World Impact Ministries / Peter Youngren

In any business, you need a customer, and a product that meets the actual or imagined need of that customer. The business of religion is not all that different. The need of the adherent to a religion is fueled by two vital ingredients; a guilty conscience and a displeased deity. Skilled practitioners of religion, any religion, know how to nourish both concepts, on a weekly, or at times even daily basis.

The idea of a guilty conscience is perpetuated by a continual focus on how we must do better; pray more, study harder and be more active in our religion. God may be described as loving, merciful, almighty, and all-knowing, but he (or she) must always be at least slightly displeased. There must be the sense that we are not quite measuring up to the standards set by the Divine.

The last night in our Gospel Festival in Kupang was one of those services, where anything could happen. Just when I told the singers to sing another chorus, the song was interrupted by spontaneous applause; somewhere in the crowd another person had been healed. Just when we were about to lift our prayers about a certain prayer request, then I saw a wheelchair and some crutches were lifted in the air, as somebody else was receiving healing. The crowd was roaring praise to Jesus. Every one of our meetings in Kupang ended with a parade of testimonies, but this last night it seemed everything happened; tumors, paralysis, blindness, deafness, cancers, arthritis, were gone.

It is great to be back in the world’s largest Muslim nation, the site of 20 successful Gospel Campaigns for our ministry. The welcome at Kupang airport was similar to what we meet in so many places here. The people go out of their way to make us feel welcome. Often I meet people, who think of Indonesia as a place of militant terrorist. There have been rare cases of bomb attacks, but the people here, including the Muslims, are really among the friendliest in the world. The mayor, the Regent and the Chief of Police were at the airport welcoming myself and our whole team. I was surprised that all the dignitaries sang “Happy Birthday”, when I got into the airport. Somebody had let the cat out of the bag, maybe Marius.

Of course some of the team had already been here for a while preparing. Later that evening the Governor of the province came to our hotel and spoke words of welcome.

Local muslims are angry. No, their fury is not directed at me. On the contrary, this protest is in support of our Gospel Festival, and against the police force, because the permit for the Gospel Festival has been withdrawn due to suicide bomb threats. The people are desperate. Some have traveled great distances because news has spread of the miracles that have happened already during the first three days. I have just been told that many muslims are also at the local press club, demonstrating and complaining to journalists that the Gospel Festival has been stopped. Hundreds of police moved in on the Gospel Festival ground and began to tear down metal detectors, lights, the sound system and stage. In a situation like this it’s always difficult to know what is truth and what is fiction, but one thing is sure; tens of thousands of muslims are angry because they are being denied the Gospel. Word on the street is that I am under house arrest by the police. Another version is that I was attacked leaving the last meeting and have been captured, while the third version is that I have been forcibly ejected from Pakistan. I can assure you that none of this is correct. This is a telling example of how rumors and speculations take hold and then take on a life of their own.

I have just come from our Pastors Seminar.  Pre-registration was at 985, but by the time we started, last Thursday morning, the number was exceeding 1400.  I have hardly ever seen Pastors so tightly packed in an auditorium.  The purpose of the seminar is to alter history, nothing less.  Pastors David Sterling and Don Sparman have joined me in the teaching.  The number of Christians in Pakistan remains dismally below 1%, and born-again Christians may be about 1 in 10,000.  I asked the pastors, “Are you really preaching the gospel? Or are you preaching a Christian religion message of human performance and merits just like the message of any other religion?”

Tonight the Gospel cut through with razor-sharp precision. Last night I announced to the people to bring the blind, and they did. At times when I took the people through the promises of God for blind people, there was such a “matter-of-factness” about my words that I did not feel like I was preaching. I was simply announcing what Jesus has done and the ensuing confirmation of his Gospel. At one point I took considerable time to announce that the world’s sins have been put away by one sacrifice. It really sank in. I felt like I was cutting through frozen butter with a red-hot knife; hearts were melted. Ten thousand or more responded to receive Jesus. Remember, we are in a city that is almost totally Muslim.

6 PM. Still in my room. The meeting has just started, but I don't leave the hotel until 7:15 to start preaching at 7:55 PM. Suddenly Marius Nicolaisen, our Gospel Campaign Director, messages me that our local coordinator has received word of a grave threat from a 'high official' in the President's office and we must immediately shut down the Gospel Festival. A militant religious group, maybe Al Quada is behind this, At first I argue against this. What if someone is just trying to fool us, to make us fearful? After repeated calls to numerous authorities asking for one more night is met with stone walling, it becomes clear that this threat is very real. If we don't obey there will be "serious damage to our coordinator and his family". We all know what "serious damage" means in Pakistan; burned houses and churches, beheadings, etc.

It was clear from the first service that God loves without discrimination. Immediately the platform filled with people eager to testify. A Muslim lady, her face covered by a black chadar, radiantly described how Jesus had healed her daughter who had been deaf for the past 10 years. Another dozen cases of deafness were healed. The night finished with a boy blind since early childhood, demonstrating how he could see everything. The crowd roared and praised God. More importantly thousands, mostly Muslims, eagerly responded to the salvation call.

Air travel can be stressful. Today was a day when everything had to work just right. First this morning at 6AM I had to convince British Airways in Helsinki, Finland [see yesterday’s blog] to check my luggage through to Karachi, Pakistan. This was quite a task since I am using three different airlines to get there and without being checked through I would never make my connection in London. The lady at the check-in counter assured me that this was ‘impossible’. Well, I kept firm and sure enough after some discussions my bag was checked all the way. That’s often how it is, with a little determination the “impossible” is possible after all.