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2 Chronicles
15:5,6 And in those times there was no peace to him that went
out, nor to him that came
in, but great vexations were upon all the inhabitants of the
countries. And nation
was destroyed of nation, and city of city: for God did vex them
with all adversity.
2 Chronicles
14:5-7 Also he took away out of all the cities of Judah the high
places and the images:
and the kingdom was quiet before him. And he built fenced cities
in Judah: for the land had rest,
and he had no war in those years; because the Lord had given him
rest.
Therefore….because we have sought the Lord our God…he hath given
us rest on everyside. So they
built and prospered.
According to
the October 29, 2007 cover story by Newsweek magazine,
Pakistan has now become the most dangerous
country in the world.
Ø
A
nuclear nation that is home base for the Taliban and Al Qaeda,
with two fronts of a civil war
raging in the tribal areas and hundreds of soldiers being taken
captive and killed by militants.
Ø
A
nation beset by suicide bombings, civil unrest where the Chief
Justice of the Supreme Court
was first suspended and then fired, bringing out the nation’s
lawyers in protest.
Ø
A
nation where a State of Emergency was declared and the
Constitution suspended.
Ø
A
nation where one former Prime Minister was turned back at the
airport after a seven year
exile and another’s return procession after eight years in exile
was hit by suicide
bombers killing more than 140 and injuring over 500 other people.
Ø
A
nation where fundamentalists bomb barbershops and video stores
for being un-Islamic, and
kidnap foreigners in the capital.
Ø
A
nation where radicals hole up in a mosque in the capital and try
to force the nation to accept
their agenda for a fanatical Islamic republic.
Ø
A
nation where in a number of areas Christians are warned by
Islamic radicals to convert or
face the consequences.
In other
words, Pakistan is one of the least
likely places to find peace and revival.
However…
After
seeing record growth in 2006 by adding over 18,500 new
constituents and almost 7,900 receivingthe Holy Ghost,
so far this year in our special evangelistic outreaches, we have
seen:
-
1,600
receive the Holy Ghost in March in the city of
Lahore
at our General Conference.
-
70
receive the Holy Ghost in April in a local church annual
convention in Kharian.
-
2,500
receive the Holy Ghost in June at a crusade in the city of
Karachi
-
350
receive the Holy Ghost in October at an annual local church
convention in
Lahore
-
1,500
receive the Holy Ghost in October at a crusade in the city
of
Rawalpindi
-
400
receive the Holy Ghost in October in the city of
Faisalabad
Before every
one of these meetings it looked like they would have to be
cancelled. In some we did have to change
venues, but God enabled us to hold meetings even though the
authorities forced otherchurches to
cancel their programs because of safety concerns. We find
ourselves in a very strangesituation.
According to natural thinking, we shouldn’t be able to hold any
meetings in public places but the Lord opens the
door and gives us covering to have our meetings and immediately
afterwards the door closes again
because of new developments in the country. A few days before
our meeting in Rawalpindi with Brothers
Doug Klinedinst, James Stark and Eli Hernandez the suicide
bombings of former Prime Minister
Benazir Bhutto’s welcome home procession occurred. Thirty-six
hours after our meeting concluded,
there was a suicide bombing less than 1,000 yards from where we
had held it. In Faisalabad a State of
Emergency was declared while our second night’s service with
Evangelist David Bryan was in progress. We
were allowed to continue our convention as planned and the next
night 400 were filled with the Holy Ghost
in a city where we have struggled for years to get a strong work
established.
During the past
three years we have also bought land or buildings, or built
churches for 25 congregations.
Our Bible School program is being updated with the help of
Global Association of Theological
Seminaries to better train our young men to establish these new
believers. During this time we have
conducted at least two dozen leadership training seminars and
have actively involved less experienced men
to give them hands-on training for leadership.
In a time when
“there was no peace to him that went out, nor to him that came
in”, God “hath given us
rest on every side. So [we] built and prospered.”
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