DAWN Fridayfax 1995 #17

News from China, Indonesia, Mozambique, Romania, Spain, Eritrea

Three women plant 52 churches

Three young women were sent out from Chinese churches to evangelise in Henan Province (Pop.: over 100 million) at the start of 1994. The mission organisation "Asian Outreach" reports that 52 churches were planted as a result of their 60-day journey. According to a missionary who visited Henan recently, none of the churches has less than 500 members. Asian Outreach also reports that over 400,000 people were baptised in Henan Province in 1994.

"Stiff policeman" is saved!

In China, it is still forbidden for unregistered Christians to practise openly. Following their mission, the three women were arrested by the police; during the interrogation, the police chief could suddenly no longer move his arms - it was as if they had been frozen, and they remained so despite injections. He finally had the idea that the women should pray for him, and was healed immediately following their prayer. As a result, all of the police in the station were saved.

Source: David Wang, Asian Outreach.

'Jesus' film results in hundreds of new churches in Indonesia...

The Jesus film, based on Luke's gospel, is a catalyst for planting new churches in Indonesia. Campus Crusade have reported that 1.1 million people saw the film over a period of 12 months, following which trained Indonesian Christians took pastoral responsibility for the respondents. The result is that "hundreds of new churches" have been planted in the last 10 years.

... And has a 40% response rate in Mozambique

Following the long civil war, there is great openness for Christianity in Mozambique. The guards and all 700 prisoners in a jail in the capital, Maputo, watched the film in complete silence. At the end, as usual, the team asked all those who were interested in following Jesus to stand up. The response: all 700 prisoners and all the guards! According to the leader of the Jesus Film Project, the international norm is that 10% respond, but of the approximately 21,000 who have seen the film in its first presentations since being translated into the Makhua language spoken in Mozambique, 40% have responded.

Source: Update 2/95 Campus Crusade, USA, Fax (1) 714-361-7579.

Romania: Demand for practical training is too great

The openness to Christianity in Romania continues. United World Missions, an American mission organisation involved in the country, cannot meet the demand for training Christians to plant churches. About 400 people are being trained in 12 locations, and 6 other regions have inquired about such training. Missionary Eric Villanueva sees the main challenge in Romania in helping the churches make the step from the traditional addition- to the Biblical multiplication- mentality.

Source: Eric Villanueva, UWM, Romania

200,000 evangelical gypsies in Spain

Paquito, the General Secretary of the National Gypsy Union in Spain, reports that the Gypsy churches are growing fast. Around 200,000 Gypsies meet in 600 churches led by some 3,000 preachers. The Frenchman Clement Le Cossec started a mission to Gypsies in 1961. Paquito says that the Gypsy churches all over the world, but particularly in Europe and Asia, are growing. The leaders of the churches met to discuss the evangelistic and social challenges of the future in early 1995.

Source: Mark-Torsten Wardein, Fax (34) 5822-8657

Church growth in Eritrea

In May 1993, Eritrea became independent after 30 years of Communist rule. About 51% of the 3.7 million inhabitants are Moslems, but the churches are growing. The "Full Gospel Church" in Asmara, the capital, had only 65 members in 1985. Now, 10 years later, the two services have an attendance of 1,400. Following the collapse of the Communist regime two years ago, the church sent out evangelists whose work has resulted in 11 new churches.

Source: Hans Ollesch, AVC, Fax (49) 06043-8136

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