REPORT BY: Tim Jones

(Cardiff, UK)

My seven day trip to India in March 2008 was a huge success.

I was invited to travel to a conference in the south of the Gujarat state of India. Some 35,000 people travelled from miles around to attend the first day of the conference.  I was honoured to be invited to the stage to sit and meet members of parliament who were attending the conference as part of their visit to the region.

On day two of the conference I was asked to speak to a ‘small group of people’ which turned out to be 5,000 men and women!  Although this number of people exceeded any number of people I have spoken to I found complete confidence and peace in the Holy Spirit to be able to present the word clearly.  It was a blessing to see the word received so gratefully and I was encouraged by the response both to the appeal but also to the bible school students who eagerly jumped in to pray for some 3000 people.

In the afternoon I spent time alone in my room looking over some notes that I had started to prepare for a Sunday service. I was so thankful to God for the opportunity that he had given me I didn’t notice the time passing by. I began to get excited about the notes I was preparing and thought I would take them along to the evening meeting to look over while I was there. (I know I should have been prepared to listen to the word but I didn’t understand the language and thought I would take something with me.)
We arrived at the field at around 7:30pm as the worship time was in progress. There seemed to be a lot more people there, but having sat on the platform the night before, the nerves of being in front of the people had passed.  The man I was with told me that some 45,000 people were in attendance. I told him that when he started preaching I would like to go and sit with the interpreter off the platform so that I could understand what he was saying, to which he replied ‘tonight you are speaking’.

When I suddenly found out I was the one to be preaching I realised why God had been preparing me all day with the word I was preparing, and the reason why I had brought the notes along that night.

The next thing I knew was that I was being introduced to the gathered people and the only thing I could do was submit myself to the Holy Spirit as there was no way I could do this on my own - you know something, all God wants is a willing person ready to be used.  He wants someone who will take the first step and He will do the rest and I am pleased he found me ready that night.  

For a whole hour the Holy Spirit anointed me with power and authority to preach the gospel to what I later found out was 50,000 people. I got more and more excited about how God was using me. At one point hundreds of people testified to being instantly healed while I was preaching not because of anything I said but because that’s the kind of extravagant God we serve.  Thousands more testified to being healed when we prayed for healing at the end.

My sister talks about ‘putting Jesus out there and letting Him do the work’ so I did just that.  The call for salvation saw many thousands of people respond and it was such a sight to behold!  It w as so humbling that God would use me and at the same time it was so awesome that I was a part of it all - seeing all those thousands of people stand to their feet before Jesus and confess Him as their Lord and saviour.  It was the fulfilment of dreams that I had had since the day I was saved.

The final call was for the baptism in the Holy Spirit.  Only Jesus could administer this and I knew that was exactly what He was going to do. Together with the elders of the churches, the bible students, and the ministries represented on the stage, we stood together and raised our hands to the Lord and asked Him to pour His Spirit out on all who were gathered. I didn’t have to open my eyes to know what Jesus was doing as the noise of tens of thousands of people breaking out in the Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues was awesome - at that same time all the authority and power that was put on me at the beginning, when I prayed, left.

I no longer had the authority to speak.  My mother told me when I first started to preach that I should 'stand up, speak up and shut up’.  I have always been grateful for that advice and that night in India was no exception. I handed the microphone back to my friend and sat down, staring out at the awesome, extravagant work that God had chosen me to be a part of.

The following day I went to a local church to speak; a huge difference from the multitudes the night before, but I found the people just as hungry to receive the Word and to worship God.  At the end of the meeting we prayed for healing the sick and saw them healed and also commanded the release of the demon possessed, which happened.

From there we travelled back to the North and again I was asked to speak to local church leaders and students. This was a good time of encouragement and an opportunity for me to meet with some of the people who are busy serving the Lord and seeing the church explode with growth in their state.

I have not mentioned names of people or places in my report as this could compromise some of the work these wonderful men and women are doing in India. I am so grateful for the opportunity to serve with them in seeing the church grow and look forward to future opportunities to be with them.