Evangelism Exposed

Evangelism Exposed
David Kostinchuk 
THE JUNGLE OF CHRIST

This article is titled "The Jungle of Christ" because there is a labyrinth of Christian television evangelists (Evangelist: a person who brings the gospel to pagan people or nonbelievers) engaged in a massive worldwide well planned, organized onslaught against Hindus and Muslims in an effort to convert them to Christianity. The purpose of this paper is to alert non- Christians about the people involved in this assault on their religions, as well as their plans and methods. At the present time the research I have been doing has yielded more information on India because the people involved feel more secure in their progress to convert Hindus. The information of their assault on the Muslim religion is somewhat more secretive and guarded; however, Muslims should not feel complacent as the plans, methods and objectives of their assault on Islam are slowly surfacing.

The following a list of the organizations engaged in wholesale evangelism (The preaching of the gospel) as well as the organizations that comprise their support systems. This list only includes organizations referred to in this paper.

Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN):  Many people believe this network to be the world's largest Christian network. It consists of 536 broadcasting stations around the world that are owned or affiliated with CBN. This network was started in 1973 and is presently headed by Paul and Jay Crouch. It is interesting to note that one of its original directors was Jim Bakker who spent five years in prison for fleecing his flock of $158,000,000. At the present time this organization grosses $100,000,000 a year. (The Orange County Register June 1 1999)

Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN): The Christian Broadcasting Network was founded in 1960 by Pat Robertson. CBN is considered to be one of the largest Christian broadcasting television ministries and presently airs programs in the U.S. and 90 foreign countries. Their mission is to convert 5,000,000 people to Christianity by the year 2000.

Life Outreach International (LOI):  James Robiison is the founder. Even though  this organization has relief organizations they use these to support evangelistic endeavors. They state that they se  1,000,000 people convert to Christianity in a  year.

Trinity Television (TTY): This organization was started by Willard and Betty Thiessen and is based in Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada. They are presently engaged in the U.S., Canada, India and plan to expand to convert Muslims. (TTY Newsletter; Nov. 1998)

Church Of The Rock International (COTRI):  This group is led by Dr. Lawrence Kennedy. The purpose of this group is to combine ministers, pastors, evangelists and missionaries of different denominations into a coordinated group to convert people to Christianity. (COTRINewsletter; Oct.-Dec.1999)

700 Club: This is a daily Christian television program that is sponsored by the Christian Broadcasting Network. This show features Pat Robertson. They plan to reach an audience of over 1,000,000 daily. The 700 Club is used to raise money for CBN international operations. 700 club USA portrays Muslim and Hindu religions as being inferior and  they are considered to be in spiritual error.

AD 2000: This  group is focused on increasing an intensified effort on world evangelism by the year 2000. (AD 2000 And Beyond Overview; June 30, 1999)

Sat 7: This organization was started in 1995 to promote Christian satellite television service in North  Africa and The Middle East, Iran and Iraq.

Galileon International Films and Television Services (GIFTS): this group provides visual media in different languages for organizations and people engaged in the evangelism of Hindus and Muslims.

Open Doors International: (ODI) This group have bible distribution campaigns to distribute bibles to non-Christian countries. ( ODI; Nov. 5, 1998)

The onslaught against Hindu and Muslim religions has a wide range of countries targeted by evangelist groups. Some countries such as Indonesia, Singapore and India are considered to have governments that are lax in their tolerance of activities of evangelists. Countries such as India are considered prime targets because of the high percentage of Muslims and Hindus  and lower levels of education among the poor.

The term 10/40 Window is used to describe the area  which has the majority of non -Christian religions. This area stretches from Africa to Japan. Peter, Wagner the head of the AD2000 &Beyond Movement considers this area the final target for world evangelism. He considers this area as Satan's las  stronghold. ( CBN News; Oct. 1, 1999) However the Turkic people are considered essential as a gateway to the Muslim world and is more important than the 10/40 Window. This area has been given the term " The 35/45  Turkie Window." This area is formed by the 35 and 45 degree latitudes and extends from Skopje, Macedonia to Urumchi, China. (AD 2000 + Beyond Movement Overview; Aug. 18, 1999)

Christian Broadcasting Network targets consist of India which contains 80% Hindus and 14% Muslims and Indonesia which is 87% Muslim. Countries in Africa include Kenya, Uganda, Burkina and Benin. CBN has 28 countries serviced by their ministries to convert Muslims. Among those are Cyprus, Iraq, Sudan, Afghanistan and Egypt.

Trinity Broadcasting Network has ministries in Africa and The Middle East This year they have added new stations in Indonesia, India, Ski Lanka, Kenya and Zambia.. (TBN Newsletter; Nov. 1998)

There are; however, smaller evangelistic organizations such as The Church Of The Rock International which targets Asia, Africa and The Middle East. Trinity Television which targets India, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Kyragyzstan. (TTY Newsletter; Nov. 1998)

Evangelists use the terms; "spread the teachings of Jesus," " spread the gospel," etc.; however, other people could say that this is brainwashing and conditioning people to convert to Christianity. They use relief organizations, mass media, television, distribution of tapes, bibles, movies tracks, etc. to start their conversion to Christianity. These are just tools to use in their efforts to convert people.

Life Outreach International sponsors feeding programs and other relief to people during disasters such as drought, typhoons, earthquakes, etc. However  they say that their main mission is not relief but they are committed to evangelism. They say that they have reached 4,000,000 children and they hope that some will become preachers or evangelists in addition to being saved.

Christian Broadcasting Network distributes food ,clothing and money however they claim that they are winning ten times as many converts as they would if they were operating as only an evangelistic organization. In Indonesia they offer a feeding program, counseling center and a medical outreach program. Church of The Rock maintains hospitals, orphanages, bible schools and crises centers to spread the Gospel of Jesus. ( COTR  Oct. DEC. 1999) AD 2000 operations in the Middle East contain self-help projects, childcare centers, youth camps and bible centers. (ref)

Christian Broadcasting Network includes Muslim Ministries. Muslims are reached through satellite television service. Some of the programs are "Hayatoun Afddal" the Arabic version of "One Cubed" which targets Muslim teenagers. They plan to introduce an animation program called "He Is Risen". This program portrays the hope and life that comes from knowing and accepting Jesus Christ. In addition they plan to introduce a program called "Inside Solutions" a thirty minute show which will be shown on a weekly basis. In The Far East they broadcast " Super book" which is an animated series of bible studies. This appeals to children. They also plan to open an indigenous production studio. In Africa they have gospel programming in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.  They also broadcast news, sports and family entertainment in Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Egypt and Cyprus.

Sat-7 provides Christian satellite television service to people in North Africa, The Middle East,Iran and Turkey. They plan to reach 200,000,000 people. They plan to have daily broadcasts for two hours a wee  in Arabic by the year 2000-2001. In 2002-2003 they plan to have a daily broadcast of three hours or more in addition a weekly broadcast in Arabic. In 2003+ they plan to have a 24 hour a day service via satellite. They have large expectations of conversion because of the unhindered ability of Christian evangelists to broadcast. ( Sat-7;  Feb. 23,1998 )

Trinity Broadcasting Network has expanded to 784 foreign stations. New additions on cable television include: Delhi, Calcutta, Zambia and Lesotho. In africa they have: Bophuthatswana, Kenya, Namibia, Swaziland, Transkei and Uganda. Information on programs  in The Far East is somewhat limited.

Another method of conditioning people is to introduce movies, tapes etc. to your target group. The 700 Club distributes video and literature. Life Outreach International produces programs, videos and audio cassettes in almost any foreign language. In India 1,000 videos of "The Life Of Jesus" were circulated where the gospel is not openly welcomed. In addition 5,000 copies were distributed throughout Arab nations in The Middle East. Bibles were also made available.

AD 2000 Organization India Reach is sending out direct mail to people. If they respond they are given personal visits within six weeks. Their goal is to reach 5,000,000 people by the year 2000.

Galilean International Films & Television Services has a cassette discipleship program. These tapes are used to convert people who are non literate. Neo-literate people are given 4 cassettes and a cassette player so they can work in different villages.

Trinity Television is raising money to translate "Sonshiny Day' so they can distribute this tape to stations beaming into the former parts of The Union of Soviet Russia. Muslims are sent Christian literature if they write to the television stations. (TTY Nov. 1998) It is interesting to note that Trinity Television states that Muslims want morals and ethics put back in  their government.

Miracles are another avenue to use in order to convince non-Christians to convert to Christianity. This can also be used to draw other Christians into the evangelical ministry. Unfortunately, people can be deceived and confused by these claims. This can be a draw to encourage poor people who do not have medical or dental care. However this can also be used toward the higher class in the sense that the evangelist is recognized by God as a superior being. Benny Hinn, a popular healing evangelis, claimed that " He is a Godman." " I'm a sample of Jesus." " I'm a super human being." ( Praise The Lord, TBN, Dec. 6, 1990 )

According to Neil Richardson - UK + Philip Powell - NZ Benny Hinn submitted 3 testimonies with doctor records as testimonies to the Christian Research Institute. Dr. Preston Simpson MD (CRI's medical consultant) stated that the documents were confusing and very poor.

Direct quote from The Christian Witness Magazine. "Case 1: Colon Cancer: A  careful examination of the medical records supplied by Hinn reveals that the malignant tumor had been surgically removed (along with the appendix and eight lymph nodes), rather than miraculously healed.

Case 2: Lupus and related disorders: This is a particularly interesting case in that lupus is well known to go in remission spontaneously for years at a time. This naturally makes miraculous healing difficult to verify. What can be verified are the effects of lupus - in this case damage to the sacroiliac joint - which was definitely not healed.

Case 3: Spinal tumor and various cancers: This case really has problems. To begin with, the tapes of  the CAT scan of the spine were erased before the bones could be evaluated. Next, the records reveal that the spinal tumor began shrinking  some three months prior to Hinn's Miracle Invasion Rally. And finally, the tumor was still present- not healed- months after the alleged "healing."

One 85 year old woman died after coming forward for a healing touch by Hinn after one of the zealots fell on top of her breaking her hip. The woman's family has a $5,000,000 lawsuit against Hinn.

Hinn also appears on the Miracle Network-Tbn schedule for Asia/India.

Teeth being filled with gold is another example of how television evangelists claim to be recognized and rewarded by God. This article appeared in The National Post titled.

'TV EVANGELISTS FORCED TO RECANT CLAIMS OF GOD's  DIVINE DENTISTRY"

Willard Thiessen, who hosts a religious program on television was wrong in saying that God had implanted a gold tooth in his mouth, when in fact they had been implanted by a dentist. Dick Dewert a religious television broadcaster stated to his CJIL-TV audience in March that God had implanted a gold tooth in his mouth. In fact Dr. Jack Sherman, Mr. Dewert's dentist stated that he had put it in about ten years earlier.

Lindor Reynolds wrote that Willard Thiessen made a confession that God didn't give him a gold tooth, his brother Elmer did it. This was after Thiessen claimed that it was a miracle that his tooth had been filled and credited God with filling it. He also stated to Lindor that  his wife Betty had two of her teeth filled while they were at a meeting. (Winnipeg Free Press May 12, 1999)

Sigmond Freud (considered to be the father of western psychiatry) would probably say that people who considered God to be their personal dentist were suffering  from "delusions of  grandeur".

One of the biggest moneymakers for television evangeliststs is claiming to have great success in converting Muslims and Hindus to Christianity. They often cite testimonials of people who have been converted to encourage their flock to continue donating to their coffers. Testimonials are common,  they cannot be disapproved and are very vague. Sat-7 citing their success used: "Eighteen year old boy from Syria." "Woman from Morocco." "Grandmother of regular viewing children" and "Man from Morocco." (Sat-7 News Update-september 1999 )

These organizations often cite the success of their programs. Audry Meisner from (TTY) made an appeal for funds from their members to translate "Sonshiny Day" for people in Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan. Don Wallace, a businessman from B.C. Canada , who supplies tapes, etc. told Audry that "Sonshiny Day" was a big success in the Far East. (Trinity Television Newsletter, Nov. 1999)

At the other end of the continuum  "Open Doors International" tend to bias their reports on anti Christian incidents. This can lead to hate and intolerance against non Christians. A few of the incidents they use are: Chad: More harassment against evangelist believers, Indonesia: 25 Christians killed, Saudi Arabia: deported the last 2 Filipino Christians and Sudan: the regime began procedures to confiscate church property, etc.

The television evangelist does not care about the disastrous results that conversion can have on family interaction. Often conversion can turn; parents against children, children against parents. sibling against siblings, husbands against wives and wives against husbands. This can also happen to Christians when members of their families get caught up in the evangelist abyss.

Evangelists use terms to brainwash and condition converts such as: Lay down your own agendas, ideas and control. " " Deal aggressively with the enemy." "Act in obedience to anything the Lord asks you to do." "Wait in silent expectancy of what  the Lord tells you to do." ""We're in a real war." " We're dealing with a real enemy." "Confess anything He reveals to you." " Our families, our relations, our testimonies are his main attack," and " Remove all hindrances and obstacles in your quest for Jesus." All of these can be used by unscrupulous evangelists to put a person under the evangelist's control and  up families.

"CASE HISTORY OF A WOMAN WHO CONVERTED TO CHRISTIANITY"

1997: Usha Chamanlal converted to Christianity.
1998, Jan. Usha made contact with Willard Thiessen of "Trinity Television' "Its a New Day"
1998, Sept. Usha started working for "Trinity television"
1998, Nov. Usha stated that Betty Thiessen told her that if she made it harder on her husband he might become closer to God.
1998, Nov. Pastor Bob (Willards son-in-law and Usha's counselor) stated she should remove all hindrances and obstacles in her quest for Christ.
1998, Nov. Usha deserts her husband and abandons her eight year old son to live with Brent Anderson (a cameraman at Trinity Television ) "to save souls for Christ" (Letters and journals 1998, Nov.)

The results of converting to Christianity can be disastrous to converts and their families. It is interesting to note that these people want ethics and morals put into Muslim governments.

The evangelist can find that breaking up families can be economically advantageous. Young people can contribute future earnings to the ministry. Young women and wives can be used sexually by the ministry. An economic advantage is also gained by wives who leave their husbands, especially in North America. If a woman is articulate she can be persuaded to go on the speakers circuit to make money for the ministry. ( Abuse by her husband is a good topic in North America. ) In North America there are professional speakers who go from church to church or ministry raising money for the people who sponsor them. If a woman has talents in the martial arts she can be persuaded to make teaching tapes for the ministry to distribute to create extra income. In North America the property is divided upon divorce. The woman can be persuaded to give the proceeds from the property settlement to the ministry. In Manitoba, Canada the assets: car, home, business, pension funds, etc. are divided 50/50 upon divorce. If the woman can be persuaded by the ministry to donate this money to the ministry this can be very lucrative. Widows alienated from their children can be asked to leave money to the ministry in their will when they die. (Trinity Television Newsletter Nov. 1998)  In North America a will is a legal document which describes who you want your money and assets to be given to when you die.

In this paper I have only touched the surface of conversion to Christianity. If anyone wants to receive further information from me my email address is : <removed>.  If you have links I would appreciate them. If you are want more of this information please contact me. If you have any comments on this article they would be appreciated.

David Kostinchuk