The silence of the great hall in Cochin was broken only by soft, choking sobs. The Spirit of God was moving over the room with awesome power convicting of sin and calling men and women into His service. Before the meeting ended, 120 of the 1,200 pastors and Christian leaders present made their way to the altar, responding to the “call of the North.”
They were not saying, “I’m willing to go,” but rather “I am going.”
They made the choice to leave home, village and family, business or career and go where they would be hated and feared. Meanwhile, another 600 pastors pledged to return to their congregations and raise up more missionaries who would leave South India and go to the North.
I stood silently in the holy hush, praying for the earnest pastors crowded around the altar. I was humbled by the presence of God.
As I prayed, my heart ached for these men. How many would be beaten and go hungry or be cold and lonely in the years ahead?
How many would sit in jails for their faith? I prayed for the blessing and protection of God on them and for more sponsors across the seas to stand with them.
They were leaving material comforts, family ties and personal ambitions. Ahead lay a new life among strangers. But I also knew they would witness spiritual victory as many thousands turned to Christ and helped form new congregations in the unreached villages of North India.
With me in the meeting was U.S. Christian radio broadcaster David Mains, a serious student of revival. He had joined us in Cochin as one of the conference speakers. He later testified how the Lord had taken over the meeting in a most unusual way.
“It would hardly have been different,” he wrote later, “had Jesus Himself been bodily among us. The spirit of worship filled the hall. The singing was electrifying. The power of the Holy Spirit came upon the audience. Men actually groaned aloud. I have read of such conviction in early American history during times like the two Great Awakenings, but I had never anticipated experiencing it firsthand.”
But the Lord is not simply calling out huge numbers of national workers. God is at work saving people in numbers we never before dreamed possible. People are coming to Christ all across Asia at an accelerated rate wherever salvation is being proclaimed. In some areas like India, Malaysia, Myanmar and Thailand it is not uncommon now for the Christian community to grow as much in only one month as it formerly did in a whole year.
Reports of mass conversion and church growth are being underplayed in the Western press. The exciting truth about God’s working in Asia has yet to be told, partly because the press has limited access. Except in a few countries, like Korea and the Philippines, the real story is not getting out.
Be the first to react on this!
K.P. Yohannan ( - Present)
Dr. K.P. Yohannan, the Metropolitan Bishop of Believers Church, was born and brought up in Niranam, Kerala. Niranam has immense historical significance in the tradition of Saint Thomas, a disciple of Jesus Christ who planted the first church there in AD 52. K.P. Yohannan dedicated his life to God at a young age to serve the needy and downtrodden. He prayed, “Oh my Lord, let my heart break with the things that break Your heart” and his life was never the same. It’s his belief that one can only demonstrate God’s love by loving people. After over four decades of selfless service, he says, I have no regrets in praying that prayer for I know God has touched millions through what He did in and through me. It is all God’s grace.He spent the early years of his service in North India and traveled to the remote villages sharing the love of Christ and doing charitable works. Through numerous encounters during those years, he was instilled with an increasing passion to bring hope, peace, and comfort to the needy and deprived. His sacrificial commitment, farsightedness and aptitude to perceive helped him to lead a life of unhindered devotion to serve Christ and His church. K.P. Yohannan is also the voice of Athmeeya Yathra, touching millions through his daily radio and TV broadcasts. His 250 books offer practical and spiritual guidance on hundreds of subjects.
Recommends these books by K.P. Yohannan:
Living in the Light of Eternity: Discovering God's Design For Your Life by K.P. Yohannan
The Beauty of Christ through Brokenness by K.P. Yohannan
Crisis in Leadership by K.P. Yohannan
K.P. Yohannan is the founder and president of Gospel for Asia, a mission organization involved in evangelism and church planting in the unreached regions of Asia. Currently Gospel for Asia supports thousands of church planters in the heart of the 10/40 window.
Born in a remote village of South India, K.P. Yohannan's personal journey toward spiritual reality began at the age of eight when he gave his heart to Christ. While he was still a young boy, his mother began fasting each week, praying God would call one of her six sons into full-time gospel ministry. Her prayers were answered in 1966 when 16 year-old K.P., her youngest, volunteered to serve in North India with Operation Mobilization.
From 1974 to 1979 K.P. attended Criswell Bible College in Dallas, Texas, where he earned his B.A. in Biblical Studies. He was also awarded an honorary doctor of divinity degree from Hindustan Bible College in Madras, India. During the time he attended Criswell, he pastored a local church in Dallas. However, he was unable to forget the millions still lost without Christ in his homeland of India, and knew God was calling him to reach his own people. In 1978 K.P. resigned his pastorate and he and his wife, Gisela, organized what is now Gospel for Asia.