Clergy/Leaders’ Mail-list No. 2-204 (Apologetics)

THE GOOD NEWS BAD NEWS STORY

by Elizabeth Kendal

The ‘Good News’ is this – the Church of Jesus Christ is presently growing at a phenomenal rate, comparable only with the early-Church / apostolic era. In fact, evangelical Protestant Christianity is the fast growing religion in the world today.

This might seem difficult for many readers to believe because it is not our experience – Christianity in the West is not growing and in some places it is even in decline.

Phenomenal Church growth is found however in the non-Western world – in places like Nepal where the first church was gathered in 1959 with 29 believers but where there are now an estimated 500,000 believers in some 3,000 congregations. Likewise in Sudan, where in 1960 only 5 percent of the Southern Sudanese were Christian, but today it is estimated to be around 70 percent.

India is one nation that has seen several major revivals and an enormous passion develop for mission. It is now one of the world’s leading missionary sending nations. The first Indian mission agencies appeared in the 1960s and today there are over 440 of them sponsoring more than 44,000 missionaries.

The Bad News is that the Church has an enemy – Satan – and he is fighting against this harvest. Persecution is not only a human rights issue, it is also a spiritual warfare issue and a mission issue. Persecution and attacks on religious liberty are Satan’s weapons. Mission and prayer are our mighty weapons, and with them we can demolish his strongholds (2 Corinthians 10:4).

There are around two billion Christians in the world today and more than 70 percent of them live in the non-Western world, which is rife with corruption, poverty and conflict – where freedom is limited and human rights abuses are commonplace.

In Belarus, Central Europe, where evangelical Protestant groups have revived and flourished since Perestroika and the fall of Communism, freedom is now being taken away. As soon as President Lukashenko signs the new religion law, only groups that had a registered community in 1982, at the height of Soviet oppression, will have the right to exist as an association and train pastors, run schools and charities and publish literature. All groups and churches that fail to meet the new restrictive standards needed for official state registration or re-registration will be rendered illegal.

It is estimated that some 200 million Christians suffer persecution and a further 400 million suffer non-trivial discrimination and restrictions on their basic freedoms simply because they are Christians.

Only strong faith empowered by the Holy Spirit, and a deep love for Jesus, can keep believers faithful in times of severe trial. Often this demonstration of extreme faith is in itself a profound witness and people are led to Christ through it.

The International Day of Prayer (IDOP) for the Persecuted Church is a day to set aside for united global prayer for suffering believers. This is an initiative of the World Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty Commission (WEA RLC) and this year is set down for Sunday 10 or 17 November.

The problem of the persecution of the Church is not going to go away. It is a contemporary issue and it is increasing. Rather than ignore it, we must choose to engage in this spiritual battle and support our sisters and brothers who suffer on account of their faith.

– Elizabeth Kendal (WEA RLC)

Join the world’s largest prayer group!

On Sunday 10 or 17 November this year, IDOP 2002 will be observed by more than 300,000 congregations, praying together in unity of spirit, across more than 130 nations.

To help you pray, a resources pack of Information, Devotionals, Critical Prayer Requests, Children’s Activities and OHTs can be obtained on CD, together with a PowerPoint presentation. Order by e- mailing <>. Alternatively, these resources may be viewed at <http://www.idop.org> and downloaded.

(In Australia the options are: Resources Pack on CD $10 / Paperbased & OHTs $15 / Both $20 [incl p+p & GST])

*** The least we can do is the most we can do: PRAY! ***

[Elizabeth Kendal is Principal Researcher and Writer of World Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty Commission. Ron Clough (who moderates CLM) is a commissioner of WEA RLC.]