DAWN Fridayfax 1996 #39

DAWN News from Romania, Philippines, Switzerland

Romania: "Signs and wonders" - evangelisation by signature

Philippines: Initiative for another 18,000 new churches

Switzerland: Kingdom Ministries... and signs will follow them

"Signs and wonders" - evangelisation by signature

The guests in a cosy restaurant in Budapest's Old Town could hardly believe their ears as Eric Villanueva, currently in Romania as a missionary, described in a rather loud voice some of the ways he reaches people with the gospel: "I ask some people I meet to simply sign a blank piece of paper. Strangely, when I then pray, God often gives me some information about the person behind the signature - something like a spirit-led form of graphology. Just as God has given some people the gift of interpreting dreams, I often experience that people suddenly become open for the gospel when I tell them what God has shown me. Some are so touched that they start to cry. People often have a strong desire for an 'interpretation of their life' - that's a great chance for Christians, who are filled with the Holy Spirit. Why not use chances like that?" Only one young man on a table nearby was relieved as we left the restaurant. He had obviously been looking forward to a romantic evening with a young lady accompanying him, but she had been listening attentively to our conversation.

Source: Wolfgang Simson, Eric Villanueva, 73041.203@compuserve.com

Philippines: Initiative for another 18,000 new churches

The Executive Committee of the national "DAWN 2000" movement in the Philippines recently set up two more church-planting initiatives: the first, "Centennial Countdown 18 by 98" has the aim of planting 18,000 new churches by 1998 in addition to the 50,000 planned by the DAWN 2000 Movement by the year 2000. The second initiative, "Millennial Countdown 20 by 2000", plans to plant another 20,000 between 1998 and 2000. Jim Montgomery, founder of the DAWN movement, reckons that with a minimum of 100 new converts per church, around 5 million more people will be members of evangelical churches than when the Philippine churches met for their first national strategy conference in 1974. "One denomination," says Jim Montgomery, "which did not exist in 1975, has grown from 275 churches in 1990 to over 4,000 today. In 1994, we assumed that the 7,107 islands which constitute the Philippines would have around 50 million inhabitants by the year 2000. We now believe that the number will be more like 70 million, so the national evangelistic target has been adjusted accordingly."

Source: Dawn Ministries, Jim Montgomery, 7899 Lexington Drive, Suite 200B, Colorado Springs CO 80929, USA, FAX (1)-719-548-7475

Kingdom Ministries... and signs will follow them

"Kingdom Ministries" was set up a few years ago by some Swiss Christians. The aim is cooperation between evangelism, prophetic ministry, church planting and strategic work as a result of combining people with various gifts. Thun's Erich Reber and Steffisburg's Florian Bartsch, among others, are members of the group. Here are some extracts from their reports:

Alcoholic freed of his addiction during a sermon: In March 1996, an alcoholic in the Ural town of Belajarski was, according to Erich Reber, "spontaneously freed from his addiction while listening to a sermon". An elderly woman, deaf in one ear since 1949, was able to hear normally again following prayer during an evangelistic meeting.
Five-year-old gains her sight: In Irbit, also in the Urals, a 5-year-old girl called Marscha came for prayer. Florian Bartsch: "She was completely blind in one eye, which was not only completely out of her control but also turned to look sharply down. Following prayer, she could see again; her eye had been supernaturally restored."
Stiff leg healed: In Antjonowski, a 35-year-old woman called Glotzia came to an evangelistic meeting. She was not a Christian, and quite critical of such meetings. She says that even before the sermon, she was "suddenly touched by God's power and felt how her stiff leg was healed, which she had had since a car crash two days after her wedding."
Thun: Woman healed of cancer: During three evangelistic meetings at the end of August 1996, a young woman, Barbara Z., was healed of cancer. Doctors had diagnosed cancer in her leg, but a check-up the day after she was prayed for by Christians showed no more signs of cancer. X-rays and blood and tissue tests surprised the doctors by confirming the diagnosis.

Source: Erich Reber, Florian Bartsch, FAX (41)-33-370016

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