DAWN Fridayfax 1999 #39

Malawi

Herbert & Herbert and the Yao

For a long time, Malawi's Muslim Yao tribe was one of the world's unreached people groups. That changed at the end of the 80's, as some Christian churches began to pray for them and sent missionaries. This is a report from one of the first of those missionaries, Herbert Behrens: "Our Yao assistant, Amos, took us to 'Chief Chauke', a regional leader, emphasizing that I should ask him for permission to preach the gospel to the Yao. "He will ask you 'What is your name, and what do you want from us?'", Amos told me. When the moment arrived, and I was sitting in front of the honorable leader and the village elders, I replied 'My name is Herbert, and I have come to preach you the gospel of Jesus Christ.' I had hardly finished speaking when pandemonium broke out, with all of the elders speaking loudly at once. When peace returned, the chief said 'We give you permission'. It wasn't until years later that I discovered the reason for the excitement: over 20 years before, an African Christian had visited the same village. He had dropped his African name, changing it to Herbert, which is a very unusual name for an African. This first Herbert also went to Chief Chauke, and when asked his name and purpose, replied 'My name is Herbert, and I have come to preach you the gospel of Jesus Christ.' The chief gave him permission to preach in the village square; 6 people decided to become Christians, and were immediately killed by the villagers, along with the first Herbert. Now, 20 years later, another Herbert arrived with exactly the same request. That frightened the Yao, who thought that the Herbert whom they had killed had returned from the dead to avenge himself." The second Herbert was not killed; he is in the best of health, and reports that 12 Christian churches have been planted in Chief Chauke's region.
Source: Herbert Behrens, Pretoria (South Africa)

Zimbabwe

Reaching the Zambezi valley with the gospel

Simon Mloko, a leader in the Assemblies of God, has been strategically planting churches in the Binga district and other parts of the Zambezi valley. At a recent Target 2000 conference in Bulawayo, he reported that he and his colleagues have planted well over 400 new churches in the past few years, and said that there is now literally 'a church within walking distance of every person in the Binga district.' "I doubt that there is anyone who must walk more than 3 miles to a Christian church. People in the Binga district are used to travelling large distances by foot, and 3 miles is not far for them. More importantly," he said, "the churches are also culturally close to the people, and the services are held in Tonga, the local language." Mloko's church planting initiative is part of Zimbabwe's Target 2000 movement. In September 1999, Richmond Chiundiza, one of the movement's coordinators, reported that the cross-denominational movement has planted 8,000 new churches and is on track to reach the eight-year-old target of 10,000 new churches by the year 2000.
Source: Simon Mkolo, Xolisani Dlamini, Richmond Chiundiza

South Africa

Body-builder builds Body

Lewende Woord, in Brummeria near Pretoria, is one of the country's leading Afrikaans-speaking charismatic churches. It is led by pastor Neville Nordon, an ex-body builder and previous Mr.˙South Africa. Some 4,700 people attend the church every Sunday. Nordon reports that almost 100 'Renewal Camps' - short evangelistic retreats˙- have brought hundreds of people to know Jesus Christ. Recently, the church recognized that the time has come to not only build a large church, but to also start new ones. They now have plans to plant 500 new churches in the next few years, and are one of the first of the nation's larger Christian movements to seriously consider implementing the house church model.
Source: Lewende Woord, Pretoria, Fax (+27)-12-8047256

Congo

60,000-strong church led by a woman

The revival in Zaire (Congo), covered in previous Friday Faxes, is continuing, according to a report from Elijah Maswangani, a well-known Christian leader in South Africa. One church with a congregation of some 60,000, in which Maswangani recently spoke, is led by a woman: Elisabeth Ongole. The church also has a branch in Brazzaville, but, according to Maswangani, "that has only reached 20,000 so far".

"Stuck"

"The revival in Congo started in 1952, 12 years before the guerilla war,", writes long-term missionary Helen Roseveare. "One day in 1964, three armed rebels burst into my house, demanding money. When I refused, the commander ordered one soldier to kill me with his spear. The soldier prepared to thrust his spear, but I raised my hand - and nothing happened. The soldier was a meter away from me, his movement frozen. It was as though he was bound - stuck, as we called it at the time, because it happened regularly. I told them that my God was more powerful than theirs, and walked away. I made them coffee, gave them some copies of John's gospel and explained the gospel to them. They listened obediently and went on their way."
Source: Elijah Maswangani of "Christ is the Answer", and Helen Roseveare, quoted from "Jesus Life"

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