Europe: 5 signs of Christian revival

Europe: 5 signs of Christian revival

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Europe: 5 signs of Christian revival

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Post-Christian. Secular. A prodigal continent. These are some of the words often used to describe Christianity in Europe. Yet, a growing number of voices believe God is not done with Europe.

“Renewed spiritual hunger, new stirring of prayer, fresh expressions of the church, and migrant churches restoring faith” are signs of hope in our continent today, writes former YWAM Europe director Jeff Fountain.

It would certainly not be the first time that God changes the narrative of a continent. Only decades ago, Protestants described Latin America as a mission field. Today, it’s become a mission force, and the Brazilian church sends the second most missionaries in the world. In 1900, Africa was home to about nine million Christians. Who could ever have imagined that by the 2020s there would be half a billion Christians on the continent?

But the missional challenges for Christians in Europe are overwhelming. The old continent has a complex and unique history with the Christian faith. “No other continent has been exposed to Christianity for such a prolonged period and in such an extensive way,” wrote Jim Memory, the Lausanne Europe co-regional director, in the Europe 2021 Missiological Report. “Yet just as Europe was the first continent to be Christianised, it was also the first to be de-Christianised.”

Even so, in our day, an extraordinary re-evangelisation of Europe is taking place. Here are five ways we are seeing God move throughout the continent:

1. Diaspora churches
Latin-American migrants have planted thousands of churches in Spain, Portugal and beyond over the last thirty years. It is difficult to find a major European city that does not have a large Spanish speaking and/or Brazilian congregation. Similarly, Chinese churches can be found almost everywhere. African-initiated Pentecostal churches number in the thousands in Britain alone.

2. Church planting
Church planting has been also accelerating in Europe through various networks, denominations, and mission agencies. In France, for example, the National Council of French Evangelicals (CNEF) has set a goal of establishing an evangelical church for every 10,000 people. The church planting movement in France saw, on average, one church be planted every seven days over the last few years. “We want to move the church in Europe from decline and plateauing into growth,” said Øystein Gjerme, leader of M4 Europe, a movement with a vision to see one church planted every day in Europe.3. The prayer movement
The late revival historian J. Edwin Orr wrote that “whenever God is ready to do something new with his people, he always sets them to praying.” For the last two decades, the 24/7 prayer movement has seen the birth of 22,000 prayer rooms in 78 nations, the majority of them in Europe. One house of prayer in Augsburg, Germany, has had continuous prayer, day and night, for 11 years, or 110,000 hours.4. Increased Christian unity
The war in Ukraine has fostered unprecedented collaboration between mission agencies. Networks like the European Leadership Forum, the European Evangelical Alliance, and the Lausanne Movement have strengthened unity and collaboration. In charismatic circles, a historic coalition of 29 denominations and mission agencies in Norway brought together 9,000 young people, the largest Christian cross-denominational gathering in over 20 years, for The Send Norway.

5. The next generation
This May, 13,000 teens and young adults from all over Germany came together for Christival, a conference organized by a nondenominational network with historical roots in the Jesus Movement. Revive Europe brought together 3,000 university students from 68 nations to pray for a revival among their peers. God is raising a new generation of Europeans longing for authentic encounters with Jesus. They are increasingly open to spiritual conversations, prayer, and especially looking for a community to belong to.

Source: Sarah Breuel, Revive Europe

Jowl News # 1283, December 8, 2022

Added to  BLOGS INDEX 2: MISSION (INTERNATIONAL STORIES)

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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Uzbekistan: An ancient city experiences revival

Uzbekistan: An ancient city experiences revival

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Bukhara in Uzbekistan, one of the oldest cities in the world, is experiencing a revival. This is reported by German missiologist Johannes Reimer.

Bukhara was first mentioned in 500 BC. Located on the famous Silk Road, it became a center for trade, culture, science, and religion. Ancient authors called Bukhara “a city full of knowledge.” It was Buddhist under Mongolian rulership until in the 7th century the Nestorians introduced Christianity. The many coins with Christian symbols suggest that Christianity might have been a dominant religion in Bukhara during the 7th and 8th centuries. However, Bukhara’s people gradually converted to Islam in the late 9th century, and in the 14th century Christians were forced out of the country.

Photo: The historic centre of Bukhara is a UNESCO heritage site

Christianity came back to Bukhara in the 20th century. Under Russian and Soviet rule Russian, German, Korean, Armenian and Polish Christians settled in the area, often by force. Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Armenian Apostolic, Lutheran, Mennonite, Baptist and Pentecostal churches established branches in the country and also in Bukhara. First these churches mainly served the immigrants, but from 1985 onwards members of ethnic native Uzbek and Tadzhik groups also came to know Jesus and join the church.

‘The Evangelicals are experiencing extraordinary growth’

In 1991, Uzbekistan became an independent state. Christians experienced heavy state persecution and many Russian and almost all German-speaking Christians left the country. Under the current president, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, the relationship between the government and the churches has improved, leading to more and more converts from Islam coming in. Today the Evangelicals are experiencing extraordinary growth in Uzbekistan, including Bukhara, where five Evangelical churches attract hundreds of mostly Uzbek and Tadzhik believers for worship each Sunday. The churches actively spread the gospel in the region.

“We went from an ingrown, self-centered Pentecostal church to a congregation serving our community,” says one of the pastors. His growing congregation counts hundreds of people throughout the region. Among them are many deaf people. “Today you will barely find one village in our region without a house church for the deaf,” the pastor says. “People consider the deaf, blind and other people with inborn disabilities as cursed; we instead serve them, teach them to write and to read, teach sign language to them and offer them an integral part in our Sunday worship service. Our teams visit the places, care for them socially and conduct Bible studies. Hundreds have been baptised so far. Through our intensive care for those outcasts, their families have started to open up as well.”

‘You will barely find a village without a house church for the deaf’

Visiting the people in their home areas can turn out to be a very difficult venture. Roads are bad, buses are rare, and many places can be reached only by walking or biking. The Evangelicals in Bukhara seem to use every opportunity. During the pandemic the church organised mask production, compiled basic food packages and, most of all, delivered clean water to the people. The church has its own water purification plant that produces 500 liters of clean water per hour. The water is distributed among the people in the neighbourhood, sold for a modest profit. Where poor people can’t pay, the water is given for free. And everyone is served, Christians, Muslims and atheists. The Christians dream of having such purification plants in every village of the region. The generally available water is bitter and often dangerous. “Clean water is good news to the people, and when it is brought by us Christians, we become good news to them,” one pastor says.

Photo: a deaf community in Uzbekistan

“Caring for the well-being of people in the community always includes prayer for the sick,” another pastor says. “We intentionally go to the Covid-infected people, comfort them and their families, and lay our hands on them in prayer for healing. Many were instantly healed. This too brought people closer to Jesus. Experiencing God’s divine healing also strengthened our young first-generation believers. Today they know what Jesus can do because they have seen Him doing miracles.”

‘Women are the backbone of the movement in Uzbekistan’

One extraordinary development in Bukhara is the role of women in evangelising in the area. In fact, the vast majority of evangelists and small group leaders among the new believers are women. Similar to the deaf people, they are considered in some tribal settings as second-class humans and are excluded from many strata of religious and tribal life. At the same time, many of them have received a high-level education in Soviet times and after the independence. Searching for meaning in life, many of them find answers in Christianity and turn to Jesus. The fact that their husbands are often far away in foreign lands (mostly in Russia) for years as guest workers puts the bulk of the responsibility to care for the family on them. Christian women, as well as the church itself, offer them support and care.

Finding their way to Jesus releases an enormous energy in their lives. As a result, they are testifying about Jesus to other women in their neighbourhood and organising them in Bible studies or even in small businesses to help them survive economically. “Today women are the backbone of the evangelical movement in Uzbekistan,” says the pastor. Most of those women are relatively young – as are the Uzbek and Tadzhik Christians generally. Many 18 to 25 years olds are already leading ministries, and are experienced in evangelism and church planting.

Source: Johannes Reimer

Joel News International # 1280,  November 15, 2022

 

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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)
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BLOGS INDEX 5: CHURCH (CHRISTIANITY IN ACTION)
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Uzbekistan: An ancient city experiences revival

Reaching an entire village from your desk

 

Reaching an entire village from your desk

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Reaching an entire village from your desk
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“What if you could reach an entire village with the Gospel… from your desk? This is what happened to our teammate, Amin,” reports German church planter Jürgen Kramer, who ministers in Hamburg among refugees from Syria and Iraq.

During the lockdowns in Hamburg, Amin asked God: “What should I do? I’m at home and not allowed to go out. How do I reach people with the Gospel?” The answer came quickly with a phone call from a Yazidi friend in Northern Iraq. This friend shared how they were struggling against evil spirits. Black magic is unfortunately part of Yazidi culture, and many Yazidi have also been traumatised by ISIS.

“I prayed that God would release them and bring them freedom from these spirits,” Amin said. I urged my friend: ‘Please accept Jesus in your life, and ask the Holy Spirit to fill you and be with you forever.’ My friend agreed, and I told him: ‘If you don’t connect with God every day, those evil spirits will be back, and they will be even more powerful.’ After this conversation, my friend in northern Iraq decided he wanted to study the Bible together with me. He also invited a friend and their two sisters. God had answered my prayer.”

‘The two sisters went from house to house to share Jesus’

“For 4 months, we spent 3 hours every day reading and studying the Bible together. We also prayed, and I encouraged them to share Jesus with their friends in the university. During this time, we also decided to fast and pray that the glory of God would go from house to house among the Yazidi people. We would skip one meal each day for 10 days and spend that time in prayer. We would pray that each person in this community would know and experience the true love of God.”

“Two or three months after we completed this Bible study, I started receiving good news from my friends there. The two sisters had been going from house to house to share Jesus in their Yazidi community. I got to know more and more new believers who had learned of Jesus from these two women. When the sisters encountered someone who had questions they couldn’t answer, they would direct them to me, and we would search the Bible together for answers.”

As a result, there is now a vibrant Yazidi house church planted in this community, and more and more Yazidis are coming to know the love of Jesus Christ. This house church has formed a couple of teams that go out and visit villages and camps. “Please join us in praying that this Yazidi church will continue to grow!” Amin asks.

Source: Jürgen Kramer, All Nations Hamburg

 Joel News # 1264, June 28, 2022

Included in BLOGS INDEX 2: MISSION (INTERNATIONAL STORIES)

See also:


The Life of Jesus: History’s Great Love Story – Blog
The Life of Jesus: History’s Great Love Story – PDF

New Christian’s Guide – Blog
New Christian’s Guide – PDF

UK: Black churches thrive like never before

UK: Black churches thrive like never before

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UK: Black churches thrive like never before

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In the UK there has been a 5% national drop in church attendance, but a corresponding 18% increase in Black church membership.

According to the Evangelical Alliance’s Census, ‘Ethnicity and Regular Church Going’, this growth is reflected in Black church attendance being at least three times their proportion in the population. London is the best place to see this as 48% of all churchgoers are now Black, with the London Borough of Southwark having the largest concentration of African churches anywhere in the country. It has an estimated 240 Black Majority churches, with over 20,000 congregants.

What do we know about African churches, their Christianity and their rapid growth? Here are five things worth knowing:

1. African Christianity is active and engaged
African churches expect their members to become fully engaged and involved in the life and activities of the church. Their Christianity is part of everyday life, every aspect of it.

2. African Christians have a positive outlook on life
African church leaders are generally inspirational and often charismatic. Members are aspirational and have a positive outlook on life. They see prosperity as God’s blessing and find it empowering to pursue this.

3. African churches think big and stylish
African Christians think big. They love the term ‘my God is a big God’, which shows the limitless power of what God can do. Many of their churches started with a few members and in record time have grown into big churches. When African churches put on events and conferences, they are likely to be on a grand scale. When they buy warehouses, abandoned buildings, bingo halls, or former churches, they refurbish them to a high standard with a ‘wow’ factor.

4. Africans market and promote relentlessly on social media
African churches have a good grasp of modern communication and information technology. Typically, they are on all the leading social media platforms to grow their churches and attract young people to their services. Many are likely to have had an online experience before going through the doors.

5. ‘Reverse Mission’
Reverse Mission is a concept prevalent among many African Christians, who see their mission in Britain as a reversal of how the missionaries once brought Christianity to Africa. They now believe Britain needs re-evangelising and are committed to doing so.

Source: Roy Francis

Joel News # 1259, May 23, 2022

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GENERAL BLOGS INDEX

BLOGS INDEX 1: REVIVALS (BRIEFER THAN REVIVALS INDEX)

BLOGS INDEX 2: MISSION (INTERNATIONAL STORIES)

BLOGS INDEX 3: DEVOTIONAL (INCLUDING TESTIMONIES)

BLOGS INDEX 4: CHAPTERS (BLOGS FROM BOOKS)

BLOGS INDEX 5: CHURCH (CHRISTIANITY IN ACTION)

BLOGS INDEX 6: CHAPTERS (BLOGS FROM BOOKS)

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Mexico: Thousands of migrants meet Jesus at the border

“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
– Matthew 25:40
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Mexico: How thousands of migrants meet Jesus at the border

When Gustavo Banda opened his small church in a poor neighbourhood in Mexico, little did he know that it would become a refuge for tens of thousands of migrants on transit to the USA.  

Six miles west of Tijuana, and a short distance from the U.S.-Mexico border, lies one of the city’s poorest neighbourhoods. There are no paved roads, no sewage system. The hillside is strewn with garbage and crime is rampant. “When we moved here there were only people with a lot of needs,” pastor Gustavo Banda recalled. In 2011, he and his wife, Zaida Guillén, moved to Cañón de Alacrán, or Scorpion’s Canyon, after hearing from the Lord in a dream. “It was a clear mandate from God to move here even though there was absolutely nothing in this place.”

The Mexican couple was touched by the overwhelming needs of the community. “Most folks here were poor subsistence farmers. God gave me a dream that I had to build a church. We worked for eight months, day and night. We knew God was going to do something special, but nobody had a clue about what was really going to happen.” That year, Templo Embajadores de Jesús, or Ambassadors of Jesus Church, was born. Banda held services on Sunday, then hit the rugged roads the rest of the week going house-to-house, ministering to physical and spiritual needs.

‘We knew God was going to do something special, but nobody had a clue about what was really going to happen’

In 2016, the church’s focus drastically changed when thousands of Haitians, escaping poverty and back-to-back natural disasters, began to carve a dangerous 7,000-mile path through Latin America to the U.S. Many landed on the church’s doorsteps, less than 30 minutes from the San Ysidro border. “Within months, 22,000 Haitians had arrived in the city of Tijuana.” The church became a place of refuge. “I did not know, nor did I ever imagine, that there would be so many people in the church.”

Since then, Banda provided a refuge to migrants from all parts of the world. “It started with migrants coming from Haiti, Africa, Pakistan, and the Middle East. Today, we mainly have people from El Salvador, Guatemala, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Colombia, and some from Mexico. We estimate about 35,000 people have come through the church. We feed them 3 times a day. We try to help them with all their needs. At nighttime, the entire church becomes one big giant dorm where everyone sets up their beds on the floor.”

Jaqueline Ortiz, 24, from Guatemala is here with her two girls. She said, “I’m so thankful to God because without the church, I don’t know where I would be. I don’t go hungry here, my daughters don’t go hungry, we have a warm place, we have a roof. All thanks to God and to the people that help us.” Most migrants stay here an average of six months before trying to legally cross the border.

‘We feed them, are family to them, baptise them, and send them on’

Church volunteers run a school for the children, oversee computer training and provide other skills that will help migrants prepare for their new life in America. Area churches and NGOs also pitch in with food and other essential supplies. “The most important thing we try to provide to the migrants is hope and to be a family to them,” Banda said. “We have only little time with them, so I want them to know as much as they can about Jesus, baptise them, and send them on.”

Banda once had a desire to be a missionary to Haiti, but Haiti came to him. And after Haiti came, all the other nations followed.

Source: George Thomas, CBN

Joel News International # 1242, January 14, 2022

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)

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Mexico: Thousands of migrants meet Jesus at the border

China: The cross on our shoulders and in our hearts

China: The cross on our shoulders and in our hearts

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“I am very happy that so many crosses have been torn down! The cross was never meant to be fixed to the roof of a building. Instead, the Lord Jesus called us to carry the cross on our shoulders and in our hearts.”

What is important to persecuted Christians in Asia may not be a priority to believers elsewhere, and vice versa. Priorities often appear to be polar opposites.

This is perhaps why for decades places like China have been experiencing the greatest revival in Christian history, while in much of the Western world the Church is struggling to stay afloat.

As an example, some Western Christian publications have run what they consider to be shocking stories of how the Chinese Communist Party has removed the crosses from thousands of church buildings throughout China in recent years.

Brother Yun, whose testimony you may have read in The Heavenly Man, was visiting Canada a few years ago when a group of pastors and mission leaders asked him to comment on the removal of crosses in China. Thinking he would express alarm at such a ghastly act, many in the room were totally shocked when Brother Yun replied:

“I am very happy that so many crosses have been torn down! The cross was never meant to be fixed to the roof of a building. Instead, the Lord Jesus called us to carry the cross on our shoulders and in our hearts. I completely agree with the government’s decision to pull down all the crosses!”

Yun’s response perfectly encapsulated the difference between biblical and institutional Christianity; between those who have experienced true revival and those who are focused on temporal rather than eternal things.

The strongman Chinese President Xi Jinping and the other leaders of China can never understand why the number of believers has increased by millions while they have been busy removing crosses from church buildings. The things from the Spirit can only be discerned through the Spirit.

During the Roman Empire, when one Christian was being martyred, his persecutors mockingly asked, “What is your Carpenter doing now?” Calmly, without a trace of fear on his face, the believer replied: “He is constructing a coffin for your empire.”

Source: Asia Harvest

Joel News International, # 1234, November 1, 2021

See Pastor George Chen’s moving labour camp story – In the Garden

Posts on China – from Mission Blogs:
Asia’s Maturing Church (David Wang)
The Spirit told us what to do (Carl Lawrence)
Revival in China (Dennis Balcombe)
House Churches in China (Barbara Nield)
China – New Wave of Revival
Chinese turning to Christianity
Revival breaks out in China’s government approved churches
China: how a mother started a house church movement
China – Life-changing Miracle
China’s next generation: New China, New Church, New World
China: The cross on our shoulders and in our hearts
George Chen – In the Garden: 18 years in prison

GENERAL BLOGS INDEX

BLOGS INDEX 1: REVIVALS(BRIEFER THANREVIVALS 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)

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12 Spheres of Influence – National Prayer Strategy

Adapted from Prayer Strategy for the Spheres of Influence
The original 10 domains are now expanded to 12 spheres of influencehttps://prayerstrategy.org.

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https://renewaljournal.com/2015/01/30/the-10-domains
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You, or your group, could include these spheres in your prayers.

From the National Prayer Strategy:

The vision for the ten domains was revealed to Peter Kentley, the former CEO of Australian Marketplace Connections. Since 2009 we have received a number of confirmations to adopt and develop this vision in Australia, and to establish prayer (and mission) strategies for these domains.

The original ten domains were:

1. Trade and Finance (Business)
2. Government and the Military
3. Law and Justice
4. Religion and Philosophy
5. Creative Arts
6. Education
7. Charity and Not for Profit Welfare
8. Health and Science
9. Media and Entertainment
10. Sport and Recreation

These are now expanded to 12 spheres of influencehttps://prayerstrategy.org.

Introduction

During the 20th Century life became multi-faceted and overly busy with Marketplace spheres (or mountains or domains) of influence dominating and competing for the Families’ time, money, affections and ambitions, and drawing them away from the Church (the eternal family) and God our creator.

Every month we dedicate prayer for these 12 spheres (click on each):

To a great extent God is being largely relegated outside these spheres of our society. The cost of this relegation has been incredible: costs to society in the form of corporate ethical failures, physical and mental health burdens resulting from people failing to engage with Biblical solutions such as forgiveness, and the near-meltdown of the whole global financial system (the ‘GFC’ and potential ‘GFC2’) as a result of debt-driven artificial wealth creation that was not based on Godly values and principles.

Even the Church has been largely seduced into a Greek world view of the division of sacred and secular, creating a separation of Sunday from Monday. This resulted in the Church only accessing some 5% of its people’s waking time and Christian discipleship becoming emasculated (minimizing the impact of the Great Commission).

Yet the Marketplace is the place where Christians spend some 67% of their waking time Monday to Friday. It is in the workforce that the Christians’ attitudes and character are put to the reality test…

…and if the Christians’ Monday behaviour does not reflect their Sunday belief, why would anyone believe their belief?

From this we can conclude that the BIG answer for the Church impacting the world is not primarily in programs, as good as some of these may be. The answer is in the excellence of discipleship expressed into the world: i.e. into the workforce, into the marketplace, into the shopping centres, into the schools, into the hospitals, into the courts and onto the sports fields and so on. This is our original Commission from Jesus in Matt 22:37-40 and 28:17-20 and John 17:18.

Our Principles are God’s Principles;
‘… on earth as it is in heaven’ (Matthew 6:19)

(Reviewed by Ps. Geoff Armitage)

At this time in history we are living under God’s grace, where good and evil can produce order or disorder (respectively), and according to our obedience or disobedience to God. In this reality two doctrines work in parallel: the free will of man and the sovereignty of God. While God calls all people to himself through His truth and kindness, not all will respond. God is not responsible for our sin and He will ultimately have the last say.

Ultimately, for the life we have been given we will all be held individually accountable (John 3:16-18). The time will certainly come when the Lord Jesus Christ will return to earth to rule and reign as King of Kings and Lord of Lords over the whole earth from the city of Jerusalem (Micah 4:1-8).

Therefore, our faith is in Christ the Son of the Living God (John 3:18), and this is where we stand.

Our Mission is to pray and connect people who are passionate about participating in growing the governance of Christ in every sphere/mountain/domain of influence in our society and follow God’s command to love one another as He loved us (John 13:34-35).

We look to connect Christians, who are passionate about the Great Commandments (Matthew 22:34-40) and the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20) in everyday life. This connection is without regard for denominational affiliation.

Our ethos is vibrantly alive around nine magnificent truths:

  1. The Government rests on the shoulders of Jesus and his government and peace will never end – the Lord Almighty will accomplish this (Isaiah 9:6-7).
  2. The offices of Jesus in Heaven and Earth are Prophet (Hebrews 1:1-2), Priest (Hebrews 4:14-16) and King (Revelation 19:16).
  3. The three institutions of God on earth are Family, Government and Church.
  4. Church and State have separate jurisdictions under Jesus. For the Church Jesus is the head and high priest. For the State Jesus is the King of kings and Lord of lords.
  5. Society operates through spheres/mountains/domains with a multitude of sub-spheres/mountains/domains.
  6. The foundations of the Kingdom of God are Justice and Righteousness (Psalm 89:14).
  7. The Power of God works through all spheres/mountains/domains.
  8. Jesus Christ will come again to rule and reign over the earth.
  9. Our connection with God is through humility, faith and obedience (Matthew 18:4, Hebrews 11:6).

We are implementing these truths through praying and encouraging many church and marketplace leaders who represent their spheres/mountains/domains of influence.

Adapted from Prayer Strategy for the Spheres of Influence

House Church: The fastest-growing expression of church

House Church: The fastest-growing expression of church

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Joel News International, # 1231 | October 5, 2021
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“The church has to become small in order to grow big.”
– Wolfgang Simson

Global: The fastest-growing expression of church

German missiologist Wolfgang Simson published a global status report on house churches, in his observation “the fastest growing expression of Christ-followers on the planet.”

House churches like we read about in Acts have been present throughout church history, but these groups were often sidelined and even persecuted by the mainline church. However, since the early 20th century, we see a major comeback of house churches. First in China, where some researchers speak of 160-200 million members in more than 10 million house churches.

Since the 1990s house churches also experienced a rapid renaissance outside China. In particular Egypt and India have experienced the emergence of large house church networks, and became modern-day apostolic epicentres for this global phenomenon. The sum total of all current believers in house churches in India alone, about 80 million, already outnumbers the Lutheran Word Federation.

Simson estimates the number of house churches in mid‐2021 as follows:

1) 10 Million house churches in China.

2) Since 1996, about 2 million house churches have been planted in India, Egypt and the rest of the Middle East.

3) 3 Million house churches have reportedly been planted by various missions collectives like 24:14 and T4T.

4) 2 Million house churches are not on the official radar. This includes movements like Hoffnung Deutschland (founded by Marcus Rose, about 1,000 house churches) and 20,000 newly planted village house churches in Uganda – many meet under a tree for the lack of a hut large enough – as reported by Riccardo Meusel.

5) 1.5 Million ‘ halfway houses’ for church misfits in the USA. According to American sociologist Josh Packard, in his book Church Refugees, the US experiences a gigantic church exodus of so-called ‘doners’ – people who are done with church, but not with God, and organize themselves in ‘halfway houses’.

6) 1 Million ‘doner’ [done with church] house church groups outside the US in countries like Australia, the UK, South Africa, Korea, Singapore and Israel.

7) 1.7 Million house churches inside businesses and Insider Movements. Insider movements are house church movements that do not openly identify with Christianity but remain outwardly loyal and therefore hidden inside existing religions like Islam, Hinduism, Shintoism or Buddhism. Many see their religious environment as their cultural heritage within which they have become secret followers of Christ. This phenomenon also exists inside secular groups, clans or tribes. An additional form of this are ‘business churches’, house churches that function inside a business as their cover. Close observers speak of about 500,000 ‘business house churches in China and 200,000 outside China.

8) 400,000 Informal small groups in mainline churches like the Roman Catholic Church and Orthodox Churches that fulfill a role in ‘re-evangelisation’.

9) 1 Million house churches in 20,000 smaller house church networks and so-called ‘Apostolic Networks’.

Small expressions are booming. Picture: tiny houses in Almere, The Netherlands.

There are several significant contributors to the expansion of house churches:

1) Mission researcher Dr. Todd Johnson, in his ‘Status of Global Christianity 2021′, lists 113 million ‘unaffiliated’ or ‘Crypto-Christians’ who are following Christ outside the official church system, often in private, non-public gatherings in homes.

2) An Egyptian missiologist reported that during the Arab Spring at least four million Muslims in Egypt alone have turned away from Islam – many in search of God.

3) A growing number of young evangelists, like Torben Sondergaard (The Last Reformation) and Werner Nachtigall (Global Outreach Day) are intentionally connecting evangelism with the immediate planting of house churches.

4) Several megachurches in the US feel called by God to be instrumental in the planting of house churches. Mission strategist Curtis Sergeant has created a web-based ‘simple church saturation’ project planning to plant one simple church for every 5,000 people in the US and for every 50,000 people globally with material currently available in at least 37 languages.

5) During the COVID19 lock-downs many traditional church members have been forced to engage in ‘stay-at-home-church’, and a significant percentage will continue in this mode. They organised themselves into neighbourhood churches in homes, sometimes with online input. These numbers are not yet fully researched but may be very significant. One thing is evident: the post-corona church will not be exactly the same as pre-corona-church.

6) A large percentage of the children of church-goers have said their farewell to ‘mum’s-and-dad’s church’ and are in search mode for community, values and lifestyles that are radically different. Abraham Piper for example, the son of famous US‐theologian John Piper, runs a TikTok account with more than 1.1 million followers where he is trying to deconstruct fundamentalist evangelical church culture in search of a new and non-religious framework for life. It is to be seen what forms of following Christ will emerge from this very explosive and creative global people group.

Source: Wolfgang Simson

Editorial note: Wolfgang Simson did not research house church networks empirically or scientifically. Such a research is fairly difficult, if not impossible, with organic small groups that in many countries operate under the radar. He used ‘informed estimations’ of ‘trusted insiders’. Obviously data from church leaders who estimate the size of their own movements, and don’t keep records (although many of the Indian movements track conversions and groups), are less reliable and can only be indicative. In the past Simson has exaggerated numbers, and on various occasions was not willing to provide the contacts of those he claimed to have spoken to. So it was not possible for Joel News to check these claims as thoroughly as we would like to. On a general note we can say: house church movements are surely one of fastest-growing segments of the church, and the drivers that Simson suggests are valid, but the exact numbers are debatable.

Germany: The secret behind 1,000 new house churches

One of the networks, Hoffnung Deutschland (Hope Germany), planted an estimated 1,000 communities in 20 years, which for Europe is quite remarkable.

When Joel News asked Marcus Rose, Hoffnung Deutschland’s founder based in Berlin, about the number of house churches in his network, he responded: “We crossed the 500 sometime in 2017, after which we stopped counting.” What also stands out is that most people in these house churches are new Christians. On the question how this remarkable growth happened, Rose remarked drily: “There are many reasons. The one I usually give is that we just never stopped doing the small things.”

Photo: Marcus Rose

In a podcast on missions he elaborated on this: “I always wonder why people ask me: ‘What is the secret of the growth around you?’ And I would say: probably the most important thing is that I would never ask myself that question! I consider growth in an individual’s life the necessary foundation for growth as churches. In 1 John 2:12-14 the Christian work is described as newborn babies who are supposed to become fathers with children of their own. The way to get there is by overcoming the evil one, by being so strong in Christ, his Word and the Spirit, that the world stops being the place where you get your answers from.”

‘Church is the most progressive institution in a country, with the power to transform’

“It’s a continuous process to encourage people on that track and to do it together, to put in their time, giftings and financial resources. The most important part of leadership is just observing: what do people already get from God, and how can we connect people with a similar vision?”

In another podcast, Rose shares his own life story – how he grew up in communist East Germany, and at age 15 had a personal encounter with Christ. When the Wall fell in 1989, even though he was still a teenager he contacted schools to ask if they were interested to replace the lessons on communism in the curriculum with the teachings of Jesus. This opened many doors, and 30 house churches were established.

Later on, in Thailand, like Jonah on the run from his calling, Rose discovered church as “the most progressive institution in a country, with the power to transform, because it brought together prostitutes and millionaires as new people in Christ.”

‘There was no formula, I simply connected with people I met’

Around 2000 he moved back to Germany with the explicit instruction from God to not work in the Christian scene, but to work under the radar, connecting with non-Christians and discipling them in the way of Christ. This was a challenge as East Germany was culturally atheist, almost immune to the Gospel. In the first three months in Berlin God gave Rose a kick-start with a handful of young people getting baptised. “There was no formula. I simply connected with people I met, showed genuine interest, told them I had come to Berlin to plant a church, and if they were open to continue the relationship, I got their number and followed up.”

It quickly spread to several other cities in Germany. Rose communicated from the start that his vision was to see communities started in every region and subculture, and for God to raise up 10,000 missionaries out of Germany.

Image: A visualisation of apostolic hubs and the explosive growth potential of house churches in regions and subcultures

From 2010 onwards the network developed what Rose calls “an apostolic pattern” that started to catalyse things. “God instructed us to divide Germany into 90 minute regions. The idea was that a German could get in his car or step on a train on a Saturday, drive 90 minutes to a place, do outreach there, mentor people, organise something, pray for sick people, do sports, make it a family trip. This is something that people dare to do, that feels very natural.”

‘Continuously ask God what He wants you to do’

Rose also helped new Christians to focus on what he calls ‘the three steps of spiritual planning’, as explained in a third podcast:

1. Ask God: what are the qualities He wants to establish in your life, and through your life in the world around you?
2. If you have security about that, then ask God how many of your resources (time, money) you should invest in that.
3. Then ask Him in which specific projects you should invest yourself.

“This creates an atmosphere in which people continuously ask God what He wants them to do. Not what the church expects of them, or what others might want them to do, but what God says.”

New Christians with an apostolic gifting receive personal coaching to start similar processes themselves in other regions and countries. This is how the multiplication takes place. Rose’s vision for the next years is to start and support 100 apostolic teams, with every team being unique in giftings and reach. Each team could support 100 house churches, reaching people Rose or the apostolic workers could never reach themselves.

Source: Marcus Rose, Hoffnung Deutschland

Small is the new big… Do you long to be part of this global movement? Consider supporting Simple Church Europe, a project of Dutch charity Joel Ministries. We equip Christians to start missional simple church groups in Europe that multiply.

See also

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

https://renewaljournal.com/2014/04/28/twenty-first-century-revivals-transforming-revivals/

Joel News – Inspiring stories on the advance of God’s Kingdom around the globe today, delivered once a week in your mailbox. We cover all continents and serve mission-minded Christians in over 100 nations.

https://www.joelnews.org

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Trialblazing the online church

Trialblazing the online church

Leia Eisenhower

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Within a year, over 100,000 people followed her discipleship messages and more than 100 started following Christ. For many it became a stabilizing force during the pandemic.

When the Covid-19 pandemic hit, Leia Eisenhower developed an Instagram and Telegram discipleship ministry, reaching over 100,000 people with the gospel.

Eisenhower (47) grew up in Brazil where her father served as a church planter. At the age of 14 God called her to ministry and for several years she served as a missionary with the Assemblies of God in Brazil, before moving to the USA where she joined the Civil Air Patrol as a lieutenant and became a U.S. Missions chaplain. In this role she oversees nine squadrons of over 2,400 people.

When in March 2020 the Civil Air Patrol had to shut down all facilities, Eisenhower began planning an online training based on a book she wrote in 2019 called ‘My Neighbors: The Theology of Relationships.’ The book uses the parable of the Good Samaritan to discuss relationships. She chose Instagram’s platform for its worldwide reach and accessibility of communication through direct messages.

“I started to record a Bible class in different languages, and every night I would get on Instagram and do a live midnight prayer. The discipleship part grew so fast that I had to delegate taks to other people,” she says. Within a year, over 100,000 people followed her discipleship messages and more than 100 started following Christ. For many it became a stabilizing force during the pandemic.

Eisenhower says the process of discipleship through her ministry comes first through direct messages on Instagram and then through an online Saturday morning class on emotional intelligence and counseling. Eisenhower then invites class participants to her Telegram group, where they receive a link to a YouTube course on discipleship. She assigned team members to take calls from people around the world who need prayer. They can be redirected to 18 countries through Instagram, WhatsApp and Telegram for prayer and discipleship.

As the community grows, Eisenhower hopes to make the structure of the online church official, with prayer teams and partners, members and donors. “I’m trying to get us fully recognized to be a church,” she says. “People will have more connection having the church in the palm of their hands.”

Source: Leia Eisenhower

Noel News International # 1220,   June 29, 2021

See also:

Coronavirus brings Unprecedented Openness to the Gospel

Pandemic brings churches back to life