Copyright © 1989 by Morris Cerullo

World Evangelism

All rights reserved

Printed in the United States of America

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 89-818-39

International Standard Book Number: 0-88419-264-4

Creation House

Strang Communications Company

600 Rinehart Road

Lake Mary, FL 32746

This book or parts thereof may not be reproduced in any form without

written permission of Morris Cerullo World Evangelism.

Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are from the King

James Version of the Bible.

Scripture references marked NKJV are from the New King James

Version of the Bible. Copyright © 1979, 1980, 1982 by Thomas Nelson

Inc., Publishers. Used by permission.

Scripture references marked NASB are from the New American

Standard Bible copyright I960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975,

1977 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

DEDICATION

This book is dedicated with loving affection to Theresa Cerullo, precious

wife to Morris Cerullo, loving mother to David, Mark, and Susan, the first

lady of Morris Cerullo World Evangelism, and "Mom" to thousands of

nationals around the world.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

FOREWORD. ...............................................................................................page 7

INTRODUCTION. .......................................................................................page 9

SECTION ONE—FORMED TO FLOURISH

1 THE BIRTH OF POWER. .......................................................................page 13

2 A FOOTBALL IN THE JUNKYARD OF LIFE. ....................................page 17

3 A PRIMER FOR PREJUDICE, A PATTERN FOR PAIN. .....................page 25

4 CHILD OF THE LAKE. ..........................................................................page 35

5 STORM BEFORE THE CALM. .............................................................page 41

6 LIGHT UNDER THE COVERS. ............................................................page 49

SECTION TWO—MOLDED BY MIRACLES

7 EXODUS II. ............................................................................................page 65

8 WALKING WITH ANGELS. .................................................................page 71

9 LIFE FROM THE FRONT. .....................................................................page 79

10 THE FOOTSTEPS TO HELL. ..............................................................page 87

11 THE FRANCO AMERICAN YEARS. ..................................................page 97

SECTION THREE—SEASONED FOR SERVICE

12 EXPLODING BREAKTHROUGHS IN A SHRINKING UNIVERSE. .....page

111

13 "DADDY, WHAT STATE IS ATHENS IN?". ....................................page 115

14 VOODOO VANQUISHED IN HAITI. ...............................................page 131

15 HOMECOMING AND HEARTACHES. ............................................page 143

SECTION FOUR—ENDTIME EXPLOSION

16 THE MYSTERY OF MAGNITUDE. ..................................................page 151

17 BARRICADES, BISHOPS AND THE PIED PIPER. .........................page 155

18 CHOSEN PEOPLE, CHOSEN WARRIOR. ........................................page 165

19 TARGET: TANZANIA. ......................................................................page 177

20 BALLOTS, BULLETS AND PRAYER. .............................................page 185

21 THE HOPELESS HIP. .........................................................................page 193

22 THE FINAL STRATEGY. ..................................................................page 201

FOREWORD

"For many are called, but few are chosen."

Mat hew 22:14

Many people are elected, many are appointed, many promoted,

many called to fields or positions of endeavor —scientists,

corporation presidents, congressmen, military leaders and

presidents of nations. They all have one common denominator: an

authority that gives them great power with the spoken word or the

stroke of a pen.

But few leaders are chosen by God. And with that choosing,

given a command of God's authority and power that manifests

beyond the natural world into an arena of the supernatural.

I have yet to see an authority in this invisible world as powerful

as that demonstrated through the ministry of Morris Cerullo. Not

by his stature or strength, for he is physically a small man. Not by

any power given him by a government, organization, or person. He

operates in a supernatural authority bestowed by God.

Using this authority, he has seen God bring to a halt advancing

armies, tanks, and even witch doctors, all determined to kill him.

He has called on God to stop powers that have held captive and

enslaved men, women and children. The exercise of this power has

changed the destinies of nations—even nations on the brink of

Communist takeover.

Who is this man? A dear friend of mine who lives in Southern

California. A man, chosen by God, who could be entrusted to

employ so great a power.

This fantastic story of a young Jewish orphan boy will help you

to see that, while God does the choosing for specific, ordained

assignments, you too can tap into this same power for a dramatic

7

THE CHOSEN WARRIOR

revolution in your personal life and circumstances.

—Pat Boone

8

INTRODUCTION

For the past eight years, I've had the distinct privilege of

working with and learning from one of the most unusual men on

the face of the earth.

As a writer, I am fortunate to come in constant contact with

men and women who are household names, national heroes, TV

personalities and respected leaders.

But never in my travels have I met anyone with more power

and authority to change the course of nations than the gentle giant I

call The Chosen Warrior.

His story is more exciting than any fiction I could create, any

novel that I could fashion to tantalize the reader's fancy.

And even more amazing, all of it is true!

True history often does not emerge until the seasoning of time

allows historians to discern which events were significant and

which were simply popular.

In the context of his own time, the actions of Abraham Lincoln

were not viewed as historically significant. Instead, they were

considered by many as divisive to the nation and were greatly

criticized.

But in the context of time and history, Lincoln's courageous

decisions against slavery have forever exalted his name in history

of the United States.

Seldom are nation-changers appreciated or understood in their

own time.

Change is always shocking, uncomfortable and threatening.

Lincoln was assassinated.

Ghandi was shot.

9

THE CHOSEN WARRIOR

Christ was crucified.

It is precisely this historical phenomenon that makes The

Chosen Warrior remarkable. This book reveals the true story of a

man living today who is quietly in the process of impacting the

nations of the world.

What an incredible story it makes!

"The Chosen Warrior" is a man recognized and loved by

millions, has personally spoken to more people than most

international politicians, has traveled to over one hundred forty

nations. Yet he is barely known in his own country!

As you read this stirring story, I believe you will see, as I did,

that we have a rare opportunity to recognize and learn from a man

who is affecting the course of history...while that man is still

living!

As you read these pages, I am confident that you will agree

with me that in the course of modern history, there simply is not

another man like him on the face of this earth who has done so

much to impact the nations where he has victoriously waged his

heated wars without much fanfare or recognition by the national

press.

This revealing book will take you on the fascinating journey of

this man's life, recount his battles, and reveal the innermost secrets

of his strategies for victory.

As you read it, I sincerely believe it will inspire you to change

your own life.

For good.

—Michael Wourms

10

SECTION ONE

FORMED TO

SECTION ONE—

FLOURISH

CHAPTER ONE

1

THE BIRTH OF POWER

t is the greed of the Jews that is causing your economic

hardships," the fiery-eyed, black-haired young man

Isermonized, mesmerizing the crowd with his message.

"Every man should be able to find a job, and every family

deserves food on the table...but the only way to make this happen

is to take away the economic power from the hands of the Jews."

The rousing speech made this day in 1931 brought hope to a

German nation struggling to survive during one of the harshest

depressions in its history. Crowds cheered wildly at the

inflammatory words of this brash, young political candidate.

Fathers, mothers, families and a hurting nation searching for

answers united their voices together as one in support of this

young, charismatic leader of the Nationalist Socialist Party.

The solution seemed so simple.

Germany could prosper by merely removing the greedy Jews

from all economic power.

And so it was, during this summer day in 1931, Adolf Hitler

13

THE CHOSEN WARRIOR

thrust himself into the leadership of Germany's largest political

party, providing a powerful podium for his meteoric ascendancy to

control of Germany and birthing for him an eternal spot in the

depraved horror-stories of humanity.

Hitler controlled the day by radiating the extraordinary power

of his personality. Single-handedly he dominated the crowds and a

desperate nation searching for pride. His charismatic leadership

inspired staged spectacles and sparked a new sense of national

unity.

That day, Hitler reigned supreme as the leader whose magic

animated the masses who assembled to hear him.

His presence dominated the parade and he unceasingly

received the adoring salutes from the mechanical marchers passing

his podium.

"Never again will the Bolsheviks, or any other nation, ever

impose upon Germany the likes of the Versailles Treaty at the

close of World War I," he promised his hypnotized supporters.

"And never again will the Jews control our financial destiny."

While this fiery political rhetoric and anti-Jewish poison

inspired the Germans, it slowly began to stun the rest of the world.

Many news correspondents that day sent home stories that

spoke apprehensively of Germany's growing armed forces and of

Hitler's growing belligerent attitude.

"All the talk here has been of peace," wrote one New York

Times reporter, "yet the atmosphere has been far from peace-

loving."

The zeal of Hitler and Nazi Germany on that day in 1931

forged the ideal of Aryan supremacy, an ideal sparked by the

smoldering coals of anti-Semitism, fanned by pseudo philosophies,

and fired into full flame by the instinctively manipulative hands of

the black-haired German leader.

"Today, I want to announce the formation of our Adolf Hitler

14

THE BIRTH OF POWER

Nazi Training Schools," he continued, knowing the crowd was

totally subject to his iron will. "We will begin to train literally

hundreds of thousands of young men between the ages of twelve

and eighteen to become perfect German citizens."

The crowd cheered wildly.

Hitler held up his hand for silence.

Immediately, the crowd ceased to breathe.

"The mission of each school will be the same—to perfect the

German race, to become soldiers trained to wage total war against

any enemy, and finally...." Here Hitler paused.

He looked intensely at the crowd, first to his left, then to the

middle, then to the right. When convinced their minds were affixed

anxiously to his final words, he shouted loudly, "...and finally, to

eliminate the power, the authority, and the financial control of the

Jew from all of Germany."

Those few words soon launched a holocaust of hate

unparalleled in the long history of man's inhumanity to man.

Eventually, six million Jews would die at the hands of these same

Germans who would simultaneously be busy fostering "patriotic

pregnancies" to breed their own master race.

But none of this could have been foreseen on that day back in

1931.

The crowd's eyes were blinded by the bright light from their

young rising star. Only an insightful few could foresee the human

tragedy that would follow in the coming decade.

*

*

*

A few months after Hitler's prophetic speech, in another part of

the world also ravaged by a severe economic depression, on

October 2, 1931, a seemingly simple event took place.

There were no New York Times reporters on hand to record the

incident.

15

THE CHOSEN WARRIOR

In a quiet neighborhood of Passaic, New Jersey, no one except

Mama Bertha, a Russian Orthodox Jew, noticed or much cared

about the happening of that day. Without any fanfare or sense of

destiny, she proudly brought forth into the world her fifth child,

black-haired Moshe (Moses) Cerullo.

No one in Passaic on that October day in 1931 could have

possibly sensed any historical significance in that birth.

Mama Bertha did not sense it.

Joseph, the Italian father, would not have sensed the historical

significance of the child even if a supernatural lightning bolt

blazed a message in front of his house. You see, poor Joseph sat

silently in a back room, almost unconscious, in a drunken stupor.

Only the heavens, with bright rays of sunshine piercing the

New Jersey clouds, seemed to understand the day. In this one

divinely ordained moment a child was born who would have an

enormous impact on the history of the Jew and on the eternal

destiny of the nations of the world.

16

CHAPTER TWO

A FOOTBALL IN THE

2

JUNKYARD OF LIFE

he young boy instinctively knew something serious had

happened, "Why ya crying, Abe?" Morris asked his older

Tbrother.

"Because Mama won't be around to take care of us any more,

Morris. She's gone to be with God. Our mama is gone."

Young boys are not very sensitive in their explanations of

death. Straight talk, right from the gut. More tears.

But Abe's words did not fully impact little two-year-old Morris

the way they would have shocked an adult. Their significance

simply could not sink into his young, inexperienced mind. "Gone"

meant she had "gone" to the store, or she had "gone" into another

room.

His mama's permanent disappearance from the home simply

did not register.

"When is she coming back?" Morris asked, sure this question

would settle some of his confusion and put the universe right

17

THE CHOSEN WARRIOR

again.

Abe just put his arm around his little brother and hugged him.

"You've always got your questions, don't ya, little brother?

Well, this is one time I can't give you an answer you'll like.

Mama's not coming back, little buddy," Abe spoke in a barely

audible whisper, "she's not coming back."

Morris strained to grasp the words, but his mind refused to

process the finality of Abe's message.

Over the next few weeks, Morris began slowly to understand

what it meant for Mama Bertha to be gone. He started to notice

small parts of his life changing.

Mama's reassuring hugs disappeared, rudely replaced by the

rantings and rages of a drunken dad, whose spirit was ravaged by

the hopelessness of the Great Depression and by his wife's death.

The unceasing tirades of his father made Morris long even more

for his mama's tender touch.

Frances, Pauline, Bernice and Abraham all seemed more

serious now. They didn't want to play games much anymore. Oh,

they'd play sometimes, but not for very long, and without the

frequent laughter that used to make up a part of each day.

"What did I do wrong? Why doesn't anyone like me anymore?"

Morris sobbed to himself. His whole world seemed to be changing

and he couldn't understand why. Loneliness and anger increasingly

became his only childhood companions.

One day, Joseph started drinking even earlier than usual. In an

angry, quivering voice, he ordered his five children to "Go into

your rooms and put your clothes and shoes into paper bags. You

will be staying with someone else for awhile."

And so, with no warning or explanation, another sudden

change shook the soul of little Morris.

Later that cold, devastating day, a large black car drove up to

the Cerullo household. The driver instructed the five confused

18

A FOOTBALL IN THE JUNKYARD OF LIFE

children to put their sacks into the trunk and to get in.

They obeyed.

The next few years became a blur of black cars.

Morris learned a new word: "orphanage."

He also learned the meaning of that new word.

"An orphanage is a place where you go and stay for awhile and

nobody really cares if you are there or not."

At age four, Morris learned another new word: "foster home."

*

*

*

Roy Hopkins and his wife lived in Teaneck, New Jersey, and

were known around the community as decent folks with caring

hearts. The Orthodox Jewish junk dealer possessed two acres of

old tires, worn-out batteries, piles of brass, iron, and aluminum,

and various assorted used car parts.

Old Roy had about everything you'd ever need on that two

acres.

Except kids.

When the black car left their house that day, the Hopkins'

family increased by five.

And it made sense when you think about it.

Roy spent most his life collecting old, worthless tires. He took

those tired tires back to his junkyard, wrapped them in a coat of hot

new rubber, put a shiny new tread on them and gave them new life.

Roy Hopkins was in the recycling business.

Old iron was sold to be fired into new car parts. Old batteries,

unable to start a car, were cleaned up and given fresh chemicals to

spark new life.

Giving new life to worthless waste was his trade, so it seemed

logical that he could work his restoration magic with the Cerullo

children.

19

THE CHOSEN WARRIOR

But balding tires, dead batteries, and rusty hunks of iron do not

feel pain, anger, hurt or loneliness. Tires don't mind sitting in a

stinky junkyard for two months or two years until someone comes

to make them whole.

Children do.

Even at four, Morris knew that moving into the junkyard with

Mr. Hopkins was not something that he would brag about to his

imaginary friends. Oh no, the junkyard was not the castle of

childhood dreams.

Morris felt like an unwanted football in the game of life. Every

time someone caught him, they'd kick him, throw him or pound

him into the ground. Now Morris felt the game was over, and

they'd brought him to the junkyard to rot and die.

*

*

*

"No, I won't do it," the fiery-eyed, defiant five-year-old

declared, refusing to apologize for the fight. "He started it in the

first place. Called me 'a dirty Jew.' He's the one who should

apologize."

The scrappy young man clearly was not intimidated by the

school authority standing over him.

"I don't care what you do to me, I won't apologize to that jerk. I

hit him once, and if he calls me 'a dirty Jew' again, I'll break his

nose."

Morris had simultaneously issued a declaration of war against

all Jew-haters and against all authority, knowing full well every

ounce of ammunition the opposing arsenals possessed.

"Why you impudent little brat. Sticks and stones will break

your bones, but words will never hurt you. You've got to stop

fighting every time somebody says something you don't like. Now

get into my office this minute. I'll show you who's boss," the

principal declared, mistakenly thinking she was in control of this

situation.

20

A FOOTBALL IN THE JUNKYARD OF LIFE

Morris knew precisely what was coming and fully realized that

the opponent had nothing that could possibly penetrate his tough

armor.

As often as it was used for this one purpose, the principal's

paddle probably should have had the words "For the body of

Morris Cerullo, troublemaker" engraved on its flat front. However,

for all the good it did, the paddle belonged back in the junkyard

with other useless items.

With every whack the young rebel absorbed, his body and

mind became more determined, toughened and resistive to the

constant challenges of anti-Semitism and authority in his life.

With each whack, he vowed that nothing would break him.

Despite the physical pain, Morris showed no visible expression on

his face, refusing to let even one single tear to flow from his eyes.

Nothing or no one would ever again make this orphan Jew

think he was a worthless football to be kicked around from

orphanage to orphanage, from foster home to foster home, from

one junkyard to another.

At the early age of five, Morris had instinctively learned how

to survive. No foster home, no orphanage, no prejudiced classmate

and no school principal was ever again going to determine his

value as a person. They could place him in an orphanage, beat him

with a paddle, call him 'a dirty Jew' or stick him in a junkyard. It

didn't matter.

At five, that decision Morris made would determine the

direction of his life. No circumstance or opponent would ever

again determine the course of his destiny. No matter what he faced,

somehow, some way, he'd overcome the challenge and move on.

By six-and-a-half years of age, the beatings and the rejections

became common. After a particularly painful paddling by his

principal, Morris defiantly stared at her, then turned and walked

away, cursing under his breath.

"You don't have to take this," a small voice inside his throbbing

21

THE CHOSEN WARRIOR

head told him. "It is time to once again run away."

Outside the schoolhouse, in the bright sunlight of day, young

Morris started to walk briskly along the nearby railroad tracks as

though they were the path to his future. Step by step he followed

the tracks right through the local marshes and into the smelly

swamps.

He walked quickly, sure that when the principal discovered he

was gone she'd organize a search party to bring him home and

stick him into a boy's prison. After all, this would be the third time

he would appear before a reformatory school board. The two other

times he had been returned to the foster home, but he didn't think it

would happen again.

The police did pursue Morris, and eventually caught up with

him, sitting exhausted on an old sycamore log in the cold mud of

the swamp. The warmth of the police car was little solace to a

young boy who hated his foster home and school and who didn't

want to return to either. He'd rather risk the uncertainty of a night

in the wetlands with the wild dogs and snakes than spend another

night in the tiny attic bedroom where he slept with his brother and

three sisters.

*

*

*

"Thank you, officer," his foster-mother gushed as she gladly

greeted the officer and the orphan at the door. "We've been so

worried about the little lad," she continued, grabbing Morris firmly

by the hair, pulling him roughly inside the house.

Morris knew what was coming next.

As if to affirm his contempt for her authority, Morris yelled at

the top of his lungs, "I'll run away again...just as soon as I get

another chance."

No sooner did the door slam than his head was yanked down

into the cellar where the Cerullo children were forced to eat their

meals. The foster-mother took off her shoe and began to beat the

22

A FOOTBALL IN THE JUNKYARD OF LIFE

boy with the spiked end.

Once.

Twice.

Again and again until his body could no longer stand up under

the blows and sunk to the floor.

But his spirit could not be broken.

Sent off to bed without supper, Morris could still be heard

cursing underneath his breath, "You can go to hell."

Before the bruises from the beating had healed, Morris once

again rode in a black car, this time to a gentile orphanage in

Passaic, New Jersey, where he stayed only a few months.

This trip radiated pain.

For the first time, the family unit of brothers and sisters was

broken. Abe went into the service, Frances got married and Pauline

went to live with friends.

The family was forever fractured and Morris's life was put on

hold. The orphanage represented only a temporary holding place

until a proper Orthodox Jewish orphanage could be located, where

Morris would "be with his own kind."

But the learning process for the orphan kid continued. He

discovered how to collect cigarette butts off the dirty streets on his

way to school and how to suck a few extra puffs out of them as he

hid in the school basement.

This short session of "street smart" education lasted only about

sixty days. Soon both Morris and his sister, Bernice, were

transferred to their final orphanage, The Daughters of Miriam, in

Clifton, New Jersey.

23

CHAPTER THREE

A PRIMER FOR

3

PREJUDICE, A PATTERN

FOR PAIN

n November of 1938, mobs of Nazis smashed the windows of

synagogues and stores owned by Jews, leaving the streets and

Isidewalks littered with glass shards that gave the night its

poetic name—Kristallnacht, or Crystal Night.

Nearly one hundred Jews were killed, and thousands more

were beaten up and tormented.

Immediately after Crystal Night, twenty thousand well-to-do

Jews were arrested. They would be the first of over six million

Jews eventually herded into German concentration camps to be

tortured, starved, and eventually, shot or gassed.

Hitler publicly proclaimed, "During my struggle for power, the

Jews laughed at my prophecies that I would someday assume the

leadership of the state. I suppose that the laughing of Jewry is now

choking in their throats.

25

THE CHOSEN WARRIOR

"Today I will be a prophet again.

"If international finance Jewry should succeed once more in

plunging the peoples into a world war, then the consequence will

not be the Bolshevization of the world and a victory of Jewry, but

on the contrary, the destruction of the Jewish race in Europe."

Few understood, at the moment of that odious speech, that

Hitler literally intended to destroy the entire Jewish race!

In early 1939, the Nazi government started the systematic

killing of "worthless and useless" deformed and retarded children.

Special "children's centers" in twenty-one hospitals faithfully

carried out the killings.

In 1939, the Nazis produced a primer in prejudice, a pattern for

pain. Hundreds of thousands of foolish followers throughout the

world began to accept the lies. Jews were portrayed in cartoons, in

movies and on the radio as bloated, greedy, swarthy, child-

molesting, malevolent scoundrels.

In 1939, anti-Semitic campaigns, spearheaded in Germany,

began to fan across Europe and wash upon the shores of America,

polluting even the neighborhood of The Daughters of Miriam

Orphanage with the poison of prejudice.

Jews were likened to rats.

"They carry disease" warned a movie produced in Germany

called "The Eternal Jew." Some of the biggest movie houses in the

world showed this vile film.

And in 1939, the state of New York placed the Jew, Morris

Cerullo, into The Daughers of Miriam Orphanage, where he could

be with his own kind of people.

The serene physical setting of the orphanage camouflaged the

agony, rejection, frustration, and pain little Morris would continue

to experience.

The beautiful green grass on both sides of the main building

bid a warm "welcome" to visitors, but to the young child the grass

26

A PRIMER FOR PREJUDICE, A PATTERN FOR PAIN

represented a green warning zone that separated the orphanage

from the outside world. Instead of "Keep off the Grass," Morris

silently thought the sign should read, "Beware of Jews."

The well-maintained ball fields shouted "play ball" to the non-

Jewish observer, but Morris knew the ballfields were built because

he would not be allowed to "play ball" with the public school kids.

The wooded area behind the orphanage invited exploration and

adventure, but the rules and regulations of the orphanage strictly

declared that "For your own protection, you are forbidden from

wandering off into the woods alone."

On one side of the orphanage sat a picturesque farm that could

have been snatched from a Norman Rockwell painting. Morris

would soon discover that the word "farm" really meant "work." His

primary chore would be to pick the tomatoes.

The young orphan had no real awareness that his older Jewish

counterparts, on the other side of the world, were also being

separated and orphaned from their families and ordered to provide

the physical work force in the concentration camps, so that the

Germans could continue to increase their war effort.

Family was important to the Germans and to the Jews. That's

why the orphanage was called "Daughters of Miriam." It sounded

wholesome and warm, like family.

Yet the younger boys stayed in dormitories, fifteen to a room,

in long rows of single beds. "Looks like a damn concentration

camp," one of the newer recruits once uttered upon his introduction

to the orphanage setting.

One very huge building housed a synagogue, a gym, a dining

room and nurse's quarters. Some said it was so the Jews could

pray, play, eat and get sick—separate from the rest of New Jersey.

These Jewish orphans lived isolated from society and separated

from each other. Men and boys lived in one wing, women and girls

lived in another.

27

THE CHOSEN WARRIOR

The elderly, abandoned, unwanted Jews lived in a huge, two-

story, U-shaped yellow-brick building with a pleasant curved

driveway, that made it convenient for their few Saturday visitors to

easily come and go.

The Daughters of Miriam radiated a clean, institutional

environment and simultaneously represented both separation and

solace to those young boys and girls, men and women, and elderly

Jews who lived there. These brick buildings were their only

protection from the outside atmosphere of prejudice, hatred and

pain that was ever-increasing in the Hitler heyday of the late

thirties.

*

*

*

"This way, Master Morris," Rabbi Gold instructed, leading the

young boy down the hall. "I understand you can be quite a

problem. Well, I think we've come up with a few solutions to your

shenanigans. To help you stop getting into so many fights, I've

decided to put you in with the older boys. Don't think you'll give

them quite the guff you're used to dishing out."

Morris followed, not saying a word.

Rabbi Gold continued.

"Of course, you'll be expected to follow all the rules and to

pitch in with the chores. You'll have a shift at washing

dishes...you'll clean fish on Fridays...and you look strong enough,"

Rabbi Gold said, feeling the start of a muscle on Morris's arm

before he had a chance to pull away, "so you will learn how to run

the potato peeling machine. You'll also be expected to...."

As the rabbi continued to recite the endless litany of rules and

regulations, Morris's mind drifted off in more sinister directions,

already sizing up the vulnerability of the institution, noticing locks,

unlatched windows and anything tempting he might steal.

*

*

*

28

A PRIMER FOR PREJUDICE, A PATTERN FOR PAIN

The white handkerchief pressed against his face could not hide

the evidence. Morris had just returned from the public school he

attended and from one of his frequent after-school fights.

"Another bloody nose at school today, Master Morris?" asked

Rabbi Gold, shaking his head. "When are you ever going to stop

this nonsense?"

"When they stop calling me a kike," Morris snapped, trying to

sound brave and tough, but inwardly worn by the constant

degradation and isolation each day seemed to bring. "What's the

use of fighting anymore," Morris thought as his nose throbbed in

pain. "What's the use of fighting anymore. I hit one guy, and

another pops up. I can't beat them all. There's just too many of

them, and there's only one of me. And I'm getting awful tired."

Morris jolted from his depressive thoughts at the familiar voice

of Rabbi Gold.

"Well, go get some ice out of the kitchen and put it on that

thing before it swells up twice as big," the rabbi said, smiling a bit

and sounding as compassionate as Morris had ever heard him. "But

hurry up though," he quickly added, as if to reassert his authority,

"Torah class is in ten minutes."

"Who cares about that damn class anyway," Morris thought to

himself. "It's like learning about the history of a junkyard. The only

one proud of it is the junkyard owner. I hate being a Jew," Morris

thought with every throb of his nose.

As he continued down the hallway, another young orphan

named Joey, totally unaware of the raging fire now burning almost

out of control in Morris, made a remark he would instantly regret.

"Well, Morris, looks like they got the best of you in school

today."

Morris erupted.

Instantly, and before Joey could throw a punch, he was flat on

the floor facing a flurry of flying fists.

29

THE CHOSEN WARRIOR

Once.

Twice.

Again and again Morris pummeled the poor boy. Finally, in

one final thrust, he hit Joey's face so hard that it bounced back up

off the floor, his forehead plowing into Morris's mouth, chipping

one of Morris's teeth.

"My God," yelled Rabbi Gold upon catching the last part of

this violent scene, "I do believe you've gone crazy." He ran over

and pulled the possessed young man off the confused and hurting

Joey.

Morris had to be restrained for several minutes by Rabbi Gold

before he finally calmed down. "I'll kill 'em, I'll kill 'em, I'll kill

'em," he kept shouting in a rage that clearly was not intended for

just Joey.

When the blood from the nose had stopped and the rage from

his soul had subsided, they took Morris to the hospital for

emergency care to his tooth. Eventually, the tooth would be

capped, but there was no earthly doctor available who could cap

the anger, the rage and the pain still throbbing inside the body of

that little orphan.

Joey never said another careless word to Morris "Madman"

Cerullo.

That night, while in bed, but not able to sleep, Morris wept

bitterly.

"It just isn't gonna stop," he sobbed to himself. "I can't take it

any more. I'm sick of the fighting. My nose hurts. My tooth aches.

My heart hurts. I just can't take it anymore. I hate being a Jew and

an orphan."

Morris finally stopped crying. He decided at that moment that

there was a perfect, permanent solution to his pain.

The young eight-year-old quietly got up from his bed, and

slowly walked down the long hallway to the bathroom. He noticed

30

A PRIMER FOR PREJUDICE, A PATTERN FOR PAIN

the hallway clock said 2:00 a.m.

As he entered the bathroom, Morris methodically checked to

make sure no one followed him. He then walked over to the

bathroom window and stood silently, staring out from the second

story.

For the last six years he'd been without a mother, had seen his

drunken father only two times, and was now separated from all of

his family except one sister. This alienation from his family, his

schoolmates, and from society had finally taken its devastating toll

on the young man's seemingly indomitable spirit.

On this night, when other children dreamed of fairy tale worlds

and sand castle kingdoms, Morris plotted his suicide.

Slowly he slid the wooden-framed window up and climbed out

on the cold ledge, looking at the hard and unyielding concrete

down below.

"All I need to do is just jump off and it will all be over,"

thought young Morris, honestly wanting this quick action to end

the pain in his heart.

He jumped a bit when he heard a cricket announcing the

lateness of the evening.

Morris got into a crouch, poising himself to leap once and for

all away from the frustrations, the angers, the isolation and the hurt

of this life.

In just a few seconds it would all be over.

He took one last deep breath, and it seemed like his heart

stopped beating. For an instant, the entire universe stopped,

suddenly silent and still, waiting to watch the final seconds of this

young eight-year-old boy's life.

"Who's that," Morris whispered, suddenly aware of the

presence of another being.

He slowly and carefully turned and looked back into the

washroom to see who would try and stop his leap.

31

THE CHOSEN WARRIOR

The washroom was empty.

Yet, Morris knew he was not alone.

In a solitary instant, the entire evening suddenly radiated a

peace that surpassed all his youthful understanding. He looked

down, then finally, upward at the beautiful stars and moon with all

their brightness and glory.

"My God, what a beautiful sight," he thought to himself,

actually suspended in time, physically paralyzed by the serene and

overwhelmingly beautiful scene in the heavens.

At that moment, Morris experienced a peculiar sensation from

the crown of his head to the soles of his feet. It rocketed through

his unmoving body, painlessly burning out all the unwanted

feelings and emotions along the way.

Suddenly, his nose stopped hurting.

His tooth stopped throbbing.

His heart stopped aching.

His very soul now seemed strangely cleansed and calm.

His anger ceased.

At a time in history when millions of innocent Jews were about

to be slaughtered in far away Germany, somehow, for some reason

unknown to this tiny little orphan Jew, a powerful presence from a

heavenly source intervened and preserved his life.

Morris, the orphan, instinctively knew that in this vast universe

he was no longer alone.

Morris Cerullo knew someone, somewhere, cared very deeply

about him!

Unconsciously, he climbed back inside the safety of the

washroom, his eyes still fixed upward, his heart greatly calmed by

the supernatural presence.

The anger, the distress, the despondency that drove him down

the hall that night had dissipated.

32

A PRIMER FOR PREJUDICE, A PATTERN FOR PAIN

Morris noticed the hall clock now read 2:45 a.m. as he floated

back to his bed, peaceful for the first time in six years.

Somehow, in forty-five minutes that had seemed to zip past as

forty-five seconds, the life of Morris Cerullo would never be the

same.

33

CHAPTER FOUR

CHILD OF THE LAKE

4

any of you soon will be experiencing Bar Mitz-vah, one

of the most sacred events of your Jewish heritage,"

MRabbi Gold declared to the small group of Jewish boys

who sat listening to his teaching.

"Bar Mitzvah means 'son of the commandment,' and is

intended to remind you that our Jewish law assumes a child is a

religiously responsible adult at the age of thirteen plus one day."

For once, Morris did not mind being in class. The strange, yet

somehow sacred events of the night before on that window ledge

eased his resentment for Jewish history, and replaced it with an

incomprehensible peace—and yes, even a sense of inquisitiveness

towards his heritage.

Rabbi Gold continued.

"Now, since one of the privileges of the Jewish adult is being

called upon to read the Torah, the first Torah-reading service after

you reach thirteen is an important occasion. It is the first time you

can publicly declare your allegiance to the Torah. Unfortunately, in

this day and age, Bar Mitzvah has mainly come to be associated

35

THE CHOSEN WARRIOR

with festivities and fun."

At that remark, the entire group of Jewish orphans all cheered

wildly. Even Morris laughed as he thought to himself, "Maybe

something good can come from this Bar Mitzvah stuff yet!"

"Rabbi Gold," one of the students asked respectfully, "where is

Bar Mitzvah mentioned in the Torah?"

"It isn't," Rabbi Gold replied. "Jewish historians trace the Bar

Mitzvah ceremony back about four hundred to six hundred years.

But just because it is not mentioned in the Torah does not make it

not so. Did you know that the Ten Commandments are never

called that in the Bible or in Hebrew! In fact, there aren't and never

were ten commandments.''

"Ah, come on," one of the more pessimistic young minds

objected, "everybody knows there are ten commandments."

"Not so," Rabbi Gold continued confidently. "The first of this

group of laws is not stated as a command, but as an assertion of

fact: "I am the Lord Thy God.' What follows is a series of moral

precepts, not commandments. In rabbinic literature, the entire

group is called Asereth Hadibroth, which means 'ten sayings.' The

Bible itself, in Deuteronomy 4:13 and 10:4, refers to them not as

Ten Commandments but as Asereth Hadevarim, or 'ten words.'"

Today, instead of finding this class boring and tedious, Morris

noticed something unusual happening. He actually was interested

in what Rabbi Gold was saying about the Torah. He picked up his

pencil and started to take notes.

Rabbi Gold noticed the change in Morris as he continued to

teach.

"And I'll tell you another thing that's interesting. For example,

Mr. Morris, did you know that your own name, Moses, is not

technically Hebraic?"

"No sir," Morris replied, surprised at his own respectfulness.

"That's right. It's derived from the language of Israel's ancient

36

CHILD OF THE LAKE

enemy, Egypt. 'Moses' is Egyptian for 'Child of the Lake,' and this

was the name given by the Pharoah's daughter to the baby she

spotted in a cradle floating in the Nile."

"How similar we were," Morris thought to himself. "Moses lost

his real mom, and so did I. Moses was put in a basket and shipped

from one place to another. Instead of a basket, I got a black car."

"What about the word 'Jew,' Rabbi Gold, where does that come

from?" one of the elder students asked, snapping Morris back to

attention.

"That's a good question," the Rabbi answered, never stumped

by their challenges. "The term 'Jew' does not appear in the five

books of Moses and is used for the first time in the Book of Esther,

which tells of the persecution of the Jews in Persia around twenty-

three hundred years ago. The word 'Jew' evolved from the name of

Jacob's son, Judah, which means 'to praise God.'"

"Yeah, that's what it meant then," one of the more hardened

orphans complained, "but today it just means you are scum or

someone to make fun of and use as a punching bag."

A single chorus of "yeahs" went up in the classroom. Not one

young man sitting in that classroom had escaped the now anti-

Semitic movement sweeping across the world.

Rabbi Gold couldn't help but notice that today was one of those

rare classes when the student's interest was actually perked to a

peak of enthusiastic participation.

"How about Jerusalem? What does that mean, Rabbi Gold?"

another student asked.

"Jerusalem means 'City of Peace,'" the seasoned teacher

responded, "but ironically it has been ruled by fourteen different

peoples."

He recited the next two sentences without even glancing at his

notes.

"The Canaanites, Israelites, Egyptians, Assyrians, Babylonians,

37

THE CHOSEN WARRIOR

Persians, Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Saracens, Arabs, the

Crusaders, Ottoman Turks and the British. Miraculously, through

all these conquests, from the time the Jews entered the Promised

Land, Jerusalem has never lost its Jewish associations."

Now it was Morris's turn to ask a question.

"Why is there so much hatred for us today?"

"That's a complicated question, Master Morris," Rabbi Gold

responded. "The Jewish race has been hated almost since the

beginning of time. Even today, the Germans who yell so loudly

that we are the source of all evil really owe the settlement of their

land to Jews. The Jews lived in Germany before the Germans did!"

"Is that really true, Rabbi Gold?" another student asked.

"Yes, the Jews lived in Germany before the destruction of the

Second Temple. In the beginning of the fourth century, they had an

organized community in Cologne, with a synagogue, lay leaders

and, of course, rabbis. The rights of this Jewish enclave were laid

down in an edict by the Emperor Constantine in the year 321 A.D.

Not until later did the Teutons cross the Rhine and settle in the old

Roman province. Until then, a person could be better understood in

Cologne if he spoke Hebrew rather than German!"

The class erupted in a unified expression of delight. Suddenly,

they were very proud of their heritage.

"And that's not all," Rabbi Gold continued hurriedly, not

wanting to lose the magic of this moment. "Although we only

make up one percent of Germany's population, we have sixteen

percent of the practicing lawyers, ten percent of the doctors and

dentists, and seventeen percent of the bankers!"

Again, cheers exploded in the classroom.

Rabbi Gold smiled proudly.

At least on this one day he knew his knowledge was getting

through to his young minds.

"Be proud of your Jewishness," he instructed them. "When this

38

CHILD OF THE LAKE

great country was founded, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams and

Thomas Jefferson knew Jewish history so well that they wanted the

seal of the United States to depict the Israelites escaping from

Egypt."

The class cheered again.

"And that's not all," Rabbi Gold hastened to continue, now

caught up in the excitement of the moment. "Did you know that the

very inscription on our Liberty Bell, 'Proclaim liberty throughout

all the land unto all inhabitants thereof,' comes from the Jewish

Bible?

"That's right," he continued, not waiting for their answer. "It's

in Leviticus 25:10, in reference to the ancient Israelites' celebration

of the jubilee, the fifty-year anniversary when the land was

allowed to lie fallow, debts were forgiven, slaves were freed, and

everyone began anew."

Cheers, clapping, and frenzy.

Rabbi Gold hadn't played baseball since he was a boy, but on

this day he felt as though he'd just hit a home run!

For a few meaningful moments of temporary escape from the

real world, being a Jew did not seem so bad to these now cheering

young men.

Morris's mind began to wander at the rabbi's last words.

Forgiven.

Freed.

Begin anew.

They sounded so familiar and comforting.

Those very words perfectly described the feeling of his own

supernatural experience from the night before.

"Maybe the God of Israel is telling me that that this is my time

of jubilee," Morris thought, writing down the words "Leviticus

25:10" in his notebook.

39

CHAPTER FIVE

STORM BEFORE THE

5

CALM

ver since she got religion at that Baptist revival meeting,"

her husband claimed, "she's just not the same woman I

Emarried."

And he was right.

When Ethel Kerr started to serve God, her marriage became a

daily arena of unceasing conflict. She wanted to place her family

under God's biblical standards and Mr. Kerr demanded to keep

things "just the way they are."

Marital disagreements in the Kerr household became

increasingly frequent and volatile.

"How the hell can you talk to God?" Ethel's confused husband

shouted as he banged the table with his fist. "I've never heard of

such nonsense. Ethel, I don't know what's happened to you, but

you've changed. You know that? You've changed."

"If you'd just let me pray with you," the lovely young wife

patiently replied, "you will begin to feel what I feel, to know what

41

THE CHOSEN WARRIOR

I am learning, to understand how God can guide our lives. I don't

hear Him in an audible voice, but I know when He's talking to me,

and I know He hears my prayers."

"You've really gone over the edge, Ethel," her husband sighed,

throwing up his hands and walking out of the room. "I give up. I

just give up. I can't even talk to you anymore," she could hear him

say as he slammed the front door on his way out into the night.

After what seemed like an eternity of these nonproductive

marital conflicts and after exhausting every other possibility, Ethel

Kerr was finally forced to leave her husband, her two children and

her secure home to start a new life.

Alone.

She left home with only a few dollars and the clothes on her

back and her precious Bible.

She immediately began to look for steady work to support

herself. Many a day Ethel walked the dirty streets between job

interviews, desperately looking for lost dimes and nickles in the

gutters to buy herself a cup of soup or a loaf of stale, day-old

bread.

Years ago, she had worked as a practical nurse.

"Perhaps I can get another job in the nursing field," she mused

as she bought a newspaper with the bold, black heading, "Hitler's

Troops Invade Soviet Union."

Indeed, World War II was escalating, but Ethel Kerr hardly

noticed. Every day she fought her own private war just to survive,

waging battle after battle against invisible enemies like hunger,

loneliness and despair.

For the next few difficult and frustrating years, Ethel struggled

through job after job, living with one constantly nagging question.

"Lord," she asked repeatedly, "how is this life I'm living going to

make any difference in your vast, eternal plan?"

One night, after a particularly long and demanding day, Ethel's

42

STORM BEFORE THE CALM

spirit sunk into deep despair when she came home from work.

"Lord, let me die," she cried tearfully. "Take me home to You. I

can't stand this life any longer. What are you waiting for? Take me

home to be with You."

After this tragic prayer of utter desperation, she slouched down

in the one small chair in her barren apartment and grabbed a

magazine up off the floor. She began to flip through the pages

when her eyes noticed this poem by Ira Sankey.

She began to read:

Not now, my child, a little more rough tossing,

A little longer on the billows foam:

A few more journeyings in the desert darkness,

And then the sunshine of thy Father's home.

Not now, for I have wanderers in the distance,

And thou must call them in with patient love:

Not now, for I have loved ones sad and weary,

Wilt thou not cheer them with a kindly smile?

Sick ones who need thee in their lonely sorrow,

Wilt thou not tend them yet a little while?

Not now, for wounded hearts are sorely bleeding,

And thou must teach those widowed hearts to sing:

Not now, for orphan's tears are quickly falling,

They must be gathered 'neath some sheltering wing"

(emphasis added).

There was more to the poem, but the "not now" message rang

so loudly in her heart that it felt like a man with a hammer in his

hand was banging the Liberty Bell right there in her small living

room.

Another single tear carefully made its way down her pretty

cheek. "Yes, Lord," she whispered, "I do understand. "Someday I

will be with You in heaven, but 'not now.' You still have a job for

me to do.

"Oh God, I beg Your forgiveness for my impatience in serving

43

THE CHOSEN WARRIOR

you," she continued, "and for my cowardly despair. Lord, I stand

willing to obey Your will and do as You direct. Amen."

As she prayed, her mind suddenly remembered a strange

scripture which she had come across in her Bible study only a few

days before. She had felt then that the message was for her, but

didn't understand what it meant:

"Take counsel, execute judgment; make thy shadow as the

night in the midst of the noonday; hide the outcasts; bewray not

him that wandereth. Let mine outcasts dwell with thee" (Isaiah

16:3-4; emphasis added).

"That's it," she thought to herself. "God knows that I'm living

as an outcast and now I'm being directed to reach out to society's

outcasts, the orphans."

Her small part in a larger supernatural plan now seemed much

much clearer.

A few days later, in another time of prayer, Ethel noticed a

special scripture for her further specific guidance.

"...be not afraid of them neither be afraid of their words, though

briers and thorns be with thee, and thou dost dwell among

scorpions: be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their

looks, though they be a rebellious house....But thou...hear what I

say unto thee; Be not thou rebellious like that rebellious house:

open thy mouth, and eat that I give thee....Get thee unto the house

of Israel and speak with my words unto them. For thou art not sent

to a people of a strange speech and of an hard language, but to the

house of Israel" (Ezekiel 2:6-3:5, passim; emphasis added).

Until that moment, Ethel had felt in her heart that God wanted

her to go to a foreign country as a missionary. But with this

scripture, she now knew differently.

"How can I be a missionary if God is not calling me to a land

with 'strange speech,'" she reasoned. "It seems my Lord wants me

to stay here in America and minister to the 'house of Israel,' the

Jews in my own land who speak my own language."

44

STORM BEFORE THE CALM

After years of patient and difficult waiting, after years of

wandering in the uncertain wilderness of jobs and provision, God's

plan for her life now seemed clearer. Like the Jews of old who had

fled from Egypt, she had spent her time in the desert, and now God

was ready to lead her to the Promised Land!

A few weeks later, Ethel received a letter from the president of

the Hebrew Christian Synagogue.

"Dear Mrs. Kerr,

As you know, the Hebrew Christian Synagogue has a major

outreach to the Jews here in New York City. Today, I would like to

formally offer you a position as a full-time worker on my staff. I

believe you will be of great assistance in our outreach to the Jews.

Hope to see you soon in New York."

Ethel held the letter lightly in her palms as if she were holding

a sacred document written by the very hand of God. This seemed

to be heaven itself opening up to her!

Without a moment's hesitation, she immediately gave notice to

her employer of just a few weeks and made the necessary

preparations to go to New York, At last, God's plan for her life was

coming to pass.

How exciting it would be to work full-time with God's chosen

people, the Jews! The difficult years of hardship, loneliness, worry

and self-sacrifice had at last all been worth it.

The next few weeks seemed like months, but finally, the time

arrived when she would take the train for New York. Alone in her

room the night before she was to leave, a most peculiar sensation

came over her.

Ethel felt sick all over her body.

Strength began to drain from her arms and legs.

"Oh God, please don't let me become sick now," she cried out

into the darkness of her room. "You know I must go to New York

tomorrow to begin my work for Thee. Please help me."

45

THE CHOSEN WARRIOR

In this passionate prayer, God spoke to her spirit words she did

not understand. "My servant, if you will obey, I will heal you. Do

not go to New York."

Ethel could not believe the sudden turn of events.

"But Lord, the door is open," Ethel replied, dumbfounded by

the order. "You have made the way for me.

"If you will obey me and not go," God answered, "I will heal

you of this sickness by morning."

Ethel, confused and distressed by this bizarre shift in direction,

nevertheless vowed to obey God.

She slipped into bed and slept quietly all night. The next

morning, she woke perfectly refreshed.

All her signs of sickness had disappeared.

Since there were only a few dollars left out of her final pay

from her last job, she got a morning newspaper and once again

began the arduous process of answering the "help-wanted" ads.

She journeyed to one interview, then another, frequently having

the door closed right in her face.

One night, she went back to her room, tired and discouraged,

and cried out from her heart, "Oh Lord, what shall I do? I have

obeyed You. What shall I do now? You must help me."

After praying, she wearily collapsed into her chair and glanced

through the newspaper again, noticing an ad she'd somehow

neglected to see before. It read: "Daughters of Miriam Orphanage,

Old People's Home. Practical nurse wanted."

Those words seemed to jump right out of the page. The more

she tried to disregard those words, the more they kept jumping out

at her. "Lord, this advertisement is referring to a Jewish Home,

can't You read?"

Then, as if in a slight rebuke, God spoke to her spirit and said,

"I can read. Can't you hear? I want you to answer this

advertisement. I will go before you. I will make a way where there

46

STORM BEFORE THE CALM

is no way. I have spoken and I shall bring it to pass."

47

CHAPTER SIX

LIGHT UNDER THE

6

COVERS

t was 1:57 a.m. The entire orphanage was peacefully sleeping,

except for two mischievous teenage boys who quietly made

Itheir way from their beds through the long, narrow corridor.

"God, is this exciting," one whispered a bit too loudly.

"Shut up," Morris snapped. "We don't want anyone to hear us."

The two young men gingerly tiptoed down the flight of stairs

leading to the first floor. Their hearts were beating so fast and so

loudly that Morris wondered how those sleeping could not hear the

noise.

Finally, the two young men stood at the end of another long

corridor which led to the orphanage office where the safe was kept.

Like two professional thieves, they carefully and quietly

opened up the office door, which offered only one tiny squeak of

protest.

Immediately, they entered the room and walked straight to the

49

THE CHOSEN WARRIOR

old iron safe in the corner.

Morris took out a flat metal object and began to pry at the safe

door. He put all of his shoulder weight behind the metal bar, using

the best leverage he could, but to no avail.

The safe door would not budge.

"Damn," the two boys said simultaneously. "I didn't think this

old thing would be that strong," Morris whispered. "Guess we'll

have to look somewhere else for our money."

"Hey, what about the petty cash box?" the other boy suggested.

"There's always something in there."

With a quick change in plans, the two would-be-thieves quietly

hurried over to the desk drawer where the petty cash box was kept.

Morris knew right where it was located since he'd often seen Rabbi

Gold fetch it to pay for the deliveries of ice for the icebox.

Inch by inch, as if uncovering a sacred treasure, the two

villains slowly slipped open the cash box. There they were—

several crisp dollar bills just sitting there, waiting to be spent!

They took out every bill in the box and silently made their way

out of the office, shut the squeaky door and headed down to the

cellar where they could safely count their booty.

"Morris, this is great. I can't believe we got away with it," the

younger accomplice said in a high-toned, excited whisper. "But

how do we get out of here to spend it?"

"Why that's no problem," Morris replied very calmly, with a

cocky, arrogant tone in his voice. "When you've been here as long

as I have, you know these things."

Morris, the burglar, now became Morris, the carpenter,

electrician, and escape artist.

Carefully, Morris removed the wooden baseboard from the

wall, exposing a long electric line.

"This wire connects with the main alarm system," Morris

50

LIGHT UNDER THE COVERS

explained to his junior partner in crime. "All we have to do is

disconnect these two wires right here, and presto, we are free."

Back in the forties, alarm systems were not as sophisticated as

they are today. Who knows, perhaps clever young thieves like

Morris inspired some inventor to create an alarm system that

activates whenever there's a break in the line. But for tonight, no

such system existed, and so Morris and his admiring friend were

now free to leave the orphanage without any alarms announcing

their exit.

Sneaking out the orphanage front door, the two delinquents

enjoyed a night of freedom and fun, buying cigarettes, drinking

alcohol, and spending every last dollar bill they had stolen.

At 7:17 a.m., Rabbi Gold walked into his office and discovered

the robbery. Upstairs, Master Morris and his friend were just

getting out of bed, pretending, in the best tradition of amateur

actors, that they had just completed a marvelous night's sleep.

*

*

*

"Right this way, Mrs. Kerr." Rabbi Gold motioned for the

young lady to take the seat across from his desk. "I apologize for

all the confusion around here. Had a robbery last night. Nothing

much lost. Just some money from our cash box. Won't you come

in?"

"Thank you, Rabbi Gold," she replied, hoping he would not

notice the frayed edges of her dress.

"Kerrrrr," Rabbi Gold said slowly. "That doesn't sound

Jewish," Rabbi Gold observed, asking a question without really

asking it.

"That's because it isn't Jewish," Mrs. Kerr responded. "Unless I

misread the ad, Rabbi Gold, I'm here for the position of practical

nurse, not for the position of rabbi."

"Oh yes, of course, of course. Excellent point," the

administrator chuckled. For the better part of the next forty-five

51

THE CHOSEN WARRIOR

minutes, Rabbi Gold fired a series of questions at Mrs. Kerr to

confirm the decision he had already made after her first quick-

witted, confident comeback to his subtle question about her

Jewishness.

Within twenty-four hours after the interview, Mrs. Kerr,

Christian nurse, had moved into the nurses' quarters of the

Daughters of Miriam Jewish Orphanage.

She wondered which Jewish member of the board of directors,

which Jewish administrator, or perhaps which elderly Jewish lady

would be the target of her first missionary witness for God's glory.

Not once did it enter her mind to think of one of those little

ones. After all, God would not bring her this far to witness to one

little boy or girl.

After several months at the orphanage, doing her daily chores

without even a single chance to witness the message of Jesus

Christ to those around her, Mrs. Kerr found herself getting tired

and discouraged.

"Oh God," she prayed, "I know you didn't just bring me here to

make the beds of old people. I have been here many months

already and I have not had one chance to testify or witness for

You. I know You sent me here. Please, just show me the reason

why, or speak to me, and I shall be satisfied."

God heard the cry of this impatient servant, and lovingly spoke

these words into her spirit: "My daughter, look yonder to the

pathway."

Rushing over to the window, the excited nurse noticed a

concrete driveway that went all around one side of the orphanage.

Coming up the walk was a wayward orphan boy.

God spoke to His missionary messenger again.

"When that boy was eight years old, I heard a cry from his

heart. I saw something which I could get hold of and use for My

honor and glory. I purposed that day to bring My message to him.

52

LIGHT UNDER THE COVERS

That boy is the reason why I have led you here."

Mrs. Kerr shivered and felt goosebumps on her arms as she

turned away from the window after the young boy drifted out of

sight.

She felt strange.

Nervous.

Excited.

Sick.

Her throat felt like dry chalk.

Her quivering knees could barely support her.

She stood absolutely motionless for several seconds while her

eyes went heavenward. "Oh God, I thank you," she whispered in a

voice of reverence, humbly rejoicing in the Lord's answer to her

prayer. "How I thank You!"

Mrs. Kerr finally resumed the once tedious task of making the

bed, only this time joy exploded in her heart. While humming one

of her favorite tunes, "Amazing Grace," she silently vowed to God

that she would continue making beds and changing dressings for

His glory until she could witness to that young man, even if it took

the rest of her life!

*

*

*

"Morris, I want to talk to you for a few minutes," the nurse said

as she approached the unsuspecting young man.

"Yes, ma'am," Morris replied respectfully, knowing full well

that although he hated all authority, he also understood the easiest

way to play their games.

"I have something special for you, Morris," she continued,

tentatively holding out a five-cent candy bar towards him.

Anger instantly raged in the young man.

Alarm systems immediately activated in this young man's

53

THE CHOSEN WARRIOR

street-wise head. He had lived too long to be fooled by anyone!

This lady wanted something, and he wasn't about to give it.

To display his independence and his disdain for her suspicious

actions, Morris took the candy bar from Mrs. Kerr and threw it

violently to the ground!

"I don't want any of your stupid candy," he said. "Just leave me

alone," he snapped.

Before Mrs. Kerr knew or understood what had just happened,

Morris was gone.

"Who does she think she is? What does she think she is

doing?" Morris fumed to himself as he hurried to pick tomatoes on

the orphanage farm. "I don't need her or anyone else to be nice to

me. If I want a candy bar, I'll steal the money and buy my own."

But Mrs. Kerr did not get discouraged.

The next time Morris passed her, she smiled broadly at the lad

and said "Hello, Morris" as if the candy bar incident never

happened.

Many more times in the next few weeks they met and each

time Mrs. Kerr had a big smile for Morris. She was always very

nice to the hostile teenager.

Weeks turned into months, and Mrs. Kerr's kindness was

finally more than Morris could take. The smiles had worn down his

callous exterior and sharpened his insatiable curiosity.

"I'm going to go to that woman and find out what she is up to,"

Morris finally decided, determined to unlock the mystery of her

friendliness.

Late one night, well past midnight, when Morris was sure no

one would run a bed check in his room, he slipped down the fire

escape into the dark night. He walked about the back court a while,

reassuring himself that no one saw him leave his room.

Next, he snuck over to the nurses' quarters—a special wing of

the building for all the nurses and hired help. The door leading into

54

LIGHT UNDER THE COVERS

that section of the building was locked.

"Damn," Morris exclaimed to himself, not expecting this

development. As he searched for a solution, he thought, "Maybe I

can scale that wall over there. It ends up right under Mrs. Kerr's

window."

Slowly and cautiously he climbed on the crevices in the wall

until he was about ten feet off the ground, right next to Mrs. Kerr's

window. Quickly, he grabbed the safety of the window sill, and

then climbed up on it.

"Six years ago I stood on a window sill just like this wanting to

kill myself," he thought. "Now the last thing I want to do is die."

Morris knocked on Mrs. Kerr's window.

Once.

Twice.

A third time.

No one responded.

"Surely," Morris thought, "she must be in her room at this late

hour."

On the inside of her room, Mrs. Kerr was almost having a heart

attack! "Who or what is that?" she thought to herself in a state of

nervous panic. "Could it be an angel?" she questioned, then

answered her own query. "Oh no, of course not, a little thing like a

window would never stop one of God's messengers."

No.

It had to be a human.

Finally, she mustered up enough courage to go over to the

window and peek. When she saw Morris, she was thrilled, elated

and relieved. She immediately opened the window wide, grabbed

his hand, and helped him inside.

"Why, Morris, what in tarnation brings you here at this time of

night?" she asked, secretly knowing in her heart the answer.

55

THE CHOSEN WARRIOR

"Because..." he hesitated, not sure how to phrase it. "Because I

want to know why you are being so nice to me."

"Well, Morris," Mrs. Kerr replied in her softest voice, "have a

seat and we will talk about it."

Thus began one of the most exciting discourses in Morris's life.

Oh yes, at first Morris threw his cynical darts and asked

pessimistic questions, but Mrs. Kerr always had the same smile,

the same soft answer, the same restful and quiet spirit.

That night marked the first of many similar conversations.

Morris would come to visit Mrs. Kerr over and over again. These

secret evening conversations covered a myriad of interesting

topics.

They talked about the heroes of faith in the Old Testament.

Morris had studied the lives of these men before in Hebrew school.

At the age of thirteen, he had his Bar Mitzvah and participated in

other Jewish ceremonies and feast days, including Passover and the

Day of Atonement.

They talked about Moses, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David,

Samuel and other Old Testament characters. Yet, the Moses Mrs.

Kerr spoke about was a new Moses to Morris. He wasn't just

Jewish. He became alive as a man of God, full of love and

meekness.

Abraham was not just a wanderer, but a man who "...looked for

a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God."

Elijah, Elisha, the prophets all came alive through Mrs. Kerr's

words as men who longed to do the will of God. They knew the

reality of a God of the living, who is ever present to help them in

their time of need.

"Mrs. Kerr," Morris asked one evening, "do you think it was

actually God watching out for me that night when I was going to

take my own life? Do you think He really watches over each of us

that personally?"

56

LIGHT UNDER THE COVERS

"Yes, Morris," Mrs. Kerr explained, sharing with him what

God told her that day when she saw him walking down the

driveway. "I know God was watching out for you when you were

eight, just like He is watching out for you today."

Without being fully aware of it, Morris's heart and life began to

change.

He stopped thinking about stealing.

The cold, outward veneer was slowing being melted.

He stopped smoking and cursing.

One day, because she knew it was Morris's ambition as a

young man to become a lawyer and because she respected his

extremely inquisitive mind, Mrs. Kerr presented him with a tract

called "Questions." It was written by James Bennett, a Christian

lawyer. This time, unlike the candy bar, Morris did not throw the

tract on the ground. Instead, he took it to his room and read it.

Devoured it.

After that, Morris put so many questions to Mrs. Kerr that she

could not possibly answer them without supernatural knowledge

from God—so keen was his mind.

One evening, after another of their secret studies, Mrs. Kerr

said, "Morris, it is too dangerous for you to be coming to my room

all the time. Eventually, someone is going to see you."

As she spoke, she took a little black book from her pocket.

"This is a gift for you. Now you don't have to take it if you don't

want to," she said, still aware that Morris was always skeptical of

kindness, "but I have a little book here I would like you to have.

It's a Pocket New Testament. Would you care to read it for

yourself?"

"Why sure," he responded, surprised his friend was still so

cautious. "Of course I'd like to have it." By this time, Morris was

anxious to get his hands on anything that would teach him more

about this new way of life.

57

THE CHOSEN WARRIOR

"Here's something else you'll need," Mrs. Kerr said, handing

her eager pupil a little pen flashlight. "The only time you'll be able

to read this New Testament is at night, when everybody else is

sleeping. And remember, be very, very careful. If you ever get

caught reading the New Testament, it would be very hard for you."

"Ah, I'm not afraid," Morris instinctively replied, trying to

cover up his boyish fear. "But they won't ever catch me. I'm too

clever for them," he told her, "so don't you worry none."

After "lights out," at about eleven o'clock the next evening,

Morris took out his New Testament, pulled the covers of his bed

over his head, turned on the pen flashlight, and began to read.

First one page, then another, and another.

One chapter, then another.

One book, then another.

He read and read until he had completed the first four Books—

Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

Never before had he read anything more wonderful!

This book revealed a man, misunderstood, beaten, laughed at,

scourged, ridiculed, persecuted, mocked beyond degree, and yet

there was something of purpose in His actions. He came into this

world, was not of this world, but He could have had this world.

The only doctrine Morris had ever learned was "an eye for an

eye and a tooth for a tooth." He thought the first one to get in the

first punch was the one who came up the victor in any conflict.

But this man's teachings and His whole life were contrary to

anything Morris had ever seen or heard!

Here was a man who taught men to love one another, to do

good and to hate evil. He had no clothes but the clothes on His

back. No purse of riches, but the fruit of His influence on the lives

of men and women. He possessed a wooden cross instead of the

golden riches of this world, that could have been His.

58

LIGHT UNDER THE COVERS

Here was a man whose kingdom was not of clay, hay, wood or

stubble, but was the hearts of humanity. His riches were their love

and devotion.

Jesus Christ was the Son of God!

He read on and on.

About other great men.

Peter.

Paul.

John.

"Oh my," he thought, "how they must have loved this Jesus

Christ to live for Him, suffer for Him, and even die for Him."

Morris read until he could not keep his eyes open any longer.

His heart hungered. And here was the Bread of Life!

His mind was thirsty. And here was the Fountain of Living

Waters!

Each night, Morris read and read. When he finished, he would

cautiously hide his New Testament and pen flashlight between the

mattress and spring of the bed.

And sometimes, in the quiet of day, Morris and Mrs. Kerr

would sneak in conversations about the mysteries unfolding in this

young man's life.

Mrs. Kerr had been attending fine denominational churches for

her own personal worship, but one day she was invited to what

people call a "Pentecostal church." Pentecostal churches preach the

same Christ, the same salvation, the same separated life as other

Christian churches, but they also believe one other doctrine called

"the baptism of the Holy Spirit."

After attending this Pentecostal service, Mrs. Kerr came back

all excited, telling Morris, "The special characteristic of their

meetings," she said, "is praising the Lord aloud and all praying

together. Oh Morris, God felt so real during this service. Here, take

59

THE CHOSEN WARRIOR

this," she said, handing him a magazine called The Pentecostal

Evangel. "It will help you understand what I'm talking about."

Morris gladly took the magazine. By now, he wanted anything

that would satisfy his hungry heart and searching mind.

After the last room check that evening, he took his new

magazine in to the washroom and read it under the light by the

mirror. After he finished, he put the magazine in his bathrobe

pocket and returned to his room where he removed the bathrobe

and hung it on the locker.

The next morning, the orphanage administration decided to

hold a locker inspection of the beds and rooms. Another nurse,

who was checking the boy's dormitory, opened Morris's locker.

There, protruding from the pocket of the bathrobe, was The

Pentecostal Evangel.

Now, in an orphanage, many boys smuggle comic books, and

even off-color books, up to their rooms. Of course, when they are

discovered, appropriate discipline always follows.

But these offenses are minor compared to a contraband copy of

The Pentecostal Evangel! Even a pornographic magazine would

not have caused the commotion that this magazine triggered.

Horrified, the nurse seized the magazine, ran down the corridor

and the stairs, calling to the superintendent as she ran.

"Look! Look!" she cried. "Look what I found."

Rabbi Gold glanced quickly at the magazine and instantly said,

"I know whose work this is. Go get Mrs. Kerr and bring her into

my office right away."

Mrs. Kerr was summoned and taken to the office.

"Did you give this to Morris?" Rabbi Gold asked, sure she

would deny it.

"Yes, I did," Mrs. Kerr replied simply. "I felt he should know

the truth."

60

LIGHT UNDER THE COVERS

"The truth! The truth! Who are you to know what the truth is?

Why, you're not even a rabbi!" he exploded, sure that would put

Mrs. Kerr in her place.

"Well, that's true, I'm not a rabbi. But where is it written that

only rabbis can know the truth about eternal things?"

Rabbi Gold did not answer. His next statement canceled any

need for further discussion.

"You're fired, Mrs. Kerr," he snapped, not wanting to continue

this conversation any further. "Go get your things this instant and

leave this place forever. Don't say a word to anyone when you go,

especially Morris."

Her heart felt as though it would break into pieces.

"O Lord, what about Morris?" she thought to herself as she left

Rabbi Gold's office. "He has never really made a firm confession

of You as personal Savior. He has never told me that he loves You

or has accepted You."

Only two or three steps down the hall, Mrs. Kerr heard Rabbi

Gold give a loud call, "Morris! Morris! Come into my office this

second. I want to talk to you."

Morris was walking through the main corridor on his way to

the kitchen. Over the office counter, Dr. Gold saw him and called

to him. The young man did not know what had happened.

When Mrs. Kerr heard his name, she stopped on the stairway

and began praying. "Oh, my God, what will happen to him now?

Please protect him from harm."

When Morris entered the office, Rabbi Gold began, "What is

the meaning of this?"

In his hand he held out The Pentecostal Evangel. Morris

looked at the magazine, surprised to see it in the rabbi's hand.

He gulped.

He sighed.

61

THE CHOSEN WARRIOR

He fidgeted.

What could he say?

Rabbi Gold did not wait for an answer.

"Morris, this is absolute trash. I don't know for sure what Mrs.

Kerr has been telling you, but I do know it is all wrong. I don't ever

want you to see that woman or talk to her again, is that

understood?"

Morris began to cry.

In the past, when scolded by any authority, he'd respond with

rebellion.

But not today.

Morris had changed.

Gone was the hard, cold, tough exterior that had been honed

over years of rejection, loneliness and anger.

Something had happened.

"Listen, Rabbi Gold, I don't know much about what I've read in

that magazine. I don't even understand it," Morris replied

respectfully. "Even what Mrs. Kerr has been telling me is not clear.

It's so different from anything I have ever heard, but I know it's

real. It's real."

Then, he broke down and cried again, like he had never cried

before.

"It's real!" he sobbed uncontrollably, "and you can't take it

away from me!"

Mrs. Kerr smiled as she made her way up the stairs to her room

to pack.

Her work had been accomplished.

Now she was satisfied in her heart.

"Oh God," she prayed to herself, "how good You are to allow

me to hear this declaration by Morris before I leave this

62

LIGHT UNDER THE COVERS

orphanage."

"I know it's real, and you can't take it from me!"

These words kept ringing in her ears.

Now she knew for certain that her job was complete, and that

God would take care of Morris and complete the work He had

begun in his heart. This declaration served as her reward for the

great, untiring labor of love for the Master.

It was all she needed.

Her faithfulness, love and devotion had been well worth the

assurance of salvation in a little wayward Jewish orphan boy's

heart.

Morris now knew the reality of God and had just completed his

spiritual training under Mrs. Kerr, a faithful servant in God's army.

Boot camp had ended.

Now God's chosen warrior was ready to begin his next divinely

ordained step: officer's training.

63

SECTION TWO

MOLDED BY

SECTION TWO—

MIRACLES

CHAPTER SEVEN

7

EXODUS II

nd Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the

children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of

Ayour fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to

me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them?

"And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said,

Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me

unto you" (Exodus 3:13-l4a; emphasis added).

When a solitary Hebrew named Moses confronted the

mightiest king in all the world, the man of God appeared

powerless.

To the officers in Pharaoh's court, Moses must have seemed a

madman, coming unarmed and without any militia, to stand before

the great king of Egypt and defiantly declare, "Thus saith the

LORD God of Israel, Let my people go..." (Exodus 5:1b).

But Moses knew he was not alone as he stood staunchly

against the Pharaoh and his vast and powerful army.

Millions of Egyptians were aghast at Moses's shocking

65

THE CHOSEN WARRIOR

declaration, but Moses knew he had a divine ally to help him

defeat the Egyptian soldiers, who had fought major battles and

conquered neighboring nations.

God was with Moses, and it was God who empowered him to

lead the captive Jews out of Egypt.

To back up that seemingly ridiculous order, God gave Moses

the authority to dramatically release a series of nine plagues that

demonstrated who really was the ultimate authority, the ultimate

power in all of Egypt.

But the Pharaoh still stubbornly resisted.

Only after every firstborn child in the land of Egypt was taken

by the angel of death; only after the blood of the lamb allowed that

same angel to pass over the homes of the Israelites, were the Jews

finally allowed to begin their exodus from Egypt.

During their forty years of wandering in the desert, God

miraculously provided His Chosen People with water from rocks,

manna from the heavens, and shoes and clothing that never wore

out.

God fulfilled His promise to Moses and to the Jews that He

would bring them out of Egypt, free them from their bondage,

redeem them, make them His people, bring them into a new land,

and give that land to them for a heritage.

Four thousands years later, in 1946, another nation of Jews

sought freedom from their oppressors.

But these Jews were historically and spiritually different.

They did not seem to enjoy the clear evidence of divine

protection manifested for the Jews who were led out of Egypt.

When Moses and the Chosen People had to face the powerful

Egyptian army, God opened up the Red Sea for them and closed it

on the Egyptians, drowning the entire attacking army.

But during World War II the Jews of Germany and Europe

were drowned in the Red Sea of the Holocaust.

66

EXODUS II

The angel of death did not pass over six million Jewish lives.

Those remaining Jews who had voices to talk emerged from

the rubble and remnants of Hitler's eradication with one solitary

cry, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken us?"

In the midst of these Jewish tears, the year 1946 marked the

end of Hitler's short, devastating and historically embarrassing

reign of terror. The overwhelming challenge for the Jews who

remained behind was to somehow begin to heal the hopelessly

deep scars of genocide.

Millions of Jewish fathers, mothers, brothers and sisters had

been slaughtered. Still, millions of devastated relatives remained,

left with the memory of the Holocaust.

Limping, scarred, torn, raped and beaten, seemingly rejected

and abandoned by their God, these unprotected Jews began to

anxiously and quickly try to flee from the memories and mayhem

of Europe.

In 1940, a European community of nearly 9 . 6 million Jews

existed in peaceful harmony with their European neighbors. But

through Hitler's demonic decision to systematically eradicate them

in a campaign of genocide that is without parallel in all of history,

their ranks were reduced to barely three million.

There were about thirty thousand survivors who were liberated

from concentration camps, and another 177,000 who flew to Allied

displaced persons camps following fresh persecutions in Eastern

Europe.

But for most of these displaced Jews, only America or

Palestine offered the slightest flicker of hope for their futures after

the war.

The politics of Palestine was pathetic.

The British guardians of the Holy Land were bedeviled. On the

one hand, they were confronted by the rising clamor of Jews

demanding permission to migrate from war-torn Europe.

67

THE CHOSEN WARRIOR

On the other, they were buffeted by the angry objections of the

Arab states which opposed any increase in Palestine's Jewish

population.

The political powers in London chose to limit the new Jewish

immigration to a trickle, and the Zionist leaders of Palestine, who

had all-too-recently suffered the spectacle of European Jewry's

silent submission to decimation by the Nazis, wrathfully embarked

on a policy of militant opposition to British policy.

An underground militia, called the Haganah, formed around a

nucleus of Jewish veterans from World War II. They opened and

operated an illegal immigration pipeline from Europe.

But it was not fast enough.

Slowed by the British non-cooperatives in Palestine, the Jews

looked to a new promised land called America.

They came because of the Liberty Bell and Valley Forge.

They came because of the famous picture of the marines

raising the flag atop Iwo Jima.

The Statue of Liberty.

The constitutional right to religious freedom.

They came because of "God Bless America," America's second

national anthem during World War II. It was written by a Jew

named Irving Berlin.

They knew that in America they could prove just how much

the Jews would contribute if they were not burdened with the

onerous taxes, pogroms, separation into ghettos, special laws and

the exclusionist policies Europe had heaped upon them for

centuries.

For Jews, America loomed as a kind of Promised Land.

But one solitary Jew named Morris (Moses) Cerullo, in the

midst of that free America of 1946, still felt captive in an unwanted

land, repressed in his desire for religious freedom and dominated

68

EXODUS II

by an unyielding and all-powerful authority named Dr. Gold.

This one Jew vowed to escape.

But Morris knew that deep down in his heart he could count on

his God as an ally and personal protector to lead him into the

promised land and a new life of freedom.

69

CHAPTER EIGHT

WALKING WITH

8

ANGELS

he boy walked back to his room feeling more empty and alone

Tthan he had ever been in his fourteen plus years.

His one friend, the only adult he had grown to really know and

trust, his lone spiritual teacher, Mrs. Kerr, was gone.

"Lord," he prayed, "I barely know You. I'm not even sure how

to pray to You. What do I do now? Mrs. Kerr is gone. Who is

going to teach me about You? Who is going to help me understand

how I can better serve You? And who, dear Lord, is going to help

me get rid of this aching hurt in my heart?"

His prayer was like the plaintive pleading for freedom of a

captive held hostage in a foreign land.

Once, when a Jewish friend of his in the orphanage asked him

about this new faith, Morris replied, "All I know is that it's real.

This man named "Jesus" is real. If you ask him into your heart...He

will come. So why not ask Him into your heart now, and see for

yourself?"

71

THE CHOSEN WARRIOR

The boy did.

"Dear Jesus, I don't understand much about You, but I want to

know You better. Won't You please come into my heart and help

me love You? Thank You, your friend, Jimmy. Amen."

That simple prayer of faith was honored by God, but Morris

did not know how to take Jimmy to the next step, to teach that

young boy about Christianity, because Morris himself did not

know what to do after that confession of faith.

He could not pray "in the name of Jesus" because He was still

so new in the Lord that He did not know the power that comes

from praying in that name.

"I don't know," he kept answering in frustration to so many

questions from those around him.

Then he would straighten his back, stand up tall, and say in his

most confident young voice, "But I know it's real, and you can't

take it from me. It's real, it's real, I know it's real. I cannot, I will

not deny Him!"

*

*

*

This most recent incident that got young Morris into trouble

was not much different from the myriad of other small infractions

that invariably were blown into an explosive event by the

inflammatory Dr. Gold.

"Morris, you come in here this instant and take your medicine

like a man, you trouble-making little scoundrel."

Dr. Gold had run out of any patience for this rebellious

youngster and really just wanted to take out his anger on the boy's

body.

Here, in the basement of the orphanage, once and for all Dr.

Gold had vowed he would dish out a strong enough physical

punishment to make this defiant young man cease his crimes and

violations against the rules of the orphanage and stop all of this

72

WALKING WITH ANGELS

nonsense about Jesus Christ being the Jewish Messiah.

A few solid, well-placed whacks and this Morris would finally

behave.

As determined as Dr. Gold was to break this boy's contrary

spirit, so too the fourteen-year-old victim was determined that this

confrontation would be different.

With defiant eyes, Morris declared to his potential

disciplinarian, "I have not fought back all this time, but if you lay

your hands on me once more, I am going up to that front door and I

am going to walk out forever. If I do, there's nothing you can do

that can stop me, or ever get me to come back again."

Dr. Gold laughed at the youngster's declaration of freedom.

"How will you live, Master Morris? You have no clothes

except the clothes on your back. You have no money. Who do you

think you are...Moses? Do you think this new God of yours will

provide you with manna from heaven and shoes that never wear

out?"

Morris did not answer.

Instead, he turned methodically away from the taunting of Dr.

Gold and started a determined walk up the stairs leading out of the

basement.

He did not look to the right or the left.

Like the Jews of old, he was marching out of the bondage of

his own, personal Egypt.

He was heading blindly for his promised land, trusting in a God

he had never seen to be there to guide and protect him every step

of the way.

He heard Dr. Gold's footsteps behind him.

At any moment, Morris expected a large angry hand to seize

his small shoulder and abruptly stop his steady march towards the

front door.

73

THE CHOSEN WARRIOR

But there was no hand.

Morris continued to walk, step by determined step, down the

main corridor which passed by Dr. Gold's office.

Finally, he reached the front doors.

"What if they are locked?" he thought.

But when he pushed forcefully on them, they opened wide as

the Red Sea, and he suddenly stood on the outside steps...free!

Freezing sleet and snow greeted Morris in the night.

"Oh great," he thought as the heavy storm pelted his bare arms

and uncovered head. "What did I do to deserve this?"

For perhaps the first time in his life, this tough young child

who had been forged by adversity, fired by the tossing and turnings

of a cruel world, felt fear.

If this had been a movie, Morris should have flung open the

doors of that orphanage to singing birds and a bright and warm

sunshine on a summer day.

But this was not the movies.

The freezing night air, the sleet and snow were as real and

penetrating as the lump of fear that sat solid in the pit of his

stomach.

Each slap of sleet against his cheeks, each flake of snow on his

forehead, seemed to shout "Go back, Morris, go back. You're not

welcome here. Go back to Dr. Gold and the warm comfort of the

orphanage."

But when Morris heard those two large wooden doors clang

forever shut behind him at Daughters of Miriam Orphanage that

night, he knew in his heart that it would be the last time he'd ever

set foot inside of that orphanage again.

There was no turning back.

He began to walk, thinking to himself, "I'll head on down to

Main Street where there's so much going on. Maybe I'll know what

74

WALKING WITH ANGELS

to do when I get there."

So he walked in that dark night all alone through the long solid

shopping district and through one of the busiest thoroughfares in

the whole state of New Jersey. A loud honk from a passing car and

a "Hey kid, watch where you're going" caused him to jump up on

the curb and stop to rest at a downtown street corner.

*

*

*

Mrs. Kerr was just putting on her warmest coat to go to church,

when a voice inside her said, "My child, do not go to church

tonight. Instead, take your umbrella and go for a walk. Let My

Spirit guide you." The same God who had guided her to the

Daughters of Miriam Orphanage quietly spoke to her spirit about

skipping church service and walking.

In the cold night air that was becoming increasingly

unpleasant, Mrs. Kerr obediently walked down one street and up

another.

Finally, she ceased walking.

She knew in her heart that this was where she was to stop.

And wait.

*

*

*

The sleet and snow unceasingly pelted down on Morris's face,

drenching his thin clothes, and causing goose-bumps to pop out all

over his body.

His exposed face flushed red against the wind.

As miserable as he was on the outside, the inside turmoil

seemed even worse.

Fourteen-and-a-half years old.

Alone.

No human being to look to for help.

75

THE CHOSEN WARRIOR

In absolute desperation, he decided to pray the only kind of

prayer this little Jewish orphan boy knew.

He lifted his eyes toward heaven and with the roller-coaster

emotions rampaging within his heart, he began to sob as he spoke

out loud: "Dear God, if there be such a person as Jesus up there in

the heavens, please let Him be with me now."

Morris had done all he knew how to do.

He had fought against Dr. Gold and the orphanage staff until he

had no emotional energy left. Although the young boy was no

theological match for the well-educated rabbi, Morris never

deviated from the truth as he knew it. His God was real. His

Messiah was alive.

He had renounced all that was safe and secure at the Daughters

of Miriam Orphanage in exchange for the cold and rainy night air.

He had left the security of hot meals, warm clothing and a

clean place to sleep for the clamor of the strange and alien streets.

Now, more than ever, he needed to know that God was indeed

paying attention to his simple little life.

Suddenly—almost instantly—after his pure prayer from the

heart was over, Morris felt the mightiest of winds blow and

surround him. Not a hostile, bitter wind, but the reassuring, warm,

comforting, and protective presence of God.

Morris did not understand precisely what was happening, but

once again there was no doubt in his mind that his Jesus was real.

"Oh, thank You, God," he sobbed. "I know You've heard my

prayers. Thank You so much."

Then Morris experienced a nudging, an invisible surging on his

right side, then yet another strong surging on his left side, as

though there on that lonely street corner God stood as his protector

on both sides!

Although Morris did not comprehend these rapid and

miraculous events, he later understood that God had sent two

76

WALKING WITH ANGELS

angels, one on his right side and one on his left, to take total charge

of this fourteen-and-a-half-year-old Jewish boy and protect him.

When Morris began to further study the Bible, he would later

learn he was protected...

"Because thou hast made the LORD, which is my refuge, even

the most High, thy habitation; "There shall no evil befall thee,

neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.

"For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep

thee in all thy ways.

"They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash

thy foot against a stone"

(Psalms 91:9-12; emphasis added).

Morris felt so reassured by his divine protection that he began

to sing of the heavenly joy he was experiencing. Since he knew no

traditional hymns, his simple songs came straight from a child's

heart, pure and holy, giving thanks to his God for the heavenly

presence standing by his sides.

Now, he started to walk.

And sing.

His eyes had been closed since his simple prayer, and he

started to walk. For the next two-and-one-half-miles, he walked

and sang with God's presence completely surrounding him.

No words are adequate enough to express the joy, the

exhilaration, the absolute happiness Morris experienced as he

blindly and with a completely trusting heart allowed the two angels

of God to lead him down Main Street. He traveled over curbs,

across streets, through lights, past fast-moving cars all without any

concern for where he was going, lost in a strange world beyond

any earthly joy.

But suddenly, just as quickly as it had come, the marvelous

miracle of God's guidance left. The angels were gone. He stopped

singing.

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THE CHOSEN WARRIOR

"Oh God, please God, don't leave me now," Morris quickly

thought.

Then he opened his eyes.

He stood directly in front of the Montauk Theater. There, under

the lights, standing in the snow under an umbrella, an arm's length

away from the young man, was an astounded Mrs. Kerr! She had

been standing there for several hours, waiting. God had brought the

two directly together that night!

"There are no words to express to God how grateful and glad I

am to see you," Morris exclaimed. "I didn't know what I was going

to do. Why, I don't even have money for bus fare."

They hugged and cried together.

"Morris, you come with me," a teary-eyed Mrs. Kerr told her

little charge. "We'll get you out of these wet clothes as soon as

possible and put you into something dry. Are you hungry?"

"Yes, yes, of course I am," is what Morris wanted to say, but

his years of training in the orphanage left him restrained. His hard

walls of protection from his hostile environment were still standing

stiff.

"Yes ma'am, I am a bit hungry," he replied, trying hard not to

shout out loud with glee for the amazing miracles God had just

performed in his life.

78

CHAPTER NINE

LIFE FROM THE

9

FRONT

946 marked the beginning of a new era for the life of the

fourteen-and-a-half-year-old Morris Cerullo. On the night of

1his orphanage exodus and his walk with the angels, Mrs.

Kerr brought him to the home of Mr. and Mrs. Maurer, her brother

and sister-in-law. Mrs. Kerr had brought the message of Jesus

Christ to both of them, so now it seemed only fitting that they

would be taking care of young Morris.

Morris had ridden on an emotional roller coaster this wonderful

evening, thrust from the orphanage into the cold night, and then

skyrocketed into heavenly heights as he walked with angels and

miraculously met Mrs. Kerr.

But right now, even those experiences seemed to suddenly pale

compared to the warmth of that fresh bowl of chicken soup that

Mrs. Maurer placed before him.

"Now eat this slowly, Morris. You know your body has been

through a lot tonight. No sense shocking it anymore than need be."

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THE CHOSEN WARRIOR

"Yes ma'am," Morris politely replied, fighting every urge

inside of him to simply lift up the soup bowl and drink down its

contents in a couple of gulps.

The rest of the evening and the conversation which took place

were a blur to the tired youth.

The last thing he remembered was climbing into the bed,

thinking to himself, "She must iron these sheets. I never felt

anything so fresh."

*

*

*

The Sunday morning after Morris's exodus from the orphanage,

Mr. Maurer asked Morris a question that would forever change the

course of his life.

"Morris, you don't have to come if you don't want to, but we'd

sure like to invite you to come to our church with us."

"Why of course, Mr. Maurer, I'd very much like to come with

you and your family. Thank you for asking."

The Maurers attended a church in Patterson, New Jersey, called

Bethany Assembly of God. It was an impressive place.

The church seated over one thousand worshipers. The entire

complex was valued at more than one million dollars at the time.

One stained glass window alone was estimated at thirty thousand

dollars.

Bethany Assembly had started humbly in just a little

storeroom. From there, it had moved to a small church building on

Pearl Street, and then finally to this beautiful edifice.

When Morris entered the main auditorium with Mr. Maurer

and his family, he was astounded by the long rows of pews, full of

nattily dressed people.

Morris wanted to stop and sit down as soon as possible to avoid

being noticed, but Mr. Maurer always had a certain place way

down in front, where he was accustomed to sit for all the services.

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LIFE FROM THE FRONT

So Morris followed him nervously up the aisle.

He could not help but notice that as he passed, people

whispered to each other, some smiling broadly, others just shaking

their heads as though they knew something about him that he did

not know about himself.

"What is going on?" Morris thought to himself. "Why are all

these people staring and looking at me? Haven't they ever seen a

Jew before?"

Mr. Maurer kept walking until he got so close to the front of

the church that Morris was convinced he was headed straight for

the platform.

His heart was beating very fast.

It seemed like an eternity before Mr. Maurer finally reached his

destination and sat down in his favorite front row pew.

Morris looked back over his shoulder, and again it seemed as

though every pair of eyes were squarely focused on him.

"Welcome, brothers and sisters," Reverend David Leigh began.

"The presence of God is in this place, and we rejoice in Him.

Today, I ask God to bring His blessing down upon you, His

people, in the name of Jesus."

And everybody said "Amen."

Then the song service began.

Pastor Leigh was an Englishman and not prone to highly

emotional displays. However, in a few moments time an unusual

move of the Spirit of God swept over the entire congregation. In

the midst of the song service, a man in the back of the auditorium

began to raise his hands and praise the Lord aloud.

When the man shouted "Hallelujah," Mr. Maurer noticed that

young Morris nearly jumped three feet out of that front row pew.

Mr. Maurer was deeply concerned about how this commotion

and noise would affect Morris. He silently prayed, "Lord, you

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THE CHOSEN WARRIOR

know how this church likes to get blessed. Lord, you know how we

like to shout and make so much joyful noise. But today, please

help keep the commotion down a bit so we won't drive away our

new Jewish friend."

Morris did not understand the open display of prayerful

adoration in the auditorium.

"How did I let myself get into this?" he wondered. He glanced

up at Mr. Maurer and noticed beads of perspiration break out on

his forehead.

After the song service, Pastor Leigh approached the pulpit to

deliver his message. Although he was considered a rather reserved

Bible teacher by his congregation, on this particular morning the

burning coals from off the very altar of God seemed to touch his

lips and set him aflame with the Holy Spirit.

Morris had never seen any rabbi conduct himself in such a

manner. The young man almost became dizzy moving his head

from right to left as he tried to keep his eyes focused on the

preacher.

First he was here...and then he was there.

Morris thought to himself, "Why doesn't this man just stand

still and preach? Why does he have to jump up and down like a

kangaroo?"

Finally, the preaching ended.

It was the custom at Bethany Assembly that after the Sunday

service was dismissed with prayer, the pastor would make his way

to the back of the auditorium to shake hands with the people as

they left the service.

Instead, on this particular Sunday morning, the people were

invited down to the altar for prayer.

There was a festive mood in the air. Little did Morris realize

that his own presence had triggered the outburst, for the

congregation had been praying diligently for God to save his soul

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LIFE FROM THE FRONT

and bring him out of the Jewish orphanage for quite some time.

When they saw Morris walk into church on that morning with

Mr. and Mrs. Maurer and Mrs. Kerr, they knew that God had

indeed answered their prayers in a wonderful way.

After most of the church made their way down to the front of

the altar, Mr. Maurer looked at Morris with perspiration even

heavier on his face.

"Would you like to go down to the altar and pray?" he asked

the young boy.

Morris looked toward the altar and then again at him. It seemed

that he was almost at the altar right from where he was sitting.

"I've come this far," Morris thought to himself. "Surely a few

more feet can't really hurt me."

So Morris got up and glanced around again to see if he was

being watched. Then he went forward and timidly knelt at the altar.

He put his hands over his face, separating his fingers so he

could see what was going on.

He bowed his head in prayer; then he lifted it up and looked

around at others. He was doing more watching than praying.

An altar call was something that Morris had never seen, though

he had studied for several years under the leading rabbis. He had

gone to Hebrew school, became a student of the Old Testament,

and knew about the experiences of the Jewish people since the

time of Abraham.

They had left vivid impressions on his mind.

He knew the experiences of the Jewish people—his people—

and how they had followed after God with praises upon their lips,

their hands raised in holy faith before Him, and their knees bowed

before the altar in expressions of humility and sincerity.

He knew that the Torah records man's dealings with God and

God's dealings with man.

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THE CHOSEN WARRIOR

He knew that the spontaneous praises of God come from His

people and that God even commands that His people give Him

praise.

But he had never had the privilege of seeing this experience

with his own eyes.

Now he saw it and felt it.

He did not consider this fanaticism or emotionalism, but people

praising God and worshiping Him.

Morris knew they had something for which his heart longed.

He knew that through their sincerity they had real experience with

the Lord. Could he once again feel the intimacy with God he had

experienced over these past few days?

It seemed to Morris as though the words of the prophet Joel

were being fulfilled when he declared that in the last days, "...I will

pour out my spirit upon all flesh."

Morris did not understand the move of the Spirit of God that

morning, but he did not mock or laugh at it. These people had

something from God and he wanted to receive that same

experience.

He returned to church that Sunday night to experience the

move of God in his life. That night the gifts of the Spirit of God

were to be given to him.

After the preaching was finished and the altar call was given,

no one had to ask him, "Would you like to go down to the altar?"

Morris was the first one to step out of his seat. He rushed to the

front of the altar, kneeling down near the big pulpit.

As he began to pray with lifted hands, praise to the Lord fell

from his lips. Tears of humility flowed down his cheeks.

"Oh God, how grateful I am that You have saved my soul, and

have given us Jesus Christ as the Messiah of the world. Oh God,

how thankful I am that You have removed the scales from my eyes

and allowed me to see You as a personal God. Thank You for

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LIFE FROM THE FRONT

allowing this little Jewish boy to become part of your heavenly

family."

Morris had not been praying long—maybe ten minutes —when

he felt as if a hand had been placed on his forehead. Something

charged through his whole being. He fell prostrate to the floor.

He had never heard the terminology Pentecostals use, such as

"slain by the Spirit," but there he was under the influence of the

Holy Spirit. It was strange to him, since he had no knowledge or

education regarding such things.

Morris felt embarrassed. He wanted to get up from the floor,

but he could not move. All he could do was let the praises of God

surge from his being and glorify the Lord.

Then, he began to see a beautiful vision of the sky. In a few

moments, out of the sky came drops of water, large drops. Each

drop of water had a word written across it in a language he did not

recognize or know. As these drops came closer to him, they

encompassed his whole being.

In about ten minutes, he was speaking in an unknown heavenly

language. God was gloriously baptizing him with the Holy Spirit

according to the promise of God:

"Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized

every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the

remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy

Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children,

and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our

God shall call" (Acts 2:38-39).

This would turn out to be one of the most wonderful nights in

his entire life! They stayed in the church until about one o'clock in

the morning, speaking in tongues and magnifying the Lord of

glory.

When they arrived home, no one could sleep. Then Mr. Maurer

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THE CHOSEN WARRIOR

made a confession to Morris.

"You know, Morris, before tonight, Mrs. Kerr, my wife and I

have only been dabbling in this Pentecostal thing at church. But

tonight, when we saw God baptize an innocent young boy who

knew nothing of His power, we now know without doubt that this

powerful move of the Holy Spirit is from God."

Mr. Maurer fell to his knees. Mrs. Maurer and Mrs. Kerr

dropped to their knees. The power of God moved in that house in

an unusual manner. All present knew God wanted to do something

more before the night was over.

In the early hours of the morning, the Spirit of the Lord came

upon Morris. He stood to his feet and began to speak in tongues

and interpret those unknown tongues by the Spirit into English.

This continued for some time.

God had not only baptized him with the Holy Spirit, but had

given the gifts of speaking in tongues and interpretation as well.

Amazement filled the faces of those present as the glory of the

Lord shone from his being like the sun, as he stood magnifying the

Lord.

But that was not all. In a few minutes he was to experience a

demonstration from heaven that surged through his whole being.

He began to give forth prophecies under the anointing of the Holy

Spirit.

God let it be known this evening that His divine stamp of

approval was upon this life and that He had called Morris to do a

special work.

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CHAPTER TEN

THE FOOTSTEPS TO

10

HELL

nd it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will

pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and

Ayour daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall

see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: And on my

servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of

my Spirit; and they shall prophesy" (Acts 2:17-18; emphasis

added).

"What's the matter, Morris?" Mr. Maurer asked, confused

about the boy's pensive mood. "You barely ate any supper tonight.

You seem to be way off, as if you are floating in another world."

"Nothing," Morris mechanically replied.

He simply was not used to adults inquiring about his life and

moods, so the easiest thing for him to do was to give a vague

answer and hope the questioning would stop.

It didn't.

"Morris, you've been with us for several months now, and I've

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THE CHOSEN WARRIOR

never seen a boy so busy, so obsessed with telling others about

God. You barely took time out to celebrate your fifteenth birthday.

You are a real spiritual warrior, I'll tell you that. All those Youth

for Christ meetings, the youth rallies in the civic clubs and local

high school auditoriums. Well, there's just been so much in your

life so quick."

Mr. Maurer paused, then asked what he was sure would be the

key question. "Morris, are you feeling a bit overwhelmed by all of

this?"

For the first time in this one-sided conversation, Morris reacted

with a smile. He deeply appreciated what Mr. Maurer was trying to

do and had to smile when he realized just how far off Mr. Maurer

was from knowing what was really bothering him.

"Gosh, no, I don't feel one bit overwhelmed by all the

preaching and sharing God with others. It is the thing I enjoy doing

most. I wish there were time to do more. No, that's not it."

"Then what is it?" Mr. Maurer asked in absolute frustration,

confident that something was bothering the young lad.

"O.K., O.K.," Morris sighed, really wanting to talk about it

with somebody anyway. "I'll tell you. You see, I've always wanted

to be a lawyer. Now that I am a Christian, in my heart I want to be

a good Christian lawyer and serve God as the best lawyer I can be.

Maybe even be governor someday."

"Well then," Mr. Maurer interrupted, confident that he had the

answer to this young man's problem, "then it is a Christian lawyer

and the governor of the state that you shall be."

Once again, Morris smiled.

"It's just not that simple. On one hand, as a Christian lawyer I

could help people with their problems and burdens. I'd be

somebody they could come to and trust to be honest. On the other

hand, I feel the call of God on my life to preach. But quite

honestly, that's not what I've dreamed of doing all these years. I

just don't know what to think."

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THE FOOTSTEPS TO HELL

"I see," Mr. Maurer replied, putting his arms around Morris.

"Well, Morris, there's one thing I'm sure of... you'll do the right

thing, the thing that God wants. You just keep yourself open to

God's will, and He'll guide you down the right path, just like He

guided you to Mrs. Kerr that rainy night six months ago."

"Yes sir," Morris replied as he watched Mr. Maurer walk into

another room, confident that he'd been a big help to the boy.

*

*

*

An unquenchable fire burning within Morris's gut compelled

him to tell others about the God who had become such a real and

personal part of his life. He became almost miraculously

transformed from the rebellious, Jewish orphan to a disciplined,

unstoppable spiritual warrior.

He preached on the street corners and organized youth groups

to sing and testify in bars. He'd book any vacant room, any civic

club, any auditorium that could hold people who would come to

hear his message. He preached to both denominational and non-

denominational churches. Hundreds were saved by the power of

God flowing through this boy in just a few months time.

Morris did not understand the first thing about homi-letics or

teaching the Bible. But his enthusiasm made up for his lack of

experience and knowledge. He was aggressively learning on the

frontlines, not out of some textbook on church evangelism.

Morris enthusiastically ministered around the entire state of

New Jersey, leaving the Maurer house on the average of three to

four times a week. Once, in a Baptist church in Nutley, New

Jersey, at the end of his preaching, the pastor, his wife, and about

thirty-five members of the congregation were wondrously born-

again by the power of God.

But Morris still fought the call of God. Each time he ministered

in a church or to a group, he knew the touch of God was upon his

life, that God was calling him to do a work for His people. His

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heart was burdened as he saw the sinful condition of the world.

Scarcely did he give an altar call without tears running down his

cheeks. He stood there pleading and begging people to give their

hearts to the Lord, Jesus Christ, and to accept Him as their Lord

and Savior before it would be eternally too late.

One night, God dealt with his soul in a way that defies

description. What transpired that evening would change him, the

course of his life, and totally reshape his ideals, desires and

ambitions.

As he was in prayer at the altar of Bethany Assembly of God in

Patterson, New Jersey, he felt the hand of God come and press

itself on his forehead. In the tick of a second he was overcome in

the presence of God.

He did not know exactly how long he lay there, but it seemed

to be quite some time before a vision began to unfold before his

eyes. After the vision began, his spirit lifted from this earth and

was taken right into the heavens. Morris was a chosen vessel of

God, and God had ordained that he should be brought into the

heavenlies and see His glory face to face like Moses did, and hear

His voice like the prophets did.

Twice in his life he felt the hand of God upon his forehead.

Once when he received the baptism of the Holy Spirit and again

this time.

The best way I know how to describe Morris's experience is to

tell you how this phenomenon appeared. It came slowly at first,

one scene, then another, each piece fitting into place like a puzzle,

until the complete picture was formed.

From one end of his eyes' vision to the other appeared a

beautiful blue sky. It was like a maze which came before his eyes.

The unusual thing about this was it did not have white running

through it as you would expect to see when looking up into the

sky. Just to look at it gave Morris the feeling of something

supernatural.

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THE FOOTSTEPS TO HELL

When the vision began to appear, Morris became very nervous,

at first unable to understand or comprehend what was taking place.

Prostrate before the Spirit of God, his heart beat rapidly.

"Perhaps this is heaven," he thought. He had heard of the

Second Coming of Christ, and that it was soon to take place. He

wondered if the trumpet of God had sounded and he had been

caught up to meet the Lord in the clouds. Yet, he reasoned that it

could not be, for he was fully conscious and was lying here on

earth prostrate before God's Spirit.

The next scene that appeared startled him. He saw, stretched

from one end of that beautiful blue sky clear to the other end,

millions of people from every nation of the world. They came

before his eyes in rapid succession.

There was something unusual about this mass of humanity.

They were not grouped together as you might expect to see a sea of

people. They were seated in even, gigantic rows in a semi-circle,

row upon row, as far as his eyes could see. Literally tens of

millions of people.

In the midst of his wonderment, Morris was further amazed, for

right in the very first row he suddenly saw himself sitting with the

rest of the men and women of the world.

From the moment he saw the vision, he lost complete contact

with his body on earth. It was as if he had looked into a mirror and

then became part of the picture he had seen. In a single moment his

spirit had somehow been snatched from his earthly body and taken

into the heavenlies.

You can imagine the feeling which began to pulsate through

his whole being.

He knew for sure he was in heaven, seated with that sea of

people, every eye fixed straight ahead. His heart throbbed in

anticipation of what would happen next.

I pause in holy awe in writing these words to you. What

happened next cannot be adequately put into sentences on these

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THE CHOSEN WARRIOR

pages.

Before that sea of humanity appeared a manifestation of the

Godhead!

Oh, he did not see Jesus with long brown hair, a beautiful beard

and a nice long white robe, but he knew it was God!

Directly in front of that magnificent mass of people, about the

height of an average man, about six feet tall and two feet wide,

there appeared a great flaming ball of brightness and glory.

It had no physical human features about it at all! There were no

eyes, no ears, no nose, no mouth, no hands and no legs, but just a

great flaming ball of brightness and glory.

When it appeared, Morris began to shake with that host of

people who had also seen the same manifestation! Morris thought

of how Moses must have felt when he beheld the burning bush, a

bush with flames of fire, yet never consumed.

There had not been a sound made up until this time for this

tremendous Presence commanded the reverence, quietness and

attention of everyone.

The glory of the Presence shone as ten thousand suns and a

million moons. No words could detail its color. No vocabulary is

adequate to describe its majesty.

But the Presence stood there in its crystallization of glory and

brightness, causing the heavens to shine with its radiance.

The next portion of the vision which took place is even harder

to describe.

Just as you might stretch forward your right hand and arm, a

ray from the right side of that tremendous bright light of glory

reached out in Morris's direction. The light struck his body. He felt

every muscle of his whole being paralyzed by its glory. Before he

knew it, Morris was standing and that light which had paralyzed

his body was drawing him. He was walking towards the Presence

of God. Can you imagine the sensation that struck his innermost

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being?

In this vision not one word was spoken, not one sound made,

only the sequence of silent scenes, all combining to make this great

picture.

He was walking in the heavenlies toward the manifestation of

the Presence of God, for this light was the glory of the Godhead,

the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

He walked toward the Presence until he got right to the place

where the light was, standing perhaps an arm's length from it.

As he stood so close to God's glory, a feeling of ecstasy, a

sense of complete fullness, came over him. Surely he felt that his

"cup runneth over."

Then, to Morris's amazement, the Presence of God which had

been so near moved about a foot away. When this happened,

perplexing emotions engulfed him. He had felt so wonderful that

the Presence of God had drawn him by His power right to His side,

but now his heart ached as He moved a step away from him.

Morris could not understand this. After the joy of being so near to

God, it was terrible to feel His Presence move away.

Then his eyes were drawn downward to the place where the

glory of God was standing in the heavens and, right where He had

been standing, there was a hole in the sky in the form of two

footprints. It was as if someone had taken a knife and cut a hole in

a great big cake of cheese and one could see right through it.

When Morris looked through these footprints, what he saw and

what he heard changed the course of his life, causing him to

dedicate his life to winning souls and to bringing deliverance to the

afflicted.

He saw through these open footprints the very flames of hell—

the horrors of a literal, fiery, eternal hell. It was as though God had

taken the lid off of hell. He saw the flames rising until they were

burning right underneath the footprints which had been made by

the Presence of God. In the midst of those flames were multitudes

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of lost souls, contorted in horrible anguish.

If a messenger were sent straight from hell to warn the sinner,

people still would not comprehend the terror and torment that

awaits the unsaved and lost in that dreadful place. Oh, the screams

and the cries of those hurting souls!

Morris understood that throughout eternity torment will

continually remind these souls of the awful sin of rejecting God's

love when they walked on the face of the earth.

He heard the cries of sons and daughters who had rejected

parental guidance and were now crying aloud for their mothers'

prayers that might yet snatch them from the burning.

He heard the cries of mothers and fathers who now realized

that their lives had failed to glorify God.

He heard the cries of the contrite backsliders and truly "...it had

been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness

than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment

delivered unto them" (2 Peter 2:21).

Oh, the screams for another chance, the cries and prayers that

were now going up.

But there was no answer.

Truly, Morris realized that the Word of the Lord would not

return unto Him void. As God has said "...I have called, and ye

refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded"

(Proverbs 1:24).

Morris's heart began to burn with compassion for the

multitude. He knew that God, without saying a word, was asking

him: "Morris, will you give Me your life totally and completely?"

Morris thought of those burning souls.

He felt in his heart insecurities similar to those Moses felt.

"Lord, who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should

bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?"

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THE FOOTSTEPS TO HELL

But, like Moses, he knew God would be with him.

And he knew what he had to do.

He put his feet into the indentations that had been made by the

Presence of God, and to his utter amazement, his feet fit perfectly

into those footprints...the exact size of his feet!

With a sense of deep satisfaction, Morris knew that his God

had personally called him in this vision, had shown him the need,

and then left the choice up to him. There was only one thing

needed, and that was for him to surrender to the will of God.

By standing in those footsteps, Morris said to God, "I surrender

all."

He would be the hedge for others. He would stand in the gap

for lost souls.

His life would make the difference between thousands of souls

falling into the pit of hell and thousands of souls walking through

the gates of glory.

As he was standing in these footprints, answering the call of

God, surrendering his life to God, he felt a warm sensation all

around his back.

As he turned, that bright light stayed right by his side,

completely surrounding him. When he put his feet into the

footprints, he moved closer to the glory of God.

That ray that drew him to the Presence of God was now

glowing all around his shoulders. It made him feel strong. It took

away fear and nervousness, and seemed to give him an unusual

power.

Until this time in the vision there had been no spoken word

from this light, but now a voice spoke and said words which he did

not learn until years later were based on Isaiah 60:1:

"My son, arise, shine, for thy light is come and the glory of the

Lord is risen upon thee. Thou shalt not be afraid for thou shall not

stand in thine own strength, neither shall you stand in thine own

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THE CHOSEN WARRIOR

place but you shall stand in the place I have made for thee, and My

strength shall uphold and guard thee."

As God spoke, the brilliant glory of His Presence exploded

over that multitude of people, lighting up all the heavens and

bathing all the people in a fabulous white light!

Then came the very last scene in this wonderful manifestation.

With a powerful force, that glorious Presence of God began to

shoot rays of bright light and glory all over the heads of that sea of

humanity. The last words the Presence of God spoke to him were

these:

"Son, when thou shalt see My glory in the midst of My people,

know then that I am there to show myself strong in behalf of them

that love Me, that I am there in the midst of thee to bless thee as

thou shalt minister to My people."

96

CHAPTER ELEVEN

THE FRANCO

11

AMERICAN YEARS

hat's your name?" the handsome seventeen-year-old

Wevangelist asked the young girl sitting next to him.

"Theresa LePari," she replied, paying little attention to the

inquiry of the man sitting next to her. "Would you please pass the

butter?"

"Sure," the young man replied, reaching for the butter dish

without ever taking his eyes from her.

He was secretly thankful that Reverend Nickolof, the president

of Metropolitan Bible Institute, had asked him to minister his

testimony at the chapel service today. Looking at Theresa's lovely

face made him feel very happy indeed that he had accepted the

invitation.

"She's about the most exciting thing that's happened to me

since I've come to Suffern, New York," he thought to himself.

"You know, Theresa, there's something I want to share with

you," the young man said as they ate their lunch. He had hoped his

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THE CHOSEN WARRIOR

statement would get her attention away from the dinner salad she

was eating.

He noticed that every bite she took was methodical and

planned. If one piece of lettuce had a brown spot on it, or looked

wilted, she pushed it aside in favor of a nice fresh piece. As he

watched her pick through her salad, he could not believe what he

was about to say. He heard the words in his mind, felt them deep in

his soul, and knew that they would come true. Yet, somehow, he

could not understand why or how he could possibly be sharing

them with her now without sounding too foolish.

"I have a call on my life from God," Morris began in a very

serious tone. "After I finish my studies, I'm going to preach the

gospel and reach souls for Jesus Christ."

"That's why we are all here," Theresa replied, as though Morris

were only stating the obvious. "All of us want to serve God just

like you do."

"Oh, I know that all the Bible students want to serve God,"

Morris answered, sure she did not grasp the depth and significance

of what he was trying to convey to her. "But the Bible says 'Many

are called, but few are chosen.' I don't mean this to sound like I am

something special, Theresa, but in my heart I know that God has

chosen me to reach thousands of lost souls."

He stopped suddenly, feeling that perhaps he had already said

too much. "I don't even know why I am telling you this. I just

wanted you to know."

Theresa heard, but did not react.

After the luncheon, the two were walking together across the

field towards the women's dorm where Theresa stayed.

Just as they were about to part, Morris once again felt strongly

impressed to say something significant that came from deep within

his spirit to this young and very attractive lady.

"Theresa LePari," he began, stopping his walk so he could look

98

THE FRANCO AMERICAN YEARS

her straight in the eyes, "there's something else you should know

about me."

"What's that?" she asked, sure that this man she had already

decided was arrogant and rather boastful was going to say

something further about his "chosen" calling for lost souls.

"You may not believe this now, but you should know that

someday I'm going to marry you."

Upon hearing that declaration of intent, the dark-haired beauty

screamed at the top of her lungs and ran full speed towards her

dormitory! As she got to the safety of her room, she slammed shut

the door and locked it.

She thought to herself, "Why, that boy is crazier than I thought!

Who does he think he is telling me I'm going to marry him? I don't

even know him. What a strange one that fellow is," she thought,

her heart still pounding from the long run.

"Besides," she added as if to convince herself that this marriage

would be impossible, "I'm already engaged, and I'm sure my fiance

would have something to say about my getting married to Morris."

Morris walked off the campus of the Metropolitan Bible

Institute that day with a little smile on his face, knowing full well

he would return at another time to fulfill his spontaneous

declaration to marry Theresa.

He knew it from the first time he saw her.

Someday, some way, she'd be his wife.

As he unlocked the door to his car, Morris still had that slight

smile on his face. The memory of Theresa running toward her

dorm burned deep in his mind.

He did not see Theresa again until that summer.

*

*

*

"Hello, Theresa, this is Morris...Morris Cerullo. Listen, I just

happened to be in the city today, so I thought I'd give you a call

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THE CHOSEN WARRIOR

and come to see you."

There was an air of confident assurance in the young man's

voice.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Morris, I just don't think...."

"Who is it, dear?"

"Someone from school, Mother."

"Who?"

"That Morris Cerullo."

"Well, don't keep him hanging on the phone, invite him over

for supper."

"I heard that," Morris announced on the other end of the phone.

"Your mom is so nice. Tell her I accept her invitation and I'll be

right over. Bye."

Before Theresa could lodge her protest, the loud buzzing of a

dead phone rang in her ear. In what seemed like only a few

minutes, there was a knock on the door. Mrs. LePari opened it.

"Why hello, Morris, come on in," Mrs. LePari said. She had

met young Morris at the Metropolitan Bible Institute and liked him

very much. After all, they had a sort of kinship since they had both

been raised in orphanages.

"These are for you, Mrs. LePari," Morris said as he walked

through the door, handing her a box of candy. "Mostly all

chocolates."

"Why thank you, Morris, they're my favorite kind. Theresa's in

the kitchen."

"And the food smells really good, too."

Morris was always the diplomat and knew how to win over

Theresa's mom, even if he had not yet won over Theresa's heart.

"Let's see, this is Sunday, so it must be spaghetti."

"That's right, Morris," Mrs. LePari laughed. "Just what any

100

THE FRANCO AMERICAN YEARS

self-respecting Italian family cooks on a Sunday afternoon."

"Oh Lord, he's here," Theresa thought to herself as she heard

the voice in the other room. "Why doesn't he just go away and

leave me alone?"

She quickly took off her soiled apron and put on a nicely

ironed one as she straightened up her hair a bit. "Doesn't he know I

am not interested in him?" she thought, checking the mirror

quickly to make sure she looked presentable. The mirror reflected

one of the prettiest young ladies in all the county.

"Hello, Theresa," Morris said as he entered the kitchen. "Your

mom told me I'd find you here. She sure is a nice lady. I really like

her."

"Hi, Morris," Theresa replied, feigning disinterest. "Hope you

didn't come much out of your way to visit us."

"Oh no, no trouble at all. Was just in the neighborhood so

thought I'd stop by and see how your summer's going."

"Fine, thank you," she replied, stirring the simmering sauce,

trying to be as nonchalant as possible.

"Theresa, why do you try so hard to pretend you don't like

me?" Morris asked, never one to avoid tricky subjects with anyone.

Theresa gave the straightforward question an equally

straightforward answer.

"Because you are so arrogant," she said without even thinking.

"You act like you know exactly what you want out of life and how

you are going to get it. That makes me mad."

Morris was very serious now.

"Is it arrogance if I do know where I am going and I do know

what I want to do? I know without a shadow of doubt that God has

called and chosen me to be a preacher, and so that's what I'm going

to be. How does that make me arrogant?"

"Oh Morris," Theresa replied, putting the spaghetti into the

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THE CHOSEN WARRIOR

boiling water and stirring it slowly, "I don't know, you just seem to

come across that way. Maybe you can't help it, I don't know."

*

*

*

After dinner, Theresa and Morris went for a walk and talked.

"How many are in your family, Theresa?" Morris asked.

"I have two brothers and three...well, two sisters now. Marie

died when I was just thirteen years old. She was the oldest."

"That death must have been quite a shock."

"Marie's death changed my life," Theresa replied with a tear in

her eye. "Most of our years growing up we were not very close.

She was four years older, and Mom and Dad favored her. When

the dishes needed to be done, I always had to do them, not Marie.

When the kitchen floor had to be scrubbed, I had to do it, not

Marie. That kind of built up some resentment in me, you know

what I mean?"

"Yes, I can imagine it would," Morris replied, thinking of all

the hundreds of times in the orphanage when he had to do the work

while the older boys watched. "So what changed your attitude?"

"Well, this may sound cruel, but while Marie was very sick,

hardly able to move, and unable to walk anymore, I had to do the

family wash in our old wash tub. I was murmuring and

complaining about it. Probably too loud, 'cause Marie heard me.

When I faced her in her room, she looked me in the eyes and said,

'Theresa, I wish I could trade places with you.'"

Morris took Theresa's hand into his own and gave it a tender

squeeze, as he noticed Theresa's eyes moist with tears. She paused

a second to regain her composure, then continued.

"Oh Morris, when she said that to me, how could I resent her

anymore? I forgave her and hugged her and kissed her and told her

I was sorry for being so selfish. Of course, at thirteen I suppose I

was the typical self-centered teenager, but Marie opened my eyes

102

THE FRANCO AMERICAN YEARS

to some very deep feelings. After that conversation with Marie, I

always did my wash and other chores, including cooking the

spaghetti on Sunday, with a smile on my lips."

"That's a beautiful story, Theresa, thanks for sharing it with

me," Morris said as he took her back to the door. "Do you mind if I

take you out to dinner sometime soon...say, next week?"

"Yes, yes, that would be fine," Theresa replied without

thinking, surprised at her own answer.

"I'll call you Tuesday and set up a time," Morris said as he

opened the door to her house.

"O.K. That'll be fine. Goodnight."

*

*

*

Reverend Nickolof was looking at one of the prettiest brides to

ever walk down the aisle of this humble church in Newburg, New

York. As president of the Bible College, he knew and loved both

of these kids getting married this day. The ceremony had a special

meaning to him, like marrying part of his family.

"Don't know how Morris pulled this off," he thought to

himself. "Theresa being engaged to marry Danny and all. Who

knows, or can begin to understand, the wonders of young

romance?"

The organ music jolted him back to attention.

The beautiful bride walking down the aisle had all eyes focused

on her. And no wonder! She radiated that special beauty reserved

only for a young girl's wedding day.

As she walked...no, floated down the aisle...in her homemade

white satin gown, quiet gasps of admiration could be heard coming

from the congregation.

There were layers of lace flowing down the front of her dress,

carefully appointed with little satin covered buttons. Theresa had

lovingly stitched every section of her "sweetheart" neckline, and

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THE CHOSEN WARRIOR

her long, pointed, puffy sleeves were plain, yet elegant. A long

train glided behind her, and on her head she wore a little beaded

cap she had crafted herself.

Morris stood waiting at the end of the aisle in a simple white

jacket that could not hide his muscular build that came from his

participation in high school baseball, football and basketball.

As Mrs. LePari stared teary-eyed at her daughter, then at the

handsome young Morris, she quietly chuckled to herself as she

remembered that time in the kitchen with Theresa and Danny.

"Now Theresa, you are going to have to tell the truth about

this. Right now I want you to make up your mind about this thing.

Danny, sit down at the table and drink some coffee and have a

danish."

"Yes, ma'am," he replied, not having the slightest idea what

"this" was about.

"Now Theresa, this thing is getting serious. It is either one or

the other. You have got to know who you really love. This is for

the rest of your life. So Theresa, what is your answer to Danny?"

Theresa was furious at her mother for putting her in such a

difficult spot. Yet somehow she was grateful that the problem

would finally be over.

In her bravest voice, she spoke these words as tenderly and as

gently as she knew how to her fiance: "Danny, I'm sorry, but I've

got to break off our engagement. I'm afraid I just can't marry you.

I'm so very sorry...."

"I can't believe what you are saying," Danny said in total

shock. "Theresa, let's discuss this, O.K.? Surely you don't mean

what you are saying."

"I'm afraid there's nothing to discuss, Danny," Theresa said. "I

know this is very sudden, but I have made up my mind."

"I just can't believe this," Danny repeated again, unable to bear

any more of this one-sided, devastating conversation.

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THE FRANCO AMERICAN YEARS

Jumping up to leave, he spilt his coffee. He ran out the

backdoor and right to the same church where they were all

gathered today, crying his eyes out.

"Dearly beloved..." the preacher began, snapping Mrs. LePari

back to attention.

Mr. LePari sat very proud as he watched the lovely couple say

their wedding vows.

"Morris is a hard worker, a fine man," he thought to himself,

remembering how he often worked two or three jobs to get himself

through Bible college. "He's painted, fixed roofs, washed dishes,

cooked—anything to make a few dollars. He'll take good care of

my little girl."

*

*

*

"Morris, do you really think we should go to a ball game? You

know how strict our church is about these things. Some even

consider it a sin."

"Now Theresa, God knows our hearts. He knows we are on our

honeymoon and are entitled to a little fun and relaxation. Honey,

it's 1951, not the time of Jesus. Anyway, I'm sure if they had

baseball games in His day, He would have gone to one once in a

while. God doesn't mind, and He's the only One important whose

opinion matters to me."

So they went.

That night, after the game, Morris parked his father-in-law's car

up on the hill near the place where they were staying with some

friends. The bright shiny Chevy either had poor brakes or Morris

did not secure them tightly enough. Whatever the cause, the car

rolled down the hill and smashed to a halt!

Every bit of the young couple's honeymoon money went into

repairing that car perfectly before returning it to the unsuspecting

father-in-law.

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THE CHOSEN WARRIOR

Those who supposedly knew about these spiritual things said

the car rolled down that hill because "God was punishing those

youngsters because they didn't do right. That's what they get for

wasting their time by going to that baseball game."

*

*

*

"Don't forget these," Theresa said, handing her new husband

the sheets and towels they had received as wedding gifts. "Hope

there's room for everything. It would hardly be fitting for a new

pastor's wife not to have clean towels."

The car was stuffed with new items from two wedding

showers, plus an old sewing machine Theresa's grandmother had

given her. "Well, it's off to Claremont, New Hampshire," Morris

said, letting Theresa know it was time to get into the car. Deep

inside, he was anxious to report to his first pastorate. The drive

there was uneventful.

When they arrived at their new apartment, the newly-weds

immediately faced some of those classic, once-in-a-lifetime

struggles that seem to be so vital in molding young marriages into

successful long-term relationships. They had no furniture, no table

or chairs, and no bed to sleep in.

They simply stood in an empty, rented apartment with almost

no worldly possessions.

"Are you hungry?" Morris asked his young bride after their

trip.

"Sure am," Theresa replied, knowing full well there wasn't

much to eat. "What tasty morsel should we devour first?"

They both laughed, knowing they had just exhausted all of

their start-up living funds in repairing that smashed car.

"I've got just the ticket," Morris said, reaching into a grocery

bag. "Madam, if you please, allow me," Morris suggested,

graciously motioning for Theresa to sit down on the kitchen floor.

106

THE FRANCO AMERICAN YEARS

In his most expressive manner, Morris picked up the can

opener and with all the flair of a high-priced waiter at an elegant

restaurant opened a can of Franco American spaghetti as their first

meal together in their first home.

Since they did not have a pot to cook it in, Morris carefully

warmed the bottom of the can on the stove, careful to take the top

portion for himself so Theresa would get the hot spaghetti closer to

the bottom of the can.

Morris was smiling to himself.

"What is it, honey?" Theresa asked.

"Oh, I was just thinking. Here we are, sitting on this cold

hardwood floor, eating a can of spaghetti, with maybe two nickels

between us...and you know what... I've never been happier in my

life!"

Putting down her bowl of spaghetti, Theresa gave Morris a

loving hug that said "I know, I know."

Morris's love for Theresa grew even deeper as he watched her

eat the simple meal.

He knew Theresa was always very selective about the food she

ate...had been from the first day he saw her at that Bible college

luncheon...yet here she was, on a cold floor, eating canned

spaghetti without a complaint.

He felt warm inside, knowing she must love him very much.

When it came time for bed, they moved from the kitchen floor

to the bedroom floor.

In their wedding showers, they had been given sheets, blankets,

and pillows...but no bed.

So they slept on the floor.

Later, a friend would provide them with a used mattress, but

the young couple did not buy anything new until they had saved all

the money.

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THE CHOSEN WARRIOR

Then they bought a couch, a couple of chairs and a bedroom

set.

It took months to save for these items, because even as a young

man, Morris always refused to buy anything on credit.

108

SECTION THREE

SEASONED FOR

SECTION THREE—

SERVICE

CHAPTER TWELVE

EXPLODING

12

BREAKTHROUGHS IN A

SHRINKING UNIVERSE

he narrow focus of nations inward towards isolationism

began to change drastically as the 1950's dawned on the

Tworld scene. What radically shifted the focus from "me" to

"they" really started in 1946 with the first call to order of the

United Nations General Assembly in London. This international

assemblage marked an unprecedented attempt for "world

neighbors" to communicate and exist with each other on a

diplomatic rather than a military basis, to anticipate and avoid

trouble before it escalated into violent conflict.

The U.N. challenged nations to place their actions under the

scrutiny and judgment of others whose locations were often

thousands of miles away. The world had shrunk. The ravages of

World War II, combined with the all-too-sudden outburst of the

Korean War from 1950 to 1953, clearly announced that the era of

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THE CHOSEN WARRIOR

isolated nations going about their own destiny without regard to

how their actions affected the territory of other countries was

doomed.

An era of cooperation between western nations emerged with

the establishment of NATO (the North Atlantic Treaty

Organization) in 1949. Twelve nations agreed to work together for

mutual defense.

But the elusive desire for peace was not the only bond bringing

nations together. For the sake of profit and prosperity, in 1951 six

nations decided to pool European coal and steel resources. The

European Economic Community, more commonly known as the

European Common Market, was founded in 1958, thus admitting

that the financial future of one nation was somehow tied to the

financial future of neighboring nations.

And the world shrunk a little more.

In the early fifties, television was introduced in the United

States. That invention forever changed the possibility of a nation,

or even a single family, remaining isolated from the world.

Even a rural family living in the most remote area through the

miracle of the little electronic box could watch global events

unfold in the privacy of their own living room. It was as though

they were standing on the sidewalk when a king was crowned or

sitting in the back seat of a convertible in Dallas when a president

was shot.

The constant cry of the fifties centered around peaceful co-

existence. Every nation knew that the escalation of the weapons of

warfare had made the very survival of the earth an issue for the

first time in human history. War no longer just damaged the

participants in the conflict, but had the potential to destroy the

entire planet as well!

When one nation fought against another, all were somehow

affected in this shrinking world.

Peace became the cry of the decade.

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EXPLODING BREAKTHROUGHS IN A SHRINKING UNIVERSE

Global cooperation became the visible means to peace.

Military might became the way to enforce that peace.

President Truman gave the orders for the development of a

hydrogen bomb. Within six years of his challenge, on May 21,

1956, the first aerial H-bomb was tested over Namu Islet, Bikini

Atoll. The blast equaled a total of ten million tons of TNT.

Never before in the history of the world had there ever been

such a mighty explosion!

In 1957, the vision of the world as "neighbors" expanded even

further—towards the heavens—when the Russians launched

"Sputnik I," the first earth-orbiting satellite, marking the beginning

of what became known as the Space Age. And the world shrunk a

little more. Spy satellites were developed to pry into the privacy of

a nation's backyard.

In I960, the top Nazi murderer of Jews, Adolf Eichmann, was

captured by Israelis in Argentina and executed in Israel in 1962.

A German.

Caught by Israelis.

While living in Argentina.

The world indeed was shrinking.

When John F. Kennedy was inaugurated as president of the

United States in 1961, he immediately challenged America to care

about the welfare of other nations by introducing the Alliance for

Progress, a ten-year plan to raise Latin American living standards.

Then, he challenged America to expand their vision beyond the

earth, beyond even merely orbiting the globe, by declaring that

America would send a man to the moon.

That explosive concept of space exploration was paralleled in

the U.S.S.R. by an explosion of a different sort.

In 1961, Russia fired a fifty-megaton hydrogen bomb... the

biggest bomb blast in history. The force of this bomb was five

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THE CHOSEN WARRIOR

times more powerful than the one exploded just five years before

by the U.S.

It was in this historically unprecedented climate of nation

interacting with nation, in this explosive world of hydrogen bombs,

in this visionary world of space exploration that Morris Cerullo

lived as he journeyed to his first international crusade in 1955.

114

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

"DADDY, WHAT STATE IS ATHENS

13

IN?"

oney, what does it say?" Theresa asked, discreetly

straining to read over his shoulder to read the airmail

Hletter with the foreign-looking stamp. "It's an invitation to

come to Athens, Greece, to hold crusades," Morris replied

seriously, folding up the letter quickly. "Reverend Koustis, the

superintendent of the Church of God in Greece, wants me to come

right away."

"Why, honey, that's great! You were so right when you told me

two weeks ago that God was preparing your heart to go to Athens,

Greece," Theresa said, hugging her husband.

A feeling of deep pride warmed her heart.

"You always knew in your spirit that someday God would take

you to the foreign fields to fulfill the vision He gave to you. And

now, it's coming to pass!"

But twenty-four-year-old Morris was in a pensive mood.

He felt both excited at the possibility of going to a foreign

nation for the first time, of being used by God to reach beyond

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THE CHOSEN WARRIOR

America, and yet, he felt burdened by the thought of being

separated from his precious wife and two children.

For the last four years, he had taken his wife everywhere with

him.

And when David and Susan were born, the four of them all

crammed together in their car with clothes, diapers and other

necessary traveling supplies and drove from meeting to meeting

across the United States.

It was tough and exhausting. But at least they were together as

a family.

For a moment, Morris remembered his orphanage years. Rabbi

Gold had taught such strong Jewish traditions and family values.

Those traditions and family values had become an important and

vital part of Morris's life.

"If I decide to accept this invitation to go to Greece," he

thought, "the hardest part will be having to be away from Theresa

and my children even for a few weeks. I swore in that orphanage

that my children would never be lonely and suffer the pains of

being without a mother or father. Yet, now that God is opening to

me this opportunity to minister in a foreign land...."

He paused, not completing the thought. He already knew in his

spirit what he must do. But being obedient to God's will, and being

God's faithful servant, never exempts a man from the pangs of

separation he feels as a husband and a father.

The year was 1955. God had already blessed Theresa and

Morris with two children; David was three, and little Susan was

just barely one year old.

The four Cerullos traveled together in their car, Mama doing

the washing and diapers wherever she could, Papa helping out,

trying to make each town's hotel room feel somehow a little bit

like a "home."

Morris and Theresa tried very hard to do the things normal

116

"DADDY, WHAT STATE IS ATHENS IN?"

families do, no matter what city they were in.

On Saturdays or Sunday afternoons after church, they would

always go play in the park with their kids or take long walks and

talk.

But after years on the road, the Cerullo family car had become

a little too small to be called "home," especially after the arrival of

David and Susan. So, Morris and Theresa were just completing the

process of getting ready to buy their own dream home in

Newburgh, New York, when that letter arrived.

Their "dream home" was a cute little three-bedroom, brick

house, split level, selling for $ 13,500. The kitchen had white walls

with a black counter top, and a black and white tile floor. It had a

living room and dining room with beige carpets, and one

bathroom. Yes, it was a bit small, but to Theresa and Morris, it

seemed perfect.

The traveling Cerullo family had skimped and saved for years

from the precious offerings Morris received on the road. And now,

finally, they had saved enough money up to put a small down

payment of $600 on their first home. It was all set. But when that

letter came with the foreign stamp, that invitation to go to a foreign

land, that challenge by God to expand the ministry beyond

America, the final closing process had to be put on hold until

Morris returned from his ministry to Greece.

*

*

*

"Daddy, what state is Athens in?" little David asked on the way

to the airport.

"It's not in the United States, honey," his father replied, giving

David a gentle rub on his head. "It is in a country across the ocean

called Greece."

"Is that why you are taking a plane, Daddy?" David asked.

"That's right, David, the only way to get to Greece from New

York is by an airplane. Daddy was blessed by a lady who God

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THE CHOSEN WARRIOR

miraculously healed in one of his services. She was led by God to

give Daddy the trip money—the exact $865.50 I needed for the

plane ticket to fly there."

"Is that more than twenty-five cents?" David asked, wanting to

know how that amount compared to the money he had saved in his

own piggy-bank.

"Yes, son, it's a bit more than twenty-five cents."

When the family arrived at the airport, it was a scene none of

the four Cerullos were familiar with. They had never been

separated. Mama Cerullo tried to be brave, especially for David's

sake, but already there were tears in her eyes and in David's as

well.

They passed with Daddy through the airport checkout, and

watched helplessly as he entered the long gateway that would take

him to his four-motor airplane and to his long flight to Greece.

After Morris hugged and kissed the entire family, he walked

straight towards the plane, not looking back.

Theresa understood. She saw the steel-eyed, flint look on his

face and knew that already his mind was purposed to his new,

God-given objective: to penetrate the island of Greece with the

gospel of Jesus Christ. It was like sending a general off to the front

lines.

As the plane took off, Morris immediately began to pray for the

people of Athens. He spent the next several hours in deep prayer,

asking God for protection and binding the forces of evil.

On the way home, David was silent. Theresa spoke first.

"Even though we are not going with your daddy on this trip,"

she began softly, "I want you to know we are still with him, just

like we have been all these times in the states. God knows we are

giving Daddy up to minister in Greece, so whatever rewards

Daddy receives in heaven, you and I and Susan will share in them,

too. We sent our daddy off today so others very far away could

know about the love of Jesus."

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"DADDY, WHAT STATE IS ATHENS IN?"

David just smiled, and put his arm around his mother.

Sometimes the world of a three-year-old is very complicated.

When they got home, Theresa tucked David into bed and put

Susan into her crib. Before they went to sleep, she started to read

to them out of the Bible. Of course, baby Susan could not

understand the words, but the tone of her mother's love and

warmth soothed the little baby into a gentle sleep.

"And he took a child, and set him in the midst of them: and

when he had taken him in his arms, he said unto them, 'Whosoever

shall receive one of such children in my name, receiveth me: and

whosoever shall receive me, receiveth not me, but him that sent

me'" (Mark 9:36-37).

*

*

*

The plane landed in Athens and Morris Cerullo was warmly

greeted by his hosts. Then, as if Satan wanted to serve notice on

him immediately that this would be a time of intense spiritual

warfare, Morris was greeted with incredible news.

"We could not advertise your meetings," he was told as they

gathered the luggage and headed towards the hotel room.

"You see, in Greece, before we can have an evangelistic

meeting, we must first secure a permit. But the only church that is

allowed permits is the Greek Orthodox Church. So, as of today, we

have been unable to secure that government permit. So we are not

allowed to even advertise the meetings. Getting the permits has

proven to be impossible."

Morris smiled slightly. He immediately recognized what was

going on.

"Let me tell you something," he began in a confident, assured

tone, "nothing is ever easy or routine when you are waging

spiritual battle with the enemy. He fights and kicks and scratches

to keep every bit of his vile territory. The fact that we do not yet

have a permit for the meeting only means that God intends to

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unleash some mighty miracle breakthroughs in your country before

we are through."

His hosts were very excited.

"Then you will come with us tomorrow morning and help fight

for the necessary permits with the government authorities?" they

asked.

"No, not at all," Morris replied. "We are not in a war with the

government authorities. Take me to my hotel room. I will stay

there and pray, and God will make a way."

The host took Morris to a little dark, dingy room in the city

where arrangements had been made for him to stay. It was at the

top of several flights of stairs. It had only one chair and a bed.

There were no sheets, no pillow cases, just an old smelly, dirty

mattress.

Morris Cerullo thought to himself, "This room almost seems

symbolic of the tremendous spiritual stagnation in this nation."

That night was a night to remember. He was in a strange

country, didn't know a soul, had no one to talk to and no meetings

to preach in.

Morris stayed up all night praying.

*

*

*

Early the next morning, Morris left that awful room. With the

little money he had saved for this missionary journey, he walked

the unfamiliar streets of Athens with his two suitcases in his hands

to find a better place to stay.

Finally, he located a room in a little hotel on Constitution

Square and contacted his host to tell him the new room location

should anything develop concerning the evangelistic meeting.

Then Morris locked the door and fell on his face before God.

"Oh, Lord, what am I going to do?" Morris cried.

No one could help him. He needed a supernatural intervention

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"DADDY, WHAT STATE IS ATHENS IN?"

in these circumstances. He needed a miracle.

"How long has he been locked up in there?" one of the hotel

employees asked.

"Two, three, four days...I don't know. Every time I go past his

door, I hear him praying. Sometimes shouting, 'In the name of

Jesus, devil, be bound. You have no hold on this nation. You have

no right to this city. I command you to let go, in the name of

Jesus.'"

The weapons of the world's warfare are readily apparent.

M-16 rifles.

Hand grenades.

Nuclear and hydrogen bombs.

But in that small hotel room in Athens, Greece, another type of

warfare was being waged.

This spiritual war would have a significant impact on the

nation of Greece, and begin to change the course of spiritual

history in that nation.

Spiritual warfare...this was Morris Cerullo's God-given

weapon, and he was using it to its fullest as he prayed and began to

take this first of 130 nations for the glory of God.

God heard this humble Jew's prayers.

And He began to move.

*

*

*

One day quite unexpectedly there was a knock on his door.

Morris opened the door and there stood a well-dressed lady in the

hallway.

"Brother Cerullo, my name is Mrs. Torakes. I'm the wife of the

vice-president of the Bank of Athens. May I come in?"

"Yes," he answered, wondering why God had brought this

distinguished lady to his door. "Come in. How can I help you?"

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THE CHOSEN WARRIOR

"Brother Cerullo, I am going to share with you a strange story.

It happened only recently, about two weeks ago, and it has

changed the course of my life.

"I was walking down the street when I heard music coming

from a room on the second floor in one of the buildings. I ventured

up the stairway into a small room where a little group of

Foursquare people had assembled for a midweek service. There in

that group of strangers I surrendered my heart to the Lord Jesus

Christ."

She paused, wiping a tear from her eye.

"Praise God," Morris replied, "then you are a born-again

Christian."

"Thank you," Mrs. Torakes replied, regaining her composure

and continuing her story.

"During the days that followed, I learned that you were coming

from America to hold miracle services. And now, I've been told

about your problems getting a permit to conduct the meetings. I

want you to know that I am going to ask my husband to use all of

his influence to make it possible for you to conduct your meeting."

"Well, I can certainly use all the help I can get in this matter,"

Morris replied. "Thank you very much for your kindness."

After a bit more discussion, Morris showed the lady out the

door, and got back on his knees in prayer for the next two days.

*

*

*

There was a hurried, loud knocking on his door.

"I'm coming. I'm coming," Morris Cerullo yelled.

But the knocking continued in a rapid fashion until he opened

the door.

"Brother Cerullo, you won't believe it," his host said, bursting

into the room, not even pausing to say hello. "It is a miracle. It is a

miracle. The premier himself, George Papadopoulos, has heard our

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"DADDY, WHAT STATE IS ATHENS IN?"

petitions and has granted the necessary permits!

"Brother Cerullo, you don't know what this means. He heard

that a man of God was in the country to pray for the sick and help

the lame walk, and he ordered a permit to be drawn up. This is

unheard of! That a permit for an evangelistic meeting would ever

be granted in this country.

"The permit was obtained through the influence of that

powerful lady whose husband is the vice-president of the Bank of

Athens...."

"No, no, no," Morris Cerullo interrupted. "It was not because of

a powerful woman's husband that we obtained our permit. It was

because we serve a powerful God. Give God the glory for this

miracle. Our strength is never in man. Our strength is in our God

and our works are the works of the Holy Spirit. God heard our

prayers, and He wants many people to know the message of His

love and salvation.

"Praise God. Let's say a prayer of thanks now to our God, and

then, let's roll up our sleeves and get started on the details for our

meetings."

*

*

*

The posters were unique in the modern history of Greece.

They invited people to come to the Kentragon Theatre in

Athens for an evangelistic meeting and an evening of miracles.

"The blind will see, the lame will walk, the deaf will hear," they

proclaimed, inviting all to come.

Never before had a permit been granted for anything but the

Greek Orthodox church! Yet, the crusade group was allowed to

rent a building, print and distribute handbills, and buy ads in

newspapers inviting people to come.

And they came.

The night of the meeting, there was still one major problem left

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THE CHOSEN WARRIOR

to solve: Morris Cerullo needed an interpreter, since he did not

speak Greek. The only person fluent enough in Greek and English

to help was a missionary woman, and the pastors were concerned

that a woman interpreter would not be well accepted by the

conservative public.

As Morris was preparing for the meeting that night, he received

a telephone call in his hotel room at 6 p.m., one hour before the

meeting was to begin.

The man on the other end of the line asked, "Is this Morris

Cerullo?"

"Yes, who is this?" Morris replied.

"You don't know me, but I am your interpreter," came the

reply.

Morris was taken by surprise.

"Who are you?"

"I am Reverend Frangus, general superintendent of all the

Assemblies of God in Greece," he answered. "No one expected

me; I'm just here by accident. I happened to be on a field

missionary trip.

"I called our missionary in Athens. She told me that you were

conducting services and that you needed an interpreter. I just want

you to know I am rushing to your hotel right now. So just hold on.

I'll be there right away."

Morris hung up the phone and thanked God for His loving

grace. Morris now understood better than ever before that he was

not in Greece by accident. God indeed had arranged it all. That

night, when he opened his meeting, Morris Cerullo discovered that

God had given him the best interpreter an evangelist could ever

have.

Morris Cerullo began his first meeting with the words, "I come

to you tonight in the name that is above all names, the name of

Jesus Christ."

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"DADDY, WHAT STATE IS ATHENS IN?"

At atmosphere burst upon that auditorium like that compared to

the early days of the apostles when Paul, another Jew, started

preaching at Philippi in the northeast corner of Greece and

established the first European Church.

So great was the anticipation that the sick were carried to the

entrance of the auditorium. They fervently believed that if they

could just touch Morris as he walked past, they would be healed.

Revival broke out at the Kentragon Theatre in Athens, Greece.

Healings and salvations happened all over the auditorium.

Hundreds were saved.

The love of Jesus was shown to many people who had been in

the dark. So powerful were the meetings that they met night after

night. Until one night, at the scheduled end of the crusades, the

local pastors and crusade organizers came to Morris Cerullo in

tears.

"Brother Cerullo, we've never seen anything like this in our

country. Please do not stop the meetings. Please stay and continue

them longer."

"I would love to continue the meetings," Morris replied, "but I

am out of money. I'm flat broke. And we are not allowed to take

offerings in the meetings, so there's nothing else I can do. God will

have to provide the way."

Then Morris thought to himself, "God, how can I tell these

precious people no? Your spirit and anointing is increasing in the

meetings by the day. Lord, show me a way to stay."

That night, in the privacy of his hotel room, Morris again

prayed for the deepest desires of his heart.

"Lord, You hear what these ministers are asking me. They have

told me of the stripes on their backs that they have received for the

sake of the Gospel. Now the freedom is here. Lord, they don't want

this meeting to close. I don't want it to close, but I don't know what

to do."

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THE CHOSEN WARRIOR

In the still of that room, God spoke to Morris words that

shocked him: "Son, you've got the money."

"Oh great! This is wonderful," Morris said. "I've got the

money! Lord, do You mind telling me where I've got the money?

If You tell me where it is, I'll go get it."

God answered by saying, "You've got it at home."

Morris shuddered inside.

He thought of Theresa and the kids.

He thought to himself, "Lord, you wouldn't ask that! Surely

You are not asking me to give the money that Theresa and I have

in the bank for our little dream house. Lord, I can't do that. I can do

a lot of things but I can't do that. That has to be Theresa's

decision."

*

*

*

"Can you hear me all right, honey?" Morris screamed into his

phone.

Theresa was so glad to hear her precious husband's voice; she

knew the reason he had not called before was because it was so

expensive.

And in her spirit, she knew why he was calling now.

"Are you and the kids okay?" Morris asked, confident of her

answer.

"Yes, yes, yes...we're all fine...we just miss you. How are the

meetings going?" Theresa asked, wanting to make it a bit easier for

her husband to ask.

"Terrific. Terrific. The power of God is so strong. Every night

we are seeing hundreds of salvations and mighty miracles are

manifesting themselves in so many areas."

Then there was a long pause.

"Honey, they want me to stay for more meetings. The ministers

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"DADDY, WHAT STATE IS ATHENS IN?"

here are crying, begging me to stay longer. But I can't go on with

the meeting. I don't have any more money."

"I know, Morris, I know," Theresa replied. "Sweetheart, I know

why you're calling. You want me to take the money for our new

house and send it to you."

Morris knew this was a sensitive and delicate moment. He

resented the fact that they had to shout over the phone to be heard

at such a tender time.

"Theresa," Morris shouted, "I didn't ask you to do that. I won't

ask you for that money."

"Oh, you don't have to ask. That money is not my money or

your money. It is God's money. If He wants us to give it for the

revival to continue, then we will give it. There will always be other

houses, but this is God's timing for many people in Athens. I'll

send it out to you right away."

"Theresa, I love you so much," Morris shouted through the

buzzing line, as he wiped away a tear from his eye.

"I love you, too, honey," she replied, not sure he heard her

tender reply.

In the spirit, over those thousands of miles, it was as though

they were standing in the same room embracing in one of the most

intimate hugs in the history of their marriage. Somehow, they

never felt closer.

The next day, Theresa withdrew all of their savings from the

bank and wired it to her husband. It was enough to continue the

meetings.

*

*

*

"Here he comes! Here he comes! Here he comes!" shouted

David at the top of his three-year-old lungs. "Daddy's home!

Daddy's home!" he shouted, and immediately broke through a

crowd of people at New York International and rushed into his

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THE CHOSEN WARRIOR

father's open arms.

Tears poured out of Theresa's eyes.

Tears poured from Morris's eyes.

"Honey, this is it," Morris said, reaching into his pocket to pull

out a few coins. "This is all that's left...."

"It doesn't matter," Theresa replied, hugging her husband

again. "We are together again, that's all that matters. God will take

care of the rest."

In these past few weeks, God had made the nation of Greece a

place of spiritual victory. He had somehow molded Morris and

Theresa closer together than ever before as they sacrificed for the

cause of Christ the very thing they had scrimped and saved for

these past several years.

To everyone, it felt like Christmas.

A wedding.

Easter.

Thanksgiving.

All rolled into these few precious moments.

As they drove home—together again as a family-heading

towards their rented apartment, Morris and Theresa had no way of

knowing that God was already pouring out His blessings on their

lives from the heavens.

God was already providing a way for them to buy the very

same house they had given up for the people of Greece, one year

later, at precisely the same price they were going to buy it for

before Morris left on his historic crusade.

God would restore the downpayment, and give them back the

very same house they had given to Him.

Within twelve months, Morris Cerullo would be busy building

a study downstairs. Theresa would be busy sewing, making

matching bedspreads and draperies for the kids' rooms from fabric

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"DADDY, WHAT STATE IS ATHENS IN?"

she bought at the local discount store.

They gave their house to the Lord and used that money to

finance Morris's first overseas crusade, and one year later, God

gave that home back to them.

But none of that mattered on this evening as the four Cerullos

motored home from the airport.

The only thing that mattered now was that they were at last

together again.

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CHAPTER FOURTEEN

VOODOO

14

VANQUISHED IN HAITI

or the next several years, the Cerullo family conducted the

clerical functions of the ministry out of the garage of their

Fhome. Even little Mark, the newest Cerullo son, although

only four years old in I960, had his assigned ministry tasks.

Only the family car was left out of the constant activity. Since

Morris Cerullo traveled more now to the foreign nations of the

world, it often sat parked in the street.

The Cerullo family answered their correspondence on an old

wooden table with a crickety manual typewriter whose keys hit

each other if you typed too fast. The children learned the joy and

privilege of doing God's work, and each child helped after school

and at nights. Sometimes they would lick the envelopes.

Sometimes they would fold the letters and stuff them. Sometimes

they would empty the trash. But all the family members

contributed.

Since that historic first crusade in Greece, Daddy was now

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THE CHOSEN WARRIOR

regularly going to the foreign fields, reluctantly leaving his wife

and family behind.

In these past few years, Morris Cerullo had learned that despite

the differences in religion, the existence of cults, despite the

political climate or governmental condition of any particular

nation, the real battle he faced was always spiritual.

Before he ever stepped on to a crusade platform, before he

uttered one word to the awaiting crowds, he had already taken the

spiritual authority and control away from the enemy through hours

—sometimes days—of intense prayer and spiritual warfare. It

seemed all the devil could do in a Morris Cerullo crusade or

meeting was poke up his ugly head once in awhile and cause a

little commotion here or there before retreating.

However, in the Haiti crusade of I960, the devil apparently

decided to pull out all the stops and wage a powerful, full-scale

offensive against the twenty-nine-year-old evangelist. The territory

and the timing of the warfare were clearly weighted in Satan's

favor.

The ensuing spiritual battle I'm about to relate to you is

absolutely true. There were thousands of witnesses. And when the

final course of spiritual history is written in the books of heaven,

Morris Cerullo's battle in Haiti may prove to be one of the classic

engagements of spiritual warfare in our generation.

*

*

*

The open door to journey to Haiti, a nation enmeshed in the

practice of voodoo, came from a personal invitation from Demos

Shakarian, founder and president of the Full Gospel Business

Men's Fellowship International, a world-wide outreach to men

based in Costa Mesa, California.

Demos challenged Morris Cerullo to develop spiritual battle

plans for a series of hard-hitting crusades with FGBMFI to

penetrate the island of Haiti for the cause of Christ.

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Morris immediately accepted the challenge.

The crusade's timing could not have played more perfectly into

the devil's plan. The FGBMFI organizers booked the stadium

during Haiti's annual Mardi Gras celebration, a festival dominated

by lust, sexual perversion, rape, drunkenness and voodoo.

By the time Morris arrived, posters advertising the Christian

crusade had either been burned publicly or remained prominently

displayed with voodoo pins piercing Morris Cerullo's picture.

Mardi Gras in Haiti in I960 was unlike any other celebration in

the world. The activities took place on seven consecutive Sunday

nights and were the wildest, most ungodly displays of carnality

you could ever imagine. Almost a hundred thousand people were

out on the streets in Port-au-Prince, the site of the Cerullo

crusades, for those Sunday nights, reveling, drinking, engaging in

all sorts of open sexual expression, and gaudy, sometimes bloody

displays of vile voodoo rites at every street corner.

Truly, this was the devil's day! The local newspapers reported

that during the first three Sunday nights of the pagan celebration,

thousands of women of all ages were openly raped, with no

interference from the local police officials.

The ministry team arrived in Haiti on the third Sunday of the

Mardi Gras season. They immediately learned that although eighty

percent of Haiti is reportedly Catholic, the strong influences of

African voodoo permeate every part of the island. Many Catholics

attended Sunday mass in the morning, then enthusiastically

participated in the pagan Mardi Gras rites at night!

Naturally, the local witch doctors of Port-au-Prince considered

Mardi Gras their season. They strongly resented the publicity,

announcements and distractions of the Cerullo crusade. Some of

them decided to create a volatile, hostile situation at the upcoming

crusade to teach this young American evangelist a lesson he'd not

soon forget.

*

*

*

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THE CHOSEN WARRIOR

The air was electric at the stadium in Haiti as the time drew

ominously near for the opening service of the crusade.

President Francois Duvalier himself, Haiti's dictator, had

invited the FGBMFI and Morris Cerullo to come to his country. So

out of respect to President Duvalier, almost two hundred

dignitaries and high-ranking military officials, many of them

Catholic, sat on the platform with their wives as the crusade

opened.

The platform was erected in the middle of the stadium floor,

and five thousand people were jammed around the platform,

standing in the open area. Another ten thousand people were

packed into the stands. Many were laughing, jeering and mocking.

Scattered throughout the crowd were three hundred red-shirted

Haitian voodoo witch doctors. They came to to create havoc, to

wreck the platform, and possibly even to kill whomever would

dare interfere with their evil purposes. Their prime target was

Morris Cerullo, the featured evangelist.

As the Christian leaders with whom Morris was making the trip

sought to open the meeting and give their personal testimonies, the

voodoo witch doctors began their rhythmic disruption and

chanting.

Boom.

Boom.

Boom.

Boom.

These enemy warriors started to march defiantly around that

platform positioned in the middle of the stadium field. The

Christians and dignitaries on the platform seemed stranded on a

tiny island surrounded by hostile sharks anxious to harm their prey.

Morris Cerullo recognized that Satan had fully unleashed a host of

evil spirits against this mighty work of God.

*

*

*

134

VOODOO VANQUISHED IN HAITI

A few hours earlier, when he had arrived in Haiti, a long string

of limousines waited to take him and the other Americans on a

parade through the city before arriving at the hotel. Morris Cerullo

was in a car with several high ranking government officials,

including Senator Arthur Bonhomme and a general.

At the time, Morris knew little about the spiritual habits of

Haiti. But in his spirit, he sensed that something different was

about to happen. The very air smelled sickening. Vile. He felt a

lingering sickness in the pit of his stomach, and turned to his hosts

and said, "Please pull this car out of the motorcade."

"What do you mean?" his official hosts asked, quite surprised

by the request. "We can't pull out. We are going to take you by the

President's palace!"

"I can't tell you why," Morris responded, knowing the Lord

was clearly speaking to him, "but I must get to my hotel now."

The authority in the young evangelist's voice overcame the

pageantry and the preconceived plans. Still confused, but without

any further questions, his Haitian hosts dropped Morris Cerullo off

at the hotel and attended to his room reservation. As soon as he

entered his room, without even taking the time to unpack his bags,

he immediately got down on his knees and began to pray.

"God," he began, "something's wrong here. This is not a

sickness. This is a spiritual thing. You're wanting to speak to me."

And he was right. The Lord spoke to him, not in an audible

voice, but in his spirit.

"God," he said aloud, "what's wrong?"

The answer came readily back. "Tonight there are going to be

three hundred witch doctors at the crusade. You'll know them

because they will wear red shirts. They're going to scatter

themselves throughout this congregation, and they're there for the

purpose of killing you. They're going to come out to kill you," God

said to Morris.

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THE CHOSEN WARRIOR

"Lord," he said, "thank you for telling me. I don't mind being a

martyr if you want me to die."

In his short life-span of twenty-nine years, he had already faced

about everything there was to face, so he prayed, "Lord, if you

want me to, I'll die." He meant it.

Then God said, "Son, I want you to remember something when

you are out there tonight. The words you speak will be exactly as if

I had spoken them and I will bring the words to pass."

*

*

*

Fear. The local ministers radiated fear. They believed they

knew the power of the witch doctors, and had heard of their plans

to disrupt and destroy the evening meeting. So these well-

intentioned pastors came to Morris Cerullo at his hotel and

presented their plea.

"Now, Brother Cerullo, we don't want to tell you what to do.

After all, you are the man of God. But, we do not want to

encourage you to have a Sunday night meeting.

"Of course, if you do, those of us in the churches will come,

but you should know that a Sunday night meeting will conflict

with the Mardi Gras celebration. Here in Haiti, that is the most

important festival of the year.

"We think you would be well-advised not to have a Sunday

night meeting. The witch doctors do not like it and they will march

against you. They will burn you in effigy and put pins in your

pictures while they perform their voodoo dances. Already, they are

calling their evil spirits down on you."

One man present at that meeting was C.C. Ford, one of the

executive directors of the Full Gospel Businessmen, and a personal

friend of Morris Cerullo. Mr. Ford understood the spiritual

authority that Morris represented and spoke up in answer to these

trembling pastors before Morris could reply. His answer spoke

succinctly for the prophet.

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VOODOO VANQUISHED IN HAITI

"Let me tell you something about Brother Cerullo," Mr. Ford

replied confidently, "one thing about him you will come to

understand is that he is not consecrated unto life, he is consecrated

unto death. He has no fear of death nor of your witch doctors."

And that was the end of the discussion. Clearly, the Sunday

night meeting would take place as planned.

*

*

*

The voodoo chants chilled the crowd. The electric atmosphere

generated fear. Even the government officials and military officers

sitting on the platform behind Morris Cerullo felt the fire of

voodoo frenzy, and they anticipated a riot.

Cerullo began to speak. Every time he'd start to talk, the witch

doctors would start that chant again.

Boom.

Boom.

Boom.

Boom.

The emotions of the crazed crowd skyrocketed with each beat

of the hateful chant.

From all parts of the stadium, witch doctors and voodoo

supporters poured out of the stands and marched around the

platform.

The platform started to shake as the mass of humanity now

marching around it rocked the very foundation.

It seemed that at any minute the red shirts would rush against

the platform, tear it down, and then kill God's man, Morris Cerullo,

to prove once-and-for-all the force of their voodoo power.

Morris Cerullo turned around for his interpreter who was a

Bible school boy named Nelson. Pointing his finger sternly at him,

he said, "Son, I want you to interpret what I say— every word.

Don't you dare change a single word. Not one syllable."

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THE CHOSEN WARRIOR

"Yes, sir! Yes, sir! Yes, sir! "Nelson agreed, too frightened to

think.

The man of God once again called for the attention of the

frenzied crowd, and began.

"God, the true God, has sent me to Haiti," he declared boldly.

"The devil, who is against God, wants to keep you in bondage. He

has sent these hundreds of voodoo witch doctors here tonight to try

to kill me and destroy this meeting."

Several times, Morris Cerullo called for quiet, but to no avail.

Finally, with the authority of the Holy Spirit, the evangelist

charged, "Today, in my room, God showed me that there would be

hundreds of red-shirted witch doctors here tonight to destroy this

meeting. But I am going to be in this city for some time. So, we'd

better find out tonight, this first night, whether you and your devil

have more power than me and my God!

"We're going to find out right here tonight who has the greater

power, the living God whom I serve, or the devil, who sent these

witch doctors."

The booms stopped. The chanting ceased. Morris Cerullo now

had their complete attention.

"The God that I came here to tell you about is a loving God. He

sent me here to tell you that He loves you so much that He wants

to take away all of your sins, take away your burdens, and yes,

even take away your sicknesses. I've come here to tell you how

you can be free of all those things."

He paused just long enough to make the enemy uncomfortable.

Then he continued.

"But that God is a God of judgment.

"The next witch doctor, or any person who opens his mouth to

destroy this meeting in any way, shape, or form, before all these

officials," and he gestured to all the dignitaries sitting on the

platform, "well, I will not be responsible for that person when they

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VOODOO VANQUISHED IN HAITI

carry you out of this stadium dead."

Morris Cerullo turned to the dignitaries on the platform and

repeated his words, knowing that he was under God's anointing,

and that God had already promised him that whatever words he

spoke that night in the crusade would be honored.

"The next person on these grounds, and in this stadium, who

opens his mouth and says one word to hinder or destroy this

meeting, I will take no responsibility before all you officials, when

they carry that person out of this stadium dead!"

There was absolute stillness.

Not even the witch doctors appeared ready to challenge the

God of the young evangelist.

For about the next twenty minutes, Morris spoke without

interference when suddenly, behind the field crowd of five

thousand standing before the platform, somebody began to scream.

But it was not a witch doctor trying to disrupt the meeting.

Instead, a group of Haitians started to push a small baby girl

toward the platform, moving her with their hands above their

heads. The people were so packed together that if one of them

moved, all of them moved. The whole crowd seemed to be

swaying back and forth, side by side, as they passed the baby

along, overhead, toward the platform.

Someone began to scream, "Reverend Cerullo, this baby was

born blind, and now it can see. She sees!"

A different sort of frenzy broke upon the meeting— the same

kind of frenzy, the same type of joy that must have hit the apostles

on that first Pentecost.

Everybody was yelling and crying while they passed the child

towards the platform. A government official stood up, dressed in

the uniform of a soldier with a high rank. He stood there with his

hands up over his head, looking in astonishment at that baby girl.

He shook with emotion.

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"Mr. Cerullo," he whispered hoarsely. "Mr. Cerullo, that's my

neighbor! That baby is my neighbor." And then the crowd went

wild.

When the little girl finally arrived in front, Morris Cerullo

began to verify the miracle.

"How do you know this baby was born blind?" he asked to

those in the audience. "Are the parents here? If they are, let them

through."

The stadium held thirty-five thousand people and five thousand

of them were jammed right smack up against that platform in the

middle of the field. But somehow, the parents pushed their way

through the crowd. The mother and father came up on the platform

to be with their little baby.

As they held her, the little girl grabbed at Morris Cerullo's

white handkerchief, at his nose and ear, and followed every

movement on the stage with her newly functional eyes.

Her eyes followed flawlessly as Morris Cerullo shifted from

spot to spot. It was true! This baby, that had been born blind, was

now seeing for the first time! The entire audience was electrified.

The leading witch doctors who only moments ago plotted the

death of Morris Cerullo now fell to their knees and gave their lives

to Jesus Christ, accepting Him as their Savior.

The crusade exploded in an endless display of ministry and

miracles. Before the meeting was adjourned, the defeat of the devil

was complete and total.

That night, when Morris went back to the hotel, his entire

being basked in the afterglow of God's power. His sense of

satisfaction was overwhelming. Thousands of people had yielded

their lives to Jesus under the anointing of the Holy Spirit.

As Morris pulled his exhausted body into bed, he humbly

thanked the Lord in simple prayer for anointing him as a chosen

warrior, and for allowing him to be His faithful servant.

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VOODOO VANQUISHED IN HAITI

*

*

*

The crusades lasted three weeks, instead of five days as

planned.

The crowds swelled consistently to over thirty-five thousand

daily. Thousands were saved, healed and received the ministry of

the Holy Spirit.

Hundreds of witch doctors were saved. During the three weeks,

thousands of voodoo fetishes were brought and piled on the altar to

be forever destroyed!

The leading witch doctor of the whole city of Port-au-Prince

received Jesus Christ as his personal Savior and even invited

Morris and many of the local ministers to come to his home.

This witch doctor then did an amazing thing to testify to the

sincerity of his born-again experience. He took the ministers on a

tour of every room in his house and started handing his once-

treasured voodoo fetishes to Morris and the pastors.

Then, they assembled in the street, and there, in full view of the

witch doctor's neighbors, they dumped the fetishes in a huge pile,

took a torch to them, and set them ablaze.

Morris Cerullo and the other ministers stood proudly out in that

street, in front of that witch doctor's whole neighborhood, with

tears in their eyes, singing, "What can wash away my sins, nothing

but the blood of Jesus."

*

*

*

After the second week of crusades, the Haitian Mardi Gras

died.

Where there were normally about a hundred thousand people

dancing crazily in the streets, you could only find about thousand

people carousing.

The rapes and drunkenness had virtually stopped.

Instead of the night air smelling of the newly sacrificed blood

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THE CHOSEN WARRIOR

of animals, Haiti had instead been cleansed and purified by the

blood of Jesus.

The revelers now attended the meetings.

One night, Morris Cerullo gave an altar call just for men, and

out of that packed stadium, about fifteen thousand men came down

out of the stands and gave their lives to Jesus.

The victorious evangelist, exercising the divine anointing and

authority God had given to him, commanded and commissioned

these men to live holy lives. To go home and repent of their sins.

To ask forgiveness of their wives for their infidelity and their

adultery.

This historic spiritual event helped many island men, who were

involved sexually with women other than their wives, to repent of

their infidelity and to become good husbands.

As the plane lifted off from the Haitian runway to return

Morris Cerullo back to the United States and his precious family,

even the usually stale air in the plane cabin seemed refreshingly

clean.

A monumental spiritual battle had shaken the very heart and

soul of Haiti, and the results of that clash had a significant positive

effect on the spiritual history of that tiny island nation.

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CHAPTER FIFTEEN

HOMECOMING AND

15

HEARTACHES

hile driving to the airport to meet her returning

husband, Theresa was thinking to herself, "I never get

Wused to Morris leaving for weeks at a time. God, I miss

him. The best part about his trips overseas is now, when I drive to

the airport to pick him up."

Mark, Susan and David were all struggling to keep their eyes

open. They were already dressed in pajamas, robes and slippers,

since the plane would not arrive until late. On this particular trip to

the San Diego airport to pick up her husband from his crusade in

Brazil, only Theresa was wide awake.

The year was 1962, and Morris had now been traveling to the

foreign fields fairly regularly for seven years. Yet, the welcome

home greetings were always special.

As Morris met the family in the airport, and after the first

emotions, warm hugs, kisses, and tears were over, Theresa noticed

that her husband's face was somehow different. She could always

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THE CHOSEN WARRIOR

tell when something special was on his mind.

"Honey, what is it?" she asked as she walked arm in arm with

her Morris to the car.

"After we get the kids home and tucked in to bed," Morris said,

"I'll tell you. It's too complicated to share right now with all the

commotion from the kids."

That night, after David, Susan and Mark were gently tucked in

to bed, and after Morris and Theresa read to them out of scripture,

the parents went into the kitchen where Morris shared with her one

of the most incredible incidents his lovely young wife had ever

heard.

*

*

*

"Honey, the turnout for the crusade in Porto Alegre, Brazil,

was everything we had hoped and prayed for. At least fifty

thousand people jammed into the Exposition Grounds. But when I

started to minister—in fact, I'd only been speaking for about ten

minutes, a tremendous pain suddenly shot across my chest."

"Oh, Morris," Theresa said, concerned about her husband,

"why didn't you call and tell me? Was it your heart?"

"At first I thought it might be," Morris replied. "I had the

horrific thought that here I was, only thirty years old, and already

suffering a heart attack. I can tell you this, Theresa, it hurt so much

that I grabbed the thin board railing on that platform. It wasn't very

substantial, but I grabbed for it and held on. My whole body was

doubled over with pain. The pain shot across my chest like this,"

and he motioned to Theresa that the pain had traveled from the left

to the right side of his chest.

Theresa slid a bit closer to him and hugged his hand as she

listened attentively.

"I asked the Lord, 'Am I going to die? God, are you going to

take me home now?' I was collapsing in the pulpit from the

excruciating stabs in my chest. I pulled my overseas director to the

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HOMECOMING AND HEARTACHES

microphone and told him to close the service so I could get into the

automobile parked behind the platform and have it take me back to

the hotel.

"By then, Theresa, my entire body was so exhausted that I

literally fell limp into the back seat."

"Then what happened?" she asked. "Did you tell the driver to

immediately take you to the hospital?"

"No, I didn't want him or anybody else to know what was

happening. So, I just told the driver to get me back to my hotel

room.

"On the entire drive back to the Plaza, the pain continued. I

staggered to get on the elevator and I stumbled to get to my room. I

was in such pain when I got there that I didn't even take the time to

remove my clothes, which were soaking wet from perspiration.

Theresa, it must have been 105 or 110 degrees on the platform that

night. Even my shoes were sopping wet."

She caressed his arm a little tighter and gently squeezed his

hand as she listened.

"I remember I had a very hard time even falling down on the

floor to pray," Morris continued, "because my room was so small."

"I thought the name, 'Plaza Hotel' sounded so fancy," Theresa

interrupted. "You mean your room was as bad as some we stayed

in during our crusade travels?"

"Yes, it was very small, and not fancy at all. It was located

right smack in the heart of downtown. I could hear a lot of street

noises. Right across the street was a little park where people would

walk around, like a promenade. It was terribly noisy. Honking

trucks. But God didn't care about those physical circumstances. He

spoke to me in spite of all of that."

"Did He speak to you right away?" Theresa wanted to know.

"Yes, just as soon as I fell on the carpet on my face before

God. I prayed, 'Lord are You taking me home?' God immediately

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THE CHOSEN WARRIOR

let me know that this pain was not for the purpose of Him taking

me home to heaven. In fact, as I lay there, the pain lifted

completely and it has stayed away. Theresa, I feel great now."

"I'm so glad. What a relief," Theresa sighed, hugging her

husband as he continued.

"As I realized the pain was gone, God came into my room and

He spoke very clearly and very directly to me. He said, 'Son, I

have permitted this to happen to you for a purpose.' I said, 'Lord,

please teach me.'

"Theresa, you know it is very scary to think your life is over at

thirty, especially at a time when God seems to be blessing our

ministry outreach in an explosive and miraculous way."

"I don't believe God would take you now either, Morris," the

young wife replied confidently. "He has too much work for you to

do. So what did He say to your request that He teach you?"

"God asked me a very peculiar question. He said, 'Morris, what

do you want out of this life?' I thought, 'It is very strange for God

to ask me that.'"

"Morris, that is strange," Theresa reacted. "After all, God

knows your heart and He knows mine. He knows us better than we

know ourselves. You've traveled with me and the kids for five

years. You've traveled on the foreign fields without us for seven.

You've gone everywhere He's told you to go and done everything

He's told you to do. Morris, our lives are totally on the altar now

and always have been.

"Didn't that question surprise you?"

"Of course it did. In fact, I said, 'God, why would You ask me

what I want most out of this life when you know the complete

dedication and total consecration that I have made to You? Why

would You ask me what I want most out of life?'"

"Morris, that's such a staggering question," Theresa responded

after she had a few seconds to think about God's question. "It

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HOMECOMING AND HEARTACHES

almost sounds like God asked You so He could grant you any

desire of your heart. You could have probably asked for anything

at that point and I believe God would have granted your request.

So what did you tell Him you wanted most?"

"I told Him, 'Lord, there is only one thing that I ask of You in

this world...only one thing,' and my answer came pouring out of

my innermost being. 'God, give me the ability to take what you

have given me, the power and anointing and the glory that is upon

my ministry, that You have rested upon me and give me the ability

to give that to others.'"

"Morris, I knew you would say something like that," Theresa

replied. "That's been your heart ever since I've known you. We

both know the only way we will ever reach this world for God is if

God raises up trained and motivated women and men, full of the

power of the Holy Spirit. These nationals can go the villages and

countrysides of their own countries and evangelize their own

nations."

"That's right, Theresa. The key is dedicated, trained, motivated

nationals who can go into the highways and byways of their own

countries with the message and the power of the resurrected Son of

God. They can go places I can never go, often places no outsider

could ever hope to reach."

"That's what makes your ministry so different," Theresa

replied, even more excited. "The world will not be reached just

through the full-time preachers and seminary students. It will take

lay people—doctors, housewives, lawyers, grocers, nurses,

farmers, full of the power of the Holy Spirit who can go back into

their villages and their cities to evangelize their own nations."

"That's right, honey, I've said it a hundred times. Africans

reaching Africans, Asians reaching Asians, South Americans

reaching South Americans, until every continent and every

nationality is saturated with the gospel of Jesus Christ."

"So what did God say when you told Him the desire of your

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heart?"

"As I lay before God there on that hotel floor, God said to

me..." and here Morris paused, deeply overwhelmed by the sacred

and challenging words he was about to share..."Son, build Me an

army!"

"Build Him an army?" Theresa questioned, not understanding

the impact of the words. "What do you think He meant by that?"

"Well, at first I didn't totally understand.

"I walked around for days in prayer, asking God to help me see

His plan. Now, Theresa, I believe the answer is clear. God Himself

has given us our ministry marching orders! I believe those

moments on the floor in the Plaza Hotel in Porte Alegre, Brazil,

will forever change the course of our global evangelism efforts.

"God's crystal-clear purpose for my life is to build Him an

army of nationals."

Morris paused to wipe a tear from his eye, then he continued.

"Honey, the concept is exploding in my spirit even as I share it

with you now. He has appointed me as His spiritual general to

travel to the nations of the world and enlist recruits for life-long

service. He has commissioned me to build Him an army of trained,

motivated soldiers to win the world for Jesus Christ."

"Now I am starting to understand it a bit more clearly," Theresa

replied, growing more excited. "In a natural army, you recruit

people. So God wants you to recruit nationals to join His army, and

after you recruit them, He wants you to put them into some sort of

a spiritual bootcamp where you can demonstrate to them how to

use the spiritual ammunition God has given you to do His work."

"Well, that's close," Morris responded. "But it has to be more

than that. It has got to be ongoing training. You see, if you were a

natural army, how could you win a war if all you did was recruit,

enlist, and put people through bootcamp and then hand them a

powerful rifle and say 'Go get them'? No, it will take more than

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HOMECOMING AND HEARTACHES

that. We must do ongoing training."

"How are we going to do that, Morris? You are only one man.

These trips to the foreign fields are so demanding and time-

consuming as it is."

"God will give us the wisdom and the strength to do it," Morris

replied. "I believe He wants me to start some sort of National

Training Institute to train nationals all around the world and to pass

on to them the same proof-producing anointing that God has given

to me.

"He wants me to demonstrate the power of God in the lives of

others. These Nationals...God's Army... are the hope of our world."

"Do you think that's why God had us move to San Diego?"

Theresa asked.

"Honey, I'm sure of it. He was positioning us for His next

major outreach to reach the world for the cause of Christ."

"Daddy, can I have a drink of water?" Mark asked as he

sleepily walked into the kitchen.

"Well of course you can," Theresa replied, getting up to get

Mark a glass of water. After she filled the glass, she paused,

looked at Morris, and smiled. Then she walked over and handed

the glass to Daddy.

"Come here, son, here's your water," Morris answered, and

patted his youngest son on the head as he drank every drop.

"Good night, Daddy," Mark said, hugging his dad and heading

off to bed.

"Good night, Mark," Theresa and Morris both replied in

unison.

"It sure feels good to have him home again," Theresa thought

as she turned off the kitchen light and the couple went off to bed.

149

SECTION FOUR

ENDTIME EXPLOSION

SECTION FOUR—

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

THE MYSTERY OF

16

MAGNITUDE

n these past fifty years, there have been more inventions, more

discoveries and more scientific and medical breakthroughs

Ithan in the entire history of the world. And modern science is

predicting that before the end of the twentieth century, we will see

more inventions, more discoveries and more explosive

breakthroughs in science, medicine, communication technologies

and in space exploration developments than in the entire known

history of humankind!

Our total knowledge will double in slightly more than one

decade! Month after month, many technical breakthroughs are

happening all around us so fast that they almost go unnoticed.

When a supercomputer nicknamed "Bubbles" made its debut in

Minneapolis with a liquid-cooled memory, it could store more than

two billion bytes of information and complete more than a billion

computations per second. Before Bubbles was developed, the

fastest computer known to man spewed out only two hundred

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THE CHOSEN WARRIOR

million computations per second.

Bubbles was five times faster than any other computer in the

world—overnight—yet this amazing technological breakthrough

barely made the local newspapers.

However, within a few months after Bubbles' introduction to

the scientific community, other computers were introduced that

just as suddenly dwarfed Bubbles' amazing computing abilities.

Imagine the impact on your own life if you woke up one

morning and suddenly discovered that General Motors had

invented a new gasoline engine capable of getting two hundred

miles per gallon! That announcement would be like the

breakthrough that Bubbles brought to the computer industry—

overnight!

When the Wright brothers launched the first heavier-than-air

machine on the sand dunes at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, on

December 17, 1903, the world stood in awe and amazement.

Yet only sixty-five years later, Neil A. Armstrong, an Apollo

11 astronaut, took a human's first step on the moon!

In 1903, the air transportation industry did not exist.

Today, it is not uncommon for business executives to

accumulate one million miles of air travel with a single airline.

Today, air passengers world-wide are counted in the billions.

In medicine, fertility clinics now have the ability to remove

several eggs from an infertile woman, fertilize them, and then

implant them months, even years later, by a freezing process.

This "new technology" may allow a sterile couple to produce

children, but it brings with it huge complex legal and moral

questions, questions man has never encountered before. These are

not normal times. The daily breakthroughs continue.

The breakthroughs in satellite technology have literally shrunk

the world to the point where a media event can be seen and heard

anywhere on earth in a matter of milliseconds.

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THE MYSTERY OF MAGNITUDE

Within one generation, a young boy who grew up listening to

the marvels of a radio program is now a middle-aged man

watching events unfold live, and in color.

The coronation of a queen continents away is beamed in

seconds into living rooms everywhere. The nations of the world

have literally become visitors in our homes.

CAT scanners almost make the internal workings of the human

body visible and allow doctors to study any organ they desire—

without X-rays.

Doppler Diagnosis allows blind people to see with sound.

Solar-powered satellites now circle the earth. The magnitude and

frequency of these incredible advancements in knowledge are

paralleled by other areas of magnitude unique to this century.

There has been an unprecedented increase in population in our

generation. Historically, disease and famine have always acted in a

tragic, yet functional combination to control the world's

population. Today, in the midst of the greatest diseases and the

largest famines humanity has ever experienced, the population

explosion is escalating.

During the ancient times of Jesus Christ, there were only an

estimated two hundred fifty million people on the face of the earth.

Sixteen centuries passed before that number doubled. When the

Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock, there were about five hundred

million people in the world. The world population was doubling

about once every sixteen hundred years.

Shortly before the outbreak of the U.S. Civil War, one billion

people inhabited our earth. That meant the population had doubled

in two hundred years. The addition of successive half billions has

required increasingly shorter time. The sixth half billion required

slightly more than ten years. The eighth half billion took only

seven years. The ninth took only six years.

The absolute increase of people just in the population of Latin

America during the last half of this century may easily equal the

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THE CHOSEN WARRIOR

total increase in the population of man since his origin until the

year 1650.

At the current rate of growth, our world population will double

every thirty-five years. By the end of this century, scientists are

projecting a total population of over seven billion! More people

than have ever lived in our history live today. The world continues

to explode with people at an increase and a magnitude never before

seen in history. Seventy million people are added to our world

every year.

In the midst of this world with multiplying people and

exploding technologies, a spiritual warrior named Morris Cerullo,

alone one night, desperately sought God in prayer.

"Lord, how can we ever possibly reach, evangelize and train

such a rapidly exploding world with the saving gospel of Jesus

Christ?"

154

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

BARRICADES, BISHOPS

17

AND THE PIED PIPER

he letter from Reverend Nils Ivan Kastberg invited Morris

Cerullo to conduct a crusade in Rosario, Argentina, the

Tsecond largest city in that nation. Morris had already been

jailed twice in Argentina for preaching the gospel, once in

Corrientes and again at Mar Del Plata.

Yet, he agreed to come.

The dates were set for November 13 to 20, 1966. A football

stadium accommodating 80,000 people was secured, and a permit

obtained. As the crusade drew nearer, organizers encountered some

resistance in placing their ads in the newspapers and on the radio

and TV. Finally, the private secretary of the Roman Catholic

bishop in this predominantly Catholic nation went with the crusade

staff to the TV and newspapers and personally recommended the

acceptance of the paid advertising. For many of these media, it was

the first non-denominational Christian advertising they had ever

accepted. Through these ads, the whole city was alerted that the

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chosen warrior was bringing proof to the nation that Christ is alive.

At first, the police department had seemed cordial and co-

operative, but on Saturday a notice banning the meeting was issued

to Reverend Kastberg, the local chairman. As their reason the

police said that the crusade would be of such magnitude that they

would be unable to handle the crowd.

After issuing the ban, the chief of police went into seclusion,

leaving orders that under no circumstances could his ban be

reversed. He dispatched forty police to keep the crowds away from

the football stadium. The officers on duty for blocks around the

crusade grounds were not in sympathy with their superior's actions,

but had to enforce the orders not to permit anyone near the

stadium.

People gathered at 9:30 a.m. for a crusade scheduled to start at

7:30 p.m. The crusade staff was told that if they spoke words of

explanation to anyone about the closure of the meeting, they would

be arrested.

Even though the staff had secured permits for the stadium and

for the crusade, now at gun-point, they were ordered not to speak

to anyone or to enter the grounds they had rented. In the United

States, we claim our rights; however, at this time in Argentina,

under military dictatorship, there were no rights to claim.

Negotiations with the acting chief were fruitless. He gave the

staff a text to read to the people which said: "The official act

announced for this date is canceled. We will try to get permission

for the forthcoming days, but in the meantime, we ask you to co-

operate and go home in peace."

When Morris arrived at the grounds, the taxi carrying him was

stopped. When he attempted to walk towards the grounds, he was

again stopped—at gun-point. Morris ignored the barricades and

guns and marched through to the stadium gates. Much like the

legendary Pied Piper, he led thousands of people from the

surrounding area after him.

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BARRICADES, BISHOPS AND THE PIED PIPER

One word from Brother Cerullo could have caused a riot.

Clearly, he was in charge. Crowds had come for healing and help,

but their own countrymen were denying them the right to receive

divine blessings.

About ten thousand people surrounded Morris. The officers

were moved to tears by the needs and eagerness of the crowd.

Morris also wept tears of compassion for the needs of the

multitudes, but was not allowed to say a single word. High ranking

officers stood within feet of him, sympathetic, yet firmly obeying

the chief's command not to allow him to speak.

Here the chosen warrior faced a strategic decision. Speak up,

get arrested, and bring things to a head, risking someone getting

hurt; or go along with the request of the missionaries to acquiesce

to the police order in the hope that the problem could be reconciled

the next day.

There was no easy way out. Morris chose the difficult course of

saying nothing and being taken away peacefully from the scene.

Back in the hotel room, Morris said to his friend and senior

ministry associate: "Even if I do not preach here, the whole city

has had a witness. My ministry is to give witness to these nations

before the coming of the Lord. The city had already been

bombarded with full page ads, over one hundred thirty thousand

hand bills, thousands of posters and banners, and hundreds of TV

and radio programs. The whole city is stirred. While the closing of

this crusade is the work of the enemy, God will turn it into a

miracle revival and a great victory for His glory."

While Morris was being whisked away from the grounds with a

police escort, two Christian pastors milled among the crowd

inviting them to their two churches, located some miles away.

Reverend Andresen had a church which usually held between one

hundred and two hundred people. Now it was packed with

hundreds, every foot of standing room taken. That night hundreds

gave their heart to Christ. Several who were deaf, dumb, and blind

and others with tumors were healed.

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The same was happening at the tent that had been pitched for

the minister's institute. (Over fifty national pastors were here from

all over Argentina). The tent designed to seat four hundred was

packed with more than a thousand.

The miracle revival Morris had spoken about was already

coming to pass, and Morris had not spoken a single word.

Angered by their apparent failure to shut down the meetings,

the next day the police closed out the morning service. It now

became clear that this was more than an attack on Morris, because

he was not scheduled to speak. "Crowd control" was not the real

concern of the authorities. This was an attack against Christians, a

higher battle against principalities and powers, against wickedness

in high places.

All day Monday the staff worked and prayed unceasingly, but

were unable to reverse the decision. The local military commander

refused to see them. They were told that while he was sympathetic

with their cause, his hands were tied. Therefore, seeing them

would be to no purpose.

In an audience with the substitute chief, Morris gave the man

an anointed witness. Moved, and with a tear in his eye, he said, "If

it were in my power, you could have your meeting. I will take your

cause to the chief with a positive recommendation. In less than an

hour he returned to say that the chief was unwilling to reverse his

previous order.

Monday night, Dr. Ness tried to go to the crusade grounds

again, but the police with reinforcements were located four blocks

away and more, not permitting people to come near the stadium.

His car was stopped, so Dr. Ness got out and started to walk to the

grounds.

The police surrounded Reverend Andresen and forbade him to

interpret, so Dr. Ness, in his limited Portuguese, proceeded with a

loud voice to speak to these dear Spanish people.

"Friends, I do not know why, but Morris Cerullo is forbidden

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from holding a crusade at the stadium. Please know that he is

praying for you, and is deeply concerned about your needs. There

will be meetings at these two churches," and he gave the addresses

where the meetings would be held. That night the churches were

packed again.

Morris had not yet spoken a word, but an unprecedented

revival had broken out in Argentina. Many public officials were

sympathetic, but powerless to change the order. The judge of the

city courts said: "We are under the rule of a new revolutionary

power. While you have been done a great injustice in that you have

been given no justifiable reason for such action, it simply means

this: if I ruled in your favor, higher powers would overrule my

decision. Our constitution has no meaning in that present powers

do not have to abide by it, so a favorable ruling does not have to be

honored."

Morris, though concerned about the future of the Christian

leaders here, was also eager to enter the arena of battle. With the

insistence of local pastors, he preached on Tuesday night.

Every pew and chair was taken. The people stood tightly

packed in the church, with crowds on the street trying to see or

hear the chosen warrior. The press from Buenos Aires was there as

well as local TV.

Morris preached with a mighty anointing, but made no

reference to the local problem. Two or three inflammatory words

would have sparked a riot. He spoke only of the love and

forgiveness of Jesus Christ. The local press came out with a

sympathetic report, the first unpaid write-up about Evangelicals in

Rosario's history.

The reporters from Buenos Aires stayed for the whole service.

When the altar call was made, up went their hands to receive

Christ. Two deaf and dumb mutes were interviewed by the press

after Morris demonstrated their healing during the service.

Rosario was the site of a spiritual powder keg of expectancy

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THE CHOSEN WARRIOR

and faith. The city of almost two million inhabitants, ninety-four

percent Italian and European background, heavily Catholic, had

never heard or seen such a witness of resurrection healing power.

Sensing that a great victory had already been won, the churches

being crowded and overflowing, many miracles happening daily, a

witness already having been given to this city and nation, Morris

felt that the first phase of his mission had been accomplished. The

second phase was already being planned.

In the first phase, although the crusade was completely stopped

and not one mass meeting at the stadium was permitted, God had

prevailed. Precious spiritual seeds remained in Rosario, growing

before the next outreach.

Morris went back in February, 1967, three months after the

first Rosario crusade.

*

*

*

There had been one hundred straight days and nights of prayer

revival in Rosario when the crusade team arrived. It had been

necessary to conduct four pre-crusade services each day in the

churches to accommodate the crowds. One church that had

numbered sixty-five before the first Morris Cerullo visit had now

grown to eight hundred baptized members, with over four hundred

awaiting baptism.

In just three months, a small, downcast group of despised

believers had become a dynamic force in the community. Reverend

Kastberg, who previously had to beg officials for the slightest

concessions, was now treated with the utmost respect. The whole

city was being transformed.

*

*

*

Thursday morning broke across the fertile rich farmlands of

Argentina to what appeared to be the beginning of a perfect day.

Not a cloud in the sky and the air was warm and fresh. But

suddenly out of nowhere clouds appeared, and by 10:00 a.m. it

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BARRICADES, BISHOPS AND THE PIED PIPER

began to rain, gradually increasing throughout the day until the

streets were flooded with water. Work had to stop on the platform

that was being constructed. The public address system could not be

tested and checked.

At 4:30 p.m., the first break in the weather appeared. Those

who were able to reach the grounds came. However, with many

unpaved streets in Rosario, it made it impossible for most of the

city to move for hours after the rain had stopped. About four

thousand braved the hazardous travel to attend that first service.

Morris came to the microphone. Eggs and some small stones

started to fly from a group nearby. Morris ignored them, and

moved right into ministering under the anointing power of God.

Soon, all of these fellows had dropped their stones and clubs.

Official government and medical observers were there

scrutinizing every move and word. Prayer for the deaf and dumb

brought an immediate response of miracles from every direction.

Armenia Salazar had had a constant ringing in her ears for four

years, which had kept her in continual torment. But now the noise

had vanished. Armena Maroeflos had been totally deaf. Her ears

popped open.

Many miracles happened that night, and with Friday having

perfect weather, a much larger crowd could be expected for the

evening crusade. But another type of cloud began to form.

Since the revival had broken out in Rosario, the previous

church facilities had become totally inadequate, and even the tent

could not serve the crowds that were coming. A beautiful theater

with a capacity of twenty-five hundred had become available and

had been leased for the morning services. When the staff arrived at

the theater at 9 a.m. on Friday morning, they found that police

officials had forbidden the owner to open the door, threatening him

with arrest.

Reverend Kastberg went into immediate action. Three months

ago his hands would have been tied, but now it was different. Even

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THE CHOSEN WARRIOR

the police chief recognized the tremendous growth in the local

churches these past three months. Within a half hour, officials

withdrew the ban and the people streamed into the morning class.

The Friday evening crusade swelled to over twenty-five

thousand people. The local College of Medical Doctors attended

and they brought a district judge with them, hoping to discover a

way to stop the meeting. Many more uniformed policemen were in

evidence.

Never had the pastors and missionaries seen such a

demonstration of the gift of wisdom in operation as they did that

night. Every word Morris spoke seemed to come direct from

heaven. The doctors became frustrated in their attempts to find

grounds for arrest. The opposition had been staggered by the

impact of the Word.

Testimonies began to flow across the platform. A five-year-old

Catholic boy had had a large lump about the size of a man's fist

since he was born and it instantly disappeared. His mother, Eva

Pelote, could barely contain herself. After leaving the platform,

they were immediately questioned by the magistrate.

Margarita Eva Bergara came to tell what Jesus had done for

her. Margarita was a familiar sight at the stadium, because her

father was the resident caretaker. She lived with her mother, father,

six sisters and four brothers in three small rooms under the stands,

just behind the platform. She had been choked by a goiter for more

than four years. It had grown to the size of a large peach, causing

extreme pain every time she swallowed.

As she stood in prayer, she felt something in her throat begin to

slip down through her chest. She felt an emptiness in her throat.

She swallowed and there was not the slightest pain. The audience

stood to praise Jesus as if struck by lightning.

*

*

*

On Saturday night Morris arrived at the stadium just after the

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lights had been turned out by the police. There were dozens of

army half trucks carrying soldiers who were armed with machine

guns.

Crusade workers raced for the portable generator that had been

brought to the soccer stadium in case of an emergency. But the

police commissioner had anticipated the portable electric unit, for

an armed policemen arrived at the generator simultaneously with

the workers. He warned them, "If you touch this generator, you

will be subject to immediate arrest and imprisonment."

The injunction to stop the meeting had not even been issued by

the judge until 7:00 p.m. that evening. By that time, tens of

thousands had already come through the stadium gates. But now

the gates were closed, and thousands of people coming from all

parts of this metropolis and the surrounding countryside had to be

turned away.

Almost total darkness.

No loudspeakers.

The police scattered to disperse the crowd.

When Morris arrived, he got out of the car and said, "Just

follow me." Somebody said, "There's Morris Cerullo," and people

broke through the barricades. Ten thousand people followed him

down the street right to the front of the stadium.

As Morris attempted to enter, a policeman barred the way.

Morris produced the permit signed by the chief of police, but this

meant nothing. Immediately Morris realized that it was fruitless to

plead his case on a lower level. Permits and constitutional laws

mean nothing if a high government authority has sent down an

order. The local police authorities, many of whom were very

capable, intelligent men, looked embarrassed as they were forced

to carry out orders that were contrary to justice. Morris was

ordered to appear immediately at the police station or be faced

with imprisonment for ignoring a summons.

Before he left, the chosen warrior stood on a car with a little

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THE CHOSEN WARRIOR

megaphone and talked to the people, advising them to go to the

church location that had been secured.

As a result of his evangelistic activities, Morris was arrested in

Rosario, appeared before the magistrate, and for a short time was

put in jail.

When he appeared before the judge, Morris shared with him

God's master plan for the ages and when he was finished, the judge

quietly bowed his head and said, "Let this man go free."

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CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

CHOSEN PEOPLE,

18

CHOSEN WARRIOR

espite thirty years of anti-Semitic activity in Russia, on

May 14, 1947, Andrei Gromyko, the Russian ambassador

Dto the United Nations, under the direct orders of Joseph

Stalin, gave a powerful speech to the special General Assembly

session of the United Nations.

In that inspirational speech, Gromyko boldly declared that the

Jewish people had experienced "exceptional sorrow and suffering"

during World War II. He declared emphatically that "the time has

come to help these people, not by word, but by deeds."

The Arabs were shocked by the unexpected reversal in the

Soviet position. The Jews were confused, but grateful, for this

unlikely and unexplainable Russian friend. In the months that

followed, at virtually every step of the debate, the Soviet Union

supported the Jewish position on the establishment of an Israeli

state.

When the time came for the final vote on the issue of Israel as a

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THE CHOSEN WARRIOR

nation, the entire communist bloc voted in favor of the Jews.

In 1948, after the atrocities experienced at the hands of the

Nazi regime in Germany, the Jews recognized that the world was

ready to restore Israel as a nation.

On May 14, 1948, a Jewish leader named David Ben-Gurion

stood before a select gathering of two hundred people and

declared:

"By virtue of the natural and historic right of the Jewish

people and of the Resolution of the General Assembly of

the United Nations assembly, we hereby proclaim the

establishment of the Jewish state in Palestine to be called

Israel."

The event marked one of the greatest miracles in history, one

that astounded the world, and one that continues to amaze the

world on an ongoing basis.

And, the event also marked the direct and dramatic fulfillment

of an ancient biblical prophecy.

"Who hath heard such a thing? who hath seen such things?

Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day? or shall a nation

be born at once? for as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth

her children" (Isaiah 66:8).

Before the entire world, out of the heels of the Holocaust,

following the defeat of Hitler's forces, following the discovery by

American bulldozers of the graves in the valleys in Germany of six

million Jewish bodies burned in incinerators, the grave of Israel

opened up and brought forth a new nation, resurrected in might,

and embraced and sanctioned by the United Nations.

This miracle resurrection from their historic graveyard of dead

nations was also foretold in the ancient pages of scripture:

"So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came

into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an

exceeding great army. Then he said unto me, Son of man, these

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CHOSEN PEOPLE, CHOSEN WARRIOR

bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones

are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts.

Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD;

Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to

come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel"

(Ezekiel 37:10).

1948 saw the "graves open" and two million Jews came from

all around the world to their new land...by plane, by boat, by

caravan, by donkey....many of them drawn by strange and

mysterious influences that they did not fully comprehend.

These two million Jews came because a force far greater than

themselves had set in motion a miracle migration before they were

even born:

"Fear not: for I am with thee: I will bring thy seed from the

east, and gather thee from the west; I will say to the north, Give up;

and to the south, Keep not back: bring my sons from far, and my

daughters from the ends of the earth" (Isaiah 43:5-6).

God had ordained that these four major geographical areas—

North, South, East and West—would participate in the miracle

migration to Israel.

After 1,878 years of world-wide dispersal, the Jews in 1948

were marching to the tune of a heavenly pied piper, mysteriously

being lured by a strange force they did not understand into a

desolate desert that seemed uninhabitable to re-establish their long-

lost nation according to a series of prophetic scriptures which they

did not believe.

When the new Jews began to settle, Israel started to blossom in

the midst of the desert.

"He shall cause them that come of Jacob to take root: Israel

shall blossom and bud, and fill the face of the world with fruit"

(Isaiah 27:6).

Israel is a nation birthed from the Jews of other nations. These

Jews came from different backgrounds, spoke many different

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THE CHOSEN WARRIOR

languages, and were even different colors.

The only thing these Jews had in common was their

determination to make the tiny, new nation of Israel work in the

middle of a parched land, barren and largely unsettled.

Over the following years and decades, the desert, once barren

and supposedly unable to support life, started blooming

everywhere as an incredible agricultural testimony of efficiency to

other nations.

Yet another desert in Israel still remained. The spiritual desert.

But in 1967, nineteen years after the re-establishment of Israel as a

nation, God brought to His chosen people a chosen warrior, a

warrior uniquely trained by Jewish rabbis to help his own people,

the Jews, understand the scope of the divine destiny that has been

theirs since the beginning of spiritual history.

The guiding hand that orchestrated the miracle migration of the

Jews from around the world was now about to conduct a

magnificent symphony of spiritual breakthroughs that would

significantly influence Jewish history.

When the final pages of spiritual history concerning the Jews

are written, they will say that "Morris Cerullo has strongly

influenced the eternal aspects of Jewish history."

*

*

*

The bus bumped and bounced over the sometimes dirt,

sometimes paved, always dusty road. Only the insufferable heat of

the noonday sun attracted more attention than the ride itself.

Yet, in the midst of these distractions, Morris Cerullo was lost

in his personal world of prayer to God.

This personal dialogue took place daily: on airplanes, cars,

boats and buses. No matter where he was, or what the mode of

transportation, his intense prayer life separated him completely

from physical distractions such as heat and dust.

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CHOSEN PEOPLE, CHOSEN WARRIOR

For years, Morris had been praying, "Lord, since I have come

to know Your Son Jesus as my personal Messiah, I feel an

overwhelming burden to share the good news of salvation with my

fellow Jews and with the nation of Israel. Lord, when will you

allow me to go to Israel?"

Morris was a man of prayer and a warrior who obeyed his

commander-in-chief. When told to go to Greece, he went to

Greece. This was a general in God's army who recognized that no

mission would be effective unless first ordered by the divine

commander.

Although Morris had prayed this prayer for the Jewish people

for years, he was a bit shocked that God deemed to pick this dusty

bus in the middle of Argentina to grant his request. God spoke

clearly to him.

"Son, turn your eyes to the Middle East, for now is the time to

work for My people Israel." Morris bolted upright in the seat. For

twenty years, Morris had waited, longing to hear those words. And

now, the words of the psalmist that he had heard years ago could

be applied in this instance:

"You will arise and have mercy on Zion; For the time to favor

her, Yes, the set time, has come" (Psalm 102:13, NKJV).

Then God continued. "Son, do not be afraid. Go. I will open a

door for you in Israel unlike any door I have ever opened."

Right there, riding on that bus in Argentina in 1967, Morris

received from God the divine revelation on how to reach the Jews

with the message of Jesus. He picked up a pen and began to write

as God unfolded His Jewish outreach plan.

*

*

*

When Morris arrived back in the United States, the first thing

he did was go to Israel where he published and mailed a Messianic

booklet in Hebrew called "Besorat Shalom" (the gospel of peace)

to twelve thousand Jews in Israel.

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THE CHOSEN WARRIOR

Over two thousand responses came in from that one mailing

alone. But it was not enough. As Morris prayed about God's

commission to reach every Jew, the Lord placed a question in his

mind: "I wonder if there is a place that would list all the names of

the Jews in Israel?"

A few days later, he obtained the name of a mailing house in

Tel Aviv and drove over to see the owner. He plopped down his

evangelistic literature on the owner's desk.

"Sir, I would like to mail this literature to whatever names you

might be able to rent me."

"Who are you?" he asked.

"I am a Spirit-filled Jew," he said.

"What is a Spirit-filled Jew?"

Morris then explained what had happened to him in that Jewish

orphanage at the age of fourteen and how he knew without a doubt

that Jesus was the Messiah.

The old man browsed through the literature and then said,

"Look, I'm a business man. I don't believe that religion should be

governed by the state or anything else. If you want to mail this

literature out, I will mail it for you."

They both signed the contract for a list of thirty thousand

Jewish professional people, the only list the man had to rent.

Morris felt that was a good start, but knew in his heart that

there must be something more.

As he was leaving, the man called him back.

"Mr. Cerullo, don't ask me why, but I have the feeling that I am

supposed to do something else for you. How would you like to

send your literature to every single home in Israel?"

Morris could not believe his ears. "I beg your pardon?"

The man continued, "I only have one list for rent, but I also

manage and control the voter registration list of every Jew in the

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CHOSEN PEOPLE, CHOSEN WARRIOR

nation of Israel. There are over four hundred thousand names

representing every household."

"I see," Morris replied, turning around and walking back to the

man. "And how do I get permission to use this list?"

The answer Morris heard confirmed in his spirit the importance

of the Jewish outreach and the divine hand of God guiding the

master plan.

"Oh, I can give you permission to use the list. In fact, I will let

you use it totally free of charge."

Morris tried hard to contain his excitement.

He wanted to jump up and down and shout "Praise the Lord,"

but he knew the man would not understand his enthusiasm.

"That's just great," Morris replied with some constraint.

Inside, his heart was leaping for joy. The list of every home in

Israel...FREE! At that moment of excitement and amazement, the

Holy Spirit spoke to him again: "Son, didn't I tell you I would open

a door unlike any door I have ever opened?"

"Yes Lord, You did. You surely did."

*

*

*

The response to that massive mailing to four hundred thousand

Jewish households was far beyond anything Morris and Theresa

had ever dreamed. Thousands received Jesus as their Messiah.

Soon, Morris Cerullo World Evangelism was sending an Israel

Bible Correspondence Course in Hebrew to over two thousand

Jews and then to twenty thousand others who wanted to know the

reality of their Messiah in a deeper, more personal way.

In 1975 and 1976, Morris produced, on location in Israel, the

powerful and internationally acclaimed television drama, Masada.

It was aired both in the United States and Canada. Nearly two

hundred thousand persons responded, with many Jews coming to

know Jesus Christ as Messiah from this media outreach.

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THE CHOSEN WARRIOR

In 1977, Morris mailed his powerful Jewish ministry outreach

book, Two Men from Eden, to 3 . 2 million homes in North

America. (If you would like a free, postage-paid copy of this very

same book, write today to Two Men from Eden, Morris Cerullo

World Evangelism, P.O. Box 700, San Diego, CA 92138).

At the conclusion of that book, there is a page that reads as

follows:

A Challenge

MY COMMITMENT TO THE MESSIAH—JESUS!

This is to certify that on this date _________________

I accept Jesus of Nazareth as my Messiah. I see in the

Scriptures that He fulfills the prophecies spoken about the

Messiah.

I accept Him as the Second Adam Who restores to me

all the dominion and rights lost to me in the first Adam.

I do declare that Jesus is the living Messiah, the Son of

God, and that through His Name I received the miracle of

salvation, the gift of the new birth.

I believe He receives me now just as I am and gives me

the power to become a child of God.

"And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no

other name under heaven that has been given among men,

by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12, NASB).

_______________________________________Signed

_________________________________________Date

In just one mailing alone, over ten thousand Jews signed, dated

and returned this form, freely receiving Jesus as their Lord and

Savior.

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CHOSEN PEOPLE, CHOSEN WARRIOR

By 1978, the list of Jews receiving and completing the Israel

Bible Correspondence Course had swelled steadily to over twenty

thousand each issue!

Yet that was only the beginning of the Jewish outreach God

had planned for the little Jewish preacher. Again and again, God

miraculously opened doors to Israel far beyond that which any man

could ever ask or think.

In the years since that first mailing, millions of pieces of

literature have been distributed to Jews both in Israel and in North

America. Thousands of Jewish people have recognized and

received Jesus Christ as their Lord and Messiah through the

ministry of the chosen warrior.

*

*

*

One of the directives God gave Morris Cerullo on the bus in

Argentina was that he was to hold a Deeper Life Conference in

Jerusalem. But that seemed an impossibility, because how could he

find someone in Israel who would rent to Christians a place large

enough for a convention?

One day, when he was at the King's Hotel in Jerusalem, Morris

Cerullo saw a man Theresa and he had befriended in 1955.

"You used to be desk clerk here," Morris said. "What are you

doing now?"

"Oh, I'm not the desk clerk anymore," the man replied. "My

brother and I own the hotel."

At that moment, Morris felt the direction of the Holy Spirit.

"I want to rent your hotel," he said. "I want to rent the kitchen,

the dining room, every room—the whole hotel," he explained.

"You must be crazy," the Jewish owner replied. "What do you

want it for?"

"I want to have a religious conference. You know that I'm an

evangelist, and that I preach and pray for the sick and miracles take

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THE CHOSEN WARRIOR

place. I want to have one of those ministry meetings here."

"I never heard of anything so ridiculous in my life," the hotel

owner replied.

But then, almost as if he did not know why he was saying it, he

continued. "But I will talk to my brother about it."

"All right," Morris said, "you talk to your brother and I will

talk to my Partner."

"Is your partner in Jerusalem with you?" he asked.

"Yes," Morris replied, never telling the man that his Partner

had been with him all the time.

The next day Morris's old friend still looked very puzzled.

"I don't understand it," he said. "I talked to my brother and he

didn't think it was a crazy idea. We decided to rent you the hotel!"

Overnight God miraculously gave Morris a place to hold a

Christian meeting in the heart of Israel.

In that first Israel Deeper Life Conference, at least 150 Jews

were willing to risk the ridicule of their friends and the sanctions of

their government, and publicly confessed Jesus as their Messiah.

Outside the hotel, Orthodox Jews demonstrated in protest of

the Christian meeting, but it continued until its planned conclusion.

*

*

*

Today, Morris Cerullo continues his rich, fulfilling outreach

ministry to the Jews in Israel and in North America. He knows the

divine task of introducing Jews to Jesus Christ as Savior has just

begun.

After thousands of years of persecution, struggle and heartache,

the vast majority of God's chosen people still cry out for peace.

However, very few know the source of true peace: Jesus Christ,

their Messiah.

The time for Jesus to be more fully revealed to His chosen

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CHOSEN PEOPLE, CHOSEN WARRIOR

people, the Jews, is here. Now is the set time to reach the Jews in

Israel and North America for one purpose: to love them and to

reveal to them through our lives and teachings that Jesus is their

true Messiah.

God promises, "I will bless them that bless thee [Israel],"

(Genesis 12:3).

Through a continuing ministry of conferences, literature, radio,

films, TV and personal ministry, Morris Cerullo is committed to

continue this outreach to God's chosen people until Jesus comes.

175

CHAPTER NINETEEN

TARGET: TANZANIA

19

n December, 1974, Tanzania was an African nation of thirteen

million people and one hundred and twenty tribes. This

Ifiercely nationalistic country located on the Indian Ocean,

shunned every aspect of foreign influence in their culture. In an

attempt to return to a pure African culture, clothing, music, and

other fads from the West were strongly discouraged by the

communist-influenced government.

It was in this political environment that Emmanuel Lazaro, the

General Superintendent of the Assembly of God Churches in

Tanzania, was placed in charge of the planning and preparations

for the upcoming Morris Cerullo Crusade. As he made the initial

plans, his frequent correspondence from Africa warned Morris

Cerullo that this could be the last crusade allowed in Tanzania.

Due to heavy communist influence, the doors to religious

freedom in Tanzania appeared to be closing.

*

*

*

Lowell Warner, a member of Morris Cerullo's crusade team,

noticed that just two or three miles from the airport were a whole

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THE CHOSEN WARRIOR

truckload of Communist Chinese workers coming down the road.

He discovered that they were in the country to build the Trans-

Zambian Railway. When he arrived at his hotel room, just outside

of his window Lowell spotted a couple of very large Chinese

passenger ships docked in the harbor, which were used for living

quarters.

Lowell decided that it would be interesting to take a few

pictures of Chinese communists working on an African railroad.

But as he began to shoot the photos, he was immediately arrested

and taken to the chief of police.

"Don't you know you cannot shoot pictures of our railway

terminal?" asked the angry policeman.

"Of course I didn't know it was wrong," Lowell responded. "It

seemed like a very normal thing to do to me."

Without responding, the Police Chief then told Lowell that they

must now confiscate his camera and the film. But Lowell would

hear of no such thing.

"What do you think the reaction of the American Press would

be if I reported that I did not have the freedom in Tanzania to

operate as a press photographer?" Lowell said. "How do you think

it would look if I went back and told America that Tanzania does

not have freedom of the press?"

After thinking about those remarks, the police chief decided to

release Lowell, his camera, and his film. But the incident served as

a warning about the intolerant Tanzanian political climate that the

entire crusade staff was about to experience.

*

*

*

The city of Dar Es Salaam knew Morris Cerullo was coming to

town because of the poster program. You could not go anywhere in

town without seeing a poster plastered on the pillar of a downtown

bar or tacked on the telephone pole in the business district. Walk a

hundred yards in any direction and you would see five or six

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TARGET: TANZANIA

posters.

There were also newspaper advertisements, but they were

restricted by the government. Everything in the newspapers had to

be modified, so Morris Cerullo's usual copy concerning "The Blind

Seeing, The Lame Walking, and The Deaf Hearing" was cut.

The location for Morris's first crusade and School of Ministry

in Tanzania was a large athletic field six hundred yards square,

used for military training from about noon to four o'clock each

day. The city granted the staff permission to use the field, and a

district officer gave Morris permission to hold the crusades on the

grounds, not knowing that the spiritual training soon to begin

would far exceed any military exercises these fields had ever seen

in the natural realm.

On the first day of the crusade, Emmanuel Lazaro came

running up to Lowell Warner and said, "The government is looking

for me," he began, panting. "They want to close the meeting. What

do we do?"

Lowell responded, "But you have a permit."

"Yes I do," Emmanuel said. "But in Tanzania, a permit does

not make any difference. The government has changed its mind."

"Well, here's what you do," Lowell responded. "Emmanuel,

you keep on the move so much that nobody can catch up with you.

The rest of us will keep on working as though nothing is

happening."

With that, Emmanuel left, and Lowell went back to work. The

first night crowd was estimated to be about fifty-six thousand. As

they flowed in, each person passed by dozens of army vehicles

carrying armed soldiers.

When Morris prepares for a crusade, he always instructs his

staff never to advise him of any political or technical problems. He

wants to concentrate solely on what God would have him say. He

relies on God to reveal to him those things he needs to know.

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As a result of this policy, when Morris arrived at the Tanzania

crusade and got out of his car, he was not aware of the permit

problem. The soldiers surrounded him immediately. They intended

to stop Morris from going to the platform. Their orders were clear

and concise: "Do not let this man preach."

When Morris got out of the car and saw these soldiers running

toward him, he stood at attention and gave them his proudest

military salute. The confused soldiers stopped dead in their tracks.

Then, they saluted him back.

As they saluted, Morris walked right past them. He walked

approximately one hundred yards across the field to the platform.

Around the edge of the platform were more soldiers. He nodded to

them as he went around the side and ascended to the platform.

Dr. Ness had been given strict orders by the police that under

no circumstances was Morris to preach. But since Morris knew of

no such order, and since Dr. Ness was not about to tell him, Morris

stepped right up to the microphone and began to preach.

Halfway through the service, four police cars came in from the

back of the grounds, followed by a paddy wagon. As Morris was

preaching, the police started coming toward the platform. Mac

Nwulu from Aba, Nigeria, went down to greet the policemen. They

wanted to come up on the platform and stop the meeting. But Mac

said, "No, you can't come up on the platform. This is only for

ministers up here. You can't come on the platform."

Mac radiated the spiritual authority that he had learned from

Morris. He just would not let the armed police come through the

barrier. And so the police did not come up.

Instead, they stood and listened to the chosen warrior speak of

the love of God, of the saving grace of Jesus Christ and of the

forgiveness of sins. Before the service was over, these tough

officers had removed their hats. Ninety per cent of them raised

their hands in the air and accepted Jesus Christ as their savior.

They had been commissioned to stop the man from preaching, yet

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that night the man preaching stopped them, and the grace of God

had transformed their lives.

Scores of Muslims were healed from deafness, blindness and

crippling diseases. After Morris finished praying for the sick, he

left from a different direction from where the paddy wagon and the

police cars were positioned. They had parked at the front gate; he

departed through the back gate.

As the staff left the stadium, Lowell chuckled to himself while

reflecting on how nothing ever seemed to phase Morris Cerullo.

He remembered one time in India when a capacitor blew right out

of the top of an amplifier about halfway through the service.

Smoke was pouring out of the amplifier. Lowell walked up behind

Morris and said, "The amplifier is blowing out. It's burning!"

Morris just commenced to preach that much harder and went on

preaching that much longer.

Later that night, the Tanzania police commissioner finally

caught up with Morris's staff and explained that the crusade permit

had been revoked. The government was not going to allow any

more meetings.

"Why?" Morris asked.

"Because Tanzania is in a time of famine," was the reply, "and

everyone is required to go home from work at 4 o'clock to prepare

a plot for growing vegetables. This crusade is keeping the people

away from the national program to raise more food. So we are

going to close down the evening meetings and the school of

evangelism.

"That won't do," said Morris. "Why don't we compromise?

Why not let us hold the crusade tomorrow at the same location

where the school of evangelism is?" Reluctantly, they agreed.

The next morning a new convert class was scheduled on the

crusade grounds. The night before, it had been announced that all

those who had accepted Christ could come back the next morning.

When Dr. Ness arrived, there was a crowd of a couple of thousand

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THE CHOSEN WARRIOR

people waiting. And three police cars. Five policemen stood on the

platform, telling the people, "Everybody. No meetings. No

meetings."

One black Muslim woman, dressed in black clothes, was in the

middle of the crowd with her little boy who had been born deaf,

dumb and blind. An army officer shoved her on the shoulder and

said, "The meetings will not be held. You must disperse."

The woman stood up and announced, "You can drop a bomb

on us if you want, but I am not moving. My son was healed last

night, and I am going to stay here and wait for Morris Cerullo.

Everyone in the entire street voiced their agreement. Nobody

would move.

By 4 p.m., thousands of people had gathered. Despite the

intimidation of the army, nobody would leave. The military

officials finally approached Dr. Ness and said, "You have to say

something because nobody will move."

Dr. Ness got up and explained that the crusade meeting had

been canceled. Then he gave the location of the School of

Ministry. In a great rush, the crowd took off and went to that place

about a mile and a half from the crusade grounds.

When they came to the main boulevard, they just ran across the

street and continued in a steady stream of people, blocking all

traffic and city buses for about ten minutes.

Many Tanzanian ministers were intimidated by the police and

wanted to cancel the School of Ministry. But Dr. Ness knew

Morris would never agree to that, so he said to the ministers, "How

is it going to look for Tanzania if all of the neighboring African

countries send ministers and then they have to go back to their

countries and say, "Well, look, we had no religious freedom

whatsoever. They say there is religious freedom in Tanzania, but

look, we could not even hold our minister's conference."

So, with the agreement of the local ministers, the second night

of the crusade moved from the grounds to a rented auditorium that

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TARGET: TANZANIA

only held about two thousand people. Every seat was filled and

thousands more stood outside.

Eventually, because of the crowds, the meeting moved to an

Assemblies of God location twelve miles out of town that had a

church and a fairly large lot. Tanzanian authorities allowed Morris

to erect a platform, put up a PA system and lights.

Before this historic spiritual invasion in Tanzania there had

been only one Christian meeting that had an attendance of two

thousand people. The Morris Cerullo crusade was the only

Christian event on a major scale that had ever taken place in Dar

Es Salaam. If the crusade had not been stopped on the grounds,

officials estimated that the crowds would have swollen to over one

hundred thousand.

The chosen warrior literally opened Tanzania to the gospel and

pioneered freedom of religion in that nation. These meetings

served to move Tanzania from only one hundred Christian

churches to over one thousand in a few short years. A nation that

shunned foreign influence had been touched and changed by the

chosen warrior from America.

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BALLOTS, BULLETS

20

AND PRAYER

single bullet is so small you can hold it in the palm of

your hand. The raw manufacturing material costs about

Afifteen cents. The finished product weighs less than one

ounce.

One bullet appears relatively harmless. But break through the

brass casing of that bullet with the firing pin of a gun and the

powder ignites an explosion, activating power. In its power-

actuated state, traveling at over twenty-two hundred feet-per-

second, that single bullet can change the course of an entire nation.

One bullet did just that on August 21, 1983, when it shattered

the skull of Filipino opposition leader Benigno Aquino and killed

him.

In just a few seconds, with only one bullet, the regime of

President Ferdinand Marcos started to unravel. The entire tragic

event was televised, from Aquino's arrest on the plane, to the

actual recording of the sound of the shot, to the terrible sight of his

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THE CHOSEN WARRIOR

body, dead, on the tarmac of the Manila airport.

Anti-Marcos riots and demonstrations broke out in the

Philippine streets. Communist strategists came together, shouting,

"Down with Marcos," and "Communism is the only hope of the

oppressed masses." The political war in the Philippines escalated

to a full-scale propaganda campaign with the lives of fifty-two

million people depending on the outcome.

*

*

*

From April 27 to May 2, 1984, another event shook the

Philippines and significantly altered the flow of that nation's

spiritual history.

The Morris Cerullo School of Ministry activated a potent

spiritual bullet, molded from the raw material of thousands of

pastors and student leaders. This prayer-actuated group became

empowered with the authority of Jesus Christ to become nation-

changing proof producers in the Philippines.

When the school was scheduled to start, the vicious chants

from anti-Marcos demonstrators rose above the noisy roar of

downtown Manila. "Hitler. Marcos. Dictator. Dog." was their

militant, bitter cry. A blood-red banner of the New People's Army,

the military wing of the Philippine Communist Party, displayed a

short but stern election message: STOP U.S. INTERVENTION IN

THE PHILIPPINES.

In the thirty day period immediately before the spiritual

invasion of God's Victorious Army for the Philippine School of

Ministry in Manila, 399 Filipinos were murdered, primarily by

members of the communist New People's Army, as the result of

political tensions preceding the national elections. Young people

searching for answers were easy prey to the growing communist

movement in their changing country.

On election day, more than three hundred thousand soldiers

and military police throughout the seven thousand islands which

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BALLOTS, BULLETS AND PRAYER

make up the Philippines were placed in the highest state of alert.

Yet, fifty-seven Filipinos were still violently murdered while

peacefully casting their vote at the polls. For the first time in his

eighteen-year stint as president, the abusive government of

Ferdinand Marcos was seriously challenged. The Filipinos were

crying for the chance to govern themselves in political self-

determination.

For decades, Morris Cerullo has taught the vital spiritual

principle that ALL TRUTH IS PARALLEL, which means that

what is going on in the natural realm will always be reflected in the

spiritual realm as well. And that held true in 1984.

For hundreds of years missionaries had brought the gospel to

the Philippines, but now, Morris knew it was time for the Filipino

people to win their own nation for Jesus in a spiritual self-

determination.

On April 27, 1984, when the Morris Cerullo World Evangelism

School of Ministry opened in Manila, over 5,500 national leaders

crammed the Philippine Plaza Convention Center to learn how to

become soldiers for God. As they sat in rapt attention, Morris told

them this dramatic story.

"Shortly after World War II," he began, "General Douglas

MacArthur sent letters to scores of Mission Boards of various

religious denominations around the world. He pleaded with them

to send him ten thousand missionaries and he would give them a

new Christian nation—Japan. The Japanese had viewed their

Emperor Hirohito as a God; he was invincible. But when Mac-

Arthur's forces defeated the Japanese, they lost faith in their stone

Buddhas and their emperor. Temples were empty. McArthur

realized this, and sent letters to the missionary boards begging

them to send him missionaries to Japan."

Here Morris paused, wiping a tear from his eye. His voice

quivered as he spoke these next words.

"Of the scores of letters that he sent," he continued, obviously

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THE CHOSEN WARRIOR

hurting deep from the inside at what he was about to say, "a total

of three missionaries were sent by the boards. THREE. That's all

they sent were three missionaries! McArthur received excuses like,

'We are not ready,' and 'We don't have the money'."

The thousands of students sitting in that room were absolutely

quiet. Morris continued in a very hushed tone.

"Today, less than one-half of one percent of the people in

Japan are Christians, because we failed to operate in God's spiritual

timing."

Then, as if he were somehow miraculously infused with a

tremendous shot of spiritual energy, Morris continued in a

powerful and prophetic voice.

"Today, it is God's spiritual time for the Philippines," General

Cerullo declared to his eager troops. "We failed God's timing for

spiritual harvest in Japan. It was not long before the people began

to return to their temples. They went back and worshiped their

stone Buddhas and their pagan Gods. But today, we will not fail

the Philippines. And today, we will not rely on missionaries from

North America, but we will train and send you, the Philippine

pastors and student leaders, to go forth and win your own country

for Jesus Christ!"

The eager troops spontaneously stood up and enthusiastically

saluted their general in a loud display of clapping and shouting.

Due to the overwhelming attendance, overcrowded registration

lines required some students to stand for long hours, singing and

praising the Lord. The main meeting hall held 4,250 people, but it

was not large enough! Two over-flow rooms, each holding 550

students, were prepared and filled to capacity. The school doors

opened each morning at 7:30 a.m., but the students were so

anxious to hear their spiritual warfare instructors that they arrived

before 6:00 a.m. each morning and waited patiently outside to get

seats in the main auditorium. At lunch time, many students did not

leave their seats for fear they would be occupied by someone else

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BALLOTS, BULLETS AND PRAYER

when they returned.

Several hundred people who were not registered for the school

came and stood outside in the tropical heat, hoping to somehow

absorb the school just by being near it. Morris requested a special

loud-speaker be set up for these spiritual soldiers so they too could

hear the biblical principles that have molded the ministry. Even in

ninety percent humidity with temperatures well above one hundred

degrees, these faithful troops joined in cheering and clapping along

with the other students.

In the second teaching session, Brother Cerullo gave a

prophecy from the Lord which brought the 5,500 Filipinos to their

feet.

"The time has come for the Philippines to stop looking to

America," he declared. "Keep your eyes off of politics. Stop

worrying about the next move of the communists. When you know

the truth about your God, then your hostile environment crumbles.

God is going to have a people, and you here in the Philippines can

be part of it. The time is now!"

Over a decade ago, Morris had planted thousands of spiritual

seeds in the Philippines by providing instructions for nationals on

how to hold their own crusades. Through this program around the

world, nearly two million people received Jesus as Savior and

more than three thousand new churches were established.

To demonstrate the power of God as a proof producer, Morris

conducted the Manila Miracle Rally on May 3, 1984, in Luneta

Park. In the afternoon before the rally, in a little over four hours,

twelve inches of rain fell. Despite the rain, more than fifty

thousand Filipinos showed up. Traffic was jammed for blocks with

people in cars, buses and jitneys unable to reach the crusade

grounds due to the storm.

Morris began to preach, as he often does, out of the 53rd

chapter of Isaiah, the first six verses. "The most important thing for

man to know is that God created this world," he began. "He created

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THE CHOSEN WARRIOR

man, created him for a purpose. He created man, and even after

man failed God in the Garden of Eden, God so loved him that He

did not leave him in his sin, and did not leave him in his

disobedience. God gave man a way out of the darkness. Jesus

Christ came, and He paid the price, and now, all man has to do is

to receive the work and the Son of God, the work that He did for

them. Jesus atoned for your sins."

The crowd erupted in applause and excitement. When Morris

invited these eager souls to accept Jesus Christ as their Savior,

thousands of people lowered their umbrellas in the rain and raised

their hands. Wheelchairs and crutches were passed to the platform

in a mighty demonstration of the work of God's Spirit. Only

eternity will reveal how many blind eyes were opened, how many

crippled legs were made straight, and how many deaf ears first

heard the name of Jesus.

At the miracle rally that night, as tears and raindrops ran down

the faces of these precious Filipinos, they participated in a modern-

day Philippine Pentecost. The impact of the violent demonstrations

of the zealous New People's Army in that nation were dwarfed by

the peaceful and life-giving Holy Spirit revolution of God's

Victorious Army.

At the end of the School of Ministry meeting and the crusade,

the Spirit of God spoke through the chosen warrior as he declared,

"I will return to the Philippines on February 7, 1986."

At the time of this prophetic utterance, it could be known only

by God that this was to be the week of crisis elections in the

Philippines.

*

*

*

"Dear God, let it not be me," the reluctant Corazon Aquino

prayed when she realized she was marked as the only person who

could possibly defeat President Marcos. Only days after that

prayerful petition, she was chosen as the opposition candidate.

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BALLOTS, BULLETS AND PRAYER

On election day, February 7, 1986, President Marcos and his

regime pushed Morris Cerullo World Evangelism's School of

Ministry out of the P.I.C.C. hall previously reserved for the School

of Ministry and put them instead into the large auditorium next

door. The Holy Spirit knew that they would need this larger

auditorium to facilitate the thousands of nationals that would be

pouring into this destiny changing meeting.

While Morris was teaching thousands of pastors and young

spiritual soldiers the principles of spiritual warfare on one side of

the building, Marcos was trying to steal the election with

fraudulent ballot counting on the other.

Marcos had allowed NAMFREL, an independent monitor, to

tabulate election results in tandem with COM-ELEC, the official

Commission on Elections. Marcos believed he could control the

vote. He had decided to win by a credibly slim margin of victory

instead of a suspicious landslide.

While NAMFREL reported Corazon ahead, COMELEC

delayed the count to enable Marcos to tailor the total. One night

after the polls closed, thirty computer technicians counting the vote

dramatized Marcos's sham by fleeing the COMELEC headquarters

for the refuge of a church. They maintained that the figures

showing Corazon in the lead were being destroyed.

Just over the wall were 4,200 national leaders representing all

of the Philippine islands, interceding in prayer for God to move on

behalf of their nation. Their plan of attack was to have God direct

the outcome of this election not through vote counting, but by

honoring the prayers of His God's Victorious Army soldiers.

Something historic was taking place at the Philippine

International Convention Center in both the natural realm and the

spiritual realm. One one side of the Philippine International

Convention Center, there was a huge bank of computers tabulating

the votes, which Marcos had schemed to counterfeit. But on the

other side of the convention center, thousands of the nation's

spiritual soldiers had gathered from all over the Philippines to learn

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THE CHOSEN WARRIOR

spiritual warfare.

"Remember, the key to spiritual breakthrough is timing," the

chosen warrior told his attentive troops. "In 1962, God spoke to me

and said, 'Son, build me an Army.' At that moment God gave me

the power to pass on His anointing to thousands of others, to share

the New Testament miracle power with nationals all over the

world. Every believer is a minister as he lays hold to the keys of

the kingdom and begins to exercise the authority that is his through

Jesus Christ the Messiah."

Morris taught them how to use front line spiritual warfare. He

told them that the Philippines did not belong to the fraudulent

government and the deceptive leaders who brought great suffering

on humanity. The Philippines, he declared, belonged to the

children of the living God.

"This is your hour. This is not the hour of defeat. God has told

me that Jesus is praying for the Philippines. What we face here as a

challenge in the Philippine Islands, we face as a challenge in our

world today. There is a great shaking coming—everything that can

be shaken will be shaken: governments, economies, families,

relationships, religious systems. And the shaking has started."

The prayers of these thousands of spiritual warriors set in

motion God's divine power and authority. It would ultimately

influence the outcome of this counterfeit election and help Aquino

to receive victory.

Within two weeks, Marcos was out of Malacanang palace. God

had moved miraculously to remove him from power without one

ounce of bloodshed.

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CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

THE HOPELESS HIP

21

single tear tricked down little Eduardo's cheek as he

Apainfully hobbled down the dusty stairs outside his house.

Eduardo had learned the cruel lessons of pain sooner than most

eight-year-old boys in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. A severe bone

infection had eaten away a part of his hip, leaving a gaping hole

and constant pain in his tiny body. Now he could do little more

than sit on his front steps, watching his friends play soccer in the

street in front of the house.

Eduardo had just heard about a miracle preacher named Morris

Cerullo, who was coming from America. It was said that many

people were healed at this preacher's miracle meetings. Eduardo

wondered if he could be healed too.

"Mama, will you pleeeeease take me to the miracle meeting of

this American preacher?" Eduardo hopefully asked his mother.

But Mrs. Serguera did not believe in miracles. She quickly

brushed aside the pleading request of her hurting son.

"No, Eduardo, Mama's not going to take you to that meeting. I

love you too much to see you get your hopes up for some sort of a

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THE CHOSEN WARRIOR

silly miracle—then blam, get disappointed when nothing happens.

No, Eduardo, it is best that you stay home and forget this miracle

silliness."

Her sharp reply hurt Eduardo deep down in his gut. With his

mother's few short sentences, it seemed that all his hope for a

normal life, free of pain, was as shattered as his diseased hip. But

in times of need, God often uses neighbors as His heavenly angels!

An Assembly of God church member who did believe in

miracles had also heard about the miracle preacher.

She had also heard that Morris would be holding a big miracle

meeting in Sao Paulo, which at the same time would be shown on a

giant screen in Belo Horizonte. And she knew she must somehow

take her neighbor boy, Eduardo Serguera, to that miracle meeting

to ask God for his healing.

So it was that on June 23, 1984, when Morris Cerullo

instructed the sick people in Sao Paulo to put their hands on the

area of their sickness, little Eduardo heard Morris Cerullo's voice

and saw the preacher's determined face on the large screen in Belo

Horizonte. And he put his hand on his right leg, near his hip.

"Take my brace off," Eduardo said after his childlike prayer to

the heavenly Father. "I felt something tingly happen in my body. I

believe God has done something to my hip."

As soon as the brace was off, Eduardo stood up and started to

walk without his constant childhood companion. And he

immediately knew in his heart that he would be able to run

perfectly without his crutches! The pain was instantly gone.

Eduardo was able to run, jump and play like any other normal

eight-year-old boy. He wasn't crippled anymore. The Spirit of God

had touched and miraculously healed that little boy.

On that memorable June 23, Morris Cerullo took that same

saving and healing message of Jesus Christ that Eduardo

experienced to hundreds of thousands of men, women, boys and

girls across Brazil, North America, and Asia—all at the same time!

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THE HOPELESS HIP

On June 23, 1984, Morris Cerullo personally conducted a great

miracle healing crusade rally, a Day of Miracles, in Sao Paulo,

Brazil. All the events that transpired at that great miracle rally were

captured by video cameras and transmitted almost instantly by

microwave and international satellite technology to large screens in

eight other cities in Brazil and in sixty North American cities, and

to a potential television viewing audience of seven million people

in Hong Kong and China.

The sophisticated communications equipment flawlessly

picked up the entire rally and beamed it out across the jungles of

Brazil to Rio de Janeiro, to Belo Horizonte, to Belem, and to five

more cities. The Word went out to thousands of needy Brazilian

people.

The equipment also beamed the same Day of Miracles and One

Million Soul Crusade out across the Caribbean, across the Gulf of

Mexico, and into the awaiting auditoriums, arenas and ballrooms

of North America.

And halfway around the world, excited television viewers in

Hong Kong and China witnessed the historic rally as well.

In just one night at least 125,835 souls gave their lives to Jesus

and were saved from those fiery pits of hell that God had allowed

Morris Cerullo to see vividly as a young boy.

In just one week more than fifteen thousand Brazilian pastors

and lay leaders were simultaneously trained in a School of

Ministry originating in Sao Paulo and transmitted by microwave to

eight other cities.

In just one outreach more Brazilian nationals were trained in

the week-long School of Ministry than could have ever been

trained by conventional means.

On June 23, 1984, on the Day of Miracles, God had touched

Eduardo, one little crippled boy. He also touched the entire nation

of Brazil and the world. Through the death and resurrection of

Jesus Christ, God provided for the salvation and healing of

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THE CHOSEN WARRIOR

millions of Brazilian souls like Eduardo. June 23, 1984, is a date

that will forever remain meaningful to little Eduardo. And June 23,

1984, is a date that would become a milestone in Christian history.

The following documents underscore the historic significance

of the event:

• Jerry Patton, multi-media expert, recalls the Day of

Miracles:

"To link sixty cities in North America, nine cities in Brazil, and

millions of television viewers in Asia through complicated satellite

and microwave technology was a gigantic and unprecedented task.

"Nothing quite like this Morris Cerullo outreach had ever been

done before in the history of Christianity.

"Just getting the equipment together that was needed to

produce the Day of Miracles crusade in Brazil was a major project.

We needed three complete air cargo containers to ship it (and that

does not include the myriad of equipment that we rented in Brazil).

"Every piece of audio and video equipment had to be

painstakingly cleared and itemized for customs in both English and

Portuguese; the customs documents were nineteen pages long.

"Part of the equipment list included thirty Bose 802 speakers,

eighteen 10' x 14' screens, and eighteen Barco video projections,

plus thousands of feet of camera cable and microphone wire, seven

video cameras and spare parts for the machines.

"Electronic, audio, lighting, video, satellite and microwave

technologies are all challenges in themselves, but when they are

combined with cultural differences and language barriers, the task

of putting on the Day of Miracles seemed to be nearly impossible

without the grace of a loving and compassionate God.

"God brought us just the right people to do the task.

"A crew of twenty-four highly trained computer and satellite

technicians from the United States ventured to Brazil to assist

Morris Cerullo World Evangelism's own technicians in this

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THE HOPELESS HIP

historic outreach.

"In each city, local convention centers were rented. Those

locations with too much light for daytime viewing of the School of

Ministry had their windows darkened by a deep black plastic

covering for the program.

"To publicize this historic Day of Miracles rally, six

Portuguese television programs were created using some of the

best footage of Morris Cerullo ministering in Schools of Ministry

and crusades."

• "How Would Brazilians React to the Large Screen?" by

the Staff Satellite Coordinator

"My task was to bring the School of Ministry from Sao Paulo,

Brazil, to the eight different locations in Brazil by using

microwave and satellite technology.

"In each city, our plan was to project the images originated in

Sao Paulo onto large screens in eight different cities so that

thousands of other Brazilian pastors and lay people could watch

the School of Ministry, and then the Day of Miracles crusade, just

as though Morris Cerullo were actually preaching under God's

anointing in their own hometown.

"In Brazil, most churches do not allow their congregations to

even own television sets or to go to the movies.

"How would the Brazilian students react to a large screen?

"Would the pastors even allow their cautious congregations to

participate in this media event that was so similar to television and

movies?

"Brazilian Christians are conservative in their dress, and very

reserved in their worship.

"There is little clapping or active participation in the services.

"How would these highly traditional Brazilian Christians

actually receive Morris Cerullo's highly untra-ditional messages?

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THE CHOSEN WARRIOR

"Would they actually respond and attempt to participate in the

miracle services at their individual School of Ministry locations?

"I did not have to wait very long for my answers.

"Only minutes after Morris Cerullo started preaching, the over

two thousand delegate students in the Sao Paulo site were

responding to his message with totally untra-ditional, enthusiastic

clapping and praise.

"But more significantly, from every large-screen location in

Brazil the reports were universal: The pastors and students are all

clapping and praising as though Morris Cerullo were here in

person!

"Breakthroughs.

"That's what our outreach in Brazil was all about.

"We told the people of Brazil that Morris Cerullo is a man with

a message from God. In their deep and trusting faith, these

Brazilians came expecting to hear an anointed message from God.

"With tears running down my eyes, I can tell you they were not

disappointed.

"God spoke, and Brazil will never be the same!

• An Open Letter to Morris Cerullo, by Adelson Da Silva,

Belem, Brazil

"Since my being in the Brazilian School of Ministry, my life is

really changed. I really do feel the responsibility and call that I

have received from the Lord.

"Now I am no longer a sergeant in the Brazilian army, I am a

soldier in the army of Christ!

"God has already told me, through prophecy and His Word,

that He has a work for me to do in His harvest field.

"The School of Ministry gave me the spiritual tools to

accomplish what I must do for God.

"I am most grateful to God and to Morris Cerullo for this most

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THE HOPELESS HIP

valuable ministry.

"My prayer is that God will continue to use you and your staff

in this great work of organizing God's Victorious Army."

People called by God to help others find salvation in Christ

must have faith for their own families too. Morris Cerullo is no

exception, as we will see in the next chapter.

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CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

22

THE FINAL STRATEGY

n August 10, 1985, the hall of Atlanta's World Congress

Center was packed to capacity by nearly eighteen hundred

OChristians from the United States and ten other nations.

They had convened with Morris Cerullo to launch one of the

most historic outreaches in the history of Christianity—the Global

Satellite Network. The Global Satellite Network represents the

fulfillment of a vision, a methodology to establish an ongoing

presence in the nations of the world, teaching, equipping and

mobilizing foreign nationals to reach their own nations. The

purpose of the Global Satellite Network is to communicate on a

monthly basis with nationals around the world, training, equipping,

mobilizing and then sending them as proof producers to witness

the power of Jesus Christ in their own cities and nations.

Culminating decades of frontline evangelism by Morris

Cerullo, the launching of the Global Satellite Network enabled him

to reach the world by using the most modern technology known to

humans.

"Our God-given idea is to have this powerful satellite

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uplink/downlink on a monthly basis to hundreds of United States

and foreign sites around the world," Morris Cerullo announced to

the crowd. The atmosphere was electric.

While the satellites beamed his message to a multitude of

locations, Morris Cerullo taught and demonstrated his New

Anointing message step by step to the enthusiastic audience in

Atlanta and to the equally enthusiastic audiences in other key

locations.

"It is like liquid fire all over this building," he said, describing

the powerful outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

The students sitting under this teaching did not know that

Morris had spent the past week in prayer and fasting for this

historic event. The evidence of this warrior's diligent preparation

for this mighty spiritual battle was in the powerful presence of God

that permeated the building and in the anointing upon his words.

The School of Ministry students had come to Atlanta and to the

other satellite locations to be trained on how to be used by God as

an instrument of His power. To become proof producers. To

demonstrate God's power on earth to others.

They were not taught simply a theory or theology. They

personally experienced God's power and anointing in their own

lives. Pastors from many denominations came and their ministries

were revolutionized.

Others came seeking answers to their physical, mental and

emotional problems. Parents came searching for help in desperate

family situations. Others had strong physical needs, or were

desperately seeking relief from spiritual oppression.

No one was disappointed.

Answers came.

Healings happened.

Marriages were rekindled.

Spiritual victories were everywhere.

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All received a new divine power: the New Anointing power of

God!

With tears flowing down his cheeks, Morris declared, "The

power of God is flowing in this building like a mighty river."

The deep compassion of this unique, endtime prophet was

much in evidence. Many times he stopped the meeting to soak in

what the Holy Spirit was doing in the audience.

"What time is it?" he asked.

"It's Harvest Time!" was the unanimous reply.

These well-trained soldiers for God know they are living in the

closing years of spiritual history and that Jesus is coming soon.

The little Jewish preacher then continued, "Devil, you stay on

your side of the line. You are already defeated. God has already

defeated the devil. Do not look to your future in defeat, but look to

your future as bright, for God will carry you on from victory to

victory, from faith to faith, from power to power, to conquer all the

power of the devil."

The audience erupted into praise and worship.

When the room was once again quiet, Morris continued. "I

want to make a prophecy here tonight. I prophesy to you that God

is going to call Himself out a people. The chains of

denominationalism are going to break and the body of Christ is

going to be united, not in heaven but here on earth, in the name of

Jesus."

Morris wept openly.

"You and I are chosen and ordained by God for a divine

purpose. There is no total victory until we learn to conquer an

enemy that is already defeated! You need a spiritual breakthrough.

My prayer is that God will grant to you the anointing of the Holy

Spirit so you can see God as He really is, so you will not limit our

unlimited God!"

Once again, the crowd erupted in praise, worship and clapping.

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The love of God and His presence poured out over the entire

auditorium.

Throughout his life of ministry since 1962, over five hundred

thousand men and women have been personally trained by Morris

Cerullo to go forth as proof producers in their nations. But the

chosen warrior knew even that mighty effort was not enough!

That's why he launched the Global Satellite Network on this day—

to multiply himself by the power of the media so he could train and

anoint even more nationals to reach their nations for Jesus Christ.

*

*

*

• Seven thousand islands.

• Sixty million people.

• Fifty-nine different dialects.

• Hindered by ancient methods of inter-island transportation

and communication.

• Crippled by political upheavals.

• Disrupted by aggressive communism, powered by the young

and well-armed New People's Army.

These are just some of the divergent and challenging factors in

the Philippines that make a ministry outreach to this nation seem

impossible.

But in January, 1989—a critical year in God's dealing with His

Chosen Warrior Morris Cerullo—the Lord gave His servant his

most significant spiritual challenge.

At the 1989 Morris Cerullo World Conference, he announced

to the nations of the world that: "God has given me a divine

mandate to reach one billion souls for His glory before the year

2000."

As he spoke to an audience of thousands who were deeply

touched and inspired by the magnitude of that mandate, Morris

revealed his inspired World-Wide Outreach Plan to reach all the

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other nations of the world— to reach one billion souls before the

year 2000!

"God has challenged you and me to build a billion-soul army,"

he continued, "and He has given us a seven-point master ministry

plan to achieve His purpose. The key elements He has shown me

in this divinely inspired plan can be briefly summarized in seven

steps:

"1. We must demonstrate to the nations of the world the need

to come together in spiritual unity. Unity in the spirit will give the

Body of Christ an unparalleled strength in this endtime hour.

"2. God has told me He is going to bestow a new mantle of

spiritual power and authority on dedicated foreign nationals and

other key apostolic leaders who are willing to give up everything

they have and yield themselves totally to His Will for the cause of

Christ.

"3. We must continue and intensify our training of the foreign

nationals."

Morris understood the vital importance of this step, so he

paused for a bit to let his words sink into this dedicated gathering

before he continued.

"We must be prepared to let them take back the Morris Cerullo

Schools of Ministry to their local areas so they can train other

ministers and workers in the proof producers' style, teaching them

the answer to the question, 'What must we do that we might work

the works of God?'

"4. We must demonstrate to these foreign nationals how they

can mobilize huge crowds and conduct mass evangelistic crusades

so they can act as God's vessels for the miracle of salvation and

healing."

When Morris announced this point, many of the nationals in

the audience stood and cheered loudly, knowing full well how

beneficial it would be to their ministries to be shown personally by

him how to mobilize and conduct crusades.

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"5. We must teach them how to use the latest microwave and

satellite and television technology to bring the Morris Cerullo

Global Satellite Network to their own local area on a monthly

basis. Only through continued, monthly training can they be

properly prepared for the endtime spiritual battles that lie ahead.

"6. It is up to us to demonstrate how to move into television

and radio with the gospel. The foreign nationals must learn how to

use the media to multiply their outreach to the unsaved and lost."

Before Morris revealed the seventh point, he paused, waiting

for absolute silence so the full impact of this last nation-changing

point could permeate every part of their spirits.

"7. We must place the vital weapons of spiritual warfare into

their hands, for the weapons of warfare are not carnal, but

spiritual!

"We must give them the key ministry books, the monthly

Victory Miracle Library, the video and audio tapes of various

Schools of Ministry—all the tools God has given us to help build

Him an invincible army!"

The conference erupted into praise, worship, and thanksgiving

as Morris Cerullo finished outlining God's master plan for one

billion souls!

Everyone present at the conference sensed in their spirits the

magnitude of this mighty mandate to reach one billion souls. The

year 1989 would be forever etched in their minds as perhaps the

most spiritually significant in the history of this chosen warrior's

ministry.

1989 revealed the ministry theme, the plan, and the purpose

that would propel Morris Cerullo World Evangelism through the

last decade of the twentieth century, a decade of destiny.

For in 1989, God clearly spoke to Morris Cerullo and gave him

the divinely-authored mandate to bring the gospel to the world,

revealing to him the global strategy and technology needed to

reach one billion souls for Jesus Christ before the year 2000!

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*

*

*

In the far north of the Philippine islands, in the sin-hardened

oil-drilling district of Cebu City, a very gentle, petite woman is

quietly going about her work, impacting her nation for Jesus

Christ.

Det Sayson is a lay leader who has put her life down on the

altar to be used by God as a handmaiden of the Lord to reach her

nation as the Global Satellite Director in the Philippines for Morris

Cerullo World Evangelism.

"Twelve Global Satellite Sites are not enough," she tells the

ministers in her meeting.

"To reach the Philippines, we must intensify our efforts. I

believe we should have twenty sites by the end of the year!"

The ministers marvel at the boldness and the determination of

this woman. But they listen, because they know her story. They

know she has personally ventured into the Philippines worst

prisons. They know that God has used her to produce life-changing

miracles in the lives of the worst of murderers, thieves, rapists and

every other kind of criminal.

They know that she unceasingly travels the islands with her

portable satellite equipment by jeep, by boat, by van, and by foot

to train nationals who cannot be reached any other way.

From fifty to three thousand Filipinos come once a month to

each site to hear the Word and be equipped through the Morris

Cerullo Global Satellite Network. They know that these same

Morris Cerullo School of Ministry principles of demonstrating the

power of God through signs and wonders have helped Reverend

Eddie Villanueva in Manila to lead a powerful church that meets

each Sunday in an open school courtyard with a congregation of

over twenty-five thousand people at a time.

So they listen to Det Sayson as she declares:

"The Morris Cerullo Global Satellite Network is how God's

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Victorious Army is going to reach the Philippines and a billion

souls in our world for Christ by training nationals and by unifying

the body of Christ!"

Det paused for a deep breath, then continued.

"It is time to beat the devil in his own playground. We must

rise up together, rise up and establish more sites for the Morris

Cerullo Global Satellite Network to reach and train the nationals

on these seven thousand islands.

"Bullets will not stop communism...only the blood of Jesus.

"Politics will not save the Philippines. Only on-fire, dedicated

proof producers, who can demonstrate the power of God to the

people in their own province.

"Economic reform will not change our existence. Only a nation

of dedicated, on-fire, born-again Christians with high moral

standards will reverse the economic corruption in our country."

Her exhortations continued for another hour. At the end of her

message, the seeds for a new satellite site had been sown. As she

went back to her lonely, simple room that night, Det Sayson

climbed into bed with a tear in her eye.

"Oh Lord," she prayed, "I'm very tired. The intense travel

sometimes is more than I can bear. Please give me Your divine

strength to continue this ministry. Please give me Your divine

wisdom and guidance to know where to go and what to say. And

finally, dear Lord, please help me, just as your chosen warrior

Morris Cerullo has taught me, to pass the anointing and the burden

you have given to me on to others. Amen."

In the quiet of the night, as Det's fatigued body melts into the

flimsy mattress, she knows in her spirit that God is already

restoring her strength for tomorrow's new battle on the frontlines

of God's Victorious Army.

*

*

*

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"I am hereby declaring war on the devil's war," the chosen

warrior proclaimed. "God has given us new marching orders," he

continued, "telling us to go on the attack against Satan's army of

the ungodly. We must wake up and mobilize the slumbering army

of God and move forward against the devil's twin lieutenants of

despair and disease.

We're going into battle with Almighty God's biggest guns:

hope and healing. We must demonstrate firsthand what God is

doing. "I believe God wants me to prod and poke the body of

Christ in North America from a pudgy, couch-potato spiritual life-

style to fitness for battle."

The spiritual commander-in-chief stood steadfast, addressing

his attentive troops throughout the entire nation in a strong,

confident, yet compassionate manner.

"This is a whole new truth for all of God's Army for the decade

of the 1990's. I am calling up the reserves for training to go out and

meet the devil on what he thinks is his territory, and beat his ears

back!

"I believe that we will see tens and hundreds of thousands at a

time coming into the kingdom as the result of seeing and hearing

for themselves how God can super-naturally work life-changing

miracles at the hands of His obedient people."

Knowing that the church of Jesus Christ has been for far too

long divided into squabbling segments, the chosen warrior then

called for division and strife to stop.

"God is calling us all to be unified in this new era of soul

winning...the Pentecostals...the Baptists...the Episcopalians...the

whole body of Christ is being called and challenged to build up

believers and to minister to and meet the needs of God's people.

This can only happen as we are prepared to become proof

producers and allow God to work miracles and demonstrate His

power in us and through us."

After forty-two years of ministering to the nations of the world;

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after God guiding his life in every phase— from the days as a little

Jewish orphan to his days as an international evangelist—God has

been preparing Morris Cerullo for this moment and this incredible

spiritual challenge: to reach one billion souls before the year 2000.

And God's Victorious Army is prepared.

Morris Cerullo's burden for the nationals is greater now than

ever before..."the foreign national is the key to reaching the

nations for God."

"The unbeliever will feel the convicting power of the Holy

Spirit drawing him to God," Morris explains, "as only the

unvarnished truth about Satan and his plans becomes evident."

Through the proof producing power of God the sinner receives the

greatest miracle in the world—the miracle of salvation. Then the

sick are made whole and the people know that God really cares

about them.

*

*

*

On that quiet day in October of 1931, no one could sense any

historical significance to the birth of Moshe (Moses) Cerullo.

Not Mama Bertha.

Not Papa Joseph.

Not the local rabbi.

But in the decades since that day, as the life of Morris Cerullo

has unfolded, it is clear that this chosen warrior has significantly

affected the spiritual destiny of the Jews and of the nations of the

world.

The day is not yet done for this chosen warrior.

There are battles left to fight.

Over 3 3 billion people have never heard the name of Jesus

Christ even once. He has been commissioned by God to reach at

least one billion souls before the year 2000.

The storybook ending says that old soldiers never die, they just

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fade away into the time-worn glories of battles long ago fought.

But this is real life and this fiery general in God's Army has no

time to meditate on past victories.

With each spiritual enemy encounter, Morris Cerullo grows

stronger. He continues to radiate a spiritual explosion of God's

proof producing power, walking in signs and wonders to wake up a

slumbering world that is fading fast into the seductive fires of hell.

As the sun fades over the mountain at the end of the day, and

darkness sets upon the earth, the voice of the chosen warrior can be

heard above the sleeping earth, talking to his God in fervent

prayer, saying:

"Lord, continue to give me the strength, the wisdom, the

anointing, and Your proof-producing power, so that I fulfill your

mandate and reach one billion souls for Your Glory before the year

2000."

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Document Outline

- The Chosen Warrior - The Morris Cerullo Story

- Dedication

- Table of Contents

- FOREWORD

- INTRODUCTION

- 1 THE BIRTH OF POWER

- 2 A FOOTBALL IN THE JUNKYARD OF LIFE

- 3 A PRIMER FOR PREJUDICE, A PATTERN FOR PAIN

- 4 CHILD OF THE LAKE

- 5 STORM BEFORE THE CALM

- 6 LIGHT UNDER THE COVERS

- 7 EXODUS II

- 8 WALKING WITH ANGELS

- 9 LIFE FROM THE FRONT

- 10 THE FOOTSTEPS TO HELL

- 11 THE FRANCO AMERICAN YEARS

- 12 EXPLODING BREAKTHROUGHS IN A SHRINKING UNIVERSE

- 13 "DADDY, WHAT STATE IS ATHENS IN?"

- 14 VOODOO VANQUISHED IN HAITI

- 15 HOMECOMING AND HEARTACHES

- 16 THE MYSTERY OF MAGNITUDE

- 17 BARRICADES, BISHOPS AND THE PIED PIPER

- 18 CHOSEN PEOPLE, CHOSEN WARRIOR

- A Challenge

- MY COMMITMENT TO THE MESSIAH—JESUS!

- 19 TARGET: TANZANIA

- 20 BALLOTS, BULLETS AND PRAYER

- 21 THE HOPELESS HIP

- 22 THE FINAL STRATEGY

Table of Contents

FOREWORD.

INTRODUCTION.

1 THE BIRTH OF POWER.

2 A FOOTBALL IN THE JUNKYARD OF LIFE.

3 A PRIMER FOR PREJUDICE, A PATTERN FOR PAIN.

4 CHILD OF THE LAKE.

5 STORM BEFORE THE CALM.

6 LIGHT UNDER THE COVERS.

7 EXODUS II.

8 WALKING WITH ANGELS.

9 LIFE FROM THE FRONT.

10 THE FOOTSTEPS TO HELL.

11 THE FRANCO AMERICAN YEARS.

12 EXPLODING BREAKTHROUGHS IN A SHRINKING UNIVERSE.

13 "DADDY, WHAT STATE IS ATHENS IN?".

14 VOODOO VANQUISHED IN HAITI.

15 HOMECOMING AND HEARTACHES.

16 THE MYSTERY OF MAGNITUDE.

17 BARRICADES, BISHOPS AND THE PIED PIPER.

18 CHOSEN PEOPLE, CHOSEN WARRIOR.

19 TARGET: TANZANIA.

20 BALLOTS, BULLETS AND PRAYER.

21 THE HOPELESS HIP.

22 THE FINAL STRATEGY.

The Chosen Warrior - The Morris Cerullo Story

Dedication

Table of Contents

A Challenge