| JOEL-NEWS-INTERNATIONAL-452 * 9 SEPTEMBER 2003 * WWW.JOELNEWS.ORG IN THIS EDITION: JN452-1. TYPICALLY GOD: Miraculously protected in the jungle JN452-2. PRAYER FOCUS: Referendum in Latvia JN452-3. NEWS BRIEF: 400 new churches planted in one month JN452-4. RESOURCE: Ten paradigm shifts toward transformation --- QUOTE: Five life lessons from Noah's Ark: 1. Stay fit; when you are 600 years old Someone might ask you to do something really big. 2. Don't listen to critics, just get on with what has to be done. 3. Speed isn't always an advantage; after all the snails were on the same boat as the cheetahs. 4. When you're stressed, float a while. 5. Remember the Ark was built by amateurs, the Titanic was built by professionals. More at http://www.webspirations.net/noahsark/. --- JN452-1. TYPICALLY GOD: Miraculously protected in the jungle The survivor of a deadly plane crash in the Amazon rainforest has become a powerful evangelist, sharing his miraculous testimony with millions in Latin America and the United States. Venezuelan Carlos Arteaga (37) tells how God dispatched angels to protect him from wild animals and evil spirits, as well as providing him with food, enabling him to survive 11 days in the jungle. After he was finally rescued, Arteaga had to have his badly injured right leg amputated. Arteaga's life changed on Oct. 12, 1999, on a flight from his native city of Ayacucho to Manapiare, when the plane experienced engine trouble and plunged into the dense Amazon jungle. Five of the eight people on board died. An 18-year-old boy and an 11-year-old girl, both Christians, survived with Arteaga. After three days passed, they agreed the two youngsters should seek help, leaving Arteaga - incapacitated by his injuries - with a loaf of bread and a tree branch to fend off animals. The father of five didn't know if he would survive, but he kept reminding himself of God's promises from Psalm 91. He drank water from a nearby brook, and said God provided "a warm cloud of air" at dusk, allowing him to sleep through the night. One time he had a vision in which he saw God dispatching a sword from the heavens to drive away evil spirits that were tormenting him. God also sent two angels who brought him meals of meat, bread, salad and juice, he said. Arteaga was found by a search party 10 days after the crash. "When they arrived, they saw the rainbow, one of the angels and lots of vultures on the treetops," he recalled. "They thought everyone was dead; I was black from being covered with dried blood and dirt." As the rescuers carried him out in a stretcher, the vultures swooped down to feed on the dead bodies. "The group realized that I was supernaturally protected by God," he said. "I told them that the angel of Jehovah was around me." The next day, Arteaga was airlifted to the hospital, where he underwent nine surgeries and began a nine-month recovery. Besides receiving a prosthetic right leg, he had a plate placed in his head and screws in his arms. "Twelve of the best doctors in Venezuela came to me in the hospital and told me that they had twelve reasons why I shouldn't be alive," Arteaga says. "They said it was impossible that five dead bodies surrounded me and I survived. I told them Psalm 91:3, which says, 'Surely He will save you from the fowler's snare and from the deadly pestilence.'" To fulfill a covenant he made with God after the crash, Arteaga gave up his career as a TV and radio tower installer to become a full-time evangelist. On the first anniversary of the crash he shared his testimony with 14,000 people in a Caracas, Venezuela, bull arena, with 3,800 accepting Christ. "The Lord knew my passion for lost souls," said Arteaga. He preserved my life to fulfill His purpose for my calling." Source: Charisma News Service --- JN452-2. PRAYER FOCUS: Referendum in Latvia Levi Graudins, a leader in the movement for transformation in Latvia, reports that on 20 September a referendum will be held to decide whether or not Latvia will join the European Union. He writes: "As the church and the nation are not unified on this serious issue, we are currently planning to have 100 hours of non-stop worship and prayer from 8pm September 12th until midnight September 20th, 2 hours after the close of the vote. We are striving to purely worship Jesus with teams from all the major denominations and churches, and trust that His light will shine and dispel the fog of any demonic deception. Remember: the Lord did send worshippers ahead of His army in the Old Testament, and this EU referendum is probably the most significant decision that this generation in Latvia will face, next to deciding on whether to worship Jesus and trust in Him!" Let's join the believers in Latvia in prayer that God's Kingdom will come, and that the Body of Christ will reflect His light, and dispel darkness and dimness. May Latvia become an oasis, a place of refuge. Source: Latvia House of Prayer --- JN452-3. NEWS BRIEF: 400 new churches planted in one month Only one month after a church planting seminar led by a central Indian trainer, 400 new Christian groups have been started in Assam, reports Victor Choudhrie. The Bodo people group, of which only few were Christians, responded particularly positively. They are also involved in a conflict with the Indian government. One of the evangelistic methods used by the Indian church planters is morning prayer walks, in which they pray specifically for neighbourhoods until prayer groups can be started there, generally followed by new churches. Source: Friday Fax --- JN452-4. RESOURCE: Ten paradigm shifts toward transformation Eric Swanson, a consultant with Leadership Network and CitiReach International, wrote an in-depth article on ten paradigm shifts we need to go through toward community transformation. All over our world there is a quiet movement of the Spirit of God that is causing believers to re-examine how they 'do church'. Churches are throwing out the old measures of success. It's no longer merely about size, seeker sensitivity, spiritual gifts, church health, nor the number of small groups. It's about making a significant and sustainable difference in the lives of people around us - in our communities and in our cities. There is a growing awareness that we cannot continue to do the same old things and expect a different result. If we want to be the salt and light, we as the church were created to be, we have to do and be something different! Community transformation is not found in programs, strategies, campaigns or tactics. For most of us it will take nothing less than a shift of seismic proportions in what the church is to be in the 3rd millennium. A paradigm is a model consisting of shared assumptions regarding what works or what is true. A paradigm shift is that 'aha!' moment when one sees things in such a new light that one can never go back to the old ways again. Each paradigm shift takes us from a model of thinking that we must discard to a new model that we must embrace. A new paradigm is the new wineskins that will be needed to hold the new assumptions about what is true. To maximize our impact on our communities (urban, suburban or rural) we need changes in at least ten of our paradigms of how we currently view church: 1. From building walls to building bridges 2. From measuring attendance to measuring impact 3. From encouraging the saints to attend the service to equipping the saints for works of service 4. From 'serve us' to service: from inward to outward focus 5. From duplication of human services and ministries to partnering with existing services and ministries 6. From fellowship to functional unity 7. From condemning the city to blessing the city and praying for it 8. From being a minister in a congregation to being a minister in a parish 9. From anecdote and speculation to valid information 10. From teacher to learner Swanson's article includes suggestions for the next steps to be taken and an extensive list of web and book resources on community transformation. LINK: http://www.leadnet.org/resources/docs/booklet.pdf --- 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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