DAWN Fridayfax 1997 #39

DAWN News from Sudan, India, Ukraine

Sudan: 25,000 new churches to be planted

The pastors and church leaders who attended a seminar in Khartoum, northern Sudan, in September 1997, expressed their desire for national cooperation in multiplying house churches. Khartoum, 15 years ago a city of 2 million, now has between 10 and 13 million inhabitants. A study carried out in cooperation with DAWN discovered only 171 churches in the city, some of which have 'Centers' - small daughter churches - and a number of house churches. This situation should change: "We have recognised", says one pastor who wishes to remain anonymous, "that we need at least one church per 1,000 inhabitants in order to reach the population with the gospel. That means that we have around 10,000 churches to plant in Khartoum - a challenge which we hereby accept." Sudan as a whole has a population of around 30 million, and some 5,000 Christian churches, many of which were planted by unschooled men and women. Those figures mean that another 25,000 new churches are needed. "Without prayer, that will hardly be possible", said a Sudanese evangelist, who has set himself the target of gathering 1 million Sudanese intercessors into a prayer network, to pray in unity for revival in Sudan, and that the country, which is still governed by the Sharia (Islamic law) and should officially become an Islamic state.
Moslem woman healed in pastors' seminar
The Swiss pastor Erich Reber, who, according to observers, has a strong prophetic ministry, witnessed the healing of a Moslem woman during the seminar in Khartoum. The woman attended the seminar out of curiosity, and sat in the very back row. "God just spoke to me, saying that there is a woman sitting at the back on the right, who cannot move her right upper arm. God wants to heal her," said Reber. The woman, surprised, acknowledged the fact and was promptly healed of a fracture in her right upper arm, to the amazement of the pastors present.
Source: DAWN

Northern India: battle for Kinnaur

"At first, Randeep didn't want to pray for the girl. She was lying on the ground, possessed by demons, and the Hindu Pujari (witch doctor) wanted money and goats to drive the spirits out. God spoke to Randeep: 'If you don't pray for her, I will ask someone else.' Randeep obeyed, prayed, and the girl was delivered. The people were greatly shocked. The next morning, others came to knock on Randeep's door, to ask him to pray for them as well. Thousands heard the gospel, many people were freed of demons and repented of their sins, and the Christian churches grew. Then came the opposition: Randeep was hung head down over a river with his feet tied together, and was told that he would be drowned if he did not promise to leave the district. He replied, quietly, that they should let the rope down, because he wouldn't leave - but his persecutors decided not to drown him. Instead, they stabbed him in the stomach. He didn't have to go to hospital, though, because Jesus healed him. Randeep's young wife told him 'If you die for the Lord in Kinnaur District, I will raise our son and pray that he will take your place.'"
God did not forget their tears
"We once asked Randeep," reports the North India Harvest Network (NIHN), "why he thinks God is working so wonderfully in Kinnaur District in Himachal Pradesh. He replied: 'The Herrenhuter missionaries who came here around 100 years ago were asked to leave the country by the British at the start of the First World War because they were Germans. I think that God did not forget their tears.'"
Source: NIHN/Concern, fax +91 11 689 6658

Ukraine: repentance opens the door to the Tartars

In 1997, Christian missionaries were invited to start Bible study groups among the Tartars, a traditionally Islamic people group which has always been closed to Christianity. The invitation was issued after Sasha Karabin, who works for Youth With A Mission, expressed his regret for the deportation of thousands of Tartars from Russia in 1944. Almost half of the population died on the journey to Central Asia and Siberia. Sasha, who is the nephew of two KGB officers serving at the time of the forced relocation, spoke at a memorial service in August 1997 for the atrocities in Yalta, and asked those present for forgiveness for what was done to their people. "Judging by the large number of invitations which we have received to bring this message to other cities, it seems to be a very important way to build relationships with Tartars in the area," said Jerry Perkins, YWAM director in the port town. "Nobody had ever apologised for what was done to the Tartars 50 years ago," he says. "Simply to hear the words 'We did something wrong, and we are sorry' from a old enemy can somehow break down decades of hate and tension." According to the report, there are currently no known Christians among the 47,000 Tartars in Ukraine, who trace their roots back to the "White Hordes", a remnant of Ghengis Khan's army which settled in Crimea and mixed with the Turks, from whom they took Islam.
Source: YWAM News Digest, Andy Butcher, FAX (1)-719 380 0936

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