Dear Partner in the Gospel
Good news, I have just returned from Armenia where I was able to meet and teach senior pastors from Armenia and Georgia. This is critical as we are planning major evangelism in both countries. Both countries have recently experienced war, Armenia only two years ago. Both are desperate for God’s help and are open for evangelism.
In Georgia my last big mission was in 2010 and, as they shared with me, it both changed lives and changed the nation, especially when the then president accepted it and, seeing God’s Power, changed the laws to recognise the evangelical churches and stop the persecution. This means that I can now work with government approval and the support of even the Orthodox Church, which also changed after seeing God’s Power.
The amazing miracle which God is working: since celebrating my 90th birthday I have new strength and power from the Lord, and this year I will see the greatest miracles of my ministry. By the time you read this I will have been in Rome and Poland, and I am waiting for the call to go to Israel. The Power of God is so strong that where previously I have witnessed to tens of thousands, the plans are now for hundreds of thousands. To have such strength and power at my age is a miracle and is becoming a powerful witness wherever I go. We need to increase our budgets, as the greater the event the more it costs! We are facing increased costs everywhere, as you are – nothing is cheap these days and some of the countries where we minister are extremely poor. I was shocked in Armenia. The large hotel we stayed in, just 2 hours outside the capital city, was a ruin: only one floor was in use, the stairs were broken, the only lift hardly worked, no kitchen, no dining room, no meals. Yet this was the best hotel in town! Armenia is in a critical position, under attack from two sides, one being Moslem Azerbaijan, the other Turkey. In the war two years ago, they lost sizeable territory.
Thank you for the financial aid to support Ukraine: this money is being sent to our office in Ukraine. We also send money to churches in Poland and Germany, where more than 4 million refugees are being fed, clothed, and given a place to live.
As I write I have had a Zoom conference with the leading Bishops in Ukraine – the first interconfessional event since the war started. I have promised our support until total victory, both spiritually and with the aid which you are sending. We are looking for the best date for our next National Day of Prayer. However, many of the towns and cities, those either liberated or not even captured, are in ruins, and so many have fled the war – many internally displaced, and millions now refugees overseas. They cannot help us financially; we are supporting them.
Whilst I have maintained daily contact with my staff, I am only now able to be in contact with several of our pastors. We had contact just a few days ago with the pastor of the Great Commission Church in Kherson, a city completely under Russian control, his name was on the list to be captured and ‘disappeared’. By a miracle he has escaped through fields, past Russian checkpoints, to safety. Many of his church have also escaped being murdered but are now scattered. Sadly, many elderly, and those with nowhere to go, have stayed behind. Services and prayer continue online.
However, the latest proposal is for me to hold and attend, a United Interconfessional National Day of Prayer in Ukraine on the original date of June 11th (which in Ukraine is Pentecost Sunday), not in Kyiv but in Lviv. The prayer will be nationwide by uplink. Then God-willing, in July to take the 10,000-seat Sport Palace in Kiev for the full National Day of Prayer, with the support of the government. (We do nothing without the support of both Kyiv City and national governments – with advice from the military!) We then plan, as soon as victory is assured, to celebrate with 100,000 in the Olympic football stadium in Kyiv – full evangelism with the support of all denominations! The interchurch committee are determined, with you and me, to be the first both to pray and to celebrate publicly. Both Government and people know that only with God’s help through the power of prayer is such a victory possible. In Mark 11:23, Jesus said, whosoever shall say to this mountain, be removed and cast into the sea, and shall not doubt in his heart, but believe that those things which he says shall come to pass, shall have what he says! This He told His disciples on the Mount of Olives. We are taking these steps by faith, not just yours and mine, but with the support of the Ukrainian Interconfessional Church Council! I need you to stand with me in faith and prayer that God will be glorified in a powerful way. We need an increasingly secular world to see the demonstration of God’s Power – as in the days of Elijah! Why not?
We desperately need to increase our funding. This in Ukraine, plus the anticipated massive evangelism in Poland, Armenia, and Georgia, with Israel also in sight, will cost more than double our present income. We are living in the last days, hardly able to accept the seriousness of a threatening Third World War. That is the bad news. But the Good News is that Jesus spoke more of the Glory of His Coming Kingdom than the suffering which precedes it. The older I become and the nearer to the Return of Jesus, the harder and faster I intend to work! Jesus said, “In the last days, go into the streets and COMPEL THEM TO COME!”
Glory to God! I will exalt the Name of Jesus, as I intend to do in my personal meeting with Pope Francis, which will take place on May 18th, so will have happened before you read this letter! I will send a quick report by email.
I urge you to buy my recent books because they clearly show the way that God is leading me in these last days. These books reveal what is empowering me as the spiritual battle for the Kingdom of God increases, and will continue to increase as Revival comes and Satan, like Mr Putin, becomes more desperate. But if you hear my speaking on radio or TV, you will know that I constantly declare that God is not only a God of coming peace but that in 6,000 years God has never ever been defeated in battle! And by His Grace, we will not be defeated now! This is what God called me for 75 years ago, and only now do I see clearly what God’s plan for my life was from the beginning.
David
Will you join us in supporting Ukraine? Many have already given generously, and we are immensely grateful. But the need is great. And the longer the invasion continues, the worse the humanitarian crisis becomes. There is so much damage to infrastructure, but there's an even greater damage to people’s souls. Daily our staff care for the displaced and those crushed in spirit. They share the love of Christ in word and deed: distributing humanitarian aid and praying with those in distress.
This year our ministry continues broadcasting the Gospel on TV, Radio, and online, in multiple languages. And David is regularly holding evangelistic services.