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Protestant churches in Hong Kong are blooming with an annual growth rate of 6.2% over the last five years and the number of Protestants in the former British colony is drawing close to 300,000. The number of practising Protestants surpassed 290,000 in 2009, rising from just over 216,000 in 2004, according to the results of a new survey released by the Hong Kong Church Renewal Movement. The figure surpasses the growth experienced by Protestant churches in Hong Kong from 1999 to 2004, when the number of practising Protestant rose from just under 176,000 in 1999 to nearly 217,000 in 2004, an annual growth rate of 4.3%. Rev Luk Fai, President of the Bethel Bible Seminary, revealed the new statistics in the latest edition of Christian Weekly magazine.
Praise: God for the growth of His Church and pray for its continued development and protection. (Ac.49:50)
More: http://www.christiantoday.com/article/hong.kongs.protestant.churches.blooming/26009.htm
On August 12th missionary Trish and her son Ben were accosted by two young men with handguns and taken to a remote area. Then Trish was released and the kidnappers began ransom demands via the mission sending agency supporting the family. The kidnappers had no way of knowing that through social media within 12 hours there were over 100,000 people praying for Ben, after 20 hours there were over a quarter million praying. At the end, 300,000 people had logged in and were praying around the globe for his release. The negotiation - or lack of negotiation - was tense because the family could not pay a ransom. In response to prayer, God moved and the two young men had a change of heart. Ben was released unharmed on August 13th and taken to a local hospital for observation. He was dizzy and confused when released, and slightly bruised from his travel through the bush.
Praise: God for social media activating global prayer within a matter of minutes. (Ps.66:19-20)
A powerful prayer movement is rising in the world's largest Muslim nation. Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, Indonesian Christians intercede for their country. It was a scene never witnessed before in Indonesia's history. ‘I don't know another nation on earth like Indonesia where the church has become so passionate and united in prayer,’ Tom Victor, with the American-based Great Commission Coalition, said. Last year, more than 9,000 Christians from around the world descended on the Indonesian archipelago for a massive prayer gathering led by scores of Indonesian churches united to see the name of Jesus Christ lifted. Dr. Bambang Widjaya was a key architect of the event. ‘We can see the zeal, not only among the evangelical or Pentecostals, but also in the mainline churches and Catholic that we need to spread the Good News of Christ all over the country,’ Widjaya said. (See Prayer Alert 20-2012 World Prayer Assembly)
Praise: God for His grace and favour. Long may it continue! (2Cor.4:15)
More: http://www.openheaven.com/forums/forum_posts.asp?TID=43816&PN=1
Global Christian broadcaster Trans World Radio (TWR) was heard ‘louder than ever’ across Asia Monday, November 21, after inaugurating two transmitters it hopes will help to reach ‘millions more people’ including ‘persecuted’ Christians in countries such as China. TWR President Lauren Libby hosted what he called ‘a live dedication’ of the network's two new 250,000-watt shortwave transmitters on the pacific island of Guam. The transmitters replace the older 100,000-watt facilities giving ‘TWR the opportunity to touch even more lives with the good news of Jesus Christ,’ he said. ‘We thank God for the privilege of increasing our spiritual footprint in Asia via the 15.4 megahertz in the 19 meter band, the official added’.
Praise: God for the spread of His Word through the work of TWR and others across the airwaves. (Ps.135:1)
More: http://www.bosnewslife.com/19172-christian-broadcaster-twr-with-new-transmitters-in-asia
Want to ride the Jesus wave into the 21st century? There's an app for that! Revolutionary new media company DV8 Media has released ‘The Life of Jesus’, the first-ever comprehensive mobile phone application dedicated to the life of the Christian savior. Containing cutting edge original video and audio productions, engaging interactive games, Christian-themed communication tools, and the full text of the New Testament, searchable and bookmarkable, ‘The Life of Jesus’ is designed to bring a new generation of Christians and the Christian community together to reinforce Jesus' philosophy in a hip, sleek and technologically advanced production. DV8 will enable always-on access to the tech-savvy spiritually minded. ‘We can break down old paradigms and bring the teachings of Christ to a new, younger international audience,’ explained Geoff Tyson DV8's Managing Director. The application will be available through the Apple Store beginning 23 June 2010. Please visit www.thelifeofjesus.net. Praise: God that He has an app for everything! (Pr.15:23)
The Government has bowed to pressure and withdrawn its highly controversial plans for England. Under the proposals, sex education was to become a statutory part of the national curriculum and control over the content of lessons was to be taken away from school governors and given to Whitehall officials. Proposals to restrict the freedoms of home-schooling parents have also been shelved as the Government attempts to get its Children, Schools and Families Bill into law before the general election. The changes come as a result of the negotiations that take place in the final throes of a Parliament. Under the contentious sex and relationship education plans, children were to be taught that same-sex civil partnerships were equal in value to marriage. Faith schools were also set to be forced to teach children about homosexuality and tell kids how to access contraception.
Praise: God that prayer and pressure groups have caused this change. (Php.1:27)
More: http://www.christian.org.uk/news/govt-drops-home-and-sex-ed-plans/
www.Bible.is the popular Bible app from the Audio Bible ministry Faith Comes By Hearing (FCBH), is now available for use in Arabic. Spoken by more than 221 million people throughout the world, Arabic now joins Spanish and English as the major trade languages available for users to navigate the app. Since their Digital Bible Project started last year, Arabic has consistently been in the top five languages accessed across the multiple platforms offered by FCBH. In addition to the www.Bible.is app, the ministry's Audio Bibles can be accessed via podcast on iTunes, as well as streaming and downloading directly from its website, all free of charge. FCBH currently has Audio Bibles in 538 languages, with 188 of those available for reading and listening on the Bible app, helping make the Digital Bible Project the world's largest resource of Bible recordings and texts. (Faith Comes By Hearing)
Praise: God for the work of FCBH and the way that so many can be reached with the Word. (2Tim.2:9b)
More: http://www.lausanneworldpulse.com/newsbriefs.php/1412/05-2011
Every year thousands of young people head out to the sunny coasts of Ibiza (Balearic Islands, Spain) for the super clubs, cheap booze and sex. Lucy Hardy from the UK has also spent her last couple of summers out on the main strip in Ibiza, but she is not your average holiday party animal. She works with Third Space Ministries, an organization that shares God’s love in places such as night clubs, gyms and coffee shops. Ibiza is the clubbing capital of Europe. In the centre of San Antonio, the main clubbing strip, Christians established a place of prayer and outreach. They’re on duty every evening until the early hours of the morning. ‘One group will go out on to the streets and one group will stay in the prayer room,’ Lucy explains. ‘We walk around in pairs down the main clubbing strip, praying: God, who specifically do you want us to go to?’ This regularly leads to amazing encounters.
Praise: God for all those who are called to reach out to the clubbers in Ibiza. (Ps.18:16)
Following the intervention of the Christian Legal Centre, Gloucester City Council has issued a statement apologising for stopping a Christian group from handing out leaflets and admitting it was wrong to stop them. The apology follows the threat of legal action after Gloucester City Council told a group of Christians that they could not distribute Christian literature in the town’s city centre. The tracts were being handed out by members of at least ten city churches during ‘Bible Day Gloucester’ last month. Andrea Minichiello Williams, CEO of the Christian Legal Centre, which is supporting the group, commented: ‘This is a victory for free speech. Gloucester City Council is to be commended for reversing their decision to ban the distribution of Christian literature. The Christian Gospel is all about freedom and freedom has been upheld in Gloucester. So much of what we value as a nation stems from the teachings of Jesus.’
Praise: God for the change of heart by Gloucester City Council. (Pr.92:1)
For 30+ years the JESUS Film Project (JFP) has engaged people with Jesus through films in their native language with missionaries travelling the world with film, projectors, and movie screens as they share the story of Jesus. Now a new strategy will multiply global outreach through digital distribution. Over the years a library has grown to 40+ video products in 1,136 of the world’s languages. The new technology allows these tools to seamlessly be embedded in websites, cell phones and apps of ministry partners around the world in over 1,100 languages through 50,000+ speakers - and the digital technology provides the ability to see how many times the different films are viewed, downloaded, in what languages and from where. This information will help in the development of new materials. To date, the classic JESUS film has been shown in 220 countries.
Praise: God for the massive potential this technology provides. (Ro.10:17,18)