In January, Leslie and I were honored to speak at the International Mission Connexion event held once a year in Portland where thousands of people Missionaries and those interested in Missions attend. My subject for our workshop was how to reach those thought unreachable with the Gospel of Christ using the Muslim and Hindus that we have reached through the gospel to demonstrate that with the right message and the Power of God all religious sects can be reached for Christ.
The message we presented was well received and for many it was the first time they had heard that they could do the same works that Jesus did (based on John 14:12). For many with Evangelical backgrounds it’s hard to believe that God will use them to do miracles, mainly for two reasons. One, they are not taught what the bible teaches regarding miracles, signs and wonders which will accompany the message of the Gospel (Mark 16:20 & Acts 4:30). And two, some do not believe or teach on the Baptism of the Holy Spirit which is the power to heal the sick, raise the dead and deliver people from demonic influences.
For the Evangelical, a favorite scripture is Mathew 28:18-20 where Jesus instructs his followers to make disciples of all nations. However, verse 20 also instructs them to teach the disciples all that Jesus taught them. In Mathew chapter 10 Jesus taught the disciples to preach the gospel, heal the sick and cast out devils. Most will agree we are to make disciples of all nations, but they may not believe they are to do the miracles Jesus commanded us to do.
On my first evangelical meeting in Pakistan, my greatest fear was that no one would respond to the Gospel invitation because I had been told it is very difficult for a Muslim to receive Christ. I preached a simple Gospel message of Jesus’ virgin birth, his miracle filled life, his death on the Cross and his resurrection. I was the most amazed that when I gave the invitation to receive Christ, almost all of the 6000 Pakistani’s (many Muslims) stood to receive Christ. That was because the power to save and heal is in the Gospel message if you know what the message is and believe in its power. After leading the crowd and a Salvation prayer, we prayed a mass prayer for miracles and healing. God did not disappoint us as many testified of being healed of various diseases. It was the very next night in Okara Pakistan that a baby was raised from the dead after the Mother heard the gospel and prayer was made.
Since that time, we have seen thousands of Muslim people saved, deaf, blind, lame and demon possessed people healed and delivered. We attribute the success in reaching these for Christ through the simple but powerful message of the Gospel and the power of the Holy Spirit to confirm the word with signs, wonders and miracles. If Jesus needed miracles for people to believe him (John 4:48) and the Apostle Paul needed miracles to reach the Gentile believers (Romans 15:18, 19), then how much more do we need miracles for people to believe us when we tell them about Christ?