Derek Prince - How Derek and Ruth Worked Out The Great Commission
This excerpt is from: How Should We Prepare For His Appearing?
Now, to close this I’m going to challenge you in a way. Because I’m going to give you very briefly and outline of how Ruth and I are trying to do what I’ve been preaching. You understand? Our ministry has four main thrusts. When you see us two together here, that’s just the tip of an iceberg. There’s a lot more below the surface than above. I think the major thrust of our ministry is my radio program. Which is heard in this city, on the Christian station at 11:45 am. Each weekday, if you've never heard it, you can tune in and hear it.
Now we started that in l979 on 8 stations in the United States with a budget of $8,000. We could never have conceived of how it would expand. But for the glory of God, I want to relate briefly. We are now on over 50 stations in the United States. But that’s still only the tip of the iceberg. We are also basically covering most of the inhabited globe. Both in English and in four foreign languages. And a fifth one being prepared. In English from Manila, we cover Southeast Asia, East Africa and part of India. From South Lebanon, George Otis’ station, we cover Lebanon, the neighboring Arab states and the north of Israel, medium wave. Shortwave, that station reaches right into Europe as far north as Finland and Leningrad. And it is heard in Finland like a local station. And our program is on there five days a week. It’s interesting, you’ve all heard, I’m sure, that there was an attempt to blow the station up recently?
Well, we met with George Otis in Jerusalem just after that. And he told us that investigations indicated that the Moslems that did it, were Marxist Moslems, Russian oriented. And apparently, one of their main targets was the transmitter that was reaching Russia. They didn’t get it, thank God. But that gives us some indication that it’s making an impact in Russia. Then from Honolulu, the program covers the islands of the Pacific. And on a second night broadcast it reaches as far as New Zealand in one direction and Japan in another. From Puerto Rico it reaches most of the islands of the Caribbean, It’s also heard through most of New Zealand and in the south of Australia. That’s in English. It has now been translated into three Chinese dialects: Mandarin, Cantonese and Amoy. And because of Chinese culture, I can’t broadcast under Derek Prince. So I have a Chinese name and the program has a Chinese name. The Chinese name of the program is Living Sacrifice. And my Chinese name as best I can pronounce it is Ye Gwang Ming, which means clear light. Isn’t that beautiful? I didn’t choose it, it was just allotted to me. But if I could have chosen a name that expresses more completely exactly what I want to be, which is clear light.
Now that program is broadcast from South Korea in Mandarin, the official language of all Communist China. And reaches the whole of Communist China five days a week at 6:00 P.M. which is peak listening time. And responses have been received from many different provinces of China. It’s estimated that in the rural areas of China 90 percent of all Christians listen to the radio. It’s their main source of input. I suppose you are aware that in the last two or three decades China has experienced perhaps the greatest move of the Holy Spirit that’s ever taken place in the history of the Church. It’s estimated there are least 50 million new Christians. Few of them have Bibles or any other source of material. The radio is their main channel.
Somebody asked a young Chinese believer if he had a Bible. He said: No. They said: Do you have any teaching material? He said: Yes. A sister tore out one page from her devotional book and gave it to me. That’s the kind of hunger that there is, you see. I cannot thank God enough for the privilege of being used to meet that desperate need at a time when it can make the history of China. Then in Cantonese, it reaches Hong Kong, which Cantonese is the dialect of Hong Kong. And in Amoy it reaches Southeast Asia where there is a large Chinese population. Altogether potentially, that one listening audience is over one billion people. Bear in mind, one out of every four persons on earth today is Chinese. If you don’t reach the Chinese, it’s vain to talk about reaching the world. Then from San Francisco in Spanish, since the middle of last year, twice in every 24 hours it reaches the whole of Central and South America. It covers the entire continent.
And then another thing that to us is intensely exciting is we have been praying to get it into Russian. There’s a lot of hard work involved. Because you have to find the right translator, the right voice, you have to check on whether they’re reliable, whether they’re really translating what you say. But God, just near the end of 1985, put us in touch with the man we consider to be the ideal Russian translator and voice. A man born in Poland, educated in Russia. Suffered much persecution for his faith and was miraculously delivered and brought with his family to the United States. So, by the end of 1986, we trust that we will be broadcasting daily, probably twice daily, and perhaps from more than one station into Soviet Russia. In Soviet Russia reliable estimates indicate that there are 29,000 house churches that are fed only by radio. As far as the Communist world is concerned, at this present time, radio is by far the most effective means to reach them with the Word of God, if you can put it into their own language.
We’re praying about other languages. I’ve been challenged about Arabic. I get passionate letters from India telling me of all the Indian dialects that it ought to be in. It’s hard to keep up with what God is doing, I’ll tell you that. Ruth and I used to sing that chorus together, Draw me after you and let us run together. But some years ago I said: to Ruth we better stop singing it, because we can’t keep up as it is! Then the second main way we’re trying to fulfill this challenge is what we call our Global Outreach program. Which we take all my teaching material, all my cassettes, all my books. And offer them free, completely free, without any cost whatever, to Christian leaders and workers in Third World countries and behind the Iron Curtain. We are now offering material to about 40 nations. My material in one language or another is in every one of the Iron Curtain countries.
And just by way of interest, I can’t offer you to buy this because this is the last copy. I think, at least, there’s just one copy. Somebody maybe could get it. This is my Foundation Series, seven books of basic Bible teaching. How many of you have read them? Good, I meet people all over the world who told me: That's what I cut my teeth on, that’s what gave me stability in my Christian walk. Well these are currently being published in Polish in Poland. And the story behind that is really remarkable. The Communist government has concluded that the Church is too powerful in Poland to be defeated in open conflict. So their policy now is to divide the Church. And to do that, they are favoring the evangelicals at the expense of the Catholics. So they gave the evangelicals permission to print and publish these books. But what amuses me is, I get lots of letters from Catholics telling me how much my books have helped them!
Then this other book here, a Self Study Bible Course, which I had to borrow back from somebody who had obtained it. is already translated into a number of languages. And is currently, at this present time, being translated into a dialect of Malawi, a nation in East Africa; a dialect of Zambia, called Lunda, which is a nation in southern Africa; into Mandarin Chinese, into French and into Hebrew. And Spanish, thank you, I knew there was something I couldn't remember. That's why I have my wife sit in the front row, for one reason. Then there’s our personal ministry, which you’ve seen a little of. But this past year in 1985, Ruth and I personally traveled more than 80,000 miles outside the United States. And we’ve ministered in countries as far apart as the south of New Zealand which is just about as far south as you can go. The north of Sweden and Singapore and Pakistan in the east as well as a number of other nations.
And finally, not by any means the least important, is our ministry in Israel. We have built a home in Jerusalem, which was one of the hardest assignments we ever had from God. And we spend approximately 6 months of the year based in Jerusalem. But our ministry there is very different at the present time. I do do some teaching. I conducted a seminar for Jewish Christians in October of this past year. But primarily our emphasis is on intercession for Israel and for the nations of the Middle East. And on reconciliation between Jews and Christians. And I’d like to say just a word about the Moslem nations. Although I’m primarily called to Israel, I have a tremendous burden for the Moslem nations. If you don’t know that religion, Islam, I tell you, and I’ve lived in Moslem nations and I’ve been exposed to it for over 40 years, I think it’s the cruelest, hardest, most diabolical bondage that has ever been imposed on human beings.
And there are nearly one billion Moslems in the world. And virtually, except in a few places like Indonesia, almost no inroads have been made by the gospel. In the Middle East, in any one of the Moslem nations, to preach the gospel to a Moslem is a crime that's frequently punished by death. And for a Moslem to convert to Christianity is a crime that is automatically punished by death. So there is an insuperable kingdom of darkness out there which we have to overcome primarily, I believe, by the ministry of prayer. That’s a little summation of our ministry. But I wanted to give it to you, because I wanted you to know that we don’t just preach. We seek to practice what we preach. Now, as we come to the end of this, I want to present a challenge to you who have heard this message. I’m a pretty straightforward person. I don’t believe in having every head bowed and every eye closed. I don’t know why you have to make your mind up with your head bowed and your eyes closed. I’d rather you make your mind up with your eyes wide open.
There are some of you here who know the Lord, who love Him, who want to serve Him. But measured by what I’ve been saying tonight, you are not really with it. I hope that doesn’t offend you. You are busy with a lot of religious activity but very little of it does any serious harm to Satan’s kingdom whatever. Some of you may be pastors or leaders of congregations. I’d like you to consider how much your congregation is doing that really threatens Satan. And how much you may just be engaged in religious activity which is not going to change anything significant in this earth. I hope that doesn’t offend you but that’s the way I see it. I’m speaking now particularly, but not exclusively, of the younger people here. Maybe you really want a challenge. Would you be willing to tell God, in light of what Brother Prince has said here tonight, I’ll make myself available to You Lord, to do whatever will really meet the need. What really will affect the situation. What will really speed the return of the Lord.
If you feel that God has been challenging you by His Holy Spirit tonight, now I'm not putting any limits of age. And you would like to make a fresh commitment of your life to get involved with the things that really matter. I hope I’m not being arrogant when I say that. But I think I’ve explained it clearly out of Scripture why they matter. And you’d like to ask God to lay His hand upon you tonight and direct your into something that is really significant. Let me give you this little testimony if you can wait a moment.
In 1958 I was a principal of a college for training teachers in East Africa in Kenya. It was a very useful job. I won many of my students to the Lord. But one day I was sitting on the shore of Lake Victoria which is the great, beautiful, inland water lake there in Western Kenia. And I opened my New Testament at random. And my eye fell on Matthew 24:14. And it was as if at that moment it was printed in letters of fire across the sky and reflected in the waters of the lake. And the Lord spoke to me very quietly and He said: This, Matthew 24:14, is priority number one for My people. And I thought it over and I said: Lord, I’m not sure that my life is fully lined up with that priority. I know I’m doing a useful job. And I’ve got to finish the furrow that I’m plowing. But, if there’s a way I can be more fully in line with Your purposes, I ask You right now, to move in my life to bring me into line. And I think where I am at now is God’s answer to that prayer. It took Him about 20 years to instruct me, illuminate my understanding, gain control of my will. And bring me to a place where I believe I am really doing the things that matter.
I hope that doesn’t sound arrogant. But I’m really convinced that Ruth and I are doing the things that matter for the kingdom of God, for the return of the Lord. If we’re wrong, God forgive us and show us. But we’re doing it with that conviction. I’m past 70. I could retire, I have no interest in retiring. In fact, last year, my 70th birthday, I traveled further and preached more than I’ve ever done in my life before. I’m motivated by a passionate conviction that this is what the Church has to do. So, if you would like to do what I did on the shores of Lake Victoria and say: Lord, if I’m not really in line with Your purposes, I want to be brought into line. I’m willing to yield myself and come under Your guidance and direction. And you’d like to make that decision here tonight, I want you to do just one very simple thing.
That’s all I’m going to ask. It’s that you stand to your feet wherever you are. Brother Bill, come up here and support me in prayer. Ruth, come up, too, please. Annette, would you come up too? I just like to have people around me. That is the most astonishing response I have ever seen anywhere. I’m just overwhelmed; I don’t know what to say. There are tears in my eyes. I really was afraid I had spoken too long or I'd been too longwinded or I hadn’t made it clear. Praise the Holy Spirit who made the truth clear. I’d like you to say this prayer after me. You’re not praying to me, please understand that. I’ll just give you the words to say and in these words you put your life in the hands of the Lord. And just ask Him to do whatever needs to be done and trust Him. Say these words:
Lord Jesus Christ, You are my Savior and my Redeemer. You redeemed me by Your precious blood out of the hand of the devil. And I belong to You. And I want to serve You. Lord, I want to do what is really important. I want to be committed to the things that will bring Your return. I offer my life to You afresh tonight. Lay your hand upon me from this night forward. Guide me and work out Your will in my life. So that I may find myself in a place in Your service. The one you’ve appointed for me in which I am doing the things I have heard tonight. Working to bring the gospel of the kingdom to all nations. And in some way working for the reconciliation of Israel and for their restoration to their God. God, I don’t know how you’ll do this but I trust you to do it because I pray out of a sincere heart and in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Now I’m going to pray for all of you and just ask God to lay His hand upon you.
Heavenly Father, I thank You tonight for this phenomenal response. I thank You that Your Spirit is here tonight. I could never have achieved that, Lord, by my words or by my efforts. God, we want to tell You tonight, we trust You to answer that prayer for each one that’s prayed out of a sincere, committed heart. Lord, move in every one of these lives. Where there are obstacles, remove them. Where there are bondages and fetters, break them. And loose these people from everything that would hinder them from Your highest will in their lives. From this night onwards, Lord. And when we meet at the presence of the Lord Jesus. We’ll give You the glory Lord, for all You’ve done for each one of us. In His wonderful name, amen. God bless you.