Preacher John Bevere, recently the speaker at Festival Of Praise 2011 in early August, gives City News an insight into his life and his ministry.
Contributed By Dawn Seow
This November, City Harvest Church has something exciting to look forward to. Besides welcoming the preacher John Bevere at their weekend services, CHC will also be the first church in the world to receive his latest book Relentless.
His latest accomplishment, he says, is the completion of this book, which explores the subject of perseverance. “Christians see a trial as something that is dreadful and not fun,” says the best-selling author. “And that is how Paul saw it at first. But his whole mindset changed when he realized that trials are used to propel him to a higher level of authority and ruler-ship in life. After his mindset changed, he wrote in the Bible that he delights in hardship.”
Relentless will officially be launched in America at the end of the year, but Bevere has asked his publishers to print the first batch in November so that he can bring it to CHC when he returns to Singapore. “Pastor Kong [Hee, senior pastor of CHC] and Sun are my very good friends and I am very happy to be bringing the book to CHC first.”
Bevere’s books have brought inspiration to many lives. But, Bevere claims, his books are actually authored by the Holy Spirit.
“It feels like the only reason why the Holy Spirit wants me to write the book is so that I can read it first,” he smiles. “The books are authored by the Holy Spirit; He’s teaching me as I write the books and I get to see it getting written.”
Each book is birthed out of deep prayer and hardship, and Bevere always learns something from the book he is writing. After penning 15 best-selling books to date, Bevere says he still depends on God and His ability to produce every book.
“I only want to write what God wants me to write. I never want to write a book just to write a book. I will when God tells me to do it.”
Besides being an author, Bevere is an on-fire preacher who is sought after all across the world. He is the founder of Messenger International, a ministry that uses his materials to teach and reach pastors and leaders in over 200 nations.
Being an itinerant preacher, his ministry has brought him to different countries and states like Kenya, Germany, France, and around the United States nearly every week. This means he is away from home 48 weekends in a year. But these are the sacrifices made to obey a call from God.
“The ministry started when we had a vision from God and the vision was confirmed by our pastor. Starting the ministry was a calling and we’re in our 22nd year now,” says Bevere. “We have now grown to a 40-man team, and over 20,000 churches in America use our curriculum to teach in their Sunday schools, cell groups, leadership and staff training.”
A ministry that branched out of Messenger International was Pearl Alliance—an organization that is dedicated to combat human trafficking in several countries like Cambodia. Its team of workers rescues girls who have been trapped in the sex trade and helps to build shelters for rescued girls or women. They also have a vocational training center to train the girls in practical skills, and also to educate villagers.
Pearl Alliance was started when Lisa, Bevere’s wife and co-founder of Messenger International, spent time in Cambodia and Thailand, witnessing firsthand the brutality of human trafficking. Her heart broke for the women and children whose innocence was being stolen by a “giant” that must be defeated.
Upon her return, Lisa met with the board of Messenger International. In this meeting, she expressed her heart for women and children forced into human trafficking and how she wanted to be a part of their liberation. Months later, Pearl Alliance was formed as an outreach of Messenger International to stop human trafficking.
Bevere shares, “The problem of sex trafficking is very serious: there are around 12 million girls trafficked for the purpose of sex business in the world today—and one is too many. We want to preach the gospel to the world and to preach the gospel is to live the gospel. When there are people in need and the need comes before you, God gives you the grace to help people. Cambodia came before us and we just had to move.
“There are different strategies for different nations that we are working with, but the basic premise is to educate and help the families out there in the villages, or to rescue the girls out of the business,” he explains.
Like her husband, Lisa is also a best-selling author and preacher. Her latest book, Lioness Arising, is a call for women to develop to their fullest potential and bring change to the world. Using insights she gleaned from researching lionesses, her book is a combination of lessons from nature and a rich depth of biblical references.
John and Lisa have four sons—Addison, Austin, Alec and Arden—two of whom are serving in the ministry with their parents. When he is not traveling, Bevere preaches in his home church, The Springs Church in Colorado Springs, pastored by Gary Wilkerson, son of famed evangelist David Wilkerson.