Displaying items by tag: Praise

American pastor Ezekiel Ndikumana said God helped him know what to do, after a man at the front of his church pulled a gun out and pointed it at the congregation. Pastor Ezekiel, who has been hailed a hero, was praying with members of his congregation when the incident happened. He can be seen on camera tackling the gun-wielding man into the aisle. He held him down until police arrived and arrested Dezire Baganda, 26, who also faces over a dozen aggravated assault charges. While Baganda is not a church member, the pastor said he has attended previous services. Congregation member Akimana Charite said, ‘We were so shocked seeing him come in the front and pull out a gun. The whole church was calm; we thank God, if we had started panicking he might have started shooting, but we all stayed calm.’

Emmett Chang grew up with mostly female friends and was bullied by males his age; he grew to hate his masculinity. ‘I medicated, pacified, and drowned myself in homosexuality. I hated myself as a man. I didn’t feel like a man.’ But somebody talked to him about God and gave him a booklet. He read it because he wanted to see if God hated him. He found out God didn’t. Emmett said, ‘It said all sins are bad; they’re all worthy of death, including homosexuality. But that same sin was covered by grace.’ Next, a pastor prompted him indirectly by asking if God ever said he was gay? Emmett said, ‘It was a million-dollar question. It took 21 years for God to answer me in that fashion.’ After giving his life to Christ his transformation has been progressive. He now attends the Door Church in Tucson.

2.25 million disabled Americans should attend church, but don’t. Calvary Community is oriented towards people with ‘special abilities’. Their families drive long distances to get there. As a result, church growth has surged. ‘It just really exploded,’ said Pastor Gina. ‘We have a heart to help. The church understands the value of people with special abilities. ‘They have a straightforward clear understanding of the love of God. They’re not bogged down by noise, politics, or anything that can confuse who God is. Their childlike faith reminds us how simple the love of God can be. They help us understand what it means to serve someone who can’t serve us back.’ The community has 300 volunteers actively seeking and serving people with special abilities. The results speak for themselves. The church now has a database of 700 families with one or more child or adult with special abilities, and they train and help other churches develop special programmes. 

Pastor Brant Cole took a team of teenagers to their sister church in Haiti. The night before they were to leave, Brant felt there was still something left that God wanted to do. As they drove through a village he saw a woman and stopped the truck; he needed to tell her about Jesus. The woman said she couldn’t receive Jesus; she was indebted to the devil. They told her repeatedly, ‘Christ died to take away every debt and sin in our past.’ Surprisingly, she invited them to her house. After sharing the gospel with her more fully, the power of the Word and Spirit burst into her and she was born again. Later, they discovered she was the local witchdoctor. Other Christians had witnessed the love of God to her for years, but she had refused. Then God brought a little team of willing teenagers from a distant land and created a miracle.

On 16 October four-year-old Cleo Smith disappeared in the middle of the night while camping with her family in a harsh remote area of Australia. On 21 October we joined with many across Australia to pray for her to be found. Now, after 18 days, she has been rescued from a locked house in Carnarvon. The police have arrested a 36-year-old man and are questioning him. The authorities say they have so far not found any connection between the man and the Smith family. She has now been reunited with her parents. ‘Our family is whole again,’ was the message Cleo’s mother wrote on Instagram. Prime minister Scott Morrison said, ‘It is a huge relief that the nightmare has come to an end and our worst fears were not realised.’

Recently you prayed for eighty women on a spiritual retreat. Today we received this message: ‘The Lord answered your prayers abundantly! Thank you for praying for the many ladies suffering persecution from their families for their faith in Christ. This retreat gave them hope and allowed them to worship freely. One woman, overwhelmed with thankfulness, said her faith is growing and she looks forward to sharing Christ with others. Another woman, in tears, said, “The retreat taught me what it is like to be loved and valued by God and others”. Time and time again we see broken, weary, fearful attendees who have experienced suffering, trauma, and loss. But through God’s grace and power, after just a few days, a distinct, palpable transformation occurs. Hope-filled smiles and laughter, healing of past wounds, restoration of soul and spirit.’

Roughly half of the world’s known languages are still without God’s Word. Bible Translation Acceleration Kits, or BTAKs, are helping believers in hard-to-reach areas translate God’s Word. Wycliffe’s CEO says, ‘We receive great expressions of thanksgiving from those who are making use of them. One of the pastors we trained in Zambia taught three other language groups how to do Bible translation. Those groups completed their New Testaments and have already started working on OT translations.’ Most translators live in isolated regions with no Internet. BTAK has built-in internet connection and provides access to all the Bible translation software a language group needs.

Over 60% of Africa’s population is under the age of 25; over half of them are under 16. Christ for all Nations (CfaN) is committed to reaching the children and youth of Africa. In the last few decades, CfaN has built a very strong follow-up system with local churches. During the last 18 months their Bootcamp and CfaN team members have conducted an astonishing number of children’s campaigns. They have now produced a special booklet just for children, with the same powerful Gospel message in language that they can understand, read and reread, building the same first steps in faith that adults do. The What’s Next? booklet is already in English, Xhosa, Zulu, Congolese French, German, Afrikaans, Haitian Creole and Kirundi. CFaN is moving as fast as possible to translate it into the local language in each place where there will be an evangelistic campaign in 2022. They plan to reach a million children.

Iranians across the world have joined a Bible reading plan organised by the Bible Society. Nahid, a Christian worker, says it is a great way for these Christians to connect with each other. If they think they are alone, they can get depressed, but when they are reading scripture with another sister or brother, it is healing. This Bible reading plan has been especially helpful during the pandemic. Iranian Christians love Jesus with all their hearts, and seek to show His love to the world. But some in the West are still not ready to see them as Christians.

‘Operation Round-Up’ used undercover detectives to target criminals who attempted to prey upon minors, sought sex for themselves or exploited victims through human trafficking. 125 people were arrested in the trafficking sting and four females were rescued. Joel Velasco, 38, a schoolteacher and Pastor Samuel Phillips Jr of Be Limitless Church were among those arrested when detectives created undercover profiles online and chatted with men who believed they were speaking to minors. Velasco and Phillips were held in positions of trust and respect in the community but abused it as many others of the traffickers did. Police also created false advertisements for sex, and female detectives posed as streetwalkers to catch illegal activities.