DAWN Fridayfax 2003 #48

World

Gospel Fruit: Has Bin Laden started a new search for Jesus?

Religious and ideological pressure is not going in the intended direction, so "Osama Bin Laden may have helped many Muslims find Jesus", according to missions expert and author Patrick Johnstone. "Tens of thousands of Iranians came to faith in Jesus because of Ayatollah Khomeni. Since 11 September 2001, the number of Muslims seeking alternatives has grown massively. Many are afraid of extremism, and many are afraid to say anything at all, but many are secretly searching. There have been breakthroughs in Northern Africa, Indonesia and Nigeria, where the Gospel is bringing fruit. Thirty percent of India's Dalits are considering a change of religion, and a growing number are finding Jesus. Opinions Buddhism also has widely varying opinions, and is losing credit because of developments in the past decade. Major ideological blocs are not as impenetrable as we may initially believe," he said, calling for prayer for the parts of the world opening for the Gospel, and on Western Christians to make themselves available to God for long-term missionary work.
Source: Patrick Johnstone

India

Slum schools bring hope to New Delhi

India's capital New Delhi has over 1,000 slums, in which mostly itinerant workers have their home. Some 6 million people live there - but the children are often simply abandoned when their parents go looking for work. The German missions agency Inter Mission started and supports 130 slum schools for children from non-Christian families. In the Alaknanda slum, they started a school in the toilet complex: 15 teachers teach 650 children. The Bible teaching and teachers' personal care for the children has opened many for the Gospel.

When Ravi prayed for his uncle

Ravi, one of the pupils in a slum school, had an uncle who was very ill. The doctors said that he would not survive. They took him to many hospitals, but without success. One day, Ravi simply knelt down beside his bed, laid his hand on his uncle and prayed for three hours. Jesus answered his prayer and healed his uncle. The miracle prompted a change of heart in Ravi's mother, who had previously forbidden him to attend Christian services. She has now decided to follow Jesus herself.
Source: Inter-Mission, Fax (+49)-511-2837430; website http://www.inter-mission.de

India

How God came to the Mundas

Birender Ram Bali, from the Munda, previously unreached people group in the northern Indian state Jharkand, witnessed his wife's 18- year fight against cancer. Her condition deteriorated steadily, and the entire village expected her death soon. In August 2002, Bali visited a nearby town on business. In the marketplace, he heard a man proclaiming something which he had never before heard: "Every one of you can ask Jesus to help you with your problems and sicknesses. He will answer your prayers because he is the true and living God." Those words echoed in Bali's head as he travelled back to his village. He asked himself who this Jesus could be. Knowing that his wife could die any moment, he decided to call on Jesus that night. He said "Jesus, I don't know who you are, but the man in the marketplace said that anyone can call on you, and you would help. Please heal my wife." That became his daily prayer. Over a period of three months, his wife's condition improved. Everyone in the village was astonished, and asked how she had been healed. Bali told them "I heard a man in the marketplace say that we can ask Jesus to solve our problems and heal our sicknesses. I started calling on Jesus that night. I called on him every day and night until I saw that my wife was healed."

Even the unknown Jesus can heal

Many people in the village then wanted to know who this Jesus was, because they, like Bali, had never heard his name before. Bali told them that he did not know who Jesus was, but that he believed that he was a God with the power to do anything. The people started bringing their sick to Bali, so that he could pray to Jesus for their healing. To his astonishment, Jesus repeatedly answered his prayers. Finally, two Christian missionaries arrived in the Munda village. They had prayed that God would send them to a people group which had not yet heard the Gospel, and God led them to Bali. Bali was very touched that God had sent them to him, and became a devoted follower of Christ after hearing the Gospel. Following a thirty-day training, Bali is now a missionary in his own village. In the meantime, two churches have been started among the Munda.
Source: Dr. Bobby Gupta, Hindustan Bible Institute, in Inter-Mission 5/2003

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