DAWN Fridayfax 1995 #18

News from Germany, Switzerland, Islamic World, Korea

Bilingual services and top Christian musicians

The spiritual situation in Germany has reached an all time low for this century. For example, in Heilbronn near Stuttgart, we know of only 7 evangelical churches, with a total attendance of about 1,000; the town has a population of around 120,000, so less than 1% are Christians. The exact figure of 0.83% can only be compared to the situation in the still-Islamic countries.

In the midst of this situation, the Heilbronn Christian Centre is leading the way into virgin territory. Pastor Berhard Sack founded the free church in 1989, and has a growing attendance, currently at 600. The services are held in English and German, and are regularly visited by internationally- known Christian musicians. The international character does not discourage the German visitors; quite the contrary, even the elder visitors like it.

The church has already founded two daughter churches, with more planned.

According to DAWN Europa's Wolfgang Simson, "Most Germans consider the gospel old-fashioned and irrelevant. The astonishing thing is this, though: many Germans have no immunity to the gospel in English! Presenting the gospel bilingually breaks through one of the church's traditional communication barriers and takes it surprisingly close to the supposedly unreachable Germans. This idea will have followers!"

Source and info: CCH, Fax (49) 07139-3511
More from Germany

Bilingual services in Zurich too...

Bilingual services are also finding a strong echo in Switzerland. The International Christian Fellowship, founded by Heinz Strupler, has an attendance of 350-400 15-35-year- olds at its weekly services in Zurich's Limmat Hotel, with up to 650 for special events. The international services have given birth to daughter churches.

Source and info: ICF, Fax (41) 1-2726333

Growth: 2x2 courses in Germany

"For centuries, discipleship was not a topic in the German Christian culture," according to Pastor Klaus Eickhoff (Siering, Austria). Eickhoff developed the "2x2 Course" as an antidote. The Institute for Church Growth in Giesen, Germany, which organises and promotes the courses, says "2x2 is a study course in which the participants meet for 2 hours each week over a period of 2 years. The topics: the bible, prayer, fellowship and developing spiritual gifts. The leaders receive an intensive 4-day training course to introduce them to their responsibility. They have not only access to a practical adviser, but also a co-leader who is able to lead a new course, enabling rapid multiplication." There are already 35 of these courses in Germany.

Source and info: Oliver Schippers, Fax (49) 641-9751840

165 prayer-teams to visit neglected Gateway cities

The prayer wing of the AD2000 movement, led by C.Peter Wagner (Los Angeles), is organising a concerted prayer- journey to 100 cities with a key position in the 10/40 window neglected by Christianity. 165 teams have already indicated their readiness to go to one of these cities in October in order to pray and prepare the ground for other Christian activities.

Source and info: CIN, Fax (001) 719-548-9000.
More from the Islamic world

2 million Christians pray with Moslems

Every year in the Islamic world, the month of Ramadan is reserved for prayer. Moslems are required to pray 5 times each day, starting at 4:30am. They are also expected to fast during the daylight hours. "If Christians don't also develop such an intense attitude to prayer, I see a bleak future for Christianity in the mid-East," says Brother Andrew of "Open Doors." The situation is changing: according to the American mission society "Global Harvest," around 2 million Christians prayed at the same time as the Moslems in 1995 - but to a living God!

Source: CIN, Fax (001) 719-548-9000

Korea's missionaries are coming

In the past 15 years, the number of Korean Christian missionaries has risen from 93 to 3,272, and the number of mission societies from 21 to 113. The Korean churches plan to send out 10,000 long-term missionaries by the year 2000. That is more than all American and English missionaries together. In May of this year, 100,000 short-term missionaries will be sent out, supported by another 100,000 "Lydias" - prayer partners. About 4,500 attendees from 220 nations are expected at the AD2000 conference "Global Consultation on World Evangelisation" (GCOWE) from 17.-26. May 1995

Source: various.

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