DAWN Fridayfax 1996 #49

DAWN News from Mongolia, Slovakia and Sweden

Mongolia: Invitation to the Highlands

Mongolia: "No thanks, we can pay for our church ourselves!"

Slovakia: Evangelistic coalition wants to plant 5,500 churches

Slovakia: After nothing helped - woman is freed from a demon

Sweden: "Hope for Sweden"

Mongolia: invitation to the Highlands

Not long ago, some very strangely dressed people burst into a Christian meeting in the Mongolian capital Ulan Bator. It turned out that they were from the Altai Gobi, a region hardly reached by the gospel. They had once seen the "Jesus Film" and since then had been meeting in one of the village leaders' houses to read the Bible. The question, that they made the long journey to ask, was: when can someone come to start a church?

Mongolia: "No thanks, we can pay for our church ourselves!"

A church started by a young Mongolian woman now has around 1,000 visitors. Despite their low income, the members are determined that they will pay for the church building themselves, which will cost around $700. At a meeting of foreign Christian leaders, the woman who planted the church said that although the foreign leaders would have been able to collect the money on the spot, the church members have already collected the for them large amount of $300. In 1990, there were only a handful of known indigenous Christians in Mongolia. In the meantime, people familiar with the country estimate that there are around fifty churches, of which 35 are in Ulan Bator. Around 12,000 people meet in these churches, of which 4,000 are baptised.

Source: name and address withheld

Slovakia: evangelistic coalition wants to plant 5,500 churches

On 30th and 31st October 1996, around 40 representatives of five Christian denominations met in Banska Bystrica to examine the challenge of evangelising the approximately 5.5 million Slovaks. The church representatives and some mission leaders had been invited by Pavle Cekov, director of New Eastern Europe for Christ (NEEFC), to plan a more strategic co-operation aimed at creating a common vision for the Slovakian Republic. Research presented at the meeting showed that there are currently 155 local churches in the country. Cekov pointed out that the evangelistic challenge facing them cannot be met by evangelist events, but that the aim must be to plant an active Christian church in every district and in every village. Following an analysis of the research, those present agreed that around 9,000 new churches will be necessary. The denominations agreed to work towards a mid- term aim of 5,500 new churches "within the next generation".

Source: Pavle Cekov, NEEFC, Skuteckeho 39, 97401 Banska Bystrica, Slovakian Republic tel/fax (42) - 88 - 43023

Slovakia: after nothing helped - woman is freed from a demon

Shortly following the decision by Christian representatives to work together in an evangelistic coalition for the Slovakian Republic, Pavle Cekov, director of NEEFC faced a particular challenge: the parents of a 26-year-old woman brought their daughter to Pavle Cekov, after hearing that as a Christian, he had experience with demons.

The parents said that their daughter had been tortured by demons in the most terrible way for 14 years. She hit herself, the demons had often pushed per head into her soup bowl, she danced like a snake and could not sit still for a second.

"We have really tried everything, but nothing helped. Can you pray with our daughter?" they asked Cekov. He and a few colleagues agreed. After 17 hours of prayer, nothing had happened; the woman still danced, various voices used her to mock the Christians, and one demon, according to Cekov "said to us 'My name is Legion. This is my territory and I am King here!'"

"We were humiliated," said Cekov "but we faced the challenge and prayed and fasted even more, searched in the Bible and met regularly in the woman's house for prayer. In our desperation we even prayed that God would send an angel, just as Daniel did in the Old Testament. And that's what happened: one day, we visited the woman again, and she said 'I saw a figure standing in front of me, who said "I am Michael, and God sent me to set you free.' The woman described the figure as bright, with a face like the sun."

Cekov says that the woman is now not only completely free but has given her life to Jesus and faithfully visits a Christian church. In addition, her whole family has decided to become Christians. Cekov sees that the Christians in Banska Bystrica, including himself, have learned an important lesson: "We were completely unprepared for this sort of thing in our region, but we have seen that people can be freed from the worst bondage through the name of Jesus".

Source: Pavle Cekov, Banska Bystrica, tel/fax (42)-88-43023

Sweden: "Hope for Sweden"

From autumn 1994 to April 1996, 5 denominations worked together in an evangelistic group called "Hope for Sweden". The strategy: 1: Training church members in personal evangelisation, based on Campus for Christ's "Person to Person" training plan. 2: Evangelistic use of mass media. In eleven conferences, pastors were familiarised with the vision and aim: to clearly present the gospel to every person in Sweden. Around 9,000 Christians in local churches were trained and the Christian message was highlighted in a series of poster, television and radio advertisements. Eskil Albertson, member of the Swedish "Lausanne Committee" reported that 1,300 people interested in the Christian faith telephoned and could be put in contact with local churches.

Source: Eskil Albertson, Swedish Alliance Mission, fax (46)-36-715822

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