| JOEL-NEWS-INTERNATIONAL-465 * 9 JANUARY 2004 * WWW.JOELNEWS.ORG IN THIS EDITION: JN465-1. TYPICALLY GOD: 9300 new churches planted in 3 years JN465-2. PRAYER FOCUS: What is on God's agenda for 2004? JN465-3. NEWS BRIEF: Chinese move entire church to France JN465-4. KINGDOM DEVELOPMENT: 10 years 'Toronto Blessing' JN465-5. RESOURCE: Jerusalem House of Prayer for All Nations --- LANGUAGE EDITIONS - We ceased to publish Joel News in Serbian, but started the development of a Spanish edition. A sample is available at http://www.joelnews.org/espagnol.htm. --- JN465-1. TYPICALLY GOD: 9300 new churches planted in 3 years Less than three years ago, thirty tired farmers sat down to listen to a supposedly crazy missionary. The result is one of the most astonishing developments in mission in recent church history: the gathering started a movement in an East Asian nation through which over 9,300 new churches have been planted. Over 104,000 people have been baptized. What happened? "It was a long day," reports Baptist Press' Erich Bridges. Tired from their fields, thirty farmers sat in a small church - the smallest of three in a region with 700,000 inhabitants - listening to 'John', a Southern Baptist missionary. John told them about his vision of planting at least one church in each of the region's two hundred towns and villages in the next three years. The farmers looked at each other, then stared at the missionary as though he had lost his mind. "Each of you can start by beginning a family Bible study at home," said John. "But how can we do that?" they asked. "Who will teach the Bible?" "You are the teachers!" John replied. Frowning and shaking their heads, the farmers objected "But we don't know how." John then told them to say their own story out loud five times, then tell it to one of the others. He then told them to make a list of all their acquaintances who did not yet know Jesus, starting with their own relatives. "Divide these people into groups of five, and invite the groups to your house. Then tell them your story." John returned two weeks later to find out what had happened. Only eleven of the thirty had told others their story. He asked them to tell of their experiences, to encourage the other nineteen. John then challenged the 'silent nineteen' to tell their story to the people on their list, or to stop coming to the meetings. He taught the others a number of simple Biblical lessons which they could teach others. In January 2001, after only two months, twenty small groups had been started. Four months later, the number had already reached 327 small groups totalling around 4,000 newly-baptized believers in seventeen towns. By the end of the year, over 12,000 new believers were meeting in 908 house churches. "We don't teach teachers, we train trainers," John explains. One generation teaches a second, and the second teaches a third. Someone can train one group on Monday, another on Wednesday and a third on Thursday. One old farmer took up the challenge, planting over 100 new churches in one year. He gets up at 5am every morning, reads the Bible and prays for two hours, works in his fields until 5pm, then spends time with his family. At 7pm he goes out again - "this time to God's field, until midnight" as he says. What were the keys to these developments? Prayer (John points to the worn-out knees); passion; a clear vision of the aim; simple training concepts which can be passed on; people who are willing to be trained; commitment; no fear of suffering; signs and wonders, and the openness of people who are insecure and in crisis. Source: Baptist Press --- JN465-2. PRAYER FOCUS: What is on God's agenda for 2004? At the beginning of a new year a lot of prophetic words are being circulated on the internet. Most of these words are about the question what is on God's agenda for this year. Joel News selected two prophetic directives, one from Cindy Jacobs (USA), and the other from Patricia King (Canada) for you prayerful discernment, and to pray into as God's Spirit leads. LINK: http://makeashorterlink.com/?A62A13407 (Jacobs) LINK: http://makeashorterlink.com/?Y39A23407 (King) --- JN465-3. NEWS BRIEF: Chinese move entire church to France 100 years ago, Europeans followed the call to 'Go West' to America's new territories, write Alain and Rita Hauenschild, missionaries to China. A similar movement is happening today in China: over one million Chinese students live in Europe, mostly in France (500,000 in Paris alone), Italy, England and Germany. Some 50,000 Chinese immigrate into the European Union countries each month. Some years ago, an entire church in the Chinese city Wenchow disbanded, and set on their way to Paris over various routes. They have now met up again there as a church, complete with deacons, elders and pastors, and now help their fellow Chinese integrate into the French culture, and explain the Gospel to them. With 1,500 members, it is the largest Chinese church in Paris. Source: DMG Aktuell through Friday Fax --- JN465-4. KINGDOM DEVELOPMENT: 10 years 'Toronto Blessing' Leaders say the laughing has stopped for the worldwide 'awakening' known as the 'Toronto Blessing', but the movement is still going strong. In October, approximately 3,500 people from around the world made the pilgrimage to the Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship (TACF, formerly known as Toronto Airport Vineyard) to participate in the 10th annual 'Catch the Fire' conference. The 'Toronto Blessing', a phrase coined by British journalists to describe what movement insiders say is an incredible outpouring of the Holy Spirit, was marked by unusual physical manifestations among believers. It began in Toronto and quickly spread around the globe. TACF senior pastor John Arnott said it launched many Christians into a whole new dimension of ministry. But not all charismatics accept that force as originating with God, and in the last decade the movement has had its share of critics. Supporters insist that the Blessing has impacted millions of lives. Randy Clark is credited with being the man who brought the Blessing to Toronto in 1994. He said three of the 'greatest fruits' of the movement are "the miracle of the revival in Mozambique, where Toronto alumni Rolland and Heidi Baker planted a ministry to children and have helped start more than 5,000 churches, the miracle of the number of Muslims that are being saved, and the spreading of the fire around the world." Arnott said the most significant result of the Blessing can be seen in "an expectation in the hearts of many Christians now that when they go to church, something should happen," he said. "There's a greater expectation that the presence of God should be felt and experienced in some way." Source: Charisma News Service --- JN465-5. RESOURCE: Jerusalem House of Prayer for All Nations In 1999 Tom Hess of the Jerusalem House of Prayer for All Nations received a vision for a World Wide Watch based on the 12 gates of Jerusalem. For this purpose he divided the world into 12 regions, each corresponding with a gate of Jerusalem, and he called on the Church in these 12 regions to pray for God's purposes with Israel and the nations. Hess communicated this vision in two books: - 'The Watchmen' explains the concept of being a watchman, which is implied in over 300 scriptures. It's perhaps the most comprehensive book on the subject to date. - 'Prepare the Way for the King of Glory' helps Christians understand how God is working through intercession and worship in the 12 gates/gateways throughout the whole world to Jerusalem. The book gives a good insight into the redemptive purposes of Jerusalem and the 12 gateways surrounding Jerusalem. LINK: http://www.jhopfan.org --- 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. Editor: 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
