| JOEL-NEWS-INTERNATIONAL-457 * 23 OCTOBER 2003 * WWW.JOELNEWS.ORG IN THIS EDITION: JN457-1. TYPICALLY GOD: Rapid, sacrificial obedience in China JN457-2. PRAYER FOCUS: National transformation in Argentina JN457-3. NEWS BRIEF: 'Amplification of prayer' urged for Bush JN457-4. NEWS BRIEF: Prophets announce 'new phase' to the church JN457-5. NEWS BRIEF: Emergency Network takes on Lighthouse approach JN457-6. RESOURCE: 30 Days Muslim Prayer Focus --- ENCOURAGE OTHERS - If you are encouraged by this edition of Joel News, then forward it with a personal recommendation to 10 people in your network who likely don't receive Joel News yet. Your friends can sign up for Joel News by sending an empty e-mail to subscribe-joel-news-international@xc.org. --- JN457-1. TYPICALLY GOD: Rapid, sacrificial obedience in China Curtis, a missionary in China, reports of a seminar with house church leaders. The meetings normally last from 6am until 11pm, continuing the next morning at 6am. One evening, he sensed that God was calling one of the thirty people to be the first of the movement to go abroad as a missionary. For a moment, nobody responded, but then a woman raised her hand, saying "That's me. God has been showing me for some time that I should become a missionary." The group prayed for her, and Curtis went to bed around midnight. The next morning, at 6am, everyone was present - except the woman who had raised her hand. "Where is she?" Curtis asked. "Oh, have you already forgotten? She raised her hand to go on her mission," the others told him. "When you went to bed, we prayed about where God wanted to send her. God told us that she should go to Myanmar. Another Christian volunteered to be her prayer partner, so we gathered some money and put them on the 4am bus to Myanmar." Curtis reports that the woman was a hard-working doctor - she had a fulfilling life, but dropped everything the moment God called her! "One of the secrets of the Chinese Christians is their rapid, expensive obedience," he says. Source: Friday Fax --- JN457-2. PRAYER FOCUS: National transformation in Argentina Argentina has experienced some of the greatest moves of God, and one of the most prolonged national revivals. However, in the past several years the nation has fallen into a more desperate time of need. God has given Ed Silvoso a tremendous burden and call to the nation of Argentina for restoration. He will be hosting the Harvest Evangelism International Institute in Argentina from October 25-31. Ed sent out the following prayer request: "I am writing this personal email to request your spiritual solidarity at a most crucial point in our ministry. God spoke to us about committing ourselves and everything entrusted to us to reach a nation to make it a point of inspiration and a prototype for nation transformation in the same way that Resistencia - the first city reached for Christ - did for city reaching in 1990. To that effect, on October 25 we will be touching each one of Argentina's 24 provinces by sending teams to each capital and gathering the church in 24 solemn assemblies linked via television in order to turn the nation into a Cathedral as a mantle of intercession is raised over the entire country. Over 300 top apostolic leaders from five continents will travel with us to Argentina to help do that. The following day (October 26) we will deploy them in a myriad of gatherings in the marketplace all over Argentina to touch tens of thousands of businesses, government and educational leaders. Next, on October 28-31, they will travel to Mar del Plata where we will host 3,000 leaders from all over the country to train them in kingdom dynamics to launch a new nation. It is both a monumental task and an awesome challenge. "As you know, there are no textbooks on how to reach a modern nation. All we have is the Great Commission with its directive to disciple nations and the indirect testimony of the New Testament. Consequently we are moving forward by faith and we are seeing the beginning of extraordinary breakthroughs. However, we are in immediate need of extraordinary intercessory covering in light of this unprecedented assignment. To proceed further without such covering will be spiritually foolish and strategically irresponsible. I know this for a fact because when we reached Resistencia, even though we tasted victory, during the two years following such victory we found ourselves in spiritual rehab because of the fierceness of the battle. "This is why I come to you to ask for your assistance. I have never sensed greater spiritual satisfaction about God's work. I sense the presence and the favor of God daily and continually. He wakes me up at night. He also puts his arms around me during the day. He continually whispers words of encouragement and insight in my ears. I am having the most awesome time in my 45 years of ministry. But on the other hand my team and I have never faced greater perils and fiercer opposition. It is not so much what I know I must confront that concerns me, but what I suspect lurks in places still not registered on our spiritual radar, hence this bold request for your help. "God wishes nations, not just people or even cities to be discipled. This is a new paradigm that we are committed to shifting for the benefit of the Church and the lost worldwide, and to do it effectively we need help. I am not doubting the outcome since victory is not in question but your spiritual partnership will make the difference on two crucial counts: the scope of the victory and the severity (or lack) of our casualties. Please, join me and my team to make the victory greater and the number of casualties lower." Source: Harvest Evangelism --- JN457-3. NEWS BRIEF: 'Amplification of prayer' urged for Bush Intercessory groups and prayer leaders are calling on Christians for "an amplification of prayer" for the protection of President Bush, his family and members of his administration. They say intercessors have sensed "a renewed burden to pray" for Bush's safety for the past six weeks. "One reason for added concern over the past months is the islamic 'cursing' and death calls being made against President Bush and other leaders by militant Muslim mullahs during Friday mosque services," Intercessors for America President Gary Bergel wrote in a message published Monday. "Many of us have now also sensed a heightened burden to pray against assassination, attack and calamity during the president's current visit and participation at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit," he added. Bergel noted that the ancestral folk religions and cultures of the Asian nations Bush was visiting "are laced with the conjuring and casting of various kinds of spells and curses, including 'death curses.'" Bergel cited a recent story by The Bangkok Post, which reported that a photograph of Bush was sealed inside a clay pot amid black magic mantra chants and curses, then tossed into northern Thailand's Ping River last Friday by hundreds of farmers protesting U.S. agriculture policy. Meanwhile, Capitol Hill Prayer Partners (CHPP) have issued a multi-point 'plan of prayer on behalf of Bush, who is set to depart Australia for Hawaii this afternoon to complete his Asian tour. "When President Bush returns to the United States, please do not let up your intercession for his life and safety," CHPP's Sara Ballenger wrote in a message published this week by The Elijah List, an internet-based network for those in the prophetic movement. Source: Charisma News Service --- JN457-4. NEWS BRIEF: Prophets announce 'new phase' to the church "We believe that we have passed an important gate in Godīs agenda," writes German prophet Michael Schiffmann of the Target Europe initiative. "Rarely have so many prophetic words been given as recently that announce a drastic change into a new phase. Sue Mitchell, Martin Scott, Sharon Stone and many others have prophesied that we are entering a new stage of intensive harvest of the things we have sown. A few months ago Martin said that these words will be confirmed by the death of several Christian senior leaders. An era is coming to an end and something new is beginning." The senior leaders mentioned were Bill Bright who died in July this year, and teachers Derek Prince and Kenneth Hagin. Schiffmann writes: "In their lifetimes they opened a new way; through faith and revelation from God they conquered new spiritual land and they were not satisfied with what had been the normal Christian life before their time. We should also trust in Jesus and follow in his footsteps into a new land." Source: Target Europe --- JN457-5. NEWS BRIEF: Emergency Network takes on Lighthouse approach American Christians set up a Christian Emergency Network that can be mobilised in situations of national crisis, like an earthquake or a terrorist attack. This network uses a Lighthouse approach to minister to people in such situations. PRAYER is offered through prayer stations in the affected cities, and churches are organising special prayer services. CARE is given by setting up a reflief network to distribute food, goods and medicine. And the crisis momentum is also used to SHARE Christ with people through Gospel events and a 'salvation telephone line'. Source: www.nppn.org --- JN457-6. RESOURCE: 30 Days Muslim Prayer Focus The annual '30 Days Muslim Prayer Focus' will be held Oct. 26 to Nov. 24. Coinciding with Ramadan, it calls all Christians to pray for all Muslims. A prayer guide is available in 38 languages. LINK: http://www.30-days.net --- 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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