Initial Reactions About Osama Bin Laden's Death

Friends, I have heard many reactions to the news that Osama Bin Laden has been killed.  I would like to give my two cents worth on the issue.  Many people I know posted angry, hateful, and racist comments.  I believe this is definitely taking it too far.  However, some people also said things like, “I can’t believe anyone would celebrate another man’s death!”  I feel this is not the proper reaction either.  In my opinion, there has to be something better that is somewhere in the middle.

First, I heard several of my friends say things like, “Now he is burning in Hell just like he deserves!”  I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that Osama IS indeed burning in Hell as you read this.  However, we must remember that according to Romans 3:23, 6:23 and many other Bible verses, we are all sinners and we all deserve to die and burn in Hell for those sins just like Osama Bin Laden.  No one can have eternal life except by grace through faith in Jesus Christ.  We negate God’s grace and promote salvation by works if we say that he deserves to go to Hell but we don’t because we are good people.  Salvation can never be earned by good works nor made impossible by any number of evil deeds.

So, how do I feel about the fact that he is in Hell right now?  I’m not happy about it, but I definitely don’t feel sorry for him!  Osama Bin Laden had spent a lot of time in western cultures.  I can’t prove this, but I would be shocked if he hasn’t heard the story of Jesus at some point in his life.  But as we all know, he CHOSE to reject Jesus and follow Muhammad and his version of god they call Allah.  These beliefs led him to cause the deaths of thousands of people around the world.  The world is a better, safer place without him in it.  I think he got exactly what he deserved in this life and the next.  

So, am I just a cold-hearted person?  Absolutely not!  As a Christian, I feel a tremendous burden for the billions of lost people around the world who would be sent to hell if they died today.  The people I feel the greatest burden for are those who have never heard the Gospel!  The billions around the world who have absolutely no access to Scripture or another human who could tell them about Jesus are the ones I feel sorry for.  This is summed up in Romans 10:13-17:

 "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed?  And how are they to believe in Him of whom they have never heard?  And how are they to hear without someone preaching?  And how are they to preach unless they are sent? … So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.”

It is my goal in life to get the Gospel of Jesus Christ to these people!  These people are not able to hear the Gospel because religious leaders like Osama Bin Laden refuse to allow their people to hear anything other than their own radical beliefs.  Thousands of missionaries and evangelists are willing to go into these countries and spread the Good News if only the doors were open!

Anyway, rather than focusing on Osama being  in Hell, I choose to focus on the purely positive fact that a major threat to the United States and people around the world can no longer do us any harm.  In summary, I believe that as Christians we should never celebrate someone being killed and sent to Hell because we all have sinned and deserve the same fate.  However, as an American i am immensely full of joy that one of the greatest threats to our lives and freedoms has been eliminated.  GOD BLESS AMERICA!!!

Thanks so much for reading!  Please let me know what you think!  Have a great week.

In Christ,

Steve Stockwell

Galatians 2:20

P.S. I thought I had found him last summer in Africa! This mural was on the side of the road in the 99% Muzlem town I was arrested in last summer!

Zimbabwe 4/7/2011, home safely!

Dear friends in Christ:  Our mission to Zimbabwe was truly an amazing trip, but I am glad to be back in Texas safe and sound.  I can now say I know what it feels like to be on the longest commercial flight operated by any American or European airline!  Once again, I can’t adequately describe just how amazing this project was, and how powerfully God moved while we were there.

I had the opportunity to share the Gospel in 25 schools with over 20,000 students; over 16,000 of them made public professions of faith, saying that they were willing to turn from their sins and put all their trust and faith in Jesus Christ as LORD and Savior for the first time!  We were also able to speak in training conferences, churches, and crusades.  In total, our team shared the Gospel in almost 60 schools to 54,000 students with over 45,000 making professions of faith! We were also able to distribute about 35,000 tracts and 200 Bibles.

We could sense the Holy Spirit guiding us and helping us the entire way.  We faced many challenges and difficulties along the way, but the ultimate victory was won by Jesus Christ.  I will cherish the memories from this mission for the rest of my life!

My lasting prayer for the thousands of people who heard the Gospel is from the Parable of the Sower in Matthew 13. I know that some of the seed was sown on rocky soil, where the enemy came and snatched it away.  I know that some will quickly sprout up and then be scorched because it doesn’t have good roots. And we know that some will grow up but be choked out by the struggles and thorns of this world. However, we also know that God’s Word doesn’t return void.  So my ultimate prayer is for the seedlings to grow strong roots and mature into the vine and produce fruit 30, 60, or 100 times what was sown!

Please join me in prayer for our NEST (National Evangelist Support Team) partners, and the pastors, leaders, and Scripture Union members, as they go back into these schools and continue the discipleship process that has begun.  Please pray for the many Christian teachers and administrators we met in the schools to step up into a leadership role and to guide these students down the right path.  Our prayer is for this generation of students to grow into mature disciples who will go out and reach the nations with the Gospel of Jesus Christ!

God moved so mightily this trip!  And the doors are open for us to do missions like this throughout Africa and in many countries around the world.  What we need is for the Holy Spirit to direct us, people who will pray for us, and for more people who are actually willing to help send us.  I can’t possibly describe how ripe for harvest many places in the world are.  We all need to follow Jesus’ advice in Matthew 9:38 - “Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.”

Thank you all so much for the prayer and support throughout this mission!  I hope I have the opportunity to sit down with each of you, and share with and thank you for everything in person.  Thank you once again, and may God richly bless you all!

In Christ,

Steve Stockwell

Galatians 2:20, Crucified with Christ

Almost Finished

Hey friends.  Just got back from an amazing week of ministry in Rusape, Zimbabwe. God is so good! I had the opportunity to share the Gospel in ten schools with over 6300 students and more than 5000 said that they would turn from their sin and put their trust in Jesus Christ as LORD and Savior!

 

 I am sad that my time here in Zimbabwe is coming to an end, but I am even more excited to come home and share our experiences with everyone in person! I’ve been to many places where the doors are open and people have been hungry for the gospel. But I don’t think anywhere I’ve been can compare to Zimbabwe. I am earnestly praying for an opportunity to come back here and to other regions to minister with all the people who live in this nation.

 

Tomorrow, we are finishing our mission with one more day in churches in the Bulawayo region. Then, Monday, Scott and I are heading back to Texas.

 

Thanks again so much for all the prayers, support, and love you guys have given us during this trip. We obviously couldn’t do this without your help.  Love you all! And I can’t wait to see everyone in person (-:

 

In Christ,

Steve Stockwell

Amazing week of school ministry!

Friends, it is impossible for me to describe how amazing the last five days of school ministry has been! I can’t be anything but humbled that God has worked so mightily this week. I’ve been blessed to share the gospel in nine schools with over 8,000 students and almost 7,000 of them said that they were willing to repent of their sins and trust in Christ alone as LORD and Savior!

 

We have faced some minor difficulties with local police. Don’t worry, I haven’t been arrested again! Apparently, a group has recently gone around the schools promoting anti-government rhetoric. So, they insisted that at least one police officer goes to each school we speak at to make sure we aren’t sharing anything but the Gospel of Christ. The police we have spoken have been very gracious and have even encouraged us in our ministry. It is a strict ministry policy that we don’t discus local politics no matter which country we are in. It still amazes me that the authorities are actually insisting that we share the Gospel in public schools!

 

Ultimately, it hasn’t been an issue. In fact, it means that we are sharing the Gospel with more people! A police officer came up to us today after a school program and said, “Thank you for sharing, I’ve decided it is time for me to become a Christian.” Isn’t it amazing how God takes things the Devil attempts to throw at us with malice and works it out for good? We are supposed to go by the police station tomorrow morning to give that police lady a Bible and share some basic counseling with her.

 

There are so many stories I could share with you guys! I could write for hours about all the days of ministry and everything that has happened in schools. I guess we will just have to share more in person later! I have posted many photos to facebook. This link should allow everyone to see them whether you have a facebook account or not.

 

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2032994&id=79501181&l=a6b4753370

we also have many photos from all mission trips available online at

http://www.davidstockwell.org

 

Thank you all so much for the continued prayers! We are leaving tomorrow for a week of ministry in a town called Rusape. We’ve been told that it is unlikely that we will have internet access there. So, don’t expect to hear from us for a while. Thank you all again!

 

In Christ,

Steve Stockwell

Galatians 2:20, Crucified with Christ

CityCelebration Report

Hello friends. Hope everyone has been doing well back in the states! We have been having a blast here in Zimbabwe! Today, we sent Amy, David, and Dan back to the states. So, it is just Scott and me for the next two weeks.

We have had several great days of ministry since my last message. We had a great crusade, or CityCelebration, Friday through Sunday. It was in one of the poorer, less “churched” parts of town. The first night, there were only about 20 people in front of the stage paying attention. However, when it was time for the alter call, 50 came forward to commit their lives to Christ! They were apparently listening from off in the distance where we couldn’t really see them. The second day about 350 came to the crusade, and the third day about 400 were there. Overall, about 350 came forward to say they wanted to give their lives to Christ! In fact, there are so many new Christians there that we have decided to plant a new church for everyone who attended the crusade!

There were a few people at the crusade who stood out. One young couple with a new baby attended all three days after coming forward the first night. He wrote an incredible ‘thank-you’ note for all of us on the third day I hope to get copied so we can share it. There were also two little 11 year old girls that came several nights and committed their lives to Christ who said that they had never heard of Jesus before.

We have 3 more days of ministry in schools here in Bulawayo, and then Scott and I are leaving for another city called Rusape to spend a week ministering in Churches and schools there as well. Please continue to pray for us and the thousands of students that will be hearing the gospel. Thank you again for all the prayer and support.

In Christ,

Steve Stockwell

Galatians 2:20, Crucified with Christ

Doing well in Zimbabwe!

Friends, it is indescribably great to be back in the harvest! Our team has had two excellent days ministering in schools. However, the last three days I have not been feeling very well. I think there is just some allergen in this area that my body hasn’t quite adjusted to yet. I’m feeling much better today though. Thankfully, yesterday, I was able to rest, as some of the other team members into the schools. But today I had the opportunity to share the gospel in two schools…

                  

Now, I have to lay a few disclaimers for our ministry.  Some evangelists are criticized for being too focused on “numbers” and are criticized for reporting erroneous results in order to get more support. We honestly try to report as conservatively as possible. We usually round numbers down. In some ways, we even pretty much try to convince people NOT to give their lives to Christ - unless they are totally serious!  Honestly, the number that is most important to us is “one.” One Spirit, one Savior, and one God glorified, one boy dying of AIDS finding hope in Christ, one orphan crying tears of joy while finding love in his Heavenly Father, one boy seeing you a few days after receiving Christ and telling you thanks for telling him how to be saved and telling you that he can already sense a change in his heart.

We also realize that it is not possible for us to determine who is really saved or not. We believe it is our duty to share the gospel as clearly as possible and call for people to repent and trust in Christ with a public profession of faith. We also believe that it is our duty to honestly and conservatively report results to the best of our abilities. Whether each individual person gets saved or not is between themselves and God…visit our website at www.davidstockwell.org/overwhelmingresponse for more information on my father’s conviction on this issue.

Anyway, I had the privilege of sharing the gospel in two schools today. The first was an elementary school with about 800 students. They were an amazingly well-behaved group of students with a headmaster who really seemed to have a heart for Christ. I don’t think there is a better sound in the world than hearing about 600 young students saying the sinners’ prayer! The second school was even more amazing!

We were told when we arrived that we would be allowed only 10 minutes to speak to the 1600 high school students because they only had a thirty-minute assembly time and two other people needed to speak before us. One was just a lady from the school that needed to say a few announcements. The other was a man from the Zimbabwean blood bank promoting a blood drive coming up next week. When the man from the blood bank heard what we were there to do, he made it clear to us that he is a follower of Christ and said that he would cut his announcement short because, “the blood you are speaking about is more important than the blood that I’m speaking about!” He ended up going on stage before us and kept his word about keeping his announcement short. He even finished his time on stage by saying, “This blood drive creates a lifeline for people on earth, but the blood of Jesus that my friend is about to talk about creates a lifeline for eternity!” what an amazing and completely unexpected introduction! I love how God works things out (-:  

I was able to deliver a slightly shortened presentation of the gospel and it was amazing to watch the Spirit work. You could see almost all the students’ faces change from excitement to conviction to hope and finally to joy! 1,200 of the students there committed to turn from their sins and make Jesus Lord of their lives! The past two days, our team has spoken in 10 schools to almost 10,000 students and about 6,000 have made the commitment to follow Christ. I love Africa! I LOVE JESUS!!!

Please keep us and all of the people we share with in your prayers as we continue ministry in schools. Tomorrow is supposed to be the busiest day on our upcoming schedule and we are speaking in 12 schools. Thank you again for all the prayer and support.

In Christ,

Steve Stockwell

Galatians 2:20 – crucified with Christ

Zimbabwe Tomorrow

Hey friends, we are leaving for Zimbabwe tomorrow, March 8th at 4:15PM. Please keep us and the people of Zimbabwe in your prayers throughout this mission campaign through April 9th. It is starting to look like internet access will not be easy during this trip. I will do my best to keep everyone as up to date as possible. Everybody has been added to the DSEA ministry email list and already should have received an email about this trip. If you would like to be taken off this list, there is a simple "unsubscribe" button on the bottom of each of their emails. Thank you so much for the prayers and support. Hopefully there will be plenty of amazing stories to tell throughout the trip and once we have safely returned!

In Christ,
Steve Stockwell