Crusade!

... and he walked down the road to the next village. People noticed him immediately as he entered the village.

"Is this not the carpenter's son from Nazareth?" they asked each other.

One man exclaimed, "Look he is speaking to the beggar at the gate!".

"He is touching him, I wouldn't do that, that man is sick! This gives me the shivers... ," commented yet another.

People began shouting, "Hey, the beggar can walk! He is walking!".

The people run and gathered at the gate. They wanted to see and test with their own eyes. Yes it was true, the beggar was able to walk again and this after many, many years of suffering this cruel sickness. As far as they could remember, the sickness started with little marks on the man's legs. The man used to be the local butcher. As the marks on his body got visible, bigger and darker, people started to stay away from his shop and got their meat elsewhere. Poverty struck the man and after a while the sickness forced him to the ground. Crawling to the gate in order to ask foreigners that entered the village there for help was all that the sickness allowed him to do.

"But see now! He can walk and talk. He is one of us again. How did this happen?" they asked.

"Jesus did it. The man from Nazareth. Look it is that man over there. He is speaking to people, let's go and hear what he has to say!"

And so the good news travelled throughout the village and everybody came to hear what Jesus had to say. Those that were not able to get there on their own steam were brought to him. All people that were sick and heavy laden were healed on that day. They went back to their houses healthy and free. They would remember this day for a long, long time.

...

A few thousand years later in a place that could be everywhere on this planet Earth, you can hear music vibrate through the air. Shouts of "Hallelujah" find their way out of a crowded hall. A man stands behind a microphone and shouts into the crowd. He speaks about Jesus and how the people have to turn away from their sins. What those sins are is not clear, the man struggles to explain and the crowd is not sure what exactly a sin is. But the man tries to convince the crowd that they are guilty and that they will go to hell. Many take it at face value. The man's speech goes on and on, he is trying to make the people yield to his message. After a while more music is played and people are moved there and fro with it. Tears of guilt and joy start to appear on some people's faces.

The atmosphere is right now, "It is time for a miracle!" the man behind the microphone proclaims.

Some people gather at the front, looking up to the man. Other people guide some of those seeking help up onto the stage and the man prays to an unseen God and commands healing, proclaims change, and asks them to yield to God. "In the name of Jesus!" he underlines. Some people shout, some people fall, some people cry. Excitement arises throughout the crowd.

"This is worth it. This is worth the 120 Rand they asked us to pay at the entrance!" shouts one man to his girl friend.

She looks at him, contemplates his words for a moment, nods and then continues to clap, hop up and down and shout.

The man behind the microphone prays, his eyes are gazing slightly up towards the ceiling, "This is a wonderful Crusade! God is blessing us. Thank you Jesus!"

...

On a street corner not too far away from the hall a man is walking down the road. He seems to look for something and after a while he finds it. There she is, a woman sleeping on a piece of card board. The man kneels down and speaks softly to the woman laying there. He takes her by the hand and together they stand up. Suddenly a small number of people, maybe two or three, gather around them. The sound of tears, laughter and hushed excitement travels down the ally.

Loud music is sifting through the walls of the hall as the small group walks by.