"Last week, we experienced a breakthrough on the UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles) Campus," writes
Jaeson Ma, CCN Director. "One of our teams went to establish a beachhead on campus through 'prophetic worship and apostolic preaching'. One of our members reports:
Seeing with spiritual eyes
This past Wednesday at UCLA we experienced a taste of heaven on earth, but it came with a cost. As we walked up onto campus there were thousands of students walking up and down Bruin Walk. Normally, we would sit at the patch of grass where there were not many onlookers (free speech area), but on Wednesday the main steps at the top of Bruin Walk were open - we took it by faith. As we sat on the steps we began to pray. It was difficult to pray, the enemy immediately began to intimidate us with fear and self-consciousness. We could sense the spiritual darkness right there in the middle of campus opposing our prayers. It was almost like we could hear the Devil say, "Come on, what are you going to do? Worship in the middle of campus? With your little guitars and make a fool out of yourself? Don't you know I own this campus?" On the outside these UCLA students all have the status, the image, the self-confidence, the cool look cool. Then I heard the spirit of the Lord shout to my spirit, "Stop looking with your physical eyes. Look with your spiritual eyes! They are all lost, dying and headed towards eternal separation from God!"
Grace instead of routine preaching
Has not God made the wisdom of this world foolishness, and doesn't he use apparently foolish things to confound the wise? So we stood there worshipping God, not so that the students would hear us, but so that God would hear us. It was difficult. We were distracted by all sorts of thoughts, and one of us felt sick. Despite that, we sang for two hours, until we sensed that the time had come to preach. No matter how many times you have preached in front of masses of non-believers, you never get used to it. You can never preach from an inner confidence. It's not a routine Sunday sermon; it's for people who are prepared to lose their own reputation and rely completely on God. I almost wet myself when I looked at the number of students walking past. I would have liked to run away and hide. Instead, I shut my eyes, asked God for his grace, jumped into the middle of the steps and started preaching as loud as I could.
If there is...
My voice threatened to fail me, but I sensed that God was there. More and more students stopped to listen - a group here, a group of Asian students there, another group of African American students who had been listening to music from their boom boxes only moments before. They all listened as I preached the Gospel; at least 120 students, for almost half an hour. It was as though God miraculously amplified my voice. People told me later that they had heard me on the second floor (for US readers, the third floor), even though I was speaking without a microphone. When I called them to repent and turn to God, many prayed with me, and at least half a dozen raised their hands. We spoke one-on-one with the students who had shown interest. One Hindu told me "I am jealous of what you have! I want it, but I don't know how to get it!" One black student was really angry, and shouted at us, "You're just full of sh..!" He said that Christians cannot be trusted, and that he was now a servant of the Devil. I prayed "Holy Spirit, please give me the wisdom to answer this man." When I asked him for forgiveness, for myself and other Christians, he replied "I have no answer for that one," and almost started to cry. His countenance changed, and we prayed for him. Finally, he said "I don't know what's so different about you. I'm the only one in my family who is not a Christian, but if there is one church I'll go to, it's the one you go to!" The stories go on and on, but we know: the battle has just begun. Now we must press on!"
Source: Jaeson Ma and Campus Church Networks
