The Friday Fax

A Christian camp called "The Levites' camp" was held near Winterthur, Switzerland, at the end of July 2005. One of the speakers was Matthias Kuhn, better known as Kuno, a young evangelist and house church planter from Thun, Switzerland. This Friday Fax is an extract of journalist Peter Schmid's recording of his talk about reconciled generations.

The next generation
"We often hear prophetic words that it will be the coming generation, or the next generation, that will bring the breakthrough. In the passion rising among youth in the past few years, I also sense a pain. A pain, because I really do not believe that the coming generation will bring the breakthrough. I believe that only Jesus brings the breakthrough. Jesus does not glorify himself just through one generation, but through people uniting and joining in community, people in true relationship. A relationship and unity between the generations is definitely a part of that.

A key
I believe that Malachi 4:6, the last verse of the Old Testament, is immensely important for our days. God says that he will again turn the hearts of the fathers to their sons and mothers to their daughters, to protect the nation from a curse.

Holding hands
Friends, I don't believe that the next generation will reach our continent with the gospel, but I do believe that the blessing we so greatly desire will come when we humbly submit to one another and hold each others' hands. I believe that the glory of the Lord will break through when the younger generation takes their place in the line down from their elders and honours them.

The great lie
We have believed a great humanist lie: we believe that we only become mature by making ourselves independent. That is not true. The truth is that the true quality of God's Kingdom (Eph. 4:16) can only break through when we make ourselves dependent on one another. The word 'dependent' often gives us the shivers - myself included.

Leader, or father?
We have given the word 'dependent' a wrong meaning, understanding dependence on people exercising leadership, not fatherhood or motherhood. I do not believe that we should be dependent on leaders, but I do believe that we should depend on fathers and mothers. A leader desires to see the next generation continue his ministry; fathers, that the next generation comes with power.

A call to the younger generation
To the younger generation I say, if we do not return to the hearts of our fathers and mothers, there may be a few more stories and a few more books about us at the end of our lives, but the Kingdom of God will not break through in a new quality. We desperately need to return to the place of dependence on our fathers and mothers. For years, I thought that I and my generation would bring radical commitment. I made myself independent from my parents. Only recently, after preaching about it many times, did I realise that I have to put it into practice.

Honouring our fathers
I have wonderful parents. I called my father and said "I want to have a day of retreat with you". I wanted that once before, but I was also glad that he did not respond. Now I knew that the time had come. I had to again give my father his mandate to be my father. We sat together in silence. I knew inside that I had to lay down all my rebellion, pride, and the thought that my generation is the one, and say "Father, I need you."

Walking together
Fathers and mothers, my appeal to you is not to believe that we do not need you. Don't believe we don't need you just because you don't know what an MP3 is. We need you desperately, not in order to use you to become something better, but because we know that the Kingdom of God can only come in quality when we walk together. We have four children; I am my son's father and trainer. My son plays handball, as I used to. When I'm sitting on the trainer's bench, my son does not need a trainer, but a father. One day, he was not doing well. He was playing in a tournament, shooting again and again - and missing every time. I called him over and told him to pull his socks up, get his game in order. The trainer had spoken. He went back out and shot again - and missed. "I don't believe it!" I thought.

Trust and encourage
Then God spoke to me, saying "Timo doesn't need a trainer, he needs a father." I went to him, and knew: correcting him is not the right thing to do now. I think that is the pain keeping the generations apart in our hearts; we have been very good at criticising each other, telling each other where our place is. Friends, living in reconciliation means trusting one another. I told my son, "Timo, I trust you and believe in you." That also happened in the story of Elijah and Elisha. It is the key to God's Kingdom coming in a new quality in our nation.

Where God's beauty shines
If there is one thing I desire, it is that God reveals the beauty of mothers and fathers going forward in unity with their children, their hearts turned to one another. The time is ripe for a reformation in my heart. Let me no longer seek that which serves me and my generation, and how to become more radical, but how we as a young generation can seek to honour our fathers and mothers. That doesn't start up here on the stage, but in our own homes. I wish us courage.

Source: Peter Schmid.

Surgeon Dr. Victor Choudhrie of Madhya Pradesh, India, reports that at the moment, it is mainly miracles which cause people to open their hearts for Jesus and, when they have heard more about him, commit their lives to him. "God is working predominantly through women and uneducated people," says Choudhrie. In July 2005 alone, Choudhrie knows of 352 people who have been baptised, 77 new churches planted and 1,506 people who have been trained as church planters. The following is a selection of his recent reports:

Healed of epilepsy
Nirmala Bai had been fighting mental illness and epilepsy for three years. Her marriage had become traumatic, and none of the medical treatments had any effect. Finally, someone suggested that an evangelist pray for her. She was completely healed, and is now part of a growing church, along with her husband.

Jesus can do what snake-charmers cannot
The heavy rain in the monsoon period drives many snakes out of their territories and into the villages. That leads to many snake bites, and only lucky people can be treated in time. Mohit was in the forest with his herd when he was bitten by a snake. He managed to make it back to his village and tell people what had happened, then lost consciousness. Neither the snake-charmers nor the village healer could do anything to help him. One of his neighbours asked a follower of Christ to pray for Mohit; 25 minutes later, he regained consciousness. Many people became open for the gospel through this miracle.

The deadly Bible
In Chattisgargh State, a deadly snake wrapped itself around a 15-year-old's hand during a church planting seminar. He managed to brush it off, but it fell on someone else. That person also managed to shake it off, and it finally landed on an open Bible. It died on the spot. The witnesses who did not yet know Jesus were astonished, and many have started following Jesus.

Source: Dr. Victor Choudhrie

At a church planting congress in 1998, representatives of Latin American nations set the very ambitious goal of planting a total of 500,000 new Christian churches by the year 2010. Dawn Ministries has published a progress report on their web site, which shows that the target will be reached if the development continues at the current rate. The following is an extract of the church planting targets set by all nations at the 1998 congress:

Nation	Churches planted since 1992	Church-planting goals
Brazil	20,000	180,000
Argentina	4,000	28,000
Uruguay	1,000	2,000
Chile	2,000	20,000
Peru	11,000	40,000
Colombia	3,000	30,000
Venezuela	9,000	25,000
Panama	2,000	7,000
Mexico	8,000	50,000
Dominican Republic	4,000	12,000
Costa Rica	500	2,000
El Salvador	5,000	7,000
Guatemala	12,000	7,000
Cuba	6,000	6,000

Five nations have already reached their original target and set new national targets. Guatemala, the first Latin American nation to have a process based on the Dawn strategy following their initial Congress in 1984, reached the target of 7,000 new churches in only five years. They then set another target of a further 5,000 churches, which has also already been reached.

Guatemala: 42% to 72% evangelical
Recent data published by a secular research group in Guatemala shows that over 42% of the population are members of an evangelical church. A further 30% declare themselves to be sympathetic to the evangelical movement. Church leaders are currently discussing what their new goal should be.

Venezuela: 25,000 churches soon
For years, church growth in Venezuela was the lowest in the region, as was the percentage of evangelicals in the population. A Dawn Congress (Amanacer) was held in 1992, at which church leaders set the aim of growing from 4,900 to 12,000 churches in only 12 years. They went to work, and reached their target 4 years earlier than planned. Their new aim is 25,000 churches by the end of 2005.

Uruguay: from 30% atheist to 10%
In the small nation of Uruguay, 30% of the population considered themselves atheist in 1996. Between 1996 and 1999, 1,000 new churches were planted, three years faster than planned. In the meantime, only 10% of the population consider themselves atheists.

El Salvador: 37% evangelical
Church leaders in El Salvador set a target of 2,000 new churches and 30% of the population evangelical by 1990. Research showed that 37% of the population considered themselves evangelical in 1993, and that over 4,000 new churches had been planted.

Cuba: Target reached 'too early'
Following 30 years of Communism, Cuba had less than 800 churches, the same number as at the start of the Communist revolution. By 1998, Cuban Christians had already reached their aim of planting 5,000 new churches, most of which were house churches. That was two years before their target, 2000.

Source: Dawn Ministries

"Siddhartha Gautama alias Buddha and Kohelet, author of the Old Testament book Ecclesiastes, used very similar methods to describe the basic problems of human existence and suggest solutions," according to a recently-published book by David Lim and Steve Spaulding. "That makes Ecclesiastes an excellent contact point and bridge for explaining Biblical truths to Buddhists," they say.

Experience-based description
Buddha's statements are based on his own experiences and observations, as do Kohelet's. Both make similar statements about life, but have completely different analyses and hence different solutions. Ecclesiastes' foundation in experience is a helpful approach for Buddhists, because their own background helps them understand the statements.

Greed is humankind's basic problem
Buddha's "Four Noble Truths" declare (1) that life is suffering, (2) the suffering is caused by greed, (3) the suffering can be overcome by overcoming greed, and (4) there is a path to end suffering. Similarly, Kohelet sees humankind's basic problem in selfish desire and greed. Greed has its source in the human will and selfish motives which oppose the will of God. Instead of seeking God's will, people live as they see fit, with their own lusts and desires subjecting their own lives to suffering and unfulfillment.

Both look 'under the sun'
In the Bible, the expression 'under the sun' occurs only in Ecclesiastes. The author deliberately restricts himself to observing humankind's earthly activities, ignoring the possibility of a transcendent but immanent God. Both Buddha and Kohelet try to find sense in life outside of God. Basic ethics and some of the Creator's attributes are "written in each person's heart" according to Romans. If we do not reject Buddha's moral teachings out of hand, but understand them as part of God's general revelation to all people, it becomes possible to open God's specific revelation and laws to Buddhists.

Source: David Lim and Steve Spaulding: Sharing Jesus Holistically in the Buddhist World, e-mail SteveMSpaulding (at) cs.com

"Many Evangelical churches in Ethiopia are experiencing both growth and persecution," according to Nehemia Info, published by Swiss mission agency AVC. The Full Gospel Church in Addis Abeba Sarbetoch, for example, were given notice to leave the building they rented. When trying to rent a new building, the neighbours tried to drive them away; local authorities had to act to calm the situation. Several of the regional leaders report of strong growth and new churches planted, but also of persecution particularly when planting new churches. "In the summer of 2004," according to one report, "Orthodox 'Christians' surrounded an evangelist's hut. He had suspected that something would happen, so had already brought his family to safety, and was alone in the hut. The attackers broke the door down and forced their way in. One of them thought he had found the evangelist and shot, but killed one of the other attackers. God had protected the evangelist, who escaped in the darkness. Typically for the situation in the nation, the evangelist is now suspected of having murdered the attacker. He had to leave the region, but is alive and still working."

Source: AVC

This is the first Friday Fax news item about Somalia! We have only mentioned it once before, in 2002, when it was listed as the least-reached nation in the world, with only one evangelical Christian for every 67,314 inhabitants. German missionaries in Somalia have just sent us the following news: "For 15 years, Somalia has stood for anarchy, hunger, death, violence and refugees. The nation has now managed to form a new Government. Many Somalis have experienced death-bringing hate, and know that Islam never managed to bring peace to their nation. When they hear that Jesus prayed for his murderers while on the cross, they are deeply touched. Perhaps God had to allow the situation in Somalia in order to open the people for the Gospel. For decades, there were very few Christians, and even today, many pay for their faith with their life. Now, though, couples and even entire families are coming to Jesus, and children are hearing the Word of God in the churches. A dream held by missionaries for decades has just been fulfilled: a few months ago, a number of Somali groups joined to plant a church. Even Government officials have to admit that their nation is no longer 100% Moslem. The new Christians are growing in faith and assuming more and more responsibility..."

Source: Name and address withheld

"I grew up in a religious Islamic family in Iran," writes Operation Mobilisation's Dr. Manssor Amerioun. "At the age of 17, I decided to not believe in any God. I became a psychiatrist, and was an advisor at many Iranian clinics. Following my refusal to publicly declare that I follow Islam, I lost my job and was imprisoned for six months. During that time, my wife died of a brain tumour, and I became depressive. In 1989, I emigrated to Sweden, bought a small shop, married again and had a daughter. My wife visited a Christian church and became a believer. Peter Magnusson, the leader of OM Sweden, regularly came into my shop, and we spoke about God. One day, I watched the Jesus Film in the back room of my shop. Something happened to me; I was both happy and sad, and I felt as though God answered all my questions of the past 60 years - he spoke directly to my heart. That evening, my wife was worried, because she thought I was ill. I said 'You'll think I'm crazy, and wouldn't believe what happened!' 'If it's about Jesus, I'll believe anything you tell me,' she said, so I told her how God met me."
Dr. Amerioun has now been working with OM since 2003, doing everything he can to help Iranian immigrants.

Source: OM News July/August 2006