DAWN Fridayfax 2000 #12

Nigeria

Islamic law stopped in the North

According to a Reuters report on 29th February 2000, Governors in Nigeria's northern states have agreed to stop implementation of the Sharia, the strict Islamic law. Hundreds of people were killed in riots after dozens of Christians from the Ibo tribe were found dead; several dozens of Christians in the towns of Aba, Umuahia and Kaduna were also killed. The Christians' protests began when the northern states decided to implement strict Islamic laws for all their inhabitants, including the Christians. Following a meeting with Christian President Olusegun Obasanjo, Ahmad Sani, Governor of Zamfara state, declared "the law will remain in its present form." "We will return to the normal status quo," according to Vice President Atiku Abubakar.
Source: Reuters and WEF Religious Liberty e-mail conference (religious-liberty@xc.org)

Mozambique

Mosquitoes and sermons saved our lives

A pastor and 16 other people trying to escape the floods in Mozambique received help from an unexpected source as they sat in the branches of a tree for two days, according to the English charity Tearfund. "The water rose so quickly - over two meters in a few hours," said pastor Samuel Naftal, chairman of "The Association of Evangelicals of Mozambique" in Gaza province. "I helped some people climb onto the roof of my house, and climbed into a tree with others. We saw televisions, furniture and dead calves floating past. Everything was destroyed. The people asked me to preach to them, so that they would stay awake. Today, I thank God for the mosquitoes, because they prevented me falling asleep and falling into the water. I would have been simply swept away," says Naftal. After some time, the floods receded, and everyone could reach safety.
Source: Tearfund

Worldwide

Seven steps to a missionary harvest

Dr. Richard Foster, founder of the international spiritual renewal movement 'Renovare', and author of the book 'Celebration of Discipline', believes that the 21st Century could experience a historical missionary climax. He sees 7 important steps which must be taken if this is to happen:

1. Christians must orient themselves towards God in all things, not themselves, success, church or seeking non-Christians
2. Christians should not form church around marketing methods. "The church is not a supplier of religious products," he says, "so we don't have to try to copy our culture's entertainment industry, and we should not win people for Christ through entertainment, but rather through the power of the Holy Spirit;"
3. Christians should develop "habits of the heart", daily spiritual discipline instead of sporadic outbreaks of inspiration and enthusiasm
4. "We should say goodbye to the strutting peacock and self-satisfied director as examples of Christian leadership"
5. The church exists to serve the world, not itself. We should put less value in our own institutions and more in serving the poor.
6. We need to get rid of the 'building complex'. Buildings are not bad, but they are not the be-all and end-all. "Buildings can help to serve others, but they are not supposed to be monuments to our egos," he says
7. "Christians should evangelise with power, but also with cultural sensitivity. All people must hear of Jesus and his love."


Source: Richard Foster, NPPN

Worldwide

Also available from Rick Warren: free e-mail accounts

"Every pastor should have a free e-mail account," according to pastor Rick Warren. At www.pastors.com, pastors and church leaders can register for a free 'respectable Internet address'. Warren is the founder and pastor of the Saddleback Community Church in Orange County, California. With 15,000 visitors each weekend, Saddleback Community Church is the second largest church in the USA (after Willow Creek), and "the nation's fastest-growing church" for the last three years, according to one report. Over 9,000 people have decided to become Christians in the Saddleback church, which baptized almost 75% of its members. Since starting in his own house in 1980, Warren has held services in 79 different places, and the church did not have its own center until 1995. They have also started 26 daughter churches in Southern California. 300,000 copies of Warren's book "The Purpose-Driven Church" have been sold in seven languages; 50,000 pastors from 60 different denominations have visited Saddleback's seminars.
Source: www.pastors.com, and SCC, tel. (+1)-949-581-5683, web site www.saddleback.com,

Iraq

Repentance continues in Nineveh

American mission agency Partners International reports that a researcher working near the ancient city of Nineveh, where Jonah once preached, has started three Christian churches with a total of around 150 members. Partners International supports indigenous Christians, particularly in areas where there are relatively few Christian churches. Partners in 50 countries plant over 1,000 churches each year, and some 230,000 people receive material aid and development assistance.
Source: Partners International, www.partnersintl.org,

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