World Impact Ministries / Peter Youngren

I cried on my way to the meeting tonight. Nathan Thurber, who is with me here told me a story that moved me so much. I will let him tell it.

Nathan: From 2002 to 2009, I was involved in Gospel Festival set up and preparation for World Impact Ministries (WIM). For the past year my role has changed with WIM’s purchase of Grace TV. However, I had the opportunity to return to a Gospel Festival in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, this week in the role of a journalist interviewing those whom are healed each day at the Festival. Along with Kyle Sweitzer, another member of our media team at Grace TV, we visit the homes of those who were healed the previous day.

There are few, if any, things as rewarding to me personally as to present Jesus to people, who have never heard of Him. That’s what made the Ikara Campaign so special.

Our start was dismally small after the government had rumored the Gospel Festival was cancelled, and the muslim leaders had warned their people not to attend. Then night after night the crowd multiplied and thousands of muslims heard and received the Gospel. Pastor Oddleif Wahl from Norway shared in the Pastors Seminar. He has the same passion as our team - the Gospel.

Islam for a 1000 years

When I blogged two days ago I left you at the conclusion of the second evening service. As you recall we started with a very small attendance, 2-3000 only. The muslim authorities had spread the word that our Campaign was cancelled, and the leaders of the mosque had warned their people not to attend. By the second service the attendance had tripled. In each service, virtually 100% wanted to receive the new birth, provided by Jesus’ death and resurrection. The turning point that saved our Gospel Festival occurred one hour before the first service when I met with 31 imams, Islamic scholars and politicians. The agreed to the Festival, and we agreed to not have service on Friday, the muslim day or worship. It was felt our Gospel Campaign would disrupt and distract the meetings in the mosque.

Last minute victory in Islamic Nigeria.

With six hours to go until the first meeting would start, we were in trouble. Muslim leaders had been complaining for several days that our Gospel Campaign was held on a field less than 200 meters from the cities largest mosque. The city offered us another stadium, however, that in effect cancelled our Gospel Festival, and everyone knew it. It was a tactical move to shut us down.

One of the bonuses of traveling to places in the world where most people don’t get to go is unusual experience. Now I don’t mean seeing strange animals, or mere traditions; I mean unusual spiritual experiences. Indonesia is a fascinating country. Though it is the world’s largest Muslim country with more than 200 large unreached people groups, among the Chinese people—which are 40 million strong, there are many large churches.

One of the most inspiring I’ve come across is the Tiberias Church, which conducts 178 services per Sunday across various locations in Jakarta. Total membership across Indonesia is 500,000, with most of these in Jakarta. According to church growth experts, it’s the 9th largest church in the world.

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?”