2011 – 2020
Training of thousands of pastors and leaders in six leadership training events were held in Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. Attendance: 4,000 Christian leaders.
Central Asia
Mega City Media outreach together with local churches, GCMM was able to reach 22 million people in Central Asia between 2006 and 2009. The cities targeted were Almaty, Bishkek, Osh, Dzhalal-Abad, Kyzyl-Kiya and the Fergana Valley. This would not have been possible without mass media.
Consequently, thousands of Muslims received the gospel message. Kazakhstan was long been known for its tolerant position on religious freedom in Central Asia. However, a major shift in policy was announced in 2011 by the President of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev.
Freedom to practice their religion would be restricted to two groups, the Islamic Society, and the Orthodox Church. Soon only Islam was to be tolerated.
Again, the timing of the Central Asian Media Campaigns was divinely God-given.
Egyptian-born Zakaria, 77, is the most respected Christian leader in the Islamic world. He has also been the most wanted. Al Qaida offered a 60 million dollar bounty for his life.
Al Qaida enemy number 1
Egyptian-born Priest Zakaria’s TV programs were watched regularly by several hundred million Arabs across North Africa and the Middle East.
Great Commission Media Ministries was committed to assisting and co-working with Zakaria on his new satellite channel, with 600 TV programs in Arabic.
One almost unbelievable, yet true story shared by Priest Zakaria left no doubt in viewers’ minds, about how God can bring a family to faith…
The wife of a Saudi Sheikh watched Zakaria satellite TV programs whenever her husband left for the mosque. This went on for a month and the wife was convinced to accept the teaching she was hearing. She contacted Zakaria who prayed for her salvation. She had a burning desire to tell her husband of her faith in Jesus but was afraid to tell him. She could be stoned to death, imprisoned, or even be divorced from her husband.
One day she confessed to her husband that she had been listening to a Shia Muslim Sheikh on television who spoke very logically about interesting issues, though contrary to Islam and Muhammad.
They started to watch the TV programs together. The husband wondered why the “Islamic speaker” (Zakaria) wore a cross and his wife responded by saying that it made no difference whether the speaker was a Sheikh or a pastor because he spoke the truth. The husband then asked his wife if she truly believed the words of this man. She could no longer stay silent and was prepared to die, if necessary, for her faith. She confessed she not only believed the pastor but that she had put her faith in Jesus Christ.
Upon hearing his wife’s confession, the husband also revealed that he too had become a believer one year earlier but that he had not had the courage to tell her of his faith. He had prayed for the conversion of his wife all the while!
God’s truth was revealed.
Palestine
A “Power To Change” billboard in the Palestinian city of Jericho. Palestinian youth read the campaign ads in a local newspaper. 1,000 Muslims responded to the campaign message.
The “Battle” of Jericho
GCMM conducted a mini campaign, in the Biblical city of Jericho, under Palestinian control with a population of 50,000 people. During the month-long media campaign, Israeli Arabs responded to the gospel message. The Palestinian campaign manager in Jericho reported that they had received 1,000 responses asking for the DVD and the campaign book. The campaign ended just as unrest was sweeping across much of the Middle East and North Africa.
The Blind, lame, deaf, and poor of Israel
GCMM President Hannu Haukka in the office of the
Mayor of Kiryat Yam (former Israeli Ambassador in New York).
GCMM visited the Israeli city of Kiryat Yam on the coast, north of Haifa. The Mayor of Kiryat Yam was visibly moved upon hearing plans to launch food distribution to help feed and clothe the poorest of the poor.
The rate of returning Jewish families to Israel was greater than the government subsidies available. Kiryat Yam, one of hundreds of similar low-income towns in Israel had 4,000 people living far below the poverty line.
Jeremiah (31:8) (KJV)
“For I will bring them from the north and from earth’s farthest ends, not forgetting their blind and lame, young mothers with their little ones, those ready to give birth. It will be a great company who comes.”
Today, almost 1.5 million Russian-speaking children of Israel have returned “home” from the land of the north, the former Soviet Union. With them, as Jeremiah said, have come the blind, the deaf, the lame, the poor.
Elderly Russian Jews from South Russia with little hope of
employment, surviving on minimal government subsidies.
Rafik and his daughter from Southern Russia are among the poorest of the poor. GCMM brought the family 10 bags of food, an electric stove and a toy for each of the children.
Hannu Haukka reports: “We visited a home just as the Sabbath was about to begin. There were two loaves of bread on the table. Nothing else. Rafik, the father of the family of four, opened the fridge and it was empty. When we offered to buy food from the store down the street his eyes lit up. Then he hesitated and quietly said: “Thank you, but even if you buy the food, we have nothing to prepare the food with.” The propane line had been cut because Rafik had no money to pay the gas bill.
They had no words to express their thanks. The mother was stunned. The Father wiped tears from his eyes.
For thousands of families, the poverty was real.
The Ural Mountains
In the city of Perm, in the Ural Mountains
over 5,000 calls were received during the campaign.
One million exposures to the Gospel in the Russian Urals
A month-long campaign was held in the Ural Mountains. The GCMM campaign office recorded over 5,000 responses from residents in the northern city of Perm. This was significant taking into account the fierce opposition that the churches in Russia were facing.
Edward Grabovenko, the Bishop of Russia’s largest evangelical denomination stated: “This campaign will not leave anyone indifferent. There are those, who receive the message with joy and are saved. Others are angry and reject it. I believe that this campaign should take place not only in our city but in every population centre from the smallest town to the biggest city in Russia. Do not stop, keep on going. Our prayer and plea is that there be no cessation to these campaigns! These campaigns are investments that we will never regret. I therefore warmly thank you for conducting these campaigns.”
Together with the churches one million people were reached. The churches in Perm along with GCMM then planned special evangelistic outreach events in 19 smaller villages in the outlying area. GCMM supplied them with the literature they needed for the campaigns.
MOSCOW
Slowly but surely, the Church in Russia began facing persecution similar to the Soviet era. All signs indicated that Russia was returning to the days of disruptions organized by the State.
During the summer of 2011, several Pentecostal churches joined together for an outdoor baptismal service on the shores of Lake Beloje Ozero, just east of Moscow.
Even though proper procedures were followed, and officials were given notice, it was disallowed, and every effort was made to stop the service from taking place.
Just before the service was about to begin, conservation officers arrived at the scene and began to issue fines and soon the police, eco-management experts and minister’s representatives also arrived on the scene to give their support.
Then suddenly, they stood down and stopped issuing fines.
Russia: Outdoor baptismal service banned in Moscow
Police presence was very noticeable as they kept an eye on proceedings at a recent outdoor baptismal service in Moscow. According to Russian officials baptisms are to be conducted only by the Orthodox church.
The reason for the abrupt end to their efforts was that one of their own police officers, a new Christian, was among the group of people to be baptized! The other officers gathered around the police officer and asked why he was dressed in a white gown and among those who were to be baptized.
He told his colleagues courageously about the great change that God had given his life. Praise be unto God. What a witness he was!
On that day 50 new-born Christians were baptized. The police revealed that their orders to disrupt the baptismal service came from high up the political ladder in Moscow.
Mega City Campaign in Chennai
Chennai was the fourth largest city in India with a population of about 9 million.
“Look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest!” John 4:35 (NKJV)
Bishop Mohan of the 8,000 Assemblies of God churches realized the impact of the media in today’s India:
“This is a new way to evangelize and reach the people of India. There have been many campaigns that have spent a lot of money to gather people for one event. But in this campaign, people were reached where they are.
I personally and strongly believe that the time for traditional outdoor evangelistic crusades is over in India. The threat of terrorist attacks has caused the authorities to be cautious in granting permits for mass gatherings. The media campaign reached more people than any stadium could have held.
This kind of evangelism touches great numbers of people and they easily come to church because they don’t feel intimidated. Now is a time for India and God is at work.”
Bishop Mohan’s Church in Chennai, India
April in Chennai, India where the ministry call centre logged 94,000 telephone calls and 800,000 hits on the website in just five weeks! The response was overwhelming. Chennai leaders gather for praise and worship. 45,000 response forms were a valuable resource for a mega harvest in the city.
Hannu together with Chennai pastors prayed over the 45,000 response forms from the campaign. Churches carefully followed up each of the responses, long after the campaign ended.
Extremist Hindus attempted to disrupt the campaign
The sheer volume of 5,000 calls a day caught the attention of Hindu activists. The call centre phone lines were cut on two occasions by extremists. The lines were repaired within days but still, thousands of calls were lost. Daily newspapers however continued to carry “Power To Change” messages and major TV channels continued with prime-time programs. Many suicidal people called in, talked to a counsellor, received messages of hope and consequently were saved from an untimely death. Hindus and Muslims found faith!
Mega City billboards at the bus station in Chennai. Billboards were untouched by the activists, which allowed the Gospel to be proclaimed throughout the city of Chennai for the duration of the month-long multimedia outreach.
Mega City Campaign in Helsinki
The first Mega City Campaign held in Finland was in the capital city of Helsinki. The month-long campaign became a catalyst for 5 additional province-wide campaigns.
Over 1,000 volunteers showed up for a major training event for the first Helsinki media campaign. 80 churches and Christian organizations had signed up as participating partners in the campaign.
Pastors were elated when they saw the turnout of volunteers! It seemed like a revival had already begun before the campaign even started, as two churches booked for training counsellors and book couriers were filled to the brim. As well, requests were coming in from other major cities in Finland for a similar city campaign even before the event in Helsinki had even begun!
A pastor from one of the training churches had said, “I haven’t seen such enthusiasm for the past few decades!” The campaign for Helsinki expanded into both Finnish and Swedish, as the two languages are spoken in the Helsinki area.
Finland’s evangelicals represent only 12 percent of the country’s 5 million people, and less than one out of 10 people attend church at all.
The campaign book with transformation stories was distributed to all members of Parliament. The Ministry of Internal Affairs requested books to be given to their officials.
Secular television and daily newspapers took the message of the campaign to the nation. Life-changing stories from the campaign were downloaded on YouTube 63,000 times. More than 185,000 contacts were made during the first 30 days and over 112,000 unique visits to the website were recorded.
Hannu Haukka (middle) with Helsinki campaign team leaders.
CBN News reported on the Helsinki campaign:
“A month-long media campaign in Finland has sparked a nationwide discussion on God and His power. Finland is a Protestant nation where the Christian faith has long been on the decline. But church leaders said they see signs that the downward trend could be reversing. In downtown Helsinki, streetcars and buses carried the church-sponsored ads from Sept. 15 – Oct. 15. The ads, which encourage onlookers to call a hotline to learn more about Christ, even had the secular media talking.”
74 city buses and 45 trams prominently displayed life-changing campaign ads for 30 days. The largest billboard ad (on the right) was about 8 stories high and was located right next to the Helsinki train station, where the majority of commuters passed by each day.
In the photo three separate ads are seen on one of the busiest roads leading in and out of Helsinki. About 10,000 cars travelled this route each day.
“Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow…” “This is my hope”, says triple murderer, Lauri “Late” Johansson.
These were the words of born again, founder and ex-President of “Natural Born Killers”, Late Johansson. His voice was trembling as he looked directly into the camera. Late Johansson is currently serving a life sentence for triple murders.
Late’s words and images flashed through the TV camera lens to countless TV sets from Helsinki, Finland and beyond to Rovaniemi, a city located on the Arctic Circle.
Local media outlets
Two of the largest daily newspapers in Finland, Helsingin Sanomat (similar to The Globe and Mail) and the largest daily tabloid, Iltalehti, each devoted a whole page to Late’s story. Online editions linked the stories to the campaign website. The online versions drew 1.3 million unique visits each day. The tabloid, Iltalehti linked their story to the campaign YouTube site where thousands online watched the testimony of Johansson.
Channel 4, one of the national TV networks interviewed IRR-TV (GCMM) campaign representatives. The “Jay Leno” of Finland, a female host, was amazed and said she had never seen such a media campaign anywhere. Numerous talk shows commented on the outreach as something the country had never seen.
The Telecommunications Commission of Finland granted IRR-TV an exceptional three-month broadcast license just prior to the start of the campaign. The programs continued to air until Christmas every evening from 10 pm to 12 midnight, nationwide.
2012
Hannu Haukka was appointed chairman of the NRB International Committee at the world’s largest Christian media convention, National Religious Broadcasters (NRB).
It was the first time in their 70-year history that NRB had appointed a non-American citizen as chairman of any committee. The appointment reflected trust and high regard for Hannu and Laura’s lifelong service in ministry.
The tide began to turn in Russia
It was an unprecedented time of harvesting souls for the kingdom of God, from 2003-2012, with 40 Mega City Campaigns held in Russia.
David Wilkerson, pastor and author from Times Square Church in New York had forewarned 4,000 Russian pastors in Moscow that a great time of harvest would not last.
Many in Russia however, believed that this new freedom would be permanent. Wilkerson’s prophetic word was however a stark warning to the contrary.
By 2012 the Russian Federal Bureau of State Security, known as the FSB, threatened all secular media that worked together with churches in Russia to terminate their activity. Violators would be mercilessly shut down. In European Russia, evangelists were prosecuted and faced prison, and houses of prayer were bulldozed.
However, despite tight government restrictions on media in Russia, GCMM continued its outreach by partnering with mission teams travelling to villages and towns where, because of their size, normally conducted Mega City Campaigns weren’t possible.
Bishop Grabovenko reported that as the Gospel was being preached from village to village, door to door across Russia as a cooperative effort over 2 years, they had seen over one million people make decisions for Jesus when they received the campaign book and spoke with church volunteers.
The power of the printed page emerges
The churches requested an additional 5 million books to be printed to continue the effective outreach before it became extremely difficult to do so. GCMM embarked upon printing 5 million copies of the campaign book, “Experience the Power To Change” for distribution across Russia in mass. Reports of up to 3 million people having received Jesus as Lord and over 2,000 new churches and house churches were planted.
SIBERIA
Sharing the Gospel, door to door in Siberia and eastern Russia was still welcomed and received without repercussions by the state.
Two church outreach volunteers shared: “Most residents of the remote village Prutskoy opened their homes to us and received the gospel message with keen interest. They were given the evangelistic book and those who wanted to read the Bible were given a New Testament.”
They remember praying the prayer of salvation right then and there for two of the village residents. “It was such a blessing to see the change on their faces after the prayer!”
During another day of outreach, they learned that a mother had prayed to God all her life with no answers to her prayers. She had an insurmountable tragedy within her family and as a result, did not believe in God or anything else… her son had been convicted of murdering his wife. The son was with her when Vera shared the gospel message and they both listened intently. Vera prayed the prayer of salvation with them, and they asked her to visit again.
GCMM leads hundreds in Russia’s prisons to Jesus
Black Dolphin Prison in Orenburg, Russia
A door of opportunity opened for GCMM to partner in ministering to inmates at the infamous Black Dolphin maximum-security prison in Russia. This was a powerful testament that God can make the impossible, possible.
Vitaly, who had served time behind bars in his teenage years, was a Chaplain at the prison and shared how God had led him there:
“I build houses to earn a living and was building a house for a woman who was the wife of the Deputy Governor. I asked if her husband could help me gain access to the Black Dolphin prison. The Deputy Governor had been shocked at what he saw at the prison every time he went there on business. At the prison, cages had been built ‘inside’ the cell walls, further restricting movement by the inmates.
Upon seeing the awful conditions on numerous occasions, he agreed to help us. After much discussion and many meetings with the prison warden, we were given access to the Black Dolphin and all the prisons in the Orenburg region.”
50 Inmates baptized, handcuffed behind their back
Vitaly and Vladimir Kiselev ministered at the Black Dolphin Prison once a month, along with volunteer workers from the Orenburg church.
Vitaly continued: “We recently held our ninth baptismal service there. All told, 55 prisoners serving life sentences have been baptized. These hardened men have confessed their sins and accepted Jesus as Saviour and Lord.
We brought our inflatable plastic pool and filled it up to knee level with water. The prisoners were handcuffed and led into the pool. The handcuffs were kept on during the baptismal service.”
Prisoners are baptized inside the prison. The prisoners wore full hand and leg restraints, with guard dogs watching them for extra security.
“After the baptismal service, there was communion (in handcuffs) followed by a very moving occurrence whereby the inmates, following Jesus’ example, washed each other’s feet. This was an important moment for them. When an inmate washed another inmate’s feet, he would never again be disrespectful toward them. In this way, he is showing that the other inmate is held in high esteem and above himself. The washing of each other’s feet was a turning point for them.”
Calloused inmates on death row
Vitaly went to visit another prison called Pyatak where many of the inmates were waiting for their execution on death row. One inmate, Vladimir, had murdered seven people and was behind bars from the early age of fourteen. His crimes grew in intensity and ended up on death row. While there, he murdered his cellmate.
Another inmate, Sergei was twenty-seven years old and was an elite soldier serving in the special forces of Russia (Special Ops). He was trained to fight and to kill with his bare hands. Special forces soldiers swear by oath not to use their skills outside military conflict.
One evening however he was out dancing with his girlfriend and ended up in a fight trying to protect her. In the process, he killed three men with his bare hands. He had been drinking and had lost his self-control.
These men had made devastating choices in their lives, which ultimately put them on death row.
“As I beheld them, I was filled with sorrow. Yet, I was happy because they all had found purpose in their life through their new-found faith in Christ! As we were about to leave with our assigned prison escort officer, the baptized inmates knelt on the floor, handcuffed and bound, and prayed for us our church and our children.”
The prison escort officer weeps…
As they prayed, the escorting officer abruptly stepped out of the room. Vitaly followed him and began to apologize: “Did we break the rules of the prison?” As he turned his face toward him, Vitaly noticed tears flowing down his cheeks and told him that knew the life these men had led and said they had never knelt or bowed down in front of anyone. But now they were on their knees praying on Vitaly’s behalf and his children.
Through his tears, the officer explained that for the longest time, he had searched for God in churches and monasteries.
“But God is to be found here in the cells of my prison. I can see what he has done to these men.” The officer walked down the hall with Vitaly and the church volunteers and asked: “What do I need to do to find God?” They answered: “Repent of your sins…”
Salvation at the gates
“We left the prison at seven that evening. When we were at the main gate the officer removed his hat and indicated he wanted to receive Jesus Christ as his saviour right then and there. And so he did!”
Ministry to adults and children
GCMM partnered with Vitaly and Vladimir ministering in adult prisons and continued to deliver aid and minister to children in several of Russia’s children’s prison camps, detention centers and orphanages. Outreach was crucial in reaching Russia’s forgotten and rejected children in prison. We had seen hundreds of them make decisions for Jesus.
Mega City Campaign follow-up event
Thousands Hear Testimonies of God’s Power To Change in Helsinki
The Mega City Campaign in Helsinki during the fall of 2011 impacted and changed the lives of many people. Thousands of residents in Helsinki, Finland turned out for a special outreach event held at the Helsinki hockey arena on March 16th.
People who came to the special live event wanted to hear more about how God had changed the lives of people who had been an integral part of the Mega City Campaign the previous year. Hundreds who wanted to experience “change” for themselves, responded to the altar call at the end of the event and made their way to the stage seeking a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Thousands more watched the testimonies on YouTube and the secular press carried the stories on popular media websites. The event, as was the Mega City Campaign, was a truly wonderful work of God.
Lauri Johansson, the former founder of an infamous gang called the “Natural Born Killers”, currently serving a life sentence in prison for three murders he committed, attended the outreach event. He had found faith in Christ while in prison. The outreach at the hockey arena was his first brief outing from prison, albeit under heavy surveillance.
With tears trickling down his cheek Lauri spoke of how he had encountered the mercy and grace of God that had changed his life. He shared with the audience words from his favourite song: “Just one drop of Jesus’ blood was enough to wash all my sin away.”
“Just one drop of Jesus’ blood washes all my sin away” is Lauri “Late” Johansson’s favourite spiritual hymn. His powerful life-changing story deeply touched and moved the hearts of people.
The Mega City Campaign had profoundly impacted southern Finland and was indeed a time of massive sowing of the seed of the good news of Jesus. The campaign testimonies had been viewed on YouTube alone over 100,000 times. A secular online video in Finland, on average, would get between 1,000 to 2,000 views and downloads.
To date, the campaign website recorded over 250,000 unique visitors. Website hits were in the millions. The 100-page campaign book, containing dramatic life-changing stories and the four spiritual laws continued to go out to those ordering it online. The churches most active in the campaign were reaping the most results. Hannu had encountered many at the arena who told him they had just made their decision to follow Jesus. Seeing the crowd responding to the altar call, filled hearts with thanksgiving and praise.
Massive Media Campaign in Jesus’ Home City of Nazareth
Nazareth was the hometown of Jesus. Preparations for a city media campaign gained momentum as Arabic and Jewish pastors and congregations from other cities in Israel such as Haifa and Hadera, joined together to make the campaign happen.
Arabs and Jews working together
The enthusiasm of the people was inspiring. Vladimir Karttunen of IRR-TV Finland visited the Russian-Jewish congregations in the area. “We received a lot of suggestions and questions alike. Everyone was so enthused and ready to make this campaign happen. It is clear to everyone that this was very special for the Arab and Jewish congregations preparing for the launch date and beyond.”
The time is right
As preparations were underway, Hani Henein shared they were all aware of the political upheavals and threat of war that Israel was facing. “If we are to do something significant, we need to do it very soon because we do not know what tomorrow will bring. The war between Iran and Israel may be imminent. We need your prayers for this is a difficult region to work in and the people here are afraid of what’s in store for their future.” The campaign coordinator in Nazareth, Alex Faibi stated: “Thank you for standing with us and helping Israel. This campaign is very challenging.”
Jesus’ hometown responds to the gospel message
The GCMM media saturation campaign was conducted in Jesus’ hometown of Nazareth. During the month-long campaign, proclaiming the Gospel had been greatly aided by several secular news programs that aired the life-changing stories from the campaign.
The campaign was fruitful despite attempts by Ultra-Orthodox Jews to shut it down.
The day after the outdoor ads went up, outraged Orthodox Jews bombarded city hall and the media agency with calls demanding that the ads be taken down immediately.
Due to the pressure to conform to their demand, most of the ads were taken down.
There was however a silver lining to this intense opposition!
Campaign message spreads throughout Israel
The commotion caught the attention of local TV news teams. After the evening news aired the story on the campaign, the call centre phone lines lit up. People from all over Israel called asking for more information and to order the campaign book.
Given that many of the billboards were removed from Nazareth, the advertising agency offered alternative billboard sites throughout northern and central areas of Israel. As a result, more phone lines were installed to assist with the resulting higher volume of calls.
A section of Nazareth known as the “New” Nazareth, held 70% of its Russian-Jewish population and after two weeks the campaign message had reached all the Russian-speaking Jews of Israel—thanks to secular news reports of the campaign.
God gives you the Power To Change,” was advertised on billboards in both Arabic and Russian.
Calls and requests for books were coming in from all over Israel: Jerusalem, Beersheba, Ashdod, Tel Aviv, and elsewhere. At the time on the campaign website, 2,500 unique visitors made over 200 requests for the campaign book containing the four spiritual laws and life-changing testimonies. As the books and DVDs were delivered, the all-important follow-up ministry was to begin.
Campaign surpasses expectation
Arabic Palestinians in the city of Nazareth, made up 80% of its population. The Arabic campaign outreach produced amazing results.
Some days into the campaign, George, manager of the GCMM campaign in Nazareth reported:
“Thank God for this campaign! Facebook and the internet have allowed us to reach 133,000 young people to date. More than 300 Muslims have ordered the Power to Change campaign book and the DVD. Hundreds of Arabs have asked for help so they can learn more about God.
So far, the testimonies on YouTube have been watched 3,100 times. I can see how God is working among the people of Nazareth through this campaign, I have never seen this sort of thing in this city. Some people called and asked for help for relatives addicted to drugs. And the calls keep coming. One lady called about her brother, a drug addict. She asked for someone to come and talk with him. He has three girls to support, but his salary goes instead to buy drugs.
Hundreds of Arabs asked for help so they could learn more about God. It is so encouraging to know how many people are visiting the website, downloading the book, and viewing the video testimonies. There have been over 4,500 new visitors to the website since the beginning of the campaign.”
A highly visible campaign billboard ad in Arabic. Hundreds of emails came in from Arabs wanting to know more information about God. The Arabic call centre received calls from far away as Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Europe.
INDIA
Mega City Campaign in Hyderabad
GCMM launched their second high-impact media saturation campaign in India in May, partnering with over 100 churches in the city. The churches provided volunteers for the call centre and to deliver the 132-page evangelistic books to those requesting them.
Hyderabad, a city of 8.5 million witnessed unprecedented amounts of calls to the ministry call centre. Sixty phones were not enough! Over 110,000 contacts were made with both Muslims and Hindus alike who responded to the message of the power to change through Jesus Christ.
From day one, the flood of incoming calls sent the call centre staff scrambling to cope with the deluge. On the first day, 3,551 calls were logged and 538 Facebook contacts. In addition to the calls, there were over 650,000 visits to the website, over 13,000 downloads of the campaign book, and thousands of contacts via Facebook and social media.
Highly visible campaign ads were located on busy roads. Over 110,000 calls to the call centre confirmed that it is harvest time in India.
Jesus was “the Talk of the Town”
Pastor Shelton shared, “When the campaign launched, we saw the media, the trains, the billboards, the newspapers. We saw millions of people in the city wake up to the campaign message that God gives you the power to change!”
2,000 rickshaws displayed campaign ads as they wound their way through Hyderabad traffic daily.
Hyderabad was known to be the Silicon Valley of South Asia. People talked about the campaign message all over the city. Hyderabad had a strong Muslim population of about 2.5 million. Many of them called in asking for more information about Jesus Christ saying: “We had a certain perception of who Jesus is but now we have been given another picture of him, and it isn’t what we were taught to believe. We want to know more about this Jesus.”
The campaign led to an unusual increase in dialogue with the Muslims. Ashvin, the local campaign manager shared: “Amazing things are happening in Hyderabad. Muslims are calling and they want the evangelistic book… some are suffering from addictions, others are from broken homes, and many are calling who are spiritually hungry.”
Every day the call centre received some calls from people about to commit suicide. Immediate, fervent prayer on the phone turned back the darkness and hopelessness. Their lives were saved. One such caller was in daily contact with the call centre, and texted, “You are my source of strength to want to live day by day!”
In one case a young Hindu lady accompanied a Christian friend to the call centre just to help out with office work. On her third day, she surrendered her life to the Lord and said, “This is what I am missing and need in my own life!”
Movie Star turned ambassador for Jesus
Raja, a movie star from Tollywood, shares his story
with a smile, on a large campaign billboard ad.
One of the more dynamic life-changing stories of the campaign was Raja’s story. Raja was a Tollywood movie star whom everyone in the city knew. Tollywood and Bollywood were the Hollywood equivalents in central India. Raja’s testimony was highly visible during the campaign.
On a TV program, Raja told of his rise to fame from oblivion. He spoke of his life of faith in Christ. He talked about his life as a movie star: “I have decided to be an ambassador for Christ to the movie industry and to the world. You know my public life, but you don’t know about my private life. Read my whole story. Call to get the book with the whole story!”
This generated great interest and politicians called Raja directly to ask him about his personal faith and life in Christ. Some other people highlighted in the campaign were businessmen, musicians, a rickshaw driver and a doctor, giving their testimonies on television on the most popular channels in the city.
Raja’s story:
Raja’s parents had died when he was a boy and he and his sister ended up staying with their abusive uncle. Raja got his big break as an adult. He was hired out of 3,500 other actors vying for the same part in a movie. That was something of a miracle.
The temptations that came with success threw the young star off his intended path in life. After surviving a particularly bad situation involving alcohol abuse Raja turned to Jesus to help fix his broken life.
Raja got his life under control and continued to act as one of the most famous celebrities in Hyderabad. He is an example of God’s love and saving grace.
Feedback from the Hyderabad campaign stories
Various callers shared:
The movie star Raja’s story challenged me. If God was able to get Raja’s attention when he was not yet a Christian and was able to use him for His glory, why couldn’t he save me and help me to live my life for Him?
The story of the ex-alcoholic Peter Samuel spoke to me: God has liberated Peter from a life of alcoholism, and he can do the same for me and my drinking addiction.
I was touched by the testimony from Balla Mallesh. Nobody I know has survived after drinking nitric acid as he did to kill himself. I was so encouraged to see he has experienced a change in his life, which made me think why couldn’t I change?
As an architect, I was not successful but when I saw the TV program about a businessman who overcame illness and setbacks in business by turning to God for strength and help, hope ignited within me.
The businessman Bhaskar Reddy’s story gave me hope to live on.
MOSCOW
Militia supported destruction of Holy Trinity Pentecostal Church
Unknown workers backed by the militia (police) and the druzhinniki (civil volunteers) of the police, used heavy-duty excavating equipment and destroyed the Holy Trinity Pentecostal Church situated on the eastern edge of Moscow.
Pastor Vasily Romanyuk of the Holy Trinity Pentecostal Church had been woken up and he rushed to the site to try to halt the destruction, but he was too late. Vasily shared: “The workers didn’t say who they were or who had sent them. They showed no documents.” Vasily had called the militia to help him but when they arrived, they did nothing to stop the destruction. They shrugged their shoulders and said it didn’t concern them. “They did all this with the protection of the militia, so some state body must have ordered this,” Vasily said.
Pastor Vasily Romanyuk
Night-time destruction
Workers accompanied by the police arrived at the church building soon after midnight on September 6th, broke into the building, cut all the telephone lines, and seized the mobile phone of the female caretaker. She was taken to the police station, where she was held for three hours while the destruction was taking place. She was not allowed to contact other church members.
While the caretaker was with the police, all the church valuables were removed, including service books and chalices for the eucharist. Two heavy-duty excavators then began demolishing the building and by morning the entire three-storey building had been destroyed.
While the destruction was underway, about 50 men in plain clothes calling themselves the druzhinniki (civil volunteers), circled the site. As church members began to arrive to try to salvage what they could from the wreckage of the building, the men in plain clothes were highly aggressive and refused access.
Druzhinniki stoned church members
The druzhinniki were often used by the militia to help control violence and unruly crowds. Vasily Romanyuk said that this time it was the druzhinniki who were unruly and some of them had been drinking. They were verbally and physically abusing church members who had come to salvage what they could from the ruins. Eyewitnesses reported: “Some of the church members who took photos of the destruction were stoned by the druzhinniki.”
Church looted and destroyed
The church building sustained at least $440,000 USD in damages. Also, a car was destroyed and a generator, soundboard and microphones, musical instruments, safe, and other valuable items including service books and chalices for the eucharist were taken away, amounting to $62,000 USD in losses.
The main sanctuary of the church, the pastor’s office, and the youth room had been destroyed completely. Only part of the roof and a room on the top level remained undamaged.
Once the workers had gone, church members spent several hours digging in the ruins to salvage what they could. Some church books and furniture were still usable.
Church service held in the ruins
Sunday worship was held at 11 am on September 9 in the ruins of the Holy Trinity Pentecostal Church and a warm invitation was sent to everyone who was able to attend. The congregation stood in the rain and prayed for their safety, the militia, and city officials.
A worship service, that lasted two and a half hours in the rain, was held a couple of days later among the ruins of the church building. The writing on the remaining portion of a wall reads: “The building may be destroyed but the church lives!”
Pastor Romanyuk arrested
Police officials arrested Pastor Vasily Romanyuk because the religious service held on the ruins of the demolished church was considered an “unsanctioned demonstration”, by the police.
“We simply gathered in the place where we always did and held a service because, after the demolition of the church, there wasn’t anywhere else for us to have it.”
Vasily asked the police captain why this meeting was unsanctioned and the previous ones the day before, and the day before that, and the meetings the previous week and month, and years past, were not!
The captain thought for a long moment and looking straight at Vasily he finally said: “I understand your point. The command to act has been handed down to me from “above”. I must comply.”
After signing a statement explaining it was a religious gathering of the church, rather than an unsanctioned meeting or political rally, he was free to go. On Sept 27th, the authorities, despite the protests of church members, had the church building demolished. Three hundred members of the Holy Trinity Pentecostal Church had battled hard to save their house of worship.
Church members could only look on as their church was being demolished.
Bishop Eduard Grabovenko told GCMM: “As the political situation has tightened up in Russia, we may have to revisit the way we do ministry in Russia. The possibilities for major evangelism efforts have been diminishing.”
People showed up to mourn the destruction of the church by authorities.
2013
GCMM starts a massive printing operation in Novosibirsk, Siberia.
Mega City Media Saturation Campaigns expanded to Iraq and Lebanon with miracles of God in the Islamic world.
Printing house in Novosibirsk, Siberia
Over 5 million copies of evangelistic books, St. John’s Gospel, and over 100 thousand Bibles were printed between 2013-2015 in Russia to continue helping volunteers from local churches reach their nation with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
In 2013, one million copies of the Power To Change books, the best evangelism tool in Russia, were received in churches throughout hub cities across Russia—from St. Petersburg near the Finnish border to Khabarovsk, not far from the Pacific Ocean. Daily, messages were received saying, “Thank you for equipping us with this vital literature. Our teams are already busy at work in villages and towns sharing Jesus and praying with people!”
The books containing multiple life-changing stories and the four spiritual laws have been used in dozens of Russian cities to reach over 70 million people in the former Soviet Union with the Gospel. Bishop Grabovenko stated that every book represented reaching one person with the opportunity to respond to the Gospel.
News from Tatarstan in Central Russia was concerning, however. The ministry centre received an order to cease all church activity and was evicted from the premises for church services. The evangelism books were all the more needed for ministry in the villages.
IRAQ
Iraq was perceived as being a hostile country, and it was assumed it would be impossible for a Mega City Campaign to be held in the heart of the Islamic world.
But God has the keys to every nation, even areas of terrorism and war.
An invitation to conduct a campaign came from Erbil, about 80 km from Nineveh the modern-day city of Mosul, Iraq. The response to the first-ever Mega City Media Campaign in Iraq was nothing short of amazing. Professors, teachers, doctors, engineers, members of Parliament, and the military were calling and requesting the book with powerful stories of changed lives.
Mahir, the campaign leader in Erbil had exclaimed: “We will see some things we have never experienced before. The call centre is buzzing. We received over 100 emails today, mostly from Muslims. Many calls are from Baghdad, Sulaymaniyah and many, many other cities. The churches in Baghdad have strongly expressed their desire for a campaign.”
Campaign ads were posted in the busiest intersections of the city in Arabic and Kurdish. Most of the Muslim population is Kurdish.
“Power To Forgive”
The original campaign theme, “Power To Change”, was changed to the “Power To Forgive”.
The theme of reconciliation and forgiveness prompted Iraq’s Internal Intelligence Service to give the green light to the Mega City Campaign: “This land is filled with violence, killing, hate, revenge, and bitterness. There is no message more needful now than yours. If the message is forgiveness and reconciliation, then conduct the campaign. We will provide for your security.”
Syrian and Kurdistan TV React
The Iraqi churches and campaign teams on the ground had anticipated opposition, however, the exact opposite occurred!
Syria Television called the campaign office to report on the Erbil “Power To Forgive campaign” and Islamic Kurdistan TV interviewed our campaign managers on State TV for 30 minutes along with Islamic clerics. The campaign book offer was aired on popular TV and radio channels and billboard ads were set up in areas of heavy traffic in Kurdish and Arabic languages. Campaign workers proficient in the two languages worked at the call centre.
“I am in love with Jesus!”
It was a historic event. The impact of the campaigns reverberated in other Iraqi cities as well. The firepower of media combined with the efforts of the fledgling churches of Erbil was astounding. Despite the potential danger of extremists, volunteers from the church stepped up to deliver the campaign books.
A member of the Iraqi presidential family had called the office in Finland and told them he had ordered the campaign book and it had been his daily devotional every day that past year. At the end of his call, he said: “I wanted to tell you that I am in love with Jesus.”
60 million watch closing campaign concerts “Live”
GCMM televised, thanks to Sat7 LIVE from Erbil, Iraq, three closing concerts back-to-back in Arabic, on three consecutive nights. Satellite Channel representatives informed us that 60 million people had watched the concerts throughout the Middle East…while we had only targeted 2 million people in Erbil! Josh McDowell was one of the guest speakers for the programs.
This Mega City Media Campaign was one of the most suspenseful and unlikely GCMM campaigns. The Northern Iraq campaign in Erbil shattered every preconception we had and sent shockwaves from Afghanistan to Morocco. For 30 days, the message of God’s love was proclaimed: “God gives men the power to forgive and to be reconciled with God.” The satellite coverage triggered a response from over 1,200 cities.
We praise God for:
• Over 38,000 unique visitors to the website and over 29 million “impressions” (clicks) logged by counters on our Facebook sites (Google Analytics)
• Erbil, Sulaymaniyah, and Baghdad topped the list of cities responding to the campaign message
• SAT7 aired the concerts in Arabic to over 200 million viewers over thirty days
• Thousands of “Power To Forgive” books and DVDs were distributed in Iraq in both Arabic and Kurdish languages
• The campaign message was proclaimed on billboards, outdoor ads, buses, TV ads, radio ads, the internet, YouTube, and social media
Arab and Kurdish Muslims by the thousands called in to order the book. Others ordered it by E-mail and the website. Although the security forces gave a green light and provided security, there was plenty of room for apprehension. No one knew who would be on the receiving end of a campaign book when the couriers were sent out to deliver the books. But the Lord of the Harvest was our protection and fortress.
Thousands called and requested spiritual help as well. Fearing great harm by their family members, many could meet to receive help only in secret. One call came from a city near the Turkish border. When one of our phone counsellors asked the caller how he wished to receive his personal copy of the “Power To Forgive” campaign book and DVD, his response was, “No, I want to speak to a living person. This is the light (Jesus) that I have been waiting for all my life!”
Incredibly, people hundreds of miles away in cities like Baghdad and Sulaymaniyah were being counselled by local believers. GCMM received requests from Baghdad and Beirut, Lebanon to consider doing similar campaigns there. A local pastor’s vision was to reach the whole of Iraq.
“This campaign opened doors we had never dreamed of,” stated Maher, our campaign leader in Erbil. “This is truly historic in the Islamic world.”
ISRAEL
The GCMM media saturation campaign in western Israel was aimed at Russian Jews living in Central Israel from Tel Aviv along the Gaza border down to the Sinai Desert. This is the area where most of the Hamas rockets have fallen and consequently, is an area wrought with tension.
Sinai Desert, the Dead Sea
Just as the first outdoor ads went up on the streets, the Israeli Army began their training exercises.
Vladimir Karttunen shared: “High above us we continuously saw helicopters, fighter planes and parachuting infantry. Warships were out at sea and air raid sirens blared often.”
Disruptions
Call centre telephone numbers on outdoor ads had been covered up with spray paint by members of ultra-orthodox organizations opposed to the campaign. Threatening calls often tied up the phone lines and ads that were tampered with were replaced. The Israeli advertising agency did its best to stay on top of the situation.
“Choose Life”
According to the campaign coordinator, Pastor Alex: “The media campaign included radio, TV, internet, newspapers, and outdoor ads. We reached the cities of Ashdod, Ashkelon and Sderot. At all times we were ready to run for cover from incoming Qassam missiles from Gaza. People are tired of evil, and the constant tension present here. They are tired of living. When they saw the campaign message “Choose Life” in the media they called our call centre. They wanted to receive the campaign book.”
Israeli “new borns”
The response was unbelievable. Young people, ages 20 to 40 called in saying they were sincerely interested in the message, “God Gives The Power To Change”. They wanted to know about the “new life” he offers.
We praised God that we could reach a group of society that was generally not interested in anything like this. Five thousand evangelistic campaign books contained testimonies from people who came to faith during previous Israeli media saturation campaigns. After reading the book many came to faith in Christ with local congregation follow-up.
INDIA
Gearing up for a harvest
One of our partners, New Life Church in Mumbai with its congregation of 15,000 members, embarked on a trial outreach as a precursor to the campaign. GCMM had asked the pastor: “If the campaign produces a bountiful harvest and the church is provided with 50,000 names and addresses to follow up, what would you do with them?” Without hesitation, the senior pastor immediately replied, “Certainly! Give us fifty thousand names and we will plant five hundred home churches!”
The excitement was high. The churches in Mumbai knew they lacked the tools to reach their city without a specifically designed campaign. A massive prayer campaign was launched, and churches were praying intently for their city. A selection of the 15 dramatic stories, that would change lives in Mumbai to be showcased, published, and advertised in all the media were prayerfully considered.
Mega City Campaign in Mumbai
Mumbai, a city of 22 million had its biggest-ever campaign. Beyond a doubt, Mumbai was one of the world’s greatest cities and strategically important from the perspective of the Great Commission.
Together with 1,700 local churches, 15,371 volunteers were mobilized. Volunteers distributed thousands of campaign books and responded to 257,700 calls. The campaign was conducted in three languages simultaneously: Hindi, Marathi and English.
We received report after report of city officials, professors, engineers, doctors, deans of universities, and directors of public libraries calling to request their copy of the campaign book. According to leading area pastors, this layer of society had never before been reached in Mumbai with the gospel message.
India’s largest cell phone provider provided service to the call centre with 300 telephones manned by 1,000 church volunteers. Calls were received through the media campaign links and from the residents of Mumbai. More than half of the callers requested follow-up contact. Calls from hurting, despairing people who were contemplating suicide were looking for help and girls who were victims of human trafficking, hoping to be set free.
Sabotage
On the day when the biggest newspaper in the city carried a dynamic full-page ad of the best life-transformation story with the toll-free call-in number, phone lines mysteriously went down. The lines were cut for 7 hours at prime time. When the situation was rectified, an incredible 3,000 calls came through after 8 p.m. that night. A tremendous influx of calls had ensued, whereby a parallel bank of 50 cell phones was activated. As it turned out, a company employee was diverting calls bound for the call centre.
Special rally in Dharavi slum
A special edition of the evangelistic campaign book was produced for slum residents. One of the stories was about a movie star Johnny Lever, who was brought up in that very slum (the largest in the world) before he skyrocketed to fame and found Christ.
He spoke at this special campaign event. Out of about 10,000 present (15% Muslim) approximately 2,000 people responded and accepted Christ. The churches provided follow-up for 3,500 people who had signed up and requested the book.
Johnny’s story:
“I can make people laugh. I can do imitations of all Kinds of people – the rich, the famous and the everyday person. When people see me… they roll with laughter. I always had a laid-back attitude … what was the point of taking life too seriously? I loved going to wild parties and doing reckless things with my friends. I celebrated every festival – no matter what religion – and you could find me at almost every party. I was trying my best to enjoy the best of life.
When my father got a job with a large Indian company, we moved to Mumbai. To get me on the right track in life, my father gave me a job in his company. My co-workers encouraged me to take my comedic skills to the film industry. I followed their advice, and I signed my first movie contract. I had success after success, which led to money, a network of friends and status. I had the concept that my money, my status and my network were the most important things in life. When I got into trouble, my fame and status got me out of trouble.
But then…
Every day I partied. If I was not working on a film, I was drinking. Life seemed good. Then my son, Jesse was diagnosed with a tumour. The best doctors in the city said they could not remove the tumour without paralyzing his body. My wife went to temple after temple but all of the priests said the same thing – ”if you allow the doctors to operate on your son, he will die.” We tried to find help from every imaginable source to no avail.
“I cried out to God”
At that point, I remembered the God I had heard about as a child. Desperate to save the life of my son, together with friends, I cried out to God. We also asked churches to pray for Jesse. The doctors performed the surgery and contrary to the warnings of the temple priests the surgery was a success. There were no complications during the surgery, the tumour was gone, and Jesse was not paralyzed.
I began to read the Bible to find out more about God, and it seemed that every word I read touched me deeply. I became aware of the need for help with my life and I began to ask God to change my lifestyle. I had to confront the habits of drunkenness, excessive spending, excessive partying, and the pursuit of money.
Only God, the giver of life, can give joy that lasts a lifetime. I found this joy in Jesus alone. There is nothing like it in this world. The joy of my life is to now live for Him.”
Impact of campaign
Mumbai television was the most impactful of the media mediums used in the campaign which aired the transformation stories to more than 100 million people living in the state. One of the biggest daily newspapers headlined: “God Blitz Takes Mumbai by Storm!” It was a rare acknowledgment of the impact of the campaign.
A pastor from Germany who had been living in Mumbai for 25 years and had seen many events and campaigns in the city, stated it was the best and most effective campaign ever in his ministry experience in the city.
“Never before in the history of Mumbai had we seen this kind of unity and the churches on fire for a single event. This is the Lord’s doing and it is marvellous in our eyes. The churches are reeling under the effect of this amazing work the Lord has done.” It was a time of revival.
Pastors involved in the Mega City Campaign in Mumbai reported that their expectations of a spiritual harvest had been exceeded. This person (above photo) experienced God’s power during the outdoor revival meeting held in the Dharavi slum. During that meeting, over 2,000 people indicated they had made a decision to follow Christ.
Pastors in Mumbai, India prayed over thousands of responses received from people calling the call centre. The call centre had up to 400 phone lines on standby for times of caller congestion.
The Blind of Mumbai
We were deeply touched by a message from one of the churches participating in the campaign. They ministered to the blind community of the city and sent thirty blind members to work at the call centre during the campaign. What a blessing. 15 life-changing testimonies highlighted in the campaign along with another 5 stories from visually impaired people whose lives were transformed by Jesus were part of the campaign as well.
Testimonies from Mumbai
Pastor Chauhan reported:
“When I delivered a campaign book to a person’s home, they invited me in and asked for prayer on behalf of a family member. This family was Hindu and had never heard of Jesus Christ before. We prayed for a lady who had not walked in fourteen months. At that moment, in front of everyone, the lady got up and began to walk.” The pastor himself was amazed at the instantaneous healing. Now the whole family attends the local church.
Pastor Rustic D’Souza shared that they were starting a new house church in the Malabar Hill area where all the government officials lived. There were 25 new people interested in attending the church plant. The Christmas season was used as an opportunity, to invite all who had called into the call centre during the campaign, to attend a special service. Many churches across the city were doing the same and good reports poured in. Churches continued to see new seekers coming to that stratum of society and there was an amazing response from the Muslim community.
Some churches in Mumbai reported record attendance to the point where many church members were asked to vacate their seats to allow room for non-churched visitors wishing to enter the service.
Pastor Adrian shared that a Catholic nun had walked into their bookstore to pick up 100 copies of the campaign book. The book had been seen in ads all over the city. She had talked to her friends who had been intrigued hearing about the transformation stories in the books and she had promised a copy for each of them.
Pastors in Mumbai were so encouraged by what they experienced during the campaign, that they headed for Bangalore to meet with pastors to plan an evangelistic campaign there.
Mega City Campaigns in Biratnagar and Pokhara, Nepal
Two evangelistic media campaigns were held in Nepal. Together with 150 churches, GCMM targeted the cities of Biratnagar in East Nepal and Pokhara, cradled in the Himalayan Mountains. The response from the campaigns exceeded 30,000 with Hindus responding to the Gospel. Thanks to television and radio media saturation, the campaign reached over 3.5 million Nepalese. Pastors reported that whole families had come to know the Lord, had been baptized and were worshipping Jesus in a local church.
Pastor John Pradham of Himalaya Grace Church in Pokhara thanked GCMM: “In our church alone many have come to faith in God through Christ. Good news is coming in from other churches in the area as well. God has used GCMM to effectively proclaim the Gospel in our country.”
2014
Ukraine. The Black Sea port city of Odessa gets a Mega City
Campaign amidst a Russian military invasion in the region.
Mega City Campaign in Odessa
Ukraine and Russia were at war. Amidst the tension, anxiety, and apprehension, together with 100 churches a Mega City Campaign was launched. Many had feared that an invasion by Russian troops was imminent and there was fervent prayer on behalf of East Ukraine. A ceasefire came into effect just days before the campaign launch, though there were still frequent clashes. Russian tanks were stationed north of Odessa. All was in the hands of our sovereign God.
Hundreds of outdoor campaign ads were placed around the city: “God destroyed the curse in my family; Repentance saved my life; God gave my life purpose.”
The message of the campaign was: “God gives every man and woman and child the power to change.” Fifteen beautiful transformation stories were used and availed all avenues of the media for the campaign and highlighted the wonderful and “radical” message of change.
Thousands of Odessans called the ministry hotline and 15,000 people were reached initially with one-on-one evangelism using the campaign book.
The 30-day massive media campaign had started slowly but came to life during the last 10 days. There was a rush of new churches in Odessa seeking to sign up for the campaign and engage its people in evangelism for the city. A visible surge followed. Over 600,000 pieces of campaign literature were handed out. Churches requested a second printing of the Power To Change campaign books, as the first 15,000 had been depleted. The Jesus Film link was included in the campaign book as well.
The campaign in Odessa was prominently advertised on outdoor ads, 370 billboards, buses, and other outdoor media. Almost 2 million people were exposed to the Gospel during the month-long campaign. Local churches continued with crucial follow-up ministry after the campaign ran its course.
“In the Eye of the Storm”
Pastor Vladimir sent GCMM a report from Sloviansk and Donetsk where intense fighting was taking place:
“The Pentecostal Church was seized by pro-Russian separatists. They kidnapped the pastor and turned the church into a command centre for the separatists, and snipers took up positions on the roof of the Church. No one has heard from the pastor since.
For more than two months in different cities in East Ukraine we have conducted prayer campaigns in specially erected prayer tents, where believers from different churches have prayed daily for peace in Ukraine. Yesterday however in the city of Donetsk, armed militants attacked the prayer tent.
The fighters had submachine guns. They surrounded the unarmed believers who were in prayer. The Prayer tent, along with the prayer posters, were thrown off a cliff into the river. The audio equipment was confiscated. Then they kidnapped the head of the prayer movement, Sergey, who was beaten with pipes and sticks, with guns pointed at his head, threatened and interrogated. After that, militants warned that if anyone gathered for prayer again, they would all be executed.
However, our brothers were not scared, and they shared with us that since prayer is a calling from God, they would return for prayer as the city and the country need the prayer of intercession even if it meant threats and even death. The fear of death would not stop them.”
GCMM sent a second shipment of humanitarian aid to refugees who fled the Crimean Peninsula, Donetsk and Luhansk. Bishop Boyechko thanked GCMM for the received aid.
Ukraine President calls for fasting and prayer
While Ukraine was experiencing a military crisis, churches across the nation were in prayer for Ukraine. The Chairman of the Council of Churches in Ukraine also urged all believers to unite and pray. In Kyiv, Maidan Square became the focal point for the prayer campaign where thousands assembled to pray.
Reporter Ruslan Kuharchuk stated: “I have never seen prayer as intensive as I have seen it in the last three months. The President of Ukraine, Oleksandr Turchynov of a strong Baptist background has asked the nation to fast and pray for the current state of the country. This was the first-ever from the President in the history of Ukraine.”
On Maidan Square in central Kyiv: A massive prayer meeting convened by the churches of the city for Ukraine’s future.
Urgency in Russia, Churches request help
While the war rages in East Ukraine, churches in Russia were facing increasing restrictions and surveillance by the government.
Jesus said: “As long as the day is, we need to do His work…the night is coming when no one can work.”
Eduard Grabovenko, overseer, and chairman of the Christians of the Evangelical Faith shared, “Russia will close down. It is only a matter of time. Now is the time to seize the freedom our churches still have. We must do what we can, without delay, to evangelize Russia.”
The “day” in Russia may be very short…
The mainline media (TV, radio and printed news media) was seized and declared off-limits to the evangelical denominations of Russia. Social media was being used for surveillance purposes and those who did not act within government-set “guidelines” were threatened with severe retribution. Many pastors felt that the era of fruitful church outreach would soon end.
GCMM had been told that the day could come when it would no longer be permissible to print Christian literature in Russia. In light of this, had responded to the request from churches in Russia to supply them with 5 million copies of our high-impact evangelism booklets called “Experience the Power To Change.” Indigenous missionary teams delivered the campaign booklets to people in remote villages in Russia.
Mega City Campaign in Bangalore
In mid-November, together with 900 churches in Bangalore, our fourth Mega City Campaign in India was launched. No one knew what to expect as each city campaign is different. It is a “live and see” situation. We saw… 237,000 people call the campaign call centre in 5 weeks! Pastors of the city said that Bangalore has not seen anything similar. Ever.
But not everyone was happy about the campaign. A major Hindi publication wrote: “How is it possible that a media campaign of such magnitude was able to take place in Bangalore and no one raised a hand to stop it?”
In just one day, the calls peaked at 18,969 with an additional 8,406 calls that were missed that same day. Bangalore claimed a new campaign record. The proverbial nets broke, as in Luke chapter 5 where Jesus told his disciples: “Put out into deep water and let down the nets for a catch. When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break,” requiring help from another boat.
The harvest in Bangalore continued for months following, as great numbers of people were followed up by the local churches.
2015
Mega City Campaign in Beirut, Lebanon
The Lebanon miracle
The impossible happened. Millions of Lebanese watch 3 special evangelistic evening events on Lebanon State TV. Technicians followed the events in tears. God had intervened and opened an unprecedented door of opportunity.
It was an unexpected campaign. When leading pastors in Beirut invited the GCMM team to discuss the possibility of conducting a mega city campaign for their city, it was rather doubtful a campaign would be possible. Everyone involved knew that Hezbollah ruled the country.
But then God… He rewarded their collective steps of faith!
BEIRUT, LEBANON – 2015
An astounding turn of events
The 30-day media campaign was to close with a three-day series of events and concerts in the Central Concert Hall of Beirut. Just before the first concert began, a representative from Lebanon State TV called for permission to televise all three 2 ½ hour evening events live, prime time, with no censorship. The magnitude of this miracle was huge because no money could buy airtime on Lebanon State TV!
On one of the last 3 nights of the campaign events, held at the Central Concert Hall in Beirut. The venue was at capacity each night. 4,500 people attended. Many were seeking God’s power that could change their lives.
It was an unheard-of historical moment for missions in the Middle East, unfolding before our eyes!
The full message of the Gospel was preached. The hall was packed to overflowing each night and seen in living rooms nationwide. The most accomplished singers and evangelists of the Middle East ministered to every Hezbollah, Shia Muslim, Sunni Muslim household and Druze home.
Thousands of people responded to the message and came forward for prayer in the concert hall. Only Heaven knows how many families responded to the call of Jesus while watching three nights of live telecasts in their homes!
Media Campaign in Hezbollah territory
Conducting an evangelistic campaign in any capital city of any Islamic country is challenging. Compared to earlier campaigns held in Erbil, northern Iraq two years earlier, a campaign in Lebanon was a special challenge. Lebanon was Hezbollah territory, and its army controlled the country. They were close allies of President Assad in Syria as well.
It was estimated that almost 3.5 million people lived in proximity to Beirut, with two million refugees from Iraq and Syria living in Lebanese refugee camps. This included 300,000 Kurdish refugees living around the city of Beirut and countless numbers in the Beqaa Valley as well. As the planning for the campaign was underway, a Kurdish pastor pleaded, “Don’t forget the Kurdish people, as you minister the Gospel to the people of Lebanon!”
The GCMM team travelled to the refugee camps during the campaign. The Beqaa Valley was rightfully called the “Valley of Tears”. The population had continued to swell as new refugees flowed over the border from the horror and devastation in Syria.
On a one-day mission, the team delivered a truckload of food and clothing to 100 families, which were eagerly received. Local Arab pastors shared the gospel message in the camps. The refugees had been robbed of everything they ever had. They had been tortured, abused and left with nothing. Their future was bleak. But the message of God who loves man who He has created and cares for, resonated. It was a message unlike any of the refugees had ever heard.
The story of Jesus in Arabic was distributed to
a refugee family in Beqaa Valley, Lebanon.
The Miracle of Satellite TV
God provided a way to reach hundreds of millions of people, via satellite TV in cities and villages where no one can openly proclaim the Gospel. Working together in partnership with IRR-TV, GCMM reaches every Islamic nation in the Middle East and North Africa, every day of the year. The impact is incalculable. Every month, the telecasts generate a massive number of responses from disillusioned Muslims, in a very troubled part of the world.
GCM Ministries broadcasts the Gospel by satellite television to millions
of viewers daily across the Middle East in Arabic and Farsi.
Return to the Soviet Era?
Leading pastors in St. Peterburg, Russia shared that church life was systematically being handcuffed – to shut down the ministry of the Church. The Church in Russia was effectually cartwheeling backwards into a state of Soviet Era lockdown.
Closing doors
Russian television channels were staging attack after attack on churches not aligned with the Kremlin. With increasing frequency government TV channels would slander evangelical Christianity and frame believers as enemies of the state, posing a threat to Russian society. Also, any Christian organization that had worked together with Western nations was labelled a Western agent, a term associated with espionage by all Russians.
One day, several unidentified men had walked into a church service in St.Peterburg with audio and video recording devices in their briefcases. The purpose had been to gather information about their outreach activities and fabricate false charges against the congregation. This situation was highly reminiscent of the persecution of the Church during the Soviet era.
When the Soviet Union collapsed rental facilities had become available. This provided churches the opportunity to rent a space to gather for worship. Only a few congregations in St. Petersburg owned a church building. It was short-lived, however. Public meeting halls and venues were suddenly no longer rented out to churches, and was a disturbing development across western Russia.
One pastor reported they had already received permission to hold their annual prayer breakfast in a public building, when the permit was evoked without an explanation or a warning.
In another instance, when a businessman in a small town arranged to rent his warehouse to a congregation, he was contacted by a Russian Secret Service representative and threatened with severe repercussions to his business if he continued rendering services to the evangelical church.
This was a pattern continually being repeated throughout northwestern Russia.
At that time, the Ministry of Cultural Affairs was creating a new department manned by federal agents of the FSB. Their primary functions were to regulate all aspects of church life in evangelical churches, their activities, worship services, meetings, church membership, funding, and teaching programs.
Sharing the gospel message against all odds
Government officials had not yet moved to stop the printing of Christian literature.
Church volunteers continued to share the Gospel using GCMM evangelism books with transformation stories, Gospels of John, and Bibles. They collectively prayed with over 2 million people in remote towns and villages over a two year period.
The Church had been awakened and pastors reflected: “We have started to see a repeat of times past, something we saw many years ago. It was a time when people travelled by foot to distribute the Word of God, the Bible. Believers realize that without the Word of God, it is impossible to implant Biblical values in peoples’ hearts. And people crave unshakable values.”
The Bibles, evangelistic books and the Gospel of John were received with enthusiasm and appreciation by the residents of remote villages in Russia.
2016
Laura Haukka receives the International Television Ministry Award from National Religious Broadcasters in the USA for 40 years of uninterrupted media ministry to Russia, Ukraine, Central Asia, and Finland.
NRB News Release Feb 16, 2016
“The NRB International Television Ministry Award is presented to an organization based outside of the United States that excels in television or video ministry, exercising integrity and faithfulness to the cause of Christ, while demonstrating unusual effectiveness in impacting the target culture of the Gospel.
Laura Haukka is the Co-Founder and Vice-President of Great Commission Media Ministries, also known as IRR-TV. This organization is having worldwide impact for the Gospel in Russia, Asia, and the Middle East. For more than 30 years, Laura – together with her husband Hannu – has ministered to millions throughout the Soviet Union. During the last decade, they have used a comprehensive strategy of major media to saturate major cities of the world with the Gospel and to introduce hundreds of thousands to the hope found in Christ. Laura Haukka is also Co-Founder and Programming Director for ALFA TV, a nationwide television channel in Finland, proclaiming the Gospel to every home.”
RUSSIA
A delightful surprise!
Although we had conducted over 40 Mega City Media Campaigns in Russia to date, two major cities, Moscow and St. Petersburg, had yet to be reached when we were unexpectedly called upon to go precisely to those two cities to meet with the local churches there.
The Year of the Russian Bible
In early 2016, Moscow authorities provided the permissions required for the Evangelical Church in Russia to publicly celebrate 140 years of the modern-day translation of the Russian Bible.
This was incredible news! It was a green light for a highly visible media campaign encouraging people to “read the Bible.” This was to include a public reading of scripture at metro stations and market squares. The highly visible media campaign appeared on billboards and the local newspapers in Moscow and St. Peterburg newspapers.
This was a miracle at a time when Russia’s authorities had curbed the freedom of the church to essentially minister and worship within the confines of four walls. The Master of the Harvest was at work, where we had seen little opportunity!
We had been challenged earlier by leaders of 4,500 churches to equip them with 500,000 New Testaments and 200,000 additional full Bibles as they were celebrating the “Year of the Russian Bible.” Not knowing where the funds would come from, yet without any hesitation, we responded: “Yes, we are in, you may count on us!” Only God could make this outreach happen. If we weren’t there for the Church at a time like this, a second chance of this magnitude would be unlikely for a long time.
Bishop of 2,500 churches of Christians of the Evangelical Faith, Eduard Grabovenko:
“There are 100,000 towns and villages that have yet to hear the Gospel message in Russia. Of those, we have reached 19,000 villages and towns and have preached the Good News of Jesus Christ.
We see this as harvest time in Russia. There are so many towns and villages where the Gospel still needs to be preached. The Bibles and New Testaments that you have provided our churches have been a great blessing.
People have received the Word of God with open hearts. One example is the Nenets Eskimos who live above the Arctic Circle. To date, we have planted 1,200 new churches. By the end of this year the number of new churches will rise to 1,500.
We want to express deep gratitude to Great Commission Media Ministries for your precious support.”
Great Commission Media Ministries Russian Director, Pastor Yuri Ananiev:
“This celebration enables us to share the Gospel with hundreds of thousands of people. This will be a unique opportunity in Moscow. Our resources are tiny. We need God’s grace and power. This is a David and Goliath situation. Our churches are like David before Goliath.
Bibles and New Testaments are needed. An overwhelming majority of Russians have never read the Bible.
In all of Moscow, with a population of 15 million, there are only two bookstores that may sell New Testaments.
We believe that this celebration will bring about a thirst for God’s word.
Nothing comparable to this campaign has happened in Moscow since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.”
Moscow Pastor Vitaly Vlasenko, Chairman and Acting Director of the 140-Year Celebration of the Russian Bible:
“The purpose of this celebration is to show our nation that there are people who support and are willing to stand up for the Biblical message and its values.
We are convinced that when a person reads the Bible the Word of God regenerates that person from the inside. In other words, a clear, positive change takes place in that person’s life and in his family, and ultimately in our whole nation.
I crave to see that change to take place in our nation I am convinced that the Lord has given us this opportunity.
The international sanctions and the crash of the Russian Ruble have made it next to impossible for us to provide our countrymen with the Word of God.”
Lake Baikal Area. Tens of thousands of the Gospel of John printed by GCM Ministries were delivered to local churches in the eastern Siberian city of Angarsk in February 2016.
East Siberia. The Gospel of John, printed by GCM Ministries, to help with evangelistic outreach, were delivered to churches on the shores of the Amur River in East Siberia in February 2016.
Top left: Volunteers in Moscow reading the Bible in public.
Top right: A Nenets Eskimo family with Bishop Eduard Grabovenko reading scripture in the family’s “teepee church” in the Russian north, above the Arctic Circle.
Bottom left: Providing New Testaments to many who eagerly accepted their persona copy!
Bottom right: The first 100,000 New Testaments await shipment to churches in the Moscow region.
500,000 New Testaments were supplied to Russian churches to distribute to the public during the 140-year celebration of the modern translation of the Bible.
NEW LAW WILL CRIPPLE THE CHURCH IN RUSSIA
July 7th
“Laura and I just watched the evening television news live from Moscow. President Putin has signed a new restrictive law with potentially devastating effects on 7,000 churches in Russia. These are days of destiny for the Church in Russia.”
On June 24th Russia’s Lower House of Parliament, the Duma, passed a package of new “anti-terrorism laws.” These laws were approved by the Upper House of Russia’s parliament on June 29th. President Putin gave final approval and signed the law on July 7th. This new situation resembles the Soviet Union in 1929 when confession of faith was confined to the inside of a few existing church buildings. Practically speaking, Russia is back in that same situation. The law is likely to send the church back into Soviet-era Communist persecution.
The law summarized:
1) Any discussion of God with non-believers is considered missionary activity and will be punishable by law.
2) Missionary activity will be permitted by special government permission. If, for example, one travelling on a train shares his faith without written permission, he/she will be taken into police custody for the duration of the journey and will be fined 50,000 rubles ($1000).
3) Religious activity is no longer permitted in private homes. Most of Russia’s 7,000 churches meet in homes.
4) Every citizen is obligated to report religious activity (of neighbors) to the authorities. Failure to inform is punishable by law.
5) One may pray and read the Bible at home but not in the presence of a non-believing person. You will be breaking the law and be punished.
6) In Church buildings, it is not permitted to invite people to turn to God. Worship services are permitted, but making a non-believer a follower of Christ is against the law.
7) If the Church has purchased property, it cannot be converted into a place of worship.
8) Foreign guests are not permitted to speak in Churches unless they have a “work permit” from Russian authorities.
9) If a friend or relative from outside Russia wishes to share his/her faith in your home the guest will be fined and expelled from Russia.
As can be seen, the new law prohibits the sharing of the Gospel with non-believers. This is in direct conflict with the Great Commission of Jesus Christ, the head of the Church. According to Jesus, the number one task of the church, as stated in all four Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles, was to go into all the world and preach the Gospel to all nations and to make disciples of Jesus.
When President Putin signed legislation known as The Jarovaya Act, the new law abolished the use of media such as television, radio, outdoor ads, billboards (like the photo above), the placement of Church-related material in newspapers, and social media, including invites for home bible study on personal home pages.
Churches Take A Time Out
Both the Russian Baptist and Pentecostal denominations have thousands of member churches in their ranks. The overwhelming majority of these churches do not meet in registered Houses of Worship, and their current facilities cannot be registered as such. To complicate things further, the Russian government has not granted the sale of land to evangelical churches, nor has it granted building permits for church buildings.
In one example of how seriously the new law is viewed, the Pentecostal Union has issued an alert to over 2,000 churches instructing them to temporarily suspend all domestic mission activity until their own legal experts have carried out consultation with the leadership.
“It is necessary for us to issue a warning to the churches of Russia that difficult times lay ahead,” warned senior legal expert Anatoly Pchelintev of The Slavic Center for Law and Justice in Moscow during a live Internet seminar in August.
The warning was sent out in a written statement by the same legal agency. The warning, published on August 8th, reads as follows:
“Regretfully, as The Slavic Center for Law and Justice has already warned, the judicial authority (of Russia) with practical certainty will apply the new law against the rights of believers in Russia as outlined in the articles of the law dealing with freedom of conscience, freedom of religion and religious organizations, added to legislation No.195-F3 article 5.26, of the Russian Federation on December 31, 2001.”
Sadly, this warning had been anticipated.
We must work while it is yet day
For years we worked with thousands of churches in Russia to reach almost 70 million people with the Gospel through historic Mega City Media saturation campaigns.
That era came to an end in 2012.
Not knowing that Russia would soon close the door to evangelism, the Holy Spirit had urged us to respond to requests from Russian church leaders to supply them with 5 million copies of the same evangelistic books that we had tailor-made and used in 40 major cities of Russia.
We responded.
That was three years ago.
During the three years since, over 2 million Russians have prayed the prayer of salvation, one-on-one with evangelistic teams using these books. According to documented statistics, over 20,000 Russian townships and villages were reached, and over 1,200 new churches were planted.
Now, the doors are closing. As a result, 145 million Russians will be deprived of the chance to freely hear the Good News of God’s love, that Jesus came to die on the cross for their sins.
The new law makes it illegal to simply talk to a non-believer in an attempt to persuade him to receive Jesus. Jesus, however, tells us to proclaim the Good News to the world. This, then, is the point of contention for over 7,000 evangelical churches in Russia–to do what the government says or to do what Jesus says. In the days to come, believers in Russia will pay a high price to defy the new law to share their testimony for Jesus.
The Churches of Russia have pleaded with us to print more New Testaments and Bibles as soon as possible.
An Island Nation in Asia
SRI LANKA
As I write these lines, the Mega City Media Campaign in Sri Lanka is in its third week. The response to the Gospel in this Buddhist nation has surpassed expectations. Together with 850 churches, we proclaimed the message of the life-transforming power of God for those who put their faith in His Son, Jesus Christ.
Close to 55,000 families called the ministry call center during the campaign and in the weeks following to request the campaign book containing 12 powerful transformation stories and a roadmap to a new life in Jesus.
The reach of the campaign, however, is much greater. When we factor in the entire island nation, millions of people have been exposed to the campaign message. Extensive follow-up was conducted by the local churches in Sri Lanka.
Left photo: Over 2,000 volunteers in Colombo, Sri Lanka have been trained to handle calls at the call center and deliver campaign books to people requesting them.
Right photo: Close to 55,000 families have been called the ministry call center to request the campaign book containing 12 powerful transformation stories and the roadmap to new life in Jesus.
The Mega City Media Campaign in Sri Lanka. The response to the Gospel in this Buddhist nation has surpassed expectations. Thousands of Buddhist families have called, asking for the campaign book highlighting life-changing stories from this island nation.
2017
CUBA – A harvest in the making
Cuba is a Communist country to this day. The street scene was remindful of large cities in the Soviet Union 40 years ago, except for American cars on the streets.
We were happy to have 70 percent of the churches of Havana willing to participate in this untraditional media campaign. The coalition of churches included the Baptist Churches of Cuba, Assemblies of God Churches, the Evangelical League, the Church of Nazarene, and the Evangelical Alliance, just to name a few.
When video beats television
Mainline media, Cuban TV, radio, newspapers were not available to the churches on the island. Television and radio channels were all under the control of the Fidel Castro government. The same applied to outdoor advertising. Consequently, campaign books, brochures, and posters in cafeterias became ever more important.
A very popular, secular unofficial video distribution network servicing all of Cuba was a blessing to the campaign. The same eight powerful transformation stories in the campaign book have been circulating on video everywhere on the island thanks to this system.
The “Power To Change” open-air special events ministered to thousands of residents of Havana with the message of the life-changing, transforming power that comes through faith in Jesus Christ.
2018
GCMM conducted campaigns in Africa. Overwhelming response to the Power To Forgive media campaign in South Sudan. 20,000 digital audio playback units were distributed during the campaign for the uneducated.
Together with local churches, the campaign in South Sudan became a reality. In years prior, the civil war in South Sudan claimed the lives of 400,000 of its citizens. Villages were burned to the ground one after another.
Some feedback from the campaign:
Simon Philip Ali,
Ministry of South Sudan Communications
“You should have come long ago,” said government official Simon Ali, “this should have happened already in 2013.” Simon was referring to the renewed outbreak of civil war that left 11,000 people dead in the capital city in one night. Clearly, despair could clearly be seen in Simon’s eyes.
Emmanuel Murye Modi,
Third Bishop, Episcopal Church of Juba
“The cry of our hearts is to see our people saved from their sins. This is a great opportunity for us and we must seize it. I feel that the Lord is saying here it is. Here is what you have been praying for. May many people come to the knowledge of Jesus Christ. May a spirit of forgiveness, reconciliation sweep this nation as never before.”
Walter Duku,
Across Media, Juba
A village generally has between 500 people and 7,000 people. One palm-size audio player can be hooked up to a megaphone that is hung from a tree branch. A hundred people in a village can easily listen in.
Nasser Khajoud,
Senior Pastor, Evangelical Church of Juba
“We are excited about this campaign. It will be a very big happening. We cannot do it alone. Using media we will reach great numbers of people. Hundreds of thousands in Juba are still waiting to hear the gospel message.”
God’s Miracle in South Sudan
The Lord blessed the GCMM Mega City Media Campaign beyond all expectations.
From day one of the campaign, the ministry call centre in Juba was deluged with phone calls. Fifteen phones continued to ring non-stop with hundreds of calls waiting in line on each phone. The service provider was panicking. They had never seen anything like it, ever.
All the billboards were up across the city and full-length transformation stories were aired on national radio and television at prime time with multiple repeats each day.
A giant billboard in the South Sudanese capital, Juba. These outdoor ads went up on day one throughout the city generating the first wave of calls.
Each transformation story was a 25-minute interview, about the power of God that transformed his/her life. Reconciliation with God was key. God gave them the power to forgive after they had experienced the forgiveness of God themselves.
Paul was very clear on this in 2 Cor. 5: 18-20:
“All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed us to the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.”
The President endorses the campaign
President Salva Kiir Mayardit speaks at massive peace rally quoting our campaign text on forgiveness. President and Prime Ministers of five African nations were watching and listening.
A special event celebrating the recently signed peace agreement took place in South Sudan one day before the launch of the “Power to Forgive” campaign.
The President spoke to a live audience of 500,000 people. Joining the South Sudanese President on the stage were the Presidents of five African nations: Uganda, Somalia, Eritrea, Ethiopia, (upper) Sudan, and the Prime Minister of Egypt.
In his speech, the President called on his nation to forgive each other for the atrocities committed! Then the president read directly from the campaign text that we had submitted to him some days earlier, stressing forgiveness and God’s roadmap to reconciliation. Added to this, the President’s speech was broadcast “Live” by state television and radio to six million people in South Sudan.
Call centre overload!
To handle the flood of incoming calls, one thousand phones would have been needed! The flood of calls was a clear indication of the spiritual need for forgiveness, reconciliation, and a new start in the nation.
Despite our best efforts and estimates in planning the call centre, we had drastically underestimated what was to happen. We missed 100,000 calls within the first couple of weeks of the month-long campaign. Fortunately, most of the phone numbers of the missed calls were saved on the service provider’s server, for callback. At the request of the chairman of the Council of Churches of South Sudan, the campaign was extended to accommodate “the harvest”!
There were no street addresses in South Sudan. People presented their cell phone numbers to prove that they had called the call centre to order the campaign book or digital audio player. Distribution centres were set up at several predetermined locations in the city became quite chaotic at times.
Combating illiteracy
According to UNESCO, 70% of South Sudan’s population is illiterate. There were 3,000 villages with no schools, no teachers, no books.
This meant that millions of people in the country could not use the evangelism book with South Sudanese transformation stories, and the road map to new life in Jesus. They could not pray the prayer of salvation.
This was a challenge we had not encountered before.
DAP unit distribution
Understanding the need, GCMM had pre-ordered 20,000 Digital Audio Players for the media campaign. These Mega Voice solar-powered players were distributed to over 2,000 villages as well as in the capital city of Juba.
With the digital audio players and a push of a button, villagers were able to hear the 15 powerful South Sudanese transformation stories, hear the Gospel of John being spoken, along with Arabic gospel songs, and Bible stories for children. They were instructed on how to receive Jesus and become his followers. The DAP units were pre-recorded in four languages: South Sudanese Arabic which was spoken throughout the country, the Dinka language, Nuer, and Bari tribe languages.
Tragedy
The delivery of the units was a challenging task, and took about a year, all told. Although it was a simple unit, a brief lesson in its use was needed.
There were real dangers as well. The organization that was delivering these units to the villages in partnership with GCMM lost two of their members, as they were approaching a village. The “welcoming committee” opened fire on the vehicle they were travelling in sadly resulting in their deaths.
When one unit was hooked up to a megaphone hanging from a tree branch, up to a hundred villagers could easily listen in. The lives of many, young and old were changed forever!
Food aid administered
As the campaign was coming to an end, GCMM provided food and aid to South Sudan families and children who had suffered the most due to the ongoing tribal wars with rice, corn, vegetable oil, flour, salt, and sugar. The South Sudan Council of Churches partnered with GCMM in the capital city of Juba with the delivery.
Two other organizations, the River Nile Centre managed by Nassar, an Egyptian living in South Sudan, and Mari also from Egypt of the True Light Ministry in South Sudan, assisted GCMM with the food distribution.
Africa’s Mother Teresa
Mari, a nurse, was referred to as the “Mother Teresa of South Sudan.” She cared for 1,000 children who had been orphaned because of the fighting. The children were fed, clothed, and provided proper hygiene and medical care. She also established medical clinics, saving the lives of many children.
Increased interest in God
In the aftermath of the campaign several months later, various pastors and leaders shared that their church attendance and people searching for God had increased because of the campaign. In their words, “The move toward God has been massive.”
The impact of the Gospel
Not only did hundreds of thousands of people respond to the campaign message but even the Chief of South Sudan’s Internal Security Service commented on the impact and amazing results the Gospel had in the capital city, Juba.
Statistics from the General Hospital and the police showed that the number of people being treated in the hospital had decreased by 40%. Likewise, the number of violent crimes registered by the police authorities dropped by 40% including murder, rape, or armed robbery.
Walter Duku,
Across Media, Juba
Walter Duku, the GCMM representative in South Sudan shared:
“As we distribute these digital audio units from village to village, we see how people’s lives have been changed. Peace has come to tribes and cattle rustlers have repented. Violence has dropped.”
We prayed and ministered intensively that 2019 would be a year of many blessings for South Sudan and a rewarding year for you knowing that the dollars you have sown have yielded a great harvest of souls.
Without your support, we could never have done what has been done. We are so thankful to serve with you in South Sudan in reaching those who are hopelessly lost.”
This is a witness to the power of the Gospel that transforms lives and can influence all of society.
2019
A new ministry centre was built near Helsinki, Finland
to accommodate our expanding ministries.
Dar es Salam, Tanzania
A Mega City Media Campaign was conducted in Dar es Salaam, where tens of thousands called to find the Power To Change.
A new page in the history of missions had turned in the East African nation of Tanzania, as GCMM together with almost 2,000 churches sought to bring the Gospel to Tanzania’s capital city, Dar es Salaam.
For thirty days, non-stop, the message of God’s power to change lives through faith in Jesus Christ was streamed into the lives of over 5 million people in the coastal city.
Two Years in the Making
After two years of preparation, the Dar es Salaam campaign launched on October 1st, but not without some challenges. For a Mega City Media Campaign to be successfully implemented, deadlines had to be adhered to. The regional printing houses struggled to meet the deadlines and the local telephone company responsible for the installation of the phone lines and internet connections had issues as well.
Frustration on the Bus
On day one, the campaign message with the 800 number was posted on dozens of billboards and key overpasses with highway banners, as well as 50 buses throughout the city. But the phones at the call centre were not working. Thousands of frustrated people were calling to get their copy of the book. One bus driver told us that his passengers were furious, asking why the call number was posted on the side of the bus when there was no answer!
Power failure
Thankfully, many of the callers were persistent. Within 48 hours the lines were activated, and all was well, except for the power failure an hour later. But, thanks to the quick work of the management team, two power generators were installed and activated protecting the call centre from other power failures. Power failures were commonplace, so the teams were prepared!
Over 1,000 volunteers between the ages of 18 and 25 came to serve at the call centre and as couriers delivering the Power To Change books.
“Fire Alarm!”
Hannu shared: “Rarely have I been as awestruck as I was observing the flood of calls pouring into the call centre. As I sat in the call centre “war room,” which was the team manager’s office, the sudden sound of a fire alarm filled the hallway of the single-story structure. The sound was an unending piercing sound, loud and non-stop ringing! One would think there was a fire! I ran out of the team manager’s office into the main call centre to see what was going on.
There was no fire!
All 30 phones were ringing simultaneously. I froze as I beheld the spectacle. It was a sight soon not to be forgotten.”
4,500 Calls in One Hour!
According to the server data, 4,500 calls were made in one hour—calls from cities near and far! Each call centre volunteer was taking one call every 30 seconds with just enough time to write down the caller’s name, phone, and address before the next call…
Amidst the buzz, and the continuous ring of 30 phones, one could see the visible excitement among the volunteers as they answered call after call.
Pastors and church leaders visiting the call centre said that this was a first for the churches of the city. Muslims, seekers, and non-believers alike were responding in record numbers. Nothing on this scale in recent history had happened.
“As I stood on the call centre floor and observed the situation, I thought of all of our GCMM friends, partners, and sponsors. God had touched your hearts and moved you to make this unprecedented evangelistic outreach happen.”
It was harvest time in Tanzania.
Of the 142,000 people who called in, 70,000 were Tanzanian Muslims. For many, it was a risky step of faith to contact a Christian call centre or talk to believers.
One of the stories showcased across all the media platforms during the campaign was home-grown Muslim, Mesek.
He was on a mission to convert every Christian in Tanzania to Islam and resorted to voodoo, witchcraft, sorcery, and spells using selected texts in the Koran. But in the process, Jesus saved his soul and delivered him from the clutches of Satan.
He was a Tanzanian “Saul of Tarsus” on an unholy mission. Mesek’s transformation story triggered thousands of calls from Muslims across Tanzania, wanting to know how he had found faith in the God of the Bible.
190,000 books were distributed with high-impact transformation stories, the road map to new life in Jesus, and the prayer of salvation.
Media agency data reported that over 7 million people were reached by the campaign over the two months.
Thanks to radio, the campaign message of God’s power to change, the transformation stories were heard in major cities, towns, villages, and tribal areas. Tanzanians from all over the nation were responding to the Gospel.
Cell phones are a household item even in tribal areas.
2020
GCMM celebrates Hannu and Laura’s 44 years of media ministry.
Although the Coronavirus pandemic spread around the globe disrupting people’s lives, the preaching of the Gospel continued at GCMM through many mission projects.
Ministry in Moscow and across Siberia in Novosibirsk, Vladivostok, Sakhalin, Khabarovsk, Altai, and Baikal continued during the epidemic in various ways.
VLADIVOSTOK
Bishop Valentin Romanyuk:
Thank you for printing and supplying us with these tools of evangelism. We use the books constantly in Vladivostok. We are unable to hold evangelistic events or services, but our members use the books to help reach out to the people. There is a lot of fear right now because of the coronavirus pandemic but our outreach continues. At times we run out of books and then receive more from you and continue on. We keep doing as much as we can with what we have.
KHABAROVSK
Pastor Yevgeny Sun:
Khabarovsk is located near the border with China and has about 600,000 residents and the streets are pretty well empty. We’ve been asked to physically distance and stay at home. Our church services have gone virtual.
We are encouraging people to stay calm and close to God. This will pass soon. We have received the printed evangelism books from GCMM and we’ve been able to use them to a great extent. You have been an important aid to us, enabling us to preach the Gospel.
ULAN-UDE, REPUBLIC OF BURYATIA
Pastor Sergey Lyahov:
When the pandemic broke, we were afraid at first but then we prayed. Our young people began helping the elderly and delivering food to them. Unfortunately, our care centre for drug addicts has been closed at this time. There is a bit of trepidation, but we still want to help where we can, so we wear masks and gloves as we meet people. We can give people the evangelism book at the same time.
Thank you for helping us with this outreach.
NOVOSIBIRSK, SIBERIA
Bishop Vitaly Maksimyuk:
The printing facility in Soviet Siberia, where GCMM has printed millions of evangelism books is located in our city. We use the book more than ever before. We’ve distributed the books to all our assistant pastors and prayer group leaders. Everyone has relatives, neighbours and friends who are looking for answers. We also have quite a community of taxi drivers who give the books to their customers. I want to thank GCMM prayer partners for their sacrificial giving and for helping us fulfill the Great Commission in this way.
SAKHALIN ISLAND
Bishop Pyotr Yarmolyuk:
The Island of Sakhalin is almost 1,000 kilometres long, located on the Pacific east coast of Russia. We live so far away from the big population centres of our country. For this reason, it is a real blessing to receive these books. They have helped us reach many people in our region with the Gospel. They are like seeds that we plant into the ground and like bread that we can share with people. We’ve distributed the evangelism books, New Testaments and The Gospel of John in large print to the elderly and pocket-sized New Testaments to students throughout the island. We had seen many students come to faith in God just before the coronavirus outbreak.
East Siberia Buryat Tribe
“I have waited for this all of my life!”
Wednesday, February 18, 2020, was a big day for the East Siberian Buryat tribe. The largely unreached Siberian tribe of the Buryats received delivery of their first 20,000 copies of evangelistic literature in their own mother tongue to aid the Buryat Churches in leading their tribe to faith in Jesus.
The Buryats, Mongolic people numbering approximately 500,000, are the largest indigenous group in Siberia, mainly concentrated in East Russia along the Russian/Mongolian border.
The Buryats did not have any evangelistic material in their language. This was a landmark printing project. The joy in the Buryat churches was hard to express in words!
East Siberian Yakut Tribe
Similarly, the East Siberian Yakut tribe received the same powerful evangelism tool in their own Yakut language. Yakuts are ethnically related to Turkish people now living in the Republic of Sakha in northeastern Siberia. They number about 480,000.
East Siberia: new Yakut believers gather for worship
The Gospel for Israel
New TV programs for Jewish Ministry are produced weekly
at GCM Ministries studios near Helsinki, Finland.
Great Commission Media Jewish Ministries were poised to see further ministry expansion in 2020.
In 2016 we saw how God began to answer our prayers. At that time the Russian government had passed a new law severely restricting the activities of the evangelical churches of Russia.
Despite the new law, unexpected doors opened for ministry. KRIK TV, a Russian commercial TV channel wanted Jewish and Israeli program content! GCMM began to produce the Shabbat Shalom series called “An Intimate Look at Israel and the Bible”.
These same programs were aired on cable channels in Israel and streamed on the Internet reaching hundreds of thousands of Russian-speaking Jews.
Daily Programming
Another TV channel, Georgia National Television (formerly a Soviet republic TV channel) opened for programming. In addition to in-house productions, the GCMM team in Kyiv assumed responsibility for dubbing the Russian version of Jerusalem Dateline, a high-quality news program produced in Jerusalem.
Our GCMM dubbing team in Kyiv. The programs bring
an objective and balanced view seen weekly in Russian.
Arabic ministry
Preaching The Gospel to millions from Morocco to Pakistan
Throughout North Africa, the Middle East, and Central Asia, Great Commission Media Ministries produces and telecasts the Gospel on 16 satellites in Arabic, Farsi, Somali, Sudanese Arabic, and Amharic.
Research shows that over 100 million viewers watch these Satellite TV programs regularly. GCMM receives 200,000 responses to the Gospel every month. An additional 35 million Facebook views and 40 million YouTube views. All of this was before the pandemic. Since then, the numbers have only increased—exponentially. Only heaven knows how many have received Jesus as Lord by watching our Arabic programs. Despite a pandemic, God has us operating in high gear!
“I’m Muslim and I want to know the truth.”
This was a typical message we received every day at our call centres from people who contacted us from throughout the Middle East. They have watched some of our programs and wanted to know more.
A man from the Arab Emirates wrote to us after coming across our website:
“I like everything that you offer. It has touched my heart. My family is fanatically Islamic, and they tell me that Christians are very bad. You however have begun to teach me the truth! It’s difficult to access your web pages because the government tries to block it. Please help me!”
Ibrahim, Algeria
Ibrahim was a very conservative Muslim who respected his tradition and culture. One day, he was watching television and came across a gospel program and heard about peace, comfort, and the love of God. He heard the name of Jesus Christ and wondered if He is truly the Way. He started to watch our TV programs daily and realized something was missing in his life, an emptiness that no one could fill. He tried to talk to a Muslim friend who advised him to ignore what he had been hearing. Ibrahim continued to hear more about Christ and found a way to call our follow-up team. A brother from the team met him and prayed with him. Ibrahim gave his life to Christ with the desire to serve and live for Him.
Mahmoud and Samar, Egypt
Mahmoud used to be a drug dealer who went to the mosque on Fridays. After marrying Samar, he found out that she converted to Christianity, and began to mistreat her. She came to know Jesus through the TV programs.
He tore apart her Bible several times and one day he decided to kill her and hide her body afterwards thinking that this would alleviate his shame. That night Jesus appeared to Mahmoud surrounded by a bright light and told him not to harm his wife.
Mahmoud was astonished and awakened Samar to tell her about his dream and what happened. He expressed his fear and regretted what he had been planning to do. She told him about Jesus Christ who forgives sins.
After a period of studying and researching, Mahmoud accepted Christ as his Saviour and was baptized. Samar and Mahmoud called one of the follow-up team members from the phone number on the TV program. A brother from our team met them several times. He has been following up with Mahmoud over the phone.
Khalid, Egypt
In his heart, Khalid had a strong distaste for Islam because of its many contradictions and the absence of a good example in his life. He felt even the prophet Muhammed himself was not the best example for humankind. Khalid preferred to watch the programs on satellite TV. He felt that the programs touched his heart and that they were a voice from God, so he wanted to know more about salvation. He wrote down the phone number on the screen and contacted the follow-up team. Our team shared Christ’s love and forgiveness with him. As a believer, Khalid now is learning more about Jesus Christ.
Omar, Algeria
Omar and his wife have three children. They have been watching our programs for more than one year and have accepted Christ as their Saviour.
Omar and his wife don’t go to church as they are afraid of being killed. However, they called the follow-up team to visit them. Omar shared that his family had been threatened by his brothers to remain silent and not share his faith. His parents forbade his wife to leave the house as well.
Our follow-up staff gave Omar’s family an audio Bible on a CD, for which they greatly rejoiced. It was their Bible of their own. Omar and his wife have a deepening understanding of God’s Word as they have been enthusiastically watching our TV programs regularly as well.
Yasin, Morocco
Yasin worked as an Imam at the Mosque, after graduating from the faculty of Islamic studies. During his study of the Quran, Yasin found a list of contradictions, errors, absurdism and problems. Yet his thoughts and attention were inexplicably drawn to the verses and the hadiths of the Prophet Isa son of Maryam (Jesus). Yasin began to watch TV programs to learn more about ‘this Jesus’. He called the follow-up team asking many questions and wanting to know the Truth. Our team addressed his questions and led him to accept Christ as his Saviour.
Hafez, Middle East
Hafez was a very devoted Muslim but watched our programs to find mistakes to attack Christians with. He called to ask about a variety of topics. However, after hearing the answers to his questions he would curse and threaten the team.
One day, he called and listened calmly to the team answering his questions. At the end of the call, he asked for a copy of the Bible and the team sent him one. He called back later and told the team that he felt peace on the very day he set his mind to look for the Truth and that he wanted to become a Christian. “I feel that I was changed from inside. I feel I became a new person at the moment I asked Christ to dwell in my heart.” When Hafez announced his new faith to his family, the whole family was outraged. They wanted him to convert back to Islam and some even threatened to kill him. Hafez suffered emotionally from their threats but continued to be strong spiritually and held tightly onto Jesus. The team has continued to encourage him.