Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh…Vancouver!
Kyiv+London+Tokyo+Manila+Hong Kong+Sao Paulo+ Vancouver!
Never count God out!
They say Vancouver is a secular, post-Christian city–whatever that means.
They say there are not too many Jesus-followers here.
Hmmm….
I guess I would beg to differ.
Based on what we just saw.
And experienced.
Canada.
Is alive.
Jesus.
Is here.
11,000+ strong they came.
History made.
Again.
All for one name.
For His fame.
Brazil.
You really came through.
Even the pics sent today of wristbands on.
Prayers prayed.
Blew Vancouver students away.
Oh Canada.
You have all you need.
In Jesus.
For awakening to happen here.
Thank you Vancouver.
We are humbled.
Amazed.
Hopeful.
Be strong.
Bold.
And dream.
And if our God is for us…..
LG
November 6th, 2010 at 3:34 AM
Thanks so much to God moving tonight in 11,000 students!
Big thanks to Louie, the Passion team, and all of the volunteers
Our God is greater, our God is stronger
God You are higher than any other
Our God is Healer, awesome in power!
November 6th, 2010 at 7:21 AM
Revival has broken out in the city of Vancouver, not just in the stadium but also on the streets of Vancouver. I got home went on facebook and saw that my handicapped friend Billy was worshipping God on the streets with beautiful songs, proclaiming the name of Jesus! As well I want to share with you about what God did during my trip back home.
After the last song out of the hurry to not be caught in the crowd I did not see the collection bin for wool socks and toques. My friends went to Cactus Club for dinner but I was tired and decided to go home. So, I was on the skytrain wondering what should I do with these two pairs of socks? After getting off the train to make a transfer to another train line I made this prayer to God telling him that if He puts someone in need of God’s love on my way back I will bless him. You have to know that this was a very lousy prayer because I only had to walk 100 feet on street level to reach the other station and every time I walked that 100 feet there wasn’t a single homeless person. But God can use any situation to allow his glory to shine.
“Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.”
James 4:8a
So right when I got onto the street level, I saw this man at the exit of the station in rags painting. The first thing I noticed was that he had no socks on. I wanted to back out of the deal I made with God, but before I could, I started a conversation with the painter. The man wasn’t ready for the gospel and did not want to be prayed for, I took the time to bless him by listening to him and blessing him with a pair of socks. Normally I would quickly cross the street to make the transfer, but the Holy Spirit prompted me to spend some time in prayer to pray for him and other ministries I know that serves around the downtown east side area. But before all those the Holy Spirit led me to reconciliation between myself and with God, those frustrating thoughts I had about my direction in life, my studies in a ‘dead end degree’, all preventing me to properly living a spirit filled life. As all my burdens were poured out, God started reaffirming me of His work and how I am contributing even though my part looks insignificant, I was so immersed in that intimate moment with my Father, that the stares of passerbys would fade into insignificance. As I look at my last pair of sock in my hand, I surrendered myself to God asking God to guide me this time, acknowledging that apart from Him nothing can happen. While praying and walking I came across another homeless person in a conversation with a young lady outside a McDonald. I entered the discussion, my natural tendency was to offer the sock and get this over with but as I prayed and surrender myself to God more and more in my heart, acknowledging more of God and less of me, God started moving.
The person noticed my Passion wristband and asked whether I left the hospital, I told him I came from a concert and that we wish to bless our city. The young lady (she introduced to me as Emily later on) signalled me that she has a wristband as well that put me at ease greatly, it was really cool how, by God’s appointment, He would put strangers working alongside together. As long as we both love Jesus and have a desire to be part of his movie he’s willing to use us.
The homeless man is Gus, he does panting for a living. While talking to him, my heart was praying for him and for God to guide this conversation. As the conversation goes on there was an urge building up in me to pray for him, I tried ignoring it as it may seem awkward to not make a transition to a prayer. But the urge became so strong that out of the blue I told Gus that I really want to pray for him. Holy Spirit touched Gus’ heart as he welcomed that prayer, Emily and I laid hands on Gus and I started praying.
“I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your old men will dream dreams,
your young men will see visions.
Even on my servants, both men and women,
I will pour out my Spirit in those days.
I will show wonders in the heavens
and on the earth”
~Joel 2: 28-30
At first I started praying about his situation and how he is hungry and needs a shelter to stay for tonight, I was nervous but the Holy Spirit reminded me that it’s Him speaking not me and took over. The spirit started interceded over Gus and spoke truth/prophecy to him that Gus is a child of God and that God loves him. That He has a destiny for Gus and today he may seem like its difficult to get by the day, he may feel insignificant but God WILL guide him. He has given Gus a passion and talent to paint and will open opportunities and bring him the right people. That his paintings will inspire and bless others and give hope, but all he has to do is to give in fully to God. The Holy Spirit told him that there’s a nearby church is having an event tomorrow and has called him to find community and love there. You have to know how weird I was feeling because I do not go to that church and I’m telling him there’s an event… I mean what if there’s nothing tomorrow? (Emily later confirmed to me that she goes to that church and that there’s an event tomorrow. Praise the lord for that.) While praying, I noticed that Gus was starting to cry, how he started to see who he really is, that he is loved by the king of kings and starts to see meaning in his life. I could tell the Holy Spirit was working in him, putting hope in him. After prayer I was prompted to buy him a cup of warm coffee, something warm to eat at night and pay for a room for him stay for the night.
I’m telling you right now, true love is sacrifice.
Love is thinking about others before you think about yourself, love is selfless not selfish.
Love is God and God is love.
Love is when you lay down your life for another, whether for your brother,
your mother, your father or your sister,
its even laying down your life for your enemies, that’s unthinkable, but think about that.
Love is true. Think.
Lyrics from “Love- by Jaeson Ma”
What I did went against all of my instincts of a poor student, but the Love of God was stronger and compelled me to love Gus. God was showing me that Love is not just wishing someone well but Love is sacrifice. It is putting others before self, it will cost something, either my time, my money, my respect from other, it may even cost my life as Jesus himself has done and shown by martyrs. In reflection to all these things, God is good (all the time!). God’s timing is PERFECT; if I delayed it would’ve been a whole different turnout.
“I have decided to follow Jesus,
I Have decided to follow Jesus,
I have decided to follow Jesus,
no turning back, no turning back.”
–An old hymn, “I have decided to follow Jesus”
Imagine if each person tonight would go and bless two other people showing others the love of Jesus by their actions, revival would come! The Lord’s prayer’s “His kingdom come” would definitely happen, acts 2 would break out in Vancouver! Revival does not happen when a person prays 4 hours a day or attend to Bible College for four years and become a pastor/missionary or give a million dollars to Salvation Army. Revival happens when an individual chooses to say YES to God and follows Him regardless of how awkward or impossible the situation is. If we’re asked to do something we find dull, may we serve God full heartedly!
Thank you once more for coming to Vancouver Louie, not once but a second time! Vancouver is known to be one of the most secular cities in North America. We would love to see you guys come back again (though it would be unfair for other cities) or even have the first Canadian 268 conference here but we’ll see what God has in store.
Yawn yawn, its 5am already!
I really had to type out everything to you before I forget, God deserves every bit of glory. Hope you enjoyed your time in Vancouver! May God continue to use you to inspire other students in MY generation bringing upon a movement of revival lifting up the name of Jesus!
PS: sorry its a bit long ><, but the glory of God cannot be contained.
If everyone on earth were to be a scribe and every tree a writing brush and the ocean be our ink, we would've drained the ocean dry!
November 6th, 2010 at 9:14 AM
Great news! I’m very happy for Vancouver… God bless you all, keep on shining for HIM!!!!
Rodrigo – Sao Paulo, Brasil
November 6th, 2010 at 12:57 PM
Speechless – I think my best response to God’s amazing power and sovereignty, and His work all around the world is to pray.
In a city like Vancouver, in North America, where everyone belong to the top 10% richest people around the world, it seems rather difficult to not lose sight of God at many moments in my life.
Many times last night I saw glimpse of my memories back in Atlanta, the first time we praise God with those songs. The time when “How great is our God” broke through the waves of prayers in the Philips Arena…and no, the song wasn’t led by anyone up on stage, someone started singing in the crowd and everyone followed. The time when we were all studying the Word in our community groups…
and yet these memories seem to fade after time, especially when the world seems to eat you up with everything.
Thanks Passion for coming to Vancouver at the most needed time in my life. and thanks to everyone who was there last night to let me see how much power faith still has over this city.
Atlanta! we’re praying for you!
Texas! I’m not only praying but coming to you!!!
Let us not follow the Passion, let us live out THE Passion!!
November 6th, 2010 at 2:51 PM
Jesus is sooo beautiful. Never did I imagine this many people getting together to praise His holy Name! Thank you Louie and Passion team for your prayers over Vancouver and for praising God and glorifying His Name with us. It was powerful to be able to gather together with 11,000 other people who love Him and are thirsty and hungry for His presence.
“EY” I am so moved by your testimony… by HIS GREAT STORY. It’s a beautiful beautiful story! God has been shifting my perspective slowly and steadily and yesterday Louie put into words what God has been doing in my life… showing me how it’s not ABOUT me!!! It’s about HIM and how I could be a part of His great plan and live focussing on myself, or I could make HIS Name famous where ever I may be whatever I may be doing. Even through the smallest prayer, when prayed in faith, and even the smallest act of love or even the short phrase of encouragement proclaimed in FAITH… our Abba Father works and does amazing, beautiful things. The great part of it all is that we can take a part in that. We are called to be co-heirs with Christ. As Jesus said “Don’t be afraid, little flock. Your Father is pleased to give you the kingdom” (Luke 12:32). We have all that we need and more because His Kingdom dwells in us and through us here in Vancouver!
God is stirring things up all over the nations. Our generation will be a generation of true worshippers who worship Jesus in spirit and in truth and with a burning passion for His Name!
Praise God!!!
November 6th, 2010 at 3:24 PM
Thank you for the Passion team for coming to Vancouver and all the prayers that was prayed around the world for Vancouver. You guys came here during my struggles with God. Yesterday night was speechless and powerful. At the beginning, it was unbelievable and I started to cry.. The songs really stood out to me and it became so realistic. It was exciting and surprising to see that there was other Christians who were thirsty for God. The message Louie said about “do it all in the name of Jesus” really stood out and showed me how it’s not about me anymore. It’s about him being glorified in everything I do. Praise God. I felt I was being reminded of what God has done in my life so far. Awakening did happen last night and will be continued on! And now, it’s our turn to pray for Atlanta 2011!
November 6th, 2010 at 4:01 PM
Hey louie, guess what. After passion, I asked one of the friends whom we brought (who is not a christian) on what he thought. He told me, “I lost my voice.” Wow non-christian worshiping Jesus who heard of such a thing?!
I felt moved by the Holy Spirit and there in gate 3, I told him about the gospel of Jesus Christ. He received Him and now proclaims Him as Lord and Saviour. AMEN! One more… my cousin who has had a messed up past: dad left him, he got into gangs, he stole money that would buy my grandma’s medication, and many more messed up things. I’ve been ministering to him and already told him the gospel, he accepted. The beautiful thing is that seed of faith was revealed in passion. He too lost his voice worshiping Jesus. He also lifted up his hands for the first time in complete surrender. And before we slept he told me this, which made my heart jump in joy: “Now I know God is in my heart.”
November 6th, 2010 at 4:19 PM
first of all,PRAISE GOD!!! praise Him for His glory,love,awesomeness. thanks to the Passion Team,from volunteers to crews up to Louie for bringing Passion back here in Vancity.gotta love it when your in total abandonment of the outside world just to worship the One.God bless Team 268!!
November 7th, 2010 at 10:47 AM
Beautiful!
I cried when I saw the pics!
Amanda – Brazilian student
November 7th, 2010 at 9:48 PM
The concert was juuuustt purely amaaazing. Its really relieving and encouraging to hear that there were sooo many Jesus followers in Vancouver all came to Passion tour concert as One. I had a great time and perhaps so did the other 11,000+ people over there that night :)
Next stop for Passion Conference, Atlanta 2011.
All the best and God bless :).
- Vancouver resident
November 7th, 2010 at 10:55 PM
I had the wonderful opportunity to live in Vancouver for one year, and it truly brought me significant memories! : )
AND now, what Passion Vancouver has done is awesome! God is definitely moving through this city
November 8th, 2010 at 1:35 AM
Xie Xie Ni Yesu
November 8th, 2010 at 1:28 PM
Praise God to whom ALL Blessings Flow! Thank you Lord for the glimpse of your spirit moving in Vancouver! Thank you Louie & Passion Team for your continual obedience to God’s calling to Glorify His Name & Renown.
I reside in Orange County, CA and volunteered at Passion Hong Kong in June
& have been praying for each of the Passion world Tour cities. so touched and
Overwhelm by what God is doing in each city.
EY, Thank you so much for sharing your testimony after Passion, God has used it to so encourage me. praying for a fresh anointing of the Holy Spirit to be poured out upon you morning by morning to empower you for his service
So that Isaiah 26:8 is manifested to all God places in your path.
If God puts on your heart to be an online missionary from the comfort of your computer or cell phone,
Check out Global Media Outreach .com(GMO) Part of Campus Crusade For Christ. Every day, 2 million people globally, search the Internet for God, for spiritual guidance, for meaning of life, for hope, GMO has over 102 websites in all different languages telling the gospel message of Jesus. if someone in India
Googles who is God, one of the GMO websites would be on the 1st page of the search results which gives the person opportunity to accept Christ.
Over 200,000 people daily visit the GMO websites & of those,over 20,000 daily
Indicate they have made decisions to follow Jesus & of the
Go to
November 8th, 2010 at 1:43 PM
sorry , press sent by mistake.
of the over 20,000 that made decisions daily to follow Jesus, 6000-8000 daily request to have someone follow up with them or pray for them.
Go to http://www.greatcommission.com to see a map of the world and in real time shows the people all over the world that are visiting GMO sites and shows in real time when they make a decision for Christ. the site zeros out at midnight daily so the count you see is a daily count.
for me , this just gave a glimpse of what God sees when He looks at our pale blue dot, that his spirit is moving and he is calling many to himself.
“This gospel of the Kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a witness to all nations… & then the end will come,” (Matthew 24:14)
as GMO only has a little over 5000 on line missionaries at present, the need
Is great for online missionaries. So if God puts that on your heart, check out http://www.globalmediaoutreach.com.
Praying God’s continual favor and anointing for the Passion team, for the college students whom he has called and is calling so that we are all singularly focus on Jesus and for God’s Renown .
November 8th, 2010 at 2:31 PM
I just got back from a 6 week stay in Ontarion, Canada where I, along with the Life Action Thirst team, went to 3 churches and held revivals. It was amazing what God did in that country. He is truly working in Canada.
November 8th, 2010 at 9:50 PM
WOW! I don’t know what to say…I feel like a thank you wouldn’t be enough! It was a simply amazing evening! my friends and I left the place refreshed, encouraged, and inspired…wow, it blew me away…thanks so much guys! You guys all rock! May the Lord richly bless you all, like you have blessed us!
November 10th, 2010 at 8:56 PM
Quick shout-outs from Vancouver
Thank you very much for all the prayers Brazil!
May God pour down double the blessings He poured out to us because of your prayers.
Atlanta city, we’re praying for YOU now!
Let’s show the world that our God is alive, VERY MUCH alive!
LG and Passion crew,
thank you ever so much for your ministry!
May God fill every need in order to continue seeking His Kingdom and His righteousness!
God bless!!!
November 13th, 2010 at 12:15 AM
You guys are sooooo absolutely amazing! It was my first time to Passion, but man.. was I ever touched. You all have such a place in my heart, you don’t even know the help you have been to me and the family I went to Passion with. The music was out of this world. There are no words that can say thank you to Brad, Jeff and Louie for the special care they gave us. This definitely won’t be the last time I go to Passion!!!! WOOT WOOT
November 14th, 2010 at 11:13 PM
Thanks for going against the grain and against the news that there we no Christ Followers in the area – God is good!
November 19th, 2010 at 11:47 PM
http://news.cnet.com/8301-27083_3-20023112-247.html
Louie, this link’s for you and anyone else who enjoys marveling at the complexity of God’s creation. Incredible!
December 2nd, 2010 at 11:40 AM
Hi there! I went to the Passion Vancouver conference, and while there was reminded of a true story I had read as part of the required reading for Perspectives missions course. I wanted to quickly share it below- I hope God can use it to encourage others like He used it to speak to me! :) I know it’s long, but please READ it’s worth it!
The Zaraban Breakthrough
The following account of a breakthrough in a Muslim country is told in the words of a fellow missionary, Ted Moore. I (Ken) served as a member of Ted’s team of mission workers that has prayed and laboured in the Zaraban region since 1991. The events recounted here took place in 1999. The names of the people and the ethnic group have been changed.
One of the first believers from the Zaraban people, a man named Abdul, began to follow Christ in the late 1980’s. It’s worth noting that most of teh Zaraban people group dwell in a remote area that has been very supportive of fundamentalist expressions of Islam. Young men from this area have been recruited and trained to fight in jihad, or Islamic holy war, in nearby countries. One of the key figures in this story is Rashad, one of Abdul’s brothers. At the time of this story, Rashad had recently returned from training as a jihadist warrior in a neighboring land.
Not long after these events, Ted contracted a disease that was difficult to treat in the region in which he was working. Ted died within a few days. He was in his forties. What follows is an edited version of one of his final newsletters to his supporting friends and family. This letter represents not only the observations of Ted and myself, but also some details as told to us by the family in the days and weeks that followed…
When Abdul first came to stay in our home, his father asked me to take a guiding role in his son’s life. I agreed and told him that would include teaching Abdul about faith in Jesus the Messiah, to which the father agreed. Since that time, five years ago, our vision and prayer has been that the whole family would join Abdul in following the Saviour. Likewise, Ken, my coworker who continued discipling ABdul in that first year while Sarah and I were out of the country, had the same desire and vision for the family. Once during a wedding, family members told Ken that they were hopeful that through ‘ghus!’ (baptisim) in the name of jesus they would be freed from the fear of ‘jinns’ (demons).
Over the years we had befriended Abdul’s family, Ken and I had journeyed several times from the city where we live to his family home in a remote rural area. It was especially important to be with his family during the holiday of Eid when an animal is sacrificed to remember Abraham’s willingness to offer his son. What follows is the story of our most recent visit. We had to overcome difficult scheduling conflicts but were finally able to arrive on a Sunday morning- the day before the big holiday. We arrived just in time to discover and participate in what God had already been doing in our absence.
Rashad’s Letter and Dream
As we prepared for this journey, we had been pondering a letter from Abdul’s brother, Rashad, that I had received two weeks earlier. Rashad had always wanted to become a Muslim religious leader. His letter was full of positive statements about how we prayed, how often we prayed and God’s answers to our prayers. He mentioned the changes in Abdul’s life and character. AT that time he was reading our Muslim-friendly ‘Biography of Jesus.’ He asked some specific questions about the wording of a particular passage of Scripture and ended his letter with the following: ‘I want to become one of you. Please guide me.’ We were unsure what he really meant, remembering some of the heated debates we had with him in past encounters.
Before leaving, Ken and Abdul spent time in prayer. In the middle of prayer, they both felt very inspired to pray for God to move in a special way on the trip. Ken specifically felt led to pray for a miracle that would bring the entire family of 16 people to faith in Jesus.
Our little car performed its heroics once again, getting us there late Saturday night. Private travel without a sturdy four-wheel drive vehicle is usually not recommended in the interior of this region. We surprised everyone in Abdul’s family when we arrived about 6:45 am. After breakfast, Rashad was eager to sit us down and talk about the letter he had sent. He began by telling us about a dream he had just that previous night, while we were still en route. In his dream he saw a man dressed in white with his arms outstretched. THe man told him that he had a special gift for him and was sending messengers who would guide him to it. And now here we were before him! Rashad shared many things with us, including the fact that he now believed jihad was wrong and that a way of love was the path of truth and power.
The Verdict: ‘We will all follow the way of Jesus!”
He spoke about things Jesus said in the Scriptures regarding false worship that had impressed him- how our worship is worthless if in the midst of it we remember a brother wronged and don’t leave our worship to be reconciled. He reiterated that he wanted to become one of us, following the path of Christ and requested that we guide him. Ken asked, ‘What do you feel is the next step to follow Jesus?’
Rashad replied that the rest of the family should hear that he was ready to follow Jesus so that they could follow Him too.
Ken and I looked at each other with stares of disbelief and recovered enough to say, ‘Uh, right. That’s a good idea. You do that and we’ll sit in the other room and pray.’ The family- women, children, everybody- quickly gathered and we prayed in another room.
Soon, Rashad returned with the verdict: Yes, we will all follow the way of Jesus the Messiah!
More Famous than Pepsi
After that, Rashad escorted me into town so I could use a phone to call my wife, Sarah. He told me about how he had been gathering some of his friends in the past few weeks explaining to them the way of the Messiah- especially about real prayer that wasn’t just for show. Many were very interested. More shock.
As we arrived at the long distance telephone facility in the village, Rashad pointed out the Pepsi sign across the street. Then he said, ‘You know the name, Pepsi, is more famous around the world than the name of JEsus. WE must overcome our weaknesses and compete with them so that His name becomes more famous than Pepsi.’ In the meantime the family who owned the establishment brought us some cold RC cola drinks. Rashad said, ‘RC is okay, but no more Pepsi for me!’
—————
Anyway, to cut this long story short the whole family- the first family of the Zaraban people- become followers of Christ and are baptized… ‘Abdul and Rashad’s father, a normally reserved man, was leading out with the answers: ‘Yes, Praise the Lord! We will follow this new path! We will receive ‘ghusl’. We will call others to join us!’ One of the brothers danced and sang out, ‘I have a new life…I have a new life!’ Many other things happened in the course of that day. Some began to share about the peace they had, others spoke reflecting their new life…’
Anyway, I wanted to share that story in regards to living for Christ’s name- that His name would be exalted in all the earth- that the whole earth would be filled with His glory.. As His body, Jesus’ name be more revered- we want Jesus to be worshipped and more known that Pepsi or Coke! It’s said 2.7 billion people haven’t heard of Christ’s birth, death, ressurection- they have hardly no knowledge about Him yet. http://www.forgottenchristmas.org
May this change by our life, or by death- that He would seen, that He would receive the glory due His name- He will- will we be a part in this grand story, or just like Louie said- live to make our own name known- which won’t help anyone- including ourselves on the Day of Judgment? Anyway, just wanted to share thanks so much!
December 3rd, 2010 at 10:44 AM
Awesome to hear!
January 9th, 2011 at 1:39 AM
Hello Passion Team,
I want to thank you for all that you do in the name of Jesus, for his honor and glory. I am a Canadian student who has watched some of your films and heard your talks. Thank you for sharing the Word of Christ. I pray that God will continue to bless your ministry as you serve. Also I would love to see you do a national tour and come to the Prairies of Canada. There is much love for God as well as a society of people who are turning away from God. Please prayerfully consider this. God Bless.