August 2010

EAST TIMOR

August, 2010

EAST TIMOR The tiny country of East Timor with just one

When the Japanese did occupy Timor in February 1942, Japanese forces burnt many village and ceased food supplies. The Japanese occupation resulted in the deaths of 40,000 - 70, 000 Timorese.

Although Portugal was neutral during World War II, in December 1941 Portuguese Timor was occupied by Australian and Dutch forces, which were expecting a Japanese invasion.

The Timorese Social Democratic Association supported the rapid movement to independence but later changed its name to Fretilin.

million people has been truly devastated by war and tragedy, but the good news is that every home in East Timor is about to be visited and every home in this nation is about to receive the Gospel of our Lord Portuguese Timor was handed back to Jesus Christ. A gospel leaflet will be taken Portugal after the war, but Portugal continued to every home, often with a personal witness. to neglect the colony. Very little investment Pray that many who have suffered the awful was made in infrastructure, education and turmoil will come to know “Jesus” the Prince health care. of Peace in reality even though they have After the fall of the Portuguese Fascist Regime suffered so much! in 1974, Independence was encouraged by From the 16th century onward, East Timor the new, democratic Portuguese Government was a Portuguese colony know as and their priority for East Timor was to legalise Portuguese Timor. political parties in preparation for elections.

In 1975, after more than 450 years as East Timor’s colonial power, Portugal withdrew from the island. Soon afterwards, neighbouring Indonesia invaded. A woman whose farm was burnt by the Indonesian army pleads for help.

In local elections on the 13th March 1975, Fretilin (Timorese Social Democratic Association and UDT) merged as the largest parties, having previously formed an alliance to campaign for independence.

On December 7th, Indonesian forces launched a massive air and sea invasion.

Indonesian military intelligence began attempting to cause divisions between the two pro-independence parties and it was made plain by Jakarta that they would not tolerate a Fretilin - led Timorese Social Democratic Association administration in an independent East Timor. The coalition between the two major parties, Fretilin and UDT, later broke up.

Several Timorese groups fought a resistance war against Indonesian forces for the independence of East Timor, during which many atrocities and human rights violations by the Indonesian army were reported. In total, estimates of the number of deaths in the war ranged from 100,000 to 200,000 out of a total East Timorese population of only 800,000.

During the invasion mass killings and raids took place: 60,000 Timorese were dead by mid February.

On November 28th, 1975, Fretilin made a In 1999, the Indonesian government decided, unilateral declaration of independence of the under strong international pressure, to hold a Democratic Republic of East Timor. referendum about the future of East Timor. The referendum, held on August 30th, gave a clear majority (78.5%) in favour of independence. The administration of East Timor was taken over by the United Nations.

Elections were held in late 2001 for a constituent assembly to draft a constitution, a task finished in February 2002. East Timor became formally independent on May 20th , 2002. Xanana Gusmao was sworn in as the countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s president. East Timor became a member of the United Nations on September 27th, 2002.

Pray God will use â&#x20AC;&#x153;thoseâ&#x20AC;? who carry the Good News and they will be blessed to tell of Christ in a most profound way. Pray the love of God will be known in each person in the groups of new believers that form as a result of the Every Home for Christ visitation to every home. Young recruits to the Fretilin resistance movement at a training camp near Dili.

PAPUA NEW GUINEA

Gina Pukari was the wife of the first Papua New Guinea Every Home for Christ National Director who passed away some years ago. Gina started a school for children in Boroko trusting God to meet her needs. See extracts from her letters opposite.

Dear Eric, Glorious Christian greetings to you and your family and the staff at EHC. I want to thank you for your kind generosity to my very desperate needs. The money has really helped me to cover the unfinished partitions and to get new masonite for two blackboards. Anyway for my family, are all in good health except for me being down with malaria for two weeks and I am recovering slowly, praise God for His goodness and mercy upon all of us. The school has closed for two weeks due to cholera which hit Papua New Guinea and slowly affecting especially children, but thank God all goes well now. We have been so blessed with God’s people in many areas of our life. I also work with street children and mostly go to visit families and also run the mission school without any means of support, because I believe and put all my trust in my God who will provide for my needs (1 Peter 5:7/Philippians 4:19). I am so grateful and blessed through God’s servants. Though my husband is gone to be with the Lord, God still cares for my family through His own spiritual families, who provides for our every need according to riches in glory through Jesus Christ our Lord. I always thank my Lord for this powerful scripture which strengthens me in times that I am weak... “Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.” - 1 Corinthians 15:58 I am still involved in our hospital ministry every two weeks on Sunday afternoons 5pm to 6pm. We go there and minister to the sick patients and guardians and other relatives as it is time for visitation. Please pass my greetings to your family and the supporters for their love and generosity towards my family’s needs. Our good God will continue to bless you and your family. Glorious greetings. Mrs Gina Pukari

BANGLADESH In 1973 Eric and Lorraine Leach for the first time went to Bangladesh with a Youth for Christ team - 37 years ago. Eric was preaching and Lorraine was part of the musical group and meetings were held in churches in Dhaka. It was that year that Every Home for Christ began in Bangladesh. Eric and Lorraine have returned to Bangladesh many, many times and this year they were there as pictured below with David and Fiona Crawford of “Be A Hero” and the children from one of the four EHC schools in Bangladesh

The schools began after Eric Joined the staff of Every Home for Christ and with Daniel Sarker the Executive Director and the late Brother and EHC Executive Director Smith Adhikary, they agreed something should be done for the “poor” in Bangladesh. Brother Smith Adhikary and Daniel Sarker had organised the first visit of Eric and Lorraine to Bangladesh before Every Home for Christ existed in Bangladesh. Eric and Lorraine are pictured with Daniel this year, March 2010, on land that is being inspected to build a proposed new school.

Now you know there are very experienced schools with children having a very good education in Bangladesh.

Bangladesh Micro Enterprise Delivery Van

Bangladesh Bangladesh has a Muslim majority of at least 87 percent of the nation’s 152.4 million people. Hindus represent another 12 million people, with Christians accounting for less than a million followers. Despite their minority status, believers in Bangladesh have the freedom to worship and share their faith. Since 1973, believers from local churches have worked with EHC to spread the Good News, generating 280,962 responses to the Gospel and leading to the formation of 506 Christ Group fellowships. Unique to EHC’s outreach in Bangladesh are humanitarian projects specifically funded by EHC partners who champion relief and community development efforts. “Through humanitarian work,

EHC is meeting both the physical and spiritual needs of the people in Bangladesh,” said EHC Director Daniel Sarkar. “EHC is introducing people to the Gospel of Jesus Christ and also offering a way for them to make a livable wage.” Five training centres have been established to help impoverished women learn sewing skills. (See photos below.) After the training, the women are able to find employment as tailors or seamstresses. Funds are provided for a microenterprise project, enabling men to start small taxi and

delivery services. A woman named Swarna who was trained as a seamstress wrote a letter saying, “Being the wife of the family, I had no income before. Now, I can provide food for our family.” Beyond ministering to the poor, sharing the Gospel home to home is bringing the Good News to nearly 80,000 families each month. Testimonies are many. A man

Every Home for Christ

Australia: PO Box 168 Penshurst NSW 2222 New Zealand: PO Box 31-260 Milford North Shore City 0741 www.everyhome.org.au

named Soyeb recently wrote: “I love Jesus more than my life, but my family, parents and other relatives do not like that I have given my life to Him. I have accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Saviour. Whatever plan He has for me, I will ask God to accomplish it.”

Telephone: (02) 9570 8211 Facsimile: (02) 9570 4738 Telephone: Free call 0800 900 200 Facsimile: 0061 2 9570 4738 ehc@everyhome.org.au

From the President n business and politics, people Iwho can bring

men and women together to resolve differences, make deals and arrive at workable compromises are praised as successful leaders. The Bible also praises peacemakers and those who are willing to forgive in order to resolve conflicts. Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God” (Matthew 5:9). He also said, “For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you” (Matthew 6:14, nasb). Pursuing peace and practicing forgiveness can bring God glory, but peace at any price or compromise without conscience are never options. Some things are not negotiable. No Compromise on God’s Word Both compromise and forgiveness can be used for good, but never if they run contrary to the Word of God. If we try to strike a moral compromise with Scripture the end result isn’t victory, it’s simply

No Compromise by Dick Eastman

sin. The prophet Isaiah warned, “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; who substitute bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!” (Isaiah 5:20, nasb). The writer of Hebrews was equally dramatic when he said: “For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account” (Hebrews

4:12-13, niv). God’s Word cannot be broken. No Compromise on Truth We live at a time in history that is often referred to as the “postmodern” era, where all of the political, philosophical, religious, and moral foundations that have held societies together for centuries are being abandoned. Today, all beliefs and points of view are considered equally valid. Tolerance and openmindedness are praised above principle. However, someone who takes a stand on a moral issue or dares to uphold biblical truths is often vilified as being bigoted and self-righteous. Sadly, there’s no place for truth or God in a world Dick Eastman is the International President of Every Home for Christ. He also serves as president of America’s National Prayer Committee. Dick’s passion for prayer and world evangelism has prompted him to write a dozen books on the subjects, including his latest, Look What God Is Doing!

without rules or reason. For people without faith, postmodernism offers a false sense of freedom, but ultimately offers nothing but hopelessness and despair. Ironically postmodern thought really isn’t anything new at all. Nearly 2,000 years ago, the apostle Paul looked at the lost in his own day and said: “Even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God” (2 Cor-inthians 4:3-4, nasb). No Compromise on Faith The same Jesus who said, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God” (Matthew 5:9) also said, “Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I came to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a (continued on page 10)

DICK EASTMAN: NO COMPROMISE (continued from page 9)

daughter-in-law against her motherin-law; and a man’s enemies will be the members of his household” (Matthew 10:34-36, nasb). Following Christ without compromise may lead us directly into conflict and even persecution. The apostle Peter, who many believe was crucified upside-down for his faith, gave us this warning: “Do not be

surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you; but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing; so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation” (1 Peter 4:12-13).

Throughout His life, Jesus followed God without compromise and stood firm on God’s Word. Christ’s unwavering faith cost Him His life. Christ said, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it” (Matthew

16:24-25, nasb). There is no room for compromise when it comes to defending God’s Word, upholding His truths and living by faith. As we follow Christ and share the Gospel, the cross stands before us as a symbol of forgiveness and a reminder of the price that we, too, may be called to pay.

BURKINA FASO he West African nation of T Burkina Faso is a challenging mission field. At least half the nation’s 15.7 million people are Muslims. Islam keeps gaining ground with help from Muslim leaders like Libya’s Muammar Qadhafi, who provide millions of dollars to fund the building of mosques, hospitals and Islamic schools throughout the country.

Another four million people in Burkina Faso follow tribal beliefs. Every Home for Christ is working

“We Thank God for What He is Doing!”

through local churches to help train, equip and mobilize the nation’s 2.6 million Christians to reach every family with the Gospel. “We need a spiritual awakening in our nation to help the people know the truth,” said EHC Director Amévi Adakanou. “Pray for God to raise up volunteers from local churches As a result of EHC’s efforts, thousands of homes are being reached with the Gospel. Demonic spirits had tormented a 70-year-old Muslim woman named Alimata and her family for more than 30

years. Even though they were Muslims, they welcomed the prayers of the Christians who came to their home to share the Gospel. “Before we left the house, we gave the booklet ‘The Empty Tomb’ to everyone and invited them to receive Jesus Christ in their lives,” Amévi said. “The daughter of the woman called us later to say that her mother was fine. We thank God for what He is doing. Even Muslims are publicly accepting Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour.”

Bible Readings: This month the daily text will be taken from 2 Timothy - 2 Peter For those wanting to do the one-year Bible reading programme these chapters are in brackets.

AUGUST, 2010

UNITED KINGDOM Pop 61,792,000 Map 90. Pray for the future, the board and staff, to know God’s will. Dean Llewellyn Board Chairman

PEACE OF JERUSALEM PSALM 122:6 AND THE WORLD.

Adrian &

Laura S t o n e

Board Secretary

Administrator

EAST TIMOR - Pop 1,100,000 Map 142. Pray for Pastor Agustinho, EHC’s coordinator for East Timor. May the Lord give him every resource he needs to carry out the EHC ministry in this country. Pray as well for Brothers Rui and Kenny who assist him and the 40 pioneer missionaries sharing the Gospel. 2 Timothy 3 (Psalms 146-150) BULGARIA- Pop 7,500,000 Map 75. Pray that the Lord would inspire and lead EHC’s pioneer missionaries to develop their home-to-home strategies in Muslim villages. Making up 13 percent of the population, Islam is the second largest religion in Bulgaria. To date, more than 1.8 million families have been visited with the Gospel. 2 Timothy 4 (1 Chronicles 1-5)

PRAY FOR THE

MALI - Pop 13,000,000 Map 48. Praise God for the number of Muslims in Mali seeking to find the truth in Jesus Christ. Pray for these new converts as they grow in Christ. Pray that their faith would be strengthened as they run the risk of persecution. Hebrews 2 (Psalms 48-50) URUGUAY - Pop 3,300,000 Map 222. Pray for the residents of the 31,000 homes recently visited by EHC teams sharing the Gospel. Pray that the fire of the Gospel would increase in the hearts of those who hear it; and pray that thousands would respond to the outreach using the gospel booklet “Victoria” (“Victory”). Hebrews 3 (Psalms 73-76) THAILAND - Pop 66,300,000 Map 134. Pray for God’s mercy upon Thailand and that violence and civil unrest will cease. Pray for God’s protection, peace and unity to return among the Thai people. Also, pray for revival and a great harvest of souls as well as the Holy Spirit to work in their hearts and lives. Hebrews 4 (Psalms 77-78)

SERBIA - Pop.7,600,000 Map 70. May the hearts of the people in Kursumlija, Prokuplje, Blace, Aleksinac and Pirot be touched by the Word of God as it is being shared by EHC workers going home-to-home in these areas. Ask God to speak to hearts and minds through the power of His Word. Hebrews 5 (Psalms 79-81)

INDIA - Pop 1,161,900,000 Map 127. Pray for EHC translators working on 22 lessons for the Train & Multiply series in the Kannada language. Praise the Lord for the good results that are coming from the Train & Multiply program in Banswada, located in Rajasthan state. Titus 1 (1 Chronicles 6-9) NICARAGUA - Pop 5,700,000 Map 181. NAMBIA- Pop 2,200,000 Map 11. Praise God for the Praise the Lord that the Teachers Reaching lives that have been impacted with the Gospel as Teachers workshops are being well received. outreach teams present The Heart of Man chart Pray for the resources to print 50,000 pieces of gospel workshops to believers from 18 different churches. Pray that as these believers are trained to use the charts in outreaches literature specially designed for outreach among teachers. Also needed are 500 Bibles for use in follow-up. that many would know Christ. Titus 2 (1 Chronicles 10-12) Hebrews 6 (Psalms 82-85) MONGLOLIA- Pop 2,700,000 Map 173. Thousands came to know Jesus and many renewed their GERMANY- Pop 81,700,000 Map 81. Pray for commitment to Christ during a recent outreach. Pray for the EHC outreach in Quickborn where effective follow-up efforts as well as wisdom and strategy for 12,000 families received the Gospel Mongolian churches to disciple new believers. Pray for those message. The outreach was conducted with the help of who minister to the new believers. . Titus 3 (1 Chronicles 13-16) four Bible school students. Pray that the message of the ARMENIA - Pop 3,100,000 Map 102.The latest visits to printed page will cause many to come to know Christ. the town of Vanadzor attracted more than 700 children Hebrews 7 (Psalms 87-88) and their parents who came to listen to stories told ARGENTINA - Pop 39,200,000 Map 221. from the Bible. Pray that the Word of God will penetrate their Praise the Lord for over 800 responses that hearts and lives and that many would come to know Jesus have come in as a result of an evangelism Christ. Philemon (Psalms 42,44) outreach effort that took place in the city of Oran. Pray for CREATIVE ACCESS #10- Pray for those who the ongoing training of evangelists to reach hospital responded to the gospel message during a recent patients as well as continued home-to-home evangelism outreach in this nation. Hebrews 1 (Psalms 45-47) training. Hebrews 8 (1 Chronicles 17-22)

HONDURAS - Pop 7,400,000 Map 180. Pray for EHC project workers who helped p a r t i c i p a t e i n E a s t e r Ad va n c e s throughout the nation. They were touched as they realised the deep spiritual needs that abound. Pray that God continues to work in the hear ts of those who want to k now more about Jesus. Hebrews 9 (1 Chronicles 23-27) CREATIVE ACCESS #7 - EHC workers have been conducting outreaches to refugee camps. The conditions within these camps are often deplorable. Pray for the team as they minister among the refugees that many would come to the Lord. Hebrews 10 (1 Chronicles 28-29)

INDONESIA - Pop 225,600,000 Map 141. Praise the Lord for partnering churches on the island of Bali. Pray for those people who have received the Good News through humanitarian ministry in Batam and the surrounding islands that their hearts would turn to the Lord. James 4 (Joel 1-3)

LIBERIA - Pop 3,900,000 Map 41. Pray for much fruit from evangelism outreaches to Cestos, Bear Wor-Sangbalor, Central Rivercess, Dodain and Fehn River-Zarflahn in Rivercess County. This is an area known for witchcraft activity, but EHC teams were able to reach 47,697 people living in 11,925 homes. James 5 (2 Chronicles 23:1 to 26:8) SLOVAKIA- Pop 5,300,000 Map 79. In recent months EHC teams have been focusing their efforts on eastern Slovakia. Pray for the Holy Spirit to touch people’s hearts and that many would come to know Christ. To date, 34, 608 people have responded to the Gospel in Slovakia. 1 Peter 1 (Isaiah 1-5) UKRAINE - Pop 44,500,000 Map 99. A total of 20,000 gospel booklets with an invitation to attend a special evangelism event were shared home to home in the Volin Region. Pray for the moving of the Holy Spirit through these evangelistic outreaches. More than 10.8 million homes have been reached in Ukraine. 1 Peter 2 (2 Chronicles 26:9-23, Isaiah 6)

ETHIOPIA - Pop 81,500,000 Map 29. Pray for the Mobile Training Centre program whose impact throughout the country can be seen in the testimonial letters that are received every day. Mobile Training Centers help train Christ Group leaders to disciple new believers. Hebrews 11 (2 Chronicles 1-5) ROMANIA - Pop 21,000,000 Map 76. Praise God for several young volunteers working with EHC who helped teams reach 21 villages with the Gospel. The jobless rate in Romania continues to soar. Pray that the economic situation would improve. Hebrews 12 (2 Chronicles 6-9)

PHILIPPINES - Pop 89,800,000 Map 168. BANGLADESH - Pop 153,300,000 Map 130. Pray for God’s protection over EHC Praise God for amazing results of EHC’s evangelists as they reach the provinces of outreaches that include a microBohol, Ilocos Sur and Quezon. Thank God for the commitment of volunteer workers as they continue to enterprise program that teaches women the art of partner with EHC in the home-to-home evangelism efforts. sewing and trains men in establishing a rickshaw business. Please pray for EHC’s Director, Daniel Sarker, Hebrews 13 (2 Chronicles 10-16) who oversees this work.1 Peter 3 (2 Chronicles 27-28) NEPAL - Pop 29,000,000 Map 131. Every BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA - Pop 3,800,000 Home for Christ Nepal is in the midst Map 69. EHC teams have just completed of the second home-to-home outreach home-to-home evangelism outreaches in in this nation. Pray for God’s protection over EHC seven communities of Bijeljina. Once a Muslim area teams and for fruitful home-to-home evangelism with five mosques, now none exist. Pray that the true efforts. Pray for discipleship efforts among new Word of God would be established in the hearts and converts. James 1 (2 Chronicles 17-21) lives of its people. 1 Peter 4 (2 Chronicles 29-32) BELGIUM - Pop 10,500,000 Map 85. Pray CZECH REPUBLIC - Pop 10,300,000 Map 80. that the Gospel will penetrate the Praise God for the distribution campaign hear ts of individuals in some of during the Easter season where more Flemish Belgium’s more difficult-to-reach areas. than 40,000 families received EHC gospel literature. Pray also that strong Christ Groups would be Pray that many lives would be changed after reading established in areas where there are no churches. the message of God’s love that has reached their James 2 (Obadiah) homes. 1 Peter 5 (Isaiah 7-12) FRANCE- Pop 61,400,000 Map 87. During SWITZERLAND - Pop 7,500,000 Map 61. the summer months, Operation Villages During a recent week of evangelism efforts mobilises teams of believers to partner several young Christian students shared the with EHC in evangelising pockets of small rural Gospel in the district of Champsec. Pray for all those who communities. This is part of EHC’s Summer Advance. Pray have received this witness that they would be discipled for volunteers needed to take the Gospel and for open effectively through EHC’s Bible correspondence courses hearts to receive the Gospel. James 3 (2 Chronicles 22) and Christ Group ministry. 2 Peter 1 (Isaiah 13-23)