The Friday Fax - Germany

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)

Germany: even a blind dog sometimes finds a key

nospam@example.com (Friday Fax) — Fri, 14 Oct 2005 15:43:00 +0200

"'Oh no!' I had quite a shock when I realised that I had lost my key during my morning jog," writes Corinne Kotzur from Cottbus, Germany, in the Josua Dienst mission agency's newsletter. "Retracing my steps to look for the key would take me at least an hour. Naturally, I prayed that God would lead me and that I would take the right route... So I turned around and retraced my steps. On the way, I had to pass a man with a large dog. He called out as I passed, 'Excuse me, are you looking for a key? My blind dog just found one!' Ecstatic and astonished that the tiny details of my life are so important to God, I made my way home. He had even used a blind dog, of which I used to be afraid, to find my key."

Source: Josua Bote, Corinne Kotzur

Germany: Berlin's most peaceful 1st May in 20 years

nospam@example.com (Friday Fax) — Fri, 13 May 2005 18:09:00 +0200

Berlin was infamous for the violent demonstrations on 30^th April and 1^st May, International Workers' Day. "That's going to change," reports Kerstin Hack. The 'spiral of violence' was broken last year, with only 'minor incidents' in places known for major violence, and only one single street battle. 2005 was "The most peaceful 1^st May since 20 years!", according to the press. Kerstin Hack: "There were no real street battles, only a few thrown stones and bottles, and one upturned car which lost petrol but did not burn. That's certainly partly due to the many people who celebrated a peaceful May Day and the Police's wisdom, but also to the Christians on the streets praying, both in 2004 and 2005. There was an open-air service, and cleaning teams and prayer teams were on the streets. In 2004, it was relatively peaceful wherever the intercessors were; violence only escalated in places which we had too few people to cover. This year, with only one exception, the violence stopped almost before it began."

Source: Kerstin Hack, e-mail info/at/down-to-earth.de, tel. (+49) 30 822 7962

Germany: Clinic confirms healing from Cancer and Leukaemia

nospam@example.com (Friday Fax) — Fri, 06 May 2005 21:09:00 +0200

After many examinations in specialised clinics following her infection with Hepatitis A, Christina Roth from Dresden was diagnosed as suffering from Hodgkin's Lymphoma (lymph node cancer). Only 20 years old, the diagnosis was a deep shock. She went through chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Many Christians prayed for her, but she was not supernaturally healed; the therapy was effective, and the tumour disappeared. The next shock came only four weeks later during a check-up: she had leukaemia, perhaps as a result of the radiotherapy. On 9^th November 1999, she started her second chemotherapy. Weeks passed in which she was sometimes close to death. Her doctors later suggested a stem cell transplantation, which Christina refused, much to their concern, because they thought she wanted to die. (The stem cell transplantation had a 50% chance of success, chemotherapy 10-20%.) Christina, though, decided to trust God, "who is above all chances of success". Whenever she spoke with her doctors about God, they listened without paying any real attention. A check-up at the Carl Gustav Carus University Clinic in November 2004 finally delivered the long-hoped-for result: "Complete remission of both Hodgkin's Lymphoma and the secondary Acute Myelitic Leukaemia..." "I can now declare you healed!" the doctor said, a statement which is very seldom made of cancer patients.

Source: Christina Roth, Dresden, in Josua Bote (Joshua Courier), Germany. Fax +49 30 672 1415