2007 Tribute Video with excerpts from founder Dr Lester Sumrall
Behind me is the Jerusalem Hilton, one of the world class hotels. It was in this hotel on the 20th floor where a great change took place from my life. I was guiding 528 pilgrims in this beautiful land of Israel.
I went to bed at 11 o’clock. At 10 min to 12, God shook me in the bed and said “I want to talk to you”. I went into the next room of the suite and there from 12 midnight until 5 in the morning, the Lord spoke to me. The first thing He said was “I realize it is midnight physically here”. He said “It is also midnight prophetically”.
He said “My church sings about my coming, preaches about my coming, and lives as if I’m never coming” and I was awestruck as this came up out of my spirit and I wrote it on a piece of paper. In a few moments He said “I am deeply concerned that my church in the third world does not die of hunger before I return”.
I looked at what I had written and the Lord had put in my spirit and I was just a little upset. I thought the Salvation army should be getting that command and not me.
And the Lord said “but it is three pronged. Yes, you will feed the bodies of people that are hungry that are in great distress from war, from famine, from earthquakes, and so forth, but you will also teach the pastors of those nations how to be strong men, courageous men, powerful men and you will help those men become leaders and not followers. And such for 3 days you shall teach them” and then He said “In the evenings you shall have open meetings. And the lost shall come and find a savior and you will pray for them who are infirm, that they will be touched by the Master physician and that you will bless those who help those who have found themselves hurt by demons forces, and demon power, to set them free for He that is within you is greater than He that is in the World.”
For 5 hours I sat before the Lord, and He said, “I am coming soon. This is the ultimate generation at this time, and in the third world especially there’s gonna be great famine but I don’t want my church, my people, to die of hunger.”
He says “in the first world there is plenty and to spare, and they must share”. He spoke to me so tenderly and said “You know the story of the rich man and Lazarus in the bible?” “Yes I do”. He says “the rich man fared sumptuously everyday and he died and so the poor man laid at his gate begging for a crumb of bread which the rich man would not give to him”. I said “Yes I know that story”. He said “ That rich man today is America and the countries of the first world, and that poor man are those of the third world who’ve lived through generation after generation of poverty and oppression with military powers pressing them down, tribal wars killing many of them”.
He said “My church in those areas must not suffer further when I call my bride to be with me forever. I want them to be taken care of”. And I began to feel so ashamed that America was like that rich man, faring sumptuously everyday and in the third world, they’re still begging for a piece of bread and I said “Lord I’m willing to do anything that you ask me to do”.
And He said “This is what I want you to do. I want you to let my people know that these are the last days, that proceeding my coming there will be great famine, there shall be great earthquakes, there shall be pestilence as it is written in Matthew 24.”
He says “Now what I want you to have is what is called the End-time Joseph Program and be like Joseph. You must build places to store food, because if you don’t, the time will come when there will be no food, that the time will come on planet earth when food will be more precious than gold, therefore you must gather the food and store it and that’s what Joseph did. And the moment when there is no food, those that love my name, those that serve me diligently, those people will have food. I don’t want to have to come back for my bride and find many of them starving when there is plenty in the earth and my people have plenty to share with them.” I said “Lord I’m willing to do this”.
He said “It should be a pastor to pastor operation. That every church should pay tithes and part of that tithing should go to Feed the Hungry around the world. Why should the church be selfish, why should a denomination be selfish. They should give.” I said “I will speak those words Lord”.
He said “There must be a lay operation of the women and the men. The men to be called the King’s court, and the ladies, the Queen’s court because in the lay people there is the hope, and in the lay people there is the roots and if this does not go down into the roots, it will die. It has to be in the hearts of the laymen in order to live”. And I said “Lord I understand that. I certainly do receive that, that we must get this into the heart of laymen to live and the Lord said “You must create the king’s court and the queen’s court that they might have many many ways to raise funds to feed the hungry around the world”.
Then He said “Tell my whole body all over the face of this earth, that every Friday is good Friday, and that my church should fast for breakfast and lunch every Friday and whatever the value of those 2 meals are, $8, $10, $12, that’s amount they should give to Feed the Hungry.
And if they themselves will get hungry, then they‘ll know how it feels to be hungry, but if they do not fast for just 2 meals a week, then they won’t know how it feels out there when those who have no food says “our father who art in heaven, give us today our daily bread.” He says “I’m deeply touched that my church prays that way and that you are the one who can take it to them.”
He said, “This 3 fold operation of, blessing those that are unsaved, blessing the pastors with teaching, and feeding the hungry, but millions will see the love of the church and the love of God in the church and they will turn themselves and say:
- “ We don’t want to be Buddhist’s any longer”
- “ We don’t want to be Shintoists any longer”
- “ We don’t want to be Hindus any longer”
- “ We don’t want to be Muslims any longer”
- “ We don’t want to be Animists any longer”
- “ We want to follow the principles of the savior of the world, the Lord Jesus!”
And so you begin to feed the hungry and it ends up with them receiving the bread of life and millions will be in heaven because of the program” and I committed myself between 12 o’clock midnight and 5 in the morning to do my best and I’m doing it. I’m glad to be back in the Holy City again and back in the same room where it all took place. It re-lives within my total being and now I present it to you. I present it to you in the name of God, that you don’t tip God at this time.
One billion people hungry right now. More people die everyday of hunger than all other things combined. In the last 3 years more people have died of hunger than died in WWI and II. It is the biggest problem the world has, it is the greatest problem of the future. Let us rise up at this moment and give God the glory for what His given us and how we can share it with others. I’m asking you to do the biggest thing you have ever done in your life for God, that we together with men and women all over the world.
We want you to be part of it. We want you at this moment to resolve in your heart that you won’t let God down, and you won’t be like the rich man that Jesus said “he died without hope, but he had plenty when he was living but he didn’t share it”.
May I urge you please share at this moment, more than you’ve ever shared in your total life, and this will bring glory to God and will bless the human race. I just want to thank you very deeply within me that you’re heart is touched right now to do the biggest thing that you’ve ever done for others in your life. So be it, and thank you.