Cold Water Podcast
Cold Water Podcast
Jay Smith
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
Evangelist Jay Smith talks about his crusade in Tanzania with Christ for all Nations - Cfan.
Transcript
00:00:00 Nicola
I would like to welcome evangelist Jay Smith to the Cold Water podcast.
00:00:04 Nicola
He's just come back from a crusade from Tanzania with Christ for all nations.
00:00:10 Nicola
Would you like to tell us about this Jay ?
00:00:12 Nicola
Your trip to Tanzania?
00:00:14 Jay
Yeah, so we just spent two months in Tanzania.
00:00:18 Jay
Five of us were selected to organize our own crusade in a predominantly Muslim region.
00:00:24 Jay
I believe the statistics wide it was 90% Muslim and in fact not too far away from where we were based. There was an Islamic bombing.
00:00:34 Jay
So when we got the news of that taking place, you know, uhm.
00:00:39 Jay
This is actually happening and otherwise you know we could lose our lives.
00:00:42 Jay
So but Jesus told us to go into all the world, not just the nations ways to the most safe.
00:00:49 Jay
As we went, we conducted our own Crusades. We pulled it together in about four to five weeks, which was absolutely incredible on a nightly basis. We saw around 2000.
00:00:59 Jay
People attend, but on the final night there were about 3200 people and over a period of five days we saw 960 registered decisions for Jesus we saw many miracles. We saw Muslims get saved.
00:01:11 Jay
Get healed, people get healed.
00:01:13 Jay
Deaf ears open, blind eyes open, joint pains be gone and we saw incredible miracles.
00:01:20 Jay
Then right after the initiation this town crusade
00:01:25 Jay
I was a part of a operation called operation Decapolis, which is one of Cfans.
00:01:32 Jay
Fairly new initiatives.
00:01:33 Jay
This is where they plan to enter into the decade of double harvest through the initiative of multiplication so they have 5 simultaneous crusades take.
00:01:43 Jay
In place at the same time throughout Tanzania, in which.
00:01:47 Jay
Daniel Kolenda would
00:01:48 Jay
preach one set every single crusade so we were there in the city of Oringa for about 5 weeks.
00:01:55 Jay
I was there for five weeks and this was also a fairly Muslim region.
00:02:01 Jay
Also, though not as.
00:02:04 Jay
Dominated as the other place I was in Mtwara.
00:02:07 Jay
So we organized a crusade for five weeks and then over 5 days we saw nightly between 24 to 35,000 people attend these crusades, which was incredible for me.
00:02:20 Jay
I've never seen anything like this before, and we saw thousands give their lives to Jesus every single night we saw
00:02:27 Jay
Miracles, in fact, one of the most incredible miracles that we.. I saw personally.
00:02:32 Jay
We were living in an area and in this area they had like a place where their higher death dumping people that couldn't talk or hear and one of they.. they brought their people to the Gospel crusade.
00:02:48 Jay
And one of the gentlemen was healed in the name of Jesus.
00:02:52 Jay
His ears opened and we were told this at later on by a team member.
00:02:58 Jay
So many, many things happened.
00:03:00 Jay
But we had an incredible time in Tanzania.
00:03:03 Nicola
Yes, I bet you're missing that, are you?
00:03:06 Jay
I miss it so much.
00:03:07 Jay
I miss the people like people were wonderful, but I also missed the atmosphere of leading up to a crusade.
00:03:14 Jay
And obviously the crusade itself in the five cities over 5 days we saw 62,715 decisions for Jesus Christ. There's one thing that I did forget
00:03:27 Jay
to mention. The whole boot camp, there is about 100 students and we literally we went to hold kids crusades.
00:03:35 Jay
In Tanzania we could be preaching at 567 schools in day or sorry 567 places a day and.
00:03:43 Jay
From literally we saw.
00:03:45 Jay
Over 300,000 decisions for Jesus, which was absolutely incredible to
00:03:52 Jay
Say the least.
00:03:53 Nicola
Amazing, I bet you didn't think this was going to happen a year ago.
00:03:58 Jay
I have no idea, I I wish I've been blown away by the hand of God.
00:04:04 Jay
I've had words have been spoken over my life and every time I thought that that's a great word.
00:04:09 Jay
But you know, what’s that look like how's that
00:04:10 Jay
Going to work out and to my complete surprise.
00:04:13 Jay
I ended up in Cfan in January and you know still in Orlando right now about to head back in the UK soon.
00:04:21 Nicola
Yes, wonderful.
00:04:23 Nicola
I I actually thought you were in the UK, so that's that's that's a miracle in itself that you're connected from Orlando, so that's lovely.
00:04:31 Nicola
How did…
00:04:32 Nicola
Cfan come to the front of you know there's many ministries out there and
00:04:40 Nicola
What was it that
00:04:40 Nicola
That, you know, connected you to Christ for all nations.
00:04:45 Jay
Wow, what a question?
00:04:47 Jay
So I was introduced to Evangelist Reinhardt Bonnke.
00:04:50 Jay
I've lived here in my time in Bible College and I saw the their crusades and then I read his autobiography.
00:04:57 Jay
I've I've read it now four times, I'm leading to it now for for like, for the fifth time, but just to see how powerfully.
00:05:06 Jay
God used him and he would say, you know, like there's nothing special about
00:05:10 Jay
him, he just had faith in God and he said yes every time God told him to do something.
00:05:15 Jay
He did it so, and even in terms of what Cfan are doing, I don't think there's another ministry on the planet currently that are doing what they're doing.
00:05:22 Jay
You know a
00:05:23 Jay
lot of people, ministries, will want to keep their
00:05:26 Jay
ministry to themselves they want to like you know, one man holding the microphone.
00:05:30 Jay
But evangelists Daniel Kolenda his heart is multiplication.
00:05:35 Jay
You know, the only way that we can see you know millions of people come to Jesus Easter, literally raising up new evangelists and and you know, like sending them.
00:05:44 Jay
And that's what C fan has done.
00:05:46 Jay
You know they they they.
00:05:48 Jay
They have their boot camp, which they.
00:05:50 Jay
Bring in about 100 boot camp students and it's very intense.
00:05:54 Jay
Just because they go through a vetting process to make sure that you know that you're right for the mission field, because why single could happen is you get sent on to the mission.
00:06:02 Jay
Field and you have a
00:06:04 Jay
crash while you're out there.
00:06:06 Jay
So Cfan are very good at what they do.
00:06:10 Jay
They're very integral.
00:06:12 Jay
They're very conservative, you know, even in their reporting of their statistics and the miracles you know it's it's underestimated rather than overestimated.
00:06:22 Jay
So in fact, our mutual friend Peter Cavanna, he sent me a video of the vision.
00:06:29 Jay
The tale of three dreams, which was two dreams that Reinhard Bonnke had and then one dream that Daniel Kolenda had.
00:06:36 Jay
And then I mean, I was like this, is it so I applied and here I am today.
00:06:40 Nicola
That's amazing yes yes.
00:06:42 Nicola
Peter Cavanna is a great encouragement.
00:06:44 Nicola
He really is.
00:06:46 Nicola
How did you become a Christian Jay?
00:06:49 Jay
What a question.
00:06:51 Jay
So I've been a Christian now almost for 9 years.
00:06:54 Jay
I didn't grow up going to church, really.
00:06:57 Jay
My mother took us to church, maybe to the age of four, and then for 12 years that had nothing to do with church. I didn't really have anything to do with
00:07:07 Jay
Jesus, the only time I'm praying this is if I wanted something you know, but any other time my God wasn't even in the back of my mind.
00:07:15 Jay
And at the age of 15 you know I got involved in some things that I should have been involved with.
00:07:20 Jay
You know, drinking, smoking, etc hanging around the wrong crowd and what happened in in.
00:07:28 Jay
2012
00:07:30 Jay
I was, uh, I was robbed.
00:07:31 Jay
I was at knife point.
00:07:32 Jay
I got hit round my head with a golf club and the thing was I knew the people and some of them.
00:07:38 Jay
They knew me and they didn't even live too far from me.
00:07:42 Jay
One of them.
00:07:43 Jay
So I told the police and how it goes on the on the streets as they say, is that you know.
00:07:49 Jay
If you snitch, you'll get stitches, so I was just living in fear for my life.
00:07:54 Jay
I had anxiety and I could go places.
00:07:58 Jay
I was afraid to take certain bus routes just because I didn't want to meet with these people had my front window smashed.
00:08:05 Jay
One of the guys knew where I live.
00:08:07 Jay
So I was just living in constant fear.
00:08:10 Jay
My mother who was living in Cornwall at the time.
00:08:12 Jay
You know she she asked me if I wanted to go to church so we went to church.
00:08:16 Jay
She came up to where I lived in Birmingham and we went to church.
00:08:20 Jay
So I started attending church on the evening services.
00:08:23 Jay
I don't ever remember hearing a clear presentation.
00:08:27 Jay
Of the gospel, I don't ever remember hearing, you know, an invitation to give our life to Jesus.
00:08:33 Jay
Uhm, but one day we found out my brother was demon possessed and I didn't believe in these things at the time.
00:08:41 Jay
I thought there is no way that
00:08:43 Jay
this is real you
00:08:44 Jay
know and my mother told me about what had happened.
00:08:48 Jay
They were listening to a preacher of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
00:08:51 Jay
How when he died.
00:08:53 Jay
And went to the pits of Hell to pay the price and get the keys of life and death that no devil or demon could touch him and it was at this moment his eyes turned black.
00:09:03 Jay
He started to convulse and literally the demon with throw him around the room.
00:09:08 Jay
My mum took him.
00:09:09 Jay
To a local priest.
00:09:10 Jay
And the priest the demon spoke through my brother to the priest and saying, you don't intimidate me, your faith is weak and then this demon threw my brother on the floor and began to convulse the priest didn't solve the problem.
00:09:23 Jay
But thank God we had an auntie in our family who was a born again Christian and.
00:09:29 Jay
We arranged to come up to Birmingham to a church to Mount Zion community church to see a pastor, Calvin Young.
00:09:35 Jay
And you know, for the first time I saw my brother Demon possessed, and those demons got cast out in the mighty name of Jesus.
00:09:45 Jay
And I got offered an invitation to give my life to Christ.
00:09:48 Jay
At this time.
00:09:50 Jay
It wasn't necessarily that I wanted to really.
00:09:52 Jay
It's more that I knew that I needed Jesus in my life.
00:09:56 Jay
You know, before I probably think about you know what will my friends think, but right at this moment I I.
00:10:02 Jay
Put both hands on on grabbing Jesus.
00:10:05 Jay
That's why I invited Christ into my life.
00:10:08 Jay
I said what we call the sinners prayer confessing my sin, receiving Christ as Lord and Savior.
00:10:14 Jay
And then I had this powerful life changing experience.
00:10:18 Jay
It kind of felt like I was plugged into a socket and electricity was just.
00:10:21 Jay
Flowing through my body.
00:10:23 Jay
My hands they went like this and they stretched out one like this.
00:10:27 Jay
My legs kicked out straight and then I started speaking the language I never learned and I was thinking what on Earth is going on?
00:10:34 Jay
You know, I've never learned this before.
00:10:36 Jay
I've never experienced this before, and then I tried to call out for Jesus.
00:10:42 Jay
And I could not say his name and I struggled and I tried.
00:10:47 Jay
There was something within me that just didn't want to say the name of Jesus and it lies with the scripture in the Bible where the I think it's in the book of Romans where Paul says no one can say Jesus is Lord except by the spirit of God.
00:11:01 Jay
I couldn't even say Jesus.
00:11:03 Jay
Let alone Jesus is
00:11:04 Jay
Lord and I tried for a while and then I started screaming and then whatever is inside of me.
00:11:10 Jay
It came out and from that day on I felt clean.
00:11:13 Jay
I thought brand new my life radically changed.
00:11:16 Jay
For some people they go through, you know, a process of you know, stop doing certain things but for me it was instant.
00:11:23 Jay
I start swearing, stopped drinking stop smoking.
00:11:26 Jay
In fact, a few weeks later I had a friend party for his 16th birthday and everyone was drinking and smoking.
00:11:32 Jay
But my desire
00:11:33 Jay
was to go there, tell them about
00:11:35 Jay
Jesus and go home and that's.
00:11:36 Jay
what I did and my life was never the same ever since.
00:11:40 Nicola
Yeah, that's that is amazing.
00:11:43 Nicola
I was I was more of a.
00:11:44 Nicola
slow burner.
00:11:45 Nicola
So I always sort of.
00:11:47 Nicola
I mean, I I've had encounters with Jesus since, but I I do love testimonies like that.
00:11:53 Nicola
They're really, really encourage me.
00:11:55 Nicola
Because just to see the transformation of like stepping out.
00:11:59 Nicola
From darkness into light.
00:12:01 Nicola
You know, I think that is just just amazing.
00:12:04 Nicola
It's absolutely amazing.
00:12:05 Nicola
And what would you say to anyone?
00:12:08 Nicola
These questions are a bit sort of jumbled in a way because I this I'm going to skip back to your evangelist, even I'm just evangelistic ministry.
00:12:17 Nicola
So I'm going to say what would you say to anyone who's thinking about?
00:12:19 Nicola
Becoming an evangelist.
00:12:22 Jay
I would say just do it.
00:12:23 Jay
You know some people are waiting to hear a voice from heaven.
00:12:27 Jay
You know other people are waiting to steal you.
00:12:30 Jay
Well have feelings with without fear or from fear not to be present, but it's simply not the case.
00:12:36 Jay
I would say just just step out and just do it.
00:12:39 Jay
And even for those who may not feel called to the evangelistic ministry, just as a Christian, you know, Daniel Chan recently said, he said, I don't preach the gospel because I am an evangelist.
00:12:50 Jay
Instead, I've preached the gospel because I am a Christian and when you see in the scripture where Jesus touched someone’s life and he said to them, see, didn't tell no one, and he says that that person went around telling everybody because when Jesus touches your life, it's impossible to keep to yourself.
00:13:06 Nicola
God, brilliant Amen.
00:13:09 Nicola
How would you encourage anyone listening who doesn't know Jesus to get to know him?
00:13:14 Jay
Wow, he is the source of your life.
00:13:18 Jay
The very reason you exist is because he created for you to be here.
00:13:22 Jay
He climbed for you to be here the very strength, the very house that you have the very life.
00:13:28 Jay
They don't come from your own wealth.
00:13:30 Jay
It came from God and the best you can do is to surrender your life to him.
00:13:34 Jay
We must remember.
00:13:36 Jay
This life is like a vapor of smoke.
00:13:39 Jay
You know Jesus said your life is like a vapor smoke.
00:13:42 Jay
Soon as it comes it
00:13:44 Jay
goes and we must remember that death is not an event somewhere in the distant future.
00:13:48 Jay
Evangelist Reinhard Bonnke once sent to a young man who said I will choose Jesus at the end of my life.
00:13:54 Jay
He said young man do
00:13:55 Jay
not know that death will run
00:13:57 Jay
side by side.
00:13:58 Jay
with you all the days of your life and you can cross over at any moment.
00:14:04 Jay
And we need to.
00:14:04 Jay
Consider this with our own life.
00:14:06 Jay
The Bible seasons appointed for man, wants to die and then the judgment.
00:14:10 Jay
So we must keep this in mind.
00:14:13 Jay
You know the best thing you can do is give your life to Jesus.
00:14:16 Jay
After all, he gave his life in you.
00:14:18 Jay
He shed his blood, Bible says.
00:14:20 Jay
That he
00:14:21 Jay
Who knew no sin became sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in Christ.
00:14:26 Jay
So how did you not give your life to Jesus?
00:14:29 Jay
You know the world will cheer you up and spit you out, but Jesus will bless you and fill you
00:14:35 Jay
with life you must keep your life to Him.
00:14:37 Jay
There is no other way.
00:14:39 Nicola
Thank you, that's perfect.
00:14:41 Nicola
Absolutely perfect.
00:14:43 Nicola
What is your?
00:14:44 Nicola
What is your?
00:14:44 Nicola
Hope for the UK.
00:14:46 Jay
My hope is for the UK to be saved.
00:14:50 Jay
Many people think the times of large gospel crusades are over.
00:14:54 Jay
I disagree, you know, we we now more than ever we are in need of large gospel crusades because how are we going to reach the nations?
00:15:05 Jay
The UK alone has.
00:15:06 Jay
Almost 60 or 70 million people. If we do want one evangelism, it will take a lifetime and much longer. You know to win all these people, it's simply impossible. So what we must do is have Crusades.
00:15:22 Jay
In fact, I had a dream in December and I'm not really a one to to have dreams, but in this dream I was in Orlando and I was asked to meet with Todd White at the CFan office and as I'm sitting down talking with.
00:15:38 Jay
Him, I turned my head and sitting in front of me, evangelist.
00:15:41 Jay
Reinhard Bonnke and Reinahard said to me, do you have the power?
00:15:45 Jay
And I say yes, I have the power.
00:15:47 Jay
He then he then said in fact he got up and then he he left the room as I was sharing my testimony with him.
00:15:54 Jay
And then he was in another room, and in this room there was a man lying sick on a on a.
00:15:59 Jay
And as I followed him, I saw him speak to the man and say, in the name of Jesus rise.
00:16:04 Jay
Up and walk.
00:16:05 Jay
With their mighty command, and he took his hand, and he helped him up.
00:16:09 Jay
And then I saw this same man standing on a stage preaching to multitudes of people.
00:16:15 Jay
He was holding an open Bible in one hand and a small wooden cross in the other.
00:16:19 Jay
I then turned back my head and I was.
00:16:21 Jay
In the room back where Reinhard was and I looked in the room
00:16:22 Jay
and he looked at me and intensely, he said we must hold mass gospel crusades.
00:16:29 Jay
We must see
00:16:29 Jay
the lost come to Christ.
00:16:30 Jay
The time is short and then I woke up and that's been really impacted me and each, you know, even encouraged me in what I believe I see from my own life.
00:16:41 Jay
So this is what I'm believing
00:16:43 Jay
for the UK.
00:16:43 Nicola
Yeah, that's wonderful.
00:16:45 Nicola
What are your plans with Cfan next?
00:16:48 Nicola
Just what’s in the pipeline?
00:16:50 Nicola
Have you got anything in the pipeline or?
00:16:53 Nicola
I just just try to peel an orange.
00:16:56 Nicola
In my pocket here really and get something.
00:17:00 Jay
Yes, that's it.
00:17:02 Jay
Oh Cfan.
00:17:04 Jay
They are so incredible.
00:17:06 Jay
I have joined their global evangelism alliance up, which is a network of evangelist worldwide who are a part of the C fan family.
00:17:16 Jay
Of course, Cfan they desire for partnership.
00:17:19 Jay
That's the whole reason for the decade of double harvest.
00:17:22 Jay
So going forward, I definitely want to do another Decapolis operation with Cfan.
00:17:29 Jay
Being apart of the team helping to organize the crusade and literally seeing thousands come to faith in Jesus, so that's that's what I would like to do.
00:17:37 Jay
Also Cfan are.
00:17:39 Jay
They're incredible, they're.
00:17:40 Jay
Gonna you know they're going to assist by sending?
00:17:43 Jay
Now that you are saved booklets, when I do my own gospel crusade and they're going to provide for that which is going to be absolutely amazing, the follow up material is incredible, and it's not just the material for the for the person that gives their lives to Jesus, but there's also a decision card in the back.
00:18:00 Jay
And this helps us out with follow up, making sure that New Believers are integrated into a local church where they can receive follow-up discipleship and care in their walk with Jesus.
00:18:10 Nicola
Fantastic, you've just set up a charity as that right there just to you know yes, yeah.
00:18:18 Jay
It's in it's in the process, so started the proceedings.
00:18:22 Jay
With that I've been told it could take about 16 to 20
00:18:26 Jay
weeks so that's just in the process.
00:18:27 Nicola
Right?
00:18:29 Nicola
So so you.
00:18:31 Nicola
Just let me know the links and I'll put them on the podcast when when you're ready to do that, and we'll, we'll we'll promote that with for you.
00:18:39 Nicola
If that's OK.
00:18:42 Nicola
Well, that was a wonderful wonderful talk.
00:18:44 Nicola
Thank you Jay, and I hope to see you soon.
00:18:47 Nicola
So thank you all.
00:18:48 Nicola
Yeah, thank you.
00:18:49 Nicola
God bless.
00:18:51 Jay
God bless you.