The South Wind Revivals
God's promise to Ezekiel was that as he called on the four winds, God would transform His people from a condition of being a valley of dry bones to a mighty army (Ezekiel 37: 8-10). In this series, the last wind we will look at is the south wind.
"Awake north wind, and come, south wind! Blow on my garden that its fragrance may spread everywhere. Let my beloved (Jesus ) come into his garden and taste its choice fruits." (Song of Solomon 4:16)
When a south wind blows over a church, region, or country, it is a time of extraordinary evangelism and harvest. It's the season of fruit for the Lord to come in and get His harvest of souls. This isn't necessarily the case everywhere around the globe. There are countries, or regions, that are very difficult to evangelize in. People's hearts are not open. But in other people groups it's just the opposite. Hand out a few tracts and 25 people get saved. Sing a few songs in the street and you've accidentally started a church.
Gwen and I witnessed this in Ukraine in the 90's. God had prepared the hearts of the people with His south wind. We would go to a college and 200 young adults would gather in the assembly hall. After speaking about Canada for 20 minutes we would share the gospel for 20 minutes. We asked for the young people to stand if they wanted to follow Jesus. Most would stand. We were upset. Maybe the translation was wrong. We asked them to sit down again and spoke very clearly and deliberately about sin, forgiveness, the cross, heaven, and hell. We would then repeat the invitation, asking those who wanted to repent and follow Jesus to stand. Again, most stood. Could such a harvest be? The Lord then whispered in my ear, "Dan, go fishing where the fish are biting".
The nation of Brazil is experiencing this right now. Evangelical Christianity is growing proportionally faster than the general population. In a historic Catholic country, people who are born again now number 30% of the population. Many Catholics themselves are searching the Scriptures and singing Charismatic and Pentecostal songs.
There are reports from missiologists that Iran is now the fastest growing church in the world. A young population tired of Islamic oppression are thirsting for spiritual reality. According to International Christian Concern, before the 1979 Islamic Revolution there were only several hundred converts to Christianity from the majority Iranian people groups. Today, there are at least one-million born again followers of Jesus. To try to have a discussion with a secular Canadian on the street about Jesus is difficult. Iranians are wide open. Some are saying neighboring Afghanistan has similar spiritual hunger and growth even under the persecution of the Taliban.
In the 1950's, Korea went through a devastating war that left poverty and hopelessness. After it was divided, a young man named Paul Yongi Cho started preaching on the streets and praying all night. American missionaries with the Assemblies of God recognized the anointing of God on him and partnered with him. After three decades, his church was the largest in the world. Other denominations also saw explosive sovereign growth. Yes, it was definitely accompanied by prayer and fasting, but it seemed the Lord was choosing to bring in the harvest He had prepared. By the mid 90s, in just 40 years after the war, it is estimated that 35% of the South Korean population was born again. Sadly, the percentage of evangelicals there today is much lower as material prosperity has dulled the hearts of the new generation.
Other reports from China, parts of India, and Indonesia point to a south wind evangelistic blowing. So what do we do when we see the fish biting so easily in a region, or people group? What do we do when people are jumping into our gospel boats voluntarily? My thoughts are to cooperate with the Wind of the Spirit and give our lives, energy, and resources to partner with the Sovereign move of evangelism. Go fishing where the fish are biting.
We will always need those faithful stewards who sow the Word, preach, and pray in difficult areas. God bless them. Some are called specifically to those areas and know they may not see a lot of fruit in their lifetimes. It is a difficult assignment, but they usually have assurance from the Lord that the harvest will come later. What a great reward they will have! But historically we can see there seems to be sovereign seasons of the Lord when souls simply bend to the message of the gospel. Partner with this south wind when He is moving!
Dan Slade
