第二十三天  阿根廷，別為我哭泣!

中譯 : 溫燕晴     TOD大衛會幕禱告部

他們見彼得、約翰的膽量，又看出他們原是沒有學問的小民，就希奇，認明他們是跟過耶穌的；使徒行傳4:13

從不起眼和被鄙視處境中的塵埃裡，英雄將被興起，他們的名字會被印在天堂永恆名聲的頁面上。在創造之初，神的靈籠罩運行在大地上，上帝的諭令發出“要有光！” 1905年11月16日，弗蘭克·巴特曼（Frank Bartleman，譯註:阿蘇撒街Azusa Street復興中偉大代禱者）

許多人聽說過電影艾薇塔《 Evita》，講述的是阿根廷總統胡安·佩隆（Juan Peron）的夫人。瑪丹娜（Madonna）唱的一首名為“阿根廷，別為我哭泣”的歌，因此部電影聲名大噪。在阿根廷那段歷史中，發生了一件令人驚訝的事。

1952年，一位名叫湯米·希克斯（Tommy Hicks）的美國傳教士在佛羅里達州的塔拉哈西Tallahassee, FL，當時上帝給了他一個異象。他看到一個遍滿成熟莊稼的金黃色田野的南美洲地圖。正當他觀看時，麥子變成了舉起雙手的男男女女，呼喊著：「來吧，希克斯兄弟，來幫助我們！」 （朋友們，馬其頓的呼聲仍繼續在發生！）

 同時，上帝給希克斯（Hicks）一個預言，三個月後被一位先知逐字確認出來。「值到降下兩場雪之後，你方可抵達這片土地。因為你既不能乘船去，也不能走陸路，而要像鳥一樣，從空中飛去此地。」 

到1954年，「兩次大雪」過後，希克斯飛到了阿根廷。一群牧師邀請他，在一場將在布宜諾斯艾利斯Buenos Aires舉行的佈道會中擔任講員。希克斯不是他們的首選。他之所以被邀請是因為T.L.奧斯本(T.L. Osborn博士，著名美國神醫佈道家)回絕了邀請。希克斯踏上該國首都布宜諾斯艾利斯Buenos Aires時，來到了這個被宣教委員會認為是西半球宣教結最少果子的國家。 1949年，一份對阿根廷三個基督教新教教派的人數調查報告顯示，只有574名成員。阿根廷被神秘的異教精靈崇拜和通靈術所束縛。希克斯毫不動搖。他知道神的作為。

在航程中，希克斯不斷聽到“佩隆Peron”這個名字，輕聲迴盪在他靈裡。他問空姐，這個詞對她是否有任何意義。她告訴他，胡安·佩隆Juan Peron是阿根廷總統。

希克斯在布宜諾斯艾利斯Buenos Aires與牧長委員會的第一次會面中，他告訴他們，他有兩個佈道大會的先決條件。首先，他需要與胡安·佩隆總統進行個人面對面的會面。其次，他將需要一個可容納25,000個座位的運動場。委員會告訴他，他的條件是不可能達到的。佩隆總統只支持國家官方認可的羅馬天主教會。此外，除非總統直接批准，才能租借到體育場。這兩個請求，都需要與總統開會。

希克斯深知上帝已說出的話，因此決定邁出信心的一步。他帶著翻譯，去了位在Casa Rosada的胡安·佩隆總統府。毫無疑問的，他無法與總統會面。當他在異教大臣的辦公室裡等待時，一個人跛行進了房間。希克斯注意到這位跛腳者，問他是否可以為他禱告。該名男子抱怨說：「如果耶穌基督他自己在這裡，他對我這肢瘸腿也無能為力!」不會說西班牙語的希克斯問說：「他針對耶穌基督說了什麼？」希克斯了解男人的回應後，彎下腰為他禱告。那人的腿立即痊癒，所有的疼痛都消失了。希克斯所禱告的那個人正是佩隆總統的私人保鏢！希克斯因而被邀請第二天與總統會面。

與佩隆總統會面時，希克斯提出一個舉辦佈道會的體育場的需求，並請求媒體全面宣傳。佩倫總統問希克斯，他的皮膚可否有治愈的可能，因他有嚴重損毀且無法治癒的皮膚問題。希克斯為他禱告，佩隆總統立即被治好！希克斯立時獲准所有佈道大會的需求。

獲准使用有25,000個座位的大西洋體育場，免費使用國家廣播電台和新聞媒體，以及得以在國內任何地方自由傳教的希克斯，在1954年4月14日開始佈道，有6,000人參加此佈道活動。每天晚上，希克斯都會傳福音，然後為病人禱告。上帝醫治了病人，新聞媒體證實並報導神蹟，充滿好奇和驚訝的阿根廷群眾不斷增加。希克斯開始了連續54天的佈道行動，佈道會很快超過了大西洋體育場（Atlantic Stadium）容納人數，因此移師到擁有18萬個座位的Huracan鬥牛場舉行。最後一夜，有20萬人參加了佈道會！54天中，大約有三到六百萬人參加了佈道會。浸信會學者和統計學家阿諾·恩斯（Arno Enns）隨後寫道，希克斯Hicks運動“打破了阿根廷對福音派見證者的堅固抵抗。”

湯米·希克斯（Tommy Hicks）擁有的秘訣是什麼？一個後備球員(不是第一人選)是如何達到足以震動國家的境界？富蘭克林·霍爾（Franklin Hall）的時事通訊寫到了偉大的傳教士們，就是他們禁食的經歷，標記出他們的生活並定義了他們的事工。最後一位提及的就是湯米·希克斯。他從哪裡獲得這樣的能力？透過禁食和禱告，獲得有神同在的原子彈般的大能。

有成千上萬不為人知的男女，正在通過長時間的禁食深入挖掘復興歷史。這些英雄將從不為人知的頁面中興起，並將釋放上帝「要有光！」的諭令。因此，要鼓勵那些默默無名的百姓，因為他們將是上帝所揀選，透過禁食烈焰所鑄造出來的大能器皿！

 

Day 23 Don’t Cry For Me Argentina

"Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus." - Acts 4:13

Heroes will arise from the dust of obscure and despised circumstances, whose names will be in blazoned on heaven’s eternal page of fame. The spirit is brooding over our land again as at creation’s dawn, and the fiat of God goes forth. “Let there be light.” - November 16, 1905, Frank Bartleman

Many have heard of the movie, Evita, about the wife of President Juan Peron of Argentina. A song by Madonna called “Don’t Cry For Me Argentina” was made famous in that movie. In that time of Argentina’s history, something far more amazing was taking place.

In 1952, an American evangelist named Tommy Hicks was in Tallahassee, FL, when God gave him a vision. He saw a map of South America covered in golden fields of ripe harvest. As he watched, the wheat turned into men and women with hands raised who cried out, “Come, Brother Hicks, come and help us!” (Friends, the Macedonian Call continues to happen!)

At the same time, God gave Hicks a prophetic word that was confirmed verbatim three months later by a prophet.

For two snows will not pass over the earth until thou shalt go to this land, for thou shalt not go by boat nor by land, but as a bird, flying through the air shalt thou go.

By 1954, “two snows” later, Hicks was flying to Argentina. He had been invited by a group of pastors to speak at an evangelistic campaign they were planning in Buenos Aires. Hicks wasn’t their first choice. He was invited because T.L. Osborn had declined the invitation. As Hicks set foot in Buenos Aires, the nation’s capital, he encountered a nation that was considered by mission boards to be the least fruitful missions field in the Western Hemisphere. A census in 1949 of the three largest Protestant denominations in Argentina yielded a paltry 574 members. Argentina was gripped by occultic worship and spiritism. Hicks was unfazed. He had heard from the Lord of History.

During his flight, Hicks kept hearing the word “Peron” whispered to his spirit. He asked the stewardess if that word meant anything to her. She informed him that Juan Peron was President of Argentina.

In Hicks’ first meeting with the pastoral committee in Buenos Aires, he informed them that he had two prerequisites for the evangelistic campaign. First, he would need an in-person meeting with President Juan Peron. Second, he would need a 25,000-seat stadium for the campaign. The committee told him that his demands were impossible. President Peron only supported the state-sanctioned Roman Catholic church. Furthermore, a stadium could only be obtained by direct approval from the President. For both requests, a meeting with the President was needed.

Hicks knew what God had spoken and decided to take a step of faith. With an interpreter, he went to the Casa Rosada, President Juan Peron’s house. Not surprisingly, he was unable to obtain a meeting with the President. As he was waiting in the office of the Minister of Cults, a man limped into the room. Hicks noticed the limp and asked if he could pray for him. Complaining, the man said, “If Jesus Christ were here Himself, He couldn’t help this leg.” Hicks, who didn’t speak Spanish, said, “What did he say about Jesus Christ?” Upon understanding the man’s response, Hicks bent down and prayed for him. The man’s leg was healed immediately and all the pain left. The man Hicks prayed for was President Peron’s personal bodyguard! Hicks received an invitation to return the next day to meet with the president.

Meeting with President Peron, Hicks made a request for a stadium to host an evangelistic campaign and for full media coverage. President Peron asked Hicks if God could heal him since he had a disfiguring and incurable skin condition. Hicks prayed for him and President Peron was healed instantly! Hicks now had full permission for his crusade.

With the use of the 25,000-seat Atlantic Stadium, free access to state radio and press, and freedom to preach anywhere he wished, Hicks began the campaign on April 14, 1954, with 6,000 people in attendance. Every night, Hicks preached the gospel and then prayed for the sick. God healed the sick, the press verified and reported the miracles, and the Argentine crowds, filled with curiosity and wonder, grew. This began 54 straight days of campaigns as Hicks and the campaign quickly outgrew Atlantic Stadium and moved to the 180,000-seat Huracan bullfighting ring. By the final night, 200,000 people were in attendance! During these 54 days, somewhere between three to six million people attended the evangelistic campaign. Baptist missiologist and statistician, Arno Enns, later wrote that the Hicks campaign “broke the back of the rigid Argentine resistance to the evangelical witness.”

What was the secret of Tommy Hicks’ power? How did a second-stringer arise to such a place of shaking a nation? Franklin Hall’s newsletter wrote of the great evangelists who had fasting experiences that marked their lives and defined their ministries. The last name mentioned was Tommy Hicks. Where did he get his power? Atomic Power With God Thru Fasting and Prayer.

There are thousands of men and women nobody knows who are digging deep into the wells of revival history through extended fasting. These heroes will arise from the pages of obscurity and they will release the fiat of God. Let there be light! So give encouragement to people that nobody knows, for they may be God’s chosen vessels of power, forged in the fires of fasting!