AUSTRALIAN PRAYER NETWORK NEWSLETTER

* MANY MUSLIMS TURNING TO CHRIST BUT NOT TO WESTERN CHURCH

* IRAQI PRESIDENT SAYS HE WILL LOOK AFTER ASSYRIAN CHRISTIANS

* DESPERATION IN ZIMBABWE’S RURAL TOWNSHIPS

* MINKA’S PAINFUL DECISION AND THE JOY GOD BROUGHT HER YEARS LATER

* WORLD EVANGELICAL ALLIANCE RESPONDS TO TURKEY MURDERS

* CHURCHES AROUND VIRGINIA TECH CROWDED FIRST SUNDAY AFTER THE MASSACRE

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MANY MUSLIMS TURNING TO CHRIST BUT NOT TO WESTERN CHURCH

A Kiwi with 25 years involvement in church planting in Asia says it’s time to stop fearing an Islamic invasion of New Zealand and see the opportunities it presents. Graeme Fawcett says “The vast majority of Muslims who come to this country come with the intention of adapting and making Kiwi friends. They come because it’s hell at home with bombs flying and they want some peace to bring up their kids.

“They are positive towards New Zealand. It’s when people don’t befriend them, or avoid them, that they draw back into their ethnic community. Mr Fawcett said it was significant that God was bringing all these people here for us to love and share Jesus with, which we would not be able to do in Saudi Arabia. “They may have their purposes, but God has his purpose.”

Mr Fawcett said that around the world many Muslims were turning to Christ. “More Muslims had come to Christ in the past 10 years than in the previous 1200 years. Hundreds of thousands had been saved in Bangladesh alone. Radio and the internet were having a big impact. Mr Fawcett quotes the example of a radio programme in North Africa which talked about Muslims having dreams and which received thousands of letters in response. “There is an Arabic internet chat room which has 20,000 hits a day from people enquiring about Christianity.” Mr Fawcett said Muslims were drawn to Christ because they were so God-conscious.

“They may not be attracted to Christianity as a religion, but they are attracted to Jesus. Because of their background they have a soft heart towards God and it’s very easy to engage them in a conversation about faith. “If you are open and looking for opportunities to reach out, you’ll find they are more open than anybody else on the planet.”

However, he pointed out that while they were attracted to Jesus, they were not attracted to the Western Church. Reaching Muslims required a different approach from normal evangelism. “Our approach is to say fairly quickly, ‘This is not about becoming a Christian, but about becoming a follower of Jesus. You can become a follower of Jesus without leaving your community, without identifying with a church’. “I tell Christians reaching out not to try to take them to church. “If they become a Christian, they can become an outcast or killed so evangelism ends with that one person. It’s better if they can stay within the community – although in some cases that may be impossible.

Mr Fawcett said he was not ignoring the political side of Islam or the problems that uncontrolled immigration could bring. “Reckless embracing of people from a totally different heritage without requiring them to make any attempt at adapting to our way of life is as dumb as you can get. “If they come here they should take off their burqas, they should adapt to New Zealand society. Those things should be addressed to them before they come.

“But I need to put that aside when I meet an Iranian with a burqa or scarf or whatever. They may be here through Government policies that I think are daft, but God has brought them and I need to reach out to them in love and not allow my political take to cloud things.

Source: John McNeil of Challenge Weekly, New Zealand

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IRAQI PRESIDENT SAYS HE WILL LOOK AFTER ASSYRIAN CHRISTIANS

Assyrian Christians in Iraq have made a formal request for a province of their own inside the war-torn country, and many see this as the only way to persuade thousands of refugees outside the country to return. Iraqi President Nouri al Malaki affirmed the Assyrian Christians’ right to have a province of their own, which could be provided for under the Iraqi Constitution. Malaki said: “I have a bias towards the Assyrian Christians. They are the indigenous people of our country and are good people.” He added: “We will do all we can to help them.”

Reacting to large numbers of displaced Iraqi’s, including an estimated 500,000 Assyrian Christians in neighbouring countries, Malaki said: “We are doing all we can to create a situation where they can return. They are our responsibility and we do not need help from others to take them in – they will return home.”

Malaki was upbeat about the future of his country in contrast to the daily bad news coming out of Iraq. “I fully understand why bad news dominates the media,” Malaki said. “It is the nature of the world we live in. At the same time, I think it is important to let the world know that things in our country are improving dramatically. Our unemployment rate has gone from nearly 70 percent to now under 30 percent. Our most recent growth rate was 3 percent and we have seen a dramatic drop in so-called sectarian violence. What is particularly encouraging to me is the changes we have seen in our security forces and the trust from our people once again. We are finally seeing individual citizens provide information to our forces, which has helped us greatly in rooting out those who are determined to ruin our country.”

“We are seeing a return to the Iraq we all once knew when we considered ourselves all Iraqis and not belonging to a particular sect or group,” he said. “Economic development is taking place at a good rate. The monthly income of our people has gone from about $20 a month to now over $200. The dramatic rise in electrical use is one good sign that the economy is taking off. The stores are full.” At the same time, Malaki saw security as the major concern going forward. “We need good and reliable security and we are doing all we can to expand the security forces so they can take charge. The key is the trust between the people and the security forces. This is where we have seen the most progress,” he said. “It is a positive sign.”

Source: Assist News Service

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DESPERATION IN ZIMBABWE’S RURAL TOWNSHIPS

Holidays in Zimbabwe are a time for traditional rites and family reunions. However, the traditional pilgrimage back to rural homes during the holidays is almost a thing of the past, as people are deterred by poverty, political upheaval and the state of the roads. Driving on many rural roads can be a lonely and difficult affair. Bus operators have long abandoned many routes. The roads are rugged and stony at the best of times. In many townships whatever general stores remain are stocked only with basic commodities such as salt, biscuits, dried fish, tea leaves and a few bags of the staple maize. Most do not have piped water.

Young people stagger about, drunk from the only activity left for them to engage in. “The country is dead,” said one shop owner, eying the township’s dilapidated buildings and drunken youths, most of them school dropouts. “What future does a person have if he can get so drunk at that age?” There is every reason to be pessimistic. Many young people in the area have left the country in search of work in neighbouring South Africa. Others have died of the most common cause here – AIDS-related illnesses aggravated by malnutrition and poverty.

The harvest season is over. Most crops were a write-off as a result of poor rains. People in rural Zimbabwe, unlike their urban counterparts, don’t talk about inflation – they just talk about poverty. They rarely talk politics as no one trusts anyone any more. It is safer to talk about the heat, or the rains or the crop situation. The fear is pervasive. Nobody wants to hear about the presidential and parliamentary elections set for next year. Elections are normally associated with untold violence and mentioning them is like a bad omen.

The Country is Dead. . . What must we do to bring life? Pray, engage in prayer on bended knees, with broken hearts for Africa, and for one of its most afflicted nations – Zimbabwe!!

Source: Intercessors Network

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MINKA’S PAINFUL DECISION AND THE JOY GOD BROUGHT HER YEARS LATER

Minka tells her beautiful testimony of how God gave her the desire of her heart, in answer to her prayer to see her daughter again. Now 95, Minka was raised on a farm after immigrating to America from Holland. One day, at 16, she and another girl were raped by two men they didn’t know, and had never seen since. Traumatized and pregnant, Minka’s mother decided to bring her to a Lutheran Home and Adoption Agency for girls. After making the painful decision to give up her baby, Minka continued through the years, to keep in touch with the agency in order to know the well-being of her daughter. “They acknowledged every letter, some with news, if they heard, some without,” says Minka. “But she never left my heart or life and every year on her birthday I wondered where and how she was.”

Then, earlier this year, Minka had a special request for God. “In May of 2006, I woke up and asked the Lord if He could possibly just let me see her. If I could, I made a solemn promise I would never, ever bother her or her family again. Then I dismissed the thought and went about the affairs of the day.”

Just two months later, her phone rang . . . at the other end was her daughter’s son! Unbeknown to Minka, he had spent six months trying to get records released through the courts to find his mother’s biological mother. He was calling a list of people he had gathered with identical names to Minka’s, and hers was the last number. After a few minutes, he put his mother on- (Minka’s daughter) -and her prayer was answered. Minka learned her daughter had gone on to have an amazing family of her own.

Minka concludes her story with these words . . . “I speak especially to those who seek an abortion. May you seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all other things shall be added to you. Imagine what would have happened if this rape had occurred to me today? I probably would have been advised to have an abortion. My daughter would not have been born and the world would never have known the wonderful and productive family that resulted from her birth – a family the world can be proud of. I am blessed beyond measure.”

Source: Assist News Service

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WORLD EVANGELICAL ALLIANCE RESPONDS TO TURKEY MURDERS

Three workers at a Bible publishing house in Turkey were killed on Wednesday, April 18, in the latest apparent attack on Turkey’s minority Christian community. The three Christian men were bound and had their throats slit in a Christian book publishing office. Several people have been detained for questioning regarding the killings.

The murder has sent shockwaves across the Christian minority in Turkey, and the Christian community worldwide. Political tensions have been rising in the secular but largely Sunni Muslim country over the past year.

World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) spokesman Johan Candelin said “Something very dangerous is happening in Turkey at this time. The country is knocking at Europe’s door and far from everyone is happy about it. At the same time the nation is about to choose a new president and tension between Islamists and nationalists is growing stronger everyday. I ask all Christians to pray for families of the victims, for the protection of the Christian minority, and for Turkey.”

Source: World Evangelical Alliance

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CHURCHES AROUND VIRGINIA TECH CROWDED FIRST SUNDAY AFTER THE MASSACRE

An unusually high number of people “crammed” into churches in and around Blacksburg, Virginia the Sunday following the massacre at Virginia Tech.

Members of the Korean Baptist Church of Blacksburg mourned for both the students and for gunman’s family. “We’re a part of this community, and we are grieving just as much as anyone else,” Pastor Hyun David Chung said. As he spoke, “he was repeatedly approached by members of Blacksburg Baptist Church, which met at the same chapel earlier in the day, assuring him that no one blamed Korean Americans for what took place.”

Pastor Tommy McDearis of the Blacksburg Baptist Church, who also serves as a police chaplain, is quoted as saying he struggled to control his emotions and had overcome his anger. At one point, he reportedly stood before Norris Hall, the building where most of the victims were killed, and yelled, “You are not going to win!” He noted that passers-by thought he was either crazy or talking to the dead gunman, but really, he said, he was talking to Satan.

Source: The Los Angeles Times

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Shalom! Rowland Croucher

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