The Friday Fax - Africa

Germany & Africa: reconciliation process

nospam@example.com (Friday Fax) — Fri, 16 Dec 2005 12:22:00 +0100

"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)

Guinea-Bissau: open to Jesus through suffering

nospam@example.com (Friday Fax) — Fri, 21 Oct 2005 15:00:00 +0200

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

Algeria: God and the Kabyls, just like Acts

nospam@example.com (Friday Fax) — Fri, 07 Oct 2005 16:07:00 +0200

"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

Algeria: unexpected openness among Chinese building workers

nospam@example.com (Friday Fax) — Fri, 07 Oct 2005 16:03:00 +0200

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

7-day trial salvation

nospam@example.com (Friday Fax) — Fri, 30 Sep 2005 10:03:00 +0200

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

John Chacha's Story

nospam@example.com (Friday Fax) — Fri, 23 Sep 2005 10:05:00 +0200

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

Ethiopia: attacker shot the wrong man

nospam@example.com (Friday Fax) — Fri, 12 Aug 2005 18:00:00 +0200

"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

Somalia: first Somali church

nospam@example.com (Friday Fax) — Fri, 12 Aug 2005 17:59:00 +0200

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

Tanzania: Masai open for Jesus

nospam@example.com (Friday Fax) — Fri, 22 Jul 2005 14:37:00 +0200

Werner Drotleff and Hans Ollesch, missionaries with Swiss mission agency AvC ("Aktionskomittee für Verfolgte Christen", Action Committee for Persecuted Christians) report about the Masai in Tanzania: "The Masai are a proud warrior tribe which used to be very resistant to the gospel. Because of their lifestyle, so many of them have AIDS that the tribe is in danger of dying out. Their leaders have recognised this, and opened themselves to the gospel. A new church was planted as the result of an evangelistic outreach around Ngotongoro in 2004; 16 Masai were baptised. The new believers had a difficult time, being persecuted and beaten.

Woman healed of AIDS, witch doctor saved
Some years ago, a new church was also planted in Ebewewe, a village in a Muslim area. A woman was healed of AIDS during an evangelistic outreach, and the local witch doctor was also saved. During another outreach before another new church was opened, Muslims incited youths to disrupt the event. The head of the local mosque even tried to damage the loudspeakers and amplifier. Just in time, though, 30 Muslim village elders arrived and forbade him to continue disrupting the gatherings; they had brought chairs and were ready to hear God's word. The hecklers left. One of the seven people who responded to the altar call was a young Muslim suffering panic attacks, who could hardly sleep at night. The mosque and the witch doctor had been unable to help him, but now he was ready to accept Jesus, along with a married couple known as witch doctors. They belong to the Sigua tribe, which had been very difficult to reach with the gospel. You can see the change in their smiling faces..."

Source: AvC, Hans Ollesch, fax (+41) 32 355 42 48

"DAWN around the world"

nospam@example.com (Friday Fax) — Fri, 01 Jul 2005 15:06:00 +0200

That is the name of the new newsletter published by Dawn Ministries, a global church planting strategy group. "DAWN around the world" replaces the DAWN Report, which they published for many years. Some highlights from the current issue:

Openness in Africa

"Africa is more open for the gospel than it has ever been," reports DAWN Africa Coordinator Danie Vermeulen. "Thousands of Muslims are finding Christ, and some of the most exciting church planting movements are among Muslims. Civil wars, AIDS and political repression are other factors leading growing numbers to open for the gospel..."

Interest in God is growing in Europe

"Secular ideology has failed in Europe, and there is a new interest in religion and spirituality," says Dawn European Network Coordinator Reinhold Scharnowski. "This is starting to affect European culture; writers, artists and talk show guests are speaking increasingly about spirituality. Until recently, people thought that religion is what people believe before they discover science. That has been revealed as myth. The secular faith in progress itself, which was supposed to replace religion, has failed, as clearly shown by the growing church attendance in London. The Hillsong Fellowship, for example, started with an attendance of only 70, but the numbers double every year; the attendance has now reached 5,500, with 1,500 new believers in 2004 alone..."

Uruguay: church numbers doubled

"Recent research shows that the number of Christian churches and the number of new believers in Uruguay has doubled since 1998," reports Amaury Braga, Prayer Coordinator for DAWN in Latin America. "There were around 1,000 churches in 1998, after 150 years of evangelism. This realisation gave birth to a new phase; the churches began a dedicated campaign to mobilise prayer for effective church planting. Now, in 2005, the figures show that in a period of only seven years, not only has the number of churches doubled to over 2,000, but the number of Christians has doubled with it."

Source, and to order the free newsletter "DAWN around the world": Dawn Ministries, PO Box 690787, Orlando, FL 32869-0787, USA, tel. +1 (407) 370-9312, fax +1 (407) 226-8713, e-mail tedmolsen (at) aol.com

Pastor Semo can speak again!

nospam@example.com (Friday Fax) — Fri, 03 Jun 2005 16:54:00 +0200

"In the Autumn of 2003, nobody knew if the translation of the Bible into the East African language Nyungwe would ever be completed; pastor Semo, one of the most important translators, had suffered a major stroke and could no longer speak. Nobody else was prepared or able to lead the team of translators," writes Wycliffe's Judy Boothe. "But God had a wonderful plan: pastor Semo would be healed before the eyes of his relatives, in his home village - surroundings which had been hostile to the Gospel for a long time. And so it came to pass: while pastor Semo was visiting his home village, two of his sisters each dreamt that he would speak again. The same day, an itinerant preacher came to the village. When he saw pastor Semo, he said 'Today, you will speak again,' laid his hands on pastor Semo and prayed. Pastor Semo was immediately able to speak again. The whole village was in tumult, and many came running to see the miracle with their own eyes. Pastor Semo didn't lose any time, and immediately resumed work on the Bible translation, together with four other Nyungwe speakers."

The Bible in 2,377 languages

Wycliffe reports that the Bible is now available at least in part in 2,377 languages, with translation projects currently underway in 1,678. Wycliffe staff are involved in 1,376 of these projects. In 2004, 82 new projects were started. Translations are needed into further 3,000 languages. There are 6,912 known languages, and Wycliffe aims to have at least started translating the Bible into all of them by the year 2025.

Source: Wycliffe, "Welt der Schrift" ("World of the Word") 2/2005

Mozambique: 70 Muslims come to Christ through courageous street children

nospam@example.com (Friday Fax) — Fri, 27 May 2005 13:26:00 +0200

Tabea Geipel works as a missionary among children living on the streets of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and often sees Muslim boys regularly come to Christ. On New Year's Day, Rama, who was baptized two days after giving his life to Christ, dared to tell his devout Muslim relatives about his newly-found faith in Jesus, and even about his baptism - despite knowing that his family may disown him and deny him his inheritance. After three days of praying and fasting, Gaspar, another street kid, went with some of his believing schoolfriends into a region known as an Islamic stronghold, to bring the Gospel to several villages. They experienced strong resistance, particularly from the witch doctors, but many people were healed and delivered by the children's prayers. Over seventy Muslims gave their lives to Christ, and are now being cared for by existing churches.

Source: Tabea Geipel, AvC, fax (+49) 6043 8136, e-mail avcnidda (at) t-online.de

Mozambique: deaf and dumb girl healed

nospam@example.com (Friday Fax) — Fri, 22 Apr 2005 22:01:00 +0200

"Kakala smiles all over her face, and is very excited!" wrote Rolland and Heidi Baker, missionaries in Mozambique, on 8^th April 2005. "She repeats Heidi's words syllable for syllable into the microphone, touching the hearts of everyone in the village. Everyone knows that Kakala was born deaf and dumb. People ran to fetch Kakala's mother, and soon they are both standing in front of the crowd, smiling broadly. The mother again confirms that she had never heard Kakala speak before. Upon hearing the news, someone ran off to fetch another deaf and dumb girl. Heidi and the team prayed for the girl and laid hands on her, and the little Magdalena was also instantly healed, able to hear and speak. An old woman was also healed – Jesus restored her sight."

When whole villages are saved

"The whole village had gathered, and many had travelled miles from the surrounding villages on hearing that we were coming," the Bakers continue. "They saw the Jesus Film, and Heidi preached and told them what Jesus had already done in their region. The result was that the entire village unanimously decided to accept the Gospel. During our missionary outreaches in the traditionally Muslim province Cabo Delgado in northern Mozambique, we regularly see whole villages eagerly turning to Jesus the first time they hear our message. Whenever we preach the Gospel as simply, intensely and clearly as we can, there is no resistance: the poor come out of their huts, clothed in rags, and run to Jesus. They accept him as their new Lord without hesitation or doubt, renouncing their old lives of dependency on witch doctors, enslaved by evil spirits, false religion and traditions, and kneel in the dust of their village square, worshipping their new saviour Jesus. In the past two years, over 190 new churches have formed in Cabo Delgado's villages; more are added every week. The harvest in Mozambique is truly ripe…"

Source: Rolland and Heidi Baker, Iris Ministries, P.O. Box 275, Pemba, Cabo Delgado, Mozambique, tel. (+258)-82-303-0

Zambia: the President is baptised

nospam@example.com (Friday Fax) — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 22:14:00 +0200

"The President of Zambia was recently publicly baptised as a sign of his faith in Jesus Christ," report Southern Baptist missionaries. Hundreds of guests, including public officials and leading national and foreign pastors, clapped and cheered as President Levy Mwanawasa climbed out of the baptism pool outside a Baptist chapel in Lusaka, the nations' capital. In a packed service, Mwanawasa spoke of his spiritual journey, telling of his 'Damascus experience', similar to that of the apostle Paul on the Damascus road.

Mwanawasa, a successful lawyer and previously Vice President, was elected as President in 2002. His reputation as an extremely honest person earned him the nickname "Mr. Integrity", even with his political opponents. Mwanawasa attended a Baptist school as a boy, but his relationship with Jesus started to change completely when he began attending the Twin Palm Baptist Church in Lusaka in 2003. Some missionaries believe that the President's baptism is a special sign of what God is beginning to do in the nation. The Baptist churches are growing significantly, according to the report, with 116 new Baptist churches started in the past year alone, bringing the total to 985, with a further 124 mission stations.

Source: International Mission Board