Sunday, April 13, 2008

Cochin, India - Conclusion

Dear Friends, what a wonderful time we have had here in Cochin. God truly poured out His mercy and love and power here in our midst. Tonight we again experienced rain that began to pour at around 5:00 pm when I started the teaching in the healing service. It lasted all the way through my teaching, the worship and Evangelist Bonnke's message. Just as the time came for the prayer of salvation, the rain stopped and a multitude of wet, cold, hungry people stepped into the eternal Kingdom of God. Some of these poor people of the lowest caste of society will one day sit upon thrones in the millennial Kingdom ruling and reigning with Christ. They pushed through the mud and the heat and the bugs and rain and the crowds and the lines to take possession of the Pearl of Great Price. Today is the Day of Salvation!

I have not yet received the final numbers of salvations or attendance, but I will pass them along once I hear. I will also be posting pictures and video. Please read back through the previous entries. You will find that I have added media in the appropriate places. You will be blessed by the video of the Fire Conference. I have just added it.

Thank you so much for your prayers and support. This campaign has been a wonderful success. Thousands of souls have been saved, and the captives have been set free. The knowledge of the glory of the Lord is covering the earth as the waters cover the sea. Thank you for partnering with us as we "Cover the Earth" with the Good News of Jesus Christ.

Cochin, India - Day 3


What an amazing day! The Fire Conference this morning was unlike any I have ever been to. The power of God just exploded and, out of the more than 28 thousand people present, it seemed that no one was untouched. It would be impossible for a picture to capture the dynamics of this meeting. As I looked around the room, everywhere something was happening. Groups of people were spontaneously falling out under the power. I could see the tops of chairs flying like dominoes as some “Holy Roller” took out a row. The people were crying out in a relentless fervor that rivals anything you can imagine. Suddenly Evangelist Bonnke began to prophecy. “The Holy Spirit spoke to me just now. A mighty revival here in India will start with the young people…” The youth began to rush the platform in an almost dangerous press desperately reaching out for prayer. The scene that unfolded was a holy chaos as the interpreter fell to the ground as though struck by lightning and the place came unglued. I really feel like this meeting will send shockwaves out through the entire nation and I feel that we have witnessed the beginning of a move of God that will sweep through all of India.

Below is some footage that I captured with my little digital camera and spliced together with some music. The intensity of praise that you see in this clip continued non-stop for nearly and hour. I was only able to capture a very small portion of it, but you will see that the Holy Spirit was truly at work.

Tonight the meeting was also glorious. I started out with a teaching on Divine Healing and then prayed for the sick. So many people reached out in faith and received a healing. After the worship Evangelist Bonnke introduced me and I preached again…this time it was the full Gospel message. As I got up to preach, the rain began to fall. The people pulled out their umbrellas and the service went on. We all got very wet, but no one melted and thousands of people responded to the invitation for salvation. After I led the crowd in the prayer of salvation, Evangelist Bonnke came back and proceeded to pray for the crowd to receive the Baptism into the Holy Spirit and then prayed a second time for healing. Again, powerful testimonies followed.
Tomorrow night is the last night of the Crusade. I am anticipating a dramatic conclusion to what has been an amazing week.

Friday, April 11, 2008

Glory in Cochin - Day 2


This morning the Glory of the Lord showed up in the fire conference in remarkable way. In the middle of Evangelist Bonnke's message the very atmosphere began to change and the people responded in what resulted in a spontaneous eruption. All over the huge hall, thousands of people were shouting and manifesting and kneeling and crying out to God. The sound was a supernatural roar of uninhibited praise...It was a genuine move of God. It was as if the people could not wait for a prescribed moment or instructions from the platform. The hunger of their hearts prompted them to reach out and heaven responded to their hunger with waves of Glory. We left the hall dazed and shocked by the presence of God.

That evening, still under the power of God, I taught on healing and began to pray for the sick. There was such a response of faith. Again, I could feel the people drawing on the anointing with their faith. FAITH COMPELS GOD TO ACT. I feel like He finds it irresistible. Faith is the woman with the issue of blood pressing through the multitude and taking ahold of His garment. Faith is blind Bartimaeus on the side of the road crying out, "Jesus, Son of David have mercy on me." Faith is the centurion believing that with one word Jesus can heal his servant. It is Zacchaeus climbing a tree. It is friends tearing off the roof for their sick colleague. It is Mary saying "Whatever He says, do it." Even though Jesus told her, "My hour has not yet come." Still faith compelled Him to act early. It was as if He found her faith irresistible. Tonight, as was this morning, the people have compelled God to act. After the service Evangelist Bonnke called for testimonies, and they began to flow. A demon possessed boy was delivered. A man with a broken back was healed. A lady with a severe heart condition had just been to the Islamic healer, but he could do nothing for her. A friend told her, "Go to the Bonnke Crusade and you will be healed." During the prayer she began to feel pain in her chest as Jesus gave her a new heart. Finally she realized all pain was gone, and she was completely well. A man with a diabetic problem that had destroyed his pancreas over the past 2 years was unable to control his bladder for 2 minutes, but tonight he knew he was healed when for 6 hours he had complete control over his water.

Tomorrow is the conclusion of the Fire Conference, and I have a feeling that all of Heaven is about to break loose. We have had dry weather, and the crowds are continuing to grow in every service. Thank you for continuing prayers.

Thursday, April 10, 2008

"Good News Festival" Begins in Cochin


Today was the beginning of the “Good News Festival” here in Cochin, India. This morning at the Fire Conference several thousands of pastors and leaders came to receive an impartation and equipping for ministry. As Evangelist Bonnke preached the people seemed to drink in the message and at the end, an eruption of praise spontaneously burst forth. By the time I got up to preach, the atmosphere was thick with hunger and anticipation. The atmosphere of expectancy is the seedbed of miracles. I had prepared a sermon to preach, but when I opened my mouth, the Holy Spirit began to speak to me and my message came out as an impromptu word from the Lord. Tomorrow the conference continues and will culminate on Sunday morning with a mass baptism into the Holy Spirit as we have seen so many times before. If this first service is any foretaste of what we can expect, I think we are in a for one wild ride.

Heavy rains have been coming down every night since our team arrived, threatening to turn the crusade field - a reclaimed swamp - back to its former condition. This morning in devotions we prayed that there would be no more rain until the crusade is finished. Tonight the Lord answered our prayer, and there was not a drop. Still the crusade field is filled with water. In fact there was a good 50 feet in front of the stage (prize real estate in a meeting like this) occupied only by muddy ditches filled with water. In spite of the conditions over 75,000 people showed up on this first night of the Festival!
The majority of the crowd received Christ, and after the prayer of Salvation, the miracles began to flow. A blind boy was healed. An old lady handicapped for six years began to hop on the platform demonstrating her healing. A little girl who was brought to the meetings straight from the hospital was instantly healed of asthma and fever. One lady testified that she had broken 4 vertebrae in her neck 7 months ago. It had left the right side of her body largely paralyzed. That morning in the Fire Conference she felt an electric current come into her body, and her arm started to swing like a windmill…something she had not been able to do since the accident. After that manifestation she realized that her arm was completely restored, but her leg was still paralyzed. Tonight as Evangelist Bonnke was praying for sick in the corporate prayer, she started shaking violently and collapsed. When she got back up, she realized that her leg was also healed. Many more people came with powerful testimonies…too many to interview.

Please keep us in your prayers this week as we continue to preach the Gospel here in Karala state. Pray that the Lord holds back the rains and dries up the swampy crusade ground. Pray for an unprecedented release of the supernatural over this region, and pray for the many thousands that will come to hear the Gospel this week. We are in the harvest together!