The Evangelism Podcast

On this episode of the Evangelism Podcast, I interview Evangelist Gary Smith about the Christ for All Nations' Fire Camp held at First Methodist Church in downtown Tulsa, Oklahoma. Students from the age of 12 to 90 attended in order to discover the "father heart of God" and how to witness One2One. Christ for All Nations was founded by Reinhard Bonnke and is now led by Evangelist Daniel Kolenda. They have recorded over 115 million decisions for Christ over 51 years of ministry. In addition to Fire Camps, CFAN offers multiple training formats: a two-year School of Ministry, a three-month Evangelism Bootcamp, and the newly launched One2One training designed to equip everyday believers to share their faith.

Christopher Alam has been in full-time ministry for over 50 years after converting from Islam at the age of 21. Today he gives advice to young ministers.

Alam emphasizes that authentic evangelism begins with a passion for souls rather than pursuing platforms, organizations, or financial support. He recounts his early days handing out tracts three days after his conversion, when he received an audible calling from God to travel the world telling people about Jesus. This calling sustained him through imprisonment and a death threat for refusing to return to Islam, reinforcing his commitment to follow Jesus regardless of circumstances.

Regarding finances, Alam advises against soliciting support, instead trusting God to prompt donors directly. He has never written to churches requesting funding, preferring relationships where supporters give because God instructs them to. He stresses the dignity of ministry, encouraging evangelists to see themselves as servants of the King rather than beggars, and to focus on blessing churches rather than extracting resources from them.

On integrity, Alam credits his wife Brita's accountability for keeping him meticulous with money and transparent about whether donations are personal or for ministry. Following advice from Pastor Ray McCauley in 1989, he stopped publicizing crusade attendance numbers to avoid the "numbers game," instead letting photographs speak for themselves and measuring success by church growth six months later.

For sustained ministry longevity, Alam counsels staying humble, teachable, and submitted to pastoral oversight and peer accountability. His daily prayer asks God to "hide me behind the cross and let the people see no man but Jesus only". Now 72, his focus remains on walking faithfully with Christ for his remaining years without "messing it up" through pride.

What does it take to build a successful crusade ministry? Today on The Evangelism Podcast, we talk to Nicholas Mavondo who is the crusade director for Evangelist Christopher Alam, and he has been organizing crusades here in Africa for 30 years. We're coming to you LIVE from Chimoio, Mozambique, where we just finished the final night of a powerful crusade. God moved mightily, we saw countless miracles, blind eyes opened, and deaf ears healed. You will learn about the challenges and triumphs of organizing crusades.

How can you build a strong local church? Why is the local church so important? Today on The Evangelism Podcast, I speak with Pastor Edwin Anderson, who founded a church in High Springs, Florida in 1980 and pastored it for 43 years. In this episode, we discuss the imprtance of building strong local churches.

SAM Ministries, founded by Dwight and Lynn Lagore, has been operating in Mozambique since 1993, shortly after the civil war ended in 1992. Their ministry takes a holistic approach to mission work, addressing spiritual and practical needs including food security, clean water access, healthcare, education, and pastoral training. Their leadership training program has graduated over 300 church leaders across the country, with many rising to become denominational leaders. Their ministry base in central Mozambique features a grade school, two health clinics, orphan homes, literacy and craft programs, an airstrip, and a 1,000-hectare training facility.

Christopher Alam was raised as a Muslim. He met Jesus at age 21 after a period of suicidal despair. Three days later, he received an audible call to preach, leading him to abandon everything and join the radical Jesus People movement. His dramatic conversion resulted in imprisonment for preaching, and death threats that forced him to find asylum in Sweden.

After Bible school training Alam began doing crusades. Over nearly 40 years in Africa, his ministry has birthed over 2,000 churches and raised up numerous pastors and Bible college leaders.

Alam attributes his ministry foundation to mentorship from several "spiritual giants" and he feels privileged to "sit in their shadow." Today we talk about George Verwer's sacrificial missions vision, Harold Groves' impartation of faith and aggressive spiritual violence, Kenneth Hagin's teaching on faith and final warnings against financial manipulation, Billy Joe Daugherty's simplicity and world vision, and Reinhard Bonnke's humility and individual care for "insignificant" people.

In this episode of the Evangelism Podcast, I sit down with 19-year-old Seth de Fin from South Africa. He is a direct descendent of Smith Wigglesworth. Today, Seth shares about his bold journey into the largest mosque in the Southern hemisphere, where he was unexpectedly given 20 minutes to preach the gospel to Muslim attendees.

Bailey and Karla Bradshaw are youth pastors in Harrison, Arkansas. Today we talk about what God is doing in the lives of young people here in America. Bailey believes that the key to reaching this generation is through the supernatural.

In this episode of the Evangelism Podcast, I interview Apostle Ben Okello, an apostle, a pastor and an evangelist from Homa Bay. This city is one of the poorest cities in Kenya with the highest rate of HIV AIDS but now the Gospel had brought significant transformation. 26 years ago, Ben started his church with five people and has since grown his congregation to thousands. He has planted churches, and conducted crusades across the Lake Victoria region, including Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, and Burundi. Today we talk about how the Gospel is more powerful than witchcraft.

Tajikistan is a landlocked country in the middle of Asia. It is a country with many mountains. The majority religion is Islam. Less than half a percent of the population is Christian but there is great openness. Today you will hear about what God is doing in Tajikistan as we listen to the stories from a pastor who lives there. As you listen today, I hope that you will be inspired to pray for Tajikistan and perhaps even go there to preach the Gospel.