In this Issue:
- What’s New at www.PneumaFoundation.org
- Reports from around the world
-
- India: Hindu pilgrimage becomes baptism
- Philippines: Church planting target reached
- Afghanistan: Jesus in the dictionary
- Thought to Ponder: Bible Pills
- Resources You Can Use: Legal Resources
- The Story of the Pneuma Foundation
- Excerpts from the Pneuma Review
-
- Editorial: “A Crown” by H. Murray Hohns
- From the Messianic Foundation series “Secret Codes in
Matthew: Examining Israel’s Messiah” Part 3. By Kevin
Williams
- Periodical Review: “Muslims Tell ‘Why I Chose
Jesus’” by J. Dudley Woodberry and Russell G. Shubin
in Mission Frontiers Reviewed by Raul Mock
- Prayer Request & Praise Report
- Correction: September Resource Specials
- October E-mail Resource Specials
- Becoming a Member & More Information
- The Pneuma Foundation Statement of Faith and Purpose
What’s New at www.PneumaFoundation.org
The Sponsorship Program announced in the last issue of the Pneuma
Informer can now be found at:
/sponsor_program.jsp
New links to friends of the Pneuma Foundation, as well as links
to on-line books and articles you can read and resources you can
use. For links to on-line study resources, go here:
/links_study.jsp. For on-line
books and articles:
/links_articles.jsp. For Friends
of the ministry:
/links_friends.jsp.
Also, be sure to check out the “What’s New”
section on the Pneuma Foundation homepage. New articles and other
features and being added weekly.
Have a website you would like linked to the Pneuma Foundation? Write
Webmaster Dave Driggs with your suggestion. Or use the on-line form to submit your suggestion:
/links.jsp#link.
Reports from Around the World
India: Hindu pilgrimage becomes baptism
Rani (name changed) was a proud Brahman, who inexplicably married
a Christian evangelist four years ago. She had a good job in the
government, and whenever her husband tried to explain the gospel
to her, she refused; she had her belief, and was a woman from the
leading Hindu caste. In January 2001, her husband traveled as
part of an evangelistic team to the Kumbh Mela, the Hindu
festival that took place in Allahabad this year. Rani accepted
the invitation to go along, thinking “finally, the chance
to make a pilgrimage to the Kumbh Mela, even if I come as part of
a Christian group.” When she saw how the Christians prayed
and fasted, she was amazed. “The God to whom the Christians
prayed seemed to answer their prayers within ten or twenty
minutes. I had never seen anything like it. That was disquieting,
and I finally decided to try it for myself. Inexplicably, the
money for our return journey had not yet arrived, so we were
stuck in Allahabad waiting for the money transfer. That can take
some time in India, so I prayed myself to Jesus: ‘Please
send us the money. If it is here in twenty minutes, I’ll be
convinced and will follow you like my husband. Twenty minutes
later, we received a message telling us the money had arrived. I
fulfilled my promise, converted and was baptized by my husband in
the Ganges. Since January, I have led many women to Jesus, and
have baptized 25 myself. Together with my husband, I travel
around some forty villages, telling the people about Jesus and
planting churches,” she says, smiling.
Source: Friday Fax 2001 Issue 32
Philippines: Church planting target reached
This year, a great target was reached: in 1974, Christian leaders
agreed to work together until the nation’s 5’000
Christian churches became 50,000, aiming for the year 2000.
Research has shown that there are now around 60,000 churches in
the nation, or around one for every 1,250 of the nation’s
75 million inhabitants. A growing number of the new churches
meets not in church buildings, but in houses, classrooms,
schools, under trees, in offices or stadiums.
Source: DAWN Ministries [
www.dawnministries.org] by way of Friday
Fax 2001 Issue 34
Afghanistan: Jesus in the dictionary
The following is a report from an Afghani church planter, whose
true name and surroundings we obviously cannot reveal: “At
the start of 2001, I was imprisoned by the Taliban in Kabul. I
was considered an arch-enemy, because I fought under Massud (in
northern Afghanistan) and refused to submit to the Taliban
regime. That means the death sentence. I wanted to put my time in
my cell to some use, and received an English-Urdu dictionary so
that I could learn English. Opening it indiscriminately, the word
‘Christ’ caught my eye. I felt a radiance and
emotional warmth and strength which I had never previously
experienced emanating from that name, and held the book close to
my chest for hours. The effects increased to the point at which I
felt a strong desire to learn more about this word. I had no idea
what the word meant. Moslems know Jesus as Isa, but do not have
the name Christ. I prayed. ‘Allah, if you can do something
for me, save me from this death and torture cell.’ Only two
members of my family remain; an uncle who fled the country, and a
sister-in-law who is still in Afghanistan. The rest died in the
war or its aftermath. After three months, I was unexpectedly
released and deported to Pakistan. I found my way to Peshawar,
and started speaking about the word ‘Christ’ with my
countrymen. I soon understood the meaning of the word and its
history, and decided to follow Christ as my savior. I stopped
attending the Friday prayer, and was neither able nor inclined to
speak the name Allah. I was persecuted, and had to flee to
another city in Pakistan, where Christians hid me. It became too
dangerous for me there too, because I testified about Jesus. The
more I testified, the more the desire grew to devote my life to
testifying to the truth. Today, I live in a house church and am
getting to know the family of God. I am being prepared for my
ministry. Although I have received a number of opportunities to
travel abroad, I want to remain here to help my people. I have
experienced God’s care, and signs and wonders.”
Source: Friday Fax 2001 Issue 36
Thought to Ponder: Bible Pills
“If you really want a pill you can take one every hour,
pill of faith, pill of prayer, pill of resurrection power. Search
your Bible as you will always find a pill, praise and take one
every hour, pill of resurrection power.”
- Lillian Yeoman, 1930
Resources You Can Use: Legal Resources
The Consumer & Business Legal Resource Center is a free
service to help individuals and businesses resolve legal issues.
Here you will find thousands of government documents and forms
for both the United States and Canada.
You will also find answers to a wide variety of frequently asked
legal questions, many of which are available in RealAudio®,
and Windows Media formats, from the Audio Guides.
http://prepaid.lawinfo.net/cgi-bin/mainsearch.pl
The Story of the Pneuma Foundation
Please read this brief history of how the Pneuma Foundation was
started. Our Story
Excerpts from thePneuma Review
The "
Pneuma Review" is a quarterly printed
journal of ministry resources and theology for Pentecostal and
charismatic ministries and leaders.
Editorial: “A Crown” by H. Murray
Hohns
Read the article, as appearing in the Fall 2001 issue of Pneuma Review: "A Crown"
From the Messianic Foundation series “Secret Codes
in Matthew: Examining Israel’s Messiah” Part 3. By
Kevin Williams
Read the entire series: The Secret Codes in Matthew: Examining Israel's Messiah
Periodical Review:
“Muslims Tell ‘Why I Chose Jesus’” by J.
Dudley Woodberry and Russell G. Shubin. Mission Frontiers (March
2001). Pp. 28-33.
Read the review here: Muslims Tell "Why I Chose Jesus"
Reviewed by Raul Mock
Prayer Requests:
- Please pray for Christians in the predominantly Muslim nation
of Indonesia. John Barr, secretary for Indonesia for the Uniting
Church in Australia, said that the "same war" Muslim
extremists are fighting with the US was being waged in northern
Indonesia with nearly twice as many casualties, "and yet,
without the spectacular video footage of the mass murders, their
cries barely register on world consciousness." Barr has said
that over 10,000 people have been killed and 300,000 displaced
since Muslim extremists launched a jihad "holy war"
against the northern islands in 1999. Those islands have a
predominantly Christian population, and those behind the attacks
have been said to have links to Osama bin Laden’s terrorist
network.
- This request was received through the Pneuma Foundation
website: “Please pray for my father Huanwu. He lives in
Harbin China. He has been suffering from cancer in colon which
has spread to liver and brain. He is in hospital now. I do
believe God's healing power can heal him in spite of the
desperateness of the situation. Please pray for him so that he
will be healed by our healing God. Thanks. Jingyi”
- The volunteer staff of the Pneuma Foundation continues to ask
for your prayers. A digital postal packaging scale (approx. $75)
is still needed for the office. There is also a need to reprint
envelopes and letterhead in the near future. The check-size
envelopes that are included with all of the Foundation’s
outgoing mail will cost about $85 for 1,000. Letterhead will be
$110 per 1,000 sheets. Journal sized envelopes will be $100 per
1,000.
Praise Reports:
- Someone has provided a cabinet for use in the Pneuma
Foundation offices. This is an answer to prayer (see the
September prayer requests). Thanks to all of our faithful
friends.
- We praise the Lord with H. Murray Hohns. He reports that his
doctor has given him a clean bill of health, that the chest
“pressure” he was feeling recently while traveling is
nothing to be concerned about.
Condolences:
- From a friend of the ministry, Pastor Bernard, in Uganda:
- “We've heard with sorrow all that's happened
[in the USA on September 11] and send our condolences to all the
bereaved families. This is all the work of the devil and it calls
for spiritual warfare. Let's call upon the Lord like never
before.
- I normally talk about the Islamic Jihad and their way of
doing things and believe strongly that we must do everything to
stop their spread of influence.
- God bless for now and let's do the best we
can.”
- Condolences to the family of Bishop Nathan Phillips of the
Association of Evangelical Gospel Assemblies on his homegoing on
September 15, 2001.
- Please send us your prayer requests and praise reports. We
have a great God who always meets our needs.
- If you would like more information about how you may help in
meeting these needs, please send an E-mail to Member Services