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JOEL-NEWS-INTERNATIONAL-301
* 5 JANUARY 2000
IN THIS EDITION:
JN301-1. City reaching: on the road to community transformation
JN301-2. Prayer and revival news from South America
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Joel News' editorial team wishes you a happy New Year. Also in 2000 we will keep you
updated on the main international and national developments in the area of intercession,
unity and church growth. Our common vision is to lift Jesus up and to advance the Kingdom
of God.
- Branko Bjelajac, Adriaan van der Hoeven, Marc van der Woude
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JN301-1. City reaching: on the road to community
transformation
Editorial note: In this interview, published on 18 November by the National Pastors Prayer
Network, Jack Dennison (CitiReach International) explains what 'city reaching' is and how
this Great Commission movement could change the spiritual landscape in our cities.
JACK, TELL US ABOUT YOUR SPIRITUAL JOURNEY - HOW DID GOD GET YOU TO WHERE YOU ARE TODAY?
In 1993, while teaching at Multnomah Biblical Seminary, God directed me, along with
several other denominational leaders from the Pacific Northwest, to initiate a
collaborative effort to unite leaders around a vision and strategy to fill the Northwest
with the dynamic presence of Jesus Christ. I had been deeply influenced by the research of
George Otis, Jr., my first pastor's prayer summit, and the growing national movement of
prayer. This led me to become the volunteer Global Communications Coordinator for the
AD2000 United Prayer Track serving under the leadership of Dr. C. Peter Wagner for two
years.
During this same period I met Dr. Jim Montgomery, founder of Dawn Ministries, and learned
that there were then more than 100 nations worldwide who had committed to a similar vision
and strategy to the one directing our regional efforts. Learning from the experience of
others has always been an important value for me I became an immediate understudy of the
DAWN (Discipling A Whole Nation) Movement worldwide.
Simultaneous to all of this I had been equally influenced by the work of Ed Silvoso,
Mission Portland, and Mission America through their focus on cities in America. Though our
vision for the Northwest was regional in focus our efforts were focused on one city at a
time.
Since the implementation of the DAWN vision in America had not succeeded on two previous
occasions, the last one involving such notables as Peter Wagner who actually concluded
that DAWN would not work in America, Jim Montgomery was particularly interested in our
emerging city emphasis in the Northwest. In time I was invited to join the missionary team
of Dawn Ministries to begin to contextualize and apply the DAWN vision across America. The
most noteworthy contextual deviation from the worldwide movement was the city emphasis.
So you see that my journey included both powerfully transformational spiritual experiences
as well as life-changing paradigm and practical experiences. By the way in 1997 Peter
Wagner referred to the emerging city reaching process as "state of the art," and
"the only strategy like it in America." God has indeed led us to discover
principles and processes that we believe could make a transformational difference in
America.
THE TERM 'CITY REACHING' IS NEW TO MANY OF US - WHAT DOES IT MEAN AND HOW COULD IT ALTER
THE LANDSCAPE OF CHRISTIANITY IN AMERICA?
City reaching presents a vision, strategy, and process for uniting the body of Christ
around a commitment to community transformation. This city reaching strategy is both
holistic in its approach and comprehensive in its scope. By holistic I am simply referring
to the reintegration of the evangelistic and cultural mandates. Our highest hope and
greatest joy is when God's children by creation become children by redemption. But in
emphasizing the one mandate many of us have diminished the importance of the other. The
cultural mandate, social concern and action, is not a distant stepchild to evangelism. In
fact, it provides the very best bridge for evangelism. I am personally convinced that the
primary reason the Church has been so marginalized and deemed so irrelevant by most of our
society is because we have let our words to the talking rather than our actions. We have
forfeited the relational bridges into the lives of people and communities and have lost
the very vehicle that gives credibility to our words. Reintegrating these two in powerful
and dynamics ways will remain an important challenge for the Church to meet in the new
millennium.
But in addition to being holistic we must be comprehensive too. If we are going to really
make a difference in our decaying cities the Church must become aware of ALL that must be
done to transform the spiritual and social landscape of our communities. We must identify
all the biblical ethna (ethnic, social, cultural, generational groups, etc.) within our
sphere of responsibility and influence and determine the best means to reach them. We must
discover all the pain and suffering the city experiences, and assess the city's systems
and structures (law enforcement, government, education, health care, etc.) to determine
where and how to best bring the light and life-changing presence of God to bear.
Only when we engage a process that is holistic and comprehensive can the whole Church be
systematic in its approach and monitor is progress toward community transformation.
How might it alter the landscape of America? Just this morning I presented the following
scenario to a foundation from which I am requesting financial empowerment for CitiReach
International. Let me lift the text from that letter and present the scenario here.
Picture this present reality in Portland, Oregon. Portland is a city of 1.75
million-person population. The Church consists of approximately 1800 congregations and
400,000 Christians. One person when recently becoming aware of the size of the Christian
presence in the city asked, "Tell me, why is there so much crime and so many problems
in our city when there are so many congregations and Christians?"
The person intuitively agreed with the words of one of our national leaders who said,
"you measure the effectiveness of the Church not by the number of its adherents but
by the impact its members are having on society." That is right!
Now imagine what might be possible in bringing about a profound change in the spiritual
and social climates of the city if in Portland 900 congregations and 200,000 Christians,
representing only 50% of the Church, were committed to unity in the body of Christ and
strategically focusing its resources on community transformation. What if only 25% of the
Church comprised of 450 congregations and 100,000 persons were to make such a commitment
and function in such a collaborative way. What might they be able to accomplish together
that they cannot accomplish apart?
The cities of America have never experienced a united Church committed to extending the
Kingdom of God in the city through the light and power of His presence. Entering into
divine partnership with God in this way and at this level could make all the difference.
At CitiReach International we are committed to and helping the Church across America do
this very thing.
WHAT ARE THE BASIC CONCEPTS OF CITY REACHING?
There are a number of paradigmatic concepts that are foundational to city reaching. When
we begin to comprehensively focus on completing our Great Commission task in the city
(i.e., community transformation) we are quickly struck with the fact that no pastor,
church, denomination, or association is up to such an enormous task by themselves. If
there is any hope of significant forward progress it will require the coming together of
the whole Church. I just read an e-mail from my friend Jim Herrington in Houston, Texas,
where he said, "Unity must be visibly demonstrated and practically experienced."
That is right! Unity has been little more than a theological concept that we affirm and
must now become a functional reality that we experience.
It has only been in recent years that the Church has rediscovered the 1st Century reality
that there is only ONE Church in every city and on every block and in every neighborhood
where it exists. The challenge we face is in discovering how to act like it.
Regarding prayer we continue to discover in deeper ways the reality that prayer must
animate every aspect of city reaching. Pastors are sick to death of the humanistic and
organizational processes used to determine our spiritual response to important ministry
issues. Prayer must be the starting point and sustaining factor of city reaching. When
confronted with a series of options to choose from we must convince ourselves in prayer of
the option of God's choosing if we are to have the confidence needed to sustain ourselves
in collaborative ministry.
Respectful and supportive relationships provide the practical glue to a city reaching
effort. When we have united around our citywide tactics we have found that when the event
is over we go right back to the isolation from which we came. But if in genuine
relationship with one another we can do ministry together indefinitely. Prayer and
relationships provide the "possibility" of initiating a city reaching process.
Without both, we will remain frustrated, isolated, and powerless.
But in addition to these paradigm factors, and there are others discussed in my book,
there are several vital practical dimensions of city reaching that should be mentioned
here. The five key milestones that must be achieved along the city reaching pathway are:
1. Awaken the Church to God's love for the city and the Church's biblical mission in the
city by establishing a clear, compelling, and comprehensive vision to transform the city
and its societies. This is done through basic vision casting and is an ongoing process.
2. Mobilize the whole body of Christ around God's vision for the city. This is essentially
the process of leadership empowerment. The Church will only mobilize in response to the
call and enablement of its spiritual leaders.
3. Gather accurate and up-to-date information that describes the current status of the
city, the Church in the city, and the spiritual diagnostics that helps us to understand
the unseen forces at work behind our current conditions.
4. Develop a strategic plan that will guide the Church in its city reaching efforts
enabling it to be systematic in its approach while monitoring its progress. For me
strategic planning is simply the thoughtful and intentional process we go through to align
our activity with the activity of God. If God is going in one direction and we in another
the Church must go through some kind of a prayerful process that will help us get where He
is. Leadership + prayer + information = strategy.
5. Tactical implementation of the strategic plan using the highest leverage activities and
most focused ministries to produce the greatest impact and most enduring results.
Now, having said all of this I want to make it very clearly that my personal conviction is
that only the Church as a whole can do city reaching. My reason for saying this is that
some paraministries call what they do "city reaching." I think this is a
misnomer. If city reaching is holistic and comprehensive it should be clear that no
paraministry's efforts could be construed as meeting either of these qualifiers. Only as
the Church works together as a whole, as a single unit, can city reaching be addressed and
accomplished. We must envision the whole but then acknowledge the part we play toward the
whole. Paraministries who claim to be doing city reaching confuse the matter since they
may envision the whole but the part they contribute is only one of many pieces of the
whole. CitiReach International, as a paraministries, does not do city reaching. We, like
all others, play only one small but vital role, toward empowering the whole Church to
reach its city. So I state my belief again, only the Church as a whole can do city
reaching as it integrates the many pieces into a comprehensive whole targeting the
fulfillment of its mission in the city.
WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO DIFFERENTIATE BETWEEN VISION AND MISSION, STRATEGY AND TACTICS?
The mission of the Church has not changed in 2000 years. We have always been called to be
"salt and light" in dark and decaying places. Where the Church has done this
transformation has occurred. Vision however is the contextualization or application of our
mission to a particular place and point in time. We must find appropriate and relevant
ways to contextualize our Great Commission commitments in an increasingly urban world. I
believe, in light of what God seems to be saying to Christians all over the globe, that
God's vision for today can be adequately stated in transformational language alone. The
imminent expectation of a divine visitation that will result in an unprecedented
millennial harvest is much more than mere rhetoric, it is a divine message and challenge
to get ready for an intervention unparalleled in human history. We should take this
universal call seriously and get ready!
The distinction between tactics and strategy is an even more vital one as we really try to
come to grips with the challenge to reach entire cities. There are many very good,
productive and effective tactics at work in our cities. The problem is that there exists
no strategic framework to determine what tactics are needed and when, nor to assess the
effectiveness of the ministries we currently employ. So we continue to expend a great deal
of energy and resources but have no idea whether we are closing the gap between where we
are and where God is calling us to go. The collective ministry of the Church in the city
looks much less like an army systematically occupying the land (Conquest of Canaan)
keeping clearly in focus its strategic objectives and looks more like a box of toothpicks
dropped at random on a table top. The resulting chaos produced by this condition speaks
more of our competition, duplication of effort and lost effectiveness than it does of our
desire to collaborate, communicate and cooperate. What is needed is a strategic process
that first determines where we are, where God is calling us to go, and then determines the
tactical activities and ministries that are most impacting and will produce the greatest
and most long lasting results toward those ends. Tactics must naturally flow out of
strategy. This is new thinking for the Church who has lived like Israel did at the time of
the Judges with each man doing what was right in his own eyes.
WHAT ARE THE CONSEQUENCES TO A COMMUNITY IF ITS LEADERS FAIL TO UNDERSTAND AND IMPLEMENT A
CITY REACHING STRATEGY?
Once we begin to evaluate the effectiveness of the Church by its impact on society we
realize that Charles Chaney is right, "an unquestioned axiom of 20th Century
Christian historiography is that the Church has lost the cities of this continent."
The gap between the Church's capacity to affect change and the needs of the city continues
to widen at an ever accelerating rate. What is needed according to Mike Regele of Percept
Ministries is an "adequate response" to the changing conditions within our
cities. Not just a response, we have been doing that, but an "adequate" response
that will change the current trajectory of diminishing societal impact by the Church.
I know of no other vision, strategy or process that is as clear, compelling or
comprehensive as is the one for city reaching. If there was ever a time to see emerge a
process that could genuinely lead to a whole Church effort to take the whole Gospel to the
whole city now is it. We need not just another response but one that will, if successful,
actually fulfill the Great Commission in our cities.
At CitiReach International we remain crystal clear that we are only one of a thousand
paraministries who each play a vital role in working alongside the broader Church to
fulfill its mission on earth. We don't do city reaching. Though we do help the leaders of
the city Church envision the whole, mobilize for prayer, empower leaders, assess the
unfinished task, bring alignment in the Church through shared vision pursuing common
goals, in identifying the highest leverage activities to accomplish the greatest impact
for the Kingdom, and other vital functions this is still only one aspect of all that needs
to be done if the Church is going to reach its city.
If we keep doing what we have been doing it is certain we will keep getting what we have
been getting and that won't come close to meeting our heart's expectation for what God
wants to do and is about to do. We must enter into divine partnership as a responsible and
intentional partner seeking the transformation of our communities, nation and world. It is
time to move from scattered tactics to a comprehensive strategy to reach our cities.
HOW DO YOU SEE THE CITY REACHING MOVEMENT CHANGING AS IT MATURES?
Though I never want to under-emphasize or value the Church's role in divine partnership
and community transformation, the aspect that has changed the most as the movement and its
spokesmen have matured is that community transformation is much more about God than about
us. There is so much that I could say about this as to why I believe this and what has
occurred to lead us to this conclusion. But for now let me simple present a paragraph from
the book where I state as clearly as I can what I believe to be true.
"I have since come to realize that it matters little how many people or congregations
we mobilize, how effective our collaboration or how bold our plans if the Lord himself
does not come to our cities and visit us with his presence and power. Without God's direct
intervention, our efforts to change communities will be hopelessly unfruitful and without
impact. This bedrock reality forces us to permeate every aspect of our city reaching
efforts with prayer, intercession and spiritual warfare."
In another place I write, "In every chapter of this book you will find prayer
animating and revealing the paradigm, vision and process of city reaching. But here and
now I want to say as clearly as I possibly can: If the Church does not pray earnestly,
fervently and persistently for a divine visitation, it will not come. Let me say it again,
God will not come to your city and do the things you long to see occur if you fail to
pray. You can do many other things that will incrementally effect change in the Church and
in your community, but without united, fervent prayer he will not come and transform your
city! It is much more about Him than about us.
Richest blessings to you as you continue to mobilize prayer around a vision for community
transformation.
Jack Dennison, CitiReach International <CitiReachi@cs.com>
Jack Dennison's book 'City Reaching: On The Road To Community Transformation' can be
obtained from Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/087808777X/citireachinterna
More information on city reaching: http://www.citireach.org
Source: NPPN
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JN301-2. Prayer and revival news from South
America
PASTORS IN MEXICO UNITE IN PRAYER. Date: Mon, 13 Dec
1999
On Saturday, November 20, over 5,000 pastors and leaders from all of Mexico attended one
of the largest annual Thanksgiving gatherings in the legendary city of Puebla, Mexico. The
specially built cavernous auditorium seating 5,000 was totally filled that night. At the
end of the evening thousands came forward and prayed for God's anointing to go out and win
Mexico fore Christ. Several mass crusades are planned for some of the more strategic
cities in Mexico in the year 2000.
Source: NPPN
TEENAGE GANG MEMBERS COME TO CHRIST IN EL SALVADOR. Date: Mon, Oct 18, 1999
A teen-ager who braved a death threat to quit gang life to follow Christ is making a big
difference. Sixteen-year-old Elijah was tortured for four hours, shot in the head and
shoulder and left for dead after renouncing his gang involvement--violating the group's
"leave and die" code. But the attack only made him bolder in leading a
revolution among other members of the violent gang scene reports Assemblies of God
missionary Don Triplett, who works with troubled youth in El Salvador. At one church
service as Elijah embraced a former rival gang member at the altar to demonstrate their
reconciliation through God, another gang leader stepped forward to shoot them. Instead he
accepted Christ with his gun in his hand. More than 60 gang members have come to Christ in
the city of Armenia, and plan to paint over all their old gang graffiti around the town.
While El Salvador's war is over, gangs are "destroying each other much more violently
than the war ever did," says Triplett. But the culture of youth violence makes it an
ideal time to share the gospel. "These young gang members are so loaded with guilt,
fear and pain that they flock to our altars when they hear that God will let them start
over."
Source: Charisma News Service
PRAYER FOR VENEZUELA. Date: Wed, 29 Dec 1999
Samuel Olson, pastor of Las Acacias Church in Caracas, Venezuela, is requesting prayer for
his country. The terrible floods killed about 30,000 people and left an estimated 400,000
homeless. "Like the walls of water which formed and miraculously passed by in answer
to the cries of those who prayed and called out to God, inconceivable miracles have been
made palpable in the midst of the profound pain in which we are living. For instance the
unity of the evangelical community and the coordination formed among all of them, the love
of the 1000 evangelical volunteers who helped in all the centers, the 15 distribution
centers which were formed and churches to receive the victims all over the country."
Pray that God will provide in radio contact equipment and computers to improve
communication, help for pastors and families who are victims and who have lost everything,
help to reconstruct houses and churches, finances for job training and the creation of a
permanent center of distribution of humanitarian aid.
Source: Joel News
PRAYER MOVEMENT IN PERU ATTRACTS 18,000. Date: Mon, 13
Dec 1999
Love and cooperation among Christians will bring revival to Peru, church leaders say. A
rally at the National Stadium in Lima Nov. 27 attracted 18,000 people from several
denominations, ALC News service said. The National Prayer Movement called the meeting to
bring together evangelical leaders, including preachers Fausto Pflucker, Sergio
Scataglini, Raymundo Villalpando, and Raul Justiniano. Humility, obedience, and the desire
for reconciliation among Christians will produce spiritual change in the country, National
Prayer Movement President Pedro Ferreira said. "If we do this, God will work and will
produce a renewal in all spheres of national life. We must use all media so that the
church receives the call to reconciliation that comes from the cross, for the blessing of
all."
Source: Religion Today
MIRACLES THROUGH RADIO BROADCAST IN BRAZIL. Date: Tue, 2 Nov 1999
Rubens Cunha Jr. <rubenscj@internetional.com.br> reports from Goiania, Brazil:
"God touched many people during our miracle crusade in Goiania last week. Every day
we had a radio program broadcasted from 11:00-12:00 am. We shared a simply gospel message
followed by an invitation to receive Jesus and then prayer for the sick and oppressed. At
the end people were encouraged to make phone calls to the radio broadcaster sharing about
what God had done for them. The testimonies are simply countless! A paralysed lady stood
up and walked as the power of God touched here during the prayer, another woman was healed
of a tumor in her breast against which she was fighting in vain for more than 6 years. A 9
years old boy had a growth in his chest that disappeared as his mother laid hands on him
during radio prayer time. An old woman recovered sight as she was delivered of cataract. A
man named Edmilson was in the Intensive Care Unit in coma, Doctors thought he would die.
However his wife interceded for him as we prayed in the radio. As soon as the prayer was
finished the telephone rang. It was from the hospital: "Mam, we don't understand what
happened but your husband has just woken from the coma!" A 14 years old boy had
wandered away from the Lord and was living in prostitution. That day he decided to leave
home. Yet, his mother didn't give it up. She cried out for Him as we were praying in the
radio and in that very moment the boy had a vision with Jesus. As a result of that vision,
he was convinced of sin, he repented, asked forgiveness to his mother and decided to come
back to the Lord. Many many other miracles happened. Tumors vanished, paralysed members
recovered movement, demon possessed were delivered, people received angel visitations...
And the most important: Salvation reached hundreads in these days. The week previous to
the crusade was used to challenge Christians to invite their friends, neighbours and
family to listen to the Miracles Crusade on the Radio. With an estimated audience of
180,000 all over the city we hear the testimonies of those who gave their lives to Jesus
during this crusade.
Source: Joel News
PRAYER FOR BRAZIL. Date: Sat, 30 Oct 1999
Amaury Braga, prayer co-ordinator of the international DAWN movement, requests prayer for
Brazil:
1. In the North area there are still some 35.000 cities, towns and villages without a
Church or missionary body to share the Gospel. Let us pray that the Church of Jesus in
Brazil sends workers from several denominations to preach the Gospel and plant Churches in
these regions.
2. We cry before the throne, that the Church of our nation would never cease evangelizing
and founding new Churches.
3. We pray for the leadership of Brazil 2010: Pr. Mario Scartezzine, Lourenco Kraft and
Stephania, Pr. Amaury Braga and Sergio Ribeiro. That God would protect them as well as to
their families and that they would have revelation and a prophetic word for the Brazilian
Church.
4. We are targeting 500.000 intercessors to pray for Brazil and the nations. We pray for
the Lord to mobilize and unite these intercessors for gatherings at their National and
World Prayer Networks.
5. For the 180.000 churches that still need to be planted in Brazil by the year 2010.
6. The challenge is big, but our God is bigger!
Source: Joel News
PRAYER FOR URUGUAY. Date: Sat, 30 Oct 1999
Amaury Braga, prayer co-ordinator of the international DAWN movement, requests prayer for
Uruguay: Uruguay has a population of 3.5 million, but, sadly, only 2% of the population
are evangelical. They have a target of raising 10.000 intercessors at the National Prayer
Network, led by the sister Cristina Mastrantono. So far they have raised 4.000, thanks be
to God! They would like to plant another 2.000 churches by the year 2005. We pray for God
to mobilize further intercession and more workers to plant these churches.
Source: Joel NewsBack
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