Author: Geoff

Geoff Waugh is the founding editor of the Renewal Journal and an author of books on renewal and revival and Christian living.
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The 'Unqualified' Farmer

by Geoff 19 April 2017 No Comments

West Africa: The ‘unqualified’ farmer

“Church planting is the result of simply sowing Jesus,” says Canadian missionary Andy Rayner who blogs at The Invisible Humanitarian.

Rayner, a former ordained theologian and local church minister who “jumped off the steeple to live among the people” as he calls it, heads up Man Of Peace Development, a non-profit humanitarian organization. He lives two lives: in the drought season he does hands-on development field work in Mali, West Africa, while in the wet part of the year he captains a commercial lobster fishing vessel from Prince Edward Island at Canada’s East Coast.

‘My guiding philosophy is: Simple, economical, easily repeated.’

“My guiding philosophy for everything is: ‘Simple, economical, easily repeated’,” Rayner says. “In West Africa I learned the hard way that most approaches to community development are too complicated and expensive to be repeated by locals. I’m trained in theology, but God made it clear to me that our western style of leadership is not needed to advance the church. I have observed that the mass people movements taking place today have many common characteristics. The most interesting, and humbling, is that every one of them spread apart from theologically trained people or association with theological institutions.”  

In Mongola the Gospel was spread by young school girls. On weekends and school vacations one girl’s family would invite another friend home. And the young girls would tell their other friends the bible stories while they played. Not a planned thing. It just happened, as missionary Brian Hogan vividly described in ‘There’s a Sheep in my Bathtub’. The adults overheard them tell the stories in their yurts and listened. By this the Gospel spread in a region formerly impenetrable to foreign mission activity.

‘No gift qualifies or disqualifies anyone from sowing Jesus.’

“There is no talk about leadership or the five-fold ministry in these circles,” Rayner comments. “Old women of no apparent leadership attributes have planted more churches than I have. I’ve come to believe that no gift qualifies or disqualifies anyone from loving others, sharing Jesus, or planting a church. Church planting is the result of sowing Jesus.”
He illustrates his point with an anecdote from West Africa. “We turned over a new work of 18 communities of believers to a mission agency, and moved on to start another new work. The agency sent five mission families in… and the expansion of communities stopped instantly. Four years later the westerners asked me to come back and do something, anything, to get mission and church planting to begin again. I spent 30 days in the bush with the local men and listened and listened some more. After that I did the same with the westerners, and learned that they were very critical of one farmer.”

‘That farmer you criticized brought the Gospel to nine villages.’

“So I asked the five families how many church communities they had started here. ‘None’, they said. ‘How many communities have you started anywhere in your life?’ I asked. ‘None’, they said. I replied: ‘Well, that farmer you are criticizing has brought the Gospel to nine villages. With no pay, no salary, no expense money, no bible college training, and he did it without your fancy training programs designed to teach him how it’s done. This farmer has more Gospel living and church forming experience in his pinky fingernail, right now, than all five western families will ever have in a lifetime, combined. So why don’t we get out of the peoples way?’”

“The uneducated rural farmers were defaulting to the educated important people, as they always do in those cultures,” Rainer explains. “The farmers were submitting to all of the westerners meetings, classes, and training programs. But for four years the advancement of the Gospel slowed to a trickle, not one new community was started.”

The five family mission team agreed to step back. Rayner and his team went back to the bush, and all of the villages met. Within thirty days a new community sprung up, and by three months there were four new Jesus communities.

Source: Andy Rayner

Joel News International, # 1034 | April 18, 2017
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Christians reach out to Muslims

by Geoff 6 April 2017 3 Comments

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UK: Christians reach out to Muslims in 40 cities

‘A Turkish imam’s daughter has inspired many by personally leading over 100 Muslims to Christ.’

We are currently presented with one of the greatest opportunities of our time: to unveil Jesus to Muslim people in the Western world and bring them to Christ.

The number of people identifying themselves as Muslim in the UK has grown by almost 70% in ten years, from 1.6 million in 2001 to 2.7 million in 2011. It is estimated to grow to 5.5 million by 2020. Across Europe, there are already 47 million Muslims. By the year 2030, there will be 58 million Muslims in Europe, 8% of the population. Islam has found a home in Europe.

To seize this opportunity a new network called ‘Mahabba’ (‘love’ in Arabic) is developing in the UK, networking both agencies and churches, and proving to be a catalyst to unity and prayer. Its emphasis is on motivating and mobilizing ‘ordinary’ Christians rather than just ‘specialists’ to reach their Muslim neighbours and help them grow in Christ.

‘A Turkish imam’s daughter has inspired many by personally leading over 100 Muslims to Christ.’

Director Gordon Hickson on the Mahabba Network reports the first fruits. “In Oxford, it took two years to break through in prayer, but then about 40 Muslim people came to Christ over the next five years, especially among the Iranian fellowship. They were joined by an imam sheikh from Uganda who was an expert in Sharia law: he had a radical conversion experience, and now spends hours witnessing to Arabic speaking Muslims studying in Oxford. A Turkish imam’s daughter came to Christ outside of Oxford and has inspired many by personally leading over 100 Muslims to Christ.”

Most of the networks are witnessing Muslims coming to Christ. In Manchester, in just a few days, a young man from Pakistan walked into the cathedral asking to convert; a Saudi woman walked into a church and asked to become a Christian; and a Somali man shared with his Christian friend that he wanted to become a Christian.

‘The goal is to have 75 Mahabba networks across the UK in 2019.’

Mahabba networks have now been launched in over 40 cities across the UK, as well as spreading across to France, Belgium, Norway, Austria, and even South Africa. They have been asked to help establish networks in India and Korea. One couple has moved across to Chicago (home to over 400,000 Muslims) and another to help set up in Australia. The goal over the next two years is to have 75 Mahabba networks across the UK, with strong relational networks with others across Europe and other Western nations.

Source: Gordon Hickson, Mahabba Network

Joel News International, # 1032 | April 05, 2017

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charismatic renewal, evangelism, prayer, revival , ,

Students ignite charismatic movement

by Geoff 6 April 2017 2 Comments

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Global: How God used Catholic students to ignite a charismatic movement

Fifty years ago, Catholic Charismatics as a group didn’t exist. Today, there are around 120 million of them. Their emergence began when the Holy Spirit came to a dozen Catholic students in a Pennsylvania forest in February 1967.

They were from Pittsburgh’s Duquesne University, out to enjoy a spiritual weekend retreat at a place called The Ark & The Dove. The theme of the retreat was the person and the work of the Holy Spirit. Retreat leaders had assigned each of the students coming to first read David Wilkerson’s The Cross and the Switchblade – a miracle-filled story of a young Pentecostal pastor leading violent New York City gang members to the Lord.

As she read it, Patti Mansfield (then Gallagher) found herself asking, “Why isn’t the Holy Spirit doing these dramatic things in my life?” That led her to pray, “Lord, as a Catholic, I believe I’ve already received Your Spirit in baptism and confirmation. But if it’s possible for Your Spirit to do more in my life than He’s done till now, I want it.”

‘My spiritual life felt powerless and pedestrian. It was like I was pushing a car uphill.’

It first hit David Mangan, though, after he listened to a teaching that weekend that the Holy Spirit could still bring tongues and power like dynamite. Mangan wanted both – the tongues and the dynamite – and asked the Lord for it because his Christianity felt powerless and pedestrian. “My spiritual life could not be described as dynamite,” he said. “It was limping along. The way I describe it, it was like I was pushing a car uphill.” As for what he was hearing about the gift of tongues, he was so intrigued, “I wrote in my notebook, ‘I want to hear someone speak in tongues – me.’ I realized I did that because I don’t know how much I would’ve believed it if it was someone else.”
 
Mangan received a powerful answer as he sought the Lord alone that weekend in a chapel located on the upper floor of The Ark & The Dove, a location that’s become known now as the Upper Room. That’s the same name used for the place where the Holy Spirit fell in the Book of Acts on the disciples after Jesus had ascended to heaven. 

‘I lost all sense of time. I was lost in Christ and happy to be so.’

“The presence of God was so thick, so powerful, you could cut it with a knife,” Mangan said of the atmosphere in that room. “It’s the most intense experience I’ve ever had in my life. Time meant nothing to me. I had no idea if it was two minutes or two hours; it made no difference. I was lost in Christ, and happy to be so.”
 
And he got his dynamite. “There were all these electrical explosions going on in my body,” Mangan described. Then he began to speak in tongues. The overwhelming feeling caused him to run and ask the retreat leaders if it was really possible. They said it is a valid experience which happened throughout history to a lot of saints. The experience infused him with a new dynamism and power in his spiritual life – or as he puts it, “It was like somebody told me that the car I’d been pushing uphill had a motor and now I had the key.”

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Shortly thereafter, Patty Mansfield had her own Holy Spirit encounter as she was in the same chapel and His Presence came upon her. “As I knelt in that chapel, I actually began to tremble with this sense of, ‘My gosh, this is God and He’s holy!’” she said. Mansfield soon found herself prostrate, flat on her face. “And as I was lying there, I felt immersed in the love of God. I realized that if I could experience the love, the goodness, the sweetness, the mercy of God like that, anyone could.”

‘What happened to you? You look different! Your face is glowing!’

When right after her experience Mansfield encountered two young ladies, they said: “What happened to you? You look different! Your face is glowing!” She was so excited by what was happening, that she dragged the young ladies right up to the Upper Room so they, too, could experience what she just had. About a dozen ended up with her and David Mangan in the chapel.

As Mansfield describes it in her book As By a New Pentecost, like before, a heavenly Presence filled the Upper Room. “As we were kneeling, some were weeping, others were laughing for joy. Again others, like myself, felt like our bodies were on fire. My hands and my arms were tingling. Others, like David, knew that they wanted to praise God, but it wasn’t going to come out in English.”

‘He said: You’re praying in Arabic! I was astounded. I had no idea.’

At a prayer meeting soon after, a student of French was sitting next to Mangan when he started to pray in tongues. “David, I didn’t know you spoke French,” she said. He said: “Oh, I don’t speak French. I only studied Latin and German.” She told him he was praising God for streams of living water and thanking the Lord for the Divine Child who had come. Later, seeking confirmation, Mangan visited a linguist, who asked the young man to pray. After a few minutes, he jumped up with a look of shock on his face. “You are speaking Middle French!” The linguist asked Mangan to pray for him some more. “When we finished, he turned around and said, ‘Now you’re praying in Arabic!’ And I was astounded. I had no idea.”

In the months and years that followed, by word of mouth, the Catholic Charismatic Renewal spread from the The Ark & The Dove and Duquesne University across the world. Holy Spirit-baptized Catholics and non-Catholics gathered in interdenominational gatherings where their differences and conflicts melted away, and all that mattered was that they were one in the Spirit.

‘The charismatic movement is a current of grace.’
 
“Now we share this new alive faith in the Spirit and a personal relationship with Christ, I’ve seen many walls come down,” Mark Nehrbas, a Catholic Charismatic who frequently worships with non-Catholics said. Another one, Deacon Darrell Wentworth, points out how Jesus preached in John 17 that such unity is essential for the world to believe. “We need to love one another and be a bold witness for God, so that the world can see that the Father loves everybody.”
 
Pope Francis has encouraged the Charismatic Renewal, calling it ‘a current of grace’, and urged the Charismatics to bless the entire Church with what they have.

Source: Patti Mansfield and David Mangan, interviewed by Paul Strand, summarized by Joel News International, # 1031 | April 5, 2017

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Our Mob, God's Story

by Geoff 2 April 2017 No Comments

Indigenous Christian artists from across Australia, representing 41 languages, celebrate the bicentenary of Bible Society Australia in a new publication, Our Mob, God’s Story.

Indigenous artists share faith through painting

Aboriginal 5000

Jesus Feeding the Five Thousand by Ellen Draper

In an age when knowledge of the Bible seems to be fading, many indigenous Australians claim it as an important game changer in their lives, reports Rachel Kohn for The Spirit of Things on Radio National.

 

Among the 73 per cent of indigenous Australians who claim Christianity as their faith — more than the general population — Max Conlon, artist and Christian minister from Murgon, Queensland, is not atypical.

“Somebody invited me to church one day, so I went along. That day was meant for me. It was ‘divine appointment’,” Conlon said. “The man was preaching that somebody loved me; my heart was popping — that he died on the cross. I had never heard that before.

“I gave my heart to Jesus that day, and a light switched on in my life.”

Conlon is one of 66 artists representing 41 language groups who have contributed their stories and their artwork to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Bible Society Australia.

The result is a large and lushly produced book, which Conlon has named Our Mob: God’s Story.

The book represents an important shift in the thinking of Bible Society, which since its early days has been primarily devoted to distributing copies of the Bible and “spreading the word”.

But as Bible Society Australia chief executive Greg Clarke admits, the languages of the heart are different for different people.

For indigenous Australians, he says, pictorial forms of communication are embedded in their traditional art.

“There’s been a real iconoclasm in Christianity that sees the picture as less valuable than the word,” Mr Clarke says. “Some of the metaphors for Jesus and God are word based, but we can’t limit ourselves to those things.

“There are just so many resources God’s given us to understand Him and the world, and a lot of those things are visual resources or audio resources.

“We’re crazy if we limit ourselves to one form of communication. They all play different roles.”

Indigenous Christians Celebrate the Bible

Sunday 12 March 2017 6:05PM (view full episode)
Painting by Max Conlon Image: Commissioned by Bible Society Australia for UBS Round Table Event 2017 (Supplied: Max Conlon)

The Word expressed through pictures.

Bible Society’s CEO, Greg Clarke, discusses the changes in communicating the Gospel with indigenous Christian minister and artist, Max Conlon, from Murgon, Queensland.

Includes the words of 14 contributing artists who speak about their faith, their indigenous identity and their art.

Painting of sunflowers Image: Sunflowers (Garden of Eden) (Supplied: Bronwyn Coleman)

ABC Radio – Sunday, 12 March
About 50 minutes of pure, positive listening to something deeply good in Australia:
https://radio.abc.net.au/programitem/pgmlGmDNL7?play=true
Indigenous Christians Celebrate the Bible on The Spirit of Things

The Bible Society in Australia, 1817-2017, Bi-Centenary,
the oldest continuing organization in Australia.

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Africa, Christian ministry, Christian mission, evangelism, healing, mission, Reinhard Bonnke , , , ,

Reinhard Bonnke’s final crusade in Africa

by Geoff 30 March 2017 3 Comments

Reinhard Bonnke’s final crusade in Africa – November 2017

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Reinhard Bonnke’s final crusade in Africa:
https://renewaljournal.com/2017/03/30/reinhard-bonnkes-final-crusade-in-africa/

See also: Reinhard Bonnke’s beginnings in Africa
See also: “This Disco is a Church”
See also: Immune to Fear, by Reinhard Bonnke
See also: Reinhard Bonnke – 1940-2019 – a Tribute – 2019

See link for report – Lagos, Nigeria, November 2017

Reinhard Bonnke Preaches for the Last Time in Africa

We have just returned from a very special and very emotional service. Tonight, Evangelist Reinhard Bonnke preached the Gospel for the last time on African soil after 50 years of powerful ministry. His wife, Anni and his children were with him on the platform. Our national directors and many ministry friends from all over the world were there to be a part of the historic moment. More than 1.7 million people attended the five days of meetings. Countless miracles took place and many thousands of salvations were recorded. I cannot imagine a more fitting way to celebrate 50 years of Evangelist Bonnke’s ministry than with one more massive harvest of souls in Africa. It was truly a remarkable and historic event. It will stand out in my memory as one of the most precious days in my life.

We faced an unusual level of resistance this week – such as I have not experienced in my time with the ministry. But the Lord spoke to us clearly that what we were experiencing was birthing pangs. Although this crusade was Evangelist Bonnke’s Farewell in Africa, it is really just the beginning of something new and wonderful. God has given me the vision for a “Decade of Double Harvest.” I believe that over the next decade, we will see another 75-million people won to Christ and tonight was the beginning. No wonder we are feeling the pangs of birth. I will share more specifics on this in the days to come, but for now it is enough to say we are on the threshold of “even greater” things. As Evangelist Bonnke has often said, “Nothing diminishes in God.”

This also marks the last crusade of the year. As we approach the end of one year and the beginning of another, I am so thankful for those of you that have stood with us so faithfully through your prayers and giving. Please continue to stand with us as we enter this new season of harvest. All hands are needed on deck. The best is yet to come. We love and appreciate each one of you.

Yours in the Gospel,

Evangelist Daniel Kolenda

Together with Reinhard Bonnke, Peter Vandenberg, and the whole CfaN Team

 

Gallery

The number is staggering: 75,913,155. That’s how many people have come to Christ through the ministry of Reinhard Bonnke, as reported by his organization Christ for all Nations (CfaN). 

The German-born evangelist said on CfaN’s website. “I want not only to see a gigantic harvest of souls but to pass my burning torch to a new generation of evangelists.”

Bonnke, his wife Anni, and their young son moved to the tiny African nation of Lesotho in 1969. The couple spent seven years working there as missionaries. It wasn’t easy. Bonnke says it was during those difficult years that he started praying to see more souls saved across the African continent. He says God gave him a vision for “a continent washed in the blood of Jesus Christ.”
The early days in Lesotho (1974)
 

In 1974, Christ for All Nations was birthed, and since then more than 75 million people have accepted Christ through the ministry. All these years later, Bonnke says the vision still burns in his soul. “Whether I am eating or drinking, awake or asleep, the vision is ever-present. It never leaves me.”

Now, at 77, Bonnke is passing the torch to a new generation of evangelists as he prepares to retire after more than 40 years in ministry. Lead evangelist of CfaN, Daniel Kolenda, has been tapped to succeed Bonnke.

The preparations for the final crusade involved “500,000 counselors, 200,000 intercessors, a choir of over 23,000 and a security force of over 10,000,” said John Darku, CfaN’s African director. “There is great excitement from all the churches in the country, and we are expecting a spectacular harvest of people coming to Christ.”

Source: Christ for all Nations

Joel News International, March 15, 2017
Bonnke’s Lagos campaign drew a crowd of 1.6 million people (2000)

See also: Reinhard Bonnke’s beginnings in Africa

See also: “This Disco is a Church”

See also: Reinhard Bonnke 1940-2019 – Legacy of Harvest

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evangelism, revival ,

Christianity exploding in Bangladesh

by Geoff 30 March 2017 1 Comment

Bangladesh: The Christian faith is ‘exploding’

Sandwiched between India and Myanmar, Bangladesh is the third largest Muslim-majority country in the world. Despite persecution, the Christian faith is growing fast in this nation.

Bangladesh is 89% Muslim and nearly 10% Hindu, according to the Joshua Project, with Christians numbering less than one percent. Often beset by floods, cyclones and tornadoes roaring through the Bengal Delta, it also has the sad distinction of ranking number one in the world for children suffering malnutrition.

One ministry leader, who recently completed a fact-finding trip to the country, believes Christians are being undercounted. “Christianity is much larger and growing, especially in the rural areas,” says Jim Jacobson, president of Christian Freedom International (CFI). On his trip, Jacobson interviewed scores of indigenous Christian pastors, street evangelists, missionaries and converts to Christianity. “According to them, Christianity is on the increase, mostly underground, and the growth is a cause of concern for the Muslim majority, leading to persecution.”

‘20,000 Muslims have converted among the hill tribes’

One 60-year-old pastor, a former Muslim, reported to Jacobson that 20,000 Muslims have converted to Christianity among the hill tribes of northeast Bangladesh in the last 12 months. This pastor faces many hardships, has been beaten numerous times, and must pay bribes to the police to continue his ministry.

Another pastor and Muslim convert to Christianity told him that in his district more than 6,000 have converted to Christ since 1991. This pastor has been targeted for assassination by a radical islamist group. He told CFI, “Of course I am afraid, but when I think about my spiritual life I am not afraid. We continue to preach, no matter what.”
Jacobson believes the under-reporting of believers is because most tallies only count ‘traditional Christians’, people born into the Christian faith who attend government-approved churches. “But ‘converts’, those who change their religion from Islam to Christianity are not counted and no surveys have been made,” he contends. “The number of Christians in Bangladesh may be as high as 10 percent of the population.”

One pastor told Jacobson that after he converted in 2007, his rickshaw shop and tea business were taken away from him and he was disowned by his family. “Two imams caught him talking about Christianity in the market and attacked him. The imams beat him and tied him with ropes in front of a nearby mosque. His sons ransomed him only after they agreed that they would force him to reconvert to Islam.” When the sons failed to persuade him to return to Islam, they beat their father nearly to death, took all his possessions and left him for dead. In this pastor’s rural village, he has seen more than 700 Muslims convert to Christianity in the last two years.

‘Especially the young people are interested in Christ’

Babul, a Muslim who converted Christianity in 2013, once worked as a day laborer. After his conversion, his life was threatened and he was disowned by his family. He had to go into hiding in the jungle to survive. After eight months in the jungle, some Christian converts helped him. He is now a ‘street preacher’ and faces many hardships to share the gospel. He has been beaten numerous times but sees it as a badge of honor. “The young like me, are converting,” Babul told Jacobson. “Many more are interested in Christ.”

Bakar, another Christian convert told CFI, “Christianity is really growing in Bangladesh. The next generation is becoming Christian. We believe that Bangladesh will become a Christian nation one day. Islam has no mercy, no compassion, no love. It has nothing to offer. Christianity offers the assurance of eternal life, it offers hope.”

Source: Jim Jacobson, CFI

Joel News International, March 15, 2017

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Power to Change – PNG

by Geoff 8 March 2017 No Comments

PP

I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now
Philippians 1:3-5

Power to Change (formerly Student Life) from the University of Queensland (UQ) partnered with the University of PNG Student Life (UPNG) in Port Moresby.  Here’s their report.

Mission: To equip and empower the local students to own the local movement to reach the lost for Christ

Tharindu FERNANDO – Project Leader
On behalf of the Pacific Propulsion team, I just wanted to say thank you so much for supporting us both financially and prayerfully as we embarked on this project. It has been an incredible privilege partnering with you in the advancement of the Gospel. I hope and pray that you felt a part of the project and that you can see firsthand the fruits of your investment for the Kingdom. God was incredibly gracious towards our team (this being the first ever student led international team) and He was especially kind in how He worked everything out for His glory. We continued to build on existing friendships and relationships with Power to Change at the University of Papua New Guinea. The following pages are some of the testimonies of what God did in our time in PNG. I pray that you are encouraged greatly and may you ever be falling more in love with Jesus.

PNG team
The team (left to right): Bianca, Josh, Nathan, Tharindu, Stephen, Suzanne, Ebony

Nathan WOTI
Student Life, University of Papua New Guinea
I guess I’ll start by saying God is good. Because he is so good we were able to have PP this year, I thank God for that. I personally thought that we wouldn’t conduct PP or I might not attend it, for so many reasons. But again for he is a good God we had our PP and ended it successfully. I was blessed and changed by this PP 2017. The Aussie team that came this year really lift my spirit in witnessing and sharing my faith. Just by seeing them on campus everyday doing training inspired me to come out of my comfort zone and find that same passion that they have for Christ.
UPNG [University of PNG] Student Life see the vision more clearly now. And that I believe it’s through the PP. It gave us hope and motivation to never give up sharing our faith with others and Win, Build, and train souls for God’s Kingdom sake. I learned a lot of new and interesting topics throughout the PP. Topics such as Apologetics and Prayer were new, and I enjoyed it more. But other topics as well were awesome. It came with new revelation and was much more clear to me this time. The team that came, again was a blessing in itself. Seeing that some of them were so young, but still had to come for the sake of gospel really brought our ministry on campus to life because it challenged us to be more for Jesus and be passionate whilst doing it.

 
Baki Yapsie TVENGKOFA
Student Life, University of Papua New Guinea
PNG Baki
Baki on the far left, with some of the other guys embracing the mud
As another ordinary Papua New Guinean, the word ‘Christian’, is a normal thing, like a normal regular expression where I used when asked what sort of religion I fall under. But I didn’t really know how or what it felt like to be a Christian. I didn’t even know how to have a relationship Him.
When I was in grade 6 back in 2008, I sort of left the Church I was attending, I really stopped myself from attending the church services and youth programs. This was the time that I broke my connection with God. And between 2009 and 2016 was a hell for me. I’ve come across many things that could have really taken my life away. I was so focused with what the world has to offer that I fall short of God’s Glorious standards. Even though I knew that God exists, I never really made it known that He Exists, I always took His grace and compassion for granted and never really believed that Jesus Christ took my place to take the punishment for my sin. His story was like another tale or story to tell.
But I am really thankful that God has a plan for my life and has called me back. Thanks to Dianne’s follow up, I’ve come across to meet you guys. Throughout the last two weeks of the Pacific propulsion, I would say, it has been a life changing moment for me. I have learnt a lot from what you guys have imparted to us. Going through the KGP (the Knowing God Personally booklet that shares what the gospel is) made me realize how I’ve grown away from God and how to mend this broken relationship. Going through the training has changed my perspective of being a Christian, and has taught me a lot about having Personal time with God. It’s an awesome experience to once again,
Baki on the far left, with some of the other guys embracing the mud
come to know that God never forgets His own Creation. I’ve been praying every day, asking the Lord to help me grow closer to Him and experience His Love and Grace every day. What I really learnt from the Team is the Passion that you guys have for the Christ and the confidence to spread His Gospel. Throughout my entire life, I don’t even know how to read my bible. Saying a word of prayer is a really hard thing for me to do, it’s like I don’t even have time for God, every minute of my life was wasted doing other unworthy things. But through attending Pacific Propulsion, I learnt some of the ways which can help me to manage my time and how to find and understand my spiritual gift. Also your testimonies about how each of you have found Christ in your life and have accepted Him as your personal Lord and Saviour has really influenced me to build a relationship with God.
So yeah, I would like to say thank you to you guys and most of all, I would like to thank the Lord for helping me to find the confidence and courage to spread the Gospel. Now I am looking forward to knowing more about God and I want Him to come and take the first place in My Life.

 

Nathan RAASCH
3rd year Engineering student at the University of Queensland
PNG Nathan
Nathan & Baki
My time in PNG can’t really be summed up in words but alas I will try my best to provide you with just a glimpse of what God was and is still doing over in the land of the unexpected. On the 4th day there, I lead a training session on how to do effective follow up. Nathan, who is one of the local movement builders, asked if I could come with him to sit in on a follow up that he had with a guy called Baki. So Nathan, Baki and I had a really great chat where I got to watch Nathan apply the training I had just taught and also hear about Baki and how he saw Dianne (one of the missionaries who is actually his cousin) do a complete 180. He told us about how she became 100% sold out for Jesus and with her constant encouragement and nagging he started to want that for himself. I got the privilege to walk alongside Baki the rest of the time we were there. Myself and a few of the lads from our team got to go through assurance of salvation, how to study the bible, and a bunch of other things to help him in his faith. My highlight was going out sharing with him on the last day we were at campus. Baki was really shy so all I asked him to do was to initiate the conversation and I would do the rest. I was absolutely blown away after our first conversation where Baki initiated the conversation and just as I was about to step in and share the gospel Baki just started going through the gospel and the KGP (Knowing God Personally) with his friend. I was blown away by his courage and confidence in sharing, I barely had to step in or help him out at all. The thing that amazes me is how much he had grown in just a week and a half. From a new Christian who wanted to turn his life around, to a man who is 100% sure of his salvation, knows how to not just read the bible but to actually study it, and is equipped to share the gospel. That’s what truly blew my mind. I have never seen growth like that anywhere before.

 

Jessica JOSEPH
1st year student, University of Papua New Guinea
PNG Jess
Jess & Beautlyn (one of the student leaders in the movement)
I just want to thank God for his grace, love and blessings. During the two weeks of Pacific Propulsion, I have learnt a lot of things. One of the main things that stood out for me is evangelism (how to share my faith with others). I learned to be bold and brave about my faith and share it using evangelism tools. I also learned how to use this amazing evangelism tool called KGP and how to apply analogies while sharing! It makes it more fun and easy to share my faith. To share KGP and my faith with strangers is easy but with friends is challenging and I thank God that it was his Holy Spirit that empowered me to have the courage to speak to my friends. During evangelism time, I took the initiative to speak to my friends and four of them prayed to receive Jesus Christ and accept him as their Lord and Saviour. I am following up and meeting up with them. I am blessed to be equipped on how to evangelize to others, being the light in the dark so others can see and come to know God personally. My testimony is to live for God and not for myself.

He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.   Luke 10:2

Clyde VIIA
Student Life, University of Papua New Guinea
The Pacific Propulsion Project 2017 for me personally was truly a blessing. Being my first one to attend, it was an amazing experience getting to work with the team from Australia as well as my friends from PNG. I have learnt a lot that has really helped me grow in my faith over the two weeks and just being able to spend some time with people who share the same passion as me was really encouraging.
The Project has really opened my eyes to a lot of things that we still lack on campus here at UPNG and what I’ve really come to see is the importance of the movement of God that we are all a part of and how it cannot see itself through because it needs our cooperation, invested time and support to see it through.
For me personally as a leader with Student Life here at UPNG, this has really taught me a great deal and that I need to improve and fully take on the responsibilities that come with this position in order to see this movement grow from where it is now to where we want it to be.
I thank God for the opportunity that me and my friends have had in attending this year’s Pacific Propulsion Project and also in being a part of this Movement here at UPNG. I know that the Project has also taught my friends a lot and it is my prayer that we all will fully utilize what we have learned over the course of this two weeks and be practical in carrying it out.
I would also like to thank God for the team of students from Australia who we were able to work together with during this year’s project. Your coming here to PNG was timely and I know God will continue to use you all in amazing and powerful ways.
2017 is going to be a big year for all of us, let’s continue to go hard for Jesus this year.
Let GO and let GOD!

 

Ebony HUNT
3rd year student at the University of Queensland
PNG Cynthia
Cynthia, Ebony & Tracy
One highlight of my time in PNG was seeing how God appointed and used our time there to influence Tracy and Cynthia. I met Tracy on our very first day on campus and she was the first person I approached in Evangelism. She had walked away from the Lord due to a family tragedy four years ago, but said through tears that she wanted to hear the gospel! After going through the gospel together and talking about suffering, Tracy expressed that the desire of her heart was to be in personal relationship with Jesus, and she received Jesus as her personal Lord and Saviour. She was concerned however, that she would be mocked and misunderstood by her friends who knew her for her old life. She brought her closest friend Cynthia to our trainings at the Uni chapel and God touched Cynthia’s heart in a really big way! Especially through a follow-up study on assurance of salvation! By the end of our time together the two girls had come to join us almost every day at the chapel and came out to do evangelism with me on our last campus day. They have both contacted me via email and facebook multiple times since to express how much our time there impacted their relationships with the Lord. Even to walk away from such a short mission trip and have impacted one person for Christ is all worth it and most certainly a work of the Holy Spirit! How amazing that He asks us to tag along for the ride.

Salome BILL
3rd year student, University of Papua New Guinea
After attending Pacific Propulsion 2017, I have learnt a lot of things which have helped me to grow my faith in Christ. I have learnt on how to manage my time, how to share my faith with others using KGP, how to do Bible study and how to have quiet time. PP2017, has moulded and shaped me into becoming a new and good person. I have seen changes in my life and I really thank the Lord for what he has done in my life. To God be the glory!

 

Elton MATAVIA
Student Life Missionary, Papua New Guinea
PNG Elton
Elton and Tharindu
It’s been very busy weeks heading towards PPP. Winding down with Fiji ministry and Switching gears back to PNG ministry and PPP coming up was what I was caught up with. I did not spend much time planning the PPP but I did spend time praying for a life changing project which God did honor. We expected 10 local students for the PPP but God provided us more than 10. I was so encouraged to see students catching the vision of Student Life to win souls and to build Spiritual movements everywhere. One thing I Was happy about is the commitment that students showed attending training during class time. They sacrificed some of their classes just to sit in for the training. This shows the passion they have for the gospel to reach the unreached. By the power of the Holy Spirit l am looking at doubling the movement builders from last year.
Thank you Power to Change for the partnership we have in building people up in their faith in Jesus Christ.
PNG all
Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”  Matthew 28:18-20

Power to Change – Brisbane

Power to Change, Australia

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Sheikh sent to assassinate pastor is converted

by Geoff 21 February 2017 No Comments

Uganda: Sheikh sent to assassinate pastor experiences Saul-type conversion.

A Muslim sheikh, trained in Islamic proselytization, went to a church service to kill a Ugandan bishop. Like Saul of Tarsus persecuting the earliest Christians, God had other plans for his life.

In Amuria, about 170 miles northeast of Kampala, on December 4, Bishop George Edweu of the Pentecostal Upright Church, was preaching about hearing and understanding the voice of God. A 24-year-old sheikh who had come with murderous intent was sitting calmly among the congregation of 200 people. But as he listened to the bishop’s message, the power of the Gospel began to convict him of sin.

‘I was sent to kill you and destroy the church’

The Word and the Spirit broke through the stony places in the sheikh’s heart, causing him to rush up to the podium and fall headlong at the bishop’s feet. Bishop Edweu’s eyes widened when he saw the young man approach, he stopped preaching and began to question him. “I was sent to come and attack, to kill you and destroy the church,” he told the shocked bishop, as tears rolled down the sheikh’s face. He repented of his sins as the shaken congregation looked on as Bishop Edweu prayed for him. Then the would-be assassin put his faith in Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior and was born again.

News of the former sheikh’s conversion from Islam to Christianity spread swiftly, and the young sheikh knew he had to go into hiding because of death threats. His wife and two children, ages 2 and 4, took refuge with him at an undisclosed location.  …
On January 2nd, when Bishop Edweu was on his way to his church at 5 a.m. for a morning devotion, he saw a young man on the ground, apparently in trouble. As a Good Samaritan, he got out of his car to attend to him. As he approached, six masked men suddenly appeared and grabbed Bishop Edweu, demanding that he reveal the whereabouts of the sheikh. Some of the men began slapping and kicking the bishop; others hit him with sticks.

“As I fell down, a vehicle with bright lights flashed, which scared them away, and they disappeared into the nearby bush,” Bishop Edweu said. “The vehicle arrived and took me into the church compound. Inside the church building we found a letter with a threatening message: ‘We are going to destroy your church unless you show us where [name withheld] is.’” …

‘More persecution could be imminent’

The bishop and his congregation fear more persecution could be imminent. The incident was the latest in a series of anti-Christian attacks in eastern Uganda.
About 85 percent of the people in Uganda are Christian and 11 percent Muslim, with some eastern areas having large Muslim populations. The country’s constitution and other laws provide for religious freedom, including the right to propagate one’s faith and convert from one faith to another, but Christians in eastern Uganda are suffering continual attacks by non-state figures.

Source: Morning Star News
Joel News International, #1027, February 20, 2017

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Outstanding Christian medical missionary

by Geoff 7 February 2017 No Comments
The prize money will be used to create the country’s first postgraduate medical training, add 48 new beds to the 172 at Kibuye Hope Hospital, and improve lower-limb fracture care – a crucial need in a country that travels by foot. “Literally hundreds of people will walk because of this prize,” Fader said. “Thousands of people will be cared for. And tens of thousands will be helped by the doctors we train here.”

Burundi: Outstanding Christian medical missionary

A missionary surgeon to Burundi has won the first-ever $500,000 Gerson L’Chaim prize for outstanding Christian medical service. Jason Fader, whose parents were also medical missionaries, is 1 of 13 surgeons serving the 10 million people in the sub-Saharan African country. Three-quarters of the population is malnourished, making Burundi the hungriest country in the world.

Fader, who grew up in Kenya, has been in Burundi since 2013. In addition to caring for about 25,000 patients a year with his team, he trains local doctors. “Jason is doing surgeries that no one else has done before in Burundi,” fellow doctor Rachel McLaughlin said. “He’s teaching medical students surgical skills and management.”

The prize money will be used to create the country’s first postgraduate medical training, add 48 new beds to the 172 at Kibuye Hope Hospital, and improve lower-limb fracture care – a crucial need in a country that travels by foot. “Literally hundreds of people will walk because of this prize,” Fader said. “Thousands of people will be cared for. And tens of thousands will be helped by the doctors we train here.”

Fader is part of a recent resurgence of medical missionaries. Attendance at the Global Missions Health Conference has ballooned more than tenfold over the past 10 years. Attendance at the Christian Community Health Fellowship conference has quadrupled. And the Southern Baptist Convention’s International Mission Board reported an all-time high of 300 medical missionaries on the field in 2013.

The African Mission Healthcare Foundation (AMHF), co-founder of the Gerson Prize, was created in 2010 to promote health care in Africa, where Christian mission hospitals provide about a third of all medical work.

Source: AMHF
Joel News International, # 1025 | Feb 6, 2017

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Christian mission, evangelism, Middle East, revivals , ,

Jesus and Muslims: Life in the Desert

by Geoff 26 January 2017 No Comments

Middle East: Life in the desert

Tyler Connell with the Ekballo Project shared a few encouraging stories from his most recent trip to Middle East, where he documented a dramatic move of God among Muslims, particularly with refugees. “Many there are disillusioned and broken and just want to know the truth,” he says. “Now more than ever there is a harvest among Muslims.”

His first film chronicles a young missionary named Daniel, 24, originally from Vermont. Two years ago he moved to Jordan to work with Syrian refugees. “They go house to house and visit these Muslim families and sit with them and talk with them and find out their names, their stories, and love them. As trust is built, they begin to open up for the Gospel.”

‘Hi I’m Daniel and I’m here to tell you about Jesus.’

One afternoon Daniel walked into a white tent with a family of eight people inside. “Hi I’m Daniel and I’m here to tell you about Jesus,” he announced. He wasn’t quite prepared for their reaction. “The family freaked out, they looked at each other and almost turned white. The father was excited, yelling.”

What’s going on? Daniel wondered. The interpreter explained that the night before Daniel’s visit, the whole family was sitting in their tent having tea together. To their surprise a man in white opened the door to their tent and stood at the entrance. The man was glowing. “Hello, My name is Jesus and I am sending a man tomorrow named Daniel to tell you more about me.” Then he disappeared.

So when Daniel arrived at their doorway and told them his name, they were completely undone. They asked him to tell them more about Jesus and he explained the Gospel. The whole family converted. The father had been a part of the Free Syrian Army. He had known bloodshed. He was a devout Muslim. This man and his family are now planting underground churches in Jordan and are seeing a harvest among Muslims.

Recently the father was dismayed by a large cell phone bill and he asked his 15-year-old daughter about it. “It’s because I’m telling all our relatives in Saudi Arabia about Jesus,” she said.
Life in the desert – part 1
‘Jesus was there, in the middle of the dirt, with Muslim refugees.’

In another Syrian refugee family, Connell felt God’s presence break through in a powerful way. “The joy that broke out among these 25 people was incredible. Jesus’ presence was stronger in that little dirty living room than I have ever felt in any conference, any prayer room, any camp-high moment. Jesus was there in the middle of the desert, in Iraq, in the dirt, with Muslims. He is attracted to the broken-hearted, the contrite, the desperate.”
Life in the desert – part 2
Over the last three years, Connell and his team have responded to an assignment from God to capture what He is doing in the most unreached parts of the world, the so-called 10/40 Window. This area is home to the three giants of Islam, Buddhism, and Hinduism, a total of 2.9 billion people. “We felt God told us to go to these dark places, and capture what He is doing through missionaries that have given up their lives. We follow them with our camera and capture what God does, and show it on college campuses in the USA to ignite students to live for something bigger than themselves.”

Source: Tyler Connell, Ekballo Project

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There is an ongoing underground revival in the Muslim world. Over the past 20 years more Muslims have found Isa (Jesus) than in all the previous centuries together. See links:
Iran: where Christianity is growing fastest
Iran – fastest growing evangelical population
The Staggering Rise of the Church in Iran
Many Muslims are turning to Christ
18,000 Muslim leaders led to Christ in West Africa
Jesus appears to Middle Eastern Muslim for a month
Iman hated Christians until Jesus raised him from the dead
Muslim woman returns from the dead to tell about Jesus
‘The Lord reached me right in the mosque’

If you want to know more about following Jesus, go here

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