Run Your Race Podcast
When I first listened to David Goggins' book in 2019, I was hooked. If he could run 100 miles without training, I thought I could do it with training! It unlocked something in me, leading to my journey into ultramarathons. Since then, I've completed multiple 100- and 200-mile races, something I once thought impossible. This podcast aims to give you that same mindset shift. Each week, we interview elite endurance athletes to inspire you to believe more is possible and push yourself to the next level.
Run Your Race Podcast
#008: Full Recap Of My Trip To Africa (CfaN Gospel Crusade)
What happens when skepticism meets the undeniable power of faith? Our latest episode brings you to Abuja, Nigeria, alongside my friend Colton Wiseman and Rob Enge from Christ for All Nations. Rob shares his profound experiences from over a decade of evangelistic crusades across Africa, recounting real-life miracles that challenge doubt and ignite belief. From witnessing a woman walking without crutches to observing the palpable joy and faith of thousands gathered, this episode reveals the transformative impact of encountering God's love in action.
This is a bit of a different episode than our typical ones. I went to Africa in November 2024 and have been getting a lot of questions about my experience. I wanted to share this journey with you, diving into the incredible moments and reflections from my time there.
Join us as we explore the courage and sacrifices involved in spreading the gospel, especially in regions where faith meets resistance. We reflect on the logistical and financial commitments of such missions and how Colton's initial doubts were dispelled by the genuine expressions of faith he witnessed. Embracing the teachings of Evangelist Daniel Kalenda, we discuss the profound spiritual journey of overcoming doubt and the limitless possibilities that come with unwavering belief in the miraculous.
This episode offers a window into the electrifying atmosphere of crusades where the miraculous becomes reality. From powerful healing testimonies to the deeper spiritual insights gained along the way, our conversation emphasizes the unexplainable nature of faith and the blessings that flow from a decision to follow Jesus. We highlight transformative stories of conversions and the importance of embracing childlike faith, leaving listeners inspired to trust in God's will and the extraordinary power of His presence.
For more information on the soul-winning ministry of Christ for all Nations, visit:
http://www.cfan.org
Instagram: @evangelistdanielkolenda - https://www.instagram.com/evangelistdanielkolenda/
Facebook: Evangelist Daniel Kolenda - https://www.facebook.com/evangelistkolenda/
Youtube: Daniel Kolenda - https://www.youtube.com/@DanielKolenda
Podcast: Off the Record with Daniel Kolenda - https://open.spotify.com/show/2STBv1MNxPeymHRtXAm5k2?si=ab17343a30e643c6
All right, we are live recording what is up everyone. Welcome back to the YouTube channel, the Run your Race podcast. We're throwing this everywhere. Today I am joined. You might notice we look a little different. We're wearing some Nigerian clothes. I'm with my friend Colton and Rob Angy on the other line, and today what we're going to do is break down the experience that we had in Abuja, Nigeria.
Speaker 2:This is going to be a little bit different podcast. Today we're going to talk about miracles, talk about testimonies of what God did, and usually on this podcast we're talking about crazy physical feats, things that are miraculous in that way. But this is going to be about even greater miracles that God did, Things like people who are on crutches being given their ability to walk again, people with diseases being completely gone right now, and you may be skeptical of that. You may think to yourself like man, does that really happen? People talk about people praying for people to be healed. Does that actually happen?
Speaker 2:You read about in the Bible how people were raised from the dead. Is that even possible? And there might be a lot of doubt in your mind of stuff like that, and I'm really excited for you to listen to this and hear from Colton, from Rob, from what I have to share, and your mind to just be expanded, Because I would say four years ago, even two or three years ago, I never believed to the extent that I do now and I just wrote off things like that from happening. In fact, when I met Rob Ankey, it had to be. What was it, Rob? In February maybe?
Speaker 3:It's February of this year 2024.
Speaker 2:So in February, rob had just come back from a crusade because he works with the ministry that we went with. And he came back and he came to one of our events that we were hosting, a Launching Pad event, and he was sharing all these testimonies of these miracles happening and people being healed and thousands, and probably tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of people giving their lives to Christ. And I was blown away by this. I was like what that even happens, hundreds of thousands of people gather in one area to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ like that blew my mind. And so this is going to be a mind-blowing episode. This is going to be a transformational episode and you won't just hear it from us. You'll see it.
Speaker 2:In a few minutes We'll share a recap video of the experience. But, guys, thank you so much for joining me. I'm super excited. Rob, why don't you just introduce yourself? Rob has worked for Christ for All Nations, the ministry that we went to Africa with. For how many years? Tell us, and just tell us a little bit about yourself.
Speaker 3:Yeah, absolutely. First and foremost, Pierce, thank you so much, man, for allowing me the opportunity to just come on your podcast and use your platform to speak on a topic that every single one of us burn for, and that's Jesus. And so, yeah, so I actually started with the Ministry of Christ for All Nations in 2014. I've been serving for over a decade. I came into the ministry as the executive assistant to evangelist Daniel Kalenda and from that, you know, from that moment, we've been on hundreds of trips, we've traveled to dozens of countries, and you know I'm a little bit spoiled in the sense that you know this was your guys' first crusade, but I've been to the continent of Africa dozens of times. I've been to most continents, over 40 plus countries, but it just never gets old. For those of the listeners and the viewers, just so that you know what it is that we're talking about, the Ministry of Christ for All Nations was founded in 1973 by a German evangelist by the name of Reinhard Bonnke, and he had a dream, four consecutive nights in a row, where he saw the continents of Africa being washed in the blood of Jesus from north to south, from west to east, and he heard the voice of the Holy Spirit saying Africa shall be saved, and it was then when he started these evangelistic campaigns in the continents of Africa. And we are actually currently, right now, in our 50th anniversary year of soul winning ministry.
Speaker 3:And for those that are like, well, what is a gospel crusade? A gospel crusade is simply a large scale evangelistic event that's focused on proclaiming the message of the gospel, salvation through Jesus Christ, to a massive audience. So there's not we do these open air crusades, which Pearson Colton can tell you, it's essentially just a massive field that we've plowed out, that we've put dirt on, and hundreds of thousands of people come to hear the gospel. They stand in this large field and there's preaching, there's worship, music and then, of course, the culmination of is the gospel being preached. So there's a five different elements of our gospel crusades. There's the evangelistic preaching, which is just clear and bold proclamation of the gospel message, where we talk about the love of God, we talk about repentance, forgiveness and eternal life through Jesus Christ, and then we have mass outreach. So this particular crusade, the final night, we had close to 500,000 individuals in attendance in one single meeting, the largest gathering that the ministry of Christ for all nations has ever had in one single service was 1.6 million people in Lagos, Nigeria, in the year 2000, in one single meeting, with over a million people giving their life to Christ. So it's just, it's focused on.
Speaker 3:You know, we advertise, we mobilize, we work hand in hand with the local churches. We're an evangelistic ministry. We do nothing outside of the partnership with a local church.
Speaker 3:Another element is we pray for healing, we pray for deliverance, we pray for physical healing, emotional restoration, freedom from spiritual oppression, and we just emphasize the power of God and his ability to be able to transform lives. And then we have the call for salvation, which is the central focus, where we invite those that have heard the gospel, responded to the gospel, we allow them to repent, place their faith in Jesus Christ and then just commit their lives to follow him. And then, like I, place their faith in Jesus Christ and then just commit their lives to follow him. And then, like I said, we work with the local churches hand in hand to get these new converts ushered into the local church so that they can grow in discipleship, because Jesus didn't call us to go and make new converts, he called us to make disciples. So that is the essence of what we experienced this past week and what we are going to be talking about on this podcast.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so glad to have you on here, Rob. Rob has experienced. How many crusades do you think you've been to?
Speaker 3:Oh man, it's been dozens and dozens. The ministry typically will hold eight to 10 crusades a year, but now, under the leadership of evangelist Daniel Kalenda, and this vision of a decade of double harvest where we're training, equipping and deploying evangelists all over the world, this year alone, from January until now, we are approaching our 50th crusade this year. It's unprecedented, it's mind-blowing, because the vision that God gave Evangelist Kalenda was that we could not accomplish this by simply adding more to our calendar, but by multiplication and collaboration. And so that's what we have done, which has allowed us to. I mean, we could infinitely scale the efforts, you know, until God himself comes home. So this year we've done 50 mass gospel crusades, which is just absolutely remarkable for one single ministry.
Speaker 2:Very important prop just fell.
Speaker 3:Yes it was. We'll get back to that later in the podcast.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we'll get into that in a second. Now I want to introduce you to Colton, my good friend. Colton and I met I don't know how many months ago in Steve's living room, I believe for a men's prayer meeting in Steve's living room, I believe for a men's prayer meeting. Colton, introduce yourself a little bit and also say why you decided to go on this trip.
Speaker 4:Yeah, thank you. Yeah, so I've been a part of Champions in Christ ministry now for about a year. That's where I met Pierce and actually that's where I got introduced to Rob. Rob, the first time that I noticed you was actually on a Zoom call. We were in the discipleship program together and I remember it was like week two and Steve had you pray us out and I just remember I was just sitting in my office and you started praying and God started speaking to me and working in me and I was like what's happening? Everyone's getting super fired up. When Rob prays, you feel something. He's got the fire of God in him. And so I just remember, after that I was like I want to get to know this guy. And I remember I shot you a text. You were like, right off the get, go super generous with your time. You sent me some like books to read which have been super incredible and just like just amazing. And then I remember we got on a call and you told me what you do which I didn't even know what you do until that call and you're like, yeah, we go and have like hundreds of thousands of salvations in Africa.
Speaker 4:I've seen every single miracle before my eyes and all this stuff, and I was like I always was somebody, like I've been growing my faith a lot, but I had, like I would say, internal skepticism that that still happens. I believe that God could do it. I always believed he could, but I hadn't like seen it. It wasn't tangible to me. So I was like man, I want to experience that. And I remember telling you on that call I'm like I'm going to come on your next trip. You're like okay, cool, you know, sent me an email. I'm like no, I'm actually coming, I need to see this. And so, long story short, you know we ended up there and I can't wait to get into it.
Speaker 4:It was so incredible. But, um, I would just say like what's been driving me is the verse like seek me and you will find me when you seek me with all your heart. And I feel like for so long I was just like using God for, like when I needed him, or like compartmentalizing him for church, but as I've like seeked him with all my heart, there's such like tangible evidence just over in every single time. That's just undeniable and it's been so exciting. So, thank you for bringing us into your world, rob. It has been definitely life-changing. Thank you, man. Thank you for the kind words. I love Rob. It has been definitely life-changing.
Speaker 3:Oh, thank you, man. Thank you for the kind words. I love you both dearly and that was really a highlight for me was being able to welcome you guys in my world, and we say it all the time. You know, like you were talking about the skepticism and you know there's actually people that say that, like mass evangelism isn't for today and like now you guys haven't been in my world for a little bit, you're just like that, that just seems like crazy. So I really hope to that we get to speak to just any skepticism and doubt that things like this are happening.
Speaker 3:So for me, I always say, like, if you want it, you can get it. Like there's an open invitation for anybody, even if you're listening or watching this podcast, anybody that ever wants to go to Africa and experience it for yourself. Like you have an open invitation and Colton and Pierce can tell you like it's not a joke, like you're more than welcome. And I laugh because you know Colton, when we had a talk a few weeks leading up to it, he's, like you know, just had questions like man are we like, are we going to be like, like I just want to be, it's an investment, right. Like it's Africa, you got to take time off from work, the tickets aren't cheap, the hotels aren't. People think like, oh, it's Africa, so it's not going to be that much, but no, it costs a lot of money to get there. It's a sacrifice, it's a commitment. And so Colton was just, you know, in his, in his fields and his head, asking me all these questions and I'm like man, just please, just trust me, just trust me, man, I promise you, man.
Speaker 2:And so we get there and we're like day two, and you're just like bro, I didn't really think like we would be able to sit on the platform, like I didn't think that, like we would be at the hotel, I didn't think we'd be able to meet the team and like interact with them, and like I didn't think we'd be able to go and pray for people and I'm like no, no, no man, like I meant what I said so really glad that you trusted me and believe me, and I think our listeners and the viewers are going to realize the impact that it had, not just on you, us, but you can see actually a visual of what happened in Africa and then we'll break down leading up to the trip and then also like what happened at the trip.
Speaker 2:So, lord, we just thank you so much for today. God, we thank you for the breath in our lungs, which means you have a plan and a purpose for our lives. Lord, I just pray that you would use Colton, rob and I, just as vessels, to just share the truth of the gospel, to share of your miraculous, miracle working power, and that you just open up the hearts and minds of every single person listening to this, for whatever you have for them, lord, I pray that you would just speak directly to their hearts and if they know you, lord, their relationship with you would be strengthened, and if they don't know you, lord, that their heart would be turned and you would work in their heart to draw them closer to you. So, god, we thank you and we just submit to you In Jesus' name. We pray Amen, all right. So, god, we thank you and we just submit to you in Jesus name. We pray Amen, all right.
Speaker 1:So awesome, so we're going to click it to the video right now. People of Abuja, are you happy? Tonight, nigeria belongs to Jesus. Jesus is going to visit us as never before. Jesus is going to pick you, like he picked Zacchaeus out of the tree. And when you go home tonight, you are not going home alone. You are going hand in hand. Hand in hand with Jesus. Hallelujah, jesus. Why are you crying? And now, what happened to you? Okay, no more pain. Take my hand, walk. Look at this. You were sick 14 years ago. You're the one that healed me. Oh, I remember you and you're still here. I have an accident. I broke my two legs. You broke two legs. Come on, walk for us. Walk for us. You don't want it anymore. All right, give it to somebody who needs it Every curse will be broken.
Speaker 1:Tonight, every sickness will be healed tonight. If you believe it, shout amen, amen. Jesus told his disciples you will receive power when the Holy Ghost comes upon you Tonight, jesus will restore your life, he will restore your soul. If you are living in the darkness, you're going to step out into the light.
Speaker 3:Okay, so you just watched that video.
Speaker 2:Let's get back on a plane and go to Nigeria. What are we doing, guys? Yeah, we were all watching that and we were like like, oh my gosh, we got to go back again. Just so insane. I mean you see like an ocean of humanity. You see the gospel being preached, you see people healed and just the look on their faces, the joy, like that one woman in particular who I think had both both broken legs she had, she broke two legs from a car accident and if you looked closely she was holding a crutch and, uh, rob's got a special souvenir if you look closely, yep, this is the crutch evangel.
Speaker 3:Evangelist Kalenda said here we'll send this to somebody that needs it, but, like I mean, I definitely don't need it. But it's stuff like this that just fuels us to know. I carried this home from Abuja, nigeria. You guys are with me in the airport. People are like, why are you carrying that? I'm like this is a testimony of the miracle working power of God For those that say that he doesn't heal. Today.
Speaker 3:You know, you know Colton, you know I love what you said because you one of the things that impacted you especially like that second night, is you were just like you can't deny the looks in their face when you see that they've been touched from God. Like in that video, that little girl she had hot tears streaming down her face and like, just like I'm OK. Streaming down her face and like, just like I'm okay, like I can't even imagine having been broken both legs, and like and walking on crutches for years. And like this girl, you know, having this thing for like years, just like it is essentially like a part of their identity because they've had it for so long. And then, in a moment, like God touches them and heals them and like they'll say oh well, that was all a script. Like you know, they they get people to do that, they pay people to do that. Like, like she don't have her crutch, like she's in Abuja, nigeria, I'm in Orlando, florida. Like how do you explain that?
Speaker 4:But, colin, I would love your perspective because you had told me you're like oh bro, this is legit, like this is real, you can't fake that. Yeah, so a little bit of context. Like I had experienced a couple like what I would consider like healing or revival nights prior to coming to Africa and a couple of like healing miracles in different churches. And it's not that I denied that they happened, it's just that I didn't fully believe it. I didn't, I wasn't sure if there was me like. I knew that I denied that they happened. It's just that I didn't fully believe it. I didn't, I wasn't sure if there was me like. I knew that, I believed that God could.
Speaker 4:But some of the like reactions I was very skeptical of, someone's like came on stage. He's like I was healed, I was deaf and now I can hear, and he's like and I'm good now. I'm like I'd be freaking out if that happened, you know so. So my intuition was like and if you think about logically, there are probably people out there that would want to boost their book or their ministry and have fake people come on and lie. That's possible. So it wasn't completely a bad thought.
Speaker 4:But then when I went to Africa, I would say there's two things that really shifted. One is the very first night night I was about six feet, so like the videos are, you know, you see the reaction. But I was six feet from one of the ladies that had been healed. Like in the moment that day the like painful lump in and on her rib disappeared and her reaction was so real. It was, it was so real and it like shook me at my core, like God actually took away all the pain and the lump was gone. So that was like the first time I was like Whoa, like this was a real reaction.
Speaker 4:You just, you just know when you're six feet from someone, but then I'm still like a skeptical person. That alone maybe wouldn't have been enough for me. It was the culmination of that, mixed with hundreds and hundreds and everything that transpired over the five days. It was way too much for and it was way too many and it was way too much like going through the crowd and talking to people that weren't on stage and all these things that we'll probably get into, was just way too much to deny that God did heal people and God does still heal, and it was like in an instant, you know, and so like you just can't deny when you experienced that, that it definitely happened, and if it happens for one, it happens right, and it definitely happened for a lot more than one, that trip.
Speaker 3:And that woman that you were talking about, that had the lump in her breast. She actually came up on the platform with her husband and her husband was standing with her and testified like, no, it was there and it's not there no more.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, yeah. And actually, rob, you may know this testimony more than I do, but one thing that really stuck with me and is a great talking point for me with people who may not have believed in miraculous healing or believe in it now or, um, people who are a bit skeptical, is uh, there were two people, two testimonies specifically of people who are muslim before, and they were at the crusade. Uh, specifically, I remember there was this didn't happen at this crusade, but it happened at another one. There was a muslim woman who there was something wrong with her and she was healed and she started following Jesus and she was wearing a I love Jesus shirt or something like that.
Speaker 2:And, if you don't know, I'm not super familiar with the Muslim culture, but one thing I learned through this experience is that if you're Muslim and you change and you decide you're not going to be Muslim anymore and you turned into a Christian, that's basically like a death sentence for you. Your whole family is going to disown you. You may even be killed for it, all these crazy things, and actually it's very unfortunate. But there was a lady who got saved, she got healed, started following God and her husband killed her and it's weird. Death is an interesting thing as a Christian, because I think it's very sad that she died, but it's like now she's with Jesus in heaven, like how amazing is that? Don't judge me for saying this, but does it really matter right now that she's, her eternity is in heaven. So I think that's way better. But yeah, rob, do you know about that testimony and will you just fill in the gaps that I'm missing?
Speaker 3:Yeah, no, you, you did, you did an amazing job. Yeah, it happened. It happened long before my time at the ministry, but it is a very, it's a very real thing. The places that we go to preach the gospel, it's not. You know, most people aren't willing to go. There's places in, you know, areas of Africa that even the locals don't want to go. They, they're afraid to go because, just because of of the repercussions of accepting in the Western world, we have it so easy, like we're, we're like intimidated to go share our faith with, like a coworker, but in other parts of the world, like, yes, it absolutely can cost you your life.
Speaker 3:And this instant did this young lady had came to one of our gospel crusades, just as Pierce had said, and at the time we had had this campaign, um, and again, I could be. I don't have the full understanding of the story because it happened long before our time, but essentially I believe that it was like during the apartheid, and there was just a separation between the whites and the Africans. And so they, with Evangelist Bonnke being on the continent of Africa, they were saying no, that's a white man's religion. And so there was just this divide between, you know, the, the, the races. And so he had put this campaign together with these t-shirts that said Christ for all nations on the front, and on the back it said that I belong to Jesus. So it wasn't a white man's religion or an African religion, like we are just sons and daughters of his, and so we belong to Jesus. And so they, they, they were given these t-shirts out at the crusade.
Speaker 3:This young lady did come. She received a miracle, she received salvation. She got up in front of the crowd and she had testified that she was now a Christian. And, just like Pierce explained, you know, oftentimes when you do that, you're exiled, Like you no longer belong to the faith, you don't belong to the family, you are an outcast.
Speaker 3:And so we've had this several times where, when a Muslim will come and receive salvation and they testify, like they are essentially putting their life on the line. And in this instance, somebody that was in the crowd had knew who she was, recognized her, had informed the husband that she was up in front of this massive crowd confessing Jesus Christ as her Lord and savior, and shortly after he had came to the crusade field and shortly after he saw her there and and killed her. And so, uh, yeah, she was lying there and I believe that there's some uh, you know footage somewhere, but like they just show her, she had passed away. But she had a blood stained shirt and on the back of it it said that I belong to Jesus and on the back of it.
Speaker 2:It said that I belong to Jesus. Wow, yeah, that's crazy, but you think about it. It's like you wouldn't just die for something that you didn't experience, wholeheartedly believe in and all of that.
Speaker 3:So just take that all the way back to the Bible, with the, with the disciples. You know they all you know laid down their life and it was a brutal, vicious death. You know they, all you know laid down their life and it was a brutal, vicious death, but they had experienced something so real, so tangible that they were willing to lay their life down for it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, 100 percent. So now let's actually get into the crusade. I want to just share with people what it was like from a standpoint of the setup, what the days looked like, the messages, um, what the days looked like, the messages. We don't have to go deep into like each specific night, but just the structure I want to lay, lay down and then um, open it up to, to Colton to just share his thoughts going through that experience. But yeah, so essentially we get to Africa. I got a day late because my crazy travel schedule I was supposed to be on two flights then got on's very cool because they have the platform and they have I don't know how many different church leaders on there at least 20 or so from all the region and they really work together to put this on. So it's not about a person, it's not about a ministry. It's about people receiving Jesus as their Lord and Savior and getting also hearing the gospel, but receiving radical miracles and healing. And so there would be worship. Local worship artists would be playing. You would always know who is a big worship artist in Nigeria because all the the people would just go, uh, go nuts for them. And we we even left there singing a couple songs that that wouldn't uh, wouldn't leave our heads. So there was worship, and then Daniel would get there, evangelist Kalenda, he'd preach the gospel. There was always a different, slightly different message each night. Um, one was about everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. There was a story, the story of Zacchaeus, who had had robbed from a bunch of people and how he paid them all back. And just all all these different messages, one each night, for for five nights, I believe it was. And then evangelist Kalenda would go into the, giving people an opportunity to give their lives to Christ. That was really powerful. And after it it's like I've I've been getting a lot of questions like how do they know how many people get saved, and what do they do afterwards? And and all of that, and what they did was they have, they print I mean, gotta be hundreds of thousands of copies of this book that Rob's holding up now that you are saved. And so they have. They train these counselors, these ushers, to hand out that book, to help people in their first steps in their walk with God, and in it they have an opportunity for people to just fill out their name and where they're from, and so they actually get plugged into a local church. Yeah, there you go. So they fill out these questions, then they give it back to the counselor and the counselor helps them get plugged into a local church. So it's not just like they decide to follow Jesus and hey, awesome, you're going to heaven now, it's like they actually get plugged into a church, they get discipled. It's really powerful.
Speaker 2:And then what was really profound to me too, I mean just to see all the people saved, but then also the testimonies of the miracles. So Evangelist Colinda will pray for the sick, will pray for healing for people, and yeah, they just give people an opportunity to come up to the stage and share their testimonies of what God did. And you just hear countless. I keep telling people it's like too many people for the amount of time that we have. Like every night they'd share at least probably 10 different testimonies of people being healed.
Speaker 2:One powerful one that stands out to me was there was this woman who was at a crusade over 10 years earlier and she wasn't able to have a child. She had tried and tried again and wasn't able to have a child. Evangelist Colenda, I believe 12 years earlier, specifically prayed for women with a barren womb, women who weren't able to have children, to be able to have children and that God would heal their womb. And she brought up her 12-year-old son, who was conceived and then born shortly after that crusade. So, hearing testimonies like that over and over and over and over again, they had to turn people away because there are too many testimonies to share. So that's kind of the the groundwork of like literally what each night looked like. But yeah, colton, what were your thoughts on experiencing that?
Speaker 4:Man. First off, Daniel Kalinda. The way that he breaks down messages in such simple ways, even for me like was really revolutionary to how I and like his storytelling. There's recordings on that. Go find it and listen because it was like really, really amazing messages and it resonated.
Speaker 4:But, to be honest, like it's been what two weeks now and I am still metabolizing and trying to like feel what I experienced out there, because it's like when you see miracle signs and wonders, you can't really explain it right, and I'm so tactical and strategic and analytical and all this on these things and you can't explain it. A couple and I'm so. I'm so tactical and strategic and analytical and all this on these things and you can't explain it. A couple of things that stood out to me. One the word of God is so true and there's a verse that I had read, that I hadn't seen and now I know is true. It's Mark 16, 17. It says and these signs will follow those who believe in my name, they will cast out demons, they will speak in new tongues, they will, and if they drink anything deadly, it will not hurt them and they will lay hands on the sick and they will recover. That's a pretty bold verse right, All of those things I mean I don't know if people were drinking poison, but all of those things happened right in front of me every single night on multiple accounts. And here's how like, here's how skeptical I am. Like people were healed on stage and I would go back to the hotel and be like hey, did you know anybody that was on stage? Literally like multiple people at the hotel and different people were like oh yeah, I knew her. She lives down the street from me. Oh yeah, this one. Like yeah, they've been using crutches for five years and now they're healed, Like slick evidence and evidence of healing. And another thing, Rob, that you pointed out is he's like think about this, there are hundreds of thousands of people here in Africa. They're not coming unless there's real power. And the reason that it grows so big is because someone who was blind since they were born comes back to their village and they can see the whole village comes right, like it's how it's so big, because it actually happens out there. And so I think the biggest things that changed for me was like I saw such tangible evidence of these things that happened.
Speaker 4:I'll give one more story. Uh, that, I think, is really important and it is the lady that was in the video. She came on stage and she, 21 years prior, had really bad issues, had surgery and had her spinal cord severed. In surgery she was paralyzed by the from the waist down walking around with like these crutches things, and came to a uh. She heard that uh, Kalinda I believe it was him preaching was coming to town 14 years ago, went, got radically healed, right, Completely, could walk, throws her crutches, goes on stage and she was at this last crusade, which was 14 years later. She's still healed. She came back on stage. He recognized her. I think her name was like Priscilla or something like that.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 4:And and what for me, like I saw that I'm like awesome, like she got healed. She's still healed. But then we got to have dinner with with Daniel Kalinda for like two hours and I got to hear his testimony firsthand and see it in his eyes, Like how it, and it's like it was just confirmation that, like she would could she her spinal cord was severed. There's like medical reports, and medical reports prove that God actually healed her.
Speaker 4:If you want to look at the science, the science shows that people who were deaf can now hear. The people who had a picture of a tumor on stage on their back. It's gone Like they bring a picture and then they show you the back and it's gone Like you can't make these things up Right, and so just knowing that we, we, we live for a God that can do that and does still do it is so, so crazy. And it makes me just get lost when I'm reading the word of God Now, like I'll just be reading and I'm just like an hour goes by. I'm just like this is so cool Cause it like is actually the truth, you know.
Speaker 3:Yeah, no, I love that. And you know, and, and we did experience that over those five days, there was there was a woman who came with like you know these crazy, like doctor's reports of like just blood pressure and cholesterol, and like came the first day, guy, healed, and then, like a few days later, she's like this was the report before, like this was the report after and like this was the report before, like this was the report after and like everything was perfect, everything great. And the story about Priscilla Ata, which is so crazy is that she came 14 years later still healed. But her sister also came with her and her sister had also received a miracle 14 years ago. So it was like it wasn't just her with the testimony, it was the sister. Both of them had come, both of them were still doing amazing.
Speaker 3:But, cole, and one of the things that we haven't mentioned here is that your wife came with you. Your beautiful wife, haley was there. It was her first time ever coming to like Africa. But like what was her thoughts? Because I know you guys are both. You guys are both amazing. You're young, you're intelligent, you're smart. Amazing. You're young, you're intelligent, you're smart, you're you're analytical, but I feel like both of you, both of you guys, like your eyes were just open to like a whole new depth of faith and the power and the miraculous hearing of jesus christ yeah, I think we're gonna get her thoughts recorded too, because she you have to it was so funny because, like, I've been experiencing the tangible presence of God through Champions of Christ even right Like, and even before that a little bit, through my local church.
Speaker 4:But, like she, this was like a completely like well, and I remember like it was just so funny watching her because we would be like riding on the bus home and there was like two nights that really stood out the baptism of the Holy Spirit night night, some like really supernatural things happened and right before her eyes. First of all, she's like, she's uh, she's a warrior in the faith. She was out on the field playing over.
Speaker 3:Yeah, one that's right or die. Right there she was in the trenches she was in the trenches, african alphadon.
Speaker 4:But then she had these boots, like she was ready to go to war yeah, and so then I would just look at her on the ride home and this was what was funny, because, like night one, she was like, wow, that's crazy. And by night four, when we're driving home, she's just looking out the the bus window in complete shock and she like couldn't say anything and I'm like what's going on? Like, what are you thinking? She's like my life is never going to be the same. She's like this is, this is real. She's like this is real. Like, and you could just see it in her face.
Speaker 4:She like didn't know how to take it in, but she just was like, just like me. She's still like processing, but she was just. I just remember looking at her and she's like this is so real and what she had experienced was so real. She had seen people get fully delivered, um, right before her eyes, where they are like completely crazy, and then they get delivered in the name of Jesus and they're completely sane and they literally the first word out of their mouth is I feel free, I'm healed, like she saw it right before her eyes and different things like that. That just shook her to her core.
Speaker 3:And then she comes from like a medical background and profession where, like she sees like the worst of the worst and death, and you know so for her to be able to see the opposite side, like it was just special to be able to see what you guys experienced.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that was so cool to watch and actually we're going to click over to a video right now of Haley sharing her thoughts.
Speaker 5:Hi y'all. My name's Haley and Colton, brought me on this sea fan Abuja, nigeria crusade. I'm not sure what has already been shared in the podcast, but they asked that I would share my perspective, and so here we are. I took away a lot from this trip. It didn't necessarily change who I am, but it changed my faith, it changed my perspective on life and it changed my purpose. So the first thing I noticed when we got there was first, there was so many people, more people than I had ever seen, and when we got there, the worship and these people were worshiping for hours and immediately the Lord put on my heart, immediately the Lord put on my heart.
Speaker 5:Joy of the Lord Like that was the first revelation I had was joy of the Lord. These people were worshiping with everything. They were dancing and singing and shouting and just giving the Lord three to four hours of worship before the service, three to four hours of worship before the service, and that really put a lot of things in perspective to me, because these people lived in huts no AC. They have terrible food, terrible water, not great signal or Wi-Fi. Their hospital was like the size of a house. We passed by it and I was just thinking that's where they do surgery, I mean, compared to what we have over here, I was just like extremely, I'm extremely grateful for everything that we have over here. But then when you go over there and see that and see the worship, it just like spoke to me and it made me realize it's not about the things that we have in this life, it's about who we have on our side, the Lord, and joy comes from the Lord. It literally just shakes me because it was amazing. So that was the first thing I took away. The second thing I took away was having childlike faith, and so every single night there were miracles and signs and wonders and these people were coming up on stage testifying, not just themselves, but their family members. There were tears and like tears of joy and just like medical reports and it was amazing. And here's the thing I'm a skeptic at heart because not anymore, but I was coming into the trip because my mom passed away from cancer a couple of years ago, so I didn't get my miracle. And going over there I'm like, okay, is this for real? But guys like every single night, multiple people, and it was things you literally can't explain. You can't explain and I started thinking about this too.
Speaker 5:I grew up in the medical system, going to doctor's appointments with my mom talking to doctors taking medications, and so that's what we rely on over here, but over there they don't have that. So they put all of their faith and trust into the Lord faith and trust into the Lord. And so they have that childlike faith and the Lord shows up in extremely amazing ways. There was a girl who she had scoliosis and the surgeon nicked her spinal cord. She was completely paralyzed and she got up out of her wheelchair and was walking. And she got up out of her wheelchair and was walking Like things you cannot explain. It was amazing.
Speaker 5:And then the third thing I took away was demons are real, and that probably sounds funny, but for me I grew up in the Baptist church we didn't talk about demons, we didn't talk about the Holy Spirit, we didn't talk about tongues or gifts of the Spirit, and so I had never seen that before.
Speaker 5:And if there's light, there's obviously darkness, and I didn't put that together. You know we read about demons getting cast out in the Bible, but I had never seen that personally, and so that hit home and seeing a person being completely delivered and walking in freedom. It put a new purpose on my life. I don't want to live how I've been living. I want to go and share the gospel and help people walk in freedom, and so that was the third thing that I took away. And what's so crazy about that is coming back to the US, because I saw so much over there. I've been able to recognize more over here and I'm not as blinded. So I think that's something I'm taking away and just an encouragement to everyone. The gospel is so simple. It works for absolutely anyone. It doesn't matter if you were what country you're in. It is for you, jesus is for you, and whatever you're struggling with, you can walk in freedom with his blood.
Speaker 2:Rob share a little bit about that night with the baptism of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit was something that wasn't talked about in the churches that I was in growing up. I grew up my dad's side of the family is Catholic. Then I went to a non-denominational church and they talk about God and Jesus and the Holy Spirit, but they don't really talk about the Holy Spirit that much in depth and it doesn't feel led by the Spirit. And it was really Steve who opened my eyes to Steve Weatherford and him mentoring me to the power of the Holy Spirit and God's tangible presence. And just to witness. There's multiple baptisms the Bible talks about, about the baptism of water and the baptism of the Holy Spirit. So, yeah, will you just kind of share a little bit about that part of the crusade that night, what it means, like what even is the baptism of the Holy Spirit, and bring in some scripture and and all of that gladly so.
Speaker 3:Usually Saturday evening of our crusade, evangelist Kalenda will preach a message on the baptism of the Holy Spirit, and it's just a really powerful night.
Speaker 3:And you know, the Holy Spirit is just, it's a promise. It's a promise that the Lord asks, speaks about in the scripture, and he says that when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, like, you will receive power. Right, it's part of the Trinity. There's God, the Father, god the Son, god, the Holy Spirit, and so we invite all of those that are in attendance that have accepted Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior, because that's part of the criteria, right, it's like you got to be a son and a daughter of Jesus, confess him as your Savior and Lord. And so we have this really beautiful moment on Saturday night where it's a culmination of just what Evangelist Kalenda has preached, which is really, it's just powerful because you have a collective group of over what? 400, what? That night, 500,000 people, right, and it's really out of the book of Luke. He talks about the book of Luke, chapter 11, where Jesus is talking about the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, and verse 11, it says that if the son will ask you of bread, will the father give you a stone? It's like of course not. But if he asks you for a fish, is he going to give you a serpent? Like of course not. If he asks you for an egg, is he going to offer you a scorpion? Of course not. And then the scripture tells us well then, if, being the evil ones, know how to give good gifts unto their children, how much more shall your heavenly father give the gift of the Holy Spirit to those who ask? And so here Jesus is asking a rhetorical question, and the question is the answer is obvious it's that if you are going to ask for the gift of the Holy Spirit like, he is going to give it to you. And so we have this culmination where we have this prayer, and Evangelist Kalenda invites those that desire to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit where that they'll be filled.
Speaker 3:And so we read in the book of Acts, chapter two. We read about the outpouring on the day of Pentecost. It says that when the day of Pentecost had fully come, it says that they were together, they were in one place, and there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind that filled the house when they were sitting, and that it appeared that there were amongst them were divided in tongues and that were set upon each of them. They were filled with the Holy spirit and they began to speak in other languages when the spirit gave them utterance. And then, at the very end, peter says these words and he said this is the promise for you, it's for the children of God, it's for those who are far away, it's for those that have called upon the name of the Lord. And that's the beauty of like these different messages, every single message that is preached over these five days. It's a lead up to every single person that comes to not only knowing God, receiving him as the Savior, lord, but literally him becoming your friend. And so we lead them into this opportunity where they are able to receive the Holy Spirit as their savior, as their Lord, as their very best friend. And you just see this mass baptism where the Holy Spirit comes down.
Speaker 3:People are weeping, people are crying, people are some, people are getting delivered, like when the Holy Spirit comes, like you could see it and, colton, you had mentioned this, because like what we did was it's not a man filling anybody.
Speaker 3:And then one of the things I love about Evangelist Colendary says I don't have the power to save you. I don't have the power to heal you, I don't have the power to fill you, but the Bible says that those who hunger and thirst for righteousness it says what They'll be filled. And so it's simply taking the word of God, partnering with the word of God and saying okay, I'm hungry, okay, I'm thirsty, fill me. And then, in a moment, there was just silence. Right, colton, you love this part because it was just silence. And in that moment it was like just the Holy spirit just began to fall. People began to shout, people just began to be overwhelmed by the power and presence of God. People began crying, people began weeping, people began just laughing. It's just a sight to be seen. There's no other way to describe it besides just it's one of the holiest moments that we have in the crusade and one of the most impactful.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'll say and then I'll let Colton share his experience. But, evangelist, I wanted to have everyone be quiet, no music, nobody talk over the microphone and you just hear people shouting, people shrieking, people getting delivered of just oppression. It was nuts to hear. I wish we had like an audio clip of that moment and what happened there.
Speaker 3:It was just sane to hear and you guys too, like you, you know, in that moment people feel like, oh well, demons aren't real. Like you know all that stuff. But in that moment, like you, can distinguish who's getting filled with the spirit of God and who's being like delivered, like the shrieks, the sounds, like there is a noticeable, distinguishable difference.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's almost like. One way I can describe it is it's almost like when someone's getting delivered of this demonic oppression. They're like almost it seems like they're wrestling inside of themselves, like they're like grunting, or they're like uncontrollably like moving around. Like someone I was praying for was like going up and back, like just kind of like gritting her teeth, like can't even. It's almost like they can't control themselves and they're just getting delivered. It was crazy to me to see like because I've seen that happen in the United States a few times, but not at the mass level that it was happening at this crusade and I'll queue up a couple pictures praying for people. These people are people who are getting delivered and it was just so powerful to see, too, the joy on their faces after it's almost like it goes away and they come to their senses and they're just so joyful and that the enemy doesn't have a grip on them. They're free.
Speaker 4:Yeah, you wanna yeah, you probably are gonna see hayley in one of those pictures because she was passionate about about that aspect of it and that was one of the nights that really shook her. And I agree with you like it would be interesting to to get an audio clip. But being there in person, it's like the sounds are one thing, but your spirit just knows in the moment what's happening. Like there was something happening in my. It's like it was like five minutes of silence or I don't know how long, but it felt like a while and it was like the sounds and the Holy spirit and just everything about it. You can't really explain it, right. It's like everything about it. You can't really explain it, right. It's like you can't really explain it, you can just experience it.
Speaker 4:And these sounds I agree, pierce, like we were in the crowd multiple days and here's how my brain is Like one day of like those sounds or those things and walking around and a couple people. It's like, okay, maybe we're just around a bunch of crazy people, right, the amount of people and the amount of times, and just like the amount of personal, tangible experiences where I'm with Pierce or I'm alone or we're going around, we're praying over people and there are people on their hands and knees like they were fine, and then you see them drop and then they're foaming at the mouth and then they're like saying all this weird stuff or making these really weird screeching sounds or like this, like, like this, like weird noises, and then on some of them, if you wait around long enough, you see them get fully delivered and then they're just peaceful and calm and then they're completely, and then they literally say I blacked out, I don't know what was happening, right? I remember something that rocked me, rob was I was about to go pray for this mom. She's like my baby's sick, and one of the leaders at at the crusade was like, hey, if the baby starts they call it manifesting, like manifesting of evil spirit. Sure they go over there, cause we're trying to keep like the stage you know the loud people away from the stage.
Speaker 4:It's like even just to say that, right, like if the one-year-old baby starts manifesting and foaming at the mouth and making weird noises when you pray over them and gets delivered, like right, yeah, real baby doesn't know what's happening. So it's just, there's so many little things that we experienced and then when you take all of that and then you talk to someone directly, like Daniel Kalinda, or you look at these other stories with Reinhard Bonnke. You have the faith to believe them. Like I know, those things happened Right and it just changes everything for you.
Speaker 3:Yeah, what do I say all the time? I'm an incurable believer Like I've seen too much, and now you guys understand why.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I'll just throw in here and add I think that a common theme in this video podcast is just doubt being overcome, and it's almost like two different levels. I think that we're all overcoming certain doubts progressively through our walk with God of what he can do and what is really possible with Him. The Bible talks about with man it's impossible, but with God all things are possible. One thing really really stuck with me is, after the crusade was finished, I think after all the nights of it, we did dinner. Rob arranged a dinner with with Daniel and our group there's probably 12 of us and someone asked the question I don't know if it was me or someone else, but it was this question of like okay, well, you know, what are your thoughts on? When someone gets prayed for but they don't get healed, like are they seemingly in that moment, aren't changed, they don't get healed. Like what is that? Like what? How do you explain that? Did they really? Is there healing on the way? Like what? What does what does it mean?
Speaker 2:And Daniel said something really profound and, although I don't remember his exact words, the general gist of it is he talked about how he doesn't really go down that road of trying to understand and trying to rationalize or think through logically what happened. Because if you think about it and read the Bible, it talks about so much having childlike faith, like having the faith of a child just believe. And he brought up scripture that says like just believe, that that's all you got to do. We read the verse that faith with as small as a mustard seed, you can say say to this mountain, be moved. And it will move.
Speaker 2:And I think that was just so powerful because I'm very logical and I know Colton is too, and so you're trying to logically think through these things.
Speaker 2:But if you really believed in an all-powerful God who created you and is just outside of time and space and he's always with you and He'll never leave you all these different things, well wouldn't it make sense that you probably wouldn't understand every specific thing that that God is and does and is all about? I think that that was just really profound for me, because it just released me of this need or desire to understand everything. And I believe it's God's will for people to be healed and that everyone will be healed and all these different things, and that you know everyone will be healed and all these different things. But if I don't see it in that moment, it's not because I'm not righteous enough or that God doesn't love them or all these things. It's just like it's something that you know is beyond my comprehension, and so I think that was just really powerful to hear and just and and just experience from from Daniel.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I would agree and and you know I love that you guys had that opportunity because you know cause, like a lot of people, just see what we do from afar and you know you don't get that intimate time with with a man of God like Evangelist Kalenda, who's been in full-time ministry you know he took over as the president of the ministry of Christ for all nations in 2009, when he was 26 years old. So he's been leading the ministry of Christ for all nations for over 20 years, has preached the gospel to, multiplied millions of people, has seen, multiplied millions of salvations, and so when you hear a man of God that has seen so much right, you're just like what's the secret? Like how do you do it? Why doesn't everybody else believe it? You know what I mean and it was beautiful and he was like and you're right, because what he was referring to in that in in um, in what he told you Pierce, was it was in Mark 5, 36, when they were talking about Jairus' daughter. He was speaking to Jairus, who was a synagogue leader who had came to Jesus asking him to heal his sick daughter, and when they got there they had found out that the daughter had died. And so, in that passage of Scripture, jesus tells Jairus don't be afraid, just believe. Just believe, and that's what Daniel was telling us. Like, just believe. Unbelief is a poison. And the moment that you allow yourself to say, oh, man, but like, like, like, like Colton and like many of us, like man, like did it really? Like, like did they really receive that miracle? Or like were they just joking?
Speaker 3:And ultimately, what Jesus was encouraging Jairus was to just have faith and trust him, and like that is just something that is like, and like that's what these people, hundreds and hundreds of thousands of people, do when they come on this crusade field People. One of the questions we get all the time is why don't we see this in America? Why don't we see this at? But? But understand, like the God of Africa is the God of America, he's the God of Asia, he's the God of Europe, he's the God of South America. Like he's the same God, he, but like there's a, there's a hunger that these people come with when they walk for miles and they stand on a field for seven, eight hours. And God responds to hunger, he responds to faith, he responds to trust, even in the face of what is seemingly impossible circumstances. And then what does Jesus do in the story? He goes home and he says, oh, she's not dead as you suppose, she's just resting. And then, like, she gets healed and he demonstrates once again his power over death, his power over sickness, his power over disease, and he responds to faith.
Speaker 3:And I loved what Evangelist Bonnke added too, which was a story of Evangelist Reinhard Bonnke, because, again, like when you're stepping into this, just as we saw hundreds and hundreds and countless miracles happen, right, guys, we would go on that bus, but what would we also see? We would still see people on crutches. We would still see people you know. We would go on that bus, but what would we also see? We would still see people on crutches. We would still see people, you know, in wheelchairs. We would still see people carrying loved ones that didn't receive a healing. In your, in your carnal mind and way of thinking, and just your animal way of thinking was like man, like how, why? But what he was saying is like, look, if you pray for, if you pray for 99 people and they don't get healed, evangelist Bonnke said pray for number 100, as if all 99 got healed, because your experience does not change the word of God.
Speaker 2:So, good For sure. I'll just add a quick bit onto that. It. I'll just add a quick bit onto that. When Evangelist Colinda was having all of the people pray for one another, he cut them off after like 10 seconds or 15 seconds of praying for each other because and they didn't want to stop. They didn't want to stop. He's like all right, let's stop, let's stop, stop, guys. He tried to get them to stop for at least a couple of minutes, but they wouldn't. Because we think in our mind it's like oh, I need to say a specific thing or in a sequence or whatever for someone to be healed, when in reality that's not. There's no magic formula of a prayer that you say this, then this, then this, then this for someone to be healed, because it's not you in your work that's healing someone, it's God that's completely touching them and healing them. So I thought that was really powerful to see.
Speaker 3:Yeah, he always used to say there's three sources of power it's the empty cross, it's the empty tomb and it's the upper room, like it's the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus, like it's the spirit that gives us the power to be able to do it. And again, I love the way that Evangelist Klenda would always emphasize like I've never healed anybody, I've never saved anybody. Because, again, you could think like, oh, it's in a specific person, or oh, they're just a special, they're like God's chosen, like they're set apart, like they're different, like, no, he normalizes that this, what we did, what we experienced in Africa on the massive scale, it's for everyone.
Speaker 3:Colton, you said that scripture these signs shall accompany those who go to Bible school. No, it doesn't say that these signs shall accompany those who go to Bible school. No, it doesn't say that these signs shall accompany those who have been in ministry for 20 years, or they have a certain platform, or they have a certain following, or they have a certain gifting. No, it doesn't say that it says these signs shall accompany those who believe. That's the secret sauce, that's the recipe. We have to believe the word of God to be true and trust.
Speaker 4:That's so good. Yeah, one thing I'll add that really stood out with Daniel Kalinda is he has literally seen everything, everything you can imagine. And I think what was really humbling for me and really eye-opening is like I thought that going down this rabbit hole, what was driving me to like continue to get answers and answers and answers further down and more proof, was because I thought it was serving my faith when in reality it was hurting it. And he is the first to say that. He's like I've seen it all and I have absolutely no idea how it works. I just know that God heals in the name of Jesus and I'm going to pray for them and I know it'll happen.
Speaker 4:And like I want to read a verse that kind of ties that in Matthew 18, matthew 18, three through four. It says truly, I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And if you think about a child and humbling yourself, like whether someone gets healed or not, whether someone gets whatever, like a child's not saying like, hey parent, hey father, like how did that happen? They're just like, oh, it's going to happen, they've got it. I trust them. And like that, like almost careless faith, just knowing that God's going to catch you. Like a child, they know their parents going to catch them, but God's like a perfect parent, he responds to that and he just honors that so well and that you just see it in the way that these people in Africa were responding Like he told us of so many stories but people bring, like bring their dead ones to the crusade field.
Speaker 4:He told us this story. It's documentary, it's called Raised from the Dead. Y'all should go look it up. Pierce and I watched it out out there. It was amazing and somebody had been dead for four days, deemed dead by the doctor, had gone to the morgue, had been embalmed where they put the formaldehyde and all that stuff through your veins, and was completely dead in a casket. They were going to bury him and the wife was like, hey, I'm going to heard that Reinhard Bonnke was coming to town. She's like I'm going to bring him and God's going to heal, bring my husband back to life. I believe it. Right, that's some, that's some bold faith and it's a crazy story. I'll spare the details, but long story short brings the, brings the body and God raises a person from the dead who had been embalmed and he walks up on stage and confesses it, and it was even on the documentary talking about it and and, frankly, like I've stopped trying to understand these things, I just at this point I'm like that happened, these things happen.
Speaker 3:And in that video they had the doctor that pronounced them dead, they had the guy who had embalmed them, they had the wife. So like again, for those like skeptics that could still possibly say, but get the DVD like it's not, oh, most say, oh, you, you, you don't have a documented like you guys watched it. It's fully documented. I love that you guys actually watched it while you're in africa too, by the way, but any proof that you could possibly need like it's there yeah, exactly yeah, so you can watch the video.
Speaker 2:You can, you know, do all this and also a crusade. If you are watching this, you're like, hey, I'm actually interested in watching one of these, but you don't want to make the commitment to go out to Africa just yet. You can watch the recording. I'll link it in the show notes and in the YouTube description to actually watch one of these nights. Rob was co-hosting the live stream so you can get that experience.
Speaker 2:But I think it's just so powerful to share, to recount the experience, to just remember what God did, and I think it's just so powerful. I think, rob, you brought this up it's like God responds to hunger and there was a period of my life where I didn't really I didn't follow God and I realized he brought to this place, where I realized I looked back and I remembered and saw all these different ways where God was pursuing me. He put people in my life, he drew attention to faith and things like that, but it was really me that needing to acknowledge him and seek him and then I would find him. And the Bible talks about that as you draw near to God, he'll draw near to you. And then, colton, you brought up that verse on seeking me and you will find me and all these different things. And I just want to share that encouragement that if you want to know God, if you want to experience God, then you have to seek him. If you want to know God, if you want to experience God, then you have to seek him. You can't just be like, oh you know, I doubt this, I doubt that, I doubt that. Well, what if you would just open up your mind and open up your heart to really just pursue God? And then you would find it Like I just think it's so powerful that we have the opportunity to just decide, but God has given us free will and so he's not going to force himself on us.
Speaker 2:And so, yeah, in a second I want, rob, to give people an opportunity to make that decision to follow God. And if you're already following God, make a decision to really walk in the next level of obedience and surrender and ask God that he'd fill you up with his Holy Spirit. And before we do that, I want to give the guys an opportunity to just share any final words on their experience or any encouragements that they would give the people listening. But yeah, if you've made it to the end of this episode. I'm really just grateful for you listening to this. Hearing this, I've gotten so many different questions about the trip to Africa and I really wanted to bring in the big guns, bring in Colton, bring in Rob to also share and testify on what God did. So you don't just think, oh yeah, pierce is that crazy Jesus guy. Well, there's more of us, and so, guys, I'll open up to you.
Speaker 4:Yeah, so I'll share some closing thoughts here. I think one thing that was revolutionary for me was just like the mindset of of God healing. It's not him like doing this big thing, it's literally just him, his mercy Like it's literally just his mercy on us to just heal Right, and I I always pictured it being like heaven would fall and it'd be this crazy and it's like if you really read the Bible and if you really start to see it in things like we experienced in Africa, it's just like be healed and these people are healed and I I remember. I'll share one last story. The most profound story for me from Daniel Kalinda was his first like tangible healing that he experienced one on one, right Cause you can preach to a crowd, people can receive their healing. Come up and it's still incredible.
Speaker 4:He, uh, when he was first working with Reinhard Bonnke, reinhard had him pray for like a hundred people in a line in a row and I, um, he told me that when he got to like one of the last people, um, it was a kid who had been deaf their whole life and was walking up with their mom, and the kid, when she saw Daniel, ran and jumped at his feet and started weeping. Just started weeping like a 12 year old girl just weeping at his feet and the mom's like she's been deaf since birth. She like it's giving her a lot of issues. And then he's like it's funny that it's not about the prayers you pray, it's just about God healing he's like he's like I said a prayer to God. I was like God, if you don't heal anyone else today, like just please heal her. Like just please heal her. He like really meant it, right.
Speaker 4:And then she stands up and he goes to her ear and he screams Jesus as loud as he can in her ear. Doesn't flinch, doesn't move at all, just standing there, right. So he's like okay, that's, that's confirmation. She's still deaf and she has been deaf because she would have at least flinched. He prays over her, says in the name of Jesus, like deaf, ears open, be healed. And then, when he's done praying, her mom's like can you hear? And she's like this and she's like a little bit, I can hear a little bit. And he just sits there, doesn't pray again, doesn't do anything over the next two, three minutes. And the next thing, you know, the sound just comes more and more and more. She can fully hear. She falls to the ground, she starts weeping and she could hear. Her deaf ears were open. She, you know, could fully hear. And like just seeing, just hearing his conviction in that testimony too, like firsthand, was so moving for me, right. But yeah, every part of this trip was so moving for me.
Speaker 4:And I think the last thing I'll close on is just like I left the trip with so much gratitude as well because we could have so easily, like I could have been born into one of those families. It's not like we look at the life we have and we're like, oh, I worked hard to get what I have. It's like, yeah, you were born into a family in the US that let you go to college. Some of these people's biggest prayers were I want to go to college, because there are not enough colleges even for them to go. We take it so for granted out here, you know, and it's like, what's the difference between me and them? I was. God gave me this life. I was born into this life. It's a blessing, right? So like, uh, just so much more gratitude for what we have here and the food. Y'all the food takes at least an hour to get to you. Order early. We have it so good here with our five minute service.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Forever. Um, wait, one thing. I really just want to jump it in real quick and say with that girl I'm pretty sure they were Hindu and they had like dots, like the dot is the sign of them being Hindu. And so they came up Hindu and Daniel asked well, I'm going to pray in the name of Jesus, is that OK? The dad said yes, and then she gets healed.
Speaker 2:They show up to the next night of the crusade. All their dots are removed and her whole family were believers after that because they saw God do a miracle and just witnessed God's power. So they surrendered their lives to Christ, and that's a really powerful thing that I've had a conversation with Rob about is a lot of people have this belief of like okay, well, you know there the burial site of buddha and uh and all these different gods, but you can't go to jesus's grave because he rose again. So so that's for one and then two, you know no other uh religion has the power to heal people, has the power to cast out demons and and all of these things. It's not not in the name of Allah that she was healed, it was in the name of Jesus, and so just wanted to add that tidbit in because that was really profound for me to just go oh yeah, you're right, and it was like those are things that I already believed, but it took me having that conversation with Rob to bring them to front of mind.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that's so good, pierce and I mean outside, of just being able to have you guys come with me on the trip and just us be able to experience just something like this together, which is just, it's just life changing. It's even difficult. We've done our best over the course of you know, the time we've shared together to be able to articulate our experiences, but like it truly is, like it leaves you speechless. And for me I don't know if it's just the evangelistic call on my life, and you know I love seeing the miracles, I love the testimonies. You know what I mean and and and how God moves. But you know, even on that final night, um, you guys had mentioned the, uh, the Muslim girl that had came. There was a Muslim girl that had came and she received a miracle, but she didn't confess Jesus as their savior and Lord. And so for me, the greatest miracle of all that takes place over the course of this week is people accepting Jesus Christ as their savior and as their Lord. Evangelist Reinhard Bonnke used to always say that the miracles are the dinner bell for people to be able to come and hear the gospel of Jesus Christ. The miracles are just a byproduct of just the power and authority that we have in Christ Jesus, but the biggest thing of all is accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.
Speaker 3:The scripture says in Luke 15, verses 7, that, just so I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous people who need no repentance. So again, it's salvation. The book of Romans it says in chapter 10, verses 13,. It's a very simple passage, but it says that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. We know John 3, 16, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. And so we would just be remiss if we talked about all these amazing things that he did at this crusade without offering and extending that invitation to you.
Speaker 3:And what we're asking you to do is not to join some religious sect. What we're asking you to do is to step into a relationship with Jesus Christ. He doesn't want anything else other than your heart. He doesn't. You know, I'd be so remiss, so bold to say that he doesn't care about your church attendance, he doesn't care about your ties, he doesn't care how well you dress up for church or any of those other things. He looks at your heart. He wants to walk in relationship and he wants to walk into fellowship with you.
Speaker 3:There's a passage of scripture that says that people will stand before him on that day and they'll say Lord, lord, didn't I do miracles in your name, didn't I prophesy in your name? And he's going to say turn away from me, you doer of iniquity, for I never knew you. And that's not our desire of our heart for you. We want you to know this loving savior, this loving Lord that changed my life, that changed Pierce's life, that changed Colton's life, that has literally had men. We could chase after so many other things, but we have chosen to lay down our lives for the sake of our gospel, because there's no worthy of a cost.
Speaker 3:Jesus came from heaven to earth. He was born of a virgin. He took on human flesh. He led a victorious, sinless life. He was crucified on the cross. He was blameless, he knew no sin, but he took upon our sin. On that cross he died, he was buried in the grave and in third day he rose again. He conquered sin, he conquered death. And because he lives, we can live also. You can live. Also. You don't have to live in shame, you don't have to live in guilt, you don't have to live oppressed and depressed and bound and addicted. You can be free. And that freedom comes in knowing Jesus Christ as your savior and as your Lord.
Speaker 3:And so I just want to say a simple prayer with you. And it's not, you're not going to find this prayer in the Bible. It's just an opportunity for you to be able to have words, to be able to articulate to your father in heaven that you want to know him and that you want to walk with him. And that's all it takes. It's again just.
Speaker 3:The Bible says that if you confess with your mouth and believe in your heart that Jesus Christ is Lord, you will be saved. And so that's all I'm doing. I'm just giving you the words to speak so that you can say it from the depths of your heart. So I just want you to say this simple prayer with me. Just say, dear Lord Jesus Christ, I come to you right now, a sinner needing salvation. Lord Jesus Christ, I cannot save myself, so I call upon your name, the name that is above every other name Jesus Christ, son of the living God. Have mercy on me, save me now, wash me, forgive me and make me a child of God as of this day. I belong to Jesus and Jesus belongs to me. I believe it, I receive it and I confess it in the mighty name of Jesus, amen.
Speaker 3:And so if you have prayed that prayer, first I want you to know welcome to the family of God.
Speaker 3:You have a brother in me, you have a brother in Pierce, you have a brother in Colton and, as the scripture says in the book of Luke, the heavens are rejoicing right now that you have come and you've been reconciled with your father, no longer bound, but you are free, no longer in shame and guilt and condemnation, but you are a child of God and we want to stay connected with you.
Speaker 3:We want to help you, just as we do at our crusade, where we come alongside the new converts and we help them grow in the faith. We want you to be able to do the same thing. So reach out to us. I know Pierce is going to put some information in the description, but let us know if you prayed that prayer for the first time, because we want to rejoice with you, we want to celebrate you and we want you to know that you are not in this alone. There are multitudes of brothers and sisters that can help you, that want to come alongside you and see you walk in purpose and on mission, the way that God created you to do.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's amazing man. Thank you so much for praying that prayer, rob, leading everyone. If you made that decision, congratulations. That is the most important decision you'll ever make in your life. And if you did, I want you to comment below on this video that you decided to follow Jesus. Let everyone know, be encouraged by all the other comments and if you're watching this on YouTube, that is because I don't think on the podcast platforms you can comment. But if you aren't, go to YouTube, find this and comment below and then we'll get you plugged in with different resources.
Speaker 2:First couple steps you need to get plugged into a local church, a local body of believers, to be encouraged, to be poured into. You need to read the word for yourself and I'm excited because it's not going to be just this thing of oh, I have to do it. I need to do it because Pierce says I need to do it. You know, whatever, but when I made that decision and I started getting poured into by other men of God and reading the Bible, it really opened my mind up, because God speaks through his word. That's why they call it the living word. And so it's going to become this exciting thing to do, this exciting adventure that you get to know your Lord and Savior even more by reading what he has to say. And it's not a book of rules, it's not a book of don't do this and I'm taking this out of your life, but it's an amazing opportunity because he has something so much bigger for you than the way you may have been living your life in the past.
Speaker 2:And my mentor, steve Weatherford, always talks about this gift that's so powerful. And it's this image on the internet and it's Jesus and a little girl is in front of him and he has a teddy bear a small teddy bear or actually a huge teddy bear behind him. That's this amazing gift, and his hand is out in front of him asking the little girl to give the teddy bear that she's holding to Jesus, and she's holding it real tight. She doesn't want to give it away because it's what she knows. She loves this teddy bear, but really little does she know is that there's a huge teddy bear behind him that he's going to give her after she gives him the small teddy bear that she's holding onto. And so I just wanted to give you that picture to encourage you that God has so much more for you, and I'm so excited that you're on this journey now and, yeah, comment below, we'll get you plugged in with resources. Guys, do you have any other final thoughts?
Speaker 3:All I can tell you is that once you receive Jesus as your savior and Lord, everything changes. I could have never dreamed or imagined that I'd be able to do what I do now, that I'd be able to run with my family of choice, with men of God like Pierce and like Colton and he is no respecter of persons what he's done in my life, what he's done in the lives of these men of God, what he's done in my life, what he's done in the lives of these men of God, he can do for you also. So you've tried the rest. Now try the best and just yield and surrender your life to him and I assure you, like Pierce said, it'll be, hands down, the best decision you've ever made and you will not regret it.
Speaker 2:Let's go Awesome. Well, don't forget to go out and run your race.