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JOEL-NEWS-INTERNATIONAL-323
* 10 JULY 2000
IN THIS EDITION:
JN323-1. Church in Romania unanimously confesses national sins
JN323-2. Prayer behind dramatic crime drop in Washington DC
JN323-3. 40 Day all-Africa continental fast
JN323-4. "Transformations" video stirs eagerness for revival
JN323-5. New articles on the server
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JN323-1. Church in Romania unanimously
confesses national sins
From: "Ioan Peia" <ioanpeia@fx.ro>
Date: Sun, 18 Jun 2000
We would like to ask you to thank our Lord and God for the amazing things He did here in
Bucharest in the last few days! We have seen something unique happen, something that we
could only dream of!
On June 15 and 16 representatives of all the churches in Romania (*) gathered in the
capital Bucharest in an extraordinary session. Meeting in the palace that Ceausescu built
to glorify Communism, and in the hall from which he intended to address the nation,
approximately 1200 Christians from every denomination delved into the spiritual problems
affecting Romania. The conference dealt with the practice of following Christ day-to-day
in Romania, and especially dealing with the sin and obstacles that keep Christians and
Romania as a whole from experiencing the full blessing of God. The conference was
organized and facilitated by World Vision Romania.
The thematic verse for the conference was from 2 Chronicles 7:14:
"If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my
face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their
sin and will heal their land."
Those attending the conference were continually challenged by the fact that there remain
over 100,000 abandoned and institutionalized children who are waiting for Christian
families to take them home and love and care for them.
The conference was marked by an incredible spirit of unity. Participants buoyantly noted
that they had expected there to be difficulty and division, but found instead love, unity,
and a common desire to identify, confess, and root out the sin afflicting Romania.
Approximately 1000 people attended on Thursday, and approximately 1200 on Friday.
The final two hours of the conference, according to many participants, sent chills up and
down spines throughout the giant hall. The final two hours saw reports of the working
groups from Thursday afternoon, which were established to specifically identify the
hindrances and sin which prevent Romania from following Christ. Dealing with the family,
community, culture, medicine, education, science, philosophy, government, politics,
justice, the economy, the media, and the church, the reports painted a clear picture of a
country in deep need of healing. Then, the conference summary made things clear, noting
that the fundamental issues were those of refusing to follow God's way and His revealed
will. The conference summary was a call to repentance, and with breathtaking clarity
enumerated the sin and rebellion of Romania. The call to repentance was met by
representatives of all the churches of Romania who individually prayed for forgiveness,
for strength to properly and fully follow God, for God to forgive, to heal, and bless
Romania.
At the end of the conference, representatives from all of the churches agreed to reconvene
in Iasi in November in order to jointly agree on specific plans and strategies for
tackling the pressing social problems facing Romania.
The leaders of the churches and the organizers of the conference believe that the Church
in Romania, God's people, have addressed properly many, if not all of the spiritual issues
which have been the foundation of many of Romania's current woes. Our prayer now is that
God's people would fully turn from these wicked ways, and that God would hear from heaven,
forgive their sin, and heal the land of Romania.
(*) This is truly historic: all the churches in Romania were represented! This includes
the Romanian Orthodox Church, Roman Catholic Church, Baptist Church, Lord's Army, Greek
Catholic Church, Hungarian Reformed Church, Romanian Evangelical Church, Pentecostal
Church, Seventh Day Adventist Church and Brethern Church.
A more complete report can be retrieved from the server. Send an empty e-mail to
<hub@xc.org> with only this command in the body of your mail:
get joel-news-international romania-report
Source: Joel News
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JN323-2. Prayer behind dramatic crime drop
in Washington DC
Date: Mon, 26 Jun 2000
A dramatic drop in the crime rate in Washington, D.C.--once known as the murder capital of
the country--is being attributed to years of sustained prayer. Intercessors for America
(IFA) say the halving of the crime rate in the last six years coincides with concerted
intercession by Christians across the country and around the world.
Violent crime is down 60 percent in the area, with the number of murders dropping from 454
in 1993 to 232 last year, D.C. Human Rights Commission member Dan Wedderburn told
"The Washington Post" in a letter last month. Burglaries declined almost 70
percent, rapes fell by 40 percent. The overall reduction was almost three times the
national percentage drop.
The prayer effort began in 1990, says IFA. On the night one group prayed specifically to
"bind deception" in the capital, then-mayor Marion Barry was arrested in a drugs
bust. In the last decade "a purging of corruption and renewal of 'good government'
has been unfolding," IFA says.
More than 6,000 people respond to weekly prayer updates, and in 1997 a 24-hour
"prayer watch" was launched to focus on international government and city
leaders. Participants are mailed pages from the city telephone directory to pray over.
Some Christian members of Congress also take part in weekly prayer meetings, IFA says.
Source: Charisma News
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JN323-3. 40 Day all-Africa continental fast
Date: Tue, 13 Jun 2000
Some key leaders met in Kampala Uganda from 20-22 January to pray and discuss the way
forward in Africa. Amongst other things it was decided to call the continent from 1
November to 10 December to a 40 Day Fast, called Transforming Africa. This is a very
historic event, because for the first time in the history of the church in Africa
something like this will happen across the entire continent. Millions will participate.
All 58 nations and islands in and around Africa will participate.
A prayer calender is available in English, Swahili, Arabic, French and Portuguese
<www.nupsa.org.za>. We call Africans in diaspora to participate, all churches with
work, missionaries, networking etc. into Africa are called to take note of this and
consider being part. Please let your missionaries in Africa know about this initiative and
e-mail the calendar to them. The different translations can be pulled off from our
web-site. For further info contact us at <fast2000@bushmail.co.za> or
<nupsa@global.co.za>.
The focus of the 40 day fast is the following:
Praying for the lost and unreached in Africa
Praying about the bloodshed and war in Africa
Praying for the uprooting of witchcraft/idolatry in Africa
Praying for revival in Africa
Praying for economic/social development and restoration in Africa
Praying for the release of the redemptive gifts of the Church in Africa
The following groups and individuals have endorsed and are supporting this fast: Langton
Gatsi (One Way Ministries, Zimbabwe), Laban Jjumba (Intercessors for Uganda, Uganda), John
Mulinde (World Trumpet Mission, Uganda), Michael Cassidy (Africa Enterprise, South
Africa), Gerda Leithgöb (Herald Ministries, South Africa) Uduak Ben-Udofia (Intercessors
for Africa, Nigeria), Thomas Muthee (Kiambu, Kenya), Tokunboh Adeyemo (Association for
Evangelicals in Africa), Luis Bush and Ross Campbell (AD 2000 Movement), Karel Sanders
(Afmin), NUPSA, Operation Mobilisation, Every Home for Christ, YWAM, Africa House of
Prayer/Intercessors for Africa.
Source: NUPSA
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JN323-4. "Transformations"
video stirs eagerness for revival
Date: Mon, May 22, 2000
A video depicting the transformation of four cities when Christians began to pray is being
distributed around the world. "Transformations" describes how cities in
Colombia, the United States, Guatemala, and Kenya were changed by the power of God, the
Lynwood, Wash.-based Sentinel Group said. The 60-minute video, released last year,
demonstrates how "informed, sustained prayer can change a community," spokesman
Alistair Petrie told Religion Today.
Distribution of the video "has absolutely exploded," Petrie said. More than
80,000 copies, about 75,000 more than expected, have been sold since its release last
June, he said. Almost all sales have come by word of mouth. "People hear about it
third- or fourth-hand and decide they have to see it," he said. Sentinel offices in
Lynwood and Canada receive requests for the video daily.
The film has been seen by an estimated 25 million people in 150 countries, Petrie said. It
has been shown on television in some countries, and 40 international ministries use it. It
is being translated into 25 languages, including Arabic, Mandarin, Chinese, and Hebrew.
The video is a tool for churches to change their communities, Petrie said. It depicts how
churches identified the cultural, historical, and other influences that blocked revival,
then "prayed against them," he said. It "helps churches see their
communities through the eyes of the Lord."
Spiritual revival in the four cities has reached all levels of society, the video shows.
In Almolonga, Guatemala, rates of alcoholism and crime dropped dramatically and the
once-poor town began prospering economically after churches began praying. The crime rate
also has dropped in Cali, Colombia, where more than 60,000 people come to all-night prayer
meetings twice a year, the video says.
Christians in more than 700 cities have started prayer groups since watching the video,
Petrie said. Churches in Cape Town, South Africa, are holding all-night prayer meetings
with as many as 2,500 people. Pastors in dozens of U.S. communities are meeting to pray
for their cities after watching it, he said.
Government officials are embracing the video's message that prayer can change a city. The
mayor of Cape Town showed it to his municipal leaders, Petrie said, and the mayor of
Pretoria, South Africa, received 100 copies and promised to distribute them to other
leaders. The mayor of London, Ontario, Canada, said her city needed the blessings depicted
in the video, as did the Mormon mayor of Boise, Idaho, the Sentinel Group said.
A New Mexico sheriff sent a letter and a video to 90 churches asking them to pray for
their community. Michael Davidson of San Juan County asked the churches to "enter
into partnership" with his office to defeat pornography, drugs, and domestic
violence. Twenty-five pastors held a news conference backing his call, news reports said.
The strong response is an indication of people's desire to see revival pervade their
communities, Petrie said. Most such spiritual movements last only about three years and
"never leave the church," he said. The media, government, and schools are rarely
affected and destructive social conditions such as poverty, crime, and drug abuse remain
unchanged, he said.
That will change when people develop a longing for God's presence in their cities, Petrie
said. He and Sentinel Group founder George Otis, Jr., hold seminars in churches, teaching
Christians to find "spiritual pathologies" to discover what blocks revival in
their cities, he said. Change comes when people "come to the end of their own answers
and begin to ask God for the answers," he said.
Phone number at the Sentinel Group is 800-668-5657.
Source: Religion Today
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JN323-5. New articles on the server
The following articles can be retrieved from the server by sending an e-mail to
<hub@xc.org> with one or more of the mentioned commands in the body of your mail
(leave the subject line empty).
Please note that although the reports in JOEL-NEWS-INTERNATIONAL are selected with care,
the publisher cannot be held responsible for any incorrectness in these reports. Visions,
opinions and prophetic insights are on the account of the authors themselves.
1. DAWN DENMARK REPORT. Danish DAWN coordinator Svend Madsen reports about churchplanting
in his country. There's a special move of God among young people.
COMMAND: get joel-news-international dawn-denmark-report
2. APOSTOLIC PRAYING. An article by Church Pierce on 'Apostolic praying that unlocks
regions'.
COMMAND: get joel-news-international pierce-apostolic-praying
3. RUSSIA: FIRE AND ICE. A prophetic article by Cindy Jacobs on Russia, a strategic nation
in the 40/70 Window. She focuses on Russia's bloody past and the situation of the Jews.
COMMAND: get joel-news-international jacobs-russia
4. PRAYER FOCUS ON GEORGIA. A prayer profile of Georgia, published by Prayer News Today,
as part of the prayer strategy for the 40/70 Window.
COMMAND: get joel-news-international prayer-focus-georgia
5. PRAYER FOCUS ON VATICAN CITY. A prayer profile of Vatican City, published by Prayer
News Today, as part of the prayer strategy for the 40/70 Window.
COMMAND: get joel-news-international prayer-focus-vatican
6. PRAYER FOCUS ON PORTUGAL. A prayer profile of Portugal, published by Prayer News Today,
as part of the prayer strategy for the 40/70 Window.
COMMAND: get joel-news-international prayer-focus-portugal
7. SACRED ASSEMBLY OUTLINE. A Sacred or Solemn Assembly is a gathering of God's people who
come together out of a sense of need, desperation and urgency to seek the Lord. Jacquie
Tyre provides an outline for a Sacred Assembly.
COMMAND: get joel-news-international sacred-assembly-outline
8. HOW TO PRAY FOR YOUR NEIGHBOURS. What can prayer do for your city? What would your city
be like if every neighbour and neighbourhood were prayed for daily? Suggestions how to
bless your neighbours through prayer.
COMMAND: get joel-news-international bless-your-neighbours-1
9. HOW TO SURVIVE IN MINISTRY. An inspiring address by Don Whitney for seminary graduates.
"Resist the temptation to believe in 'microwave spirituality' or 'shortcut
Christlikeness'. Faster Internet connections do not make us like Jesus more quickly. The
growth of a soul takes time."
COMMAND: get joel-news-international whitney-on-ministry
10. TRANSFERING WEALTH. An article by Chuck Pierce on 'the transfer of wealth for the
Harvest'.
COMMAND: get joel-news-international pierce-transfer-wealth
11. REVIVAL IN SCRIPTURE. Dr. Bob Griffin of Rockford Renewal Ministries lists 10 revival
characteristics from Scripture.
COMMAND: get joel-news-international revival-characteristics-from-scripture
12. ECHO BOOMERS. Just about the time you thought you had Gen-X figured out, here comes
the next wave. The Echo Boom began graduating from college in May 2000. They number more
than 70 million in the U.S.
COMMAND: get joel-news-international echo-boomers
13. RESURRECTION DAY. A great testimony about how God used two ordinary Christians to save
a man's life on Easter day.
COMMAND: get joel-news-international resurrection-day-testimony
14. ROADSIDE RESURRECTION. Richard Edwards reports how ordinary Christians in the UK
raised a man from the dead just on the side of the road.
COMMAND: get joel-news-international roadside-resurrection
Source: Joel NewsBack
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