EHC March Newsletter 2019

... because everyone needs Jesus

March 2019

Dr Dick Eastman, International President of Every Home for Christ, speaking at the USA National Day of Prayer

"The Spirit helps us in our weakness" Romans 8:26-27 Speaking on "spiritual prayer," Bishop J.C. Ryle expressed, "I commend to you the importance of praying spiritually. I mean by that, that we should labour always to have the help of the Spirit in our prayers, and be aware above all things of formality. There is nothing so spiritual but that it may become a form, and this is especially true of private prayer." There is nothing wrong with developing a consistent, systematic habit of prayer, as long as we carefully "watch" that our praying remains truly spiritual. Bishop Ryle adds, "If the skeleton and outline of our prayers be by habit, almost a form, let us strive that the clothing and filling up of our prayers be as far as possible of the Spirit." No discussion of the subject of watching in prayer can be complete without emphasising the value of the Holy Spirit in prayer. Paul told Roman believers, "Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for

we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit himself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the heart knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God". (Rom 8:26-27). It is clear from this passage that a prayer warrior is not left to himself in understanding the "how" of prayer. Each has been given the help of the Holy Spirit to guide and direct. This guidance is best cultivated in the watching aspect of prayer. Twice in Scripture believers are admonished to "pray in the Spirit" (Eph. 6:18, Jude 20). Of course, praying in the Spirit, as I have discovered, means vastly different things to different Christians. The purpose here is not to evaluate this expression from a theological standpoint. Numerous books have exhausted this subject quite well.

However, I do suggest the reader seek to develop a much enlarged recognition of the Holy Spirit's power as it relates to personal prayer. No doubt the majority of Christians, no matter their theological persuasions, would agree with the statement of Lehman Strauss: "If anyone were to ask me what is the first truly great secret of a successful prayer life, I would say in answer, 'Praying in the Holy Spirit.'" The writer adds, "Human wisdom and human desire can achieve human results. But praying in the Spirit produces divine results." In reading biographies of past spiritual leaders it is obvious that praying in the Spirit was not treated lightly. Samuel Chadwick, a saint mightily used of God, spoke of a powerful encounter with the Holy Spirit in 1882. He called it "the key to all of my life." Of his experience Chadwick testified, "It awakened my mind as well as my heart. It gave me a new Bible and a new message. Above all else, it gave me a new understanding and a new intimacy in the communion and ministry of prayer, it taught me to pray in the Spirit." In reading biographies of past spiritual leaders it is obvious that praying in the Spirit was not treated lightly. Let the reader especially note that Chadwick's spiritual encounter "awakened" his mind. The preacher immediately discovered truths about prayer he had never observed before. A new intimacy was experienced in daily prayer, something every believer should earnestly covet. Perhaps the reason much of our praying becomes dull and lifeless is that we lack spiritual intimacy with the only Being who can add life to our praying.

John Bunyan wrote, "It is the easiest thing in a hundred to fall from power to form, but it is the hardest thing of many to keep in the life, spirit and power of any one duty, especially prayer. It is such a work that a man without the help of the Spirit cannot do so much as pray once, much less continue without, in a sweet praying frame, and in praying, so to pray as to have his prayer ascend unto the ears of the Lord of the Sabbath." Seeing Things Invisible God earnestly desires to reveal special secrets during prayer, to help us pray more specifically for particular needs. To "watch" in prayer is to open our spiritual eyes to perceive these secrets. We must permit the Holy Spirit to "enlighten' us during prayer. Professor Hallesby taught, "The spirit of prayer throws light upon every phase of our prayer life. Not only theoretical light, enlightening our minds, but practical light for our use in praying and for training in prayer." As we "watch" in prayer, those needs hiding in the shadows of human awareness come alive through the light of God's Spirit. We see each need with a supernatural clarity. What was once a blur is now in focus. An entirely new dimension will soon be added to our praying. We will see what is not possible to see. Jonathan Swift said, "Vision is the art of seeing things invisible." Our praying suddenly has this unique, Godgiven "vision". Our imagination comes alive. By God's Spirit, the mission field is not across the world, we are across the world - on that very mission field. We actually begin to feel the suffering being experienced by those for whom we pray.

- Dick Eastman

Australia: PO Box 168 Penshurst NSW 2222 Telephone: (02) 9570 8211 Facsimile: (02) 9570 4738 ABN: 88001276240 www.everyhome.org.au E-mail: ehc@everyhome.org.au New Zealand: PO Box 31-260 Milford North Shore City 0741 NZBN: 9429043322862 Telephone: Free call 0800 900 200 Facsimile: 0061 2 9570 4738 www.everyhomeforchrist.org.nz

Miraculous Turnaround in Canadian Church

Late in 2016 my friend, evangelist Chuck Price, brought the Ontario towns of Prescott and Cardinal to my attention. “Could we do a Finding the Hope outreach in those neighbouring towns?” We prayed and spoke at length with pastors in these areas and plans came together for outreaches on the Easter weekend of 2017. The churches involved were unable to carry the costs of the outreach so we sent a request for funds across Canada. And many of our partners responded! Finding the Hope packets were prepared and included invitations to special evangelistic events. In Cardinal, outreach events were conducted Good Friday to Easter Sunday. At that time, this small church had a very small congregation. But up to 100 people crowded into the church for the event! In Prescott, the plan included a Finding the Hope packet mailed to every home along with an invitation to an Easter morning breakfast held at a local school.

At the breakfast, Pastor Roger had two people in his small congregation share their testimonies of how Christ changed their lives and 20 people responded by inviting Christ into their life. It was a turning point in the ministry of that congregation which, only a few years earlier, faced a grim future. I visited with Pastor Roger in early December of 2017 to hear first-hand how God is at work in their community. He shared that several years earlier he and his wife felt lead to pastor the small struggling congregation. Their first Sunday had six people in attendance, including the pastor and his wife. There was no money for even a modest salary and the church’s future was clearly at stake. He worked slowly at sharing the Gospel any way he could outside the church building. By God’s grace they experienced some growth over several years however financial stability was still not achieved and things were tight. Then it’s as if a dam broke on Easter Sunday morning at the outreach breakfast.

Since that Sunday morning they have baptized dozens of people who have experienced salvation. People who were broken and in bondage are experiencing the redeeming grace of God. The testimonies of God-to-the-rescue are amazing! We always encourage churches that participate in a Finding the Hope outreach to engage in mission to their local harvest field with an ongoing approach and watch God bring the increase. Nothing can replace persistent prayer for a community, a clear gospel proclamation to every home, continual cultivation of the harvest field through a variety of ways, and intentional discipleship of people who respond to the Gospel. This is what Pastor Roger has been doing, not just leading up to the Easter weekend in 2017, but even more so since the breakthrough that has seen the work grow to new heights.

Before the Easter outreach they would have seen a maximum of 60 people on a Sunday. Eight months later, when I visited him, they had grown to two Sunday services because of the Fire Marshal’s limitation of 90 people in the space where they meet. Since then, they’ve added a third Sunday service in the evening in the nearby community of Cardinal. In order to gather the whole flock together once a month for worship, fellowship and evangelism, Pastor Roger also conducts a special evening event regularly in a school auditorium where visitors also join in. Key to this outpouring of grace is prayer. The Pastor noted that he has an active intercessory prayer group that prays for every new convert and everyone in the church each week. Congregation members are being raised as evangelists. All sorts of outreaches outside the church building are making the Gospel present where people live and where people go. At the close of our visit Pastor Roger said to me with great conviction: “The harvest is ripe. It is a lie when we think it is not.” I couldn’t have put it better! Their sense of expectation is contagious and they believe that the past two years are just the beginning of so much more to come for their region, by God’s grace. Let’s keep this great work of God in prayer, that many more precious people will experience the freedom and life that only Jesus can give!

Key to this

Denys Blackmore Executive Director Every Home for Christ Canada

outpouring of grace is prayer

THE DYING CHURCH - 100 CHURCHES WILL CLOSE

THIS WEEK IN THE UNITED STATES OF aMERICA

http://prophecynewswatch.com/article.cfm?recent_news_id=2778

America is littered with thousands upon thousands of church buildings that aren't being used anymore. As you will see below, between 6,000 and 10,000 churches are dying in the United States every single year, and that means that more than 100 will die this week alone. And of course thousands of others are on life support. All over the country this weekend, small handfuls of people will gather in huge buildings which once boasted very large congregations. At one time, America was widely considered to be "a Christian nation", but that really isn't true anymore. As an excellent article in The Atlantic has noted, even though most Americans still

consider themselves to be "Christian", the numbers are telling us a very different story... Many American churches can no longer afford to maintain their structures--6,000 to 10,000 churches die each year in America-and that number will likely grow. Though more than 70 percent of our citizens still claim to be Christian, congregational participation is less central to many Americans' faith than it once was. Most denominations are declining as a share of the overall population, and donations to congregations have been falling for decades. Meanwhile, religiously unaffiliated Americans, nicknamed the "nones," are growing as a share of the U.S. population.

In fact, the “nones” have risen from just 6 percent of the population in 1991 to 25 percent today. That makes them the single largest “religious group” in the United States. Today, less than 20 percent of all Americans attend church on a regular basis. As a result, churches are dying in very large numbers, and this is a trend that appears to be accelerating. According to Thom S. Rainer of Lifeway, when you break the numbers down it means that "around 100-200 churches will close this week"... Between 6,000 and 10,000 churches in the U.S. are dying each year. That means around 100-200 churches will close this week. The pace will accelerate unless our congregations make some dramatic changes. Any institution needs resources in order to survive, and churches are not any different. As attendance has declined, so has giving, and at this point the percentage of charity donations going to religious institutions is at an all-time low... Religious institutions are still the single biggest recipients of overall charity donations, according to the 2015 survey by the Giving USA Foundation. About 32 percent -- $119.3 billion of a total of $373.25 billion -- which Americans gave to charities, went to churches, synagogues, mosques and temples. But that is down from about 50 percent since 1990, according to Rick Dunham, vice chairman of Giving USA, and the percentage has been “in steady decline for some time.” So when churches die, what happens to their buildings?

Well, some are torn down, some are renovated for residential or business purposes, and some are being put to other uses... A large number of abandoned churches have become wineries or breweries or bars. Others have been converted into hotels, bed-and-breakfasts, and Airbnbs. A few have been transformed into entertainment venues, such as an indoor playground for children, a laser-tag arena, or a skate park. A similar thing is

happening in Europe, only on a much greater scale. Over there, hundreds of churches have been transformed into Islamic mosques, and this has generated quite a bit of controversy. As I discussed in my article about demographic trends, we are witnessing societal change happen at a pace that would have been absolutely unthinkable a couple of generations ago. This is especially true for our young people. If you go back to 1986, just 10 percent of all young adults were “religiously unaffiliated”, but now that number has jumped all the way to 39 percent... Today, nearly four in ten (39%) young adults (ages 18-29) are religiously unaffiliated-three times the unaffiliated rate (13%) among seniors (ages 65 and older). While previous generations were also more likely to be religiously unaffiliated in their twenties, young adults today are nearly four times as likely as young adults a generation ago to identify as religiously unaffiliated. In 1986, for example, only 10% of young adults claimed no religious affiliation.

That makes young adults the single largest group of â&#x20AC;&#x153;nonesâ&#x20AC;? in the entire country. We are living at a time when there is a mass exodus from the Christian faith in America, and it is likely going to take something quite dramatic to reverse that trend. According to the Pew Research Centre Millennials are about half as likely to attend religious services on a weekly basis as the oldest Americans are. Church attendance is simply not as important to Americans as it once was. In the old days, churches were central hubs where you got to know your neighbours and important events were commemorated. But now churches sit idle and empty most of the time, and attendance on Sunday mornings is depressingly low in most cases. When I was growing up, my parents made sure that we were in church on Sunday morning, Sunday evening and sometimes even on Wednesday evening.

But today, most churches donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t even have Sunday evening or midweek services because nobody would show up. Our entire society, including our system of government, was birthed out of a culture of Bible-believing Christians. The following comes from an excellent piece by Dr. Mark David Hall... In 1776, every European American, with the exception of about 2,500 Jews, identified himself or herself as a Christian. Moreover, approximately 98 percent of the colonists were Protestants, with the remaining 1.9 percent being Roman Catholics. Not only did early Americans identify themselves as Christians, but nearly all of them regularly attended church. Now our society is moving very rapidly in the exact opposite direction, and many believe that this has tremendous implications for the future of our nation.

What About Australia and New Zealand? The Every Home for Christ International office in the United States have a most incredible plan, something beyond imagination, to visit every home in the world in the next 20 years with someone personally visiting every home to give the people living in the home a brochure outlining the Gospel and describing how a person can pray, confessing their sins to God and asking the Lord Jesus Christ to forgive them and receive forgiveness because He died on the cross for their sin. These people will receive literature and personal encouragement to learn how to pray and how to read the Bible every day and get involved in a Bible-believing church. Already Every Home for Christ has 100 international offices in countries across the world who will recruit believers to personally witness and share the gospel message with people living in every house of their country. If you live in Australia or New Zealand and want to be involved, maybe to be trained to visit homes, contact Every Home for Christ. In Australia write to Every Home for Christ, PO Box 168 Sydney 2222

Telephone 02/9570 8211

In New Zealand write to Every Home for Christ, PO Box 31260, Milford, North Shore City 0741

Telephone Freecall 0800 900 200

Maybe your church would like to be involved in visiting every home where your church is located and have a training day. Contact the address above.

If there is any way you can financially help with this incredible project, your gift will be greatly appreciated.

MARCH 2019

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

PRAY FOR DICK AND DEE EASTMAN. Dick is the International President of Every Home for Christ with a large responsibility for EHC ministries across the world. Psalm 147 (Genesis 1-4) PRAY FOR DIPLAVE POKHREL Please continue to pray urgently for the Immigration Department to approve Every Home for Christ's application for a Labour Agreement so that we can sponsor Diplave to continue working with Every Home for Christ. He needs permanent residency and without the granting of a Labour Agreement he cannot continue in his application for permanent residency. Pray for favour on Every Home for Christ's application which was submitted in 2017 and still hasn't been approved. Psalm 148 (Genesis 5-8)

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! Psalm 148 (Genesis 9-11)

BURKINA FASO Pop. 19,200,000 Map. 40 Pray for an EHC outreach leader in the district of Ourgou-Manega. He is preparing to cover the whole district with the Good News. Pray for protection, grace and strength for him and his team. May many hearts respond to Christ. Psalm 149 (Genesis 12-14)

CREATIVE ACCESS A safe house in this country

is currently sheltering three women who are in hiding. They have been persecuted for their faith. Pray that as they recover, the grace of God will overwhelm them so they may continue serving the Lord in this difficult place. Psalm 150 (Genesis 15-17)

BURUNDI Pop. 10,900,000 Map. 18 Thank God for the three Muslims who gave their lives to Christ this week. May God meet them and strengthen them in their new walks with Him. Praise God also because the government is now welcoming the Oikos Initiative. May God be exalted in this nation! Proverbs 1 (Genesis 18-20)

PRAY FOR ISRAEL ROMANS 11:28

FRENCH GUINEA Pop. 12,700,000 Map. 211 A local church is aiming to visit every home in the town of Cayenne. Pray for this church and the outreach team there. Pray for open doors and open hearts. And pray that many will believe the Gospel and have their lives transformed. Proverbs 2 (Genesis 21-22) MEXICO Pop. 129,200,000 Map. 178 Pray for Angel, an EHC leader in the city of Chipancingo. Gangs control many areas of the city. Angel has been detained several times and questioned by these gangs. The Lord always preserves his life. Praise God they let him come and share the Gospel. Proverbs 3 (Job 1-7) MOLDOVA Pop. 3,600,000 Map. 102 Please pray for the outreach to the villages of Elizabetovca, Braicau and Sudarca. Moldova is in desperate need of the Gospel. Pray for the workers as they go home to home, and pray that hearts will be hungry for the message of God's love. Proverbs 4 (Job 8-14) CREATIVE ACCESS Please pray for all who received gospel literature during a recent outreach. May the Lord open their eyes and turn their hearts to Him. Also pray for the workers who live in that city. The lcoal authorities often give them trouble. Proverbs 5 (Job 15-22)

HONDURAS Pop. 9,300,000 Map. 182 An EHC team is reaching villages high in the mountains, where there is no access by road. Pray that God will give them great grace and physical strength as they walk for many miles. Pray also that many will accept Christ. Proverbs 6 (Job 23-31) VENEZUELA Pop. 32,00,000 Map. 214 Praise God for a spiritual awakening that is taking place in multiple churches. May this move of God continue to burn the hearts of believers. Pray that they will let the love of Jesus shine through them amid the crime and violence that permeates this country. Proverbs 7 (Job 32-37) INDONESIA Pop. 264,000,000 Map. 143 Please pray form M. He works in a district that is known to have many radical Muslims. Pray for protection and for a supernatural courage to rest upon him. And pray that many will choose to follow Christ. Proverbs 8 (Job 38-42) BANGLADESH Pop. 164,700,000n Map. 132 During a recent outreach, 177,595 gospel booklets were given out to 110,065 homes. The EHC office received 3,048 response cards. Praise God that the seeds of the Gospel were planted in so many hearts. May they bring in a great harvest. Proverbs 9 (Genesis 23-25)

CREATIVE ACCESS Please pray that the government in this nation will give permission again to print the Bible in the primary language of the people. There are currently no Bibles to give to new believers. Pray for God to open a door for His precious Word to touch lives. Proverbs 10 (Genesis 26-28) KENYA Pop. 49,700,000 Map. 27 Many souls were saved through the grace of God during recent outreaches. Now please pray that these new believers will grow in knowledge and also that they will connect to local churches where they can grow in their walk with God. Proverbs 11 (Genesis 29 -33 ) MYANMAR Pop. 53,400,000 Map. 135 An EHC missionary reached the villages of the west side of the Bago River. He preached the Good News to the villagers there and prayed for the sick. One man was healed, and as a result, two people gave their lives to Christ, Praise God! Proverbs 12 (Genesis 34-36) GERMANY Pop. 82,800,000 Map. 83 EHC worker Volker Giese has shared gospel literature with 2,500 families near the Austrian border. This region is populated by nominal Christians without the experience of a new life in Jesus. Please pray for many to respond to the Good News. Proverbs 13 (Genesis 37-41 ) PARAGUAY Pop. 6,800,000 Map. 222 EHC workers are going to an unreached people group in Paraguay numbering about 250. Missionaries who tried to share the Gospel with them in the past were brutally repelled. Pray for hearts open to hearing about Jesus' love. Proverbs 14 (Genesis 42 - 45)

GUINEA Pop. 12,700,000 Map. 45 Pray for political stability in this nation. There are strikes every day, making it difficult to do the work of reaching every home with the Gospel. Please pray for God to break in this time. Proverbs 15 (Genesis 46 - 50) COTE D'IVOIRE Pop. 24,300,000 Map. 41 Pray for an upcoming outreach in the district of Grand-Lahou. Pray for safety for the workers and also for boldness and clarity as they share the Gospel. Pray that many hearts will be open to the Good News and that every plan of the enemy will be thwarted. Proverbs 16 (Exodus 1 - 4) NIGER Pop. 21,500,000 Map. 36 A new Christian brother has given his life to Christ and now is the target of much persecution. His relatives are even trying to take his wife and children away from him. Pray for grace for this brother as well as a peaceful resolution to this solution. Proverbs 17 (Exodus 5-11) CREATIVE ACCESS Many believers are terrified after new laws were enacted making it illegal to preach the Gospel. Some pastors who used to partner with EHC are now declining to work together. Please pray for courage and boldness for church leaders and believers struggling with fear. Proverbs 18 (Exodus 12 -15)

ALBANIA Pop. 2,900,000 Map. 75 Every Home Albania helped organise an evangelistc meeting for students in Tirana. Thank God for the 40 students who accepted Jesus as their Lord and Saviour at this meeting. Please pray that they will grow in faith and become disciples who will make other disciples for Christ. Proverbs 19 (Exodus 16 -18) KYRGYZSTAN Pop. 6,200,000 Map. 110 A young brother in Christ was recently beaten by Muslims and made to renounce Christ. The police are not prosecuting anyone. Please pray that justice will be restored in this nation. Also pray that this young man will return to Christ without shame. Proverbs 20 (Exodus 19 - 24) THAILAND Pop. 69,000,000 Map. 136 Please pray for the 296 prisoners who accepted Christ through prison outreaches. Many amazing testimonies have reached EHC offices. Pray for these men and women to grow in faith and the knowledge of the Father's love for them. Proverbs 21 (Exodus 25 - 28) LIBERIA Pop. 4,700,000 Map. 42 Sister Siatta is 28 years old and used to be an alcoholic. Now she testifies that she has been set free. EHC missionaries came to her door and shared the Good News with her. She accepted Christ and has never been the same. Praise God for His gift of salvation. Proverbs 22 (Exodus 29 - 31) CREATIVE ACCESS Two brothers who accepted Christ last year started a Christ Group.These brothers have already endured a lot of persecution in their short walk with God. Please pray for God to strengthen their faith as they serve Him. Pray that this Christ Group will thrive. Proverbs 23 (Exodus 32 - 34) SEYCHELLES Pop. 95,800 Map. 27 There is a real drug problem in this country. Please pray for God to break this terrible cycle in Jesus' name. Also pray that the church will be ready to welcome recovering drug addicts into their homes and lives. Proverbs 24 (Exodus 35 -40) MALAWI Pop. 18,600,000 Map. 15 Pray for an EHC leader in this country who recently lost his wife. He is stepping down from his leadership position for the time being. Please pray that the Spirit will comfort him in this time of grieving. Proverbs 25 (Psalm 90) MOZAMBIQUE Pop. 29,700,000 Map.8 Pray for the Body of Christ in Mozambique as the government has risen against the Church and is banning all unregistered churches. Registering a church in Mozambique is already difficult, and this will make it worse. Proverbs 26 (Leviticus 1-7)

Write your prayer request and we will pray for you too!