The Friday Fax

This is another of Dr. John Chacha's experiences (see the previous Friday Fax):
"I once preached in a village in my nation, going from house to house. I came to the house of a woman sitting by the fire, crying. When I said 'I am here to tell you about Jesus, who can save you,' she looked at me and said 'I don't want to hear anything about Jesus or God. Get out of my house!' 'Why do you hate God so much?' I asked. 'My husband left me and went to my employer, who fired me. I have three children I cannot feed, no money and no job. I'm just sitting here waiting to die. I don't want anything to do with your God,' she replied. Then I had an idea. 'I'll make you a deal. I can pray that you will only be saved for seven days. Then I'll come back, and if God hasn't met your needs during that time, I'll pray that you fall away from faith, with my permission. But in those seven days, you must do your best: believe in God, trust him, and read your Bible.' 'OK,' she said, 'I can do that.' So I prayed with her for a seven-day salvation. One week later, I visited her again. She was waiting at the door. I said 'I'm here to pray with you that you can fall away from faith again.' 'Oh no! Don't take my Jesus away!' she exclaimed. 'No? We made a deal!' I pressed. She replied 'No, you don't understand! I have falled in love with Jesus. I can't imagine how I ever lived without him. How could I have been so stupid to live without him for years? Let me tell you what happened. My husband returned two days later. He was with a prostitute 10 miles away. The Holy Spirit fell on him so strongly that he jumped out of bed, convicted of his sin, and ran those 10 miles back home, naked. Some people followed him with cameras. He asked God and me for forgiveness for what he had done. I led him to Jesus. Today, we are a happy Christian family.'"

Source: Dr. John Chacha

Jithu took a knife, ready to stab himself. "Even death," he thought, "would be better than being arrested and thrown in jail." Suddenly, words his uncle had said years ago flashed through his mind: "If you're in trouble, Jesus is the only person who can help!" Jithu's uncle was the only Christian in a strict Hindu upper-caste family. At 7 years old, Jithu was encouraged to join a Hindutva group. (Hindutva is a right-wing fundamentalist Hindu philosophy, which teaches that India is for the Hindus, and should only be ruled by them.) For ten years, Jithu was an enthusiastic Hindutva disciple and, like his fellow disciples, he was not afraid to use violence. He once set off a bomb, injuring many people, and had to hide. In his fear, he remembered his uncle's words, and shouted "Jesus, if you are the true God, then help me!" Nothing happened, so he lifted the knife again, ready to stab himself. But he could not. Something held his hand back; he could not move. Then he let the knife fall.
The following morning, he woke up feeling happy, and knew that Jesus had helped him, and would continue to help. He met a Christian policeman, who advised him to confess everything to the police. Jithu did so, and appeared in court, but God kept him from being sent to jail. That day, he decided to follow Jesus. His family was horrified; he was allowed to continue living at home, but they refused to feed him. He started teaching children, and prayed for an opportunity to give his life to God completely. His uncle told him about Operation Mobilisation, which Jithu has since joined. He is now telling people all over the world about Jesus.
Source: Jithu and Debbie Meroff in OM Nachrichten (OM News)

Dr. John Chacha grew up in a poor family in Tanzania and Kenya. Today, he is a ministry partner with prophetic teacher Rick Joyner and lives in Virginia, USA. The following is an excerpt of his life story, told during the Levites' Camp in Switzerland in July 2005:

From failure to evangelist of his family
"As I was growing up, even the poor called us poor, and we often had nothing to eat. I was terrible at school; the teacher called me a failure and predicted that I would end up a thief. But someone told me about Jesus, and invited me to a Christian church, where I found the Lord. In my predominantly Islamic surroundings, people who came to Jesus often had to pay a very high price. One young man told his family that he had found Jesus; they laid him on the railway tracks so that a train ran over him, killing him. Following my conversion, then, I returned home with mixed feelings. I called my family together and told them that I had found Jesus. My father was very sad, telling me that I could not believe in Jesus and remain a member of the family. I should renounce Jesus, or he would kill me. I could not renounce, so he took a heavy rod to smash my skull. I let it happen - but every time the rod almost hit my head, it rebounded supernaturally. My father struck three times, three times the rod rebounded. Then he dropped it and started to cry. Nobody understood what had just happened. I had to leave my family, and spent the following three weeks reading the Bible day and night. My performance at school changed dramatically in the next three months, from one of the worst to best in class. Finally, my father summoned me. He kneeled next to his bed, saying "Son, I want this Jesus who you have. Can you pray for me to received Jesus?" Today, my family loves Jesus; my mother is a pastor, as are some of my brothers.

Dr. Jesus
I began serving Jesus as a student. Once, I went with some other students to a predominantly Muslim island to preach. We set up our loudspeakers and told the people that we were there to tell them about Jesus. The Mullah immediately began heckling. "We don't believe that Jesus was the Son of God, just a prophet. Get off our island, or we will kill you. You have a few minutes to pack up and leave." So we packed up, because none of us wanted to die. But the Spirit of the Lord told me "Go back. If they cannot accept Jesus as the Son of God, I have another idea." So we went back, set up the loudspeakers again, and started to sing. The people came, but with stones in their hands, just waiting to stone us. I told them "We are not here to tell you about Jesus the Son of God, but about Jesus, the doctor!" "Jesus the doctor? OK, tell us about him," they said. I asked whether they had any sick. "Bring me a sick person. We will pray for them in the name of Jesus. If they are healed, will you believe that Jesus is the Son of God, crucified, risen and sitting at the right hand of God?" "If your Jesus can do that, then he is not only the Son of God, he is God himself!" they replied. They brought someone, but it was a shock for me. I had been expecting someone with a headache or back pain, but they brought a blind woman.
My faith almost vanished. I prayed "God, please let the earth open up and swallow me." The other students started to vanish in the crowd, because I had told them to make their escape. In this moment of my weakness, the Holy Spirit said to me "Son, I am strong enough to defend my own Word. You do not need to defend me. Your job is just to believe." So I just prayed a very simple prayer: "God, open these blind eyes, so that these people recognise that Jesus is the Son of God." The power of God came upon the woman, her eyes opened and she shouted "I can see! I can see!" I started shouting, too! "The Bible works! The Word of God is real!" The Mullah came to me, saying "We give you our mosque. Please tell our people about Jesus, the Son of God!"

Source: Dr. John Chacha

(Please note: some of the claims made by reporters and Mayor Nagin during and immediately after Hurricane Katrina and mentioned in this Friday Fax have since been shown to be exaggerated or wrong.)

Following devastating hurricane Katrina, which hit New Orleans and Louisiana on 29 August 2005, a small part of the USA is in a state of shock, and a huge region has been devastated. Thousands are dead, and 25,000 body bags have been delivered to the region. One million people have lost their homes, and armed gangs made New Orleans a lawless jungle. With a backdrop of rape, hate, desperation and powerlessness, old race and class conflicts have reared their head, everyone fighting against everyone else. The victims include almost no rich white people. "This could never have happened in (rich) Orange County, California, or Manhattan, New York," commented one TV reporter. "In England, racial tensions between black and white were reduced by a Christian revival. In the USA, they developed into the Civil War, and we're still fighting today," said Neil Cole, house church planter and author, at the National House Church Conference in Denver in early September 2005.

Almost as soon as the power failed in New Orleans, the thin veneer of law and order broke, and the situation exploded. Ray Nagin, Mayor of New Orleans, completely lost his composure in the face of incomprehensible delays in delivering aid ("You can get water to Baghdad, but it takes more than four days to do that here"). I can still hear him shouting on the radio "Get your asses moving and do something. Hundreds more dead every day - that makes me puke." "The multicultural metropolis New Orleans stood for lust, swing, paddleboats and Mardi Gras. Now it stands for suffering, lawlessness and death," wrote German news magazine Focus.

The majority of Americans, though, are continuing their lives as normal, as though the most devastating natural disaster in American history had never happened. In the breakfast room of my hotel in Minneapolis, everyone is just silently watching the TV screens voyeuristically presenting the suffering. Nobody says anything, everyone avoids looking at each other, "Yes, another cinnamon roll, please." Then business as usual: buying and selling, sit back and enjoy the show.

For years, scientists have been warning about a potential catastrophe in New Orleans, which is around 5 meters under sea level. The Bush administration preferred to save money rather than strengthen the levees protecting the city. In June 2005, the city's flood control budget was cut by US$71 million (44%). Now, they face unknown reparation costs, around US$100 billion in economic damage, and the cost of rebuilding (Bush: "out of this chaos is going to come a fantastic Gulf Coast").

Amos 3:6-7
"When disaster comes to a city, has not the LORD caused it? Surely the Sovereign LORD does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants the prophets."
It was not only scientists who predicted the catastrophe; a number of prophets also saw it coming. Rick Joyner mentions that in 1998, his movement received a prophecy that "New Orleans will look like an estuary." In his commentary about the catastrophe, Joyner writes "Over the next few years a great move of God will spread over that region, and many who have lost all of their possessions will gain something far better - eternal life... There is a lot of witchcraft coming from New Orleans and it wants to cause as much death as possible."

Katrina means 'pure'
On 29th August 2004, one year to the day before the catastrophe, Chuck Pierce (Colorado Springs) prophesied:
"A new demonstration with a new blueprint will be seen. This will be known as a meeting house... The wind and water will rise in the midst of New Orleans. Many from the south will come north for refuge. Prepare. Prepare now for winds and water that will surprise you... Prepare! Shift! Saul will be no more. David will arise from this day forward. The wind from the south will begin to blow. Watch for the effects. This will purify the land and bring great change... Get ready. Don't brace yourself. Throw yourself up. Get ready for the new is coming. Every place I blow on will shake. The wind is coming on Louisiana and it will shake the entire state... The south purifying wind of My holiness will sweep across Louisiana."

Source: Wolfgang Simson

The financial challenges facing traditional Christian churches are often linked to building projects. Many undergo great tensions when considering the massive investments required, which are a burden for the members for many years. But many church building projects are not even necessary, according to a recent study in the USA. "Revolution", George Barna's new book, will be published in September. Barna leads a church research institute, and is currently the most-quoted person in the Christian church in the USA because of his statistical work. To summarize the book's most important conclusions:

• The number of Christians attending local church in the USA is declining rapidly. Today, 70% of Christians attend traditional churches, but this will sink to 30-35% in 20 years;
• The number of followers of Jesus who do not attend a local church will grow from 30% to 70% in the next 20 years;
• Alternative fellowship forms (house church/simple church, post-modern churches etc.), currently home for 5% of USA Christians, will grow to make up 30-35%; another 30-35% will live out their faith in the fields of media, arts and culture; the remaining 5% of Christians attending non-traditional forms of church will have a family-based spiritual life;
• Conclusion: a minority group presently not even noticed by many will become the mainstream of North American Christianity in only two decades.

"This is a revolution, and will change not only the recruiting strategies of seminaries and Bible schools, but also radically question church building projects," says Barna. If only half as many people will be visiting traditional congregational services in 20 years, a smaller building will suffice.

Source: George Barna "Revolution"

Hollywood may not be as godless as many proclaim, concludes a study just published by The Barna Group (TBG). 24,147 adults in the 86 largest cities and 27 most populous States of the USA were interviewed about 28 factors of their faith. One of the results is a shock for many people: Los Angeles, the city which evangelical Christians often criticise for the media produced there, is home to almost a million 'deeply committed Christians', more Evangelicals than New York, Chicago and Boston together. "Los Angeles is huge," says Barna. "Even if the percentage of the population which is Christian is below the national average, the city is so large, with over 10 million inhabitants, that it contains the highest number of Christians." The State with the highest proportion of Evangelicals is California, with 2 million; the State with the least Evangelical adults is Connecticut, where only 26,000 of the 2.5 million inhabitants consider themselves Evangelical. Of the 86 largest cities in the USA, Salt Lake City, Utah, Hartford, Connecticut and Providence, Rhode Island have the smallest and Little Rock, Arkansas (22%), the greatest percentage of Evangelical inhabitants.

Source: TBG

The Greenbelt Festival held in Cheltenham, England every August, is experiencing a comeback. The annual festival, originally evangelically-focussed and arts-oriented, began in 1974 with only 2,000 visitors. Following a period of decline in the 90's, this year's festival attracted a record number of 20,000 visitors.
John Bell of the Iona Community, which follows Celtic spirituality, says "In a materialistic and anti-institutional age, in which churches are marginalised and ridiculed, Greenbelt stands out as a life-changing, faith-strengthening and politically involved experience. Many people are losing their traditional understanding of Church, and see festivals like Greenbelt as the expression of a new way of being church."

"Society must listen to religious fundamentalists if it wants to stagger back from the precipice on which it stands," says author Karen Armstrong, known to many for her radical stance against fundamentalism and for reconciliation between Christians, Muslims and Jews. Armstrong is an expert on Islam and Christianity, and pointed out that violence and terrorism is basically fuelled by fear. "We need to decode what fundamentalists are trying to tell us. They often express fear of things that no society can really ignore. It's not just about religious zealots; only a small percentage of fundamentalists are involved in terrorism. The trick is to prevent the broad mass of fundamentalists being drawn to the most radical group's side. When these movements are attacked, they become even more extreme and hit back, as we see with Al Qaeda. Fundamentalism is not only religiously motivated, but also a spreading rebellion against modern secularism destroying traditional religious life. That is what they are fighting against. They don't want their way of life to become extinct. We need to learn to understand that. We're at the edge of a deep chasm, two groups staring at each other: one group for whom modernity has been a good experience, and one which feels threatened by it."

Source: various

John Walker, Regional Vice President of FGBMFI Europe, a movement which aims to evangelise businesspeople, read a report by Peter Spreckley telling of an evangelistic revival in his movement in Nicaragua. "When I read that report, I felt a strong desire that a similar movement would pour out across the great continent of Europe, which has become so dark spiritually. I lay awake in bed in the early hours of Monday morning, thinking about the report. I sensed the Holy Spirit saying 'Revival will come to Europe, the glory of the Lord will cover the earth, as the waters cover the sea. Now is the time to remain strong, remain faithful and seek perfection in all you do. Now are the days of preparation. Do not remain lukewarm or self-contented, but remain strong as my faithful remnant in these days and this generation.'"

Learning from Nicaragua
The following excerpts from Peter Spreckley's report show what stirred John Walker:"What we saw and experienced was overwhelming. We were challenged out of our long held understanding of FGBMFI's vision, as it was initially formulated in the book 'The Happiest People on Earth': at the most, monthly outreaches, with one or two prayer meetings in between. Our Chapter meetings generally follow the pattern laid out in the Chapter manual. In the fellowship's 'glory days', we had a good spiritual harvest, but realistically, we have to accept that the harvest has been decreasing, as did the number of Chapters, members and regular meetings. There were one or two exceptions, of course, but I don't think anyone would challenge that assessment. And yet we are called to impact and change our nation!

275,600 attend evangelistic dinners
The following statistics give an impression of what we saw and heard in Nicaragua:
There are over 530 Chapters in Nicaragua, which has a little less than 6 million inhabitants. 130 of those Chapters are Women's Chapters. There are around 100 Chapters in the capital, Managua. They expect to open one new chapter each week. Every Chapter invites people to an evangelistic dinner each week, and each time, an average of ten new people attend. At one such dinner, 22 of the 40 guests were there for the first time. 530 (Chapters) x 52 (weeks) x 10 (new people) = 275,600 new guests each year. Every third weekend, a seminar is held from Friday Evening until Sunday midday for leaders and guests who react during the dinners. We attended one of these seminars, with 700 participants, 80% of which were there for the first time! The seminars cover many areas of the Christian life, such as marriage, giving, sanctification, being a good citizen etc..

94,500 respondents per year
Seminars for youths and women are held between these weekends, each with over 3,000 participants. Three or four times each year, various regions hold revival meetings. We took part in one such event in Ocotal in north-western Nicaragua. Over 700 men took holiday from work for at least a part of the week. In one year, there were some 2,500 events, at which 94,500 people are reported to have called on Jesus as their saviour. Miraculously, in our European eyes, there seemed to be no door closed to the men from the Fellowship. We went with them into schools, where every class stopped while a member gave testimony, restaurants, local radio, the police station, the bus station, the ministry of employment, the list is endless. Always the same formula, the vision of the Fellowship to explain why they are there, the testimony and the prayer. The hearers are then advised of the local chapter dinner dates. Sometimes there was individual prayer afterwards. We noted the authority and confidence with which the men spoke.
How can this be? Well the answer has to be "God". But there is a history leading up to this great move of the Spirit and beyond. It starts in 1991 (when the civil war had just ended) with a prophesy to Nicaragua, which is now being fulfilled.

Devoted fishing
How do they do it? We see three things: commitment, fishing, testimony. The commitment is clearly visible, from the leadership to the last member. Hence the rapid expansion of the Chapters, participation of the seminars etc.. There would be no 'fired up' new members if there were none inviting them. So the commitment is not to the fellowship but to reaching men, born out of a deep life-changing personal experience of Jesus, leading in turn to a deep desire to see others experience the same transfer from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light. So they are fishing every day, and the results speak for themselves. The tool they use is exclusively testimony.

What does that mean for Europe?
Every attempt to analyse the situation must begin with the recognition that God is present (in Nicaragua) and is working out his purposes. However, we must ask ourselves "Why isn't this happening here?", "Can that happen here too?" and "Do we want it to happen here?"

Why isn't this happening here?
It is hard to find an answer to this question which does not include excuses. Maybe it is not God's timing. But it is the same God and the same vision. How committed are we? And how seriously do we fish? Is our limited effort limiting God? Have we become 'religious' in the way we run our meetings? Should we put our rules and manuals aside and look at things through Nicaragua's eyes? We are tempted to make excuses: we are so busy at home, in our church and at work - but we can always find time to do what we want.
That brings us back to commitment. Do we really love those who are not yet in the Kingdom? Do we really understand the call on each Christian, "go and make disciples"? Do we understand that we will have to account for our obedience to this command?
"Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labour in vain". If we are to respond to what He seems, in my understanding, to be showing us then we need to hear from Him. We need His revelation and we need Him to go ahead of us.

Source: Report by John Walker/Peter Spreckley, Full Gospel Business Men's Fellowship International