Displaying items by tag: Evangelism

A UK mission worker says, ‘I had the joy of personally attending our outreach event in L attended by over 1,000 people! L is a nation in crisis politically and economically. What a blessing to share worship music and the Good News with the hurting people of this nation. Our local team member, a pastor himself, brought a powerful message. Then a sixty-year-old man who received Christ one year ago shared his testimony, telling the crowd, ‘Life without Jesus is death.’ Hundreds of people raised their hands indicating they had accepted Jesus Christ as Saviour and asked for prayer. Praise God!’

By 2018 there were 5 billion mobile phone users and over 4 billion using the internet. Desert nomads can watch videos pre-loaded onto their mobile phones. This revolution in communications is increasing the spread of the gospel. Networking tools are being used in astonishing ways. Isolated Muslims who have heard of Jesus or dreamt of a man in dazzling white speaking to them have started to seek Christ via social networking. A project to do this drew over a thousand responses in just one southeast Asian country. When the idea was repeated in the Middle East, the response overwhelmed the available resources. One observer reports that thanks to messaging apps, untold numbers of groups are emerging daily who encourage one another in the Word even in places where the gospel cannot legally go. Pray for creativity and wisdom to make the most of every mission opportunity that presents itself.

Interserve works alongside the Church in nations across Asia and the Arab World, and in other locations where there is opportunity to disciple Asian and Arab peoples. Some missionaries serve long-term, others for a shorter time. Some join through as volunteers or as consultants. Pray for more people to hear God’s call on their lives to be involved in bringing transformation into the lives of the people by starting a business, or working in medicine, or ministering to refugees. Pray for God to send those with the skills to assist immigrants, now in the West, with language classes, teaching, and much more in partnership with the global Church. Pray for those already discipling people in dangerous situations; ask God to keep them safe. Pray for those countering human trafficking, working alongside refugees, and assisting immigrants in every way possible. https://www.interserve.org.uk/focus/ Times have changed, but Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and for ever.

God gives some the vocation of serving Him by running a business. Kingdom businesses are businesses with God's perspectives. The world is hungry for thousands of new businesses to be created, and places where the gospel is least well-known often have the highest unemployment and the deepest poverty. Countries which close the door to missionaries often open it wide for business people. Kingdom businesses are an essential part of seeing God’s Kingdom impact every sphere of society. Pray that the Lord will call workers into the harvest field from among business entrepreneurs and professionals in the Church. Pray for essential business skills and resources to be released in greater number for global mission and to address the most pressing economic, social, environmental and spiritual needs: fighting poverty, freeing slaves, providing for communities, creating good jobs, and bringing the gospel to the ends of the earth. Pray for more resources to provide support for mentoring, training, startup, member care, prayer, and knowledge-sharing networks.

Myanmar’s military has murdered civilians and used them as human shields. Soldiers have attacked homes, refugee camps, and even churches in Karenni State. The actions may amount to war crimes. The group Fortify Rights says the military has committed these crimes with internationally supplied weapons. They urged the UN security council to impose a global arms embargo on Myanmar. It has been just over a year since the military seized power from elected officials. Civilians are learning how to fight back. They are being more strategic and using more guerrilla warfare tactics. A defector from the military, who fled with his family to India last year, reported heavy military casualties while fighting civilian rebels in the Chin state. Leaked documents describe soldiers being attacked by as many as a thousand rebels at a time. Pray for Myanmar’s fighting to give way to peace and justice.

Incredibly, many believe Afghanistan has the second-fastest growing church in the world, next to Iran. There are reports of Afghan Christians choosing to stay and share the gospel, saying, ‘we don’t care, we’re here because we love this nation, we love our people, and we’re going to share the gospel regardless, even if it means losing our lives.’ In one village that was taken over a few weeks ago, the Christians started sharing Bible stories with the Taliban, some of whom have been studying the Bible and praying. They haven’t made a confession of faith yet but seem very interested. The fearless nature of these believers reminds us of those in the Book of Revelation: ‘They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony. They did not love their lives unto death.’ We are seeing this in real time.

The past twenty years in Afghanistan’s history have seen the birth of a Spirit-filled Church. God has been anointing Christians to grow in maturity and numbers. In twenty years thousands of Muslims have converted to Christianity. Linguists have translated the Bible into various languages, and missionaries have taken God’s Word to unreached people groups. Many believe that this mission work and evangelism have been preparing and strengthening the nation for the years ahead in what looks to be a new season. In 2021 the world has become aware, like never before, of the number of Christians in Afghanistan and now, sadly, the danger they are in. This has led to mighty waves of much-needed prayer and financial support being released for our Afghan brothers and sisters, at a time when they desperately need it. See also the praise article ‘Bold Afghan Christians share gospel with Taliban’.

Sayan’s story: ‘I am ten years old and come from a very poor family. My father was an alcoholic, and my mother worked as a maid to support our family. My father abused my mother and used the money she earned to buy alcohol. Life was very difficult for us. Thankfully, after a Christian lady met my mother and shared the Gospel with her, she repented and became a disciple of Jesus. I too have become a disciple. When she learnt of the power of prayer as a follower of Jesus, my mother began praying for my father. Soon he gave up drinking and has turned to Jesus as well. Today, I am very blessed and thankful to Jesus for bringing peace and joy into our lives. Please pray for others in our village and surrounding area who need Jesus also.‘

Over the next ten years CfaN will train, equip, and launch 20,000 evangelists for mass evangelism all over the world. This August, instead of recruiting thousands, they want just a limited number of students. Instead of training for two years, it will be an intensive three-month programme. Those accepted as one of these pioneer evangelists will be trained by Daniel Kolenda personally, along with the whole CfaN team and other world-renowned evangelists at its headquarters in Orlando, Florida.The bootcamp will not be for the faint of heart; this three-month intensive training includes rigorous components of study and service and is a fast track to the field. It culminates with a three-week initiation in Africa that will put everything learned in the classroom to test. Students who graduate will have access to preach the gospel in Africa alongside a Gospel Crusade team.

Society has been shaken over the past year, revealing that we need wise leaders in the church and in the public arena more than ever before. The Evangelical Alliance is inviting Christians working in the arts, media, academia, business, education, civil society, politics, healthcare and all other sectors to enrol in their Public Leaders Course. A public leader is a Christian who is intentional about bringing their faith to their leadership wherever God has placed them. The ‘public’ element means they are open about their Christianity and their leadership role is not internal to the church. The ‘leadership’ refers to where they have influence: workplace, local community, online, a social group. We can pray for filmmakers, writers, entrepreneurs, educators, health workers, civil servants, lawyers and all in the secular workplace to hear God’s call on their lives to live out their faith and draw others into God’s kingdom.