covid gave us some great insight to what God is doing in our nation. We saw the church become highly engaged with the community and pastors everywhere that I was talking to were so excited. They were saying, oh, our people are totally engaged in the community all the time, months and months ago on Melbourne, where I live was the most locked down city in the world. So we were locked down forever and couldn’t do anything. I saw it as a blessing and was praising Jesus in the right way. Of course, it was tragic, but the church continued to, because they couldn’t go into the four walls of the church, they stayed outside in their communities and they reached people for Jesus.

(12:29):
So the challenge is now, I believe Daniel, is that our churches are back open, that we can slip back into that about I love churches, but we’ve got to continue to keep the focus into the community. We’ve got to encourage that going forward. So that’s the challenge and the opportunity to be quite frank, is that there are great opportunities out there. If people are up for a conversation, people are up for a spiritual conversation. It’s not that people don’t want to talk about spiritual things anymore. It’s wide open in my country. So it’s more the upskilling of the everyday person to be able to share their faith in ways that can connect with the Australian society or ways that connect with the United States culture there or wherever you are. But in Western society, there’s definitely an openness never before.

Evangelist Daniel King (13:27):
So how do you start a conversation with someone who says, I don’t care about church. I’m not religious, but I want to be a spiritual person. How would you start that conversation?

Tina Waldrom (13:41):
Yeah, so I love sharing my experience, but I love sharing it in a way that provokes a question. So I don’t want to impose my experience. I want to share my experience and ask people to engage with it. So I’ll share an experience that, oh my gosh, I had all these coincidences happen in my life and my worldview actually is a Christian worldview, and I’m convinced that this is God moving. I’m convinced that he is real and really alive. And then I would just ask the question, what’s your own thoughts about God doesn’t need to be the Christian God, in my mind, I’m just asking the question, what’s your own thoughts about God or spiritual things? I’m always trying to gather information from people so that I know them more so that I know what’s going on in their head so that I can keep engaging. I’m big on trying to keep people on a journey with people. I’m big on discipleship. I want to actually go on a journey with people in the world that Jesus has placed me and I want to walk with them. And over time, they see Christ revealed in my life. I mean, I’m discipling people now. They just don’t know they’re being discipled, but they’re seeing Jesus all the time. So yeah, hope that answers your question.

Evangelist Daniel King (15:05):
And what would you say to encourage a believer who maybe has a heart for evangelism but has never been bold enough to start one of these conversations? What would you say to encourage them to look for ways to start a conversation?

Tina Waldrom (15:24):
Yeah, what I would say is every person, every person is not the person for the conversation. I would say that God is at work. God is at work in people’s lives, and we need to perceive where he’s at work and then engage. For example, sometimes you can have a conversation and you can sense, oh, there’s an ease and it’s natural. Now for me to ask this question and it feels natural, but there’s times where you go, oh, it just feels like this is a brick wall here. And it would be totally awkward if I mentioned something about Jesus. And I would say at that moment, for myself, I actually don’t say anything in that conversation. I’m looking for those places where God is already at work in people’s lives where I’m coming along and building on something that’s gone on their life in the past, and that’s where I engage.

(16:25):
So in my mind, there’s people in my world that I’m engaging with and we’re just building a friendship, me and them or Jesus and them and me. And then there’s people where there’s already work. That’s the holy Spirit’s done in their life, and that’s more open. And so I’ll add a few more seeds, and then there’s next people that are ready for me to say, oh gosh, a lot. Have you ever thought about asking Jesus into your life? So it’s perceiving where God is at work. It’s assuming that he’s the great evangelist, and I’m really just coming along and working with him or partnering with him. It makes it a lot easy for all of us, I think.

Evangelist Daniel King (17:05):
Amen. We’re not doing it alone. God is on our side. Well, Tina Waldrom, thank you so much for being on the Evangelism Podcast with me. It’s such a great blessing to meet you and to hear about what God is doing in Australia. He’s working here in the United States and down under as well. And so if you have an interest in evangelism, particularly if you’re from Australia, I encourage you to go to the website evangelism and australia.com and you can learn more about evangelism from Dr. Tina Waldrom there. Thank you so much for being on the Evangelism podcast.

Tina Waldrom (17:50):
Thanks, Daniel. It’s been a great pleasure. Thank you.

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Zach Blickens & Cyprès | Using Music to Draw People to Christ

In this podcast episode, Daniel King interviews musician Zach Blickens, the leader of the music group Cyprès. They discuss the power of music in evangelism and how it can be used to draw people to Jesus. Zach shares his journey of discovering his musical talent and his calling to use music to spread the message of Jesus. He emphasizes the importance of being intentional about sharing the gospel through music and not just focusing on praise and worship. He highlights the significance of involving his family in the ministry and the importance of balancing family and ministry.

Learn more about the band Cyprès: https://cypresmusic.com/

Transcript:

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (00:00):
Welcome to the Evangelism Podcast. I’m Daniel King and I’m excited about telling people about Jesus. Today I have a very special guest, world renowned musician and leader of a great music group called Cyprès, Zach?

Zach Blickens (00:16):
Yes sir.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (00:21):
Well, thank you so much for joining me on the Evangelism podcast.

Zach Blickens (00:24):
Yeah, no, it’s a privilege to be here and it’s been great hanging out with you in Laos, Cambodia, and Thailand, which is where we’ve been.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (00:30):
Yeah, this has been a wonderful three country tour and in all three countries I’ve really seen God use you and your daughter. Praise Jesus. And your wife is here to just, God has used you in such a tremendous way through music. Praise God as a tool for reaching people. Praise God. Talk to me a little bit about how God can use music to evangelize.

Zach Blickens (00:54):
Well, it’s interesting. I got my start in worship right? That was God rescued me and basically I discovered worship. I discovered that I was a musician beforehand trained. I was actually trained in opera, which is crazy, but we’re a pop band now. We don’t sound like that. And I got my start and one of the things that God used was worship. And it’s just this awesome focus. And throughout my journey with Jesus, he just began stirring in my heart that I just knew he began to speak to me and I just became convinced that he had called me and my whole family, the vision spread to my whole family was to actually just set foot on every nation and used music in the spoken word to present the message of Jesus. And I think music is this incredible, incredible tool. I mean, because the reality is everyone likes music, everyone likes different kinds of music.

(01:43):
And it’s interesting, when we started out, we kind of started as kind of a little more traditional, almost like almost like a folk influence worship when we would go out. But I started to realize that there’s an incredible power that comes when you can. We’ve switched over kind of to pop almost in EDM kind of sound. There’s something powerful that happens when you can draw this crowd, engage people, and just basically our goal is to throw the biggest party in town. And it does incredible things as far as actually drawing people, but also music when it’s focused on Jesus. And when you can be intentional with that, it can actually draw hearts to Jesus. So we look at ourselves as the way John the Baptist came saying, prepare the way for the Lord. Our heart is to prepare hearts and minds and draw people for the message as it’s shared the simple message of the gospel of Jesus Christ. So I actually think that for us, I know it’s what we’re called to, but I think that music is an incredibly powerful tool. It’s got to be intentional. And there are a lot of things, there are a lot of mistakes we’ve made and a lot of things we’ve learned over the years. But I think music has an incredible power to draw. People

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (02:47):
Talk to me about how musicians can be intentional about sharing the gospel, because sometimes musicians get up, they sing their songs and they say, I want everyone to just say, praise Jesus. And they think that is enough of the gospel. But really you have the audience, you should take the opportunity to really communicate how someone can be saved. So what advice would you give to a young musician who maybe wants to use their music in evangelism?

Zach Blickens (03:19):
Sure. And I think that’s a really good question and a really good distinction because the truth is obviously there are lots of functions in the body of Christ. Like I said, there’s discipleship in the church and all that stuff. But our job as the church, the way I see it’s two things. It’s to introduce people to Jesus and it’s to help raise them up as disciples and teach ’em how to follow Jesus. And everyone’s different. But for us, we are convinced that it is crucial to use this for evangelism. And I think what’s really interesting is that I didn’t know that when I started, I didn’t have that conviction. I just knew that I was supposed to go play music. And also that I was a speaker, I talked about Jesus. But early on I felt like God spoke to my heart and challenged me that every time we will play any show, as long as God opens the door and God says yes, but we have to someone even in our writer, that someone in every show has to share the simple gospel. And for me, I just started out of that conviction, started sharing the simple gospel. I mean, it’s simple, right? It can be 30 seconds, it can take three hours, but it can also be 30 seconds. Alright,

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (04:24):
Give me the 32nd version of the

Zach Blickens (04:26):
Gospel. Sure. 32nd version. And I think it’s so beautiful and this is the way what I’ve boiled it down to, but I think there is a God, he’s good. He created us for a relationship with him. That’s the first thing. The second thing that’s really important is to know that every single one of us Bible says all have sinned and fall short to the glory of God. So we’ve separated ourself from God by the bad things, the sin we’ve done. And obviously the good news, the gospel is that God, when he looked at us in that situation, broken and separated it, instead of judging us like we deserved, he sent his son Jesus to die and pay a price that only he could pay. He died, he rose from the dead in order to purchase our forgiveness, our freedom, and our reconnection with God. That to me is the simple gospel.

(05:06):
And for us, it’s also important to say it really is easy to say yes to. Gs as AB, C, admitting we are broken, believing Gs is who he says he is. He’s God, he rose from the dead and calling on his name, committing our lives to him. So that to me is the simple gospel and we’re passionate that that be shared by somebody every single time. And once I started doing that, I started seeing people come to Jesus and I was like, oh, maybe I’m an evangel. I was like, it was that sort of thing. But for me, I think if as we grow in our comfort in sharing that, I feel like one of the biggest things we can do is, especially in these big festivals, is to remember that the whole purpose of this festival is to introduce people to Jesus. And there is a speaker, you or Keith Cook or Reed Saunders or some of these other amazing communicators, their job is to seal the deal, is to give the invitation and all that stuff.

(06:00):
And we can either look at it as it’s about us and hey, thanks so much for coming. Or we can take the attention that we have gotten from the people and we can point it to Jesus and we can point it and say, whatever you do, don’t miss this message. And I feel like that one simple shift of it’s not about me, it’s not about me being a rockstar, which is always tempting, but it’s about this message. I feel like just that simple shift is a massive thing young musicians can learn and do. And we’ve gotten incredible opportunities just because that’s our commitment, if that, does that make sense?

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (06:29):
One of the things that I really like about your ministry is you’re a team player. You don’t come with a big ego, which sometimes musicians deal with

Zach Blickens (06:39):
That. We all fight it, we all, yeah.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (06:41):
But you recognize that you have a part in the presenting of the gospel using the music to draw people and then working together with other communicators. And you have been really a part of the team of On the Go, which is the ministry of Keith Cook for quite a few years. And one of the things I think is so valuable is mentorship and coming under the wing of someone who’s experienced in evangelism to help us to sharpen our message and get better at presenting the gospel. So with your long relationship with Keith Cope, what are some of the things that he’s helped you with that have made you a better evangelist?

Zach Blickens (07:24):
Oh my gosh. I mean, I’m so grateful. I feel like in my life I’ve been given the incredible, the answer to cry of my heart. He’s given me such incredible fathers, and Keith has been one of those fathers. And for me, I feel like I came in as definitely as a worship artist and communicator, but really I feel like I learned everything. And honestly, as a young up and coming evangelist when I started and stuff, I feel like one of the most valuable things for me was to first of all hear the wisdom that comes from him and not think that I have all figured out. I might have had a lot of experience in the church, or maybe not, which I did, but I didn’t have any experience in the street. And I’ve told people I feel like everyone should have to learn the way I did, which is basically you get thrown on the street in Africa and say, you have five minutes, earn your crowd, share Jesus and give a call.

(08:15):
Don’t lose your crowd. And I feel like it’s terrifying, terrifying, but just facing that and being given those opportunities. And so I feel like humility is one of the crucial things in, and you have to choose humility because you always think that’s when humility really is so evident is when you think you know what the best way is and you have someone experienced and you have to say, you know what, I’m going to trust you on this. And so I feel like that learning from the experience and then learning how to interact with the pastors and learning how to all those things, I feel like it’s been crucial. But I feel like I learned just I was just a baby and I feel like I learned everything from being able to surrender and say, okay, God, you’ve given me this mentor. Let me learn from him. And there’s just so much, so different being, it’s so different when it comes to engaging the crowd, drawing the crowd, doing that stuff. It’s so different from what we’re used to, whether it’s played in a secular, whether you played in clubs or whether you’ve played in church. It really is different. And I’ve learned a lot. I learned everything.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (09:19):
Another thing I really like about you is that you involve your entire family in the ministry. Your daughters have been singing with you, you’re writing songs together as a family. Your wife is right there right alongside of you helping singing and doing an administration. Why do you feel it’s important to involve the family in the ministry that you’re called to?

Zach Blickens (09:42):
My gosh, actually the short, I don’t know, I’m kind of stumbling over my words because for me it’s like this is my dream.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (09:54):
It really comes out of you, it’s part of you.

Zach Blickens (09:57):
It’s like we didn’t necessarily go into this being like, okay, we’re going to involve the family. I just love my family so much. And we all developed a desire to travel and go out. And so Kayla, who is basically our lead singer, she’s my youngest daughter and she has been doing this since I think she was 11 years old. And we just go like, Hey, let’s come to Africa or whatever. And so it started that way and then the girls on their own struggled through their own things and prayed. But basically this vision that God gave us, gave me has become theirs. And Kayla just heard God at a young age being calling toward evangelist as an evangelist. And then so we’ve started throwing her in. She’s now just an incredible communicator and it’s just basically, it’s a dream come true for me, but I wouldn’t know. How do you involve your family? I’m just like, love ’em, walk through ’em, have grace and the tough things and do that. How

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (10:55):
Do you balance family and ministry?

Zach Blickens (10:59):
I think for us, one of the most important things we could do to answer that question is for me, what we do is really, really awesome. And it’s incredible privilege, but it’s also exhausting. For example, I love this country. It’s also the hottest place I’ve ever been in my life. So humid and hot and beautiful, but it’s exhausting. And so one of the things that we felt God kind of challenged us to do early on, and my oldest daughter really challenged me in this, was really to not just talk about Sabbath but to arrest that season of intentional rest, but to really do it. So I feel like one of the most valuable things we can do is when we go on the field we go hard, but then one those times in between the tours and things like that, we really prioritize allowing ourselves to be recharged and refreshed and be a family.

(11:49):
The other thing I think is so important is the intentionality of loving conflict. And that is not fleeing from conflict, getting our stuff right, because there’s so many things, especially on the road that can offend us or hurt us or I tell people in production in the studio, there’s a lot of tears and a lot of them are mine because we’re all sensitive, we’re all musicians and all those stereotypes are kind of true, but the intentionality of just going and saying, Hey, this hurt me. Can we walk through this? And processing that forgiving and repenting and clearing those relationships. I think that all those things are, especially in the fire and the heat of what evangelism is, it’s really high pressure.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (12:29):
Now how many countries have you your family been to so

Zach Blickens (12:33):
Far? Yeah, so as far as we’ve been to a lot more than this, but this is Cambodia right now is country number 40.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (12:40):
Wow. Congratulations.

Zach Blickens (12:41):
Amazing. Yeah. Praise Jesus. And so over that time, you might not know about the band in America, but I tell people in a couple of small villages in Asia we’re rock stars, but it’s been hundreds of thousands of people we’ve gotten a chance to be in front of and share Jesus with. And we’ve seen tens of thousands of people come to Jesus probably more by this point. And I tell people it’s like I get to see things in a week that sometimes people might not get to see in a lifetime. And I do not take that for granted. I love watching people come to g. I love people coming from death to life, seeing that. The other

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (13:12):
Day we were in Thailand and we went to a prison, there were a thousand prisoners there. And you grab their attention singing a song about the goodness of God. Yeah, praise God. Let’s finish this interview up with a few bars from, so good. Can you just do a little

Zach Blickens (13:32):
Bit for us? So the English version goes, you

Cyprès (13:34):
Are so good, so good. You are so good, so good. You are so good. So good to all.

Zach Blickens (13:42):
And that’s the English. And we usually translate, I think we’ve translated in that in probably 30 different languages. And it’s so simple. It’s a song that it’s not even on Spotify anymore. I don’t think it’s on YouTube anymore. We originally did it and then we kind of pulled it as it was from our old catalog, but it’s been a song that has gotten a lot of mileage. So I praise God

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (14:01):
That’s a fun song. And I thought it was great at the prison because just pointing people to the goodness of God.

Zach Blickens (14:08):
And what we say too, it is become part of our thing that we say, right? But it’s the saying we have that God is good all the time. What’s so powerful about that is that God’s good when we’re doing well, but God’s also good in our brokenness. God’s also good. He’s good. He doesn’t change depending on how we are. And he’s so constant. He’s so good. And so we love to sing that. And it’s so funny seeing prisoners in prison. They’re our captive audience, but they’re in a dark, tough spot. They’re incarcerated. But to still in that prison see them being like, you are so good and giving that glory to God. It’s just such a powerful thing to see.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (14:45):
So if someone wants to hear more of your music or find out more about you or maybe support you on one of your mission trips, help send you to one of these countries. What’s your website? What’s your YouTube channel? How can they find your music?

Zach Blickens (15:00):
Yeah, so our name is Cyprus. It’s actually spelled, it’s pronounced like the English, but it’s spelled like the French and that’s important. So it’s one E and one s. So it’s C-Y-P-R-E-S. And our website is Cyprus music.com. And our YouTube channel is YouTube at slash whatever cypress music. And so yeah, we would love to check us out and every time I do like to say it’s important to people if you do like our music, if you don’t, cool, great, that’s fine. But if you do like our music and the message, then anytime that you can share that with a friend or repost it or something like that, or just follow us on Spotify or anything as simple as that, it really does help us to reach people eventually with the message of Jesus. And that’s what we’re absolutely committed to do. And you can, if people are listening and they’re interested, please pray for us. Pray for Daniel. And it’s been a privilege hanging with you and actually seeing, we’ve been in the Crazyness, we’ve been together

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (15:56):
Facebook friends for a while, so now we get to hang out and I mean now we’re good friends. We’ve been three countries.

Zach Blickens (16:03):
We sweat a lot

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (16:03):
Together. We sweat after you sweat a lot, then you’re good fit. You stick right here. Yeah, I love your music, but even more, I love your heart for Jesus. Oh, praise Jesus and your heart for reaching people. Oh, praise Jesus. Thank you so much for being on the Evangelism

Zach Blickens (16:18):
Podcast. Thank you so much for having me. And thank you for all you do and God bless you, brother. I really appreciate it. Thanks for what you do.

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Rick Willison | Even the Blind Can See Miracles

Rick Willison, founder of Team Jesus Ministries Incorporated and the Extreme Team, joins Daniel King on the Evangelism Podcast. Despite being blind, Rick travels internationally on mission trips and uses feats of strength to share the gospel message. He explains the spiritual meaning behind each feat, such as breaking a baseball bat to represent breaking the devil’s grip and stacking and breaking walls of bricks to symbolize breaking down barriers between people and God. Rick encourages those with disabilities to focus on their spirit and soul and not let their limitations stop them from fulfilling God’s calling. He shares stories of miracles he has witnessed, including the healing of a paralyzed woman in India and the subsequent salvation of her entire village.

Learn More About Team Jesus: http://tjmi.net/

Transcript:

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (00:00):
Welcome to the Evangelism Podcast. I’m Daniel King and I’m excited about telling people about Jesus. Today I have a very special guest with me, Rick Willison from the Extreme Team. Thank you for being on the Evangelism Podcast.

Rick Willison (00:13):
Hey, my pleasure. Thanks for having me on there,

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (00:15):
Daniel. Now we are here in Cambodia together. Yes, and we have been together for the last few days. We first went to Thailand and did a music festival there, and then we were in Laos together. And yesterday we had a seven hour, well, we had a one hour plane ride and then a seven hour van drive here. And it’s absolutely amazing that you are on a mission trip like this because you are blind, you can’t see.

Rick Willison (00:46):
That’s correct.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (00:49):
Tell me a little bit about your extreme team ministry and what you do. Okay,

Rick Willison (00:56):
It’s pretty simple really. About 25 years ago we started a ministry. I used to be a youth pastor and an associate pastor, and then my cousin Taylor Michaels passed away. She ran all of Magic Johnson’s companies and we saw the legacy she left behind and it was amazing because she would go on to South Central Los Angeles, find good kids and say, listen, if you will just pull straight A’s, I’ll put you through any college you want. And she did that over and over and over again. Hundreds of kids, she’s put through college and even to this day, magic Johnson has a Taylor Michaels Foundation where they use utilize that to put kids through college. And so it’s amazing. At her funeral, over 1200 people were there and they got up and they just spoke about her and how they spoke into her life. And magic actually was the one who oversaw her funeral that day.

(01:45):
Off of that, my brother and I at the same time, his name is Tim T Dog, we called him. We had this idea that we really need to do more. We need to leave some sort of legacy behind. I mean, I was in church ministry and I enjoyed that, but I was always very evangelistic. I wanted people to really own their relationship with Jesus, not just say, well, I’m a Christian because I’m an American, or, Hey, my parents go to church, so I’m a Christian, or I’ve been in church my whole life, so I’m a Christian. I want ’em to have a clear understanding of that. And so I started a ministry called Team Jesus Ministries Incorporated. And the team is an acronym, I’m a big acronym. You’re the Daniel King. I’m the king of acronym, so it’s an acronym, TEAM stands for Tell everyone about my and then Jesus Ministries.

(02:35):
And so we began to start that. We became a nonprofit, and from that we started our Extreme team. And the reason we started the Extreme team was because I was in church one Sunday, the pastor was preaching, this is all coming together as we’re God’s speaking to my heart about going to beside the church instead of in the church and working and helping the church from the outside instead of just inside. And he said, if you knew you could do anything and know you wouldn’t fail, what would you be doing? And for me, because of my background in athletics and martial arts and the things I’ve done, I thought, well, I’d be breaking things and showing God’s power of sin and it means more than just breaking things. Everything I do has an object lesson involved and everything represents something. And at the same time, my brother was calling me and saying, what do you think about these strength teams?

(03:25):
We’ve seen ’em around the power team, different teams like this. And I said, I’ve been having the same ideas. And we came up with the extreme team and it’s very purposeful because we’ve seen the other teams, but we want it to be a little bit more purposeful even in what we did. And so even when you look at the name on my shirt, the Extreme Team, the X is a cross, and the message of the cross is that Jesus died for our sins, was laid to rest, raised three days later has gone and is preparing a place for us in heaven. And all those who call upon his name shall be saved. And so that’s a really radical message. People are either drawn to it or repelled away from it. And so the T-R-E-M-E and then TEAM, it’s an acronym. It stands for taking a radical evangelistic message everywhere to equip all mankind. And then Daniel, even how long

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (04:17):
Did it take you to come up with that? About

Rick Willison (04:20):
Five seconds. I mean, seriously, God just gave it to us. And that’s how acronyms work in my head. It’s like I hear something I almost said, I see something, I hear something. And immediately even when I’m preaching, I’ll come up, my wife will come up afterwards and go, oh, I really like that acronym. And I’ll go, what acronym? And she’s like, when you said hope holding on praying, I said, oh, I didn’t even know I said that. And so it’s like these things come to me and I just spew ’em out. But even that, Daniel, you look at our colors and when we have our full outfit on, it makes a big X on us because we believe we’re a target and we’re going to show people how to get to Christ and the colors, the red, the black and the white and all that, that stands for something.

(05:03):
The black represents sin, the darkness of our hearts. The red is the blood of Christ, and the white is what he makes us. When we put our faith in him, if he makes us a new creation, white is snow. And so everything we do, we do with a purpose. You’ve seen me do some of this stuff. I let a baseball bat represent the devil’s arm and the grip he has on humanity. But we know through what Jesus did, the Devil’s grip was broken. And so I’ll snap that bat and then what do I do with it? Immediately I hold it up into a cross because that’s how Jesus did it with what he did on a cross. And so walls of bricks represent walls of sin like fear, pornography and morality, hatred, disobedience, whatever it is. And so we’re bringing down those walls. The same with boards, phone books can represent, materialism, can represent the devil’s book and how he wants to destroy everybody’s name in it.

(05:54):
So everything has purpose and reason behind it because just to go and break things and bend things and do that kind of stuff, that’s useless. That’s just foolishness, right? But what we do is we realize, God just put in our heart that if we can show people the gospel, and this is kind of funny because I’m a blind guy, but I’m very visual in the things I do. And so I thought, man, if we could just show people the gospel message, maybe that would help them understand it better. So they would hear it and see it as well, something here. So they see it as well. And what we found is because we’re able to do that and because we’re very purposeful that people when they go, wow, when they see these feats of strength, whether it’s breaking ice or if you bricks on fire and breaking ’em or just snapping aboard over your head or something, right? They’ll go, wow. And then we can just slip in the gospel message into their life and they can taste and see that the Lord is really good.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (06:53):
Let’s talk about excuses because people often have a lot of excuses and Jesus said, go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. And some people feel they’re too old. Some people think they’re too young. Some people think that they don’t like being in a hot country and they don’t want to get sweaty, but they have all these excuses and you have an excuse that a lot of people think, oh, that’s a pretty good excuse. If anyone’s accepted from the Great Commission, it would be the blind guy. I mean, how can he travel internationally? But here you are, you’re not letting that be an excuse that keeps you from doing what God wants. But how do you manage to navigate being blind and coming to different countries around the world?

Rick Willison (07:39):
Well, I love what you said because one of the things we use the phone book for is excuses. And I tell people, you might think you can’t see, I can’t hear, I don’t know enough theology. I’m afraid they just have so many excuses. And even when we started this ministry and I started, I had a lot of people say to me, Rick, what if you get lost? Or what if you fall off a stage? Or what if you get arrested or what if this or it’s, it’s like the chicken little right? The sky is falling, the sky is falling. And I thought, what if we take the what ifs and we change it to? So if SOIF, right? And so if is an acronym that hit me as well, because, so if I do God’s will for my life, I’ll receive blessings from God and I’ll be able to help people come to the Lord.

(08:26):
And so if stands for stepping out in faith, and so we say, so if I go instead of what if this happens, I go, so if I go, good things can happen. And so it’s very interesting because as I travel around the world, God just travels with me. And even when I go through airports, they have a program meet and assist. You see people being pushed around in wheelchairs. There’s people who will walk with me or now I’m with my good friends on the same flight. So we just walk and I’ll put my hand with you. You’ve helped me a lot. So I put my hand on your shoulder, you just walk. I follow you. I’m a step behind you. I can feel everything you’re doing. We walk along and it works out perfectly. When I’m on stage, I’ll usually have somebody like you or Daniel’s been up there with me and others and they’ll stand beside me kind of back or whatever.

(09:15):
And even if I’m doing stuff, I can get moving around. If I kind of get turned away from the crowd, they just kind of give me a little nudge or a little turn and I’m back on track. And so I utilize, I mean, I know blind people that are blind out here watching us. They’re going, you’re supposed to be independent. It’s like you are. But I also believe we have to be part of a team. And so I have no problem utilizing my friends around me to help me be effective with how I speak, what I do, how I get places. And I don’t take the chances where I can get lost, get hurt, or anything like that. As you’ve seen, I’ll wait on people. It’s not a problem. I’m not willing to walk out into traffic just because I got to get there first or prove my point. So it’s really just being a part of a team and utilizing each other and whether you can’t see good or whatever it is, I still think Jesus sent ’em out two by two. I don’t think there’s a problem with this being together and walking and doing stuff together.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (10:09):
Let’s talk about some of the feats of strength that you do and describe the feat for me and then tell me what the spiritual meaning is that you communicate to the crowd.

Rick Willison (10:23):
Okay, so the first one we already said a little bit about, but let’s just throw it back out. There is a baseball bat, American baseball bat. And what I do is I let that represent the devil of the arm, the devil of the arm, the arm of the devil. I can almost speak today. I let that represent the arm of the devil, and then I’ll show it by putting it around. You saw that, I think I choked you with it. You put it around the arm and you say, oh, people think that the devil wants to be their friend. It’s no big deal. Going to point out fun things to do. And I have the bat with my arm around the person, but then I show him, because my job is to show you in a physical way what’s going on around you spiritually. So I pull that bat around your neck and I start choking you.

(11:02):
I’ll lay on the ground, I’m going to beat you with it and all that, but it would stand for the devil’s arm. And then I show what Jesus did on that cross snap the devil’s grip, the arm of the devil off our life, and I’ll press it on my leg and I’ll press it until it breaks, and then I’ll hold it up as a cross. There’s other things. You look at all those walls we talked about, I’ll stack up walls of brick, and honestly, if they want to see some of this, they can go on our Facebook page and they can go just do a search for TJMI. That’s the team Jesus Ministries incorporated the number nine, the number eight, the year we started. So TJMI 98. And it will put you onto that page and there’s videos and all kinds of stuff, pictures even from this trip are up there.

(11:49):
And you can also go to tj mi.net on the, and there’s a bunch of stuff on there as well, and you can see who we are, but everything has to have a specific reason. So the walls, we stack up big walls of bricks and we break ’em. It could be a wall between you and God that maybe you are struggling with addictions or you’re relationship issues or fear or pornography, sexual immorality or disobedience. I mean, any and every sin can go into those walls. Now what’s interesting is when we go places, even here, I’m not just demonstrating how to break and bend things. I’ve picked a fight with the devil and I have people back home praying for us constantly because we go in specifically to destroy what the devil is doing to people. That whole, he is come to kill, steal, and destroy. And so when we do that, the devil fights back and you saw it because you brought it up to me the other day.

(12:46):
You’re like, well, that bat took longer. That’s because we were in front of a crowd that doesn’t know who Jesus is. And the devil doesn’t want them to think that God’s got any kind of power. And it really is a spiritual battle. You’ve seen some bats, bam, they snap, right? Others are a lot harder. Bricks, I’ve broken, and my guys too, we’ll hit a wall of bricks and they’ll all break except for the bottom one. And then we will clear it out. We want the whole wall done. The most phenomenal thing I’ve ever seen, well, a couple things, but I’ll just share. One is we were in South Africa, we were doing our outreach, and one of the guys, boom man, he hit a stack of bricks and it went all the way down to one brick. And a friend of mine, Brad, he happened to be preaching that night and that was left up for some reason.

(13:40):
We always normally take ’em all the way down, but it was left up. And so you have nine bricks broken, one not broken, and it’s way up above where there’s scaffolding to get to it and all that, and it’s sitting there. Most phenomenal thing is he spoke about how the devil thinks he has power. And he said, you know what? And he said, God wants to destroy the whole wall of sin out of your life and God will bring those walls down. And he said, even that wall over there, God could bring it down. He goes, that wall right there. And he pointed at it and that bottom brick broke and the whole thing fell to the ground. And it was amazing because it shows what’s going on spiritually around us. And so you look at everything we do aboard is barriers between us and God. Hot water bottle is persevering as you put your faith in Christ because they’re super hard to blow up until they explode. And the steel is bars of steel that people are behind in jail and how Jesus took care of that. And we bend them into the Christian fish. So everything is very representative.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (14:41):
One of the things I’ve loved hanging out with you is you have a nonstop store of jokes. Yes, sir. So give us a really good joke.

Rick Willison (14:50):
Oh, okay. Let’s just put me on the spot. That’s awesome. Okay, so that’s kind of funny. I’ll just give you a good, they’re dad jokes and some say bad jokes, but they’re dad jokes. Okay, so what would you call a line of 100 rabbits walking backwards?

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (15:09):
What

Rick Willison (15:10):
A receding hairline. And for some guys out there going, that was more painful than funny, but it’s true.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (15:18):
Yeah. Alright, speak to people who maybe feel like they have some sort of disability in life that maybe someone’s blind, maybe they have some other disability, maybe it’s just a mental thing. What would you say to encourage them and to help them to achieve everything God’s called them to do?

Rick Willison (15:40):
I think that’s the key right there is where’s your focus, right? Is it on you? Because we can all have something. I mean, as handsome as Daniel is and talented, I’ve seen this guy, you

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (15:52):
Don’t know whether I’m handsome

Rick Willison (15:53):
Or not. I don’t know any ugly people either. So it’s all good. But as talented as he is and all that, there’s still things that you deal with and maybe nobody knows about it, maybe only your wife, whatever ministry partners, but there’s things you deal with and we all deal with something. Now, I don’t see well, and I often tell people, I’ve learned that some people are blind, some people are ugly. What do you get? I always make fun of my eyes. I always have fun with my eyes. I have a friend that he got in a surfing accident. He’s crippled from the neck down and yet the things he’s done in life, he’s gotten his bachelor’s degree, his master’s degree, he has a camp for disabled kids. He travels all over. Nick Voce is another one born with no arms, no legs, wanted to die, tried to drown himself.

(16:40):
And God pulled him out of that and said, no, the guy travels all over the world. Everybody listens to him because any child born like that in most countries is going to be snuffed out. They’re going to be put to death, right? Because it’s a terrible way to live, they think. But see, God still created us, and you have to get beyond the body and get to your spirit. Get to your soul and go, I am a man of God. I’m a woman of God. I can do great things. And so you can’t let eyes or hearing or being in a wheelchair or anything else stop you because you can still do something for God. Because God created Daniel, each and every one of us with a destiny and a purpose. God does not make any junk. He doesn’t make any garbage. He doesn’t make any throwaways, he doesn’t make any mistakes.

(17:27):
And it’s because of sin in the world that we have disease and sickness and all that. And it wasn’t of God’s doing, it was of man’s doing, deciding that we’d have sin in the world when Adam and Eve wanted to be like God. And so we struggle with that. We suffer with that sometimes, but we should never, ever let it stop us because even with me, when I go into other countries and people find out I’m blind, they don’t know what to do with me. They’re like, how can you be blind and do what you do? How can you be blind? It’s like I’m blind. My mind’s not broken. My mouth works. And even if you can’t speak or you struggle, man, you can write. There’s some way God wants to use you. And so you just dig in deep and you go, you know what?

(18:14):
I’m not a loser. I’m not a piece of garbage. I’m not a piece of trash. I was created with a dessan purpose. I’m going to figure out what that is. I’m going to pray. I’m going to fast. I’m going to talk to God and I’m going to let him open the doors to what he wants me to do, and then I’m going to step into it because if I listen to the world, I’m sitting at home, I’m collecting a government check, I’m eating Twinkies and getting fat and sassy, that’s my life. Instead, I’m out. Over the last 25 years, I’ve traveled around this world. I’ve been in a lot of countries, a lot of places I’ve been a part of leading over 300,000 people to the Lord just through our ministry, not including all these with you and collaborating with others and what goes on there. And if God I figured can use a blind guy like me, he can use everybody. Nothing special about it.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (19:01):
And so in all these years of ministry, I’m sure you’ve seen a lot of miracles, a lot of testimonies. Let’s finish with a story, something amazing that you’ve seen God do.

Rick Willison (19:14):
Oh my goodness, so many. But let’s go back to 2008. Okay, we’ll just jump back there. This was an amazing trip. We were in India, we were in Chennai, Ronnie Pet, Valore City. We’re doing outreaches, we’re doing festivals at night. And every night we go down into the crowd and pray. And things we saw was a man delivered from demonic influence. And I fully expected as this screech came out of him, there was some cattle nearby for them to run into the cattle, and those cattle would run into traffic and get run over. I don’t know, but like the pig thing, right? But we also saw, I prayed for a kid who had a golf ball size thing on his head, and it was a tumor. And I prayed, God, it’s not big, long 5, 10, 20 minute prayers. It was just asking God to heal it.

(20:01):
And he had put his faith in Jesus, and I felt that just disappear under my hand. But the one that sticks out the most was a gal named Priscilla, and it was the same trip and she was so excited. She wanted us to come out to her little village area. She’s a wonderful woman of God. She helps out as much as she can, but she’d been hit by a vehicle three or four years earlier, and she was just crippled up. Her feet were all twisted. She couldn’t walk. She was paralyzed. I mean, it was all this stuff. And so we said, yeah, we’ll come out. And so we came out the whole team, and as we got out there and we started talking to her, they brought her out. They sat her in a chair and we were talking to her and one of the ladies, her name was Karen actually, she was a nurse.

(20:46):
She said, can we pray for her? And I said, yeah. And I had one of the team members pray. I said, why don’t you pray for it? And this gal bless her heart, because we’re Americans, we’re from the West, and we start praying these prayers and she started doing the same thing. Lord, please, if it’s your will, if you want to, we know you can just heal Priscilla. I know she probably won’t get healed today, but I know some days she’ll be dancing with you in heaven. And I stopped the prayer and I said, no. I go, that’s not how God tells us to pray. We’re apologizing for God to do a miracle before he even does it because we don’t think he’s going to do it. I said, we have to pray with authority. And I grabbed the pastor that was there because he was translating already this prayer from English to Tamil.

(21:31):
And I said, will you pray? Will you show these guys authority and pray and ask God to heal this woman? And I don’t know what he said because I don’t speak Tamil, but he prayed with boldness and confidence and he got done. And I was standing right there, and I said, Priscilla, stand up. Now. I don’t see good, but I know because I felt where her feet and all that. She stood up, okay, she’s paralyzed. She stood up and I said, I go, come to me. And Karen was right by me, the nurse. And so I put her right in front of me. I said, come to Karen. And every time she was walking, everybody’s like, wow, wow. And I kept moving. Karen back until Purcell had walked probably 25, 30 feet. And then she gave Karen a big hug, and then she sat down. I told her, no, get up.

(22:19):
I go, you’re healed. Celebrate. That was an amazing miracle. But this was the true miracle because all physical miracles are temporary, right? Because you die. Even Lazarus had to die again, right? We turned around, her entire village was out there watching this. And that gave us an opportunity to say, look, here’s who did this. Here’s who God is. Here’s who Jesus is, and the reason for miracles is to share the salvation message. And we turn and we watch this whole village put their faith in Jesus. That was a true miracle. Now, fast forward, as we’re back in the vehicle and we’re heading back, one of the guys, young guy, he says, Rick, he goes, because we’re celebrating, right? It’s awesome. He goes, Rick, he goes, you don’t understand. He goes her leg. I mean, you might thought that was some cool miracle, but her feet were all twisted up still.

(23:07):
And I go, I told him I won’t use his name, but I said, Hey man. I go, that’s a bigger miracle because she’s paralyzed and you’re saying she’s walking on twisted up feet. That’s awesome. Okay, so now fast forward a year, a year later, one of the guys that was with us, it was a guy from Passion for People. Brett Butcher his ministry. It was one of the guys that used to work with him. He was back in that same place, and him and his wife wanted to go see Prius. So they went to where she lived, she saw the vehicle pull up, and she saw Michael get out. This guy she ran, didn’t walk, didn’t crawl, didn’t have anybody carry her. She rant and lept into his arms and was praising God because her feet, her ankles, her legs, everything was 100%. Again, amazing thing to see. And the village was still all saved, still worshiping God, still doing God’s will for their life. And it was amazing. It was awesome.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (24:04):
What a great testimony. Well, if you’re listening and you have a church, you want to invite Rick to come minister, or if you want him to come to a school assembly or you want to invite him to come to your country, I encourage you to go find his Facebook page and find out more information about him. And give me the Facebook page one more

Rick Willison (24:26):
Time. So it’s TJ MI, the number nine, number eight, TJ MI 98. Just do a search and it’ll come up Team Jesus Ministries in the Extreme team. So pretty easy.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (24:37):
Awesome. Thank you Rick, so much for being on the Evangel of

Rick Willison (24:40):
Podcast. You bet. Thank you, buddy.

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Michael Sin and the Fourth Dimension | Impacting Asia with Music from Malaysia

In this podcast episode, Evangelism Coach Daniel King interviews Michael Sin from the band The Fourth Dimension, based in Malaysia. The band combines gospel and secular music to draw in crowds and share the gospel message. They travel around Asia, performing live concerts and also offer workshops on music arrangement and instruments. Michael shares how he felt called by God to take his music ministry outside of the church walls and reach the ends of the earth. He discusses the challenges of evangelizing in a majority Muslim nation and the restrictions on public evangelism. Despite these challenges, the band has seen a positive response from young people in churches and has witnessed a transformation in the spiritual landscape of countries like Thailand, Myanmar, and Cambodia.

Learn More About Michael Sin and T4D: https://www.facebook.com/T4Dministries/

Transcript:

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (00:00):
Welcome to the Evangelism Podcast. I’m Daniel King, and I’m excited to tell people about Jesus. Today I have a very special guest with me, Michael Sin from a wonderful band from the nation of Malaysia called The Fourth Dimension. Thank you so much for being with me today.

Michael Sin (00:16):
Thank You for having us here.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (00:17):
Now, tell me a little bit about what you do.

Michael Sin (00:21):
Well, basically, the T4D Ministry, it’s a music ministry, so we travel around to Asia countries to do live concerts, gospel concerts, but as in many gospel concerts, if it is this purely gospel concerts, people won’t come, especially in these parts of the world. So we mix gospel concerts with secular music. So with that, we draw the crowd in and then we inject the gospel message. So we travel around the ASEAN region doing live gospel concerts, and if an opportunity pops up, we will do worship workshop, drum workshop, keyboard workshop, music arrangement workshops and stuff like that. So we’ve been doing that for about seven and a half years.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (01:05):
Wow. What an amazing ministry and music. Thank you that you have. And so it’s really an honor to serve the Lord with you. We’ve just completed same

Michael Sin (01:14):
Here,

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (01:14):
A couple of days in Thailand, and now we’re in the nation of Laos, and it’s just so beautiful to see what God is doing. Tell me a little bit about how you got started doing this.

Michael Sin (01:27):
Oh, well, I was pastoring a church back in the late 2010 or so. That’s when I heard a voice and God says, I’m going to take you out of the church four walls and take you into the church without walls to reach to the ends of the earth, to the end Samaria, and to use your gifts and your talents to reach out to the world. So it was like asking God, what’s my gift and what’s my talent? And God says, music and I don’t have a band. And God says, I will give you a band. And that’s how the fourth dimension, the members came together by God’s divine appointment and we’ve got the whole jigsaw together and we clicked and reformed the band. And in 2013, somehow we got invited by Pastor Manop to a music festival in Thailand, Bette. And we made that a gospel music festival instead of just a secular music festival. And that’s how IGMF started back in December, 2014. And that’s what T 40 has been doing, actively participating with the IGMF movement. And while we are not in ministry, we also do corporate geeks back home in Malaysia. Well, to earn money and pay for fa.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (02:52):
And so the whole band is working on secular jobs? Yes,

Michael Sin (02:57):
We do. And

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (02:57):
Then also coming as the opportunities come.

Michael Sin (03:00):
Yes.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (03:01):
Wow. That’s right. Now you are from Malaysia, which is a majority Muslim nation, and so there’s actually a lot of restrictions on what you’re able to do. How do you reach out in that context?

Michael Sin (03:19):
Well, back home it is okay to evangelize as long as you stay within your four walls of the church compound. So you can have evangelistic rally in stadiums as long as the rally stays inside the stadium, and you can invite friends into the stadium or the church and do the evangelistic work within that compound on that basis, yes, you’re free to host any rallies, gospel concerts, and evangelistic meetings outside that you can’t.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (03:54):
And you have been doing events inside churches. And do you find that the young people like the music that you bring?

Michael Sin (04:02):
Oh yes. Like the church that I am attending right now, it is very next generation oriented

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (04:10):
In What church are you at?

Michael Sin (04:12):
Well, it’s in the Malay language. It’s called the Sid ur. It’s S-I-B-K-L in English. It is translated to Bono Evangelical Missions Church, BEM.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (04:25):
I’m so excited to hear about what God is doing here in Asia. There’s such a huge population here, so many people that need to hear some good news. And so what do you feel is God’s heart for Asia during this time?

Michael Sin (04:44):
I think not just Asia. I think God’s heart is for every part of the world. But since we are in Asia, I’ll just speak for Asia, and I think a lot of things are happening. And as far as the International Gospel Music Festival movement is concerned, we have been doing this since December, 2014, and we have seen a lot of things being transformed, like the landscape, the spiritual landscape of parts of Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia. Next week we are moving on to Cambodia. We are seeing things beginning to change, and the churches are more bold to proclaim Christ. It’s not a shame thing to say that I’m a believer because it’s cool to say that, Hey, I’m a believer. It’s cool for a Thai guy to come into a mall like this. Sorry, this is Tian. Okay. And to say, yeah, I’m a believer. I worship God and I’m not ashamed of it.

(05:48):
If you look back 15, 10, 15 years ago, if I’m a Christian here, I had rather not profess, I’ll just keep quiet. But today you see a lot of Christians and churches getting more bold to actually step forward and to profess their faith and to even evangelize and start to tell people, Hey, you got to have some of these too. And a lot of training is being conducted. People like you guys and other missionary bodies that are coming in and out of Asia to Asia, a lot of work is being put in. And I think it’s really awesome. And as far as we are concerned, the fourth dimension, we hope to move in the music landscape. Now music, we can do the very conventional way. Piano, hymns, again, we have moved out of that. We have got the drums coming in, and now we are moving out of that. We’ve got digital music coming in where we use sequences and backing tracks, and we use do software, and we do video, music, video and stuff like that. That’s what we are hoping to empower the local churches here to use technology in their worship session, to produce video music videos of their churches, of the new songs that they write, to write new songs of your native language. Don’t just sing what big names sing, sing Thai gospel songs, sing Cambodian gospel songs.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (07:32):
And so have you been writing some of your own songs?

Michael Sin (07:35):
No, we have not. We have not.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (07:40):
I think it’ll come, God will give you some that will be a hit all over the world,

Michael Sin (07:44):
Kind of maybe moving towards that well as the spirit leads. But somehow maybe because we are so occupied with drawing the crowd in and then injecting the gospel, it has been working pretty well so far. So maybe that is why for us, there was no immediate need or calling to really to come up with our own materials. Maybe one day we certainly look forward to it. And as the spirit leads, and yeah, I mean, unless the lot builds, we would just belaboring in vain. So

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (08:23):
Let’s God now explain to me the meaning of the name, the fourth dimension.

Michael Sin (08:27):
Oh, that’s interesting. See, the fourth dimension is the spiritual dimension, the three dimension, the width, the depth, and the height is that the three D is what you can see, what you can touch. You know that this is solid. You don’t need faith to believe that this is a solid box. But the fourth dimension is the spiritual dimension that you don’t see, you can’t physically touch. You’ve got to experience it. You’ve got to encounter it. So we hope that the songs that we do will touch your heart, not just make you dance, but to also touch your heart and to impact you, and to make you reflect on the lyrics that you’ve been singing and to let it really sink deep in and to really get into the heart of hearts and let those tears just roll down. I mean, you can’t make tears. And if I see you have tears, I thank the Lord.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (09:30):
Yeah. Well, I so love your heart and I feel it is an honor to serve the Lord with you. Likewise. And it’s so wonderful to meet you. Likewise. Thank you so much for being on the Evangelism

Michael Sin (09:39):
Podcast. Thank so much. Thank you so much for this opportunity to share what we do, and we look forward to do more in the days to come.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (09:46):
Amen. All of Asia for Jesus.

Michael Sin (09:48):
Amen, sir. And all of

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (09:49):
Jesus for Asia.

Michael Sin (09:50):
Bless you. Amen. Bless you too.

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Manop Moonsri | Reaching the Youth of Asia with Music

In this episode of the Evangelism Podcast, Daniel King interviews Manop Moonsri from Thailand about the International Gospel Music Festival. Manop explains that the festival started in 2014 and aims to reach young people in Thailand and other countries through music. The festival takes place in shopping malls, attracting a broad audience, including those who may not attend traditional evangelistic crusades. Manop believes that music is a powerful tool for reaching young people because almost everyone listens to music. We talk about the opportunities and restrictions in different countries, such as Thailand, Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, China, Malaysia, Singapore, and the Philippines.

Connect with Manop: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=501520132

Transcript:

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (00:00):
Welcome to the Evangelism Podcast. I’m Daniel King and I’m excited about telling people about Jesus. Today I have a very special guest with me, Manop from Thailand. Thank you for joining the Evangelism Podcast.

Manop (00:12):
Yeah, and it’s good to be on your TV program.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (00:20):
We are in the nation of Cambodia right now. Yesterday we were in Laos, and then a few days ago we were in Thailand. And in each place we are doing a international gospel music festival, which is a vision that God has given you to help reach people for Jesus. So tell me a little bit, what is the International Gospel Music Festival?

Manop (00:47):
Yeah. International Gospel Music Festival started in Ette in 2014, but before that I already do a lot of music festival with different name. But then in puke I invite more bands from international, from different countries like Singapore, Malaysia, Korea, America, and NAMI Beer and a few other countries. So from Pke, I felt that this is a good method to reach out to the people in Thailand and other countries and the location that we choose with the Pke or in Bangkok or in Chiang Mai or in other places we use shopping mall because in the shopping mall there are many groups of people come to shopping. And the target, I mean of course the main target are the young generation. And I feel that with different bands and different messages can reach out to a broad group of people that some of them doesn’t go to the traditional kind of crusade or evangelistic crusade, but for the music festival, they are okay to listen and then to participate.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (02:08):
And so I really like this strategy. You’re taking the music festival into the mall, which is an attraction point for the entire city. Everyone knows where it is. Everyone comes there for shopping, and you are deliberately attracting young people who like music. And have you had some pushback from maybe older church members, more traditional members? What does the church think about this unique method of reaching?

Manop (02:41):
In some city, the leaders are very open and they understand the young generation, but in some city, they’re still not quite understand why we do what we do. And a lot of them feel that it’s wasting of time. But after we did one festival in that city, then they start to see that in the evangelist thing, we lost the generation between 15 years old and 25. But all these people, they come for our festival first, leaders start to see the important of having a music festival reaching out to this group of people.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (03:24):
Why do you think music is such an important tool for reaching young people?

Manop (03:30):
Almost every one of them will listen to music, whether pop or rock or reggae or hip hop or whatever style. International gospel music festival is not a gospel in a type of music, but it’s wider, a broader and all kinds of musics that in this world I can say.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (03:54):
Now you have been the go-to person in this part of Asia for production. You’ve helped Franklin Graham with some of his production. You’ve been with Dr. Billy Wilson from Empowered 21, and you have technical expertise. How did you get started in this area of production?

Manop (04:19):
Actually, I was study in technical college before I went to Bible school in Singapore. And after that I went to join YWAM and then come back to Thailand to start church planting. But while we are doing a lot of outreaches, I felt that we need a better system to do a better job for outdoor. So in 2000, in about 2001, I started to get into a more production because at that time I felt God is calling me out to the marketplace. So starting from a full-time pastor, get into a 10 making, we call business for the kingdom. And I started the production company to help with a group organization or churches that need support for production and keep upgrading our system until we become a distributor for speakers brand am mate from Spain. And we also doing some secular job just to get enough fun to continue our ministry. That’s how I started.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (05:38):
But really the core of what your heart is is evangelism.

Manop (05:44):
Yes.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (05:45):
How do you merge the music with evangelism

Manop (05:53):
In a traditional way of evangelistic meeting? We just have worship preaching and then other call. And a lot of people, I mean for some people I say 15 to 25, they don’t want to participate much in that kind of a traditional crusade. So in the secular music festival, in Tale or in Asia, they like to have lots of bands line up maybe 10 to 12 bands, and it’s for the long period. So I get the same idea and I add the messages or the testimony or the preaching in between the band so that the people don’t feel like, oh, I’m come here just to listen to the speaker speak about what they want to speak about their God or something like that. But the difference is when the band, when they’re singers, the singers that they shouting their testimony or even telling the gospel, they don’t feel like, oh, I got to listen to this speaker. Or even you have another speaker come in between the band. They still don’t have the kind of, what do you call it? They still feel easy to listen to it because they expect to listen to the band after these speakers. So in between 10 to 15 minutes we slot in speakers.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (07:31):
So instead of having a one hour preacher, you do music and then 10 minutes testimony, then music, then a little message, and then music, and then give people a chance to respond.

Manop (07:45):
So we break the message messages into small, smaller one in between the band. In a shopping mall, there are, if we do like six, for example, 6:00 PM or 4:00 PM until 10:00 PM there’s a lot of people that walk in and out. They might sit for the band that they like for one hour and they might walk away. So every hour there’s a new audience come in to the mall. So having a speaker speak 10 to 15 minutes, it is a slot. Releasing out to the new people is not the same audience for the whole day.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (08:22):
And throughout the day you’ll have maybe hundreds, even thousands of people come through and hear the music, even if they’re not all there at one time, they’re passing through. And sometimes the music fills the entire mall. Even the people who are shopping on the other side of the mall, they hear what is happening

Manop (08:43):
In some of the mall, if the light is banned, they’ll stop for maybe one hour and inspect the whole area. So it depend on the band as well.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (08:59):
Yeah. Let’s talk about Asia. There are millions of people in this part of Asia and it’s a huge harvest field. There’s lots of people that need Jesus. What do you think God wants to do here in Asia over the next 10 years?

Manop (09:21):
I mean, from my own opinion, I believe that the young generation, we come to know Christ more because their heart is open. And I can see, and even in my local church, the majority of people in my church are 80% of young generation. So I believe that God is bringing in the young generation to the churches and we have to go out and take them in, not waiting in a church for them to come in. So what I do is, apart from the music festival that I do, I also have a youth festival, one day festival where we bring in leaders and youth to come for the training, stir them up, and then send them out the coming February, we have one in Bangkok. And after the one day, one full day, the training or the festival, we will send them out to do prison ministries to do a smaller festival in other cities.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (10:31):
And I heard you’re actually bringing in Planet Shakers with Russell Evans?

Manop (10:36):
Yes. Planet Shakers have been coming to Thailand almost every year before Covid.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (10:42):
And so people here love them,

Manop (10:45):
People like the band. So that one day on the 20th of February, we’ll have something from 10:00 AM until 10:00 PM and then the last session will be Planet Shake concert.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (10:59):
Wow. I believe that will have a big impact.

Manop (11:03):
Amen.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (11:04):
How did you first come to know Christ? What’s your testimony? And then how did you develop a heart for ministry? Okay,

Manop (11:13):
I was grown up in the Buddhist family and when I was 12 years old, I got sponsors from World Vision because my family cannot help me to study. So World Vision adopt me and I go to church. So I accepted a lot during my time in with World Vision.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (11:43):
And then you went to ywam

Manop (11:45):
And after World Vision I graduated from high school and then I went to YWAM in Penang. Yeah.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (11:55):
Are there opportunities for evangelists to come to Asia and to work here? Would you invite people to come?

Manop (12:05):
Yes. So there’s evangelists, it’s depend on their ki. So if they do a smaller group or big festival or music, they’re most welcome to join us in our festival in each month.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (12:25):
Wonderful. Your vision ultimately is to be doing festivals every month throughout different parts of Asia or

Manop (12:36):
Yes, hopefully. But to prepare for that is take a little bit of time. So I do it in different country and each country we network with a local church and with the people that have the same heart and then they do all the grow population and we will go in for three days festival and then move to another country.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (12:56):
Let’s talk about the unique challenges in different countries. Done a lot in a bunch, and every country has opportunities and every country also has restrictions. So we’ll start with Thailand, the country that you’re from, what is the opportunity and what type of restrictions are there

Manop (13:16):
In Thailand? There’s a lot of opportunity. For example, the mall now, they understand what we do and they open anytime for us to go in. So the problem is we don’t have enough people or enough resources to do all the shopping mall in other cities.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (13:36):
And you’d like to do many different cities.

Manop (13:40):
I like to partner with the local church. So if the local church ready to accept us, we will go in and help them to prepare and continue. Because if I go to the city where there’s no use as well, so I go to the church, to the city where the church are ready to do the follow-up after our event.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (14:03):
Now, a few years ago you were doing stuff in Myanmar? Yes. Now there’s been a change in government there. Is it possible to do something in Myanmar even

Manop (14:11):
Now? We can go back anytime, yeah. Okay. Because we are not having problem with the soldiers or any politics in Myanmar.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (14:20):
And we were just in Laos and they gave us some guidelines on what could be done there. But yet they still allowed the music festival.

Manop (14:31):
The music festival there. They’re still allowed. Yeah.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (14:34):
Now we are here in Cambodia. We’re going to see tomorrow night. What

Manop (14:41):
In Cambodia? If you get a permit from the local provincial or the mayor, you are fine to do it. Yeah.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (14:49):
And what about Vietnam?

Manop (14:52):
Vietnam, we working with local church and they apply for their own permit. So Vietnam is another country that is starting to open more for the gospel

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (15:05):
And Franklin Graham was just there and had a tremendous event. Just thousands of people came and it would be really wonderful to see God open up the door. Now China, have you ever gone to China is probably

Manop (15:20):
China. There’s a lot of underground churches that we network with, but we haven’t done any music festival there yet.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (15:29):
What about Malaysia?

Manop (15:31):
Malaysia? We can go anytime.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (15:33):
And have you done work in Singapore or Indonesia?

Manop (15:37):
We did Philippines, Malaysia,

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (15:41):
Philippines. It is totally open. Yeah. You can do anything? Yes. Wow. Well, I really believe that God’s eye is on Asia and that we are going to see a great harvest of souls come into the kingdom of God throughout all of Asia. And I think God is also going to raise up powerful Asian evangelists like you. Amen. Who have a heart to reach this part of the world for Jesus.

Manop (16:07):
Praise God.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (16:08):
So thank you so much for being on the Evangelism Podcast.

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His Pop | Redeeming Music and Culture for Jesus

Today on the Evangelism Podcast, Daniel King interviews DSeven, a guest from South Korea who is part of a band called His Pop. The band aims to use popular music and dancing in the KPop tradition to share the gospel and to bring revival to the music culture. Their vision is to bring popular culture back to Christ and the kingdom of God. They want to connect with the youth and use their music ministry to help young people know more about Jesus.

Connect with HisPop on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hispop_official/

Transcript:

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (00:00):
Welcome to the Evangelism Podcast. I’m Daniel King and I’m excited to tell people about Jesus today. I have very special guests with me, His Pop. Thank you for being on the Evangelism Podcast.

Dseven (00:12):
Hello. Thank you

Translator (00:13):
So much. Thank you for inviting us.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (00:15):
Now you are from South Korea and in South Korea, K-pop is very popular, but you have taken the popularity of K-pop and brought it into the kingdom of God and you call your band his pop. What does that mean?

Dseven (00:38):
Popular culture.

Translator (00:45):
So our is, we want to use his popular music to talk about the gospel and then to bring revival to the music culture.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (00:58):
And so how did you have the vision to start His Pop?

Translator (01:14):
Because at first there’s a lot of culture right now about music, about many things. So our vision and we want to bring that culture back to Christ, to his kingdom.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (01:28):
How can we bring the kingdom of God into popular culture?

Translator (02:01):
So yeah, our vision also how to bring to the kids kingdom that actually of course when we doing a music of course about quality, about the skills is very important. But we want to use our life to worship him first. That what is our mission to do so that we to the music as well, that we want to bring that to the basic that is to lead Christ.

Dseven (02:30):
Okay.

Translator (02:43):
So we want to use this mission, our ministry to connect with the youth, with the young generation that they can come and then they can know about Jesus more so that we have the heart for the youth. A lot that,

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (03:00):
So how did you start this ministry?

Translator (03:09):
Even like now you see we all look really shining like that, but not we just start at the small trade. We start at the small trade. That’s time. We have only eight people and then the top leader who lead the team, his pop that he had the vision and they just like three people and then worship, ship the Lord together in Korean actually the top leader, the leader who lead us, he actually, he is the producer. Yeah,

Dseven (03:55):
Speaking in Korean

Translator (03:58):
Yeah. He used to make a lot of music for Korean music

Dseven (04:06):
Speaking in Korean

Translator (04:09):
And then he meet Jesus, he met Jesus and then he started to have a vision and so he started to doing a ministry like this. And then he also gather some B Boy

Dseven (04:28):
Speaking in Korean

Translator (04:29):
About the street dancer a lot. So why he bring them together, together, together. Also, he originally Bboy as well. Yeah.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (04:39):
Wow. And now you’re living in Thailand. You’ve come as a missionary from South Korea to Thailand and you have some dancers from Thailand who are working with you. How did you decide to leave South Korea and come to Thailand?

Dseven (05:11):
Speaking in Korean

Translator (05:11):
2009. First time in Thailand, only just for the

Dseven (05:21):
Speaking in Korean

Translator (05:33):
So yeah, at first it just, his boss come from soccer, Korea for a charter mission for one month, and then they got a vision and heart for Thai people. That’s why they commit to come to Thailand because back in Korea, actually they are full-time surf in ministry. So that’s why they all come together in Thailand. And this year is the 11 years already.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (06:14):
Wow, wow. I’m so impressed with your passion for God and your heart to reach people for Jesus. It’s so beautiful to see. Thank you. And I believe that God is looking at Asia right now and God wants to see a great harvest of souls. He wants to see many people in Asia come into the kingdom of God. What do you hope to see God do over the next 10 years in this part of the world?

Translator (06:59):
Actually as a human, maybe we see, oh, it’s a lot of whole ing and there’s so many things that bake style and there’s a lot of idols right now in this

Dseven (07:16):
Speaking in Korean

Translator (07:21):
And right now we are in the fallen world and there’s a lot of things that turn into things that never be before. So yeah, of course we expect only on God because of right now even everything is going down and they seem hopeless, but because we trust in the Lord. So that’s why we try to try our best to prepare and so do many things. The one who can change is not us, but only God can change. So that’s why we want to step by step from that and hope that God, we do one day in his time.

Dseven (08:28):
Speaking in Korean

Translator (08:28):
Right now we are living in.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (08:31):
Wow. Well, it is such an honor to serve God with you. I am so happy to meet you, and thank you so much for being on the Evangelism podcast. God

Dseven (08:43):
Speaking in Korean

Translator (08:46):
Thank you so much.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (08:47):
Thank you so much. That’s good.

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Bishop Albert | Free Christian Churches

On today’s Evangelism Podcast I interview Bishop Albert from the Free Christian Churches of Bangladesh. Bishop Albert shares about the growth of Christianity in Bangladesh, which is a predominantly Muslim nation. In a nation with a population of almost two hundred million people, the church has grown from 175,000 to almost 600,000 Christians since the country gained independence from Pakistan. However, Christians still make up only 0.3% of the population. We ask people to pray for the church in Bangladesh.

Learn more about the Free Churches of Bangladesh: https://fccbchurch.org/

Transcription:

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (00:00):
Welcome to the Evangelism Podcast. I’m Daniel King and I’m excited about telling people about Jesus. Today I have a very special guest with me, Bishop Albert Mirdha from Bangladesh. Thank you for being on the Evangelism Podcast.

Bishop Albert (00:15):
Thank you brother Daniel to meet you this morning.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (00:19):
Yeah, so we are here in the nation of Bangladesh and God is moving. It is so beautiful to see what God is doing here. Tell me some about what God is doing in this nation.

Bishop Albert (00:33):
Yeah, actually you see that Bangladesh is a new nation, about 52 years old, independent from Pakistan and it was third largest Muslim nation in the world and church was very tiny in Bangladesh after the liberation. But anyhow, the God has started to pour his spirit in the country of Bangladesh and from 175,000 when we are free from Pakistan and until now it is almost 600,000 Christians. So it is couple of times, hundred times increased means that is from the newborn babies in the country and the church is growing by his fire. So churches establishing in the country,

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (01:21):
What would you say is the total population of Bangladesh?

Bishop Albert (01:25):
200 million people in the country and only 0.2% say you can say that Christianity in the country.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (01:34):
Wow. So I was reading some statistics and something like 91% of the population is Muslim, 92 7%, 8% is Hindu and then 0.2%

Bishop Albert (01:53):
Percent Christian

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (01:54):
Is Christian

Bishop Albert (01:55):
And this very

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (01:57):
Small

Bishop Albert (01:58):
Percentage.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (01:59):
But in the midst of this, it seems like there is a great harvest that God loves Bangladesh very much and Jesus is doing many wonderful things. Can you tell us some about what you see Jesus doing here?

Bishop Albert (02:13):
Actually, look, gospel came in this part of the country 500 years back, but mostly it was in Indian side and very few people has moved to the east part of India. I mean it’s a former India,

(02:30):
But the thing is it’s just a communication problem as well as it was not preached by our own people because we didn’t have any local Christians. The Jisu came and also some Catholic missionaries came and Orthodox people came but it didn’t need to work properly because they work in a very few areas. But actually in 1947 to 1971, mostly the church started to begin on the feet and 1971 when was independent and then there so many missionaries came from the west as well from US Canada and a part of Asia also. And then evangelism started and I think 72 to 80 it was, I mean, is a blooming of our churches because so many churches, new churches established in the country, like our church also, I mean started in 1984, but the missionary from Swedish free mission came or Swedish. Pentecostal churches came in 1970. So this is the way actually the after liberation in Bangladesh, 1971, the church has started to establish the kingdom of the country.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (03:39):
Now you’re leading the free Christian churches of Bangladesh. And in back in 1972, how many churches were there?

Bishop Albert (03:48):
Actually, 1970, the missionary came from Sweden

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (03:52):
To support

Bishop Albert (03:53):
To humanitarian areas because we had a tidal board in 1970, 15th of May, 15th of November. And then the missionary came here with social help. And then after a couple of months, just four months later, we had a liberation. We were started or begin in March, 1971. So then all missionaries leap again to their own country and then they came back after liberation in 1972. So this 72 to 1984, there is no mission work started by our missionaries, which Pentecostal missionaries jointly and individually scattered. They work. But lately they decide that they will start a mission organization called Free Christian Churches of Bangladesh. And this is a Pentecostal church from Swedes Pentecost Church. So we started in 84 and then 84 until, I mean now we have so many churches, we have 474 churches with 54,000 people all are from newborn babies. So I mean from 1970 to 1984, we are not existing. That time we didn’t start our mission work. So mission work started in 1984. Wow.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (05:11):
Let’s talk some about your testimony. How did you become a believer and how did you know that you were called to be a pastor and to lead churches?

Bishop Albert (05:23):
Actually, see, I born in a Christian family. My father was a pastor as seldom he was the mission school teacher of churches of God, US and 1972, actually I came into the ministry when I was fresh young around 15 or 14 plus almost close to 15 years old. I started to evangelize people of our country and I started to give the trust and sharing word of God. This is the way actually 72, I engaged into the evangelism Since then until now I’m voluntarily serving to my Lord.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (06:00):
Wow, what a blessing. And I had the opportunity this week to see the beautiful school that you have up north and I was so impressed with the children. They were so well-behaved and it was so beautiful to see the vision that God has given you

Bishop Albert (06:22):
Actually, I mean education is the key of development in anywhere else, socially or spiritually. Without education you’re going to do anything. Our church people are very illiterate and they do not have an opportunity to send their kids to the schools because school is very, very expensive. In Bangladesh, you have to pay everything. It’s not free. So I thinking I was praying to God in seventies that I will help to the kids with education if it is an opportunity God given to me. But finally I got this opportunity, 1998, to establish this home of peace that you have seen anywhere there. Actually these children are from orphanage back down. They’re single parents, they are very poor. Marginalist background of the new believers, our main motto to give them education and they can discover the truth of life and truth of heaven and then they will work that independently in the church will be self-supported in the future because the leadership will come from there.

(07:29):
That’s the reason actually 570 children you have seen from different areas and different ethnic group they’re studying over there. So our main goal to make them understand and also give them education and they can stand on their own feet. Otherwise they can be the physical laborer in the field or they can be the domestic worker or they can be the trafficking somewhere else. That’s the reason I know we have started and they’re, well actually they are taught like that. They knows how to behave with the field and usually the 570 kids in the children, I mean in the home of peace and it didn’t found that the noise is there, but they’re playing with joy and they’re very happy to be there. And I mean over 500 children already graduated from this place and they’re now in different areas of life.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (08:21):
Wow. Let’s talk about the future. I met your son John, and he has the same calling on his life that rests upon your life. And I was so impressed with your son. He went and studied in Canada, he went

Bishop Albert (08:38):
To the

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (08:38):
United States and studied and he’s very smart and he could have a job anywhere in the world, but he feels like God has called

Bishop Albert (08:48):
Him

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (08:49):
To be here in Bangladesh. And you and John and the pastors in this movement have come together and put together a vision for the next 10 years. What do you hope to see God do

Bishop Albert (09:04):
Here? Yeah, actually we are so thankful to our loving Lord and also John, I mean because we thought that he will be staying in USA because he studied in US in Florida.

(09:15):
But after completion, his study and after graduation same day, he returned home and he said that we tried to push him to stay in us, but he denied. And he said, no, that’s my calling to go back home and also I will serve over there. So finally we found that it’s a Gore’s will that he’ll be coming back and he helping to the ministry. And we are planning because I already 51 years I am in the ministry and I’m planning to hand over to him. And since he’s very matured and very capable to run this whole ministry because these 477 churches with lots of people and I think he can manage well and he’s learning our decade of revival and all, we have a vision 2032 that the F C C B, the Serve Pentecostal Church will plant new a hundred churches in Bangladesh within this 10 years of time and 1000 people will be baptized and 10,000 new people will join into our congregation and a whole and 200 leaders will be prepared or raised that they will work for the future generation in the churches. That’s our goal right now.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (10:34):
I think that is a goal that comes from God. And God is going to do amazing things in the years to come because Bangladesh really is a harvest field and there are so many people that need Jesus in fact, right by where the home of peace is. There are some fields there. And we went and I was watching the farmers in the field, they were cutting the rice plants down and I was thinking, wow, this is a vision from God that Bangladesh is a great harvest field. And I pray that God raises up many laborers here

Bishop Albert (11:13):
Actually. You see that Bangladesh really is right now the harvest field and this is an abundant mission fill of the west. So one day missionary leap from this country and because of no result, but now God is God’s time. He’s giving result to the churches. So this is the harvest time. And if we have few laborer truly speaking that God, Jesus has told that plenty of harvest, but few are laborers. So we actually, this is thing Bangladesh is right now the place of mission and also the mission field and harvest is plenty. So we need to harvest because he’s coming. I believe personally that he’s coming. We are living in the end time. So this is the time for harvest. This is the time for preparing people on earth and we are responsible for Bangladesh. We want to reach to every corner of Bangladesh with the gospel.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (12:05):
Amen. So many believers listen to this podcast. How can they best pray for the nation of Bangladesh? And then how can people help with what God is doing here?

Bishop Albert (12:21):
You see the prayer bind us together and this is actually the spiritual bindings is most important and the time has come to come closer and the believers will come closer and pray for extending the kingdom of God. So Bangladesh is one of the unreached country in the world, number one. So the people, those are actually our brother and sister in many countries, we going to say that

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (12:51):
Please

Bishop Albert (12:52):
Prefer Bangladesh, that we can win the souls of the country because this is very hard soil. Bangladesh is really hard soil once upon a time, but now God is opening the doors for missions and the local church want to reach to the corner and to every people. So we need your prayer support at the same time, you are most welcome to have the campaign or work together with our church and also supporting with your generous prayer or answer finance if it is possible. This is where we can work together for his glory.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (13:26):
Amen. Well, there is great opportunity here. There are many

Bishop Albert (13:30):
Villages

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (13:31):
That need a campaign, that have never had a campaign, no one has ever come to talk about Jesus. And so it has been a great privilege to be here as your guest. Thank you so much for inviting me here and for being here. It has really been wonderful to see what God is doing here. Let’s finish by praying for Bangladesh

Bishop Albert (13:54):
Together. Yeah, Daniel, you are not

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (13:56):
Guest.

Bishop Albert (13:57):
We are family. The family of God. We are working together for his kingdom because that’s our purpose, that God

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (14:04):
Has

Bishop Albert (14:05):
Called us,

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (14:06):
God have

Bishop Albert (14:06):
Raised

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (14:07):
Us

Bishop Albert (14:07):
For supporting and we didn’t know each other, but now we are brother

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (14:12):
In

Bishop Albert (14:12):
Christ, so let’s work together, pray together, and sub together for his kingdom.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (14:18):
Amen. So

Bishop Albert (14:18):
You are most welcome anytime in the country of Bangladesh and that we can work jointly for this. And also please pray for

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (14:25):
This

Bishop Albert (14:26):
Children home where 570 children are there because they’re the future of the country, the future of the churches, because you have seen that they have a morning devotion and evening devotion and they’re learning who is God, how to support him and how to solve him.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (14:43):
Yeah, they were singing songs, quoting verses, and even being led by other students. I was very, and they did a beautiful cultural program.

Bishop Albert (14:54):
They

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (14:54):
Danced and they had different groups from different parts of the country, different ethnic groups, and they dressed up in the traditional costumes of their people and did the traditional dances and it was so beautiful. Yeah.

Bishop Albert (15:10):
They’re actually from 17 different tribe groups or ethnic group, including also Bengali, our main motto

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (15:19):
To raise leaders from

Bishop Albert (15:22):
All different tribe groups and ethnic groups that they can work for their own community in the future. That’s our main, main plan or vision. That’s wonderful.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (15:33):
Well, let’s pray. Dear heavenly Father, we pray together for the nation of Bangladesh. We ask that you would pour out your spirit upon this nation. Lord, we pray for many salvations, many miracles. Lord, I pray for the churches to be strengthened. Lord, I pray that new leaders would be raised up. I pray for more churches to be planted. Lord, I pray that all of Bangladesh would hear about Jesus

(16:07):
The great work that Jesus did on the cross to provide for our salvation. And Lord, I thank you for Bishop Albert, for his son, John Lord. We ask for your blessing to be upon them and give them great wisdom as they lead these churches. This movement of believers in reaching one of the great unreached areas of the world. Lord, we ask you for a mighty harvest of souls here in Bangladesh. In Jesus’ name,

Bishop Albert (16:43):
Amen.

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Niclas Wiktorell | What is God Doing in Sweden?

Pastor Niclas Wiktorell from the Pentecostal Church in Lidköping, Sweden, joins the Evangelism Podcast to discuss the spiritual climate in Sweden. Pastor Niclas shares his testimony of how he became a believer and felt called to be a pastor. He also talks about a unique outreach his church did last Easter, where they filled a local arena for three days. Pastor Niclas also discusses how his church reaches out to immigrants from countries like Syria, Afghanistan, and Iran, teaching them about Swedish society and culture, and offering a Swedish school for them to learn the language. Pastor Niclas emphasizes the importance of Christians opening their eyes to the harvest fields around them and sharing God’s love with people.

Learn more about Pastor Niclas Wiktorell: pingstlidkoping.se

Transcription:

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (00:00):
Welcome to the Evangelism Podcast. I’m Daniel King, and I’m excited about telling people about Jesus. Today I have a very special guest, pastor Niclas Wiktorell from the Nation of Sweden. Thank you for joining me

Pastor Niclas Wiktorell (00:12):
Today. Thank you, Daniel. So glad to be here.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (00:15):
We are in Asia together,

Pastor Niclas Wiktorell (00:18):
And

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (00:18):
We have had a wonderful time this week. God has been moving here, and so

Pastor Niclas Wiktorell (00:23):
It’s been

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (00:23):
So wonderful to get to know you and you pastor a church in the nation of Sweden. Can you tell me first, what is the name of your church and then what part of Sweden are you in?

Pastor Niclas Wiktorell (00:35):
Yeah, of course. The name of church is the Pentecostal Church in Lead Tripping. And Lead. Tripping is in the southern part, southwest part of Sweden, close to Goberg.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (00:46):
Okay. And let’s start with your testimony. How did you become a believer and how did you know that you were called to be a pastor?

Pastor Niclas Wiktorell (00:55):
Okay. I think it started all, when my uncle came back from Africa, he was a missionary in Liberia in Africa, and he came back and he told about Jesus and what he did, and that really moved me as a little kid. I was maybe six or seven years old or something like that. And then I believe I saw that, okay, this is what I want to do with my life. But then

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (01:20):
It took a

Pastor Niclas Wiktorell (01:20):
Little while, maybe during the teenager, as a teenager, I forgot about it, but I had my faith and I went to a Bible school. And on that Bible school I decided I wanted to do this, and God spoke to me about it. Yeah.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (01:35):
Wow. And how long have you been pastoring?

Pastor Niclas Wiktorell (01:38):
I’ve been pastoring for about 20 years. Wow.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (01:42):
And what is the spiritual climate in Sweden? I know historically there’s a strong church there, but now it seems like Sweden is more of a secular society. What would you say people’s understanding

Pastor Niclas Wiktorell (01:59):
Of God is? Yeah, it’s very secular, and I think the minority has the idea that there is no God no at all. Maybe 10% has some sort of notion about God, but very few Christians, maybe two, 3% maybe.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (02:23):
And so in a secular society where people have a historical understanding sometimes of Christianity, but now believe that there is no God, how do you reach those who are lost?

Pastor Niclas Wiktorell (02:37):
Wow. That is a tough question for us to do that. But I still believe that, well, it’s the same thing, even though it’s a secular country, I actually believe that now it’s so secular that when we come with the message of Jesus, it’s like, wow, people haven’t heard it before. So when I grew up, everyone about Jesus, but they rejected it. But now the kids and the young people, it’s like they’re hearing it for the first time. So I think you just have to be bold and you just have to try to reach out and tell the good news.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (03:16):
And so this year at Easter time, you had a very unique outreach. Tell me what that looked like and what God did.

Pastor Niclas Wiktorell (03:24):
Yeah, we did it in a local arena. So we had 1500 to 2000 people in that arena for free days. And it was from the region, our city, it’s a small town. I mean, it’s like 40,000, but we could reach people in that area, in our region. And every night we saw people coming to Christ.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (03:50):
How did you promote it? How did you invite people to come?

Pastor Niclas Wiktorell (03:54):
Mostly through social media, actually. Only through social media. Yeah.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (03:58):
Okay. So

Pastor Niclas Wiktorell (03:59):
Facebook. And Facebook and mostly Facebook.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (04:03):
And so you asked your church members to share it and to invite people, and then were you also doing advertising on

Pastor Niclas Wiktorell (04:10):
Facebook? Yeah, a little bit of advertising too, but that was what we did.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (04:17):
And so Easter’s a great time

Pastor Niclas Wiktorell (04:19):
To

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (04:19):
Reach

Pastor Niclas Wiktorell (04:19):
Out to people.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (04:20):
That seems very amazing that for three days you were able to fill the place with

Pastor Niclas Wiktorell (04:27):
1500,

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (04:28):
2000. I

Pastor Niclas Wiktorell (04:29):
Mean, it was such a huge step of faith for us. It was because we maybe do like this in Sweden two or three times a year, and now we thought we would do it in our little town, and it was a big step of faith, but we did it and with God.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (04:47):
And what type of program did you do? Was it like a typical church service? Were you doing an Easter drama? What

Pastor Niclas Wiktorell (04:53):
We did a number of different things. It was music programs and then also of course preaching. A lot of testimonies, a lot of testimonies about people that have been in different kinds of addicts and so on, and also some drama. Yeah.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (05:15):
I’ve read in the news that there are lots of immigrants that have come to Sweden, and it’s a little bit controversial because some people want to be very welcoming. Other people say that is difficult to integrate them into the society, but your church is actually reaching out to immigrants that have come from many different parts of the world, and you’re reaching them with the love of Christ. What does that look like?

Pastor Niclas Wiktorell (05:43):
Yeah, we reach people from Syria and from Afghanistan and from Iran. And every week we have this program Thursday nights when we invite them and we teach them about Swedish society, our culture and so forth. And also, we have a Swedish school for them, so they learn to speak Swedish.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (06:09):
And many of them coming from these nations are probably Muslim. The majority, the majority are Muslim. And so I think that’s really wonderful that you’re reaching out to the Muslims. In many times, Christians go on a mission to another nation in order to reach people, but really God is bringing the mission field to you. They’re right on your doorstep now, and I think it’s so wonderful that your church is reaching out to them, loving them, and showing them the love of Christ.

Pastor Niclas Wiktorell (06:41):
Yeah, we always say that, but God has brought us the mission feel to us, so it’s much more easier now in that way.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (06:49):
And how has your church responded to that? Have they been enthusiastic about being a part? I think

Pastor Niclas Wiktorell (06:54):
It’s been really, really amazing. A lot of people put in their hearts to this and work with this every week, and you see friendships with the immigrants and so forth. So it’s really, really nice to see what God does in people’s lives.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (07:11):
I think that’s so wonderful. In Tulsa, Oklahoma, we’ve had many Afghan families that have come there, and my father worked in Afghanistan for 12 years, and so we have been working with a group of the Afghans that have come to our city, and some of them actually had a stopover in Sweden, and so

Pastor Niclas Wiktorell (07:31):
They

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (07:31):
Had some very nice things to say about their time in Sweden, and then they left Sweden and came to America. So we’re happy to have them now,

Pastor Niclas Wiktorell (07:39):
But

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (07:40):
I think this is so important for Christians to open up their eyes. Jesus told the disciples, and John Pour is open your eyes and see the harvest fields. Really, the harvest field is all around us.

Pastor Niclas Wiktorell (07:52):
And

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (07:52):
If we’ll look for opportunities to talk to people about Jesus, to share God’s love with people, then we can see God begin to do miracles in their lives.

Pastor Niclas Wiktorell (08:02):
Yeah, that’s amazing.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (08:03):
Yeah. Well, thank you so much for being on the Evangelism podcast.

Pastor Niclas Wiktorell (08:08):
Thank you, brother.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (08:09):
Daniel, let me ask you, what is your life message? What is the message that you like sharing with people the most that God has given you?

Pastor Niclas Wiktorell (08:21):
Well, I think that God is a good father and he wants to invite you into his family. That is the thing that he’s a good father and he cares for everyone. He loves everyone, and he wants to take care of every person, and he sees everyone individually. Yeah,

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (08:39):
That’s beautiful. Thank you so much for being on the Evangelism Podcast.

Pastor Niclas Wiktorell (08:43):
Thank you, Daniel.

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Samuel Jonsson | Building the Local Church in Sweden

Pastor Samuel Jonsson pastors a local church in the south of Sweden. On today’s episode of the Evangelism Podcast we talk about what God is doing in Sweden, the spiritual atmosphere in Sweden, and how the Pentecostal church of Sweden is reaching out to their communities with the love of Christ.

Learn more about Pastor Samuel Jonsson: www.hovslattpingst.se

Summary:

In this podcast episode, Evangelism Coach Daniel King interviews Pastor Samuel Jonsson from Sweden. Pastor Jonsson discusses the challenges of spreading the gospel in Sweden, a secular and individualistic country. However, he remains hopeful, noting that God is raising up young leaders and churches are starting to reach out and grow. Pastor Jonsson shares his church’s efforts to reach a specific area with a high concentration of broken homes and single parents. They have started a Sunday school and a children’s choir, which has attracted children from non-Christian homes. He also emphasizes the importance of pastors going on mission trips to expand their worldview and gain new perspectives. The episode concludes with a testimony of an 80-year-old man from Pastor Jonsson’s church who returned to a country he had previously worked in and witnessed the growth of the church.

Transcript:

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (00:00):
Welcome to the Evangelism Podcast. I’m Daniel King and I’m excited about telling people about Jesus. Today I have a very special guest with me, pastor Samuel Jonsson from the nation of Sweden. Thank you for joining me today.

Pastor Samuel Jonsson (00:14):
Thank you so much for joining this podcast. It’s wonderful.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (00:17):
And so you are pastoring in the nation of Sweden. You have a Pentecostal church. Tell me what is God doing in Sweden right now?

Pastor Samuel Jonsson (00:32):
I think God is doing a lot of things in Sweden. It’s quite, Sweden is quite a tough country in some ways, very individualistic, very secular in some ways. So it’s a quite hard time getting through everything else with the gospel, the message. But I think God is racing up young leaders and I think God is racing up leaders who wants to search the gifts of the Holy Spirit, get more into what God is doing, what God is saying, what God wants to do for the nation of Sweden. So I have hope for the nation of Sweden. I think God will do great things, but maybe we have to go through some tough things also during the way, but we can see some churches starting to reach out more, growing a little bit more. And then some churches of course struggling, especially in the north of Sweden, maybe small churches struggling a lot. And also in the south of Sweden, church is struggling because they’re quite small, some of them. But still I think God is moving in many ways. I can see small, I don’t know how to say it, but small signals of great things to come. I don’t know how to explain it better than that, but a longing for the things of God and a longing for the spirit of God to start to move and talk and speak and direct and heal and so on.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (02:05):
Now in what part of Sweden is your church located?

Pastor Samuel Jonsson (02:09):
We are located in the south of Sweden, not the furthest down, I dunno how to say

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (02:15):
It,

Pastor Samuel Jonsson (02:16):
But in the south of Sweden. Yes.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (02:18):
And I’ve heard that that area is maybe known as the Bible belt of Sweden. You have many believers in that area, but of

Pastor Samuel Jonsson (02:26):
Course there’s, compared to the rest of Sweden, there’s

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (02:28):
Still many people that need Jesus.

Pastor Samuel Jonsson (02:31):
Yeah,

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (02:31):
Definitely. In the context of your area, what are you doing to reach out to the lost and bring people to Jesus?

Pastor Samuel Jonsson (02:42):
Yeah, if I go to my church, the church where I’m a pastor, we are trying to specifically actually reach out to a specific area where we live. Of course we tried to reach out to all people where we live, but God gave us a heart for a specific, is like a small, I don’t know how to say it in English, but apartment, house area, something like that. Many families live there who have a quite tough situation, single parents and broken homes and so on. And we just received the heart for that area to try to reach out. So the woman who is a child and family pastor in our church, she got the vision together with a couple of other guys to start to have a Sunday school in this area. So on a regular basis they go up there on Sundays first we meet together, all of us in church and we pray together, together with this team and together with the rest of the church, we’ll celebrate.

(03:49):
We have worship in church and then they go up and they have a Sunday school for kids. But the focus is also to reach out to the whole family. So primarily through the kids, but then through the kids to the parents as well. And in this area we also had small, you say small events, gone there, done fun things for the kids, just blessing them, talk to people, get to know people. So we are trying in different ways to reach out to this specific area because we realized that almost none of the churches where we have people coming from this area to their churches. So it’s almost like a small subculture almost in the outskirts of the area. So we are trying to get in there and trying to reach people with the gospel. But then we also actually, I want to tell you about a kid’s choir. That’s also,

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (04:58):
I think this idea is a very unique outreach idea. You were telling me about your children’s pastor and she has started this choir for the children and what is that?

Pastor Samuel Jonsson (05:10):
Yeah, she got the vision for that. Also, I think our kids pastor has some kind of an evangelistic heart and she just got a vision to start kids choir in the area. So first we just had kids from our church maybe in the beginning starting to come and they wanted to sing and learn to sing and so on. But then the kids started to take their friends from school into this choir. So a lot of friends came who came from non-Christian homes into this choir. So I think now they can gather on Tuesday evenings and on Tuesday evenings there can be 70 kids, sometimes 60 to 70 kids and maybe half of it are from non-Christian homes. So then we have added special services Sunday services on a regular basis during the semesters where we try to, we invite everyone, all of these families to come because the kids’ choir will sing and we try to give different kids and the choir specific roles.

(06:24):
So the families really will come because they want to see their kids and then they come and listen to their kids singing. And we just try to incorporate dramas into those services and incorporate a simple gospel message just to present the gospel in Jesus Christ to these families. And we have not yet seen the fruit we are praying for, but we are just trying to continue in that direction because just recently actually we had this kind of a service for, I think it was two weeks ago or three weeks ago. And then a grandma who had followed the family to the church, she told one of our leaders afterwards, I don’t think she was a Christian or had any Christian heritage in that way, but she said that these services means so much to me. It was like something touched her heart, but maybe she could not spell it out what it was. I believe it was the spirit of God of course, but maybe she could not spell it out. So we are trying to reach out also through this choir. And then the church where I’m a pastor is really, I told you in the car, I think it’s a really entrepreneurial church, many entrepreneurial people. So there are more ideas than we can almost do so many ideas, so many visions. But it’s really fun.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (07:57):
I think that’s really wonderful. I think in the years to come, some of those entrepreneurial ideas will result in grapefruit for the kingdom of

Pastor Samuel Jonsson (08:05):
God. Yeah, I hope. I

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (08:07):
Sure hope. Let’s talk about your history. How did you become a believer? How did you know that you were called to be a pastor?

Pastor Samuel Jonsson (08:16):
Yeah, I grew up in a Christian home. So I grew up in a Pentecostal church and both of my parents were a part of the church. My father was an elder in the church, but when I was quite young, I think I was nine years old, I remember quite vividly that my sister came home. I don’t know where she had been or maybe she had been to a camp or something. But she came home one day and we sat and we ate dinner. And I remember my sister started to talking about God and saying things about God that touched me in a special way. I had never experienced that because I remember looking into my sister, I was only nine years old, but remember it still, I was looking at my sister and I realized she has something that I don’t have. I had some kind of faith in God.

(09:13):
I remember, I mean we prayed together as a family. We prayed in the evening and so on. We could read the Bible together. And I had a children’s kind of faith maybe, but I saw something in her eyes and I realized she has something. And later on I realized that she had in some way accepted Jesus entire life. And that made me think at an early age think like what is this? And I started to pray. I remember in my own room like Jesus, I also want what she has. But then the specific moment came when I was at a big conference and I remember I had decided in my heart that tonight I want to really spell out a prayer that Jesus, I want you here in my heart. So I said to my mother, we were sitting in the front row seat that the conference, and I remember still that I turned to my mother at the end of the service and I said to her, I want to become a Christian. And then she followed me to what you call it when the

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (10:20):
Altar, the altar,

Pastor Samuel Jonsson (10:21):
Exactly to the altar. They had an altar called people were coming in front of the preacher or what? It

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (10:32):
Was for the altar time. Yeah,

Pastor Samuel Jonsson (10:35):
For the altar time, exactly. So I was just following my mother, and then an old man came up to us and he asked, what do you want? And I said, I want to become a Christian. And I remember praying that prayer, not feeling very much. I did not have a specific feeling in my body or anything, but from that moment, I have never looked back. It’s like Jesus has been the biggest part of my life since that moment. And then I got baptized a couple of years later when I was 11 or 12 or something, 11 years old. I think I had to wait a little bit. And then I got baptized. And then when I was in seventh grade, I experienced the Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues for the first time at the church service, like a prayer service or something like that in my home church. I was sitting alone and just feeling the spirit, starting to draw me to him and then giving me words, speaking of tongue.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (11:35):
And then how did you know that you were called to be a pastor? To be in the ministry?

Pastor Samuel Jonsson (11:41):
It’s a quite long process actually. But when I was in seventh, eight, nine grade somewhere, I started to think a lot about what am I going to do with my life? And remember quite early that sometimes when I thought about that, I started to think maybe I should be a preacher or maybe I should do missionary work or maybe I should. I started to have those thoughts in my mind, but I was pushing it away because I thought that pastor is always not for me. It’s like old men in strange clothing and I don’t want to be that. So I pushed it away. But then when I came to, I think in the states, you call it senior high school. In Sweden we call it gymnasium. So when I came to gymnasium when I was like 16, 17, 18 years old, then I started to become really passionate about serving God.

(12:45):
So we started a group in school, me and some friends, we had a group in the school, we were going to a Christian group and we did outreach and gave away books and gave away Bibles and did different events. And the passion to serve God just grew in me during that season. I could not say that I have a calling to become a pastor, but I just knew I want to serve Jesus. Jesus is the best thing I want to serve him. So that grew in my heart really during that period. And then when I came out of high school, I was still quite confused, what am I going to do with my life? But then I had some different events happening that pointed me in this direction. First it was actually, I worked at an industry where my father worked just for a short period of time.

(13:37):
And one day when I was standing there and working, I actually heard a voice. I think this was almost the first time where I can say I heard almost a clear voice. I almost jumped because I heard a voice saying that when you come home from work, your pastor are going to call you and he will offer you a yoga church to be a youth youth leader. And I was like, what is this? I remember going to the toilet and being like, God, was that you? It was so whoop. But then when I came home, I went up to the tv, put on the tv, and then 30 minutes later the phone rang and I just immediately knew my pastor is calling now, my mom picked up the phone and she called me Samuel Michael, our pastor is calling you. And I was like, yep.

Speaker 3 (14:31):
It’s like God calling Samuel in the Bible, Samuel.

Pastor Samuel Jonsson (14:34):
Yeah, it was so specific, I just knew it. Okay, yes, I will take this. I took the phone, hello, Hey, we have been thinking do you want to work as a youth leader here in the church? And I was like, yeah, I’m going to think about it. You had a word from God, you knew he was calling. Let me pray about it a little bit. Yes, let me just pray. But I knew the answer of course. So then I worked at my home church for a short period of time. And then one year later or half year later, I went to Peru actually with a friend. We were on a short mission trip together, me and my friend. And in Peru, I once again heard that clear voice. And that was also very specific. I remember one night when I was laying in my bed, I just suddenly heard a voice say, when you come home, you are going to go to Bible college.

(15:29):
And he also told me what bible college it was. You will know when you get home why you are going to that specific Bible college. And in that bible college you will get what you call it. You will get direction for where and how you will serve me. So then I came to the Bible college. I met my then soon to be wife early on in the Bible college. And we started to date and see that we experienced, we felt that we should be together. And then at that bible college, in the beginning of it, I once again a third time heard the voice talk. And I remember the voice said that in the spring you will get an offer to start to work at the church and I want you to say yes, and then you will continue in that direction. So when the spring came, once again, that situation occurred.

(16:29):
So we got an offer, me and my then soon to be wife. We had an offer from a church in the north part of Sweden, far up north to come and work together with them quite broadly. We worked as some kind of youth workers, youth and kids workers, maybe you could call it, but also very evangelistic and also quite pioneering, but also preaching, teaching and everything. We had to do everything. So it was a great school actually to be there. So we was there for three years and then I felt, okay, this is what God has laid on my heart to work, to be in church, to be in ministry, continue as a pastor in different capacities. So then I went to study theology. So then we went to Stockholm in Sweden, the capital, I studied theology and leadership, and my wife studied to be an OB optician.

(17:25):
I think you can say. She had had that on her heart for a very long time to become that. So we was in Stockholm studying. And then I actually once again heard that voice. I’ve been hearing, of course God speaks all the time, but sometimes you can hear it more specifically, I believe. So I heard the voice when I was studying, say that the church where you are practicing now, they will ask you to become their senior pastor. And also once again, I want you to say yes. And I was like, I can’t be a senior pastor. Of course I can be on staff, I can be in a team, but can I lead the church? I had, it felt too big almost for me. I was only like 27 years old at that time or something. So I was like, oh no, that’s too big.

(18:16):
But then it came later on, a year later from that time because their pastor sadly became quite sick. The one I worked together with him in a small, I had a small percentage. I was paid a small percentage. So I worked at the church together with him, and then it became sick. And then they asked me, and then we just felt, yeah, God has prepared this, so let’s stay. So when I had studied, I continued in that church outside of Stockholm, a suburb of Stockholm. That’s like a long trajectory, but small steps where God has led. It

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (18:53):
Is beautiful to see how God has spoken to you at several key moments in your life and given you direction. Now, right now you and I are together in Asia, and I don’t want to mention exactly the particular country that we’re in, but we are here telling people about Jesus. Now I have a question for you. Do you think that pastors should regularly go on mission trips to different parts of the world? And what benefit would that be to a pastor?

Pastor Samuel Jonsson (19:31):
First, I just want to say definitely I think you should go if you have the possibility. And the church may have the economy to send you away sometimes once in a while, I think you should do it definitely. Because especially when you come from the West, and maybe if you come from Europe who is quite once again quite individualistic, quite secular, it’s a quite tough place sometimes to be spiritually, I think. But then to also come to other places and see other kinds of soils almost,

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (20:08):
They have a different set of problems. Yeah,

Pastor Samuel Jonsson (20:10):
Yeah. Every part of the world have their problems, but sometimes it can be good to change the

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (20:16):
Problems

Pastor Samuel Jonsson (20:17):
To see something else and see how other kinds of churches are thinking to see how they are working, to see how they are reaching out to the neighborhood. And when you come to places like this, we are now in Asia or I have traveled to Africa several times and you see, you can see, especially maybe when I was in Africa, you can see their hunger for God and their hunger to pray, their hunger to seek things of the kingdom, their hunger to lay hands on the Sikh and pray for them and believe that something actually can happen that stirs something in your heart that you have to take home. I mean, you can’t leave it there. You have to take it home

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (21:04):
At the very least. It gives you some good stories to tell next time.

Pastor Samuel Jonsson (21:08):
Yeah, exactly. Definitely good stories to tell in your service. But I think, yeah, I always recommend, I had actually, when I was in Stockholm, I was the pastor of a satellite church and I had senior pastor working, leading me of course, and leading all the satellite church pastors. And he once said that you have to travel as a pastor from your country to other countries because you have to expand your world, otherwise you will become very narrow-minded and just thinking that you have all the answers and you know everything. So you have to, on a regular basis, expand your world. And I have carried that thought with me. If I have the chance to go away for a week or some days and you see something else and experience another culture, another church. And then I take it. And then I also love to travel, so it’s nice to travel, but I like that idea to expand the mind and expand the world and not become too narrow.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (22:20):
Now, there is a really wonderful testimony that has happened this week in this part of Asia. The Swedish Pentecostal church has actually been working for many years, and you brought with you one older gentleman from your church. He’s 80 years old, and he actually was here in this country working back in 1985.

Pastor Samuel Jonsson (22:46):
Yeah, somewhere

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (22:47):
Early eighties,

Pastor Samuel Jonsson (22:48):
84, 85 until I think 87 or something like that.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (22:52):
Yeah. And so at that time, the church in this nation was very small, and now it is growing. They have gone from only a handful of locations to now over 450 different congregations with over 50,000 believers just in this one network of churches. And it was so beautiful to see this 80 year old, great man of God, come back and see some of the fruit of what the seeds that were planted so many years ago.

Pastor Samuel Jonsson (23:32):
It was so beautiful. And he both were a part of the leadership seminar we had. And I mean, his English is not so well right now, but still sitting there and listening to him teach. And you think about how he planted that seed for like 35 years ago or something like that, more than 35 years ago, and he now gets to sit in front of young leaders in the north part of this country and teach them the word of God. I think it was so, it touched my heart, but then also to see him lead in the prayer of salvation yesterday at the campaign, it also touched me so much because you can see the faithfulness of God and you can see how he has walked with Jesus all his life, and he still has a passion for the kingdom of God. I mean, he’s seen a lot. He both have seen the good things and the ugly things in church and in the Christian life, and he’s seen everything of that. But still, he has a passion, a soft heart. A soft heart for God, and a soft heart for

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (24:43):
People. Now tell me his name. How do you pronounce it?

Pastor Samuel Jonsson (24:49):
Sorry, not the common name in the States.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (24:52):
Yeah. Well, it was so beautiful to see, and it really encourages me because it means that the seeds that we plant today, imagine what God will do 30, 40 years from now. Can you imagine being 80 years old and coming back to some of the places where you have sowing seed

Pastor Samuel Jonsson (25:11):
And

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (25:11):
Seeing a great harvest?

Pastor Samuel Jonsson (25:12):
Yeah. That’s a dream. That would be a dream.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (25:16):
Amen.

Pastor Samuel Jonsson (25:17):
Could be in that place.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (25:18):
Amen. Well, brother Samuel, thank you so much for being on the Evangelism Podcast. I appreciate it.

Pastor Samuel Jonsson (25:23):
Thank you. Thank you, Daniel. Good to meet you.

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Stephan & Anne Christiansen | How to Start a Jesus Revolution

Stephan & Anne Christiansen pastor Jesus Church and lead a Bible school in Oslo, Norway. They love to equip young people in local churches to reach their cities with the gospel. This summer they led a team of young people to over fifty nations across Europe. Today we hear about how they are trying to start a Jesus Revolution.

Learn more about The Jesus Revolution: https://jesusrevolution.com/

Buy a copy of Anne Christiansen’s book, Love Story: https://jk.no/produkt/love-story-english-2/

Transcript:

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (00:01):
Stephan & Anne Christiansen pastor Jesus Church and lead a Bible school in Oslo, Norway. They love to equip young people in local churches to reach their cities with the gospel. This summer, they led a team of young people to over 50 nations across Europe. Today we hear about how they are trying to start a Jesus revolution.

Evangelism Podcast Host (00:38):
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 (01:02):
Welcome to the Evangelism Podcast. I’m Daniel King and I’m excited to tell people about Jesus. Today I have two very special guests with me, Stephan and Anna Christansen from Norway. Thank you for being on the Evangelism Podcast.

Stephan Christiansen (01:19):
Thank you so much. It’s great to be here. And Stefan, by the way, is how I would say my name in Europe.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (01:24):
Okay, well, right now you’re in America, Stefan.

Stephan Christiansen (01:29):
Yeah, exactly.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (01:30):
Well, thank you so much for being with us today. Now you have been taking young people on mission trips across the continent of Europe, and this summer you did something very exciting. You took a group of young people to every nation in Europe. Tell me what did God do?

Anne Christiansen (01:51):
Wow, that was amazing. What we saw in Europe. It actually was all of spring and summer going into summer. And we visited 48 nations. We still have two nations that we’re going to do this fall because that’s the Pharaoh Islands and Iceland. But other than that, we went to every single nation together with a team of 60 young people. What a privilege. I mean, Stefan, you were there almost in every, I did

Stephan Christiansen (02:23):
The whole tour. I think you did the whole tour. I felt I had to be a part of the whole thing. And through the years, we’ve been working a lot in Europe. We’ve been in about 1100 cities since 1997 and doing evangelistic outreaches all over the place. We’ve sent out about 10,000 young people on short-term missions in Europe through the years as well. But then this dream came to us after the pandemic. How can we see a whole continent impacted at once? How can we see a harvest of souls across a whole continent and a whole generation of young people on fire for Jesus? So the 60 of us went in nine vans, equipment, light band preachers, everything. And it was probably by far, I think the greatest endeavor. If you think about logistics and all the practical matters. And 48 nations is a lot. So we typically did one major event in some of the smaller nations. In some of the bigger nations. We might have done two or three cities or for five in the uk, one of the largest large nations. And it was so encouraging. It was like really sparking the flame of youth revival on the whole continent. And we were so blessed to see what the Lord was doing.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (03:50):
And so tell me, what is the spiritual atmosphere like in Europe right now? A lot of people are saying that Europe is a post-Christian area, but I like to say that Europe is pre-Christian. It is ready to come to Jesus very quickly.

Anne Christiansen (04:10):
Oh, you are so right. It is ready. So it’s exactly that. Europe does not understand religion in connection with Jesus. Jesus is religion is not interesting for the Europeans. So it’s a great time to show that Jesus is not religion. It’s completely different, it’s relationship. So that’s the message that Europe really needs Everywhere. Some nations, we see that there are so many believers and they go to traditional churches, but they do not have a personal relationship with God. And they do not even know that God wants that. So I mean, Europe is such a wonderful mission field. So when we go, we go in the streets, we are in the schools, we are on the screens of course, but we really see that people are like, wow, I can have this personal relationship with God. You mean that Jesus came for that? Because religion, we think in many parts of the world that we have to climb up to God and become good enough for him to accept us. And something like that has been the understanding in Europe, I think for decades, ages for generations. So the message that we come with that Jesus is alive and well, and Jesus is ready, Jesus came down to become like us. That is a message that goes all across Europe and that is received everywhere. And we see the Holy Spirit lift up Jesus, drawing people to the cross and people having a new start, a new understanding really who Jesus is and what it means for them.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (06:00):
And so the name of your ministry is Jesus revolution. And a revolution is a radical change in society. What does a Jesus revolution look like?

Stephan Christiansen (06:12):
Well, if anything has ever been a revolution, it’s what happens when you are born again. When your sins are forgiven, you become a new creation in Christ Jesus. You are filled with the Holy Spirit. You go from darkness to light. You go from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of God, you become a part of his church. I mean, if anything was revolution, that’s revolution. So the interesting thing was that when we were seeking God for the name of this ministry back in 1997, we were too young to ever have heard about the Jesus Revolution in California back in the days. And we were just seeking God.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (06:46):
Yeah. Now it’s a popular movie, which I actually watched recently, and it made me cry because people were being baptized. I mean, it’s amazing how revolutionary the gospel is.

Stephan Christiansen (06:56):
Yes, it is. And here’s the thing, I mean, the gospel works everywhere. And so even though gospel Europe has got quite a rough spiritual climate compared with other parts of the world, but the gospel always works. So that’s why we need to preach it. We need to make it accessible to the young generation. And the special thing with Europe I support is that most young people have never really heard it really. So when they hear it preached in a way they can understand with power, with conviction, and through the presence of the Holy Spirit, so many young people are opening up their hearts. So we believe that it’s time to evangelize Europe. Of course, many, many nations of Europe, there’s 2.3% evangelical believers throughout Europe, 11, 12 nations, even less than 0.1% evangelical believers. So it is a continent that needs a move of the Holy Spirit. Many nations have never really seen, not just the revival, many nations have never even seen a reformation of any kind. So we need to sort of bring on a gospel army all across Europe and the world really. And we believe that together with believers like yourself, an evangelist all across the world, it’s time to really bring in the harvest of souls all across the world. And Europe is no exception.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (08:16):
Amen. Now you are from the nation of Norway. Yes. And the most famous evangelist from Norway is Aril Edvardsen. Did I say that? Right? Exactly. And he was a great evangelist from a very small village in Norway, but had a powerful ministry that impacted nations all over the world. And recently I was there and I was looking in their magazine. I saw a picture of a very young Anna and Stefan, that’s where they’re ministering. And so you grew up in some sense under his ministry. What are some of the lessons that you learned from him?

Anne Christiansen (08:56):
Oh, that’s many.

Stephan Christiansen (08:58):
That’s a lot.

Anne Christiansen (08:59):
Come on, Stephen. I mean, you traveled with him for how many

Stephan Christiansen (09:02):
Years? 10 years approximately?

Anne Christiansen (09:03):
Yeah. And we’ve been so close to him. We’re so thankful. We’ve learned so many things. First of all, you never start a meeting with a lie. You always have to be on time in everything you do.

Stephan Christiansen (09:19):
I think what I think first and foremost, there’s so many things that you can extract from his life. But the number one thing is probably how coming from a small place, a small nation or a small village is not a hindrance for a big vision. The Lord called Aril Edvardsen to be a world evangelist. He comes from a town or a village of 3000 people in that village. He built a center that could see at 4,000 people. He had 24 7 television satellite preaching the gospel in Arabic to the Arabic speaking world. He had crusades all across the world. He supported, I think about 20,000 or maybe more indigenous evangelists and church planters that he paid for. And he had five, 6 million students on his correspondence course. So those who got saved, he wanted them to do a 16 week course. So he had offices around the world, and this was the old days.

(10:18):
So you would typically have a lesson, write assignments sent into the office, get a reply back in the five, 6 million students fulfilling that. And so he wasn’t just content with response. He wanted to make sure they were disciples and all these people who were also saved, they had radio programs in 180 nations around the world. And all of this happening from a microscopic village, seven hours drive from the capital of Norway, really shows if God is calling you, if God has given you a vision, your nation, your geography, the size of your area is no hindrance. God can do exceedingly, abundantly above anything that we ask a think according to his power that is at work in us. And his life is just a great example about that really.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (11:09):
Now you have a church in Oslo and also a Bible school, and you bring young people on these mission trips to Europe and to other parts of the world. And so when I was hearing about your mission trip this year, my son Caleb is in eighth grade. He’s 13 years old. I was thinking, oh, that would be so wonderful to send him on an adventure like this. So if someone is listening and they want to get connected with you, maybe they want to come to the Bible school, maybe they want to send their young people on one of these great mission trips with you. What is your website? How can they find out more information about the Jesus Revolution? Well, they

Stephan Christiansen (11:48):
Can just go to jesus revolution.com and they can join in the summer. We are going to Prague in 2024, and young people are usually coming from 25, 30 nations. And also increasingly young people from over here, from the US are joining in. And this is in the end of July in 2024. And then if they want to do a year for God, they can do it through our training center in Oslo. They can do it from Rome. They could do it from Sofia and Bulgaria. They could do it from Belgium. They can do it from, sorry,

Anne Christiansen (12:20):
Did you say Rome?

Stephan Christiansen (12:21):
Rome, Italy. Yeah. Or from the Ukraine. And so there’s different opportunities also in plugging in. If people would like to set aside a year and evangelize in Europe,

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (12:34):
What a tremendous opportunity. Alright, last word. What do you feel that Jesus is saying to the church during this time?

Anne Christiansen (12:43):
Oh, when people follow me, that’s the most important thing that we can ever do. And that’s the most challenging word as well. Follow me. Jesus said, and I will make you fishers of men. I think we’re coming back to discipleship. Really, it is like the word that in Antioch, it was the first time that the disciples were called Christians. And why? Because they reminded people about Christ. And now we call ourselves Christians and it’s time for us to come back to being disciples. And Jesus actually promised us that if I focus on the following, he’s going to do the making in me of becoming a fisher of men. This means stepping out of my comfort zone and really starting to come into the love of God for people, for others that will make me being so interested in others, being willing to listen, being willing to take part of people’s lives in our neighborhoods, schools, universities, streets, wherever in the workplace. So I think that’s a word for the church all over the world. It’s about everyone, isn’t it? And it’s about reaching everyone. And it can only be done when everyone gets involved in reaching everyone.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (14:11):
You sound like a true evangelist.

Stephan Christiansen (14:14):
And thinking about the need for the gospel to be preached all across the world and how God needs ordinary Christians and believers of all kinds and evangelists and churches to just reengage with the great commission. Anna, you were saved because an American evangelist, Tia Osborne came to preach the gospel in our city Oslo. And you were a 22 year old girl. And that’s the beginning of a revolution.

Anne Christiansen (14:40):
There were posters all over my city Oslo talking about this campaign, these meetings with TL Osborne. I had never heard of him. And I got so provoked actually because I was invited by people everywhere come to this crusade campaign. I went there to find more reasons why I would never ever become a hallelujah. And one guy actually said, you don’t dare to come, do you? Yeah, that’s the thing that he was so smart. He said, oh, you’re not coming. Oh, so you don’t dare to go. And I was like, come on. No one is going to ever have that on me, that I didn’t dare to go. So I went there and I never planned to stay. I was just going to be able to say, check that I went there. No one can say I didn’t dare. But I stood there and I listened to the gospel message preached by Teal Osborne, and it was so special when he was calling people forward to receive Jesus.

(15:41):
I was running forward receiving Jesus as Lord of my life. And he was pointing at me and he was saying, you are a Jesus woman now. I was like, what? I’m a Jesus woman. Now what am I going to do? What does a Jesus woman do? How does she live? What is she doing? I went and bought myself a huge big Bible. I thought a Jesus woman must have a big Bible. At least I was sitting in my home, I was smoking cigarettes. I was blowing the smoke away to see the scripture. And I felt, and then I felt one day the Lord spoke to me and said, Anna, can you picture me with a cigarette in my mouth? I was like, no, no, Lord, of course not. You’re Jesus. You’re the Messiah. Of course, you’re the son of God. You don’t smoke cigarettes. I understand that.

(16:34):
He said, but Anna, I do now because I live in you now. I was like, what am I going to do? And he said, turn it over to me and I’ll help you. And since that day, I never smoked a cigarette. And I also, I met the Osborne many, many years later because Stefan was asked to interpret for him. And he said to me, Anna, write a book. Call it love story and I’ll write the foreword in it. And he did. I wrote the book. I was in prayer writing that book, and he wrote the foreword in it. And it’s in English, in English now for the first time in it’s been in Norwegian, but now it’s in English. And my story is there a story of God’s love revolution in somebody’s life.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (17:30):
Amen. Well, we’ll put a link to the book in the description on the podcast. So if you’re interested hearing more about Anna and Stefan Christensen, you can learn more about them. And thank you guys so much for being on the Evangelism Podcast. Thank

Anne Christiansen (17:44):
You, thank you, thank you.

Evangelism Podcast Host (17:46):
Is there evidence for God’s existence? How do we really know Jesus was raised from the dead? Can we trust the Bible? Do miracles happen? Does God care about me as an individual? In Dr. Daniel King’s book, proof God is real. You’ll find the answers to these three vital questions and more Is God there? Does God care? And do I dare to follow him? In his powerful, easy to read book, Daniel provides seven convincing proofs of God’s existence. You’ll learn about the evidence of cause. Design, logic, morality, scripture, miracles, and religious experience with proof God is real. You’ll read about topics like, was Jesus the son of God or just a crazy preacher? If God does exist, is he interested in your life? If God is there, why do bad things happen to good people? In proof, God is real. Daniel King shows you, God is there and he caress for you. Plus how to take a leap of faith and start a relationship with a God who deeply loves you. Order proof God is real today by calling 1-877-431-FOUR 2 7 6 or find the book on Amazon.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (18:50):
Thanks so much for listening today. I am excited about telling people about Jesus, and I want to invite you to be a part of helping us to rescue people from Hell and take them with us to heaven. There’s two things you can do to help. First of all, can you go find the Evangelism podcast on Apple iTunes and leave us a positive review by giving a review, you will help other people find these valuable resources about sharing our faith. And second, would you become a financial partner with King Ministries. Every single dollar that people give us enables us to lead at least one person to Jesus. And so that means for only $1, you can help start a party in heaven. And so today I want to invite you to become a monthly partner. You can start out for just a dollar, but if God puts it on your heart to do more, of course you can do more. But please go to king ministries.com and become a monthly partner with us today to help us to lead more people to Jesus. Thank you so much, and God bless you.

Evangelism Podcast Host (20:10):
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.

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Zac Linton | The Power of a Ministry Sabbatical

Why are ministry sabbaticals important? Today we talk to Zac Linton. He has been a successful evangelist for many years, but this year he decided to slow down and take a sabbatical. Today we learn why times of rest are important for ministers.

Learn more about the ministry of Zac Linton: https://www.overflow.global/

Key Verses on Taking a Ministry Sabbatical:

Exodus 20:8-10 (Fourth Commandment – Sabbath): ”Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it, you shall do no work…”

Genesis 2:2-3 (God’s Rest After Creation): ”And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.”

Mark 6:31 (Jesus’ Invitation to Rest): ”And he said to them, ‘Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.’ For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat.”

Matthew 11:28-30 (Jesus’ Call to Rest): ”Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Psalm 23:1-3 (The Lord as Our Shepherd): ”The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul.”

Isaiah 40:31 (Renewed Strength): ”But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.”

Psalm 46:10 (Be Still and Know): ”Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations; I will be exalted in the earth.”

Leviticus 25:4-5 (Sabbatical Year): ”But in the seventh year, there shall be a Sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a Sabbath to the Lord. You shall not sow your field or prune your vineyard.”

Jeremiah 31:25 (Refresh the Weary Soul): ”For I will satisfy the weary soul, and every languishing soul I will replenish.”

Psalm 34:8 (Taste and See):  “Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!”

Transcript:

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (00:11):
Welcome to the Evangelism Podcast. I’m Daniel King and I’m excited to tell people about Jesus Today. I have a very special guest with me. Zac Linton, thank you for being on the Evangelism Podcast.

Zac Linton (00:27):
Yeah, great to be here. Thank you Daniel.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (00:29):
All right, Zach, you lead overflow ministries and you have a great heart for evangelism. Tell me a little bit about how you got started in evangelism.

Zac Linton (00:43):
Well, there’s a much very long story, but the brief version is I gave my life to the Lord at age 21 after growing up Christian, but backsliding from the Lord for quite a number of years. I was involved in a car accident, which was a very serious situation at the time, and God used that to wake me up spiritually. And so from age 21 until now, and I’m 42 now, so it’s been actually exactly 21 years since then I’ve been walking with the Lord. I was a part of a vineyard church for a number of years in northern California, which is where I’ve spent most of my life in my ministry. And then I spent a couple of years up at Bethel Church in Redding getting some ministry training and equipping. And then I was a part of a church in San Francisco from 2008 into 2013.

(01:29):
So I would be a part of the team that would lead outreaches across the city of San Francisco. I’ve done a lot of street ministry and so on and so forth. But even from a young age, I’ve always had a heart for Jesus. And even when I was much younger, I remember telling some of my friends about the Lord. So I guess you could say it’s always been a part of my d n a and I believe who the Lord’s called me to be. And then in 2013, about a decade ago, I felt the Lord called me to begin my own ministry, which is called Overflow Ministries. And I’ve been doing this now for a decade, an independent evangelistic ministry, traveling and speaking around the world, winning people to Christ. And so that’s how it basically all happened.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (02:10):
So tell me about the name of your ministry Overflow ministries. Talk to me about the overflow.

Zac Linton (02:18):
Well, John 10 says that the thief comes to steal, to kill and to destroy. But Jesus says, I have come that you would have life and life abundant. That word abundant can also be translated as overflow or as more than enough. One of my favorite scriptures, two of my favorite scriptures that are still life scriptures for me to this day are Psalm 23, 5 and John 15, five, Psalm 23, 5 says, thou anoints my head with oil, my cup runneth over and John 15, five, Jesus says, I am the vine. You are the branches. He who abides in me and I in him will bear much fruit for apart from me. You can do nothing. And so I really felt from an early age that the Lord, those are very foundational scriptures for me, not only for the ministry, but really for my own personal walk with Jesus Christ.

(03:10):
I believe that religion, check this revelation. Religion tells people to try to bear fruit in order to abide, but relationship with Jesus. And the gospel says, first you abide that you’ll bear much fruit. And so what I learned was a lot of people are stuck in trying to do all these things for God. And that’s really what Paul addresses in some of his epistles of you who began in the spirit are you now being perfected by the law or by the flesh? And I feel like some people, depending on your background, maybe you really want to be a good Christian or you really want to follow the Lord or you really have a value for holiness. And all those things are wonderful and those things are from the Lord. But what the revelation that really set me free in my own personal walk is that God wants us to have an overflow of the Holy Spirit that begins with our faith in Christ and what he has done for us on the cross, which none of us deserved and none of us could ever earn, but it’s a life empowered by the Holy Spirit that truly is a glorious and a joyful and a victorious one.

(04:06):
And so I just named my ministry that so I could constantly remind myself to never get into striving, to never try and do it in my own strength, my own thinking, my own human ability to always rely on the overflow of the Holy Spirit. And I really try to impart that whether I’m preaching in churches or mentoring or whatever, that’s really a core value that I want people to understand from my ministry as well.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (04:28):
Now, you’ve done a lot of ministry in California. You started out preaching on the University of California, Berkeley campus, and there is a real mission field there, a lot of people that really need Jesus. What are some of the questions that people are asking these days and how do you answer them?

Zac Linton (04:53):
Wow, that’s a whole podcast in and of itself. Yeah, it’s funny. So let me tell a little bit of this story and I’ll answer your question as well. So I mean, I began the ministry by going to uc, Berkeley. That’s kind of the target that I felt the Lord called me to in the very inception of the ministry. So I would go out into the center of campus, I’d bring my Bible with me, and I would just begin preaching the word of God, open air. And it definitely stirred up some feathers, a lot of demons manifested. I mean, I was cursed at, I was yelled at. I had people hiss at me a few times and I definitely had some people listening. So it was sort of a little bit of everything that you found. And it’s funny because I think no matter how much we prepare, and there’s nothing wrong with apologetics, we absolutely I think should study certain questions and certain people are called more specifically to those kinds of ministries.

(05:44):
But what I really found worked for me was just saying, you know what, Lord, I don’t have all the answers to all the questions. I know you’ve given all of us to mind, but Jesus said to his apostles that when you’re brought before kings and governors, don’t worry about what you’re going to say because it will be given to you in that hour what to speak because it will not be you speaking, but it will be the spirit of your father. And so my prayer literally, I mean this sounds simple and sorry to give you guys an answer that isn’t a formula, but it’s just reliance on the Holy Spirit and literally saying, Lord, would you give me the spirit of wisdom and revelation so that when these people come to ask me these questions that I have some sort of an answer that’s of you?

(06:21):
Now, a few of the questions that I did encounter regularly or objections you might say. The other thing to encourage anyone who’s just getting started in evangelism or college ministry or whatever is that Solomon writes in Ecclesiastes that there’s nothing new under the sun. And I think what you’ll find is after I’ve been doing street ministry and preaching in churches in various places around the world for a long time, and after a little while it becomes like this well-worn path where you’re like, okay, I’ve heard that objection before. Okay, I’ve heard that excuse before. Okay, I’ve heard that problem before. So one of them is, well, what do I need God for? I’ll just find my own path. I’ll find my own truth. I believe in Buddhism, I was raised Muslim, I was raised Catholic. I don’t believe in the Bible because of X, Y and Z.

(07:07):
And so it’s sort of this, I feel like at the core of a lot of objections nowadays, Daniel, is this what I would call war on just truth in and of itself that this idea that there is no one truth, that there are many different truths, and really truth is subjective, it’s no longer absolute. And when you look at the laws of the universe, it says in Romans one that since the creation of the world, God’s invisible qualities have been made known. So that man is without excuse and no serious common sense person would argue with gravity or with all these things in the universe that are so consistent, that are so absolute that we know we can rely on these things. And yet when it comes to God or it comes to the path of salvation, it’s just amazing to me how people are so self-deceived into thinking that I can just, I use this example all the time.

(07:53):
I say, okay, if I’m in northern California and I want to get to la, are you telling me I can just point my car in any direction I want to go in and I could just drive as hard as I want and I’m eventually going to get to la? And they would say, well, that’s ridiculous. I’ll say, well then it’s literally that’s no more ridiculous than you telling me that you can just find your own path to God or you can just do whatever you want and that’s going to be good enough to get you into heaven. So that’s a big objection. The other thing I noticed too, a lot, Daniel, is that when people are offended or upset at you for preaching the word of God, there’s usually a root issue. I’m sure you’ve seen this as well. You have a lot of experiences in the ministry.

(08:28):
And usually what I try to discern when I’m speaking with somebody is what’s really going on with this person? Sometimes they’ll be giving me this philosophical argument of if God is so true, then why is there suffering in the world? Why did this happen or why would he allow? Those are very common types of objections, but often what I find is that’s not even the real objection. The real objection is I’m angry at God because my sister has cancer or my sister has down syndrome. I’m angry at God because my parents are divorced or I’m angry at God because my boyfriend left me or hurt me, or my girlfriend left me. And so it’s like people project onto God, all the pain they’ve been through in life for whatever reason, God gets blamed for that, and then that becomes a wound inside of them, and then that sort of becomes a barrier to God.

(09:12):
And so a lot of times when I’m speaking with people, I think there’s a place for intellectually answering their questions, but we need to go deeper. And that goes back to what I said earlier about wisdom and listening to the Holy Spirit. You have to say, okay, holy Spirit, what does this man or woman really need? Number one, are they even open to your gospel or am I just having an argument with somebody? Because one of my rules is the moment I feel like I’m just getting into some argument with somebody who really isn’t open at all to the gospel, they just want to argue and debate with me, I’ll usually exit that conversation pretty quickly and I’ll tell you why. First of all, it’s generally not fruitful at all. And number two, the more time I spend with Joe argumentative over here, the less time I have to keep reaching out to other people on the campus. And so all I can say is, I mean, there’s so many other questions and objections probably that I could talk about, but I’d say the biggest ones are, I’ll find my own truth, or I think I’m a good person, so therefore I don’t really need God. I think I’m good enough to go to heaven. And again, these are not new objections.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (10:14):
Now you’re doing something very unique this year. You are taking a ministry sabbatical. Talk to me about why you’re doing that and why you think it’s important for ministers to take sabbaticals from time to time and to have a time for spiritual renewal.

Zac Linton (10:37):
Yeah. Well, first of all, I’m from the western world in America, and for all of America’s great qualities, I would say that there’s definitely kind of a workaholism that’s pretty inbred into our culture. And so really, God kind of brought this sabbatical upon me. I’ve read through the scriptures a number of times, so I know that God rested on the seventh day, but I hadn’t really dug deeply into what I would call a deeper, more extended sabbatical. And frankly, I’d never heard anybody teach on the subject ever. I mean, I never heard a sermon on a Sunday about you need to take a year off to seek the Lord and to rest. And so the way it came about for me was at the end of last year, which was going on my ninth year in ministry with Overflow Ministries, I was at my parents’ church in northern California just visiting around the Christmas holiday season.

(11:29):
And I ran into an old friend of our family and we were talking, and she just asked me a simple question during our conversation. She said, Zach, I really focus on helping minister to ministers because oftentimes ministers themselves are very neglected, they’re burned out and they’re always giving, but most people are blind to the fact that those folks need ministry as well. She said all that to me. And then she asked me this question, she said, when was the last time you took a sabbatical? And as soon as she said that, it was like I knew it was the Holy Spirit talking to me like a ton of bricks just kind of hit me right in my chest. And I paused and I said, I haven’t. And it was like the Lord used that conversation and the woman was so nice, she wasn’t scolding me or, oh man, you’re going to burn out you.

(12:12):
This is wrong. You need to hurry up and repent and do. I mean, she didn’t say any of that. She just asked me one simple question and the Lord used that. And so after that I just realized like, wow, Lord, the more I thought about it, I realized if the biblical rhythm is once every seven years, and where that comes from is if you study the Old Testament, the Lord actually tells Israel to rest, to allow the land to rest for an entire year. And what’s amazing is when you study that, Israel freaks out because they say, well, wait a minute, God, are you kidding me? If we rest for a whole year, if we don’t plant crops and plow and do all this work and do all this stuff that we usually do, we’re going to starve to death. And the Lord says, no, you’re not.

(12:51):
I’m going to provide for you. I’m going to bless you. I’m going to bless you double. And we also see that in the wilderness when the children of Israel are going through the wilderness for 40 years, that the Lord began to send the manna every day, and on the sixth day he sent them a double portion so they could rest on the seventh day. And so we see this principle, this is part of who God is and who his character is. And so as I began preparing for this, I started praying and saying, Lord, I don’t even know how to do this. What do I even do? Am I just supposed to hang out and watch Netflix for a year? And I was like, of course. That’s not what I’m supposed to do. And as I prayed into it, and again, I hesitate to give a formula. I want to give principles. I do believe the Lord can uniquely tailor it for each and every person, but I think that the principle is God is a God of rest. And that when we go through ministry, I don’t know about anyone watching this podcast, but somebody needs to hear this. I’ve been through betrayals, I’ve been through heartbreaks, I’ve been through hard times, I’ve been through persecutions. I’ve seen God do amazing things like salvations and miracles and healings, but I’ve also been through a lot. And I feel like in other

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (13:52):
Words, you’re doing real ministry. I mean, that’s the story. If you’re in ministry long enough, you are going to experience some of those things. It it’s never easy. And if yout, and it takes an emotional toil on people.

Zac Linton (14:07):
Yeah. Amen. And so I think I remember also right around the time I was having this conversation with this lady, a friend of mine who’s a pastor out of Chicago. He said, Zach, I just heard some recent big church-wide study that was done in America that 40% of pastors are thinking of quitting the ministry. And when I heard that statistic, I said, wow, Lord, something is really wrong with that. And I’m not saying that there’s just one simple answer to that, but I would argue that one of the big, big reasons for that is I really believe in our American culture. We have neglected the command and the gift I will add of Sabbath that the Lord has given us. And so as I was praying about it getting ready, this is what I felt like the Lord said to me, he, Zach, pull back from public ministry for the most part.

(14:54):
Okay, obviously we’re doing this podcast, but for the most part I canceled. I had an international trip invitation to Pakistan this year that I had to call the gentleman and say, you know what? I’m so grateful for this opportunity, but I think we’re going to have to put it off till another year or a couple years from now. And I said, I’m not really looking to preach or teach in any churches. I’m not going to be doing any street evangelism, at least not leading a bunch of teams in street. And so it was like just pulling back from the public ministry in order to focus on the private ministry. And so the Lord gave me six goals for this year, and I’m going to share them briefly. My first goal, and I believe this is for anyone who takes a sabbatical, is that Jesus Christ has to be your first love and he has to be my first love.

(15:38):
In Revelation we see that, that there’s churches that are doing so amazing and they’re winning the loss and they’re resisting false teachers and they’re doing all this hardcore stuff and even resisting persecution. And Jesus literally says, but this one thing I have against you, you’ve forgotten your first love. And I want to tell you something that is so grievous that when you read that passage further, he says, if you do not repent, I will come and remove your lampstand. That’s how serious our relationship and our intimacy with Jesus should be to all of us. And so I think one of the dangers is we get so focused on ministry that ministry can actually become an idol, and we can be so focused on ministry and Oh, I got to do this event and I got to raise money and I got to mentor my team and disciple this and get a building and do this and dah, dah, dah.

(16:20):
And again, nothing wrong with those things in their proper places. So that’s the first thing is that Jesus would always be our first love. Secondly, and thirdly, the Lord told me to read through the whole Bible this year, which isn’t really even that big of a goal. But the third one that he said was, Zach, I want you to memorize scripture a lot more intentionally this year than you have previously. And just sharing this to whoever may see this around the world in America and the Western world, at least up until now, we’re so blessed with the fact that we have very easy access to the word of God and to Bibles. But I’m sure that Daniel has seen this in some of his ministry. I mean, you go into some nations and you don’t get easy access to the scriptures. A matter of fact, some people, if they’re caught with the Bible, they can be put in prison or arrested for it.

(17:03):
And it was like the Holy Spirit was convicted me like, Zach, you take the Bible for granted because you think you’re always going to have it. What if you didn’t have it like a year from now? What if you didn’t have it five years from now? How much of it would you actually have within you memorized? And so I’ve really felt convicted this year to really press in more to memorizing the word of God. So those are my three first three goals. The last three is just kind of going through inner healing. I call it healing and wisdom, just processing the stuff that we all go through in ministry and life and not just feeling better about it, but really looking at it through the lens of Jesus Christ, looking at it through the lens of God’s redemption and the cross. And even being able to say, like Joseph said, though, maybe that person or that situation was meant for evil against me.

(17:45):
The Lord can turn all those things into good. And that’s a process, and I just want to encourage somebody watching this. I have spent time in nature, I’ve spent time praying and worshiping, and the Lord will just kind of peel back a layer. Sometimes when I’m in those places, I’ve spent time talking to pastors and friends like Daniel or many others that I’ve had the privilege to know around the United States. And God just, he’s so amazing. He weaves it all together where he brings healing in those places that we need it. But I feel like you have to make room for it. And that’s the purpose of Sabbath is you’re taking a step back in order to listen more to the Lord, in order to allow the Lord to do those deep works, those deep surgeries within us that we need. And then my fifth and sixth goal is number five.

(18:24):
God would establish me. I feel like I’m in a transitional phase right now where I’m really seeking the Lord about where he wants me to be located for the next 10 years of ministry. I’m feeling like my hour in California is coming to an end, so I’m just praying into that. I’m asking for the Lord also to just connect me with the right team and the right people that I need to run with for this next decade of life. And then my last goal is to finish writing my book. So that’s what my sabbatical has looked like. And I’ve had the privilege to travel across the us. I’ve stayed in homes, I’ve stayed in Airbnbs, I’ve even been homeless a couple days this year. But to God be the glory, and for me, I feel like it’s just been this incredible adventure with the Lord where he has shown me his faithfulness again and again, this is the other crazy thing.

(19:07):
When I was getting ready for my journey, I was getting ready and I was packing everything and I grabbed one of my credit cards. I thought, what if some crazy emergency happens? What if my car blows up? Or what if some unexpected thing happens? I need this credit card as a backup just to take care of everything. And as soon as I put my finger on that card, I felt a check in my spirit. And the Holy Spirit said to me, Zach, are you going to trust in debt or are you going to trust in me?

(19:36):
And that just wrecked me. And so I said, okay, Lord. So I put the credit card back in the desk and I just said, I’m not going to bring it. I’m not going to have a plan B. Now that seems really foolish and reckless if you don’t have faith and if the Lord has not spoken to you, but when the Lord has told you to do something, he will supply everything that you and I need in order to accomplish that. The day before I left on my sabbatical at the beginning of the year, I got together with a gentleman who’s a friend of our family for coffee. He wanted to meet with me. We had a great time of prayer fellowship. And right before we were ending, he said, I have something for you. Don’t go anywhere. He goes to his car, he comes back and he hands me an envelope with over $5,000 cash in it.

(20:16):
And he said, this is manna for your journey. And I just sat in my car, Daniel, and I just wept for probably 15 minutes after that because I just thought, Lord, why would I doubt you? I feel like the Lord wants to challenge all of us, and I’m just sharing this testimony to stir all of our faith up. God is so much bigger. God has a better way than our way. God has a better way if we’ll actually trust him. And I feel like one of the words of the Lord to the American church is that we’ve trusted too much in marketing schemes and fundraising schemes and man’s plans and programs instead of really listening and depending on the Holy Spirit and doing what he has told us to do. And so anyway, I could continue on for another half an hour, but this sabbatical has changed my life, Daniel, seriously, I feel like a young child again in my spirit, I can feel the Lord peeling back layers of my heart healing me.

(21:06):
I feel more in love with Jesus now than I have been in so many years. And so I want to encourage you, if you feel burned out, I would argue you need to take a sabbatical. If you have the faith, take a whole year off and watch God do miracles for you, but at least get away for a couple of months and say, Lord, help me to be re-centered. Help me to remember why I’m doing what I’m doing. Fall back in love with Jesus. Spend time with your family. If you’re married and you have kids, get out into nature. Just slow down because like I said, when we’re so busy, we don’t have room in our spirits to just listen to God. I think a lot of people are busy doing stuff, and I liken it to a car stuck in the mud. You can be busy but not moving anywhere.

(21:46):
A car in the mud is running and spinning its wheels and it’s trying really hard. And maybe that’s you right now watching this podcast. Maybe you feel that way. I want to encourage you get unstuck by just getting on the mountain with the Lord like Moses to get away with God. Like Samuel in the prophets. And this is the last thing I’ll say about it, Daniel, when Jesus was at this beautiful moment of his ministry just preached the sermon on the Mount, thousands of people are listening to him multiplying the loaves and the fish, and everybody’s looking for Jesus. And then he says to his disciple, let’s go away for a little while. Let’s just go on the mountain side and be all by ourselves in America. We’d be like, wait a minute. You mean you’re not going to do another conference? You’re not going to go do another outreach. You’re not going to go preach another big. It’s like, no, we’re going to do that in its proper time and place, but we need that time to rest. So anyway, I pray that ministers to you, whoever you are watching.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (22:37):
So if you meet a minister who is on the verge of burning out and just been overwhelmed by the stress and strain of ministry, what advice would you give them as they consider going on a sabbatical?

Zac Linton (22:54):
Yeah, I would say number one is probably do a one to a three day water fast and just really ask the Lord to speak to you concerning what he wants your sabbatical to look like. I can’t overemphasize how important that is. I have a lot to say on this subject, Daniel. I really believe. So one of the key scriptures for me this year, and I would argue for all of us as we press more into the heart of God, I call it running at the pace of grace, and Jesus said that my yoke is easy and my burden is light. That’s Matthew chapter 11. Now, one of the theme verses for this year is Isaiah 40 31, and it says this, but those that wait upon the Lord will what? Will renew their strength, they will mount up with wings like eagles that will run and not be weary and they will walk and not faint.

(23:42):
I literally believe, I’m not saying we don’t go through persecutions. I’m not saying we don’t go through difficulties and hardships. All of us do, but I don’t believe the will of God for you or me is to be in a place of extended discouragement or weariness. I absolutely do not believe that’s from the Lord. That’s why we have the comforter. That’s why we have the advocate. That’s why we have the fire of the God in our spirits. And I believe that people get into that place of discouragement and weariness and wanting to give up for two reasons. One, they’ve allowed willful sin into their life somehow, whatever that might be. Okay? And there’s a very simple solution to that. You need to repent, amen. If you’re doing drugs, if you’re doing anything behind the scenes that the Lord has said that’s wrong, you need to repent and let me encourage you to find a brother or two in Christ that you can be accountable to.

(24:28):
I think a lot of people in ministry feel alone. They feel two things. One, they feel alone. Two, they feel like if I actually get open and confess, it’s going to ruin my ministry, it’s going to ruin my marriage. And not to say there aren’t any consequences to sin depending on what it is that’s been going on behind closed doors, but I want to say, I think it’s a lot better to just come out and just be upfront with it and say, you know what, Lord, whatever it is, whatever issue’s been going on, just confess it. Get it in the open, and God, I believe God will have a path of restoration. I’m not saying it’s always going to be easy, but the alternative is you’re going to die anyways. If you stay in that sin, God’s eventually going to bring judgment on you and your ministry and trust me, it’s going to be way, way, way worse in the end.

(25:09):
And so that’s number one. But the other one is that I think people become weary and discouraged because they’ve disconnected from the source. And that’s why it goes right back to the whole idea of this overflow ministries, John 15, five, Psalm 23, we can’t bear fruit by ourselves. And I feel like a lot of people are branches that have disconnected from intimacy with the vine, and they’re striving and struggling to try to keep their ministry going and their marriage going and win the loss and do this. And it’s like, guys, that’s insanity. Please, Lee, stop. Don’t do that anymore. Just get alone with Jesus. Allow him to restore your soul and restore your heart. And I really believe Sabbath is God’s methodology. It’s kind of like a honeymoon. It’s like an anniversary. You’re married to your wife and you want to renew that intimacy. Guess what?

(25:52):
You’re not going to do it if you’re both just crazy busy all the time just missing each other like ships in the night. You have to be intentional. Amen. You have to pause. You have to say, wait a minute, where did we disconnect? When did that happen? Oh, a year ago. Oh my gosh. We need to look at this. And because my conviction, I already shared when we wait on the Lord, when we seek his face, when Jesus truly is the thing that I’m after more than even my ministry. And I feel too, like somebody watching this might need to hear that our ministry is not our identity. Okay? I’m not Zach the evangelist or Zach the prophet. I’m Zach, the child of the living God because of his great mercy, because of the blood of the lamb. Amen. And you’re a son or you’re a daughter of the most high God you see.

(26:33):
And when we understand that that’s our identity, we’re no longer performing for acceptance. We’re not performing in order to feel good about ourselves in order to prove anything to anybody. We’re simply overflowing with the love of Christ, with the gospel, with the good news and with the truth that a dying world desperately needs to hear. And I’ll be the first to confess that no matter how much you think, you’re never going to somehow stray back into some sort of weird performance mindset. I feel like it’s just part of, sadly, the fleshly human nature. And so it’s good to have these rhythms of saying, you know what? Let me pause. Let me have an intentional time of checking in with the Lord and allowing him to renew my soul, to answer that question and recap fast and pray and ask the Lord what your sabbatical should look like, and then address one of the two issues and really try to identify, is there sin in my life I need to deal with and or have I disconnected from the vine? Have I let ministry or the stresses of life or other things literally become God to me instead of making sure that Jesus is God?

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (27:32):
As you come out of this sabbatical, I believe your ministry is going to be stronger and more powerful than ever before. More nations, more preaching, more people reach than you ever have before because there will be a new strength that is coming. If someone is interested in learning more about your ministry, what is your website? How can they get in touch with you?

Zac Linton (28:02):
You can just go to overflow.global is the website address. I also have a YouTube channel, and you can reach that by going to zach linson.com, or you can look me up on YouTube by just typing my name in. But you just put zach linson.com, your browser, it’ll forward you to my YouTube, and that’s spelled Z A C L I N T O n.com, and then overflow Do global. There’s not a.com on it. It’s global. So those are my two websites. I mean, I am honored to connect with other people. If you feel called by the Lord, you have a question. If you want to somehow participate in Global Missions or join our pro team or do whatever, then I’m happy to be a resource to you. But please check out Daniel’s ministry as well. He’s doing an incredible work, and you guys, Jesus is coming back soon, and so I just feel like, you know what?

(28:53):
If I could say this last word to all of us, man, we’re all on the same team, and I really do believe that as we get closer and closer to the coming of Christ, and I do believe we’re starting to see a lot more and more and more of what we would call birth pains in the earth and in the nations leading up to that, I feel like let’s be more unified if we can agree on Jesus Christ crucified and raised, the Bible’s, the word of God, and that everybody needs his salvation, otherwise you going to heaven or Hell. I feel like if we can unite around those essentials, we can lovingly maybe have discussions about the other peripheral doctrinal disagreements perhaps we may have, but let’s do it in love and let’s do our best to pray for believe in speak well of encourage and labor together in the harvest of God.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (29:38):
Now, you told me earlier that one of the things that you’re praying for is a spouse to join you in ministry, and so if there is a cute girl who’s listening, what’s the best phone number for her to reach you at?

Zac Linton (29:53):
You know what? I don’t know if I want to give out my phone number on

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (29:55):
This podcast,

Zac Linton (29:57):
But you can. I mean, if you want to send me an email and just say, hi, I’m more than happy to meet you. Yeah, I mean, just send me an email. My email is Zach Zac c@divineoverflow.org, or you can send me a message to my website and say, I saw the podcast. I’d love to talk to you sometime. So I’m open to some of those conversations if you’re so bold as you want to send me that message.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (30:20):
I was totally joking, but I actually met my wife on the mission field, on the border of Rwanda in Congo, and so when you’re doing what God has called you to do and running after him, if you find someone who’s running in the same direction, that could be the right person for you. So amen. I know there’s a lot of godly women out there that are just praying that God’s in them, a godly spouse too.

Zac Linton (30:46):
Yeah, and I’ll be honest with you on that note, anybody who’s single men or women, it’s like a vast wasteland out there, to be honest with you. I mean, I tried the online dating thing a couple of times, really, really didn’t like it at all. And so maybe there’s people like me that you just feel like, man, I would like to meet somebody amazing who I feel like is a good compliment to who I am without compromising your values and your beliefs. And I think that’s one of the reasons why I think I’ve, I’m still single at this point. It’s not the only one, which is a whole separate podcast in and of itself, but I want to encourage you that, yeah, I mean, just stay true to the faith. And like Daniel said, I believe that if you pray and you wait on the Lord, whether you meet ’em at church, you meet ’em through a podcast, you meet ’em on some conference, you meet ’em, go door to door evangelism with a group or something, that God has those people out there and yeah, I wish it was a little bit easier though just to connect people.

(31:37):
I wish there was a Holy Spirit sort of matchmaking service that wasn’t creepy or weird or awkward where they could help people get matched up. I’m sure there’s a lot of other people out. We

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (31:47):
Should start a website though. Holy Spirit hookup. In fact, if you get any emails out of this podcast, I’m going to change the name to the Evangelism and Christian Dating Podcast. That’d be great.

Zac Linton (32:01):
Yeah, there we go. That’ll be awesome.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (32:03):
Hey, Zach, thank you so much for joining me on the Evangelism Podcast. So good to hear about your ministry. I know God has big things in store for you, and thank you for sharing some of these really important thoughts about the power of taking a sabbatical.

Zac Linton (32:18):
Yeah, amen. God bless you. Can we close with the word of prayer?

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (32:22):
Please go for it.

Zac Linton (32:23):
Yeah. Father, I just thank you for those who are watching. If somehow you’re watching this and you’re either on the fence or a churchgoer, but you haven’t given your life to Christ, just say yes to him right now. Say, Jesus, I want to make you my Lord and Savior. I believe you died for me and Rose again. I repent and put my life into your hands, and God will guide you. Find a church, get a Bible. If you need resources, please reach out to Daniel’s ministry, or if you’d like to reach out to mine, we’d love to help you. And Father, for everyone else, God, we just release encouragement specifically to anybody in ministry, Lord, any leaders, any associate pastors, worship leaders, pastors, evangelists, missionaries, whoever, business leaders, God who just feel discouraged, who feel like they’ve been fighting an uphill battle with little support.

(33:07):
God, I just pray in the name of Jesus for a breaking to take place for a wave of encouragement. God, I pray you will show them where and if they may have gotten stuck somewhere, Lord, release this revelation that you are the God of rest. Lord, your word says that you give rest to your beloved Lord. Your word says that as we wait upon you, we will renew our strength. So we just speak a renewing of strength. We rebuke discouragement, we rebuke fear. We rebuke every lie. The devil that would try to take you out because you are needed in the end time. Army of God, you are important and you’re not important because of your performance. You’re important because you’re a son, because you’re a daughter of the most high God. So Father, we give you the honor and the praise, Lord, we say, let your work continue throughout America, throughout the nation. Scott, thank you for Daniel and his ministry as well. Lord, I pray for an overflow. God, I pray for the funding, the resources, the team, and the expansion, Lord, in the years ahead of souls, and we give you the honor and the praise, Lord, in Jesus name. Amen.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (34:03):
Amen. Thank you, Zac. Appreciate it.

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Giles Stevens | Church Multiplication in Brazil

Giles Stevens is the evangelism pastor for a huge network of churches in Brazil. His goal as an evangelist is to equip the saints to do the work of the ministry. You will be amazed as you listen to his story about how the church grew from 70 people to tens of thousands.

Learn more about Giles Stevens: https://gilesstevens.com/

Learn more about the church GIles Stevens is part of: https://www.igrejavideira.com.br/

Buy the book about “The Eleventh Question”

Transcript:

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (00:00):
Welcome to the Evangelism Podcast. I’m Daniel King and I’m excited about telling people about Jesus. Today I have a very special guest with me, Giles Stevens from Great Britain now in the great nation of Brazil. Thank you for joining me today,

Giles Stevens (00:15):
Daniel, a joy to be with you. Thanks for having me.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (00:18):
Alright, you are passionate about evangelism. Tell me a little bit about your testimony and how God has brought you to where you are now.

Giles Stevens (00:27):
Well, I’m the first believer in my family. I like to say I got saved by mistake. I was looking in all the wrong places for life and for adventure. I’d rather thrown out the idea of Christianity as a young teenager because of my rather negative sort of traditional church experiences. And so I went to look for life and adventure outside of the church and that took me down all sorts of wild and paths and so forth. But thank God in his rich mercy, he sent along a couple of nice friends of friends who preached Christ to me and it kind of tricked me up, woke me up, brought me out of my lost state and showed me what life was all about, where told me the truth. And it just radically changed my life. And I think the fact that I’d come from a family where we didn’t know Christ personally and didn’t have that relationship and the fact that I suddenly realized there was an eternal realm and the decisions we make here during our lives affect where we spend our eternity.

(01:29):
I kept thinking to myself, well, how come nobody’s ever told me this before I could have died and if I’d have died, where would I be today? And so in a sense, I became a natural evangelist. I just thought there would be thousands, millions of people out there just like me who had no idea about these eternal consequences and destinations who’ve never heard. And so I just began. Once I was saved and knew the Lord, I just thought, boy, I’ve got to tell everybody else. So I preached at everything that moved. That’s how it started.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (01:56):
So you definitely have the call to be an evangelist on your life. And now you’re living in the nation of Brazil. How did you end up going to Brazil?

Giles Stevens (02:06):
Well, I married the girl.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (02:09):
Where’d you meet?

Giles Stevens (02:10):
Well, my wife, who is Brazilian as I’m indicating, she had won a scholarship to go and study in a Bible school in London, a place called the International Bible Institute of London, run by the quite well-known church, Kensington Temple. And so she was there and I was a full-time evangelist traveling around London at the time and other places with a big gospel tent and putting it up in downtown parks and using music and test me and other things to bring people in. And then preaching, there was no tomorrow to the crowds. And her church brought in the whole tent and all the equipment. I noted her in the kind of gang of young people. But being a classic Englishman, we have this slight reserve on us. So you shouldn’t really in decent society introduce yourself. So I saw this girl wanted the local pastor to introduce me and he didn’t. And so in the end, at the end of this mission, I went away having seen her thought, well she looks lovely and she’s full of the spirit and there’s something different about her. But I didn’t get introduced. But interestingly, a year later I was in a Reinhard Bonky fire conference in Birmingham and I saw her again. And thankfully by then I had more kingdom culture than British culture and I thought, I’m not going to miss my chance. Second time round,

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (03:34):
God is the God of a second chance he brought her back.

Giles Stevens (03:37):
So I made a beeline for her.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (03:39):
Oh well that is a good place to meet your wife at a Reinhardt Bonky fire conference. I know you know that here is someone who loves Jesus.

Giles Stevens (03:47):
Well that’s right. People who go to those fire conferences, they have to have a certain are type of believer. They love the fire, they love evangelism. And so I like to say it’s a good place to find a partner better than the pub.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (04:01):
Alright, so you met her, you got married, how many years have you been married now? 23. Wow, congratulations. And she’s from Brazil, so you ended up going to Brazil with her?

Giles Stevens (04:14):
Yeah, we married in England. And so it was only really after our marriage that we went down to Brazil to meet the extended family. And we have completely different upbringings. And this is one of the challenges, but also one of the exciting things about our relationship is I was brought up, my father was a general in the British Army. I went to private schools, studied at Oxford, been traveling around the world ever since. My youth,

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (04:43):
A classic British gentleman. Well,

Giles Stevens (04:47):
I trying to be, be gentle. Anyhow, Sylvia, in contrast, she was brought up out on a ranch in the back end of nowhere. I think you Americans, if you can picture in your mind the little house on the prairie, then you’ve pretty much got how Sylvia was raised. She’s the oldest of four girls. Her father and mother had this ranch literally miles and miles away from the big city. And they were brought up without electricity, without a car, without telephones. They would go to town once a week in a horse and cart to go to church and buy a few supplies. And she tells these incredible stories about how sometimes in rainy season to get to town you’d have to cross rivers and if if it had risen through the rain, they would have to sort of camp by the river until it had gone down so that they could cross over in their cart.

(05:39):
And so it was completely different upbringing. But as I’ve often said to young single people who are looking and praying about their married marriage partner, I’ve said, look, it’s not the past that counts. It’s the destination, your future that counts. Scripture says how can two walk unless they are agreed. And so when you’ve got a similar vision, a similar heart, a similar passion, then I believe that partnership can be a success. And thankfully, like we were talking about Sylvia being in a fire conference for evangelists, I knew that’s somebody with a similar vision. So it’s been a great, great marriage.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (06:16):
And what city are you living in? Brazil?

Giles Stevens (06:20):
Well, it’s a place that nobody knows and nobody can pronounce even if they know it well, certainly us foreigners. It’s called Goya. And it’s actually a large city, 1.5 million. So it’s big, but it’s kind of, it’s cowboy country. So people think when they think of Brazil, they either think Amazon or they think of Rio de Janeiro and the beaches kind of carnival football on the beaches. So we are more than a thousand kilometers inland, if you know where brazilia is, a couple of hours drive from there, right in the heart of Brazil below the Amazon and to the east of the Panol, which is the equivalent of our Everglades or your Everglades. And it’s a lovely region, beautiful countryside, jolly hot, but great place to be. Goana itself has no tourist attractions apart from an old zoo where there’s zebra that’s lost its stripes, there’s a lion who’s forgotten how to roar. And an old bear who strolls around. That’s our only tourist attraction. But Ang is not known for a tourist center. It’s known for something much more superior. And that is the move of God that’s happening there. It’s an extraordinary, it’s a city of revival.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (07:29):
Wow. Tell me about the revival.

Giles Stevens (07:32):
Well, I mean my experience mean in general. I can tell you about Brazil. I mean, it’s just extraordinary really what’s happened over the last 20, 30 years. I mean, Pentecostal, the Pentecostal missionaries came in and we’re here at an evangelist conference. So these sorts of conversations we’ve been having. But Swedish Pentecostals came in 112 years ago to the Amazon and started that sort of whole Holy Ghost move. But it didn’t really take off numerically until the last 20, 30 years. And so we’ve seen multitudes coming to the Lord in a general sense. I mean literally millions and millions, remembering that Brazil is a country of 230 million people. So that’s a big, big country. But I’ll give you more of the context with the network of churches with whom I’m based and principally work for, even though being an evangelist, I’m a kingdom man. So we started that church, which has now grown into a large network. About 24 years ago, I joined up with one of Sylvia’s youth pastors, my wife’s youth pastors, who had started this new church with a group of people, 70 people in a garage or on a veranda. And now that church is over 30,000 people.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (08:51):
And what’s the name of the church in port in

Giles Stevens (08:53):
Portuguese? It’s called Reja Viera, which translates directly as the Vine Church. The Vine Church. So we’ve now got over a thousand churches. And

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (09:01):
So there’s many branches all over Brazil.

Giles Stevens (09:03):
Yeah, I mean originally we just, the growth is so organic, the thing just kept growing and growing. And then before we knew it,

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (09:15):
Well, if you name your church the vine, you figure it kind of spreads. We used to have a vine on our house and it would cover the entire thing. And so I think that’s a good name for a growing church. Yeah,

Giles Stevens (09:25):
I agree. I agree. I agree. It’s very biblical John 15. Of course. Yeah. But we did mean we were intentional as well. I mean some of the growth came just because people would get saved, become a member. And we have quite a strong church culture. So the people who sort of like what we teach and the way we do church, we’re a cell church. We have a lot of encounter weekends, and it’s a very busy active church full of young people. And so people who have been in that environment, if they get moved to another city for, I dunno, work or something else, they tend to, because of the culture they carry, they love having church at home as well as in a big building. So they’ll automatically start a group at home, a cell group. And so we just found these new groups growing up in other cities as well. And then we thought, well, we better send a trained pastor or a leader down there to help them. And suddenly we found that we had a network and then we did become a bit more intentional saying, well, let’s get a church into every one of the capitals of each state that 26 states. And then we thought, well, let’s get a church into every city with over 200,000 and so on and so on. And now we’ve become actually a growing international movement as well.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (10:31):
Wow, that’s amazing. And so tell me your position and what you do.

Giles Stevens (10:37):
Well, I kind of wear two hats really. I’m on the one hand an evangelist, and that’s really my principal.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (10:46):
The reason I’m asking this question is because a lot of evangelists who listen to the podcast are wondering how do they fit into the local church? Not every church makes a place for the evangelist, but I think an evangelist really needs to be part of a church and plugged in doing evangelism as part of a local church using their gifts. So how has that worked in your life? Well, I

Giles Stevens (11:11):
Think I really agree with you, and it’s not only good for the evangelist, it’s good for the church. It’s a two-way thing and it’s good for the family of the evangelists. You can’t just be out there on your own all the time. You should be in a community of believers. And in a sense, I mean I’ve always operated like this. My call as an evangelist is principally to my local church or to the group of local churches with whom I’m based. But obviously evangelists are kingdom people as we referred to earlier because we’re preaching the gospel to get people saved and to join a church. So we work with other churches as well. But for me, I think every evangelist needs to champion the local church. Christ is coming back for the church, it’s the church that will be raptured, the church is his bride.

(11:57):
And so the idea of having, even if you have a parachurch organization, you’re not building up that organization. You’re actually using your parachurch organization, your charity, your not-for-profit to build the local church. And I think pastors, they’ve had an uneasy relationship with evangelists over the years. They perhaps felt threatened by them or they feel that they might be pulling their flock away. But I think if evangelists express that and show that pastor I’m here to do a campaign so that your church grows so that new families come in, then obviously pastors are going to open up their hearts and their doors to them as well. So yeah, it’s always been a passion of mine. And I think also that coming back to the way we do church is that as Ephesians four says, the primary purpose of a five-fold ministry gift is to equip the saints to do the work of the ministry. So yes, I do campaigns, big campaigns, but actually I spend just as much time, if not more time training all the believers to be evangelists as well, all the believers to share their faith.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (13:05):
Yeah, that’s so much an important part of what the evangelist is called to do. So you said you wear two hats. One is the evangelist and are you saying the other one is the equipper or you have another hat? Yeah,

Giles Stevens (13:18):
Well yes, we might have a few hats here. We start breaking this down. But what I wanted to say was I do run an evangelistic association. It’s called the Great Mission, and that is to serve the body of Christ and the local churches at large. So I am an evangelist doing that within the Vine Church itself, I’m part of a presbytery or an apostolic team. I kind of serve as the director of evangelism. And so I train all the members of those churches. I prioritize that multiplying my own gifting and giving them tools and strategies so that they can be fruitful as well.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (13:58):
And so what does that training look like? Often in church, people want to do something for God and they have a heart to share their faith with others, but they don’t really know what to say or what to do. So in the Brazilian context of where you are, how do you equip believers to share their faith?

Giles Stevens (14:19):
Well, it’s great question. I really like that it’s right at the heart of what I feel like I’m called to do. I think firstly, local churches need to have a structure which allows them members to be sharing their faith and encourages them. It’s one of the reasons I really believe in cell groups where it’s not just now the pastor who’s doing the preaching because in cell groups, all the members of the church and that cell group can get involved in preaching and starting their own groups and so forth. So you are sharing what you’ve received, you are teaching what you’ve learned. And I think that produces healthy growth in the individual believer as well. If the believer is just receiving, then in a sense he grows lazy. If he’s just giving, then he’ll dry out. But you’ve got to be having both sides receiving and giving learning and teaching.

(15:08):
So we need to have church structures where that can happen. But as you rightly say, often people have a heart to win. Others, they just dunno how to start the conversation. They dunno what to say, they dunno how to do it. And so I think one of the things that the Lord has anointed me or gifted me to do is to create tools and strategies that help ’em to do that. And Daniel, you know how it is the evangelist as a character, one of the characteristics, the traits of an evangelist normally is that he’s quite extroverted. He preaches with ease. He burns all the time to share the gospel. And that’s great, but not all believers are like that. Like I say, a genuine believer, somebody who’s born again has a new nature, they’re going to have a heart to see others saved. Of course we are, but they perhaps just dunno how to take that step.

(16:02):
And so one of the things I’ve done is produce tools or materials that help people to share. Back in 2008 now I launched, or 2007 I launched a strategy called the 11th Question, a little booklet I’d spent some time with Reinhard, actually this is an interesting story. And he’d been down to us, he’d come and visited and preached in our conference and he was talking about in those days, I think his vision was to win 50 million people for Christ. Now we were really, really growing. We were really growing. I mean our churches were exploding, but when he started talking about the millions, it kind of makes you feel like you’re doing nothing in comparison. And I remember just lying on my bed after he’d been there and I’m just wrestling it out with the Lord. I’m thinking, Lord, I’m excited about winning 5,000 and he’s winning 50 million.

(16:53):
I said, I’ve got the same Bible as him, the same spirit as him. There’s something wrong here. And I felt like the Lord said to me, Giles, it’s one thing to have a vision, it’s another thing to have a strategy. I think we all tend to have a vision of winning our generation for Christ or something like that. But you’ve got to go beyond the vision and actually have a strategy in place that then fulfills the vision. And it was clear that Reinhard had his strategy of big crusades and all this kind of stuff. So I prayed that through and I felt like the Lord said to me to do two things, write a book for believers to equip them to share their faith, but also write a little booklet for unbelievers so that they can hear about Christ in a dynamic way. And I mean, if you think about it as well, you go to a Christian book shop, there’s pretty much nothing written for the unbeliever.

(17:44):
It’s all for the believer. And that’s got to be wrong because we are the salt and the light of this earth. So anyhow, I wrote this booklet called The 11th Question, A Spiritual Self-Evaluation Test. There are 11 questions, you have to answer those questions. The 11th is the most important, and the way you answer the 11th will determine your future. And what I did, it’s a little booklet with these 11th questions in, and we equip believers to share those 11 questions with friends. Now what happened was, this is back in 2007, I equipped 10,000 believers to do this test with seven people over the course of one month. So we evangelized 70,000 people in one month and we baptized at the end of it, 3000 on a day. So that was the beginning of this.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (18:29):
That’s like the day of Pentecost, 3000 people getting saved in one day.

Giles Stevens (18:33):
Well, we’ve gone beyond that. I then launched more recently another little booklet called Seven Good Things that maybe you Don’t know, same kind of idea. Because remember what I’m doing is I’m helping believers witness to their friends, to their neighbors, to their colleagues. So it’s not me doing the big preach. I mean, I do do the crusades and things, but this is getting the body to do it.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (18:55):
So let’s talk about the 11th question. What are some of those questions that people are trained to ask?

Giles Stevens (19:00):
You have to buy the

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (19:00):
Book to find out now is it on Amazon? Yeah, it’s on Amazon. We’ll put a link on the podcast so people can find the book The 11th question. But tell me some of the questions. No, I won’t.

Giles Stevens (19:12):
I

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (19:13):
Really won’t. The thing is,

Giles Stevens (19:15):
Like I say,

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (19:15):
Because otherwise it

Giles Stevens (19:16):
Takes the kind of thunder out of it.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (19:18):
I mean, I’ve got a book, but I only got three questions in my book. You’re much more complex money. I just get them there much quicker. I’ll tell you some

Giles Stevens (19:25):
About my last one called The Seven Good Things. And that’s been really effective, which we launched just before the pandemic. And interestingly, when the quarantine came for us evangelists, most of us turned like tigers in a cage. We didn’t know what to do with ourselves. We love being out there doing crusades. You can’t have big gatherings. And I just was praying about, I just thought, Lord, what do we do? I just refuse to let not just kind of regulations shut me down, but also that kind of spirit of fear that was in the air, that everybody

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (19:56):
Was afraid

Giles Stevens (19:57):
That they were going to die and so forth. And I felt that classic story of David and Goliath. Saul ran from the Giant, but David ran at The Giant and I just thought, I’ve got to run at this thing. I’ve got to do something sort of bold and courageous at a time like this. And so I created a network on WhatsApp and for a hundred days I challenged this big network, thousands of young people to share their faith with one person every day for a hundred days. And I gave them different things to do. But one of the things was this booklet called Seven Good Things that Maybe You don’t know. And they would share these messages. And so some of those things, I’ll tell you those no matter who you are, you are much loved another one. No matter what you’ve done, there’s forgiveness available. I’m a real good news preach. I believe that Jesus Christ came as a friend of sinners to tell them the good news that their sins had been forgiven through his blood and by the

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (20:56):
Cross. And so over the course of those a hundred days, what were some of the miracles that you saw? Well,

Giles Stevens (21:01):
I mean the biggest miracle as we evangelists will say, is the miracle of salvation. And so actually at the end, it was in October, beginning of October during the pandemic, we baptized 10,000 people in a day.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (21:12):
Wow, that’s amazing.

Giles Stevens (21:14):
And that was in swimming pools and lakes and rivers and seas. Anywhere there was water because we couldn’t gather them together. We had this online meeting through YouTube and so forth, and all the different churches and places, the cities that were holding these events were baptizing. So we ran at the Giant.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (21:32):
Wow, what a miracle. Let’s talk about the spiritual atmosphere in Brazil. What do you see God doing in the nation of Brazil?

Giles Stevens (21:41):
Yeah, I mean we really have to talk about that because again, the tendency when we think about church growth and winning souls is to immediately go to strategy. But I think it was moody or one of these guys said, it’s not so much how you present the gospel, just make sure you present it hot. It’s got to be anointed, it’s got to be full of fire and life. And really, if you’re full of fire and life, it doesn’t really matter what sort of strategy you use. I mean, I teach young people these days. I say, look, be filled with the Holy Spirit and then do whatever you like because if you’re filled with the Holy Spirit, life is going to flow through you. So we work, how can I say? We’re very conscious, I suppose, as church leaders of creating spiritual atmosphere, culture, a revival culture.

(22:30):
And so I almost want to talk in tongues. So difficult to put into words this, but you’ve got to have that atmosphere where people are just going after God, where the presence of God is liberated and manifesting the whole time, and a fire will naturally go out unless it’s fed. And so we see that as well. It’s very easy for a move of God to stop very easy unless you make a personal decision. I think this is one of the roles of a church leader. You make a decision that your meetings, your church, whatever you do is you don’t accept anything but a manifestation of the presence of God. Whether it’s in a prayer meeting, a Sunday church, a crusade, an encounter weekend. We are going to pray to have that presence. We’re going to preach. Until we get that presence, it just becomes our life source. We need the living water. Because of that, there’s life manifesting. And of course growth comes because of life. Most people go after growth. I always say, no, no, go after the spiritual atmosphere and growth will be the result.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (23:37):
Wow. I know you’re a very proud father. Your son is at Oral Roberts University right now. My friend Rubens Konya took him over to Ethiopia for a crusade. And so God doesn’t just call individuals, he calls families. Talk to me about balancing family life and ministry life.

Giles Stevens (24:00):
Well, yeah, I mean that’s really interesting. Again, I’m really enjoying your questions, Daniel. We are a missionary family. I’ve got four children. Titus is the oldest, so 21, 19, 18, and 15 little girl at 15. And so let me say it like this. Sometimes you hear Christians say, God, first, family second, ministry third or those kinds of things. But I’ve never seen it like that. For me, it’s all one thing. So it’s not just about Daddy Giles being the minister and everybody else following me. No, we’re a ministry family, we’re a family of priests. We are all in this together. And so also for us, church isn’t a building, church is a body of Christ. And so we’re just as much in church at home as a family as we are if we’re in a pulpit somewhere. And I think that atmosphere and that way of life has just meant that what the gift and the call of God on my life has just been naturally spontaneously shared with the children.

(25:03):
And so they are all involved in the ministry with me. I mean, I was listening to a message that Titus preached the other day, and I had to post it on a pastor’s group. I just had to, on a WhatsApp group that I’m part of, I said, just listen to this coming from a 20 year old boy. Because what he preaches in this message, I think is wiser and more anointed than most ministers I’m hearing who’ve been in the ministry for years. And I don’t say that as a proud father. I’m just trying to say that when you’re brought up in revival and it’s just in you from the get-go, then it just sort of gushes out, doesn’t it? And so it’s just been a joy. Obviously, they’ve all got slightly different and giftings and so forth, but all of them are just full of the Holy Ghost. That’s great.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (25:52):
That’s awesome. What advice would you give to a young evangelist who really wants to be used by God?

Giles Stevens (26:00):
Well, yeah, really good question. Again, boy, you’ve done this before, haven’t you?

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (26:06):
You’re my 290th interview on evangelism. Fine. Yeah. Have I got anything new to say? No, it’s good. I mean, it’s so neat seeing how God uses different people, different personalities. There’s so many different methods of evangelism, but God is so wonderful. He uses all of us. Yeah, yeah. I mean

Giles Stevens (26:25):
Advice to a young evangelist is if it burns in your heart, preach it. I started out pretty shortly after I got saved. I remember reading the scripture that Saul, who became the Apostle Paul, he preached Christ immediately. The scripture says in the synagogues immediately after his conversion. So he didn’t hang around to start sharing about Christ. And I think when you’re faithful with the little, God will give you much. And so you can see how Paul’s revelation just grows and grows and grows. He was constantly giving out what he’d received. So I think there’s a principle there. If you’ve been anointed, to be honest, if you’ve got saved, start talking about it, start testifying. At least that’s what we’re empowered to do by the Holy Spirit. But I think really, if you’ve got a call to the full-time ministry and you dream of the multitude, so to speak, I think probably the best thing you can do is something rather like Elijah did with Elijah, serve a man of God, a more experienced evangelist.

(27:25):
Because there’s a certain amount you’re going to learn in the classroom, and obviously you’re going to learn through your own relationship with the Lord principally and the study of the scripture. But so much is transferred in that discipleship process when you’re actually under the authority and you’re serving a man of God who’s already doing it. There’s just lessons there that you wouldn’t get anywhere else. And I again like to teach on that particular story in the Old Testament that scripture gives detail and it says that Elisha, he poured water on the hands of Elijah. And I read that and I thought, that’s really strange that it would say that, but it’s clear that the detail is in the scripture, I think, to show us that if he was doing the menial tasks of just even helping Elijah Elijah wash his hands before dinner, that really meant that he was disposed to serve his master in any possible way that he could be helpful.

(28:21):
Remembering that, of course, Elisha was a rich young farmer, and so he was the rich young ruler, let’s say, who gave up everything unlike the rich young ruler who Christ called and went away. So he served this rather strange prophet. He saw the anointing of God upon him. So if you’re a young guy, then you kind of need to let go of sometimes of your natural world and your natural relationships and get around somebody who’s really anointed, but serve them in practical and menial ways. And you see, this is the glory of this revelation is that as Elijah poured water on the hands of Elijah, what he didn’t realize perhaps at the time was that Elijah was pouring spiritual water upon the head of

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (29:08):
Elijah. I love that story. And then one of the most tragic stories in the Bible is the next one of Gaze who was called by God, I think, to be the next prophet of Israel, but failed his test, and he was serving Elisha, but then for a little bit of money in a few sets of clothes, he gave up his anointing in his bad trade dollars because he didn’t know that being a servant is just a stepping to the destiny that God has for you.

Giles Stevens (29:43):
Yeah. Sold himself out. Oh, dear.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (29:46):
Tragic. I’m going to put a link to your book on the podcast, but do you have a website, a way that people can connect with you?

Giles Stevens (29:59):
Yeah. The ministry that I run, the evangelistic ministry I run is called The Great Mission. Put a.org on the end of that, and you’ll find us or Giles Stevens, old English name, G i l e s, Giles Stevens with a v.com. You can find me there and you’ll find materials. Like I said, my heart is very much to equip and empower others. I’ve often said, what’s best? One guy speaking to a thousand or a thousand preachers speaking to their multitude. So I’m very much about helping not just teach, but giving other young evangelists and teachers and preachers and pastors sermons to preach and strategies to use so that you can be fruitful in your own life.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (30:42):
My passion. Well, thank you so much for being on the Evangelism Podcast. I appreciate

Giles Stevens (30:46):
It. Daniel, it’s a joy. Thank you for receiving Titus when he’s been to help you as well and your crusades, and I

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (30:52):
Hope we can, he’s a blessing. Hope

Giles Stevens (30:53):
We can do more together.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (30:54):
Thank

Giles Stevens (30:54):
You. Bless you.

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Hans Martin | Evidence of Faith

Hans Martin has been leading people to Jesus in Burkina Faso and Mali. He is on the board of the Association of Campaign Evangelists. This network of evangelists has ministered in over 80 village campaigns in Burkina Faso. During the time this ministry has taken place the percentage of Christians has in Burkina Faso has grown from approximately 2% to 11%. Today Hans Martin helps to lead Evidence of Faith (Troens Bevis), the evangelistic ministry started by the famous Norwegian evangelist Aril Edvardsen.

Learn more about Evidence of Faith: https://evidenceoffaith.org/

Transcript:

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (00:00):
Welcome to the Evangelism Podcast. I’m Daniel King and I’m excited about telling people about Jesus. Today I have a very special guest with me, Hans Martin, thank you for being on the Evangelism Podcast.

Hans Martin Skagestad (00:10):
Thank you for having me.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (00:12):
Now you’ll have to tell me how do you pronounce your last name?

Hans Martin Skagestad (00:14):
Yeah, ska Gestad. In English it would be like SCAD or something like that. So I don’t usually when I’m out, I never use my last name. I usually just use my two first name Hans Martin.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (00:29):
And so we are sitting on the historic grounds of a great Norwegian evangelist. Tell me about him and what he did in this place.

Hans Martin Skagestad (00:40):
Yeah, this is the base that was built and founded by Evangelist Aril Edvardsen. It started in 1960 where God called him to have a worldwide mission organization. So that’s where we are. It’s a small place in Norway called Quinol. It only lives maybe around two, two and a half thousand people here, but it’s being become a big center of Christians all over. Scandinavia has come to this place to be inspired to go to Bible schools and sent out to preach the gospel all over the world and also this organization. And through the work during these 60 years that the organizations have reached out to millions of people all over the world.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (01:30):
It’s seeped in history here. It is so wonderful to be in a place where revival has gone out all over the world. And we’re actually here for a conference with the Association of Campaign Evangelist Ace, and you’re one of the board members for the organization. And we’ve actually met in many different countries. Last year we were in Turkey together and we are here with campaign evangelists who have a heart for preaching the gospel. And you have spent a lot of time going to different nations around the world and preaching the gospel. Tell me about some of the countries that you focused on and what God’s done there.

Hans Martin Skagestad (02:13):
So I have been traveling to many different countries having campaigns. I think I’ve been to preaching in maybe around 60 countries the last 13, 14 years. But there are some countries that I have had my main focus on when it comes to campaigns and crusades. And that’s two of them are Burkina Faso and Molly, that I have spent most of my time the last years having campaigns there. Yeah, so Burkina Faso is the main focus together with Molly.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (02:46):
And so over the years, how many campaigns has Ace done in Burino Faso?

Hans Martin Skagestad (02:55):
Yeah, it’s around 75 to 80 I think. Somewhere between that we have had in Burkina Faso the last, I think it’s 20 years and I have had 35 myself since 2012. So we’ve really had a great impact. And what you can see with Burkina Faso, it’s quite interesting, is that for 20 years ago there was around 2.5 Evangelical Christians in Burkina Faso, and now it’s around 11, 11 and a half percent evangelical Christians in Burkina Faso. It’s not only the work with the campaigns that we have done with Ace and my organization and others, but it is several things that happened. But it’s actually a great revival in Burkina Faso especially to see when Burkina Faso has been a troubled country with a lot of terrorism, unstable politicians situation. And also to see how Burkina Faso is the second country with most terror attacks in 2022. It’s only Afghanistan that had more terror attacks than Burkina Faso.

(04:05):
But still in that environment the gospel is growing and there is a great revival happening. So for me that’s really inspiring to see that we can sometimes look at the environment and we think, oh, it’s tough, especially in Europe. And I would guess it’s the same in America. We look at the environment and the politician situation and we think, oh, it’s difficult, but God is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow and power of God is shaking nations. And that is what we see in Burkina Fa. And we have seen thousands of people giving hundreds of thousands of people giving their life to Christ. And it’s really, really inspiring and to see in these difficult situations how God is working. And we also work very closely with what we call local missionaries. We support local missionaries because we plant churches. We have planted hundreds of churches in Burkina Faso the last 20 years. And it’s amazing what’s happening there. And most people have never heard of Burkina Faso, but it’s actually a country with 23 million people. And it’s amazing to see what God is doing in these nations.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (05:16):
I really love the strategy that you have had for Burino Faso because over the years doing over 70, 80 campaigns in one country, you’re able to systematically go from village to village to village. And so some of the campaigns aren’t huge, but you go to a small village and for that village, it’s the biggest thing that’s ever happened in that place. And so talk to me some about the strategy and the process of what you’re hoping to accomplish. Yeah,

Hans Martin Skagestad (05:51):
The goal or the thinking we had was that we want to go to new places. We want to go to places where there have never been a gospel campaign where maybe even where they’ve never been preached the gospel before. And we did that when we started 20 years ago. What we see now, it’s quite interesting, is that we have been now to between 70 and 80, 80 cities around and villages around in Burkina Faso and some of what was a village 20 years ago is now become a big city because the growth of the population. So when we were there 20 years ago, maybe there was 20,000 people. Now it’s 150,000 people in the village. So we actually now also we’re thinking of maybe some of the village that we have to go back to because they have grown so much and they’re a new generation. But also our thinking is that we want to go to together with our local that we work with, we say that we want to go to every city and village in Burkina Falls. So that’s our goal. About

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (07:00):
How many would that be? Oh,

Hans Martin Skagestad (07:01):
That’s thousands. So also

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (07:04):
You’re really only just getting started.

Hans Martin Skagestad (07:06):
But the thing is that we don’t see that we have to go to all these thousands of, I think it’s 2000 villages and cities that have never been preached in Burkina Faso. So we are not thinking that we have to go to all that, but we also train that what we use also the local missionaries, the local evangelists, we want them to go out to these villages and preach and have their own mini campaigns in the small villages. So when I say between 70 and 80 campaigns that we have had, that’s the people in Ace. But if we take the local missionaries that will be hundreds more that has had campaigns. So we want to be really strategic in what we do because we believe that it’s important for the nation. And we work also very closely with the local denominations and we never plant our own churches where we plant through the local denominations.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (08:06):
So I pulled out my calculator here and you said there’s 24 million people in Burino Faso. And so 24 million times 24 million, hold on. Times 0.025% would’ve been around 600,000 believers. And then over the last 20 years, it’s gone from about two and a half percent to

Hans Martin Skagestad (08:35):
Around 11 and a half to

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (08:36):
About 11 and a half. So I’m going to put these numbers in. We got 24 million times point 11 five. So now over 2,700,060 believers, 60,000 believers. And so over the course of 20 years, see almost 3 million people that now serve Jesus. I mean, it’s an amazing revival. I mean hardly anyone’s ever heard of what God is doing there. But when you think about it, over 2 million people giving their lives to Jesus, that is a great revival.

Hans Martin Skagestad (09:14):
You could put in a context if that happened in America, that almost 10% increase, that would be how money lives in America. America, like

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (09:23):
300 million, that

Hans Martin Skagestad (09:24):
Would be 30 million that got saved in 20 years. And same thing in Europe, it would be a revival that the newspapers would speak about and write about every day. But also what I think is good because it have been a quite tough Muslim country with a lot of terror attacks, a lot of things. I think also it’s good that in some way that it’s not opened the news and talked about what happened there because you have to, there can be tough times also for the locals we work with in some areas it’s quite tough, especially in the northern part and the eastern part has been very difficult the last years. But even to see now that there are happening so much, it’s really inspiring.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (10:14):
And then you’ve also been going, Tom, you have a great heart for Molly. I’ve been to Bamako, I think the capital there and I got to participate in a campaign there a few years ago. But many Muslims in Mali, yeah,

Hans Martin Skagestad (10:33):
It is totally different from Burkina Faso. In Mali, there are 0.66%, so less than 1% Christian Evangelical Christians. It’s a very, most of them are Muslims have some animists and so on. But most are Muslims. And what is quite strange when Mali is that Mali had had a lot of missionaries, a lot of mission work for a lot of years, but there is not happening a lot in Mali has been quite closed, quite, not so much happening, but what we have seen when we work with the locals to support locals, the fruits of it, it has been quite good. And also the campaigns, I usually, because also some of the challenges that a lot of mission work is happening in Bamako. You have a lot of Christians in Bamako, but not a lot of, most of the Christians are in Bamako. But when you go out of Bamako, there are not many Christians.

(11:38):
So I have had my main focus on the towns and the villages outside Bamako in the east and the west in the middle and in the north has been quite difficult because there have been very strict Islamic ruling system there. And also the UN soldiers have been there fighting with the is and Buko Haram and all these different Islamist groups. But to see also now we see in towns and in villages around Mali, there are happening. People are getting saved. We see thousands of people given their lives to Jesus, we planting churches. And so it’s really, really amazing to see.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (12:18):
I pray that in 20 years we will see another great success

Hans Martin Skagestad (12:22):
In Mali. Yeah, that’s my prayer because what you can see with the Malian people in the Burino Falls, so as they call themselves Burkina base, that’s what they call themselves. But what you see, they’re almost the same people. They’re very similar. They’re very, very alike. It’s like a Scandinavian, we say the Swedes and the Norwegians are quite the same people. We speak the same language and it’s the same, but you don’t see the same revival and the same impact that the Christianity has in Burkina as in Mali. But my prayer is that it will be a breakthrough in Mali. And I believe so. I believe that Mali will be the next nation that has a breakthrough in West Africa because it’s the border to the North Africa and it’s just the Sahara is on top of Mali, and then you go to North Africa, and I believe that revival will come in Mali. And that’s my prayer.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (13:21):
And so approximately how many campaigns have you done in Mali?

Hans Martin Skagestad (13:26):
In Mali, I have done, let me see, I just have to maybe 20, 25 campaigns in Mali. Yeah.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (13:37):
Wow. Now let’s talk about this ministry here. Tell me the name in Norwegian and then tell me what it means in English.

Hans Martin Skagestad (13:45):
The name is, and if you would just translate it straight on it’s evidence of faith.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (13:52):
And actually there is great evidence of faith right here. The founder Ariel Everett.

Hans Martin Skagestad (14:02):
Yeah.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (14:03):
He comes from this small village, less than 2000 people. And in the auditorium here, there’s room for over 2,500 people to pack it there. And so you build a bigger auditorium than for, but ever since the early 1960s, people have been coming here for revival every single summer. And so the focus of this ministry kind of talk to me about historically what’s been the focus of the ministry.

Hans Martin Skagestad (14:36):
The focus has started with and then always been our main focus is of course on reach. That’s the beginning. Reaching the unreached. Yeah, reaching the unreached. And then the next have always been through the local missionaries. Local evangelists. We’ve always been like a mission organization that focus on the local missionaries. And in the beginning that was a big discussion. A lot of Christian leaders didn’t like that because if you are a missionary, you have to be white, you have to be in teach in the right way, you have to be in this or that. But Arnold always thought that the best way is to send out the local missionaries. We have a saying that the local missionaries, they know the language, they know the culture and they like the food. And for us who have been traveled to many countries is not always, we know the language.

(15:29):
It’s not always, we understand the culture. And I can say it for myself, it’s not always, I like the food. So that’s what we’ve been thinking that to send out and give support to the local workers, it’s really important because we believe that of course we believe in western missionaries we believe to send people, but we believe also in helping the local ones. So that has been the main thing. And we have done a lot of things during the 60 years. We have had TV channel, we have one we call a correspondence course, a new Life that’s introduction to the Christian faith that was written in 1972 by our Ledson. And from 72 to now, there are 7 million people that has given their life to Christ through that correspondence course. So it has been one of the tools that we have used and the local missionaries have used. We use it often in our campaigns. So we give it to the people that comes. So they have an introduction now. In the beginning of course it was in paper, now we have an app and we use also digital things to use that correspondence course. And then of course campaigns also is a part of our ministry. We have done, I don’t know, hundreds of campaigns during the of ministry and also been important door opener into nations, into towns and into villages. So that’s also a part of what we have done,

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (17:11):
What a tremendous legacy. And just recently you were named to help lead the organization, which is you’re standing on the shoulders of spiritual giants, which is amazing, but you’re 36 years old. So what is that like to suddenly be given this mandate, this vision and you’re a steward of it, but then also looking to the future?

Hans Martin Skagestad (17:44):
It has been some ways also challenging because after Orel, there was his son Runa who took over the organization when he died. And he has been leading it for 15 years. He’s a totally different person than his father. And I think that’s a strong, strong thing. We say Norwegian, that he has not taken his shoes, his father’s shoes, but he’s walked in his own shoes, not trying to be his father, but to be himself. And this summer in our summer conference, I was prayed for and I was named the next leader, me and Runa will. And I’m very happy for that because we are going to lead it together for some years. And then I will take over after him. We don’t know how many years that will be. It can be two years, it can be five, but we’ll see. But for me it’s been really good because I think it’s good to have a good transitions.

(18:48):
And for me I think that’s really great. But of course I’m very humble in going into this leadership and to take over, as you said, I’m 36 years old, but for me it has been really important to, it’s about the calling. It’s not about necessarily the gift, all the gifting and all these things, but it’s the calling. And I have known this for many years that I’m going to be the successor or takeover after him. But we have talked about it maybe in five years. But for me, it have been a long process for me because this is a big organization. It has been have great impact in the whole country.

(19:37):
But I have felt like God has called me to do this and I think I’m really looking forward for the future. But as the question you ask, what I see in the future, to be honest, I see, I think it’s the same thing in America as it is in Europe. You see a generation growing up now that don’t know much about mission, at least they don’t know about reaching the unreached. And for me, I feel that’s probably my most important calling, is to really reach the next generation with mission, to get them to understand the importa of Jesus commandment, of going out to the nations and reaching those who have never heard about Jesus. Because I think we need generations growing up now, really going after the souls, after the unreached. So that’s probably what I see is the most important thing for me is to really reach the next generation.

(20:43):
Because like our organizations who have been 60 years, the last 10 years we really worked on, because we have our supporters. A lot of have been from the beginning when it started for six years. So we have had a lot of old supporters, but the last 10 years we have really changed and really reached younger supporters and that are connecting with our mission work. So that’s also one thing that I’m working on and spending a lot of time to, we have what we call partner churches. We partner with churches in Scandinavia, Scandinavia group. We also have some few in America actually that we work together with. And that’s also important because we really believe in the local church. We believe in the local church in Europe, in America, but we also believe in the local church in Africa, Asia where we work. So we really want to connect with the local church. That’s really important for us.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (21:42):
And so when someone chooses to support you, they’re helping to support missionaries in different countries, not Western missionaries, but national missionaries. And so what does that look like? How long would you support someone for how much does it cost to support someone in a nation in Africa? Yeah,

Hans Martin Skagestad (22:09):
So we usually say that we support a local missionary for five years. Then we want them to be self supported, that they have built a church or built the ministry so they can self-support themself. So we support them. But in some areas where it’s more difficult because there are different areas, some are tougher and in some areas they can have, in two years they can have a church for 200 people. In some areas they can be there for five years, but still the church is maybe 30 because it’s a tougher area. So some we also support longer, depends on the situation, but we always work with local leaders. We have a local leader in every country that we work together with, and he’s in charge of that country. And then we support through his ministry or her. We also have some women that are leaders in different countries.

(23:12):
So that’s how we work. We support locals. And it depends on the country how much it costs because we say that we don’t give them a Norwegian salary or American salary, but what we give is that so they can support themselves and their family with food and what they need. So we often go on the average salary in the country depends. In some countries it can be a hundred dollars in some it can be $70. Some countries $200 depends on the country and the costs of living in the country. So that’s very different. In China, it’s a totally different number than in Burkina Faso for

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (23:53):
Example. And you’re really focusing on the most on reach parts of the world.

Hans Martin Skagestad (23:59):
We work mainly in what we call the 10 40 window with the most unreached countries are the most unreached people groups are. So we work in those countries. So we have always done that. I think actually evidence of faith have worked in almost every country in the world now as maybe some few we haven’t been, but during our 60 years of history, we have been in almost every country. But now we work in 25 countries, I think it is that we work in now.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (24:32):
And approximately how many national missionaries would you support?

Hans Martin Skagestad (24:37):
We have 1,400 national missionaries around the world that we support.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (24:43):
That’s amazing. And I’m sure they’re seeing amazing fruit.

Hans Martin Skagestad (24:47):
Yeah, that’s the thing. If you take the last three years through both our local missionaries during and through our campaigns and the different work we do, the last three years, we have planted 6,000 churches the last three

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (25:06):
Years. So if someone is listening and they say, oh, I want to help support a national missionary, how can they get in touch with you? What’s your website?

Hans Martin Skagestad (25:18):
You can go to evidence of faith.org. That’s where you can find, contact us. If you are a Scandinavian, you can go to tones. But for those who are not speaking our Scandinavian language, it’s evidence of faith.org and you can read more about our work and you can contact us there.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (25:42):
Well, such an amazing ministry, such an amazing history here. And I believe that the best is yet to come. I think that the greatest harvest of souls in history is going to happen in just the next few years. And so we’ve seen great things happen in the past, but yet in the future I think we will see many more millions of people come into the kingdom of heaven.

Hans Martin Skagestad (26:08):
And I totally agree. And you can just see in the population growth of the world for us who are 60 years, if go 60 years back, the population has doubled almost. So the population growth in the world are great. So what we need is more workers. That’s why also I think local national workers are really important because we need more workers. We need also American workers, European workers. We need more workers out in the mission field. And what I think is very different, because sometimes I feel like I’m living in two worlds. You have the western world and you have what we do in Africa, Asia, north Africa, and all this. Often we don’t maybe see so much fruit in the Western world, we don’t see so many revivals, we don’t see a lot of people coming to Christ. But it’s a totally different thing in the 10 40 window and in Africa, Asia, because there are longing for the gospel. And it’s just a question, how many workers can we send? What it’s about? It’s to send more workers and to send out more workers because the harvest is great.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (27:23):
Yeah. Even Jesus said the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. We just need more laborers.

Hans Martin Skagestad (27:28):
We do that. We need that.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (27:30):
Yeah. Well, thank you so much for being on the Evangelism podcast. I appreciate

Hans Martin Skagestad (27:34):
It. Thank you so much to have me, Daniel.

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Harald Mydland | The Life & Legacy of Aril Edvardsen

During his lifetime, Aril Edvardsen was the most famous Scandinavian evangelist in the world. Today I interview Harald Mydland, who wrote a book about the history of this great evangelist. On today’s episode of the Evangelism Podcast, you will discover the exciting faith and visionary thinking of one of God’s heroes.

Read the Book: https://www.akademika.no/humaniora/teologi-og-religion/fra-sarons-dal-til-jordens-ender/9788230202708?popup=close

Transcript:

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (00:00):
Welcome to the Evangelism Podcast. I’m Daniel King and I’m excited about telling people about Jesus. Today I have a very special guest with me, Harold Midland. Thank you for being on the Evangelism Podcast.

Harald Mydland (00:12):
Thank you so much.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (00:13):
Now we are sitting in a very historic place in the nation of Norway. It’s a very small village. And help me with, what is the name of the village

Harald Mydland (00:24):
Kvinesdal

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (00:25):
Okay. And we are in the headquarters of a ministry of one of the greatest European evangelists who has ever lived. And so tell me about how this place got started and what God has done.

Harald Mydland (00:42):
His name was Aril Edvardsen and he was born in this place. He grew up as an ordinary kid, a young boy. And in the age of 17, 17 years old, he received Jesus. And he was saved in a very powerful way because he was supposed to go to see a movie at cinema. But a guy convinced him to come to a meeting in a local church. He came with him and was listening to the message. I think he was called by God listened to the message. And when they gave the altar call, he came forward. He gave his life to Jesus. And when he explained afterwards what happened, he said that he felt that God’s power hit him in such a powerful way that he understood if I let this happen to me, I will never be the same. It’ll be so. It was so powerful. It was so, he knew very well, I have to make a decision. Will I go for this or will I stop it to happen? So he surrender himself to Jesus. And he was born again in a very powerful way. And the same evening his wife were at the local hospital.

(02:05):
She had just given birth to the first child and she was laying in the room, ar came into the room and said, Curry, I have given my life to Jesus and you have to give your life to Jesus as well. And she was totally shocked. But he prayed for her and led her to Jesus the same evening. And

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (02:27):
Then so the first person he led to Jesus was his own wife, his

Harald Mydland (02:29):
Wife, his wife. And then very soon he started to preach in the local area. And God’s power were really over him. He was anointed in a powerful way. He was very bold. So he started to do campaigns in the local area, but the tent campaign, he had the tent oral, put it up many places and went around. And then in 1960, he was 21, 22 years old, came to my place, my church, my home place, just one hour from here by car. And he was, they called him to be an evangelist to staying in our church for four months. And then in March 26th of March, 1960, in the afternoon before he was supposed to have a meeting in the evening, he was staying in a room and God’s Holy Spirit came into that room. It was so powerful. He just laid down on the floor and go start to speak to him. I said, I call you to be a world evangelist, to go to the nations and you are going to do it by supporting and working together with local native people around the world. Very powerful. So the same evening, he decided to start support his first national evangelist in Brazil. And after that,

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (04:04):
So how did he know about the evangelist of Brazil?

Harald Mydland (04:06):
He found a paper, a Christian magazine. So he continued to preach. He also went also to Europe in a pioneer journey to see the mission field in Europe. He came back in 1961, but in 1962, something very special happened in a dream. One night he was dreaming and he saw himself in a dream walking up on a mountaintop close to this area. On the other side of the, well, there is a mountain top. He saw himself walking up on that mountaintop and he stood there watching and he saw this area. He saw this well in his stream. God showed him that. Well, it was like a journal at that time, many Ian bushes and nobody had thought about using it to anything. So God spoke to him and said, from this place, you’re going to put up a mission center and it’ll be a mission center to influence the whole world. It’ll be a place for the people in Scandinavia to come together in unity and to show Jesus Christ as a savior, but it’ll be a mission center to all the world from this place.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (05:20):
And so we’re talking about the place we’re sitting now. The place

Harald Mydland (05:23):
We’re sitting now in

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (05:24):
English, it’s called the Valley of Sharon. How do you say it in Norwegian. And it’s evidence of great faith because here in this place, there are more seats than there are people in the village. And so to make a place like this in a small village and to trust that God can fill the place, it shows that Ariel was an evangelist who had great faith.

Harald Mydland (05:50):
He had, it was not immense vision, it was not a vision. It was God’s vision given to him. And he really took it and made it his own. So the next day he went off to the mountain and saw the place and he saw the place. And then he went to, the two brothers owned the place. So he went to them and said, I want to buy your land. And he paid $3,000 at that time, a huge amount of money. I had no money. He had no money. He said when he said, I will pay it, give it, I will buy it and the money will come. So he started to give a magazine and write about it in a magazine. And people started to give. And he also came as volunteers because they made a first hall in the beginning. And they used it for many years, a small hall in the beginning. And the first summer convention took place in 1963. Not in this place because even was not prepared, they were not fulfilled. But 1963, there was some convention for the first time in the town, just over here. But from 1964, every year, one week, every year there has been an annual conference and get many people from many nations. But step by step earlier as written in my book, this is the story about, yeah, you have

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (07:14):
Really become the historian of the

Harald Mydland (07:17):
Movement. Yeah. This is the story about from year you can follow the work and the waves in a way, year by year, everything what happened, the main lines and also summary for each year, what happened. Now

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (07:30):
Your book is only in Norwegian.

Harald Mydland (07:32):
Yes. I’m sorry.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (07:34):
You must put it in English so that the English speaking world can hear the story because I think still this story has the power to inspire

Harald Mydland (07:43):
People. Yeah, it’s so inspiring by it because he has supported thousands after thousands of native workers. He has done crusades, he has done seminars and conferences. They started with radio, radio, Luxembourg. If some people know about radio Luxembourg, it was very famous radio. Many years ago, he started to broadcast on radio Luxembourg Evangelical message. Yes. And then step by step, he had his own radio work. And then after a while, television, when television came, he saw in the beginning there was only state television, only one channel. Not only all those channels we have today, but in the beginning only one channel. But God talked to him in Nairobi, in a hotel in Nairobi, 1970s, God spoke to him or eighties, God spoke to him and said, very soon mon, you say monopole, it’ll fall and he’ll be able to cover the world with the gospel using television. So he started to broadcast and he prepared and made a studio in this place below in the basement. And they were able to, Visian was to cover the world with the gospel from this place within two seconds, broadcast from here in two seconds all over the world. So he started, and from this place, they have been able to influence or impact almost all the world, more than 200 nations, radio, television campaigns, native workers, supporting them.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (09:26):
And so at the height of the ministry, how many native workers would they have supported?

Harald Mydland (09:36):
They have tens of thousands altogether. I think today they have, I’m not sure because I’m not follow it so close today, but they have thousands in many nations. They have very, and so

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (09:48):
Over the course of the ministry, tens of thousands. And what does that look like? Is it finding people that have just graduated from Bible school and helping them to go plant a church?

Harald Mydland (10:02):
The first thing is they need a calling. They need a passion. They need the calling from God to go out to raise the people in their own country. And then by that time got that vision. It was not common in Norway to support native workers. A missionary was a white man crossing the borders and coming to Africa or some places not using the natives. So he received a lot of opposition and doth because people didn’t believe in him or that kind of ministry. But it has proven itself so many times, very effective. And they have reached thousands, hundreds of thousands, even millions, and planted so many churches all over the world, very effective.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (10:50):
Wow. Talk to me about what he was like when he was preaching. What was the main message that he preached?

Harald Mydland (10:59):
I will call him. He was the Norwegian or the European Billy Grham. Very simple gospel message, simple to understand, but at the same time, very deep. But he was able to preach it very simple in a way like Jesus. He used the parables and all, used a very, very simple language. But he was not formal educated, but he was able to talk with any professor in so many, many topics because he read books. He was really clever. And so he had a simple gospel Methodist, very powerful. And he was very clever to preach it. And also at the seminars, this is a second part of his ministry, the seminars. I follow him, many masons. I listened to him and he gave his sermons and teaching at the seminars. And he was not only given a seminar seminar in a way, he gave you his passion. When you sit, you sat down and listened to him. You received the teaching. And then also his passion, his power, his anointing. At the same time, it was very special. It’s not always, you can listen to a person and you receive not only his words, but his life, his passions is everything. Very interesting. So he has been able to influence so many people all over the world, many, many times again and again with seminars, Africa, India, Pakistan.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (12:41):
So what were some of the countries where they had a great effort in

Harald Mydland (12:46):
Africa? Of course, many, many places. I was with him to Rwanda. We were in Malawi, many places. He supported people in Kenya for many, many years. Kenya is one of the main in Africa, but also in India, in Pakistan or China. Nowhere is the are in China. They have been in Vietnam. They are all over the Asia, Myanmar or Burma, Bangladesh, many, many places in Asia or in Africa, all over the world.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (13:21):
What were some of the things that he would say to people that would really connect with them? Do you remember a particular story or some of the things that he would say that would really inspire people?

Harald Mydland (13:39):
I think the main thing is the simplicity of the gospel. Because he was so centered on the cross of Jesus. He had many messages about the four persons close to his cross, Mary and Mary and all the four ladies. And they representing the four corners of the world. So he was so close and he was so concentrated on the cross of Jesus. So he’s preaching about Jesus. That was his main, that’s the power of the gospel of course. And he was very centered at the cross of Jesus, preaching Jesus up and down and describing everything. This is on the cross before the cross, all the pain. He went through all the suffering, everything. And he described everything and he was really painting it for you so you could follow it. You follow his steps and follow everything. So the cross of Jesus and the center of the gospel, that was all

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (14:40):
I heard. He had a very unique way of working with Muslims and building relationships with them. Talk to me about

Harald Mydland (14:49):
That. RG said that we have a common world, a common earth to share so we can cooperate with any person to make the world a better place for everybody. So he never spoke against any religion. He respected all the religions. He even wrote a book called Priests to the Kingdom where he described how you can approach Hindus, Buddhists, Muslims. So you have to know the culture, have to, he said many times you have to swim in the culture. You have to communicate with them in a nice way. So he had a passion, he had a capacity. He was so able to communicate with so many people. And I was with him several times. He arranged those peace conferences. Here we were in Pakistan, we had the Taliban people sitting in the conference. The extreme Muslims came to the conference because it was a peace conference. He was talking about peace and working together in unity, respecting each other, et cetera. And they sat down all these Taliban people and many extreme people came. And he did the same in many places in Africa as well call it peace work. And I was with him in 1998 when we went to Arafat to Gaza

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (16:22):
Erfa? Yes. Head of the Palestinian Authority.

Harald Mydland (16:25):
Yes. We went to his headquarter. We had some meetings in Israel and also in the Palestinian areas, GAA Bethlehem. We had a meeting in Bethlehem in the city center. And the mayor gave his love to Jesus where he was preaching. And then we went to Gaza. And while we were just walking on this beach, there’s a beach in Gaza, somebody called him from the office of aat, Joshua Rafat and invited us. We were 105 Scandinavian people in buses and a invited all of us to his office, the famous office. We came there and ar and Arafat, they sat together and Ariel spoke and said some words. And when we left that office, he went through the door and he took the hands of everybody and shake our hands. I know some of them felt a little bit, it was a little bit tough afterwards. We have shaken the hands of Arafat. But when I saw Arafat, I saw that little, he was in a way trembling and he didn’t look like he was 100% well. So I felt compassion with him in a way. This is the man who has terrified so many people. If we can say it, I dunno, we can say it on television, but when I saw him, I felt the compassion felt sorry for him.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (18:14):
And you come with peace.

Harald Mydland (18:17):
We came with

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (18:17):
Peace in the Prince of Peace.

Harald Mydland (18:19):
Yes, in the Prince of Peace. And we greet the people with peace.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (18:23):
And so evangelist er, he said he never wanted to retire. He wanted to go out with his boots on. Yes. And it turned out that that’s

Harald Mydland (18:32):
What happened. And what happened that happened, he went to Africa and he had a campaign outside Africa and it was the last campaign. And he was so tired, very tired. And he and his wife were supposed to have some days free off after the campaign, had to go to Mombasa. But he was so tired. And during the campaign several times he asked his son, Runa, who is in charge now, to come and take the article and take the finish of the meetings because he was so tired. But nobody was thinking that he was at come to the end of his life. But after the campaign on sbar, they went to Ka, went to Mombasa to spend some few days together before they came home. But during that day, the first day they said they made a summary, where are we now? What happened with our family?

(19:39):
And they were talking about all their grandchildren and the grand grandchildren and everybody. And they did a kind of a summary what have of their lives. But that night, that night after that, he suddenly became sick and Ka understood something is happening. So he died in Mombasa after that last campaign at Sanbar. Sorun was in Africa. Rooney son was in Africa. Kari called Ro and Rooney came to their place and he has talked about that many times. And also at summer conference this year, he came back to the same things that happened when he came to the place. When he saw his father laying in a terrible place. He saw his father there and die had died. And his mother stood at his side and car said to, can you feel what’s happens happening in the air? And Carl said, the calling is here.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (20:57):
The calling is

Harald Mydland (20:58):
Here. So you have to take over. The calling is still here. The calling to go to them. Well with a mission.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (21:06):
And so the ministry has continued to have a big impact around the world. And so Ariel has gone to heaven now. But talk to me about what the ministry continues to do today.

Harald Mydland (21:20):
Well, we can see it here today because the founder, Richard Gunney from Belfast, he founded Ace Association of Campaign Evangelist Lists in 2002.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (21:33):
Yeah, I read Richard Dunning’s autobiography. And he from Ireland came here and learned Norwegian went to Bible school here. And that was really the start of his ministry was being influenced

Harald Mydland (21:48):
By the ministry here. It was the start. And he came as a student at the Bible school, opened the Bible school in 1968. And through all the years there’s so many evangelists and pastors and leaders has attended the Bible school. So Richard Gunning came to the Bible school in the 1980s. And there was a man from Africa, from Kenya because by that time they sent two people from Kenya. They came here for free to the Bible school. And Peter Carrano was one of them. And Peter rha became good friends. Rich was able to talk Norwegian and understand Norwegian. So he was the interpreter for Peter when he came in of the teaching at the Bible school. And after they finished the Bible school, they felt the calling both of them to go back to Kenya and to establish that reached the unreached ministry. And they started that ministry over 25 years ago up to today.

(22:49):
They have now by their work they have been doing all these years, they have founded 1400 churches in Kenya. But it started here at the Bible School. And then something very interesting happened because I started to work here in 1998. In year 2000, I went to Kenya. I met Peter, I met many other persons. And then I said to Arle, when I came home, can we invite Peter and Richie to the next convention and all? I said, yes, you can invite them. And they came here in 2001 and they shared a meeting. After the meeting they asked Arle, can you lay, put your hands on us and bless us. And he did. And after they went to the room and then God spoke to them, to Richard and said, now you’re going to expand your ministry. And that was the foundation that was in a way that how Ace became a reality.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (23:50):
Yeah. So we’re actually here for an ACE conference. Ace is the Association of Campaign evangelists. And many, it was in this place. Many Scandinavian evangelists are part of it. Yes. And yeah. Wow.

Harald Mydland (24:03):
It was founded. It was founded in the heart of Richard. But it happened here. After a meeting in this hall, he went to the room, spoke to him. He start to call some few of us. I was there the first time, the first year in 2002 in Belfast and some other guys also. And from that, it’s 21 years now. So now I think this is the biggest conference. After 21 year, 50 people for many nations and so many have come and they’re not here today. They come to be influenced and inspired. And

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (24:37):
So when you look at the history going all the way back to when Arro was 17 years old and gave his life to Jesus for the evangelist today, a young evangelist who wants to go and reach the world, what are some lessons that a young evangelist could learn from his life in ministry?

Harald Mydland (25:00):
There’s many thing, of course, but the main thing is that God can use anybody. It doesn’t depend on us. It depends on the calling. If God has called you, he will give you the ability and he will give you the power. He will give you the message. So we need to be open to receive his calling and say yes to his calling and follow Jesus. Jesus said, follow me. I will make you physic of man. Live close to Jesus. Read your Bible and open your heart to receive from him and follow in his footsteps. He can use anybody to change the world. Why not? Bunker did many big, big crusades in Africa. And he’s a very famous example for us nowadays. And of course Daniel NDA and many other many also people here. Also you.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (25:51):
I, well, I’m so inspired by his life and ministry and it’s really wonderful to come here and to see the vision. I mean, this is a place where revival has spread around the world. And I think maybe he is one of the greatest evangelists. Even the airline of Norway. I saw a picture, they painted his face on the tail tail of one of their huge planes. And I think he might be the only evangelist to be honored in that way

Harald Mydland (26:29):
In history. In fact, we have two, that’s a second, but early is there. So it tells about, and when,

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (26:38):
I mean what a thing to say that the evangelist was so good that the national airline honors him in such a way. Yes.

Harald Mydland (26:45):
When we had the funeral of our, in this place, the national tv broadcasted life, everything

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (26:56):
Across the whole country. Yes. Wow.

Harald Mydland (26:58):
They were here. So many guests.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (27:01):
If God can use a man from a small village in Norway, he can use anyone. He can

Harald Mydland (27:06):
Use anyone. Absolutely.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (27:08):
Wow.

Harald Mydland (27:08):
Yeah. His life is a testimony. Yes. Very simple person, but well, it’s, it’s like Mary more than Mary. Why did God choose Mary? Nobody knows what he did to us. Nobody knows, but he make us. I will make you physicians of man. So a willing heart. He will make

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (27:32):
A, what was he like in person when you interacted with him?

Harald Mydland (27:35):
He was so informal. When you come home to him, he will be relaxed like that. He was very informal. Very informal. And he was himself. I think when he talked with presidents in head, head of states, many places he at rest him like we are sitting here, not as the big man, but he talked to him like a human being. He was normal. I dunno how to explain it in English, but I think he moved their hearts. He reached their heart because he was so a human being and totally relaxed and very nice person, personality. He respected everybody and he behaved in a very nice way. He could talk to anybody. And they liked him. They liked him. So he became a friend to many, many people high up in the society, head of states. Wow. He was a friend. Yeah.

Evangelism Coach Daniel King (28:47):
Well, thank you so much for sharing his story. I think we can all be inspired that God can do something great even from somebody who starts out in even just a small village. Yes, exactly. Thank you for being on the Evangelism podcast. Okay.

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Subscribe to The Evangelism Podcast on Apple iTunes

Listen to The Evangelism Podcast on Spotify

Subscribe to The Evangelism Podcast on Google Podcasts

Listen to The Evangelism Podcast on Amazon Audible

The Evangelism Podcast is also available on iHeartRadio

Subscribe to The Evangelism Podcast on Apple iTunes

Listen to The Evangelism Podcast on Spotify

Subscribe to The Evangelism Podcast on Google Podcasts

Listen to The Evangelism Podcast on Amazon Audible

The Evangelism Podcast is also available on iHeartRadio

Subscribe to The Evangelism Podcast on Apple iTunes

Listen to The Evangelism Podcast on Spotify

Subscribe to The Evangelism Podcast on Google Podcasts

Listen to The Evangelism Podcast on Amazon Audible

The Evangelism Podcast is also available on iHeartRadio

Subscribe to The Evangelism Podcast on Apple iTunes

Listen to The Evangelism Podcast on Spotify

Subscribe to The Evangelism Podcast on Google Podcasts

Listen to The Evangelism Podcast on Amazon Audible

The Evangelism Podcast is also available on iHeartRadio

Subscribe to The Evangelism Podcast on Apple iTunes

Listen to The Evangelism Podcast on Spotify

Subscribe to The Evangelism Podcast on Google Podcasts

Listen to The Evangelism Podcast on Amazon Audible

The Evangelism Podcast is also available oniHeartRadio

Subscribe to The Evangelism Podcast on Apple iTunes

Listen to The Evangelism Podcast on Spotify

Subscribe to The Evangelism Podcast on Google Podcasts

Listen to The Evangelism Podcast on Amazon Audible

The Evangelism Podcast is also available oniHeartRadio

Subscribe to The Evangelism Podcast on Apple iTunes

Listen to The Evangelism Podcast on Spotify

Subscribe to The Evangelism Podcast on Google Podcasts

Find The Evangelism Podcast on Stitcher

Listen to The Evangelism Podcast on Amazon Audible

The Evangelism Podcast is also available on iHeartRadio

Subscribe to The Evangelism Podcast on Apple iTunes

Listen to The Evangelism Podcast on Spotify

Subscribe to The Evangelism Podcast on Google Podcasts

Listen to The Evangelism Podcast on Amazon Audible

The Evangelism Podcast is also available on iHeartRadio

Subscribe to The Evangelism Podcast on Apple iTunes

Listen to The Evangelism Podcast on Spotify

Subscribe to The Evangelism Podcast on Google Podcasts

Find The Evangelism Podcast on Stitcher

Listen to The Evangelism Podcast on Amazon Audible

The Evangelism Podcast is also available on iHeartRadio

Subscribe to The Evangelism Podcast on Apple iTunes

Listen to The Evangelism Podcast on Spotify

Subscribe to The Evangelism Podcast on Google Podcasts

Listen to The Evangelism Podcast on Amazon Audible

The Evangelism Podcast is also available on iHeartRadio

Subscribe to The Evangelism Podcast on Apple iTunes

Listen to The Evangelism Podcast on Spotify

Subscribe to The Evangelism Podcast on Google Podcasts

Listen to The Evangelism Podcast on Amazon Audible

The Evangelism Podcast is also available on iHeartRadio

Subscribe to The Evangelism Podcast on Apple iTunes

Listen to The Evangelism Podcast on Spotify

Subscribe to The Evangelism Podcast on Google Podcasts

Listen to The Evangelism Podcast on Amazon Audible

The Evangelism Podcast is also available on iHeartRadio

Subscribe to The Evangelism Podcast on Apple iTunes

Listen to The Evangelism Podcast on Spotify

Subscribe to The Evangelism Podcast on Google Podcasts

Find The Evangelism Podcast on Stitcher

Listen to The Evangelism Podcast on Amazon Audible

The Evangelism Podcast is also available on iHeartRadio

Subscribe to The Evangelism Podcast on Apple iTunes

Listen to The Evangelism Podcast on Spotify

Subscribe to The Evangelism Podcast on Google Podcasts

Find The Evangelism Podcast on Stitcher

Listen to The Evangelism Podcast on Amazon Audible

The Evangelism Podcast is also available on iHeartRadio