Monday, March 29, 2004

Dear friends and intercessors for revival,

I ask for your dedicated prayers as I am heading back to Hong Kong this
week to speak at a Evangelistic Youth Crusade in the center of Hong Kong.
Over 30+ churches and organizations all over HK have united together to mobilize for this youth crusade. Please pray many many youth will be saved, set on fire for God and that Hong Kong will experience a powerful revival.

Truly, your prayers from my last trip in February have been fruitfull. In my
missionary report I wrote at the end I sensed I would be back in Hong Kong
soon (I didn't know this soon!). Although, this event is not "THE CALL CHINA"
the churches coordinating this are praying that this citywide youth revival will be
in preparation for The CALL CHINA 2005.

God has opened a MAJOR door and I am going to walk through it with faith
,obedience & total dependence upon Him. This isn't about me, this is about God's
heart to RAISE UP a MIGHTY YOUTH ARMY and REVIVAL REVOLUTION among the
young people of HK/CHINA to TRANSFORM the NATIONS for HIS GLORY!

Please INTERCEDE HARD for the following:

1. Pray for warring angels to go and prepare the way of revival among the youth of HK/China
2. Pray for my MINISTRY TEAM: I am taking 7 strategic ministers with me on this trip
a. Ben Hui (Worship Leader)
b. Alex Ling (Associate Minister)
c. Yvonee Tao (Intercessor)
d. Nancy Ma (intercessor)
e. Bruce & Bonnie Bise (Marketplace ministers)
f. Pierre Moranza (Evangelist)

(pray for unity, protection, humility, God's increased anointing & that we would not break rank!)

3. Pray April 8-I will speak to Youth Pastors, Pastors, Intercessors, Youth Leaders to challenge
them to INDIVIDUAL & CORPORATE REVIVAL for the youth of HONG KONG
4. Pray April 9-I will speak to the NETWORK OF CITYWIDE INTERCESSORS God will release a word
of increased revelation in intimacy and warfare intercession for Hong Kong
5. Pray April 10- I will speak @ PASSION GENERATION EVANGELISTIC YOUTH CRUSADE in the
middle of Hong Kong. Pray for MASSIVE SALVATIONS & THE GOSPEL TO BE PROCLAIMED WITH
CLARITY, AUTHORITY AND POWER to the ARISING YOUTH ARMY! (pray4 good translator!)
6. Pray April 10- 2 TV stations will be broadcasting the Passion Generation event (pray millions of
youth can be saved and transformed by the power of God through the TV broadcasts!)
7. Pray this PASSION GENERATION event will stir churches to unite even more together for
CITYWIDE TRANSFORMATION & mobilization for THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST being released in
Hong Kong April.
8. Pray April 11-my team will minister to ICA youth church
9. Pray April 12-14: I will leave back for the States April 11, but my team will stay to minister to
churches till April 14. Pray for God's protection, wisdom and guidance to minister to various
churches.
10. PRAY GOD WILL BRING ABOUT A GREAT REVIVAL AND HARVEST AMONG THE YOUTH OF HK!
PRAY GOD WILL UNITE HUNDREDS OF CHURCHES TO REACH HONG KONG AS ONE CHURCH FOR
CHRIST!!! PRAY FOR THE HOLY SPIRIT TO EMPOWER OUR TEAM AND THE COLLABORATING
CHURCHES WITH "LOVE FOR ONE ANOTHER" AND "LOVE THAT CAN BRING ABOUT A GREAT
REVIVAL AND REVOLUTION TO THE YOUTH THRU PRAYER, HOLINESS & CORPORATE UNITY!"

Thank you for your prayers my friends, as we know nothing can happen without prayer. It has
been my dream and prayer since my frist mission trip to HK in 1998 to see God MOVE IN POWER among the youth of China. IT IS NOW TIME FOR THE YOUTH OF CHINA to RISE UP IN ITS GOD APPOINTED DESTINY TO SHAKE THE NATIONS WITH THE GOSPEL!. I truly ask that you would
pray for me, my team, the churches of Hong Kong and the lost youth that will hear and respond to
the Gospel of Jesus Christ. May the Lord do a NEW THING in HK/CHINA!!!

Praying for youth revival ,
Jaeson Ma

"If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek My face
and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal
their land." 2 Chron 7:14

Blow the trumpet in ZION, Consecrate a fast, Call a sacred assembly, Gather the people,
Sanctify the congregation....

"And it shall come to pass afterward That I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and
daughters shall prophesy, Your old men will dream dreams, Your young men shall see visions"
Joel 2:15; 28

ps. below again is my missionary report from HK for you to reference to understand
what has led up to this point. Since I have come back in Feb from ministering in HK,
youth in different churches committed to the 40 day Elijah revolution fast I challenged them with...many reports of miracles have occurred and one youth church doubled in size in the last 40 days! City Renewal the organization putting this youth cruasde together has since been informing
different pastors all over the city about THE CALL CHINA 2005 and have networked churches
all over HK to unite in this PASSION GENERATION youth crusade in accordance with the release
of THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST IN HK>>> HALELUJAH! Let us continue to pray that NATION TRANSFORMATION will come to HK/CHINA through THE BODY OF CHRIST UNITING AS ONE CHURCH TO REACH THE EMERGING GENERATION!!!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear All,

I would appreciate if you can spend some time reading the following
report. Pastor Nate, Agatha, my name were mentioned in this report. I believe God
put us together for a reason.

Jaeson is from 'the Call' a big youth movement in the States. I have been
told there are more than 1 million youth under this movement. Their
vision:

1. United fasting, prayer and repentance for spiritual breakthroughs in
the nations.

2. Turning the hearts of the fathers to the children and the children to
the fathers so powerful that it will break the curse off a nation.

3. Calling forth extreme devotion to God in young generation destined to
be the flashpoint of a Jesus revolution that will impact every aspect of society.

God Bless
Linda
CityRenewal HK

-----------------------------------------------

Four years ago I went on my first missions trip to Hong Kong with a teen missions organization. During our trip, I woke up early each morning and prayed on top of the Bible college dorm for revival. The morning-prayer times were a very difficult task because of the heavy spiritual darkness over the city. Yet, morning after morning I would cry out for God to revive the youth in the city state of Hong Kong. The enemy made it seem like it was virtually impossible for Hong Kong to become a place of revival and city transformation because of the cultural pride, materialism and division between many churches. It was not until this last trip to Hong Kong I realized the fruit of my prayers.

The night before I left to Hong Kong I was impressed to quickly search the Internet for information regarding churches and revival in Hong Kong. To my surprise I stumbled upon a web site entitled “City Renewal.” On this site a vision was shared for the churches of Hong Kong to unite as one church in the city to pray for revival. Intrigued by this vision I sent a random email to the coordinator who inspired this vision “Linda Ma.”

Arriving in Hong Kong I was picked up miraculously by Pastor Nathaniel Ngai of International Christian Assembly. This is the largest English speaking church in Hong Kong. He wasn’t sure if I was coming, but decided to check just in case. Good thing he came to the airport or I would have had nowhere to sleep!

As we were on the MTR train going back from the airport to the city I asked him how was the spiritual climate of Hong Kong currently. He replied with a smile, “You know Jason it’s been amazing but literally in the last 24 months we have experienced more unity and prayer among churches than ever before!” Pastor Nathanial began to tell me how recently there was an event called “City Renewal” which gathered 7,000 Christians to worship, pray and declare together Hong Kong for Jesus Christ. This was the single largest event since Billy Graham visited a few decades back! He also explained how a new youth movement has begun to take place among the English and the Cantonese youth in the city. For a little more than a year now they have had “Youth on Fire” events that have drawn youth from different churches together to worship and intercede for youth revival in the city. A similar movement called “Arise” has also been gaining momentum among the Cantonese speaking youth. Not only has God been touching the youth, but he explained the Holy Spirit has been moving upon many local pastors hearts to work together. As a result of this a number of pastor networks have started with a goal to pastor Hong Kong together.

Listening to these reports I could not help but become excited. I have been a student of city and nationwide revival movements around the world. Anytime churches in a city begin to come together in unity, prayer and holiness; transformation is very possibly on the brink. In the last decade the Holy Spirit has transformed entire cities and nations such as Guatamala, Argentina, Uganda, Columbia, Singapore, South Korea etc. because churches decided to lay down differences and work together to pastor their city and nation together.

As I got off the MTR train and began to walk the streets I could even sense a spiritual difference in the atmosphere of Hong Kong. The spirit of oppression and heaviness was not as evident as it was my last trip four years before. In my mind I could only think there must be some major concerted intercession going on in this city, but where? Well, I would soon find out.

On Thursday I was invited to meet a major prayer leader in the city named Dr. Agatha Chan. I learned from my host pastor this lady Agatha two years ago started a “Watchmen Wall” where over 750 prayer warriors have been battling the forces of darkness over Hong Kong with twenty four seven prayer around the clock. This chain of prayer has at least four dedicated intercessors praying specific warfare prayers each hour over Hong Kong asking God to break spiritual strongholds for the purpose of revival. It began to make sense why the spiritual atmosphere of the city had changed.

Interestingly, the same day I was invited to meet Dr. Agatha Chan at her weekly citywide prayer meeting, I received a revelation in my morning devotions regarding intercessory prayer. Around 6am the Holy Spirit began to inspire me with a message, but I didn’t know whom the message was for. I kept hearing in my spirit Isaiah 62 and the anointing of Mary and Anna. As I turned to Isaiah 62 I was reminded of the interpretation of this end time prophetic picture of God’s glorious church. In verse 6 it states, “I have set watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem; They shall never hold their peace day or night. You who make mention of the Lord, do not keep silent, and give Him no rest till He establishes and till He makes Jerusalem a praise on earth.” This verse prophetically spoke of God’s end time church being restored into night and day prayer through the release of watchmen or “intercessors.” While in prayer, I saw this verses connection with the widow Anna in Luke 2:36 who interceded night and day in the temple courts. Through her intercession the Holy Spirit gave her divine insight and revelation to prophetically declare the birth of Christ before His coming. This picture was foreshadowing dedicated night and day intercession through God’s people before the coming return of the Lord.

Yet this anointing for night and day prayer cannot be fulfilled without another anointing, the anointing for intimacy with Christ. In my understanding of Isaiah 62:6 the key to fulfilling night and day intercession is found in the preceding two verses. Isaiah 62:4-6, “You shall no longer be termed forsaken, Nor shall your land anymore be termed Desolate; But you shall be called Hephzibah, and your land Beulah; For the Lord delights in you, and your land shall be married. For as a young man marries a virgin, So shall your sons marry you; and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you.” Verses 4-6 reveals the Bridal paradigm, where God calls His people Hephzibah meaning “My delight is in you” and the land Beulah meaning “Married.” These two verses paint a picture of God’s delight in His bride (the Church) and His intense burning desire for intimacy as in a marriage. The reason why these two verses precede the verses of night and day intercession is because without intimacy the watchmen will burn out. In other words, the Great commandment must always come before the Great Commission. Lovers will always outwork workers. This is why in Luke 10:42 Jesus tells Martha her sister Mary has chosen the good part which will not be taken away from her. This good part is the “one thing” King David spoke of in Psalm 27:4, “One thing I ask this is what I seek that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life. To seek Him in his temple and to gaze at His beauty.”

As I connected these two intercessors Mary and Anna I realized, Mary represented intimacy with Christ and Anna represented night and day prayer and fasting. Isaiah 62 began to make sense and the pieces of the puzzle began to come together. Intimacy with Christ must come before dedicated intercession for Christ. Because I have seen intercessors burn out and become frustrated in prayer because their success is dependent upon the breakthrough of their supplications. Yet, in the Isaiah 62 Bridal paradigm, the intercessor makes their relationship or intimacy with Christ their success and not the breakthrough. Therefore, the presence of God becomes their great reward, not whether or not God answers their prayers with revival. It is through this intimacy with Jesus the intercessory watchmen can intercede for the long run and not burn out. This is because a heart full of fascination of God’s beauty and not just a heart praying through human dedication fuels the intercessors prayers. Yes, this is the fulfillment of Revelations 5:8 “each having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.” Mary who sat at Jesus feet listening signifies the harp, which is a life of worship and simple devotional prayer. Anna who interceded night and day in the temple signifies the bowl, which is dedicated intercession for revival and God’s judgment upon the earth. The two must go together in order for effective and sustained spiritual warfare prayer.

I really had no clue why the Holy Spirit gave me this message that morning. I thought it may have been for the youth I would speak to. Later when I met with Dr. Agatha Chan I found out the Holy Spirit had given me this message to preach to the leading intercessors of Hong Kong that very night. Every other Thursday night Dr. Agatha holds a citywide prayer meeting for Hong Kong. My pastor friend and I decided to participate only to find out an hour before the meeting Agatha asked if I could share briefly about The Call. Not expecting this, I shared with my pastor friend what the Holy Spirit had spoken to me in the morning regarding Mary and Anna. He said, “This is a timely message, I know of many intercessors in the city who are feeling tired, frustrated and ready to quit, you got to share this message.” When we got to the meeting place Pastor Nathaniel takes Agatha aside and he tells her she should let me share this message. A few minutes later she comes out and tells me I have half of the night to speak to the intercessors the message God has laid on my heart. It was amazing. As I shared this message and asked those who wanted to receive the anointing of Mary (the anointing of intimacy to wait and linger in God’s presence) many stood up and began to tremble. The Holy Spirit was doing a healing work and restoring to these tired intercessors their first love. For you must first love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, strength and mind and then you may be empowered to love your neighbor as yourself in fulfilling the Great Commission.

To my surprise after I spoke and ministered Dr. Agatha got up on the stage and said something along these lines, “This is a message from God because Jason did not know much about us, nor did he know our ministry was founded upon Isaiah 62 as our theme verse. Yet we had a different interpretation believing we must pray night and day in order for God to make Hong Kong His delight and Bride. But tonight we understand we must first become brides ourselves and make our relationship with God our great reward first and the breakthrough of our prayers second so we intercessors will be protected from burning out!” Praise the Lord! God sent me half way across the world to give a message of His bridal love and encouragement to the intercessors of Hong Kong!

After the meeting I met with Dr. Agatha Chan and she told me of their latest city revival event that took place on January 1st in the middle of the city. The event itself was a miracle. They gathered nearly 10,000 Christ followers in less than 3 weeks for over 6 hours of worship and prayer in the heart of Hong Kong. The civic center plaza where they held the meeting was directly in front of the government courthouse, financial business centers, and city hall. She showed me the actual footage of pastors declaring from the stage God’s kingdom has come to Hong Kong through the proclamation of scripture and praise! I was getting Holy Spirit goose bumps just watching the footage! It was amazing to see thousands of Christ followers worshipping God in the middle of the city, repenting corporately for the cities sins and declaring God’s peace and blessing over Hong Kong. Truly, this was a testimony not only to the people of Hong Kong but a spiritual sign to the prince of darkness over the air of God’s people united to see Jesus lifted up over the city.

The next day God began opening up other doors for ministry. I had received two prophetic words before I went to Hong Kong from my sister and a pastor from Hawaii. Two days before I left my sister Joyce prophesied I would pray for a women with stomach problems (particularly the kidneys and intestine track). She also prayed I would have a important meeting with 5 specific pastors in Hong Kong. It all came to pass. On Thursday I was invited to a quarterly youth pastors network meeting. These were all youth pastors of the largest most influential English speaking churches in Hong Kong. It just so happened at the meeting there were 5 youth pastors at the meeting. I was able to connect with them on citywide youth revival strategies and introduce The Call. They were an incredibly humble group of youth pastors.

The very next morning my aunt took me to visit my uncle who lived in Kowloon. I went to minister deliverance because evil spirits were attacking him at night. Recently, he became open to Christ because of his fear of these evil presences. When we get to his home he easily complies and lets me do a spiritual house cleaning by throwing away all the Buddhist idols inside his apartment. Then as I begin to pray for him my aunt asks me if I can pray for his wife. I asked why? She started to point to her stomach and explained she has had a long chronic kidney and intestine problem since the birth of her first son. Immediately, I remembered my sister’s prophetic word and asked if I could pray for her. She agreed and I laid hands and prayed for her healing. Praise God! She then told me how she was baptized as a Christian as a young teen. Truly, God’s kingdom was coming into my own relatives home that day!

A second prophecy I received was from Pastor Cal Chinen from Hawaii. The night before I left to Hong Kong he ministered to me at a church. He prayed, “The Lord is going to give you a sword to cut the curse of the dragon over a fatherless generation of youth in Hong Kong!” He began to describe many inner healings that would take place as he saw me ministering to a crowd of youth. On Thursday of my trip I was spontaneously invited to speak to three youth gatherings Friday and Saturday night. It was an amazing time. I didn’t realize how “fatherless” the youth of Hong Kong were. Many of the youth in Hong Kong have parents who work long hours, two jobs, etc. Parent’s barley have anytime at all for their children. Also, because of the Asian culture many of the youth lack intimacy and affection from the parents verbally and physically.

At two of the youth gatherings I preached a message of “Intimacy with Christ” and “The Father Heart of God.” It was powerful as the Holy Spirit began to minister healing and deliverance to so many youth from broken families. All over the place young people were pouring out tears of pain and at the same time tears of joy from God’s healing presence. I spent a good portion ministering prophetically to individual youth and encouraging them in their identity & purpose in Christ.

So much more happened, but I will end with the last speaking engagement at a local youth church. Immediately, after the second youth rally I had to go speak at this other church. This was a young church full of Cantonese youth. God put on my heart to share on the “Power of prayer and fasting” and I challenged the youth to a 40 day fast for the youth of China/Hong Kong. The reason was because on my flight to Hong Kong I stopped at the airport in Japan and picked up an Asia Time Magazine titled "China's Youth-Finally Rebelling." The whole article talked about how the youth generation in China are rebelling against traditional culture and going the way of MTV. Millions of "ling leis" they call them are searching for independence and finding fulfillment in materialism, sex and rock n' roll. Many of them (the ones profiled in the article) are ending up empty and dissatisfied, even suicidal. Reading this article, my heart already began to break for the youth of China. Because I realized these bright minds would be in 10 years the future leaders shaping the economic and societal fabric of our world’s society. We either reach them now w/ the Gospel or try to reach them later and be too late.

This youth church took up the challenge and literally the whole congregation came up to the altar on their knees and began to cry out for the youth of China! It was like a miniature Call event as we prayed prayers of repentance, reconciliation and revival. It was inspiring as different youth began to cry out in their native Cantonese language one by one passing around the microphone. My desire was that they would catch God’s burden for the future generation of youth in China. They most definitely did!

At the end of the night I had a nice surprise. Dr. Agatha Chan came and introduced me to a special person. It was “Linda Ma” the coordinator of “City Renewal” I had emailed before my trip. I couldn’t believe it. Agatha told me the morning after I spoke to her intercessors she had a breakfast meeting with Linda Ma. She had no clue I had tried to get a hold of her, but told her she needed to meet with this young minister Jaeson Ma. In fact, her breakfast with Linda was for an earlier day, but was postponed till the very morning after I spoke! It was divine! Linda had received my email but was too busy to respond. The moment Agatha mentioned my name she recognized it from the email!

Linda and I connected with a team of her young adult ministers and decided to stay in close contact for further city reaching events in Hong Kong. Her heart is also for the youth and city transformation. I was amazed and blessed to connect with these movers and shakers in the city. I don’t know, but I got a sense I’ll be back in Hong Kong soon for something. It could be The Call China 2005, to witness citywide revival or the privilege to minister to the future of Asia’s youth. Praise the Lord!

In summary, I was more than blessed to see my own people worshipping together and praying together as one. Praise God my prayers from four years ago are beginning to be answered. It is time for Hong Kong! Let revival come in power to the youth, to the city, to China!

Saturday, March 20, 2004

Well...i took the meyers brigs personlity test 2 years ago..and scored ENFJ..i guess
that's what i still i am..i took it again tonight..ineresting...

Extroverted (E) 57.45% Introverted (I) 42.55%
Imaginative (N) 59.46% Realistic (S) 40.54%
Emotional (F) 63.16% Intellectual (T) 36.84%
Organized (J) 54.55% Easygoing (P) 45.45%
Your type is: ENFJ
You are a Persuader, possible professions include - entertainer, recruiter, artist, newscaster, writer/journalist, recreation director, librarian, facilitator, politician, psychologist, housing director, career counselor, sales trainer, travel agent, program designer, corporate/team trainer, child welfare worker, social worker (elderly services), interpreter/translator, occupational therapist, executive
Take Free Career Inventory Personality Test
personality tests by similarminds.com

Saturday, March 13, 2004

i almost lost myself......

its been a while since i've written some random thots in this web log.
i guess you can say more or less things have been quite busy to say the least...
and i realized tonight interesting as it seems...i came back to sobriety..or maybe
realized again whats important in life...after watching a romantic chick flick by myself
on a friday night--- "you got mail." hrm...so i guess i'm weird..but i guess i've always
known that...but yeah i'm a guy who likes to watch romantic comedies on a friday
night by himself because i somehow enjoy that. what i'm trying to say is life has been
so "intense" so "busy" so full of "things to do" and "impending urgent missions" that
i've sort of lost a sense of "life" ...i dunno, maybe i'm not making any sense to you,
but i'm making sense to me. you see its easy for me to do BIG, GREAT, IMPORTANT
things in life...its easy for me to CONQUER, to FIGHT, to STAND UP, to LEAP OVER A WALL
and JUMP OVER A MOUNTAIN...cause i guess i'm made that way...or at least jaeson ma
is...and sometimes you lose track of life when all you do is fight, fight, fight, go, go, go,
win, win, win, strive, strive and strive to fight this good fight..to wage this good war..
but somehow i forget i guess..i forget who i'm fighting for...or more importantly i start
fighting for myself and forget the most important battle is my fight to ENJOY...to enjoy
this relationship with God which encompasses not only spending time in adoration with Him..
but also learning to Enjoy this life He has given me. i guess it can be difficult at times
for a guy wired like myself to say Lord..i don't need any more vision..i don't need anymore
battles...anymore challenges...anymore doors of opportunity to win great battles for you..
because what i really need right now is a light hearted movie that warms my heart, relaxes
my mind and encourages me to "like" the simple likeable things in life..meaning these doors,
these battles, these visions i'm intensely seeking to accomplish and chase after are not
the reason for living...are not my ulitmate purpose...more or less they are part of the purpose
but never meant to be "the" purpose..i think Father God justs wants me to "be" sometimes
and enjoy Him...enjoy life..enjoy the friendships He has given me..and not think too much,
too hard on these other things...i almost lost myself again..i almost turned into that driven,
die hard, go get em, fight till the bitter end..till i burn out ...succeed or fail...jaeson ..& don't mind
me that's good, but it must be balanced..it must be put in proper perspective...i need to slow
down and find the first place. the best thing, that which will not be taken away..once i find this..
and i pray i do one day..for good..and never let go from this place of intimate simplicity and
walking with the Lord..then i know i will be in a good place..a place that is free from fear,
fear of rejection, fear of failure, fear of myself, fear of the future, striving to be something i already
am...a beloved. who cares really too much if tomorrow becomes or not, i need only rest in His
arms..watch a good chick flick..pray a bit...enjoy the blue skies...a good conversation..preach
a passionate sermon....enjoy my moms cooking...pray a prayer of revival...sleep...and be happy
its all meant to work together...i can't have one without the other..i guess i can though..if i were
to choose..i would choose ONE THING ..to be with my Father and to yeah..do a bunch of other
dorky weird stuff...but i'm sure the braveheart, wild adventurous side of me will continue to go on..
but again remember jaeson you will always have good and even great things to do..more than
i could ever imagine..and don't worry they will keep on coming knocking on your door begging
you to answer yes..but i need to remember..i must never..ever..lose myself to the things which
need to be done..i need but one thing..time with my Father that i may know what and which i
am to do...hmmm...this blog probably makes no sense to anyone out there but me..and God..hm..
n' maybe someone else .... thank You.

Tuesday, March 02, 2004

From Newsmax.com (Halelujah!!!)

Monday, March 1, 2004
'Passion' Beats 'Return of the King' for Box Office Record

"The Lord of the Rings" is no match for the Lord. Updated figures show Mel Gibson's foreign-language "The Passion of the Christ" with a box office take of $125.2 million, the greatest debut in movie history by a film opening on a Wednesday.

The previous record holder, "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King," had $124.1 million.

Oh, how the studio bosses must be gnashing their teeth today after refusing to finance or distribute the movie.


"The total was almost $8 million more than Newmarket first estimated, because far more people turned out Sunday to see Gibson's grisly crucifixion re-creation than originally predicted," the Associated Press reported this afternoon, and the movie "is positioned to get even bigger as the Roman Catholic season of Lent leads up to Easter on April 11."


Bruce Davey, Gibson's partner at Icon Productions, said, "I think we'll see strong bookings leading up to Easter, and I would anticipate Easter would be a huge weekend."


Rob Schwartz of the distributor Newmarket predicted "The Passion" could gross up to $350 million in the United States and Canada alone.


The movie could have reached even more people if the cinemas hadn't been so foolish in limiting the number of the screens. Many showings have sold out. We saw "The Passion" Saturday at a googolplex in West Palm Beach, Fla., where people lined up at the mere two auditoriums that played it - the same number of screens the theater has devoted to such flops as "Gigli."

We checked out the other auditoriums showing such typical Tinseltown trash as "Twisted" and "Club Dread." Hardly anyone was in those theaters.