I have just returned from our most recent crusade in South Asia for what was an incredible crusade. This is actually the fourth crusade I have done in this country in the last eight months. We have strategically targeted this country because of its high population of unbelievers. In each instance I have been in a different part of the country, this time preaching in a state that is comprised of both Hindus and Sikhs. We have been overwhelmed at what the Lord has done in each of these crusades, and as is the nature of the Lord, going from “glory to glory” (2 Cor. 3:18), this crusade was the best of the four. Over the course of the four nights, we had more than 38,000 people attend the crusade with more than 7,000 recorded decisions for Jesus Christ! This is obviously the greatest testimony of all, and we rejoice for the thousands of people who have been impacted by the Gospel! While these numbers are fantastic, I want to also highlight a number of individual stories that occurred on this trip to show that Jesus is alive!
The first miracle is one that many of you were witness to yourselves. My travel itinerary to this country was significantly hindered because of very abnormal weather in the USA. All of my flights were canceled or delayed because of tornadoes in places like Chicago and New York that almost never have tornadoes. Because of this, I was in very real danger of arriving too late for our scheduled ministry. I asked our prayer partners (if you are not part of our prayer team and would like to be, please let us know) to agree in prayer for some miracles that needed to happen for me to arrive on time. I also posted this information on social media. Literally hundreds of you reached out to say that you were standing in faith with me for this miracle and it happened! While it took me three days to get to the crusade city, I was able to arrive a few hours prior to the first night of the crusade. The plans that the enemy had to interfere with our crusade were thwarted and the Lord responded to the prayers of so many of you, for which I am so thankful.
Another great miracle from this crusade is that we were not inhibited by the federal or local government. The week before I arrived this country had their elections for prime minister of the country, and unfortunately the party that won is strongly opposed to Christianity. The prime minister recently declared that he desired to make this country a “Christian-free nation.” Our crusade director was smart enough to wait until after the crusade to inform me that we were “playing with fire” to do a crusade in this area because of the persecution prevalent here. Pastors have been beaten and Christians have been persecuted, but we received no such pushback from the government. Rather, the mayor of the city was at each night of our crusade and many of the state officials attended our crusade where we honored them publicly. The Lord granted us favor.
At all of our crusades, we prioritize salvation and emphasize the necessity of turning from other religions and gods to follow Jesus alone. This is our first altar call and always our priority. But as was the case in the ministry of Jesus, we also believe in the supernatural healing power of God and pray for sick people to be healed and every time we receive fantastic testimonies about what Jesus has done. This crusade was no different. I will just briefly mention a few of the dozens of testimonies we heard from the stage:
A Sikh man came to our crusade who had had a tumor on his back for 5 years but after receiving Christ as Savior, he also received Christ as Healer and his tumor disappeared.
One woman said that she had been a devout idol worshiper for 40 years and had chronic back pain so that she could not bend over. But after hearing the Gospel, she gave her life to Jesus and came on stage to show everyone that all of her back pain was gone!
For many years, a woman had a tumor the size of her hand under her left arm. As I prayed, she placed her hand on the tumor and she literally felt it dissolve in her hand.
Each night we had multiple people testify that they had been freed from demon-possession, including one woman brought to the crusade by her aunt. Their family were staunch Hindus, but they heard about the miracles and came to see for themselves. They put their faith in Jesus and the woman was completely freed from the demons.
One the final night, I preached on the father who brought his deaf, mute and demon-possessed son to Jesus. That night, two separate fathers brought their young sons to the crusade, both of which were unable to see properly. Like the story in the Bible, they believed in Jesus and both of the boys (one of them pictured) were completely healed.
Each night we had multiple people testify that they had been freed from demon-possession, including one woman brought to the crusade by her aunt. Their family were staunch Hindus, but they heard about the miracles and came to see for themselves. They put their faith in Jesus and the woman was completely freed from the demons.
Lastly, on the final night, I preached on the father who brought his deaf, mute and demon-possessed son to Jesus. That night, two separate fathers brought their young sons to the crusade, both of which were unable to see properly. Like the story in the Bible, they believed in Jesus and both of the boys (one of them pictured on the side) were completely healed.
These are just a few of the many testimonies that we experienced at the crusade. In fact, weeks later I am still receiving testimonies from our crusade director as people continue to testify in the churches about the miracles that they experienced.
One of the great opportunities that we have in our crusade is to be able to minister to the local pastors and church leaders. We had pastors come from a number of states to be at this conference, where we fed them both physically and spiritually. Altogether we had 400 pastors and leaders at this event. Here is an excerpt of an email I just received from our crusade about that conference and these pastors. He writes, “The pastors are working with new anointing and great enthusiasm and experiencing a great change in their personal lives and ministries. We don't have words to explain our experience. I can say with great joy and boldness that our Lord has fulfilled my dream and vision. And this is our prayer that the whole region will be saved as a fruit of our crusade.” Hearing these things brings me such joy to see the Church mobilized for the work of the Lord in this area that so desperately needs it.
There are two final stories from that conference I want to leave with you to show the last effectiveness of the work we are doing. The first is of a man name Avtar (pictured with me), who attended a crusade of my father’s in 2003. He and his wife could not have a child but at my dad’s crusade, he prayed for them and their son was born less than a year later. In honor of my father, they named their boy “Kevin.” Years later that boy continues to be a testimony to the grace of God.
The final story is of a Pastor named Sumesh (pictured), who attended a different crusade of ours 16 years ago. He came to my father’s pastor’s conference and at that event the Lord called him into full-time evangelism and church planting. Since then, he has helped plant more than 500 churches in 7 different states across the nation! This is the lasting impact that these crusades have. Thank you for your prayers and financial support, that make these stories possible!
For the King,
Joshua Wagner