DAWN Fridayfax 2004 #26

India

Brazilian footballers train slum youths

"Over 30,000 people live in an Indian slum which spreads 3 miles along a metropolitan railway line. A Brazilian mission agency started football training there in February 2004, with two professional trainers," reports Servants Switzerland, a mission agency which focuses on the poorest of the poor. They train forty young boys in two age groups twice every week. The boys are very proud that successful athletes invest time in them, because nobody else spends time with them of their own free will. Two other Brazilian footballers took part in the inauguration event, motivating the boys and kicking off the first official match.
Source: Servants Switzerland, tel. (+41)-61-3815546; website www.servantsasia.org ; e-mail switzerland (at) servantsasia.org

India

OM plants churches for untouchables

"300 million Indians belong to the Dalits, the untouchables. In November 2001, some of them officially turned away from Hinduism, which had oppressed them through a demeaning Caste system for 3,000 years. Thousands converted to Buddhism or Christianity, which was a major challenge for the Indian church," writes Operation Mobilisation's Debbie Meroff. Unfortunately, the Indian church had also been influenced by the Caste mentality; the first Protestant church building included a wall to separate the higher and lower castes. Some churches are now starting to open their doors for the Untouchables, others remain closed. In March 2003, OM started the Good Shepherd Community Church. Their General Secretary explains: "There was some tension initially, because OM did not really want to plant our own churches. We realised, though, that many people who came to Jesus through our ministry fell away after a while, because there was noone there to teach them, and no church. The average Good Shepher Community Church fellowship has 40-50 members, some up to 250. Many thousands of Dalits want to become Christians. We currently have over 200 pastors in full-time ministry, caring for 750 fellowships. The Presbyterian Church, which previously did not consider OM a worthy partner, is now looking for opportunities to cooperate with us."
Source: OM News, Fax (+41)-1-8328363; www.ch.om.org

World

Planting new churches with the Jesus Film

"Dawn Ministries and the Jesus Film Project recently signed an agreement defining our cooperation to plant 12 million new churches," writes Dawn Ministries' Steve Steele. 12 million new churches? 15 years ago, Dawn Ministries founder Jim Montgomery called for 7 million new churches to be planted as an answer to the missionary challenge. "At the time, that sounded like an unreachable goal," says Steele. "But now, with our changed concept of what 'church' means and with new emphasis on exponential growth, such a challenge can very much help accelerate efforts to complete the Great Commission," he says.

Lasting evangelisation through integration

The agreement was preceded by a pilot project in India, to find out whether showing the Jesus Film could be combined with planting new churches. The project demonstrated that viewers of the film who decided to follow Jesus could find a long-term home in the newly-planted churches. "The retention rate - the number of new believers who remained faithful to Jesus - was significantly greater when they had a place in which they were discipled," says Steele. This results in improved dynamics for extending the Kingdom of God: where people decide to follow Jesus or have further questions after viewing the film, new churches can be planted where their questions can be answered. The aim is that church planting teams accompany the film teams, until another 12 million churches have been planted.
Source: Steve Steele, Dawn Ministries, www.dawnministries.org

Benin

22,000 new churches by the year 2020

"Many people in Cotonou, Benin (Western Africa) are devoted to Voodoo. Idols stand on many street corners - significantly, often where many bloody accidents happen - and the city has a museum build of rocks, cement and human blood to pacify the gods," writes Dawn missionary Berna Salcedo. Five hundred pastors and Christian leaders recently held a strategy meeting in the city, where they agreed on the aim of planting 22,000 new churches by the year 2020.

Voodoo no longer works

"Through newly-planted churches, a growing number of people are experiencing that Jesus can do what the Voodoo cult cannot," reports Danie Vermeulen. One Sunday, over sixty people decided to leave the Voodoo cult and follow Jesus, joining a newly-planted church. One of the men told of how Voodoo magic had lamed him, confining him to his bed. The church planters found him and prayed for him; today, he is free. The chief of one village asked a church planter to move the church to meet outside the village, because the Voodoo priests had officially complained that their Voodoo magic no longer worked since the church was in the village. "Benin's churches are mobile: two other churches in the region are 'tree churches', meeting in the shade of large trees," says Vermeulen. "I am excited and encouraged to see enthusiastic young Christian leaders accepting the missionary challenge, ready to risk everything for the Kingdom of God."
Source: Dawn around the World May/June 2004, www.dawnministries.org

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