Category: discipleship

Africa, Christian ministry, Christian mission, discipleship, evangelism, Geoff Waugh, life of Jesus, mission, The Queen , ,

Bicycle Evangelism in Kenya & Free Resources

by Geoff 2 April 2024 No Comments

Bicycle Evangelism in Kenya & Free Resources

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Bicycle Evangelism in Kenya & Free Resources
Renewal Journal – a chronicle of renewal and revival: www.renewaljournal.com

 

Pastor Francis Okiwa reaches rural areas in Kenya with the Gospel and resources.

Here’s his story.

A MUSLIM  FAMILY GAVE THEIR LIVES TO CHRIST AFTER THEIR FATHER  WAS HEALED BY JESUS AFTER PRAYER

We were taught and trained that once you are born a Muslim, you are always a Muslim.  I used to follow my father to the mosque five times a day. I never seriously questioned the rituals of my family’s faith until a friend at school showed me a Bible.

I never wanted to read the Bible because if I’m caught, it will be another story. It’s the highest degree of crime to convert from Islam to Christianity. My friend told me that God is love. It’s not about what you do, but it’s about having faith in him through Jesus Christ.

That’s when my friend invited me to a Christian healing service.

I was very curious to go. Those who came with their crutches started abandoning their crutches, and they were screaming and shouting, “I am healed! I am healed!” That shook my idea about Jesus Christ—that he’s just one of the prophets. The healing power of Jesus Christ is real!  And that day I accepted him as my Lord and my personal Saviour.

From that day I stopped going to the mosque with my family and began sneaking off to church.  One day my father confronted me.

When I looked at his face, the rage, the anger, he was a monster saying, “Come here, boy. Tell me where are you going.”  I said, ‘church.’

“What? You’re going to church?” He pulled out a sword, and he ran after me. He started yelling, cursing me, “I deny you as a son, you are a traitor, you have denied our faith, and you are not my son anymore.”

I used to hide in my friend’s home.  After three weeks of hiding, I heard that my father had become paralysed and was dying of an illness that doctors couldn’t diagnose.

When I heard that, I told my friend, “Let’s go and pray for my father.”

My friend said, “No, you cannot do it. This is very dangerous. They are looking for you—they want to kill you!” He said, “You don’t understand.” I said, “You don’t understand! When Jesus heals my father, they will know that Jesus is real.”

I went to see my father.

He was looking at me, I remember. He couldn’t talk. He couldn’t do anything, but he could hear.  And I said, “Dad, I’m here to pray for you.”

I said, “Lord Jesus, I know you are a healer. Heal my father right now, so that the Muslims here and the whole world will know that you are a healer.”

Before my prayer ended, I saw my father moving his body.  He got up from his bed and he sat. He started talking, “Your Jesus prayer has healed me. Your Jesus is real. I can talk, I can move my body. All the pain is gone.”

He said, “Come back home, you are my son and there’s no more persecution,” in front of everybody.

Many family members saw what happened and also gave their lives to Christ.

That healing miracle led to the conversion of my mother from Islam to Christianity. My younger sister gave her life to Christ. My younger brother gave his life to Christ. Even my half-sisters and brothers who were very devout and they were all mad at me, insulting me, looking for me to kill me, they all gave their lives to Christ as a result and they started going to church with me.

I left my town of Kitale, Kenya, and came to settle In Eldoret to attend Bible Seminary. I now travel around Kenya speaking and praying for others.

Since I gave my life to Christ, my life has never been the same, I’ve been changed into a new person and his love has brought me joy, peace, and happiness. We don’t have to do anything to earn his love.  We just have to embrace him into our lives.

            by Pastor Francis Okida, New Vision Gospel Ministry


Francis with the books The Life of Jesus and Living in the Spirit

Here are more comments from Francis:

I’m a full-time pastor and a very serious soul-winner evangelist, mainly in far rural areas, and for many years I have been walking a long distance on foot, like 50 km, to go and preach the gospel in far rural areas to distribute gospel tracts, scripture booklets, and books. By the time I reach there, it’s too late in the evening, and I normally get tired on the way, so I cannot preach on that same day, so do it the next day.

With donations we helped him buy two bicycles for his work.


Pastor Francis & Co-pastor evangelize by bike.

He wrote:

We print and distribute your wonderful books locally by using what we call ‘Perfect Book Printing’ here In Eldoret Town, Kenya. By doing that we reach poor Pastors, Church Leaders, Evangelists and many other Preachers in far rural areas with no access to the Internet.

We have several printing machines here In Eldoret, Kenya, so we shall distribute to over 700 rural Pastors in Kenya. I will be distributing these books free of charge as the Lord provides.

If you would like to help Francis you can email me at geoffwaugh2@gmail.com.

Renewal Journal Resources

All the Renewal Journal resources – www.renewaljournal.com – are freely available, and may be shared, reproduced and distributed freely. Some examples:

Kenya

Francis saw them online and now prints some of those books and distributes them in Kenya, as with Flashpoints of Revival and God’s Surprises (both on the main page with links).

Pakistan & India 

Nabeel Sharoon saw The Life of Jesus online and translated it into Urdu and Hindi and other main languages of that sub-continent. They’re available free online and some mission groups print some of them. See his work on The Life of Jesus

 

Korea

Dr David Kim translated Flashpoints of Revival into Korean.

 

 

Czechoslovakia

Paulinky Press published The Queen’ Faith in Czech.

  

 

Global Awakening

Dr Randy Clark heads Global Awakening from America, often leading teams to minister in many countries. He printed Revival Fires, an updated version of Flashpoints of Revival.

   

 

General

 Every day people explore Renewal Journal papers and books on Academia, and they are referenced in various academic papers and reports.


The Renewal Journal began as 20 printed journals mailed to subscribers. Many universities and Christian colleges subscribed for their libraries. Now those journals, books, and hundreds of blogs are available online. Around 400-500 view the blogs daily. You have permission to freely reproduce any of these resources and books. Some are available in Christian bookstores and on Amazon.

You are welcome to share or reproduce any Renewal Journal resource and book.

Now it is cheapest to print it yourself and distribute or sell it yourself.

GENERAL BLOGS INDEX

Blogs Index 1: Revivals (briefer than Revivals Index)
Blogs Index 2: Mission (international stories)
Blogs Index 3: Miracles (supernatural events)
Blogs Index 4: Devotional (including Testimonies)
Blogs index 5: Church (Christianity in action)
Blogs Index 6: Chapters (Blogs from Books)
Blogs Index 7: Images (Photos & Videos)

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Bicycle Evangelism in Kenya & Free Resources
The Life of Jesus – in 6 languages
The Life of Jesus: History’s Great Love Story

Renewal Journal – a chronicle of renewal and revival:
www.renewaljournal.com

Christian mission, discipleship, evangelism, Iran, prayer, revival , , , , ,

Iran’s Great Awakening

by Geoff 26 August 2022 1 Comment

Iran: Why the underground church takes communion every day

Communion is more than simply remembering that Jesus died for you,
it’s also renewing your covenant with Jesus Himself. 

 

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Iran’s Great Awakening

Renewal Journal – a chronicle of renewal and revival
Geoff Waugh – founding editor of the Renewal Journal
Free PDF books on the Main Page
Iran Alive Ministries has planted a thriving underground church network in Iran. Faithful believers have risked their lives to establish and grow house churches, even in the face of danger.

If a church member is arrested, and in particular a leader, they will face torture and even death because they confess Christ. The entire church community is at risk. If they fold under pressure and give up the names of others associated with the church, there is no guarantee that any of their lives will be spared.

One group whose leader was arrested was asked how they were doing. They said: “All of us are praying and fasting for our captured brother every day. Every night, we gather together in a secure location to pray and encourage one another. After we have a meal together and break our fast, we worship, pray, and take communion together.”
“Why do you take communion every night?” they were asked. Their answer revealed a deep reality about communion.

“We take communion daily to remember what Jesus has done for us. He loved us so much that He died for us with joy (Hebrews 12:2). And we are called to partake not only in His glory, but also in His suffering (Romans 8:17). When we take communion, we remember the words of Jesus, ‘I tell you, I will not drink from this fruit of the vine from now until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.’ (Matthew 26:29)

That word from Jesus greatly encourages us because, as we take communion, we also say: ‘This could be our last communion as well. If it is, we do not worry because we will take the next communion with Jesus in Heaven.’ With a heart of thanksgiving, we remember the fact that He died for us, but we also renew our covenant with Him, professing that we are willing to live and die for Him as well.”

The persecuted church has much to teach us. Communion is more than simply remembering that Jesus died for you, it’s also renewing your covenant with Jesus Himself. 

Source: Hormoz Shariat, Iran Alive

Joel News International: # 1269, August 26, 2022

BLOGS INDEX 1: REVIVALS (BRIEFER THAN REVIVALS INDEX)

BLOGS INDEX 2: MISSION (INTERNATIONAL STORIES)

BLOGS INDEX 3: DEVOTIONAL (INCLUDING TESTIMONIES)

BLOGS INDEX 4: DEVOTIONAL (INCLUDING TESTIMONIES)

BLOGS INDEX 5: CHURCH (CHRISTIANITY IN ACTION)

BLOGS INDEX 6: CHAPTERS (BLOGS FROM BOOKS)

BLOGS INDEX 7: IMAGES (PHOTOS & VIDEOS)

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Iran’s Great Awakening

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www.renewaljournal.com
Afghanistan, discipleship, evangelism, martyrs, Muslim, persecution, prison , , ,

God’s Grace Can Reach Any Heart

by Geoff 9 January 2022 No Comments

God’s Grace Can Reach Any Heart
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God’s Grace can reach any heart
Renewal Journal – a chronicle of renewal and revival: www.renewaljournal.comThe story of Pastor Bessarab, a former criminal who became an evangelist, pastor, and martyr. 

Dear Brother or Sister in Christ,

In eternity, I believe we may see how God wrote chapters into the lives of people we knew on earth and also into the lives of our persecuted brothers and sisters in Christ.

In 2004, I traveled to Tajikistan [northern neighbour to Afghanistan] a few months after a pastor named Sergei Bessarab was shot to death in a small city called Isfara, where Bessarab had planted a church. In my book When Faith Is Forbidden, I share Bessarab’s story and introduce readers to his widow, Tamara. In addition to meeting Tamara, I also met the man — also named Sergei — who had prayed for Bessarab’s salvation. The two men had met in prison while Bessarab was serving time for his criminal activities.

In prison, Sergei prayed every day that Bessarab would come to Christ. But Bessarab was less than grateful for his friend’s concern. “Don’t waste time praying for me,” Bessarab told him.

Sergei remained steadfast in prayer, however, and Bessarab did eventually bend his knee to Christ. The former criminal became a bold witness for his Savior both inside the prison walls and, after his release, as a pastor on the outside. In addition, he made frequent return visits to the prison to share the gospel with inmates.

Soon after Bessarab and Tamara moved to Isfara and planted a church, which began to grow as Muslims turned to Christ, a headline in the local paper asked the pointed question, “What’s Going to Be Done About Sergei Bessarab?”

On Jan. 20, 2004, the son of a local mosque leader answered the question, shooting and killing Bessarab as he strummed his guitar during his nightly time of worship, Scripture reading, and prayer.

In my book, I close Bessarab’s story with words spoken to me by his friend Sergei just months after the shooting: “One day we will meet this person who killed [Pastor Bessarab] because we have a prison ministry all over Tajikistan. And we will be ready to tell him about Jesus.”

A front-line worker in Central Asia recently met with Bessarab’s widow, Tamara, who told him how God has extended her husband’s legacy.

When the young man who killed Bessarab was convicted and sent to prison, Christians were waiting there to meet him, just as Sergei had promised. In God’s amazing providence, the killer was eventually assigned to a cell with a Christian prisoner who had been led to Christ and discipled by Bessarab!

And over time, the mosque leader’s son became Bessarab’s spiritual grandson, placing his trust in Christ.

Bessarab was once a convicted criminal. Many would have written him off spiritually. His killer was also far from God, and some may have written him off as well. But God’s grace can reach any heart. If you need a reminder of that today, picture the final chapter of this story: Pastor Sergei Bessarab stands worshiping before God’s throne for all eternity — side by side with the man who ended his earthly life!

In Christ,

Todd Nettleton's signature
Todd Nettleton
Host of VOM Radio [Voice of the Martyrs]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJcGaHil8Ao&t=3s

This is an update from a story in When Faith Is Forbidden: 40 Days on the Frontlines with Persecuted Christians. Receive a complimentary copy for a donation of any amount at vom.org/forbidden.
When Faith is Forbidden book

 

See also

Iran – fastest growing evangelical population

Many Muslims are Turning to Christ

Jesus appears as a bus driver to a Muslim pilgrim

Miraculous Movements – among Muslims

Hope in Iran’s notorious Evin Prison

Iraq: Muslim from Ninevah discovered the Bible’s magnetism

Jesus and Muslims: Life in the Desert

Christians reach out to Muslims in UK

Muslim Woman returns from the dead to tell about Jesus

I saw Jesus Christ

 

GENERAL BLOGS INDEX

BLOGS INDEX 1: REVIVALS (BRIEFER THAN REVIVALS INDEX)

BLOGS INDEX 2: MISSION (INTERNATIONAL STORIES)

BLOGS INDEX 3: MIRACLES (SUPERNATURAL EVENTS)

BLOGS INDEX 4: DEVOTIONAL (INCLUDING TESTIMONIES)

BLOGS INDEX 5: CHURCH (CHRISTIANITY IN ACTION)

BLOGS INDEX 6: CHAPTERS (BLOGS FROM BOOKS)

BLOGS INDEX 7: IMAGES (PHOTOS AND ALBUMS)

BACK TO MAIN PAGE

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Seeds of Revival in Afghanistan

by Geoff 21 November 2021 No Comments

Seeds of Revival in Afghanistan

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How the web changes the church

by Geoff 27 January 2021 No Comments

How the web changes the church

Online and participatory church

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A digital priesthood of all believers
 
The rise of the Internet is without doubt the most revolutionary development of the last 25 years. It has radically changed our lives and also influenced the way we think about the church.
 
The internet has given ordinary people (the ‘laity’) considerably more influence: everyone who wishes to do so has the opportunity online to nurture and shape their own spirituality, to become a creator or influencer, and to connect with others in communities and on platforms, completely outside the scope of their own church. To faith communities and church leaders, the internet provides an infrastructure and tools to make church fully interactive and participatory, and to extend its missionary reach far beyond the physical sphere of the church building.
 
This is revolutionary. For the church today, the internet can be what the printing press was for the church in the Reformation – a game changer. The internet helps us to see the church as a network, a movement and a co-creative project. It encourages us to embrace a ‘digital priesthood of all believers’.

The rise of the Internet is without doubt the most revolutionary development of the last 25 years. It has radically changed our lives. But has the internet also influenced the Church?

Recently Heidi Campbell, professor of digital religion at Texas A&M University, came up with a new book: ‘Digital Creatives and the Rethinking of Religious Authority’. It’s about how the rise of the internet is also changing the way we think about the church – the ecclesiology – and how missionary internet pioneers see and shape this.

I’ve known Heidi Campbell from the early years of the internet, so when she approached me in 2013 for an interview to give my perspective on this as a ‘religious digital creative’, it led to a contribution to the book. I’m making this available in a pdf.

The internet has given ordinary people (the ‘laity’) considerably more influence.

In other words: the internet has empowered people. It touches many areas of our lives, but I now limit myself to the impact on faith and the church:
  • Everyone who wishes to do so has the opportunity online to nurture and shape their own spirituality, to become a creator or influencer, and to connect with others in communities and on platforms, completely outside the scope of their own church.
  • To faith communities and church leaders, the internet provides an infrastructure and tools to make church fully interactive and participatory, and to extend its missionary reach far beyond the physical sphere of the church building.

This is fundamentally revolutionary. For the Church today, the Internet can be what the printing press was for the Church in the Reformation. A game-changer.

The internet encourages the church to function as a relational network. To start thinking decentrally (‘bottom-up’) about the church instead of centrally (‘top-down’), as polyculture instead of monoculture.
The internet helps us to see the church as a network, a decentralized movement and a co-creative project.
I have expressed this idea in my seminars on missionary innovation as follows:
“Tim Berners Lee, the inventor of the World Wide Web, has done more for the mission of the Church than the entire Church growth movement put together. Because we are now rediscovering the power of decentralized movements”.
The simple church movement, which states that you can be the Body of Christ in all sorts of places, in all kinds of forms, in the middle of everyday life, and that these groups best develop ‘organically’, is an example of this.
At a time when I blogged a lot about ’emerging church’ (2002-2007) there was another digital pioneer, Tim Bednar, who published a paper with the somewhat provocative title ‘We Know More Than Our Pastors. Why Bloggers Are the Vanguard of the Participatory Church’. Although blogging has been partly overtaken by vlogs, podcasts and social media, I consider this work to be a classic if you want to understand how the internet influences ecclesiology. You can simply extend the lines of thought.
A generation that grew up with the internet makes different demands on the church.
Bednar expresses this as follows:
“We expect a co-creative church in which we can not only participate fully, but which we can help to shape in all aspects”.
Say a digital priesthood of all believers.
There’s still a lot to be said about this, but I promised to keep my mails short and concise. To deepen your understanding, I invite you to read the two publications I have linked to.
If you want to discuss in-depth what this means for your congregation or organization, book an innovation consultation.

See also:  The 10 Domains

Coronavirus brings Unprecedented Openness to the Gospel

Pandemic brings churches back to life

How the web changes the church
Online and participatory church

Evangelism on the internet

Jesus.net: Over 12 million online decisions for Christ (2016)

 

church growth, discipleship, evangelism, revival , ,

Hosanna – revival in Nepal

by Geoff 10 October 2020 No Comments

Hosanna – Revival in Nepal

Adapted from Chapter 9 of God’s Surprises by Geoff Waugh

 

Bob and Jill Densley, friends of mine, worked with the United Nations in Nepal and they loved to help pastors and leaders there. That’s how they met and supported the fiery young evangelist pastor Raju Sundas. We visited them many times in the 1990s and spoke at pastors and leaders meetings in Kathmandu, in West Nepal and in East Nepal, hosted by Raju. Some of those pastors walked for two or three days across the high ranges just to attend the meetings.

Their churches, led by Hosanna Church, are saturated in prayer. I prayed in their “Power House”, the upstairs prayer rooms of their church in Kathmandu. Those small upper rooms were open 24 hours a day and many people went there to fast and pray, sometimes for many days. Since then, Hosanna Church and its ministry has exploded and planted so many churches across Nepal, developed schools, vocational training, Bible Schools, and huge welfare ministries to the needy.

We saw God’s Spirit move beautifully and powerfully in those early meetings. Many were filled with the Spirit and healed. I heard a young man from one of their church bands praying eloquently in beautiful English – but he cannot speak English. They pray for one another with strong faith, expecting God to save, heal, deliver and anoint them.

The dedication of those Christians impressed me. Most of them had been imprisoned for their faith many times. One young pastor conducted a Christian wedding which infuriated relatives so they complained to the police and he spent a month in prison for disturbing the peace. Our host had been severely beaten while in prison.  Two young evangelists were shot to death when we were there. They had returned from Bible College in India and were accused of spying. God gives those Christians amazing peace and joy amid the persecution, just as in the Book of The Acts.

We were greatly blessed to see the zeal, faith and perseverance of Raju and his team as we shared ministry in Hosanna Church in Kathmandu as well as with them in conferences in West and East Nepal. Their faith opened the way for God to move in power among them all as He poured out his Spirit, especially on leaders, pastors and on their people.


Raju and team

Pastor Raju Sundras (Photo), our host for our visits, tells about our visit there at Easter 2000.

Greetings in the name of our Almighty God Jesus Christ from the land of Himalayas!  The Lord continues to do great things in this land, we have not much to do but to praise Him and thank Him for every good gift raining on us from Him and only Him.

It was a great blessing from the Lord to send us a team from Australia mid-April. The fellowship, the Word from God, the mighty touch of the Holy Spirit, the love of Christ flourishing from our Australian brothers and sisters, the awesome presence of the Lord throughout the rushing schedule of conferences, trips, and visits, overwhelmingly expressed the great love of our Lord Jesus Christ towards this nation.  During the short stay of about two weeks with the team of eight people we had the privilege to see the ministry of the Holy Spirit through them in several occasions. …

Out of about 200 participants in the conference by the grace of God 100 of them were baptized in the Holy Spirit praising the Lord, singing, falling, crying, and many other actions as the Holy Spirit would prompt them to act.  About ten of them testified that they had never experienced such a presence of the power and love of God.  Some others testified being lifted to heavenly realms by the power of the Holy Spirit, being surrounded by the angels of the Lord in a great peace, joy, and love toward each other and being melted in the power of his presence.  Many re-committed their lives to the Lord for ministry by any means through his revelation.


Pastors and leaders conference

On the second day of the conference the trend continued as the people seemingly would fall down, repent, minister to each other in the love of Christ, enjoy the mighty touch of the Holy Spirit, singing, prophesying, weeping, laughing, hugging, and all the beauty of the Holy Spirit was manifested throughout the congregation by his grace and love.  One woman of age 65 testified that she never had danced in her life in any occasion even in secret, but the Lord had told her that she should now dance to him and she was dancing praising him with all her strength.  For hours this outpouring continued and the pastors of the churches were one by one testifying that they had never experienced such a presence and power of God in their whole Christian life and ministry.

Pastors and leaders, West Nepal

Some 60 evangelists declared that they were renewed in their spirits by the refreshing of the Holy Spirit and they are now going to serve the Lord in the field wherever the Holy Spirit will lead them to be fully fledged in His service.  In the last day of the conference while praying together with the congregation and committing them in his hands, many prophesied that the Lord was assuring them of great changes in their ministry, life and the area.  While the power of God was at work in our midst three children of 6-7 years old fell down weeping, screaming and testifying about a huge hand coming on them and touching their stomachs and healing them instantly.  After the prayer all the participants got into the joy of the Holy Spirit and started dancing to the Lord, singing and praising Him for His goodness.

Before leaving Gochadda while we were having snacks in the pastor’s house a woman of high Brahmin caste came by the direction of the Lord to the place, claiming that she was prompted by a voice in her ear to go to the Christians and ask for prayer for healing of her chronic stomach pain and problems, and that is why she was there.  We prayed for her and she was instantly healed and we shared the Gospel, but she stopped us saying, “I need to accept Christ as my Saviour so don’t waste time!” She accepted Jesus as her personal Saviour being lifted in spirit, and even the body as she said she didn’t feel anymore burden in her body, and spirit, Hallelujah!


Roadside fellowship and ministry

We held another conference in Nazarene Church pastored by Rinzi Lama in Kathmandu.  Ten churches unitedly participated in the two days gathering where about 100 people participated.  The outpouring of the Holy Spirit continued in this conference refreshing many in their spirits and bringing much re-commitment. We showed the Transformation video.  All committed themselves for constant prayer to bring transformation to their cities too by God’s power.


Geoff and the Himalaya mountains

by Geoff Waugh

Adapted from Chapter 9 of God’s Surprises

Revivals Index

Renewal Journal – main page

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GENERAL BLOGS INDEX

BLOGS INDEX 1: REVIVALS (BRIEFER THAN  REVIVALS INDEX)

BLOGS INDEX 2: MISSION (INTERNATIONAL STORIES)

BLOGS INDEX 3: MIRACLES (SUPERNATURAL EVENTS)

BLOGS INDEX 4: DEVOTIONAL (INCLUDING TESTIMONIES)

BLOGS INDEX 5: CHURCH (CHRISTIANITY IN ACTION)

BLOGS INDEX 6: CHAPTERS (BLOGS FROM BOOKS)

BLOGS INDEX 7: IMAGES (PHOTOS AND ALBUMS)

BACK TO MAIN PAGE

 

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Bible Study, Christian leadership, Christian life, Christian ministry, church, devotional, discipleship , ,

EnCOURAGE: Love One Another

by Geoff 3 August 2020 No Comments


EnCOURAGE:  Love One Another

EnCOURAGE  –  Encouragement adds courage.

EnCOURAGE – PDF

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Previously published as The Leader’s Goldmine (now updated and expanded)

Hundreds of Ideas for Christian groups

Hundreds of ideas for Christian groups with a wealth of activities, studies, prayers and resources for groups of all ages. Contents are: Ideas for integrated Bible studies; Ideas for Bible studies and prayers; Ideas for church activities – devotional, educational, creative, serving, social, sporting; Ideas for all ages together; Ideas for building relationships.

This book offers a huge range of activities, arranged according to group activities. It provides a wide range of activities for many different kinds of groups. The first section, Ideas for Integrated Bible Studies, gives you four group studies on each of the themes or topics.

Contents:

How to use this book

Ideas for integrated Bibles studies
The Great Experiment
Prayer
Relationship
Good News
The Church
Mission
Finding New Life
Living New Life
Faith Alive
Great Chapters – Old Testament
Great Chapters – New Testament
Jesus

Ideas for Bible studies and prayers
Bible passages
Bible study methods
Bible reading and relationship building
Bible readings and prayers

Ideas for church activities
Program emphases: Devotional, Educational, Creative, Serving, Social, Sporting
Witness and Sharing Weekend
Survey Questionnaire
Commitment Indicator
Interests Indicator
Gifts Check List

Ideas for all ages together
Activities involving young children and others
Activities involving older children and others
Family and church family questionnaires
Useful teaching activities
ABC of resource ideas
Simulation activities. Simulation Game: Build my Church

Ideas for building relationships
Deep – ideas and attitudes
Deeper – ideals and values
Deepest – ideologies and commitments


What is your main love language?

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Grassroots movements with no church buildings explode

by Geoff 28 March 2020 No Comments

 

Grassroots movements with no church buildings explode in 20 years

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House Church: The fastest-growing expression of church
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Did you know that the fastest growing church globally is currently in Iran? And this church has no buildings.  See links:
Iran: where Christianity is growing fastest
Iran – fastest growing evangelical population

There is an ongoing underground revival in the Muslim world. Over the past 20 years more Muslims have found Isa (Jesus) then in all the previous centuries together. See links:
Many Muslims are turning to Christ
Jesus and Muslims: Life in the desert
18,000 Muslim leaders led to Christ in West Africa
Jesus appears to Middle Eastern Muslim for a month

India: The largest churches in the world are grassroots movements

Korean Pastor Yonggi Cho was long known as the pastor of the largest church in the world. But things have changed. Grassroots church planting movements are growing with a speed and vigor that most would find hard to believe.

What would you say if you learn that with 800,000 members the ‘pastor’ of one of the largest churches in the world lives in North India? Beginning with just 12 people in 1994, Randeep Mathews’ house-church based movement started even before he was a Christian.

Randeep started in one of the most hostile environments you can imagine, the city of Kinnaur in Himachal Pradesdh (India) in the Himalayas. It soon grew to 3,000, then 30,000 followers of Christ in what was once called ‘the graveyard of missions’ because of its historic resistance to the imported gospel from the West. They have now (Aug 2019) reached already 800,000 members in North India (300,000 of that in Himachal) and are poised to grow to 3 million in Himachal Pradesh alone.

This is by far not the only story, there are many more. A close friend of Randeep is Rodrick Gilbert in Delhi who demonstrates that this also works in a megacity. Rodrick reports about 700,000 members in 58,000 house churches. When only 18 years of age, another man started such a movement in Gujarat and Rajastan, North India, just ten years ago. It now has seen 150,000 new members in 11,200 house churches.

Source: Wolfgang Simson

Indonesia: How a mother found her lost son through a prophetic word

These Jesus followers could plant one house church each month in their kitchen.

On a visit to Indonesia German missiologist Wolfgang Simson taught a group of Jesus followers an important insight: “In the Kingdom of God people share a revolutionary lifestyle with each other.”

He elaborated: “Number one: eating as the central element of meeting. Number two: truly sharing, koinonia, so that by the end of the day there is neither rich or poor.” Simson illustrated this with Jesus’ interaction with the rich young ruler, and the story of Zaccheus in Luke 19. “A rich person is someone who has a surplus and fails to share. As a result his money turns against him. No longer does he have the money, but the money has him, and that is a trap. In this respect the New Testament is different from the Old Testament; Jesus really brought in a revolutionary new perspective. In his view you can be a rich person or a Kingdom citizen, but not both. It’s part of the Kingdom lifestyle that no-one is needy.”

“The third thing,” he explained, “is that they exposed themselves to apostolic teaching, which is equipping people to go out and become a virus of God into this world to plant churches, plant the presence of Christ, start cell groups of the Kingdom into enemy territory that will implode the enemy’s movements. And that’s already happening. Even terrorists are coming to Christ, and become the most ardent church planters in the Kingdom of God.”

“The fourth and last thing is to pray,” Simson said. “We send messages to God and God sends messages to us. It’s called prophecy. So when you have people over to your premises, the question is not if you should prophesy over them, but what you should prophesy. After all, we are called to share a word of the Lord with them.”
Wolfgang Simson
How that teaching worked out, he discovered one year later when he revisited Indonesia. He was invited by a Chinese family in Jakarta for lunch. They had taken four months to digest his teaching, as it was so different from church as they had known it. But then they decided to simply apply the lessons and see what would happen. They opened up their house, prepared a buffet, and invited strangers to come under the pretense: ‘We had a wedding planned, but the bridegroom is late. [pun intended] So we have food over and invite you to help us finish it.’

The first person to arrive was a lady. The prophets in the group immediately received a word for her: ‘This is the word from the Lord: you have lost your son.’ The lady started to cry, broke down and said: ‘This is true! Eight years ago I lost my son Dave in the market in Jakarta, never to find him again. He was four years old and since that time I’m like a mad mother searching for her son.’ The prophets assured her: ‘Today God answered your prayer. If you go to the National Monument in Jakarta, you will find your son under a big tree.’

She didn’t know what to think of this, but hopped on a bus straight to the National Monument. When looking around for a boy who had to be 12 years old by now, she found a boy who looked that age and asked: ‘Dave?’ ‘Mum?!’ They found each other!


Merdeka Square in Jakarta with the National Monument

When she came back to the house church and shared her story, this good news spread like a virus. Since that day these Chinese Jesus followers could plant one house church each month in their kitchen. Their kitchen became a church planting center. “How did that happen?” Simson asked rhetorically. “In the Kingdom – open up your house, open up your kitchen, open up your fridge.”

Source: Wolfgang Simson
Source: Joel News International, #1141, September 24, 201

See:

House Church: the fastest growing expression of church

Grassroots movements with no church buildings explode

Dinner Churches

House Churches, by Ian Freestone

House Churches in China (Barbara Nield)

China: how a mother started a house church movement

Laos: a church for the So

 

Revival Blogs Links:

See also Revivals Index

See also Revival Blogs

See also Blogs Index 1: Revivals

GENERAL BLOGS INDEX

BLOGS INDEX 1: REVIVALS (BRIEFER THAN REVIVALS INDEX)

BLOGS INDEX 2: MISSION (INTERNATIONAL STORIES)

BLOGS INDEX 3: MIRACLES (SUPERNATURAL EVENTS)

BLOGS INDEX 4: DEVOTIONAL (INCLUDING TESTIMONIES)

BLOGS INDEX 5: CHURCH (CHRISTIANITY IN ACTION)

BLOGS INDEX 6: CHAPTERS (BLOGS FROM BOOKS)

BLOGS INDEX 7: IMAGE (PHOTOS AND ALBUMS)

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Iran: where Christianity is growing fastest

by Geoff 30 November 2019 No Comments

Iran: The country where Christianity is growing fastest

This may come as a surprise to many, but Christianity is growing faster in the Islamic Republic of Iran than in any other country in the world. Tens of thousands of Muslims are abandoning their faith and are beginning to follow Jesus.

Experts say the ongoing political crisis and economic challenges are fueling widespread anger against the regime. Iran’s president Hassan Rouhani is promising to resolve the country’s economic, social and political problems after days of protests gripped the Islamic nation last month. At least 21 people died in clashes with police, and over 1,000 were arrested.

Mike Ansari says political turmoil is creating unique opportunities to share the love of Christ. “Many Iranian Christians have turned to us asking what it is they need to do,” Ansari wrote in an email. Ansari is the president of Heart4Iran Ministries, which is bringing 86 different ministries together with the goal of serving and blessing the people of Iran. He says with all the negative news about Iran, it is easy to miss the big and often untold story of what is really happening inside the Islamic nation. “God is at work in Iran. Jesus is building His church, the Spirit is transforming lives and the gospel is on the move.”
Today 4 satellite TV channels are broadcasting continuous Christian broadcasting into Iran.
Mohabat TV is the media arm of Heart4Iran Ministries. In 2006, Mohabat TV became the first 24-hour Farsi Christian satellite TV channel to beam gospel programs into Iran. Today, it is one of 4 satellite TV channels broadcasting continuous Christian programming. “Christian satellite TV broadcasts into Iran have played a vital role in the success of the underground house church movement,” Ansari wrote. “The significance of media strategy is that it by-passes security measures set by the government and reaches the people of Iran through their TV set or on their smart devices. According to World Mission, the house church movement in Iran is one of the fastest-growing churches in the world. It is the lifeline of Christianity inside this country.”

Recently 20 Iranians, many of whom accepted Christ watching Mohabat TV, traveled to an undisclosed location to get baptized. CBN News was granted exclusive access to the celebrations.
Recently 20 Iranians, many of whom accepted Christ watching Mohabat TV, traveled to an undisclosed location to get baptized. CBN News was granted exclusive access to the celebrations.
Ansari, an Iranian by birth, sat down with CBN News correspondent George Thomas for an exclusive look at the church inside Iran.

Why is the house church movement in Iran growing so fast?

“The church is growing because the people of Iran are disillusioned with Islam and they are looking for answers to life. They are not finding answers in the traditional forms of state religion or the faith of their ancestors. They are looking for new answers, they are not happy and satisfied where they are spiritually. It seems that a large number of these people are actually having dreams and visions about a shining man dressed in white far before we are out there telling them about Jesus.”

Is there a specific area of Iranian society that Jesus is touching more than others?

“The demographic that is responding to the gospel the most is the younger generation, who are very tech-savvy. These are people, anywhere from 18 to 30 years of age. They are online, they are following the world’s pop culture, they are very much plugged in and they are looking for answers. They want to belong to a larger purpose and meaning in life, and they are finding that in Jesus.”

The 1979 Islamic Revolution was supposed to usher in this great Islamic revival. Did that ever materialize?

“After almost 40 years of the Islamic regime, the average Iranian is realizing that Islam is bankrupt and Islam is not able to answer to their social, daily lives and the dilemmas they are dealing with. Iran is facing a host of crises, from drug addiction to depression to suicide to sexually transmitted diseases to human trafficking.”
Almost 40 years into the Islamic Revolution the average Iranian is realizing that Islam is bankrupt.
How bad is persecution against those who decide to abandon Islam and embrace Christianity?

“Iran is listed in Open Doors’ top 10 of most persecuted countries. The reality of Iranian Christians is that they cannot go out on the street and share their new faith with people. They cannot celebrate anywhere publicly, and they are constantly in fear of retaliation from the authorities. Becoming a Christian in Iran, especially if you are from an Islamic background, is illegal and is punishable by the legal code in the country. This is why we want people around the world to continue lifting up the persecuted church in Iran.”

You recently commissioned an extensive survey inside the country to find out how many people are watching programs on Mohabat TV. What did the survey results show?

“We had no idea that so many Iranian youth are following our programs. It appears that roughly about 16 million Iranians within the last 12 months have viewed one or more of our programs on satellite TV and also on their mobile devices. That roughly translates to about 20 percent of Iran’s population and that is an overwhelming number.”
Mohabat TV produced a map showing all the locations Iranians are calling the show from.
How many people call in to your channel and how many have accepted Christ since you launched the network?

“It is a rough estimate that within the last 11 years we’ve been able to connect with over one million Iranians through our call center. These are people who have contacted us wanting to know more about Christianity. These are people who have either become Christians or have had dreams or visions, and wanted to find out more about Jesus. Or people who have become Christians and they want to find out how to grow in their new faith and how to be discipled or how to start a house church in the country. In 2016, our call center processed about 700 contacts per day, which resulted in about 93 decisions for Christ per day. That’s roughly about three people every hour that confessed their faith in Jesus.”

Is satellite TV still the most important evangelism tool to reach Iranians with the gospel or is social media becoming even more important?

“In 2013 and 2014 when the Iranian Green Revolution took place, we realized the importance of Twitter. That was a glimpse into what was coming. In 2017, we realized that social media has fully arrived in the Middle East, especially in a country like Iran where especially the youth are actively using social media on their mobile devices. In addition, the numbers we’ve been getting through our survey is additional validation that this is a sound strategy for ministries to start focusing on.”

Source: George Thomas, CBN

Source: Joel News International – # 1067 | January 26, 2018

 

 

Iran: Fastest-growing church has no buildings

For the last few years, researchers have credited the underground church in Iran as the fastest-growing Christian church in the world. 

It has unique characteristics that defy comparison with churches in America and Europe, and in the opinion of some who know it well, the church in the West could learn by studying it.

The fastest-growing church in the world has taken root in one of the most unexpected and radicalized nations on earth, according to ‘Sheep Among Wolves’, an outstanding two-hour documentary about the revival that has taken place inside Iran. The Iranian awakening is a rapidly reproducing discipleship movement that owns no property or buildings, has no central leadership, and is predominantly led by women.

‘The movement is predominantly led by women’

The documentary was produced by Frontier Alliance International (FAI), which supports disciple-making teams targeting the ‘unreached’ and ‘unengaged’ within the 10/40 Window. There is a mass exodus leaving Islam for Christianity within Iran, according to FAI.

“What if I told you Islam is dead?” one unidentified Iranian church leader says in the film. “Many of the ruling class still follow Islam because that’s where the high paying jobs are, but the majority of the ordinary people love God and recognize that Islam is the problem. What if I told you the best evangelist for Jesus was the Ayatollah Khomeini? The ayatollahs brought the true face of Islam to light and people discovered it was a lie, a deception.”

Efforts by the ayatollahs to destroy Christianity have backfired, but have served to refine and purify the church. “What persecution did was destroy the churches that were only about converts,” the Iranian church leader noted. “Converts run away from persecution, but disciples are willing to die for the Lord in persecution.”
‘What if I told you Islam is dead?’

Often a disciple-making movement begins the first moment someone comes into contact with an unbeliever. “Everything is founded on prayer. We find people of peace through prayer. We even find locations through prayer,” the Iranian church leader noted. “Jesus has gone faster than us. He has come in their dreams or he’s come miraculously in their lives. When we hear this, we know that Jesus has gone ahead of us.”

Their emphasis is not planting churches; it is making disciples. “If you plant churches, you might make disciples. But if you make disciples, you will plant churches,” the Iranian church leader said. “It is obedience-based discipleship based on the authority of Scripture. Every time you read the Scripture, you must obey it. This is how people become conformed to the image of Christ and sanctified. They are not just reading the Bible for information. They are reading the Bible to get transformed.”

About 55% of the disciple-makers are women, according to the film.

CBN newsclip – November 2019 – 7 minutes

Watch the full movie – 2 hours

Source: Frontier Alliance International

Source: Joel News international – # 1149 | November 29, 2019

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 – fastest growing evangelical population
The Staggering Rise of the Church in Iran
Many Muslims are turning to Christ
‘The Lord reached me right in the mosque’
Jesus and Muslims: Life in the desert
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
Iran: How two women brought hope in Tehran’s brutal Evin Prison

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

 

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Adelaide man’s near-death miracle – Jesus revealed the truth of his word

by Geoff 28 December 2018 No Comments

In his near-death experience of hell, he saw Christians who refused to forgive

By Mark Ellis —
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Alec-Rex-350x251
Alex Rex


Alex Rex was driving down a busy street in Adelaide, Australia, on February 15, 2016, when he suffered a massive heart attack and his heart stopped.

He slumped forward on the steering wheel, traffic stopped around him, and a woman came rushing over to his car.

“She opened the door and tried to get me out but I was in a seatbelt,” Alec recalls.

As she struggled to free him, she forgot to turn off the ignition and the car began moving forward. “The car took off and got up to about 30 miles per hour. She was still hanging on to the car.”

When she saw they were going to hit another vehicle, she let go and fell headlong to the pavement. “It was a miracle she wasn’t killed. She hit the ground and saw me hit the vehicle. She pulled herself together and ran 100 yards.”

The young woman was a corrections officer who just left her shift. When she started CPR she was certain Alec was dead.

Providentially, an ambulance was among the vehicles caught in the traffic jam. “A couple doctors raced over and started working on me. In the police report it says they resuscitated me five times. That means I died five times. They put me in the ambulance and took me to the hospital. I was dead.”

Doctors could find little reason for hope, but then Alec surprised them. “They didn’t know what to do with me. I came back to life. I was thrashing about, punching them. I came back to life. They were stunned.

“According to the MRI, my heart was badly damaged because one of the main arteries was blocked. They put a stent in there.”

The hospital also discovered pneumonia in his lungs, so they placed Alec in an induced coma following his surgery.

“My heart was so badly damaged they said to my wife there is a possibility I would have a 10 percent chance to live. If I survived, I would be a vegetable.”

But God was about to demonstrate his power in a way that would surprise the doctors. And while Alec was hovering between life and death, he was transported to a nether region beyond this world.

“In front of me was like a veil, the gates of Hell,” Alec recounts. “I was at the gates of hell, but not in hell.” Everything appeared two-dimensional to him, like he was watching a TV.

Then he heard a voice say, “Jesus I know but you I don’t.”

But to his right another voice said: I am the Lord God. I am going to heal you and make you new.

Alec recognized that Jesus was speaking to him and He could read Alec’s thoughts.

Jesus’ presence provided the light for Alec to see. “Others there couldn’t see Him or hear Him.

Then Lord impressed on his heart, I will do what I want to bring your healing. I will show you the power of the Holy Spirit.

Then an astonishing sight met Alec. “Around me was a sea full of people,” he recounts. “I couldn’t see their faces. They were joined together in chains.”

Jesus impressed on his heart: These people call themselves Christians but they couldn’t forgive their brothers and sisters.

Jesus mentioned to Alec to pay attention to the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant and instructed him about its meaning. “I was taking this all in. He only allows you to remember what he wants you to remember. I can’t add to what he told me.”

During his near-death experience at the gates of hell, Alec says that Jesus also told him a worldwide revival is coming that will be greater than Azusa Street or the Welsh revival. There will not be anything like it, Jesus told him.

“It is not just people getting saved,” Alec adds. “It is the bride being made perfect, without spot or blemish.

The Lord communicated to him, What the world deems insignificant is what I am going to use in this revival.

Alec was in the coma for three weeks. During that time, doctors debated about whether or not to turn off his life support.

But then God breathed new life into his body. “They were going to switch off the machine,” he recounts. “God brought me back to life. It is a medical fact I was dead for 20 minutes in the hospital. My brain is now 100%.

“Praise God everything changed. I am one miracle after another.”

After Alec came out of the coma, the head ICU nurse told his wife Beth, “Your husband’s vital signs are 100%.”

The next morning Dr. Matthew Worthley, a cardiologist and professor at the Royal Adelaide Hospital, came into his room, looked at his file and said, “You were dead but you’re alive. You’re a miracle.”

Other doctors were equally amazed. “At the surgery there was a vascular heart surgeon, Dr. Raja. He shook his head and said, ‘I was there when you came back to life. I was there when they took the MRI of your heart. It was so badly damaged. I can’t understand it. There is no sign of a heart attack, no sign of any scarring. Your heart is 100%.’”

When Alex left the hospital he got a standing ovation from the nurses. “They said, ‘This is the guy who was dead and came back.’ I thanked all the nurses and doctors. There were doctors there with tears.”

While Alec is grateful to be alive, he is even more ecstatic about what God is doing. “I believe the bridegroom is coming soon — two years, five years, 10 years — I don’t know when, but it’s exciting.”

He believes God will use the current U.S. president, “as crazy as Trump seems,” in the revival. “God will use him. Impossible things are happening. The bride is going to be beautiful — her appearance, her apparel and her beauty.”

Source: God Reports, January 16, 2018

 

Remember this?  From a chapter with stories about forgiveness.  Right now, as you read this, remember to forgive fully, just as God has forgiven you.

Matthew 18:21-35 New International Version (NIV)

The Parable of the Unforgiving Servant

21 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?”

22 Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.[a]

23 “Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24 As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold[b] was brought to him. 25 Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.

26 “At this the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ 27 The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.

28 “But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins.[c] He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded.

29 “His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.’

30 “But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. 31 When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened.

32 “Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. 33 Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ 34 In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.

35 “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”

 

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BLOGS INDEX 2: MISSION (INTERNATIONAL STORIES)

BLOGS INDEX 3: MIRACLES (SUPERNATURAL EVENTS)

BLOGS INDEX 4: DEVOTIONAL (INCLUDING TESTIMONIES) 

BLOGS INDEX 5: CHURCH (CHRISTIANITY IN ACTION)

BLOGS INDEX 6: CHAPTERS (BLOGS FROM BOOKS)

BLOGS INDEX 7: IMAGES (PHOTOS AND ALBUMS)

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