Argentina Revival
Provides Lessons For America
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Argentina Revival
I
recently went on a two-week mission trip to Argentina. The purpose in going was
to experience first hand the revival I have heard so much about.
After
a few days of the first week I was wondering why I was there. I was not seeing
the hundreds of souls coming to the Lord as I had expected or the large stadium
events and crusades.
Argentina Revival Was Not What I Had Expected
Part
way through the first week I saw the revival. I saw it in the sparkle of the
eyes of the people in the churches and the hope and the belief in their hearts.
They had belief in prayer and there was much prayer preceding our coming as well
as while we were there.
Over
and over I heard the comment from the people from the different churches saying
“Our pastors have a plan from God.” It was not just one pastor but many pastors
coming together in unity and purpose to advance God’s kingdom and to transform
their city to exhibit the characteristics of God.
The Outreach Strategy in the Argentina Revival
The
pastors had the city broken into zones with the individual churches within a
zone responsible for covering the area with prayer, for discipleship training of
their members and for reaching out to the unsaved people in the area.
The
churches would work together in unity to conduct prayer fairs in different parts
of their zone.
At
the prayer fairs there would be individual prayer stations set up to pray for
specific needs dealing with jobs, families, witchcraft, healing, marriages,
abuse and miracles.
Many,
many non-Christian people from the area would come to the prayer fair and get in
line to be prayed for.
I was
praying at the station for healing and would pray in English because I don’t
speak Spanish. Some times there would be an interpreter but most of the time
not. Even though I could not be understood, people would fall down, would weep
and sob and would claim healing. Workers from the churches would then ask the
people if they wanted to know the Jesus that we knew.
God Touching People Who Could Not Even Understand Me
At
another time I was working with two young teenagers who could speak just a
little English and understand me if I spoke slowly. We were on a very busy
street corner in a zone that had received very heavy prayer coverage. The girls
would hand out a flyer inviting people to a prayer fair then ask if they would
like for me, the American with them, to pray a blessing over them.
I
prayed for about 25 or 30 people in a two hour period. Even though these people
on the street couldn’t understand me, they would weep and sob and fall down;
then the girls would ask them if they would like to know the Jesus that we knew.
On a
street corner!!!!! Now that is the Argentina revival!
2,000 Salvations – The Argentina Revival!!!
The
mission team I was with was actually in the streets working only eight days but
there were over 2,000 salvations recorded on paper with names, address and phone
numbers.
“0” Salvations In Un-prayed For Zones
Not
all the zones we went into had been prayed for and in those zones not prayed for
we could hardly even talk to people, let alone talk to them about the Lord. Our
main task in those zones was to help cover the area with prayer to prepare the
way for a future harvest.
The
Argentina revival requires being in the presence of God – ABIDING IN CHRIST!!
Vital Lessons For America From The Argentina Revival
Some
of the most important things I have returned to America with from this Argentina
mission trip can be summarized as follows:
1.
Revival
is hard work.
It does not just happen. It takes pastors and leaders first seeking the will of
the Lord and being willing to set aside personal agendas to follow what the Lord
leads for the Body of Christ in unity with other pastors. It also takes pastors
and leaders who know how to disciple believers.
The leaders must abide in Christ and lead the way for the people.
2.
There is
tremendous hope for America.
Pastors and leaders are coming together across our land. I believe the Lord
desires Revival for our country even more than we do and will begin to transform
America when we learn what many of the Argentines have learned which is
expressed in number 3 below.
3.
Prayer works when it is done by believing Christians
(a)
who understand the need to submit to the Lord and understand that the
eternal purpose of God is that Jesus must have preeminence in everything,
(b)
who understand that all the work we do for the kingdom must be conceived
by God to be effective, and not by man,
(c)
who understand that all work for the Lord must depend upon the power of
the Lord to be effective and not upon the natural ability of man,
(d)
who understand that the end and objective of all work, whether revival or
other work to which God will commit Himself on our behalf, must be for His glory
alone and that we are to get nothing at all from it.
When these above four
issues are truly settled in our heart then
all of hell has to recognize the authority that we walk in.
The people and leaders in
the Argentina revival have learned this.
4.
With
proper discipleship, even new believers are able to operate
in the authority of prayer.
5.
The work
is grueling and
you have to prepare, then go outside the four walls of the church to where the
people are.
6.
Our task
is to know the Commander Jesus Christ
– not so much to follow the Commander’s plan but to know Him intimately.
7.
We must
believe that God wants the non-Christians to come to know Him
and that He will supply all power, fire, anointing, strategy, signs, wonders and
healings to do this through us.
8.
In our
sphere of influence we can walk in spiritual authority
and see the same kind of signs, wonders, miracles and healings as in the
Argentina revival if we believe and will accept and walk and work in that
authority, expecting God to do what He has promised to do.
9.
Pastors
in Argentina still pastor their own churches.
A core group of pastors have come together in unity as the Body of Christ to
plan strategically together, in the presence of the Lord, to reach their city.
They have a view that there is only one church in the city with one shepherd who
is Jesus Christ, but individual congregations are still individual and
denominational. As the Body of Christ working in unity, they share a joint
vision for the non-Christians and have a joint strategy to reach them, and a
joint vision to transform their city.
10.
Revival
in Argentina is first in the heart of the individual
then in the heart of the people then one on one outside the church.
11.
In
America, when we do pray with authority
we most often have not spent the time with the Lord to know what to do.
We expect the Lord to do it all for us. The Lord does it all; however, the
thing we don’t always internalize is that the Lord does it through us as we
yield to Him as His vessels. But we must spend time with Him intimately for Him
to reveal to us the steps He wants to take through us.
12.
I did
things in Argentina I never thought I would or could do.
I prayed blessings for people and I prayed for the personal needs of people in
busy public places, people that were non-Christians. People sobbed and wept and
claimed healing. This was not me, it was the power of the Lord ministering to
those people. I prayed in English which they could not understand, so I was
just along for the ride and being a vessel through which the Lord moved to
minister to those particular people whom he loved.
13.
In
America, we do not allow Christ to move through us often enough.
We have not settled within ourselves the four issues expressed above in number
three. Rather we allow fear of rejection, fear of what others will think,
and/or fear of failure to work in us. We also do not give the time in intimacy
with the Lord so that He can show us what we should do or say or where we should
go.
14.
We must
abide in Christ first
then He will send us to work.
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