Andrew Brunson said God used his imprisonment in Turkey to orchestrate a spiritual confrontation with the principalities of that region. Brunson spoke Monday at the Southern Baptist Convention’s 2019 Pastors’ Conference in Birmingham, Alabama. He began by thanking leaders for their prayer and support and offering some behind-the-scenes spiritual insight.
“I want to thank those of you who prayed for us,” Brunson said. “We’re grateful for this. Your prayers sustained me. Certainly my wife as well. We’re grateful for this. And I did ride your prayers out of Turkey, they sustained me while I was in prison, but God was also doing something else that was much bigger than setting me free. I think he was setting up a confrontation between the dark spiritual powers in that region and the sons and daughters of God around the world. So I think you’re going to see someday that you were part of something very significant and very big God was doing, and there’s going to be harvest in Turkey. Because there was a tsunami wave of prayer that has crashed into that land and that region. The Lord just made me a magnet for prayer, and I’m grateful for what you did.”
Brunson focused his talk on warning the assembled pastors and leaders about rising persecution—even in the United States—and the importance of being aware of the “signs of the times.”
“I think it’s going to become increasingly difficult to stand for Jesus and for his truth in the United States,” Brunson said. “I have a sense of urgency for the first time. My wife and I spent 25 years in Turkey. We’ve been very much focused on the Muslim world for many years, and I never really had a burden for the United States, but since I’ve come back from our time in Turkey, there’s a real urgency and burden in my heart, because I don’t think we’re prepared for what is coming. I’m not so sure about my own generation—I’m 51 years old—but especially the next generation. My children’s generation, I don’t think is prepared. We need to be aware of the signs of the times we are living in, but I fear that many of us are complacent and we’re unaware. And this means the people in our churches are going to be blindsided by what comes.”
Watch the video here to see Brunson’s full address. After a time of worship, Brunson begins speaking about 16 minutes in.
