Displaying items by tag: Praise

Last week you prayed for the aged President Bouteflika to withdraw from standing in the next election, and for God to raise new leaders for the nation. On 12 March the state news agency reported that the president was withdrawing, and would not stand as a candidate in the next election. He has named the interior minister as the new prime minister, and plans to create a new government with a special body to draft a new constitution to respond to the protests. May God continue to bless Algeria with His purposes.

Pastor Biju stopped to pray with 18-year-old deaf mute Tilak, who belongs to an unreached, unengaged people group. As he stretched out his arm to pray for him, he saw confusion in the boy’s eyes. Tilak had no way of communicating with others, and no context for what was about to happen. Pastor Biju gave Tilak a reassuring smile before he closed his eyes and focused his attention heavenward. He prayed for deliverance and healing, and as he did, he felt Tilak jerk away. The bewildered look on his face showed that something amazing had happened. Tilak was instantaneously, miraculously healed! Tears streamed down his face as he heard through his ears for the first time. He rushed to his mother, who heaved sobs of joy and relief. Her boy was healed, and it was all because of Jesus! The entire family became Christians that day.

Sona lay on a railway track waiting for a train to take her life. A Christian mission worker found her. Sona saw a woman whose expression radiated kindness and concern. When the woman asked why she was there, she sobbed gut-wrenching tears and told of her heartache. ‘Please, there is no hope for me. Just let me die.’ The missionary spoke of Jesus, of hope, of life after death, and the choice of where to spend eternity. She ministered God’s love to Sona, and together they walked away from the railway tracks. Days later Sona returned, but this time as a child of the King - and a railway employee! The very place she almost took her life became a place of provision and hope. ‘My Jesus gave me hope, I am filled with joy and will do His work until my last breath.’

The indigenous Malaysian Church has tremendous potential for outreach to the Malays, but is fearful of authorities clamping down on them. Historically there is deep-seated resentment between the Chinese and Malays because of the favoured status of the Malays. However, many Chinese believers are now being trained in ministry to Muslims. Also, the kidnapping of Chinese pastor Raymond Koh two years ago has changed things. His whereabouts are unknown, but his ordeal has inspired the Church to intercede for him. While they pray for him, they also pray for the Gospel to grow in Malaysia. Now workers say that more Muslim Malays are receiving prayer for healing, and there is a cautious readiness to hear Christians talking about ‘Isa.’

For the past eighteen years, the ministry of The Call has filled stadiums with a message of prayer and fasting, believing that America would turn back to Jesus. Then God spoke to its leaders, saying that a shift was coming that would give birth to a new sending movement. The shift began as 70,000 people raised their shoes in response to a call to go anywhere for the gospel. This gathering, called Azusa Now, catalysed a grassroots movement activating believers to evangelism and mobilising missionaries all over the world. In response to Azusa Now, national ministries gathered together in Florida to seek the Lord, believing that the momentum must become a national movement. The Send was born. On 23 February 60,000 youths were mobilised into mission! Believing now is a tipping point of action to reach this generation in five mission fields: schools, universities, colleges, friends, and neighbourhoods.

Mostafa travelled to Cairo with the intention of killing his cousin Mohammad for converting from Islam to Christianity. He found him in a worship service and waited to make his move. The songs and prayers he heard in that service appealed to him. He approached Mohammad with tears in his eyes, ‘I came from our village to spy on you and see if you had become a Christian. I should tell your family what I saw, but I just can’t. I think the choice you made might have been the right one. Can you tell me more? Why did you leave Islam for Christianity?’ The cousins spent hours discussing the Gospel, and that night Mostafa dreamt of Jesus on the cross looking at him and saying, ‘I did this because I love you, and I want you to be free from your sins.’ Mostafa told Mohammad his dream. The following month he was baptised, with Mohammad standing next to him.

Brother John and his friends met villagers playing music on a mountainside. John shared the hymn Amazing Grace with them and started talking about God’s grace, while a team member prayed silently. The team member said, ‘I think one of these older ladies has a painful knee’. One woman said, ‘Yes, I do, it’s terrible’, and her sister said, ‘Both my knees have problems.’ John said ‘The Creator God can heal those knees, can we touch them and ask Him to heal them? They agreed, and then John said, ‘In the name of Jesus, be well’. One elderly lady looked surprised and started doing deep knee bends. ‘What just happened? Is the pain gone?’ ‘Yes, the pain is gone!’ was the reply. The team prayed again and she was filled with the Spirit. Three ladies gave their lives to Jesus, received Bibles, and were taught how to study God’s word.

President Putin’s Faustian bargain with the Orthodox Church has allowed persecution to increase in Russia. Evgeniy, a Ukrainian believer, was imprisoned twice by pro-Russian separatists while attempting to deliver humanitarian aid. The first time was for fifteen days. ‘Then they found a Bible in my car and said I was an American spy. If you are a Christian or a spy it’s the same! They told me I should be killed! During my second time in prison, it was a miracle. On the third day we somehow escaped. It was like the book of Acts when an angel opened the doors of the prison cell,’ he told Mercy Projects. ‘Today, I am grateful that God continues to use me in this ministry. We can laugh now, but it was very dangerous and very serious then.’

The 2011 earthquake prompted new mission awareness in Japan’s churches. Churches reconsidered how to evangelise and develop the church. In northern Japan, people who previously showed no interest in the gospel became receptive and drawn to Christianity after seeing Christ in volunteers who, without demanding anything in return, kept coming to provide aid and support. By 2017 Christians had begun to be called Kirisuto-san or ‘Mr/Ms Christ’, with respect and appreciation. Over time, people asked about the Bible, and doors opened for sharing testimonies. Operation World reports that Japanese missionaries are increasing, in Japanese and English. The Overseas Missions Association has a membership of over twenty agencies. YWAM Tokyo started ten years ago, with a handful of amazing people. Now they have forty staff, and outreaches all over the city. They need your prayers! See http://www.operationworld.org/country/japa/owtext.html

Over 200 female Muslim refugees gathered in a highly restrictive Middle East country, where Hana, a Christian, addressed them. Four officers sat in the front row, watching her. ‘I had to be very careful,’ she said. ‘We had called this meeting without a permit.’ She said to her audience, ‘I know how devoted you are to Islam, how much you respect and love God, how honest you are in your worship. You fast and pray so faithfully. But on the other hand I feel sorry for you because you can never be sure of your salvation. You can never know if your destiny is heaven or hell.’ Then Hana boldly asked the officers, ‘Would you please leave the room? I need to speak to these women in private.’ The officers complied. God poured out His Spirit on the women. Hana recounted, ‘I asked those who wanted to follow Jesus to stand and pray. They all did, the entire group, every one of them!’ For the full story, click the ‘More’ button.