Dear Friends and Prayer Partners
I thank God for you! It brings me much encouragement to know that you are supporting me both in prayer and in finance.
In the West there is a strong cult of ageism – that when you are old you are useless! Whereas in the Eastern countries where my ministry is, they love and respect age with its wisdom and experience! All my places of ministry over the last years demonstrate this. They respect my 74 years of experience and the powerful anointing on my life. And this is only the beginning, we expect the blessing to increase in the coming years.
Poland at the beginning of this month was a powerful blessing, working with Ukrainian refugees, with congregations of 1000 in each meeting. You will have seen our online reports. In the Saturday evangelistic meeting, we had 100 orphan children aged 14-18, bussed in by their Christian carers; over 150 refugees repented, we saw miracles of healing – testimonies were given on the platform, and others were shared on the buses as they went home. The pastors and missionaries who took part in this event shared their powerful memories of my ministry in Ukraine, Crimea, Belarus and Russia. They told of miracles which I didn’t know: that after my meetings in Gomel, Belarus, in 1994, they opened 50 new churches; in Evpatoria, Crimea, among the many outstanding healings, they brought one man on crutches, unable to walk unaided – he threw away his crutches, gloriously healed, and walked 12 miles home! These men and women from my past are so on fire, they are already missionaries and, as a result of the war in Ukraine, are evangelising Europe!
Some critics question what I am doing with the Catholics in Poland? One of our staff members whom we support has been working with Nicky Gumbel for some years and is now President of the Alpha Courses in Poland – with approval from the Pope. His aim is to have an Alpha course in every Catholic Diocese. My job with him and others is to restore Jesus to the highest place in Catholic theology. There is no other Name under Heaven who can save us from sin – not Mary who, like all the dead in Christ, is waiting for the Resurrection – only Jesus!
What led me to Christ when I was only eight years old was fear of hell. If I died, my family would all go to Heaven except me – I cried to Jesus to forgive me – He did that night! That’s why when I was in Grammar school I was a ‘Hell Fire’ preacher! ONLY you can make the choice, Heaven or hell. After one year in that communist prison, I decided, if hell is any worse than a communist prison, I will spend my life rescuing men and women by the Power of Jesus Name!
By the time you read this, I will be on my prayer mountain in Switzerland February 17-24. I have a lot of requests to bring before the Lord!!! But most of all, I am pleading and believing for more Power, more Holy Spirit, I can’t get enough of the Holy Spirit – I need His Power to increase as my age increases. Literally, as my power decreases, His must increase to more than compensate for my age! I need these times of refreshing between missions to enable me to ‘re-fire’.
As I return from Switzerland, we move into an intensive period of evangelism. I will endeavour to visit Israel to plan for further evangelism as soon as the war finishes. Then back to Kazakhstan on March 28 to take a large hall for evangelism, first in Astana, then in a large tent in another region of Kazakhstan. I will be evangelising in three places for the period March 28th to April 15th. This means I will reach not just the capital city but the other regions of this vast country. Whilst still dependent on Moscow and with a big traditionally Moslem population, this country is open to the Gospel. I worked in Russia for 30 years under communism, so why not Kazakhstan – even if this is a challenge to your praying, my faith and God’s Power! With your prayer support I do what no other 92-year-old would consider. Why? Because the ‘things impossible with men, are possible with God’.
But this has been my life for the last 70 years, to attempt the impossible when God calls! He has called me to this region and the miracles of the past confirm it. – We desperately need the resources, material, financial and spiritual! But I am confident that with God there will be a powerful breakthrough.
Back in the office for a short period to catch up with my work, then in the middle of May, back to Georgia for evangelism in the Batumi Moslem region, before flying into Armenia for a Conference and Prayer in Vanadzor, ministering into evangelistic outreaches. This is a hectic schedule, thank God, my strength will not fail me. Remember, I was already 62 years old when I spent 3 months in Siberia and, with the help of a team of 400, evangelised 18 towns and cities in these remote regions of Russia. This is what brought the revival to Siberia and the Far East of Russia and to Ukraine. The whole of Eurasia where I am now working has never seen large scale evangelism in 2000 years, much of that time, and part still is, under Moslem control.
I am a relic from the ‘old generation’ which opened nations for the Gospel and loved the adventure. I’m still searching to find out how big God really is and how His Power is totally without limit. As Daniel 11:32 says, ‘Those who know their God will be strong and do EXPLOITS.’ This is why life with God is such an exciting adventure. I am sure that the apostles Peter, Paul and the others would do exactly what I’m doing if they lived today! So I am continuing to plan for years to come.
David
‘I thank God continually for you and I never give up praying for you; and this is my prayer. That God, the God of our Lord Jesus Christ and the all-glorious Father, will give you spiritual wisdom and the insight to know more of him: that you may receive that inner illumination of the spirit which will make you realise how great is the hope to which he is calling you—the magnificence and splendour of the inheritance promised to Christians—and how tremendous is the power available to us who believe in God’ (Ephesians 1:15-19).
As we witness the ongoing challenges faced by our brothers and sisters in Ukraine, we are reminded of the power of unity and the impact we can make when we come together as a community of believers. In the face of adversity, we have an opportunity to extend the love of Christ through evangelism and humanitarian aid, becoming beacons of hope in a world that so desperately needs it.