DAWN Fridayfax 1997 #29

DAWN News from Nepal, India, England and Bolivia

Nepal: healings and visions with consequences

"In Nepal, when a Nepalese Christian travels to another village, it is normal for him to leave 10 new Christians when he returns home," said Bishop John Reid, a missionary sent out by CMS, during a meeting in Sydney, Australia, in June 1997. "Nepal is currently experiencing an unusual move of the Spirit," he continued. "For example, one man found a tract which two evangelists had left under his door. He was saved on the spot. The next day, he walked for 8 hours to reach the next post office to order more information. When he arrived, he found another man who had gone there for the same reason. When they returned to their village, they found another 15 people who had been saved in the meantime."
As recently as 1952, there were very few Christians in Nepal, who were also severely persecuted. Now, even the government admits that there are officially a quarter of a million Christians in the country. According to Reid, most of the people are saved as a result of healings or visions. They do not react automatically to the gospel of sin and forgiveness because they have no real concept of sin, he says. What they really find relevant is the power of Christ in comparison to the dead idols. After being saved, they come to understand the concept of sin and forgiveness very well.
Reid calls the Nepalese church "brilliant in its evangelisation and indigenous identity. Today, Nepalese pastors, who typically earn around US$180 per year, can be very easily mislead by Western churches which come to 'help'. Earlier, though, missionaries were not allowed to found churches, so the Nepalese church had very humble beginnings as Christian Nepalese returned to their home country from India." Reid believes that the enormous spiritual breakthroughs in Nepal have their roots in the prayer of European groups such as the Norwegian Tibet Mission which has been intensely praying for this region for years.
Source and info: Cecily Paterson (61)-2-9284 6724, via CMS news service

England: when children cry to be let into the church

We have receive the following short report from the Scottish Revival Network, an internet network of people, churches and movements interested in revival: "There was a strong prophesy a number of months back concerning the importance of Children in this revival, and that we really should be interceding for them. In the past two weeks, Ladywood Methodist Church in Birmingham, has seen thirteen children come in off the streets (some even crying to be let in to the church) and give their lives to Jesus.
An 'emergency' nurture group had to be started immediately. On Friday 27th June, we had a youth service at one of the local methodist churches. 23 people responded at the end, wanting to follow Jesus, even including 3 guys who had come in off the street and had been sitting at the back, trying to look 'cool'!."
Source: Neil S Hamilton (neil@charis.co.uk)

India: Bakht-Singh fellowship celebrates its 57th anniversary

The first Christian fellowship founded by the Indian evangelist Bakht Singh in 1940, celebrated its 57th anniversary on July 12th. The 'Jehova Shammah' denomination has grown from its humble beginnings to a movement of around 700 fellowships in India and around the world, with around 70,000 members. Bakht Singh, the founder, is now 95 years old and living in Madras.
Source: India Missions Association, Madras

Bolivia: missionary leads 36 prisoners to Christ

"It was dark, and there were no streetlights in that part of town. Suddenly, a drunkard walked into the road, and Kimi Aukino, a missionary and church-planter, could do nothing to avoid him. An hour later, the man was dead and Kimi was in jail, cell 2, together with 19 other prisoners. He was agitated and confused, and had no idea what he should say," reports the evangelical mission agency SIM.
"'What should I do, and why did God allow this?', he asked himself. When one of the prisoners discovered that Kimi was a missionary, he called Ricardo, a gang leader also in jail, and said 'Get the pastor to tell us something from God's word!' So Kimi started talking about the gospel. He says he could feel God's power in the cell. 16 of the men accepted Kimi's challenge to become Christians, and spent the rest of the day discussing what Kimi had told them.
"On the third day, Kimi saw a depressed-looking young man, Ignacio. He was a drug addict, and the other prisoners avoided him. 'Somehow, I could see the thoughts of suicide in his face,' says Kimi. 'I can't quite explain what happened then. Anyway, I grabbed him by the shoulders, dragged him out into the courtyard full of other prisoners and visitors, pushed him into the corner and fought with him for his life. Tears were flowing down his cheeks as he finally confessed his sins and gave his life to Jesus. The whole courtyard was silent as everyone watched God's demonstration that only his Son can rebuild a ruined life.'
"Ignacio admitted that he had planned to commit suicide that day. Kimi was then also put into other cells in the prison, and when he was released three days later, he had led 36 inmates to Christ. He visited them again later, and found that they were still meeting for devotions."
Source: SIM

This Web version of the DAWN Fridayfax is maintained by the Jesus Fellowship Church (Jesus Army) as a service to the Christian church. Please visit our web pages which feature the e-zine Streetpaper and its special Revival section.