DAWN Fridayfax 1997 #27

DAWN News from Hong Kong, Iraq, Sri Lanka, India, South Africa

Hong Kong: sign of forgiveness for violent colonisation

On 30th June 1997, the eve of Hong Kong's return to Chinese rule, British and Chinese Christians from Hong Kong held a reconciliation service in which around 1,000 Christians from 6 churches took part. "The founding of this colony was unrighteous," said the Anglican pastor John Aldis of Hong Kong's St. Andrew's church. "It was surrounded by war and violence. Please forgive us as a nation and as a church," he said. The Hong Kong Chinese Christians accepted the repentance and confessed their own racial pride and bitterness. Following expressions of mutual forgiveness, Aldis and pastor Sam Lai of the Shepherd Community Church washed each others' feet as a sign of humility and forgiveness.
Source: Compass Direct/Offene Grenzen (Open Doors)

N. Iraq/Kurdistan: Christians growing

We have heard reports of an ex-Moslem who now follows Christ. Ali (name changed) lives in Northern Iraq, in the region he calls Kurdistan. In his own words: "I come from a Moslem family, but have repented and now believe in Jesus Christ; he is the God of my life. The number of Christians in Kurdistan is growing. Only seven months ago, we met once each month, and now we meet twice a week. We serve the Lord Jesus and lead others to him. The number of believers is growing every day. Since my conversion, two of my sisters and a cousin have also become Christians. Many of us are persecuted by our own families. We often experience miracles. I had a knife wound in my chest which the doctor told me would take three to four years to heal, but it has already healed after only a year because of prayer. Suleyman, a friend of mine and a guerilla in one of Kurdistan's political parties, once saw my Bible. I gave him a copy, and could lead him to Christ two days later. He was suffering from a stomach ulcer. After a while, I took him to a Christian church, where they prayed for him. Within a day, his ulcer had disappeared. Ibrahim also experienced a miracle: he became ill and lost his memory. He could not remember who anyone was. One Wednesday, we prayed for him. Four days later, on Sunday, he came to church completely healed. He is now learning about computers and translated this letter into English for me!"
Source: Compass Direct/Open Door, fax (1)-714-531-2681, e-mail: 75273.3666@compuserve.com

Sri Lanka: family of priests is saved and closes the temple

The family of a temple priest in Kigali, Sri Lanka, had only one purpose in life: maintaining the daily rituals in a heathen temple to which people came to have their fortune told. According to a report released by the mission agency "Gospel for Asia" based in Thiruvalla, India, on 1 July 1997, they had never heard of Jesus until "Brother N.", an evangelist, overcame his nervousness and visited them in their temple to explain the gospel. He was amazed by the open surprise on their faces as they readily accepted the news. Every member of the family decided to follow Jesus Christ, and immediately closed the temple permanently.
Source: Gospel for Asia

India/Sikkim: Cooperation to plant 750 new churches

Between 29 April and 2 May 1997, 310 delegates attended an evangelism conference in Namchi, South India. According to Daya Pradan, Coordinator of the conference, the delegates agreed that it was necessary to cooperate in a church-planting project in the state of Sikkim, between Nepal and Bhutan, with its 400,000 inhabitants. A recent study presented by Himalaya 2000's chairman Rev. Adon Rongong shows that there are around 250 churches in the state. The delegates at the conference concluded that they needed to plant 750 new churches by the year 2000 in order to meet the challenge of reaching all of the state's villages and settlements with the gospel, and intend to hold further conferences to plot their progress.
Source: Daya R. Pradhan, Coordinator SIK-COE'97, Namchi, South Sikkim 737126, India

GCOWE 97, South Africa: the center of world missions is moving

3930 delegates from 135 countries met for the AD2000 Movement's "Global Consultation on World Evangelism" (GCOWE) between 30 June and 5 July 1997 in Pretoria, South Africa. The conference organisers report that 62.3% of the delegates were from Africa, 8.1% from Asia, 1% from the Middle East/North Africa and Central Asia, 7.1% from Latin America and the Caribbean, 0.4% from Eastern Europe and Russia, and 20.1% from Western Europe, North America, Australia and New Zealand. According to the report, that means that around 80% of the mission leaders attending the conference came from the previously so-called "missions countries", and that the roles are slowly being reversed: countries which previously received missionaries from the West are now increasingly sending many more missionaries than they receive. The proportion of women taking a leading role in missions is also increasing: 23.5% of the delegates were women. 30% of the delegates have an e-mail address, showing that missionaries are rapidly adopting high technology.
Source: AD2000, Colorado Springs, USA

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