review by Carol Lee

A young Japanese man heals his Buddhist parents from cancer, and by his faith in the healing power of Christ, leads them to salvation.

A seed-planter for the Kingdom prays to witness just one harvest, and her prayer is graciously answered by God who understood her frustration: "You do not have, because you do not ask God." (James 4:2).

After the child of a Jewish woman is healed by the prayers of Christians and Messianic Jews, the Jewish woman, confused about her faith, cries out to God for confirmation that Jesus is indeed the Messiah. Jesus meets her at her point of confusion and answers her cry by appearing to her in a dream…

A young woman, particularly sensitive to the spiritual realm, hungers all her life for higher knowledge and truth. She finds it one day in her dentist’s chair…only to discover that God had been with her all her life…

A young Indonesian man, delivered from demonic bondage by a word of knowledge, prays and fasts for his Buddhist family’s deliverance. His prayers are answered one day while he is away from home as his whole family hears the voice of an angel coming from the mouth of a dying family member.

A Muslim man who has never before read the Bible dreams of an invitation to drink from the Fountain of Life – an invitation from Jesus himself.

These are some of the stories of encounters with God recorded by Jane Rumph in her book, Stories from the Front Lines: Power Evangelism in Today’s World. These stories, told in the third-person narrative voice, were collected by Ms. Rumph by a word-of-mouth chain, and her sources are each acknowledged by name. The stories include testimonies of divine healing, prophecy, dreams and visions, miracles, angel encounters, etc., but what exactly is "power evangelism"? Ms. Rumph says this in her introduction:

"Power evangelism in its widest definition includes any instance in which the demonstrated power of God plays a role in conversion. In a typical power evangelism experience, some kind of supernatural phenomenon breaks through barriers of resistance to the Gospel, empowering the truth about Christ (in whatever way it comes) to penetrate and bring salvation."

In a world governed by what is rational and linear, it is often only by such phenomenal breakthroughs that the Gospel can penetrate hardened hearts and minds. In fact, not only is the power evangelism experience itself a significant event in contributing to God’s movement, but the telling and hearing of the experience is just as important towards this end, and this is precisely the importance of this book and the stories found within.

The very title of the book is intriguing to a reader who is open to the often miraculous ways in which God sometimes reveals Himself. However, a more "conservative" reader, might, at first, approach the book cautiously (as I admittedly caught myself doing). Knowing this about myself, I began my reading with prayer that God might impress upon me what it is that He wants me to learn from my reading. What I have found is that the stories are diverse in origin and detail, and in their diversity, will touch every reader in some personal way.

I, personally, find myself most affected by the stories of miraculous conversions of people considered "devout" in another religion by virtue of the power of faithful prayer, as well as by stories of new converts and the amazing ways in which our gracious God reaffirms their newly made vows. I am also particularly touched by one incredible story about a Muslim man, who, disheartened by the violence committed by his fellow countrymen in the name of religion, flees with his family to the United States. After becoming injured on the job, he becomes suicidal as he and his family face serious financial hardship. Jesus meets him at the height of his desperation in a dream, inviting him to drink from a bubbling fountain. The dream leaves a deep impression, and the man finds a renewed zest for life. His salvation is later made complete when, while driving his cab, he picks up a client with whom he shares his dream of the bubbling fountain. His client happens to be the president of Gospel Light Publications of California. Through their ongoing friendship, the Muslim man later learns that his dream is representative of verses found in the gospel of John. Such dreams and divine visions that show us the Truth, when we ourselves so hunger for it, but are helplessly unable to find it, is, to me, a very powerful testimony of the mercy of God.

Being a reader who is relatively "new" in my Christian walk, what I find most attractive about the book are Ms. Rumph’s own insightful reflections which follow the stories on how the power encounter corresponds with and illuminates Scriptural teachings. Ms. Rumph also offers encouragement and understanding to the budding evangelist reader by offering a reflection on how the power encounter advances God’s Kingdom, even if the immediate effects prove only temporary.

Although individual readers might be moved by some of the stories more than others, one thing is certain: such stories of power evangelism are a resounding reminder to us of the presence and activity of God in our daily lives, even when we are not entirely attentive to His presence. After reading this book, I find my spirit renewed by the stories of deep faith, and my eyes alert again to God’s miracles around me. In a world governed by what is rational and linear, such reminders are often critical to our spiritual survival.