India Every Home for Christ Primary School being repaired
September 2018
THE EVERY HOME FOR CHRIST SCHOOOL IN INDIA It's true, India's economy is growing but still there are 284 million illiterate people in India who will spend their days doing backbreaking jobs simply because they are not educated.
Could you find it in your heart to sponsor a child in India or Bangladesh for $30 a month so that they will not be one of the illiterate?
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A SPIRIT OF WATCHFULNESS by Dick Eastman, EHC International President Our first order of business during the watching phase of prayer is to make ourselves aware of the various ways Satan seeks to hinder the effectiveness of our prayer. From the earliest moments of prayer he comes on the attack, trying to draw our minds from the key issues of prayer. To watch in prayer is to become aware of these attacks and stand firmly against them. We should especially guard against prayer that lacks purpose. Suddenly many items on our prayer list seem empty or vague. Prayer becomes shallow. We find ourselves making statements of prayer, instead of claiming specific things in prayer. Only as we develop a spirit of watchfulness can we recognise Satan's plan of attack and block his efforts. As a perceptive prayer warrior suggests, "Always be on the alert to travel toward the goal of prayer, to disallow any unwanted words from mixing in, and to keep yourselves from praying prayers that are not prayers at all". But watching in prayer goes beyond developing an alertness to the manner in which Satan may attack. From a practical standpoint, time should be allocated during prayer for a mental reflection concerning what is happening beyond our immediate world. Not only must we be alert to personal satanic attacks, but we must become aware of the "wiles of the devil" as they pertain to God's plan throughout the world.
'Am I aware of how Satan is working to hinder God's workers?" Because watching means "a close observation," we must develop a plan for prayer that helps us observe the needs around us much more specifically. Following are several suggestions that should help intercessors develop just such a plan. First, endeavour to read material that makes you spiritually "aware" of specific world needs. Missionary journals and denominational reports can be of great assistance in developing this awareness. Every Home for Christ, the ministry I direct, engages several staff members around the world who do nothing but research specific needs of world evangelism. Such research is of enormous value in helping to inform concerned intercessors. A good deal of "prayer fuel" is available to help Christians pray intelligently. The tragedy is that so much of it is neglected due to a lack of awareness or outright concern. Second, during prayer strive to reflect mentally about "news" of the day.
Steps for Watching There are two essential questions the prayer warrior should ask himself as he goes about the ministry of intercession. They are: "How much awareness do I have relative to the problems of world evangelism?" and,
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Daily newspapers, as well as radio, television news broadcasts and the Internet contain certain items that have a definite bearing on God's work throughout the world. Economic problems, civil unrest, political changes and even weather conditions can enter into the fulfillment of the Great Commission. Ask God to refresh your mind concerning current events that deserve special prayer attention.
Finally, and certainly most importantly, ask the Holy Spirit to show you exactly what you should claim in prayer and how you should claim it. None of the suggestions discussed here can be put fully to use apart from concentrated direction from the Holy Spirit. In fact, without the Holy Spirit guiding us, effectiveness in prayer is an impossibility.
A Gift from Heaven Every weekend pastors all over the world invite people to follow Jesus.After offering this invitation to accept Him as Lord and Saviour, pastors will often give new believers three next steps: 1. Pray daily. 2. Find a church home. 3. Read your Bible. Anyone who has been a Christian for very long knows that these are vital parts of growing in your faith. It’s easy for Western believers to take this for granted, knowing healthy local churches are abundant and Scripture is only as far away as a Bible app. on an iPhone. Access to Scripture is not as easy for the Wichis, an indigenous people group in South America. Maria, a Wichi woman in Argentina, is the daughter of a Church of the Nazarene pastor, but her father died when she was young. Pastor Rino Bello, National Director of Every Home for Christ Argentina, describes how his death took a toll on her: “In her youth, she left the way of the Lord and, for many years, did not go to any church. She lived in a deep depression.” Maria fell in love with a nonbeliever and had two children, but she always felt a sense of loss. With no father, no faith and no church family, she felt like an orphan adrift in an ocean of loneliness and doubt. Years after her father’s death, an EHC team knocked on her front door during a hometo-home evangelism outreach.They gave Maria a piece of gospel literature in her native language,
“Her face was transformed, and joy filled their hearts. They called it a gift from heaven… ” and as soon as she started reading, tears streamed down her face. She knew Jesus was telling her, I never left you. She begged the evangelists to not only pray for her, but to pray for her children and her husband. From her youth, Maria knew what the next step was — she was supposed to read the Bible. She searched through her father’s old things, but she couldn’t find his well-worn copy. She asked the EHC evangelists for a Bible because she knew that, for her faith not to diminish like it did before, she needed to spend time in the Word of God.Those workers did not have a complete Bible to give her, but they did have a small New Testament. Maria accepted it gratefully. Sometime later, Maria and her husband attended an EHC discipleship training. Pastor Rino was surprised to see that the couple had been using only a single copy of the New Testament to lead a Christ Group in their remote location. By this time, the book was tattered and worn from frequent use. Pastor Rino asked why they were not using a full Bible. Maria simply replied she could not afford one. In Argentina, there are Bibles available in Spanish, but Bibles in the Wichi language are much more difficult to find. The Wichi are a smaller subset of people with only
an estimated 36,000 native speakers in the country. Moved by this couple’s faithfulness despite limited resources, Rino purchased 2 full Bibles, one for Maria and her husband as well as children’s Bibles for their kids. When she was given the Bibles Pastor Rino said, “Her face was transformed, and joy filled their hearts. They called it a gift from heaven… the best gift they have received in their lives.” Having Bibles of their own, has changed the life of their family and their Christ Group. She and her husband read it to their kids to train them to follow Jesus. “It is very difficult to live the Christian life without God’s Word,” Pastor Rino says. But it is difficult to get a Bible to every believer. This difficulty is not caused by transportation challenges or government restrictions. “The difficulty is that the Wichi Indians have very little money to buy Bibles, which are very expensive to have printed in the Wichi language. But we believe that God’s Word should be a personal tool of every believer.” For the Western Church, having a Bible is something that we can easily take for granted, but for a new believer in this part of the world, it is something far more sacred — it is a gift from heaven. by Rob Stennett
Rino Bello ministers to a young Wichi mother and her children.
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icture your dream house. Does it have a big kitchen? A built-in sound system? Maybe a multi-car garage? Now picture what the opposite of your dream house might be. The inmates of a women’s prison in Moldova don’t have to picture the opposite of their dream house. They already live in it. “All they see every day are sad faces, desperation, hopelessness, huge walls and an overall oppressing and overwhelming environment,” says Svetlana, an EHC evangelist. “Their deepest sorrow is that they cannot see their children at all.” Whether it is a dream house or a prison cell, home is wherever people live, and Every Home for Christ is committed to taking the Gospel of Jesus Christ to everyone’s home. For EHC evangelists in Moldova, that includes the women’s prison. Last year, an EHC team planned a special presentation for 330 women
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serving sentences in a local facility. What made this presentation special was that it came with gifts. The children of a Romanian church in Austria had gathered funds to provide a special blessing to the inmates of the Moldovan prison. With these funds, our team provided all the women with personal care necessities, which can be hard to come by within the prison walls. “These kids wanted to be good to others,” Svetlana says. “They gave from the coins they had from their parents, thinking about others before themselves.” When the women found out that the gifts they received had been purchased with money raised by children, they were deeply touched. Many of them are mothers, and the thought that a child had done something out of love for them brought them to tears. “Instead of taking care of our children, now other children are taking care of us!” one said.
program put on by the EHC team. It began with singing and included games, sketches, testimonies and a sermon. The message our workers shared focused on God’s endless love and the peace we all can have in Jesus. The women were grateful for the time of happiness and peace within their bleak surroundings. “Evangelising women in prison is very different from evangelising home-tohome,” Svetlana says. “There is no opportunity in prison to talk to each of them privately. There’s only two hours where we can organise a program spreading the Gospel to all
MOLDOVA If you would like to help share God’s light with people living in darkness, like these inmates, you can give using the enclosed form
of them at once.” Along with the gifts provided by the Austrian children, each woman also received an EHC gospel booklet so she could take the message of Jesus with her to her cell. At the end of the program, 40 women raised their hands to receive salvation through Jesus, and 30 are now being discipled in a weekly Bible study. “We pray that these women remain the salt and light of this prison and that, through them, all the other women there would come to God,” Svetlana says. “May God’s face shine upon this prison!”
Women in prison are cut off from the rest of the world, but that has not prevented EHC workers from visiting them where they live and sharing with them the hope they need most.
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
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Pa p u a n e w g u i n e a
EVERY HOME FOR CHRIST
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here are countless barriers when it comes to reaching every home for Christ in Papua New Guinea. With over 850 dialects spoken, the country is known as the most linguistically diverse place on earth, which makes communication difficult. The landscape can also be treacherous, as tensions among tribes often reach a fever pitch and erupt into violent outbursts. “Tribal fights normally occur when somebody is killed over land disputes, marriage problems, drug use or countless other reasons,” explains Aaron Nikkie, EHC National Director of Papua New Guinea. “When someone is killed, his tribesmen pay back violently by hurting and killing members of the other tribe.” This sort of retribution leads to blood-soaked
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consequences. Evangelists have to be very careful about where they walk and what they say. To reach new areas of Papua New Guinea, the EHC team enlisted the help of an indigenous man named Jonson Roberts. As a child, Jonson spent his days skipping school with his friends. “He pretended to go to school every morning but ran away with his friends instead,” Aaron explains.“He started taking drugs.” It didn’t take long for addiction to take hold of Jonson’s life. But even while he was skipping school, Jonson’s mother insisted he continue to read and write in their native language. Drugs may have destroyed Jonson’s formal education, but he would still be able to read, write and speak fluently in his family’s dialect.
By the time Jonson was an adult, he was desperate for an escape from drug addiction and tribal violence. The only way to start over was to walk away from the influence his peers had on his life. “He was already fed up with the drug addiction in the village and wanted to separate himself from his peers,” Aaron says. “He just needed a change of environment. When he learned that Every Home for Christ was sending a team of pioneer missionaries to Lumusa, he readily volunteered.” Lumusa is the region that Jonson’s mother originally came from. The EHC team needed a translator for their trip, someone who spoke the rare dialect of the region. Jonson signed up for the trip, not because he believed in God or in the mission of spreading the hope of Jesus, but because he just wanted some escape from the pain that filled his life.
The team trekked into the Western Highlands Province, toward Lumusa. It was a difficult trip through dangerous terrain. They faced long hikes on hot days, often carving and forging their way from village to village. The region had no electricity, so the team had to use kerosene lamps to light their path at night. It was often by this lamplight that Jonson would translate the gospel message to the people of Lumusa as they huddled in small groups. The people were curious to hear this message. They were a people in need of hope. They had seen terrible violence, as many of their own had been killed in the crossfire of the tribal wars. The loss of life was devastating as mothers wept over their sons and children cried, knowing they would never see their fathers again. As Jonson translated the pioneer missionaries’ words, he pointed his drugaffected friends to the hope of Jesus.
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“There is a God who loves you so much that He sacrificed everything so you could be set free,” Jonson translated. The people understood sacrifice, and they desperately wanted to understand what freedom felt like. Jonson knew the pain and loss they dealt with, and he knew exactly how to communicate the EHC team’s message. The results were incredible. “Many lives were transformed,” Aaron says. “Praise God for the 194 young people who gave their lives to Jesus because of the work from that trip. And we are so thankful for the seven new Christ Groups we planted.” But Jonson still had a secret. As someone who had been a drug addict and involved in tribal violence, he assumed the Good News of Jesus was for everyone else. He thought, I’m only pretending as though I have already changed my life and given my heart to the Lord. I have not. I’m a hypocrite telling other people to give their hearts to the Lord. What if Jesus comes back today? What if I die tomorrow? Will I be able to meet Him? All Jonson really wanted was to know this Jesus he was telling everyone else about. “All these questions kept bothering him deeply, until he finally asked the team leader to pray for him,” Aaron explains. “He wanted to receive Jesus in his heart.” That’s when Jonson felt free for the first time. Since that prayer, Jonson’s perspective
has changed. “He now enjoys the freedom that comes from serving God,” Aaron says. Stories like this point to the transformation that happens so often throughout Scripture. We read stories like those of Peter and Paul — those who think they are unworthy of grace and redemption. Only, when God gets ahold of their hearts, they become the greatest of servants. This is the case with Jonson Roberts. He used what he learned while overcoming cultural barriers to find new ways to reach out to other regions of Papua New Guinea. He now knows how to overcome difficult terrain, how to communicate in unique dialects and how to deal with the dangerous nature of some tribes. But perhaps the greatest barrier he learned to overcome was the one in his own heart. He has dedicated his life to serving Jesus through Every Home for Christ, using his gift of language to communicate a message of love and hope to this hurting people group. “It is a thrill indeed to hear and see the change taking place in the lives of these young people by the power of the Gospel,” Aaron explains. “It is our desire to see more young people of this generation — held captive by drugs, prostitution and violence — set free.” ROB STENNETT
SEPTEMBER 2018
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Bible Readings: This month the daily text will be taken from Job. 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. Job 15 (Psalm 135-136) 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! Job 16 (Isaiah 28-35) PRAY FOR JACOB DAMKANI Pray for Jacob Damkani of Israel that he will be kept in good health especially after having a life- threatening operation on his heart. He continues to be in a coma. Job 17 (Isaiah 36-39) SERBIA Pop. 7,100,000 Map. 71 Summer outreach plans include visiting regions where non-Christians are in the majority or where there are no Christian believers. Yet, the response to the Gospel in these areas is often great! Pray for the people. Job 18 (Isaiah 40-43) ST. LUCIA Pop. 178,000 Map. 205 Pray for an effective strategy to accomplish the goal of reaching every home. Pray for effective partnerships among the churches and for a geniune evangelistic burden in every believer. Job 19 (Isaiah 44-48) BRAZIL Pop. 207,700,000 Map. 218 Every Home for Christ is sending a truck with 160,000 discipleship courses (Be Fruitful and Multiply) to the city of Ceara in the northeastern part of Brazil. Pray that the Lord will use these resources to bless many people. Job 20 (Isaiah 49-57) MALAWI Pop. 18,100,000 Map. 15 Pray for protection and boldness for EHC workers as they go home to home sharing gospel literature. Pray that the village chiefs in the places they visit will allow workers to share the Gospel in their villages. Job 21 (Isaiah 58-66) NIGER Pop. 22,300,000 Map. 36 Pray for Brother S. He has been disowned and thrown out of his home for accepting Christ. Pray against discouragement and that God's presence and provision will encourage him in a difficult time. Job 22 (Hosea 1-3)
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MARTINIQUE Pop. 380,000 Map. 204 In Martinique, the program "Move Your Island" will mobilise thousands of young Christians for evangelisation. Pray for the success of this collaboration and that the tools made available by EHC will be used effectively to spread widely the Gospel. Job 23 (Hosea 4-7)
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CREATIVE ACCESS We are believing God that we can complete our third coverage in 10 years. We believe in the vision of the Oikos initative and we want to see every home reached in our country in ten years. Please pray for grace, wisdom and strategy to reach every home. Job 24 (Hosea 8-13)
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DEMOCRATIC REP OF CONGO Pop. 78,700,000 Map. 19 Pray for us in central Kasai. There are many barriers and bribes to go through these barriers. It is very corrupt and getting too expensive to travel. There are also bandits who hide in the bush and then stop and rob you. Please pray for us as we continue trying to reach homes. Job 25 (Hosea 14)
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CREATIVE ACCESS This week we will go to the region of K. and N. Please pray that God will use us there and that He will prepare the hearts of the people we will encounter with the good news. Pray for open hearts and minds so many will accept Jesus. Job 26 (Micah 1-3)
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EAST TIMOR Pop. 1,300,000 Map. 144 Please pray for the newly elected government in Timor Leste. Pray God would move in them and through them for the benefit of the whole country. Job 27 (Micah 4 -5)
SERBIA Pop. 7,100,000 Map. 71 Our team will be targeting villages in the south west. There are no evangelical churches or Christ groups in this area. - only a handful of new believers that are zealous to reach their villages. Please pray for the success of this outreach. Pray for protection and that many people would come to know Christ. Job 28 (Micah 6 -7) PRAY FOR Eric and Lorraine Leach, Executive Director of Australia and New Zealand EHC and UK founder and board member, that the Lord would use them and their family to do God's perfect will.
PRAY FOR ISRAEL ROMANS 11:28
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SOLOMON ISLANDS Pop. 590,000 Map. 152 Please pray for us as we attempt to reach our entire nation in 2 years. We are in need of God's grace and wisdom in strategy. Job 29 (Nahum 1-3) CREATIVE ACCESS Immediately after we finished our 2nd coverage we began the 3rd. The government has created a very strict law against sharing the good news of Christ. This law will begin being enforced in mid August. If we were to get caught sharing we would face 5 years in prison and a massive fine. Please pray. Job 30 (2 Chronicles 33-34)
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CREATIVE ACCESS We have been in phone contact with O. several times. She is very religious, but has had a revelation of who Jesus is. She believes in him and is trying to follow him. Recently, her ex-husband gave us a very angry message, telling us to stop all contact with her. Please pray for her and her husband. Job 31:1-20 (Zephaniah 1-3) CREATIVE ACCESS We praise God for a sunni brother who came to know the Lord through the preaching of another sunni brother who came to know the Lord through our ministry last year. Pray for this brother as he begins his walk with Christ. Pray also for courage to share with his own family. Job 31:21-40 (2 Chronicles 35)
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MAURITIUS Pop. 1,300,000 Map.6 We have been experiencing some intense spiritual warfare this month. So much activity of the enemy. Please pray for our team as we stay faithful to what God has called us to do. Job 32 (Habakkuk 1-3) KENYA Pop. 48,500,000 Map. 27 Pray for all our pioneer missionaries as they go home to home carrying the word of God; that the favour and mercies of the Lord will be upon them to proclaim the word of God to every person they will meet in the homes they visit. Pray God would annoint the literature they will distribute. Job 33 (Jeremiah 1 -6)
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MOLDOVA Pop. 3,600,000 Map. 102 Please pray for our outcoming outreach in the villages of Falesti, Doltu, Bocani, Petrosu and Histresti. Pray for courage and protection for our workers and volunteers. Pray many souls would believe in Jesus. Job 34 (Jeremiah 11 -12) BURUNDI Pop.10,500,000 Map. 18 Pray for our ministry partner who is battling malaria. Pray for God's healing touch in his body. Pray for swift healing and restoration. Job 35 (Jeremiah 26, 7 -10)
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INDIA Pop. 1,300,000,000 Map. 129 Pray God would break the suicide in our city. At least one person a day is killing themselves. Pray for God to break in with His light and truth. Job 36 (Jeremiah 14 -20)
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NAMIBIA Pop. 2,500,000 Map. 11 Bibles have been banned from our schools. Pray for open doors in schools so children may learn the word of God. Pray for a great passion for evangelism in churches across the nation. Pray for outcoming outreach. Pray many men and women would turn from their ways to follow God. Job 37 (Jeremiah 36 -36) MEXICO Pop. 127,500,000 Map. 178 Please pray for gang related violence to cease completely in the northern parts of the country. More than 100 people have been killed in the last two months. Please pray. Job 38:1-20 (Jeremiah 45, 25)
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ETHIOPIA Pop. 102,400,000 Map. 29 Pray for our zonal director as he travels to motivate leaders in the underground churches in that area as well as recruit for the Oiks initiative. Pray many labourers would be raised up to share the gospel even in persecution. Job 38:21-41(Jeremiah 46 - 49)
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CREATIVE ACCESS Pray for believers and leaders in prison. Some leaders have gone missing after outreach. They have been arrested and we don't have any information about them. Also pray for their families. They are in desperate need of the peace of God to overwhelm them. Pray for our persecuted brothers and sisters. Job 39 (Jeremiah 13, 22 - 23)
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GUYANA Pop. 773,300 Map. 213 Please pray for the church in the very remote communities of the jungle of Guyana. Pray that as a ministry, we would do anything and everything in our power to reach the homes in those very remote communities. Job 40 (Jeremiah 24, 27- 29) CAMEROON Pop. 23,400,000 Map. 24 Pray for protection for our missionaries in their effort to spread the gospel in war zones. Many pastors have abandoned these areas for their safety.Pray God would set his hedge of protection around all those labouring to share the good news with great risks to their lives. Job 41 (Jeremiah 50 - 51)
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LITHUANIA Pop. 2,900,000 Map. 99 Please pray for revival in Lithuania. We are in need of a fresh outpouring of His spirit. Pray God would begin by waking the church from its slumber. Job 42 (Jeremiah 30 - 33)
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