The Harvest Is Ready and Time Is Wasting

By Nick Hall

Her name is Michelle. As she stood shaking before me with tears in her eyes, my heart broke. Michelle is a classic example of what has happened with the youth of our day. She is jaded by organized religion, wounded by those closest to her, hurting, abused, looking for love, desperate for meaning, searching for something solid to build her life upon. Michelle didn’t realize it when she walked into our event that night, but she was looking for Jesus.

For the past ten years, I have been on a mission to reach the Michelles of our world. I travel 200 days out of the year, racking up the miles by car or plane. Already this year I have spoken to more than 650,000 people (mostly youth). I speak at conferences and churches, but I spend most of my time with events and initiatives focused on reaching those who have distanced themselves from God. Today, that represents the majority.

To those 50 years and older, I am an evangelist. But to my primary audience of teens and young adults, I am a hybrid between Ryan Seacrest (host of American Idol) and a peer who really loves Jesus.

I am not ashamed to say that God has changed my life. No, I am not a drug addict or ex-con. Actually, I had a simple childhood in a Christian home. I didn’t party, and I was a virgin when I married my wife Tiffany. However, like the majority of youth culture today, I became disenchanted with “status quo” Christianity. Then an on-fire youth pastor showed me that being a Christian didn’t have to be boring. In fact, this leader (and others who came after him) showed me that following Jesus is the least boring thing on earth.

Today my driving passion is to share Jesus with this generation, retelling the simple gospel story in a way they can understand—while not shying away from the radical implications it has for our lives. There is no such thing as a halfway Christian!

Praying Fervently

Before speaking at events, I walk the venues and pray for those who will attend. “God, what do You want to do tonight? Holy Spirit, draw this crowd to the hope of Jesus. Channel Your love through me. Help me connect with each person as a friend. Bring them to the cross.”
As programs come to a close, I stay long afterward to talk, listen, and pray for those who line up to speak with me. We laugh. We cry. We pray. It is exhausting and incredible all at the same time. Even at home, I stay up late, wading through emails and Facebook messages from those crying out for help or just wanting someone to listen to their stories.

Today’s generation is desperate for the hope that can only be found in Jesus. As His followers, it is our task to get His message out.

Like many who line up after our events, Michelle had a story to share.

“I came tonight skeptical that anything good would happen. I hate my life and have tried to kill myself numerous times over the past few years.” As she shared about the abuse she experienced, she expressed her lifelong conviction: If there is a God, He definitely doesn’t care about her.

As I looked into this young woman’s eyes I could feel the weight she had carried for so long.

In Luke 10:2, Jesus said, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”

Everywhere I look today, I see God’s harvest ripe and ready to be brought in. Students are lining up across the nation, asking our PULSE team to come alongside them to reach their friends, families, schools, and communities with God’s love.

In the past few years, we have witnessed unprecedented response to the gospel—even in hostile environments. During the fall of 2011, we held an outreach at a secular university in Minnesota where more than 30 percent of the thousands in attendance responded to the gospel! In the spring of 2012, PULSE went on tour with ten bands to 47 cities across America. As we shared the gospel each night, I was blown away by the spiritual hunger: more than 160,000 people responded to Jesus!

Ripe Fields Everywhere

The fields are ripe and ready to be harvested—and not just among our young people. The fields are ripe in cities where people from all corners of the world are converging upon urban centers. For those of us living in a metropolitan area (and even for many who do not), God has brought the nations to our doorstep.

The fields are ripe in rural areas. While negative influences can often plague smaller towns, one family can have an incredible impact by praying and proactively planning positive gatherings and events. In my home state of North Dakota, I have seen the power of passionate, persistent, praying parents and teens willing to take a stand for Christ. Things are changing!

The fields are ripe in schools. While many complain about all that is not happening in our schools, God is on the move. Students are gathering to pray for peers and work toward after-school outreach activities. Parents are interceding for entire campuses, faculty, and staff. Teachers and professors are coming to know Jesus and teaching differently.

The fields are ripe in the marketplace. While it is true there is a long list of things we cannot talk about at most jobs, it is also true that we cannot be discriminated against because of religion. At a time when most people are terrified to speak up about faith, a humble and timely witness has never had more impact. I know of major corporations where lunch-time Bible studies and spiritual discussion groups are exploding all because someone took Jesus’ words seriously.

The fields are ripe in our politics and social issues. While most want to paint Christianity into a corner of finger pointers and name callers, we have an unprecedented opportunity to model the love of Jesus to those who need it most. Believers are praying over those they may not understand, rather than judging. They are building friendships instead of casting stones. They embody Jesus rather than the Pharisees. Outcasts are experiencing love and community. The lost are being found, and prodigals are coming home.

I don’t want you to miss this: The harvest is ready!

All Eyes on Jesus

Jesus knew something about the harvest. He encouraged His disciples to pray with faith and urgency for believers to join Him in the harvest of souls. Jesus was on mission 24/7.

Jesus’ message is clear. He wants us to know that, like the harvest in the farming season, there is a spiritual harvest, and its time is now. Furthermore, He makes it very clear that this harvest is God’s. In other words, we must keep our eyes focused on our leader, not distracted from our primary work of completing the task.

Our greatest joy is to pray—and put feet to prayers—that God will send people into the harvest fields to minister the gospel.

Jesus’ life models this message. Jesus didn’t come to earth for comfort. Rather, He abandoned comfort for the sake of this great harvest. With His words He offers us a new way to live. With His actions He demonstrates the love of God for each life. When Jesus shed His blood on the cross, He paid for the sins of the world. After He rose from the grave, He unleashed His Holy Spirit on earth and commissioned His followers to carry the gospel forward.

Our mission has not changed—and the days are urgent. While most professing Christians do not share their faith, there is no form of biblical Christianity that does not involve running with God after those lives that are distant from Him. And today, there has never been a greater opportunity to join God in this mission.

I truly believe you and I can play a part in completing the Great Commission and ushering in our Lord’s return.  So what can you do now?

Why Would You Not Pray?

It all begins with prayer. At PULSE, we say that the backbone of every move of God is prayer. We frequently remind leaders that we are either prayerful or we are prideful. Do you pray every day for the lost people in your life? If not, why not?

To encourage prayer for those who need Jesus in our lives, we developed a card we call “Keep 5.” If you don’t currently have a strategy for praying for the lost, I encourage you to grab a recipe card or small piece of paper right now and write out the names of five people in your life who need Jesus. Once the card is filled out, place it in a visible place you will see numerous times in a day (on your refrigerator, in your Bible, or on the dashboard of your car). As you see the card, pray for your five friends and ask God for opportunities to share Jesus with them. We believe—and have seen evidence to the fact—that when we pray for opportunities to share Jesus, God actually gives us opportunities to share Jesus! (I know—crazy, right?)

Beyond personal prayer, consider joining with others to pray for lost people in your life, neighborhood, or community. Begin gathering with others weekly to pray specifically for those who need Jesus. Pray for each other’s Keep-5 names and hold each other accountable to actively seek opportunities to engage these relationships spiritually.

Once you’ve laid a firm foundation of prayer, begin to step out in faith toward seeing your friends come to know Jesus. Invite them to coffee. Have meaningful discussions. Take them to events or movies that deal with deeper issues. Pray and be intentional.

As Michelle shared her story, I witnessed her countenance completely changing. With tears welling like small pools in her eyes, I began to see hope fill her face.

“Tonight, something happened. Tonight, for the first time I experienced something powerful. As you were speaking, it was like I knew that God loved me and that Jesus died for me.”   With a trembling hand, she held out her fist toward me with something clasped inside. “I have worn this necklace for years. Every day I have put it on and it has reminded me that I am worthless.” Michelle opened her fist to reveal a razor blade on a chain.

She said, “After tonight, I don’t want to wear this any longer. I don’t want to see myself the way the world sees me for one more minute. From now on, I want to see myself the way God sees me. I want to follow Jesus.”

I opened my hand and received Michelle’s necklace. God had set her free.

There are Michelles all around us. They are looking for Jesus. Will you be the one to bring them the good news? Now is the time. The fields are ripe. The harvest is ready.      Let’s bring it in.

NICK HALL is the founder and chief communicator of PULSE (pulsemovement.com), a student-launched prayer and evangelism initiative that has spread to dozens of college campuses and communities. He is a partner evangelist with the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and the Luis Palau Association.

Prayer and Audacious Goals for Evangelism and Translation Work

By Greg Pruett

At the end of 2006, Pioneer Bible Translators set the audacious goal of doubling in size over six years to meet all our current needs and enter four new fields. The previous ten years had shown a steady cycle of growth and attrition in the number of people we maintained overseas. Some years we would grow well but never quite fast enough to meet the needs we had identified. In some cases, Bibleless peoples had been pleading for more than a decade for us to translate the Bible into their languages.

We couldn’t continue business as usual in the face of the desperate need for Scripture all over the world. We decided to do something extraordinary to stretch ourselves, break the cycle, and meet the spiritual needs of the people hungering and thirsting for God’s Word.     So we set higher goals than we ever dared before. Goals like these:

• By the end of 2012 we would increase the number of our teammates from 185 to 385.
• By 2014 we would be translating the Bible in 69 languages for 33 million people.
• We would buy our first property in the U.S. and construct our first permanent building.

We knew that none of these things would happen without doing something special. We needed a strategy.

The Strategy

We searched Scripture and found these promises of Jesus:

• God answers persistent prayer: Luke 11:9–10.
• God answers prayers of faith and faithfulness: Mark 11:24.
• God answers prayer in Jesus’ name: John 14:11–14.
• God answers unified group prayer: Matthew 18:19.
• God answers specific prayers that build faith: Matthew 21:21–22.

Instead of praying about our strategies, we decided to make prayer the strategy. We set out as a united team to persistently petition God, in faith, for goals consistent with Jesus’ name and nature.

The Power

None of us anticipated the miracle power God would rain down on us.

• During the worst economic period in recent history, our overall income increased from 4.2 million dollars in 2006 to 7.5 million in 2011.
• By the end of 2011 the number of our teammates had risen from 185 to 325. I don’t yet know if we will end 2012 with the envisioned number of 385 teammates, but last year alone the number of overseas career missionaries shot up from 88 to 109, an increase of nearly 25 percent!
• The number of countries we work in surged from 5 to 11.
• We were able to purchase 22 acres and build our first permanent facility in North America, and we have already begun to receive funds for our next building.
• In 2006 we were translating the Bible in 35 languages spoken by 9 million people. Now we translate the Bible in 53 languages spoken by at least 19.3 million people. This is a conservative estimate because we cannot fully document two populations: one language may be spoken by as many as 20 million people, and another by at least 200 million. The potential impact of our ministry continues to escalate to the point that we no longer are sure how to report its full scope accurately.

God has released an explosion of power. I believe this movement of the Holy Spirit has come because we are centered on prayer as our primary strategy.

The Future

Looking back at the astonishing results of championing prayer as our strategy, we are now asking the question, “If God can do that, is anything impossible for Him?” The time has come to set our next six-year goals, and we can’t help but think exceedingly big. We have decided that Pioneer Bible Translators will follow the Spirit’s lead to fill the gaps in the Bible translation movement so that we and our partners will see churches with Scripture transforming every language group on earth by 2050. It doesn’t seem humanly possible, but Jesus has shared His secret with us: “Anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do anything you ask in my name” (John 14:12–13).

We know that as we persevere in unified group prayer, crying out in faith to God for needs carefully aligned with the name and character of Jesus—nothing will be impossible. Prayer is the strategy.

Greg Pruett is the president of Pioneer Bible Translators. (pioneerbible.org)