Gospel preached to thousands in India
Read Matt's report below about BCLC using technology in a completely new way (for us) to spread the good news about Jesus. Just click on the pictures to view a larger version.
During February of 2021 the team at BCLC were given a lockdown challenge like no other by our brother Stan Gain. “Can we host a virtual crusade to India from our building for 2 days in March?”
As always my first response was “Yes of course Stan”. Quite how we were going to do this though I didn’t know! The AV team were still getting to grips with our new broadcasting system and we had never done anything like this before.
“There will be around 3000 people attending” said Stan “and I am believing for at least 300 souls to be saved”. Brother Stan had, in the last few years, hung up his shoes as a globe-trotting evangelist and was entering ‘retirement’. I had recently read his book Himpossible and was blown away by Stan’s adventures in faith with the Lord. So many stories of thousands saved, hundreds healed and many signs and wonders. How amazing it must have been to have travelled with Stan on his many evangelistic journeys! Well little did I know but Stan would in fact take us to India with him – virtually speaking that is.
Having spent some time designing and testing our technology the day had come. 8th March, 12pm(ish) Stan walks into the building dressed smartly with a jacket and trilby. Although undertaking a long treatment of chemotherapy and having lost some of his hair Stan was in great shape and ready to win souls. First though, we had a cup of tea and some ham and cheese rolls.
“This is how it works Matt. Pastor Joshua (long term friend and partner-in-the-gospel with brother Stan) and his team of pastors will find a field somewhere in the middle of nowhere in South East India. They will erect a large tent, start up some generators for lighting and technology systems and they will then go out to the local towns and villages and have people brought to the meetings via Daks (local transport). People will start arriving around 7pm India Standard Time (5 and a half hours ahead of UK time) and the tent will take around 90 minutes to fill up. There will be prayers and worship and then after about 45 minutes they will ask me to speak.”
What could be so hard about that? Well there were a number of things on my mind:
- How would it work with the translator being in India – wouldn’t there be a delay?
- How would we feel like we were part of the meeting in India and how would they feel that we were really there with them?
- What happens if any one of the many pieces of technology both at BCLC and also in the field in India didn’t work? (no one notices the AV guys until things stop working!)
Well God was in control of course and everything worked just as it should.
In our building the TV screens displayed the most colour I can recall ever seeing. Scenes from the crusade tent with beautiful patterned materials everywhere and an array of colourful sarees being worn. Indian drums and music pumped through our speakers filling the hall. Everything was happening and in our hall there were just 3 or 4 of us drinking tea waiting and watching the evening unfold. We were starting to feel the tension rising and brother Stan got himself ready on the stage and then…..it was all go!
Stan preached the gospel with energy and the Holy Spirit was on him. “Who here wants to go to heaven? he asked. “Who here wants to go to hell?” Stan preached brilliantly and with heart. I noticed a certain amount of pleasure from the pastors where Stan began to snore as part of the story he was telling! At the end of the preach Stan handed back to the local pastors to invite people to receive Jesus as their saviour. Stan then prayed for those who responded and brought words from the Lord for many. It was difficult to tell how many people had responded or even how many people were present but it was thrilling to see people coming to Christ. Stan said farewell to the tent and we retired for the day. “Same again tomorrow Matt” Stan said. “But why don’t we get a curry in before the meeting so that we REALLY feel like we are in India!”
The second night saw even more people attending and responding to the gospel. We were told that 1689 people had attended the meetings, 326 people had received Jesus as their saviour. There were over 50 healings, 37 villages heard the gospel for the first time and an estimated 93,000 people watched on television in 90 villages. Praise the Lord!
I was glad to get home that evening and rest and reflect on the whole experience. God had brought India to us at BCLC and it was brilliant. A few weeks later Stan came over to me and said “Matt, we are thinking of doing another virtual crusade in June. Are you up for it?”
“Of course I am stan 😊”.
Videos of the crusade can be viewed on the Starfish Christian Trust Facebook page:
