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 DEVOTIONAL
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Isaiah 55:5Isaiah 55:5 “Behold, You shall call a nation that You do not
know; a nation that did not know You shall run to You because
of The Lord Your God, and for the Holy One of Israel; for He
has glorified You.”
The promise is that the Gentile nations shall be called out
of their ignorance and from their former idol worship and
pagan ways into a personal knowledge of the Holy One.
It is the Lord who calls them, it is He who seeks them
and calls them by name: “You shall call a nation that You do
not know”. It is not that God did not know them, but that
this nation was not formerly called “Your nation”, and that
You did not send Your prophets to them, as You did to the
nation of Israel. The Gentiles shall now be shown and see The
Lord as they never did before. Jesus has called all believers
to proclaim the good news of the gospel to all peoples and
all nations in the same way that the prophets were sent to
the nation of Israel. They Gentiles will be shown God and
His unmerited favour, His grace, given to them through Jesus
Christ.
They shall respond to The Lord and come at His call:
Nations “that did not know You shall run to You”; They
previously did not know God but now they will know Him.
Their knowing God is actually their being known and chosen
by God. Those that had pursued other gods and been far
from The Lord shall be called by Him and those that had
been running from him shall now run to him.
Why will the Gentiles run? It is because of the Holy One
of Israel; Jesus said in, John 12:32John 12:32 “And I, if I am lifted up
from the earth, I will draw all men to Myself.” As the prodigal
son ran to the father that he knew, so too will the peoples
from every nation run to their Heavenly Father. They will
now understand the mystery of the gospel that was previously
hidden but has now been revealed to us. The Gentile nations
will understand who God is, His character and nature. They
will desire to know Him as He knows us.
Their eyes will be opened and they will now see that The
Lord is Holy and that He calls us to be holy. Those people
and nations will understand who Jesus Christ is, and when
they understand that He is the only Mediator between God
and Man, they will surely run to Him.
John 17:3John 17:3 “And this is life eternal, that they might know
You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.
(Continuing vs. 6) I have revealed Your name to the men whom
You gave to Me out of the world. They were Yours, and You gave
them to Me, and they have kept Your word.”
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IMPACT AFRICA TRIP
A BRIEF OVERVIEW
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Prisoners with the Challenge prison edition and a hardcover Bible |
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Prisons: In 2003 World Hope Ministries was working in
approx 10 prisons in South Africa. Since commencing the use
of the paper they have been able to gain access and work in all
252 prisons and have had response slips returned from 185 of
those prisons. Once a prisoner returns the Response Slip they
commence a discipleship course, currently there are 25,000
prisoners being discipled. At the present time our bi-monthly
print run is 70,000 papers. We have had a request for an
additional 50,000 papers and for more Bibles as the demand far
exceeds our ability to supply. We had approx 270 responses over
the four days the Impact Africa team worked in the prisons.
Railway Station: We distributed 16,000 papers in just under
3 hours and also had a great opportunity for some one on one
discussion. The JW’s have a very large presence, and people
are taking their material because it is often the only “christian”
material available. There is also a huge problem with the “health/
wealth gospel”. The other issue is syncretism which is a blending
of the gospel with traditional beliefs. There are many who claim
to be Christian but who have no real understanding of the gospel,
who Jesus is and how we have/get a right relationship with God.
Musina: Is a small town on the border of Zimbabwe. We went
and did several days work there in prison, hospital, street work
and with the approx. 3000 truck drivers waiting to cross the
border. Again we saw the same issues, there are so many who
know about Jesus but do not know Him personally and have a
confused understanding of the gospel. The opportunities again
are amazing and the paper has had a great impact but they also
desperately need people who can accurately teach/explain the
gospel. After reading the paper and hearing the gospel message,
approx. 30 people responsed. Again these will be followed up
and discipled by the local churches.
Street Ministry: It was amazing to see the acceptance of the
paper everywhere that we went, including the Muslim areas. We
distributed the papers one day and the following day Pastor Willy
Dengler from the Mayfair Baptist Church received a phone call
from a Muslim man. He meet Willy at the church and gave his
life to Christ. He knew the cost, now he has no family or job, and
has to move to another town for fear of his life. The next Sunday
they had 16 new people at church and had 6 people come forward to
give their lives to Christ. It was truly an amazing time of ministry.
V.B.S. Kids Club: Again an amazing opportunity to minister not
only to the kids but also to the parents. Each day we averaged about
250 children in the two locations where we ran a VBS: Pennyville
squatter camp and Mayfair Baptist Church. The kids also took a
paper home with them and one Indian boy who gave his heart to
the Lord took the paper home and shared with his parents. On the
following Sunday he brought his parents to church and it turns out
they were back-slidden Christians. They have now recommitted their
lives to Christ and will be followed up and discipled. At Pennyville
squatters camp, whilst the kids club was on, we distributed approx
3000 papers to the parents and also had some good one on one
opportunities to share the gospel. The initial work at Pennyville was
with a view to doing a church plant and the work at Mayfair was for
outreach. From the VBS at Mayfair 20 kids responded, and from the
youth Chill zone approx 20 kids responded.
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Gathering at a Gospel Outreach church service |
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Gospel Outreach, Central Johannesburg: We distributed the
paper throughout the high rise flats and had great opportunity to
share one on one with many different people. Again the people are so
open to the gospel and many responded and also many came to the
midweek church service. Carl preached and 37 people came forward
to commit their lives, these people will start a discipleship course
and once again upon completion of the first book will be given a
bible. This church works on volunteers doing the outreach, the food
ministry, the clothing and running the church. We hopefully have a
church here in Perth that will sponsor the paper and possibly some
bibles for them to continue this great work. We had 49 responses in
two days from the church plus approx 15-20 from the flats.
There are many more stories of the work in South Africa but
space does not allow us to tell you all that happened.
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PMF church gathering in the Rhonda township |
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Kenya: We work in Kenya with Peace Makers Fellowship
headed up by Paul Dondoh.
In 2002 P.M.F. had one church of approx 10-15 people and Paul
said that they were really struggling. In 2005 they started using
the Challenge paper which is now sponsored by CNEC Partners
International and they have used the paper to start 18 churches.
From one of these churches the pastor has now 15 different places
that he preaches. PMF have also started a nursery school using the
paper for the kids and also the parents. The issues in Kenya are the
same as South Africa, one is, that everyone thinks that they are a
Christian but again have no real understanding of the gospel. Even
some of the pastors have a limited understanding due to a lack of
resources. They have an earnest desire to learn and to teach but have
not always been taught well themselves. In one new settlement area
(Rhonda) that has formed since the tribal violence last year there
are now approx 100,000 squatters and PMF have just planted a
new church. They are using the paper to reach the community and
have no teaching or training material and only a few bibles. It is
amazing to see the way that the Lord has blessed the paper in many
of these countries and the many commitments that are coming in
as a result.
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Paul Dondoh (left) with PMF pastors |
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We also met the headmaster of a private Christian school in South
Africa who had received an invitation to visit Liberia to see the
education system. He was shocked to see that they have nothing and
wants to use the Challenge paper as a teaching tool in the schools.
Initially he will take 1,500 papers with him but he indicated if
he can raise the finance they will look at a minimum of 50,000
papers. Again the Lord is opening another country to Challenge and
presenting great opportunities.
- Thank you for all your support as you partner with us.
- Please continue to pray for the Challenge Team and for all
the Ministry work going on.
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Challenge Literature Fellowship Bank Account direct deposit details
BSB: 066162 / Account: 00900455
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Address: PO Box 978, Cloverdale WA 6985,
Phone (08) 9453 3311 or Fax (08) 9453 3006
Email: info@challengenews.org
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My Response
Post to: Challenge Literature Fellowship, PO Box 978, Cloverdale WA 6985; or Fax to: (08) 9453 3006
Name: __________________________________________________________________________________
Address:___________________________________________________________ Post Code: ______
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following way(s):
__ Prayer: Please send me updated prayer information.
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__ $50 __ $75 __ $100 __ $200 __ Other (Please specify): $ _________
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