Five Minutes With … Marilyn Hickey

Approaching her 81st birthday, Bible teacher and global evangelist Marilyn Hickey shows no signs of slowing down.

CHARISMA: You were recently in Pakistan preaching to hundreds of thousands of people and witnessing miracles. What is God showing you about Pakistan in this hour?

Hickey: A fifth of the world population is Muslim. I feel a real call to get the gospel to them. Now, what they do with it is their business. To give it so they have an opportunity is my call. They say 82 percent of Pakistanis hate Americans, but I have great favor there. It is amazing. I was there six days. Their people, their culture really believes that Jesus heals. It’s in the Quran. So you have a tremendous bridge with healing. A little boy didn’t have an eyeball, and God began to form an eyeball and he could see. A girl who had been blind for 3-1/2 years could see. A boy who stuttered all his life, he probably was around 14, could speak plainly.

CHARISMA: You’re on the board of David Yonggi Cho’s church in South Korea. What stands out to you about the work of the Holy Spirit in Korea?

Hickey: South Korea is having a revival. I’ve been in 124 countries and everywhere I go I find Korean churches. They’re absolutely reaching the world. I had a big meeting in Khartoum, Sudan, with 65,000 people about four years ago—well, there were Koreans there. I go to Italy—we had a big meeting in Milan, and Koreans were there. Dr. Cho and his mother-in-law’s passion, and their intensity of prayer, are really reaching the whole world. And, of course, they are doing things in North Korea; we just don’t hear any reports.

CHARISMA: Late last year you went to Empowered21 Asia in Jakarta. You called it a “destiny time” and I know China was well represented. What are your thoughts on Christianity in China?

Hickey: China has the greatest revival going. People think it’s Africa, but China sees more than 30,000 people saved every day. We have been smuggling Bibles into China for years … more and more you’re seeing religious freedom come to China.

CHARISMA: It seems revival is breaking out in Asia and Africa. Why do you think we’re not seeing it in the U.S.?

Hickey: I think it’s starting to happen. I think a lot of it is coming out of Redding, Calif., with Bethel Church. But even in our church, our youth group is on fire. They prophesy. They win the souls. They pray for the sick. My 11-year-old granddaughter prophesied in one of our main services. That’s never happened in the history of this church—and it’s 50 years old. There are places that are having revival in the States, and I see it spreading around the country.

CHARISMA: What is one of the most valuable lessons you’ve learned over the course of your ministry?

Hickey: Most of all that we have to keep a fresh encounter with Jesus. It can get to be formula and rote. We need to encounter Him personally. And, of course, being in the Word—that’s a big part of it. And being in Spirit-filled fellowship. Just don’t let tradition or formula govern your life. Jesus is fresh every day. That’s my desire—that I hear His voice every day.