Issue 9 - April 2006

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INTRODUCTION

Have you ever been faced with question "That's all good and well; but what about those that never hear your gospel in darkest Africa?"

The good news is, they do hear the Word in darkest Africa! In this issue we bring you breaking news of the latest revival in the Congo (some of Pastor Ron Carslake's contacts in South Africa led him up there a few weeks ago and you can read the exciting results below). We also bring you news of further revival in other African spots such as Zambia, Ghana, etc.

In addition, you can read of revival taking place on Tanna, a small tropical island in the backblocks of Vanuatu, in the South Pacific as well as updates of the fellowship on Bali Island, Indonesia.

Behind each of these stories there are wonderful blessings of healings, release from substance abuse, happy new lives, and all of them experiencing the powerful infilling of the Holy Ghost accompanied by the sign of 'speaking in other tongues'. As Jesus said, "Ye shall receive power after the Holy Ghost is come upon you." (Acts1:8)

The conclusion of this issue is a photo round up of the Christmas Camps that took place in December/January.

It's a great life in the Lord!

Enjoy!

CONGO

Pastor Ron Carslake of South Africa reports that two of his converts from Cape Town moved back to Lubumbashi in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Until recently we had no assembly there. In March he visited these converts and followed up several other contacts. In the course of 12 days he baptised 16 people. There is now a group of 18 in fellowship in the Congo.

Extracts of his report:

For a number of years we have baptised people from DRC who had fled from the civil war there, but they came from widely scattered areas. DRC is the third largest country in Africa, twice the size of South Africa. But over the last several months I realized that a number of our saints had come from the same city: Lubumbashi. When we I arrived there, I found that all our contacts were within about 4km of each other. The Lord had certainly set things up for us.

I had arranged for Pastors Eddie and Millan from Zambia to join me on the trip, to broaden their experience and also to help interpret for me! The official languages are French, Swahili and Lingala, and our brothers are quite proficient in Swahili. The people were excited to see us, to hear any news of their relatives in the Cape, and to hear the gospel. By the time we left, we had baptised 16, of whom 13 were filled with the Holy Spirit. Twelve of these were from the families of our brethren in Cape Town and 4 were from contacts which we made as we witnessed to people along the way. Added to this is the one sister originally baptised in Cape Town plus one other brother, which gives us a group of 18.

Lubumbashi is very much a city in decay. Because of poor governance and civil unrest, infrastructure within the city is in a poor state. As a result, all of the natural water courses around the city which we saw were polluted and not at all suitable for baptism. There were no swimming pools anywhere. Eventually we found a facility on a piece of land owned by a local church group. It transpired that they were in the habit of allowing visitors to use it (for a fee!) because it was the only suitable thing for miles around. We arranged to make use of it the following Saturday and began to coordinate with all of those who indicated that they were ready to be baptised. The 9 who came on Saturday saw each other baptised and this gave them a sense of unity straight away. We then prayed with everyone together, and they each received the Spirit in the group. Again on Sunday, we baptised a second group of 6 with everyone together, and again, we prayed with everyone together.

On Sunday we met in the morning at the home of one of our new saint's. We had some African style choruses, testimonies, a talk, and we finished up with a prayer line.

On Tuesday evening we held another meeting at another of the saint's homes, although we sat outside under some trees because the crowd was more than the house could receive! We followed the same format as Sunday with choruses and testimonies.

On Thursday nights we have a meeting in the Cape for all our Congolese brethren, and although the talk is in English, everything is interpreted into French as we go. We are recording this meeting and then couriering the DVD to Lubumbashi for the folk to use there as the talk for the Sunday meeting.

We have only just scratched the surface. We spent all our time there witnessing, and we have contacts that we just never got to. In addition, those that we baptised started bringing friends and other family to see us. When we left there were another 4 people saying that they wanted to be baptised.

In May I will be visiting again.

It seems the prospects for revival in the DRC are very good indeed.

Ron Carslake
Capetown


The saints after the meeting on Sunday	Sister Harriet, the first to be baptised
Mama Sophia being baptized by Ps Eddie	Our accommodation in Lubumbashi, with pastors Eddie and Millan sitting in the sun

ZAMBIA

The work is progressing well. In early January Ps Ron Carslake from South Africa joined Pr Sammy from Kenya and traveled to Zambia. Together with local pastors Eddie and Millan they criss-crossed 1700km in two weeks and managed to visit 12 of our assemblies plus small outposts of saints.

There have been 51 baptisms since August and they saw another 26 baptised on this trip.

From the end of January to the middle of March, another 30 folk have been baptised and Spirit filled. They are pleased to report the Lord has opened up two new areas with baptisms: one near Solwezi and the other near Mufumbwe.

The Fellowship in Zambia has now been officially registered with the relevant government authorities. Work on purchasing land for our projects is progressing. We are looking at small projects so that the locals may better support themselves. At Mufumbwe it is planned to construct fish ponds. Applications for three other areas are in hand.

Our prayers are with Pastors Eddie and Millan who are working hard and diligently caring for the saints there.

Some of the saints at Mufumbwe	Watching the baptisms at Kasampula
A meeting held by candlelight at Kabombu	Ps Millan baptising in one of his 'multi purpose' fish ponds

ACCRA, GHANA

Pastor Pieter Vissser from Holland visited the new saints at Accra in January/February to follow up the new work and help them find their feet in the gospel message.

He reports that locals quickly come along to hear the gospel message and they enjoyed 20 baptisms while there, including 10 baptised at a village, Koforidua.

Pastor Pieter and some Ghana saints

Baptising one of the locals

TANNA ISLAND, VANUATU

In August 2004 Noel Cavanough and his wife Wendy from Newcastle, NSW, took 2 Tannese sisters from Pt Vila home for a brief outreach. While on Tanna Island he was asked to preach in a combination Presbyterian/cargo cult church.

As a result, he baptised three women: two received the Holy Spirit and one was healed of a back disorder. Other contacts were made and a base established at White Sands.

Another contact opened up in late 2005 with a disillusioned pastor named Jeffed, who looked after some 16 members at a place called Green Point: none had the Holy Spirit. With Noel's help they all received the Holy Spirit and were baptised.

We now have one pastor, two area leaders and seven leaders, with 2 main centres and 3 sub-centres, caring for our saints there. The leaders and members were all delighted at our clarity of doctrine and glad to join us.

The first Tanna Rally at Green Point has just been held at the end of March 2006.

The rally was very successful. A number of healings took place. One young baby, about 8 months old with a very large head was healed. Area leader Jeffed reports that another child with the same condition was also healed.

They also had 15 baptisms, with most of them receiving the Holy Spirit with the sign of speaking in tongues.

Noel adds: "I would like to stress, this is not a tourist destination and unsuitable for Western visitors at this time: conditions are rough and not many could manage them!"

We thank the Lord for the work on Tanna Island. Please keep them in your prayers.