DAWN Fridayfax 1996 #18

DAWN News from Belgium, Turkey and USA

Belgium: "A new movement is born"

"A new movement has been born in Belgium today. Let us work together hand in hand - with God's help, we can look our nation's need in the eyes until our country has been completely reached with the gospel", said Jean-Louis Simonet, President of the Association of Evangelical Churches in French-speaking Belgium (FEFB) during Belgium's recent first DAWN conference.

On 26th and 27th March 1996, 100 representatives of over 300 churches and organisations met in Brussels to work out a long-term plan for evangelising Belgium. They unanimously accepted "GABRIEL 2015" ("Generation Active Belge Resolu a l'Implantation d'Eglises Locales"), a plan based on the DAWN strategy.

According to a recently-published study conducted by pastor Jean-Jacques Lovis, there are only 415 evangelical churches serving the 4.25 million inhabitants Belgium's French-speaking region, including Brussels, the capital - 1 church per 10,250 people. The vision of "GABRIEL 2015" is to mobilise all denominations and movements in order plant one evangelical church per 6,000 of the population in strategic locations during a first phase up to 2005. In the following stages, according to Lovis, the targets are one evangelical church per 3,000, then the final aim of one evangelical church per 1,000 of the population by the year 2015.

Brussels pastor W. Clayton summed up the results of the conference: "That was a healthy shock for me. I believe that this missionary research is extremely important and will bring much fruit. I believe the task of completely evangelising Belgium will be difficult, but it is both necessaryand possible. After a conference like this, we cannot leave Belgium as it is, and will probably have to completely dedicate ourselves to our country. But with God, it will be possible!"

Source and Info: A copy of the study "GABRIEL 2015" (in French), published on 27 April 1996, can be ordered from J. J. Lovis, Rue du Pont d'Arcole 62, B-7340 Colfontaine, Belgium, Tel (32) 65-787452. Cost: BFr 500.

Turkish Iman wishes Christian reconciliation mission much success

"The first high point of the 'Reconciliation Walk', which began at Easter 1996, was during a visit at a Turkish mosque in Cologne" according to Lynn Green, one of the walk's initiators. "Someone had contacted the local Iman and given him the printed message of reconciliation. The Iman spontaneously invited the 150 participants in the march into a spacious prayer room where 200 men and boys were sitting. Women and girls were present in another room, and the Iman had also given them the message to read."

Green continues: "The Iman allowed me to explain that we had come to apologise for the cruel acts committed in the name of Christ during the Crusades. After the message had been read in German, Turkish and English, the Moslems gave us long and loud applause. "As I heard the nature of your message," said the Iman, "I was amazed and filled with hope. I thought to myself: 'Whoever had this idea must have experienced an epiphany, a visit from God himself.' It is my desire that this project be a very great success."

Green: "In a private conversation, the Iman mentioned that many Moslems are starting to think again about their sins against Christians and Jews. He told us that our example shows them 'a way to deal with the sins of the past.' He also promised to send our message to all 250 allied mosques in Europe." The Reconciliation Walk is a Christian march attempting to bring repentance and forgiveness on the bloody trail of the Crusades 900 years ago.

Source and info: Lynn Green, Reconciliation Walk, PO Box 61, Harpenden, Herts AL5 4JJ, England

USA: Biblical demonstration brings in $50,000

The Calvary Church in Charlotte, North Carolina, following the lesson in Luke 19, gave each of its members a ten dollar note and instructed them to follow Christ's example and to "put the entrusted money to work." The church members creatively invested the money for several weeks and, according to the Christian new service NIRR, made $69,043 out of the original $17,580 - a profit of $51,463.

A 14-year-old made $80 from his original $10 by selling chocolate bars at school. A woman used her family's $40 to make aprons, which she sold for a total of $250. The 38 members of a Sunday-school class pooled their money to record tapes of the church's musicians, which they sold for amost $2,000.

Source: NIRR 4/29/96

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