By Mark Ellis —
More than 117,000 people from dozens of countries made decisions for Christ after hearing the gospel during virtual events hosted by Nick Hall and PULSE on Good Friday and Easter.
An estimated 1.7 million people from 167 countries watched PULSE’s Easter week events through Facebook and YouTube, and tens of millions may have participated via broadcast on national channels.
Evangelist Nick Hall founded PULSE with a desire to awaken the culture to the reality of Jesus. “As early as I can remember I was telling everybody about Jesus. Everybody on my baseball team, kids I was riding bikes with, kids around the neighborhood, even adults,” he told Outreach Magazine last year. “If you know him, you have to share him. To know him and not share him is to not know him at all,” he said.
Hall sits on the leadership teams for the U.S. Lausanne Committee, the National Association of Evangelicals, and the student advisory team for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.
PULSE’s Good Friday event featured talks by Hall, apologist Ravi Zacharias, Max Lucado, NFL Coach Tony Dungy, Francis Chan and Rev. Samuel Rodriguez.
It also included worship by Lauren Daigle, Michael W. Smith, and singing duo Kari Jobe and Cody Carnes. The service was seen in more than 90 countries, including Japan, China, Nepal, Thailand, India, Kenya, Nigeria, Ukraine and Russia.
“We had translators working in closed countries who were risking their lives to bring this message in their language to their people, because that’s how precious the gospel is to them,” Hall told Charisma Magazine.
The responses demonstrated that God is moving in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Hall said. “We were literally getting smartphone photos from all over the world—from Nigeria to India and China—of families gathering in their living rooms around 18-inch TVs, laptops and HD screens watching our services.”
“The doors to our church buildings may have been closed, but the church has not closed. We are living through a Great Quarantine Revival, and I think God is just getting started.
“This Easter may have been the most significant in a century. The fields have never been more ripe for harvest as people search for hope and meaning during this global pandemic. It may very well be the greatest opportunity we’ve had to share the gospel—but we will miss it if we don’t care for our pastors and ministers now.”
On an Easter Leader Check-in event, Grammy Award-winning hip-hop artist Lecrae reminded the audience that when the world is panicked, God is still in control.
“No one in the last 100 years can say they have walked through a global pandemic. But God isn’t intimidated by this,” Lecrae said. “And you may say, ‘The Creator doesn’t understand my situation. It’s different because my job here … or my mom here … or there’s illness, there’s sickness. Let me tell you something: I don’t understand, I may not get it, but I know a God who does. I know a God who has been around for plagues, for famines, for diseases and pestilences. I know a God who can handle all those things, and He can handle what we are dealing with right now.”
Several speakers, including Bible teacher Beth Moore and Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, exhorted viewers to keep things in perspective during the COVID-19 pandemic, remembering that God is still on the throne.
“Here we are all scattered and separated, and everything about it seems completely backward to us for the makings of an epic harvest. But that’s just how He works. That’s just exactly the way God would do it, is it would seem absolutely impossible, and only possible if He comes thorough,” Moore said.
“I am grateful—not for the pandemic, not for COVID-19—I am grateful that God will turn things around for the collective good of His children,” Rev. Rodriguez said. “He will work these things out: All things work out for the good of those who believe. I am grateful I am alive for such a time as this to experience this fresh awakening.”
The Easter Leader Check-In and the Good Friday service are both available on-demand at YearoftheBible.com.
