EHC Newsletter March 2018

March 2018

Easter Is an Open Door by In tern ationa l President Dic k Ea stm a n

“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.” — Revelation 3:20 (NKJV)

here’s something beautiful about an open door. No one is locked out. No one is locked in. Everyone is welcome. The Easter story features some significant open doors. The doorway into the temple’s Holy of Holies was blocked by an enormous curtain. But when Jesus died on the cross, the curtain was ripped from top to bottom, symbolically welcoming God’s people to come to Him. The doorway to Jesus’ tomb was blocked by an enormous stone. But when Jesus rose back to life, the stone was rolled away, releasing Jesus — and all who trust in Him — from the grip of death forever. Jesus Himself even tells us, “I stand at the door and knock,” inviting men and women to open their hearts to a new life of hope and power in Him. At Every Home for Christ, we pray for open doors, because every open door

could also be an open heart, a heart ready to receive the Gospel and find salvation in Jesus’ love. Easter is when we celebrate the Gospel and all that Jesus did for us when He died and rose again. Because of Him, we are welcomed into God’s family and blessed with eternal life. Could there be a better way to celebrate at Easter than by sharing the Gospel with those who need to hear it? That’s exactly what our teams around the world are doing as they launch their Easter Advances. These unique outreaches equip our evangelists to use the Easter season to reach their nations, and this issue of Every Home magazine tells their stories. As you read, will you join us in praying for our workers to find open doors as they go? Each one could be an open heart ready to be saved.

MALAWI DREAMING by James Holt

ucia stepped around mud puddles as she did chores outside her home in Malawi. Her neighbours had also emerged from under the thatched roofs of their houses, taking advantage of this momentary lapse in the rainy season. The air was muggy and humid as Lucia surveyed her village. Streams of rainwater trickled between the houses. A few were made of brick and corrugated iron, but the rest were made of clay. Her farming village was poor, and most people earned less than a few dollars each month. The community was able to get by, however, thanks to the leadership of their village chief. Shouldering the responsibility of caring for his people, he took his decision making seriously. A glint of light caught Lucia’s eye and she

looked toward the road that led through the countryside and into her village. A group of five people on bicycles had arrived and were stopped just outside the circle of homes. These strangers were dripping with rainwater and splashed with mud, and a couple carried heavy bundles on their backs. Suspicious of these outsiders, Lucia decided to keep her eye on them, but they merely stood by their bikes and chatted. As the minutes passed, it became clear to Lucia that the bicyclists were waiting for someone — and that the someone wasn’t coming. “Escort the people where they are going,” a voice said. Startled, Lucia turned to find a man she hadn’t seen before standing beside her. The man smiled at Lucia reassuringly. “Escort them.”

Lucia woke to find herself still in bed. Spencer and his four companions. An early morning rain was falling outside, Heavy rain fell on them as they pedalled blocking out much of the sunrise. It had and manoeuvered their way along been a dream. The strangers on the damaged roads. When bicycles and the man who had they finally reached their spoken to her — she had only destination, they were soaked, dreamt them. muddy and exhausted — but Miles away, the Every they were smiling and ready to Home for Christ Malawi team begin. members were excited to begin Arrangements had been their 2017 Easter Outreaches. made for someone to meet the M a l a w i Ninety volunteers from 11 evangelists outside the village local churches were trained and introduce them to the for home-to-home evangelism. Equipped chief. Once introduced, they could ask the with Heart of Man Charts, EvangeCubes chief’s permission to conduct the outreach. and gospel literature, they couldn’t wait to They had expected this person to meet take the Good News of Jesus to unreached them outside the village, but perhaps he villages in their nation. was running late. Still catching their breath, Despite their preparation, some they stepped off their bikes to wait. challenges remained to be faced. But the As the minutes passed, however, they believers who gathered for the outreach exchanged nervous glances. Was nobody were unconcerned. They were coming? How could they ask excited to spend their Easter for the chief’s permission to sharing Jesus, and they knew do their outreach if there was “It was God who exactly what they wanted to tell nobody to introduce them to sent them to our the villagers they would meet: the chief in the first place? Jesus loves you. Jesus died to save Then they noticed a woman village,” she told you. Jesus wants you to know staring at them as she stood the chief. Him. Confident that the Lord outside her hut. She walked would go before them, they slowly toward them, a look of gathered to pray for the outreach.Then they disbelief on her face. When she reached split into small groups, got on their bikes them, she introduced herself as Mrs. Lucia and headed toward their assigned villages. — and she told them about her dream. These villages were far away, and public “We saw that the dream applied to transportation was costly. The evangelists our coming, so we believed her,” Spencer had to rent bicycles to make the journey. recounts. “We saw God in it.” It was also the rainy season, which meant Lucia asked the workers to follow her, they dodged potholes and washed-out and they pushed their bicycles along roads as they went. And then, once they behind her as she led them up the muddy arrived, they still needed to ask permission village pathway and to the home of the from the village chief to conduct their chief. outreach. There, Lucia introduced the strangers to If he refused, their arduous trip would the chief. Our workers explained that they be for nothing. were believers working with Every Home The journey proved just as difficult for Christ and had come to share the Good as expected for a gospel worker named News of Jesus with the villagers.

The chief regarded the evangelists with a furrowed brow and then slowly shook his head. “The chief denied us,” Spencer remembers. “He said he did not know us, as it was our first time in the village.” But before our workers had time to be disappointed, Lucia spoke up. “It was God who sent them to our village,” she told the chief. Then she shared her dream with the chief and told him about how the dream had come true. The chief listened attentively, and when Lucia finished, he nodded. “He gave us the go-ahead to conduct the outreach,” Spencer says. “We glorify God that He made a way for us!” With joy, the evangelists visited every home in the village. They shared the story of the cross and the empty tomb, and they invited everyone to begin a life-transforming relationship with Jesus Christ. That Easter, throughout the villages, 410 people accepted the invitation and put their faith in Jesus. Easter is about light overcoming darkness. Through His resurrection, Jesus overcame sin and death to bring us forgiveness and new life. And through one woman’s dream, He overcame the reluctant heart of a village chief so the Gospel could reach hundreds who needed to know Him. “Despite the challenges, we still managed to have a great harvest of souls,” Spencer tells us. “We will continue to mobilise more volunteers and equip them with gospel tools to reach even more people.”

You partner with our pioneer missionaries as they reach more villages like Lucia's when you pray and give.

The Gospel is going forth in villages throughout Malawi. New believers are being baptised. Evangelists are reaching those without Christ. In dry fields and outside clay huts, God is preparing the way for lives to be changed.

C R O AT I A

Not a Single Building Intact in Duga Resa

Damaged Medical Building

Terry Feuerborn, Damaged Medical Building, Vukovar, Croatia, 2017, http://bit.ly/2DnywA7, CC BY-NC 2.0, http://bit.ly/1eBd9Ks

by Josh Skaggs

heir town was destroyed by gunfire and bombs. Neighbours died, thousands fled the region, and the people of Duga Resa, Croatia, were left to pick up the pieces. When Yugoslavia’s territory split into five distinct countries in the early 1990s, Croatians and Serbs fought for control of the same land. Small towns became battlefields, and local newspapers posted headlines like “Not a Single Building Intact in Duga Resa.” This had drastic consequences for the local people. People on their way to work were turned away by unexpected blockades.

Parents woke before sunrise to prepare meals for the whole day, fearing that air raid sirens might call them to shelters at any moment. A letter from a 31-year-old Croatian resident provides a record of the daily life of civilians during the war: “Behind the closed blinds, with some weak light, you feel like tinned fish,” she wrote. “We are shaken by a strong detonation… The machine guns yelping from afar doesn’t bother us much any more” (Nicholas Atkin, Daily Lives of Civilians in Wartime Twentieth-Century Europe, ABC-CLIO, 2008).

When Croatians won their independence in 1995, the war had claimed thousands of civilian lives. Serbians left the newly founded country in droves, but those who stayed were in conflict with their Croatian neighbours. In towns like Duga Resa, this created a lasting animosity that is still felt more than 20 years later. “After the war people couldn’t live together anymore like they did before,” EHC Croatia National Director Nathanael Spicak says. “The relationships were ruined and destroyed… The Church split in half because of the war.” When he became National Director in 2014, Nathanael knew that only the Gospel could bridge this cultural divide. And because the local church was impacted by the war, the local church would also need to be engaged in bringing restoration. “As a child I was taught that the Lord loves us all, no matter what nationality we are,” Nathanael says. “The war changed everything in my country, but my heart didn’t change. I knew I had to reach people without Christ, no matter what nationality.” Nathanael contacted pastors throughout Croatia, asking how he could partner with them to share the Gospel in their communities. One of the first people he called was his longtime friend, Ladislav Ruzicka. Pastor Ruzicka has served two congregations in Duga Resa and nearby Karlovac since 1989. Although more than 20 years have passed since the war ended, he still struggles to overcome animosity between Croatians and Serbs in his communities.

When Nathanael contacted him, he leaped at the opportunity to bring in reinforcements. They scheduled an outreach during the Easter season. For a population that is traditionally Catholic or Orthodox, Easter is a time when people remember the reconciliation that Christ accomplished on the cross. Drawing on this legacy, an Easter outreach would have vast potential for impact. Nathanael packed boxes of EHC gospel literature and organised volunteers for a trip to Duga Resa. The team of 17 young people, several of whom were new converts to Christianity, came from various towns. When they arrived, the church gave them a warm welcome. “The people in the local church were amazed to see so many young Christians ready to go out in the street, not ashamed of the Gospel,” Nathanael says. “It gave the church some refreshment and a new push to go out into the streets and reach their neighbours for the Lord.” Nathanael coached his team on the history and cultural dynamics of Duga Resa. They prayed together, broke into teams of two and went out. Two locals joined them, older men who had difficulty walking but wanted to reach their neighbours. The day was sunny, and many people were outside working in their gardens. People smiled as they received the Easter cards, and many stopped for a conversation. The message was the same for both Serbs and Croatians — reconciliation in Christ.

Australia: PO Box 168 Penshurst NSW 2222 Telephone: (02) 9570 8211 Facsimile: (02) 9570 4738 New Zealand: PO Box 31-260 Milford North Shore City 0741 Telephone: Free call 0800 900 200 Facsimile: 0061 2 9570 4738 www.everyhome.org.au E-mail: ehc@everyhome.org.au www.everyhomeforchrist.org.nz

C R O AT I A Having weathered Soviet occupation, a war for independence and ongoing cultural conflict, Croatia is an unusually difficult climate for the Gospel. Often, Nathanael’s team will receive only one response after distributing 1,000 gospel booklets. Duga Resa was different. After they handed out 2,500 gospel booklets, 14 families responded to the Gospel. These families received a New Testament and an EHC discipleship course. Of equal importance, they were invited to the local church, where they would experience the unity that is found only in God’s family. “Our main goal in Croatia is to reach

every home for Christ,” Nathanael says. “But we don’t want to stop at that. We want to see people saved, new churches planted and existing churches strengthened. We believe in the local church.” When people respond to an EHC outreach and join a local church, they find a unity that is available only in Christ. On the night He was betrayed, Jesus prayed that those who believed in Him would “become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me” (John 17:23, ESV). In that love — the love of the Father and the Son in perfect harmony — even war-torn communities find peace.

EHC volunteers from several cities gather for a group photo in front of Pastor Ruzicka’s church before setting out to evangelise.

INDIA 9

INDIA

A new report, jointly prepared by the World Bank and UNICEF, has estimated that the â&#x20AC;&#x153;children headcount poverty rate in India is 22.1 per cent, as against the adults headcount poverty rate of 14.3 per cent". This is almost 20% of the rural population of India. These men, women and children do not have access to clean water, with unsanitary water conditions resulting in the spread of both viral and bacterial infections. The Indian government is working to improve the lives of the poor by building affordable homes, investing in irrigation, water treatment and sanitation and improving roads and electricity. As a result, poverty in India is slowly but surely being diminished. BUT ... About 60% of India's nearly 1.3 billion people still live on less than $3.10 a day, the World Bank's median poverty line. And 21%, or more than 250 million people, survive on less than $2 a day. SO ... there is still plenty we can do to help the 250 million poor in India!

What is Every Home Global Concern doing to help improve the lives of the poor in India?

In 2005 a Hindu leader in a poor low-caste village in the south of India gave Every Home Global Concern a parcel of land for a Primary School and a school for 200 children commenced. As it was an English-medium school, a school that low-caste Indian children would never be able to afford, it continues to give the children the best possible education to help them have a positive future. From humble beginnings this school has developed into a community centre where village women learn to sew and graduates from the sewing program save half the cost of a sewing machine and Every Home Global Concern then purchases them a machine so they can commence a small business. As a result, the lives of these low-caste villagers have dramatically changed. With clean water, sanitation, health education for the parents and a daily feeding program for the children, there is no longer any malnutrition and sickness has declined. The women in the tailoring program are astounded that they can now actively participate in the care of the family and thier self-esteem has risen considerably. A High School is being planned in the same area so that this village can continue to develop. thank you for making this program a reality in India

INDIA EHC SCHOOL

Then Jesus came to them and said "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age". Matthew 28:18-20

MARCH 2018

Bible Readings: This month the daily text will be taken from 1 Kings. and 2 Kings. For those wanting to do the one-year Bible reading program these chapters are in brackets.

As plans are being considered to visit every house in Australia and New Zealand with gospel literature, pray God will make this possible. PRAY EVERY DAY

8,284,648 houses 1,561,956 houses

PRAY FOR YOUR FAMILY Sons, daughters and grandchildren, plus others to come to Christ. Get a piece of paper and write down their names. Get their photos and pray every day for their salvation;eternity without Christ is a long time! 1 Kings 1:27 (Genesis 1-4)

DIPLAVE POKHREL Praise God that Diplave has been granted a Visa for 2 years. Please pray for the approval of a Minister of Religion Labour Agreement for EHC as soon as possible so Diplave can begin to apply for an Australian Permanent Residency Visa. 1 Kings 1:27-53 (Genesis 5-8) CHRISTINE RAINER Please pray for Christine Rainer, the wife of one of our former EHC Board Members. Christine has asked that we join our prayers with hers that the Lord would miraculously heal her of cancer. 1 Kings 2:1-23 (Genesis 9-11)

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ZIMBABWE Pop. 16,800,000 Map. 9 Even in the wake of a transitioning government, new believers are coming to Christ, being baptised and finding a home in the Body of Christ. Please pray for the peace of God to reign over Zimbabwe so that the Gospel may continue to go forth.1 Kings 2:24-46 (Genesis 12-14) CREATIVE ACCESS Praise the Lord for his kindness! Last month we prayed for a man who was paralsyed from the waist down, and he received complete healing and can now run and walk. This man received Christ immediately, and many others who were there also eagerly accepted Jesus into their hearts. 1 Kings 3 (Genesis 15-17) EAST TIMOR Pop. 1,300,000 Map. 144 Please pray for the people and government in Oecusse District. Pray for salvation and blessing. Also keep our field staff in your prayers. Many have become sick in the cold and rainy weather. 1 Kings 4 (Genesis 18-20)

TANZANIA Pop. 55,600,000 Map. 16 "We saw souls embrace salvation, sick people receive healing and others delivered from bad spirits," says one outreach team member who just returned from a trip to Kibaha and Massai. Pray that the Gospel continues to change lives throughout Tanzania. 1 Kings 5 (Genesis 21-22) GERMANY Pop. 82,700,000 Map.83 Praise God for Volker Giese, who finished distribution in his hometown and the surrounding villages. In a period of four years, twice a week for 2 hours, he visited 32 villages with a total of 13,000 homes. 1 Kings 6 (Job 1-7) ARGENTINA Pop. 43,900,000 Map. 223 Pray for our workers as they reach 10 indigenous communities in the area of Capitan Juan Page, totalling about 3,500 people. These people live in very humble huts scattered over 80 sq. km in a jungle area. Pray for the safety of Francisco and the team. 1 Kings 7:1-26 (Job 8-14) CREATIVE ACCESS EHC workers met a woman named F., who wants to be in contact with local believers to learn more about Jesus. Pray that she would indeed meet with believers and that God would open her eyes about Jesus and transform her life. 1 Kings 7:27-51 (Job 15-22) GUADELOUPE Pop. 405,700 Map. 202 Six people responded to the call that followed the message at a worship service. Each of them received the booklets "Seven Days with Jesus" and "How to Pray". The Discovery program will be offered to them. Pray that their faith will be strengthened. 1 Kings 1:1-33 (Job 23-31) BENIN Pop. 10,900,000 Map. 37 People in the neighbourhood of Djanglanme who received gospel literature and gave their lives to Jesus testified to their relatives and neighbours. Now they are daily calling for more teaching and we praise the Lord for that. 1 Kings 8:33-66 (Job 32-37) BRAZIL Pop. 207,700,000 Map. 218 Key to evangelisation efforts in Brazil are the "Sentinels of Brazil." These are people dedicated to intercessory prayer for the advancement of the Gospel. We request your prayers for our dear brothers and sisters who participate in this prayer movement. 1 Kings 9 (Romans 8)

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PRAY FOR ISRAEL ROMANS 11:28

BURKINA FASO Pop. 18,700,000 Map.40 There are over 60 ethnic groups in this nation, and only 20 have the Gospel in their local languages. Pray for God to make a way for the remaining 40 groups to have the Gospel in their local languages. 1 Kings 10 (Genesis 23-25) CAMBODIA Pop. 15,800,000 Map. 138 Please pray for an EHC leader, Madicai, whose house was destroyed by a fire. Praise the Lord his family was at a prayer meeting when it happened. Pray that believers will raise funds to help in this difficult time and that the Lord will encourage his family. 1 Kings 11:1-20 (Genesis 26-28)

FRANCE Pop. 66,900,000 Map. 89 Many Christians have mobilised to share the Good News on the island of Corsica, one of the many unreached sectors of French society. They are translating the brochure "Finding Hope" into Arabic so they can reach the population of Maghrebian. 1 Kings 11:21-43 (Genesis 29-33) CREATIVE ACCESS Please pray for Christians imprisoned for their efforts to share the Good News of Jesus. Several believers are now in prison, and we don't have any information from them. Please pray for them and for their families who are concerned for their welfare. 1Kings 12 (Genesis 34-36) MALI Pop.18,000,000 Map.49 Pray that God will grant peace, humility and tolerance during elections to be held in July and November 2018. May God, in His grace, deliver the country from all negative influences and open doors for the Gospel. 1Kings 13 (Genesis 37-41) LIBERIA Pop. 4,600,000 Map.42 Many of the elders in the town of Bobomjah never allowed the distribution of gospel literature. Miraculously, the younger generation is willing to receive EHC gospel literature and even asked to be taught about Jesus. Pray for receptive hearts.1 Kings 14 (Genesis 42-45) KENYA Pop.48,500,000 Map.27 Praise God for EHC evangelism and training in Kenya, which is developing mature believers who are reaching many areas of the nation. Praise God for the church leaders. 1 Kings 15 (Genesis 46-60)

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CREATIVE ACCESS Our voulnteers have distributed literature in local villages and in refugee camps. They also visited farmers in their fields and gave them literature. Pray for the Word of God to touch the hearts of those who received the gospel booklets. 1 Kings 16 (Exodus 1-4)

KYRGYZSTAN Pop.6,000,000 Map. 110 "We praise God that He sends us people who are torn and deceived and searching for help!" reports one pioneer missionary. Please pray for these people, that they can accept the truth of God's Word and experience the transformation He offers through His Spirit. 1 Kings17 (Exodus 5-11)

Send us your prayer requests and we will pray for them.

PERU Pop. 31,800,000 Map. 217 We thank God for providing the human and economic resources needed to mobilise the Peruvian churches to evangelise their nation. Pray that God would bring salvation to many in Lima, Castillo Grande, Montevideo, Ayachuco and Huanoco. 1Kings 18:1-23 (Exodus 12-15) MOZAMBIQUE Pop.28,800,000 Map.8 We praise God for the continued planting of Christ Groups in villages we have visited. Various trained leaders are taking part in teaching the new believers, a sign that the local church is uniting to fulfill the Great Commission. Praise the Lord. 1 Kings 18:24-46 (Exodus 16-18) SWAZILAND Pop. 1,300,000 Map. 3 Pray for EHC Mobile Training Coordinators as they train workers in various places in the Manzini Region. We are trusting the Lord for church growth and multiplication as we see the Lord moving in other places where this program has been taught. 1 Kings 19 (Exodus 19-24) MOZAMBIQUE Pop. 25,300,000 Map. 8 Cult leaders confronted our pioneer missionaries and threatened to destroy the materials they were sharing on a home-to-home outreach. Please pray for boldness in our workers as they continue to reach remote villages with the Gospel. 1 Kings 20:1-23 (Exodus 25-28)

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VENEZUELA Pop. 31,600,000 Map.214 We thank God for the work done by the pioneer missionaries in the plains, the Andes and the states of Zulia and Trujillo. Despite several obstacles, God was glorified. The harvest is being brought in as we wait on God and trust the One who called us. 1 Kings 20:24-43 (Exodus 29-31) PHILIPPINES Pop.103,300,000 Map.169 All praise to God for His work through a partnership with World Missionary Press! More Bible booklets will be printed for the Philippines. Please pray that the EHC coordinator will be able to facilitate the process in the Bureau of Customs so that many will receive God's Word. 1 Kings 21 (Exodus 32-34) CREATIVE ACCESS Gospel booklets are continually arriving from different border points. Our Christ Group leaders are carefully distributing gospel literature in small quantities to neighbours. Despite a lot of restrictions for Christians and churches, the Kingdom of God is rapidly expanding. 1 Kings 22:1-27 (Exodus 35-40) SWITZERLAND Pop.8,400,000 Map. 62 Pray that the leaders of the various churches in Val d'Herens will work together to distribute literature and provide follow-up discipleship training in the towns of Evolene, Saint-Martin, Hauderes and Vex, representing a population of 7,000. 1 Kings 22:28-53 (Psalm 90) CREATIVE ACCESS Once again this nation is seeing terrorist attack on churches. As a result, the situation is very tense amongst Christians. Please pray. 2 Kings 1 (Leviticus 1-7)

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