DAWN Fridayfax 1997 #5

DAWN News from Belgium, Pakistan, Latvia, India, Asia, plus Worldwide

Belgium: New evangelisation strategy planned for the Flemish part Pakistan: False accusation brings unity among Christians Latvia: Discipleship via radio India: evangelist speaks regularly in Islamic mosque Asia: 100 church planting movements planned amid unreached people groups DAWN: "...and then the end will come"

Belgium: new evangelisation strategy planned for the Flemish part

Leading representatives of the Flemish speaking evangelical churches met on the 22nd and 23rd January in Brussels to discuss a long-term process for evangelising the Flemish part of Belgium based on the DAWN strategy. The meeting was organised by Johan Lukasse (Belgian Evangelical Mission) and Dr. Theo Kunst, General Secretary of the Flemish Belgian Evangelical Alliance. An ad-hoc committee founded at the meeting decided to carry out evangelistic research as the basis for future strategic planning. Last year, pastor Jean-Jacques Lovis invited Christian leaders from the French speaking part of Belgium to a meeting at which the project "Gabriel 2015" was founded, which plans co-operation in the areas of evangelisation and church planting up till the year 2015.

Source: Wolfgang Fernandez, DAWN International Network, fax (+44) 118 9412953


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Pakistan: False accusation brings unity among Christians

Five Christians falsely accused of making a bomb threat against a mosque in Chichawatni, Pakistan, have been released after 12 days in jail. Both the police and Islamic officials have declared the accusation to be false. "The entire Christian community was united in prayer and action," said the Catholic Bishop John Joseph. "Nobody asked whether the imprisoned Christians were Catholics, Presbyterian, members of the Salvation Army or of some other group." The false accusation and subsequent release of the Christians was the cause of an interdenominational thanksgiving service on 25 January in Chichawatni.

Source: Barbara B Baker (Campus)


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Latvia: discipleship via radio

Latvian Christians are now for the first time able to receive a "discipleship programme" via radio, thanks to a new partnership between the "Christian Radio of Riga" and Focus Radio in Southampton, England. The new programme hopes to fill a gap: "There are practically no Christian discipleship programmes transmitted on the radio," says David Couchman of Focus Radio. The new programme is based on the "Abundant Life" course published by SEAN (Study by Extension for All Nations), which is used in over 100 countries and 70 languages, according to SEAN director Tony Barratt. "This could have far-reaching consequences, because it may give rise to new churches, which then have need for an advanced class via radio," says Barratt.

Source: Focus Radio, fax (44) 1703 - 366997, e-mail focus@xc.org


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India: evangelist speaks regularly in Islamic mosque

Firmly believing that God would give him strength, Samuel started to preach the gospel in one of the least likely places of all: an Islamic mosque. As Samuel, an Indian evangelist, started to preach about the crucifixion not far from a local mosque, he was grabbed by an angry Islamic priest, who threatened him and hit him. "But God gave this local missionary the strength to pray for his persecutor and fast," reports "Gospel for Asia" (GFA), the Asian-American mission organisation with which Samuel works. The result? "God touched the heart of the Islamic Imam, who then allowed Samuel to explain the gospel every Friday evening in the mosque," reports the mission agency.

Source: GFA, http://www.gfa.org


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Asia: 100 church planting movements planned amid unreached people groups

At an annual leaders meeting in Cochin, south India, in December 1996, K P Yohannan, President of the mission agency "Gospel for Asia", set the aim of starting a church planting movement in each of the least reached people groups by 31st December 2000. The mission agency "Gospel for Asia" decided four years ago to concentrate increasingly on church planting instead of only evangelisation. In 1996 alone, local missionaries working with the GFA have planted over 1,000 new churches. GFA currently finances 4 thousand 200 missionaries in 12 southern Asian countries. They want to train 10,000 missionaries and evangelists by the year 2000.

Source: Luis Bush, AD 2000


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DAWN: "...and then the end will come"

Jim Montgomery, visionary founder of the DAWN movement, recently published his new book. "What is happening in the world today is almost beyond our comprehension," says Montgomery. "Many people are simply unaware of the rapid missionary developments and many beginning rivals. One thing do know," says Montgomery: "one day, the last church will have been planted and the final Person won for Jesus; then, says the Bible "the end will come". (Matthew 24:14)." The book, currently only available in English with the title "... And then the and will come" is also available on disk in Microsoft Word format. It can be ordered via e-mail from steels@aol.com. The printed version costs $7.

Source: DAWN Ministries, 7899 Lexington Drive, 200 - B, Colorado Springs, CO 80920, USA.

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