MOSCOW, Russia (FR) – Mel Tari – the author of the popular book Like A Mighty Rushing Wind, the chronicle of his experiences at the forefront of the Great Indonesian Revival – was a featured speaker with founder, Bob Weiner, at the Christian Youth International conference in July, at the Izmajilovo Sports Arena in Moscow.

Mel Tari believes that the current awakening in Moscow is just the beginning of a great end time harvest which is about to sweep the globe. Several experiences throughout his life have led him to this belief. Although the July conference was Tari’s first visit to the USSR, it has been a lifelong dream of the evangelist to come to the Soviet Union. In Like A Mighty Rushing Wind, Tari relates this desire:

“I had just won a scholarship to Russia to prepare myself to be a medical doctor in Moscow. My whole family liked this idea, and I really liked it myself, because in an Asian country when you are a medical doctor, you are a very rich man. And doctors have a pretty good life…. Then God started to speak to me through His Word, and I had the uneasy feeling that He wanted me to be his servant….” (Mel Tari, Like a Mighty Rushing Wind, Creation House, Carol Stream, IL, 1971, pp. 157,158.)

Speaking to a crowd of several thousand students, Tari recounted that several times in his life he had had the opportunity to enter the Soviet Union. But each time he had felt that the Lord say, “Not this time; not yet.” Tari said that the Lord spoke to his heart instructing him that one day he would be allowed to enter the Soviet Union. On that day, God would begin to pour out His Spirit in that nation. This would be a sign to him that an awakening of global proportion was about to commence. Tari further related that July 3-7, 1991 was the first time that he felt that it was the Lord’s will for him to come to the Soviet Union.