DAWN Fridayfax 2000 #11

Malawi

How the children have grown!

The Living Waters church in Blantyre grew from 80 members in 1987 to 10,000 in 1995 (see Friday Fax 1996/30), and has continued to grow, reaching over 15,000 today. The 175 daughter churches which they had planted in 1996 have now become over 400 in Malawi, with around 100,000 members, and another 500 churches in other nations. The movement's founding father, stanley Ndovie, who once fasted for 70 days and knows half of the New Testament by heart, is now regularly called to advise the government. The movement's ministry is accompanied by many signs and wonders, including raising people from the dead, according to a report by Thomas Gegenschatz, who recently invited Ndovie and two members of his team to conferences in Switzerland. The movement has adopted the nation's name, which means 'fiery flames', to its motto: they want to carry revival to other nations, and have already planted churches in Sweden and England. On his visits to ex-Christian Western nations, Israel Mpinda, one of Living Waters' evangelists, says "You sent missionaries to Africa. We are very grateful. Now your seed has sprung up and the fruit has ripened, and we are returning as your spiritual children to serve you."
Source and info: Thomas Gegenschatz, (+41) 71 755 13 17, e-mail rechobot@gmx.ch

Germany

Prophecy prevents suicide

"A 16-year-old recently came to me during the service with her first prophetic word," reports Ingolf Ellssel, pastor in Tostedt, near Hamburg, and a leader in the Bund Freier Pfingtsgemeinden (Association of Free Pentecostal Churches). "She was nervous, and, in her fear of doing something wrong, gave a long introduction. Then she said 'God loves you!' Some of the more experienced Christians were rather surprised, and showed their impatience. But the Bible tells us not to despise prophetic words. That afternoon, a man called me and told me his story. He was 56 years old, divorced twice, and his children and relations had distanced themselves from him. As an atheist, he sat in front of a bottle of tablets, planning his suicide. For the first time in his life, he spoke with God, saying 'I'll give you one chance. Tomorrow, I will visit a church, and if you tell me that you love me, I will believe you.' He went into the first church he saw. When he called me, he told me 'Pastor, I became a Christian because God told me that he loves me through that girl.'"
Source: Ingolf Ellssel, Tostedt, tel. (+49) 4182 293 902

Worldwide

Focus on the non-reborn Christians

Prayer for the 40/70 Window

Prayer coordinator and church growth professor C. Peter Wagner believes that the time has come to focus not only on the unreached peoples, but also on the non-reborn Christians. Since 1989, millions of Christians have been praying for the 10/40 Window, the part of the world between the 10th and 40th Parallel, in which most of the unreached people groups live. "Evangelism is going on all over the 10/40 Window, and we're hearing reports of revival from most parts of the world: Latin America, which, 20 years ago, was spiritually similar to Europe; Asia is currently experiencing the world's greatest evangelistic harvest, and Africa south of the Sahara is predominantly Christian. Only one region is strangely quiet: the 40/70 Window, in which there are 61 nations with a centuries-old Christian church," he says. "Many people in the 40/70 Window have never heard the gospel, despite the region's history of active Christianity. In the over 50 nations of Europe, the Caucasus, Northern and Central Asia and the Turkish area of non-Arab Islam, there are more non-reborn Christians than in any other part of the world." According to Stephan Holthaus, Deacon of Giessen's Free Theological Academy, only 30% of the world's 2 billion church members are Christians in the Biblical sense; some 1.4 billion are namenschristen. "Idol worship in the form of Maria is particularly strong in the 40/70 Window's traditional churches," says Wagner in his 'Global Prayer News' bulletin. He believes that the spiritual atmosphere in the 40/70 Window will change through the focused prayer of millions of Christians throughout the world in the next 5 years.
Source: Peter Wagner, Global Harvest Ministries, PO Box 63060, Colorado Springs, CO 80962-3060, fax (+1) 719 262 9920, e-mail info@wpccs.org, www.wpccs.org,

Bolivia

Minister for Employment relies on Christian principles

The Bolivian Minister of Employment Luis Vasquez Villamor stated that Christian principles are the best alternative to all forms of totalitarianism brought by the process of globalisation. Villamor, one of the adminstration's most successful ministers, held a working breakfast with evangelical radio and television producers, directors and church leaders on 9 February. "Communications monopolies create totalitarianism, forming a single dominating opinion," he said. "Only Christian principles will be able to turn this river of totalitarianism."
Source: ALC News

This Web version of the DAWN Fridayfax is maintained by the Jesus Fellowship Church (Jesus Army) as a service to the Christian church. Please visit our web pages which feature the e-zine Streetpaper and its special Revival section.