De Visie Van Om en Alles Achter Laten (Eng - Dutch) (Pt1) — George Verwer

Worship, Prayer, and World Evangelism

Well, I'm very grateful to the Living God for the privilege of being here this evening. Since it's the country where my father was born, I always have a little bit of a different sensation than going to the average country.

And we especially praise God for so many young people who have come from the Netherlands and who are involved with us right now, especially on the two ships. In fact, in quite a few very key positions, like the Chief Engineer on Lagos and the Chief Steward on the Doulos.

We've just finished one of the most exciting summers in the twenty years of the history of our work. God gave us some three thousand people. And we had the joy of presenting the claims of Christ to many millions of people.

And many thousands make some form of commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ. And we believe that God is moving in a mighty way across the world today. It is unfortunate that often God's people are ignorant of what God himself is doing in answer to prayer in the very world they live in.

It is unfortunate that often God's people are ignorant of what God himself is doing in answer to prayer in the very world they live in. I'd like to start by sharing a little of my own personal testimony.

And how God began this work. And as I do this, I think of a scripture found in Matthew chapter 9, one that probably has already been mentioned. Now I'm so excited tonight because the brothers, your leaders, gave me permission to speak as long as I want.

This really excites me. Because after all, he's taking more than half of my time. And I don't get this privilege to be here in the Netherlands very often. I remember I was speaking rather long over in your neighboring country of Germany.

And it was an OM meeting, so I felt very free to go on. And I was speaking about an hour and a half, two hours. But the Germans don't go for these long meetings too much. And one man sitting way in the back was getting very nervous.

And he was looking at his watch. And finally he decided to hold his watch up and point to me. And I was preaching on total commitment, world evangelism, forsaking all for Christ. And I saw his watch go up.

I said, hallelujah, here's one man already giving his watch for world evangelism. So you better be careful of what methods you use tonight. But really, when we consider how little the average church is teaching about world vision and world missions, somewhere we need to make up on some lost time and hear some of these things.

And more than talking a long time, the more important thing is learning to pray a long time. Some of us, about two or three hundred of us, were in a prayer meeting last night. What a joy it is to be with young people.

Young people with great potential. Young people with a great faith. Who trust God. And then it becomes twelve o 'clock, one o 'clock, and then we advise them to go to bed on time. Tomorrow there's a busy schedule.

We believe in being mentally balanced. And of course some of them went to bed. And at two o 'clock we said, look, some of you need to go to bed. And at two thirty there were still two hundred or a hundred people just praising and worshipping the living God.

And in that prayer meeting last night, once again we sensed this important link between worship, the highest calling of the Christians, and world evangelism, the greatest task that God has given us to do.

And even as I came into your meeting tonight, I sensed a spirit of worship which I feel is so important in the church today. And I just believe that God wants to do something special tonight and tomorrow.

I pray right now that God would bring a spirit of expectation upon our souls and into our hearts. That regardless of the speaker, because we are only the channel, we may expect great things from God. That regardless of the speaker, because we are only the channel, we may expect great things from God.

Let us therefore listen to these words which came out of the mouth of the Lord Jesus Christ. We start at Matthew 9, verse 35. We read that together in Dutch, starting with verse 38. Hear ye the word of the living God.

A Prayerful Testimony and the Birth of a Missionary Vision

Amen. Some thirty-five or forty years ago, a middle-aged woman had a vision from the Lord. She had been saved by the power of God. And she believed God's word. And she believed that God answered prayer.

And she began to pray for the grammar school or high school across from her home. This was a normal secular school near New York City. For approximately fifteen years, she prevailed and prevailed in prayer for that school.

Not only that people would be saved, but that they would be saved and they would move out across the world in evangelism. About twenty-seven years later, she had a vision. It is about twenty-seven years ago that I went to that school.

I was not a Christian. Although I went to a good reformed church. But it was not a church where I heard the gospel. I never heard the gospel. Never. I never became the president of the young people's group.

And the assistant to the pastor. I still never heard the gospel. Somehow this woman began to pray individually for me. My father was not a believer. He was born somewhere around here. His father, also of course from the Netherlands, was an atheist.

Soccer player and a heavy drinker. My mother's father, he was an interesting character. He was a drunk from Glasgow. So I was not exactly swimming along as a young person in some kind of Christian stream.

Even though I had learned to play church. I think those of us who are from Dutch background are very good at playing church. We like just a little bit of religion. We get sort of just enough, sort of a vaccination, just enough to keep us from the real thing that God wants to do in our lives.

For three years she prayed for me and every year I got worse. And I was lost. And I was selfish. And I'd be in the nightclubs of New York on Saturday night and I'd be in church sitting there with my little plastic smile on Sunday morning.

And then a man who I was warned was a fanatic, an emotionalist, Billy Graham, came to New York City. But I purchased, I used to buy a lot of pornography and next to some of the porno was a magazine, a secular magazine about Billy Graham.

That magazine was destined to be a major link in God's plan in my life. Meanwhile this elderly lady sent me a gospel of John, which is equal to an atomic bomb, through the post. And she prayed in the authority and the name of Jesus that I would be saved.

I read that gospel. And then when I read that magazine. I thought, well this man seems to be somewhat normal. I was heavy into sports and I saw that Billy Graham played golf. I thought, well he can't be completely crazy.

So when he came to New York just for one night. It wasn't a campaign, it was just one night. I went to that meeting. And I heard the message that probably is all too familiar to many of you. That Jesus Christ died for me.

That I was a sinner. A religious sinner. And that I needed to repent. And believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's what by God's mercy I did that night. I went back to that school. And began slowly to tell my friends what happened.

By that time a lot of crazy things had happened in that school. And I had been elected as the student president because I was so wild and so outspoken. I used to stand in front of the school and shout at them.

And tell them if they didn't get out to the football game and stand behind the team. They ought to get out of the school. But at the same time my conduct and my behavior and especially my big mouth. Caused the teachers to put me on a black list.

Then I went back to that school with this new light in Christ. It's impossible to tell you what God did. Fifteen years backlog of prayer. I noticed on the literature table a leaflet that I wrote called What Happened to the Prayer Meeting.

And I hope you'll take one of these. Because I believe it's one of the greatest needs in this day. The need for prayer. The need for prayer meetings. Where our emphasis on worship flows into an emphasis on intercession.

We have both. To make a long story short, God heard her prayers. Some 200 students in that school professed the Lord Jesus Christ in about a period of a year or two. In one meeting where there were about 600 students.

And a third of these students would be drunk most weekends, totally drunk. But in that meeting of some 600. When we just shared the message of salvation in a simple way. The Holy Spirit moved and some 125 or more professed Christ as their Savior in that one meeting.

This was the birthplace of what was later, only when it got to Europe, to be called Operation Mobilization. A year later, three of us were linked up at a university. A man named Dale Roton. Some of you know his books.

He has been in God's purpose to be a major influence in my life. A man filled with the Holy Ghost. Who in God's providence I met in my first year at university. He was in his second year at university.

God knit us together. About 22 years ago. And we've had the joy of being together these 22 years. He is now the coordinator of the second ship. Some of you will meet him when that ship comes into Amsterdam in November.

He is now the man responsible for the second ship, the Doulos. And you will meet him when you visit the Doulos in Amsterdam in November. I hope that you will visit the ship at that time. I have here an invitation with me for you.

I can't read it. But it looks Dutch. It is about the program that the ship will have during its visit to Amsterdam. And I hope that you will pray for this visit. And that you will have a meeting with this brother.

Mexico and the Expansion of World Evangelism

A few months later we would go together to Mexico. We had heard how many people in Mexico don't even have a Bible. We were young. I was 19. God gave this vision for Mexico. By the time I was there, I was 20.

And we saw states there that made a great impression on our lives. And I want to swear to consider getting a time out of your own country as quick as possible. Those few weeks in Mexico when I was 20 totally revolutionized my whole viewpoint of life.

Those few weeks in Mexico when I was 20 totally revolutionized my whole viewpoint of life. The following summer I decided to leave that university. And to go to a Bible school. That was a very interesting experience.

But it was in Chicago. That's why I went there because I wanted to witness for Christ in Chicago. Because I had been working for two years among drunkards and among prisoners. And I found out Chicago had more drunkards than almost any city in the entire world.

And I found out Chicago had more drunkards than almost any city in the entire world. And I had a great burden for my own country. There is always an abundance of work in your own country. There are always enough drunkards.

There are always enough drug addicts. There is always work to be done. But as I went to Mexico again the next summer. I saw that the people in the United States had 100 times the opportunity. I said the opportunity to hear about Jesus Christ than the people I was facing in Mexico.

Now that was 20 years ago. Things have changed. Mexico is one of the most responsive nations in the world to the gospel. We have an army of Mexicans who soon will be moving into Spain and into other countries.

And our prayers even in those early days in Mexico. To see Mexicans saved and sent out to the ends of the earth have slowly become a reality. And we saw God answer prayer. We saw God saving people. Working in people's hearts.

Christians coming back to Christ, being filled with the Holy Spirit. And from those earliest days this conviction was burned into our souls. That the key to evangelism is revival in the church. To see churches come alive.

To see individuals come alive. And be filled with the Spirit. And experience the cross. And the Lordship of Christ. And all that the New Testament talks about. Of course it was a spiritual warfare. And as very young men we were destined to learn some of the realities of spiritual warfare.

Some of the powers of demon forces. Some of the subtle tactics of the enemy. And Corinthians says, be not ignorant of Satan's devices and methodology. This drove us deeper into God's Word. What does this book say?

How do we resist the enemy? How do we pray in the Spirit? How do we learn to fast and to pray? How do we learn to bind the enemy in the name of Jesus and the power of the blood of Christ? How do we learn discernment?

Discernment, Spiritual Warfare, and Cultural Repentance

A .W. Tozer, one of the most anointed men of God who's ever lived. Some of you have read his books. The most powerful Christian books I have ever read are those written by A .W. Tozer. And he said the greatest gift needed in the church today is the gift of discernment.

Some of this we receive from the Holy Spirit. But other aspects can only be learned in the front lines of spiritual conflict face to face with the forces of hell. So we saw that working in Mexico, even though we were young, was a tremendous training program.

God began to strip us of some of our cultural hangovers. God exposed us and showed us that many things did not have anything to do with our Christian faith but were things related to our culture and to the American culture.

And we had to repent and come into a new walk with Christ. He began to show us that there were a lot of things that we thought were Christian but were just American customs. And that they had nothing to do with Christianity.

We had to repent. Now this vision was spread in several Bible schools but especially in the Wheaton Bible College. A regular college in Wheaton. And these nights of prayer began to take place in other schools.

And soon instead of two or three of us there were twenty or thirty. And that work has gone on in Mexico these twenty or more years. Recently we had the joy of visiting Mexico with a ship. And in Veracruz in a united crusade with Luis Palau.

Some three thousand people made their decision for Jesus Christ. Many experienced a new power in their life. Soon the Lord had led us out of Mexico. Mexicans and others took over the work. Around that time I got married.

That is a whole incredible story in itself. And my wife, seven months later, were in Spain. Spain was a closed country. 1961. And we believed in our nights of prayer that God would open Spain. Within three years, though the average person only found out five years later.

Within three years Spain was completely open. And by 64 we had been in almost every single town and village in the nation with the word of God. Now I have a story that I tell all over the world. I have never told it in front of Brother Andrews, so I am going to risk it tonight.

Operation Mobilization and the Communist World

Because when I came to Europe my first burden was the Muslim world and my second burden was the communist world. So in Spain I was turning the work over to Spaniards and learning Russian with a great vision for Russia.

So in the summer of 1961 I went into Russia. Also with my car loaded with these little scripture portions. And underneath the dashboard, hidden away, was a special printing device that I had made. Hidden under the car was a printing device to print more material.

And whenever I tell this story I say, well most of you have heard of God Smuggler. I know, I know here in Holland you just know Anne is just an ordinary Dutchman. And all over the world he is known as God Smuggler, poor soul.

And in the rest of the world, he is known as God Smuggler. And so then I say, well here tonight is God's Bungler. Which means the one who makes the big mistake. Because I made a big mistake. And within 48 hours was arrested by the Soviet secret police.

We had no plan to give out this material. We knew that probably if we did that we would get caught. So we decided to do what we had done in other countries, we were going to send it through the post. I was typing, I had learned how to type Russian.

I was typing the addresses, the other brother was printing the leaflets. But some butter had melted on top of a Gospel of John. The other brother with me said, look let's get rid of this, let's just get it down the toilet.

How can we put the word of God down the toilet? And being Dutch I thought we must not waste this Gospel John. So I said tomorrow when no one is looking, I will just drop it along the highway and praise the Lord, he will use that Gospel.

So I said, tomorrow on the highway I will do it unnoticed, I will put it on the street and then we will trust the Lord that someone will pick it up and read it. And that was the big mistake. I dropped it on the highway.

I didn't see anybody. We were somewhere in the countryside. And within ten miles the roadblock was up, the police were there and I was arrested. After two or three days of questioning they managed to get everything we had in the car.

And God convinced me that I was really not ready for that ministry. They finally gave me a submachine gun escort to Czechoslovakia and then the Czechs who cooperate gave me the same escort to Austria.

Very special person, VIP. That was the end of George Borwer's ministry in the communist country. I didn't know what was happening, but God knew there were better men around. And I went into Germany for a day of prayer.

And I tend to pray rather loud. And I love to sing and to worship Jesus. So I went to the top of a tree. And my wife's father had been killed in the war. And as I was looking over Germany. Be careful, you'll have me dead soon as well.

Have a drink. And as I looked over Germany. And I thought all the people that were killed because of hatred. Could not love do a greater thing than hatred. And two words came to my mind that had never come before.

Operation Mobilization. And I shouted out those two words. A brother heard me who was praying off in the woods. And in a sense that was the second birthplace. The real birthplace of OM. Which became basically a European movement.

By the next summer there were 300 of us. By the next summer there were 2000. And though mistakes were made. And we were still growing in the Lord. That we didn't know all of God's Word. Many, many thousands came to know Him.

And new churches were born. Because our burden has always been to see men saved. And then gathered in to living local churches that worship Him. In Spain, in Italy, in France. New churches were eventually born.

The Fivefold Vision: Reaching the Muslim World

And then the vision spread out into the Muslim world. But let's just stop. Let's go back. One woman. An unknown woman. Who believed in God's Word. Who believed in prayer. And God fulfilled her burden.

Her prayer. Well, lots happened over these last few years. India soon became a major field. In fact, I think the best thing I could do at this point. Just share with you the five-fold vision that God has given us.

And I want to point to a few important parts of the world. The first part of the vision is the vision for the Muslim world. The Lord gave this to us over 22 years ago. When we began to read about countries like Turkey.

Where there are 38 million people. And all the Turkish believers from the most Turkish background could sit on this auditorium, on this stage. By far one of the ten most, absolutely most unreached nations in the world today, the land of Turkey.

Most people do not grasp the dimension and the size of the Muslim world. It starts over here in this part of Africa. All this is solidly Muslim. And it's moving rapidly south, more and more south into Africa.

Nigeria has just become a democracy again. And the president and the prime minister isn't Muslim. And then the Muslims move, the whole Muslim world moves, of course, solidly into the Middle East. We all know that.

Afghanistan, even 22 years ago, became one of the main prayer targets of our whole movement. We continually pray for that land of Afghanistan. And God has enabled us to have a dozen or ten men there, most of the time, laboring.

Men is chaos tonight in Afghanistan. Hundreds of thousands are being killed in the civil war that's going on there. There are about 15, 18 million people in Afghanistan. And there are probably a few dozen, maybe 50, believers in the entire nation.

It seems incredible. Two thousand years after the great commission of Jesus Christ and the coming of the Holy Spirit, that these places could be so unreached. Pakistan, mostly Muslim. Even in India, where the Muslims are a minority group, there are 80 million Muslims.

Very few missionaries working among Muslims in the whole of India. I just a few months ago returned from Bangladesh. Here again, mainly Muslims. Now a wide open door. Official missionaries can go today to Bangladesh.

You can go there as a missionary. I can name seven societies that would be happy to have you. And Muslims are willing, in this particular day and age, to listen to the gospel in that area of Bangladesh.

And there are about 70, 80 million people in that tiny land area. Islam spreads down through Malaysia, where it's illegal to talk to a Muslim about Christ. And it's heavily taken and has a strong representation in the southern Philippines.

And now, through immigration, Muslims are everywhere. In fact, I just read a report that in Great Britain alone, there are 2 million immigrants. And quite a few among them would be Muslims. They have built a beautiful mosque in the very center of London.

They now preach Muslim evangelism. The newspaper had an article, England declared rights for Islam. And British people, some are becoming Muslims. In America, among the blacks especially, tens of thousands have become Muslims.

I would ask you to pray for the Muslim world. One out of every seven, one out of seven people in the world is a Muslim. One out of every seven people in the world is a Mohammedan. Yet less than 2 of the missionaries in the world are working among Muslims.

I believe some of you tonight. I don't believe we're here by accident. I believe we're here by divine arrangement. I believe there are some that should be seriously considering serving Christ in the Muslim world.

There are many ways to go. It's true, many of these countries are not open to normal, registered, sort of official, full baggage carrying missionaries. I know that many of these countries are not open to...

The Subcontinent Vision: India, Bangladesh, and China

There are more than ten ways to go to the most difficult countries. God has set before us an open door. The second part of this vision is the vision of the subcontinent. This includes India, where I lived for five or six years with my wife.

One of the reasons I'm not there now is that somehow I got blacklisted and can't get any more visas. It includes Sri Lanka, one of the most populated islands in the world. It includes Bangladesh. Now, from the very beginning of the work, God put this land of China on our hearts.

We were in most of our prayer meetings even 23 years ago, crying out to God for China, for China. And actually, our vision for India came much later. Because we thought India had already so much work to do.

Because we thought India had already so much work to do. And then we asked Dale Roten to visit India to see how it was under the Mohammedans. And we discovered that in North India, neither the Mohammedans nor the Hindus had ever been attacked by the Gospel.

And a few months later, I went there myself. And the most important experience in my life next to Mexico was the land of India. I knew when I got to India why God had allowed me to fail in a Soviet Union.

I had no plan to ever live in India. And then I was speaking fluent Spanish. I could go to South America. I could stay in Spain. For some months, I actually moved here to Southern Holland. I wasn't sure where God actually wanted me to live.

Two weeks living in India, I knew this was my place. I had found my place. Within seven months, we moved our family to that country. When we couldn't live in India, we then moved up to Canada and Nepal.