DAWN Fridayfax 1998 #23

News from UK, Canada, USA

In this issue:
UK: Deaf and dumb teacher speaks in tongues
Canada: The demon in the couch
USA: Special edition of Jesus film for World Cup
Hawaii: Prayer with results

United Kingdom: Deaf and dumb teacher speaks in tongues

"Robert Gass' short Bible commentary quarterlies didn't receive much attention," says Keith Gerner. "Last year, only a few thousand copies were in circulation, but that has changed: circulation has reached 500,000, and even non-Christians distribute them because they believe the commentaries have something to say about the future. It's something of a phenomenon. The Bible commentaries became known through programmes broadcast by United Christian Broadcasters in Stoke-on-Trent, England. A woman just learning sign language translated one of the programmes for her teacher. The man, from near Portadown, had been deaf and dumb since birth. To his great astonishment, he heard himself praising God in a language he did not know, for an entire hour." The man has now decided to become a Christian.

Source: Keith Gerner

The demon in the couch

Danny Parkes wrote the following report in the Fellowship of Christian Engineers' (FCET) newsletter: "My wife and I wanted to go shopping, because we needed a new couch; the old one was now definitely done for. A dear Roman Catholic lady had offered us her old couch, though, for free. It was in quite good condition, with only one piece of wood broken. I can work quite well with wood, I thought, so decided to repair it. I removed a few screws, knelt down and looked inside the couch - and suddenly had horrible, perverse, woman-hating thoughts! They rolled over me like a wave, something which I had never experienced. I stood up to go to tell my wife, and the thoughts disappeared as if they had never been there. As soon as I knelt down again, they started again. I suddenly had the feeling that something terrible wanted to jump on me, like a magnetic feeling in my face. I tried explaining it to my wife, who is really not one to see evil spirits everywhere. We prayed together in Jesus name, rebuking every sin connected with the couch. I could literally feel the evil presence leaving the room. I had never experienced anything like it before. It was a demon which had been attacking me, so what could be better than to drive it away through my authority in Christ? I asked myself. Only now I understand what Christ meant as he said 'I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you.' (Luke 10:19)"

Source: Danny Parkes, e-mail fcet@magma.ca

USA: Special edition of the Jesus film in time for the World Cup

The Jesus Film, based on Luke's gospel, has been an effective evangelistic tool for years. A special edition has been produced for the football World Cup in France, with an introduction in which three members of the 1994 Brazilian World Championship team, Claudio Andre Taffarel, Jorge Amorin Campos and Bismark Barreto Faria tell of their conversion and encourage the fans to also follow Jesus. The film is available in 12 languages.

Source: Campus Crusade for Christ

Hawaii/USA: prayer with results

A prayer initiative was held in Hawaii in March 1998, during which Christians fought for their island's spiritual future, according to coordinator Daniel Kikawa. Following two years of research and hundreds of hours in prayer, teams of intercessors spread out across the island to pray. Hundreds joined them in prayer, fasting and repentance as part of the "Hawaii Spiritual Warfare Project". Kikawa reports that Hawaii's history is full of the spilled blood of thousands of innocent people who were sacrificed to the gods. Now, apparently, things are starting to move, for example in the forms of worship: Hawaii's Christians are starting to worship God in Hawaiian, not imported, style. They are doing it with the agreement of their pastors, some of whom have even apologized for past cultural imperialism. The result is signs of a revival: in one service, a man ran out of the church and returned with a Conch shell, the Hawaiian equivalent of the Jewish Shofar horn, and started to praise God with it. The pastor joined in, as the rest of the church worshipped, danced or knelt in God's presence for hours. The pastor never got to the sermon. Church attendance has risen, with an unusual number of families, and the public is less skeptical. Kikawa intends to write a book about the happenings.

Source: Daniel Kikawa

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