| JOEL-NEWS-INTERNATIONAL-442 * 20 MAY 2003 * WWW.JOELNEWS.ORG IN THIS EDITION: JN442-1. TYPICALLY GOD: The David Hogan story/revival in Mexico JN442-2. PRAYER FOCUS: SARS epidemic in Asia JN442-3. NEWS BRIEF: Baptist leaders rediscover Holy Spirit JN442-4. KINGDOM DEVELOPMENT: Intercessory worship movement JN442-5. RESOURCE: The spiritual roots of Europe Day --- QUOTE: "A lot of kneeling will keep you in good standing. He who kneels before God can stand before anyone." --- JN442-1. TYPICALLY GOD: The David Hogan story/revival in Mexico In March 2003, Swiss church planters Bruno Bayer and Marco Gmuer returned, exhausted but impressed, from a journey to the Mexican highlands, reports Friday Fax. They had been invited by David Hogan, a Texan evangelist who has worked in Mexico for almost 30 years. There are many wild rumours about him, including the claim that almost 300 people have been raised from the dead. Hogan became known in the West through a video series with Dr. Michael Brown in Pensacola. Hogan invites only a select handful of people to visit his missionary work near Tampico. Gmuer and Bayer learned a drastic lesson why that is: "Before our trip, Swiss prophet Erich Reber warned us that we would have to go through a fiery oven in order to strengthen our faith," says Gmuer. "Hogan's international guests have to pass several severe tests. He wants them to first of all feel how the Mexican Indians were treated as second- or third-class citizens for centuries by Mexico's Spanish-speaking population and the white 'Gringos' and their churches and mission agencies. The 1,000 Indians attending a conference were treated very well, but most of the international guests were ignored, had to stand in the sun for days while the Indians sat in the shade, stand for ten-hour truck journeys, were allowed only to listen and not preach, slept on hard wooden benches and were served inedible meals. They were carefully observed, to see whether they would give up or grit their teeth. Many of the foreigners gave up in the face of the adverse treatment, and went home. Those who made it through the torturous tests became a welcome insider." Hogan and his 20-strong staff have broken with almost all Western traditions, radically adopting Indian culture and behaviour. The Indians have a hard life. Trying to reach them with a soft Christianity makes no impression. Hogan has no time for sensitive Christians or Western missionaries who start the day with a good cup of tea and quiet time on the veranda listening to a worship CD, then spend the rest of the day on unimportant appearances. "Unless you're willing to suffer a baptism of fire, you only scratch the surface here," says Bayer. "Hogan's group of 20 men and women have dedicated themselves to a life of loyalty, discipline and obedience. Every one of them has seen people raised from the dead through their prayer." "There was not enough food for the 1,000 Indians who attended the 3-day annual conference. Jesus multiplied the chicken soup and bread in the conference kitchen. There was enough for all every day," says Gmuer. "People were also healed: one woman, for whom people had prayed for 12 years, testified about her healing. She had gained her sight! Hogan and his team have planted 400 churches in the past 30 years, and trained their leaders. Two hundred new churches are planned for this year; most of them are the first and only Christian churches in the area where they are planted." One of the team, Claudio, has already seen 25 people raised from the dead through his prayer (Hogan: 24). Claudio, a humble Indian, had tried three years long to kill Hogan by magic. One day, he found him on a mountain road. He fell to the ground at his feet, and cried out to the God of power and love, and has served Jesus since then. That is not easy in the Mexican highlands, because they are often persecuted and murdered. The mix of witchcraft and syncretistic Catholicism regularly turns with violence against the evangelists, many of whom were repeatedly imprisoned for their preaching. One preacher was tortured, and only released when several influential families in the city inexplicably lost their first-born children. An itinerant missionary who travelled among the many villages in the Mexican highlands had a significant influence on Hogan's ministry; he prophesied the arrival of an evangelist called David. The missionary died the year that Hogan performed his first outreach - on horseback. Hogan was often asked his name, and immediately accepted into peoples' houses. "Even if Hogan's style and approach doesn't suit everyone, we cannot ignore that his team's ministry has enabled the Gospel to drive deep roots into the Mexican highlands. The fruit of their work is lives radically transformed by the Gospel," summarizes Bayer. LINK: http://www.joelnews.org/news-en/jn185.htm (more about Mexico) --- JN442-2. PRAYER FOCUS: SARS epidemic in Asia As we know by now the SARS epidemic in Asia is much worse than anticipated and spreading to other parts of the world. This is also impacting the Church in these nations. Joel News collected a number of reports and calls for prayer. A church leader from Hong Kong reports: "Churches are encouraged to reduce the number of large meetings. Facilities should be sprayed with disinfectant the day before any meeting is to take place. Many churches have stopped communion, baptism and laying on of hands all together. The government is encouraging citizens to avoid any type of physical contact (handshaking, touching, etc.). The saddest things is for the families of those who die of the disease. From the time the patient enters the hospital, nobody is allowed to visit or see him. If he does not recover and is released (usually in 3 weeks), the family will only get a bag with his ashes. The body cannot be seen, and funerals are not allowed. Another problem is the tremendous discrimination against nurses, doctors and family members of those who have the disease. People treat them like they have leprosy." An intercessor from Singapore writes: "Please pray against the terrifying spread of SARS here in Asia. The government has closed the schools and told the public to stay home and avoid crowded public places unless absolutely necessary. I know God has an unexplained plan but this is freaking out so many people. Please pray for my pastors family who are now in quarantine and are not allowed to leave their house or see anyone for 10 days. In Singapore the SARS scare is massive! People are acting irrationally, which has helped the virus spread through the city. This week over 3,000 people have been quarantined, a whole sale market has been closed down, all big international events have been cancelled and many residents in Singapore are struck with panic attacks. The Prime Minister of Singapore wrote a letter to the nation to say that we all have a social responsibility to be careful, and tonight there was a program on national television called 'Living with SARS.' Is this good or bad? Only God knows." In Taiwan many church related agencies have responded with 24 hour prayer chains. And beyond the prayer, groups have met in front of the hospitals to publicly pray, sing, and otherwise encourage and lift the morale of the quarantined people indoors. One church leader said: "Now we have the exciting opportunity to return to our roots - to be a New Testament style church and meet in our homes." And another commented: "All this has been very good for preaching the Gospel. People are more responsive than ever before, as they are aware of their eternal souls." Let's pray for the Church in the SARS affected areas Singapore, Beijing, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Hanoi, Guandong and Toronto. Pray for peace of mind in God and that Christians will use the crisis as an opportunity to lift Jesus up and minister to people who are in fear or suffering. Source: Joel News --- JN442-3. NEWS BRIEF: Baptist leaders rediscover Holy Spirit Baptist world leaders who say the Pentecostal dimension of faith has been neglected for too long want to see more of the power of the Holy Spirit at work in their churches. "As Baptists we have an excellent doctrine of the Holy Spirit, but we need more faith in the power of the Holy Spirit to mobilize the church," Baptist World Alliance (BWA) Vice President Amparo de Medina told more than 160 Baptist mission leaders at the Summit on Baptist Mission in the 21st Century, in England. Medina said Baptists needed to leave their traditional prejudices and look again at the New Testament and what it says about the Holy Spirit. "If we compare the advance of the apostolic churches with the bureaucratic slowness in some of our missionary programs, we need to be conscious of where human technology and human knowledge pretend to replace the Holy Spirit and the power of God." Medina's comments were supported by another leader, Noah Pashapa of Zimbabwe, who said understanding the power of the Holy Spirit was very important in Africa where the belief in evil spirits and the clash with Muslims was a big challenge for many leaders. "I believe in spiritual warfare," Pashapa said, "and I believe in a real devil who exists, and he is at war to push Christians up against the wall. We need prayer, intercession and revival." Source: Charisma News Service --- JN442-4. KINGDOM DEVELOPMENT: Intercessory worship movement A prayer and worship movement that began through the International House of Prayer (IHOP) in Kansas City (USA) is touching Hollywood, Nashville, and nations around the world. With last month's dedication of a renovated 50,000-square-foot former shopping center, IHOP has expanded its reach beyond 24-hour intercessory prayer, praise and worship to include a coffeehouse, a ministry to business and political leaders and a children's outreach ministry. In 1984, Mike Bickle's church began having 17 prayer meetings a week. Then in 1999, Bickle released the reigns of his thriving Metro Christian Fellowship in Kansas City to Floyd McClung, one-time international director for Youth With A Mission, to pursue the vision of restoring the tabernacle of David through 24-hour intercessory prayer, praise and worship. In four years, the prayer movement that began in a trailer in south Kansas City is touching the globe. IHOP hosts several large annual conferences that attract thousands from across the country, and operates a real estate company, a recording studio and a publishing arm. The ministry has 400 full-time staff based in Kansas City who raise their own support. An addition to IHOP's facility is six healing rooms and four Great Commission rooms featuring interactive technology to contact missionaries in real-time. "This is a brand-new ministry that we're doing with Campus Crusade for Christ," Bickle said. "We'll be able to talk to missionaries and pray for them while they are in the field." During the first week of operation, IHOP prayed for 130 people in the healing rooms. IHOP's 24-hour intercessory worship is currently being modelled in around 100 other cities. One of those places is the center of the entertainment industry - Hollywood. Another is 'music city' Nashville, Tenn. Students from 10 countries are being trained at IHOP to set up prayer ministries in their own nations. LINK: http://www.fotb.com --- JN442-5. RESOURCE: The spiritual roots of Europe Day Jeff Fountain, European director or YWAM, tells the story of forgiveness and reconciliation behind Europe Day (9 May). It started at the end of the Second World War, when ninety-five Swiss Christian families pooled their life-savings to purchase a derelict hotel high in the mountains above Montreux overlooking Lake Geneva. Their vision was to open a Centre for the Reconciliation of the Nations, a refuge of hope. Over the next few years, thousands of politicians and other leaders from across Europe and the world would come through its doors. LINK: http://www.ywameurope.org/news/word/readWord.asp?word=81 --- COLOPHON Joel News International is a leading special interest bulletin on prayer, church growth and revival. We offer a keen selection of the most encouraging news reports, the most challenging developments and the best resources from over 100 reliable sources in six continents. Joel News International is a great help and time-saver for thousands of Christian leaders and intercessors in over 120 nations. Editors: Alex ten Cate and Marc van der Woude. You can contact the editorial office at joel-news@xs4all.nl. Joel News International is distributed weekly by e-mail on the basis of an annual donation. For more information see http://www.joelnews.org/donation-jni.htm#options. Has this bulletin been forwarded to you? Then subscribe directly by sending an empty e-mail to: subscribe-joel-news-international@xc.org. |
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