Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash
Look What God is Doing! November 2018
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How a Woman Living in the Middle East Became a Missionary to Her Home Country
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t's 36 degrees in the most crowded city on earth, and Manila is a cacophony of speed and sound. Jeepneys rocket past in painted colour. Motorcycles loaded with entire families cut between mobs of pedestrians. And nearly everyone in sight - the smiling kids, the men rolling up their shirts in the noonday heat - have one thing in common. They call themselves Christians. Welcome to the Philippines. Ruled by the Spanish empire for more than three centuries, the Philippines' Catholic heritage is evident everywhere you look. Bible verses are painted on taxis and posted on high-rise buildings. Old churches nestle between new skyscrapers. But despite its Christian heritage, the Philippines is a nation in need of the Gospel. Roughly 90 percent of Filipinos believe in God but fewer than half of them attend church with any regularity. Political and cultural shifts have caused many to wonder if the Church is becoming irrelevant. As Christianity Today* reports, "Filipino Catholics are looking for a religious renewal that speaks to their daily realities." Emerlinda Evangelista - Emer to her friends - knows this search from her own experience growing up in the Catholic Church. "I used to pray to different saints," Emer remembers. "I prayed to Saint Catherine whenever I had needs as a student. I prayed to Saint Joseph when I had concerns with my parents. I prayed to Saint Anthony if I lost something." Emer even started attending a special service to pray to Saint Jude, who - it was
rumoured - could send her the perfect husband. In the midst of these rituals, however she was secretly afraid. What if she was praying to the wrong saint on the wrong day? What if she died before confessing her sins to a priest? Emer remembers crying in her dorm room as a college student, wondering what the purpose of her life was. She was getting good grades and her family was proud of her, but she still felt lost. In that pivotal moment, a friend gave her a book of stories about people who had found their life's purpose in Jesus. She stayed up late, pouring over their accounts. When she turned to the last page, she read aloud a prayer of repentance. In the following weeks, she stayed up late digging through the Bible, discovering it on her own for the first time. She could sense God's closeness in a way she hadn't before. "There was something inside me that was being born," Emer says. 'Something inside of me had this intense hunger - read the Word, read the Word, And when I opened it, I couldn't stop." But the real change started when she joined the underground church, hundreds of miles away. After graduating from college, Emer found work as a nurse in the Middle East. On her flight to Saudi Arabia she met Sam, the Filipino son of a missionary. Sitting two rows apart, they spent the entire flight talking over the heads of other passengers. Sam was big in stature and personality, prone to unexpected movie references. When she laughed, she hummed pleasantly.
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".....new believers took turns sneaking down to the water to be baptised. Emer was one of them." After a nine - hour flight, they arrived at their destination and started a long-distance relationship across different regions of Saudi Arabia. They mailed each other love letters and cassettes with messages recorded on a Sony Walkman. One year later they were married. Meanwhile, another passion was growing. Emer was a new believer without a Bible, having left hers in the Philippines to avoid the risk of deportation if she were caught. But her desire for God's Word outgrew her fear. "I had these Christian co-workers who would smuggle Bibles while they were on vacation," Emer recalls. "One co-worker of mine who is very courageous, she gave me one." Emer and Sam received an invitation to attend a secret church meeting in southern Saudi Arabia. They showed up with almost 100 Christians in a single home, everyone staggering their arrivals and bringing their shoes inside to avoid suspicion. Crowded together in a room with soundproof walls, they worshipped through the night. Emer felt at home with these people. Saudi believers risked arrest if discovered, but they had found a love that made them disregard every other concern. Emer and Sam began to join them whenever they could. One Friday afternoon, the church gathered at a local beach, circling vehicles to create a visual barrier against prying eyes. Then, while everyone played beach games as a ruse, new believers took turns sneaking down to the water to be baptised. Emer was one of them. She had experienced a faith that was richer than
anything she'd ever known and she wanted to devote her life to it. That year during Ramadan she observed a season of fasting and prayer. Every day, as the Muslims call to prayer rang out, Emer worshipped Jesus in her own home. When she prayed, the same picture kept appearing in her mind. Emer saw herself back in the Philippines, climbing mountains and walking through fields under a bright sun. She knew what she was seeing - an image of herself as a missionary in her home country. Emer shared her vision with Sam, and together they prayed for discernment. After a few months, God 's direction became increasingly clear. They left their well-paying jobs and their newfound church family to return home. As missionaries with Every Home for Christ, Emer and Sam worked to bring the Gospel to every home in the Philippines but they were confronted by an enexpected difficulty. Their time in Saudi Arabia had taught them to be resilient in the face of persecution, but at home in the Philippines they encountered more opposition from the Filipino Church. Church after church turned them away, politely declining invitations to take the Gospel to their communities. While Emer and Sam's persecuted brothers and sisters in the Middle East risked being imprisoned for the Gospel, some Filipino churches expected compensation. In a nation of ubiquitous Christian customs and values, Emer and Sam had hoped to find ready partners in the Church, people who would share their vision and run with it. Over time they came to realise they needed something deeper - a passion that went beyond shared culture or ministry partnerships. They needed family.
Scattered across their nation, other Christians were looking for the same thing. On Bohol, an island south of Manila, Pastors Divinia and Alberto were eager to evangelise, but they lacked the ministry connections for substantial impact. On Siquijor, Pastor Umbo led a small church that was poised to minister to local impoverished communities if only he could find the resources. "Many of our churches want to go," says Ditas, an EHC leader in Manila. "But they don't have the training or materials." These unique churches - the ones with a desire to go - became a vital part of Emer and Sam's ministry. Many of them seemed small, almost insignificant compared to other churches, but their passion was unmistakeable. When Every Home for Christ supplied free gospel literature and training, their congregations leapt at the chance for expanded impact. They began to see real transformation within their communities - not the result of large denominations or ministries but the work of God moving through localised bands of believers. "The connection is getting stronger as the years pass by," Sam says. "They catch the vision. We feel they are family." This family's passion is catching, inspirng other churches to get involved.
Today, it is apparent that they are a part of something God is initiating on a national scale. Last year, the Philippines Council of Evangelical Churches released a statement calling all Christians to evangelism. Sam gives words to his and Emer's place in the story and their legacy among those whom they reach: "They may not remember me, or my wife, or Every Home for Christ either. But I know that when we plant the Word of God, it will grow in their hearts. It will keep growing. We are just stewards... We simply offer to the Lord our service to Him, and hopefully he will say, 'Well done, good and faithful servant. Come into the joy of my Kingdom." One day, visiting one of the many islands in the Philippines, Emer and Sam found themselves walking up into the mountains to reach a distant town with the Gospel. The sun was up and Emer turned to Sam with a smile: "This is what I saw." It was her vision, from so many years ago in Saudi Arabia, alive before her eyes.
Sam and Emer
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RWANDA OVERCOMING HISTORY
Rwanda is a nation born of ethnic tension and nearly ruined by the blood of its own people. The most densely populated nation in Africa, this small country is today characterised by the struggle to overcome the pages of its history. Rwanda’s pervasive and crippling ethnic enmity emerged on a national scale three years before the country gained independence from Belgium in1959, when the Hutus, the majority ethnic group, overthrew the reigning Tutsi king. The nation has since been fraught with bloody friction between these two groups. In the years that followed, the reigning Hutus killed thousands of Tutsis. The Tutsis responded by forming a militaristic rebel group and civil war broke out in 1990. In April 1994, the Hutu government launched a short-lived but far-reaching genocide in which one million Tutsi Rwandans were systematically slaughtered. Rebel Tutsis defeated Hutu forces in July 1994 and gained control of the country, forcing Hutu Rwandans to hide or flee to neighbouring countries. Paul Kagame, who led Tutsi forces to victory, is still president of Rwanda, although his multiple elections have been won amid controversy. Today, Rwandans vie to move beyond this history. The Rwandan government insists the country is stable in an effort to encourage tourism. Although the country is poor, with 90 percent of its population engaged in primarily sustenance farming, its economy has seen statistical growth over the past ten years. And with help from the United Nations, Rwanda continues to seek justice in the trials of officials involved in the 1994 genocide.
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At Every Home for Christ, we know that God loves the people of Rwanda. Hutus and Tutsis alike are His precious creation, and He desires to welcome the Rwandan people into His family and kingdom. We are honoured to participate in God’s plan as he heals this nation of its past and gives this people a future of hope and peace in Him. We have the privilege of sharing the Good News with a people who so desperately need to hear it. Jesus commissioned the Church to make disciples of all nations, including Rwanda, and that is exactly what we are doing. Every Home for Christ has been active in Rwanda since 1994. Since then, we have seen 199,508 people respond to Christ and 394 Christ Groups planted. A recent field report praises God because, “the Word shared with the Rwandan people in home-to-home campaigns is penetrating deeper. The people are responding to the Gospel, and many are requesting full Bibles after reading the EHC literature!” In order to embrace EHC’s second unalterable conviction that, EHC workers have increased their focus on partnership with local churches throughout the nation. EHC has been labouring to train key church leaders across Rwanda in their home-to-home strategy, resulting in even more exposure for EHC among various denominations. “Praise God for the number of churches who are connecting with EHC,” Rwanda National director Ananie Bagaragaza reports.
Life in general is not easy in
Zambia
and more so for those who are living with the HIV virus that causes AIDS.
As part of the Every Home for Christ food security program, HIV support groups are formed for men and women who have Villagers enjoying been tested positive for HIV Aids. Three of the Drama the members of a group in Mbachundu Zone in Zambia who all tested HIV positive when a mobile hospital visited their village, decided to rise above their problem and help themselves instead of just complaining like many of those found in this situation usually do. This group was identified and chosen as one of the benefiting groups in the Food Security Project and, due to their commitment to the program, they were trained in basic business management and were given a start-up capital of $50 (250,000zmk) to start a small business of buying and selling dry fish in the village. It was sometimes very hard for sick and weak members of the group to visit the hospital at appointed dates due to the distance and many were missing appointments with the doctors. This was something that really affected their wellbeing so the group decided to save money to buy a bicycle so that group members would have a way to get to the hospital. After working for seven months they made a profit of $170 (850,000zmk) and as a group bought a bicycle (like the one above) costing $120 (600,000zmk) which would help the
members of the group get to the hospital and receive their monthly ARV drugs. Mr Earnest Phiri, chairperson of the group said ...
“Life was not easy before getting help from the Every Home project but now life for us has changed a lot .” “We are now able to rush anyone who gets sick in our group to the hospital within the shortest period of time. Even after buying the bicycle we have enough money from our profits that we will be able to loan some money to each member of the group to start individual businesses that will run alongside our group business. Our aim is to see to it that each member of the group has his /her own bicycle for transport in the next two years. We have also benefited a lot from the nutritional training which has really improved our wellbeing.”
Many thanks to the Every Home for Christ supporters who have given to make this help possible.
YOUR DONATION OF $120 WILL BUY ANOTHER BICYCLE.
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Why Care About the Slaughter of Nigerian Christians?
http://www.prophecynewswatch
... because thousands of Christians are being butchered in Nigeria and whole villages being destroyed. Why are we so unconcerned? Why don't we care? I believe the biggest reason is that we simply don't know about what's happening there. But now you know. Here are the facts. For the last several months, a Christian missionary serving the poorest of the poor in Nigeria has been sending emails with terrifying news. Fulani tribesmen raping and killing villagers. Children being used as Islamic suicide bombers, resulting in scores of casualties. One horrible report after another. The major news agencies in the West have nothing reported. Not a word. At the same time, Nigerian news sources were ablaze with reports of the latest atrocities. This shocking headline was on Jihad Watch: "Nigeria: Muslims wipe out 15 villages in mass slaughter of Christians, the Nigerian government does nothing."
Pray the mass slaughter of Christians in Nigeria will stop! 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
NOVEMBER 2018 Bible Readings: This month the daily text will be taken from the Psalms. For those wanting to do the one-year Bible reading program these chapters are in brackets.
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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 31 (Nehemiah 1-7) 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 32 (Nehemiah 8-10) PRAY FOR JACOB DAMKANI - ISRAEL Pray for Jacob Damkani of Israel who is now at home , still in a coma. Pray for his healing and recovery. Pray against satanic attack on his body. Pray for his wife Elisheva as she cares for him. Psalm 33 (Nehemiah 11-13) SIERRA LEONE Pop. 7,400,000 Map. 44 Thank God for His guidance and protection as EHC workers travel great distances on dilapidated and sometimes dangerous roads. Praise Him for shielding them from danger as they share the Gospel. Psalm 34 (Malachi 1-4)
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CREATIVE ACCESS Praise God for a second coverage of this nation with gospel literature. This was possible due to much hard labour, strong prayer support, faithful support from EHCI and, most of all, the grace of God. The team looks forward to reaching every home in the nation once again. Psalm 35 (Matthew 1-2) NIGER Pop. 20,700,000 Map. 36 Please pray for EHC workers sharing the Gospel in the region of Diffa. There is much political and social unrest right now. Pray for protection, peace and great boldness to share the Good News during this difficult time. Psalm 36 (Matthew 3:1 to 4:11)
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ETHIOPIA Pop. 102,400,000 Map. 29 Our Ethiopia National Director will be travelling to a difficult neighbouring country to meet with key leaders for a strategic initiative. Please pray for protection for him and everyone involved. Also pray for great Psalm 37 success in reaching refugees in this nation. (Matthew 4:12 to 7:29)
PRAY FOR ISRAEL ROMANS 11:28
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VENEZUELA Pop. 31,600,000 Map. 214 Praise God for His help in proclaiming the Gospel in Venezuela this month despite many difficulties. Every home that welcomes team members, every life that is given to Christ, is a sign that He is working. This gives encouragement to our workers to continue. Psalm 38 (Matthew 8:1 to 11:1) BURUNDI Pop. 10,500,000 Map. 18 Praise God that many souls came to Jesus during recent EHC outreaches in this country. One hundred twenty new believers were baptised! Pray that these new believers will remain fruitful and grow to full maturity in Christ. Psalm 39 (Matthew 11:2 to 13:53) CREATIVE ACCESS Due to recent heavy rain, a large dam broke and water flooded entire villages. People have lost homes and all thier possessions. Some have died. Two full time EHC workers and 10 volunteers live in the flooded area. Please lift them up in your prayers. Psalm 40 (Matthew 13:54 to 16:28) LITHUANIA Pop. 2,900,000 Map. 99 Please pray that God will give EHC workers boldness and a passion for those without Christ as they go home to home with the Gospel of Jesus. Pray that God will soften the hearts of Lithuanian people and send revival to the nation. Psalm 41 (Matthew 17:1 to 19:2) NICARAGUA Pop. 6,200,000 Map. 183 There is much political unrest in Nicaragua. Innocent people (mainly young people) have been killed. Pray for the safety of Every Home for Christ Director Isaac Estrada, EHC staff and every believer. And pray that the Gospel will be shared despite the difficulties.Psalm 42 (Matthew 19:3 to 23:39) MOLDOVA Pop. 3,600,000 Map. 102 Please pray for the outreach happening in the village of Singera. Pray for good weather and protection for workers. Pray that God will open hearts to hear the Good News and many will surrender their lives to Christ. Psalm 43 (Matthew 24:1 to 26:2) BRAZIL Pop. 207,700,000 Map. 218 Pray that many churches and intercessors across the country will be willing to participate in EHC outreaches in order to share the love of Jesus. EHC Brazil longs to to see every home reached with the Gospel in the next twenty years. Psalm 44 (Matthew 26:3 to 27:66) CREATIVE ACCESS EHC staff have been in phone contact with L. for more than two years. She is open to the Gospel and, in reading the New Testament, she has become even more interested. She has a very simple faith, but also many questions. Pray that God will meet with her. Psalm 55 (Matthew 28)
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KYRGYZSTAN Pop. 6,100,000 Map. 110 Every Home for Christ plans to start a Christ Group in a place where poverty, drug and alcohol abuse and general low quality of life are very common. Please pray that God will bring many into His Kingdom. Psalm 46 (Mark 1:1-13) PHILIPPINES Pop. 103,300,000 Map. 204 Every Home for Christ is planning outreaches in the Caraga Region, where there are many non-Christians. Please pray that the Lord will lead EHC staff to the churches and people of faithwho will partner with them to reach this part of the country. Psalm 47 (Mark 1:14 to 3:35)
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PAPUA NEW GUINEA Pop. 8,100,000 Map.146 Please pray for EHC missionaries in Hela Province who are reaching homes in a tribal war zone. Several people were killed in a gun battle a few kilometres away from where the missionaries are based. Pray for safety and for encouragement to continue sharing the Gospel. Psalm 48 (Mark 4-5)
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SOUTH AFRICA Pop. 56,000,000 Map. 1 Pray that God will ignite in believers' hearts a passion for those without Christ as local churches participate in the EHC Harvest Project. And pray that many people will come to Christ as workers share the Gospel house to house. Psalm 49 (Mark 6:1 to 8:26)
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JAPAN Pop. 127,000,000 Map. 174 Pray for Japanese missionaries to keep up their personal witness and not lose heart. Pray that church members will be anointed by the Holy Spirit so they can stand together to share the Good News about Jesus. Psalm 54 (Luke 3:1 to 4:15)
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BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA Pop. 3,500,000 Map. 70 Pray for all those who received EHC gospel literature during the last outreach. Many had positive responses. Pray that they will continue to read these pieces of literature and hunger to know more of God. Psalm 55 (Luke 4:16 to 6:49)
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BURKINA FASO Pop. 18,700,000 Map. 40 Please continue to pray for Christians who are being persecuted or rejected by their families because of their faith. Pray that the hand of the Lord will rest upon them and that God will give them an abundance of grace as they share in the suffering of Christ. Psalm 56 (Luke 7:1 to 9:50)
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CHAD Pop. 14,500,000 Map. 34 The National Director and the EHC board are planning a seminar for denominational leaders and local churches to present the vision and strategy of Every Home for Christ. Please pray for believers' hearts to be united in purpose to reach every home in Chad. Psalm 57 (Luke 9:51 to 12:59)
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GEORGIA Pop. 3,700,000 Map. 103 Every Home Georgia is looking to reach the Turkish communities in the country, a population that has not been reached with the Gospel. They want to reach out and show the love of Christ to them as they give them gospel literature. Pray that many will accept Christ. Psalm 50 (Mark 8:27 to 10:31)
CAMEROON Pop. 23,400,000 Map. 24 EHC workers came across the leader of a rebel group during an outreach and shared the Gospel with him. He repented and accepted Christ. Now he is sharing the Good News with his group. Praise God for this Saul of Tarsus encounter. Psalm 58 (Luke 13:1 to 18:30)
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NIGERIA Pop. 186,000,000 Map. 35 The resurgence of guerrilla attacks by Boko Haram in northern Nigeria is creating anxiety in the hearts of believers. They fear going home to home with gospel literature. Please pray for boldness and courage for our workers. Also pray that the violence will stop. Psalm 59 (Luke 18:31 to 21:38)
KENYA Pop. 48,500,000 Map. 27 Pray for missionaries in Kenya as they go home to home carrying the Word of God - that the favour and mercies of the Lord will be on them to proclaim the Good News to every person in the homes they will visit. Pray that God will annoint the literature they give out. Psalm 51 (Mark 10:32 to 13:37)
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CREATIVE ACCESS Pray for believers and leaders in prison. Some have been arrested or gone missing after outreaches and no information about them is available. Their families need the peace of God to overwhelm them. Pray for our persecuted brothers and sisters. Psalm 52 (Mark 14-16)
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MYANMAR Pop. 52,900,000 Map. 135 Pray for EHC coordinators in various parts of the country holding discipleship and outreach training programs for churches. They are spreading the word about the work of home-to-home evangelism. Please pray for God's annointing as they share. Psalm 53 (Luke 1-2)
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CREATIVE ACCESS The EHC National Director in this country has encouraged believers to prayer walk the many regions of this nation that are closed to the Gospel. Please join them in praying that the barriers to the Gospel that have long held this country will be crushed. Psalm 60 (Luke 22-23)
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