DAWN Fridayfax 2004 #43

India

The nation with the most missionaries!

The India Missions Association is a union of 197 Indian missions agencies. In its October 2004 publication, Indian missionary Sam George writes "Between 1977 and 2002, Indian Christians became the largest cross-cultural missionary force in the world." Following political unrest in 1977, many foreign missionaries were expelled from India. As a result, Indian Christians were forced to take responsibility for evangelising their neighbours instead of leaving it to the foreigners. Today, there are over 44,000 full-time Indian missionaries working outside their own culture, organised in more than 500 missions agencies.

Expulsion of foreign missionaries "best thing which could have happened"

"The expulsion of foreign missionaries in 1977, now known as 'The Emergency', may have been the best thing which could have happened to take the Gospel to India," writes George. Their expulsion was in effect a blessing in disguise. The repression and persecution of Christianity in China and India in recent years have dispersed the Christians throughout both nations. Both colonialism and globalisation have spread Indians throughout the world; there are Indians in over 120 nations. George asks "Is it possible that in the next 20 years, India will have not only the largest number of domestic missionaries, but also the largest number of overseas missionaries in the world?"



Nation	Native domestic missionaries	Foreign missionaries in the nation	Overseas missionaries
England	2,498	1,681, from 54 nations, in 171 mission agencies	10,604 in 198 nations, 183 mission agencies
USA	17,703	1,873, from 115 nations, in 139 mission agencies	60,200 in 220 nations, 631 mission agencies
Korea	1,636	1,311 from 41 nations, in 46 mission agencies	10,646 in 156 nations, 166 mission agencies
Brazil	3,985	3,100 from 41 nations, in 205 mission agencies	4,754 in 100 nations, 132 mission agencies
India	44,000	6,000 in 184 mission agencies	5,000 in over 40 nations



In the early 1990's, South Korean Christians set the aim of sending out 10,000 missionaries by the year 2000. They almost reached their aim, and there are now nearly 11,000 South Korean overseas missionaries, making South Korea the second largest missionary nation in the world, following the USA. The Chinese underground house churches aim to send out 100,000 missionaries by the year 2010. India, like China, has one huge asset: people. "So, " concludes George, "would it be possible to send 100,000 Indian missionaries overseas in the next 20 years?"
Source: Sam George, e-mail magazine at imaindia.org

USA

Good Samaritans now repair cars

Songbooks, oil filters, a pile of pullovers, algebra lessons - all part of the Cedar Park Church near Seattle, Washington. Pastor Joe Fuiten says "Today, many churches think they are a church when they have a Sunday service and a Sunday School. My aim is that church become the centre of the community, and that it is not only on Sunday, but also Monday to Saturday - 24 hours per day, 7 days each week." That's why the church has a large low-cost clothes store, an undertaker and its own cemetery, a sound studio, the State's largest private school with 1,536 pupils, an evening art class and eight trained counsellors. To help people in their neighbourhood, they also employ four mechanics, who repair cars every day for the price of the spare parts needed. "We look for ministry opportunities outside church," says Fuiten. "Mechanics are the modern-day equivalent of the Good Samaritan." Craig Brandenburg left his car maintenance business to become part-time mechanic, part-time pastor. "It's incredible," he says. "Every day, I'm overwhelmed with calls from people outside the normal reach of church, and we can demonstrate that Christ loves them. A number of people have come to faith that way." Washington is considered one of the least-churched States in the USA, and many Protestant churches are shrinking. Cedar Park Church, though, is flourishing.
Source: www.charismanews.com

World

250,000 prayed 24-7

"In the past 3 years," reports 3-year-old prayer movement 24-7, "some 250,000 people have prayed in one of the 2,180 registered 24-7 prayer rooms. Mainly young people met in all sorts of places, including schools, breweries, Police stations, aircraft and a crypt under the Houses of Parliament in London, to pray non-stop, sometimes for one week, sometimes longer, and in some places for two years. Inspired by the Moravian prayer movement which began in Herrenhut in 1727, such prayer rooms now exist in 52 nations. The ten nations with the most prayer rooms are England, Sweden, USA, Australia, Canada, Germany, Spain, Switzerland, Indonesia and Holland."
Source: 24-7prayer.org

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