Have you ever been walking through the hallway in your high school, through the quad at your college, through the park or standing in line at the coffee shop… and you hear that still small voice asking you to walk over to that guy or girl sitting all alone? You can see they are hurting, it’s written all over their face. You know it’s the Holy Spirit speaking to you.

Rather than making a “beeline” for them, praying quickly that the Lord provides a way for you to have a conversation with them about Jesus Christ, you think to yourself, “How would I start a conversation? What would I say, what if he or she asks me a tough question… What if they laugh at me?” Just as quickly as that still small voice asked you to speak with them, the opportunity is gone, they left.

I don’t know about you, but I want to do my best to take every opportunity that I get to tell others about Jesus Christ and His amazing love for us…

I want to invite you out to be a part of the 2010 G3 Training Program. This is a one-on-one personal evangelism training program… We don’t sit in classrooms watching a video, we don’t do “role playing” and we don’t start a book club and read all about it… We believe the best way to learn how to do something is to get out and do it!

We have a team of student leaders from Harvest Christian Fellowship in Southern California that will be coming out to partner with local high school and college-aged guys and gals. We will go to local hot spots in your community, looking for opportunities to talk to people about Jesus. The guys and girls from Southern California will do all the talking, it’s an “observation” opportunity for those who participate.

I can promise you this:
Every night that we hold a G3 training session in the Chicagoland area, people are going to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ. Some seeds will be planted. Some will be watered, some will fall by the wayside… but for some, it will be harvest time, some people will even pray to accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.

Will you be there?

I encourage you to watch the G3 promo video here, if you’re a student and you want to be involved in this, talk to your pastor. If you’re a youth/college/young adult pastor and you would like to get more info, shoot me an email or give me a call!

God Bless you,

Scot Camden
Harvest Crusades
Scotc@harvest.org
951.543.2657

The G3 program is a training program in one-on-one personal evangelism, focused on meeting those in our communities who are lonely, hurting, and lost; who have not accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, and who may not even know who He is and what He has done for us.

September 23, 1857

Jeremy Lanphier had hoped for more. But six people were six people. And did not scripture say, “Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of you”? So on this day, September 23, 1857, at lunchtime, he did not moan about the small number who turned out in response to his advertisement. Instead, he knelt with the others in the rented hall in Fulton Street, New York.

America sure needed prayer. The United States was in spiritual, political, and economic decline. Many people were disillusioned with spiritual things because of preachers who had repeatedly predicted the end of the world in the 1840′s. Agitation over slavery was breeding political unrest, and civil war seemed near. Just this year, financial panic had hit. Banks failed, railroads went bankrupt, factories closed, unemployment increased.

In lower Manhattan, a Dutch Reformed church had been steadily losing members, largely because of population changes owing to immigration; they hired the layman Jeremy to reverse the trend with an active visitation program. Despite his visits, church members were listless. So he rented the hall on Fulton Street and advertised prayer meetings. He himself enjoyed close fellowship with the Lord and thought others might, too. Conditions in the United States got worse; maybe that was a good thing. Sometimes trouble makes people turn to God. The Bank of Philadelphia failed. The third week of Jeremy’s program, his prayer meeting had forty participants and they asked for daily meetings.

On October 10, the stock market crashed. Suddenly people were flocking to the prayer meetings. Within six months 10,000 people were gathering daily for prayer in New York City alone.

Other cities experienced a renewed interest in prayer, too. In Chicago, the Metropolitan Theater was filled every day with 2,000 praying people. In Louisville, several thousand came to the Masonic Temple for prayer each morning. 2,000 assembled for daily prayer in Cleveland, and St. Louis churches were filled for months at a time. In many places tents were set up for prayer. The newly formed YMCA also played an important role in holding prayer meetings and spreading the revival throughout the country.

In February 1858, Gordon Bennett of the New York Herald gave extensive coverage to the prayer revival. Not to be outdone, the New York Tribune devoted an entire issue in April 1858 to news of the revival. News of the revival traveled west by telegraph. This was the first revival which the media played an important role in spreading.

Lay people, not church leaders led. Prayer, rather than preaching, was the main focus. The meetings themselves were informal — any person might pray, speak, lead in a song, or give a word of testimony, with a five-minute limit placed on each speaker. In spite of loose organization, the prayer meetings avoided the emotionalism displayed in earlier revivals.

Thus the small prayer meeting of Jeremy Lanphier on this day led to the Third Great Awakening. This was the first revival beginning in America with a worldwide impact. The revival spread to Ireland, Scotland, Wales, England, Europe, South Africa, India, Australia, and the Pacific islands.

All classes became interested in salvation, backsliders returned, conversions increased, and Christians desired a deeper instruction in spiritual truths. Families established daily devotions, and entire communities underwent a noticeable change in morals. Preaching, which in many places had become intellectual and lifeless, now concentrated on the truths of the gospel of Christ and His cross. As James Buchanan of Scotland summarized, it was a time when “new spiritual life was imparted to the dead, and new spiritual health imparted to the living.”

I ask, ‘Is prayer part of evangelism?’

Evangelist Luis Palau and Chicago Pastor, Rev. James Meeks preached to more than 14,000 people in China March 20-21 at the Hangzhou Chong-yi Christian church. Joining the two American preachers was Rev. Meeks’ 52-voice Salem Baptist Church Choir from Chicago.

Speaking from Isaiah 55, Palau invited the young audience to pray a sinners’ prayer and to become followers of Jesus Christ. Chong-yi Senior Pastor Rev. Joseph Gu then invited those who had prayed with Palau to stand. More than 500 responded to the invitation.

Vietnamese pastors told evangelist Luis Palau this week that big changes are taking place in their country.

Palau was in Vietnam March 11-17, meeting with church leaders, officials and U.S. diplomats.

During a two-day event with more than 500 pastors, they discussed a recent Christian celebration that drew 40,000 people, all with government permission.

Be a part of Chicago Harvest!

Hundreds Of County Leaders Rally Behind Evangelist’s Vision To Serve San Diego

Leaders readily responded that they would mobilize their churches, organizations, and resources to help transform San Diego County. “We may disagree on some things,” Mayor Sanders said of his involvement, “but we all can agree that San Diego desperately needs the help of each and every one of you.” He continued, “The community gets stronger when they see people taking care of each other.”