[By Dr. Richard William] As I arrived in Moscow after a long 10-hour flight
from Singapore, I was again reminded of God’s promise: “Ask of me and I will
give you the nations for your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for your
possession” (Psalm 2:8). In my heart there was a great anticipation and
expectation of what God was about to do in this unique Russian city of
Krasnoyarsk. Almost two years ago I met the bishop of Krasnoyarsk Christian
Life Church in Singapore. I vividly remember him saying the youth are not a
focus in Russian churches. No one has a ministry directed toward reaching them
or ministering to them. I was thankful that Bishop Vladimir was different because
he has a burden to see the youth in his city reached by the gospel. It is
rather unfortunate that youth are not the focus, as statistics point that more
than 60% are addicted to weed and over 120,000 die yearly as a result of drug
and alcohol overdose.
After 14 hours of flying I finally arrived in Krasnoyarsk,
a beautiful city in the heart of Russia. I was greeted by a young youth pastor,
Andrew. On our way to the airport he shared his passion and desire for revival
amongst the youth in his city. I was later taken to lunch with Bishop Vladimir
and several other pastors. I enjoyed the simplicity and passion I found in
these leaders as we fellowshipped over lunch. As it is with all my travels, by
the end of lunch the program was changed and I was asked if I would like to
open the conference that evening.
The
youth conference was held at a conference centre in the middle of town. I was
greeted by an enthusiastic bunch of young people. In the first meeting I spoke
on one of the core values of History Maker: “What does it mean to be radical
for Jesus”. To be radical does not mean sitting in the pews, but to move to the
frontline of God’s activity. The location may be different, but God’s Word is
the same. The impact of God’s Word is always the same. There was an
electrifying presence of God in that place. Several leaders came to me
afterwards, and said they have never seen Russian youth glued to their seats
like this before. Glory be to God as the Holy Spirit continued to move within
the hearts of the youth that night. The altar call was given and to my
amazement, every single person came to the altar to dedicate their lives to God!
On the second day morning, the Holy Spirit took us
on a slightly different direction. I spoke on the restoration of authority,
identity and power. As a result of their culture and the influence of communism,
I realised many of them lack the understanding that in Jesus their identity,
authority and power has been restored. I felt as if to many of them culture and
tradition had strangled the life of God within them. As the Holy Spirit moved
in this meeting, there was a cry that rose up from within the young people. Spontaneously
they moved to the altar to wait on God. Many were crying and weeping as the
love and the goodness of God began to fall in the meeting. There was a
deliverance and freedom that fell in that meeting and the young people were
liberated by the Holy Spirit. It is power that releases potential. Without the
understanding of power, one can never work in the full potential of God’s
available power!
We took a break following the meeting. The youth
continued to linger in God’s presence as we moved to a small room. During this
time I met with many of the leaders for a question and answer session. They had
so many questions about leadership, and primarily about the power of God. Following
an hour of fellowship, the evening meeting, which was also the last meeting,
began with great excitement of what the Lord is about to do.
As
we started the evening meeting, the place was filled with fire in the air. I
could see hunger and passion in faces of the young people in the room. We had
an awesome time of praise and worship. Before the Word was preached, a Christian
rapper from Irkutsk took to the stage. He was such an amazing rapper who
totally stirred the crowd. I believe he also killed several sacred cows in that
hall that night.
At the last
meeting I spoke a message that is central to the mission and purpose of History
Maker. The purpose of our existence, like the early church, is to impact the
world. The reason why the early church was able to impact the world, as
scripture says clearly, “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by
the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death”
(Revelation 12:11). The present day Church understands the first two
ingredients, but has continuously missed and failed to understand the power of
laying down our lives. This concept is central to the New Testament theology. Without
dying the corn of wheat will not produce life. Churches have failed to understand
our task is not to fill the pews on Sunday morning but fill the nations with an
army on Monday morning. Jesus said to take up your cross and follow Him, not swim
in the river of grace. The church is a militant force that pushes back the
forces of darkness and takes back cities for the glory of God.
As the call to die was preached, it was clear God was working in the hearts of the youth in Russia. Literally every single person ran to the altar to lay down their lives to reach Russia for Jesus. The Holy Spirit’s fire fell in that place as the young people without reservation committed their hearts. As the bishop testified at the end of the meeting, the young people will never be the same again! Glory be to God for the great work He started in Krasnoyarsk, Russia!
