DAWN Fridayfax 1998 #16

News from Belgium, Spain and Thailand

In this issue:
Belgium: Challenge of faith
Spain: Bride ducks under the gate
Thailand: Late fire in the Karen hills

Belgium: Challenge of faith

The "largest meeting of Christian pastors and leaders in the Flemish-speaking part of Belgium", as one participant described it, took place on 4th April 1998, led by the Belgian Evangelical Mission's Johan Lukasse and Dawn Ministries' Wolfgang Fernandez. Recent studies have shown that Flanders, with its population of 5,898,824, currently has only 245 Evangelical and Protestant churches. In order to achieve 1 church per 1,000 inhabitants, thereby approaching the 'saturation church planting' aim, some 6,000 more churches must be planted, according to Johan Lukasse. The five most important denominations have set themselves the aim of planting another 245 churches by 2015, thus doubling their current number. Church-planting has previously been regarded as difficult in traditionally Catholic and materialistic Belgium, so most observers and participants see this aim as 'a challenge in faith'. The next step is a planned church-planters' training conference with the German church growth specialist Christian Schwarz. Observers consider this to be an unusual seminar, because pastors from the French and Flemish speaking parts of Belgium will attend together.

Source: Johan Lukasse, Wolfgang Fernandez

Spain: the bride ducks under the gate

An ever-growing number of Christians sense that humility, prayer and reconciliation are God's ways of clearing obstacles to the evangelisation of nations and people groups. An international team of intercessors led by Rick Ridings, David Rudolph, the International Reconciliation Coalition's John Dawson, Evan Thomas, Bob Lichty and Pedro Reyes recently toured Spain to start prayer meetings at the spiritual hot-spots. Some months ago, Ridings had a vision of four spiritual gateways which are the key to evangelising the Mediterranean area. He sensed that God was telling him that the Alhambra Gate is one of these gateways. The Bride of Christ must humble herself at this gate - in his vision, Ridings saw a white bride ducking to pass through the gate, which he understood to be a call to repentance where hindrances have been laid in Jesus' name which prevent Muslims and Jews recognising Christ as their saviour.

During their prayer tour, the team ended up at the Alhambra Palace in Granada, a castle built by a Muslim prince which was the last stronghold of Islam before the Muslims were violently driven out of Spain in 1492. Also at the palace in 1492, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella issued a decree banning all Jews from Spain. The main gate has a key chiselled into it, which the Muslim prince called "David's key". Shortly after the prayer team's arrival, a real bride arrived there for her wedding photos. She had to bend down to adjust her shoe, and, according to Ridings, looked just like the bride in his vision. One week later, a larger team arrived, consisting of Messianic Jews, American Evangelicals, evangelical Catholics and Christians from various nations, to bow down before God to ask for forgiveness for the sins of the past.

Source: Rick Ridings, Light to the Nations, 1608 Liz Burns Pl, Mechanicsburg, PA 17055, USA.

Thailand: late fire in the Karen Hills

The following is a report from a missionary with the evangelical missions agency WEC who works predominantly among the S'gaw Karen, an indigenous tribe in the hill region on Thailand's western border. The Karen who live in Thailand and Burma, in a region about the size of Israel.

"In spite of the drug trafficking in Thung Pra, the German missionary Gerda Meinusch established a church of 50 or 60 members. After 20 years of hard work, she had become tired. Shortly before a well-earned home break, though, something new happened: as the people sang from their old songbooks, they suddenly started to cry, and did not stop for a long time. Observers saw parallels with phenomena which occurred during the 'Catch the Fire' conference in Chiangmai in Northern Thailand in 1995. The Christians, with their newly-softened hearts, also experienced signs of outer change: in the first year, they baptised 50 new believers, thus doubling their number. Previously, only 3 or 4 people had been attending prayer meetings, now there were 70, and the meetings were lasting 3 or 4 hours. In the second year, the church again baptised 50 new Christians. Gerda has now reached retirement age, but has returned to Thailand with a special visa in order to witness more of this revival and encourage it. Those who know the region speak of a general revival among the Karen which is reaching whole camps and villages."

Source: Baruch, e-mail baruch@loxinfo.co.th

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