An Amazing Fact: When the wooden steamer SS Kentucky developed catastrophic leaks during a storm 110 miles off the coast of
North Carolina in February 1910, 46 lives were at stake. Fortunately, using a radiotelegraph,
the crew was able to send out the distress signal SOS to a nearby ship just
before they lost power. The SS Alamo immediately responded—and all on board were
saved! This was one of the first times a “wireless” radio was used to
communicate this distress call.
How would you feel being trapped aboard a sinking ship on a
dark, stormy night in the middle of the ocean—with no way to call for help? It
had happened thousands of times before the invention of radiotelegraphy. But
ever since, thousands of lives have been saved through SOS distress calls.
Well, I have received an urgent SOS call from our friends in
Southeast Asia—and with your help, we can respond. Heartfelt pleas to minister
next month in Indonesia, Pakistan, India, and Dubai came all at once. I had
the unshakable impression that these invitations were of the Lord and that I
was to minister in these countries where Christianity is often suppressed.
Like Paul’s vision of a man pleading, “Come over to
Macedonia and help us” (Acts 16:9), our friends in these Muslim and Hindu lands
are calling you and me to help them. And your support is truly needed now to
provide for this outreach, training, and revival trip to minister to millions
who urgently need our encouragement and resources.
Supernatural Guidance
After I received news that a previous appointment had
changed, opening up my April calendar, I prayed, “Lord, is there somewhere you
want me to go?” That’s when the Holy Spirit brought to my mind urgent
invitations I’d not been able to accept before. Since my overseas evangelism is
often planned years in advance, I thought, “How can we pull something like this
together on such short notice?”
I should know—never underestimate the Lord! With God’s
blessing and your help, in just a few days, complicated plans came together to minister
for Jesus in four countries in three weeks.
Trust me, these are places yearning for Bible truth. Imagine
looking into the hungering eyes of the young and old attending our meetings in places
where people have been jailed for accepting Jesus, family members have been
disowned, churches have been burned down, and some have died for their faith. When
we proclaim God’s truth in such places, it is like rescuing people from a
sinking ship!
God calls us to preach Christ even in difficult places, including
extreme locations like the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
Evangelists are sometimes tempted to stay in comfortable and safe places, but
we must be willing to respond to the distress signals sent out from difficult areas
like Pakistan and Indonesia. Jonah didn’t want to go to Nineveh, but what a
revival he had when he finally obeyed!
You can respond to this SOS call by supporting the
worldwide evangelistic work of Amazing Facts. Let me tell you a little more
about this trip to the Eastern Hemisphere …
Preaching Truth in Indonesia,
Pakistan, and India
The first Muslim country Karen and I will be ministering to
is Indonesia. With over 277 million people, Indonesia is the world’s fourth most
populous country and hosts the largest Muslim population on the planet. The
vast majority there have never heard the everlasting gospel!
We will hold a five-night evangelistic series in Indonesia,
and if it’s anything like the last time I spoke there, thousands will crowd in
to hear last-day truth. We have many AFCOE graduates working carefully in
Indonesia to prepare the way. Please pray for them and the safety of all the
attendees. Satan will try to disrupt God’s work!
From there, we go to Pakistan, where Christians make up only
one percent of its 244 million souls. And only a fraction of these faithful
have heard the three angels’ messages. I have never been able to go there in person,
but we have recently translated our Cosmic Conflict DVD into Urdu—a
language spoken by millions in Pakistan. And we’re almost done translating
our Amazing Facts Study Guides.
While in Pakistan, I
will preach the remnant message several times at large Christian convocations
and train pastors. I am also told we will need to have security escorts with Karen
and me at all times.
From Pakistan, we will fly to one of the wealthiest cities
in the world, Dubai, to proclaim Jesus Christ. Yes, it’s a beautiful city, but the
open proclamation of the gospel is still severely restricted.
Then from Dubai, it’s on to India to meet with our
evangelism team, preach the gospel to large assemblies, and invite seekers to accept
Christ. Our team there is doing a great work in translating our TV programs, Bible
lessons, and magazines into Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu, languages spoken by 1.4
billion!
Whether it is through satellite evangelism, printed
resources, local evangelistic series, Bible studies in homes, Internet
evangelism, radio programs, or social media, we must do everything possible,
for Jesus’ sake, to bring light to all of Southeast Asia!
Save Our Souls
Some say that the SOS distress call stands for “Save Our
Souls.” Whatever the case, that’s the cry coming from our friends in Southeast
Asia. So I’m urgently asking you to join me today in not only making this
special trip to preach freedom in Christ, but also to provide ongoing support
to our teams in creating and sharing resources for reaching those in bondage to
Islam.
Your caring gift today of $25 will help translate an Amazing
Facts Study Guide into Urdu to win hundreds of searching hearts. A
sacrificial gift of $100 will help translate a sharing magazine, raining down
God’s truth into outstretched hands. And an SOS-sized gift of $250 will help dub
a video to be broadcast to hearts seeking eternal hope. Whatever size gift you
send this month, I know that God will bless your co-laboring ministry and
multiply the impact it will have on lives through all our outreach programs.
A couple of years ago, I asked you to pray that God would
open the door for me to speak in Pakistan. Praise the Lord—He has answered your
prayers! Please pray now for our safety and give generously for those having
second thoughts about following Islam—and thank you for answering this SOS
plea for truth with your special gift today.
Answering distress calls for the kingdom,
Pastor Doug Batchelor
President, Amazing Facts International