Monday, 20 November 2006
Tri-Cities mission to Poland Oct 2006
What a week in Poland! I’m tired but well pleased. This has been a remarkable time. Kate, John, Graham and myself (Alan) would just like to say thank you for your wonderful support, before and during this time of sharing the Good News of Jesus to the people of Poland. I would just ask that you continue in prayer as the vital follow-up takes place. I hope to able to share some feedback stories over the next few weeks.I’ve incorporated the ‘Gdansk Blog’ entries at the end of this update should you want to read through it.
The results so far are quite staggering:
1313 people came under the sound of the Gospel of Good news - 772 Guests attended the meetings, of which;
80 requested to join a discussion group.
50 signed up to attend a monthly meeting group.
293 said they would like to attend a Next Step meeting.
75 have requested a personal visit to discuss the topics discussed at the events.
336 made a first time decision to commit their lives to Jesus - 43%!
Just in case you are reading this and unbelief, scepticism and cynicism has just kicked in, I would like to relate a story to you. 3 years ago I went to Galati in Romania; at a children’s meeting several hands went up as an indication that they had prayed to give their lives to Jesus. I was a little sceptical, thinking, ‘but these are only children, how real can that decision be.’ 18 months later I went back to Galati to do a follow-up mission on the back of a highly successful first outreach. I was told the story of a young boy who had been at the children's meeting and had prayed to receive Jesus as his Lord and Saviour. When he went home, his non-believing parents asked how this meeting went and what happened - “I gave my life to Jesus”, he proudly proclaimed. Now his parents and extended family are in the Church as followers of Jesus! Isn’t that amazing? So do not doubt the power of the Holy Spirit to bring conviction and salvation to a soul, no matter how young or old.
You know I hear a lot of criticism about the evangelist; how preaching the Gospel just doesn’t work these days. The evangelist gets a bad press and is often the butt of jokes, more so from the Church than on the street or in the workplace. But what you have read about this week has been the transformation of hearts and lives. We will never know the true impact of what has taken place and what will happen over the next few weeks and months, but you know I’m reminded of the occasion I made a commitment to ask Jesus to forgive me my sins, and to follow him. The American speaker would be probably quite pleased if he knew that his decision to cross the Atlantic ocean in 1989 to share the Good News with me, a sinner, resulted in the salvation of at least one soul - the impact of that decision has been to see many thousands of people pray to receive Jesus as their Lord and Saviour over the last few years. Let’s give God all the glory for what He has done and I thank you for everything you have done.
If you are reading this and would like to trust your life with the Lord Jesus Christ, take a look at the ‘What about you?’ page on this site and you will find my testimony and a helpful prayer to guide you.
God bless you
Alan
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Gdansk Blog
Conclusion - the last entry
Monday, 30 October 2006
What a week! I’m tired but well pleased. This has been a remarkable time. Kate, John, Graham and myself (Alan) would just like to say thank you for your wonderful support, before and during this time of sharing the Good News of Jesus to the people of Poland. I would just ask that you continue in prayer as the vital follow-up takes place. I hope to able to share some feedback stories over the next few weeks.
The results so far are quite staggering:
1313 people came under the sound of the Gospel of Good news - 772 Guests attended the meetings, of which;
80 requested to join a discussion group.
50 signed up to attend a monthly meeting group.
293 said they would like to attend a Next Step meeting.
75 have requested a personal visit to discuss the topics discussed at the events.
336 made a first time decision to commit their lives to Jesus - 43%!
Just in case you are reading this and unbelief, scepticism and cynicism has just kicked in, I would like to relate a story to you. 3 years ago I went to Galati in Romania; at a children’s meeting several hands went up as an indication that they had prayed to give their lives to Jesus. I was a little sceptical, thinking, ‘but these are only children, how real can that decision be.’ 18 months later I went back to Galati to do a follow-up mission on the back of a highly successful first outreach. I was told the story of a young boy who had been at the children's meeting and had prayed to receive Jesus as his Lord and Saviour. When he went home, his non-believing parents asked how this meeting went and what happened - “I gave my life to Jesus”, he proudly proclaimed. Now his parents and extended family are in the Church as followers of Jesus! Isn’t that amazing? So do not doubt the power of the Holy Spirit to bring conviction and salvation to a soul, no matter how young or old.
You know I hear a lot of criticism about the evangelist; how preaching the Gospel just doesn’t work these days. The evangelist gets a bad press and is often the butt of jokes, more so from the Church than on the street or in the workplace. But what you have read about this week has been the transformation of hearts and lives. We will never know the true impact of what has taken place and what will happen over the next few weeks and months, but you know I’m reminded of the occasion I made a commitment to ask Jesus to forgive me my sins, and to follow him. The American speaker would be probably quite pleased if he knew that his decision to cross the Atlantic ocean in 1989 to share the Good News with me, a sinner, resulted in the salvation of at least one soul - the impact of that decision has been to see many thousands of people pray to receive Jesus as their Lord and Saviour over the last few years. Let’s give God all the glory for what He has done and I thank you for everything you have done.
If you are reading this and would like to trust your life with the Lord Jesus Christ, take a look at the ‘What about you?’ page on this site and you will find my testimony and a helpful prayer to guide you.
God bless you
Alan
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Back Home safely - Saturday update
Monday, 30 October 2006
A quick update before I put together concluding thoughts.
The Saturday results are here for your information.
The Men’s Breakfast. Graham Cleveland was the speaker. 33 people present. 20 guests.
5 committed their lives to Jesus
7 wanted more information
11 said they would like to attend a Next Steps meeting
4 requested a personal visit to discuss the event topic
Children’s Event. Alan Heavey was the speaker. 88 children present. 48 guests.
29 children raised a hand to acknowledge they wanted to commit their lives to Jesus
The Ladies Coffee event. Alan again was the speaker. 130 people present. 70 guests.
23 committed their lives to Jesus
33 said they would like to attend a Next Steps meeting
21 want to attend a group discussion
33 requested a personal visit to discuss the event topic
The Business Dinner. Graham was the speaker. 76 people attended. 40 guests.
18 gave their lives to Jesus
30 requested to join a discussion group
8 wanted a personal visit
What a great day! Praise the Lord. Bless you and thank you for praying and supporting this ministry.
Alan
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Well that’s it - or is it?
Sunday, 29 October 2006
End of Saturday, actually into Sunday morning. All events completed. This has been another busy, back to back meetings day. Later on today will have all the results to pass onto you. But suffice to say all the events went well today. Words were spoken into men’s lives this morning, praying for the sick and decisions were made for Jesus; kids heard a simple yet effective gospel presentation; the Ladies meeting was very successful with decisions for Jesus and praying for healing; the Business Dinner event was powerful and effective with many decisions made for Jesus and business men and women being prayed for.
This has been an amazing time here in Poland. The final wrap-up meetings tomorrow morning, then John, Graham and I (Alan) will be heading off for the airport and home. I will give a final entry on our return. Until then, thank you once again for standing with us - you have made a difference in this place.
All the glory to God of course; praise His glorious name.
What remains in the Tri-Cities of course is the follow-up. Please pray that all that is necessary to make this happen will be provided.
Bless you
Alan
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What a day - end of Day 5
Friday, 27 October 2006
Graham Cleveland came into town today! Kate spoke at the Blind and Disabled Persons Lunch in Sopot. I gave the messages at the Scientists Dinner and the Couples Dinner at the Holiday Inn in Gdansk. I’m afraid I don’t have any results for you this evening as I haven’t got them yet - but rest assured the meetings went well; good feedback from the co-ordinators!
Kate and John got delayed coming back from Sopot so I have had little conversation with them other than it was a good meeting. Please pray for Kate as she has toothache which is causing some distress. She flies back home early tomorrow morning.
Graham got settled in today - great to have him here with me. He is speaking at the Men’s Breakfast tomorrow morning and at the Business Dinner tomorrow evening - please pray for him. I am giving messages at the Children’s event at 13:00 followed by the Ladies Coffee at 16:30. The numbers have increased for the ladies event; 150 now expected (was 100).
Tomorrow is the last day of this mission - please don’t take your foot of the prayer pedal! Wouldn’t it be great if God brought revival to Poland?
Well that’s it from me; signing off at 22:50. Praise God for all He is doing in this place at this time.
Thank you and bless you
Alan, on behalf of all of us, John, Kate, Graham - we are so grateful for your support.
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Day 4 just finished
Thursday, 26 October 2006
Kate and John went to Tczew this morning for a Ladies Coffee event. I don’t have the full details, but the turn out was somewhat lower than anticipated. I’ll let you know more tomorrow.
The first meeting for me was the Teachers Coffee event at 17:00. The message was preceded by a time of music, song and poetry. 48 people attended. 28 guests.
7 prayed to come to Jesus in repentance
7 wanted more information
7 would like to go to the Next Step meeting
The next meeting was less than an hour away - back to back meetings, although the same venue; the Holiday Inn. This was for the Police and Military Dinner. This was a great but small and intimate meeting. There was good music and song, a nice meal followed by a testimony by a retired major in the military, who had trusted his life to Jesus during communism times whilst reading a bible! I came on with a message of how to find ‘peace and assurance’ in a sometime dangerous life and profession. 24 people were present. 11 guests. The downside of this meeting was that 5 guests left, prior to indicating their decisions, however 4 of them were present during the prayer time; we don’t know what took place but both they and God do! So out of the 6 guests remaining:
4 prayed to commit their lives to Jesus
4 requested a personal visit
6 want more information
So it leaves me praising God and thanking for what He has done today and thanking you for praying and supporting this Kingdom work.
Bless you and goodnight.
Alan at 23:57
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End of day 3 - and what a day!!!
Wednesday, 25 October 2006
Where do I start! This has been one of the most delightful of days. It started with a 12:00 Lunch meeting for the unemployed people in Pruszcz, at the Zajazd Javor. We had beautiful singing from Anna; great food, followed by more of Anna, followed by a message of Good News from Alan. It was a great time, even holding up the invitation to come to the Lord Jesus Christ whilst waiting for one lady to come back from the bathroom; I didn’t want her to miss the opportunity to receive Jesus! There were 55 people present; 40 guests. Out of those 40 guests:
24 made a 1st time decision to commit their lives to Jesus.
14 wanted more information.
9 requested a personal visit.
15 signed up for the ‘Next Step’ meeting.
Then on to the Ladies Coffee event at 14:30 in the same venue. This time Kate Grant was the speaker. What can I say; Ladies meetings are always a joy, but this was beautiful. There were 60 people present; 40 of them guests. Out of those 40 guests:
32 made a 1st time decision to commit their lives to Jesus.
14 wanted more information.
6 requested a personal visit.
32 signed up for the ‘Next Step’ meeting.
Is this phenomenal or not?
We moved hastily on to our next venue; the Hotel Gorski, for a Teachers Supper. This was an intimate supper event in a beautiful setting. Again Anna sang for all. My interpreter for this event was another Anna - she interpreted for the previous two events as well. What a fantastic time of seeing people set free. I spoke around the apostle Paul and Silas being beaten and locked up in prison, and how God set them free and how the Jailer was set free as he said, “What must I do to be saved?” There were 30 people present; 15 guests. Out of those 15 guests:
11 made a 1st time decision to commit their lives to Jesus.
6 wanted more information.
5 requested a personal visit.
12 signed up for the ‘Next Step’ meeting.
I was also privileged to speak into a ladies life after she told me that she was supposed to have gone home to Germany today, but got delayed and came to the meeting - she has been living in Germany for 14 years. What a strange ‘coincidence’; Jesus set her free today and she had tears of joy, which reminded me of how the jailer was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God. I have to say I had a tear in my eye as well! I spoke into this ladies heart and we prayed for her sick mother who she will see tomorrow. When I said we could pray together, she said, “Oh yes, I can pray now; I believe!” I’m praying that God will heal her mother physically and spiritually if she doesn’t yet know Jesus.
We moved onto the next event - the Youth Pizza. This was at the Marionette Club. The evening started with music by the Hip Hop band - ‘Teoretycznie Dobry Sklad’. This was a band of 2 guys and one lady. Anna my interpreter asked the lady if she would interpret for me as her English was so good. The lady wasn’t sure about this so we prayed. As we prayed, the Hip Hop lady had a picture of arrows going into peoples hearts as I proclaimed the Good News; I revealed that someone had recently give a picture of me preaching and an arrow being released, leaving fire in it’s wake. This was confirmation for the Hip Hop girl! A drama commenced - a powerful enactment of the ‘Fall of Man’, and subsequently Jesus making a way for us, through his death and resurrection on the cross. I preached the message of truth and many young people responded. There were 110 people present; 65 guests. Out of those 65 guests:
43 made a 1st time decision to commit their lives to Jesus.
31 wanted more information.
23 requested a personal visit.
38 signed up for the ‘Next Step’ meeting.
Thank you for your invaluable support. Do you think God might be up to something here? Today, 110 out of 160 people prayed in response to the life saving Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ - souls have been set free today. Oh that many more would be filled with joy, because they have come to believe in God; a God that loves us so much that he would send His Son Jesus to die on a cross for us, to pray the price for our sin, so that we could live.
If you have never come to a place of trusting your life with Jesus, do it today. Take a look at ’What about you’, and take a step of faith into a new life, today! Then email me - I’d love to hear from you.
Bless you
Alan
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The end of a long day and the start of a new one!
Wednesday, 25 October 2006
It’s Wednesday morning 00.50. It’s been a long but encouraging day. The day didn’t start well, with my inability to update this blog - although internet access is possible here the upload times were incredibly slow and the connection kept dropping out. However an IT friend of ours was able to sort this by me emailing the information to him and him uploading it from the UK - thank you so much Noel.
The earlier Seniors Coffee was a joy (see previous entry). This afternoon’s meeting; the Teens Pizza went wonderfully well. I talked about Narnia and the fact that Aslan is on the move, and their need for Jesus today.
70 attended. 42 guests.
11 prayed for, “to commit and trust my life to Jesus Christ”
9 wanted more information
14 would like to go to the Next Step meeting
This evening we travelled to Sopot, one of the Tri-Cities. This meeting was just so delightful. Held in a hotel, it reminded me of an old fashioned hotel in England; a beautiful room, nicely laid out for the expected guests. The ‘Artists and Politicians’ event was organised and co-ordinated by a musician, composer, opera singer etc - such a talented and humble guy. The evening started with music from co-ordinator, his wife and two other great musicians. they set the scene beautifully with a performance followed by dinner. Following dinner they played again leading people into worship, although many there wouldn’t have known it. When it was my turn to speak, I really didn’t want to - the Spirit of God was so tangible, you could touch it! I started very sensitively explaining what I sensed. I continued with my message about the condition of the soul.
70 attended. 42 guests.
9 prayed for, “to commit and trust my life to Jesus Christ”
8 wanted more information
13 would like to go to the Next Step meeting
A lady came up to me afterwards and said, “As you were talking Alan, the Spirit of God fell outside of the main room and people stopped where they were in the hotel, listened and prayed the prayer to commit their lives to Jesus.” So how many actually came to Jesus we just don’t know, but oh this is so, so incredible. God is just so amazing.
Thank you for praying again. Be blessed.
Alan
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2nd day update
Tuesday, 24 October 2006
A great start to the day!
Seniors Coffee:
70 attended. 42 guests.
17 prayed for, “to commit my life to Jesus Christ”
15 requested more information
31 signed up for the Next Steps meeting
14 stated that they wanted a personal conversation about the topics raise during the meeting
This is quite remarkable. The meeting was ‘warm’, with music played by two very talented and gifted ladies; a duet (violin and piano) - they were very well received. A testimony was followed by another song from the ladies, followed by me - message and an invitation to commit their lives to the living Christ, Jesus. Another song followed, whilst people completed ‘survey’ cards, where they indicated the decisions they had taken. This is too wonderful to put into words - a transformation of life never ceases to hold me in awe of God.
Thank you so much for praying!
Bless you
Alan
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1st day update
Monday, 23 October 2006
A great start to the mission.
Medical Dinner:
51 attended. 33 guests.
17 prayed for, “Forgiveness of my sins and transformation of my heart.”
14 requested more information
21 signed up for the Next Steps meeting
Students Pizza event:
86 attended. 46 guests
4 1st time decisions to follow Jesus
14 requested more information
21 signed up for the Next Step meeting
Tremendous stuff - praise the Lord for His grace and mercy.
Thank you so much for praying!
Bless you
Alan
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We have arrived!
Monday, 23 October 2006
John Grant and I have arrived in Gdansk safe and well. John is now meeting with the Action Group, whilst I’m in preparation for the first two meetings later today; the ‘Medical Dinner’ at 17:30 followed by a quick sprint to the ‘Students Pizza’ at 19:30 and the ‘Hip Hop’ band ‘Teoretycznie Dobry Sklad’!
Be in touch later - thanks for praying.
Alan
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Great news from Szczecin, Poland
Saturday, 21 October 2006
I have just received this encouraging news from the co-ordinator of the mission to Szczecin. You will recall that’s where I was last weekend. Do you remember the coffee event where 7 guests made 1st time decisions for Jesus and 20 folks indicated that they wanted to attend the ‘Next Steps’ meeting? Well the meeting took place yesterday. This is what happened:
“We had a good meeting next step 16 people show up.
I am so happy that we had an authentic conversion the heaven and earth are rejoicing...........
In His service,
Gustaw Cieslar”
Gustaw is a great guy and well respected - he was the Principle of the National Baptist College in Warsaw. This is a great encouragement to all - quite amazing that 80% of those who indicated they would return, for the ‘Next Steps’ have done just that. Praise the Lord!
Bless you
Alan
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Please pray
Friday, 20 October 2006
John Grant sent this to Gdansk this morning:
“May I impart a wonderful verse of Scripture to you all today, the immortal words of the tireless, courageous , unstoppable Apostle Paul in Galatians 6:9 - “ And let us not be weary in well doing, for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not “ Its just a final push and we shall all be part of proclaiming the gospel that is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believes”.
As we join together in this glorious Kingdom work, let us ‘faint not’. Please pray for my wife Gail, who is not well at this time.
Blessings
Alan
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Gdansk Mission
Thursday, 19 October 2006
The Mission to Gdansk is looming fast. Monday 23rd October Alan heads out for the start of the National Mission to Poland. The, ‘There’s More to Life - in the Tri-Cities with Alan Heavey’ mission is the first in the 12 City Missions taking place in Poland over the next few weeks organised by the Luis Palau Association Europe
Meal events are organised in Gdansk, Pruszcz, Tczew and Sopot. I am so pleased that Kate Grant and Graham Cleveland are joining me as speakers on this outreach. The mission is organised by John Grant the LPAE Mission Director.
I will be updating this blog daily (that’s the plan anyway!)
Bless you
Alan
