Lahetyskonferenssi 2001 (Pt4) (Dutch) — George Verwer

This has been a very special time for me to be in your wonderful country. I feel that I'm very near the top, the top of the world here. And that's very exciting. I'm always looking for new audiovisuals.

We talked about the small globe that you can get tonight. And if you get caught out in the rain, you can use it as a rain hat. But today I was presented a very special presentation I will never forget.

And that will be added to my audiovisuals as I travel around the world. I'm told we have four points pointing to every point of the world. So we can't go to just one part of the world. We have to go to every single part of the world.

Prayer for World Missions and the Nations

Let's pray together. Father, we praise you for the power of your Holy Spirit. We thank you for what you've been doing during these days. I know many people have made decisions in their hearts concerning world missions, concerning presenting their bodies as a living sacrifice only acceptable to you.

Concerning reaching out to the poor and reaching out to the sick and the victims of war and victims of earthquakes. And Lord, we know that you have a great plan for every one of our lives. Help us to know that plan in the depth of our heart.

And Lord, as you taught us to pray and not to unite, pray, O Lord of the harvest, send forth workers into the harvest. And especially the Muslim world and the Hindu world. And countries like Tibet where the church does not exist.

Lord, may we never be the same because we've been with you during these days. And raise up those who would send. Those who have a love to give their finance to the work of world mission. Those who are willing to meet the missionaries at the airport when they return from years of battle.

And pray to our pastors. Give them an extra anointing to share the word of God, to feed the flock of God. And yet to also send the workers out to the other parts of the world. For we pray in the name of Jesus.

Amen. Well, this is a very, very exciting time. And I know that many of you are only here tonight for the first time. And I've spoken five times today. So my voice is not so good. But we have this good, loud speaker system.

Commissioning Missionaries and Mobilizing the Church

How many of you are already missionaries? I wonder if you would stand up. All over this auditorium. Let me just pray for you, please. Please remain standing. Father, I bless you for these people. You have raised them up.

You have sent them out. And we pray they may have an extra anointing. We pray for their families. We pray for the churches they come from. We pray for the fields they'll be going back to. Bring in the harvest through these people, we pray.

In the name of Jesus. God bless you. Now I'm going to ask for another group of people. How many of you have already made a commitment to go? You haven't got there yet. You might be in training, some of these people in back of me.

But you've made a commitment and you're moving toward the mission field. Would you please stand up? Maybe in a previous conference like this you already made the commitment. Please stand up. I want to pray for you.

Can you pray for them in English? Let's remember some of the things that we've already spoken about. We've seen that missionaries are still needed as much as ever before. But not always to the same places.

Not always with the exact same methods. And we've talked especially about the Muslim world and this great block of nations right through the 1040 window where in some cases the church hardly even exists.

Most of these countries would have less than 2 of the amount of witness that you have in Finland. We've looked at Acts chapter 13. We've challenged to have that kind of Acts 13 prayer meeting. We've challenged all of you to get at least 5 copies of this book.

So you can be a mission mobilizer and spread the vision to other people. And in the last chapters of this book we talk about the mobilization of new missionaries. Your own missionary organization has about 400 missionaries.

But you have a goal of going beyond 500 missionaries. And we want to see people volunteering tonight to step into that gap. Now we've tried to make it very clear that going as an overseas missionary is just one part of building God's kingdom.

We need dedicated people who will remain at home. We especially need some people who know how to release finance. So we need godly Christian business people who can help in the tremendous financial needs.

We again want to acknowledge that every believer is a vital part of building God's kingdom. God has a special plan for every one of us. Even tonight no one is here by accident. I know I'm not here by accident.

Our God has put together this meeting. And it's linked with his love for us. It's linked with his love for the people of the world. And especially the poor. And over 50 of all the world is poor. And we know God is concerned about the sick.

25 million in Africa with AIDS or HIV. Millions more are stricken with blindness. Millions more are stricken with other diseases like malaria. And we are God's people. And we are concerned about these people.

We are concerned about the millions of children who are forced into factories in places like India. We're concerned about millions of children that are abused in other ways like being sold into prostitution.

Even in Europe. Especially Eastern Europe, women are being sold into sexual slavery even as we sit here tonight. We're concerned about the fanaticism in places like Afghanistan where all women are persecuted and abused just in every breach of human rights.

I actually believe you, the younger generation are more than some of our older people. I correspond with hundreds of young people. And I read their emails. And I feel their concern. God in his providence has blessed your country.

No place is perfect. And you don't need me to tell you about the needs in Finland. That is your job. God has also blessed your churches. God has blessed your particular group of churches. 220 churches approximately he has given you.

And he's given you many wonderful pastors and leaders. And to see 400 missionaries going from such a small group of churches speaking internationally, this is a wonderful thing. But it is your leaders who have shared with me their vision to see more workers thrust out into the harvest.

Isaiah's Vision of God's Holiness and the Call to Go

Keeping that in our hearts. I want you to turn in your Bible to the book of Isaiah and chapter 6. We referred to this briefly this morning. But let us now read this scripture. Isaiah 6 I will read from verse 1 through verse 8.

We'll just read in the Finnish language. We'll just read in the Finnish language. We'll just read in the Finnish language. Here we have one of God's pictures. Here we have one of God's pictures of reality in Jesus.

Of reality in Jesus. One of the first books I ever wrote about 35 years ago. One of the first books I ever wrote about 35 years ago. It was called Hunger for Reality. It was called Hunger for Reality.

I never really wanted to write a book. I was more interested in distributing other people's books. But in 1968, when I was still in my twenties I was speaking at a large student mission convention with about 10 ,000 people.

And I shared my testimony. And I gave a plea for spiritual reality. And I gave a plea for spiritual reality. That God is real. We can know God. We can experience God. We can know the reality of worship.

We can know the reality of the Holy Spirit. We can know the reality of the Holy Spirit. And I spoke strongly about sin and about living a double life, a spiritual schizophrenic life. I gave my testimony about my struggle with moral purity.

I gave my testimony about my struggle with moral purity. I gave my testimony about my struggle with moral purity. And how God taught me about repentance, and brokenness, and grace. And at the end of my short message, I gave an invitation, and four thousand students stood up, some of them weeping and crying out to God.

And that led me to write that book on a similar subject. This morning we looked at Romans chapter twelve, one and two. It's my prayer that many of you this morning, in your heart, presented your body as a living sacrifice to God.

And no longer be conformed to the things and the ways of this world, as verse two says. There's an important word that we are talking about these days quite often in world missionary strategy. And those of you in mission work, you're going to hear about this word much more in the next few years.

Transformation Through Prayer, Unity, and the Gospel

It's the word transformation. There's a video. I have one with me in my suitcase. It's called transformation. It showed what God did in five different cities in five different parts of the world. As people started to pray together, leaders from different churches, young people from different churches, they started to get concerned for their city, for their town.

So they started praying. They started dreaming. And they started working. And they had meetings, especially for me. Each city was different. One was in Africa. One was in Central America. One was in Colombia.

Another one was in the United States. Of people being transformed. Of love becoming a reality in their lives. And as they prayed, more and more people came to Christ. And certain people of influence in their city came to Christ.

And amazing things happened. And it influenced the whole city. And there was transformation in the culture and in the city. Now heaven did not come to earth. There was still problems. There was still sin.

But powerful change took place because God's people became proactive about everything. And God is in the transformation business. Your nation in its history experienced certain degrees of transformation because of the power of the gospel.

There is not time to go into this tonight. There are whole books written on these subjects. But I want to look at this scripture. And how God can work in our lives. Please be open to the Holy Spirit speaking to you tonight.

First of all, there is a vision of God Himself. That is the number one priority tonight. A vision of the greatness of God. A vision of the glory of God. And of course, as we get a vision of God, even as the prophet Isaiah said, we're going to see anything.

Any attributes. We're going to see His holiness. Look at verse three. And holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty. The whole earth is full of His glory. I know in my own life, as I got to know the holiness of God, it was a very, very powerful experience.

I was influenced by a writer called A. W. Tozer. You will find some of his books in Finnish. He talks about the holiness of God. The greatness of God. I remember another writer named J. B. Phillips. He said in one of his books, right on the cover of the book, your God is too small.

And I fear sometimes in our churches, I cannot speak of your churches, but in the United States and in other countries, instead of the Almighty God we've created our own denominational tribal deity. He's a much smaller God.

He doesn't do these great things anymore. And we don't grasp His greatness and His almighty and His power and His sovereignty. Look at verse four. Shook the temples. Have you ever had an experience with God?

Conviction, Cleansing, and Hearing God's Call

I think many of you have. But never, never limited to one time. And God, on this special day, weekend, He wants to meet with us. How did the prophet respond to this experience, this vision of God? Verse five gives his response.

Woe to me. Open when God is going to do a new thing in our lives. He convicts us of sin. I remember a number of times in my life, when I was already a Christian, that God convicted me of sin. And I had to take that in repentance before God.

The author of this book is a man named Oswald J. Smith. My spiritual father was Billy Graham, who influenced me more than any other person except this man. In the last century, he was the greatest missionary leader of that century.

He had the greatest missionary sending church in the world. I preached in that church in Canada many times. I got to know him personally. His name was Oswald J. Smith. How God used this man to see thousands catch the vision of world missions.

I want to encourage you to read books. I know television takes time. A lot of things grabbing for our time. But if you will read some of these great Christian books, it will give you a greater vision.

It will minister to you. You will grow stronger in your faith. You will be God's man, you will be God's woman. Oswald Smith came to Chicago when I was a student. He spoke in a meeting with about the same number of people that we have here tonight.

I had already been to Mexico. I thought I was already a Christian. I had won many people to Christ. I had fallen in love with a woman that I met at the Bible college. She was sitting next to me in that meeting.

That night I remember very well. Oswald Smith at the end of the meeting, he gave an invitation. And my first thought was, that's not for me. I don't need to respond. I've already been to Mexico. I'm a missionary.

I'm winning people to Christ. The students have accepted me as a student leader. And I also thought, what will she think if I respond to this invitation? She might think there's something wrong with my life.

I had tried to scare her away. And I remember the first time that we went out, it wasn't really a date, we had a meeting, we talked together. And I said, probably nothing's going to ever happen between you and me.

But let's be honest from the beginning. I'm going to be a missionary. And if you marry me, you'll end up being eaten by cannibals in New Guinea. Needless to say, she was not in love with me at that point.

But as I bowed my head and prayed in that meeting with Oswald J. Smith, this unusual man, God convicted me that I had to respond. And I got out of my seat. And I cried out to God. I was convicted of certain sins in my life.

It was a little bit of an experience like Isaiah chapter 6. Here Isaiah prays that prayer. Read verse 6 and 7. Isaiah experienced God. He experienced a fresh cleansing, a fresh forgiveness, a fresh purging of his sins.

And it was then that he could pray that prayer. As God spoke, he could then hear the voice of God. Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, Whom shall I send? Who will go for us? And Isaiah was able to pray, Lord, here am I, send me.

Now I know many of you have already prayed this similar prayer. Every missionary who just stood up, prayed that prayer or a similar prayer. And then remember the second group that stood up all over the auditorium.

They must have prayed a similar prayer. So they are in the process of being sent. One of the books that we brought with us during these days is called Serving and Senders. I think I must have given my copy away.

But I urge you to get that book because it shows that the ministry of sending is equally as important as the ministry of going. In fact, we have in some countries and in some churches I don't know, I don't think so, in your church we have many people they have volunteered to go but no one is ready to send.

The Church's Ministry of Sending and Going

You see, we looked these things in Acts chapter 13 we saw God's picture people praying the Holy Spirit speaking and Paul and Barnabas are sent out as missionaries. And that is my prayer. I have the privilege this afternoon to speak to many of your leaders and I believe that as much as in any other group of churches I have ever spoken to that your churches are serious about sending out missionaries.

I sometimes speak in meetings that are not very connected with churches in Norway, in Sweden in Germany, in America, in England I speak at Christian music festivals because I am a music nutcase. I love all kinds of music but especially Holy Ghost rock and roll.

And I speak at these big conferences one in Chicago with 10 ,000 people I made a big mistake I just share this to show you how some of the stupid things that I have done in case you have done any stupid things in your life you think God can't use you God can use all kinds of people this was 120 Christian bands 120 bands some of it even very, very wild music and the leaders, the Jesus people of Chicago were the leaders so they asked me to speak on Sunday morning.

I had my global jacket on I had my big glove and I also had my global underwear on and I got excited. I was telling them about my global underwear. I could see they were unbelieving. That's why I made a mistake.

I took my trousers down and I showed them my global underwear. I thought the leaders of this movement were liberated but they were not that liberated and somebody put this into the internet. George Berger takes down his trousers in a youth festival and then my wife found out about this.

Now my wife is a wonderful woman. She once looked at me many years ago and she said, just looking at you makes me feel very tired. We were a bible college marriage. We didn't really know each other that well when we got married anyway, I promise not to show my global underwear anymore.

So I'm sorry to disappoint many of you tonight we have a forgiving God. We want to be filled with the Holy Spirit but no matter how filled we are with the Spirit we still make mistakes and we must come to understand God's grace in a deeper way.

Prayer for the Nations and the Joy of Giving

I have this prayer that many of you because of this weekend will start to pray more for world missions. You'll start praying for the nations of the world. There's so much information you can get now about every nation in the world.

There's a book called Operation World. I saw one on your book table. It's getting old, it was for sale at a big discount. If you can't find one you can send me an email or contact the OM office in Finland.

The new edition of that book will not be out until October. It will be very expensive. So get the old edition because almost every prayer request in the book is still a valid prayer request. I prayed through that entire book over 350 pages two or three times which means that many times I prayed for every nation in the world.

I believe the prayer ministry is one of the most exciting ministries now I know what some of the young people are saying prayer. Prayer meetings. That's for older people. That's especially for older women.

Praise God for older women but prayer is for everybody. I was 17 when God taught me to pray. I was 17 when I started to organize my first nights of prayer. I was hungry for God and I prayed this prayer when I was only 17 or 18.

I said, oh God, only one thing I want in life I want to learn how to commune with you how to pray. I wonder if you would pray this prayer with me tonight. Lord, teach me to pray. I wonder if you would start an extra prayer meeting in the church or in your home or make in your little cell group.

Many of you belong to cell groups. You would make an important part of that prayer and prayer for the nations and the people of the world and the missionaries that are working there. Then I have this other dream that many of you are going to discover the joy of giving.

The joy of giving. The Bible says it's more blessed to give than receive. We all like to receive things even when we're little children at Christmas time. But when we are filled with God's Spirit as it was in Acts chapter 2 and Acts chapter 4 we want to give.

We get so excited about giving. And many of us have experienced this. I'm not talking about things that have not been my experience. The joy of even selling our possessions to give more money for buying Bibles for those who have never had the Word of God across the world.

George Verwer's Conversion and Call to Missions

Let me stop for a moment. Let me go back. I'll tell you what happened in my life to even come to know Jesus in the first place. At 16 I was not a missionary. I was a mission hero. I was lost. My grandfather was an atheist from the Netherlands.

My other grandfather was a drunkard. My grandmother divorced me. My father and grandfather came over from the Netherlands to near New York City. My father didn't even go to church when I was a little child and he was more of a materialist.

A little lady started to pray for me. It's an amazing story. How also OM began. One praying woman. I was in trouble with the police. She heard about me. I was in a little trouble in the high school. So she heard about me through her son.

So she put my name on her Holy Ghost Hit List. Not only prayed that I'd become a Christian. She prayed that I would become a missionary. Does anyone pray for you like that? Maybe your grandmother. Maybe your aunt.

Maybe your little brother. If you do you've got a problem. Because that prayer is liable to get answered. Maybe even tonight. So she kept praying. And then sent me a Gospel of John through the post. And even before I was a Christian I started to get excited about the Word of God.

I started to raise money to buy Gospels of John for people in other countries. Before I was even a Christian God was preparing me. And then He sent a character to New York City for one night an unusual man named Billy Graham.

My friends did not believe in such things. They said this is extremism. This man is a fanatic. People are getting into emotion emotionalism. Billy Graham came to New York City one night. One of my friends said he's a hypnotist.

So I went to the meeting because a man gave me a free seat. A business person a free seat on a bus. 20 ,000 people were in this big stadium. I sat as far away as I could and I watched Billy Graham. What kind of hypnotist methods was he using.

People were praying for me. And when he gave the invitation I responded. And I was born from above. I was saved by the grace of God and without exaggeration I can say this 46 years later I was only just before my 17th birthday.

This great salvation has been a reality every day ever since every single day I've known the grace and the power of God's great love. Though I know this is a missions meeting I feel there may be someone here you've never had that experience with Jesus where you know that you've been saved where you trust Him with all your heart and that full assurance of your eternal salvation.

Tonight could be your moment of decision. And I know of people who have made a decision for Christ and a decision to become a missionary on the same night. Nothing is too hard for God and a lot of people are praying for this meeting.

Responding to God's Call to Go

So I want to ask you when we read this verse in the book of Hebrews have you ever prayed that prayer. Here am I, send me now we know that in many ways it's just the first step. But you've got to take that first step.

When you say here am I, send me. Because you love Jesus. Because you love people. Because you want God's blessing. Because you want God to use you. He may only send you across the street. He may keep you right here.

You will be filled with joy knowing that you have done the will of God. Even Jesus said my meat is to do the will of the Father. So I want to ask you would you pray that prayer tonight. Some of you may go beyond that prayer.

You've already prayed that prayer. But God may confirm to you during these days together that you are to go to the Muslim world or that you are specifically to give your name in to the mission leaders in your church to start the process of getting you to where God wants you.

God is working in different people in different ways and through it all He loves you. I believe God is telling many of you to go at least for a summer of overseas outreach experience. I believe God is saying to other people.

You need to go to one or two years. I believe He is saying to other people. You need to start considering Bible college. And He is saying to other people you are to spend your life. And you are to spend your life among Muslims.

You are to spend your life in Central Asia or in Europe. And brothers and sisters Europe is a mission field. What about Greece. What about Italy. What about Spain France, Austria. They have less than 5 of the witness that we have in Finland.

I feel though I have lived in India in many ways is my first love. I believe firstly I am a missionary in Europe. I have preached and visited almost every single nation in Europe. I speak the Spanish language.

I want to ask you not to forget Europe. I want you not to forget Russia and Latvia and Estonia and Lithuania just to the south where they had such a small witness compared to what you have in Finland.

I believe that some of you will commit yourself to a year or two that during those periods during that time God will confirm the next step. So I want to close. I want to ask you this question. Would you pray that prayer with absolute seriousness standing before God confessing whatever sin you are convicted of.

Asking God to fill you again with His Holy Spirit so that by grace you can say here am I send me. Would you do that. Let us pray. If you will pray that prayer with all your heart. I want you to stand up.

Standing in Surrender and Receiving the Holy Spirit

That is an outward expression of an inward transaction. I want you to stand up worshipping the living God and say Lord hear am I send me. It may be across the street it may be across to the other ends of the world.

For some of you it's a first step. For others it's a bigger step. You're actually saying I know I'm sent, I'm going, I'm going to push the doors. I'm going to go by the grace of God. I want you also to stand up.

I want to pray for you. Many people are praying for this meeting. God wants to fill you afresh with His Holy Spirit as it was in Acts 4 .31 as they prayed the place was shaken. They were filled again with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God with boldness.

We are experiencing God through God's word. The God of Isaiah is the God whom we worship tonight. He has broken our hearts. He has shown us His glory. He has given the gift of His Spirit and never has He forsaken us.

And now we respond in natural response to the love of God. God bless each one of you. Is there anyone else. You'll pray that prayer. Hear am I, send me. Maybe not as a missionary, maybe as a tent maker missionary.

You're willing to get a job in Libya or Saudi Arabia and witness among the unreached. We cannot work this out tonight but we can take the next step. God bless you. Is there anybody else. Please stand before God.

Let Him fill you afresh with His Holy Spirit. Please pray that prayer. Hear am I, send me. Let us pray. Father you see each person standing before you. This is a moment we have waited for for a long time.

We know that you have a tremendous plan for every life we know it's going to take time in the church to work out each one of these plans. We know God. It involves walking by faith. Lord I know if you can use a character like me with all of my struggles, with all of my mistakes even to start a whole new mission society that now has 3 ,000 people.

How much more you can use those who are standing before you. Oh Lord we surrender all to you to go where you want us to go and to do what you want us to do. We pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Let us all stand and let us worship the Lord.

Let us just pray together. Two by two. Or just wherever you are. So you need to speak Hallelujah.