By the Founder of The Elijah Challenge
In our thirty-five years of full-time ministry so far, the Lord has been most gracious to us. Two years after Jesus became my Savior at a Billy Graham Crusade in 1976, I took my wife to primitive unreached areas of Indonesian Borneo to preach the gospel and make disciples over a period of nearly nine years. (One dear sister we know involved in the Christian film industry is even dreaming that our book Dancing on the Edge of the Earth—based on those early adventures of radical faith and miracles—will someday with her help be made into a movie.)
During the years after returning from Indonesia to America in 1987, we planted and pastored churches in New York City and in Houston. But through a dramatic, full-color vision and dream given to me on a Sunday morning in June 1999, the Lord showed me that He had other plans for us. And so the following year in 2000 The Elijah Challenge was born.
Now, after 13 years of teaching The Elijah Challenge in nearly 40 countries around the world, we are seeking the Lord for the next step—the next level. Since 2000 we have taught tens of thousands of believers in six continents how to heal the sick and cast out demons as the demonstration to the lost that Jesus Christ is the only way to the Father. Through The Elijah Challenge Training untold numbers of disciples have launched out to minister in the spirit and power of Elijah, and untold numbers have been healed and saved through them. These trained disciples are also teaching other believers to do what they were taught—in fulfillment the Great Commission of Jesus Christ: “teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:20). Click on the following links for reports from just a few of these Elijah Challenge-trained servants of God:
Africa India Asia United Kingdom USA Canada
On our most recent mission trip earlier this month, we taught the pastors, staff, leaders, and the many cell group leaders of the People’s Baptist Church—a vibrant and fruitful megachurch with cell groups based in Sao Paulo, Brazil. This time, however, we did not teach about healing and evangelism as we usually do on mission trips. Rather for the first time we taught on what we consider to be the more substantive matters of eternal reward in the next age. Whatever we do in this life should be preparation for our standing in the next age. Our eternal reward—apart from and in addition to salvation—will not be based on how “fulfilled” or “successful” we are in terms of this life. Instead it will be based on the works we have done in this life for the Lord, whether good or bad (2 Corinthians 5:10). The second most important thing in life after salvation should be eternal reward.
Please pray about “the next level” for us
We sense that we are now on the verge of the next step in our life’s work and journey with the Lord. He has graciously kept us “fresh and green”— physically strong and in good health—in order to continue bearing fruit for Him (Psalm 92:14). In this next step we want to go to the next level, becoming much more effective for the Lord than before in equipping the Church to fulfill the Great Commission.
I. Please pray that the Lord will grant us clear direction in this regard, as well as granting us great favor and wide-open doors of ministry for us.
II. Pray that the Lord will raise up more financial supporters to enable us to accept the opportunities opening up for us to teach and train His disciples:
1. We need air fare for our frequent international flights.
2. There are now more needy orphans waiting to join the 15 orphans already under our care in our India orphanage. When the finances are available, we want to receive them.