John Walker, Regional Vice President of
FGBMFI Europe, a movement which aims to evangelise businesspeople, read a report by Peter Spreckley telling of an evangelistic revival in his movement in Nicaragua. "When I read that report, I felt a strong desire that a similar movement would pour out across the great continent of Europe, which has become so dark spiritually. I lay awake in bed in the early hours of Monday morning, thinking about the report. I sensed the Holy Spirit saying 'Revival will come to Europe, the glory of the Lord will cover the earth, as the waters cover the sea. Now is the time to remain strong, remain faithful and seek perfection in all you do. Now are the days of preparation. Do not remain lukewarm or self-contented, but remain strong as my faithful remnant in these days and this generation.'"
Learning from Nicaragua
The following excerpts from Peter Spreckley's report show what stirred John Walker:"What we saw and experienced was overwhelming. We were challenged out of our long held understanding of FGBMFI's vision, as it was initially formulated in the book 'The Happiest People on Earth': at the most, monthly outreaches, with one or two prayer meetings in between. Our Chapter meetings generally follow the pattern laid out in the Chapter manual. In the fellowship's 'glory days', we had a good spiritual harvest, but realistically, we have to accept that the harvest has been decreasing, as did the number of Chapters, members and regular meetings. There were one or two exceptions, of course, but I don't think anyone would challenge that assessment. And yet we are called to impact and change our nation!
275,600 attend evangelistic dinners
The following statistics give an impression of what we saw and heard in Nicaragua:
There are over 530 Chapters in Nicaragua, which has a little less than 6 million inhabitants. 130 of those Chapters are Women's Chapters. There are around 100 Chapters in the capital, Managua. They expect to open one new chapter each week. Every Chapter invites people to an evangelistic dinner each week, and each time, an average of ten new people attend. At one such dinner, 22 of the 40 guests were there for the first time. 530 (Chapters) x 52 (weeks) x 10 (new people) = 275,600 new guests each year. Every third weekend, a seminar is held from Friday Evening until Sunday midday for leaders and guests who react during the dinners. We attended one of these seminars, with 700 participants, 80% of which were there for the first time! The seminars cover many areas of the Christian life, such as marriage, giving, sanctification, being a good citizen etc..
94,500 respondents per year
Seminars for youths and women are held between these weekends, each with over 3,000 participants. Three or four times each year, various regions hold revival meetings. We took part in one such event in Ocotal in north-western Nicaragua. Over 700 men took holiday from work for at least a part of the week. In one year, there were some 2,500 events, at which 94,500 people are reported to have called on Jesus as their saviour. Miraculously, in our European eyes, there seemed to be no door closed to the men from the Fellowship. We went with them into schools, where every class stopped while a member gave testimony, restaurants, local radio, the police station, the bus station, the ministry of employment, the list is endless. Always the same formula, the vision of the Fellowship to explain why they are there, the testimony and the prayer. The hearers are then advised of the local chapter dinner dates. Sometimes there was individual prayer afterwards. We noted the authority and confidence with which the men spoke.
How can this be? Well the answer has to be "God". But there is a history leading up to this great move of the Spirit and beyond. It starts in 1991 (when the civil war had just ended) with a prophesy to Nicaragua, which is now being fulfilled.
Devoted fishing
How do they do it? We see three things: commitment, fishing, testimony. The commitment is clearly visible, from the leadership to the last member. Hence the rapid expansion of the Chapters, participation of the seminars etc.. There would be no 'fired up' new members if there were none inviting them. So the commitment is not to the fellowship but to reaching men, born out of a deep life-changing personal experience of Jesus, leading in turn to a deep desire to see others experience the same transfer from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light. So they are fishing every day, and the results speak for themselves. The tool they use is exclusively testimony.
What does that mean for Europe?
Every attempt to analyse the situation must begin with the recognition that God is present (in Nicaragua) and is working out his purposes. However, we must ask ourselves "Why isn't this happening here?", "Can that happen here too?" and "Do we
want it to happen here?"
Why isn't this happening here?
It is hard to find an answer to this question which does not include excuses. Maybe it is not God's timing. But it is the same God and the same vision. How committed are we? And how seriously do we fish? Is our limited effort limiting God? Have we become 'religious' in the way we run our meetings? Should we put our rules and manuals aside and look at things through Nicaragua's eyes? We are tempted to make excuses: we are so busy at home, in our church and at work - but we can always find time to do what we want.
That brings us back to commitment. Do we really love those who are not yet in the Kingdom? Do we really understand the call on each Christian, "go and make disciples"? Do we understand that we will have to account for our obedience to this command?
"Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labour in vain". If we are to respond to what He seems, in my understanding, to be showing us then we need to hear from Him. We need His revelation and we need Him to go ahead of us.
Source: Report by John Walker/Peter Spreckley, Full Gospel Business Men's Fellowship International
