DAWN Fridayfax 2000 #9

Myanmar

Buddhist monk raised from the dead - 300 monks turn to Jesus

"In 1998, a Buddhist monk died. A few days later, his funeral was held, at which he was to be cremated. From the smell, it was obvious that his body had already started to decompose - he was very clearly dead!" according to the report from missions agency Asian Minorities Outreach. "We have attempted to verify this report which reached us from a number of sources, and are now convinced that it is accurate," they write. "Hundreds of monks and relatives of the dead man attended the funeral. Just as the body was about to be burned, the dead monk suddenly sat up, shouting 'It's all a lie! I saw our ancestors burning and being tortured in some sort of fire. I also saw Buddha and many other Buddhist holy men. They were all in a sea of fire!' 'We must listen to the Christians,' he continued emphatically, 'they're the only ones who know the truth!' The events shocked the whole region. Over 300 monks became Christians and started to study the Bible. The resurrected man continued to warn everyone to believe in Jesus, because he is the only true God. Tapes of the monk's report were distributed throughout Myanmar. The Buddhist hierarchy and the government were soon alarmed, and they arrested the monk. He has not been seen since, and it is feared that he was killed to keep him silent. It is now a serious crime to listen to the tapes, because the government wants to dampen the sensation."
More information in a later Fridayfax. Source withheld

USA

30 years 'Hour of power' TV - 10 million viewers

Robert Schuller celebrated the 'Hour of Power's' 30th anniversary with a special service. It is one of the longest-running programs in television history, but would not have begun without Billy Graham's encouragement. "In 1970, I was $11,000 short of the $200,000 I needed to start the program. It was Billy Graham who encouraged me to press on, not give up. The money came in," reports Schuller. The program, broadcast every Sunday, has become an institution, with some 10 million viewers in 184 countries. Schuller started by preaching from the roof of a fast-food restaurant; today, over 1 million people visit the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, California, each year. Schuller, now 73, plans to hand over the leadership of the church to his son Robert.
Source: Hour of Power

Romania

53 new churches in 1999

At a recent Dawn conference in Switzerland, Gavi Moldovan, the president of 'Misiunea Mondiala Unita' in Cluj, Rumania, reported of the fruit of cooperation between various churches in his nation. He believes that some 23,000 churches will be necessary to reach the nations 23.8 million inhabitants - around one church per 1,000 of the population. He and his team have communicated this long-term vision to 500 church leaders in many regions. They have also performed research to help the pastors set targets and cooperate in church planting to reach their regions with the gospel. Some 650 Christians have taken part in local church planter training courses; 400 of them are now working in 120 church planting teams, and have planted 400 new churches in the last 6 years. In 1999 alone, 53 new churches were planted with 496 new believers and a total attendance of around 950. They also started cell groups in another 106 places, with a total attendance of 1,450.
Source: Gavi Moldovan, tel/fax (+40) 64 198 229, str. Iuliu Mania 12, RO-3400 Cluj-Napoca, e-mail ro_alliance@mail.dntcj.ro

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