| JOEL-NEWS-INTERNATIONAL-490 * 19 NOVEMBER 2004 * WWW.JOELNEWS.ORG IN THIS EDITION: JN490-1. TYPICALLY GOD: PM of Vanuatu dedicates nation to Jesus JN490-2. PRAYER FOCUS: God among the Montagnards in Vietnam JN490-3. NEWS: Navajo revival in Arizona JN490-4. WEBLOG: Towards a going theology JN490-5. RESOURCE: Michah Challenge --- MAIL - Please note that our e-mail address MarcvanderWoude@xc.org no longer works. You can contact us at info@joelnews.org. --- JN490-1. TYPICALLY GOD: PM of Vanuatu dedicates nation to Jesus The revival in Fiji is making waves across the Pacific, spilling over in the troubled nation of Vanuatu. After fresh elections in July delivered to power a Prime Minister thought by some of the nation's pastors to be an 'evil Catholic', hope was waning. One month later, Serge Vohor stood before a public rally in Port Vila and repented of his and the nation's sins. He then invited Jesus into the city of Port Vila and the nation of Vanuatu. The background to these remarkable events was a 'mini transformations conference' which was conducted by pastors from Australia. They taught local pastors about principles of transformation learned from the Fiji revival. These principles included corporate repentance, forgiveness and reconciliation between denominations, healing the land and inviting Jesus into the community led by a chief or community leader. When they suggested to the pastors in Port Vila to approach the Prime Minister for this, their initial reaction was that the new Prime Minister was not a Christian man and might not respond positively to the request. Some said he was too busy with trying to cope with his political worries. After some encouragement they decided to make an attempt at the top. A delegation of 12 pastors turned up at the Prime Minister's office at 2pm the next day and the PM warmly and openly accepted the responsibility to lead the corporate repentance and invitation of Jesus into his nation. This response shocked the pastors. After the corporate repentance at a public rally, Vohor invited the pastors for breakfast the next morning. To show he was serious about on-going prayer and dialogue, he gave $1000 as seed money so the pastors could cultivate unity amongst themselves and his office. He has also established a section of his office so different pastors can come and pray with him each week. The beauty of this story is that pastors initially thought that this man was an 'evil Catholic' and yet God surprised the Church by preparing Mr Vohor in the months leading up to his appointment as PM. During an official visit to the Middle East before the National elections he took the opportunity to visit the Holy Land and that visit impacted him so greatly that he actually stopped drinking heavily and smoking. The outpouring of God's love on this sinner humbled the pastors when they heard his testimony. Vohor has ordered devotions and prayers be held in all government department offices. Invitation of Jesus into the nation of Vanuatu and the city of Port Vila by the newly elected Prime Minister of Vanuatu, the Hon Serge Vohor, August 2004: "I Serge Vohor the Prime Minister of Vanuatu, on behalf of my people confess that we have sinned against the Almighty God, the Holy Spirit and His Son the Lord Jesus Christ. I repent of my own sin and the sins of my community today and the sins of our forefathers of the past generations. Lord Jesus, I and my people do not want to miss the day of your visitation. We beg you this day not to pass us by. We are sinners. We ask you for forgiveness. We invite you into our community today. Come and change us, come and renew our lives, come and transform our families, come and visit our tribes, come and heal our land. Jesus is Lord of Vanuatu. Holy Spirit Come!" LINK: http://www.oneheart.com.au/art.asp?id=390 --- JN490-2. PRAYER FOCUS: God among the Montagnards in Vietnam "In our nation, we are worth less than animals. The men are murdered and the women raped," says an old Montagnard pastor. The international community ignores the situation. Montagnards are the inhabitants of central Vietnam's mountains, including the Jarai, Rhade, Koho, Mnong and Stieng tribes. According to mission agency Open Doors, they have suffered severe persecution for many years. During a peaceful demonstration around Easter 2004, Montagnards were brutally cut down by police wielding chains, nail-spiked clubs, knives, iron bars, electric stun guns and machetes. There are reports of up to 400 killed, which the Vietnamese government still tries to keep under wraps. Why? Half of the Montagnards are Christians. Missionaries took Christianity to Vietnam's mountainous regions in the 1920's. Following the Communist takeover from the North in 1975, the number of Christian Montagnards has grown rapidly, particularly in the past 20 years. That makes them a thorn in the government's flesh, which has been persecuting and repressing Christians for many years. Christ said "Blessed are you if you are persecuted for my sake." The Montagnard's suffering is indescribable. On the other hand, there are very few other people groups in the world in which 50% consider themselves Christians. Let's pray for God's presence among the Montagnards, that their testimony in the midst of persecution will glorify Jesus and point people to the Saviour. LINK: http://www.opendoorsuk.org/profile_vietnam.php --- JN490-3. NEWS: Navajo revival in Arizona A revival has been sweeping the Navajo nation, says missions pastor Ray Saragosa of New Song Fellowship in Denver, Colorado. He just returned from one of his trips to the Navajo nation, located in Arizona, USA, and has witnessed amazing things. Saragosa: "Mormon Churches have converted to Christian churches all over the reservation. They have erected crosses on the Mormon spires. Crack Houses also have converted to Christianity and the houses have been cleansed and are now housing worshippers and seekers of God. Much land previously controlled by the drug gangs is being reclaimed and cleansed for the people and the Kingdom. Entire households, which in most cases contain extended families, are converting. Where there are church buildings there have been manifestations in the form of oil running down the church walls during the meetings. A well which stood dry for many years suddenly filled with water (in the middle of a drought) and the people are drawing water from it daily. People are being healed and delivered by the Lord". Ray and Inez Saragosa share how the Navajo way is for the young and old to join together in worship. "There were grandmas and girls and women all tossing their hair around and worshipping with abandon and deep love for God. Young and old together danced, waved arms, fell on their knees and worshipped for hours. People went on their faces sobbing and worshipping God on the dirt floors of the tents and buildings". Several hundred people showed up at a meeting in the middle of nowhere, desperately hungry for God. LINK: http://www.baspub.com/connected/report.asp?id=355 --- JN490-4. WEBLOG: Towards a going theology Joel News publisher Marc van der Woude keeps a weblog in which he reflects on God, the Church and daily life. This week he corresponded with several people about the shape of church to come and teamwork between prophetic and apostolic people. A leader from the UK mailed: "The nations is the key, and it is the ongoing GOING and dynamism of the leaders that make the difference. Every revival ends when the leaders entrench into consolidation and maintenance. This is why the renewing of the mind and a rediscovery of 'going theology' and practice is crucial to maintaining the revival God is stirring." LINK: http://marcsmessages.typepad.com/mm/2004/11/towards_a_going.html --- JN490-5. RESOURCE: Michah Challenge In October 2004, Njongonkulu Ndungane, Anglican Bishop of Cape Town addressed the UN, calling for a global campaign to reduce poverty. Millions of Christians in 100 nations should put pressure on their governments to halve global poverty by 2015. In his address, he asked "How can we claim to follow Jesus if we are not prepared to work to achieve his gospel good news for the poor?" Ndungane, successor to Desmond Tutu and inmate of Robben Island together with Nelson Mandela, is one of the spokesmen of the 'Micah Challenge', which aims to mobilise Christians to lobby their governments, start campaigns and pray that the governments reach the aims which they set at the Millennium Summit in the year 2000, which include fighting extreme poverty and the creation of global development partnerships. LINK: http://www.micahchallenge.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. 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