EVERYHOMETaking the Gospel to Every Home

February 2013

Igor Rogozhnikov

25,000 come to Christ in Egyptian desert!

25,000 come to Christ in Egyptian desert!

"There is a lot of bad news with riots and trouble in Egypt but there is good news too with an estimated 25,000 people coming to Christ in the Egyptian desert.

Jesus Christ is still known throughout Egypt.

In early October, 10,000 young people gathered in the desert north of Cairo to sing, pray and worship the Lord. The youth gathering was followed later in the month with an even larger event called "Count it Right", a Christian rally which drew 45,000 people. Hundreds of buses brought in people of all ages to the conference grounds, which also hosted artistic and sports activities. But the focus of the event was to present the message of salvation and call people to give their lives to Jesus at a time in Egypt when Christians are being persecuted.

Included in the numbers reported by a Christian leader are:

• 45,000 - the number of attendees

• 25,000 - estimated number of people who gave their lives to Jesus.

• 8,000 - cards filled out by people who requested follow-up visits by churches

• 2.3 million - estimated number of people who followed the television on two Christian satellite channels for six and a half hours of airing time broadcasted live each day to North America, Australia and the Middle East

• 1,000 - children participating in a special program prepared for them

• 5,000 - people attended a one-day parallel festival in the Coptic Orthodox Cave Church, located in Cairo's garbage dump

• 6,000 - people attended another similar gathering from different churches in Assiut, a city located six hours south of Cairo

A Christian leader blogs: "Great harvest! The sight of thousands of people proclaiming their desire to accept Jesus as Lord and Saviour is hard to describe in words. Most of the attendees were from the Coptic Orthodox Church, and one of the nights a Coptic Orthodox priest was the main speaker for the meeting. Have I seen an Orthodox priest preaching from an evangelical pulpit to such a big crowd of people before? Never. Attendees were challenged to put their material things like cigarettes, drugs, magic charms etc into large baskets that were passed around throughout the entire stadium. They were also urged to write down any sins they wished to repent of and also put those in the bins.

"On the first night alone, 12 large wicker baskets were filled with these items. I think Jesus was present in a similar multitude scene before. This was a powerful symbol of a sincere decision they have all made to follow Christ." The Christian leader explains: "We do not have an accurate count or a clear indication of how many people accepted Christ. Most of the days, more than half of the people in the stadium stood up to pray and repent in response to the altar call. It was impossible for the ushers and evangelism team to pray with all the people and fill out cards with each one. With this in mind, the estimated number was 25,000 people who prayed to receive Christ during the festival.

A Christian blogger added "The Holy Spirit is the only One Who has the exact count, though. We are grateful to Him for His great work among us. We are so thankful to God for His protection over this large event and the large number of people who attended. Grateful for the smooth administration of so many logistics and for the spirit and attitude between all the believers who worked together to make it possible. We are overwhelmed by His goodness and His heart of mercy towards Egypt, and are

Isaiah 19:23-25

"The Egyptians and Assyrians (Northern Iraq) will worship together. In that day Israel will be the third... a blessing on the earth. The Lord Almighty will bless them, saying, "Blessed be Egypt my people, Assyria my handiwork, and Israel my inheritance."

Comment:

The Egyptians, the Assyrians and the Israelites will worship together. The Bible prophesies that the Gentiles and the Jews would be joined together in one faith, and would be one fold under Christ their shepherd.

Pray that Jesus the shepherd will come soon!

expecting more and more signs of revival in the coming days."

Jose Seisdedos the Every Home for Christ Middle East Regional Director visited Egypt from the 14th -17th January to talk with the Christian leadership about visiting every home in Egypt with a gospel message.

Please pray for Egypt and for the right government to be in power and that every home in Egypt should have a gospel message.

By DICK EASTMAN

THE FATE OF THE WORLD! A Tribute to a Nameless Saint

Earlier this year, a long-time friend of my wife Dee and me and former Every Home for Christ Board member, Julie Lauer-Leonardi, went to be with Jesus at the age of 99. Julie was one of the most remarkable and generous EHC partners we have ever had. I was amazed and troubled, however, that Julie’s obituary in the local newspaper contained less than 25 words. It read simply, “Julie Leonardi, 99, died Friday, June 1, 2012, at Valley Manor Care Center. Arrangements are under the direction of Sunset Mesa Funeral Directors.”

Reading that all-too-brief life summary reminded me that what really counts in the life of the believer is not how the world views our earthly accomplishments, but how God views them. In earthly terms, Julie wasn’t famous. Some might view her as a “nameless saint.” In heaven’s economy, however, Julie was what I would call a “soul millionaire.” In the final chapter of my book, Look What God Is Doing!, I quoted Paul Billheimer who wrote, “The fate of the world is in the hands of nameless saints.” How powerfully true this was of Julie Lauer-Leonardi.

Missing from Julie’s 23-word obituary is the fact that God used her to reach hundreds of thousands of souls with the Gospel through her financial giving. (In fact, the ultimate total was probably in the millions!)Julie’s husband had been a successful financial investor who made generous provisions for the rest of Julie’s life when he passed away some four decades ago. Julie continued the work of investing, but those investments

went into advancing Christ’s kingdom. In addition to serving on EHC’s Board of Directors for well over a decade, Julie invested significant financial gifts in EHC’s ministry of taking the Gospel home to home throughout the world.

We’ve calculated that through Julie’s giving, over 14.5 million homes were visited with the Gospel and as many as one million people responded to the Gospel as a result. What an incredible return on her generous investments! The stories of the lives changed and communities transformed by Julie’s investing simply cannot be conveyed in a 23-word obituary. She is, indeed, a nameless saint whose life altered the fate of multitudes.

In this issue of EveryHome, we want to share with you some of the highlights of EHC’s ministry.

We are able to accomplish these victories because of faithful partners like Julie who realize that investing in eternity is the most significant investment they can make.

Julie’s life reminds me of a similar story I told in my book Look What God Is Doing! It concerned an elderly bachelor named F. C. Case who lived in the hills of North Carolina. Frank Case was not a man of great means, and these days would most certainly be classified as living below the poverty line. But that didn’t stop him from being a generous giver. Frank began giving to missions just after joining his church at the age of 16. Living through the Great Depression, Frank continued giving faithfully even when he earned as little as 50 cents a day. By the end of the Depression, he was

giving ten dollars a month to missions—the equivalent of the price of two months of his food budget. In the 1950s, Frank heard EHC’s founder, Jack McAlister, speaking on a radio program about how Every Home for Christ used gospel literature to reach millions of homes annually, and so Frank sent his initial gift of two dollars to EHC. Over the coming years, Frank’s gifts grew remarkably. It often seemed like he was giving everything he had except a few dollars for food. And by the time Frank died, he had reached eight million people with the Gospel through his giving to EHC. F. C. Case was another nameless saint, hidden away in the hills of Carolina, yet was one whose resources were reaching millions with the Good News of Jesus throughout the earth.

As we come to the end of another year and look forward to 2013, it’s a time to reflect on

In Rajasthan 70% of the people are Muslims with the Christian population only 0.3%The practices of child marriages and men marrying many women still exist here.

I have been in Tonk district for more than 15 years and preach the Good News to many villagers.Everyday I have to travel 40 kms on rough uneven roads to give the Gospel to them. God has enabled us to form 13 Christ Groups (house churches) through our ministry here. About 210 members worship in these Christ Groups.

It is very hard to work among Bakri people. Their professions are selling dolls and doing household work. They are illiterate but are experts in robbing. They wear different kinds of clothing. They dwell in hill caves and under trees. Since they do not know how to read, giving tracts to them would not be useful so we teach them songs, show pictures and tell the Good News.

There is no church in the Tonk District where I am doing ministry. I am conducting a small church in my house . Every Sunday 60 people gather here

and worship the Lord. Each Sunday we get 43¢ to 86¢ as offering. How can we expect an offering in this place when there are no Christians? But God has enabled us to pay rent every month.

At present our important need is a small church. By God's grace, if a church is constructed here, it will be the first church in the district. We need about Rs. 10 Lakhs ($17,248) to buy land and build a church. My humble prayer is that God would give a burden to somebody to come forward individually or collectively to build the church. Please pray for this need and also pray for the ministry.

Missionary Rakesh Bhagora, Rajasthan

what kind of harvest we will take to heaven when it’s our time to have our obituary written. Imagine the joy of Julie Lauer-Leonardi and F. C. Case as they rejoice in the presence of God seeing multitudes who are with them in heaven because of their faithful giving. As you read through the stories of salvation in the following pages, remember that these are made possible by the nameless saints who are simply being faithful in their sacrificial giving year after year. As I look back on all that God has done through EHC in 2012, with more than 80 million homes reached with the Gospel and more than 12 million responses, I am delightfully grateful for each of our partners—saints like you who make regular sacrifices to help make all this possible—and I eagerly anticipate that with your continuing partnership even greater things lie ahead for us in the coming year!

India - Rajasthan

Prison Ministry!Argentina

Prison Ministry!

Can there really be lasting fruit through so simple a strategy as taking a printed gospel message systematically home to home (or even prison cell to cell) to present the claims of Christ to those who have never heard? This story begins in 1983 in a prison in La Plata, Argentina. It continues today in a most remarkable way.

Marcos, an inmate at Penitentiary Unit No. 9, existed with little more than his shadow in a lonely, confined Argentine prison cell. The cell was not the home Marcos had dreamed about as a youth. In that tiny cement cage, hunger, fear and guilt taunted him every night, reminding Marcos, moment by moment, of the events that had brought him to this dreadful place. Little could this young prisoner realise that one day he would be a fiery evangelist winning many souls to Jesus—a person he had never heard of at this time.

The life of an inmate in Argentina is gruelling. The routine is always the same and the goal is but one: survival. But on that summer day 28 years ago something out of the ordinary took place that altered the course of Marcos’ life. A stranger was standing outside his cell. The visitor’s words caught Marcos’ attention: “God bless you brother!” He then handed Marcos an Every Home for Christ gospel booklet through the cell bars.

Marcos thought, What? How can he be my brother? We don’t have brothers here! At least I don’t. The stranger—another inmate Marcos had never met—started to walk away, but turned to say: “Oh, by the way, this afternoon we have a meeting in Ward Four. See you there!”

Marcos was confused. He wondered who this man was. He then realized he had questions for which he had no answers. He decided that maybe the answers would be

in the meeting in Ward Four that afternoon. So Marcos decided to attend.

Several hours later Marcos nervously walked along a prison corridor toward the meeting room. Suddenly, he felt a heavy hand on his shoulder and turned abruptly to defend himself from some unknown attacker. Such encounters were not unusual here. But immediately Marcos recognized the face of the stranger who had invited him. Now, this “brother” was opening his arms to give Marcos a welcome embrace.

“You came!” said the stranger. Marcos just nodded.

“What’s your name?” asked the inmate. He told him.

“Marcos! What a great joy it is to have you here!”

Marcos tried to utter a few words when the stranger interrupted him: “Hey, guys! Come, come and greet our new friend. All of you - come!”

Suddenly even more “brothers” came up, surrounding and greeting Marcos. They invited him to sit down and share in what they called a special “service.” Marcos never attended church, and wondered what a “service” consisted of. He was told this was a special meeting where a “preacher” from outside was to visit. Marcos could only nod and wait to see what was about to transpire.

After a few minutes the speaker was introduced. He was EHC National Director for Argentina, Rino Bello, who spoke about sin, forgiveness, repentance, grace and a man named Jesus who raised the curiosity of Marcos and touched his heart. It was the first time he heard someone talk about a way he could be saved and about someone who loved him, who was willing to forgive his faults and make him “born again.” When the preacher asked if anyone wanted to follow Jesus, Marcos did not hesitate for a moment. He knew this was what he needed. Marcos received Christ as his Saviour in a matter of moments.

When the meeting was over, Rino approached Marcos and gave him a Bible. Marcos didn’t understand the reason for the gift. He didn’t tell the preacher that he couldn’t read or write, but he was very grateful. They immediately engaged in a conversation. Pastor Rino asked him if he had understood the message. Timidly, Marcos answered that it was the first time he had ever heard someone talk about God and His Son Jesus and there was much he didn’t understand.

“You will never forget the words I spoke today. God will keep them in your heart. What you do not understand now you will understand later. This Bible is the Word of God,” explained the preacher. Marcos wondered how he would ever understand the Bible if he could not read, when the preacher added, “One day rivers of living waters will rain upon you, and in that day you will remember all the words spoken today.” Marcos was intrigued by the authority with which the preacher spoke, and wondered how all this could be.

From that day, Marcos began his personal search to find God. A year passed and Marcos was released from prison. Inwardly he knew God had His hand on his life but as time passed he forgot who the preacher was who had visited the prison. Then, late one night, in a surprise encounter, Marcos received a revelation from the Lord, who whispered in his ear: I am Jesus and I died for you on the cross of Calvary. Today, with my blood I will cleanse all your sins.

Marcos’ eyes were suddenly opened to who Jesus truly was—and is. He still had the Bible the preacher had given him and he searched for it and soon found it. He opened the Bible at random, wishing he had learned to read when he was younger. And, then, something amazing happened. The strange words of the Spanish language, all those letters and symbols, suddenly came alive. Marcos could read and

understand each word and sentence clearly, even though he had never had any earthly teacher who taught him to read.

It was somewhat like Acts 2, when the Holy Spirit came upon those in the Upper Room and they began speaking in languages they didn’t know. Amazingly, people from surrounding regions understood those worshipers’ words of praise in their unique languages. Only a miracle could have caused that to happen, and only a miracle could cause an illiterate former prisoner to suddenly have the gift of reading as he looked at the pages of the Bible.

Today, Marcos is married to a wonderful wife named Gladys and they have six beautiful children. Marcos actively preaches God’s Word, visiting prisons and churches of his area. The former prisoner-turned-evangelist now clearly understands what it meant when that preacher visited his prison years earlier and prophetically told him: “Rivers of living waters will rain upon you.”

Twenty-eight years later Marcos knew he had to seek out that preacher who had prophesied over him while he was in prison and thank him.

So it was that recently Rino Bello (who has served the EHC vision for 35 years) received a special visitor at the EHC Argentina office in Buenos Aires. It was Marcos, weeping with deep emotion. He shared his full testimony with Rino, including his many years of service for the Lord, and especially his work in prisons.

As Rino later wrote in a report describing Marcos’ testimony, “The Word of God planted 28 years ago has truly produced amazing fruit and is seen beautifully today in this transformed life.” Rino thanked God for bringing this miracle of “fruit that remains” to his attention after 28 long years. Praise God for those who come to know Jesus and become evangelists for Him!

The Solomon Islands (pop. 600,000), located southeast of Papua New Guinea, consists of several large volcanic islands in the Pacific Ocean. This is a slowly emerging nation whose economic development has been seriously hampered by civil unrest and ethnic tensions between the people of Guadalcanal and Malaita.

Civil war has left the country almost bankrupt. According to the World Bank, it is one of the Pacific region’s poorest countries, having been affected by successive food, fuel and financial crises. It is also one of the most expensive nations on earth in which to live.

After years of inactivity, Every Home for Christ relaunched the work in the Solomon Islands in July 2012. This is a challenging time as ministries like EHC are often perceived with suspicion by existing churches because there are “churches” almost everywhere.

According to EHC’s new National Director Venson Joshua, Operation World lists the Solomon Islands as being 95 percent Christian. However, Joshua maintains that this statistic has proven to be misleading. “There is a huge harvest field here compared with the past ministry coverage,” he says, “and we are discovering that many people we come across do not attend any kind of church at all.” Ancestor worship, witchcraft, sorcery and pagan practices make up at least some of this so-called “Christian” majority.

The plan to reach the Solomon Islands for Christ is a five-year endeavour for Every Home for Christ. When conducting a home-to-home outreach here, workers must consider the remoteness of the 1,000 mountainous and coral atolls that make up the geography of the nation. For example, the distance between the westernmost and easternmost islands is 930 miles.

The goal is to reach approximately 3,000 homes per month with the Gospel, with numbers to increase as more awareness and mobilisation is established. A prelaunch dinner was attended by 40 pastors and church leaders at which EHC’s Regional Director for Asia-Pacific, Manasa Kolivuso, announced EHC’s return to the islands to an enthusiastic crowd.

Please pray for the work in the Solomon Islands. Kolivuso expects that since most of the early pioneers of the EHC work there are now established pastors, there will be great support among local churches for the efforts to reach every home. Praise God for the eight trained workers already on the ground, who are knocking on doors even to this day presenting the Gospel to those who have not heard.

Solomon IslandsPray the people will find the truth in the Pacific

Every Home for Christ / Every Home Global Concern Australia: PO Box 168 Penshurst NSW 2222 Telephone: (02) 9570 8211 Facsimile: (02) 9570 4738

New Zealand: PO Box 31-260 Milford North Shore City 0741 Telephone: Free call 0800 900 200 Facsimile: 0061 2 9570 4738www.everyhome.org.au ehc@everyhome.org.au