Africa

"The Berlin Conference from 17-19th November, 2005 was the climax of a six year process of relationship building between European and African Christian leaders," reports intercessor Brian Mills. In 1884, twelve European nations, the USA and Russia met to "cut up Africa like a cake". The process of reconciliation involved "uncovering the sins that contributed to and resulted from that 1884 Conference."
The November conference culminated in a statement drawn up by Roger Mitchell, Chris Seaton and Brian Mills: "It is our prayer that this will lead to many continuing acts of love and restitution from our nation towards those nations sinned against. We recognise that this is not the whole story. The Africans were gracious to remind us of the legacy of the Gospel that was brought by European missionaries, and of the contribution made to their well-being through education, medicine and certain infra-structures. In reference to the 1884 Conference which did not include any representative of any African nation, we confess:
"We as the nations of Great Britain & Ireland confess and repent of the sins we have committed against Africa and Africans from many nations, and against the Living God – Father, Son & Holy Spirit. We repent with a deep sense of guilt and shame of the following: Competition with our fellow European nations for imperial domination in the world; The imposition of the Empire Spirit upon Africa; Taking rather than giving; Dehumanising and degrading Africans, treating them as goods, calling them "black ivory", perpetrating the evil of the Transatlantic Slave Trade; Covenant breaking as we lied and deceived African leaders into signing away their rights to their lands for trivial returns; Imposing concentration camps in South Africa which created the ground for apartheid; Creating unjust trade patterns; Cultural domination through the imposition of the English language; Presenting the gospel to the African peoples without separating adequately the unholy alliance of the Church from the Empire and the Empire Spirit, which included imposing denominations, and failing to recognise that God had opened Africa to Britain for the expansion of the Kingdom of God."
Source: Brian Mills, (full report available)

Mam Manga from Guinea-Bissau in western Africa is studying in a Brazilian Bible school. After graduating, she wants to return to her nation to serve Jesus. "My parents were not Christians, quite the opposite, practising ancestor worship. We had many idols at home, and people came to sacrifice to them. My brother studied in the capital, where he became a Christian. That caused an argument. I can still hear my father telling him 'You are no longer my son!' The family decided to beat my brother until he recanted, but God prevented it. Not long afterwards, my father fell ill, and became lame. Witch doctors said that the spirits were angry with him. His suffering made him open for Jesus, and when my brother spoke about his faith, my father, mother, four sisters and I all believed. Jesus soon healed my father, who could walk again. That day, he burned all the idols and asked my brother to forgive him - it was a wonderful day. I will never forget my father's last words when he died years later: 'Children, follow Jesus, and we will meet again in eternity.'"

Source: Mam Manga in "DMG informiert", the newsletter of the German Missionary Fellowship

"People meet daily in their houses for prayer. They tell of dreams and visions, and experience healing and deliverance. Ex-terrorists and spirit healers accept Jesus as their Lord. Churches are formed. This is not an excerpt from Acts, but is happening today among the Kabyls in North-east Algeria," writes Operation Mobilisation's Debbie Meroff. "The Algerian population of around 35 million is composed mainly of two people groups: the Berbers, and the Muslim Arabs, who later conquered the land. After the French left in 1962, the new government tried to unite Algeria under one language, religion and culture. That was difficult, particularly for the Kabylian Berbers; they had Christian roots, and their protests were often answered with military force. This oppression had a side-effect: their anger towards anything Arabic prepared their way to Jesus. New Christian churches are forming all over the Kablyian area. So far, they have been able to resist denominational influences and foreign leadership. Many people hear the gospel through Christian radio and television programmes, and up to 274 people contact the Christian staff each month. Christians hope to gather the scattered believers in new churches, and aim to plant churches in all of Algeria's 48 larger towns."

Source: OM News

Outside the desert, Algeria seems to be one huge building site; new hotels, hospitals, offices and apartment blocks are being built everywhere, and Chinese building workers are always involved. There are over 70,000 Chinese building workers in Algeria, working 13 hours each day, 7 days a week, with 10 days vacation each year, for US$ 400 per month. The men live in overcrowded accommodation on the building sites, watched over by Communist bosses. After work, there was not much to do except smoke and sit around, until Chinese tourists brought large amounts of Christian literature to Algeria. Now, every building worker wants his own Chinese New Testament, and there is often a tumult when the few Bibles are handed out, and hundreds of copies of the Jesus Film are in circulation. A growing number of them are coming to faith in Christ. The Algerian government does not concern itself with these developments, as long as they are limited to the Chinese. The Communist bosses sometimes refuses access to the barracks, but the workers then just climb over the wall...

Source: OM News

This is another of Dr. John Chacha's experiences (see the previous Friday Fax):
"I once preached in a village in my nation, going from house to house. I came to the house of a woman sitting by the fire, crying. When I said 'I am here to tell you about Jesus, who can save you,' she looked at me and said 'I don't want to hear anything about Jesus or God. Get out of my house!' 'Why do you hate God so much?' I asked. 'My husband left me and went to my employer, who fired me. I have three children I cannot feed, no money and no job. I'm just sitting here waiting to die. I don't want anything to do with your God,' she replied. Then I had an idea. 'I'll make you a deal. I can pray that you will only be saved for seven days. Then I'll come back, and if God hasn't met your needs during that time, I'll pray that you fall away from faith, with my permission. But in those seven days, you must do your best: believe in God, trust him, and read your Bible.' 'OK,' she said, 'I can do that.' So I prayed with her for a seven-day salvation. One week later, I visited her again. She was waiting at the door. I said 'I'm here to pray with you that you can fall away from faith again.' 'Oh no! Don't take my Jesus away!' she exclaimed. 'No? We made a deal!' I pressed. She replied 'No, you don't understand! I have falled in love with Jesus. I can't imagine how I ever lived without him. How could I have been so stupid to live without him for years? Let me tell you what happened. My husband returned two days later. He was with a prostitute 10 miles away. The Holy Spirit fell on him so strongly that he jumped out of bed, convicted of his sin, and ran those 10 miles back home, naked. Some people followed him with cameras. He asked God and me for forgiveness for what he had done. I led him to Jesus. Today, we are a happy Christian family.'"

Source: Dr. John Chacha

Dr. John Chacha grew up in a poor family in Tanzania and Kenya. Today, he is a ministry partner with prophetic teacher Rick Joyner and lives in Virginia, USA. The following is an excerpt of his life story, told during the Levites' Camp in Switzerland in July 2005:

From failure to evangelist of his family
"As I was growing up, even the poor called us poor, and we often had nothing to eat. I was terrible at school; the teacher called me a failure and predicted that I would end up a thief. But someone told me about Jesus, and invited me to a Christian church, where I found the Lord. In my predominantly Islamic surroundings, people who came to Jesus often had to pay a very high price. One young man told his family that he had found Jesus; they laid him on the railway tracks so that a train ran over him, killing him. Following my conversion, then, I returned home with mixed feelings. I called my family together and told them that I had found Jesus. My father was very sad, telling me that I could not believe in Jesus and remain a member of the family. I should renounce Jesus, or he would kill me. I could not renounce, so he took a heavy rod to smash my skull. I let it happen - but every time the rod almost hit my head, it rebounded supernaturally. My father struck three times, three times the rod rebounded. Then he dropped it and started to cry. Nobody understood what had just happened. I had to leave my family, and spent the following three weeks reading the Bible day and night. My performance at school changed dramatically in the next three months, from one of the worst to best in class. Finally, my father summoned me. He kneeled next to his bed, saying "Son, I want this Jesus who you have. Can you pray for me to received Jesus?" Today, my family loves Jesus; my mother is a pastor, as are some of my brothers.

Dr. Jesus
I began serving Jesus as a student. Once, I went with some other students to a predominantly Muslim island to preach. We set up our loudspeakers and told the people that we were there to tell them about Jesus. The Mullah immediately began heckling. "We don't believe that Jesus was the Son of God, just a prophet. Get off our island, or we will kill you. You have a few minutes to pack up and leave." So we packed up, because none of us wanted to die. But the Spirit of the Lord told me "Go back. If they cannot accept Jesus as the Son of God, I have another idea." So we went back, set up the loudspeakers again, and started to sing. The people came, but with stones in their hands, just waiting to stone us. I told them "We are not here to tell you about Jesus the Son of God, but about Jesus, the doctor!" "Jesus the doctor? OK, tell us about him," they said. I asked whether they had any sick. "Bring me a sick person. We will pray for them in the name of Jesus. If they are healed, will you believe that Jesus is the Son of God, crucified, risen and sitting at the right hand of God?" "If your Jesus can do that, then he is not only the Son of God, he is God himself!" they replied. They brought someone, but it was a shock for me. I had been expecting someone with a headache or back pain, but they brought a blind woman.
My faith almost vanished. I prayed "God, please let the earth open up and swallow me." The other students started to vanish in the crowd, because I had told them to make their escape. In this moment of my weakness, the Holy Spirit said to me "Son, I am strong enough to defend my own Word. You do not need to defend me. Your job is just to believe." So I just prayed a very simple prayer: "God, open these blind eyes, so that these people recognise that Jesus is the Son of God." The power of God came upon the woman, her eyes opened and she shouted "I can see! I can see!" I started shouting, too! "The Bible works! The Word of God is real!" The Mullah came to me, saying "We give you our mosque. Please tell our people about Jesus, the Son of God!"

Source: Dr. John Chacha

"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