Easter Monday & the National Rugby League, NRL, Australia – some quotes from the Daily Telegraph about the impromptu post-match prayer group:
Semi Radradra, they say, moved first.
Grabbing rival, Kevin Naiqama. After that, Jordan Rankin.
A further five players from Parramatta and Wests Tigers then converging as — with tattooed arms thrown around the closest jersey, regardless of colour -— they formed an impromptu circle in the middle of ANZ Stadium.
And, sure, around them fulltime formalities continued as usual.
Players shaking hands, speaking with Fox Sports, even wondering aloud if Northies was open Easter Mondays?
But inside the group, heads bowed. Eyes closed.
Then, they prayed.
“Completely spontaneous, too,’’ Eels chaplain George Dansey will say later.
“And from my understanding, the first time a prayer group like that has ever happened in the NRL.”
So brothers and sisters, can I get an Amen?
For Jesus Christ, he’s alive in the NRL.
And, no, you may not like it.
Or even agree.
Unsold on some Magic Sky Daddy with his bagful of miracles.
Yet undoubtedly, He is risen.
Existing not only inside that Easter Monday huddle, but in the dozens of Christian gatherings — from intimate bible study groups to arriving at Hillsong Conferences en masse — now taking place right across the NRL.
More than a few extra black crosses on wrist tape, this revolution is Jarryd Hayne taking on the NFL. Will Hopoate resting Sundays.
And an NRL Christians group so popular … well, Wallabies Israel Folau and Will Skelton want in.
“Yeah, they’re attending church with us,’’ Eels forward Tim Mannah explains. “Joining guys from almost every Sydney club.
“And to see the way players are expressing their faith now … it’s completely different to even five years ago.”
Indeed, at Parramatta, a dozen players now pray before games. Afterwards, too.
Radradra is also the spiritual leader of this new ritual, determined to ensure his fellow Christians are as thankful in victory as defeat.
For this new movement, it’s intent on ending stereotypes.
“Like Christian footballers being soft,’’ Dansey laughs. “I like to remind players that Jesus Christ, he was as brutal as anybody.”
While employed fulltime by Parramatta, Dansey isn’t simply responsible for the Eels, or running the new NRL Christians group, but helping facilitate dozens of Christian journeys through regular meetings with NRL players over coffee.
When Hayne, for example, returned from his Fijian World Cup experience eight years ago with a headful of questions, it was Dansey’s bible the pair opened at Genesis.
And when Hayne was dropped, then briefly cut, by the San Francisco 49ers, last October, it was Dansey who again led prayers inside the punt returner’s Santa Clara home.
Giving thanks just as he had seven years earlier, when sat by the hospital bedside of an anonymous leaguie named Steve Meredith.
And Meredith, you should know, is the greatest Roosters forward who never was. A gifted Australian Schoolboy who, by 2006, was set to make his first grade debut having already won premierships in Jersey Flegg and Premier League. A Test debut with Samoa, too.
League’s Next Big Thing for all 13 minutes before his knee snapped so badly, he never played first grade again.
“Yet Steve, he was so upbeat in hospital,’’ Dansey recalls. “Was praising God for having been blessed to play that one first grade game.
“It was the same when Haynsey got dropped after the Baltimore Ravens match. That week, he actually went deeper into the word of God.”
So too now, is the entire NRL. For while the relationship between faith and footy is nothing new — Father John Coote was both Roman Catholic priest and Kangaroo way back in 1969 — the presence of that inaugural prayer circle is proof of a new dawn.
Of a code now allowing Hayne to walk. Hopoate, to rest.
A place where players can meet, in club space, for bible study. …
Back in 2003, having won a grand final with Penrith, Galuvao dropped to his knees in solitary prayer. Yet today, he says, “clubs are buying in … embracing the need to spiritually prepare players”.
Mannah agrees, adding: “Once players were too worried to reveal themselves as Christians, worried about what people would say if you stuffed up.
“But then Haynsey comes along and, vocally, says ‘hey I’m not perfect . what I am is on a journey with God’. Other players have really responded to that.”
And as they do, the stereotypes fall.
Take Parramatta winger Radradra, gathering teammates to give thanks following their opening round loss to Brisbane. Or Manu Ma’u, shredding the myth of Christian softness the second he joined that Easter Monday seven.
Which doesn’t mean there will no longer be the narks.
For Christianity, as English novelist CS Lewis once noted, is of no importance if false. Infinite importance if true.
But moderately important … nup, no chance.
Which is again why Hopoate now sits out Sundays. And Hayne, earlier this week, jetted out of Sydney once more for that pilgrimage all helmets, and shoulder pads.
Elsewhere, Joseph Paulo leads prayer at Cronulla. Kane Evans, the Roosters.
While out Penrith way, players gather most days with retired winger Dave Simmons, whose congregation will grow even larger once his theology degree is complete.
“All of which is great,’’ Galuvao says. “I mean, Jarryd Hayne, I’ve known him since well before he was going to church. When he had all those troubles in Kings Cross and so on. And back then, he had no direction. No purpose.
“But in Christianity, he found it. Made himself a better person. How can that be a bad thing?”
A look at commonly neglected gospel stories and films that depict them. By Peter T. Chattaway/ February 22, 2016
Haaz Sleiman in ‘Killing Jesus’ (2015)
Ten years ago, I compiled a list of my ten favorite Jesus movies for CT. Several new Jesus films have released since then, with more coming out this year: Risen (February 19), The Young Messiah (March 11), and a new version of Ben-Hur (August 12). But I’ve never felt a need to update the list. The original still holds up pretty well, I believe.
That said, while none of the newer films have nudged their way into my all-time top ten, some of them have highlighted aspects of the Gospels that most other films miss. Indeed, one of the things I value more and more, as I study this genre, is the way some films highlight aspects of the Gospels that are often overlooked—not just by other filmmakers, but also by teachers, preachers, and other Bible readers.
So I wanted to supplement my earlier list with a newer, more particular list of ten stories that usually get ignored by Jesus movies—and the (often obscure, sometimes edgier) films that have actually dramatized those stories. Here they are, in more or less biographical order.
1. The Circumcision of Jesus
On the eighth day of Christmas, Mary and Joseph had Jesus circumcised, just as all Jewish boys are (Luke 2:21). This event is significant because it underscores the humanity of Jesus. Art historian Leo Steinberg has shown that many Renaissance artists drew attention to the genitalia of the baby Jesus to emphasize the fact that God had become human even to the point of having physical gender. Not only that, this event highlights Jesus’ vulnerability. Some theologians have argued that this was the first time Jesus shed blood. So, in some sense, it marked the beginning of his sacrifice for our redemption. Finally, it underscores Jesus’ Jewishness.
The best-known film to depict this event is probably Franco Zeffirelli’s Jesus of Nazareth (1977), which makes a special point of emphasizing the Jewish rituals that Joseph and Mary would have followed and that Jesus would have been raised with. The man who performs the circumcision even declares that “this is the seal in flesh of the covenant between the Lord and his people,” which neatly sums up all three of the theological points I mentioned above. Zeffirelli’s film receives extra points for combining this story with another story that is often overlooked: Jesus’ consecration at the Temple (Luke 2:22–35), which would have happened over a month later.
More recently, a Palestinian film called The Savior (2013) also depicted the circumcision of Jesus. (Though it doesn’t show the actual procedure, it includes a close-up of the foreskin being dropped into a bowl!) Notably, this film was produced in a part of the world where circumcision is fairly common not only among Jews and Muslims, but among Christians, too.
2. The Brothers and Sisters of Jesus
The Gospels tell us that Jesus had four brothers and an unspecified number of sisters (Matt. 12:46–50; 13:55–56; Mark 3:31–35; 6:3; Luke 8:19–21; John 2:12). The Gospels also tell us that the brothers of Jesus did not believe in him during his ministry (John 7:2–10). However, the rest of the New Testament indicates that his brothers became active participants and leaders in the early church (Acts 1:14; 12:17; 15:13–21; 21:18; 1 Cor. 9:5; Gal. 2:11–13). Two of them, James and Jude, even lent their names to two of the canonical epistles.
Few films about the life of Jesus, however, have depicted his siblings—possibly because doing so would require the filmmakers to choose between the dominant Protestant, Orthodox, and Catholic traditions, which disagree on whether these siblings were the half-brothers of Jesus (i.e., the children of Mary and Joseph), the step-brothers of Jesus (i.e., the children of Joseph from a previous marriage), or the cousins of Jesus.
James the Just (far left) is standing next to Mary at the cross in this image from ‘Killing Jesus.’
There are at least three key exceptions, though. Color of the Cross (2006), which depicts Jesus and his family as black, features the brothers and sisters of Jesus in several scenes—as well as their father Joseph, who, unlike the Joseph of most other films, is still alive during Jesus’ ministry. Killing Jesus (2015), which may be the first English-language film to cast a Middle Eastern actor as Jesus, makes James a key supporting character. When I visited the film’s set in Morocco, I noticed that one of the costumes had a tag that said “Girl (Jesus’ Sister).” This apparently refers to a girl who is seen hugging Jesus in one shot, though she has no dialogue. Further, The Young Messiah (2016), which comes out in March, shows Jesus and his parents traveling from Egypt to Judea in the company of his uncle, aunt, and male and female cousins.
3. The Exorcism of Mary Magdalene
Many people believe Mary Magdalene was a prostitute before she joined the Jesus movement, but there is no basis for that in the Gospels. What the Gospels do say is that Jesus cast seven demons out of her (Luke 8:2). But this fact about her life has been ignored by most films about Jesus.
At least two major films depict her exorcism, though. Alas, one of them—The King of Kings (1927), a silent film directed by Cecil B. DeMille—depicts her as a prostitute too. And not just any; rather, a wealthy courtesan. When Jesus casts the seven demons out of her, they are identified with the Seven Deadly Sins. And the first sin to come out of Mary is Lust. But at least the exorcism is depicted.
Much better is the exorcism scene in The Miracle Maker (2000), an animated film that uses stop-motion puppets to signify the objective world—and hand-drawn animation to signify memories, visions, and states of mind. When Jesus casts the demons out of Mary in this film, the sequence begins as a seriously strange set of distorted hand-drawn images that eventually stabilize as the film moves through several styles of hand-drawn animation before fading back to the stop-motion puppets.
The History Channel miniseries The Bible (2013) almost had a scene that depicted Mary’s exorcism, too, but it was deleted before the series aired. Part of it did, however, surface in a TV special called The Women of the Bible (2014) that aired on the Lifetime network.
4. Joanna, Whose Husband Worked for Herod Antipas
Luke mentions that Mary Magdalene was one of several female patrons who traveled from town to town with Jesus and the apostles. He also mentions that Joanna, one of these patrons, was married to the manager of Herod’s household (Luke 8:3).
This detail is fascinating, because Jesus and Herod did not exactly get along with each other. One would think that some dramatist might have picked up on this detail and done something with it. But until last year, none had. And then, suddenly, only a few weeks apart, Joanna popped up as a character in two TV productions that were both particularly concerned with the political implications of the Jesus movement.
In Killing Jesus, Joanna overhears a threat made against Jesus in Herod’s palace, and she tries to send him a warning. In A.D. The Bible Continues (2015), however, her Christian connections are discovered during the events of the Book of Acts, and she is executed by the Romans. All very fictitious, perhaps, but it’s exciting to see screenwriters thinking beyond the standard 12 disciples as they flesh out the Jesus movement.
5. The Syro-Phoenician Woman
This is one of the more perplexing stories in the Gospels, as Jesus not only rejects a foreign woman’s request to heal her daughter, but he seems to insult them, too, when he says, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs” (Matt. 15:21–28; Mark 7:24–30). “Children” in this case refers to the Israelites, and “dogs” refers to Gentiles like this woman).
The woman’s reply—“Yes it is, Lord. Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table”—prompts Jesus to heal her daughter after all. Did Jesus always intend to heal the daughter? Was he just testing the mother’s faith? Or did he actually change his mind? Since most films have omitted this story, they have never had to answer those questions.
One miniseries, however, does tackle this story. Jesus (1999), produced as part of The Bible Collection series, emphasizes the humanity of Jesus and uses this scene to show that Jesus changing his mind. And when the disciples protest, Jesus replies, “This woman has taught me that my message is for the Gentiles, as well. If I can learn, so can you.”
6. The Ungrateful Lepers
Most Jesus films tend to flatter their audiences by showing how awestruck everyone was whenever Jesus performed a healing. Surely, we think, we would have been just as moved as they were. But the story of the ungrateful lepers—Jesus healed ten of them, and only one came back to thank him (Luke 17:11–19)—reminds us that some people were not so awestruck, or even particularly thankful.
‘Life of Brian’
Perhaps the only major film that even alludes to this story is the Monty Python comedy Life of Brian (1979), in which an “ex-leper” begs for alms and complains that Jesus took away his “livelihood.” When Brian finally says, “There’s no pleasing some people,” the ex-leper—who, based on the way he hops and skips and flexes his arms, is clearly enjoying the use of his restored limbs—replies, “That’s just what Jesus said!”
7. The Coin in the Fish’s Mouth
One of the odder miracles in the Gospels concerns a tax that Jesus and his disciples were supposed to pay for the upkeep of the Temple. Jesus suggests to his disciples that, as the Son of God, he should be exempt from this tax, but, “so that we may not cause offense,” he tells Peter to pay the tax using a four-drachma coin that he will find in a fish’s mouth (Matt. 17:24–27).
DeMille’s The King of Kings may be the only major film to show this miracle, and it combines the story with the calling of the tax collector Matthew and with Jesus’ teaching that people should “render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s.” DeMille also gets some comedy out of the story by having two soldiers try to replicate the miracle. When one of them catches his own fish, he shakes it next to his ears, hoping to hear the rattling of coins.
8. The Plot to Kill Lazarus
The resurrection of Lazarus is one of the most famous miracles in the entire Bible and has been depicted in many films. But many people overlook the fact that the chief priests tried to have Lazarus killed, because his sudden fame was drawing too much attention to Jesus (John 12:9–11).
John doesn’t say whether the conspiracy succeeded, but at least two films—The Last Temptation of Christ (1988) and Jesus, the Spirit of God (2007), an Iranian film that tells the story of Jesus from a Muslim perspective—actually show Lazarus being killed, by Zealots in one case and by the priests in the other. And in both films, the man who delivers the fatal blow is Saul, the early persecutor of the church who eventually became the Christian missionary Paul.
9. The Two Sons of Simon of Cyrene
Three of the Gospels mention that a man named Simon of Cyrene was forced to carry the cross for Jesus. But only Mark’s gospel mentions that Simon was “the father of Alexander and Rufus” (15:21). Why does Mark, and not the other Gospels, tell us this? Tradition says Mark wrote his Gospel in Rome, and Paul’s letter to the Romans includes a greeting for a man named Rufus, whose mother was like a mother to Paul (Rom. 16:13). Is this the same Rufus mentioned in Mark? Was Mark reminding his readers that one of their own friends was the son of someone who had witnessed the Crucifixion for himself?
We don’t know, but it’s fun to speculate. And two films—the silent King of Kings and The Passion of the Christ (2004)—seem to make a nod to this passage by introducing Simon in the company of one of his sons before the Romans force him to carry the cross.
10. The Doubts of Resurrection Eyewitnesses
Many Christians have wished that they could see the resurrected Jesus for themselves, and many have taken to heart what Jesus told the apostle Thomas: “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (John 20:29). But what if actually seeing Jesus didn’t resolve one’s doubts? What if people still struggled to believe even then?
Many films have skipped the Resurrection entirely, and many others have given it only cursory treatment. So it’s not surprising that few films have explored Matthew 28:17, an enigmatic passage: “When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted.” But one or two come to mind.
Joseph Fiennes in ‘Risen’
The miniseries A.D. Anno Domini (1985) hints at what this passage is getting at when Thomas is reluctant to believe in the Resurrection even after Jesus appears to him and all the other disciples (“He died on a cross,” says Thomas, using the third person even though he is looking right at Jesus). It is only after Thomas touches the wounds of Jesus that he fully believes. Similarly, the film Risen features a non-disciple who witnesses the risen Christ and wrestles with whether to accept what he has seen.
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God makes a way for His servants. He miraculously opens doors and hearts to fulfil His great commission.
This is the testimony of an Open Doors representative in China who regularly meets North Korean Christians who have escaped to China. Their name and the names of all those mentioned in the story have been withheld or changed for security purposes.
I know God has not abandoned North Korea. Too many people bear testimony of His saving work in North Korea. But most North Koreans live and die under the rule of the Kims and have never heard of a God who creates, cares, and cherishes. God however makes a way for His servants. He miraculously opens doors and hearts to fulfil His great commission. In a private room of a restaurant, I meet a cautious man in his sixties. After prayer, he confides how he grew up in the area roaming the mountains like a ranger. Now he uses his skills to find refugees hiding in the woods.
He said, “Six months ago, I met a North Korean man. I was able to share the gospel with him and he came to faith. A month ago, I had heart problems and was near death. God miraculously healed me. The doctors couldn’t explain it. Now, I provide food for three refugees. One of them is the man I helped six months ago. He now leads an underground church of sixteen believers.”
I meet with Sister P in an old church that had sheltered North Korean refugees until one of them was arrested. “It was our duty to help them,” she declared. “Fortunately, God granted these refugees faith. During services, they sat near the exit so, if the police came, they could slip out. But one of the ladies was arrested during a Bible study. She disappeared, leaving her children with an abusive husband.
“With the support of your organisation we were able to take care of this poor family. Every morning, members of our congregation prayed with tears for our lost sister. The husband started to attend church. He transformed. He’s no longer an abusive alcoholic but a faithful servant and good father. He is very important for our local ministry now.”
Recently his wife called from North Korea. After spending several years in a prison camp, she was released. “She hopes to escape to China soon,” Sister P continued. “Fifty per cent of inmates don’t survive their prison sentence. I’m sure our sister survived thanks to prayer.” Before me sits an extraordinary lady we call Mrs Shelter, because she risks her life to run one of Open Doors’ safe houses for North Korean refugees.
“Five years ago I was so sick I almost died,” she shared. “A pastor prayed for me. I was miraculously healed. God saved me and I know why. He wanted to use me for North Korean ministry. Ever since, I’ve realised I’m living on extra time. I don’t want to waste the days I’ve been given.” Living in a city where “people from the other side” regularly appear, her ministry is fruitful. “They wander the streets, looking for places to sleep. I approach them, offer them a free place to stay, and serve them until they go back or move on. “They want to know why I do this without asking anything in return. I share with them about God and the Bible. Many return as believers.”
The moment Mrs Shelter became involved in the work among North Koreans she also became a target for the Chinese authorities and North Korean government. She has had spies under her roof – humans trained to deceive, destroy and murder. “God grants me supernatural discernment. I can tell if the person is genuine or sent to spy. But I never shy away from serving. I treat the spies with as much love as I help real refugees. Some confessed at the end of their stay they were there to write a bad report about me back in North Korea, but they promised they would make it a positive one. ‘We don’t have your faith,’ they say, ‘but we’ve seen your life and character and want to resemble it’.
Source: Open Doors
Your prayers made a difference. Jesus often reminds us to Ask – Seek – Knock, to pray and believe.
Saint Valentine is a third century saint commemorated on February 14 (the date of his martyrdom) and associated with a tradition of courtly love.
A popular hagiography describes Saint Valentine as the former Bishop of Terni, a city in southern Umbria, in what is now central Italy.
While under house arrest of Judge Asterius, and discussing his faith with him, Valentinus (the Roman pronunciation of his name) was discussing the validity of Jesus. The judge put Valentinus to the test and brought to him the judge’s adopted blind daughter. If Valentinus succeeded in restoring the girl’s sight, Asterius would do anything he asked. Valentinus laid his hands on her eyes and the child’s vision was restored.
Immediately humbled, the judge asked Valentinus what he should do. Valentinus replied that all of the idols around the judge’s house should be broken, the judge should fast for three days, and then undergo baptism. The judge obeyed and as a result, freed all the Christian inmates under his authority. The judge, his family and forty others were baptized.
Valentinus was later arrested again for continuing to serve Jesus and was sent to the prefect of Rome, to the emperor Claudius himself. Claudius took a liking to him until Valentinus tried to lead Claudius to Jesus, whereupon Claudius refused and condemned Valentinus to death, commanding that Valentinus either renounce his faith or he would be beaten with clubs, and beheaded. Valentinus refused and Claudius’ command was executed outside the Flaminian Gate February 14, 269.
Prisha stepped out of the rickshaw only to be greeted by a crowd of dirty, half-naked children running around. One woman stood nearby barely clothed—much to Prisha’s embarrassment. Animal carcasses and burning waste littered the village, creating a stench so bad passersby would speed recklessly through the village to escape it.
Prisha had heard about this village before. Punya Basti’s residents lived in squalor with no electricity, running water or toilets. Most of the villagers left for months at a time to find low-paying work and beg in other areas, but they still couldn’t afford to feed their children three meals a day—much less provide for them to go to school. Alcohol and drug abuse ran rampant, even among children, and fights commonly broke out. On top of all this, outsiders despised the villagers for their low caste and lack of hygiene and education.
Going Where Others Wouldn’t
Prisha had come to Punya Basti to serve as a Sister of Compassion, a woman missionary committed to sharing Christ’s love in practical ways, specifically among poor and marginalized people groups.
GFA pastor Hoob Kumar, who served in the village, was having difficulty ministering to the women.
“The ladies didn’t know how to wear clothes properly,” Pastor Hoob recalls, “and the mothers weren’t bothered that the vessels they cooked with and ate food from were not clean.”
Moreover, the women couldn’t open up to Pastor Hoob because he was a man. He knew they needed someone to come alongside them, educate them and listen to their struggles, so he asked his leaders to send Sisters of Compassion to Punya Basti.
Knowing she was called to go where others wouldn’t, Prisha agreed to go. Out of consideration for her safety, her leader said she could commute there each day from a nearby village that would have safer, more comfortable accommodations, but Prisha wanted to live with the villagers.
“I don’t want to stay in a different place,” she told him. “I want to stay in the midst of them, in the village, so I can understand their feelings . . . and they can understand the love that we want to show them.”
Sisters of Compassion choose to wear a uniform that has a special and easily recognized meaning in South Asia: servanthood. It’s a humble sari worn by the poorest women and the street sweepers of Asia. Watch a video to learn more about Sisters of Compassion’s training, dress code and ministry. Learn more.
Immediate Challenges Require Unswerving Faith
But living among the villagers wasn’t easy. They rarely bathed or washed their clothes. Drunken fights broke out frequently, with men and women shouting vulgar words.
When the landlord of the house Prisha stayed in offered her and her fellow Sister of Compassion water, Prisha looked at the glass in shock.
“The glass that she gave [us] really smelled very bad. We were not able to drink from that,” Prisha remembers. “Seeing this glass, we were really broken, and we didn’t have anything in our hand to give them. All we could do for them was just pray to God Almighty.”
Prisha and her co-worker knew adjusting to this culture would require more than one prayer, though. They dedicated their first week to fasting and praying; then they began finding ways to help the villagers. They started by sweeping out the village’s filthy drains.
An Uncomfortable Yet Fruitful Lifestyle
At first, Punya Basti’s dirtiness made Prisha wonder if she would ever feel comfortable eating in the villagers’ homes. But she, and the seven Sisters of Compassion who eventually joined her, made a decision to embrace the villagers and share in their lives.
“Slowly we understood that if we don’t get to know them closely, we won’t be able to have relationships with them,” Prisha explains.
The Sisters of Compassion helped the local women with their chores, took care of their babies and ate the food they cooked—food most outsiders would have refused because it consisted of game like tortoise and mongoose.
By identifying with the villagers, the Sisters of Compassion eventually earned their trust, and the villagers began listening to their advice. People stopped drinking and fighting. Women started dressing modestly and cooking in a healthier, cleaner way. Children started going to school, and the Sisters of Compassion taught them how to bathe, brush their teeth, comb their hair and dress neatly. The villagers even began seeing the missionaries as their own family.
“These eight sisters are like our daughters,” explains one villager. “We love them because they love us. They brought lots of changes in our family, in our home, in our society and in our children.”
Once Scorned, Village Shines
As the Sisters of Compassion reflected God’s love, many people decided to follow Him. Now Christ is transforming Punya Basti from the inside out.
Today, the vast majority of Punya Basti’s residents, numbering more than 1,000, proclaim faith in Jesus. Even when half of the village is away traveling for work, more than 200 people gather to worship Jesus each week, ready to learn more about the God who cared enough to send His daughters to live among them.
The nightly news may present disturbing images and a bleak outlook for the Middle East. Yet behind the horror of war, God is touching hearts in powerful ways, unleashing His Spirit among refugees, their families, and into surrounding communities and nations.
“There is something happening right now that is unprecedented,” says Brother Thomas*, a Middle East coordinator for All Nations. “The spiritual openness is incredible.”
On a recent trip into a refugee camp he met with a Muslim family inside their tent. The father – the patriarch of the family – started to tell him about his son Yusuf, who sat next to him. (Yusuf is the Arabic equivalent of the biblical name Joseph)
“Do you know about the prophet Joseph?” Thomas inquired.
“Yes, he’s one of my favorites; he’s the dreamer,” the man replied.
“Have you had any dreams of significance?” Thomas asked the son.
“No, but my mother has…”
His mother excitedly broke in: “Ever since he was a child I’ve had dreams of a man in glowing white hugging my son. In the last dream he was crying, and his tears were coming down his beard and on to my son’s head.
“I have such a warmth for this prophet,” she continued. “I know he is a prophet.”
“I know who that person is in your dream,” Thomas said with assurance.
The woman’s eyes widened with intense interest. “Who is it?”
“It is Jesus.”
Then Brother Thomas told them the story of Jesus’ love for children, when He said, “Let the little children come to Me.”
The woman began to cry. “It was so moving for her to hear someone loves her family so much He would give her dreams demonstrating His love.”
As he toured the ramshackle refugee camp with structures composed of cardboard, wood slats, and plastic tarps, he found many who had similar encounters with God. “Almost every family we visited had some kind of experience, either through dreams or someone had given them a New Testament in the medical clinic or prayed for them,” he noted.
Brother Thomas observed a feeling of desperation that pervaded the camps. “There was a lot of fear and uncertainty about the future,” he discovered. “Every family has lost people through warfare or has a story of pain. Because the war is Muslim against Muslim they have a feeling there has to be something better. They are looking for answers.”
“Over and over we saw people who have questions, who want to know more about Jesus.”
Brother Thomas knows other Christian workers equally amazed. “I have friends who have been here 17-20 years and it’s mind boggling for them,” he says. “Previously they shared with someone for seven or eight years before they came to know Jesus. Now it happens in two or three months and they bring others with them.”
While this move of God seems to have originated in the refugee camps, it is not contained there. “It’s happening everywhere, but mostly around the refugees,” Thomas notes. “There is something happening in the spiritual atmosphere because these refugees are so open and so hungry.
“As they respond, the neighboring countries are responding in the same way. Something is being stirred up. People are coming into the kingdom practically without us – we get to be the midwives.”
Brother Thomas is struck by the contrast between the grim news portrayed on television and the reality of God’s work behind the scenes. “When I watch the news, it seems like things are getting worse,” he observes. “But when I talk to my friends in the area I see the Kingdom is coming – people are coming to the Lord. Whole families are coming to Christ, communities are changing, I can see the Kingdom expanding.”
*name changed for security reasons
All Nations is an international leadership training and church-planting network. All Nations partners with local churches to send short term and long-term church planting teams to more than 30 different countries. All Nations provides specialized leadership and discipleship schools located at Africa House, located in Cape Town, South Africa.
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2015 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
The concert hall at the Sydney Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 43,000 times in 2015. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 16 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.
Son Jonathan with his children Dante and Jemimah in Yangon
“My involvement in the country has been to help facilitate the care of orphans and abandoned children.”
Jonathan with orphans and needy kids
“So, with others, we have built homes, installed pumps and water purifiers, paid for food, clothing, medical care and education.”
Jonathan and Jemimah & Dante with Zo Min, a teacher in Yangon
This year my 3 adult children and most of my grandchildren will have served and helped in Myanmar/Burma and 5 of them go this December. Click link for more details and email me (geoffwaugh2@gmail.com) if you’d like to help. Australian ANZ bank details: Geoffrey Waugh Mission Account, BSB 014249, Ac. 5647 11123 (Swift code: ANZBAU3M).
Orphans & needy kids’ first visit to a restaurant – $2 each!
In the 1990 sham election run by the junta, Aung San Suu Kyi won almost 80% of the seats. The election was annulled and Aung San Suu Kyi put under house arrest for 20 years. Twenty five years later, the move towards democracy has seen a new election take place this past weekend. The military gave themselves 25% of the seats, opened the rest for public vote, and created a rule that would disqualify Aung San Suu Kyi from being elected. Despite these obstacles, it looks like her party is even more popular than in 1990 and able to accept office.
I’ve been in Myanmar every Christmas for the past 7 years and seen extensive social changes over that time. Improvements in the roads, vehicles, buildings and society. SIM cards went from costing over $2000 to under $2. I remember looking at my interpreter in disbelief when told a SIM card was more than $1000. What? I was sure they got the conversion from Kyats to dollars wrong.
My involvement in the country has been to help facilitate the care of orphans and abandoned children. Children so easily become helpless victims of poverty. Simply because of where I was born, I have resources that can help. So, with others, we have built homes, installed pumps and water purifiers, paid for food, clothing, medical care and education.
As I return this year, I am looking forward to visiting the kids I know in seven different orphanages. Playing games and having a laugh while concentrating on developing their education. Not only can a well-educated person escape poverty, they can help many other people reach the same heights. So I’d love to start some schools. It’s not something I can do on my own. If you would like to help, I’d like to hear from you.
In her speech, Aung San Suu Kyi noted the often overlooked and misunderstood concept of the servant leader. So often, we want to be in charge and run things our way. I was reminded of the most amazing person in history, the servant-King. See link on my Facebook page.
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