January

top

SATURDAY 24th
Well, what a trip! I was wondering if I would ever make it. Everything was fine until we got to New York. We had to circle around for two hours waiting for the weather to get better. I was listening to the pilot and the air traffic controller talk on the special channel where you can here them. They were very nervous and talking fast. There was extreme turbulence and no one could land . We had only about 30 minutes of fuel left and we were told that we couldn't land for twenty minutes, so the captain decided ( after three attempts at landing) that we would try and get to Washington, a 45 minute flight. We made it and then refuelled and flew back to New York, finally landing 5 hours later than expected. Then one of my bags was damaged so we had to wait around to get that replaced. AND THEN we had a 3 hour drive to New Jersey where I am staying. I didn't get to bed until 5.30 in the morning (NY time, 9.30pm Sydney time) which meant that it took me 32 hours to get here. Tonight I am meeting with the young people from the church and I will be preaching twice tomorrow.

MONDAY 26th
We had an amazing Sunday at the Church of Grace and Peace in New Jersey. The morning service went for four hours. The whole church responded with a deep hunger for revival. This was led by Pastor Walt Healy who is a close associate of Michael Brown from Pensacola. His desire to see the North east of America ablaze with the Fire of the Holy Ghost has meant that he has cancelled his normal program and he will only have people in his pulpit who share his passion for revival. The end of the service resembled a battlefield as people were impacted by the Holy Spirit, with the young adults demonstrating the greatest hunger. I had ministered to them the night before when, on a couple of hours notice, Pastor Healy had decided to have an unplanned meeting. When we arrived that night the street was packed with cars as the young people had come from all over the area.

The Sunday night meeting was very well attended, even though it was "Super Bowl Sunday". This is usually the quietest night of the year for American churches as it is the biggest football final in the Nation with more people watching it than the Olympics. God's Spirit moved more powerfully than the morning service and several of the young people gave testimonies of how their lives had been completely turned around overnight, just through one touch from the Lord. They told of deliverance from drugs and alcohol and a dramatically increase desire to see the Lost saved. The whole church responded to the call of " If my people who are called by my name....." and they repented on behalf of their nation as I exhorted them with the only hope for America being a National Awakening of the same type that Jonathan Edwards saw in his time.

Over the whole day , about 100 responded to the alter call for the first time or to get right with God. On Monday morning , I did an interview for my TV show with Pastor Healy and we discussed the possibility of me returning to his church in mid April before I go to Buffalo and Toronto. Then we drove into New York, ( through the Tunnel where they filmed "Daylight") and went on the ferry to the Statue of Liberty to film an introduction for the TV show. New Yorkers are just what you have been led to believe. They are brash, loud , but there is a certain likableness to them.

TUESDAY 27th
The flight over here was good and relatively short (6 hours) and I arrived at 7 am . The taxi from the airport to the hotel cost 80 pounds ($200). I couldn't believe it! But the driver left my little trolley behind, so he ended up charging me 50 pounds. It took two hours to get here. It's a typical small English style hotel and I am in a small room at the top like a loft ( it is very similar to Mr. Bean's room). The Church is about a 10 minute walk down the main street of Croydon above the street markets. I went there for a short time this morning and met Dave Markee and the others that were at Toronto. It was good to see them again. John Arnott arrived early this morning and is catching up on some sleep, so I haven't seen him yet. He is in a different hotel so I will be catching up with him tonight. Fred Write is here also. You may remember him from John's church - he is in charge of the "Partners in Harvest " network. As you would expect , it is cold (about zero degrees c ) and overcast.

WEDNESDAY 28th
The Catch the Fire Conference today was fantastic. I walked down to the church in this freezing weather about 11am. The Leader's Forum was interesting as there are many people from Europe here and especially from Germany. This move of the Holy Spirit is very new to them so they had a lot of questions. There are some very special people among them including a wonderful couple, Rainer and Regina Frohms who have 7 young children. They head up " Partners in Harvest" in Germany. I am enjoying getting to know them. I am also meeting a lot of other wonderful people.

John asked me to give the meeting an Australian perspective on Revival, and people were very interested in what is happening "Down Under". I met a pastor from Denmark who wants me to speak at his church when I am there. Bruno doesn't have a Sunday morning service so we are going to see what will work. I also met a great guy called Wes Richards who oversights 3 churches in Slough (an outer suburb of London) with a combined congregation of about 1500. He is interested in having me come to his church possibly in July. John and Carol have said several times that Frank was one of the highlights of the Conference at their church. I left the meeting a little early tonight as a bit of "jet-lag" was kicking in and on the walk back to the hotel, I bought some good old English fish n' chips. And so here I am , catching up on some emails.

FRIDAY 30th
Today is the first time since I've been here that I have seen the sun. This morning when I got up and looked out the window, there were only a few clouds in the sky. It is still very fresh the weather but has thawed out a lot. It is good to see blue skies again. Yesterday was fantastic at the conference. John spoke on Pastoring the "Move" in the afternoon and on "Forgiveness" at night. The night meetings are packed and there are a lot of young people who are on fire for God. Dave Markee's band is great, he used to play with Eric Clapton and is recognised as one of the best bass players around these parts.

I am meeting a lot of wonderful people, especially the ones from Germany, and there is a pastor from Denmark who wants me to preach at his church when I go there so I am going to see if I can stay an extra day before I come back to England. I forgot to mention that on Wednesday John asked the leaders from different nations to come out the front, link together, and he and Carol prayed for us all. Carol said that she saw a vision of me with a lion's head on my shoulders. She said there was a new level of authority coming. She was very adamant about it, so that was encouraging. Today is my last day here in Croydon and the conference. Tomorrow I go to Wales.
 

February

top

SUNDAY 1st
On Friday night we had a "fire tunnel" which was fantastic. I also jumped up on the drums and played for a while with Dave on bass, a fantastic keyboard player and an amazing slide player. It was great . Dave would be one of the best bass players I've ever played with and , short as it was , I thoroughly enjoyed it, and they said they did too. It was good to play with some really professional guys for a change.
Yesterday was the last day at the Catch The Fire Conference at the Folly's End Church in Croydon, London. I spoke in the morning session about my passion to see a "Global Revival NOW!!". I gave a testimony of how we were first touched by God in Toronto 1994 and then how we saw it released in our church. People flocked out to the front to receive prayer for the same passion that I feel about revival.
I was picked up early afternoon by the worship pastor and his wife from the Church in Swansea where I have been today. It was a 3 hour drive to here in Wales. This Elim church is very hungry for God. They are lovely people but not as responsive as I'm used to. Many here have remarked that they watch our TV show and love it. About 30 made first time or recommitments over the whole day. The Power of God was there but it was hard going to start with, but the people responded and the night meeting was great.
We are only a short distance from the church where the Welsh Revival took place. I am going to go there in the next day or so and film an introduction for the TV program. Tomorrow I am going to a regional leaders retreat 3 hour drive from here and then I come back for a meeting on Tuesday night at the same church where I was today. They want me to come back latter in the year ( July) . I was invited to go to a church in the States by a couple who were with John and Carol so I could go there first and then come over here again. Dave Markee also said he would like me to come back. I feel a real strong bond with him, so we'll see what happens. Please pray that this church here in Swansea will thaw out a lot and that we'll have a great breakthrough on Tuesday Night.

MONDAY 2nd
We drove three hours today back from Wales to Farnham, south of London. I am ministering at a retreat for all the Elim Regional Superintendents from all over the British Isles. We are meeting at the headquarters for Selwyn Hughs' ministry. It is a large country estate set in the most beautiful grounds, like one of those classic paintings of an English country scene. It is a restored mansion with the most exquisite interior decorations with huge carved marble fireplaces and ornate ceiling reliefs.
Wyn Lewis and Gordon Hills are both here. They are the General Superintendent and Field Superintendent respectively for the Elim Movement in Britain. The afternoon was spent with them filling me in on the current state of their Movement which they said had grown very democratic over the years which had hindered a more direct style of leadership and of course, Australia's " Tall Poppy Syndrome" had it's origin here.
Wyn asked me to bring God's word to them about their future. I felt God wanted to say to them that "It's Time!" to make some courageous decisions that will usher them into the 21st Century. I prayed that God would impart to them a passion for the Lost and encouraged them to be Soul-Winners themselves, setting an example to those leaders they are responsible for. I also strongly suggested that each man identify a young person with potential that they could raise up. Wyn led us in a time of prayer and challenged each man to ask the Lord to show them a young person whom they could pour their life into.
Later, as I prayed , The Lord gave me a scripture for them found in Isaiah 60: 17-18 which talks about a greater fulfilment than what was expected from the Lord and also about Evangelism and Praise, but first the tough decisions had to be made before this could be realised, and much wisdom would be required to bring about the necessary change. I also encouraged them to arrive at a definite and specific vision statement for their Movement. They had produced one several years ago but it had been watered down in accordance with the democratic spirit. They made decisions to rectify all these things and I felt privileged and humbled that they valued what I had to say enough to consider some pretty wide reaching decisions. I thank God for this opportunity to make a difference. Tomorrow we will continue on again before going back to Wales for the meeting tomorrow night.

WEDNESDAY 4th
Yesterday morning I had a final session with the Elim Leaders at Waverley. I then spent the rest of the morning photographing and videoing the wonderful estate and grounds of Selwyn Hugh's ministry base here in South England. Over the little stone bridge across the iced- over stream, are the ruins of an 11th century abbey. As I walked through these, the Sun' rays melted the frosted ground and I couldn't help wondering about the lives of the men who had lived here in solitude, obviously loving God but living a simple life in isolation from the world.

In the afternoon, we travelled back to Swansea in Wales for last night's meeting. The Power of God came down in a strong way. A lot of the Welsh reserve that had been there on Sunday had melted away and we had a wonderful meeting. God told me to prophesy so prophesy I did, over a large percentage of the congregation. I spoke on "Revive me or I die" and 90% responded to the altar-call.

This morning I went to the chapel where the Welsh Revival started with Evan Roberts in 1904. I interviewed the Custodian for the TV show and also filmed an introduction there. This was a highlight for me, but it is interesting to know that the Revival only lasted for 2 weeks there and then spread throughout a lot of Wales and as far north as Liverpool. Evan was only in his twenties when the revival started after a Friday

night prayer meeting. He asked if anyone wanted to go next door with him into the smaller chapel to pray longer. About 13 went and the Power of God fell and that was the start of it. A little latter he was severely criticised by a man called Price, a pastor of a church not far from here. This and other things led Evan to have a pretty miserable life after that and he died a very lonely man some years latter. There's lessons in that for all of us like when will the Body of Christ stop shooting itself in the foot? And revival comes with no guarantees.
As the custodian meandered back down the road to the pub when we were leaving , and aimless youths kicked stones on the pavement as they passed by, there seemed to be a minimum of awareness of what had happened here 94 years ago. The Spirit of God had visited this place but because of our frailties, then moved on. After that I came to Caerphilly and visited a couple of amazing castles. Tonight's meeting was great but there was one thing that is noticeable in a lot of churches here- an absence of young people. The majority were over fifty, this is a worry. Tomorrow I go to Cardiff.

FRIDAY 6th
I had a great night at the City Temple in Cardiff last night, the people were hungry but again there was a noticeable absence of young people. The young ones that were there were fine and the pastor and his assistant were both young and wanting to have a go for revival. They had me staying with some old people. They were good enough to drive me to Heathrow today but he went so slow that I nearly missed my flight. The church in Cardiff wants me to come back in July and do a series of meetings but I'll make sure that I'll stay in a hotel next time. I'm writing this on the plane to Denmark and I'm looking forward to seeing Bruno and the ones I met in London at the Conference.

TUESDAY 10th
I had a wonderful time in Denmark with two churches, Karisma Christian Centre and The Free Church on the Harbour, pastored by Bruno Knutzen and Sten Thomson respectively. Both churches are in Copenhagen which is a tremendous city with a distinctive European flavour. Cobbled streets and beautiful old fashioned apartment buildings lend an air of rich history, something we miss in the relatively young nation of Australia.
Denmark is a largely secular nation known for its tolerance which works against the proclamation of Gospel truth. It is a "cradle to the grave" society with no poverty but high taxes to pay for the privilege. There is a State Church which to all accounts is totally dead with religion and tradition, and a distinct line has been drawn between the Pentecostal Church and other charismatic and Faith churches.
Two ex-patriot Australians are making an impact here. Mal Fletcher, former head of Youth alive Australia, is sparking off very successful youth rallies all over Europe, and hosts a TV program on Christian Channel Europe called "Edges" aimed mainly at Youth. Scott Wilson, former Principle of Harvest Bible College in Melbourne, is now based at the Pentecostal Bible School in Mariager and is having a major affect on leadership all around Scandinavia.
Denmark has a better feel to it than Britain, and I enjoyed being around young people again in the churches, which was lacking in the UK. The two churches that I was at were both relatively small. Bruno's church is only a few months old and is one of our Church plants. Already he has planted another church in an outer suburb of Copenhagen and plans to plant several more within the next year. Sten's church is more "Vineyard" in style. He and his wife, Else were both saved in the Jesus Movement here in the early Seventies. Being at his church was an "add-on" to this Itinerary but well worth doing. I met Sten at the Catch the Fire Conference in London just over a week ago. When he heard that I was coming to Denmark he asked me to come to his church. My passionate preaching style is always a bit of a shock to churches like this as they are used to a more of a laid back style but the Spirit of God moved powerfully with many testifying about their lives being totally turned around.
Lives were also turned around at Bruno's church with some very specific Prophesies for leaders and to some of Bruno's kids. On Monday I spent time with Pernille Beck, who is a graduate of our Bible College and now a member of Karisma Christian Centre. She helped me do some filming around the city for the TV show. There were people at the meetings who watch it regularly. There is a hunger for Revival in Denmark but it is only small at the moment from what I could see, but I join with that small band and believe that God will turn the nation around.

WEDNESDAY 11th
Last night, I was pleasantly surprised to be preaching in a very vibrant Elim Church at Ilford in the East End of London. Bruno Knutzen's 20 year old son, Andreas is accompanying me here back in the UK. He is a fine young man who has a heart after God and wants to learn about the ministry. He handled the tape table for me in Denmark and is doing the same here. He asked me if he could come with me to the UK and is a sharp young guy. He wants to come to Bible College in Australia in the next year or so. It is good to have some company, and we have been placed in an excellent Hotel for the next three nights, a welcome break from moving to a different place every day. Another sharp young guy picked us up from the airport. Dean is the worship leader for the Ilford church. He has just recently come on to the Church full time staff and has great potential. He is African- English and really anointed in worship.
This church is comprised of 35 different nationalities, but has a lot of wonderful black people. There is no shortage of life here, and plenty of young people which is good to see. Andreas reports: "The meeting was very powerful, the church was packed and I loved the worship, everyone was entering in which is not common in Denmark. Jeff's message on Revival was so strong and went straight to the heart. It was the truth that nobody could deny. About 50 responded to the altar call for Salvation. People were so hungry and Jeff brought some major prophecies over the leadership about a major building program they are about to go into. There was no doubt that the Holy Spirit was there last night, you could feel Him, see Him and hear Him. Ninety eight percent were touched and everybody had a desire to be filled with the Holy Spirit, from the youngest to the eldest." The pastor, Steve Derbyshire has asked us to come back and do more meetings in July. Tonight we are at Leyton.

FRIDAY 13th
Tonight at Leyton was a lot quieter than last night at Ilford. There were about 100 at this meeting. Most responded to the altar call and said that they had been really touched but I found it tough going. Last night at Canning Town in the East End of London the fire fell in a big way. We were chauffeur- driven by George to the church. He is a professional driver who works for a lot of pop stars and business executives. Andraes insisted on sitting on the same seat in the BMW that Vanessa May, the pop violinist had used a couple of days ago, silly boy!
George told us that there had been some specific prophesies about Revival starting in England from the East End which is the Heart of London. This area took the brunt of bombing during the Second World War because apparently Hitler believed that if he could break the heart he could break all of England. I prophesied over a large number of people, and the pastor told me at the end of the meeting that he was absolutely sure that God had spoken to the church through these.
Incidentally, all of the churches have said that they believe that my coming to them was not just for another meeting but an important time in God for each of them. I had prophesied over one young women to the affect that God wanted her to forsake all and "...follow me and don't even wait to bury your father!" She burst into tears immediately and I was told latter that she had lost her Dad five years ago but had never gotten over the grief. The whole church was aware of her struggles and praised God for this word because there was no way that I could have known any details about this. She got up off the floor sometime latter completely released from grief and determined to go on in God. There were many other "words" like that during the night. Today we have moved into London for tonight's meeting at a black church at Camberwell.

SATURDAY 14th
Last night at Sam Larbie's church in the London inner-city area of Camberwell was an absolute blast. Sam is originally from Ghana and his church is mainly Black African and do they know how to have church. The place went wild with dancing and praising and great music. The church was absolutely packed with people even sitting in the main preaching area, standing all around the walls and out onto the street. It was worse than a sardine can but tremendously exciting.
Even little children were doing the most cool dancing out the front during the offering time. I preached about Revival bringing racial unity, something the World is striving for but is already the inheritance of a Child of God( in Christ "..there is no Jew or Greek") because the culture of Heaven is higher than any earthly culture. About 40 responded to the Altar Call for Salvation and then I prayed and prophesied over just about everything that moved. Several were delivered from demons that came screaming out and left.
This church and the one at Ilford on Tues. night have been the highlights so far. Sam has asked me back in July. Today, one of the guys from the church took us all around London. We went to Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, the House of Parliament, Trafalgar Square, Buckingham Palace and Piccadilly Circus. The House of Parliament is the most amazing building I've ever seen. The architecture is staggering. I filmed an intro. to the show in front of Big Ben, and got some other great shots. I fell in love with the inner City of London, it is so rich with culture and history. Names and places that you have been hearing about all your life are all there in front of you. We are now out at St. Aubins where I am preaching tomorrow. I have a welcome night off tonight , my first one in three weeks.

SUNDAY 15th
Revival came to St Aubins today at a church pastored by David Campbell, a Scot from Glasgow. My assistant( Andreas Knutzen) reports: " The morning meeting was a little dry. They were a typical English congregation, not much of a mixture of culture in this church. They were a little cautious about a stranger preaching, but Jeff had a breakthrough with the young people towards the end of the meeting. He called them all out to the front and prayed for them all at the same time. They all fell down at once. About 60 responded to the altar call for salvation or recommitment. Afterwards most of the church came for prayer.
Tonight was absolutely great. Jeff kick started all the people and the whole place went crazy with the Holy Ghost. All the young people got filled up and were weeping and crying . Jeff prophesied over many people. The presence of God was so strong that the people felt a heavy burden for their city and were convicted of their sins. They were crying out to God for forgiveness and to bring Revival as Jeff imparted his passion for this to them. I really felt that Jeff's visit to this church was so significant and when I saw these people on their knees, crying out to God I felt a strong feeling in my spirit that God is going to give them something special here."
The blood of England's first martyr, St Aubin, cries out for Revival in this land. He was a newly converted Roman Soldier who was beheaded for not denying Christ. This took place on the hill where the ancient abbey stands. Legend says that his head rolled down the hill and where it rested a well sprang up where people were healed by it's waters. This remains to this day and is called "The Well of Miracles" David Campbell insisted that I return to his church in July. We even discussed the possibility of keeping going, however they are in a school hall and it would not be possible to continue on short notice and I have other commitments in Australia ( Two crusades in Perth beginning next Saturday). I hope we haven't missed the big one. I will give a summing up of this whole trip when I am on the plane coming back to Australia tomorrow.

MONDAY 23rd
One week ago I was ministering in London, then I flew to New York, San Francisco, Sydney for a couple of hectic days catching up on office work , and now I'm in Perth for two crusades over ten days. All this is playing havoc with my body clock, I feel like I'm in orbit most of the time. I was just getting used to Sydney time when I had to cross over another two time zones to come to Perth. To make matters worse, I picked up one of those throat bugs off the plane coming from the States. This is all a Jeff in Times Square New York part of the curse of air travel, breathing recirculated air for thirty hours or so.
Despite all this, we still had a wonderful day yesterday at Hills Christian Faith Centre, Kalamunda, in the foot hills of Perth ,Western Australia. Pastor Orlando de Santos and his team had done an excellent job of preparing for this crusade. The morning service started off fairly quietly, as Sunday morning services often do. As a general comment ,Sunday morning can be the hardest service, because many are there for the wrong reasons. Some are curious, others are there out of obligation to parents, husband, wife or to the pastor, and some come just because of religion or tradition ( the enemies of Revival). There is often a mixture of hunger and indifference which can make it difficult to start a fire. The ones who are wet and soggy with religion and tradition have to be dried out first. This involves change (the enemy of religion and tradition) so some are very reluctant. I try to impart my passion for revival in the hope that hearts are not so hard that at least I will get through to some if not most.
Some ask me what I mean by revival, I tell them that revival is not a place, although there are symptoms of Revival in many places around the World. No, Revival happens in you when you simply fall in love with Jesus. Then nothing is too Hard for him. You will be prepared to go any where or do anything at any time to please the One you love.
The Lord prompted me to use the Gift of Prophesy at various times during the message with some significant "words", so I'm told, to young people especially. I seemed to get through to most as 95% of the church responded to the altar call to receive a greater passion for Revival. I asked them to all hold hands and released the power of the Holy Ghost to them all at the same time. It was all hands on the deck as everyone was flattened at once. This seemed to strike fear in the hearts of the few who had remained in their seats. I don't know where they were with God but I think they could have been in a better place. The demonstration of
God's power always brings fear to the heart that is not right with God. I was an anxious to get home after the lunch with the elders as I was exhausted from the heat and Jet lag. Last night the heat of the Holy Ghost was turned up and there was a lot more freedom in the people.
Sunday nights and mid week nights are usually much easier because those that are there want to be there because they are hungry. Nothing can be achieved without Hunger. Again there were some significant prophecies and people had to be carried to their cars when it was all over. We were told that some were still under the power of the Holy Spirit long after they got home. This afternoon I was asked to do a radio interview on Sunshine FM, a local Christian radio station which is very popular with everyone over here. I was asked about my colourful past, our family and ministry.
Tonight will be a test to see if my many exhortations to be committed to this crusade and to bring souls really got through.

THURSDAY 26th
Monday night at Hills Christian Faith Centre here in Perth went really great. It was well attended and the hungry ones were there. My message was "What is Revival?" based in Habakkuk 3:2 where the prophet anticipates the Babylonian Captivity and pleads with God, in wrath, to remember mercy. Revival = Obedience. The altar call was full.
I tried to get an early night because Pastor Orlando De Santos was coming to pick me up at 6am on Tues. morning to go fishing in his18 foot boat. As we were going to the ocean it began to rain so we called into have a McDonald's breakfast and wait for it to clear. We finally hit the sea about 9am and headed about 5 miles out to the reef. The sea was very rough and it was not long before we started to feel sick. I dropped down my first line and immediately pulled up a fish( the evangelistic gift operating).
Soon after this we were trying to move to another spot when the engine failed. The auxiliary motor also failed so there we were, stranded on the high seas. Orlando called up the rescue service on the radio and then we just had to wait. It was about then that my Mc Donald's breakfast became "burley"(fish attractant). Turning a definite shade of greyish green and feeling like death, I still kept my line in and kept pulling up fish after fish. I did notice that each time the ocean's rocking encouraged me to deliver more "burley", fish would jump on the hook more frequently, so I was getting my revenge on those merciless waves.
I used this situation as a preaching point that night; Even though we are being tossed around by the waves of life and we are waiting for Jesus to come to the rescue, don't stop fishing! An hour and a half latter the rescue boat finally arrived, but that night after the meeting we had fresh fish on the grill, one of life's simple but delightful pleasures for me. Last night was the final meeting at this church and it was powerful. There have been many testimonies of a paradigm shift in attitude, especially among the leaders, as my relentless exhortations to pursue God and to win souls has made a deep impression on their spirits. Tonight I start the next crusade at Sound City Church on the other side of Perth.

SATURDAY 28th
I'm now two meetings into this new crusade at Rockingham City Church in Perth, Western Australia. The first night was powerful. There are many here who have sat under our ministry at other churches around Perth on previous visits, and there are several in this church who were saved when I preached here for one meeting 6 years ago. They are going on great and some are in ministry positions. It's good to see some fruit that is lasting .One young woman showed me a copy of my testimony tape that I had signed and given her the last time I was here. She said that it had been a source of strength for her over the years as she grew up. She and her husband were the youth leaders.
Pastor Darrol Mullany testified to the accuracy of the many prophecies that where given to leaders, families and others. Last night I prayed for all the young people under 25 in the earlier part of the meeting and some stayed on the floor all night as I preached. As the meeting was coming to an end, I asked one of these to tell the people what had happened while she was on the floor. With tears rolling down her cheeks, all she could manage to get out was that;"...God was very close to me...". I preached on the "The Whole Truth" ,a message which in the light of many issues and agendas being pushed these days, there was a call for young men and women to rise up and be champions of Truth and Righteousness, the causes of Christ. Many responded to the altar call. I have three more meetings here and then I finally get to spend a bit of time at home.
Following is a copy of a report from the last church I was in here in Perth:
"There is no substitute for a fresh revelation of the reality of the power of God.Like so many churches Hills Christian Faith Centre is a great church with great people, great worship, great programmes and great leadership. But something was missing. We became so used to the way that things were, that we were happy to stay in our comfort box. Compassion for the lost and passion to see souls saved was low and a deep sense of urgency was lacking. The recent crusade with Jeff Beacham woke many from their slumber and infused a fresh sense of urgency and vision into the lives of all our leaders and most of the church.
Fear dissolved and boldness increased, a fresh fire fell, not as a work of mans hands but a work of God. Those that were hungry were filled and residing at "Hills" today are a group of radically changed believers ready to be unleashed to see revival become a reality. Resting in His Anointing Orlando De Santos, Pastor"

 

March

top

MONDAY 2nd
Saturday and Sunday went really great at Rockingham City Church, Perth, Western Australia. The young people continued to be touched mightily and by Sunday night we had seen 20 first time commitments to Christ and 75 recommitments for the whole week.
I feel like I've done my dash for the time being. Over the last 6 weeks I've preached about 45 times and spent a total of 8 days in planes, crossed 30 time zones so I think my body is saying "enough is enough, give me a break". I'm actually amazed that I have stood up so well, it's only in the last few days that I have felt a little run down. I will be home for the next week and a half before I go to Adelaide to record more TV shows and to do one meeting at Paradise AOG.
The only other time that I will be traveling this month will be to Melbourne for a 5 day crusade. We have seen God do some amazing things over this time period and the churches that we have visited have been thoroughly awakened to what God is about to do, so I have a feeling of great accomplishment, but it has come at a cost to us personally. The separation and loneliness both for Heather and it has been hard to bear but is part of the sacrifice we are prepared to pay. I have been 'on the road' now for nearly 10 years and you never get used to it. As a matter of fact it gets harder. We need to build our support base more so that Heather can travel more with me in the future. Yours for REVIVAL, NOTHING MORE , NOTHING LESS, NOTHING ELSE.

MONDAY 9th
Today is my first day off for the last 6 weeks and it is long overdue.
However I did have an eventful week just gone. Returning from Perth last Monday, I was back full swing catching up on office work first thing Tuesday morning. The main priorities were our ministry's quarterly board meeting which we had on Tue. night (My board was encouraged to hear my US/UK/Denmark/Perth reports with all the wonderful things that God did over the last 6 weeks), Preparation and editing for the next lot of 9 TV shows that I will record in Adelaide, South Australia this Thurs., and preparation for the dramatic "Heaven's Gates, Hells Flames" which I am directing at Sydney Christian Life Centre this Easter. This is primarily an evangelistic presentation and we are anticipating a great harvest.

Wednesday brought an unwanted surprise; as I was driving home from work and slowing down for a line of traffic in front of me, I was hit from behind and knocked into the car in front of me. Then the car that had hit me was hit by another car which caused me to be hit again and knocked into the car in front for a second time. And then a third car hit the two behind me and pushed them into my car for a third time, pushing my car up onto the centre nature strip. So it was a 5 car pile up which reduced the freeway to one lane in peak hour for the next three hours as the police came and tried to sort out the mess. One of the drivers was taken to hospital in the ambulance. I was uninjured but our car( which is only one year old) will be three weeks in the repair shop. One might say it was a unexpected but nasty intrusion into our schedule but we keep going.
Yesterday I preached at the Indonesian "Bethel" church here in Sydney which meets at Centrepoint Tower right in the heart of Sydney. This church is only 16 months old but already has 600 members, most of them between 15 and 30 years. I had preached a Sunday for them back in November last year and Pastor Samuel Jusef had asked me to come back yesterday. It was a powerful day in the Holy Ghost. These young people were as hungry as you could get for God. Being such a young church, made up mainly of Indonesian university students studying in Australia, there was no lack of enthusiasm. When given the opportunity, they literally ran to the altar and large numbers of them were falling under the Power of God without being touched. In the evening meeting, I taught on how to receive power and to function in the Holy Spirit. I called several out to the front and told them to prophesy over others that I had called up at random from the audience. I wanted to demonstrate to them that all the Gifts(of the Holy Spirit) are for all the believers, for all the Work of God.
In the morning service, about 150 responded to the alter call for salvation and recommitment and at night there were many salvations. One in particular stood out; I had called up two young women with the intention of asking one to bring a prophesy over the other. I felt that the 'prophesyee' was not saved so I asked her if she needed the Lord. She said that she was trying to be "born again". I said that I didn't have to try and be married. You know if you are married or not and in the same way she didn't have to try and be saved, you either were saved or you were not. She prayed the "Sinners Prayer" right there and then and the other young women then prophesied over her. The meeting ended up being a Holy Ghost "R.I.O.T." (Righteous Invasion Of Truth) with the whole church under the Power of God.
Pastor Yusef insisted that I come back to his church as soon as possible. I have no problem with that as I love any opportunity to impact this generation with a demonstration of God's power and Love.

TUESDAY 17th
We had another 'whirlwind' week, the main activities focused around preparing for the "Heaven's Gates Hell's Flames", a dramatic presentation of the Gospel at our church this Easter, and preparation for the next lot of nine TV shows which I recorded in Adelaide last Thursday. I spent time with Frank Houston earlier in the week discussing strategies to motivate our church to building relationships with the unsaved and to get them along to "HGHF". We confirmed the cast from our local congregation and began promoting it strongly yesterday (SUN.) After writing to you last Monday, I put up a sign saying "Gone Fishing", and walked down the hill from our house to the little bay and spent the rest of my first day off in six weeks, fishing. The evangelistic anointing was operating and I pulled up this large 'Flathead' after being there only a few minutes.
We cooked him up and had him for dinner that night. But, I tell you, that few hours sitting down by the bay in the sunshine did me the world of good. I realised afterwards just how much I needed to replenish my own soul after six weeks of preaching 50 times, crossing 30 time-zones and spending a week in planes. Feeling greatly refreshed, I hit the deck running on Tuesday morning with the huge task of preparing the 'Runsheets' for our TV shows. I had come back with some great interviews and other footage from the my recent ministry tour, having filmed 'live intros' in Brisbane, New York, London, Wales, Denmark, Perth and Sydney. There is an enormous amount of work planning out 9 thirty minute shows, and editing all the footage down to the second. On Thursday I flew to Adelaide and went straight to the studio and did the studio 'links'.
It is usually a great pressure to get the nine shows done in one afternoon, but things went as smooth as silk and I was able to go out for a nice dinner that night at my favourite Italian restaurant in Adelaide with my producer and editor, Paul Fleming and his wife. I usually fly home the same day after recording but this time I stayed over to Friday to do a one off meeting for Pastor Bob Pascoe at Hindmarsh AOG which went really great. He asked me to stay for more meetings the next time I record in Adelaide. I spent time over lunch on Friday catching up with and old friend, Andrew Evans, who pastors one of the largest churches in the country and recently retired after 20 years as the General Superintendent of the AOG in Australia.
We usually have lunch together every time I'm in Adelaide which is a relationship that I value and enjoy. Last night we had Marilyn Hickey at our church, and she is not only a wonderful speaker but also a very lovely, 'down to earth' person. She gave some sharp prophecies to some of our key leaders, obviously not knowing who they were. She called me up towards the end and told me to do a 360 degree turn three times, and then prophesied that there were three things, that I had had on my heart for a long time, in which I would see a dramatic turn around this year. The Ministry has its challenges, but after all Jesus never promised us a picnic, but it is certainly not boring. I love to be busy doing things that I believe in Faith will make a difference.
 

April

top

SATURDAY 18th
Heather and I had a good trip here to New Jersey from Sydney which was shortened by a couple of hours because of tail winds. Pastor Walt Healy from The Church Of Grace And Peace, called a Pastor's Meeting today with many driving up to two hours to be there. About 50 ministers came for a luncheon from all around the New York/New Jersey area.. I ministered to them, encouraging them with some of the wonderful things that God is doing in Australia and around the World. This is the church that I visited for two days on my way to the UK back in January. That visit had been very powerful, and had left an impact. Pastor Healy had asked me to return and these present dates were the soonest I could get here to continue what we had begun on the first visit.
This church has close ties with Brownsville AOG, Pensacola and is totally committed to seeing Revival come to the North East of America. Tonight I ministered to some of the young people who have committed them selves to pray 5 nights a week for revival. I prophesied over all of them. Every Saturday night they gather and pray for a couple of hours and then go down to the church and walk around the property praying their hearts out.
One of these young men asked me what are the signs of revival ? I said that one major sign is when young people give up 5 nights a week to pray when they could be doing a lot of other things. I told them that they were already in Revival. SUN. 15 APRIL '98 The two Sunday Services were wonderful to say the least. I preached on "The Whole Truth" in the morning which resulted in 99% of the church responding to a fresh call to be defenders of Truth and Righteousness. I encouraged the people to make a stand against the downward spiral of Morality in this Nation which was founded on the Bill of Rights but now seemed to be running on the Rights of Bill. Sunday night just blew out as people ran to the altar in response to my message on "Having an Encounter with the Creator".
The power of the Holy Spirit usually follows the path of least resistance and there was not much of that here tonight, especially amongst the young people. There were many Pastors from other churches present who had closed their services to be here, so I prophesied over all of them. One young person was reported to have told her friends the next day at school that the whole church had been on the floor, much to their amazement because they were either not 'churched' or in churches that did not move in the Holy Ghost. Another young person was still 'under the power' all the next day at school.

THURSDAY 23rd
The crowds grew every night with last night being the largest and well up on the normal Wednesday night meeting. Pastors from many other churches have been present every night with some of them closing down their services last night to be there. We have seen 250 respond to the altar calls for salvation or recommitment. There have been many healings. One lady in her thirties came to me on Tuesday night in desperation and asked for prayer for her back which had been a source of constant pain for 18 years due to an inherited illness. She had been told only that week by her Chiropractor that he could do no more for her. As I prayed, she fell to the floor and later reported that when she was lying there, she had felt a numbness come over her which lingered when she was driving home. When she arrived at her house she realized that she had no pain for the first time in 18 years.
On Wednesday night she testified that she had been completely healed. Adam, the 15 year old son of Administrative Pastor, Gary Panepinto reports: "God moved powerfully in a way that I have never seen before. I was encouraged to see the Lord move in all the Youth including myself. I felt God's love and he brought to the surface all the junk that was there deep down in me and He cleaned me out and forgave me of it all." My wife Heather says: " This church is on a collision course with God, they have set their faces like flint towards Him.
There is an apostolic anointing upon the senior pastor ,Walt Healy, which made me feel right at home, because we have been raised under a similar anointing. The worship is outstanding, being led by Brad Kauffman and there was a tremendous sense of God's presence during the meetings. The young people were a joy to be around ,they have a tremendous sense of destiny and an infectious enthusiasm. Their light is definitely not hidden, with one girl bringing unsaved teenagers to every meeting. This church exults Jesus and gives Him the glory and honour, I loved it."
We move on today to New York and begin another crusade tomorrow night. Next week we begin a week of Evangelism at John Arnott's church in Toronto.
 

May

top

The crowds steadily built during the week here at Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship with Friday night being the biggest besides this morning. People are here from all over the world. Many have come in early for the conference which starts next week. They have 9 conferences a year here and they are expecting around 3000-4000 to this one. I began our "Week of Evangelism" in a fairly low key way, so that I could ease them gradually into the strong exhortation that I knew God wanted to bring latter in the week. The nightly services go out live on the Internet with an audience of thousands around the world.
On Thursday we had lunch with Fred Write who oversees the "Partners in Harvest" global network. He shared with us about the amazing revival that is going on in Norway, Europe and India amongst the New Age Movement. Two years ago Randy Clark had prophesied over a young guy in Norway that he would be used to start a revival in a group of people where few Christians would even consider to go. He is a truck driver who was invited to a séance last September by a major New Age leader. When the medium refused to speak over him he commanded him in Jesus' name to tell what he saw. But the medium reluctantly stuttered; " You are an impenetrable light". The other new agers there were blown away because they were seeking that "Light" and knew they would never quite get there. The truck driver shared his faith and they all were saved. Since then 2000 other new agers have been saved. Some of their leaders were invited to India by a major "Guru" who has 9,000,000 followers. They led him to Christ and then spoke to a large gathering of his people where 120,000 were saved.
As a result, a couple of pastors in Denmark have resigned their churches to go and help these 'Jesus Freaks' of the Nineties. Let's hope The Church does not make the same mistake with these as it did with some of the hippies of the Sixties and Seventies by only accepting them if they conformed to religious culture. But this is another wonderful report of what God is doing all over the World as we move more into "Global Revival Now!!" On Friday night, hundreds of young people under the age of 25 responded to the call to be Champions of Truth and Righteousness brought from my message "The Whole Truth". (John Arnott felt that the whole church should hear that message so he gave up his spot this morning and asked me to bring it again). There was another large response.
John, Carol, Heather and I drove down to Niagara Falls yesterday. We were met by their film crew and we both filmed openers and interviewed each other for our TV shows against the backdrop of the mighty Falls. Smith Wigglesworth had visited there in the Thirties and prophesied that a world-wide move of God would start close by and that it would be like the power of the Falls. Mark Dupont had prophesied the same thing two years before the Holy Spirit started moving in Toronto.
This morning was a powerful move of God. John and Carol and their team prayed for Heather and I and Mark Dupont prophesied that God was going to open up a floodgate for us worldwide. Mark and I both prophesied over John and Carol. I said that what they had seen so far was wonderful but it was just like a crack in the door with a ray of light streaming in compared to what they are about to see. Jesus is going to fling that door wide open and the light would be blinding. He was going to give them immeasurably more because He knew that He could trust them with it. Mark said that there was a new phase coming for them where they would see fire and water mixing which would cause a holy mist to rise which would be seen as a whole new level of healings and miracles. Tonight I rounded off the Week of Evangelism with a challenge For people to reach out to the lost in their own neighbourhood. We gave a call to the sick to be healed and many responded. We said at the start of the week that our primary purpose was to equip all who came from around the world, as well as this local church, to be a soul winners. Our goal has been to impart an unquenchable passion for souls and we believe we have succeeded. There has never been a more exciting time to be serving The King and His Kingdom.
 

June

top

SATURDAY 6th, KAWANA WATERS, QUEENSLAND AUSTRALIA
If there is one place on my travels that I could truly call 'Heaven on Earth', it would have to be this one. This time of year is close to the middle of Australia's Winter, but you would never know it. Loyal locals have a popular saying here; "...Queensland ! - Sunny one day- perfect the next" and that certainly is proving to be true. Nothing but blue skies, golden sand and clear blue water on beaches that stretch for miles. As a matter of fact, the whole of the East Coast of Australia is practically one long beach.
This little piece of Heaven is situated on the Sunshine Coast just a few miles north of Brisbane, the Capital of the State of Queensland, and is very similar to parts of Florida. There is a very high life style here with some incredibly wealthy homes set on the sides of man-made canals with large boats moored at private jetties. There would be many ministries that could easily hear a 'call' to this place, and I must admit, mine might be amongst those tempted.
But some have said that not all is ideal in this 'lotus-eaters' paradise. There is a tendency towards a "holiday" mentality, which means that the laid back life-style makes it hard to motivate people. This breeds apathy and indifference, two of the biggest problems for the Church. There is high unemployment because many are attracted to the natural beauty of this place but there are very few jobs. The saying goes that you may come here in a Mercedes, but you will leave in a Volkswagen. For the last few days I have been ministering at Living Waters Christian Centre, a church that is moving greatly in Revival.
Since October last year they have been having extended meetings, sometimes up to 12 meetings a week. At one point, they were having 3000 come through for several weeks in a row. However, they do have a wise pastor, Peter Barr, who is committed to revival but understands that good pastoring and discipleship need to be maintained and developed if this church is going to get to where it is destined to be. They have guest speakers in every second week or so including some prominent international, national and local speakers that have a heart for Revival.
There is certainly no lack of life here. It is not just emotional hype, but a genuine excitement for the things of God and it is a joy to preach to this very responsive audience. The church was full for the first two nights. Last night the Power of God hit the young people in a big way. I called every one under the age of twenty five to the front. Time after time they were all flattened to the floor, all together and without any one touching them. I never cease to be thrilled to see the young people reaching out to God with a passion and hunger to have a powerful encounter with Him. They will never doubt or have to take somebody else's word any more that God is real, because they have felt the touch of His Hand in their hearts for themselves.
The assistant youth leader remarked that he had not felt God's presence as strong as that before. It is gratifying to me, even though I am fifty this August, to know that God is still using me to touch the hearts of young people who would generally only take direction from their peers. I consider it a privilege to be in a position to influence the next generation and I just love being around all that potential and promise for the Future.
This morning about fifty youth leaders came to a Leader's breakfast. I challenged them to get ready to bring in the Greatest Harvest of all time that I believe God is going to soon lead us into. I told them that He will entrust most of this harvest to their generation. Several were visibly moved by the anticipation of this. One young person later testified that she felt excited and scared at the same time. It was almost, she imagined, like a woman about to give birth where there was a great expectation which contained a mixture of excitement about a new life, but also an apprehension about the pain that had to be endured to birth that child. These are indeed the most exciting times but also the most terrifying times to live in - exciting if you know Jesus, terrifying if you don't !
Tonight there was a youth Rally and young people came from all over the district. There was bedlam as the leader was introducing me with most of the kids talking or walking around. But by the time I was giving my challenge to them to rise up and be Champions of the Truth, God's word must have been going straight to their hearts because there was not a sound and a huge altar call in response.

SUNDAY 7TH
Many visitors come to the services today, some from as far away as Toowoomba, a large rural city two and a half hours drive from here. People were excited as I shared about our TV show going out to 24 nations in Europe. I encouraged them to not take for granted the fact that they enjoy one of the highest living standards in the World here in Australia, with some of the best weather and cleanest air to go with it. Yet someone had to do the hard yards to pave the way for what we have here.
Pioneers came from Europe and had to physically break this hard, dry land. But we, and many others, have an opportunity with our TV program to sow something back into Europe in a spiritual sense, which hopefully will do something to break the hard, dry spiritual climate that pervades a lot of that continent.
Several of the young people publicly testified today about how their lives had been changed and that this weekend had made them more happy and excited about God than they had ever been before. One man in his fifties sent this testimony: "... Not only did I have a good time but, my life has been forever changed. I realize that you are only the messenger and do not seek earthly rewards but, it is good to know of and sometimes see the results of the Holy Spirit moving through you."
I believe that this church will accomplish much for the Kingdom of God. They have a vision to be a thousand strong by the year 2000, and to extend their building to be twice the size that it is now. There is a tremendous enthusiasm, and a great anticipation and excitement about the Future. They know where they are going and many will want to go with them.
I came here with the primary motive to bless this church, however I feel that I have been more blessed for being here with these wonderful people.

MONDAY 22nd, REVIVAL LIFE CENTRE SYDNEY
With a name like Revival Life Centre, we were expecting great things to happen at this church in Sydney's South over last weekend, and we were not disappointed.
Senior pastor, Norm Armstrong (affectionately known to many as "General Stormin' Norman") is a real Pioneer of Pentecost in Australia, he is showing no signs of slowing down. He worked closely with some great men and women of God who laid the foundation of the Pentecostal Movement in this Nation. He was closely involved with Oral Roberts when he visited this country in the fifties. His 'Holy Ghost' exploits are legendary here and he is still operating a very powerful evangelistic ministry. His church is growing rapidly with a recent influx of young people due to a very effective youth program that's being run by Grant and Michelle Hobbs, the newly appointed youth pastors. This youth group has tripled in size since January. In some cases, the parents of newly saved young people are receiving the Lord too.
I had been to his church twice before, but it was nearly five years since our last visit. Earlier on this year Norm had called me and said that he felt strongly that the Lord wanted me to come to his church.
At the first meeting, I said that there was never a more exciting time to be serving the Lord. I spoke about the Valley of Dry Bones of Ezekiel 37 and likened it to the restoration of the Church, the Spiritual Israel. God has been greatly restoring the 'Body' in the last few years. Feet are running again, hands are writing new revelations, eyes are seeing further than before and ears are hearing new truths. The Body of Christ is waking up with a new awareness of God's Global Plan. Revival brings a heightened sense of awareness to the 'Body', something that strikes fear into the heart of the enemy, who knows that a revived 'Body' is dangerous. He goes into panic mode and frantically tries to lull the 'Body' back to sleep with the opiate of religion and tradition. Karl Marx was right - religion IS the opiate of the masses ! But God is raising up a Victorious
Church whose triumph is based in relationship with Him. There was a large response to the altar call. The second night was mainly a youth meeting, but there were people there from all age groups. The challenge went out to go against the 'flow' of the world - to rebel against the secular-humanist ethic of out time, which preaches that "Tolerance is the Alpha and Omega of the New World Order" ( Michael Gorbachov ). According to A.K. Chesterton, tolerance is the virtue of people who do not believe in anything. However, in this secular culture there seems to be a rising intolerance for anyone with strong convictions (Time Magazine, June 15, 1998). The challenge of this altar call was to stand as a Champion of Jesus Christ. There were 11 first time decisions and thirteen recommitment's. Amongst the first timers were 6 young men who had walked out the week before in rebellion but this time they walked to the front and embraced the Lord.
The Holy Spirit was touching people powerfully each night with the auditorium resembling a battlefield. Children of all ages were especially being touched with many receiving the Baptism of the Holy Spirit for the first time and speaking in tongues. I had special words of prophecy for some of them. One pregnant woman told me that I had prayed and prophesied over her and her husband 5 years ago on my last visit. At that time they were having difficulty having children. Apparently I had said that they would have "many, many !". Well, here they were, about to have their fourth child and they now wanted to know exactly how many was "many". I don't blame them ! The altar calls continued to be full with large numbers receiving the Lord at each meeting.
Visitors came from all over the area. They heard Pastor Norm declare in the last meeting that he was totally committed to seeing revival come to the whole St. George Shire. He invited everyone there to stand with him to see their area changed, with Truth and Righteousness re-established by a mighty Move of God breaking out into the streets. "Stormin' Norman" said that this was one of the best responses they had seen in one weekend. All I can say is; it just gets more amazing everyday serving God.

SUNDAY 28TH, AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND.
I flew to New Zealand on short notice for the weekend primarily to spend time with a friend who is going through a difficult patch, but it was also a good opportunity to catch up with East City Elim Church where I ministered on the Sunday.
I have been to this church many times and watched them grow tremendously over the last 10 years. When I first preached here they were meeting in a school hall and had about 150 people. Since then they have built their own building, which seats about 700, and also a school which caters up to high school level and are also currently building a new gymnasium. They have now broken the 1000 mark and have 4 services on Sunday.
In the morning I taught on how to find God's Will for your Life and challenged the people to not only find their destiny in God but also to make sure they get God's timing right too. The two must go together otherwise you'll end up like Moses who ran ahead of God and had to wait for 40 years, languishing in obscurity in the desert, until his time came around again.
At the first night service, I shared how many believe that the World is on the brink of the greatest spiritual awakening that will ever be witnessed. But like all things it began small as a seed in the mind of God. I made comparisons to the time of the ministry of John the Baptist leading to the ministry of Jesus. These two individuals changed the face of Humanity and the course of History. But is it possible that we are in a similar time frame now where we are about to witness the greatest display of God's Power and Glory being manifested corporately in and through a Church which has been profoundly affected and empowered to a new level by the Holy Ghost?
The second service was the Youth Meeting. In the light of an expectation for Revival I challenged the young people to turn the "risk- taking' nature of their generation to the purposes of God. He wants to do a quick work so procrastinators need not apply. Great Faith and Courage are needed, but the cost needs to be counted because Courage alone won't necessarily save you - it's God who will save you, but you must be prepared to go so far as maybe putting your life on the line for His purposes.
The altar calls were full at all services. It was wonderful to continue to build a strong relationship with Pastor Luke Brough and this excellent church which is having a powerful affect on the community of East Auckland.
New Zealand has produced more than it's share of significant ministries over the years. Among them Frank Houston, who left behind everything at the age of 55 and came to Australia to follow a vision from God. He had been the National Superintendent of the AOG in New Zealand for 19 years taking that movement from 19 to 90 churches, significant growth for a country of only 3 million people. He pioneered Sydney Christian Life Centre in 1977 beginning with only 9 adults and 5 children. We have been with Frank and a part of the leadership team for the last 15 years and our ministry, Firepower Ministries International is a part of this church. Since 1977 there has been over 70 churches pioneered out of or that have come into relationship with SCLC, the most prominent being Hills CLC, the home of Hillsong. This church was pioneered by Frank's son Brian in 1983 in the outer western suburbs of Sydney and has since grown to over 5000. Brian was also recently elected as the National Superintendent of the AOG in Australia.
 

July

top

THURSDAY 2nd, NATIONBUILDERS/HILLSONG CON. SYD.
Hillsong is a 12 year old annual conference that has produced worship that has touched most of the Global Christian Community. Every church I go to around the World is singing their songs. "Shout to the Lord" is perhaps the best known of these. Recently millions watched on television as champion boxer and committed Christian, Evander Holifield and his coaches sang this song in their dressing room just before his World title fight with Mike Tyson.
This year they have many great speakers lined up including John Maxwell, Ray McCauley, Rick Godwin, Charles Nieman, Darlene Zschech, Ron Kenoly and Alvin Slaughter, and they are expecting 6000 registrants. The final night of the conference will be held in the Sydney Opera House where a new live album will be recorded called "Shout to the Lord Two"
Every year Sydney's two main Christian Life Centres host the Nationbuiders Conference prior to and in conjunction with Hillsong. This is an informal gathering of friends from all over the world of like spirit who come together for a couple of days to share ideas and renew friendships. Brian Houston exhorted all there to build not just for today but for future generations of the Body of Christ leaving them a suitable inheritance. Many pastors and leaders from as far away as Russia brought exciting reports of what God is doing in and through their ministries.

MONDAY 6th, PERTH WESTERN AUSTRALIA.
I flew to Perth on Saturday and then drove 3 hours south to Busselton for a camp with the Perth branch of the Indonesian "Bethany" Church. I have a special place in my heart for the Indonesian people. I have ministered in their country twice. My first visit was with John and Carol Arnott in 1996 for 4 simultaneous Catch the Fire Conferences over the whole nation. I returned in July last year for three weeks of incredibly powerful meetings. These wonderful people are so hungry for God's touch. We saw many miracles and hundreds of salvations.
Most would be aware that this country has suffered the most from the Asian Financial Crisis with their currency now only a quarter of the value that it was 6 months ago. The autocratic style of Government in this nation (and several others in the same region) does not fit the current template of socialist 'democracy' demanded by the so called 'New World Order' to advance the ultimate dream of the United Nations to bring in a single Global Authority. Their currency was devalued by the International Monetary Fund who then offered them billions of dollars in loans and aid, but very stringent conditions attached which would in effect encourage their economy to be more conformed to the preferred global model, but at the cost of uncountable human misery. The IMF were like the unscrupulous smash repairer who goes around in the dead of night smashing up cars with a baseball bat and then leaving his card under the windscreen.
After the 5 hour flight and 3 hour drive, we arrived at the beautiful resort where the camp was being held and went straight into the meeting. Pastor Hanny Yusaputra said it was his desire to see God's power released to the fullest at the beginning of this camp, instead of at the end as often happens if you have to spend time breaking down barriers. He was not disappointed. As most of the young crowd responded to my call to come to the front and get on fire for God, His power came and flattened everyone at once without a word being said, and I didn't even have a chance to lay hands on anybody. It continued that way for most of the weekend.
I was asked to teach a session on 'Love, Dating, Sex and Marriage'. As you would expect, this was very well attended. I challenged secular western values with Biblical models in these areas. As most young people get their ideas about sex from TV and/or their friends, it was good to discuss these things in a safe setting and from God's perspective. This was followed by a very lively and hilarious question and answer time.
Pastor Jonathan Pattiasina from Indonesia, who was my co-speaker and interpreter writes: " This camp has been the best I've ever attended. I really enjoyed so much being together with Jeff. Although I was one of the speakers, I still received a lot of blessing that stirred my heart on fire under Jeff's ministry. After the camp, some people of that church (about five of them including the pastor's wife) came to me independently and said that while Jeff was praying for them they could see the fire coming through his hands. So it was a wonderful time to see lives changed and restored."

SATURDAY 18th CAMBERWELL, LONDON.
I flew to the UK from Australia via Thailand last Tuesday, taking 24 hours to get here. I was joined by Andreas Knutzen from our church in Denmark who flew in to assist me on this two week tour. Sam Larbie is a retired major of the Ghanain Army, and pastor of Camberwell Elim, a mainly African church in London's south west, and this was our first port of call. Sam had organised a busy schedule for us which began with an all-day prayer meeting, beginning at 11am and finishing 10.30pm. Needless to say this was a little stretching for me after a long flight and jet-lag, but it was a wonderful time where we praised, worshipped, preached and ardently sought the Face of God. My visit was part of an initiative by the Elim Group of Churches called "Mission to London", an ongoing evangelistic strategy to the whole city. My four day visit to this church was filled with meetings day and night, culminating with an all-night prayer meeting on Friday night which finished at 5.30am.
Earlier that night I had been asked to do an interview on the main Christian radio station in London, Premier Radio, with its very popular host, Benny King. We had talked about signs of spiritual awakening in Australia and around the world and the importance of Prayer as a precedent and sustainer of Revival. By the time Sam and I arrived at the prayer meeting it was 12.30am. The place was packed and electric with a certain vibrancy which is prevalent in these wonderful African churches. I was amazed that it stayed that way all night long. No one left until all left as the sun was rising. They had danced, prayed, and I had preached, prophesied and ministered no-stop.
As we were driving back to our hotel that morning through the centre of London, the sun's first rays were hitting the buildings and I could hardly stay awake but I did have a tremendous sense of satisfaction that I had given all that I could. It was an absolute joy to be with these people. Andreas reports: "I really think that is great to see the endurance of these people, the way that they just keep going on and on at the prayer meetings and it has been nice to see the wonderful giving spirit and their desire to learn more about God. Half of our supply of tapes was bought at Camberwell. I was really blessed by their hospitality and good heart for us, so I am looking forward to seeing them again in the future.

THURSDAY 23rd ILFORD, LONDON.
The Ilford Elim church is a reflection of this multicultural suburb. There are people are from many different cultures which gives this church its wonderful spicy disposition. We started our meetings here with four Sunday services. It was unusually hot and humid for London. This combined with the packed church and vibrant worship, flavoured with Caribbean and African rhythms, lent an air of 'exotic' expectancy that was very exciting. The people eagerly received my messages that day. The final meeting was the "Reality" youth rally where I was cajoled into doing a drum solo which certainly got the young people's attention. The alter calls were full at each service with many giving their lives to Christ for the first time. Among them were a doctor and his thirteen year old son from a mainline denomination, who had been going to church all their lives but it was their first visit to this church. He had spoken to me briefly after the morning service saying that my message had been the opposite to what he had been hearing for years in his church, but that his eyes had been opened and he now saw the truth. That night he and his son came forward and committed their lives to the Lord for the first time.
The church was almost full on Monday night. Pastor Steve Derbyshire, an Englishman with a very determined vision to see this are impacted for Christ, said that they had never had a Monday night meeting before, so to see the church quite full was very encouraging. The fact that Steve runs marathons in his spare time will give you an indication of the level of his determination and endurance.
God's power was evident that night with most responding to an opportunity to renew their fire or receive salvation and several significant prophecies were brought over several leaders. Tuesday night was one of those unique times that I'm sure will stay in the memories of most for a long time. An awesome presence of the fear of God came to the church in a powerful way that inspired a long hushed period, something quite unusual for this normally vibrant crowd. Steve and I challenged the people to be reconciled amongst themselves, if there were any unresolved issues or un-forgiveness. God is reconciling himself to the world through the church, and this cannot happen unless we are reconciled with each other first.
Last night was packed out with extra seats brought in for an overflow of people in the foyer. Steve and I both challenged the people to seek the truth behind some of the current social issues. That night the House of Lords vetoed a bill from the Parliament to lower the homosexual age of consent to 16. The House of Lords was called "out-moded" and "out of step with most of society" by the usual pro-gay lobbies and biased media reports, a convenient assumption made by them with no proven basis in fact. The truth is the Lords are speaking for most ordinary Britons. Gay activists likened themselves to 'suffragettes' and champions of 'human rights' but it is obvious that they are using 'human rights' to make the wrongs alright.
After a challenging message which demonstrated how far we have to go to return to God's principles in society, the altar call was full for salvation and recommitment. I tole the people that the key to turning their nation around lay in their hands. I then prayed for most of them to receive a fresh impartation of boldness from the Holy Spirit. As this was our last meeting at Ilford, we were overwhelmed with 'well-wishing', love and thanks from the people as we left that night. Natural friendships can take a long time to get established. But some of the closest relationships I have are with people with whom my time has been relatively short, but there is a greater closeness in the spirit because together we have set aside time to seek the Face of God. This was certainly the case here. We have been asked to return to Ilford next July.

SATURDAY 25th HARLOW, LONDON.
Three or four churches were represented (including one Anglican) at these two meetings hosted by Brain Spencer from Gateway Christian fellowship. Heather and I had met Brian and his wife Mary when they were in Toronto last April while we were ministering at John and Carol Arnott's church. Again it was one of those immediate friendships that took a minimum of time to establish. Brian reports: "It was a real privilege and pleasure to have Jeff and Andreas with us for these last two days. Prophecies that were given to a number of young people were spot on and the fire fell in a way that we have not seen before. Mary could smell burning towards the end of one of the meetings! Folk both in our own church and others have been excited about the things the Holy Spirit was doing and already several people have thanked me personally for bring Jeff to Harlow."

SUNDAY 26th ST ALBANS, LONDON
David Campbell, pastor of Elim City Church believes that God sent him south of the border from Scotland to do a missionary work amongst the heathen English (that's Scottish humour). Apart from the fact that I have to ask him to constantly repeat himself so that I can discern meaning through that broad Scottish accent, he is a good bloke (that's Aussie humour).
St Albans, in London's north-west, would be a perfect example of middle-class England. Apparently, British Prime Minister Tony Blair consults the local MP here to get a general idea of how the middle-class of the nation is feeling. It is the sigh of Britain's first martyrdom from where the town gets its name. Alban was a Roman Soldier, newly converted to Christianity, who was beheaded for his faith on the spot where the large cathedral now stands. Legend says that his head rolled down the hill and where it came to rest a spring came up from the ground and many were healed by its waters.
Some believe that the blood of England's first martyr cries out for revival to come to the nation from this place. But they are not just waiting, they are preparing, and that's why I came here, or why I go anywhere; to help with that preparation. David testifies that after our last visit in February, when we were here for just on Sunday, his wife and two of her friends were still under the power of God three days later. I was encouraged to see a lot of the young people that I had ministered to then still on fire for God.
Last night will be memorable for many things but one in particular. There was a young mother who had been bought to the meeting by another family who were regular watchers of our television show. She was only three weeks old in the Lord. I will never forget the look of astonishment on her face when I prayed for her to receive the Holy Spirit for the first time. As she fell to the floor it appeared almost as if she were being electrocuted. She later testified with tears rolling down her face that she had never felt anything like that before and that she knew she would never be the same again.
 

August

top

FRIDAY 7th WAGGA WAGGA , NSW AUSTRALIA.
Wagga Wagga, Gumly Gumly, Book Book - No! this is not a new spiritual language but these are the Aboriginal names of the largest inland city in the state of New South Wales and some of the surrounding townships. The aboriginal language does not have plurals so they just double the words. Wagga Wagga means "place of many crows". We were here as guests of Pastor Michael Skewes and his wife Deborah for an evangelistic crusade at Wagga City Church.
Michael and Deborah amazed me several years ago when they made the five hour drive from Wagga Wagga to my office in Sydney for a 30 minute appointment where they wanted me to pray for them for a fresh impartation of the Holy Spirit. They then drove straight back. I have seldom seen such a demonstration of hunger. Shortly afterwards Frank Houston visited their church and from these times they say that there has been a whole new impetus in their ministry. Their church has tripled in size in two years and they have a wonderful new building set on 5 acres of land. People are being saved every week, but Michael wanted me to impart an Evangelistic Spirit to the whole church. As I believe that every church activity should have soul-winning as its eventual goal, I needed no convincing to do this.
Accompanying me on this trip was one of my Australian assistants, Ian Branthwaite. He reports: "It was an inspiration to see the attitude of the youth of this church. On Monday night after the service there was an open forum held for the youth with Jeff. It was plain to see that God is moving in the hearts and lives of these young people. They displayed a true passion for the Lord and have an open desire to see their city changed and turned around for His Kingdom and His Glory. One young lady named Kelly gave a testimony on the Wednesday night of how God had touched her over this series of meetings and she came to tears with the revelation of Gods intimate love for her.
The church received an impartation of an evangelistic spirit, with many also openly voicing their desire to attend Bible college and enter into full time ministry. It was clear that the whole church was effected, many bringing their unsaved friends and workmates to the meetings. The Holy Spirit came powerfully during the ministry time and many testified to the deep change which had occurred in their hearts. I am glad to report that a new love for Jesus and for others has been the result of these meetings and I know that Wagga Wagga will be different for it."
I was greatly encouraged to see that some of the most responsive people at this crusade were an Anglican Minister and his family from a town some fifty miles away. They were invited to the meetings by someone from the church and were completely taken by surprise when they witnessed an open demonstration of God's power that they had never seen before. They will never be the same again and it was obvious that they could never go back to how they were before. I advised them privately that if they were going to take the "Fire of God" with them then they had better ask for equal amounts of His Wisdom. Fire can bless or destroy depending on how it is handled. ("Let only him with clean hands and a pure heart ascend Your Holy Hill"). We continue to grow richer for the privilege of being in the Ministry and meeting wonderful people all around the world.

9th-23rd SYDNEY CHRISTIAN LIFE CENTRE.
It was a relief to be ministering at home for the last few weeks. For one thing I was able to catch up with maintenance around the home, within the family and at the office. As wonderfully strong as Heather is (and without her I could not operate this ministry), it is difficult for her to be mother and father while I'm away to five growing children, two of which are teenagers with their own typical needs. I appreciated being around and she appreciated me being there. An itinerant ministry places great demands on family life.
Many ask me why I leave my wife and children for up to half of every year to preach the Gospel. Certainly, life 'on the road' and family life are at definite odds with each other. I learnt this lesson 'in the natural' during my years in the music industry before I became a Christian. I saw that travelling as a musician often destroyed marriages that were more fragile without Christ. When I began our itinerant ministry (Firepower Ministry International) nearly ten years ago, I knew that we would have to put some pretty strong measures in place to protect our family, who after all, are my greatest credentials. We have worked hard over the years to maintain these measures. However, during this time at home I was able to do some much needed painting around the house, go to the football game with my younger kids, and take the older ones out on individual 'coffee' dates to give them an opportunity to speak their increasingly independent minds. I tried to be sympathetic to their 'plights'. I'm sure you can remember how the 'I'm the only one in history who has gone through this' syndrome seems to plague the 'teenage' years.
At the office most of the time has been taken up with preparation for our next "Catch the Fire Down Under/ Impact '98" Conference, 9-12 September, (the title grows every year). I have been organising these for the last four years. This year we have invited Randy Clark and Ken and Lois Gott as the main speakers. We are believing that this year will be an historic time in the life of our church. We are also bringing back thirty or so of our 'church-planters' from around the world to the conference for a time of impartation into their lives. I have also been frantically trying to prepare for the next batch of recordings for our TV show (currently screening all over Europe), preparing new messages and confirming arrangements for our next ministry trip to the United States (Sept./Oct.).
I have also been ministering in a series for three Sunday nights at Sydney Christian Life Centre, where our ministry is based. Each night I focused on a different theme: "Titanic, a 20th Century Parable", "The Coming Global Awakening", and "World Economic Update". Each message contained pastoral, prophetic and evangelistic challenges. I took full advantage of the theme of current movies like "Titanic", "Deep Impact" and "Armageddon", which seem to be cashing in on 'End-of-the-Millennium fever', to point out that even though we live in an increasingly perilous world, there's a message of hope that is unchanging. There will be disasters and calamites but in all of these the Church will be victorious - an increasing light challenging an encroaching darkness, ( Isa. 60:2 "For behold, darkness will cover the earth, and deep darkness the peoples; but the LORD will rise upon you, and His glory will appear upon you." ) The church and the altar calls were full and we had some 70 mostly first-time commitments over the three nights.
There was also opportunity to minister in the Holy Ghost in our 8pm services, which brought a new fire from Heaven to many hearts. Some had a first-time revelation of just what freedom in Christ means. Many sent testimonies of changed and impacted lives. IT JUST KEEPS ON GETTING BETTER!
 

September

top

SATURDAY 19th RODNEY HOWARD-BROWNE'S MINISTER'S CONFERENCE IN TAMPA AND THE PENSACOLA REVIVAL, FLORIDA.
We had a great time with Rodney at his third annual minister's conference over the last week. The theme was 'times of refreshing' and he shared candidly about his failures as well as his successes and the ongoing challenges of being a ministry that is "pushing the envelope" to enlarge the Kingdom and God's people. He challenged everyone to stretch their vision. He said that there is a whole dimension of doing things that the church, by and large, has not really caught onto yet. He told us of a meeting he was invited to attend recently where Gary Player, the internationally known golfer, was raising money for charity. There were people there who were talking in billions, and yet a lot of the church is still thinking in terms of raising money for building projects etc, with car washes and cake sales.
One exception to this that Rodney mentioned was Reinhard Bonnke, who has plans costing US$120,000,000 to put God's word in every home in America. He has already done this in the UK and Germany. Rodney also shared his BIG US$15,000,000 vision for "Good News New York" where he has booked Madison Square Gardens for six weeks of evangelism next July. Here is what he said about this recently: "A couple of months ago, I had a dream in which I was talking to Billy Graham. His ministry has touched my life because, first of all, he is a man of great integrity and secondly, God has used Him in a wonderful way to win souls. Our ministry is about saving souls and redeeming the lost. In my dream, Billy Graham was talking with me about New York. If you know anything about the revival that occurred there in 1957, you know that Billy went into New York and stayed three months in Madison Square Garden. Two million people came through.
As I listened to him speak in my dream, I wept so hard that when I woke up, my pillow was soaking wet. As I got out of bed that day, I knew: We have to go to New York and launch one of the biggest soul winning crusades since Billy Graham was there in the fifties. It just dropped into my spirit and I knew it was by the Holy Ghost. I knew the budget was going to be millions of dollars because it is New York City. We wanted Madison Square Garden but the NBA uses it and the indoor football league uses it, so we looked at some other arenas. But God's grace and favour rests on this meeting and we have been able to obtain Madison Square Garden for six weeks in the summer of 1999.
Six weeks! Over the period of the crusade, we are going to have night time meetings Tuesday through Saturday, and during the day we want to launch major evangelistic outreaches by sending evangelism teams onto the streets, into the five boroughs of New York. I have asked God for 5,000 souls per night-that is 150,000 over six weeks. We want to end up on the last night in Central Park with a rally of over 100,000 people. I see it in my spirit. In the natural it is a quantum leap! Before the Lord showed us the vision for New York for Jesus '99, such a dream was beyond what we could ask or think, but now we are thinking it. We are not just going to rest there. We are believing the Lord that in the year 2000 we will be able to impact Los Angeles. Then we want to move up the pace, to where maybe once every three months we can impact a major American city for six weeks, and see places like Chicago and Miami and San Francisco just shaken to the very core and foundation."
Already millions of dollars has come in support of this huge project and Rodney believes that every cent will come in before "Good News New York" begins.

PENSACOLA
We arrived in Pensacola yesterday (Friday) and went straight from the airport to the Brownsville School of Ministry where I taught in the second hour in the Homiletics class which I shared with Larry Tomzac, who did the first hour. Larry is very well known here in the States. He founded People of Destiny International, a group of churches which grew out of the Charismatic Movement. He is also the author of several best selling books including "Clap Your Hands" and "People of Divine Appointment".
The homiletics class had 4-500 second year students in it. Only having an hour, I didn't want to go through some sort of '10 points on how to preach a good sermon' type teaching, but instead tried to impart a passion for communicating a timeless message to this generation in a relevant way. Most of the students were under 25 and I stressed the importance of reaching their peers without compromising the truth.
In a world where young people are being told there is no real truth (you can make it whatever you want-'buffet' truth!), there is a timeless message that has never changed, but the method of communicating it must start where people are at in our present secularised society. Jesus always met people where they were at and we just cannot assume that our Christian world-view will automatically be accepted by those whom we are trying to reach who may have grown up without any 'church' experience at all. But there is a cry by this generation that says: "We are sick of being lied to - that everything is going to be alright when we see the world crumbling around us. Would someone please tell us the truth - no matter how hard it may be to take, we will find a way of working it out, but we just need to know where we stand."
They are looking for answers everywhere and getting a lot of them from counterfeit sources, all the more reason for us, the church, to rise up and be relevant to this generation presenting them with uncompromized truth and a genuine Hope that can only be found in Jesus Christ. After this session I renewed my friendship with Dr. Michael Brown, the principal of the school which is a miracle in itself. It was born out of the Revival here at Pensacola, and went from 120 in the first semester to 510 the second, to 706 the third, and has 1200 in this fourth semester.
Mike's vision was quoted in a paper as: " I see the school positioned to potentially impact this whole generation of labourers. Because of the historic nature of the Brownsville Revival, the growth and impact of the school is also unusual and historic. We are treating it with fear and trembling." He emphasised that the vision of the school is to "send out labourers ablaze with Revival Fire, grounded in the Word, willing to give their lives for the Gospel, throughout America and to the ends of the Earth".
The school has just purchased Liberty Campus, a 50 acre facility which includes dormitories for 150 live-in students, but with 1200, they already are stretched for room. The revival meetings here in the church, are showing no signs of abating. Last night (Friday) the main auditorium and overflow were packed, and this is considered to be a quiet period. The praise and worship has always been great, but we noticed a tremendous development since our last visit 12 months ago.
Lindell Cooley led an excellent band and a large vibrant choir that sang with great enthusiasm. Steve Hill said the prophet Amos feared God so much that he feared nobody else, and so he did not back down when instructed to bring a message that was not going to be popular. He said this life is a preparation period to qualify us to meet our God. Just like we would be foolish to go into a major exam without preparing by studying, so we would be stupid to go through life without getting ready for the next. Some people ignore hurricane warnings to their own peril, so to be unprepared after you have been warned will mean you will have no excuse. Everyone will experience a face to face encounter with their God. Steve's intensely focused message resulted in an altar-call completely full of people getting their lives right with God.

SUNDAY 20th PENSACOLA FLORIDA.
On Saturday night Steve recapped the messages from the past week of the Revival including: "One word from Heaven is worth more than a lifetime of words from the world". Sunday morning was what I call really having 'church'. The worship time was exactly the ideal of total involvement of choir, musicians and congregation that I have longed to see and be a part of for many years. There was no "spirit of entertainment" here as Lindell put it, and no diversion demanding audience - it was one body worshipping and praising God with an enthusiasm that I have only seen here in the south, and the revival has added an even greater dimension to this. This was followed by Ray Hughes from Nashville, who brought the most excellent teaching on Praise that we have heard. We will have a day off tomorrow and on Tuesday I will be with all 1200 students of the Brownsville School of Ministry before we fly to New Jersey on Wednesday.

THURSDAY 23rd BROWNSVILLE SCHOOL OF MINISTRIES.
At noon on Tuesdays, over 1000 students from Brownsville School of Ministries, Pensacola, gather for a weekly chapel service. Dr Michael Brown, the principal of the school, had asked me to address them. As we walked into the auditorium I was immediately aware that this was one body of worshippers with a determined resolve to touch Heaven. There were no 'spectators in the stand' here and I had to ask myself "was this a college chapel service or one of the nightly revival meetings at the nearby Brownsville Assemblies of God Church which has been in revival for over three years?" The lines were blurred, when your eyes were closed there was no difference.
Most of the students are "X-ers" (under 25) and I wanted to show them why I believe that they will be used by God more than anyone else to usher in the greatest spiritual awakening that the world will ever witness. I gave them a brief social history of the twentieth century to see how we have arrived at this point in time, beginning with the 'Builder' generation who grew up in the Great Depression of the early thirties. They learnt the hard lesson that if you found a job you put in an honest days work for an honest days pay. This fresh but hard won work ethic built up an unprecedented industrial capacity in the western world.
The Second World War acted as an even greater catalyst to an exponential burst of technological and industrial development due to the demand for weapons. The need for arms ended when the War ended, so this capacity was then directed to a new social phenomenon; the Consumer Society This demanded the god of materialism to be enshrined with a 'gospel' asserting "the more material goods you have , the happier you will be". Previously, things were built with a pride that they could last a lifetime or more, but the new ethic was not so much as maintain and repair, but replace! However, by the early sixties, we were discovering that the 'material' gospel was not delivering and certainly did not fill an aching spiritual gap that could be only filled with one thing - the Love of Jesus Christ !
The traditional church was failing to reach an inquiring 'baby boomer' generation with this timeless message, because it's methods of communication were outmoded and in some cases, more than 300 years old. A generation that purchased according to packaging, was not buying - the wrapping was not relevant to life 'in the fast lane' in the latter part of the twentieth century, with inventive variations of some of the same old sins.
Three major events then happened that would affect the fabric of society forever. They were the assassination of John F Kennedy and Martin Luther King and the Watergate Scandal. 'Boomers' took the brunt of the resulting disillusionment with traditional values and a new cynicism bred a restlessness that found some respite in certain new age creeds that rushed to fill the spiritual vacuum.
Everyone has to have something to believe in. It's probably more important for people to have something to believe in than what it is that they actually do believe in - even the atheist believes in something - even if it's nothing! And so many of the neo-social movements of the sixties were born (eg. Conservation, liberation, civil rights, new age, etc). Ethical pluralism grew from the sixties youth culture with its 'do your own thing' philosophy and became official policy when they acquired positions of power a couple of generations latter. Truth and righteousness became expedient casualties in a world of no more absolutes. So the call goes out for this present generation to stand up and boldly "....swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth - so help me God !"
The resulting altar call saw 95% of the student body rush forward and let out a cry from deep within their collective souls that was the loudest sound I have ever heard. This cry was filled with an ardent passion and a determined resolve to see their nation turned around, from the White House to the school house, with the Truth and Righteousness of Christ re-established.
Dr. Michael Brown reports: "The Lord powerfully used Jeff Beacham this past Tuesday to minister to our entire student body (1,000 +) during our weekly chapel service. His message was loud and clear: Make truth and righteousness your cause, even if it costs you your life! We were blessed by the combination of a challenging word and a strong faith vision. Virtually all the students responded to the altar call to take the challenge (we expect nothing less from our student body!), and then the Spirit fell, as many began to weep under the burden for the nations, intense prayer rose to the throne, and a shout of faith and victory arose. Things erupted!
While we are used to powerful times in the Spirit whenever we gather together, I sensed something special happening this day, and I really believe that there was a genuine impartation to us and that we were moved another definite step forward in our pursuit of our calling in God. In fact, the atmosphere continued through the day, as Bob Gladstone, one of our core faculty members, led the first year students (more than 600) in continued prayer - and things got even heavier."
Wonderful young people in wonderful times, living for a wonderful God!

SATURDAY 26th NEW JERSEY USA.
Our first port of call here was for three days of combined meetings with the churches of Pastors Al Pandola and Steve Mears in South Jersey. Steve reports on some of the results:
"How does one describe 'FIRE'? Webster's says: fire -
1.a chemical reaction, esp. the burning of a combustible substance with oxygen that releases heat and light. A fire distinguished by magnitude, destructive power, or utility.
2. Great enthusiasm: fervor. 3.To cause to ignite or become ignited.
That's our report.
Tonight at our service we asked the people to tell us how they were impacted. We heard words like boldness, compelled to witness AS NEVER BEFORE, ministering to many, assurance, clarity, confidence, intimacy, "time is truly running out...tick...tick". They were practically fighting for the microphone (very very unusual for them), AND SUCH ENTHUSIASM!!
One 6 year old boy preached your sermon about Jesus waving to us because he recognizes us, to his mother's friend. He had a full understanding and passion for what he was saying. Can you believe he absorbed that? The 11 year old girl we told you about who has difficulty learning in school, recorded 4 full pages of notes on your sermon accurately.
A woman who has been struggling with her tongue language for a long time (she rationalizes everything) was loosed Friday night.
There is a fire right now that must not be dulled down, especially the strong boldness to witness. We have been praying for that for a long time. Oh and yes, our worship leader (Steve's wife, Linda) has become a hurricane that can't be contained.
We know this e-mail can't transfer to you what we have been feeling, but we pray that you might realize how precious the anointing on your life has been to all of us.
Thanks for coming. Steve and Linda.
AL Pandola reports:
"We had such a great time and looking forward for you to come back soon! Many saved, filled with the Holy Spirit, and rededicated their lives and some we re healed. Our Sunday morning service was Holy Spirit fire from the get-go! Two youth give their heart to Jesus, two were filled with the spirit and over half our church came forward to rededicate their lives to God. The anointing was so heavy you could cut it with a knife. The whole week was awesome! In Christ I stand! Al & Carol"
 

October

top

THURSDAY 1st, TOMS RIVER NEW JERSEY.
It is very unusual for me to be in the same church three times in 9 months. It is also unusual for the Church Of Grace and Peace (GAP) to have the same ministry this many times, but it is obvious to both of us that God is doing something special and unusual here. There is a hunger among the leadership of this church to see the North East of America set aflame with a spiritual Awakening. They are not necessarily relying on the most recent precedents for current revival from Pensacola or Toronto, or on the other hand discounting that He might do something similar here, they just desperately want God to come any way He wants to, as long as He shows up!
The Senior Pastor, Walt Healy, has committed his church to spearhead the organization of the "Awake America " Crusade here in June '99 with the leadership team from the Brownsville AG. This crusade is expected to involve hundreds of churches from the north east area. He is also supporting the "Good News New York " Crusade with Rodney Howard-Browne in Madison Square Gardens for six weeks next July. Both of these events are expected to shake this whole area with an expected 200,000 people making commitments to Christ. If this is realized then the ripple affect could be enormous and go out from here to touch a large portion of this Nation and also beyond here into other countries.
Heather and I began our meetings here in this church of 1700 last Sunday morning and right from the start there was a step up to a new level. Part of my message referred to Steve Phillip's vision of "The Big Tent" as reported recently on the "Elijah List". This vision spoke about a new leadership level coming to the Body of Christ that will be based solely upon relationship and not on heavy authoritarian or sectarian structures. The tent swayed in the breeze, but was very secure. It was anchored at three points around the earth: one stake was in Australia, another in central Russia, and a third in England. The forth corner of the tent was left flapping in the breeze. Being American, Steve Phillips asked the Lord if the fourth stake would go down in America, to which He replied: " The stakes are already in place in the nations I have shown you, these are not men but works of my Spirit, but I have not made up my mind about America yet!" That night a young man from the church handed me some tent stakes that he had brought to the meeting and left it to me to decide if they had anything to do with what God wanted to do. When I went up to speak I said that I felt God wanted us to put some stakes down and lay a claim to the fourth corner of the tent for America. This immediately struck a chord with the leadership.
Pastor Healy reports: "Dear Jeff, At our recent meetings, apart from the strong ministry anointing we have come to expect from you, I sensed a fresh anointing on your messages as they flowed beautifully and prophetically into what the Lord had already been indicating to be our corporate church destiny. As a stream of living water flowing into a river, the old and the new became one flow and we all saw the river rising and the current quickening. As you know, apart from the leadings of yourself, me, or other's suggestions, the Holy Spirit moved inexorably from Sunday's first service through the Wednesday evening service in growing the sense of corporate destiny in the hearts of the congregation.
Your reference to God's tent needing a fourth stake and His not having made up His mind about America had driven home to our hearts the imperative to make Him welcome and ourselves available. I was personally challenged and as the days ensued I sought the Lord on how to bring the challenge to the corporate assembly. Ultimately I laid that challenge on the congregation after worship on Wednesday and the response was unanimous. Several hundred of us went out to the front entrance (East gate) and claimed our stake in the restoration of the tabernacle of David as we each took turns with the sledge hammer driving the 42" iron stake deep into the ground. You could see and hear the determination that this group wants God's presence in America and we want to give Him whatever it takes for Him to tabernacle amongst us.
The event itself might seem superficial or even frivolous to some but I believe the Lord was calling us higher and deeper and that God's people were responding with one voice. The exuberant worship, which resumed subsequent to driving the Lord's tent stake, is good indication that our church will never be the same.
Your closing message of exhortation to let that tent stake be buried in our hearts and not just buried on our grounds was excellent. I believe many will carry it within and the Lord will have His dwelling place.
Much love, Walt "

TUESDAY 6th, NEW JERSEY CONTINUED.
On Friday night, I ministered in the church where D.L. Moody preached regularly and former US President Woodrow Wilson attended (he founded the League of Nations). This building now belongs to Nassau Christian Center and is right next to Princeton University, which was birthed out of the Great Awakening of the 1700s. Jonathan Edwards was involved in its foundation and served initially on the board and then later on as president of this campus here in one of the most beautiful parts of America.
God has visited this particular place many times in the past; in fact there has been a spiritual awakening in every century of America's existence and always taking place in the decade of nineties. Will God visit here again in the next 15 months? I believe so! Certainly, God impacted nearly all of the young people that were at this meeting on Friday night. Who knows what the potential will be if they pursue God as a priority in their life.,
On Saturday and Sunday I was with Monmouth Worship Center. Pastor Ken Jasko moved his congregation into their beautiful new building two months ago. Ken was born and bred in this area and is very fluent with its spiritual history even as far back as the founding of the nation, but he is not living in the past and has a vision for his church to be a center for revival for this area.
Over the three meetings that I had here God moved very powerfully with many being touched in a new way for the first time, again especially the young people some of whom testified that they would never doubt that God was real ever again.

REVIVAL IN BALTIMORE
Yesterday (Mon), some of the leadership team from the Church of Grace and Peace and myself drove 3 hours south to Baltimore to visit the revival that has been going for 20 months at the Rock Church pastored by Bart and Coralee Pierce.
Their relatively new church building would have to qualify as one of the most beautiful church buildings in America. They have revival services every Monday and Tuesday nights with Tommy Tenney, an evangelist who has been a part of what God is doing here right from the beginning. He flies in every week for the two days and then circulates among other churches in the US during the rest of the week. (He will be in Australia this coming December and January.)
It seems that Bart Pierce has completely surrendered these services to God. There is no formal structure, announcements or offering, although there was a steady stream of people spontaneously coming to the front throughout the worship time to leave an offering to the Lord.
Tommy Tenny brought a fresh challenge to people to seek God in humility with an emphasis on repentance and dying to self. "No one can see God and live, which means that only 'dead' men can see God" he declared and also quoted Frank Bartelman, one of the leaders from the Azuza Street Revival, as saying: " The depth of your repentance will determine the height of your revival "
Don Mark is the worship/music director here and comes from a background of many years as a professional musician. Coming from a similar background myself, I have seldom seen such a competent and anointed leader of musicians as Don. I feel that his sensitivity to the Holy Spirit and corresponding dynamics in worship are a major part of what God is doing here.
There were several people at the service who had sat under our ministry when I was speaking in John Arnott's church in Toronto a couple of years ago. They introduced me to Tommy who invited us to join him and Bart after the service. We were also joined by J. Lee Grady, the editor of Charisma Magazine whom, I understand, recently featured the revival in Baltimore in their July issue.
It was a great blessing to join with men who share my deepest desire; to see the Fire of God burn in the nations of the world resulting in multitudes turning to Him. But I believe that God has declared that this crucial and strategic part of America, from Boston to Baltimore and down to Washington, with a population of 70 million, is about to experience an unprecedented move of God that will shake the North East. Many leaders in this area have commented to me that they have never seen such a hunger and desire for unity among pastors and that's what brings the blessing of God.
Tomorrow, I move to Trenton, the capital of New Jersey, where I am speaking at a leaders conference on Revival (what else is there?).

MONDAY 12th, URGENT CALL TO PRAYER - CHURCH LEADERS LOSE THREE IN THREE MONTHS
I am writing this report to you from 35,000 ft. somewhere over the Pacific Ocean. I am returning to Australia after my 'marathon' four weeks of ministry in America. Earlier on today we buried the third person to die from the Church of Grace and Peace since July. This is the church in New Jersey that Heather and I are close with, having ministered there several times this year.

Elders Gary and Cindy Panepinto lost their 13 year old son Scott in a jet-ski accident. Exactly one week later another elder Phil Giunta died from heart problems, and last Thursday 23 year old Kim Ames was killed in a car accident on her way to church. She had been married for only four months to Len, the son of elders Lenny and Laine Ames. She was three months pregnant.
This church is one of the keys to opening up the Spirit of God to the New Jersey area. They are spearheading the organization of the 'Awake America' Crusade in this area next June which has the potential to spark off a powerful move of God. We would ask you all to consider a special time of prayer to stand with the families of these lost precious ones and also that the church will be encouraged in its ardent pursuit of God.

HISTORIC REVIVAL CONFERENCE, TRENTON NJ, USA.
Revival exploded in the Trenton/Princeton area over the last week as up to ten churches were represented at a conference hosted by the F.I.R.E. (Fellowship of Intercessors for Revival & Evangelism) Network of churches in this area. Trenton is no stranger to spiritual awakenings. Nearby is the world-renowned Princeton University, which was originally a Bible College, birthed out of the Great Awakening? Jonathan Edwards, the great 'apostle' of revival, was its third president. I found his grave on Saturday in the Princeton Cemetery and thanked God for the life of this man who obeyed the Lord and ushered in an awakening that literally changed the face of this nation.
The conference started on Wednesday night and culminated with an historic meeting on Sunday where the churches of the network came together for the morning service in the building of Capital Assembly of God. I have never seen this happen before, anywhere, but it was a powerful statement that these churches are serious about 'agreeing' together to see the power of the Holy Spirit released to this area again (Matt.18: 19) .
The hunger of the people grew enormously each day as the fire spread from heart to heart. Young people were testifying of how their indifference to church had been shattered and now they could not stay away. People were saved in the night meetings which were open to the public, including one young man who gave his heart to the Lord, was set free and baptised in the Holy Spirit all within a few days. I invited him to testify on the last night and all he could do was cry out the name of Jesus until he had no voice left. This caused the people to erupt in spontaneous praise and an extended standing ovation for the King.
There was a young woman at the first meeting who later testified that she had a 'take it or leave it' attitude towards church. She works as a rocket scientist on highly secret projects. I prophesied over her on the first night saying that God wanted to do something special in her life during the time of the conference. I likened it to baking a cake, and every meeting God would add a vital ingredient, so not one should be missed. She had planned on only being at a few of the meetings, but took this word so much to heart that she did not miss one. She even excused herself from her best friend's wedding on the Saturday, an event that she had been planning on being at for several years. This highly intelligent 'academic' young woman became so desperate for God's touch that she rushed up to me on the last night crying out that she wanted everything that God had for her - a marked transformation from the person she was at the start of the conference.
I exhorted the pastors of the F.I.R.E. network to jealously guard and nurture their unity as it has been a relatively rare thing to see in America, a nation whose independence has been its greatest strength but in some cases, also its greatest weakness. However, recently similar networks are beginning to spring up all over this land - this surely is a major key to turning this nation to God!
Jack Cairns, pastor of Capital Assembly of God who provided their building for the conference, and whose church is a member of the F.I.R.E. network, sends this report:
"Comment from woman exiting the Sat Night service, 'I pray this doesn't stop'. Comment from 17 year old Carlo Nicolo, at 12 midnight 'I want to sleep here, I don't want to leave'. Carlo got saved and slain in the Spirit Thursday night, came back to every service through Sunday night. Came to church Sunday night saying that Jesus was going to baptize him in the Spirit. After 1 min. of prayer, Jesus did! Jeff prayed for a woman who couldn't raise her left arm due to an automobile accident. God healed her instantly in the first service Wednesday night.
The ongoing revival felt among the churches of Trenton was mightily strengthened as God's River gained in intensity and depth. Strongly anointed worship lead by 17 year old Mike Neukim of Eagles Wings welcomed the awesome presence of the Lord. Friday evening's worship focusing on Jesus can only be described as incredible. The conference enjoyed an open heaven. Jeff's inspired and anointed preaching morning and evening prepared hearts for salvation, healing, baptism and ministry. Every altar time saw the floor of the platform, altar and isles jammed with children, teens and adults seeking a fresh touch and receiving the same. Prayer continued to 1 o'clock in the morning Sat. & Sun. with intercessor Daniel Varghese from Chicago. Pastors were powerfully touched and released by Jeff to touch their congregations with fresh fire.
Sunday morning, 6 of 7 churches of F.I.R.E. joined together for a historic combined service. The worship was interrupted by a call to the altar. Another anointed time at the altar was enjoyed after Jeff's message. Jeff prayed for all the Pastors and their spouses during this time with prophetic prayer and fire. Jeff and Daniel were also used to impart the Father's strong affirmation and loving approval for the Pastors. Pastor Jack "
Following is a good report from Pastors Steve and Linda Mears whose church was one where we were at for a few days recently in South Jersey USA.
"Dear Jeff and Heather, I felt impressed to drop you a quick letter to give a 3 week update concerning your recent visit with us. John 15:16 says 'You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that you should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should REMAIN; that whatsoever you shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.' This scripture has been illuminated in my spirit more than ever as I have observed our congregation the past three weeks.
I have always told the people of LWCC that there are two ways they can determine whether God has truly accomplished a work in them: 1. The fruit will last--not just a one time emotional experience. 2. The fruit will also be present (resident) in their life outside the perimeters of the church. We are seeing both of the above. Not only has this fire and passion for Jesus remained, it is actually growing hotter. Our last Wednesday night meeting was perhaps the most "GOD ENCOUNTERING" we have had. We had a larger turnout than usual, and all were under God's power and most experienced the powerful JOY of the Lord. Some of the people, were visibly shaking and trembling under God's awesome power.
Our people are witnessing to others all over the place with great boldness. There is a great anticipation at the beginning of each service, whether it be our worship service, corporate prayer service, or Bible studies! People who were lukewarm in the past have become ignited with a great desire for the Word, the Fire, and a desire to express worship to the King of Kings! (they are actually coming to service on time, if not early, and we can't get them to go home). I personally have been powerfully impacted and the anointing on my life has literally been refined and increased.
Keep Burning! Love, Steve & Linda Mears"
 

November

top

MONDAY 16th SEOUL, KOREA.
I arrived here last Thursday morning after flying over night from Sydney. This was my third visit to Korea and previously I had formed good relationships with many Korean leaders including my present host, Pastor Hye Ya Kim, her family and the people from the Yong Dong First Church in Seoul.
Our first visit was with John and Carol Arnott from Toronto and Che Ahn from Harvest Rock Church in Pasadena. Hundreds of leaders from all over the nation were powerfully impacted by the Holy Spirit. At that time God gave me a word of prophesy that there would be reunification between the North and the South, which have been bitterly divided since the Korean War in the fifties. This word came several months before there was any public talk about this issue.
On our second visit several months later, it had become the main item on all the media. God's news is always ahead of the local news! In August last year, just prior to our second visit, Steve Penny, a member of the National Executive of the AOG in Australia and the head of Prophetic People International, had prophesied over Heather and I saying that God was going to knit our hearts to the Korean people in a special way and that our ministry would have a unique part to play in God's plan for this nation; to "literally break the spirit of religion...to bring a wind of God that is going to blow like a 'domino effect, and it's going to run through whole streams of churches.... you'll start to get a vision of Korea under a massive awakening of the Spirit of God. Much turbulence in the nation, but much spiritual awakening in the nation...." Certainly, after this last visit I can see the possibilities of this prophesy a lot clearer.
Most would be aware that Korea recently suffered an economic down-turn along with most of the other nations in Asia. Previously it was rising to challenge Japan in terms of economic and industrial development, but now bankruptcies and unemployment are souring. I had met with Dr. David Yongi Cho on my first visit. He pastors the largest church in the world, Yoido Full Gospel Church in Seoul which has 750,000 members . I asked him how his church was going. He complained that there were only 50,000 salvations that year (I know many of you would like to have his problem). When I asked him what was wrong with that, he said that there were 100,000 saved the year before. He attributed this 50% drop mainly to the nations rising prosperity, where many Koreans were beginning to trust too much in materialism and were losing their faith.
God showed me that He is very jealous of this nation that is 35% Christian and who must be the world's most ardent and faithful prayers. I believe His hand was involved in the economic slump to demonstrate to His people here how elusive riches can be. Certainly, since the economic down-turn the drop-off from churches has generally ceased and many are growing rapidly.
Pastor Hye Ya Kim and her church overwhelmed me with their outstanding hospitality, courtesy and love. They booked one of the best Hotels in Seoul for me, which is not expected but is very welcome for someone like me who spends a lot of time travelling. This church is barely 4 years old which gives it a wonderful freshness, but it also has a maturity that belies its age. It is planted right in the middle of the economic district of Seoul and is poised perfectly to make an impact upon the wealthy of this area. Many of the people from the church occupy positions of great influence in business, and this includes one of their leaders who is a director of the multi-corporate giant Samsung.
I was ministering in two meetings a day and these built until the place was packed on the last night. The praise and worship was incredibly loud, fervent, hot and sweaty as the mainly young congregation pressed into God with an intensity that I have not seen before. It almost looked like spiritual aerobics with people jumping, clapping singing and dancing with all their might before the Lord. By the time I came up to preach most were drenched in sweat. After that they may have had a chance to cool down in the natural, but I made sure that they stayed on fire in the spirit. Pastor Kim had asked me to bring an emphasis on the prophetic and the Holy Spirit. I gave people biblical responses to current world events and challenged them to prepare for the great harvest that I believe Korea will see, especially when the north is opened up to the gospel. People ran to the front in response to the altar-calls.
One man testified how for years he had been involved as a deacon in another church but was always struggling with doubt and other sins. He and his family had travelled five hours especially to be at all of these meetings. He said that he received the Holy Spirit for the first time during the second morning session when I had prayed for him. A fire had come and hit him in the stomach and he had felt all his doubts and sins instantly melt away. For the first time in his life he said that he now knew that God was real.
As long as I live I will never forget the love these people have for God and what they showed to me, and also their open and uninhibited responsiveness to the ministry of the Holy Spirit.
I fly to Indonesia today which may be interesting because of the present political unrest and student riots mainly in Jakarta. There is a curfew from 10pm to 6am and a lot of people are staying indoors most of the time. Looting and car-jacks are prevalent especially on the freeway from the airport. The army shot and killed 14 protestors yesterday and Australia has strongly urged its citizens to avoid travelling there, but I'm going anyway. Fortunately, it is a lot safer in Dempasar and Surabaya, where I will be spending most of my time. We will update you from there next week.

THURSDAY 19th SURABAYA, INDONESIA.
There seemed to be an uneasy calm over Jakarta and the airport as we landed after the six hour flight from South Korea. There had been a slight lull in the riots over the weekend but there was still a curfew between the hours of 10pm and 6am.
On the flight I had read a newspaper report saying that the Australian Government had strongly warned its citizens to avoid Indonesia at this time because of the political unrest but I was on my way anyway. Reading further I learnt that cars were being stopped on the freeway from the airport to the city and being robbed and/or smashed by marauding gangs taking advantage of the instability, or perhaps forced to desperate measures to survive as millions more were thrown into poverty by the collapse of the Indonesian economy. Apparently Westerners are a special target for these freeway robberies. Driving in the cities, you also have to be careful that you are not attacked when stopped at the lights or in traffic jams , so it's 'all doors locked' all of the time.
The normally frantic airport was like a ghost town as I waited for my connecting flight to Denpasar, which is still pretty safe for foreigners. I enjoyed my only free time the next day seeing some of the sights of Bali before I caught the early morning flight to Surabaya, a city of 3 million in the east of the island of Java. Here I was the guest of Pastor Alex Tanuseputra from the Bethany church which has 40,000 members and several satellite churches in other parts of the city with another 30,000.
There is a new breed of mega-churches springing up mainly in South America, Asia and Africa. Indonesia is no exception especially among the Bethany group of churches who are the fastest growing movement in this region. The main Bethany church in Jakarta is pastored by Niko Nyotorahardvo and has 70,000 members.
Alex Tanuseputra is very brave man and full of the boldness of the Holy Ghost. He began his church in the mid seventies with a handful of widows who had been rejected by their families, but today he is building a massive new church facility that will seat 20,000 and house other amenities including a training college, several restaurants, cafes, many other smaller auditoriums and a retreat for leaders that has 5 star accommodation. He took me on a tour of this magnificent project where there are two shifts of workers virtually working around the clock to have it finished in the next 18 months. Alex is oversighting this multi-million dollar project himself and will complete it totally debt free. He says that the Lord clearly told him to build this huge complex in preparation for a mighty harvest that is coming in Indonesia.
God is prospering the faithfulness of this man and his congregation but it has not been without a cost. He received several death threats from militant non-Christian religious groups when the project was still in the planning stage and after it began there were thousands of protesters that came to the sight threatening violence on several occasions. At one point the army sent 15 soldiers to guard Alex for several weeks (over 500 churches have been burnt in Indonesia in the last few years, with many Christians losing their lives in the process). Alex maintains that the only thing that enables them to progress in the face of great opposition is the constant daily prayer by an army of faithful prayers.
I began the first of four meetings here on Wednesday night. Youth pastor, Jeffrey Pesik, was my interpreter. He has a youth group of over 4000 but recently they had an outreach with 5000 young people present. In the middle of the praise and worship, the building they were in began to shake as if it was hit by an earthquake. The police who were providing security downstairs in this five story building, came running upstairs and ordered the meeting to stop.
Pastor Arifin Tedjasukmana, the speaker for that meeting and my host in Denpasar says: "I was trained as a civil engineer, so I saw that this was not an ordinary earthquake and the building was not over-crowded, but it was supernaturally 'overloaded' and the Lord reminded me that the word 'glory' (Heb.'Kabod') means weightiness. No other buildings in the area were affected. This particular venue is used for rock concerts, boxing matches and is almost always overcrowded for those events, but there has never been anything like this before. It was the power of God as in Acts chapter 4 where the building was shaken". Arifin then began to preach and 2000 young people responded to the altar call.
I ministered three times the next day in Surabaya beginning with the 7am staff meeting where 400 full time 'workers' gather every Thursday. At the 10am service, there were about 2000 prayer warriors present who soaked up the fire of God. There was a deluge of tropical rain as we made our way through the heavy traffic to the 7pm service that night. This reduced the numbers a little but there would still have been 3000 present. There are two more services after this on Thursdays: one at 10pm and another at 2am the next morning. I'm not sure that kind of schedule would be tolerated in most western churches.
There is another outstanding characteristic about Asian churches: the average age is 27 and most being young professionals.

SUNDAY 22nd DENPASAR, BALI.
Early morning flights don't agree with me but I had no choice to get back to Dempasar from Surabaya last Friday. There is only one flight a day so it was up at 4.30am and off to the airport. Pastor Arifin Tedjasukmana has built one of the most magnificent churches I have seen anywhere. He was sent by the Surabaya Bethany church to Dempasar to plant a new work 9 years ago. He now has 2000 members. The building is huge and has marble floors throughout the whole complex, and resembles an Asian palace. It is set in the 'Valley of Praise' and is surrounded by a large number of homes that are owned by the congregation. I spoke in five meetings over the weekend and they grew in intensity and numbers. Lives were touched and changed and I was greatly blessed by the hospitality and kindness of my hosts.
Indonesia stands on the brink of a mighty move of God. This politically volatile nation could ignite with spiritual revival at any time. It is a nation that has one of the largest populations in the world (250,000,000) and also some of the world's biggest churches. Secular analysts are predicting that the economic situation will worsen for Indonesia over the next year. This will mean more political unrest and social hardship, but that means there will be a open door for the church to bring in a ripe harvest. Pray for Indonesia!
I came to the airport straight from the Sunday night meeting and I am now flying overnight back to Australia. It will be good to see Heather and the kids again. I have been travelling for 10 years now and I never get used to being separated from them.
As a matter of fact being away gets harder not easier. But my visits to Korea and Indonesia on this trip have been life-changing for me, and I believe for many others also who have been touched by God.
 

December

top

SATURDAY 19th NEW ZEALAND.
To all you northern 'hemispherites' it must seem strange that people would sing 'I'm dreaming of a WHITE Christmas' while lying on a golden beach with the temperature around 30 Celsius (90 F) in the middle of summer. Such is our lot here 'Down Under' where the seasons are opposite, but European traditions still linger. And no - the water does not go down the sink the other way. Let me settle that one once and for all. To all you southern 'hemispherites' try and be 'Up Over' in December at least once in your life and experience a real white Christmas.
Our year has been a big one. The ministry has taken us three times to the United States, twice to the UK, New Zealand also three times, as well as Denmark, Wales, Canada, Korea and Indonesia. Within Australia we have ministered twice in Perth, three times in Melbourne, the Sunshine Coast, Wagga Wagga and at several churches around Sydney including our own, Sydney Christian Life Centre.

We have also organised and/or hosted the 'City of Fire' Conference with Dr.Michael Brown from Pensacola and the Catch the Fire/ Impact '98 Conference which included Randy Clark and Ken Gott among the speakers. Our weekly TV show on Christian Channel Europe continues to be screened all over Europe and demands a lot of time and resources. Other highlights included ministering at the Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship for a week of evangelism, and to 1200 'on fire' students at the Brownsville School of Ministries, Pensacola Florida. All in all, a very hectic but very fulfilling year, undoubtedly our best yet.
This report comes to you from Nelson, the geographical centre of New Zealand. I have just completed our last two crusades for the year; one here and one in Melbourne Australia two weeks ago. In both places I was hosted by pastors with whom I had ministered for previously but when they were both in different churches.
Mark Bateman used to be in Perth and moved to Maroonda City Church in Melbourne two years ag o. David Barnes was pastoring in Timaru New Zealand before he took a call to Nelson Christian Life Centre also two years ago. Both these churches and pastors are hungry to see God move mightily amongst them and He did just that.
When I had previously ministered with David in Timaru we had had a powerful time. The church was so packed that there were even people all over the stage and I hardly had any room to preach. A women who had come to pick up her daughter from that meeting ended up getting stuck amongst the mass of people and could not get out of the building. This was a God appointed time for her however, because she came forward and gave her life to the Lord at the altar call.
In Melbourne and Nelson God particularly touched leaders some of whom testified that they were challenged to strengthen their weaknesses and live a holier life. Others said that it had been a life-changing time for them. The young leaders wanted to drag everything they could out of me, and I was more than happy to spend time with them because we have 'many teachers but not enough fathers' in the body of Christ. There were many salvations and recommitments and those that were already hot got hotter and those that were cold thawed out.
In Nelson four churches joined together for this crusade and there was a wonderful demonstration of unity which respected their diversity but recognised the headship off Christ as the master conductor over them all. On the last night I blessed the four pastors together and encouraged them to jealously guard their unity as it was the key to spiritual awakening in Nelson.
But the greatest asset of this city can also be its biggest liability. The beautiful bay, clear blue sea along with the best weather in New Zealand, fosters a strong 'vacation' mentality. This also breeds a higher than average level of apathy and indifference. These are the enemies of the church everywhere but particularly in the western world.
It's been a fantastic year for us, but I am looking forward to spending the month of January in Sydney - for me having a holiday is staying home!.