DAWN Fridayfax 2005 #01

World

Internet Evangelism Day

"The number of Internet users has grown incredibly in the past 10 years - there will soon be 1 billion," writes Jeremy Reynalds for the ASSIST News Service. Although there are hundreds of thousands of Christian web sites, there are very few targeted at non-Christians. The Internet's has enormous potential for bringing attention to the Gospel. The "Internet Evangelism Coalition", a coalition of evangelistic organisations, has declared April 24 2005 to be "Internet Evangelism Day", and created the web site www.InternetEvangelismDay.com. The information available includes testimonies of people who found God while on-line. One of the site's aims is to help churches develop from an 'egocentric' use of the Internet ('our on-line newsletter') to a site relevant and effective for the society in which they live. "Instead of 'Screen Tracts', we need to recognise the strengths of the Web as a medium. That's the only way we'll be able to grasp the breathtaking opportunities," says IE Day Coordinator Tony Whittaker. The event is supported by well-known Evangelical leaders such as OM founder George Verwer, Trans World Radio's Dr. David Tucker, Evangelism Explosion and the Evangelical Alliance (see ied.gospelcom.net/supporting.php for a full list). ied.gospelcom.net/training.php is a good starting point for churches and individuals looking to learn more about web evangelism.
Source: www.InternetEvangelismDay.com

India

Anti-Conversion Law repealed

In 2002, India's then governing fanatic Hindu party passed a law forbidding "Coercion to a change of religion or promising advantages from a change of religion", with severe penalties. Christians, Muslims and other minority religious groups in the nation, against whom the law was targeted, all declared that forced conversions are ethically repulsive. In the 20 months since the law was passed, the courts did not have to deal with one single case. The new government has repealed the law, entitled "Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Forcible Conversion of Religion Act", effective immediately.
Source: The Hindu (newspaper) and others

Venezuela

Sorcerer no longer plays in the second league

"While visiting a missions school in Venezuela, we met an ex-sorcerer," writes missionary Paul Otremba. "He became a spiritist as a child, and he was quite used to dealing with demons. He was permanently accompanied by one demon, which gave orders to lesser demons according to the young man's commands. One day, the young man wanted his demons to harm a Christian. The demons returned with the news that they could not harm the Christian, because he had more power. The demons were also burned when they tried to touch him. The news worried the sorcerer, because he always thought that he had been working with the strongest power. He started experimenting, trying to find out who he could harm and who not. He had no problem with nominal Christians who had no real relationship with Jesus, but could not touch faithful followers of Jesus. Then someone told him more about Jesus. The young man is now a disciple, and asked me 'Why didn't anyone tell me about Jesus before?'"
Source: Paul Otremba, Globe Europe, fax (+49)-2852-5086-28, www.globeeurope.de

Switzerland

Go + 04

The idea is simple: send some Christians on the road for six weeks, to speak with people on the streets, pray with them and invite them to evangelistic healing meetings - just as in Jesus' day. That was the idea behind "GEH + 04", which took place in the summer of 2004 ('GEH' is German for 'go'; the letters stand for Gebet (prayer), Evangelisation and Healing). Every day, between 30 and 80 Christians took part in various places in Switzerland; in total, some 700 people took part in the event, and an average of 60 people attended the evening healing meetings. "Many people experienced physical healing, came to faith in Jesus, and some Christians were reconciled with one another," according to a report published in December 2004. Some extracts: "One man came to the meeting in Lancy on crutches. He had already had three operations on his injured knee, and a fourth was scheduled. He was spontaneously healed through prayer; he dropped his crutches, and helped clear the chairs away after the meeting." "One GEH + 04 group worshipped Jesus in a Catholic church in Schwyz. One woman noticed another woman sitting in a pew, crying, and quietly hugged her. The visitor turned out to be a German tourist who had received a tract titled 'Where are you, God?' from another GEH + 04 group. The question drove her to church. In prayer, the woman found Jesus and was delivered from demonic bondages." "At first, guests in the Naefels railway restaurant made fun of the Christians holding a service in front of the restaurant. Later, though, during the sermon, many had tears in their eyes. Several people decided to follow Jesus right in front of the restaurant, including two Iraqis and a man who said that he was beyond forgiveness, because he had killed someone. He was going to be baptised two weeks later."
Source: Werner Woiwode, Verein Abraham, fax (+41) 52 741 1613, e-mail info (at) verein-abraham.ch

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