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World Whirl

1:00am Saturday, 21st August 2010

Daniel Willis on Gospel work in Peru, Burundi, Europe China and Capetown

1 Turkey When a producer from the Kurdish television channel TRT 6 rang the Turkish Bible Society in early April, asking for a copy of the Kurdish New Testament, Tamar Karasu, the General Secretary, could hardly believe it.
In Turkey until recently the state had imposed severe restrictions on the use of Kurmanji, the language spoken by an estimated 15 million Kurdish people in Turkey. 2009 saw the first state TV channel in the Kurdish language launched. Recently the television channel obtained a copy of the ‘Mizgini’ (‘Good News’) New Testament to run a feature about the translation project in Publishing House, a weekly series about books in Kurdish.

2 Peru Isabel lives in a community 3900 metres up in the highland of Cusco. She says “I couldn’t read, let alone write but learning to read changed my life, the moment I began to study was a turning point in my life. I am now helping other women to read and understand the Quechua Bible.” Now she is able to share the word of God in her own language.

3 Gaborone, Botswana The “peace loving” branded country has experienced a political shakeup. The ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) has faced internal disagreements resulting in a split. This has the potential of destabilizing the nation. The people of Botswana ask the worldwide body of Christ to stand with them in prayer that the will of God would reign.
Two members of a local church were forcefully whipped by the Kgosi, a tribal Bakgatla leader in Mochudi. The two were holding an evangelistic crusade where they were “making noise” with their musical instruments used in worship! The Kgosi banned the church from worshipping in his village.

4 China Franklin Graham recently preached in the largest church in Harbin, a city of more than 10 million in North East China. More than 200 responded to the invitation to put their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Dr. Luis Palau also recently preached evangelistically in China.

5 Europe Revival is essential in Europe according to the new head of the European Evangelical Alliance (EEA), Rev Niek M. Tramper. “Traditional churches cannot continue without revival. Profound theology and missionary zeal are complementary. The EEA tries to bring together both in Europe. The EEA is facilitating the replanting of churches in countries like Kosovo, Albania and Turkey, as well as in Central Asia” he said.

6 Capetown Recovering from World Cup fever, Cape Town is preparing for the Lausanne 3rd World Congress on World Evangelisation which will take place in October 2010. 4,500 delegates from 200 countries will explore how to finish the task of taking the Gospel to the world.