DAWN Fridayfax 2003 #10

Germany

Do you want to live 10 years longer?

"Scientists have recently revived the age-old discussion about the validity of faith," writes Dr. Eberhard Rieth, previously Director of the Ringgenhof and Höchsten clinics. Rieth refers to an extensive global study performed by epidemiologist Prof. Ronald Grossarth-Maticek, head of the EU-funded Institute for Preventive Healthcare Research in Heidelberg. Faith is demonstrably one of the most important factors influencing a person's physical wellbeing and long-term health, significantly affecting life expectancy and the age at which the first serious chronic illness occurs. Grossarth-Maticek distinguished between five forms of belief system: 1. atheism; 2. neurotic atheism; 3. conventional religiosity; 4. neurotic religiosity; and 5. spontaneous emotional religiosity. "Members of the third group feel bound to a particular religious group or church, abide by particular external norms and attend services, but do not establish a relationship with God. Their knowledge of a higher authority does not generally affect how they live," according to the study published in 'Autonomietraining'. Group 5 tells of a positive personal relationship with God which has a pleasing, soothing, energizing and healing influence.

Religious group	Life expectancy	First severe chronic illness at age
1. Atheist	73	64
2. Neurotic atheist	63	47
3. Churchgoers without relationship to God	72	61
4. Neurotic religious	64	52
5. Personal emotional relationship to God	84.7	71

Members of group 5 live on average 12.7 years longer than 'churchgoers' and 21.7 years longer than neurotic atheists. Their first severe chronic illnesses occur 10 years later than members of group 3, and around 20 years later than neurotics, whether religious or atheist. Following the outbreak of cancer, for example, members of group 5 live on average 14.6 years, compared with only 7.9 years in a reference group of other forms of religiosity. "Dare healthcare providers ignore the healing potential of personal faith?" asks Dr. Rieth, "Is it not necessary that they verify Grossarth-Maticek's results by testing these claims for themselves, and drawing conclusions which can help their patients?"
Source: Dr. Eberhard Rieth in 'Der Ringbote' and 'Autonomietraining' by Prof. Grossarth-Maticek (DeGruyter Verlag, 2002)

Canada

Does your God love you?

Thousands of Asian immigrants live in Montreal. Ni Qu is a missionary there, bringing the Gospel to the city's Asians. She reports: "One day, I wanted to give a man on the street a New Testament. He was extremely rude to me. Shocked, I said 'Jesus loves you, too'. He told me that he was a Muslim, and didn't have much understanding of Jesus, so we started talking. I asked him whether his God loved him, and we spoke about Jesus for a long time. In the end, he took the Bible and said goodbye. Days later, our pastor received a letter from the man, telling how he had come to believe in Jesus by reading John's Gospel. That clearly demonstrated God's ability to change people," she says.
Source: Ni Qu in "DMG informiert" 1/03, fax (+49) 7265 959 109 (Germany)

USA

Hispanic churches growing rapidly

"Hispanics - Spanish-speaking immigrants in the USA - are experiencing an awakening," reports the American Charisma magazine. Of the 40 million Hispanics (almost as many as the African American population), some 9 million describe themselves as 'evangelical'; of those, 70% consider themselves Pentecostal. The Hispanics are the fastest-growing ethnic group in the USA. "I see revival coming from the other side of the southern US border," says Jesse Miranda, Professor at Vanguard University in Costa Mesa. "Christian Hispanics no longer meet in dilapidated sheds in the wrong part of town; they are forming megachurches with huge buildings, such as Daniel de León's church." León is pastor of the largest Hispanic church, the Templo Calvario Assembly of God in Santa Ana, with 6,000 members. Frank Almonte has led the Adonai Christian Center in Queens, New York, since 1988; in that period, the membership has grown from 60 to 1,900. He says: "Something's going on! God is opening the Hispanics' eyes. I can't explain it any other way." Most of the growth of the evangelically-oriented churches is from people switching from the Catholic church. "People are tired of church tradition alone," says René Molina, pastor of the Iglesia de Restauración Elim, a Pentecostal church in Los Angeles with 4,200 members. "They just want a relationship with Jesus, and to hear God's voice."
Source: Charisma News

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