No country is too hard, too poor, too filled with crime, too divided by war, or too spiritually dark to be changed. God has given us basic principles that are keys to every problem we face in the twenty-first century. The answers lie between the covers of one book — the Bible. (The Book that Transforms Nations, Loren Cunningham & Janice Rogers)
Our Bible School for the Nations team left for the Philippines fully convinced that the Bible could transform lives and even an entire nation! Young pastors and passionate youth gathered for our first seminar in Tacloban. While the teaching sessions were powerful, great fruit also came from unexpected events.
The president of the Philippines declared an all out war on drugs. As part of this war, he gave drug dealers and addicts an opportunity to surrender and seek help before facing harsh prosecution. The Christian mayor of Toclaban asked YWAM and the pastors in the city to provide the training for these surrenderees. As a result, our seminar in Tacloban was not only filled with the pastors and passionate youth who usually come, but also, drug dealers, drug addicts and government officials! What a powerful opportunity to disciple this nation!
One night, things did NOT go as planned. And that was a good thing! Our contact was delayed by over an hour. So while we waited for him to arrive with the key to let us into the church, Tim [BSN leader] sat with two young Filipino men and had a deep conversation. They’d heard about the seminar from a friend and decided to give it a try. But they still didn’t know Jesus. Tim poured out his heart to them. He told them his testimony. Then he told them how much God loved each of them and longed to know them.
With hearts full of conviction, both of these young men gave their lives to Jesus that night! “I feel so light now,” one said afterwards.
Although our team had no intention of going to Tacloban originally, God closed the doors to another city. We are so thankful we ended up in Tacloban. So is the mayor! She invited our team to join her weekly prayer times for the city. We are convinced that as God’s people take God’s truths and apply them to society, cities like Tacloban will become a beacon of light to the world!
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