Dear Intercessors,
I would like again to ask for your dedicated intercession as we willtravel back to Hong Kong and Taiwan Feb 20-March 8th.
1. Overview of Hong Kong Youth revival in 2004
2. How to pray for the Campus Church training conferences
Overview of Hong Kong Taiwan Youth Revival
This will be our 6th trip in the last 11 months. What happened in 2004was like a dream. God in His sovereignty used us weak vessels tohelp usher in a sweeping youth revival among the youth of HK and nowinto Taiwan. Last year, we partnered w/ local churches in HK to lay a strongapostolic foundation by challenging the youth to Holy consecration,massive prayer/fasting and bold proclamation of the Gospel to thecampuses.Since 2004 the Embrace the School youth movement is now moving on nearly everyhigh school and university campus in Hong Kong. Students arepraying and fasting on campus for revival while there are reportsof many outbreaks of salvations all over the city.
Last year (2004) was a year to a lay a "strong foundation" but 2005 willbe a year of "building" upon that foundation for the great youthharvest. Between Feb 25-March 7 we will be holding two majorcitywide conferences training the youth leaders, youth and collegeworkers/students on how to transform their campuses through united prayer,power evangelism and campus church planting.
How to pray for the Campus Church Training Conferences....
Please pray for >>>>>
1. Revival Fire to continue to burn in every heart and every campus
2. God will give our team the inspired messages that will effect change in those who are coming to be trained to reach their campuses.
3. God to extend the citywide youth network to every local church in HK/Taiwan
4. The Holy Spirit will lay a strong foundation and build His church on every campus through student-led movements!
5. The POWER OF GOD to come down in fullness at every training
student and campus worker will be empowered and ruined for campus revival!
6. Pray for thousands of young souls to be saved on the campuses as a result of the training conferences.
7. The different pastors, youth, local churches & parachurchministries will catch the vision for "UNITY" on the campuses & work together for full transformation!
8. Pray 1000 student-led campus churches will be started & established
on every campus in Hong Kong and 1000 in Taiwan in 2005.
9. Pray for unity among out team members who will be speaking & safe travels
Team members:
Jeremy Storey (President of Campus Renewal Ministries)
Nate Chung (United in Prayer Hawaii)
Dr. Olivia Hsia (Bay Area doctor)
Dr. Evelyn Li (Bay Area doctor)
Jaeson Ma (Campus Church Networks)
Summary of Hong Kong Training:
High School training:Venue: College in KowloonFeb. 26 am
Session 1: The Vision for the Campuses pm
Session 2: Practicing the Presence of God
Session 3: United in Prayer: Campus Transformation
Feb. 27 pm
Session 4: How to win souls and make disciples on campus
Youth Pastors meeting
Venue: Kowloon, same district of last pastors\' meeting Feb 28 10am-12n Session 1: Prophetic Evangelism
12n-1pm Simple lunch together and felllowship
1pm-3pm Session 2: Apostolic Preaching
3pm-4pm Open Discussion
University Training
Venue: HKUMar 1-2:
Session 1 "Campus Reaching"
Session 2 "Multiplying Campus Churches Among Unreached
Students"Taiwan Conference Schedule:
Venue: Bread of Life Church Taipei Dates: March 2-7
March 2nd Wednesday Evening:Youth Conference Session 1
March 3rd Thursday Evening:Youth Conference Session 2
March 4th Friday Morning: sharing at the weekly Bread of Life staff prayer meeting(roughly about 40 min, with about 250 full time Bread of Life staff) Evening: Youth Conference Session 3
March 5th Sat Morning: Youth Conference Session 4 Evening: Two Youth Services (5pm and 7pm)
March 6th Sun Morning: Youth Service Afternoon: Leaders' Retreat (with youth leaders around Taipei, a smallgroup of people)
March 7th Mon Leaders' Retreat
Thank you all for your dedicated prayers. I would also like to ask you
to pray for my family while I am traveling as you know there is real spiritual warfare involved in missions. Pray daily for my father, mother,sisters protection. Lastly, I want God to burn my heart with even greater passion for the youth of Hong Kong, Taiwan and China. Pray God will speak through me & there willbe nothing of myself. Pray the word of Christ to be preached with signs, wondersand miracles confirming. Pray every young person will be filled withthe Holy Spirit and receive the supernatural gift of faith to take over their campuses for Christ!Pray the Church in HK and Taiwan will work together as ONE BODY IN CHRIST & that God's sovereign work of revival will continue to burn ever hotter and brighterin 2005!!!Attached are pictures from the crusades in 2004 & the conference posters.goto:
http://www.cityrenewal.com.hk/English_web/events.htmYours for the Great Commandment & Great Commission in this generation!
praying for campus revival,
Jaeson Ma
Apostolic Preaching & Prophetic Worship on Campuses!!!
I am writing this message because I sense strongly in my spirit God wants to release another “GREAT AWAKENING” upon the university campuses of America. We are coming upon the wake of another “Jesus Freak” movement. In the late 1960’s there was a major move of God among young hippies all over California. Radical hippie preachers like “Lonnie Frisbee” preached on campuses, street corners, bars on Hollywood blvd, & baptized thousands of hippies in the ocean beaches. What happened in those days was like it came straight out of the book of Acts… “Signs, wonders & miracles, speaking in tongues, thousands of young people swept into the kingdom of God, they were living in 24/7 communes together, sharing all things together and enjoying fellowship while radical street preaching was bringing in the masses to Christ.” Do it again Lord! I know You will & now is the time!
In the last 6 months the Holy Spirit has been impressing heavily upon me to see the book of Acts happen again on college campuses. There is too much “timidity” among Christian’s every campus I visit. There is a fear of what other’s think…and it is justified by an “I don’t want to offend others mentality.” It is compromise. The national average of Christian’s on each university is 4% and more than 90% of those 4% come from Christian backgrounds (Ivy Jungle Network: source). In other words, Christians are mainly reaching Christians on campus. If we don’t see revival now, we will have a post-Christian generation tomorrow. It’s time for radical Christianity…or should I say “normal Christianity” to be released on this generation with power.
I’ve been studying the book of Acts. The more I read, the more I am challenged. Church was never meant to be in a “temple” or a “building” it was meant to be on the streets. It was meant to be in the marketplace, 24/7 where the people were. Where would Jesus be preaching if He were here today? Where would Peter and Paul be preaching if they were here today? I highly doubt a Sunday morning church service or the next large group fellowship meeting. I know exactly where they would be preaching…. in the middle of the campus where all those students organizations are promoting their beliefs. It’s sad, but there is too much preaching in the four walls of the church & there is not enough preaching to the lost. Preaching was meant for the lost! Yet we have turned the powerful art of preaching into “sermonizing.” Lord have mercy & turn us back to the power of God unto salvation!
“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, Because the Lord has anointed Me to PREACH good news to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord and the day of vengeance of our God!” Isaiah 61:1-2
Where am I getting at? There is a move of God that will sweep thousands of young people into His kingdom beginning on university campuses across California and then all over the United States of America. What is this move? It will be a move of two things…
1. Prophetic Worship
2. Apostolic Preaching
Last week a student leader in our campus church network was inspired during his early morning quite times to bring his guitar to school. This student goes to San Jose State University. Not sure why, he went with his guitar to the middle of campus where there was the most student traffic. He sensed the Holy Spirit wanted him to break out his guitar and worship at the top of His lungs. He did. At first, he was scared out of his pants, but as he continued to worship the manifest presence of God began to descend on the ground he was worshipping on. He later told me that all he was asking God for that morning was one thing, “Lord I want to see HEAVEN ON EARTH come down on this campus!” Well, he got what he was praying for.
As the Holy Spirit prophetically lead him to sing new songs by proclaiming Jesus over the campus, he sensed he was to pull out his Bible and read it out loud. With authority, he began to read out loud at the top of his lungs, the written Word of God. Students began to look at him, stare at him, even laugh at him. He didn’t care because he was in the zone with Jesus. As students gathered around to watch this Jesus freak, he began to read the Scriptures and prayed for students the Holy Spirit was pinpointing out to him. While praying for students, he saw a fraternity table with a fraternity brother sitting there. This fraternity brother was completely gripped by the Scriptures being read. All of a sudden the frat brother left the table and walked up to my friend.
He said, “I don’t know who you are, but while you were singing those songs to God, I felt the presence of God touch my body. You see I’ve been a backslidden Christian for over 3 years & this weekend our fraternity house burnt down. Everything I’ve ever owned burned down in that house this weekend, but there was only one thing left… my Bible!”
This fraternity brother broke down under the conviction of the Holy Spirit and the spoken word of God. He encountered the presence of the living God in the middle of the day on a university campus while sitting outdoors at his fraternity table. Now, that’s what I’m talking about!
“Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise.” Psalm 100:4
We don’t need more persuasion evangelism in this postmodern generation. What we need is more presence evangelism, encounters with an Almighty God. How do we bring the presence? It is only through worship and prayer. It’s prophetic worship that sings to Jesus from the heart, not from a power point slide. It’s passionate, raw, un-plugged worship that touches the heart of God and ends up touching the heart of a generation.
I see thousands of new prophetic worship bands hitting the shores of the college campuses during the day and into the night. Bands of young radicals who pull out their guitars, banjos, drums, all kinds of instruments and worshipping at the top of their lungs in the middle of campuses. It’s a prophetic band of worshippers who aren’t just singing the latest hit worship song, but they are worshipping in their own way, singing new songs, creating new lyrics, going all out, undignified like King David. It’s a sound that even the Christian world has never heard. They are the new sounds that come from the streets of heaven. Get ready because the sons of thunder are coming! They worship in spirit and truth while students are passing by, while others are gathering at tables, while others are watching…the presence of God comes. The lost have never heard this kind of worship, with such passion, with such beauty & attraction. It’s prophetic, for the spirit of prophecy is the testimony of Jesus. This prophetic presence all of sudden invades and touches the hearts of young people & they begin to come under the overwhelming love of God. This generation is waiting to see true passion. But where is it? True passion is only revealed when we passionately worship the passionate One…our suffering King Jesus. When this generation sees true worship, they will come to worship God!
Prophetic worship is what ushers in the presence of God. But it’s Apostolic Preaching that ushers in the power of God.
“And Joshua rose early in the morning, and the priests took up the ark of the Lord. Then seven priests bearing seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark of the Lord went on continually and blew with the trumpets. And the armed men went before them. But the rear guard came after the ark of the Lord while the priests continued blowing the trumpets.” Joshua 6:12-13
Joshua followed the strategy of the Lord. He sent out the priests (the prophetic worshippers) into battle first, while the armed guard (apostolic preachers) stood prepared to attack. The presence of God must be ushered in first, in order for His presence to anoint the army for war. This is the same in relationship to prophetic worship and apostolic preaching for the campuses.
First of all, what is apostolic preaching? Let the book of Acts explain…
“Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?” Then Peter said to them, “Repent and let everyone of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. “For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.” And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation.” Those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them.” Acts 2:37-41
Apostolic preaching is the so powerful preaching of the Gospel that it cuts the hearts of men resulting in deep repentance and mass conversions. It happened in Peter’s day where we see three thousand coming to Christ in a day. We see 5,000 saved in a day later in the book of Acts and whole cities pushing their way into the kingdom through Paul’s apostolic preaching. You say that happened in the days of old, but certainly not in highly sophisticated campus cultures like Yale or Stanford? Why not? It happened in the 1st and 2nd Great Awakenings of America. Where Jonathan Edwards a young preacher who attended Yale preached an unapologetic message around 1734 called “Sinners in the hands of an angry God” that sent all of all of the East Coast into repentance and ushered in a sweeping revival to a hell bent America. In 1790’s Yale University had totally forgotten about the great revival just years before. The student body had fallen into drunkenness, blasphemy and the majority of students were attacking the Christian faith because of a turn towards atheism & deism. During that dark hour, a young man named “Timothy Dwight” the only Christian on campus began to preach on the infallibility of God’s Word and His moral standard. By the end of the year more than one half of the entire Yale University campus had turned in repentance toward God. Do it again Lord! Surely, He will & now is the hour!
I’m passionate about this kind of preaching coming on the scene again, because I’ve experienced it. I use to travel from campus to campus preaching to crowds of students sometimes three & other times hundreds. There was never a time that the anointing of God to preach did not show up. No, when there is the preaching of the Gospel, God is obligated to show up, because He is obligated to His mission. “Go, and make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, teaching them everything I have taught you, and I am with you always unto the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18)
I remember one time when I was at a junior college and a crowd of nearly 500 students gathered the day after the school was saved from a planned bomb attack. I got up in the middle of campus and began to preach how God had spared their lives, how Jesus had saved them with a calling through his suffering, death and resurrection. I challenged each of them to repent & turn to God. No one threw a stone at me, instead the entire crowd was dead silent while I preached and many began to cry under the conviction and presence of the Holy Spirit.
There are more testimonies where we even saw a few hundred saved at one time at San Jose State University after preaching the Gospel to a completely unsaved crowd of students in the middle of campus.
Just today at the university, while my two friends were leading prophetic worship outside on campus I began to join them in prayer. As I paced back and forth interceding for the lost students on campus out loud I could sense the anointing of the Holy Spirit increase. People thought I was crazy, who cares, but as I prayed out loud I began to preach. We were only there for an hour, we didn’t draw a crowd of hundreds, but we did get to pray for at least 4 students who randomly came up and asked for prayer. We did get to converse afterwards with a bunch of fraternity and hip-hop looking brothers who wanted to know more about Jesus. Whether it’s one or one thousand, my question is what happened to the powerful preaching of the Gospel? Isn’t this what Jesus did most of the time…preach? With signs, wonders and miracles confirming the preaching of the Word.
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek” Romans 1:16
“How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?” Romans 10:14
Where are the apostolic preachers in this generation? Where are those who will preach with authority and power in the Holy Spirit? Where are the Peter’s and Paul’s who preached with a holy fear of God that resulted in entire cities coming to Christ with signs and wonders confirming? There was a Jonathan Edward for the 1st Great Awakening. There was a Timothy Dwight at Yale University in the 2nd Great Awakening. Where are those who will step up to the plate, pray like no tomorrow and preach like there is only today in this last Great Awakening?
As the Son is shining, during the middle of the school day, I see university campuses with prophetic bands of young warriors worshipping with all their heart and preaching with pure passion. These apostolic & prophetic warriors will have big posters advertising… “FREE PRAYER, FREE DREAM INTERPRETAION, FREE PROPHECY…CAUSE GOD LIKES YOU!” I SEE OTHER WARRIOR BANDS WITH “THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST” PLAYING AS A BACKDROP AS THEY PREACH…PASSING OUT TESTIMONIES AND GOSPEL TRACKS EXPLAINING THE SUFFERING, DEATH AND RESURRECTION OF THE PASSIONATE SON OF GOD! I SEE YOUNG RADICALS CARRYING A HEAVY WOODEN CROSS WITH THEM AS THEY WORSHIP & PREACH THE GOSPEL WITH IT FROM CAMPUS TO CAMPUS…I SEE A HOLY REVOLUTION.
There is going to be an outbreak, an uncontrollable movement of God…a spontaneous revival hitting the campuses of America once again. There will be hundreds of students here, & thousands of students there, and small pockets of students everywhere having Church in the university courtyard. Yes, it’s church without walls, it’s a holy movement of God that can’t be touched or defined by some method of evangelism or some slick small group program. No church building can contain it and no conference can explain it. It’s God or nothing. There is a nameless and faceless army God is raising up at this hour on campuses across America. Do you hear the calling? Will you be willing to lay down your reputation, your comfort zone, your Christian bubble, possibly your very life to see revival on your college campus? Now is the time, now is the hour. Get on your face and pray until it hurts. Worship until He comes. Then get up and preach unapologetically & watch if God shows up! I’m praying to see HEAVEN ON EARTH on every campus in America. REVIVE THE CAMPUSES OF AMERICA LORD! REVIVE THIS GENERATION LORD! REVIVE OUR HEARTS AGAIN AND USHER IN THE LAST AND GREATEST AWAKENING THIS NATION HAS EVER SEEN…LET THE JESUS REVOLUTION BEGIN….
Praying for campus revival,
Jaeson Ma
www.campuschurch.net
(If you are one who desires revival & is committed to lead out in prophetic worship and apostolic preaching on your university campus email:
coach@campuschurch.net)
sometimes you don't know if you made the right or
wrong decisions in life. but what you can do is trust
that God works it all out for the good for those who
love Him and are called according to His purpose
Romans 8:28..... i've made some major decisions
in the last month & I'm going to have to totally trust
and rely on God that these decisions are in His hands....
let Your will be done Father, not mine, but yours...
on a lighter note..i'm still sick w/ the flu :P i got to visit
the campus church at UCLA "TEN" yesterday...i'm excited
for what God is about to do there. dave liu and I got to
prayer walk the campus...later we met up w/ caleb, john,
mike, thao, becca and the crew...40,000 students on campus,
most are completely lost...we need another Jesus Freak
movement...i'm so challenged by Caleb and John. They
wake up at 5:30 am every morning in the dorms to seek
God's face and at 6:30am they covenant to pray for campus
revival. I know God hears their cries....God always hears
the cries of those hungering for His presence to be released
in power over a generation.
as for myself...i need to get into that place once again. even more.
crying out to see "heaven on earth" on every campus in America.
it's weird...i'm coming back into that place of single focused desire
again. where i don't want anything, nothing, but Him. Lord teach
me to simplify my life. loving You, loving my friends and family,
loving those who do not know You.
yes, but i also need rest. i'm going to hit the bed early tonite
& get some early face time with Jesus. oh ....i finally got my
desired TREO 650....sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet! been saving
up for this bad boy.... i'm a gadget nerd.
lastly, if you could all pray for a good good friend of mine
"Shara" she's Heidi Bakers assistant. she has the most
beautiful heart and has been facing major warfare on
her family. She was just establishing a new orphanage
in tsunami stricken India~revival was breaking out &
then she had to fly back on emergency to the US for
a family crisis...i can't get into it, but please pray for
her to make it through this dark night of the soul.....
that her family would be delivered, saved and she would
be protected from the evil one..... she is a dear friend
& every little prayer counts!
life is getting back to normal... hanging with old friends,
in the office working on new sermons, spending more time
with Jesus, playing with the babies in my house, eating dinner
with dad & mom, reading some greaaaaaaaaaaaaat books &
possibly writing one too. Also, got to see a few movies in the
last few days...
1. Million Dollar Baby ---- the message was deceptive-life is always worth
living when you have Christ ><>
2. Napolean Dynamite---- I'll probably watch this movie 1000 more times!
3. Finding Neverland---- johnny depp was awesome, the story was beautiful
& peter pan is my hero (got 2 see it with Eileen)
feeling kind of under the weather...think i'm coming down with the flu.
i'm going to hit the sack now. God is gooooooooooooooooooooooooood!
it's gonna be a good year my friends....count on it!
Back in my hometown...san jose :) in the office reading some good
ol' inspiration on past campus revivals...do it again Lord..do it again!
5 Students Who Changed the World
By, Steve Shadrach
We don't have to look far to see the incredible potential of college students. Even though only 1 percent of the world's population are collegians, what a powerful 1 percent they are! This small sliver of humanity is, and will be, the leader of every facet of society. Each country sends their best and brightest to the university for education and training. Focusing our evangelistic and discipling efforts on this 1 percent is a very strategic way to expand the Kingdom of God and fulfill the Great Commission.
Almost one fourth of the world's college students reside in North America and they represent the most reachable, recruitable, trainable, and sendable category of persons on the planet. It's true what Dr. Bill Bright of Campus Crusade for Christ says: "If we can win the university today, we will win the world tomorrow."
There is a growing openness among college students worldwide toward the gospel. Being a world- and current-events buff, I'm always clipping articles in newspapers about student protests and rallies in other nations. My observation is that students are more open than ever to the West, to new ideas and technology, to philosophies and beliefs that are different from their ancestors. Who and what will fill that gap? Will it be other world religions, cults, secularism, or the life-changing gospel of Jesus Christ?
The challenge, as always, is the lack of workers compared to the ripened harvest. Patti Burgin, author of The Powerful Percent, tells of the need, "There are about 3,300 colleges in the United States. There are about 25,000 around the world. Despite the efforts of so many groups, more than a third of the world's college campuses do not have any contact with full time Christian workers." How about you? Will you step into the gap?
We're living in an amazing period of history, and as I travel to different countries, students want to meet Westerners. They want to learn English, and listen to the personal, political and spiritual ideas we present. Never before has God opened the doors and hearts of so many students worldwide to allow English-speaking Christians from North America to have impact. This unprecedented opportunity for sharing the gospel with students globally also brings an undeniable obligation. We have been blessed. Why? To be a blessing to others! Ecclesiastes 3:11 tells us it is God who has placed in us this desire to permanently impact others:
God has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men.
This is especially true of college students when incredible optimism, unrestrained aspiration, and the belief that God may just be big enough to pull off what He says He will, is firmly planted in their hearts. Dennis Gaylor, national director of Chi Alpha Campus Ministries, sees the awesome possibilities of this group as well: "College students are idealistic, energetic, and active. They comprise one of the greatest reservoirs of manpower for the cause of Jesus Christ in the entire world."
What is the potential of just one student? Throughout my years of traveling to universities around the world, I have observed that great campus revivals can always be traced back to one person. More times than not, the spark comes from a student, not a staff person; one student who takes the person and purposes of Jesus Christ seriously. They believe and act. To fuel your vision a bit, I've chosen five students from history who I have a hunch are in heaven's "College Student Hall of Fame."
1. Ludwig Von Zinzendorf
Born into a wealthy German family in 1700, Zinzendorf grew up and attended the University of Wittenburg to study law. At age 19 he was looking at a painting of Christ in agony on the cross and an inscription below that read, "All this I did for you; what are you doing for Me?" From that moment on, he forsook the comfortable life of a nobleman to begin spreading the gospel throughout the world.
He started inviting Christians to come live on his farm and learn how to grow spiritually. He launched a 24-hour prayer vigil that focused on world intercession that continued unbroken for 100 years! As a result, his mission society, the Moravians, sent out more missionaries the next 20 years than all the Protestants or Anglicans had sent out in the previous 200 years. His burning desire to reach others with the gospel issued out of his love for Christ. Asked about his passion, he replied: "I know of only one passion; it is He and He alone."
2. Samuel Mills
A tall, awkward, squeaky-voiced freshman at Williams College in Massachusetts, Mills would have never been voted "Most Likely to Succeed." Mocked and harassed by other students, he and four other college friends would slip out to a nearby meadow to pray and talk. On one rainy August afternoon in 1806, they were taking refuge next to a huge haystack, reading missionary biographies, and interceding for the world. When the rain subsided, Mills stood up, slammed his fist into his hand, and announced "We can do this, if we will!"
These five young collegians stepped out in faith and not only initiated the first nationwide student movement, but also began the first six mission agencies from North America. Although there were just 25 colleges in America (averaging about a hundred students each) at the time, the "Haystack Five" helped launch small world mission study and prayer clusters on many of them. Mills himself died at age 35 on a ship coming back from West Africa, having contracted malaria while setting up yet another mission agency to reach slaves on that continent.
3. Lottie Moon
Raised in a wealthy Virginia family before the Civil War, Lottie Moon was a well educated and cultured woman measuring all of four feet three inches! In college, she ran from God, but later testified, "I went to a campus revival to scoff, and returned to my room to pray all night." Sailing for China as a single 23-year-old female missionary was unusual; for this diminutive pioneer, though, it was par for the course. Passing up a marriage proposal from a prominent seminary professor was difficult, but she justified it by declaring, "God had first claim on my life and since the two conflicted, there could be no question about the result!"
While in China, along with her aggressive evangelism, she constantly wrote letters, recruiting thousands of women in the states to pray, volunteer and give to foreign missions. Later, in her 70s, she gave away all her money and food to help the starving Chinese. Other missionaries tried to rescue her in time to save her life, loading her frail and famished body on a ship headed for America, but she died on board late one December night in 1912 — Christmas Eve. How appropriate that the Southern Baptist annual world missions funding effort that has raised hundreds of millions of dollars over the years is named for Lottie Moon, and takes place at the same time each year — Christmas.
4. C.T. Studd
In the early 1880s, Hudson Taylor, with the China Inland Mission, was back home in England recruiting workers. He interviewed several students from the distinguished Cambridge University who were burdened about how lost China's millions were. As a result, God touched the heart of C.T. Studd, a popular student from an affluent family, and the best cricket player in all of England. He and six other renowned athletes banded together and volunteered to spend their life on the mission field, giving up the fame and fortune that awaited them in professional sports.
The impact was amazing, and by the time the seven arrived in China a year later, over 160 others had signed up to join them. God used their story to spread a wildfire of interest and decisions across the universities of the western World and by 1900 one third of all foreign missionaries were ministering with their organization in China. Studd lived a life of abandonment to Christ, giving away all his inheritance in order to pioneer works in China, India, and Africa. His motto? "I'd rather run a rescue shop within a foot of hell than live within the sound of a chapel bell. If Jesus Christ be God and died for me, nothing I sacrifice is too great for Him."
5. Grace Wilder
The daughter of an American missionary, Grace Wilder grew up in India. Due to her father's health, the family returned home in 1876 to live and minister near Princeton University. A few years later Grace enrolled in nearby Mt. Holyoke College and promptly started a weekly Bible study for women. Before they could join, though, she required them to sign a "declaration" stating: "I hold myself willing and desirous to do the Lord's work wherever He may call me, even if it be to a foreign land." Thirty-four women signed it.
Grace and her younger brother, Robert, heard about the Mt. Hermon, Mass., Bible conference that evangelist D.L. Moody was hosting for over 250 college men in July of 1886. Grace encouraged her brother to go and to take an even more radical version of her declaration with him to ask men to sign. This one stated, "We the undersigned, declare ourselves willing and desirous, God permitting, to go to the unevangelized portions of the world." She stayed behind and prayed that 100 of the men would sign it, committing themselves to foreign missions. God answered, as exactly 100 men signed, thus launching the greatest student missions mobilization effort in history — the Student Volunteer Movement. Over the next 40 years, almost 100,000 students would sign this declaration and embrace the watchword: "The Evangelization of the World in This Generation!" At age 26, Grace sailed for India with her widowed mother to continue the missionary work her father began. She died in 1911, at age 50, having given her life to mobilizing college students and evangelizing the unreached.
As I look closely at the lives of visionary men and women who have preceded us, I've concluded there are only three kinds of people on this planet:
1. Those who watch history
2. Those who study history
3. Those who make history
God has put eternity in your heart too. What are you going to do about it?
