DAWN Fridayfax 1997 #40

DAWN News from USA, Worldwide, Russia, Israel

USA: Promise Keepers - hundreds of thousands pray in Washington

Several hundred thousand men travelled to Washington on 4th October 1997 for a 6-hour rally and prayer time on the 'Mall' between the White House and the Lincoln Memorial. The motto for the gigantic meeting of Evangelicals was 'Stand in the gap'. During the rally, speakers emphasised the importance of men taking responsibility for their families, standing in the gaps in society and taking action where nobody else does. "The answers to the moral problems in our society lie with God," said Randy Phillips, leader of the Promise Keeper movement, which aims to encourage men to keep their promises to God and people. During his weekly radio broadcast, US President Bill Clinton said that there could be no doubt of the integrity of the Promise Keepers, and continued "there is no job more important than that of being a parent, not even that of the President."
Promise Keepers was founded in 1990 by the ex-football coach Bill McCartney, and has undergone stellar growth since then. The movement is also financially a quickly-rising star: with a total income of US$96.4 million, it is number 7 of the USA's 850 Evangelical organisations, following first-placed World Vision (US$303.6 million), Campus Crusade ($240 m), CBN ($203 m), CMA ($112 m), Focus on the Family ($109 m) and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association ($104 m), according to figures provided by the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability.
Source: various

In how many ways does God speak?

Is it really only coincidence that the recent earthquake in Italy struck the basilica of St. Francis of Assisi, a centrepiece of Italian religiosity? "If the country's patron saint can't protect himself, can he protect me?", many people are asking themselves. Is it coincidence that Brazilian intercessors report of prophecies in Brazil - 3 days before Princess Diana's death - that God would shake Europe with a modern counterpart of the New Testament events in Ephesus, where the Goddess Diana was challenged by the Christian apostles? Is it a warning sign of 'spiritual smog' when the officially Islamic-Animist Indonesia pollutes the atmosphere in Southeast Asia with its forest fires, and people on the streets of Malaysia and Singapore start to doubt the wisdom and influence of the traditional Allah and look for alternatives? "God whispers, speaks or thunders, according to the people's ability to hear."

Russia: development as in China possible?

According to a statement by Russia specialist Dr. Mark Elliot (Wheaton College, USA) on 6th October 1997, the controversial new laws allowing only religious movements in Russia which have existed there for at least 15 years could also have positive aspects. "If the law regulating religious organisations recently passed by the Russian Duma is practised as enacted, it could lead to the greatest expulsion of missionaries since the events in China in 1949. It is hard to digest," says Elliot, "but the growth rate in the numbers of Christians increased rapidly following the exodus of missionaries in 1949." In the years from 1988-97, it was relatively easy for Evangelical movements to work in Russia, and the 'evangelical infrastructure' which has been built up should help the Russian churches "to withstand the storm." The 14 other previously Soviet republics, where another 25 million Russians live, will probably become more the focus of missionary activity, according to Elliot's estimates. He also sees the new laws, which were greatly influenced by the Orthodox church, as being also negative for the Orthodox church itself in the long run: "History has shown that churches which receive preferential treatment from the state lose their vitality."
Source: Worldwide Evangelical Alliance UK, Religious Liberty Conference, e-mail:BrianOConnell@xc.org

Israel: God amongst the Palestinians

Pastor D, Pastor J and N and S (two previously Moslem Palestinians) report how God is moving in the midst of the troubles on the West Bank: "God has let a new spiritual hunger loose, and reveals himself to those who seek him," says one of the pastors. "On average, one Moslem is coming to believe in Jesus each week." "80% of the people in the Palestinian-controlled areas want peace, and only 20% have extreme views," he says. One day, the pastors had been speaking with a Moslem Sheikh when members of the Palestinian Authority came and told him not to have anything to do with Jews. One of the pastors thought to himself "The only Jew in the room is Jesus in me." The militia left them in peace, and the Sheikh has become a follower of Jesus. He wants to understand the Word of God better, so that he can explain it to his 'questioning brothers'.
Source: Christian Friends of Israel, e-mail:cfi_jeru@netvision.net.il

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