Dear friends:

Sometimes we get so uptight and upset at what the devil is doing that we forget what God may be doing, which is what really matters.

To help put things into perspective, the below about Africa is a excerpted from a report by the late Dr. Bill Bright concerning revival, spiritual awakening, and harvest at the turn of the millennium:

AFRICA

In its April 16, 2001 issue, Newsweek magazine reports:

“All across the African subcontinent… Christianity is a 24/7 experience (24 hours a day, seven days a week). On decaying asphalt highways the backs of trucks and buses proclaim Christian slogans: IN HIS NAME, ABIDE WITH ME, and GOD IS GOOD. Inside urban malls, the lilting pop music carries an upbeat Christian message in Ibo, Twi or Swahili. Even the signs above storefronts bear public witness: THY WILL BE DONE HAIR SALON, THE LORD IS MY LIGHT CAR WASH and TRUST IN GOD AUTO REPAIR, SPECIALISTS IN MERCEDES BENZ…. Here among the Ashanti and Baganda and the thousand other tribes who occupy the world’s second largest continent, Christianity is spreading faster than at any time or place in the last 2,000 years….”

An example of God pouring out His Spirit in Africa is in the country of Rwanda. The Campus Crusade for Christ national director in Rwanda reports:

It all started at Colorado State University in Fort Collins during the staff conference for all the leaders of CCC. There we received so much that stirred up our vision and challenged us to step out and make a difference before the end of this century and then on into the future, all for the fulfillment of the Great Commission of our Lord Jesus Christ. Among all the challenges thrown out to us, one fell on me like a bomb that enflamed my heart -- Dr. Bill Bright’s challenge to fast and pray for 40 days (for national and world revival and the fulfillment of the Great Commission). I had believed in it, but I never thought it would be very easy for me. However, I made the decision to obey the call and count on the grace of God for His enabling.

We were given Bill Bright’s book on the power of fasting and prayer, in English. Not knowing much English, I would have requested and hoped that this book be translated into French. But God is good, because before I left Fort Collins, I met Campus Crusade’s Swiss National Director, Hans-Peter Nuesch, who gave me a French translation of the book, which is entitled "Dans l’ Attente du Réveil." I was greatly interested in it as it was the answer to my prayers.

As soon as I arrived in Rwanda, I started to read the book. I was so excited by Bill Bright’s experiences that I shared it with my wife. Without hesitation, she encouraged me to share it with our Pastor, René Masasu, who also loves prayer and fasting. He leads a large church called the Restoration Church. With over 2,500 members, it’s one of the largest churches in Rwanda. As a member of this church, I’m in charge of evangelism and discipleship.

In a short while I shared the book with Pastor René Masasu who read and reread it. Soon he shared his vision to the entire church community and challenged the congregation to commit themselves to 40 days of prayer and fasting, with three specific prayer requests in mind: (1) the Great Commission around the world, (2) spiritual revival in the church and Rwanda, and (3) the construction of a church building large enough for 3,500 members.

Up to now, the 2,500 members have been meeting in an open air tent. When the challenge was given, 500 people committed themselves to pray and fast for 40 days starting from 22 October, 1997 until 30 November, 1997. It was really an extraordinary experience. During the day Christians would pray where they were at and each evening from 5:00 to 6:30 p.m. would meet at the church to end the day together in corporate prayer.

The Lord did many miracles during these times of praise and adoration so that the meetings would go until 8:00, since no one wanted to leave the church. There were many times of deliverance, public repentance without anyone calling for it, mutual reconciliation, and miraculous healings. Many who did not originally commit themselves to prayer and fasting joined the others until their numbers grew to 1,030 people -- so great was the presence of God demonstrated publicly. Many people who came to observe what was happening fell to their knees and repented of their sins. On the evening of 29 November, 1997 two security agents were sent by the local precinct to disrupt the evening meetings on the pretext that such large gatherings were a security risk. There they threw down their "Kalachnikovs" (machine guns) and begged that they be prayed for as they had come to arrest the church leaders. Instead, God arrested them!

A great revival has started in our church to the point that the entire capitol, Kigali, has been shaken by the news. Many pastors in Rwanda are coming to see what God is doing in the Restoration Church. When they ask Pastor Masasu the secret for this revival, he simply shows them Bill Bright’s book and tells them to go and do likewise.

Since 22 December, 1997 when a pastor’s meeting was held in the city of Kigali, nine other pastors have decided to challenge their members to fast and pray for 40 days to cover the entire year for a revival throughout the country.

(Note: Bill Bright adds some wonderful detail to Emmanuel’s testimony. “Rwanda is the place where hundreds of thousands of Hutus and Tutsis tribes people killed each other in a genocidal type of tragedy. In the process of the fasting, prayer, and revival at Emmanuel’s church, the Hutus and the Tutsis who were members of his church began to come to each other and ask for reconciliation and to confess their hatred of each other, and God began to send revival. Soon the revival spread to other churches so much that the Vice President of Rwanda invited the pastor to come and explain how it was that they were able to influence the lives of the warring factions in a way that they could not do through their military power! This shows what God does when people humble themselves and pray and fast.”)