I'd like to share with you about the
great Urbana Convention coming up at the end
of 1996.
I'd like you to consider personally the possibility
of being at that convention and if you're
not able to be there I certainly would
like you to get something of the vision
and be involved in a Ministry of Intercessory
Prayer as we're hoping for some 18,000,
mainly students but not exclusively students, to come
together for that important event which has been
going on every third or fourth year now
for 50 years.
This will be the 50th celebration of the
beginning of Urbana way back in Toronto in
the mid-40s.
Let's just pray together.
Father, I thank you for the privilege of
being involved in your work.
We thank you for what you're doing around
the world and especially in the student world.
And we long for many hundreds of thousands
of college and university students to catch the
vision for the great fields that are still
ripe under harvest.
Lord, help us to really take ownership of
this great event that has gone on these
50 years and that has propelled so many
students and others out into the mission fields
of the world.
We're looking to you, Father, as we share
this vision with others and as we carry
out the challenge of being mission mobilizers for
your kingdom.
For we pray this in Jesus' name.
Amen.
I've written down a number of reasons why
I believe you should consider getting involved in
Urbana and, if at all possible, being there
when it comes again, the end right after
Christmas, 1996.
I've just returned from a two-and-a
-half-day prayer and planning conference for Urbana.
I went to Chicago to be involved in
that event and it was quite a challenge
and encouragement, especially to meet many of the
people who will be involved in 1996, including
students and younger people who really also have
a great vision to see Urbana being used
of God in a mighty way in the
months and years to come.
I'm making this particular cassette tape back here
in London now, not just in order to
get people to go to Urbana, as important
as that is, but to get people to
pray.
For we know from Matthew chapter 9 that
we are clearly instructed by the Lord to
pray to the Lord of the Harvest that
he would send forth workers into the harvest
fields.
One of the prayers that was repeated again
and again during our recent retreat was that
the Lord would send the right people to
Urbana.
When we pray this, it doesn't mean in
turn that we somehow sort of sit back
and then just expect people to automatically go
there.
We're living in a day in which there's
a huge amount of information coming at people
and especially students from every direction.
One of the reasons I'm putting this on
cassette tape is because I know some people
use these tapes to redeem the time when
they're stuck in their vehicle traveling somewhere or
maybe when they're doing something else.
And I'm hoping that you'll not only listen
to this, but feel free to make copies
or to pass the tape on one way
or the other to other people who may
catch the vision for what is still the
largest missions event in the world.
I'm aware when I say this that there
have been one-off single events like the
great stadium missions gathering in Korea last May
in which there were more people than at
Urbana.
But I don't think we can compare a
one-off meeting with a convention like Urbana
where for a number of days there is
such phenomenal input and phenomenal opportunity for growth
in the whole area of evangelism and missions.
What are some of the reasons why you
should be involved?
First of all, because I believe the worldwide
movement of InterVarsity, IFES, UCCF, however it's referred
to in your country, is a movement raised
up of the Spirit of God.
It's not time to go into the amazing
history of this movement, but surely in nation
after nation it has been one of the
backbones of the spiritual life of the nation
and of the church.
So many tens of thousands have been converted
to Jesus at university and have later become
missionaries or key people in their own local
churches and fellowships.
I don't think we can measure what the
Spirit of God has done through this great
movement.
We know the Urbana convention is only one
event of this great movement which above all
else is really people, students and young people
and others allowing the Holy Spirit to work
through them for his glory and the accomplishment
of his purposes.
We see in the Book of Acts very
clearly that the Holy Spirit is the chief
executive officer of all missionary work, and it's
because I'm convinced the Holy Spirit has raised
up this Urbana event and all that goes
together with it that I'm so extremely excited
about being involved myself and wanting to get
other people involved as well.
The second reason that I believe you should
be involved is because over the years InterVarsity
and Ithes have been so faithful to the
Word of God, and Urbana represents an ongoing
phenomenal commitment to world evangelism.
I remember listening to a tape by Billy
Graham when he preached at Urbana way back
in the late 50s.
That was such a strong message in the
early days of my Christian life that I
think I ended up listening to it 15
or 20 times over the years.
For many years most of the people who
came on Operation Mobilization listened to that great
Urbana tape when Billy Graham shared that powerful
message about commitment.
Little did I realize back in the late
50s that by 1967 I would be one
of the speakers at Urbana.
What a great experience it was, and when
I had the privilege of giving the invitation
and seeing about 4,000 people stand in
brokenness and repentance and recommitment before God, I
could honestly say it was one of the
highlights of my Christian life.
Urbana, of course, is very much teamwork, and
in 1995, as it was way back in
1967, I was just one member of a
tremendous team of people committed to see this
event accomplishing God's purposes.
I was again privileged to speak at Urbana
in 1986 or 87, and it was just
amazing.
There was a much larger number at that
time, and men like Billy Graham and Tony
Campalo and others gave powerful messages.
I had the privilege at that time of
speaking on the Lordship of Christ, and the
video of that particular message has probably been
distributed more than any one single video or
tape I've ever made in my life.
The influence of Urbana continues way beyond the
event, and one of the purposes of this
particular cassette is to help us build up
a spirit of faith and a spirit of
expectation and also realize there's so much we
can do in the months between now and
the Urbana event.
Praise God that this organization and this movement
in the United States, coordinated out of Madison,
Wisconsin, has remained faithful to the Word of
God and the commitment to take the message
of the gospel to every person in the
world.
It's been a joy to be involved with
Dan Harrison, the coordinator of Urbana, and he
was with us at Korea in the great
Jikohe event, which was an encouragement to many
of us.
We praise God for the leadership of Steve
Hainer, the head of InterVarsity in the United
States, and the leadership of Lindsay Brown, the
international secretary of IFES, which is the international
network of InterVarsity and UCCF movements throughout the
entire world.
People will be coming from many different nations
to Urbana.
The very fact that the main Bible teacher
is a Latin American is something that to
me is just so exciting.
In the past, they've had Ajit Fernando of
Sri Lanka and many other men and women
sharing from the Word of God in such
a powerful and relevant way.
The third reason I believe you should go
to Urbana is because it is a true
event for students and young people with a
major focus on the Lord himself.
Let's be honest.
In the United States today, there are not
that many really large events that are totally
biblical and Christian, especially for students.
Many individual colleges have missions conferences, and I've
spoken at many of them.
I've just recently been at Bethel College.
About this time last year, I was at
Taylor University.
In the near future, I'll be at the
Biola Missions Conference and the Wheaton College Missions
Conference.
Recently, I was up at the Briarcrest College
Missions Conference.
We praise God for these missions conferences and,
of course, for missions conferences that go on
in local churches.
In no way is this a competition with
anything like that.
This event only takes place now once every
third year, and we can be assured that
the main focus is on the Lord himself.
Much of the ministry will be aimed at
drawing all of us closer to God, to
know God, for it's only as we really
get to know God that we can make
him known more effectively.
We'll not just be dealing with missions out
in the regions beyond, but we'll be dealing
with that vital, important topic of how we
can be an effective witness, which is one
of the key words of this coming event,
how we can be a key witness.