DAWN Fridayfax 1996 #7

DAWN News from USA, Nepal, Germany

USA: town council calls for fasting and praying

Last Autumn, Phil Reynolds, a civil servant in Pueblo, Colorado, suggested to the city council that they should call the city's inhabitants to pray and fast. Reynolds believed that it was God's desire that the whole city fast and pray, according to a report published by the mission agency "Focus on the Family" (Colorado Springs).

The council asked Reynolds to provide more information and to make a concrete suggestion at a later meeting, which he did. On 28 November 1995, Pueblo's council declared an official 40 days of fasting and prayer from 2 January until 10 February 1996 and called for all of the city's approximately 100,000 inhabitants to take part. Apart from personal prayer, there were communal prayer meetings in various schools and churches every evening, according to the report. The people prayed against violence, for unity amongst the various nationalities and churches and for the local politicians. "It's a start," says Reynolds. "We received a lot of support from churches all over the city, and we believe that God will continue to encourage this spirit of prayer and unity."

Source: Phil Reynolds, in: Focus on the Family FAX (1) 719-531-3347
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Nepal: Tamang - a people in motion

According to the Nepalese church leader Niconor Tamang, Nepal has experienced God's supernatural touch. In 1961, Nepal had no church and only around 25 known Christians. Today, it has over 2,000 local churches with an estimated total of between 200,000 and 300,000 members. Years ago, Nepalese church leaders set themselves the aims of reaching all 20 million Nepalese with the gospel and planting another 8,000 churches.

On his return from the "HIM-COE-96" conference in Siliguri, India, sponsored by the AD2000 movement, which was attended by over 2,000 pastors in mid-January, Luis Bush told of a Christian laypeople's movement among the Tamang. Around 1 million of the West Tamang live to the north and northwest of Kathmandu, Nepal's capital. According to Normal Beale, an Episcopalian missionary, a classic people's movement occurred under the Tamang which was coordinated "simultaneously, decentrally and with a minimum of foreign influence." Beale attributes this awakening to the endurance of persecution, signs and wonders and the deliverance of people from the fear of demons. According to latest estimates, 30,000 to 40,000 of the tribe's members are Christians.

Source: Luis Bush, AD2000

Germany: reconciliation in Eutin - active Christians start the ball rolling

In mid 1995, a few Christians employed by the health service opened a Movement and Rehabilitation Institute in the small town of Eutin (1,700 inhabitants) in northern Germany. Every day before starting work, the staff, a doctor, two sports therapists, a masseuse and two all-rounders pray that they will be able to help the town's inhabitants. What nobody thought possible has come to pass: not only do conflicting local politicians meet on the Institute's neutral ground for debates, but also the judge comes before each hearing for fitness training. And the local churches, who have been arguing about a small matter for the last 10 years: they plan a weekly prayer meeting with the motto "Seeking the best for the town". The chairman of the town's largest employer told the Institute's staff: "You started the ball rolling."

Source: Gert von Kuhnhardt, FAX (49)-4521-701099

USA: "Black church united as never before"

Dr. Henry Lyons is the chairman of the National Baptist Convention (NBC), an organisation which as a result of its 8 million members in local Baptist churches represents a quarter of the USA's coloured inhabitants. Dr. Lyons told of one of the NBC's national conferences which recently took place in Birmingham, Alabama: his estimation of the state of black Christians in the USA: "Today, America's black church is coming together as never before and has started to become united in spirit. The old fears are falling away and the coloured Christians are experiencing unity as never before. I believe the time has come to challenge the black church to accept the responsibility of evangelising every black person in America through planting churches in their own communities."

Source: Jack Dennison (Dawn Ministries, USA), FAX (1)-719-548-7475
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AMEN: "Hispanics for Christ"

The evangelical Latinos - Spanish-speaking Christians who have immigrated into the USA mainly from South and Central America - have similar plans. In November 1995, the leaders of AMEN, a collective body for Spanish-speaking Christians in the USA, decided to initiate an evangelistic movement based on the DAWN strategy. The new strategy movement, called "Hispanics for Christ" aims to create "an easily-reachable church for every Spanish-speaker in the US." The first regional conference will take place in Portland, Oregon, and a national conference is planned for 1997, at which the exact aims will be decided.

Source: Berna Salcedo, Mike Steele (Dawn Ministries, USA) FAX (1)-719-548-7475

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