DAWN Fridayfax 1995 #42

News from Middle East, Zimbabwe, Zambia

The gospel among fundamentalist Moslems

In a country in the Middle East, an old Christian was suddenly visited by the leader of a fundamental Islamic organisation one day. The Moslem had a knife in his hand and made no secret of the fact that he had come to kill the Christian. The Christian answered "I'm ready, kill me. My life is in order. I'm ready to meet God and I will not fight you if you want to kill me. But please allow me one last wish before my death. I would like to tell you something." The Moslem agreed.

The Christian explained the basics of the gospel to his waiting murderer. When he was finished, the Moslem asked himself "Why should I kill this man who told me something so good?" He lowered his knife and left. We were told that the potential murderer secretly became a Christian shortly afterwards. His days were numbered because he was in the leadership of a fundamental Islamic group, but he always managed to tell others in his organisation of the gospel without raising suspicion.

On one occasion, for example, he said "These strange Christians actually say that your sins can be forgiven by having a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ. Can you believe that?!" He then watched to see who listened thoughtfully to the hidden sermon and whose eyes contained pure hate.

He would later speak privately with those who seemed open, telling them about the gospel which had changed his own life. Reports say that he was able to carry out this underground evangelisation for months. There is no longer any trace of him to be found.

Source: Name and address withheld.

Soon 80 million evangelicals in Africa

The number of Africans who decide to become Christians is continuing to grow. There are estimates that 15,000 people become Christians per day south of the Sahara. Almost 300 million of the 560 million Africans are Christians of various confessions, and DAWN Africa tells us that 78.4 million - 14 percent of the continent's population - are evangelicals, which is an increase of 3,000 percent since the turn of the century. Almost a dozen African nations have practically no government; Angola, Zaire, Nigeria and Sudan have no elected government or at least a competent dictator.

Ngwiza Mnkandla, a leading churchman in Zimbabwe, explains why so many people turn to God: "The political dreams have become nightmares. Politicians throughout Africa promised the people heaven on earth but have failed miserably to deliver on those promises. The people have become disillusioned, and want to hope again; that's why Africa is ripe for the gospel. It is no longer possible for us to follow the number of new converts each week. We have to face this harvest. The chance for planting new churches is amazing, and that is the best strategy for spreading the Kingdom of God. The Bible does say that it is not wise to fill new wine into old wineskins."
More from Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe: 2,000 converts on a Sunday

Pastor Richmond Chiundiza reports that he has already planted 43 churches in Zimbabwe. When asked how open the people are for the gospel, he said: "Every week I am shocked by the number of people who become Christians. More than we can handle are being saved." One Sunday, Chiundiza preached in the morning service and saw 50 people come to Christ. Later in the morning, he preached in another church, where 65 wanted to follow Jesus. He preached again later, and so many came that the service had to be moved outside. On that Sunday, around 2,000 people were saved in the 43 churches, according to Chiundiza.
More from Zimbabwe

Lack of new leaders: that doesn't have to be so!

Pastor Simon Mkolo of the Back to God-church successfully plants new churches in rural and remote areas of Zimbabwe - without Bible-schools. Mkolo and his colleagues have planted around 300 churches in the Zambesi valley. They are constantly training new leaders by example. Mkolo has a dozen people with him in whom he has invested years teaching them all that he knows. These people each have another dozen around them, who they in turn watch and train. Mkolo's church association has become the largest denomination in Western Zimbabwe.

Church-planting through services at AIDS-funerals

200 people die of AIDS each day in Lusaka, the Zambian capital; in the whole country, the total is around 1,000 per day. The AIDS-deaths in northeastern Zimbabwe, where conditions are similar, are a particular challenge for Christians. A group of Baptists have built teams who go to AIDS funerals. Large numbers of people come together for the celebrations, which can last 3 days. The Christians are regularly allowed to preach at the ceremony. Over two dozen new churches have so far been planted in this way.

Source: Johan Combrinck/Ted Olson, AFNET and DAWN Africa. Info: Network News, 2265 El Camino Real #4, Santa Clara, CA 95050, USA.

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