DAWN Fridayfax 2001 #47

World

899 Million: Evangelical Christianity's rapidly increasing growth rate

In his upcoming book 'The New Christianity', American church growth researcher and author Jim Rutz describes the astonishing increase in the growth rate of evangelical Christianity. "In the mid-80's, evangelical Christianity experienced a strong upward turn. Prior to 1985, the growth rate was 2% per year, slightly higher than the growth of the world population; today it is around 7.5% per year. If the current growth continues, the entire world would be followers of Jesus Christ in 2041..." he says.

Year	Christians	Growth rate	Period
1970	272 million
1985	366 million	2%	(1970-85)
1990	445 million	4%	(1985-90)
1995	596 million	6%	(1990-95)
2000	836 million	7%	(1995-2000)
2001	899 million	7.5%	(2000+)

In comparison, the growth rates of the most important religious groups:

	Growth rate
Catholics	1.2%
World population	1.3%
Buddhists	1.7%
Hindus	2.3%
All "Christians"	2.6%
Moslems	2.7%
All Protestants	2.9%
Evangelicals	7.5%

"Evangelical Christians include charismatic and Pentecostal Christians, as well as a growing number of Christians outside traditional churches. The figures are Jim Rutz' extrapolations of statistical material from the "Global Evangelization Movement" (David Barrett) and Dawn Ministries, and an 'intelligent estimate' of 130 million evangelical Christians in China today.
Source: Jim Rutz, The New Christianity, fax (+1)-719-471-9488, e-mail jamesrutz@cs.com

USA

Baby revived in hospital

Ken Gaub, pastor in Hazard, Kentucky, visited the hospital regularly to pray for a sick baby. One day, he crept into the hospital room, because the baby seemed to be asleep. He prayed "Lord, revive this baby, to your glory." Then he went home. Shortly afterwards, he received an urgent message asking him to return to the hospital. Surprised, he made his way back. As he entered the baby's room, the father's hugged him, astonishing Gaub: "Preacher, I want you to know that I have completely changed my mind about religious things. Now I believe!" The father wept, unable to speak further, so Gaub, confused, asked "What's happened?" The baby's mother broke the silence: "Didn't you know that our baby died 2 hours before you came to the hospital?"
Source: Ken Gaub, "God's Got Your Number", New Leaf Press, Arizona, page 83.

North Africa

When electricity won't flow

Hawa Ahmed was a Moslem student in North Africa. One day, she read a Christian tract in her dormitory, and decided to become a Christian. Her father was an Emir (Islamic ruler), so she expected to lose her inheritance because of her conversion. She was completely unprepared for what really happened: when she told her family that she had become a Christian and changed her name to Faith, her father exploded in rage. Her father and brothers stripped her naked and bound her to a chair fixed to a metal plate with which they wanted to electrocute her. Faith asked them to at least lay a Bible in her lap. Her father responded "If you want to die together with your false religion, so be it." One of her brothers added "That will show that your religion is powerless." Although they had bound her, she was able to touch a corner of the Bible. She felt a strange peace, as though someone were standing beside her. Her father and brothers pushed the plug into the socket - and nothing happened. They tried four times with various cables, but it was as though the electricity refused to flow. Finally, her father, angry and frustrated, hit her and screamed "You are no longer my daughter."

God's white clothes

Then he threw his daughter out into the street, naked. She ran through the streets, humiliated and in pain. Shaking and tearful, she ran to a friend. People looked at her, curious rather than shocked. Her friend let her in, clothed her and gave her shelter. The next day, her friend asked neighbours what they had thought when they had seen Faith running naked through the streets. "What are you talking about?" they asked. "The girl had a wonderful white dress on. We asked ourselves why someone so beautifully clothed had to run through the streets." God had hidden her nakedness from their eyes, clothing her in a beautiful white dress. Today, Faith is a full-time evangelist with Every Home for Christ.
Source: Dick Eastman, Every Home for Christ

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