By Steve Douglass, President
God is moving today in remarkable ways! It is a very exciting time to be engaged in building movements throughout the world.
I was talking to Steve Steele a few months ago. He used to be with DAWN Ministries and is currently with the Maclellan Foundation. He is one of the best sources of church planting statistics. I asked him how many churches were planted by the entire body of Christ in 2006. "At least 1.4 million," he responded. I was stunned. I knew that the number was well over 500,000 in 2005. I also knew that number was around 100,000 in the mid 1990's. So to be over a million seemed like a very rapid acceleration of God's work on earth.
As I think back on it though, I should not have been so surprised. I have seen many signs of God's remarkable work in recent years. For example, God has used the Jesus Film to result in more than 6 billion exposures to the gospel and 200 million decisions since 1979. The film has been translated into 1,000 languages and has been shown in every country on earth. But those figures can't even begin to give the full picture of how God is using the film.
In southern Iraq, two Imams each had dreams in which Jesus appeared. They both had opportunities to watch a video of the Jesus Film shortly afterward. Since they knew each other, each was anxious to talk to the other about what had just happened. Imagine their surprise and joy as they talked. Now they have a group of 17 with whom they meet for spiritual growth. Jesus has appeared to all of the people in that group.
In Ethiopia, two tribes were at war with one another. When the Jesus Film team came to that area, they set up the screen between the two tribes' villages. Since both tribes spoke exactly the same dialect, the team invited people from both tribes to attend the showing. Each tribe left its weapons behind and sat on different sides of the screen. At the end of the showing, God moved in a powerful way. Not only did many from both tribes pray to receive Christ, but they also ventured to the other side of the screen to embrace and reconcile with the people they had considered enemies before. A short time later a church was started with people attending from both tribes.
Yes, God is moving!
Many of you were in Busan, South Korea this summer for CM2007. I was inspired when I saw the enthusiasm and commitment of thousands of college students from 120 countries. It is estimated that over half of the college students committed themselves to help launch movements of spiritual multiplication on the 6,000 major campuses of the world where we know of no such movements. The last night of the conference, we saw the powerful picture of the harvest of students that awaits us as we go. Hundreds of Korean-student seekers at the conference came forward to indicate decisions to follow Jesus.
I recently heard of a student named Bogdan who attended CM2007 from Ploiesti, a non-staff campus in Romania. Bogdan's small student team is planning a faith trip to a campus in another city in just a few weeks. They are trusting God for the train fare and expenses to help launch a movement. Some volunteers there are planning an evangelistic outreach. As he steps out in faith, Bogdan now signs his emails with
To date, 980 CM2007 attendees have signed up for the Global Learning Center campus ministry training. Those students are from 650 institutions in 82 countries. As they interact with the online training, they are learning practical skills for starting and building spiritual movements in a campus environment.
God is also moving in the digital world. Everystudent.com saw over 6,400,000 visitors last school year, coming from more than 50 countries. These sites are now available in 22 languages, with Campus Directors around the world desiring to translate this strategy into their own languages. Almost 100,000 indicated decisions for Christ. I have read dozens of stories of students who had lost hope for a vital, meaningful life and then came to Christ. Many have written to thank us for introducing them to Jesus.
Through Everystudent.com, Global Media Outreach and other Campus Crusade for Christ evangelistic web sites, we are projecting well over 1,000,000 decisions for Christ in 2007. God is indeed moving!
I could give examples from Family Life, Athletes in Action, Josh McDowell and many other Campus Crusade for Christ ministries around the world. I could add to that examples from other ministries, denominations and local churches. All of these would show that in different ways and in many parts of the world God seems to be accelerating His efforts to draw people to His Son.
And that gives me faith to believe that even in the places that are currently unresponsive, God is beginning to move in people's hearts. We know that there is no truly satisfying life to be found apart from Jesus Christ. So we can trust that if we keep talking about Him and about what His word says, the light will indeed shine, even into spiritually dark places.
In John 4:35, Jesus said that the fields are ripe and ready for harvest. That is more true today in many parts of the world than it was in Sychar when Jesus spoke those words. And here is what particularly motivates me: You and I have the privilege of being in ministry right in the middle of God's great harvest.
Thoughts to consider during one of your devotional times:
How can we respond to God's tremendous demonstrations of grace in various ways and in different parts of the world?
1. Meditate on John 4:35. Ask God to give you a fresh vision of the field in which He has placed you.
2. Join me in praising God for His powerful acts of grace. Thank Him for bringing His light to people in different parts of the world.
3. Pray with me that God will work mightily in the places of the world that are unresponsive. Pray that God will encourage the staff and other movement-builders in those parts of the world.
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