038 ~ Capturing Into Print What Is In Your Heart

CAPTURING INTO PRINT WHAT IS IN YOUR HEART

By Rodney W. Francis

God wants us to see and know the potential of what can happen when we capture what He has put into our hearts into print. We never know how, where or when the Holy Spirit can use what we have in our hearts once it is captured. While it is only in our hearts we cannot give many other people the knowledge of what God has given us, because it stays “locked-up” within us. But once we write it down and/or record it, it can then be used to touch other lives ~ many other lives and help them to discover the truths that God has put within us. I am so glad that in my younger days of ministry I was challenged to put into book form what I was teaching in church. I will let Kathy Nunes-Vaz share with you:

“Some years ago, my husband, John was helping build a church on the island of Ambae in Vanuatu. While there, one of the teenage girls in the village asked John if he had any Bible Studies that she could do. He did not have anything with him, but told her that he would see if he could find some suitable studies when he returned to New Zealand, and that he would send them on to her.

When he returned home, he asked our pastor if he had any Bible studies that could be sent to this young woman. Our pastor did not have anything suitable either, but told John that he knew of a Pastor in Palmerston North who sent out Bible Correspondence Studies to students around the world. John was able to make contact with that Pastor (Rodney Francis), and duly sent on the first lesson of a Bible Study on the Book of John’s Gospel to the young woman in Vanuatu. She soon sent back her answers and continued on to complete the Course. Our contact with Rodney at that time was the beginning of many years of contact, loving fellowship and mentoring that we received from him and Jean, his wife.

From that one young woman wishing to do a Bible Study, John then started sending out further Bible Correspondence Lessons to many other people in Vanuatu, and this grew so much that John started an office to handle the correspondence as many other people from that nation went through the Bible Courses. This later enabled John to organise for Rodney and other Pastors to lead Crusade and teaching meetings in the nation of Vanuatu.

Our contact with Rodney grew so that he invited us to attend one of the equipping days he periodically held in Palmerston North. We attended, and during the course of the day, were given various foolscap sheets of notes covering the different Bible subjects being taught. These notes were on both practical Christian behaviour, and also Spiritual Gifts and the correct usage of them. John, being a visionary person, saw the potential of putting Rodney’s notes into book form and approached Rodney with this in mind. The result of this was that I, Kathy, was given the task of typing all those notes into the computer so that they could be edited and published. So many times I would sit down at the computer to begin typing, but feeling defeated, discouraged and depressed. I soon found that as I began to read and type up the notes, my heart would lift. It was as though I was being washed by the Word of God. What an encouragement it was to me at a time in my life when we were going through a bankruptcy, and there seemed to be little hope for the future.

When all the notes were finally put into the computer, John went on to collate them into booklet and manual form as per Rodney’s instructions. From that time onward, John printed nearly all of the booklets, manuals and Bible Lessons until he died in 1998. At that time, I was able to take over the printing work and continued doing so until around 2012 when I passed the printing work on to a younger person who is still faithfully covering this work.

Some of these books and manuals are now printed in Malaysia where printing costs are more realistic than here in New Zealand”. (More and more we are also printing books and Gospel tracts in the countries where they are distributed).

It has been a great joy to both John (when he was alive) and I to see the impact that the written word can have on so many people”.

Kathy is still very much involved in The Gospel Faith Messenger Ministry today and heads up The GFM International Prayer Team ~ currently comprising of over 300 individuals and 6-7 Prayer networks ~ who do a marvellous job of praying for the many requests that come in from around the world. They get many wonderful answers to their prayers.

A FEW TESTIMONIES

John and Kathy did a great job in preparing and printing the numbers of books that were shipped off to Vanuatu. I will never forget my first trip to Vanuatu and, on a Sunday morning, seeing numbers of people walking to church with a Bible ~ and one of my books ~ under their arms! It was a very different feeling to know that my writings went ahead of me. Then, of course, when they met me in person they thought that was extra wonderful!

Over the years God has allowed me to see some of the results of getting literature out to the nations. In 1996 we conducted an “International Training School” in Quezon City in the Philippines. We produced a manual on Holy Spirit teachings (450 copies) which were given out to all who attended. Three years later I was in the city of Cebu (Philippines) which is many miles away from Quezon City. As I stood on the footpath in that city of over one million people, within ten minutes I saw two different men walking down the street with one of those manuals under their arms! I was amazed! In 1997, Jean and I spent over three wonderful months in Swansea, Wales, conducting a “School Of The Holy Spirit.” We produced a manual by that name, and from there it has gone around the world, touching and impacting multiplied thousands of lives. It started a visitation of God in the back-blocks of Kenya which is still going today. Many churches have come into a whole new relationship and experience with God the Holy Spirit as a result. Almost daily we are receiving wonderful testimonies and reports of the happenings of God as a result of people studying that manual. Praise the Lord!

We are continually receiving reports and testimonies from people who have read one of my books and have come to Christ as a result. I remember one man in Nigeria wrote to tell me that he read one of my books while in prison. He did not know who or how that book got there. But he read it, prayed and gave his heart to Jesus. When he was released from prison he felt he should start attending church. He did not know which one to go to. He decided to go to one church he came across in his searching, told someone there how he had become a Christian, and to his utter amazement, was told that it was people from that very church who took my books into that prison! He was absolutely thrilled that God had obviously led him to that very church. Another powerful testimony is that of a man in Africa who was so depressed that he decided to commit suicide. He took a knife and went down to a river. When he got there he noticed a piece of paper stuck in a bush. Out of curiosity he picked that piece of paper up and read it. It was one of my Gospel tracts entitled, “Make Contact With Jesus!” After reading it he cried out to Jesus to save him ~ and He did! He wrote and told us how that tract saved and changed his life! How glad I am that I took the time to write that tract. Today, around the world, we are touching thousands of prison inmates in a number of countries, with very powerful results (through my writings). Some murderers waiting to be hung have been pardoned and released as a result of going through our Bible Correspondence Courses and reading my books.

Our experience with literature is that we continue to receive reports and testimonies from people to writings that I have sent out up to 20 years previously ! This is what makes Christian literature so powerful. Unless it is destroyed it remains to minister again and again to whoever will pick it up and read it. With the printed word people only read when their hearts are open to receive. And that gives the Holy Spirit an opportunity to speak to them through it.

Over the years I have had the privilege of “speaking into the hearts” of millions of readers through my writings. But none of this would have happened if I had not taken the time to sit down and write what God had put in my heart. I could have made excuses, like “That’s someone else’s job, not mine”; or “I don’t feel capable of being able to write, etc.” Just remember that I was a school drop-out, never attended a Bible College, or had any natural qualifications as a writer. I simply listened to God and wrote down what He told me. From that initial action, I found that often the Holy Spirit would then inspire me to keep writing and, often to my amazement, I found myself writing an article, a study, or a book. In doing that I captured what was in my heart. The result was that many others were and are able to be blessed through my writings (to date I have written 38 books, several of which are in different languages).

We live in a day of having many different means of communication available to us: not only writing, but the recording of CD’s and DVD’s, speaking to numbers of people through avenues such as Skype, etc. If we are alert and sensitive to the Holy Spirit, then He can inspire us to capture what He has put in our hearts and get it presented in such a way that numbers of other people can be blessed and helped. E-Mails and Web Pages are excellent means of getting your message out to others. When I was a Pastor I was able to minister to up to 400 people. But through my writings I am now ministering to multiplied thousands all around the world.

My heart’s desire is that Christians in the Western World would catch something of the power and potential of the printed page.
It is one of the most-effective ways of getting the message out to the peoples and nations.

I have had the privilege of my books going to people in some very out-of-the-way places (especially in Kenya and East Africa) ~ where my books have been the very first they have ever seen and read! The result has been a great harvest and ingathering of souls for Jesus Christ. And the Holy Spirit has been sovereignly baptizing them in the Holy Spirit and the speaking in other tongues, and prophesying. Whole churches and communities have been changed and transformed to the glory of God.

None of these things would have happened if I had not captured what is in my heart into print.
And YOU can do the same!
I believe every Christian should have a message in their heart that can be captured for the benefit of other people. Just imagine what Christianity would be like if God had not inspired men to write the Bible. We ignore its teachings to our peril.

JOHN (under persecution) WROTE ON THE ISLAND OF PATMOS

In Revelation Chapter One we read of the Apostle John being on the Island of Patmos. This is what he said: “I, John, both your brother and companion in the tribulation and kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was on the island that is called Patmos for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet, saying, ‘I am Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last,’ and ‘What you see, write in a book and send it to the seven churches which are in Asia . . .” John’s natural circumstances were negative; he had been banished to Patmos to die a slow cruel death. Patmos was known as a barren, unfruitful place where nothing bore fruit. He could have focussed on his negative circumstances and thought, “Woe is me, etc.” but he made a choice to be in the Spirit.

Being in the Spirit enabled two things to happen: 1. He heard the voice of Jesus and 2. He saw Jesus.
The voice of Jesus told him: “What you see, write in a book and send it . . .”(Revelation 1:9-11, NKJV).

God did not want John to keep his revelation to himself. It was given to be shared with others. John obeyed and captured what he heard and saw of Jesus. How do we know this? Well, we would not have the Book of Revelation today if he had not captured it into print! Millions of Christians have been blessed and captivated by the Book of Revelation.

The Apostle Peter had a similar experience (see 2 Peter 1:17-21); and today we have two Epistles of Peter to encourage, strengthen and inspire us in the ways of the Lord Jesus.

Do not under-estimate the power of your testimony and in writing down those things God has put in your heart. They need to be captured in such a way that they can be presented to other people, so they, too, can be blessed through what God has out in your heart. I can honestly say that I have never regretted putting into print the things I have. And to know that through my taking the time to write them down I have been used of God to touch and impact multiplied numbers of people in at least 207 nations of the world (to date). All Praise to Jesus! Make sure you capture what is in your heart so others can benefit also. God bless you.

The Gospel Faith Messenger Ministry, , New Zealand. Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.