"Do not be anxious about anything , but in everything , by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God." (Php. 4:6)

Operation Andrew

Have you heard of "Operation Andrew"? I have come across this term before, though I did not know what to do at the time. Recently I heard about this term during a meeting of the Hong Kong Franklin Graham Festival. However, it was only the name of one of the 20 committees within the Hong Kong Franklin Graham Festival . Over the past 10 or more days, the name - "Operation Andrew" - continuously resounded in my heart. And so I began to ask the Lord: Lord, why do I constantly think of "Operation Andrew"? Lord, could you teach us? We will soon have an evangelistic meeting with an attendance of 4000!

Next, I began to search the Bible about the passage concerning how Andrew led people to Jesus. Andrew was indeed a very special individual. On that day he and John the Baptist were standing on a road. They saw Jesus walking and John the Baptist shouted: "Look! This is the Lamb of God!" Andrew saw what happened and immediately followed Jesus (Jn. 1:35-40). He then immediately went to find his brother Peter and told him that He saw the Messiah. He later led Peter to Jesus (Jn. 1:41-42). The third incident which Andrew led people to Jesus involved the young boy with five loaves and two fish (Jn. 6:5-14). Let us imagine what was like at the time when there were so many people at the scene. The disciples needed to come up with ideas to find enough food for everyone. During this extreme moment, a young boy brought five loaves and two fish to Andrew and said the food was to be shared by everyone. At once Andrew led the young boy to Jesus and did not feel that the boy was a nuisance. Perhaps Andrew was thinking about what the Lord would offer when the boy has already offered his food. As such the divine miracle took place! The Bible also recorded some Greeks who went to Philip and said they wanted to see Jesus. Philip told Andrew about it and Andrew immediately brought them to see Jesus (Jn. 12:20-22)

A conclusion can be made in these four incidents: Andrew desired to meet with the Messiah. When he heard of Jesus' name, he knew this was the person John the Baptist mentioned. He immediately followed the Lord. On the other hand, he also led the weak to see Jesus, and told Jesus about their passion. Even when it came to outcasts, Andrew led them to Jesus without hesitations.

Dear brothers and sisters, do you have the passion as Andrew had? We believe that everyone has such passion but it has not been discovered or trained. Now we will launch a practical "Operation Andrew" campaign! We have numbered the seats at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre so that each row is assigned a number. Each row has 10 seats and there is a total of 400 rows. Each brother or sister is encouraged to invite two Christians and there will be three believers. Next, they will go to invite seven more friends who are unbelievers to attend the "Men can Pray to God" evangelistic meeting. All will be invited to sit at the same row, so that it would make it easier for Christians to invite their unbelieving friends to make their way out during the invitation given toward the end of the meeting.

Brothers and sisters, today you will become a member of the "Operation Andrew" campaign. May you promptly rise and respond, for the Lord will prepare unbelievers and Christians who would partner with you. May you also experience more deeply the amazing work of our Lord. May God bless the Operation Andrew campaign, so that the entire city will rise up and know the Lord! Hallelujah!

Mrs. Fan Chan
General Secretary, Jireh Fund