DAWN Fridayfax 2000 #28

Zaire

Hot water bottle on the equator

Dr. Helen Roseveare, the famous British missionary doctor in Zaire, whose autobiography "Give me this mountain" is well worth reading, wrote about an event during her time in Africa: "One evening, I was helping a mother give birth in the maternity ward. Despite our best efforts, she died, leaving us with a tiny premature baby and a crying two-year-old girl. It would be hard to keep the baby alive, because we had neither electricity nor incubator, and the nights were often draughty and cool, even though we were on the equator. An assistant fetched our last hot water bottle to keep the baby warm, but soon came back in desperation, because it had burst. 'OK', I told her, 'hold the baby as close to the fire as you can, and keep it out of draughts.' The following day, I had a prayer time with the orphans. I told them about the newly-born baby, the two-year-old orphan and the broken hot water bottle. During the prayer time, Ruth, a ten-year-old with the typical brutal directness of African children, prayed 'Please God, send us a hot water bottle. Tomorrow will be too late, God, because the baby will be dead by then, so please send it this afternoon.' I took a deep breath because of the prayer's directness, then heard her continue: 'and while you're at it, would you please send a doll for the little girl, so that she knows that you really love her?' To be honest, I could not believe that God would do that. Oh yes, God can do everything. I knew that, theoretically - it's written in the Bible. But there are limits, aren't there? I hadn't received any parcels from home for four years. And if anyone sent a parcel, why would they send a hot water bottle to tropical Africa? Late in the afternoon, I heard that a car had come. By the time I arrived in my apartment, it had already left - but there was a large parcel on the veranda! I could feel tears welling up inside, and called the orphans so that we could open it together. Apart from clothes, bandages and sultanas, the parcel contained - I could hardly believe my eyes! - a new rubber hot water bottle! I cried. I had not dared to ask God for it, but Ruth had! She had been sitting in the first row, and ran forward, shouting 'If God sent the hot water bottle, he must have sent the doll too!' She dug to the bottom of the parcel and pulled out a beautiful small doll. Her eyes shone. She had not doubted for a moment. She looked up and asked 'Can we go to the little girl and give her the doll, so that she knows Jesus loves her?' The parcel had been on the way for five months, sent by a Sunday School class. The teacher had been so obedient to God that she even sent a hot water bottle to the equator. One of the girls had given a doll, five months before a 10-year-old African girl would pray 'God, we need it this afternoon'. The words in the Bible are true: 'Before they call, I will answer them.' (Isaiah 65:24)."
Source: Dr. Helen Roseveare

Finland

Dropped as a baby - hips healed through prayer

John Coles, vicar of St. Barnabas Church and one of the leaders of New Wine, an English church renewal movement, spoke at a conference at a Lutheran church in Lohja, Finland. The New Wine newspaper reports: "He received a word of knowledge that a person with injured hips was present, and took this to mean that God wanted to heal the person. A woman responded. She had been dropped as a baby, and her hip joint had been badly damaged, with the result that she had great difficulty walking. Following prayer, though, she could jump in the air, and hopped down the middle aisle of the church, completely healed."
Source: John Cole, in New Wine issue 12/2000, fax (+44) 20 88 404 735

India

Prophetess helps plant 50 house churches

Kingdom Ministries is a Swiss missions network based on the five-fold ministry (Ephesians 4:11-13). The following report appeared in their latest newsletter: "Two months before our first visit to India three years ago, a woman from Patel's church in Madhya Pradesh had a dream in which she saw a team from the West. An overweight man came up to her, telling her that God would make her into a prophetess. As a sign that this is from God, he would pray for her two very ill children, and God would heal them. When she awoke the next morning, both children were healthy. She told Patel, the leader of her church, who thought she was no longer normal. Neither Patel nor the woman knew about the prophetic ministry at that time. Two months later, a Kingdom Ministries team including Erich Reber visited their church. Both she and Patel immediately recognised Erich as the man from her dream. During the teaching about prophecy, her gift was awakened. Since then, she has been able to help Patel in planting many new churches. Some fifty of them were planted as follows: they went to a village, asking God to show them the house of peace (Luke 10). God would then show her a particular house, and revealed things about the inhabitants, such as hidden sins, needs or occult objects. The people were so touched that most of them accepted Jesus into their lives, and a house church could be started. Christian leaders in Madhya Pradesh and Orissa planted around 1,000 new house churches in 1999, with some 30,000 members," according to the report.
Source: Kingdom Ministries, fax (+41) 33 437 00 16, e-mail fbaertsch@gmx.ch

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