Peru Village Becomes Gospel Beacon | 4th May 2010

On the outskirts of Peru’s sprawling capital, Lima, squatters have created numerous shanty towns from which they search desperately for jobs in the city. Infrastructure is non-existent because they are not recognized by the local government.

International Mission Board missionary Kevin Shearer was moved to help the 10,000 squatters in Las Torres de la Rinconada camp where the area’s homes were in danger of sliding to the valley floor in landslides. Shearer began overseeing the construction of retaining walls and five sets of stairs snaking up the hillside to give the squatters better access to their homes.

The residents immediately voted to turn their community centre into a church. The freshly painted blue building now stands like a beacon against the drab hillside. During the first Sunday service, the small building was packed out as Shearer shared the Gospel. Seventeen stood that day to accept Christ. Kevin Shearer says, “Once people get exposed to the Word of God and see it for themselves, it begins to
change them.”

Source: Baptist Press; Christian Telegraph

BIBLE STUDY: Ephesians 2:19-22

PRAISE: God that He moved Kevin to practical help which, in turn, opened the door to the Gospel.

http://revivalmedia.org/2010/04/03/peru-village-becomes-gospel-beacon-4th-may-2010/

Peru Village Becomes Gospel Beacon | 4th April 2010

On the outskirts of Peru’s sprawling capital, Lima, squatters have created numerous shanty towns from which they search desperately for jobs in the city. Infrastructure is non-existent because they are not recognized by the local government.

International Mission Board missionary Kevin Shearer was moved to help the 10,000 squatters in Las Torres de la Rinconada camp where the area’s homes were in danger of sliding to the valley floor in landslides. Shearer began overseeing the construction of retaining walls and five sets of stairs snaking up the hillside to give the squatters better access to their homes.

The residents immediately voted to turn their community centre into a church. The freshly painted blue building now stands like a beacon against the drab hillside. During the first Sunday service, the small building was packed out as Shearer shared the Gospel. Seventeen stood that day to accept Christ. Kevin Shearer says, “Once people get exposed to the Word of God and see it for themselves, it begins to
change them.”

Source: Baptist Press; Christian Telegraph

BIBLE STUDY: Ephesians 2:19-22

PRAISE: God that He moved Kevin to practical help which, in turn, opened the door to the Gospel.

http://revivalmedia.org/2010/04/03/peru-village-becomes-gospel-beacon-4th-april-2010/

God is at Work Throughout Asia | 25th Nov 09

Thrilling things are happening in many of the Asian nations. According to Christian Freedom International (CFI) Nepal is now home to an estimated 800,000 believers and there are approximately 170 churches in the capital, Kathmandu. HCJB Global staff have recently worked with local partners to install two Christian radio stations in Nepal.

In the last 6 months, TWR-Korea staff have distributed 2,300 radios to North Korean house church leaders. In China, TWR’s team supplies Radio Church Kits (RCK) to listeners in the rural, mountainous areas of China. RCKs contain a Bible, shortwave radio and “Discipleship on the Air” broadcasts. RCK distribution now totals more than 81,000 kits.

Meanwhile, in Cambodia, TWR-Asia is airing five programmes over 13 FM Stations to address issues faced by church leadership, women, children and young people. TWR began ministry in Cambodia in 2000, and have a new Media Centre and 19 staff. They also work with 51 co-ordinators who manage children’s listening clubs and radio distribution. In 2008, around 600 radios were distributed.

Source: TWR Snapshots; HCJB; Listening Word

BIBLE STUDY: Psalm 119:161-168

PRAISE: God that these nations are receiving the Gospel and seeing real growth of the Christian faith. Pray that the believers may know God’s strength.

God is at Work Throughout Asia | 25th Oct 09

Thrilling things are happening in many of the Asian nations. According to Christian Freedom International (CFI) Nepal is now home to an estimated 800,000 believers and there are approximately 170 churches in the capital, Kathmandu. HCJB Global staff have recently worked with local partners to install two Christian radio stations in Nepal.

In the last 6 months, TWR-Korea staff have distributed 2,300 radios to North Korean house church leaders. In China, TWR’s team supplies Radio Church Kits (RCK) to listeners in the rural, mountainous areas of China. RCKs contain a Bible, shortwave radio and "Discipleship on the Air" broadcasts. RCK distribution now totals more than 81,000 kits.

Meanwhile, in Cambodia, TWR-Asia is airing five programmes over 13 FM Stations to address issues faced by church leadership, women, children and young people. TWR began ministry in Cambodia in 2000, and have a new Media Centre and 19 staff. They also work with 51 co-ordinators who manage children’s listening clubs and radio distribution. In 2008, around 600 radios were distributed.

Source: TWR Snapshots; HCJB; Listening Word

BIBLE STUDY: Psalm 119:161-168

PRAISE: God that these nations are receiving the Gospel and seeing real growth of the Christian faith. Pray that the believers may know God’s strength.

Singapore: The Mission Base of Asia? | 27

 

Singapore is a 100%-urbanized city state with a population of 4.6 million. The tiny little island at the tip of the Malay Peninsula has over the years emerged to be one of the most vibrant economies of the world. Traditional Chinese religions still command 50% of the population. In 1977, only 2% of the population were Christians. Now Christians make up around 15% of the population, while another 15% are Muslims. Statistics indicate that the number of Christians over the whole population has almost doubled in the last decade. Most Christians are of Chinese origin, and a majority of them are English-educated, younger, more affluent Singaporeans. The high concentration of Christians among students, in particular, is a direct result of intense evangelistic efforts in the schools and universities. Some commentators maintain that many convert to Christianity to be part of what is seen as the new religion for the “classy”, upwardly mobile. They believe there is often little depth to their faith and point to many leaving the churches once they have “made it.” Still, the fact is that more and more Singaporeans are coming under the influence of the Gospel, and this is a matter for rejoicing. Furthermore, given its strategic location, its convenient access to neighbouring (non-Christian) countries, availability of training facilities, and economic affluence, Singapore has every potential to become an ideal mission base in Asia.

Source: AFP; Revival Media

BIBLE STUDY:  Romans 8:28-39

PRAISE: God for the steady growth of the Church in Singapore, especially among young people.                        Pray for mature understanding of the Lordship of Christ.

 

 

Philippines Tribe Reaches Its Own | 26

For more than five decades, there has been a growing church in the Tagbanwa tribe of the Philippines. New Tribes  Mission (NTM) and Wycliffe missionaries worked together for years to translate the Bible, establish a medical programme, and guide the Tagbanwa people to Chris.                                                                                                                              Nearly 1,300 Tagbanwas are now believers but more than 7,000 are still unreached. Tagbanwa believers have a vision to reach the rest of their tribe. But for this to happen they need ministry training and the ability to be self-supporting. To make their vision a reality, the Integrated Tagbanwa  Project has been established. The ITP has three aspects: biblical training and discipleship, community medical care and agriculture and animal husbandry.                                                                                                                                                            With support from a Korean church, NTM has developed a solarpowered system that will provide lighting for the training centre, including the dorms, staff housing, training hall, chicken and goat houses and a phone charging station. Mission Network News                  

Source: Mission Network News.

BIBLE STUDY:  Romans 12:1-8

PRAISE: God for the tribe’s desire to reach their own.                                                                                                                         Pray for the ITP students, that they will study diligently and be equipped to help their people.

Rwanda’s Pastoral Training College | 23 & 24

Rwanda has come a long way since the genocide of the 1990’s. Significant aid money and foreign investment are driving an ambitious development programme that is producing tangible results in health, education and  infrastructure, but those who stay here for any length of time soon become aware of a heaviness in the atmosphere that cannot be solely attributed to the tropical climate. The annual week of mourning remembers the dead but also traumatises many of the living, and there are daily reminders of the genocide in the war of attrition a few miles over the border in Eastern Congo, where the humanitarian catastrophe caused by ethnically-motivated fighting has claimed 5,000,000 lives since 1998. How can we not lose heart?                                                                                          “Perhaps a better question is how can we lose heart, when there are Rwandans who refuse to do so, despite all that they have suffered? Rather than blame God for their problems, many Rwandans look to Him for solutions and recognise the need to depend on Him in a way that they never have before,” says Africa Inland Mission’s (AIM) Bruce Rossington. Although a large majority of the population would claim to be Christian, only 5% of the country’s proliferating evangelical churches have a pastor with any kind of theological training. This is a problem in most African countries, but it seems to be particularly acute in Rwanda where the very events that led to a new spiritual openness have deprived the country of the people best placed to fill in the blanks.        “We realised that we needed our own college,” says Pastor Karangwa, President of the Evangelical Alliance of Rwanda, a grouping of thirty different evangelical denominations. Slowly but surely, the Faculté de Théologie Evangélique au Rwanda (FATER) has grown in size and effectiveness. There are many challenges ahead. As Rwanda joins the East African Community and the Commonwealth, the college will need to teach in English as well as French, so it is now known as The Rwanda Institute of Evangelical Theology, as well as FATER. English language teachers and additional theology lecturers are needed – ultimately the goal is that college will be led by a Rwandan principal within a few years. Other challenges include the need to pursue accreditation and to move ahead with a purpose-built campus. There is a piece of land and a set of plans, but the realization of those plans is in the Lord’s hands, as there is little or no funding.                                                                                                                                             The prayer of Rwandan evangelicals is that the college will help to establish God’s kingdom in Rwanda and to empower the Rwandan Church to look beyond its own borders to the unreached peoples of Africa.

Source: Africa Inland Mission

BIBLE STUDY: 1 Timothy 3:1-16

Day 23 – PRAISE: God for this initiative that provides a great opportunity for the Rwandan Church.

Day 24 – PRAY: That the turning to God may be greatly strengthened through godly leaders.

Uganda Prepares Future Leaders | 22

Critics dismiss the growth of evangelical Christianity as a new form of Western colonialism, but Christian leaders say Africa’s evangelical movement is driven largely by Africans themselves. One example is Pastor Martin Ssempa, of the Makerere Community Church, which is located next to Makarere University in Kampala, Uganda’s leading university. 

Now, thanks largely to Ssempa’s 10-year-old church, the University has become a ‘hotbed’ of Christianity, with more than 50 established prayer groups. “My direction is to raise leaders for Christianity,” Ssempa said, “and the best leaders are found on college campuses.” 

Source: Worldwide Religious News; Revival Media

BIBLE STUDY: Philippians 3:12-21

PRAISE: God for the vision to equip leaders for the future African Church. Pray for godly wisdom.

 

Kenya: Leadership Training a Priority | 5

Horrendous violence followed the Kenyan elections in December 2007, tearing communities apart. Tim Wamumba, Director of AICMAR (African Institute of Contemporary Mission and Research), says that the lack of resources for Bible training means that church leaders have been unable to wrestle with vital issues such as poverty, corruption and tribalism. He highlights the need for church leaders to be trained to understand their Biblical role in their communities, and for the Church to speak boldly, sensitively and across the tribal and political divide to see real reconciliation established.

Source: AICMAR;Revival Media

Bible Study: Titus 2:1-15

PRAY: For those affected by violence and those who have been violent and for Kenyan Christians to learn to preach reconciliation in Christ’s name.

Liver Disease Blames Child Drinking, Prayers for Exam Time and the Café Church Network

25th May 2008

Weekly News Review from a Christian Viewpoint.

Patrick Woodward talks with Editor of the Inspire Magazine Russ Bravo about the latest news from a Christian’s perspective. Today, Liver Disease Blames Child Drinking, Prayers for Exam Time and the Café Church Network.

Story Links:

Liver Disease Blames Child Drinking
timesonline.co.uk- Alarm over the child drinkers with liver disease
dailymail.co.uk – Rising toll of deaths from liver disease blamed on binge drinking and cheap alcohol
dailyecho.co.uk – Children drinking to the point of oblivion
telegraph.co.uk- Alcohol fuelled admissions to hospital double in a decade

google all news on this subject

Prayer for exams
cofe.anglican.org – Prayers for those taking exams
timesonline.co.uk – Let us pray – for better exam results and pupils who know what day it is

google all news on this subject

Café Church Network
cafechurch.net
churchtimes.co.uk – Caféchurch gets fresh boost

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