De Visie Van Om en Alles Achter Laten (Eng - Dutch) (Pt2) — George Verwer

You live in one of the smaller countries and why more of you do not get out of this country is completely beyond my comprehension. Maybe Brother Andrew could explain this to me. I can't stand to live where there are no mountains.

I can't stand to live where there are no mountains. When I travel through the Netherlands I get incredibly bored just looking. I did live in Guelph and we had at least a few hills. I did live in Guelph and we had at least a few hills.

The last month when I was in Scotland, my favorite place, I discovered that the Dutch in Scotland buy up large parts of the country. They want to buy up all the stuff. And wherever I go, I meet Dutch businessmen.

Leaving Comfort Behind for the Sake of the Gospel

These are a hard-headed group. They don't go anywhere for a dollar. They are not fussing even in Deutschmark. They don't go anywhere. But for Jesus, to preach the gospel, to serve Jesus Christ, not too many are thinking that way.

We so love our little country. We're basically insecure people. But we like to get our nice little house. One of the few nations in the entire world where the people put all the shades at night so you can look right into the house and see how much money they've spent.

And we've got everything we need right here. No doubt in a few more years, they will import a mountain also from Scotland. I want to hear both. But I would beg of you to consider this foolishness tonight in the name of Jesus.

And at least in one or two years of your life, in these other nations, learning, growing and getting a vision from God. Then if you do come back here, you'll be a different person. You'll be more balanced.

You'll be a little less Dutch and a little more human. And that's true of every nation. And you know what Indians are facing just to get one more meal into their stomach. This is why we welcome people to come on OM.

Even if they're not missionaries. Even if they're going to go back and work for the Mercedes-Benz company. Here is the interesting thing. That in Germany today, missionary interest is high. And the number of workers that are beginning to go out is far bypassing this little country.

Germany and India as Open Fields for Mission

How can this be? We had 250, 300 Germans with us this summer. And it's the Germans that have just caught the vision for this second shift. And it's mainly the Germans who have taken over this vision for this second shift.

And God is working. And I believe that God wants to do this work in every country. And I am aware that there is much more to do in Germany. But I hope that you will think back to this area. This area is absolutely wide open.

And there are almost as many people here as in China. I am burdened for China. And there are certainly big cracks coming in China. And we're praying about visiting China with a ship. And I've had letters, Brother Andrew knows more about this than I do.

The Word of God is going in. I'm going to tell you something you may not know. One team in North India will distribute more literature in a week than we could get into China in a year. And we're hoping that's going to change.

You cannot understand the hunger for Christian literature in India right now. China may open in the next decade and India may close in the next decade. Let us move in India while we have the chance. There are 660 million people.

Southern Europe and the Communist World

Some cities have almost as many people as all of Netherlands. I am convinced this is a priority for us. Then the third vision is the vision of Southern Europe. And also the communist world. Basically Europe.

I won't talk about the communist world because Brother Andrew can tell you all about that. Spain. Italy. Greece. These lands are very, very needy. And even Belgium. One of the most unreached nations for the gospel in the world.

We just came from Belgium. I couldn't even dictate 20 letters when I arrived here already. The word of God says in Acts 1 .8 you shall be my witnesses. Jerusalem. That's here. Judea. All of Holland. Samaria.

Belgium. France. Germany. And then the uttermost parts of the earth. Next summer our major effort worldwide will be in Belgium. When I talked to some people about India about these other countries they say I don't speak good English.

But in Belgium you don't need to speak English. They speak Dutch. They call it Flemish. But it's the same. You can use your own language to reach one of the most unevangelized nations yet in the entire world.

The Whole World as the Mission Field

God gave us a vision for those countries. To a little Austria. And southern Ireland. Where we had a tremendous truth-making system. And then the fourth vision. That's the best one. The whole world. We decided the whole world was the field.

And this is where we began to pray for a ship. There's no time to tell you that story. Ten years ago God gave us the first ship. And it's just a miracle. That ship has reached 25 million people with the word of God.

Two to three million have actually been up the gangway of this very small ship. And more happens after we leave a port than when we're there. Because it's a work of the Holy Spirit. And I just heard this story.

A missionary said an OM team came from the ship. Some of our people are new. Some of them are not great creatures. Some of them are not great preachers. And this missionary told me how that team came.

And they preached a terrible sermon. It was a terrible sad thing. But everything went wrong. It was an Indian brother. And this brother gave an invitation. Nine people stood up and gave their life to Christ.

And three years later these nine have started a new, fast-growing church in that area. I'm not against education. I'm not against Bible school. I just know that God chooses to use often very ordinary, weak people to accomplish great things.

Unity Across Nations and Church Traditions

Now by this time OM was getting stretched. And we thought we can't move another inch. We're going to come apart. We take one more program, one more nation, we're going to come apart. One of the miracles in our work is that for 20 years we've hardly ever had any division.

God has kept about 200 of us leaders of one heart and one mind. And when you consider how many of us are strong-minded and that we're from 25 different nations and almost every kind of church you can think of, that is a miracle.

You know the devil is very clever. And here in the Netherlands, especially among Pentecostal people, the rumor went out they don't want to go on OM, they don't believe in the Holy Spirit. They're not Pentecostal.

I think it's only in the Netherlands they think this. Perhaps because of some early problems. But one third of all the people in the whole movement worldwide are Pentecostal or charismatic people. The biggest churches I've preached in and the ones that seem to love me the most, I don't know why, are usually Pentecostal churches.

Churches like the city Pentecostal in Stockholm. And many other churches, small and big, all over the world. And I say this because I believe this is one of the great miracles. In this work, there's now a thousand of us, longer term, for a year, Pentecostals, Baptists, brethren, people of all different backgrounds, are moving together in the power and the love of the Holy Spirit.

We learn from one another. We grow together. We repent together. And the Holy Spirit moves. We can't do everything that a local church can do. But the young people on Sunday are encouraged to go to their own local church.

There they can just be totally free. And when they come back into this spiritual army, there may have to be some bending. There may have to be more sensitivity toward other people of other groups. But I believe the Holy Spirit has honored this.

And I can tell you tens of thousands through this ministry have been filled with the Holy Spirit. Some call it the filling of the Holy Spirit. Some call it the baptism of the Holy Spirit. We generally say to the young Christians, brother, it's not the vocabulary, it's the reality, it's the power that we want to see in your life.

The Second Ship and Mission in Latin America

It's all this unity and this burden. Four years ago we asked God for another shift. Mainly so we could move more people. Our burden is not just people. It's about people. God gave us that shift. The shift has been here in Latin America and South America.

And it has just arrived today, I hope you will pray for it, in Recife in Brazil. In Rio de Janeiro we were able to welcome the vice-president of Brazil on board. And he made it clear how much he appreciated the visit.

And now in almost a year almost one million people have been on board the ship and have received God's Word. And I want to tell you something that I believe will encourage you. If it wasn't for the Dutch people that God raised up, people like Ebbo Burma, who have been with us for ten years and others, I'm not sure this vision would have become a reality.

I have always been aware that God is working here in the Netherlands. There are people here who pray. There are people here who have a vision. We've seen amazing things. But I just believe so much more could take place.

And as that ship soon comes back to Europe, first to Germany, before it goes to Germany, He will drop off 80 Latin Americans for one of the most historic spiritual invasions of the Iberian Peninsula. And then He will move up into these countries, back down to Spain and Italy, and then return again to Latin America where there is such wide, responsive, open door at this time.

Literature as a Worldwide Evangelistic Tool

And then the fifth vision is the vision for literature. Using literature as a tool to spread the word of God throughout the entire world. When I first came to live in England where I now live, I learned not to exaggerate.

Americans, we tend to exaggerate. A man went fishing in Lake Michigan and he caught a fish that was, you know, this big. It was actually this big, but he looked at it through a magnifying glass. And in England I learned just to try to, you know, state it as it really is.

So I'm going to do that. Because God answered that lady's prayers through these young men and women moving across the world often in much weakness and in much failure 250 million people have been given a piece of Christian literature.

No one could add up the tears, the toil, the work that led to that massive outlay of the word of God. It wasn't just tracts. Millions and millions and millions of New Testaments and books and magazines.

And it's amazing how God uses the printed page. Whole publishing houses have been born in England, France and many places. New books have gone into print and many have come to know Him. This is the five-fold vision God has been burning into our lives these years.

We hope you will take this vision as well. Many of you already have. Because as we obey the Lord Jesus Christ I believe we can see the fulfillment of the command of Jesus Christ. Jesus said in that passage we read the harvest is plenty the laborers are few.

He therefore, the Lord of the harvest said He'll send forth laborers into His harvest. Where do we start? In prayer. Prayer groups. Private prayer. Church prayer meetings. And then as we pray we obey.

And we begin to move. And I'm going to talk about that in a few minutes. I think it would be good to stand up and just sing something before I bring some closing thoughts. I don't know how it is here in Holland but in America oftentimes what do I mean?

Get a challenge. First thing we do leave the meeting go to a restaurant and we eat a big meal. One third of the people in the nation are overweight. And we need somehow we need a renewal of a spirit of sacrifice and discipline within the church of Christ again.

Jesus Calls Ordinary Disciples to Follow Him

Specific things God wants us to do. Sometimes even giving somebody a piece of literature can be used as God to spread the vision. Now I want you to look in Mark chapter 1. Mark chapter 1. Here we see Jesus in action.

We already saw Him moving from village to village because He was moved with compassion and that's our motivation in mission work. But here we see Jesus choosing His disciples. And there's something we really need to study right here.

We see Jesus walking along the Sea of Galilee. And read verse 16 through verse 20 very carefully. I get very excited when I read this because I believe Jesus Christ was the same yesterday, today and forever.

And this is an amazing thing. These are ordinary working men. They're out fishing. And along comes Jesus, and He speaks to them, and immediately they leave everything and they follow Him. The second set of brothers, they were with their father.

And they even left immediately their father and they followed Christ. Does Jesus Christ do that today? Does Jesus Christ speak to people in the same way today? I believe He does. Notice in chapter 2, verse 14, where Jesus spoke to Alphaeus, Matthew, the son of Alphaeus.

He was sitting there. He was a tax collector. And Jesus simply said, follow Me. And He arose, and He followed Him. And Jesus Christ is amongst us tonight. And as believers, He dwells in us. And I believe He is wanting to speak to some of us in this very same way.

He's wanting to say, follow Me. Now, I think it's very important to realize it is possible to have a secular job in your own hometown and to serve Christ. That's possible, of course. Especially in our work as a training work, most people don't stay with us.

They train with us for one or two years. Many go back to their own country. And they take up a job. And they're disciples. I believe they're disciples as much as I am. I have seen some people very effective in that kind of ministry.

But I believe other people are to be as these men. It's very clear. They are to leave their nets. At sixteen, I owned three businesses. They were very small, but the money was coming in. And in a very clear way, I sensed this was God's will in my life.

I never had a great missionary call. You know, when God sees someone like me, my father was very stubborn. My grandfather was very stubborn. I don't know if any of you had that problem. God sees a stubborn Dutchman.

He doesn't give a call. He gives a kick. God kicked me twenty-some years ago. And I've never stopped. Oh, many of my friends. Who? Be careful. You know, within the church today, we have many who carry around buckets of cold water.

I don't know if you have them here in the church. That's their ministry. The cold water begins. And a young Christian gets on fire for Christ. Filled with the Holy Spirit. And oh, I had a lot of cold water when I was young.

Oh, I believe that you remain filled with God's Spirit. And Hebrews says that God is a consuming fire. And spiritually speaking, when that cold water hits a man of God, it turns to steam in seconds and blows back in the other man's face.

I had people call me a fanatic. Maybe you've had that term thrown at you. As if the greatest problem in the church today is too much enthusiasm. Is this the greatest problem in the church in Holland? You know what A .W. Tozer said about this?

He said to think that the greatest problem in the church was too much enthusiasm is like sending a squadron of policemen out to the cemetery at midnight to guard against a demonstration by the residents.

It's really not the greatest problem in the church today. We need fire. Our God is a consuming fire. I was reading a book by a man in the Salvation Army. His name was Bringle. He gave a definition of fire.

What is fire? It is love. It is faith. It is hope. It is passion, purpose and determination. It is utter devotion. It's divine discontent with formality. Ceremonialism, lukewarmness and indifference. It's discontent with sham and noise and parade and spiritual death.

It is a singleness of heart. It is a consecration unto death. It is God the Holy Ghost burning in and through a humble, holy, faithful man. I remember just before I went into Russia. I went into Yugoslavia and distributed a lot of the Word of God.

I also got arrested. I came out and I met with two missionaries in Austria. Two sisters. I think they are from Holland. And they taught me a chorus. I had never heard it before. My wife told me later I was singing it all the time.

She couldn't get it out of her head. It's an old Salvation Army chorus and it says, send the fire, send the fire, send the fire. That's our great need today. That will purge away the unbelief. That will purge away the spiritual pride.

That will purge away the unloving spirit, the divisions and the confusion there is often among God's people. God works in different people in different ways. It's very important to understand that. You don't have to worry that if you become filled with a missionary vision and filled with the Holy Spirit that you are going to become something like me.

You don't have to worry about that. Meeting me is actually not a good picture of Operation Mobilization. 75 of our people are shy, relatively quiet people. God uses them. God doesn't need many big mouths.

A few more Brother Andrews and Brother Verwoerds and the people would go out of their minds. Not the size of your mouth, it's the size of your heart that counts, my God. And I think some people today, they have a problem in their Christian life because they never accepted themselves.

And all the recommitments they make to Christ, all the times they raise their hands, the experiences they have with the Lord, nothing much happens. They never really accepted themselves, which is an act of unbelief toward God.

Greatly grieves the Holy Spirit. I had a great struggle with this. I remember before I was a Christian, I wanted to grow big and strong. My big interest, together with money, was the girls. And I saw this advertised in the newspaper.

And there was a picture of a very nice girl, sitting on a beach, and a real skinny fellow like me was sitting there with her. And then in the diagram, a big strong fellow came and he knocked away this little skinny man and he took the girl.

And I thought, this is what's going to happen all my life. And it said right in today, Charles Atlas, Muscle Building Weight Gaining Guarantee. I quickly wrote in. And I was lifting weights. I was eating extra food.

After about six months, I gained half a kilo. I had difficulty looking in the mirror, especially when I took the clothes off. And then, oh my, the struggles this can bring in our life. And it was a great day in my life.

Spiritual Balance and Ministry to the Whole Person

It came gradually after my conversion, that I could really accept myself. I could even learn to laugh at myself a little bit. I had real problems with this nose. I don't know whether this is a Dutch nose.

And I thought this is too long. And people would draw pictures. George Kerr had a big nose, you know. And one day I was giving out tractates in Thailand, in the streets. And a man came and he just looked at my nose.

And I tried to give him a tractate and he reached out and touched my nose. I tell you, if I had ever had a missionary call, I would have lost it there. One of the things we have tried to do in our work is combine the message of world evangelism and total commitment with the message of spiritual balance and victory in our emotional and mental life.

They must come together. Otherwise people will become evangelistic machines. We must minister to the whole man. God is concerned about the whole man. And it's wonderful to see what God can do.