DAWN Fridayfax 1998 #29

News from India, Uruguay and around the world

In this issue:
Himachal Pradesh: Light in India's darkest state
Uruguay: from drunkard to taxi preacher
409,000 missionaries in the world

Himachal Pradesh: Light in India's darkest state

Sam Abraham, Himachal Pradesh Coordinator for the North India Harvest Network, sent us this report from the "Reach Himachal 2000" strategy conference which took place in Sundernagar in Himachal Pradesh (HP), a state in northern India: Of HP's 5,5 million inhabitants, only 0.085% are Christians, which is the lowest percentage in all India. Large wall posters remind visitors that HP is 'the land of the gods'. The first strategy conference took place in May 1997, at which the aim of planting a church in each block (around 100,000 inhabitants) by the end of December 1998, and in each PIN-code (postal code area with around 30,000 inhabitants) by the year 2000. Recent research shows that the state now has at least 5,000 Christians, 241 churches and 170 Christian missionaries and pastors. In 1992, there were only 90 known churches, so at least 150 new churches have been added in the meantime, 130 of which were planted in the last 3 years. There are 46 different Christian groups in the state, and the average church size is 21.5. Of the 69 blocks without a church at the start of the project, only 18 are still churchless.

Small starts under heavy protection

21 years ago, brother Chacko had a burden and vision for HP. He left the army, and moved with his wife and 7-year-old daughter Mercy to Palampur in HP. They received a cool welcome; nobody wanted to rent them a house, so they spent the first three months in a chicken coop, but rejoiced as they remembered that Jesus was born in a stable. Their work advanced slowly: in March 1980, they baptised 15 people, and 25 more in April. God gave healings, and some possessed people were freed. They also experienced resistance: some people wanted to kill Chacko, but the killers always left without success, complaining that there were always too many people around the house. The Chackos heard the reports through their children, but could not remember having any visitors. It must have been angels. God punished other people who caused them problems, so many people were filled with a fear of God. Today, 350 people have been baptised and 40 sent out as missionaries from this one church, which has become a spiritual center.

Emptying the hospital

In November 1994, Shakuntala Mathews had a vision telling her to move from Shimla District to Kinnaur. She had a good job in a nearby hospital, and her husband Rev. Mathews had been a deacon until 1992, before becoming an official. She told her husband of her vision, and they prayed together for a sign. Two days later, they received a postcard from a Hindu asking Christians to come to Kinnaur District. Later, Mathews went to the address on the postcard, but has been unable to find the sender to this day. A few weeks later, they were already in Kinnaur. Their son Randeep, then 22 years old, went into the bazaar in Poo, Kinnaur's main town, where he came across a crowd of 500 people standing around a woman rolling around on the ground screaming, as a magician tried to drive a demon out of her. He walked past, thinking that nobody would listen even if he said something. Then he heard a voice speaking to him, saying "Randeep, Randeep, Randeep. If you don't pray for this woman, I will use someone else." As he returned to the woman, he had a vision of her past. 10 paces away from her, he raised his right hand and prayed, and the demon left the woman immediately. Randeep, in front of the woman's parents and the onlookers, then spoke with the woman about her past, astonishing everyone. The following day, many sick people came to the Mathews' house for prayer, from 6 in the morning until 10 at night. Everyone was healed, the local hospital literally emptied. In the last 3 1/2 years, Mathews has baptised 600 people, but the work has only just begun. All of Himachal Pradesh must hear the gospel, and many more churches must be planted. We invite international partners to help us reach the whole state.

Source and further information: Dr. Alex Abraham. e-mail: alex.agape@axcess.net.in

Uruguay: From drunkard to taxi preacher

It is not at all unusual to sit in a taxi in Montevideo, Uruguay's capital, with a Christian programme on the radio and a driver talking about Jesus, because there are now over 60 members of the Christian Taxi Drivers' Association. Gustavo Pereira founded the organisation 6 years ago to spread the gospel amongst taxi drivers and the prostitutes and homosexuals with which they have contact, as well as any passenger who shows interest. "After becoming Christians, we all naturally started thinking about how to spread the good news of the gospel. We meet at lunchtime and in the early morning for prayer and Bible reading, sometimes with the support of an evangelical pastor," says Pereira. Illomar Darin, another 'taxi preacher', enjoys his life with its unusual experiences. "Even miracles have happened," he says. "One evening, a thief wanted to rob me, but as he heard the Christian message on the radio, he gave it all back. He even paid as he left the car. Many passengers are sick or have problems, who then experience radical conversions and decide to start a new life. I'm a prime example. I was a drunkard and gambler, spending my evenings in bars and casinos. Today, I'm a new man, thanks to the Lord Jesus Christ."

Source: The Religious Media Agency

409,000 missionaries in the world

Africa expert and theologian Roland Werner recently told the 450 attendees of a 'World Mission Day' in Germany that Christianity has grown more than ever in this century. In the year 2000, the number of Christians in Africa, Asia and Latin America will probably reach the 1.1 billion mark, twelve times as many as at the start of the 20th Century. In 1900, there were some 62,000 mainly white missionaries, today there are around 409,000.

Source: idea Germany

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