World Renewal International

It my be a simple thing to most of us, flipping a switch and bringing light into the room. However, it has been a long time coming at Christ Compassion Orphanage in Haiti. Yes, we have had electricity, but it has constantly been interrupted by our electric line being stolen forcing the use of generators and costly fuel.
The picture of the electric transformer being installed should end that problem. We are grateful for this. However, it does speak of the patience needed for progress in Haiti.

We are grateful for the funds to install a couple more water-filters that arrived this week. We have 18 churches now. Luc is planting two more this month. Funds also arrived this week for help with the facilities for the rebuilding of the Gonaieves Church that was destroyed by the 2009 hurricane and a church started in December along with these two new ones.
Pastor Wayne Stevens, a United Methodist pastor in Kansas, has been a blessing in raising some of these funds for Haiti. He joined our staff as a volunteer last year and has been raising funds for sponsorship of our orphans. Thanks Wayne and thanks for stopping by folks.

Charisma Magazine Article by Stephen Strang
David Wilkerson Eulogized as Great Man of God
Tuesday, 03 May 2011 05:21 PM EDT Stephen Strang News - Featured News
710
Share It should come as no surprise that David Wilkerson was eulogized as a great man at his funeral Monday in Tyler, Texas, only a few miles from where he was killed in a car accident on April 27, three weeks before what would have been his 80th birthday.

We reported on the funeral itself a few hours after it ended. I wrote my own tribute to him last week about how I’ve attributed my never experimenting with drugs as a teen to my reading The Cross and Switchblade (and being scared about the dangers of drugs). In 1972, I drove to Lakeland, Fla., to attend a David Wilkerson youth rally with some friends. It was that weekend I met my future wife, Joy.

Over the years I’ve attended the funerals or memorial services of some great men such as Jerry Falwell, Oral Roberts and Kenneth Hagin Sr. Their funerals may have been bigger in terms of audience size or media coverage, but this one impacted me as much as any.

David Wilkerson was a great man. He impacted millions who read his books, saw the famous movie version of The Cross and the Switchblade or attended his rallies. He also reached countless other millions through the ongoing work of Teen Challenge (now run by the Assemblies of God) and World Challenge, the ministry umbrella he used for many years to cover his multifaceted ministry. In his mid-70s, when most men are slowing down, Wilkerson felt called to start Please Pass the Bread, a ministry to feed the poorest of the poor. In honor of this, Wilkerson’s family has asked for donations to this ministry in lieu of flowers.

Carter Conlon, who worked with Wilkerson for 17 years at Times Square Church in New York City, told the crowd it was hard to honor a great man: “You can honor a good man because you can recount his good works. But you don’t have to speak of great men. Their works go before them.”

He added that Wilkerson never saw himself as a great man and was always shocked that God would use him. “He realized his own frailty,” Conlon said.
Among the dignitaries in attendance were Jim Cymbala, officials from the Assemblies of God, ministry leaders such as Ron Luce, David Shibley and Don Stephens, and leading pastors such as Robert Morris of Gateway Church in Dallas. But none spoke other than Dallas Holm, the singer who traveled with Wilkerson for many years, and Nicky Cruz, Wilkerson’s most famous convert. The other speakers were long-time associates and family members.

Friend, Brother, Father

A common theme held throughout the funeral: People remembered Wilkerson as being consistent. Wilkerson loved Jesus more than anything. He was a prophet and an evangelist. But there was also a tender side that his family regularly experienced that most didn’t get to see. And family, friends and associates all told stories of how giving he was.

Dallas Holm shared about how naive he was when Wilkerson first took him from where he was raised in Minnesota to New York City. He recalled how during an altar call Wilkerson had drug members bring their weapons and drug paraphernalia and throw them on the stage. The crowd laughed as Holm described how he was singing and dodging the things being thrown—including a pillowcase full of marijuana.

Nicky Cruz got a laugh when describing his initial reaction when David Wilkerson wanted him to receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit and speak in tongues. He told Wilkerson he wanted to speak in Italian because he had met a pretty young Italian girl, which made Wilkerson angry that he would be so flippant about something he considered so important.

“I’ve come to say goodbye to my spiritual father,” Cruz said, adding that he never met his own father. “I’ve told people for years that if it weren’t for David Wilkerson, I’d be in the pit of hell today.”

Today Cruz attends The Springs Church in Colorado Springs, Colo., led by Gary Wilkerson, one of David’s two sons born nearly the same day as when Cruz was born again. Cruz concluded his eulogy by saying: “The world lost a true man of God.”

Wilkerson’s younger brother, Don, who ran Teen Challenge for many years, talked about how his famous brother felt called to go to New York City after reading an article in Life magazine about some gang members on trial for murder—and how he created a media sensation when he showed up at the trial. Don said people ask him how he got his own call to go to New York: “It was on the phone,” he said. “David called me and asked me to come to New York to help him.”

As with others, Don told funny stories, such as when Wilkerson told him, “I have an almost-new BMW that I want to give you,” and Don thought he was being given a new car. Instead, his older brother went on to say he was giving it to him so he could in turn sell it and give the money to missions.

Wilkerson’s son, Greg, described his dad as “the greatest example of a loving God,” adding that he “was a great man behind closed doors.” His son-in-law, Roger Hayslip, who is married to Wilkerson’s daughter, Bonnie, said he taught him how to be self less and was the “epitome of a man who’d give and would never blow his own trumpet.” Other family members told of how Wilkerson prayed for his children and grandchildren, spent time with them and answered their questions. Once two of his teenage grandsons, who were going through a time of questioning, asked him, “If there is a God, why is there suffering?” Wilkerson, who obviously had far more life experience than his grandsons, admitted he didn’t know the answer any more than they did, but he noticed that often those who complain the most do the least to help the hurting—and he would rather be busy with helping those who suffer.

‘Impressed by Nothing Except the Holy Spirit’ Wilkerson also avoided publicity, according to those who honored him at the funeral. More than once he turned down invitations to meet with the president. His grandson, David Ashley Wilkerson, made the crowd laugh when describing the look of boredom on Wilkerson’s face when Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York City recently presented him a key to the city: “He was impressed by nothing except the Holy Spirit.”

Another grandson, Matt Junker, said he tried to phone his grandfather on April 27. When he couldn’t get through he wrote him a short letter around noon, which he read to the crowd. In it, he said he wanted to tell his granddad how much his life had meant to him, “even if you died today.” The accident that claimed Wilkerson’s life happened on Texas Highway 175 near an artesian well that Wilkerson visited often, around 1:30 p.m. CDT that same day.
Wilkerson’s son, Gary, said Wilkerson predicted the week before his death that his wife Gwen would probably outlive him. Diagnosed with cancer several times over the years, Gwen not only survived those instances, but was also in the car accident with Wilkerson. She is currently in the hospital and did not attend the funeral, but is expected to recover.

Gary said Gwen had no recollection of the crash or that the family gathered around her bed to tell her that her husband had died. He said she turned her face to the wall and began crying, “My baby, my baby,” about her husband of 57 years. As she grieved, Holm arrived at the hospital room and they asked him to sing “Here We Are in Your Presence,” which greatly comforted her. Holm sang that song again at Wilkerson’s funeral.
Gary also quoted Hebrews 11:4, which includes the phrase “though he is dead, he still speaks” (NASB), and referred to Wilkerson’s many books and videos that will continue to minister to people even though he’s gone.

A touching 9-minute video showed a montage of photos throughout Wilkerson’s life and video clips of him ministering under the anointing. Also included was one of the two Charisma covers we ran with Wilkerson, this one from February 1998, which featured him and Nicky Cruz.

There’s much more I could write about Wilkerson. We’ve covered his death aggressively in the past week after being the first news outlet to break the news less than six hours after the tragedy occurred. We’ve also posted reactions from Christian leaders and various tributes as they were sent to us. The response has been incredible with traffic to our website being as much as 10 times normal on certain days.

When I wrote my original tribute to Wilkerson, I mentioned how he was a major part of the weekend in 1972 when I met my wife. What I failed to mention was that I also got to meet David Wilkerson himself. He was on the large motor coach he traveled in. I was barely 21 years old and a University of Florida junior who was on fire for God.

Wilkerson took time to talk to me about how we could use a newspaper he produced as a witnessing tool at my university.

Years later I had the opportunity to attend Times Square Church in New York City. I saw firsthand how vibrant a church it was and how much of an impact it seemed to make not only in people’s lives, but also in the city.

A couple of years ago, while having lunch with a rabbi in my city, he told me that once he was walking around Times Square on a Sunday evening and it started to pour rain. He ducked into the only place nearby that was dry: Times Square Church. As he waited for the rain to subside he noticed the service was starting, so he stayed. It was the only time he’d been to a Pentecostal service. He was impressed with the choir, the testimonies of lives changed during the baptismal service and how people ran to the altar to get saved at the end of the service. He said it was one of the most spiritual experiences of his life.

When he got home he talked about this experience at his synagogue (and he let me read a copy of the sermon). He posed this question to his Jewish audience: “Why do these Christians seem to love our God more than we do?”
I’ve been amazed by how many people have retweeted our stories, shared them on Facebook or made comments to me personally indicating they had read them. I’ve also been amazed at the outpouring of emotion Wilkerson’s death has brought. For example, last Sunday my pastor Bart Malone mentioned the news, which drew an audible gasp from those who hadn’t heard. My 82-year-old mother, Amy Strang, told me at lunch she cried when she heard that he had died.

Last weekend I hired a 23-year student from the Teen Challenge Center in Sanford, Fla., a few miles from where I live to do some yard work. As I drove him back to the center I mentioned to him my plans to fly out to Wilkerson’s funeral. Although he had never met Wilkerson, he said he wished he could have, because this was the man responsible for starting the ministry (Teen Challenge) that had changed his life. Truly, David Wilkerson was a great man.



Read more: http://www.charismamag.com/index.php/news/30890-david-wilkerson-eulogized-as-great-man-of-god#ixzz1LhRU3JiA

[Charisma Magazine released this article]

(David was one of my most important mentors in my 20-30's. I last saw him in Colorado Springs this last year. Please pray for his wife and family. Thanks--Gary)

David Wilkerson, founder of World Challenge Ministries, was killed Wednesday in a car accident in East Texas.

Charisma News spoke with Dr. Wayde Goodall, founder of World Wide Family, who first verified the news. Goodall was with Wilkerson's son, Gary, when he was informed of the fatal accident.

By late Wednesday night, Times Square Church in New York City announced the death of its founding pastor in a statement from Senior Pastor Carter Conlon: "Pastor David Wilkerson’s was a life fully given for the glory of God and souls of men. He was greatly loved and he will be greatly missed. Our prayers are with the family and we as a church body are committed to standing with them at this time of sorrow."

The Wilkerson family issued a statement after midnight on the World Challenge web site: "We appreciate your prayers and our hearts are sorrowful, yet we rejoice at the joy of knowing David Wilkerson spent his life well. More information will be coming soon. Thank you for your prayers," the statement said.

Additional unconfirmed sources are reporting that Wilkerson was killed in a head-on collision with a tractor trailer while traveling east on U.S. 175. His wife, Gwen, was also involved in the accident and reportedly remains in critical condition at East Texas Medical Center in Tyler, Texas.

“Today, the Kingdom of God has lost a giant of the faith. His life touched millions,” says George O. Wood, general superintendent of the Assemblies of God. “The Assemblies of God enjoyed a life-long relationship with David Wilkerson. He was godly, humble and represented everything that is best in a spiritual leader. Our heartfelt sympathy and prayer is extended to his wife, Gwen, and family.”

World Challenge could not be reached for comment at the time of this report. Charisma News also reached out to other Wilkerson-run ministries, including World Challenge Missions, World Challenge Crusades and Mount Zion International School of Ministry. None of these organizations were immediately available for comment.

On February 9, 1958, David Wilkerson felt the Spirit prompting him to spend late evenings praying rather than watching the Late Show. Wilkerson obeyed. At the time he was pastoring a rural Assemblies of God in Pennsylvania.

“Two weeks and two days later, during his late night time of prayer, he felt prompted to pick up the February 24, 1958, edition of Life magazine,” Wood explains. “On pages 30-31, he wept as he looked at an ink sketching of seven members of the Dragon Gang on trial for killing 15-year-old polio victim, Michael Farmer. He felt the Spirit say to him, ‘Go and help those boys’.”

Although Wilkerson had never been to New York City, 350 miles away, Wilkerson found himself three days later in a courtroom where the gang members were on trial. As Wood recalls it, the judge tossed Wilkerson out of the courtroom, but photographers captured his photo and he was later recognized by gang members as he witnessed on the street.

“That late night time of prayer opened up the ministry David Wilkerson founded, Teen Challenge,” Wood says. “He obeyed the prompting of the Holy Spirit and every day approximately 24,000 men and women are experiencing the saving and delivering power of Jesus Christ from life-controlling issues in Teen Challenge Centers all around the world.”

Wilkerson founded Times Square Church in 1987. Since 1999, he traveled around the globe holding conferences for Christian ministers.

For over four decades, Wilkerson's evangelistic ministry included preaching, teaching and writing. He authored more than 30 books, including The Cross and the Switchblade, The Vision, Revival on Broadway, Hungry for More of Jesus, Have You Felt Like Giving Up Lately?, and The New Covenant Unveiled.

Wilkerson was 79 and lived with his wife in New York City. He had four children and 11 grandchildren.

Read more: http://www.charismamag.com/index.php/news/30794-david-wilkerson-killed-in-car-crash#ixzz1KqPsc6OB

Circle Unbroken

by Micah Wright

[Picture of Paul Milner's Baptism by Rev. Helm]

He was in his usual place, the chair by the door.

At a knock, he rose slowly, achingly from his place,

He escaped the chair with springs that would protest, protest in a way the Old Man would never have allowed his battered body to utter.

The bone jarring accident that was long in the past,

Perpetually robbed him of his health,

his ability to walk free of pain,

his means of providing for his family,

yet was not able to breach his abiding Trust.

His bear hug of greeting, never weak or hollow,

seemed to encircle you head to toe,

was only the introduction to the love demonstration to follow.

While the family gathered for stories, for laughs,

for chicken and noodles,

for pie and for presents,

the Old Man took it all in as he presided from his chair.

Steel blue eyes revealed the love and laughter for this his family,

For those who had gathered and those far away,

but most of all for The One. The Child.

This Child, this Savior. His Savior. His Jesus.

After bellies too full from noodles and pie;

after every pot and dish that had considered being dirty

were washed, dried and put away;

the Old Man would reach over to the table chair side,

and take hold of the worn, cracked leather covered tome

that was his constant companion.

Tenderly opening the careworn pages,

As if unwrapping a fragile gift he wished to display for all,

The Old Man would hold us enraptured as he proclaimed

the events of the Virgin Birth

- the journey, the shepherds, the angels and the kings.

The Old Man had spent hours laboring, devotedly preparing the account,

Thus ensuring that the tale unfurled was alive with vigor

And not a mere legend vapid and stale.

Rather, he revealed a true chronicle

of the events from which the Old Man drew strength.

He would unfold before us his love for the promised child.

This Child, this Savior. His Savior. His Jesus.

When the account was closed,

eyes all around would be swimming.

Hands would be held, and a great circle formed;

While words of thanks,

words of praise,

words of promise and deliverance

would be shared by all who were encircled around this seemingly broken man of strength.

Drawing a breathe,

a great pause would fill the air,

As the steel blue eyes,

not cold but flaming with love and devotion,

Would caress each soul gathered.

With passion and care,

the Old Man would issue a command,

one that was unthinkable to not obey.

“I don’t want this circle broken,”

He would speak of his love for all there.

He would speak of how he knew it could be done.

He would speak of his love for the Child.

This Child, this Savior. His Savior. His Jesus.

The Old Man knew his sand was running thin,

his body worn out, burdoned by a soul that would not be contained.

A rendering would be demanded, an answer to be given…

“Did you tell them of Me?”

The Old Man would not allow those in his care to take leave

Without knowing the only way to be joined to that circle,

To rest assured with the circle unbroken,

Was to join with the One the Old Man loved most of all,

this Child, this Savior. His Savior. His Jesus.

The Old Man is gone, swept away home

by the angels he so loved to share about.

His dust and his words are carried to the ends

on the gale winds of life.

Yet the Old Man and his words stand vigil for all.

In the heart, mind and soul of those who bear witness

to the Old Man’s love,

to his life,

to his circle unbroken.

To this Child, this Savior. His Savior. His Jesus.

And the circle still stands;

despite the members that have gone on.

Unbroken and strong;

It has been beaten, it has been battered, it has been bent.

But it has not been broken, no, not yet.

The Old Man departed far too soon,

but he did not abandon us, no he did not.

nor did he leave us with empty hands.

For those he loved he left a great treasure.

But don’t be confused.

The Old Man left not cash, not land, not sparkling jewels.

This was not the great treasure that the Old Man could provide.

No, the treasure he left us, is far, far more rare.

It is the rarest,

it is the finest,

it is the costliest gift that could ever be.

For there is but just One.

This rare and fine gift,

that cost God His One and Only Son,

Is the circle unbroken, won by Lamb’s precious blood.

This, and only this, is the one and only treasure that the Old Man left.

This treasure of the circle unbroken.

With this Child, this Savior. His Savior. His Jesus.

[This poem written by my oldest son, Micah, is about Paul Alvin Milner my grandfather. All that Micah said was so true. I am so glad Micah knew him.]