April 2006 Monthly Newsletter
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
In Acts 2 the Apostle Peter preached the first Christian sermon that had been preached. Now we are curious to know what will be its effect apart from the audible voice of the Lord. So we listen to the first sermon without this visible presence, and when it is concluded, we read - "When the people heard this they were pricked in their hearts."
Nothing has changed! When we keep our own hearts right, walking in the light as He is in the light, the results will be the same. I have just returned from a trip that carried me into four of the most difficult countries on earth for the preaching of the Gospel. They were not awed by the eloquence, not excited in their imaginations, or concerned about themselves. They were not pleased, they were pierced. They sought no excuse; they said in tears, what must we do?
The first stop on my journey was Israel where for two weeks I taught the School of Christ to fifty-five Christian leaders, and at the same time put the School in the Hebrew language. In my spirit I felt that when I got to Israel, and put the School in the Hebrew language, it would be a defining moment in spiritual history. In the beginning it was very difficult, but in the end the students did not want to leave the room, the cry was "No one has told us these truths." I left Israel convinced that a work had begun that would climax with many, especially of the secular Jewish community, crying out; "what must we do?"
My next stop was in Chaingmai, Thailand for a conference with leaders from Thailand, Burma, Cambodia, Laos and Singapore. From the very first service we knew we had been sent by God and that the time was now for the one billion, five hundred millions souls in South East Asia. The School of Christ has been in Thailand and Burma for sometime, and the results have been so great that the surrounding countries are begging us to bring the School to their countries. This is God's day for South East Asia.
From Thailand I went to Jakarta, Indonesia to meet with some of the main Pastors of the country. The School has been functioning in Indonesia for three years and the results have been phenomenal despite the fact that Indonesia is perhaps the most hard line Moslem country in the world. In the early morning prayer meeting I was pleading with God to allow the wind of the Spirit to blow upon us in the same manner and power as He allowed it to blow upon those first disciples. When I prayed that prayer, this Word came to me; "If I answer your prayer you probably won't get out of this country alive." I knew, if what I was thinking was from God, I was facing my own Gethsemane and must now answer the question as to whether I was willing to die that these might live. With fear and trembling I answered: "Dear Lord, whatever it takes to break this darkness of Islam I am willing to do."
In the service that followed I thought that Pentecost had surely come. There was such crying out, weeping and praising God that I cannot find words to describe. As I went among them laying hands on the Pastors, they fell on me weeping so hard their tears wet my coat. In fifty-two years of preaching I have rarely felt such a presence of God. The multitudes never gathered as they did in Jerusalem, but I left that meeting knowing that they will come, and that real soon.
Leaving Indonesia, I flew to Malaysia where I met with scores of Pastors and leaders concerning bringing the School of Christ to that country. Again, the Spirit of God confirmed that He had truly led us there, and had gone before us to prepare the way. The first School of Christ will open in Malaysia May the first. By the first of October if all goes as planned the School of Christ will be in every country in South East Asia.
I beg you to join me in prayer for this great region where one in every four persons on this planet lives, yet it is the least evangelized region on earth. With your prayers and support, employing the same method Paul used in Acts 19:10, we can, in the next two years, reach the entire region. Know this! What happens there will affect the world.
When the Japanese surrendered, General McArthur was made governor of the nation. There was a spiritual vacuum; their God had proved to be a frail man. The General asked the American Church to send him five hundred missionaries, she sent him fifty. An unprecedented opportunity to reach an entire nation was lost because the Church refused to face up to the responsibility.
Today, God has presented you and I with a challenge fifteen times the size of Japan. He has allotted us the time to reach one billion, five hundred million souls in South East Asia. God will not stop the clock while we play the games of religion and argue whether such a challenge is possible. At the most, we probably have two years to complete the assignment, we must not fail. I have asked the Lord to impress upon every one who reads this letter what He would have them give to this awesome project. His word to you and I is: "Today, if you hear my voice, and will not harden your heart, all the resources of heaven will be opened to you." If you and I will commit, God will supply.
God bless you,
His bondservant
B. H. Clendennen
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