113 Sermon Illustrations on Testimony

Testimony of Ron Gordon:

Ron was born in New Jersey to a nominally Catholic family. He was always heavy-set, so everyone called him “Tiny.” His parents divorced and he was sent to live with friends in Ohio.

It didn't take him long to fall into the wrong crowd. He began using drugs heavily. Once he took a Seconal tablet, cooked the contents, injected it into his arm and experienced a black tunnel. Another time, a drugged-out buddy shot a girlfriend to death.

Marriage weaned him off drugs, but not alcohol. He saw booze as an easy way to escape from reality. His and his wife attempted to have a child, but couldn't. Their doctor said if fertility drugs didn't work, only God could help them. Soon after this, his wife Susan took him to church. Soon after, she got pregnant. Ron thought he was in charge of his life, and it was going great -- then he got permanently laid off. No income.

Susan attended a Bible study at West Lafayette Baptist church and accepted Jesus as her Savior. Ron was glad she was happier, but it wasn't for him. One day he came across a book called, “JESUS: God, Ghost, or Guru?” For some reason, he bought it. The book took away all his reasons for not believing. On a Sunday afternoon soon after that, Ron sat with Pastor David Holwick in a friend's living room. David asked Ron if he was finally ready to commit his life to Jesus Christ. Ron said, “Yes,” and prayed right there to receive him as his Savior.

Mr. Theh ("tay") Chongkhadikij was a founder and editor of the main English newspaper in Thailand, the Bangkok Post. His youngest daughter, Anchalee, is known as the Queen of Rock in Thailand. She had a close friend become a Christian, went to Dick Worley, read Psalm 139 and accepted Christ. The others in the family had Bible studies with him and also accepted Christ. When Worley talked with Theh, a strong Buddhist, Theh accepted the gospel with child-like faith. Later at a church service he raised his hand at the invitation. A few weeks later at a Luis Palau rally his daughter gave her testimony and Theh himself came forward. He did not do it so much to accept Christ (he had already done that) but to bear witness to his faith in front of others. On July 1, 1990, Worley baptized 36 people at the Maitrichit Church, and Theh and his wife were the first two. Theh wrote a book on his experiences in Thailand and included his testimony at the end.

In 1990, centerfielder Brett Butler left the San Francisco Giants as a free agent, joining the Los Angeles Dodgers, cross-state rivals. When Butler returned to San Francisco for the first time as a Los Angeles Dodger, Giant fans greeted him with a mix of boos and cheers.

The cheers turned to boos, however, when Butler hugged Los Angeles manager Tommy Lasorda. “It turned a page in my career,” said Butler. “I’m an L.A. Dodger now; I’m not a Giant. That just kind of solidified it. I wanted them to know, I’m a Dodger.”

When people become Christians, in one way or another they need to “hug Jesus” in the sight of all their family, friends, and acquaintances.

A Christian friend of Robert Tamasy in the Midwest was general manager of a chain of community newspapers, and his responsibilities included setting advertising policies. At one point he ordered that advertising clients who used a Christian symbol or Bible verse on business cards or stationery would be required to pay cash in advance. These were his worst-paying accounts. One lesson that many of us in the faith still need to learn is that our most effective witness – to non-Christians and to fellow believers – is not through what we say, but through what we do.

#2458

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Pastor Buu Tu Chung is ministering as church planter among the Vietnamese population of Los Angeles. He was born and raised in Vietnam, near the Mekong Delta. He became a helicopter pilot in the Vietnam War for the U.S. Army before he was shot down on February 22, 1971. He was captured and became a prisoner of war for almost 14 years. To count the days exactly, it was 5,000 days. He was not released until the end of 1984.

He knew about God and Jesus since he was a child, but he was not a real Christian. When he was in prison, he thought about his future and his life ... he had no hope. Then he remembered a verse in Matthew where Jesus said that all you need is faith the size of a mustard seed. He knew he needed the Holy Bible, but he lived in a Communist prison ... so how could he possibly get one? So he thought if he had faith like a mustard see he could have it.

He began to pray to ask Jesus to give him His Holy bible. During his interrogation - which lasted for five months - the enemy asked him if they could give him something. He said yes. They asked, "What do you need?" "I need a Holy Bible." They said, "It's impossible, we cannot give you that thing because it is forbidden." He said, "OK, but you asked me and I gave you my answer."

After two years of praying, the chief of the camp called him in to be interrogated. Chung came into his office and he saw a brand new Holy Bible on the table. After a while the officer said, "This Holy Bible is yours - a gift from the Political Warfare Department of the North Vietnam Army." (Unfortunately, the Bible was stolen four years later.) Chung knew that God is real and Jesus is God. He read the Bible and became a new Christian. He was born again.

He had gone through fifteen prison camps. The first camp was right in Hanoi. That is where he saw the first American pilot who was detained there and interrogated. In Hanoi, he stayed in several places including one main prison the Americans called the Hanoi Hilton.

When he came to the United States in 1990, God reminded him that he had promised that he would serve Him. He went to Calvary Baptist of Gardena and attended the worship service and was so pleased. This was exciting because in 1989, before he came to the United States, he became the leader of a home church in Vietnam called the Underground Church, which was a charismatic church. So when he came to Calvary Baptist of Gardena, he saw that people practiced the same thing and said, "Well, this is my place!"

He and another pastor began to plant a new Vietnamese church on February 16, 1992. The first year, 25 souls were won for Christ. In May 1993 he was recognized as a pastor by the American Baptists. Their church began to grow slowly and now attendance is around 30. They began another new Vietnamese church on April 29, 1994. He has a vision that many Vietnamese will convert to be a Christian in America, and knows that one day he will see it.

#2971

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During Jerry Cound's brief life, he received two heart transplants, completed a college education and competed globally in the World Transplant Olympics. He was only 25 when heart failure claimed his life March 15 while playing basketball on vacation in Valencia, Spain.

In addition to hurdling huge medical obstacles and establishing a world-class athletic record, Cound also is remembered by friends, fellow church members and family for his testimony of faith.

"He had a heart for people and he had a heart for God and his righteousness," said Adam Jordan, who attended junior high school, Sunday school and Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia, Arkansas, with Cound. "In everything he did, that seemed like what he was after."

Sharing his testimony during the 1995 Arkansas Baptist youth convention in Little Rock, Cound listed "sports and church" as the two key influences in his life while growing up.

"I was always involved with my church with mission projects and Bible studies," said Cound, a member of Park Hill Baptist Church in North Little Rock. "I went to Canada and Guatemala with different missions trips."

Cound also noted, "I come from a very athletic family."

Describing his father as a tremendous athlete, Cound recounted "it was said at one time he could have gone to the Olympics ... . (He) set some state records in track and field and was a tremendous athlete in basketball and baseball." Cound's older brother, Mike, and sister, Chela, played college basketball and volleyball.

Cound's faith often was evident while playing sports, especially basketball, Jordan recalled. "On the court, he had a great attitude. I never saw him get mad. I never saw any temper at all."

Jordan described Cound's playing style as "aggressive. He was real quick and a real team player.He had a lot of endurance." After Jordan and Cound began playing city and YMCA leagues after college, Jordan said, "We'd play back-to- back three-on-three games and he never missed a step."

Although one of Cound's deepest wishes was to excel in sports like his father and siblings, a heart disease contracted as a child damaged his heart muscles, excluding him from school sports.

"At two weeks old, I had a virus ... that went to my heart and almost killed me," he noted at the statewide gathering of young people.

"But I survived and it left some scar tissue on the heart in a condition ... which is basically just a weakened heart muscle. So growing up I had this heart condition but I never would admit it to anybody. I never admitted it even to myself. I always thought I was very normal.

"As far as I knew, in elementary school I was faster than all my friends and was just as ... strong as any of them," he said. "So I didn't think there was anything wrong with me."

"He did not want other people talking to him about his problems," said his father, Gerald Cound. "He did not want them to consider him any differently than anybody else.

"Jerry's heart was tough," his dad added. "I think he knew tough love.

"To be honest, that's the script we wrote as a family," said the elder Cound. "We emphasized early on we weren't going to treat Jerry any differently than we treated our other children. We didn't expect anything from anybody and we had to go out and make things go for ourselves and there was no reason to complain about things.

"So I never heard Jerry complain about anything," his dad said. "Even in the depths of his toughest times, he never once ... complained."

But a physical examination prior to junior high school showed his heart "was working on about 25 percent of what it should be working on," said the younger Cound. "It was just compensating and ... working harder than it should." The tests showed "that I didn't need to compete in junior high athletics.... I was very upset and very disappointed. I wanted to follow in my brother's and sister's footsteps and even set some of my own records like my father had."

Despite being unable to compete in school athletics, "I was still playing church basketball and YMCA basketball and stayed in good shape," he said.

Luke Flesher, Park Hill's minister of pastoral care and Cound's former youth minister at the church, observed Cound's dedication while playing church basketball. "Whatever he did, it was never 100 percent. It was always 120 percent. He always dived into the bleachers" going after a basketball.

Cound's life was interrupted again when, at age 15, "I got sick and went into the hospital with pneumonia" and other complications, he shared during his testimony. "I was basically on my deathbed and getting worse. Then they diagnosed heart failure."

Jerry was taken to Houston, where doctors decided to transplant a new heart. Describing that experience as "tough," Jerry said, "I lost 20 pounds and they were feeding me through IVs and were doing everything for me. The month before, I had been playing basketball. I had my own little lawn mowing service. And all of a sudden I was down and out."

He received his new heart June 1, 1986. In Jerry's words, "Everything really went well for five years."

He continued to be active and participated in the World Transplant Olympics in Singapore in 1989, the same year he enrolled at Ouachita Baptist University. His primary events at the Olympic competitions, said his father, were running "the 100, 200 and long jump.... He was also a volleyball competitor."

Jerry again participated in the World Transplant Olympics in 1991 in Budapest, Hungary. Following the games, he recalled, "I got sick. We thought I just had a little bug. But I passed out in my apartment. My roommate said I quit breathing for about 30 seconds."

The next morning he was back in Houston. "They told me I might have another transplant. They said the only reason they would give me one is if they found the perfect heart."

On Sept. 23, 1991, doctors told Jerry they had found that heart. "I started thinking about what they were going to do to me. I said let's go for it. I came through and got a stronger, healthier heart."

During a bout with rejection the next month, which Jerry said was common for transplant patients, he experienced a low point in his recovery. "I was laying there in bed one day and was just feeling terrible and was crying in my bed."

"He almost gave up," his dad said. "There came a time when I got very angry and threatened to throw him out of bed. We both cried. After a day or two, things straightened out. He had gotten to a point where he wasn't for sure he wanted to continue everything. I needed his fighting spirit to make things go."

"I said, 'God, just let me die,'" Cound recalled. "'Why do you keep putting me though this? Let me go. I'm ready.' The next thing I knew I was waking up and was feeling fine and from that point on I got better and better."

He returned to OBU the next semester. Ouachita classmate Wade Tomlinson met Cound when Tomlinson and one of Cound's close friends, Brian McKinney, took Cound home following his second operation. Tomlinson said he noticed then that Cound's "heart's desire was to live life to its fullest."

"That meant taking risks, being open to friends and to people regardless of who they were," Tomlinson said. "It meant taking risks not only physically and athletically, but also relationally because he wanted to experience all that life had to offer.

"I remember coming home from Houston," Tomlinson continued. "Jerry said, 'This heart might last five years.' Even though he didn't talk about it a lot, he knew he wasn't going to live forever."

Cound's recovery was hampered when personal tragedy struck his family in February 1991. "I got a call from my father. My mother had passed away. My mother was the angel in my life. She took care of me through just about everything. Losing my mother was a tough thing. It was a lot tougher than any transplant or surgery."

Cound went on to participate in more U.S. and World Transplant Games. He also was chosen by Gov. Jim Guy Tucker to represent the state at the National Victory Celebration in Washington in 1993.

Carolyn Dowling, recognition specialist for the Arkansas Department of Human Services' division of volunteerism cited Cound at the time for his "remarkable strength of purpose in continuing his education and competing in the United States Transplant Games soon after his heart surgeries." She noted Tucker "chose Jerry as an example of the great resolve of the human spirit and as an inspiring example to all of us."

Cound graduated from Ouachita in 1994 and began work as the fitness director for the Downtown Little Rock YMCA. He also used his testimony to speak to church and civic groups.

"Life is good," he told an estimated 3,000 youth at last year's youth convention. "Life is very good for me. I'm very blessed. Each year I've traveled to the World Transplant Olympics. I've been to Singapore, Budapest, Vancouver and England and all over the U.S.

"Just like my father, although I wasn't able to set some records in college, I was able to set my own records in both world and national Transplant Olympics.

"Every day I have to deal with different trials," he added. "My trials are just a little different. I don't know why God has allowed me to live this long. An average heart transplant lives about five years after surgery and that is something I think about a lot. But I try to live life to the fullest and try to give God my all and I hope I do."

"He sensed every moment was valuable, and he was ready," said Flesher. "I think as time went along, he matured and came to an awareness that his life was fragile, but he never focused on that."

"His spirit testified to who he was," commented Jordan, who worked alongside Jerry in the OBU admissions office. "There was so much evidence in his life of the Lord and his purpose."

Confidently sharing that perspective, Jerry quoted Psalm 73:26 to participants at the state youth convention. "My heart and my flesh may fail," he acknowledged, "but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever."

Copyright (c) 1996 Baptist Press

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My father is an alcoholic and my mother codependent. Up until the age of about 20, I was submitted to physical and emotional abuse and neglect; after 20 it was just emotional abuse and neglect.

I was constantly told I was nobody, and would never be any one --- that I was worthless. Finding out I was adopted only pushed the point further home --- even my birth mother thought I was not worth keeping; I felt she threw me away.

My adopted parents threw me out of their house when I was about 20 (they felt they need more room). On January 4 without notice, and in the middle of a snow storm; I was forced to leave.

During January of this year, my adopted parents disowned me when I contacted my birth mother. From January to May 9th, they did their best to try to turn my grandparents (whom I’m very close to) away from me.

On May 8, 1991 I accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior; I stopped trusting in my own limitations, and started trusting in the character and deeds of Jesus Christ (God the Son).

On May 9, 1991 during the evening (after work), I called my adopted parents ask for forgiveness and to give forgiveness.

Within moments 28 years of abuse, neglect, anger, and hatred were washed away by the blood of Jesus Christ.

Since May 8, 1991 I have felt more peace in my heart than I have ever felt in the past 28 years of my life.

Maybe that’s not scientific proof, Keith; but, it is proof enough for me.

Any one looking for a good indication of how secularized America has become got a very good indication the recent Republican debate. When asked to identify the thinker who had the greatest effect on his life, George W. Bush named Jesus Christ -- because, as he put it, "He has changed my heart."

The uproar was fast and furious. You would have thought Bush had invoked the Marquis de Sade, or perhaps Larry Flynt. The New York Times found a Bishop to denounce Bush's choice. Superlawyer Alan Dershowitz went on television to complain that Bush's answer was totally out of line. The chorus of critics sang from the same hymnal. Bush had spoken the forbidden name in American politics.

The single most important thing you can know about anyone is the priorities he sets for himself in life. What does he value most?

Knowing that a man or woman is a believer in Jesus Christ tells you about his or her priorities. It gives you the most crucial information about that person.

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Copyright (c) 1999 Prison Fellowship Ministries. Reprinted with permission. "BreakPoint with Chuck Colson" is a radio ministry of Prison Fellowship Ministries.

Sellers of eggs at many African street markets keep a clay pot full of water

at hand. Buyers are expected to pick out the eggs they want and then put them

in the water. Eggs that sink are fresh. Those that float are stale. -- L. M.

Boyd

NOTE: Is my testimony so genuine as a fresh egg?

(The Timothy Report, Swan Lake Communications, SwanLC@aol.com, August 30, 1999)

Dave Dravecky never will work another game from the pitcher’s mound, but he hasn’t been knocked out of the box.

Upbeat and positive, Dravecky said he will play gold and tennis, swim and engage in other sports he was unable to enjoy before because of his baseball contract.

“There are adjustments that I have to make, but there’s nothing out there that I don’t want to do,” the former San Francisco Giants pitcher said Monday (July 15, 1991) at his first news conference since his cancerous left arm was amputated June 18.

Dravecky, 35, appeared with wife Janice at the Christian Booksellers Association convention in Orlando, Florida. He said his Christian faith helped him overcome health problems that began in 1988.

“I see this as God giving me the opportunity to share the Gospel with a lot of people.”

And lots of people apparently are anxious to hear him. Dravecky is booked for a full schedule of speaking engagements, and he has a unique story to tell.

After his cancer was diagnosed in October 1988, Dravecky underwent surgery to remove a malignant tumor and nearly half of the deltoid muscle. Then he made a remarkable comeback, allowing four hits over eight innings in a 4-3 victory over the Cincinnati Reds at Candlestick Park on Aug. 10, 1989. Five days later, he broke his arm while pitching in Montreal and collapsed on the mound in pain.

He retired from baseball that November, underwent more surgery last year and then had his pitching arm removed four weeks ago. “Without Jesus Christ, I would not have the strength to endure this,” Dravecky said.

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Associated Press, The Dallas Morning News, Tuesday, July 16, 1990, page 2B

My name is Liz Macleod. I am married to Doonie and have three boys, Craig, Stuart and Brian. I work as a Play Group Leader in Stornoway on the Island of Lewis.

I publicly confessed my faith in Christ in February 1996 at the same time as my husband Doonie. The Lord was striving with both of us, but in different ways, and by His grace brought us both to a saving knowledge of Him together. This is my testimony as I told it at a Youth Fellowship Meeting which was held in the village of Bragar on the West Side of the Island. It is in question and answer form.

When were you aware of the existence of God?

I think from a very early age. My parents were not Christians at that time, however we were brought up to go to church and Sunday School. My grandparents stayed across the road and they were both Christians. My grandfather was the church officer in the Free Church in Stornoway, and I remember he used to say grace before and after meals. I also remember being in their house and having worship - when it came to the prayer we all had to kneel down in front of our chair.

I also remember us watching television on Sunday afternoons. Often my granny would pay us an unexpected visit and my dad would jump up quickly to switch off the television when he would see her coming!

I can say I knew what was right from wrong from an early age and I was aware that God did exist.

Who were major influences in your life as a teenager from a Christian perspective?

Our family moved from Stornoway to Aberdeen when I was just over 8 years old. We went to church and Sunday school in Aberdeen. I remember quite clearly my Sunday school days and I think that is important. You might be wondering just now, what is the point of memorising verses etc.? Looking back, I am often amazed when I am able to see what an influence my upbringing had. I remember many of the Psalms I had learned in Sunday school and my catechisms. I also remember writing an essay on Ruth. A couple of weeks ago our minister preached a sermon on Ruth and I was pleasantly surprised when I realized that I could still remember a verse that I had learned as I was writing that essay. It was when Naomi was telling her two daughters-in-law to go back to their own people, but Ruth clung to her and said, “Intreat me not to leave thee, nor to return from following after you, for whither thou goest I will go, whither thou lodgest I will lodge, thy people shall be my people and thy God my God.”

My mum was converted under the preaching of the late Rev. Prof. J. Douglas Macmillan. She sometimes took us along with her to the Prayer Meeting; afterwards we would enjoy an ice cream at a local café. My dad became interested in the gospel, although he wasn’t converted until many years later. We became friendly with one man in particular in the congregation, Ron Masson. At this time there were many students in the congregation (some from Stornoway) and they used to gather in houses on a Sunday night after church. I really enjoyed this time. It was like being a part of one big happy family. They would come into the kitchen and help mum make a pile of sandwiches. Then we would have worship and lots of singing - quite often they brought their guitars. It was a wonderful time and it had a big influence on me - in fact so much so that I remember one time one of them asking me if I was a Christian. I said ‘yes!’ I knew as soon as I said it, that I was not! I think I just longed to be one. Our neighbours were Roman Catholics and one day they told us they turned down the television one Sunday so they could listen to the singing!

We moved back to Stornoway when I was 15 and I remember attending the Bayhead Youth Group which was held in the Retirement Centre and was lead by Ralph Briggs and Ruairidh Martin. I also went to some Faith Mission meetings. These were the main influences as a teenager.

How old were you when you became a Christian?

I was 36 years old and I am now 43.

You had a tragedy in your family with the loss of your brother. Were you angry with God?

Yes! I lost my brother nearly 8 years ago. Some of you who are present knew him quite well. John became very ill. We did not realize the seriousness of it at first, however it became quite apparent when we were told he needed a heart transplant! I prayed for him every night and yes, I have to admit I was angry with God. He had let him die! I did come to see that this same God was a loving God this encouraged me when I saw the strength that my parents received at that time, though their grief was immense. The Lord gives help in time of need and He will not burden us with more than we are able to bear. We must remember that our lives are all mapped out by God. God knows the time of our birth and the time of our death, and it is good that we do not know these things. We would not be able to cope! This is why there is such an urgency for the gospel. We do not know the appointed time of our death, but we must all make sure that are ready when that time comes. We can only do that by asking the Lord Jesus Christ into our hearts. We need not have to wait for anything dramatic to happen! Jesus wants us to ask, and He will freely give.

When did you decide to give your life over to Christ?

It was on the 21st June 1995. I remember that date because it was our 16th wedding anniversary!

The Lord had spoken to me clearly in October 1993 at the death of our close friend Ron in Aberdeen. I travelled to Aberdeen with my parents and younger brother for the funeral. I was really upset and crying throughout. Others about me seemed to be fine. They knew Ron had gone to a better place. I clearly remember the minister saying “we don’t know the purpose for Ron’s death” and at that moment I felt the Lord was saying “this is for you, Liz”. I could not speak to my family being so upset. When I came home I told Doonie - he knew there was something working in my life. I received the tape of the funeral service and listened to it again. I just knew I wanted the Lord in my life. Doonie urged me to go to the Prayer Meeting, but I just would not take that step!

I returned to my old ways and tried to put what was happening in my life behind me. 11 months later my brother died! I was distraught and afraid. You hear of these things happening to other people. Now it was us that had to face it! It occurred to me that I had turned God away after Ron’s death and now here was another death! This time though it was my own brother! I remember asking myself, “how many more people have to die before I commit my life to the Lord?” Again I felt drawn. Once again I was afraid to make that commitment and I tried to push my feelings aside.

About the same time the Lord had been working in Doonie’s life. He was having difficulty coping on his own and felt he needed the Lord in his life. One morning in particular he was quite upset going to work. He told me that, ‘he needed the Lord in his life and that he had to do something.’ I sympathized with him, and at the same time I was saying, ‘He’ll get over it, he will be alright – it will pass!’ That day however was different! Doonie’s words played on my mind continually. They would not go away! The Lord was surely speaking to me. I was ironing in the kitchen - and crying - then I would run upstairs to pray! I prayed that the Lord would come into my heart and life and that He would forgive me for all the wrong I had done and I pleaded with Him to help me. Then I would come back downstairs and continue my ironing! My mind could not find any peace!

I was expecting my mum to telephone me, as this was our anniversary. I thought about going to the Prayer Meeting and went upstairs again to ask for strength. Sure enough my mum phoned and asked if we were going anywhere and would we need a babysitter? My heart was pounding as I said ‘yes!’ ‘We are going to the Prayer Meeting!’ She was absolutely delighted! She did not say too much, as she knew I was very emotional. I felt a huge burden lift from me there and then!

How has your life changed? Are there now more restrictions on you as to what you can do?

My life has changed for the better. I am far more content. I have a peace that comes from knowing God. I am thankful to the Lord for the way He brought both Doonie and I together into His fold. Although I had a lot of friends before, I now have a wider circle of friends, who I know are truly caring people, and the love between God’s people is very real. I also know that God is in control of my life. He is never more that a prayer away!

Are there more restrictions? No! There is a freedom in Christ. He frees us from the bondage of sin and this world. My desires changed! I used to live for sport, particularly netball. I still play it from time to time, however it is not now a priority. God comes first! I would much rather attend a meeting in the church than play netball. I also used to watch Television often, especially Soaps. Meals times would revolve around my favourite Soaps. I no longer have this desire. The Lord has taken the desire away.

Is your marriage different now since you became a Christian?

Doonie and I were married quite young. I was going out with him at 15, engaged at 18 and married at 20. We have 3 boys. I know for a fact that our marriage bond has been strengthened since we both became Christians. There is such a sense of security in knowing the Lord as our Saviour. No matter what life brings, He is always there, with us. The Bible says, ‘cast your burdens upon the Lord and He will sustain you.’ It also says ‘He will never leave you nor forsake you.’ It is comforting to know and believe these precious promises. We now have more love towards each another and to our boys. We have to thank the Lord for all that He has given us. We have more unity being of the same mind in Christ. I believe our boys have respect for our faith and we both pray that they would come to know the Lord, while they are young. We pray the same for you also.

Doonie and I now love serving the Lord together. We enjoy our work with the young in ‘Campaigners.’ We discuss sermons together, talk of the Lord and pray together. We would never have done this before. We never really discussed church or becoming Christians although we always attended church. There are times when we find it so amazing to be attending the Prayer Meeting on a Wednesday night with the Lord’s people.

Do you think it is easy today to be a Christian in your teens?

There are far more opportunities now for young people to gather together at youth fellowships, youth groups, church activities, camps, open air meetings etc. Only one other in my class went to church when I was in school in Aberdeen! There are plenty of opportunities to hear the word of God and many willing leaders who freely give up their time and energy to help bring young people to the Lord. Always remember that people are praying for you constantly and you do not have to wait until you are older or a better person. The Lord wants you just as you are. Ask Him into your heart now. Do not leave it as long as I did. His Spirit will not strive with you forever! The day I was saved, was I believe, my final opportunity. God had been calling me many times over the years and if I had refused Him that day that He may no longer have continued to strive with me. What a thought!!

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[Original illustration at this number was a duplicate of HolwickID #2577]

Sociology professor Anthony Campolo recalls a deeply moving incident that happened in a Christian junior high camp where he served. One of the campers, a boy with spastic paralysis, was the object of heartless ridicule. When he would ask a question, the boys would deliberately answer in a halting, mimicking way.

One night his cabin group chose him to lead the devotions before the entire camp. It was one more effort to have some “fun” at his expense. Unashamedly the spastic boy stood up, and in his strained, slurred manner -- each word coming with enormous effort -- he said simply, “Jesus loves me -- and I love Jesus!” That was all.

Conviction fell upon those juniorhighers. Many began to cry. Revival gripped the camp. Years afterward, Campolo still meets men in the ministry who came to Christ because of that testimony.

Some call forestry student David Kulivan delusional, others pathological. Kulivan knew his testimony could make him look like a fool. He gave it anyway. He insists he's seen the ivory-billed woodpecker, one of the most majestic birds ever known - and widely believed to have been extinct for decades.

"There was a lot of scrutiny and I'm glad because I'm skeptical about these things as well," says Kulivan, who studies at Louisiana State University. "I don't take a sighting, especially of an ivory bill, lightly. If I wasn't absolutely positive of what I saw, I never would have opened my mouth."

Kept quiet at first, Kulivan's account has caused a considerable squawk in the bird-watching community. Birders, as they are known, compile "life lists" of birds they've seen far and wide, sometimes on several continents. The ivory-billed woodpecker, with sleek white stripes running down the back of its largely black body and its distinctive ivory-white beak - and the male with its red crest and arching red plume on its head - would go to the top of the list for many birders.

"Somebody described this as the Holy Grail of birding," says Steve Shively, a Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries official. "I read an e-mail from one guy saying he really didn't believe the sighting, thought the guy was deluded but agreed if the bird were there he would trade every bird on his life list for that one."

Shively estimates that if the sighting were confirmed, tens of thousands of bird enthusiasts from around the country, even the world, would try to pour into the thick and uninviting swampland that forms the Pearl River wildlife refuge about 30 miles north of New Orleans. "There probably would be something we'd have to do, maybe get enforcement agents out there to possibly limit people in the area at one time," Shively says.

Top area ornithologists who have interviewed Kulivan are impressed with the detail he provided, enough so to have joined several later expeditions to Pearl River. "He had a much better grasp than a simple description and picture from a bird book," says LSU professor Vernon Wright. "I know David from class. He is real conscientious and is not going to make up a story like that."

"I deal with several ivory bill sightings per year, and this one intrigued me especially because it included a lot of detail the normal ivory bill fantasy does not contain," adds Van Remsen, an LSU ornithology professor. "I warned him he'd be treated as if he'd seen a UFO or Bigfoot. I sicced my best attack dogs on him and we all came out believers."

Kulivan does not consider himself a birder. The day he claims to have seen the ivory bill - April 1, 1999 (he insists this is not an April Fool's joke) - he was turkey hunting. Dressed in camouflage, he sat quietly waiting for a gobbler when a pair of woodpeckers landed on a water oak about 25 yards away.

Many believe Kulivan saw pileated woodpeckers, which are about the same size and fairly prevalent in the area. They look similar enough that numerous false ivory bill reports come in every year from people who, following interviews with experts, are found to have all but certainly seen pileateds.

________________________

Do people believe our testimony? Can we back it up with something substantial? Or are we inventing woodpeckers out of thin air?

*

Keith Miller, in his book, A Second Touch, tells of a business man who one night turned his life over to Jesus Christ. After struggling along on his own strength, the next morning he was late for his train. In his hurry, he bumped into a small boy with a puzzle in his hand, scattering the puzzle pieces across the sidewalk. Instead of rushing on, he stopped, stooped down and helped pick up the puzzle while the train moved out of the station.

After he had finished, the little lad looked up into his face and asked, "Mister, are you Jesus?" Then said the man, "I realized that at least in some small way, Christ truly was in my heart."

What witness of Christ shows through your life?

[For the sad origin of this song, see HolwickID #28656]

1. There’s within my heart a melody

Jesus whispers sweet and low:

Fear not, I am with thee, peace, be still,

In all of life’s ebb and flow.

Chorus

Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,

Sweetest name I know,

Fills my every longing,

Keeps me singing as I go.

2. All my life was wrecked by sin and strife,

Discord filled my heart with pain;

Jesus swept across the broken strings,

Stirred the slumbering chords again.

3. Feasting on the riches of His grace,

Resting neath His sheltering wing,

Always looking on His smiling face,

That is why I shout and sing.

4. Though sometimes He leads through waters deep,

Trials fall across the way,

Though sometimes the path seems rough and steep,

See His footprints all the way.

5. Soon He’s coming back to welcome me

Far beyond the starry sky;

I shall wing my flight to worlds unknown;

I shall reign with Him on high.

When wealth is lost, nothing is lost;

When health is lost, something is lost;

When character is lost, all is lost.

-- Anonymous, Quoted by Ted W. Engstrom in Integrity.

The founder of a national WEB devotional site asked the candidates in the 2000 election to send in their testimonies. Here is the testimony of George W. Bush, including the political coloring.

___________________________________

[initial portion missing?]

Actually, the seeds of my decision had been planted the year before, by the Reverend Billy Graham. He visited my family for a summer weekend in Maine. I saw him preach at the small summer church, St. Ann's by the Sea. We all had lunch on the patio overlooking the ocean. One evening my dad asked Billy to answer questions from a big group of family gathered for the weekend. He sat by the fire and talked. And what he said sparked a change in my heart. I don't remember the exact words. It was more the power of his example. The Lord was so clearly reflected in his gentle and loving demeanor.

The next day we walked and talked at Walker's Point, and I knew I was in the presence of a great man. He was like a magnet; I felt drawn to seek something different. He didn't lecture or admonish; he shared warmth and concern. Billy Graham didn't make you feel guilty; he made you feel loved. Over the course of that weekend, Reverend Graham planted a mustard seed in my soul, a seed that grew over the next year. He led me to the path, and I began walking. It was the beginning of a change in my life. I had a always been a "religious" person, had regularly attended church, even taught Sunday School and served as an altar boy. But that weekend my faith took on a new meaning. It was the beginning of a new walk where I would commit my heart to Jesus Christ.

I was humbled to learn that God sent His Son to die for a sinner like me. I was comforted to know that through the Son, I could find God's amazing grace, a grace that crosses every border, every barrier and is open to everyone. Through the love of Christ's life, I could understand the life-changing powers of faith. When I returned to Midland, I began reading the Bible regularly. Don Evans talked me into joining him and another friend, Don Jones, at a men's Community Bible study. The group had first assembled the year before, in Spring of 1984, at the beginning of the downturn in the energy industry. Midland was hurting. A lot of people were looking for comfort and strength and direction. A couple of men started the Bible study as a support group, and it grew. By the time I began attending, in the fall of 1985, almost 120 men would gather. We met in small discussion groups of ten or twelve, then joined the larger group for full meetings. Don Jones picked me up every week for the meetings. I remember looking forward to them. My interest in reading the Bible grew stronger and stronger, and the words became clearer and more meaningful. We studied Acts, the story of the Apostles building the Christian Church, and next year, the Gospel of Luke. The preparation for each meeting took several hours, reading the Scripture passages and thinking through responses to discussion questions. I took it seriously, with my usual touch of humor.

Laura and I were active members of the First Methodist Church of Midland, and we participated in many family programs, including James Dobson's Focus on the Family series on raising children. As I studied and learned, Scripture took on greater meaning, and gained confidence and understanding in my faith. I read the Bible regularly. Don Evans gave me the "one-year" Bible, a Bible divided into 365 daily readings, each one including a section from the New Testament, the Old Testament, Psalms, and Proverbs. I read through that Bible every other year. During the years in between, I pick different chapters to study at different times.

I have also learned the power of prayer. I pray for guidance. I do not pray for earthly things, but for heavenly things, for wisdom and patience and understanding. My faith gives me focus and perspective. It teaches humility. But I also recognize that faith can be misinterpreted in the political process. Faith is an important part of my life. I believe it is important to live my faith, not flaunt it. America is a great country because of our religious freedoms.

It is important for any leader to respect the faith of others. That point was driven home when Laura and I visited Israel in 1998. We had traveled to Rome to spend Thanksgiving with our daughter, who was attending a school program there, and spent three days in Israel on the way home. It was an incredible experience. I remember waking up at the Jerusalem Hilton and opening the curtains and seeing the Old City before us, the Jerusalem stone glowing gold. We visited the Western Wall and the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. And we went to the Sea of Galilee and stood atop the hill where Jesus delivered the Sermon on the Mount. It was an overwhelming feeling to stand in the spot where the most famous speech in the history of the world was delivered, the spot where Jesus outlined the character and conduct of a believer and gave his disciples and the world the beatitudes, the golden rule, and the Lord's Prayer.

Our delegation included four gentile governors-one Methodist, two Catholics, and a Mormon, and several Jewish-American friends.Someone suggested we read Scripture. I chose to read "Amazing Grace," my favorite hymn. Later that night we all gathered at a restaurant in Tel Aviv for dinner before we boarded our middle-of-night flight back to America. We talked about the wonderful experiences and thanked the guides and government officials who had introduced us to their country. And toward the end of the meal, one of our friends rose to share a story, to tell us how he, a gentile, and his friend, a Jew, had (unbeknownst to the rest of us) walked down to the Sea of Galilee, joined hands underwater, and prayed together, on bended knee. Then out of his mouth came a hymn he had known as a child, a hymn he hadn't thought about in years. He got every word right: Now is the time approaching, by prophets long foretold, when all shall dwell together, One Shepherd and one fold. Now Jew and gentile, meeting, from many a distant shore, around an altar kneeling, one common Lord.

Faith changes lives. I know, because faith has changed mine. I could not be governor if I did not believe in a divine plan that supersedes all human plans. Politics is a fickle business. Polls change. Today's friend is tomorrow's adversary. People lavish praise and attention. Many times it is genuine; sometimes it is not. Yet I build my life on a foundation that will not shift. My faith frees me. Frees me to put the problem of the moment in proper perspective. Frees me to make decisions that others might not like. Frees me to try to do the right thing, even though it may not poll well... The death penalty is a difficult issue for supporters as well as its opponents. I have a reverence for life; my faith teaches that life is a gift from our Creator. In a perfect world, life is given by God and only taken by God. I hope someday our society will respect life, the full spectrum of life, from the unborn to the elderly. I hope someday unborn children will be protected by law and welcomed in life. I support the death penalty because I believe, if administered swiftly and justly, capital punishment is a deterrent against future violence and will save other innocent lives. Some advocates of life will challenge why I oppose abortion yet support the death penalty. To me, it's the difference between innocence and guilt.

Today, two weeks after Jeb's inauguration, in my church in downtown Austin, Pastor Mark Craig, was telling me that my re-election was the first Governor to win back-to-back, four-year terms in the history of the State of Texas. It was a beginning, not an end.... People are starved for faithfulness. He talked of the need for honesty in government. He warned that leaders who cheat on their wives will cheat their country, will cheat their colleagues, will cheat themselves. Pastor Craig said that America is starved for honest leaders. He told the story of Moses, asked by God to lead his people to a land of milk and honey. Moses had a lot of reasons to shirk the task. As the Pastor told it, Moses' basic reaction was, "Sorry, God, I'm busy. I've got a family. I've got sheep to tend. I've got a life. "Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and bring the sons of Israel out of Egypt? The people won't believe me, he protested. I'm not a very good speaker. Oh, my Lord, send, I pray, some other person," Moses pleaded. But God did not, and Moses ultimately did His bidding, leading his people through forty years of wilderness and wandering, relying on God for strength and direction and inspiration." People are starved for leadership, "Pastor Craig said, "starved for leaders who have ethical and moral courage." "It is not enough to have an ethical compass to know right from wrong," he argued. "America needs leaders who have the moral courage to do what is right for the right reason. It's not always easy or convenient for leaders to step forward," he acknowledged. "Remember, even Moses had doubts."

"He was talking to you," my mother later said. The pastor was, of course, talking to all of us, challenging each one of us to make the most of our lives, to assume the mantle of leadership and responsibility wherever we find it. He was calling on us to use whatever power we have, in business, in politics, in our communities, and in our families, to do good for the right reason. And his sermon spoke directly to my heart and my life.

There was no magic moment of decision. After talking with my family during the Christmas holidays, then hearing this rousing sermon, to make most of every moment, during my inaugural church service, I gradually felt more comfortable with the prospect of a presidential campaign. My family would love me, my faith would sustain me, no matter what.

During the more than half century of my life, we have seen an unprecedented decay in our American culture, a decay that has eroded the foundations of our collective values and moral standards of conduct. Our sense of personal responsibility has declined dramatically, just as the role and responsibility of the federal government have increased. The changing culture blurred the sharp contrast between right and wrong and created a new standard of conduct: "If it feels good, do it." And "if you've got a problem, blame somebody else." "Individuals are not responsible for their actions," the new culture has said. "We are all victims of forces beyond our control." We have gone from a culture of sacrifice and saving to a culture obsessed with grabbing all the gusto. We went from accepting responsibility to assigning blame. As government did more and more, individuals were required to do less and less. The new culture said: "If people were poor, the government should feed them. If someone had no house, the government should provide one. If criminals are not responsible for their acts, then the answers are not prisons, but social programs.... "

For our culture to change, it must change one heart, one soul, and one conscience at a time. Government can spend money, but it cannot put hope in our hearts or a sense of purpose in our lives. But government should welcome the active involvement of people who are following a religious imperative to love their neighbors through after-school programs, child care, drug treatment, maternity group homes, and a range of other services. Supporting these men and women - the soldiers in the armies of compassion is the next bold step of welfare reform, because I know that changing hearts will change our entire society.

During the opening months of my presidential campaign, I have traveled our country and my heart has been warmed. My experiences have reinvigorated my faith in the greatness of Americans. They have reminded me that societies are renewed from the bottom up, not the top down. Everywhere I go, I see people of love and faith, taking time to help a neighbor in need... These people and thousands like them are the heart and soul and greatness of America. And I want to do my part. I am running for President because I believe America must seize this moment, America must lead. We must give our prosperity a greater purpose, a purpose of peace and freedom and hope. We are a great nation of good and loving people. And together, we have a charge to keep."

*

Got any rivers

you think are uncrossable?

Got any mountains

you can't tunnel through?

God specializes

in things thought impossible,

He does the things

others cannot do!

*

Something beautiful, Something good—

All my confusion He understood;

All I had to offer Him was brokenness and strife,

But He made Something beautiful of my life.

*

1. I will sing of my Redeemer

And His wondrous love to me;

On the cruel cross He suffered,

From the curse to set me free.

Chorus

Sing, O sing of my Redeemer

With His blood He purchased me;

On the cross He sealed my pardon,

Paid the debt and made me free.

2. I will tell the wondrous story,

How, my lost estate to save,

In His boundless love and mercy,

He the ransom freely gave.

3. I will praise my dear Redeemer,

His triumphant pow’r I’ll tell,

How the victory He giveth

Over sin and death and hell.

4. I will sing of my Redeemer

And His heav’nly love to me;

He from death to life hath brought me,

Son of God with Him to be.

[alternate tune “Hyfrydol”]

*

1. I stand amazed in the presence

Of Jesus the Nazarene,

And wonder how he could love me,

A sinner, condemned, unclean.

Chorus

How marvelous! How wonderful!

And my song shall ever be:

How marvelous! How wonderful

Is my Saviour’s love for me!

2. For me it was in the garden

He prayed: “Not my will, but thine.”

He had no tears for his own griefs,

But sweat drops of blood for mine.

3. In pity angels beheld him,

And came from the world of light

To comfort him in the sorrows

He bore for my soul that night.

4. He took my sins and my sorrows,

He made them his very own;

He bore the burden to Calvary,

And suffered and died alone.

5. When with the ransomed in glory

His face I at last shall see,

‘Twill be my joy through the ages

To sing of his love for me.

*

My Testimony

I was born January 1, 1950, in a Mennonite family in Russia. When I was a child, my father was arrested and put in prison for 25 years, because he preached the Gospel of Jesus. But in 1955, a year after Stalin died, he was pardoned. I remember the day my father came home. I was five. A man came into our yard and took me in his arms. It was my father.

When I was ten, my father died. He did not see me become a Christian, but he believed I would. He showed me the way to my LORD when I was a boy but I could not understand the gospel. Instead, I choose my own way. I grew up and became a journalist in the Soviet Press. I exchanged the best habits I got from my Christian parents with smoking, alcohol and women. On this way I got stuck in my life, because I was a sinful man. The devil filled my thoughts with suicide. I criticized other people, thinking my unhappiness must be due to someone else.

I never found a way out until I remembered my father and his holy life. Then I repented and cried. It was a long time from that day until I became a Christian, but it was the beginning of my way to Jesus, to my dear Savior and to my salvation. I began to go to church and to read the Bible. Finally God opened my eyes: It was a great discovery for me to understand that I am a sinner and that Jesus died on the cross to save lost people as I am. In 1978 I became a Christian, was baptized, and became a member of a Mennonite Brethren Church.

In 1981, I was arrested for one month, because I was a Christian. The police dispatched a car named “The Black Raven” to my mother’s house. A few militiamen (Russian Police) put five other Christians and myself into jail. Those were a hard, but interesting days. But it wasn’t child’s play. I was put into the jail with criminals. The KGB (Soviet State Security) tried to make me afraid. But the Lord was on my side and gave me strength. Instead of injuring me, the criminals became my friends. I was able to preach the Good News to them. I told them that Jesus loves them, would forgive all their wrong doings, and set them free from sin.

Over time, I was in several cells with different criminals. One of them said to me respectfully: “Jakob, don’t give up your faith! People with such principles as yours, are very respected at the prison.”

At the jail I spoke about Jesus not only to the criminals, but to the guards too. We were not put in jail by coincidence. The Lord had a plan to test our faith and to give me the opportunity to bear witness for them to the criminals, the militia guard, the officers, the officials and the people on the street and institutions during the forced work.

In 1988 I went with my mother and two siblings to Germany. Since 1992 I have returned several times to former Soviet countries as a missionary. I have been preaching there the Gospel in Cultural Centers, schools and prisons. I have been the editor of the Russian Magazine “Day of Salvation” for several years. I have written six books in Russian and I have also published two collections of testimonies about how people came to God. All of those books were published for mission purposes and about 490,000 already have been circulated for free in Russia, Kazakhstan and Ukraine.

A missionary from Hamburg said he had met a young man who was stuck in his life and wanted to commit suicide. The missionary gave him one of my books of testimonies. The next morning the missionary met the young man again. The young man said to the missionary: “I read this book into the night and wept. I thought, if the Lord forgives those people, he will forgive me too”. So he came to Jesus and was saved.

I have studied English and Hebrew at various schools. In 2007 God gave me a beautiful wife, Helen. In recent years I have been an evangelist among German migrants from Russia in East Germany.

After I became a Christian my life began again and I believe this to be a sign of how Jesus saved and changed the life of a lost sinner. “My lips will shout for joy when I sing praise to you – I, whom you have redeemed” (Psalm 71:23).

Jakob Dyck

Germany

*

[Original illustration at this number was deleted for being obsolete]

A Christian once visited a farmer to talk to him about Christ. "I wouldn't come to church up there." the farmer said. "I know old so and so church goer who claims to be a Christian and So and So who attends church there who claims to be a Christian and they don't live any differently from me. I'm as good as they are."

Everywhere the farmer went he told about the hypocrites in that Church. Months passed and the Christian brother went to see the farmer again.

"I want to buy a hog", said the Christian. The farmer showed all his best hogs to him. Then they came to the runt. "I believe I will take that one" the, Christian said. BUT you don't want that one. He's the worst runt to the litter. "I sure do" said the Christian. So they loaded the runt in the truck. "Now," said the Christian "what if I take this pig here from your farm and ride all over this area telling folks that this is the kind of hogs you raise?"

"That's not fair!" the farmer exclaimed. "I have some nice hogs and you want to show people that runt?!"

To which the Christian replied, "If it's fair for the church it's fair for the hogs!"

Source: Monday Fodder

mailto:dgaufaaa@iohk.com?subject=Subscribe_Monday_Fodder

Charles Spurgeon was raised in the home of a Congregationalist minister, with a grandfather who was a Congregationalist minister. Both men were godly influences. Charles was much interested in their ministry and their work, but labored under the idea that he must do something to earn his salvation.

Fifteen year-old Spurgeon was on his way to church, but in a bad snowstorm, he turned aside to a Primitive Methodist chapel. Here is Spurgeon's own account of the service:

"The minister did not come that morning; he was snowed up, I suppose. At last a very thin-looking man, a shoemaker, or tailor, or something of that sort, went up to the pulpit to preach. Now it is well that preachers be instructed, but this man was really stupid. He was obliged to stick to his text, for the simple reason that he had little else to say. The text was - `LOOK UNTO ME, AND BE YE SAVED, ALL THE ENDS OF THE EARTH.'

"He did not even pronounce the words rightly, but that did not matter. There was, I thought, a glimmer of hope for me in that text.

"The preacher began thus: `This is a very simple text indeed. It says "Look." Now lookin' don't take a deal of pain. It aint liftin' your foot or your finger; it is just "Look". Well, a man needn't go to College to learn to look. You may be the biggest fool, and yet you can look. A man needn't be worth a thousand a year to look. Anyone can look; even a child can look.

"`But then the text says, "Look unto Me." Ay!' he said in broad Essex, `many on ye are lookin' to yourselves, but it's no use lookin' there. You'll never find any comfort in yourselves. Some say look to God the Father. No, look to Him by-and-by. Jesus Christ says, "Look unto Me." Some on ye say "We must wait for the Spirit's workin." You have no business with that just now. Look to Christ. The text says, "Look unto Me."'

"Then the good man followed up his text in this way: `Look unto Me; I am sweatin' great drops of blood. Look unto Me; I am hangin' on the cross. Look unto Me, I am dead and buried. Look unto Me; I rise again. Look unto Me; I ascend to Heaven. Look unto Me; I am sitting at the Father's right hand. O poor sinner, look unto Me! look unto Me!'

"When he had . managed to spin out about ten minutes or so, he was at the end of his tether. Then he looked at me under the gallery, and I daresay, with so few present, he knew me to be a stranger.

"Just fixing his eyes on me, as if he knew all my heart, he said, `Young man, you look very miserable.' Well, I did, but I had not been accustomed to remarks made from the pulpit on my personal appearance before. However, it was a good blow, struck right home. He continued, `And you will always be miserable - miserable in life and miserable in death - if you don't obey my text; but if you obey it now, this moment, you will be saved.' Then lifting his hands, he shouted, as only a Primitive Methodist could do, `Young man, look to Jesus Christ. Look! Look! Look! You have nothing to do but look and live!'

"I saw at once the way of salvation. I know not what else he said - I did not take much notice of it - I was so possessed with that one new thought. . I had been waiting to do fifty things, but when I heard that word, `Look!' what a charming word it seemed to me. Oh! I looked until I could almost have looked my eyes away.

Christian workers and volunteers are sharing their faith among China's billions and training new believers there for outreach through a wide range of programs.

The growth of the church in China is not the result of hard work and intensive training, but ultimately, as one worker says, "What has happened in China ... is a mighty movement of God's Spirit."

With the growth have come reports of miracles, divine interventions and angelic visitations. There are also reports of demons, demonic possession and the presence of evil. The stories may sound unbelievable to Christians in the West, but they mirror events described in the New Testament.

Some of these stories follow. These are not legends from unknown sources. They are first-person testimonials directly from the people involved in widely varying locations across China. Christian workers from the West either have been participants in the events described or spoken directly to those telling the stories.

-- GOSPEL FACTORY

Daniel* is a Chinese Christian who lived near a factory where some 1,700 people work.

He wanted to share the gospel with them but could not get into the factory. When a team of medical workers came for a medical clinic, Daniel went in with them and witnessed to some 500 factory workers the team treated.

Three hundred of those workers accepted Christ as Savior. A Buddhist woman was healed and threw away her amulets. Daniel challenged the new believers to share their faith with others, and one woman led 20 to faith in Christ the first week.

Daniel and other Chinese Christians say such workers in this and other factories eventually will take the gospel back to their home villages across a wide area.

-- HOLY DRAGON!

A Chinese Christian man says his mother was a strong Christian but because she had no Bible she had gotten some ideas wrong.

For example, she taught the man that God would come as a "Holy Dragon" and take away sickness. She had confused the word "linag," or spirit, with long, or dragon.

The man became convinced he must have a Bible. Once, looking for a Bible, he walked 20 miles to visit an old preacher. The preacher had no Bible and told the man he must ask God for one.

Until then, the man did not realize one could ask God for things like Bibles. He began praying for a Bible.

After 100 days of fasting he had a vision in which he saw an old man pulling a cart filled with bread -- when the man went to eat the bread, it was a Bible. So the man realized there was a Bible somewhere near him.

He began tearing the house apart, looking for a Bible. He awoke his parents, who soon stood in the middle of the room crying, believing their son had gone crazy.

"A knock came at the door. When I opened the door, there was the old man I had seen in my vision. He handed me a package. I unwrapped the package to find the Bible for which I had been praying. I took that Bible as a loaf of bread and began reading morning and night, even by moonlight, as we had neither candles nor kerosene. Knowing neither night nor day I read that precious book," he reports.

"I started from Matthew, reading and memorizing. When I got to Acts, the Holy Spirit began moving in my heart. When I read Acts 1:8, I realized that the 'Holy Dragon' my mother had talked and preached about was the Holy Spirit. So morning til evening I prayed, 'Jesus I need the Holy Spirit.'

"The Holy Spirit came upon me in the midst of my prayer so that I started to sing a song that I had never heard. The whole village heard that song, and they began to sing it with me over the next few days as that song continued to echo within me and from my lips."

Later the man was called to preach. After being imprisoned three times he eventually left China but continues in Christian service.

-- 15 YEARS AGO ...

The American father stood to his feet and turned to face a gathering of Christians. Fifteen years ago at the end of a summer of ministry in a China megacity, he began, "I remember praying with others that God would call out laborers to the harvest in China." He didn't realize then that part of God's answer to his prayer would be bringing him, his wife and his children to live in China to impact others for the kingdom. Today he speaks with a sense of wonderment about God's ongoing answer to that prayer through their lives.

-- A KNOCK AT THE DOOR

Shortly after her arrival in China, Lori sat on the sofa in her modest apartment and stared into space. Numb with sadness, she prayed, "What am I doing here God?"

She had just talked on the telephone to her parents in the States and had heard that her critically ill sister would probably not live out the week.

A tapping on the window interrupted Lori's thoughts. She opened her door to a young Chinese lady who introduced herself as a friend of a friend. Then with little further ado, the visitor said, "I came because I need to ask you what to believe."

Lori felt joy and affirmation well up in her heart as she began to share the love of Jesus, realizing that God had given her a clear, timely and tangible reminder of his purposes for her in China.

-- A MOTHER'S PRAYERS

Growing up in Asia with a Buddhist father and a Christian mother, Annie slept in a bedroom that also doubled as the family idol room. The young Christian was keenly aware of the danger of idol worship and prayed every night for protection from the influence of the evil one.

Many times she heard the prayers of her mother who looked out over the community from a balcony window and interceded for the salvation of her family and friends.

Annie left Asia many years ago. But now she has returned with her husband and their toddlers to share Christ with those who have never heard. Her early childhood exposure to lifeless idols and a faithful mother has given her a passion for sharing the living God.

-- FORGIVEN

Snowflakes were falling lightly as they stood outside their home to videotape the testimony of their friend's daughter who had just accepted Christ. The 22-year-old new Chinese Christian looked into the camera and expressed it as best she could. "This morning I have 100 sins. Now I have zero. Jesus is wonderful."

-- OVERWHELMED

One year ago a young Christian couple felt overwhelmed by the challenge of reaching an ethnic minority group for Christ. Having come all the way to China to reach out to the group, the couple realized they didn't know where to begin. So they asked hungrily for the prayers of others - and God answered.

The couple was joined a short time later by a team of short-term workers. Using English, the volunteers shared Christ with many students on a university campus.

To the amazement of the young couple, one of those who heard about the Lord and received Christ into his heart was from the same ethnic minority group they had committed to reach. So far as they knew, this was the first believer from that group.

Now, only one year later, there are eight known additional believers in that previously unreached people group. The Christian workers are overwhelmed all over again, but this time it is due to God's miraculous working.

-- PARENTS' PRAYERS

Parents of a committed Christian university student were thrilled when they began receiving calls from their son a few years ago asking them to pray that he would have a heart for the nations. As they prayed faithfully according to their son's request, God gave them a double portion. Not only did their son grow in his passion for world evangelism, but they too received a heart for the nations. Now, as their son continues his university studies in the United States, the parents have already begun serving God in China.

-- THE REASON FOR THE SEASON

As one of the few foreigners living in a China city, Lonnie and his family had to field a lot of questions about Christmas last December. This led to special opportunities in being able to redirect interest in the secular aspects of Christmas to the true meaning of the celebration.

When a new Chinese friend asked Lonnie to speak about Christmas at his place of business, Lonnie offered to show a movie about the meaning behind the holiday. So it was that his businessman friend required all 300 of his employees to view the "Jesus" film.

Two persons accepted Christ immediately after the viewing, and others were impacted in many ways as they came to realize that Jesus is central to the celebration.

-- WHAT'S FOR DINNER?

Sometimes all it takes is a home-cooked meal, a video player and the right movie. The Holy Spirit does the rest. A matronly American English teacher has made a lot of friends during her years in China. Her love for the people makes it natural for her to invite students to her apartment to visit over a meal she has prepared.

After clearing the table following one recent meal, she inserted the Jesus film into her video player and disappeared into another room to work while two students -- one Christian and one not yet a believer -- watched the movie.

Reentering the living room a while later, she sensed that something very significant had happened. "I believe in Jesus!" said the young man who had entered her home that evening as a nonbeliever. The hostess and her two guests -- all three of them now Christians -- rejoiced together over the Savior's love. When the two Christian students departed, it was with a promise that they would soon bring more friends to eat a home-cooked meal and watch a movie.

-- 'WHY HAVE YOU COME?'

After much prayer, preparation and travel, the team of overseas visitors had just arrived in a new community. They walked into a restaurant and were greeted by the owner, who looked them straight in the eye and asked, "Why have you come?"

Surprising even himself, the team leader replied forthrightly, "We came to tell you about Jesus."

The Chinese lady responded with excitement, explaining that she had been thinking about her need for God. That afternoon, surrounded by the family and friends, the team showed the Jesus film in her restaurant. With tears streaming down her face, the entrepreneur publicly professed Christ.

-- WAITING SINCE AGE 8

"I always knew it would be like this," the young Chinese lady exclaimed. Ever since she was 8 years old and had picked up a Bible at the side of the road, she had longed to worship with other believers. Over the years, she had read and reread the Word of God that had come into her possession.

But it was only when she overheard a conversation in a Chinese tea shop last year that she met other Christians. She sat down at the table and began asking questions. Foremost on her heart was her desire to worship with other believers.

Happy to facilitate her yearning, they introduced the woman to a small group of believers. As she began experiencing the body of Christ through worship and service, she was strengthened with new understandings and has now returned to her village to tell others about her fellowship with the Savior and his followers.

-- GRANDPARENTS' LEGACY

Her grandparents planted the first gospel seeds in the man's life almost 20 years ago. They were living in China for a short time, serving as English teachers. Through them, their second-grade granddaughter became his pen pal.

Now, as a young woman serving in China, that same granddaughter recently experienced the incomparable joy of participating in his baptism.

"It brought tears to my eyes as I sought to grasp this treasure ... a lifelong friend ... a heritage from my grandparents ... a salvation I have longed to see." As her longtime pen pal emerged from the waters of baptism symbolizing the beginning of his new life, she reflected on the incredible goodness of the Lord and prayed that God would grant him the courage to follow the example of her grandparents by boldly planting the gospel seeds in the lives of others.

-- A NEW FAMILY

Serving Christ is not just about giving up one's homeland and family and friends. It's about gaining more than one could ever hope for. A Christian worker in China, speaking about those with whom she serves, recounts, "We have more than a dozen kids among us, ranging from infants to teenagers. The adults [are] as young as their early 20s. Most are married. Some are single.

The co-workers have "different mother tongues and different complexions. But when we're together, it's like a wonderful family reunion," the woman says. "Not the kind where there are quarrels and squabbles, but the kind where everyone genuinely likes each other and enjoys being together."

Citing Mark 10:29-30, she and her family have begun experiencing on the deepest level the meaning of Jesus' promise that "no one has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or farms, for my sake and for the gospel's sake, but that he shall receive a hundred times as much in the present age ... and in the age to come."

-- RISING FROM THE ASHES

The Chinese man gingerly approached the literature distribution table. He stood there awkwardly and expressed reluctance to accept the gift package of spiritual materials.

A Christian worker befriended him and then listened to a heartbreaking yet hope-filled story.

During the Cultural Revolution, the man's Christian father had been killed. Shortly thereafter, he had burned all of his father's books.

Thirty years later, while standing in a hotel lobby in Southeast Asia with a heart hungry for the Word of the living God, Christian volunteers lovingly placed a copy of the Bible into the hands of this one who had once lit a fire to try to extinguish God's Word.

-- GOD WAS ALREADY AT WORK

She came all the way to China to serve God just to find out that he was already at work.

"When I went to China to prayerwalk, we had orientation in Hong Kong," she recounts. "During our two hours of free time I went with two others on what was the most crowded subway ride of my life to what is billed as the most densely populated square mile in the world. On one corner a skyscraper was being renovated.

"On the plywood board covering the outside, someone had drawn the gospel story from creation to eternity in heaven. Without a word being spoken, we clearly understood the message. And God's message to me was that I might think I was special, coming all this way to prayerwalk. But he actually was already at work and was just allowing me this opportunity of joining him."

-- THE WATER WARMED

During one icy winter in northern China, house church members were holding an outdoor baptismal service when it began snowing and ice started to form on the water.

There were so many people being baptized that one 90-year-old woman had to wait in the icy water for 30 minutes before it was her turn.

She decided she could not wait any longer and started splashing in the water as she praised God for his forgiveness and new life.

"The Holy Spirit came upon all of the people present," reports a church leader who was there. "It was such a dramatic event that suddenly the water turned warm! Everyone standing in the water testified that God had so heated the water by his power that steam was seen rising up all around the people!"

-- GENTEEL, BUT BLESSED, WOMEN

They gathered in a hotel room on the last morning of their journey and reflected on God's goodness. To an outsider, the genteel women might have seemed an unlikely group to have experienced all that God had prepared for them in China.

Some of them had traveled to difficult rural settings to share with Chinese women believers who had come to them with hearts needing to be touched. Others had cast aside their comfort and fear to enter rooms that were packed wall-to-wall with worshippers meeting in secret.

They had shared tears and hugs with their Chinese sisters, profoundly impacted by the testimony and faith of these new friends. One of the ladies spoke of the "glimpse of heaven" that she had experienced when she heard the Chinese believers sing and pray.

"My spirit was so in agreement even though I couldn't understand the words," she said. Another lady summed it up, "I will never be the same." There was silence and a few tears. Heads nodded in agreement.

-- 3 KEY ANSWERS TO PRAYER

The Christian worker received three answers to three major questions on one day, and he believes it is because of prayer. First he that he would be able to move to a strategic location. Then he heard that another worker would soon be traveling from another country to join him. Later that day he was introduced to local Christian leaders with whom he could minister to reach a city for Christ.

Not every day will be like that, of course. But when Christian workers in China experience those days, they know it has all come through prayer. They know too that prayer will take them through the less eventful days -- even days of discouragement.

-- LOOKING FOR LOST SHEEP

"Stop the bus! My sheep has jumped off the roof," he shouted. The mountain highway bus, packed to overflowing with people and piled with luggage and animals on top, was quickly steered to the side of the road. Everyone got off.

While the children played games, dozens of Chinese adults fanned out throughout the rural China community looking for the lost sheep. A Christian worker who had been riding the bus en route to his unreached people group joined in the search.

But the worker's thoughts were not so much on the missing sheep. He was thinking of the parable of the Good Shepherd. Observing the peasant farmer searching for his one lost sheep, the Christian realized anew the passion that Christ has to seek and save the lost. The worker prayed that in the busyness of his life and ministry, he would never again neglect to "stop the bus" and look for the lost "sheep" around him.

-- THERE'S MORE?

The Ph.D. student arrived at Bible study with an eagerness that could hardly be contained. The Chinese man had only recently heard of Christ and with an open heart had begun to devour the New Testament. His interest could hardly be contained as he joined in the discussion.

Then someone made a reference to the Old Testament.

Waving his newly acquired copy of the New Testament with one hand, he asked, "You mean there is more than this?" This brilliant young Chinese man, having studied for years to achieve educational success, had never imagined all the spiritual riches that were yet to be found.

-- FRUITFUL WITNESS

One year earlier, the evangelist had led a Chinese lady to salvation in Christ during a brief conversation in an Asian tourist destination. The new believer did not share her contact information with the soul-winner, so he assumed he would never know of her spiritual progress.

"The only thing I could do was to pray that the Lord would cut off her connection to ungodly people and surround her with Christians, and that she would continue to grow in the faith," he reflected.

Later, however, he received a phone call from an American lady he had never met. Her message warmed his heart. She was a Bible study teacher calling to tell him that the Chinese lady had now immigrated to the United States and was very active in a Christian church in Georgia. The Bible teacher sensed that the seed sower would want to know of the fruit of his witness.

-- SACRIFICE

A young American mother climbed on a bus with several small children to carry much-needed spiritual materials to another location. At least one of her children was bordering on minor illness, and she herself was laden with luggage.

They were facing five or more hours on a crowded, smoke-filled rickety bus. She knew that they would be surrounded by strangers and would constantly be subjected to stares.

But willingly sacrificing their needs and their comfort, she and her children climbed on that bus to make a long journey so that others could hear of salvation.

-- AWARENESS OF THE DEMONIC

During a 50-day leader training session in China, two workers from the West reported spiritual warfare broke out in their room.

Joe, while in bed, reported he literally had seen a demon and felt it as its black form moved over him. Mack dreamed a demon was trying to suffocate him. He woke up to find himself genuinely out of breath.

That night they prayed and felt better, but for the next three nights Joe had trouble breathing and Mack repeatedly sensed a demonic presence.

Mack said later he had prayed and asked God to give him a discernment of spirits, but this was the first time in his life he actually had sensed demons in the room with him.

Such reports of spiritual warfare are not routine but do occur often as the gospel goes forth in China, workers there report.

-- COMMITTED LEARNERS

They came from all over the northern part of the province. They ranged in age from their early 20s to mid-50s. Many were farmers and some were general laborers. Most had received only the equivalent of an elementary school education.

But they were the leaders of house churches and were hungry to learn. For several days they studied the Word of God from dawn to dusk and beyond. Some were challenged to read the Chinese characters, either because of vision problems or due to their minimal education. Some were shy about sharing in front of the group of 30. Some were initially resistant to a challenge to go forth and train others.

But they had come committed to learning, and at the end of the intensive training time their personal commitments had risen to personally leading 209 people to the Lord, training 142 others to start churches and planting 71 new congregations.

-- 8-YEAR-OLD'S WITNESS

The two patients were in the same hospital. One had chosen to live. One had chosen to die.

The former was an 8-year-old Chinese boy who had suffered a heart attack. While in the hospital, he made the decision to follow Jesus and accept the gift of eternal life. The latter was a young Chinese man who, having failed in a suicide attempt, laid in his hospital bed and told others that he wanted to die.

An enterprising evangelist took the little boy to visit with the suicidal man. "Older brother," the little one said, "why do you want to die? I have a heart problem and the doctors say I cannot live for long. But I met Jesus and know that he loves me. My body hurts every day, but my heart is still happy." Then he sang a simple song of faith.

The despondent young man cried, but could not speak. One week later, at the funeral service of the little boy, the man decided that he too wanted to live. He accepted Christ into his heart and now, having once tried to destroy his own life, he is now leading others to life in Christ.

-- THEN CAME THE HAIL

The American teacher was visiting with a student and his family in a mountain village when the wind began to blow and the thunder started to roll. She stood on the front stoop of the small dwelling and marveled at the power of God as she watched a brilliant display of lightning. When the rain began, she went inside.

Then came the hail which seemed to last forever. The teacher sat silently and prayed for the family.

Eventually the storm subsided, and they all ate supper by candlelight. Early the next morning, they ventured outside to survey the damage which they assumed would be considerable. To their amazement, their crops had survived unscathed. All around them stalks of wheat were bowed and broken, and vegetables were beaten and splattered. But God had miraculously protected the crops at that home. Her student asked her why, and she was able to point to prayer and the power of Almighty God.

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