-
China: What is better for the church, persecution or religious freedom?
-
"The persecution of Christians has reached a new high point since the Cultural
Revolution of the 60s and 70s," says Pastor Dennis Balcombe of Hong Kong's
Revival Christian Church (RCC). "Many Chinese churches are being dynamited, but
I think it is much better to be a nation like China in which the people are
hungry for God, the Christians pray and are united, where the gospel is being
preached and miracles are happening - and this amid persecution - than to be a
nation in which there is political and religious freedom, but in which the
church is sleeping and the population has been hardened by sin and has no hunger
for God."
Source: Dennis Balcombe, Revival Christian Church, e-mail revival@HK.Super.net
-
China: Bible smuggling on the increase
-
RCC helps over 100 Bible couriers cross the Chinese border each day. So far this
year, they have sent over 300,000 Bibles and thousands of other publications
over the border. "Couriers who come in contact with the Chinese house churches,
often 'tourists' from the West, are challenged and inspired to return. The fire
of revival," says Balcombe, "is burning more fiercely than ever before in China,
and the number of conversions reaches into the hundreds of thousands."
Source: Dennis Balcombe, Revival Christian Church, e-mail revival@HK.Super.net
-
Raising the dead in Henan
-
In August 1996, a 52-year-old Christian woman went into a dead man's house.
After an hour of prayer, the dead man rose, and was completely healed of the
illness which caused his death. The family and relatives had already gathered
for his funeral. This was a clear sign to the whole area.
Source: Dennis Balcombe, Revival Christian Church, e-mail revival@HK.Super.net
-
RCC buys a Hong Kong cinema
-
"We are in no way pessimistic about the return of Hong Kong to China on 1 July
1997," says Pastor Balcombe. "Hong Kong will then be governed according to the
'one country - two systems' principle; China will be basically responsible for
foreign policy and defence, and the Chinese red flag will fly instead of that of
the Republic of Taiwan, which is currently all over Hong Kong. We are cautiously
optimistic that during the first few years following the handover, not much will
change, in either religious or economical terms - including matters concerning
churches and evangelistic activity. The Chinese know that ruining Hong Kong
would also hurt them economically. The insecurity has even made the people more
open for the gospel than before. Some outspoken anti-Charismatic leaders have
left, fearing that they would otherwise lose their religious freedom, and as a
result, there is greater unity amongst Hong Kong's Christian churches. In the
past year, the work of the Holy Spirit has been apparent, and the churches are
growing. As a sign of our unity with Hong Kong and our faith in the future, the
Revival Christian Church has bought the Kwai Fong cinema with a loan from a
Chinese communist bank. Some say that we are mad to do such a thing so soon
before the Chinese takeover," says Balcombe, "but we expect to see a greatly
increased spiritual openness amongst the remaining 6.5 million people in the
coming months and years."
Source: Dennis Balcombe, Revival Christian Church, e-mail revival@HK.Super.net
-
France: Paris Revival Chinese Church
-
In the meantime, Balcombe is helping build up a Chinese church in Paris. The
church was set up a few years ago by mainland Chinese and is now attended by
almost 200 people. "We believe that there will be a great spiritual harvest
amongst the hundreds of thousands of Chinese living in France," said Balcombe.
Source: Dennis Balcombe, Revival Christian Church, e-mail revival@HK.Super.net
-
Internet counselling: Jesus uses the 'net
-
On 23 and 24 November 1996, delegates from 9 European nations met for the "First
European Christian Internet Conference" in Frankfurt, with the aim of
encouraging cooperation between Christian web sites (one form of Internet
publication). Finland's Pekka Harne pointed out that the question is not whether
churches should use the internet, but how. "When people ask me if Jesus would
use the Internet if he were alive today, I tell them that he is alive today and
does use the 'net." The conference was initiated by Klaus Stoll, Webmaster for
Church Net UK, in cooperation with the EKD (Evangelical Churches in Germany) and
the University of Tubingen. Activities are now concentrated on not only creating
a common electronic strategy, but also a common e-mail directory. Klaus Stoll:
"If Christian internet providers can agree on a common strategy, all things are
possible." Hungary's Gabor Bogdanyi said that 'Internet counselling' is
particularly important, for example for Hungarians living abroad. Switzerland
already has Internet counselling led by Jakob Netsch-Thalnmann.
Source: Klaus Stoll, Church NET UK
-
Church Growth: Hello, natural growth
-
The book "Natural Church Development" by Christian A. Schwarz, which has now
been published in English, Croatian, Danish, Dutch, French, German, Portuguese,
Russian and Spanish, "opens a new chapter in the international discussion about
church growth", according to the cover text. The result of extensive global
research in 32 nations, Schwarz's book offers a way out of "the technocratic
mind-set, in which recipes for church growth are often robotically copied. Human
success is not the point in church growth," says Schwarz, "rather, becoming open
for patterns of natural growth and God's biotic principles, with the aim of
allowing God's natural growth dynamics to work instead of wasting energy in
human programmes."
Source and Info: C&P Verlag, Diedersbullerstr. 6, D-25924 Emmelsbull, Germany,
fax (49)-4665-252. UK Edition: BCGA, The Park, Moggerhanger, Beds, MK44 3RW, UK.
