| JOEL-NEWS-INTERNATIONAL-458 * 31 OCTOBER 2003 * WWW.JOELNEWS.ORG IN THIS EDITION: JN458-1. TYPICALLY GOD: Critical imam helps church grow JN458-2. PRAYER FOCUS: Emerging generation in Europe JN458-3. NEWS BRIEF: Holy Spirit ignites Zimbabwe JN458-4. NEWS BRIEF: Pensacola revival leaders step down JN458-5. RESOURCE: Activating prophecy in the marketplace JN458-6. RESOURCE: Articles on Halloween --- 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. --- JN458-1. TYPICALLY GOD: Critical imam helps church grow "One of our previous students planted a church in his hometown in an Islamic nation in Africa," reports mission agency Operation Mobilisation. "After a while, he decided to look for a larger meeting room, and eventually found one. One day, the landlord's wife became ill; the church members prayed for her, and Jesus healed her. Touched, the whole family recognised that Jesus is the Saviour, and gave him their lives. "The town's Muslim leaders heard of the church, and complained to the local officials - but were disappointed. The Governor told them that the church was not a problem, because people were allowed to be Christians and meet for services. The imam was very annoyed. He started warning the people about the Christians through the minaret loudspeakers. The townspeople, now informed of the fact that there were Christians in the area and where they met, attended the church, wanting to find out what it was they were being warned about. Forty people were added to the church. The imam again spoke against the church through the minaret loudspeakers; this time, the membership increased by 400%." Source: OM --- JN458-2. PRAYER FOCUS: Emerging generation in Europe In many places in Europe God is pouring out His Spirit of prayer on young people. In some nations youth prayer movements have emerged on a national level. In other nations young people who are on fire for Jesus started all kinds of local and regional initiatives. This new wave of prayer is marked by an intense hunger to know God and see Him move in revival power, by prophetic worship and all kinds of creative forms, by networking based on friendship. Connect Europe published 50 country profiles of what's happening in Europe in relation to the emerging generation and prayer. Let's pray that God will pour out his Spirit of prayer on young people in every nation of Europe. LINK: http://www.connecteurope.org/nations.htm --- JN458-3. NEWS BRIEF: Holy Spirit ignites Zimbabwe In Dzivarasekwa in Zimbabwe half of the people are facing starvation and crime is rampant. In the midst of this situation five Christian business men launched a gospel crusade. Joh Haasbroek reports: "What we witnessed this past week was just a foretaste of what God has in store for us. Dzivarasekwa is known as a difficult area to penetrate spiritually. Many crusades held here in the past have been severely disrupted by drunkenness and rowdy people. We had no such problems. God's presence was tangible from the very first day of the crusade. Almost 800 people gave their lives to the Lord this week. Many were set free from demons by the power of Jesus' name. "A young man came forward confessing a life of crime and theft. The Lord convicted him deeply, he gave his life to Jesus and was baptized. A young woman who was a prostitute and drunkard came forward at the altar call to give her life to Jesus. As she did so the demons inside her seized her and threw her to the ground. She was delivered by the power of the Lord Jesus and was baptized on Saturday. "On Thursday night God's presence was so strong that for nearly an hour the people just worshiped the Lord Jesus, many on their knees. I have never seen this level of worship in a crusade where most people are either unbelievers or brand new Christians. When God manifests His presence people can only but worship Him! On Saturday night the Holy Spirit came on many. Many were filled with the Spirit and spoke fluently in other tongues. An encounter with the risen and living Christ changes people forever!" Source: www.openheaven.com --- JN458-4. NEWS BRIEF: Pensacola revival leaders step down The leader of a revival movement that defined Pentecostalism during the 1990s announced last week that he is leaving the pastorate. John Kilpatrick, 53, who for 21 years has pastored Brownsville Assembly of God in Pensacola, Fla., says he plans to focus his ministry now on mentoring other pastors. "The Lord told me that He has called me to be a father [to leaders]," Kilpatrick told 'Charisma' magazine. "Brownsville needs to move ahead, but it cannot move ahead with me at the helm because my mantle has changed." Brownsville Assembly became a flashpoint for revivalism in June 1995, when a visit from evangelist Steve Hill on Father's Day triggered an unusual outburst of Pentecostal fervor. Christians and non-Christians alike attended protracted meetings at the church, prompting observers to call it 'the Pensacola revival'. At the height of the revival in 1996 and 1997, when meetings were held almost every night of the week, visitors from around the world stood in long lines outside the church to get seats. Today, the lines are shorter and revival services are held on Friday nights only. Kilpatrick said the church now has about 3,000 members, and a training center the church launched in the late 1990s is grooming 320 students for full-time ministry. Kilpatrick emphasized that he will remain a member of Brownsville and will base his travelling ministry in Pensacola. One week before Kilpatrick's resignation, the church's popular worship leader, Lindell Cooley, 40, announced that he plans to leave Brownsville. He told 'Charisma' that he intends to plant a church in Nashville, Tenn., where he was based before coming to Pensacola nine years ago. Cooley helped stoke the fervor of the Pensacola revival by recording several CDs including Integrity's 'Revival at Brownsville', which sold almost 400,000 copies. Other leaders of the Pensacola movement have also moved away. Steve Hill, who moved to Pensacola and preached there nightly for several years, left in June 2000 and launched a church in Dallas this summer. Michael Brown, who helped launch the Brownsville Revival School of Ministry, split from the church in 2001 and started his own school. It is currently based in Harrisburg, N.C. Source: Charisma News Service --- JN458-5. RESOURCE: Activating prophecy in the marketplace Canadian evangelist Todd Bentley challenges Christians take the prophetic into the marketplace. "I believe that God wants His people to be prophetic not just when they're in the anointed atmosphere of a meeting. Why don't you create a prophetic atmosphere in the restaurant? Why don't you create a prophetic atmosphere right in your workplace? Do you ever minister to your children or others in your home with a word of knowledge or with revelation?" LINK: http://www.freshfire.ca/teaching.asp?ID=PROP002 --- JN458-6. RESOURCE: Articles on Halloween While Halloween in becoming a popular celebration in many nations, thousands of Christians take a firm stand against the occult. In the night of 31 October to 1 November prayer watches are being held all over the world. Gene Brooks collected a number of articles on Halloween. LINK: http://www.geocities.com/genebrooks/halloween.html Warning: When you visit this website on Halloween, you get a blue pop-up screen offering you a 'system update'. Don't click in this window (not even on 'cancel'), but close the window by clicking on the small cross in the right corner. (watch out: there are two crosses, take the upper right one.) If you don't apply this, a piece of software will be uploaded to your PC, and it's complicated to get it removed again. This is a real nuisance of Geocities' free website hosting. --- 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. |
(c) Copyright 1997-2003 Joel News
