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E-zine for prayer, revival and church growth |
No 501 | 15 March 2005 |
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IN THIS EDITION: 1. TYPICALLY GOD: Rebel soldiers eager to receive Christ 2. PRAYER: Pray on St. Patrick's Day 3. NEWS: Revival among gypsies in Europe 4. RESOURCE: Church planting research models EDITORIAL: Please note that starting March 1, 2005, the international edition of Joel News is no longer free, but will be published on the basis of an annual donation. This means that the e-zine will only be sent to those who support our ministry with a donation at least once a year, starting this month. You can use one of the fast and secure payment options on our donation page. LINK: http://www.joelnews.org/donation.htm On a special FAQS page we address the most frequently asked questions about this transition. Please consult this page before you contact us by e-mail. LINK: http://www.joelnews.org/transitionfaqs.htm Our heart is to keep Joel News available to everyone, independent of country or budget, and we thank you in advance for your partnership in this effort. Be blessed and be a blessing! Marc van der Woude JOEL NEWS  1. TYPICALLY GOD: Rebel soldiers eager to receive Christ Cliff Stalwick of Living Faith Evangelistic Assocation in Canada recently took a missions team to India. He reports about his visit to Nagaland: "There were so many open doors for ministry, including a service with the Naga rebel army (that is in conflict with the government), whose camp is a two-hour rough drive into the mountainous jungle. There we found hungry hearts, and a commander who loves the Lord. Many soldiers came to Jesus that day, and the commander testified to a new release of joy in Christ. He told us that they were so excited about our coming that they hadn't slept the night before. Unknown to us, they had stationed soldiers all along the road we took to make sure we arrived safely." Source: LFEA 2. PRAYER: Pray on St. Patrick's Day On St Patricks Day, 17 March 2005, Christians of Irish descent from all over the world are called to unite in prayer for Ireland's destiny in Christ and her ministry to the nations. Worldwide there are over 70 million descendents from Ireland, for whom St. Patrick's Day has become a day of celebration. Uniting on the 17th of March, commemorating the death of the island's patron saint, presents a huge opportunity to remind all connected to Ireland of their rich spiritual heritage, and to pray for Ireland's future. "Thousands of people have travelled here to stand with us in prayer and to ask God to once again make Ireland an island of saints and scholars," writes Richard Treacy, initiator of Pray on St. Patrick's Day. "It is wonderful that St. Patrick predated the present historical divisions on the island and that his gospel message seemed to be a unifying one. It brought hope and meaning to many and seeded a great missionary movement that impacted the known world of its day." Let's pray for Ireland this week, that once again it will become a land marked by the fire of the Holy Spirit and a passion for the unreached. LINK: http://www.prayonstpatricksday.com 3. NEWS: Revival among gypsies in Europe Christian news agency IDEA reports that a revival broke out among the 150,000 Sinti and Roma gypsies in Germany. Over the past few years several thousand of them have become Christians. The Süd-Ost-Europa-Mission, a ministry that works among the gypsies, reports that in six cities in the Ruhr region there are now house groups for Sinti children. In Hamburg there are 30 Sinti Bible groups that meet every week. Most Sinti gypsies are nominally Catholic, but practically involved in the occult. The revival is not limited to Germany. In earlier editions Joel News reported about significant church growth among gypsies in Spain, France, Bulgaria, Serbia, Turkey, England and the Netherlands. Widely held estimates put the number of born-again gypsies in Europe at 500,000 to a million, out of a population of somewhere between 11 million and 38 million. Two years ago, in France alone, Life & Light, a branch of the Assemblies of God, counted some 130,000 gypsy believers, a third of the country's total gypsy population. At that time the movement had planted 210 gypsy churches in France and trained more than 1,300 pastors. It sent out missionaries to 40 countries and founded Bible schools in three. Similar reports come from Spain, with a conservative estimation of 500 gypsy churches, and 90,000 out of 600,000 gypsies being baptized believers. L&L president Jimmy Meier told Charisma Magazine that "biblical truth causes the gypsy converts to change their lives completely. There is no more fighting, stealing and drinking." Gypsy church leaders expect the revival to change the political and social status of the gypsy people. "Traditionally we have been many, but divided, and now God is uniting us as a people with the common goal of serving Him," said May Bittel, a Swiss gypsy who is an accredited Council of Europe expert for gypsy issues. Tom Wilson, a leader in the gypsy community in the UK, reported seven years ago already that at that time the revival had seen over a fifth of the gypsy population in the UK being born again. Also in Turkey and Bulgaria thousands of Turkish-speaking gypsies have come to Christ. Source: IDEA, Joel News, Charisma 4. RESOURCE: Church planting research models Missions researchers in Europe have strategically united their research efforts for the sake of church planting and multiplication in their continent. This is reported by Andreas Wolf, research coordinator of the DAWN European Network. One of the first assignments the newly formed European Missions Research RoundTable (EMRRT) took on is an analysis of church planting research models, from the classical DAWN approach to spiritual mapping approaches that are common in the prayer movement, providing an interesting oversight. The European research team encourages participation from other researchers in this project. LINK: http://www.dzubinski.com/researchmodels/index.html |
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C O L O P H O N Joel News is an international e-zine with news reports and articles on prayer, revival and church growth. It aims at leaders, intercessors, church planters and other Christians who carry a vision for the advance of God's Kingdom in every sphere of life. The reports are meant to encourage, challenge and inform. A keen selection of only the most relevant entries from over a hundred reliable sources in six continents, make Joel News a great help and time-saver for Christians in ministry. Joel News is published weekly on the basis of an annual donation. For more information visit our donation page: http://www.joelnews.org/donation.htm. Joel News partners with a wide range of international networks and ministries in the area of prayer, saturation church planting, revival and world missions. News reports (no regular mailing lists) can be sent to our editorial team at info@joelnews.org. Has this edition been forwarded to you? Then get yourself a free 2-month trial subscription at http://www.joelnews.org/subscribe.htm. (c) JOEL NEWS, 2005 | republication only with full creditline www.joelnews.org |
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