Over the years we have seen and been told some remarkable accounts of how God has supernaturally moved among people groups in Asia. We would like to share some of these stories with you, exactly how they have been told to us. We have made every effort possible to verify these events from different sources, and feel confident that the posted testimonies are true.
The Experiences of a Chinese Pastor in Prison
Nagaland, India - When Heaven Came Down (1)
Nagaland, India - When Heaven Came Down (2)
Chinese Judge Astounded by Christians' Love
Testimonies from Henan Province, China
Heilongjiang, China - a Hub of Revival
When God Would Not Let His Name be Defamed
Radio Revival Among the Hmong in Laos, 1950s
Radio Revival Among the White Hmong in China
The Titanic's Last Hero
David Livingstone: Far More Than Just an
Explorer!
Saved for His Glory - A Testimony from the Himalayas
A Great Miracle in the Midst of India Disaster
600 Muslims Converted to Christ Through Supernatural Events (link to another page)
In 1993 Philip, a house church leader in China, was thrown in prison after he and a number of believers were arrested. His ‘welcome’ to prison was a savage beating from the guards. They kicked him viciously with their steel-capped boots, beat him with batons, and tortured him with electric cattle-prods, designed to shock his body with high voltage. Philip was left unconscious with a broken collarbone, arm, and ribs. The prison authorities then threw his bloody and bruised body into a small cell that already contained 28 prisoners. The cell had just one bed and a bucket, used by all the prisoners as a toilet. The cell leader was a rough man who had already formed a gang inside the prison. No one was allowed to sit on or touch his bed. When Brother Philip’s lifeless body was thrown inside the cell, however, even this hardened criminal had compassion on Philip and lay him down on his bed.
At around 2 a.m., according to the testimony of the other prisoners, a supernatural light or glow appeared over Philip’s body. It shone on him for several hours. The other prisoners were absolutely terrified and backed up against the corner of the cell. They cried for the guards to come and let them out. The guards also saw the supernatural light and were terrified, but they refused to let the prisoners out.
By sunrise, Brother Philip was much better and had regained consciousness. At no time did he actually see the light, but all the other prisoners did. Surprisingly for the serious injuries he had received the previous night, he was feeling much better and his broken collarbone and ribs seemed to be healed. Not surprisingly, the first question the prisoners asked him was “Who are you?” He replied, “It doesn’t matter who I am, but let me tell you about Jesus Christ.” He led all 28 of the prisoners to faith in Christ!
Today Brother Philip continues his ministry and is responsible for hundreds of house churches across China. He is a godly, humble and committed Christian who is willing to die for the Gospel. He receives no income and often goes hungry. Believers sometimes give him love gifts, but most rural Christians in China are so poor that their sacrificial gifts are barely enough for Philip to buy a train or bus ticket to the next town. There are thousands of Gospel-warriors like Philip in China and in the surrounding nations of Asia. In this issue of our newsletter we launch a new project, called the “Asian Workers Fund,” in which we invite you to consider partnering in prayer and finances with workers like Brother Philip who are being used by God to do mighty works in different locations around Asia.
During a year of intense persecution for the house churches in China in 1983, an elderly Christian widow named Chen Meiying, along with her son and daughter-in-law, lived in central Henan Province. The old woman often prayed in Jesus’ Name for sick people, and many recovered. One day a very sick man was brought to their home. He was already knocking at death’s door, but the family couldn’t turn down the opportunity to minister God’s Word to the man and pray for his recovery. The man couldn’t sit upright, so he was carried into the house and laid upon a bed. Just a few minutes later, right in the middle of their prayers, the man died!
In China if someone dies while under your care, you are held responsible. When the dead man’s non-Christian family heard what had happened they lodged a complaint with the police. The mother, daughter, and son-in-law were all arrested and charged with murder! According to the law, someone would need to be put to death to atone for the death of the man.
The day finally came for the three Christians to appear in court in Pingdingshan City. News of the trial had spread far and wide, and hundreds of people packed out the courtroom. Some came eager to see the Christians punished, others came out of curiosity, while many believers came to pray for their brethren. Since their arrest the three had been held in separate cells and had no opportunity to communicate with each other. Chen Meiying appeared first before the judge. Instead of pleading for clemency, she amazed everyone by confidently proclaiming, “Judge, I am the one you should hold guilty for the man’s death. He came to my house and he died while I was praying for him. I am fully responsible and deserve to die. Please let my son and his wife go free - they have done nothing wrong. I am old and have lived a full life; they are young and have much to offer our nation. Please let them go free!”
The judge and the entire courtroom were shocked. Usually those who faced the death penalty cried and screamed their innocence. That day, the old Christian widow had calmly and boldly asked for the punishment to fall on her! In her heart she wanted the two younger believers to be spared, as they had more years left in this world to preach the Gospel. She had no fear of death, knowing it was merely a graduation into the presence of her loving Lord who had purchased her with His own Blood. The judge called for Chen’s son to be brought into the courtroom. Instead of defending himself, he boldly declared, “Judge, I am the one to blame for this man’s death. I am the man of the house and should be considered fully responsible for what happened. My mother is just an old lady who couldn’t harm anyone, and my wife wasn’t involved. Please let them live. I am the one you must punish!”
Likewise when the daughter-in-law appeared she too took responsibility for the man’s death and pleaded with the judge to let the other two go free. An argument started in the courtroom between the three accused Christians, as they tried to convince each other to let them take the punishment. The judge didn’t know what to do. All three had asked to die without even having a trial! Nobody had ever heard of such a thing before. News of what happened spread all across Henan Province. It was a tremendous testimony of Christian love and courage. As a result of all three of them accepting the blame, the judge decided to sentence none of them to death. He said, “I don’t believe any of you is the true murderer.” He sentenced the trio to eight, seven and six years in prison respectively.
Undeterred, each of them saw their time in prison as an opportunity to minister for the Lord, and they led dozens of prisoners to faith in Christ.
Today they are reunited as a family, and continue to pour their lives out for the Lord, preaching the Gospel, encouraging the believers, and praying for the sick.
The house churches in Henan never pray for a change of government, but rather they pray God would save the souls of the lost in China! In fact, many Chinese Christians pray persecution will continue in China, because they are afraid if life becomes easy and their faith does not cost as much, the church will get lazy and fall asleep. They pray their attitude will be one that embraces suffering as a gift from the Lord. With that attitude, they are willing to go the extra mile, and there is nothing evil men or the world can do to them.
Brother Shui lived in Fangcheng County in southern Henan Province. During the Cultural Revolution, Christians were often forced to parade in public wearing large “dunce” hats, made of heavy bamboo. The people came out to mock and abuse the “criminals” who wore them. When the time came for Brother Shui to be paraded in public, the police were unable to find a spare dunce hat for him, so they made him walk without one. This deeply upset him, because he wanted to bear the reproach of the Lord. Each prisoner’s crimes were written on their hat. For Christians they often wrote, “This person believes in Jesus.” This was meant to be a humiliation, but many believers wore the hat as a badge of honor for their Lord. It was a witness to unbelievers, who could clearly see the peace and joy on the faces of the Christians compared to the other criminals. Brother Shui cried out , “O Lord, why did you forget me?” On the second day a dunce hat was found for Brother Shui, which made him so happy. His face shone with joy and tears welled up in his eyes as he paraded through the streets, now he was considered worthy to fully suffer for the Name of the Lord.
After the ceremony Brother Shui asked the police if he could keep the dunce hat and take it home when he was released from the prison, as a reminder of his “crimes.” The police found this request very strange, but they consented! When he returned to his farm, his neighbors were amazed to see Shui tending his cows and sheep while wearing the dunce hat! For him it was a treasured souvenir of when the Lord allowed him to suffer for the Name of Jesus. His neighbors thought he had lost his mind, and that he was a shameless man. They despised him. But Brother Shui was a man who loved Jesus with all his heart. The government was infuriated when they saw Brother Shui embracing what was meant to be his humiliation. They realized they could do nothing to make him change his ways or renounce his Lord.
The world can do nothing to a Christian who has no fear of man.
Brother Shui wholeheartedly served the Lord for the rest of his life until he went to be with Jesus last year, leaving a testimony of courage and faith to many believers.
In 1966, in Nanzhao County (Henan Province), in a small town called Yunyang, one brother also had the experience of wearing a ‘dunce hat’ and being paraded through the streets for the Gospel. This brother was blind and couldn’t see a thing. Everyone knew he had been totally blind for many years. The people came out and beat him on the back and on the front, smearing dirt and rotten things on him, and riled against him. Two guards were placed on either side of him in order to lead him forward. Suddenly this brother began to shout, “Please don’t guide me anymore! I can see! I can see!” God had miraculously opened his eyes right in the midst of his persecution! This brother is still alive today in Nanzhao, and can still see!
“The reason I wrote to you was to see if you would stand the test and be obedient in everything.” 2 Corinthians 2:9
Standing on the top step outside the police station, she boldly proclaimed the gospel to astonished onlookers. Within a few minutes several officers dragged her inside and placed her under arrest. To the human eye her obedience looked foolish, but God can see things that we can’t.
Sister Chang was sentenced without a trial and sent to the local women’s prison, where she was placed alongside thousands of spiritually lost souls. She boldly and lovingly proclaimed the gospel to her fellow prisoners. The light of the gospel spread like wildfire. Within just three months, 800 women believed in Jesus! The entire atmosphere of the prison changed, and new sounds of praise and worship were heard echoing down the prison hallways and in the courtyard.
The prison director was greatly impressed at the change in the atmosphere and was able to trace it to the preaching of Sister Chang. He brought her into his office and said, “You have made my job easy! There is no more fighting between the prisoners and the women have become gentle and obedient. We need more people like you working here. From today, we have decided to let you go free. We want to give you a full-time job here in the prison, and we will pay you 3,000 Yuan per month” (about US$ 375, a fortune in rural Henan). He continued, “We will also give you a car and your own driver, and will find you comfortable housing.”
Sister Chang briefly considered the offer, and then replied, “Twenty years ago I became a disciple of Jesus Christ and he has been wonderful to me. I don’t believe your offer of a car, driver and salary is in line with what Jesus wants to do with my life, and I belong to him. All I want to do is preach the good news.”
Despite her rejection of his offer, the director released her from prison that day, and she continued her ministry for the Lord.
It always pays to do what the Lord tells us to do. Don’t argue, don’t fight it, and don’t try to work out all the details with your mind. Just do it. That is one mark of a true
disciple of Jesus Christ.
“If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters - yes, even his own life - he cannot be my disciple.” Luke 14:26
Sister Yuen came from one of the wealthiest families in Shanghai. In 1967 she was arrested and sent to prison. At the time she was a widow with two young children, a son aged eleven and a daughter aged nine. After Sister Yuen has been a year in prison her mother – who had been taking care of the children – died. The authorities decided to have “compassion” on her so she could go home and take care of her children. They told her that all she had to do was produce a written confession of her “crimes” and they would free her. They said, “This past year your conduct has been excellent, so now we plan to reward you.”
The officials arranged for her small children to be brought to the prison gates for a visit. Yuen was ordered to pack her bags as if she was going home. As soon as she caught a glimpse of her precious children, her heart was torn and tears of love welled up in her eyes.
Then the guards asked her, “What do you want, your Jesus or your children? If you want Jesus you will remain in this prison. If you want your children, you can go home. Surely your God would want you to be kind to your own flesh and blood?”
Sister Yuen’s son and daughter called out, “Mummy, we miss you! Please come home!”
A prison guard gave Sister Yuen a pencil and a piece of paper and asked her to write down her confession. She wrote in large characters, “Jesus can never be replaced. Even my own children cannot replace Jesus.”
She chose to stay in prison.
The warden shouted, “Listen, you kids! Your mother has rejected you! She doesn’t love you!”
She remained in prison for twenty-three more years.
When she was finally released, her son was 34 years old and worked in a government job in Tibet. Sister Yuen had not seen him even once in all those years. He had been taken by the state and raised in atheistic schools, so he had no belief in God and had been told his own mother had forsaken him. Many Christians had visited him and shared the gospel with him, but he always responded by saying, “Your Jesus took my mother away from me, why should I believe in him?”
Upon her release Sister Yuen went to Tibet to find her son. He rejected her, screaming that he had no mother, and pushed her from his home. She has never seen him again.
Sometimes it is not easy being a disciple.
A remarkable testimony occurred when new house church believers traveled to a Hainanese village in Lingao County, in the northern part of Hainan Island, in November 1995. The church planting team arrived in one village to preach. The local people said there was no way they would believe in the Christian God because they already worshipped the most powerful spirits.
The locals gave a stern warning to the evangelists. They said that the village shaman (witchdoctor) had, six years previously, received a vision that Christianity was the one true religion. This man was so convinced that he immediately burned all his spirit charms and other paraphernalia, even though he had not yet heard the Gospel and was not a believer. As soon as he did this, the people said, the shaman started to have visions where he saw many demons flying at him to eat his internal organs and completely destroy him. He was so scared that he tore his clothes off, ran around naked, and went insane. He also lost the ability to speak. The shaman would pick up stones and throw them into the air, throwing the stones at the demons that were tormenting him. He lived in a hut with a thatch roof and walls so soon his rock throwing and other antics had completely knocked away the roof of his home. His life had become pitiful. He was exposed to the elements, naked, unable to speak, and completely tormented by demons.
The shaman was only kept alive by the kindness of the local people. Every night they would place some rice and other food outside his door for him to eat. The villagers said that the shaman’s experiences were proof that their local spirits were more powerful than the Christian God, so they told the evangelists not to waste their time, for they would never believe in the Christian God. They said if the Christian God was truly able to heal and deliver this man, then they would all know that Jesus is the true and only God.
The evangelists were new believers. When they heard this story they didn’t know what to do, so they returned home. Over the coming weeks the church started to pray and fast for this village and for the shaman, asking God to glorify His Name among the villagers because His Name was being defamed.
The evangelists were taught how to cast out demons. They then returned to the village and cast the demons out of the man. Immediately he regained his speech. They clothed him and helped him rebuild the roof of his home.
After hearing the Gospel, the ex-shaman became a Christian. When they saw the tremendous change in the man’s life, almost the entire village became Christians. The new believers then took the Gospel to the neighboring village and the vast majority of that village also believed.
As a testimony to God’s power over the forces of darkness, the Christians began to meet for worship and Bible study in the home of the ex-shaman! He was not the church leader himself, but his powerful life-changing experience was the catalyst for many to come into the Kingdom of God, and for the Name of Jesus Christ to be rightfully honored among the people in that area.
One of the most remarkable stories of how God is using humble, simple-hearted Christians to build His kingdom on Hainan Island was related by Carl Lawrence in his book “The Coming Influence of China.” Lawrence recounts how, in the mid-1990s, two young women came to faith in Christ in another Chinese province after hearing the Gospel via shortwave radio broadcasts.
The two new believers received Bibles and immediately wanted to serve God with all their hearts. A Hong Kong-based pastor met with the two and tried to teach them that they should remain where they were and minister to their neighbors. The girls protested, “No! The Bible you gave us says Jesus told us to go into all the world. We want to go.” Finally the pastor, feeling ashamed at his own comparative lack of zeal, relented and told the girls there was a need for workers on Hainan Island.
The duo had never heard of Hainan Island before but were certain God wanted them to preach the Gospel there.
Two years later the girls returned to the Chinese mainland where the pastor met with them. He had not heard any news since their departure. The Hong Kong pastor used the meeting to introduce the girls to several visiting Western church leaders. After introductions, the girls were asked how their work had been and whether or not they had been able to start any churches. Lawrence explains, “The women put their heads down and answered, ‘Oh pastor, we have only been there two years...yea, two years. Not many. Not very many’. Their voices were apologetic. ‘We have only been there a short time. The people were not very friendly, no, not very friendly. Sometimes they became very vicious. Yes, sometimes they told us they were going to drown us in the ocean. Several men threatened us. Oh my, and because we were so young, even some of the ladies did not like us. Yes, some even called us terrible names... so not many churches... no, not many’.”
Finally, after being asked again by the frustrated pastor, the girls apologized that they had been only able to start 30 churches since their arrival on Hainan Island!
The pastor and his Western friends were taken aback by the news. They asked how many people attended their new churches. After again going through a process of apologies and self-effacing comments, they answered, “Two hundred and twenty.” The listeners presumed that meant the girls had won a total of 220 converts in their 30 churches, but 220 was the number of members in the smallest of their churches! “How many people do you have in the largest of your churches,” the pastor demanded to know. “Oh...not many.... Less than five thousand. Only four thousand nine hundred. Yes, less than five thousand. We have just started.” The Western visitors were so touched by the humility and zeal of the two young ladies that they began to weep. One of the visitors told the pastor to ask the two ladies how they managed to achieve such great results.
“What did we do? Why nothing. Yes, we did nothing, nothing.” The amazed onlookers protested, “You did nothing? You have thirty churches – the smallest with two hundred and twenty people, the largest with almost five thousand new Christians! And you did nothing?”
The two evangelists simply said, “We just prayed.... After we prayed, the Holy Spirit would tell us exactly what to do. We would keep praying and He would tell us what to do, we would do it. Then we would pray again and he would tell us what to do again.
Note: When we first read this story of the two faithful girls, we were not sure of the story’s accuracy, as it almost sounded too good to be true. We sent the story to a friend who is an expert on the church in Hainan Island. Somewhat surprisingly, our informant responded that indeed the story is true, these two young women had done great exploits and planted many churches in the face of great opposition and struggle. They primarily worked in southern Hainan Island, including several counties around Sanya City. However, our friend also added that because of a lack of follow up and discipleship, that much of the fruit had been lost to cults, and that by 1999 perhaps “only” 5,000 of the duo’s converts remained true believers.
Listeners in one particular Hmong village inside Laos in the mid-1950's were responsive to Christian messages, but being illiterate, had no idea how to communicate with the Vientiane Post Office box given on the program. The chief of the village, therefore, sent a delegation down several days' walk to the capital, to the main post office, where they inquired if there was a religious man associated with a particular mail box. Postal officials did not understand the request and referred them instead to a member of the locally established religious hierarchy, who sent a representative back with the delegation, several days' walk return trip to the mountains. However, when the chief asked the representative to acquit himself in terms of his views, he was dissatisfied with the result and declared that it was 'not the same' as they had heard on the radio. He therefore apologized to the representative and sent him on his way back down the mountain. But the village were determined to make contact with the broadcaster. So, again a delegation went back, three days' walk, down the mountain to Vientiane, where they gave more details to the postal officials, who then decided these people must be referring to a foreigner who indeed had a mailbox. This missionary returned with the delegation, preached the Gospel to the Chief and his men, and all accepted Christ. As is quite ordinary in Hmong culture, the Chief 'gave permission' to his village to become Christians, every one. And as a common response to a Chief's suggestion, the whole village followed suit.
(reprinted from Miao Messenger, Vol.6, No.1, Fall 1997)
Top of pageThere are about 150,000 "White" Hmong living in southern China, and perhaps 500,000 in Vietnam, Laos and Thailand combined. They are called 'White' because their women traditionally wore white dresses, but they also speak a different language from other Miao/Hmong groups. The Chinese commonly call these groups 'Miao', but this name is not used by the people themselves. In their own language they call themselves Hmong Daw, which means 'White Hmong'.
Although there have been Christians among this group in Thailand, Vietnam and Laos for most of the past 30 years, in China they remained completely unreached without any knowledge of Christ.
One White Hmong Christian was a refugee who was able to flee from Vietnam to California after the war. He was deeply burdened for his people back in Asia. He started recording Gospel messages in his native language, which were aired by FEBC (Far East Broadcasting). For years they broadcast the Gospel in White Hmong without receiving any feedback from China.
In 1994 an old White Hmong man in Jinping County, Yunnan Province, China, was tuning his radio one day when suddenly he heard his own language being spoken. He was shocked! He ran outside and gathered his family to come and listen with him. They too were amazed because their language is not allowed to be used in media within China. They heard about Jesus, who they had never heard of before, and did not understand, but they were excited to hear their own language. The next day, when the broadcast came on again, the old man had notified the whole village. Hundreds of people gathered around a radio to listen to see if it was true.
Soon after the old man decided he should tell other White Hmong villages about the broadcast. Because he was too old to work he had plenty of spare time, so he walked to 18 other villages and tuned their radios for them to the short-wave broadcast. Within weeks, thousands of White Hmong were listening to the Gospel every night. Slowly, their understanding started to be pierced by the truths of the Gospel. This radical teaching so gripped their hearts and convicted them that they decided they must make a decision to accept the Gospel or else to never listen to this teaching again. The leaders of all 18 villages gathered for a summit meeting. At the meeting they decided all of their people should become Christians!
Not having any churches, evangelists or pastors to advise them, except for the radio preacher, the White Hmong decided they must obey whatever the radio told them to do. One day they heard a teaching about idolatry. The people immediately smashed their idols and tore down their ancestral altars that had been on the walls of their homes for countless centuries. God was moving among the White Hmong in a powerful way. Drug addicts were being delivered from their bondage, fragmented marriages were put back together, and wrongs were made right. Another time they heard a teaching about water baptism. The new believers, out of the simplicity and innocence of their hearts, dug pits in the ground, filled them with water from a nearby stream, and baptized each other.
At this time FEBC did not know these events were taking place, but continued to faithfully broadcast the Gospel in the hope that God would use their efforts. One day a teaching came on the radio about the Lamb's Book of Life. The White Hmong did not fully understand the teaching, but they knew they wanted to be in this Book! About six months later a large package arrived at the FEBC office in California. It came from China and had been sent by sea mail. Not knowing what it is, they opened it and found the names and signatures of some 10,000 White Hmong people. Attached was a cover letter saying,
"Dear Sir, please include the following people in the Lamb's Book of Life"!!
Because this took place in Communist China, the government was not happy with this mass turning to Christ and soon stepped in to persecute the movement. All 18 leaders from the 18 villages were arrested. Most were released after paying fines and receiving severe warnings. Some of the other leaders were imprisoned. We received reports that the local police even burned down the houses of some of the White Hmong Christians in a bid to intimidate them.
Starting in 1994, Asia Harvest has delivered several thousand White Hmong Bibles and teaching books to the believers in southern China. These have been received with great joy and thankfulness. However, the persecution has continued. In 1995, 100 White Hmong Christian families living in Jinping got fed up with the persecution from the local authorities and relocated themselves 200 km to Xishuangbanna Prefecture, where the officials are less harsh. Please pray for the White Hmong!
Note: The above testimony occurred in China, but similar events took place across the border in northern Vietnam, where as many as 100,000 White Hmong have come to Christ in the past ten years, primarily as a result of the FEBC radio broadcasts.
Top of pageChances are you have seen the Hollywood movie Titanic, which has been seen by more people around the world than any other movie in history. What most people do not know is that there was a godly Christian man on board the Titanic named John Harper....
John Harper was born to a pair of solid Christian parents on May 29th, 1872. It was on the last Sunday of March 1886, when he was 13 years old, that he received Jesus as the Lord of his life. He began to preach about four years later at the ripe old age of 17 years old by going down to the streets of his village and pouring out his soul for men to be reconciled to God.
As John Harper's life unfolded, one thing was apparentÑhe was consumed by the word of God. When asked by various ministers what his doctrine consisted of, he was known to reply, "The Word of God!" Soon, John Harper started his own church in September of 1896. (Now known as the Harper Memorial Church.) This church started with just 25 members, but had grown to over 500 members when he left 13 years later.
Ironically, John Harper almost drowned several times during his life. When he was two and a half years of age, he almost drowned when he fell into a well but was resuscitated by his mother. At the age of 26, he was swept out to sea by a reverse current and barely survived, and at thirty-two he faced death on a leaking ship in the Mediterranean. Perhaps God used these experiences to prepare this servant for what he faced next....
It was the night of April 14, 1912. The RMS Titanic sailed swiftly on the bitterly cold ocean waters heading unknowingly into the pages of history. On board this luxurious ocean liner were many rich and famous people. At the time of the ship's launch, it was the world's largest man-made moveable object. At 11:40 p.m. on that fateful night, an iceberg scraped the ship's starboard side, showering the decks with ice and ripping open six watertight compartments. The sea poured in. On board the ship was John Harper and his much-beloved six-year-old daughter, Nana. According to documented reports, as soon as it was apparent that the ship was going to sink, Harper immediately took his daughter to a lifeboat. It is reasonable to assume that this widowed preacher could have easily gotten on board this boat to safety; however, it never seems to have crossed his mind. He bent down and kissed his precious little girl; looking into her eyes he told her that she would see him again someday.
The flares going off in the dark sky above reflected the tears on his face as he turned and headed toward the crowd of desperate humanity on the sinking ocean liner. As the rear of the huge ship began to lurch upwards, it was reported that Harper was seen making his way up the deck yelling,
"Women, children and unsaved into the lifeboats!"
It was only minutes later that the Titanic began to rumble deep within. Most people thought it was an explosion; actually the ship was literally breaking in half. At this point, many people jumped off the decks and into the icy, dark waters below. John Harper was one of these people.
That night 1528 people went into the frigid waters. John Harper was seen swimming frantically to people in the water leading them to Jesus before the hypothermia became fatal. Mr. Harper swam up to one young man who had climbed up on a piece of debris. Harper asked him between breaths, "Are you saved?" The young man replied that he was not. Harper then tried to lead him to Christ only to have the young man who was near shock, reply no. John Harper then took off his life jacket and threw it to the man and said "Here then, you need this more than I do..." and swam away to other people. A few minutes later Harper swam back to the young man and succeeded in leading him to salvation. Of the 1528 people that went into the water that night, six were rescued by the lifeboats. One of them was this young man on the debris.
Four years later, at a survivors meeting, this young man stood up and in tears recounted how that after John Harper had led him to Christ, Harper had tried to swim back to help other people, yet because of the intense cold, had grown too weak to swim. His last words before going under in the frigid waters were, "Believe on the Name of the Lord Jesus and you will be saved."
Does Hollywood remember this man? No! Oh well, it doesn't matter. This servant of God did what he had to do. While other people were trying to buy their way onto the lifeboats and selfishly trying to save their own lives, John Harper gave up his life so that others could be saved.
(Source: "The Titanic's Last Hero" by Moody Press, 1997)
Top of pageYou have probably heard of David Livingstone, the great Scottish missionary to Africa. Unfortunately, the secular media and historians have focused on Livingstone as an explorer, rather than what he really was, a missionary with God's heart for the lost.
Sixteen years after his first journey into dark Africa, Livingstone returned to Scotland for a time of rest and speaking engagements. He was asked to speak to the students at the University of Glasgow. If he knew what awaited him he might have declined the invitation.
It was the custom of the undergraduates in those days to heckle speakers that came, and they were well prepared for this preacher. They had peashooters, toy trumpets, rattles, and noise makers of every description. Livingstone walked out onto the platform with the tread of a man who has walked eleven thousand miles. His left arm hung limply at his side, having been almost ripped from his body by a huge lion. His face was a dark leathery brown from sixteen years in the African sun. It was furrowed with innumerable lines from the bouts of African fever which had racked and emaciated his body; he had been attacked by savages and by the Turks who plied their vicious slave trade. He was half deaf from rheumatic fever and half blind from a branch that had slapped him in the eyes in the jungle.
The students stared, and they knew that here was a life that was literally burned out for God. Not a rattle moved, not a foot shuffled. A hush crept over that vast auditorium and they listened in rapt silence as David Livingstone told about his journeys and about the tremendous needs of this vast African population. "Shall I tell you, "he asked, "what sustained me in the midst of these toils, hardships, and incredible loneliness? It was a promise, the promise of a gentleman of the most sacred honor; it was this promise, 'Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world'."
Born in Blantyre, Scotland, in 1813, Livingstone had dedicated himself to Christ at an early age. A great missionary to Africa, Robert Moffat, came to Livingstone's town and spoke, He said... "Often, as I have looked to the vast plains of the north, I have sometimes in the morning sun seen the smoke of a thousand villages where no missionary has ever been." Livingstone soon set sail for Africa. He plunged into the jungle from the south and found it impenetrable. After numerous hardships, he finally opened up a way into the interior. A huge lion almost ripped his arm from his body and left him permanently crippled, but also brought a blessing is disguise, for while he was recuperating, Robert Moffat came and brought his beautiful daughter, Mary. For David it was love at first sight. Soon they were married and she shared his zeal and concern for the evangelization of the Dark Continent of Africa. Unfortunately, the months of hardship and toil were too much for Mary. They had watched one of their children die as they had attempted to cross one of the vast deserts of Africa - a burden that had almost crushed Livingstone. Finally, there came the most difficult decision of his life - to send his wife and three remaining children back to England.
How difficult was the burden he was to bear. Perhaps the most cutting of all was the criticism that he had left his wife and children to go rambling about Africa because he really did not love them. His letters tell a far different story:
"My dearest Mary, I see no face now to be compared to that sun burnt one which has so often greeted me with its kind looks.... Gather the children around you and kiss them for me. And tell them that I love them and that I have left them for the love of Jesus, and they must love Him too...."
For five long agonizing years he never saw his wife or his children. Then the time came when, finally, he was going home - home at last! With great expectation and joy he burst into his old home in Blantyre to find it empty. They had just buried his father! And this man who had faced the spears of hostile savages and the roaring of wild beasts without so much as blinking, fell down and wept like a child.
After months of sweet fellowship with his family, his dreams were again haunted by the vision of a thousand villages in the morning sun. So with great agony of heart, he set sail for Africa again. The years passed and, when the children were old enough, Mary wrote that she would be able to come and be with him. For months she sailed upon the ocean and up steaming African rivers, finally to be greeted by her husband, only to be smitten by a grievous African fever. Night after night, day after day, he sat up with his beloved wife and wiped her fevered brow. Slowly she worsened and she breathed her last. Mary was dead. David Livingstone buried her under a huge baobab tree and fell on that mound of dirt, and again he wept. His body was broken; his loved ones were gone; he seemed alone, discouraged. Was he overcome? Listen to the words he wrote in his diary: "My Jesus, my King, my life, my all, I again consecrate my life to Thee! I shall place no value on anything I possess or anything I may do, except in relation to the Kingdom of Christ."
When he arrived at Ujiji, natives stole his food, and worst of all, they stole his medicine chest with the quinine and other medicines to heal those terrible fevers. For Livingstone it was a sentence of death, and he cried out, "O God, you promised to be with me." For five years he had not seen the face of a white man, and now, in the midst of the interior of Africa, he looked up from that prayer and saw a white face walking towards him. It was Henry M. Stanley, who uttered those unforgettable words, "Dr. Livingstone, I presume." Stanley had searched until he found him, brought medicine and wholesome food, and nursed him back to health. For four months Henry Stanley lived in the same hut with Livingstone. Stanley described himself in this way: "I was the biggest swaggering atheist that could be found in all of the world." But Stanley could find no fault in Livingstone's life. His compassion, his earnestness, the quietness with which he went about his work, the sympathy he showed to all about him quickened the sympathy in Stanley's own heart and he said, "Finally, after all these months, Livingstone converted even me to Christ."
Livingstone, however, would not return to civilization, but plunged deeper into Africa; and for him the end was approaching. His diary says,
"Lord, help me to finish Thy work this year to Thine honor."
And so he did. He came to the place where his strength was completely spent; his feet were lacerated with boils, all his teeth loosened and fell out. He could neither walk not stand; he could not go another step. Livingstone commanded his friends to put him on a stretcher and carry him onward. Deeper and deeper into Africa he plunged on a stretcher. Propped up, he proclaimed the riches of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to all with whom he came into contact. Finally, during a night of prayer, Livingstone passed from this life into the presence of Jesus Christ. Livingstone died on his knees.
He lived his life and he left his life in the presence of Him who said, "Lo, I am with you always." Thirty-nine years he trudged twenty-nine thousand miles upon the face of the continent of Africa. Light shined in the darkness. Two million Africans were brought the Gospel, and the Light continues to shine today.
(Adapted from a pamphlet by Dr. James Kennedy, "The Secret of Commitment")
Top of pageWe recently had the privilege of traveling to Nagaland, in northeast India, where we helped train about 30 Asian missionaries preparing to take the Gospel to remote unreached tribes and people groups throughout the Himalayan region. These workers, and many others, are supported through our Asian Workers’ Fund. We had a wonderful time of fellowship, and thanked God when the workers shared their testimonies. One of these that touched us deeply was that of a tiny man named Dolo Sono, whom God has used to plant more than 60 churches throughout the remote state of Arunachal Pradesh, which borders Tibet. This is his testimony:
"Praise the Lord! My name is Dolo Sono. I grew up in an area where nobody had ever heard of Jesus Christ, not even once in our lives. My fathers worshipped the spirits for countless centuries, and they encouraged me to follow them and become a priest of the Donyi-Polo (Sun-moon) religion. We didn’t know who the Creator was, so my tribe had no option but to worship His creation. We considered the sun and the moon our father and mother, giving sustenance and light to us.
My son developed a blood disease. He suffered terrible pain as his condition worsened over time. My wife and I could hardly stand to see the pain he was in. I called on the spirits to help, but he only grew worse. I visited other priests and asked them to pray for my son, but the more they prayed, the worse he became. Then, like a dagger through my heart, my precious son died. I was grief-stricken, and wept uncontrollably as I stared at my little boy’s lifeless body. I didn’t realize it at the time, but a Christian lived in a nearby village. When news spread that the Donyi-Polo priest’s son had died, the Christian came to my house and asked if he could pray for my son, who had been dead for four hours already. I didn’t see any harm in letting the follower of Jesus pray for him. He started to pray, and a short time later my boy suddenly came back to life! He sat up and was fine.
We later found that he was also completely healed from the blood disease that had caused him so much suffering! As you might imagine, when news of this great miracle circulated, everyone was amazed and rushed to our home to see my son for themselves. I didn’t know anything about Jesus, but from that moment I knew that He alone was the true God, and I decided I would serve Him for the rest of my life. The first thing I did was search for other Christians. I thought they must be really special and powerful people, because they followed the true and all-powerful God who has the power to bring the dead back to life and change people’s hearts on the inside. After searching far and wide, I was shocked to discover that there was just one church in my entire region, with only eleven people in it.
The eleven Christians were weak and persecuted. They met in a small, run-down building. I found this really sad. My own temple where I had served as a priest was beautifully decorated by comparison. I could scarcely believe that the followers of Jesus were so crushed and timid even though they possessed the Truth. My forefathers had followed Satan for centuries without any light from God. Those who followed lies were much larger in number than those who followed the Truth. This was wrong, and I decided to do something about it. From that day onwards I determined to help God’s Church grow.
From the day God raised my son from the dead, I started telling people about Jesus. This was the least I could do. I thought everyone would be excited to hear about Jesus, but I soon found that it made people angry. My own parents and family threatened to disown me if I continued to follow Jesus. I told them I must follow Him, because He is real and he raised my son from the dead! I started preaching everywhere I could, walking from village to village and encouraging people to abandon the false worship of our forefathers and to stop bowing down to the sun and moon. I didn’t know anything about the Bible, but I boldly testified to what had happened, and that Jesus alone was true and powerful. A short time later someone told me there were many Christians in Nagaland, a state south of Arunachal Pradesh. This news excited me, so I caught a bus there and met with many true believers in the Lord. Almost the whole of Nagaland was Christian, and I was greatly encouraged. I returned home with more Bible knowledge, and could better explain the gospel to people.
The tribes of Arunachal Pradesh have worshipped spirits and demons since the beginning of time. The only other religion that people respect is Buddhism, which came from Tibet many centuries ago. As I continued to preach about Jesus, I experienced many attacks and problems. People thought my conversion to Christianity had brought great disgrace on my ancestors, especially because I had been a priest. I was beaten on many occasions, and attacked with swords and spears, but God preserved my life, and there were always a few people interested in listening to my message. Jesus helped me so much in those early years. Once I visited some villages for the first time and found that God had prepared the people by giving them dreams in advance of my arrival. Because of this, the people were kind to me and listened to the Good News I had come to share. I believed everything the Bible said. I read that Jesus told his disciples to only take one coat with them when they went out to preach, so I only wore one shirt until it was filthy and covered with lice. The years went by and I was so glad that many more people in my tribe and other tribes started to follow Jesus too. In many places I saw people healed by the Lord and delivered from demons. Hundreds of people believed in God. In each place where people decided to follow Jesus, we organized small house groups for them to meet together in.
A strange thing happened right at the time when God was moving so powerfully and saving many people. Other Christian leaders started to attack me and tried to stop me preaching. They said I was not qualified to preach, because I had never been to a seminary. I told them it was a shame I didn’t fit into their mould, but that there was no way I could stop preaching because Jesus was in my heart and He must come out! This only seemed to make these religious people angrier and they even traveled around different villages, telling lies about me and warning people not to listen to me. People in many places turned against me and refused to welcome me. God encouraged me from the Bible, as I read how many of His children in other times had experienced similar opposition from those who claim to be His followers. Jesus was always attacked by the Pharisees, and I realized that there were many people like Pharisees operating in Arunachal Pradesh. I wept many times because of the lies being spread and the great opposition. I became depressed. Then one night I had a dream where I heard a voice saying, "Dolo Sono, I have called you to preach. Get up and preach!" I replied, "But no churches want me any more. The religious people have told the unbelievers not to listen to me. What is the point?" I then heard the Lord say, "God opposes the proud and gives grace to the humble."
After this dream I knew that I could no longer bow to the threats and intimidation. I read in the Bible that if God is with me, who can be against me? I obeyed the Lord and started preaching again, and God helped me and opened many doors and opportunities. In many villages, people who had worshipped the sun and moon were saved and Jesus entered their hearts. For years now I have been travelling all over Arunachal Pradesh. People know me as the former Donyi-Polo priest who found the true Way. By the power and grace of the Living God we now have more than 60 fellowships, and more people are meeting Jesus all the time. Please pray for our state, and the 60 tribes who live in it. Please pray that everyone in Arunachal Pradesh would soon love Jesus. Thank you and God bless you!"
On the morning of October 29, 1999, a terrible storm that had been developing for several days over the Bay of Bengal headed toward the coast of India. Meteorologists proclaimed it the largest storm of the century and gave it status as a "Super Cyclone". The storm hit land over the coast of the state of Orissa. Winds of up to 300 km/hour (185 mph) smashed into thousands of exposed coastal villages. Because most of the people are very poor and live in simple homes made of mud and straw, thousands were instantly killed and had no chance of surviving the onslaught. Tall trees were snapped in half like match sticks. Some parents, fearing the worst, tied their children to the ground with ropes in the hope they would not blow away. The sound of the wind was so loud that it was described to us as "like standing directly behind the engines of a jumbo jet." Soon after, tidal waves 35-feet high started crashing through the villages, drowning everything that the wind had failed to destroy. Thousands of villages were smashed to pieces during the two-day onslaught.
When the storm finally subsided the true impact of the damage was revealed. A stretch of coastline 400 km (250 miles) long and up to 100 km (62 miles) inland had been affected. The lives of as many as 14 million people had been severely hampered. Later figures revealed about 60,000 Orissans were killed. Everywhere human and animal corpses lay strewn about in the fields, or stuck in tree branches where they had been washed by the huge waves.
For those living nearest the ocean, only a great miracle could save their lives. When we visited Orissa after the storm, we were told some remarkable stories of God's protection.
In the village of Batiagon in Jagatsinghpur District, just 4 km from the sea, there were just two buildings made of concrete: a church and a rich man's house. The rest of the buildings were straw and clay. People rushed into the two buildings for shelter. About 300 people, both Christians and non-Christians, jammed into the church. They cried out to the Lord for His protection. At around 11 a.m., a massive tidal wave 30 feet high slammed into the village, instantly destroying the shacks and sweeping away the rich man's house. Witnesses inside the church say the wave seemed to split and go around both sides of the building. All 300 people who had taken shelter inside the church survived. Just a few hundred yards away was a village named Dhobei. Every inhabitant of Dhobei was swept away to the sea except one 14-year-old boy named Sania, who somehow managed to survive. On the other side of Batiagon was a village called Bartola where just 14 people survived. All the people in Batiagon village confessed that God had graciously saved their lives. The Hindus declared they would never again oppose Christianity.
After the storm, many of the secular newspapers and magazines in this part of India wrote that this calamity was the judgment of God on the State for the killing of Graham Staines and his two sons. The people feel they have experienced the awesome wrath of the Almighty God and many are humbled, especially as the rescue and aid efforts for the survivors were once again spearheaded by Christian organizations. Churches all over the state report growing numbers of inquirers and more of an openness to the Gospel than before. Through this disaster and the loving response of the Christians a clear witness has been given about both the holiness and righteousness of God, as well as His love and grace for all those who will humbly call on His Name.
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