Displaying items by tag: Church growth

Persecution is intensifying. Extreme Hindus aim to eradicate every Muslim and Christian from India by 2021. In some places, they seem to have support from the government and the police. Pastors have been killed and their own family accused of the murder, despite eyewitness reports about Hindu extremists. This is also a time of unprecedented church growth with many testimonies of miracles and amazing moves of the Holy Spirit amongst young people. The remarkable children’s prayer movement is growing. One district had no Christians 10 years ago and now has 200 churches. Persecution is more likely in traditional rural areas and in the north, but radical Hindus can - and do - arise anywhere.

In Algeria, friends asked for prayer after their church in Aïn Turk was closed by the local authorities. After seven months, the authorities finally reopened the church. In Turkey, Pastor Ramazan Arkan leads two congregations in Antalya, just 12 miles from where Paul and Barnabas planted a church in New Testament times. His growing church is reaching out to many young seekers in this city of two million people. Iran is one of the most dangerous countries in the world to be a Christian, yet thousands of underground Iranian believers are practising their faith in secret. For those with no-one to talk to about Jesus, SAT-7’s satellite Christian broadcasting has become not just a television channel, but also a virtual pastor, church, community and friend.

Leaders from 18 denominations attending the Windermere leaders' summit heard about the results of the new Talking Jesus research, and the best strategy for sharing Jesus. Andy Hawthorne from the Message Trust said, ‘People's hearts are open to the gospel. The Church is on the front foot in mission, the like of which I've not known in my lifetime.’ The summit drew on a newly updated survey of adults and teenagers, which shows that people of all ages want to know more about Jesus Christ and Christianity. The strategy for seeing church growth is to pray for five people; talk about Jesus (the research shows that conversations play a key part in people becoming Christians); give away Bible-based resources; and invite people to church. The research found that 13% of young people now describe themselves as practising Christians, with 67% of adults saying they know a Christian and consider them 'caring', 'generous' and 'good-humoured'.

Volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, hurricanes, civil wars, and oppressive dictatorships all play a part in the story of Nicaragua. This nation of only 6.3 million people is physically the largest of the Central American republics. As it continues to face unending obstacles, leaving it one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere, it also suffers from the ongoing conflict and violence associated with drug trafficking. There is poverty, there are broken families; but the suffering of many Nicaraguans has softened their hearts toward God. They are asking spiritual questions. Evangelicals have grown forty-fold in fifty years! Believers are growing in considerable influence, even in the government, but deep-seated poverty has also opened doors for false teachings such as liberation theology and prosperity gospel. Pray for seekers to be wise and discerning and for false teaching to be revealed for what it is - fake news, not good news.

The Church of England has recognised that pioneers are vital for the future of the Church. The Church Mission Society’s pioneer mission leadership training programme provides a designated pathway for ordination as an ordained pioneer minister - alongside the more traditional routes for teachers and pastors. This year there has been a further growth in numbers; an eclectic mix of missionaries will graduate this week after completing their studies in theology, ministry and mission. The pioneers included some being ordained into the Church of England as deacons or admitted to the order of Lay Pioneers. Mission pioneers are giving the Church a glimpse of the future, where mission will not be delivered solely by large para-church organisations, but increasingly through agile, innovative and creative pioneers, witnessing to love in action.

‘I have given them the glory that You gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and You in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that You sent me and have them even as You have loved me.’ (John 17:22-23) HOPE unites the church across denominations, race, culture and customs. An unprecedented number of churches are committed to mission in 2018. The dream is to grow the church by 10 per cent. Thank God for churches working together. Pray that Christians will show God’s reconciling love and peace. Consider meeting to pray with other churches in your area.

(written by Rev’d Yemi Adedeji, Redeemed Christian Church of God)

At the last Trumpet Call, we stated that 2017 was going to be the year of the extraordinary; extraordinary good things, extraordinary bad things and extraordinary surprise happenings. I believe that this will not only be at local and national level, but most certainly globally.

For Christians around the world, persecution will continue... and the Church will grow. Political shakeups will continue... but the Church will continue to grow. New leaders will emerge... but the church will continue to grow. Brexit will move in one direction or another, elections in several European countries will take place with as yet unseen consequences, but the Church will continue to grow. The gates of hell will not prevail against the Church.

Already planned for this year are several gatherings of Christian Leaders from different Continents, who in waiting on God in prayer and discussion are looking towards the fulfilment of the Great Commission through worldwide prayer and mission out of real unity within the Body of Christ.

This will be a year like never before. We must look beyond the media’s headlines and stories and see what God is doing, and what God is allowing around the world through His Church to bring His Kingdom here as in heaven.

Fellow global watchmen and women, we stand together on a global watch in faith to see, to warn, to rejoice, to pray without ceasing, as the extraordinary unfolds across the nations.

What an extraordinary privilege!

2017 has started with a prayer upsurge across the UK with many prayer weeks and prayer events. Ian Cole brought a wonderful testimony from Germany that shows that prayer and the celebration of The Reformation has caught the attention and favour of German media already in 2017.

World Prayer Centre moved into a new season with its Prayershift prayer gatherings, which are focused on praying for God to move and bring change to our nation and the nations. A packed meeting was led in prayer by Jane Holloway, who got us to think about what God’s presence would mean for our home, community and workplace. We then started to pray for God’s goodness, His peace, His beauty, His light because His presence can and will change us.

Steve Botham focused on a clear start in 2017. He described this as a year of promise, presence and prayer. He said our key call as people of prayer is to change the spiritual soil so that the tree that is God’s church can be fruitful. At the moment it is in poor soil, and we are seeing a rapid decline in attendance and a loss of faith, and an increase in sin and rebellion. Changing the soil through attracting God’s presence, a move of the Word and Spirit and a release of prayer, will lead to great fruitfulness and abundance. Ministries like evangelism, children’s and youth work and social action will flourish as the soil becomes richer.

This is a time for significant change and we prayed for God to have mercy on our nation. We asked God to fulfil His promises for an unprecedented move of His Word and Spirit and for awakening in our nation.

The day closed with a powerful declaration from Jeremiah 33:14 “The days are coming when I will fulfil the good promise I made to the people of Israel and Judah.”
We believe this word. These are exciting times when we expect extraordinary things in our prayer times. People of great prayer experience, and none, are coming from across the nation to pray and see things shift.

Join us for our next Prayershift on February 18th?

For some time now, Iran has had the infamous reputation of being one of the most dangerous countries to be a Christian. However, Christianity is taking root in an ongoing revival for Jesus. Hundreds of Iranians as well as Afghans were baptised in November. It is thought that twenty years ago there were 2,000-5,000 Christian believers in Iran: that number has grown more than tenfold since then. At least 300,000-400,000 former Muslims now live new lives in Christ. TBN Nejat TV, a broadcasting ministry, has also seen astounding harvests. Since its launch in 2006, as many as five million Iranian Muslims have begun a new life in Christ as a result of the network. TBN reports that it has helped to establish and disciple over 90 underground churches in Iran, Afghanistan, Kurdistan and other Farsi-speaking areas.

Kong Hee, City Harvest Church Pastor, wants to ignite a revival among Muslims in Indonesia. ‘What a big harvest field Indonesia is. The number of Christians has grown from 1.3 to 24 million in the past forty years, making up around 10% of the country's population. Christianity is Indonesia's second-largest religion and second-largest Christian population in Southeast Asia. With such a ripe harvest field, it is so necessary for church-building work to be done in this wonderful nation, and that is why I love doing missions in Indonesia,’ the pastor posted to Facebook. Kong Hee has been travelling throughout Southeast Asia recently - seeing miracles and healings break out as he laid hands on people. With his sights set on Indonesia, he is fervently praying for Muslim conversions. "During my 5 days at Bandung last week I ministered at El-Shaddai Creative Community (ECC). The pastors are Revs Nala and Evie Widya. In the 1980s, Nala was a champion cycling athlete, but an accident almost cost him his life and he had to retire. The loss for sports was a gain for God's kingdom when Nala became a pastor. I first met Nala in 2003 when ECC had only 150 members. Now, they are 2,000 strong and rapidly growing through actual soul-winning!" Kong wrote. Muslims are rapidly converting to Christianity around the world, according to several reports.