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Open Doors staff members recently reported that church growth is “explosive” in Iran; they even speak of a revival.
Iran is the fifth country in the world on Open Doors’ World Watch List for the persecution of believers. The president and the supreme leader of the country openly speak against the growth of house churches, and persecution against Christian converts is highly prevalent.
Interestingly, though, these two government leaders are nearly alone in their disdain for Christianity as a “Western religion,” says one Open Doors staff member. “In the past, Christianity wasn’t popular; it was seen as a Western religion. Now only the government sees it as a Western product, or better: a Western political system,” says the staff member.
Iranians have seen the corruption of the Islamic Revolution in their own country and are looking for something more. This yearning combined with a bold Christian presence is causing church growth like never before.
“Iranians are very outgoing and want to speak about their faith,” a staff member states. “That is why discipleship training (with elements of outreach and communications) for Iranian believers is successful. If you tell them that a Christian should share, the Iranian Christian shares.”
Offering discipleship training is one of the ways Open Doors works to strengthen the Iranian church. It is estimated that about half of the new Christians are open about their new faith while others are keeping their conversion a secret.
As a result of this willingness to take risks, there are hundreds of thousands of believers in Iran. About 40 years ago, approximately 200 Christians from a Muslim background were living in Iran. Today some estimate that there are as many as 370,000 Christian converts. Besides these new believers, Iran also has a traditional Armenian and Assyrian church with about 80,000 members.
These Christians face daily harassment for their faith. The government’s abhorrence of house churches has caused house churches to cut membership down from around 15 members to more like five or six.
Open Doors staff say that in the last several months, the Iranian government has prohibited several churches from offering services in Farsi on Fridays, the official day off in the country. The Iranian government also forbids the selling of Bibles or New Testaments.
And persecution comes from society, too.
- Life Action Tue, May 17, 2011
Recently, God began an amazing work at a church in Tennessee where one of our teams had an extended summit. Last week we received the following report in an e-mail, letting us know of God’s continuing work among His people there.
Wanted to let you know a little about what happened last night at graduation. It was wonderful to hear the salutatorian speak; the first thing he did was thank God and his Savior Jesus for blessing him with the accomplishments he had achieved. He then thanked his mom and dad.
The second speaker was the valedictorian, Sara, who is part of the youth group at the Creek. She had been at the service Wednesday night, and she told the audience that after the pastor spoke, she felt as if a ton of bricks had hit her on the head. She decided to throw away the speech she had prepared and start over Wednesday night after she got home.
She talked about how the pastor’s words had struck home with her, that she had not been living as a Christian should or being the example she should have been to her closest friends. She took her time to seek forgiveness from friends and family she had wronged, mentioning many by name. She shared her desire to turn their superficial relationships into more meaningful ones.
What a beautiful thing it is to worship and fellowship and prayer with fellow Christians from Monday evening until Wednesday noon! I am both physically tired and spiritually refreshed.
I am so thankful for this annual prayer gathering!
May God send revival to His people!
My Sermon on Westboro Baptist Church; January 9, 2011; Luke 13.1-5
Introduction: Good morning. Children can be dismissed at this time for Children’s church. ILL—Last Sunday, I preached on how hearing and doing the Word of God will a rock solid foundation in our lives. We never know what the day or the week will turn out. For example, all last week, I had computer issues. Thus, on Friday evening, I went back to my office at church so I could work on my Sunday sermon on the computer in the church office.
When I pulled out of our driveway, I pushed the remote for the garage door to close and the automatic garage door opener broke. But computer issues and a broken garage door opener are minor compared to what happened last Wednesday at Millard South High School. I was in my office working on this sermon about prayer when Stacy, the church office administrator came into my office and told me that there was a shooting at Millard South High School.
Though I had computer issues, I still could get on the web. So I immediately checked out a couple of local news sites. There was a shooting but very few details were known at that time. As the day, unfolded, we all learned that a seventeen year old Millard South student, Robert Butler, Jr. shot the vice principal, Vicki Kasper and the principal Curtis Case. The shooter then drove three blocks away and took his own life. Vicki passed away later that day.[1]
Right after I found out about the shooting, I posted a message of Facebook that a shooting had taken place at Millard South and that we must in pray about this. I am a graduate of Millard South. Numerous Facebook messages and comments were posted and exchanged throughout the day. Many of them, if not most of them referred to the fact that they were praying over the situation.
And there was prayer. Last Wednesday evening, I attended a special prayer service at Christ Community Church. Principle Curtis Case is a member of that church. Many Millard South students and teachers were there. The following day at noon, I went to Millard South High school for a prayer vigil. Many people came out to that. Then later that evening, hundreds showed up at Millard South for a candlelight vigil.
Prayer was lifted up for the family of Vicki Kasper. Then later on Thursday, I found out that Westboro Baptist Church will be picketing the funeral of Dr. Kasper. That is the last thing our community needs right now. I went to the gym to work-out. And I listened to praise music as I worked out. In doing so, I believe the Lord wanted to address the coming of Westboro Baptist Church to Omaha. Therefore, I will preach on the foundation of prayer next Sunday. Today,
I want to try to bring some sort of response from God’s Word to the antics of Westboro Baptist Chruch. Please turn to Luke chapter 13, beginning in verse 1. Please stand in honor of God as I read:
13:1 There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. 2And he answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? 3 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.4 Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? 5 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”
What is the deal with Westboro Baptist Church? Let me say for the record that I am ashamed they refer to themselves as Baptists. There are a bunch of religious “nuts.” My good friend, Dana Olson who is a Baptist pastor in Sioux Falls refers to the church as the “Westboro Cult because it is a not church by biblical standards.
When do a web search for “Westboro Baptist Church” and your search engine to the home page of the church, you will see the web address is:www.godhatesfags.com.[2] That gives us a pretty good idea of where the church is coming from.
Their church web page will claim they are Bible believing Christian Church.[3] The pastor of the church is Fred Phelps and the church is located on the west side of Topeka, KS. The church has traveled to 812 different cities and has demonstrated 44,881 times.[4] Why does this small congregation do this? Here is why, according to the web site:
WBC engages in daily peaceful sidewalk demonstrations opposing the homosexual lifestyle of soul-damning, nation-destroying filth. We display large, colorful signs containing Bible words and sentiments, including: GOD HATES FAGS, FAGS HATE GOD, AIDS CURES FAGS, THANK GOD FOR AIDS, FAGS BURN IN HELL, GOD IS NOT MOCKED, FAGS ARE NATURE FREAKS, GOD GAVE FAGS UP, NO SPECIAL LAWS FOR FAGS, FAGS DOOM NATIONS, THANK GOD FOR DEAD SOLDIERS, FAG TROOPS, GOD BLEW UP THE TROOPS, GOD HATES AMERICA, AMERICA IS DOOMED, THE WORLD IS DOOMED, etc.[5]
They believe the sin of homosexuality will be the downfall of our nation. Thus, the church will protest the funeral of fallen soldiers because they see their deaths as divine punishment and judgment against our nation.[6] As long as we tolerate gays, God will continue to punish this nation.[7]
Last Thursday, they picketed a church in Illinois because in the church was a funeral for a fallen Marine.[8] On the church web page, you can read that the church actually thanks God for every dead soldier. I do want to be theologically correct in this message. With that said, homosexuality is a sin according to the Bible. And the homosexual agenda is being promoted in the media, educational system, some church denominations and in the government. It is a sinful behavior.
Do we respond to homosexuals and lesbians by waving a sign that says: “God Hates Gays!” Would Jesus do that? Of course not! As followers of Jesus, we are to love the person. We can show kindness and gentleness and the love of Jesus to people without accepting their sin. Jesus certainly did that with the Samaritan woman at the well in John chapter 4. She had been married five times and the man she was living with was not her husband.
That is adultery! Jesus gently revealed her sin.[9] And in the entire conversation, Jesus showed compassion towards her.[10] Jesus and his disciples did not picket her home or town with a sign that said, “God Hates Adultery!” Westboro Baptist Church can learn from the example of Jesus. Westboro Baptist Church can also learn from the rest of the New Testament. Homosexuality in the first century Roman world was like having a cup of coffee.[11]
We do not find any teaching in the New Testament that that gave the early church license to wave signs with hateful statements on them. It appears that the mission of Westoboro Baptist Church is to spread message of God’s judgment on certain individuals the church considers “wicked” and on an evil society.
In the New Testament, we see Jesus and his followers spreading to good news of redemption through the proclamation of the gospel and through deeds of love and kindness. Jesus taught us to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world. We are to patiently love and pray for those who are trapped in the sin of homosexuality. And we are to mourn with those who mourn.
The Kasper family is mourning. The Robert Butler Jr. family is mourning. I cannot imagine the pain of both these families. As Christians, we are called to minister to such people and their family. We are not called to let them know that they deserved what happened to them.
The web page for the Westboro Baptist Church also stated this about their intended picket of Dr. Kasper’s funeral: “WBC to picket memorial for Omaha Vice Principal Vicki Kasper, cut-off by an angry God for teaching the youth of this nation rebellion.”[12]
Members of Westboro Baptist Church have been in Omaha on other occasions, and because they were not welcomed as God’s appointed servants and messengers, they believe that Omaha is ripe for the judgment of God because the city rejected these so-called “servants of God” from Westboro Baptist Church. So when teachers and principals get killed, to Westboro Baptist Church, it is all part of God’s wrath on the city of Omaha.
This past Friday, the church web site gave specific information about their planned picket of Dr. Kasper’s funeral on Tuesday. It included this statement: “WBC will picket the memorial of Millard South Vice Principal Vicki Kasper to remind Omaha that her death is recompense for their treatment of the saints of God and raising their children to the devil.”[13]
I did not know Vicki Kasper. But I have gathered since last Wednesday that she was a person who invested much into the lives the students on the Millard South campus. At the prayer gathering last Thursday at Millard South, several people went to the loud speaker, including a student who shared how Dr. Kasper instilled in him the value of a good education. She was an encourager. Here is the question: “Did Vicki Kasper die because God was angry at the city of Omaha and at her?…angry at her teaching teenagers to rebel?” No!
Let’s take a closer look at our passage of God’s Word for this morning. In Luke chapter 13, Jesus and his disciples are on their way to Jerusalem. Jesus was teaching when some in the crowd said to him in verse 1 that Pilate put some Galileans to death: There were some present at that very time who told them about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. Pontus Pilate was the Roman prefect of Judea.
Those Galileans were offering sacrifices at the temple in Jerusalem; and Pilate sent Roman soldiers into the temple area and slaughtered them. Pilate was fully capable of doing something like that.[14] He was known for his cruelty.[15] Thus, the blood of the slain Galileans was mixed with the blood of the animals they sacrificed.
This was a tragic event. Notice please the response of Jesus in verse 2: Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? It was a common belief back then that disasters and sudden death were the result of personal sin.[16] Surely, these Galileans died because they deserved it?[17] We can see how people would feel morally superior.[18]
People could say, ‘It obvious that those Galileans had it coming to them…!” Jesus picked up on the superior attitude.[19] That is why verse 2 was a rhetorical question.[20] Jesus refuted the popular notion that the disaster fits the sin. In other words, these Galileans were not singled out by God because they were worse sinners.[21] Westboro Baptist Church does just that.
The church singles out certain individuals, like soldiers and teachers and say, “You see! You brought this disaster and death on yourself.” The church members say to military people who died: “You didn’t die for your country! You died because you serve a country that is evil, and thus, God punished you.”
And on Tuesday, they will try to say to family and friends of Vicki Kasper, “You died because of God’s payback on an evil city and on an evil school system!” The fact that they picket near funerals is just mind-blowing. My family recently experienced the passing of my brother. It is hard enough to have the funeral, but then it is worse to have people protesting at the funeral. These people from Westboro Baptist Church are supposed to be followers of Jesus!
The statement of Jesus in verse 3 is significant: No, I tell you; unless you all repent, you will all likewise perish. Again, I want to be biblical correct in this message. There may be a connection between a personal catastrophe and the evil in the world or in our lives.[22] We live in a sinful fallen world. Thus, there will be consequences. There will injuries and diseases and accidents even death will occur.
We live in a broken world. There will be hurt and brokenness. However, the point of Jesus here is that all people, even the ones who were not killed by Pilate needed to repent. All people are guilty before a holy God, and unless we repent, that is turn to Christ, we will all perish.
Perishing refers to physical and spiritual death.[23] If people do not repent of their sins and trust Christ for salvation, then be warned, there will be a final judgment where every unrepentant sinner will be punished forever and ever.[24] This is everyone’s predicament, even for the “servant’s of Westboro Baptist Church.
Jesus went and gave another example in verse 4: Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the other who lived in Jerusalem? This tower in Jerusalem collapsed and killed eighteen people. This was a horrible accident. Again, there were people who believed that the eighteen who died had it coming for some reason or another.
Jesus made it clear that those eighteen were not worse sinners than everyone else who lived. In verse 5, Jesus repeats his statement from 3: No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish! These words probably had a double meaning. First, they were prophetic of the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70.[25] Thousands in the city were killed by the Romans.[26] The second meaning points to the final judgment. The parable of the barren fig tree is verses 6 to 9 is a parable about judgment.[27]
Thus, Westboro Baptist Church should teach that all people deserve the wrath and judgment of God. Their mission to point the finger at certain individuals they believe are more likely candidates of God’s wrath is very disturbing and misleading and contradicts the teachings of Jesus.
As you can see there is no outline to this message.
We all should focus on promoting the love of Christ in the midst of disasters and tragedies (repeat). As ambassadors for Jesus, we are also ambassadors of comfort. The apostle Paul put it this way in 2 Corinthians 1.3-4:
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.
When we suffer, the God of all comfort will comfort us; and with that same comfort from God, we have a ministry of comfort…so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction… There are many people connected to last week’s shooting who are suffering. They don’t need picketers. They need the love and peace and comfort of Jesus.
If we are Christians, then let us allow God to comfort us through his word, through others and through the Holy Spirit. Then with that same comfort, let minister to others by listening to them, praying for them, through a touch or hug, through support of some kind. This approach will is far more powerful than what Westboro Baptist Church brings to the table.
ILL—A few weeks ago, I found out that a man named Jason turned to Jesus and was baptized in his unit in the army. Jason is from Dannebrog, the small town where I was a pastor in from 1985 to 1993. One of my first funerals in Dannebrog was for Jason’s cousin, Jim (Jimmy). They were both teenagers.
One night, Jim was out with some of his friends drinking when Jim and a buddy of them decided to play chicken on the motorcycles. It was on a dark rural highway. Jim lost. His body was not even close to his motorcycle. The funeral director told me on the day of the funeral that every bone in his body was broken except for one in his hand. It was a heart-wrenching, tragic death in a small community.
The students in the local high school were allowed to leave school and attend the funeral. Hundreds of students and adults were there. Up to that point, it was the largest crowd I ever addressed. I was a 27, 28 year old pastor. When I gave my message, I did not say: “Jim is dead because he was drunk and playing chicken on his motorcycle! He had it coming”
I also did not say, “What is wrong with today’s youth. They have no moral bearings. They deserve God’s wrath!” Can you imagine the ramifications if did that. I would have been run out of town. I stood before hundreds of Jim’s family and friends. I saw many tears. I talked about my friendship with Jim. I told the story when Jim and Jason and I were out one evening running.
And Jim was chewing. I look over and he running and spitting. I laughed and said, “How can you chew and run at the same time?” Jim just laughed and said that you get use to it. I also shared about the reality of death. The coffin was right there…everyone could see it. Then I shared the good news of salvation and forgiveness of sins through Jesus.
I invited everyone there to consider turning to Jesus for salvation. A few years later, I had the privilege of leading Jim and Jason’s grandmother to Jesus. I also presented the gospel at her funeral. And now some twenty years later, I find out that Jason has turned to Jesus. I don’t have the details. Perhaps a chaplain or another soldier led him to Jesus.
But I do know that at his cousin’s funeral back in the 1980’s, he heard about the love of Jesus. He also heard the gospel at his grandmother’s funeral in the early 1990’s. Gospel seeds were planted. In the midst of a tragedy and suffering, the responsibility of the church is to bring the love and comfort of Jesus.
Here are my closing words:
The real message of Westboro Baptist Church should be that the tragedy of the Millard South shooting should point us all to God. Such tragedies are warnings from heaven that we too need to turn to Christ. Repentance is the only way to avoid the wrath of God. Such events should cause us to love Christ more than sin.
Thus, instead of pickets, we are to mourn with those who mourn….
Instead of pickets, there should be much prayer…
Instead of pickets, we should come up with creative ways to love and comfort those who are hurting…
And the ultimate answer is knowing and loving Jesus!
[1] Omaha World Herald, 01/06/2011, 1
[4] Ibid.
[5] Ibid.
[6] Ibid.
[9] ESV Study Bible, 2028.
[10] Ibid.
[11] Jim Cymbala Sermon
[14] MacArthur Study Bible, 1541.
[15] Spirit of the Reformation Study Bible, 1671.
[16] MacArthur Study Bible, 1541.
[17] Michael Wilcock, BST: The Message of Luke, 138.
[18] MacArthur Study Bible, 1541.
[19] Wilcock, 137.
[20] ESV Study Bible, 1984.
[21] Leon Morris, TNTC: Luke, 221.
[22] MacArthur Study Bible, 1541
[23] Robert H. Stein, TNAC: Luke, 370.
[24] ESV Study Bible, 1984.
[25] MacArthur Study Bible, 1541.
[26] Ibid.
[27] Stein, 370.
I heard the news today that members of Westboro Baptist Church will picket the funeral of Dr. Vicki Kasper, the vice principal of Millard South High School (Omaha, NE) who was slain by a student on Wednesday, January 5, 2011.
Their rationale?
She was an educator who led youth away from God.
Thus, her murder was God’s punishment.
I have spent most of the day upset about this.
I want to respond as Jesus would.
I will preach this Sunday about Westboro Baptist Church.
Haiti is experiencing an unprecedented revival as earthquake survivors turn to God in faith, and association of Baptist Churches who partner with BHM is leading the way. February 13 and 14, the Thomassin Church welcomed more than 80 people to the Christian family as they made a profession of faith. One of the churches in Maisade, more than 5 hours away from the quake’s epicenter, has had more than 200 people come to Christ.
“All the churches I have been in contact with have been overflowing,” said Christ Lieb, BHM missionary. “People are even sitting outside. There are literally thousands of people who have been saved in Haiti through the past three days.”
During a recent mission’s trip to Haiti, it appears that revival is still going on in Haiti.
May the Lord send revival to America!
Revival in Maine
[Note: this is a cross-post from Church Matters, the 9Marks blog.]
***
Several hundred years ago, revival broke out in New England under the watchcare of America’s greatest pastor, Jonathan Edwards. 275 years later, it may be happening again.
From Downeast magazine, a secular publication covering life in Maine, comes this hugely unexpected news: Maine, one of the spiritually “darkest” states in New England (America’s least Christian region), is apparently experiencing a revival. Evangelical churches emphasizing biblical literacy and doctrinal solidarity are seeing up to 20% increased attendance in recent days. This, to say the least, is a shocker.
Here’s what Cynthia Anderson writes in “Sanctuary,” the article covering this seeming phenomenon (read the whole thing–it’s that encouraging):
The three Sunday services at Calvary Chapel regularly draw more than two thousand people. Turnout is similar ten miles away at Bangor Baptist Church, which has on its grounds two radio stations and the largest Christian school in the state. A few exits down Route 95 in Waterville, Faith Evangelical Free Church — originator of a popular YouTube series of skits based on the TV show The Office — also draws large crowds. Indeed, attendance at the state’s evangelical churches has swelled in recent years as mainline denominations have continued to struggle. According to a 2008 survey by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, 37 percent of those Mainers who identify as Protestant now consider themselves evangelical.
The numbers, say religious experts and church leaders, suggest a surge of interest in Bible-based Christianity, particularly north of Portland. “It appears that there’s some sort of revival going on in central Maine,” says Ves Sheely, district superintendent of the Evangelical Free Church in New England. Sheely, who travels the state as he makes the rounds of the association’s sixty member churches, has observed new churches opening and attendance at existing ones rising. “I see an increased openness to spiritual life, here more than in other parts of New England. I see evidence of a new interest in Jesus.”
Others concur. “There is a trend of people going back to church here, especially to the more literally Bible-based churches,” says Jerry Mick, pastor of Bangor Baptist, where the nine hundred-person average weekly attendance reflects a 20 percent increase in two years. In the Bangor area alone there are more than forty churches, close to half of which are evangelical — including Nazarene, Baptist, Assembly of God, and non-denominational. Such religiosity is all the more notable given that the Pew study showed only 59 percent of Mainers are “absolutely certain” God exists, compared with 65 percent of those in the Northeast and 71 percent nationally.
The article, as one can see, doesn’t given a ton of hard data. There’s a good amount of anecdotal evidence referenced here. Furthermore, we all know that Christians have historically had a tendency to claim revival–and church growth–where it may or may not actually have happened. If the testimony recorded here does reflect reality, however, this is a most unexpected and welcome development.
Can I give you a little context here? I’m from Maine. Real Maine–the deep country. I am from a church that averaged between 30 and 70 people in attendance each week during my childhood. Precious few people were saved during my time at First Baptist Church of East Machias. This despite the faithful preaching of the gospel, the sacrificial evangelistic efforts of church members, and devoted members committed to imaging the gospel. I knew of no revivals; my high school had perhaps 3-5 Christian students total.
When I went to college, I went to a vibrant church in Brunswick, Maine of between 200-300 members. I thought it was a megachurch (seriously). The congregation sponsored a radio ministry, had an education wing and pastor’s offices, and more. I could barely believe my eyes.
Why do I share this? Because, in my limited experience, revival in Maine–no, revival in New England–is almost unheard of. Though far from Maine now, I keep tabs on my beloved home state, and I know that now, just as always, many churches fight for their very existence. Many pastors work bivocationally. Asbury’s circuit-riding has not died out; I know preachers who serve several tiny congregations that are the only gospel witnesses within miles. If this revival (and other renewal efforts discussed by folks like Soong-Chang Rah) is indeed happening, and it seems it is, this is some of the most encouraging spiritual news I have ever heard regarding my home state and home region. Ever.
I’m sure that many readers will lack a direct connection to Maine; whatever the case, would you join me in prayer for this development (and for other regions of our country and world)? It may well be another confirmation that even in the darkest of times (a recent cover story by Newsweek showed that North American Christianity is indeed struggling in many cases), God has not forgotten His people. As He has so often shown His church throughout the ages, He is faithful, He is strong to save, and His gospel of the kingdom is pushing back the thickest darkness through a mixed group of churches and faithful believers.
In the land of Edwards, it seems, revival has come again.
***
To begin learning more about New England Christians:
New England Center for Expository Preaching (note the May 2010 pastor’s conference featuring Mark Dever)
By Byron Paulus at Life Action Revival Ministries
The following letter is primarily an abbreviated report I received from a dear friend who leads a ministry in Pennsylvania. He sent me an e-mail that he received from a missionary in Haiti on Saturday, February 13. I honestly do not know how representative this account is in the nation or how widespread the movement is. I have no reason to question its accuracy. And subsequent reports from another Haiti missionary confirmed the work of God taking place.
But, regardless, it sure sounds like some measure of wind is blowing, and the president of Haiti helped by setting some sails to catch the breath of God. I hope you read the following with the same sense of enthusiasm that I did. I’ve put some of the words in bold so we don’t miss what the Lord may have for us as we consider the mission of revival.
Dear Ministry Friends,
I think that I will remember this day as one of the most significant in my life, not because of what I did, but for its meaning. In fact, what I did today was insignificant, and may have even distracted from me fully engaging in the day.
Today was the one-month anniversary of the great Haitian earthquake.
About three days ago, the Haitian president announced that there would be three days of no work for the purpose of fasting and prayer. This is absolutely historic. If you have ever been to Haiti as a visitor or missionary, could you ever have imagined this pronouncement? Could you imagine such an announcement from the U.S. president?
This morning I saw a young Haitian-American woman, the leader of a work team, crying because the Americans could not understand the incredible importance of this day. They wanted to go about business as usual. Remember, it was only about six years ago that a former Haitian president called the nation to come together to rededicate the nation to Satan (which didn’t happen, by the way, as the Christian churches and Radio Lumiere set aside several days to fast and pray for their country at that time, also).
Whatever the president might have intended, this [call] became a real commitment for the Haitian people. As I sit here this evening, I can hear the preaching coming from a nearby church. Services have been going on all day.
I just read a news story that was forwarded to us about an official service with President Preval outside of the broken-down palace. The author may have accurately reported the story as he saw it, but he only saw the surface. His highly biased hatch job totally missed the significant story of what was happening in Haiti today.
Peniel and I had planned an inspection trip up to the Artibonite Valley today. Right or wrong, we went ahead with the trip since it was the only opportunity we’d have. As we left the guest house about 7:30 a.m., we were met by throngs of dressed-up people headed to various churches. The sounds of Christian music and worship filled the air everywhere.
The next observation was that there was NO traffic. Port-au-Prince streets are always clogged, overflowing with bumper-to-bumper traffic. This morning there were only a few vehicles on the roads, a few small buses, some UN and military vehicles, and a few private cars. We had clear sailing through town. The same was true of foot traffic. Usually the streets are full of people walking. Today there were only a few, and many of them dressed for church. The only places we encountered traffic blocks were in front of several churches where the congregations had overflowed the buildings, the yards, and out into the streets.
The next observation was that EVERYTHING was closed! We could not find even one business or gas station open. There were no inter-city buses running. Whereas the sidewalks are usually shoulder-bumping full of street vendors, we only saw a few here and there. The huge outdoor market near the wharf, where thousands work each day and spread out to cover most of the street, was EMPTY.
Where were all the people? They were in churches and makeshift meeting sites. I didn’t see any Voodoo, Islamic, or Buddhist services, but every Christian church … had services going on, almost all of them overflowing into the streets. Beside broken-down churches, services were taking place outside. In homeless camps, there were services. Everywhere, the nation was gathered to worship and pray. This scene was repeated in every town and hamlet we passed during the day.
Tonight, Pastor Ignace, who is sharing the room with me, asked this question: ”Can people still say that Haiti is a voodoo country?” What has been happening and is continuing to happen in Haiti did not happen because of the earthquake. It has been happening because Haitian Christians know how to pray. This is a tremendous outpouring of God’s power as the result of prayer. Twenty years ago, I started praying for the Gospel to change the Haitian culture. I think that I am seeing God do that work.
The only sadness that I feel today is for our nation. While a nation that has long been under Satan’s domination is turning to God with commitment and power, our nation, founded on godly values, has rejected God and is rapidly trying to forget He even exists. Let us pray for revival in America.
Someone asked me if it will take a similar catastrophe in America for us to genuinely seek the Lord. I like what this missionary stated: It was the prayers of God’s people that caused God to come in their midst more than the tragedy. Paul said that the goodness of God should lead us to repentance. I pray we won’t have to face the suffering, but we also need to be willing to face it for the greater good of His glory!
The big question is whether or not we are willing to pray. “Whatever it takes, Lord, whatever it takes; send Your presence and glory to this nation once again.”
Today in Sunday School class, a man shared about his daughter who is attending Taylor University. He shared about a recent chapel service on campus. At the conclusion of the service as students were exiting, a student went to the microphone on the stage and began to confess his sins.
After him, other students come forward and confessed their sins. 
The confession lasted until three in the morning.
The confession of sin is a first step in revival.
Often revivals begin on college campuses.
May the Lord sent revival to us!
Bryan
bryanaloha
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