Lazarus Experience Propels Ukrainian Evangelist to Help Set Others on Fire for Jesus

Early in his childhood, Andrey Shapoval knew he had a strong calling of God on his life. His mother, with whom he immigrated to the United States from the Ukraine, had a visitation from angels that told her of the special person she carried inside her and the great things he would do for the kingdom of God.

The prophetic dream came to fruition, and now the pastor and evangelist is spreading the gospel worldwide and helping people to get saved who normally might never hear God’s Word or might simply ignore it. Shapoval is the founder and leader of Flame of Fire Ministry in Sacramento, California, the same city where my good friend, Samuel Rodriguez, is based.

Rodriguez knows Shapoval well, and he knows what Shapoval is doing not only to light a Holy Spirit blaze under the Slavic community, but also around the world. Shapoval has preached in 35 countries around the globe, including Pakistan, Ethiopia and the Philippines.

“The Slavic community is on fire for Jesus,” Rodriguez says in a quote on Shapoval’s website. “Andrey Shapoval is a powerful voice leading this awakening. At the end of the day, this I know for certain; nothing can stop the Holy Spirit from moving and nothing can stop the gospel of Jesus.”

In his mother’s womb, Shapoval says, angels spoke a strong message to her about her son. He strayed from the Lord for a while, but when he came back, he did so completely on fire.

“When my mom was pregnant, the angels of God came to my mom and said, ‘You are carrying a son, and you’re going to name him Andrey,'” Shapoval told me on a recent episode of the Strang Report. “So from my childhood, my mom was always telling me, ‘Andrey, you need to be close with God; He has something for your life.’

“To be honest, I ended up far away from the Lord by age 22, and I lost everything in my life,” he says. “God was probably tired of that, and on April 1, 2002, on an Easter Day, the power of God came upon me. The way God spoke to me, He told me to come out of the grave. One of the evangelists who had come from Africa was preaching about Lazarus, that he was dead for four days. I suddenly saw myself as dead like Lazarus and something inside of me screamed, ‘God, if You can do something, just help me.’

“I then heard a voice: ‘Son, I command you to come out,'” Shapoval adds. “That day, I was lying on the floor for hours crying to God, and I made a decision on my life. I told Him that He could have my whole life, whatever it takes: ‘I want to know who You are, and that’s going to be my purpose in life.’ Since that day, I’ve been seeking the Lord like crazy; I was dwelling in the Word, day and night and praying in tongues eight hours a day.”

And that, Shapoval says, is what it takes for believers to live beyond simply a normal Christian life and to live a powerful one. That is one of the strongest messages he believes he can preach.

“I believe there is such a difference between serving God and pleasing God,” Shapoval says. God is calling us to be here. He said to present your bodies as a living sacrifice and renew your mind. We need to be so sold out to God Himself because He is separating Himself in this hour. He’s going to do tremendous things in these last days. We really need to focus on God right now. We need to walk under His lordship and to surrender to Him and to seek His face to our last breath.”

Click here to listen to this entire podcast with Andrey Shapoval. Please spread the word about it to your followers on social media. Be sure to subscribe to the Strang Report on Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast platform for more podcasts to inspire you to experience the power of the Holy Spirit. {eoa}

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