Members of a charismatic Catholic community in Toronto contracted the disease, resulting in one death
The SARS epidemic that took the lives of 36 Canadians also affected the Christian community in Toronto, putting a 500-strong charismatic group in quarantine.

Members of the Filipino charismatic group Bukas-Loob Sa Diyos (BLD) became infected with the deadly disease after some of them visited a funeral home following the death of the father of a church member, who was not known at that stage to have succumbed to SARS.

The man’s son was hospitalized the following day with SARS-like symptoms, and 75 other members of the group who had visited the funeral home went into voluntary quarantine.

When similar symptoms began appearing about one week later in others from BLD who had not been at the funeral home, Toronto Public Health officials asked all 500 Toronto members of the group plus their families to go into quarantine over the Easter weekend.

“For such a small community, it’s been really rough. It was a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time,” said Dr. Elizabeth Rea, a doctor working on the outbreak. “The encouragement and support these people gave to one another was truly impressive, and they cooperated very well with public health.”

During quarantine, the group suffered discrimination from some medical facilities, which posted signs saying, “If you are a member of the BLD community, do not enter.” One BLD mother said classmates of BLD members’ children were phoning and telling the quarantined children they were going to die. A morning radio-show host described group members as “enemies of the people.”

Belle Escano, one of BLD Toronto’s founding members, said despite the slander, the quarantine became a rich time of communion with God over Holy Week and Easter.

“We were blessed and honored that the Lord chose us to be beside Him during Holy Week. Usually we’re so busy trying to reach people for the Lord,” she told Charisma. “I know that our community will emerge stronger and more cohesive than ever because of this experience.”

Escano said members kept in touch with one another by telephone, praying, encouraging and even singing praises.

Founded in 1983 in Manila, Philippines, the BLD movement–whose name means “open in spirit to God”–has spread to several other countries, including Canada. Most of the 650 Canadian members are in the Toronto area.

Each member attends his or her own local church and joins with other BLD members for prayer meetings and outreach to the community. Under the umbrella of the Catholic Archdiocese of Toronto, BLD Toronto is an active member of the archdiocese’s charismatic renewal ministry.

“Our main charismatic expression is the way we worship, in spirit and in abandonment. This is where we receive the anointing of the Lord for our apostolates, and our worship together bonds us,” Escano said. “We … speak in tongues, rest in the Spirit and have the gift of healing for emotions and relationships. Many marriages and families have been restored here–we give ministry for healing of life’s hurts.”

In China, where more than 250 have died, the SARS epidemic has made people “much more open to the gospel than ever before,” according Paul Hattaway, director of Asia Harvest in Chiang Mai, Thailand. “It is fair to estimate that tens of thousands are being born again every day since SARS broke out,” he said.

Meanwhile thousands of others have turned to the occult for protection from SARS, burning incense, lighting firecrackers and drinking special potions, the Associated Press reported. “Their fear of infection has been used by sorcerers to have them rely on superstition instead of science,” one Chinese newspaper reported.

Some Chinese churches produced gospel literature pointing people to “the Great Physician,” Hattaway said. Meanwhile many Chinese Christians believe that the outbreak is a judgment from God, he said, because it was traced to Foshan in Guangdong province.

Hattaway described the city as “one of the most famous Buddhist strongholds in southern China,” drawing thousands of visitors yearly who worship Buddha and tour ancient temples and monasteries. Additionally, Hattaway said, Chinese church leaders say President Hu Jintao is a professing Buddhist who has used his influence to enable the rebuilding of ancient Buddhist sites in Anhui province.

In Singapore, where an Assemblies of God pastor died of SARS after going to the hospital to pray for someone with the condition, church attendance reportedly dropped. Some churches placed scanners at their entrances to check people’s temperatures as they arrived.
Josie Newman and Andy Butcher

Christians are divided in their support of Olusegun Obasanjo, who defeated Muhammadu Buhari at the polls in April
Few of today’s world leaders begin their day in a prayer meeting. But since Olusegun Obasanjo was elected president of Nigeria in 1999, he has knelt on the floor of his parlor at 7 a.m. on most weekdays with a group of advisers to ask for God’s guidance.

“Please pray for me today as I select my new cabinet,” Obasanjo said at his morning chapel service on May 22, just a month after his re-election. Looking like a tribal chief in dark African garb, the politician asked for prayer after he stood and read aloud the entire chapter of 2 Chronicles 20.

“The battle is not yours but God’s,” Obasanjo, 66, said in a muffled tone as he read the story of Jehoshaphat’s victory.

This weekday ritual has taken place for more than three years at Aso Rock, Nigeria’s official presidential compound. What makes the president’s faith remarkable is that he does not hide it from public view–in a nation where Muslims and Christians compete for dominance.

In Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, a mosque dominates the skyline, and the shrill Muslim call to prayer is heard daily before sunrise. Yet in this seemingly hostile setting, Nigeria’s Christian president surrounds himself with Baptist and Pentecostal aides and seeks counsel from pastors of the nation’s growing megachurches.

Obasanjo’s sudden rise to power resembles a biblical drama. He was imprisoned by his predecessor, Sani Abacha, a corrupt Muslim who ruled Nigeria with an iron fist from 1993 until his sudden death in 1998. While Obasanjo was in prison, he read only the Scriptures and wrote five books, including Sermons From Prison.

“He drew closer to God. His faith was reinvigorated,” said the president’s personal chaplain, Y.A. Obaje, a Baptist seminary president whose office at Aso Rock is in a house that once was used as Abacha’s residence.

“It is the first time we have had a king and a priest in one man,” Obaje said of Obasanjo. “We have professors who say, ‘If my president prays like this, I’d better get my life in order.'”

When he was elected to his first term, he immediately asked Obaje to build a Protestant chapel at the presidential villa. Today, Obasanjo attends services in the sanctuary every Sunday and hosts a monthly meeting for pastors there.

But in spite of these public religious displays, not all Nigerian Christians support their president–and some still view him as a military stooge. When he won his first term, prominent Pentecostal pastor Tunde Bakare prophesied that Obasanjo would die in office. After his re-election on April 19, another outspoken pastor, Chris Okotie, placed ads in Lagos’ largest newspaper declaring that the president would suffer God’s judgment.

And because the April election was tainted by widespread ballot fraud, some Christians claimed Obasanjo was just as corrupt as his Muslim opponent, Muhammadu Buhari–who tried unsuccessfully to stop Obasanjo’s May 29 inauguration.

Moses Iloh, leader of the Eclectic Movement of Nigeria, told Lifeway magazine that Obasanjo’s faith has not made a difference. “There is nothing there to show you that a Christian is in authority,” Iloh said.

What irks many Christians is that Nigeria’s worst problems have not been addressed since Obasanjo came to power. In fact, they contend that poverty and corruption have worsened. Once known as a rising economic power, Nigeria is now the 13th poorest nation in the world. The poverty level has skyrocketed from 27 percent in 1980 to 66 percent in 1996.

“We don’t need a Bible-thumping preacher in government,” said Lagos pastor Ladi Thompson, who added that Obasanjo failed during his first term by allowing states in northern Nigeria to adopt Islamic law, or Shariah. That has led to widespread persecution of Christians.

Other leaders in Lagos take a more tempered view. Saidu Dogo, an official with the Christian Association of Nigeria, told Charisma that Obasanjo is “just a baby in the Lord” whose recent conversion hasn’t affected all his political views. Dogo expressed hopes that the president, during his second term, will take Shariah law to court so it can be proved unconstitutional.

Lagos pastor Tony Rapu, who prayed with the president at his residence in May, said he views Obasanjo as the first step in a long process of national reformation.

“There is no question God has raised up this man,” Rapu said. “Having a Christian president is a powerful step. We might not all like his personal policies, but surely God has used this man like a Moses to bring us out of the bondage of military rule and dictatorship.”

And what happens after the first step? Rapu believes someone else will have to solve the problems of poverty, environmental degradation and corruption. “I don’t see Obasanjo taking us into the promised land,” Rapu said. “There is still much work to be done.”
J. Lee Grady in Abuja, Nigeria

Ruth Jones believes God sent her to the struggling school in Grand Rapids to give the students ‘a chance at life’

The moment Ruth Jones stepped into the building, she knew it was going to be bad.

The Grand Rapids, Mich., public elementary school known as Henry Paideia Academy “looked like the ruins of something,” she said. The building was dark and cold, and “there were no pictures … no signs anywhere that children were inhabiting this place.”

But as she stood in the hall, she said God began to reveal His plan for the school that was on the verge of closing. “He let the hallway appear pitch black all around me,”

Jones said. “But where I stood there was light. If I moved, the light moved. He said, ‘You are the light in this place now.'”

That was 10 years ago when Henry Academy was about to become the only school in Grand Rapids’ history to be closed because of failure. A study had shown that in 10 years only a quarter of its students had graduated from high school, and none had gone on to college.

Today students from Henry Paideia (which means “the upbringing of a child” in Greek) are not only graduating from high school, they’re joining the National Honor Society.

The school’s dramatic turnaround has been the subject of media reports, and the academy has received numerous awards and accolades, as well as visits from former Michigan Gov. John Engler and then-Texas Gov. George W. Bush.

What’s more the 300-student school that once faced closure has a waiting list.

At the center of the transformation stands Jones, a celebrated inner-city schoolteacher who didn’t have a master’s degree or experience in administration and never wanted to be a principal. But when her file somehow ended up on the superintendent’s desk as a candidate to lead the struggling school, she sensed God leading her to pursue the position.

A 20-member panel interviewed her, asking for an introduction and her philosophy on education. “I told them how the Lord changed my life,” Jones said. “I told them, ‘God is bringing me to this school because He wants to heal these children and give them a chance at life.'”

Ninety minutes after her interview, she was named head of the school. That’s when her work began. The school had long been dysfunctional. “One teacher stacked books on her desk like a fort so the children wouldn’t hit her,” Jones said.

Many of the students lived in poverty, and their neighborhoods were infested with drugs and crime. Jones said she began to pray that God’s anointing would destroy every yoke keeping the children from learning, a habit she maintains.

“When I touch these children, I know I am in covenant with [God], and these bondages will drop off,” Jones said.

Jones addressed their practical needs too. Some children came to school dirty, so she installed four washing machines and dryers to clean their clothes.

“It’s not always easy [teaching at the school],” said fourth-grade teacher Rozanna Lee. “Some of these students have a lot of emotional baggage. I tell them that it is amazing what they have to deal with and still make it to school.”

A staff of 100 volunteers does everything from comb hair to tutor in reading and math. The school teaches parenting skills, and church groups and businesses help provide food and clothing.

“I was inspired to get involved by President Bush’s speech to do something for the community,” said volunteer Patsy Lucas. “By working one on one with the same child every week, I feel that I brought some stability to the life of that child.”

Jones fights to give her students the same quality of life children from wealthier neighborhoods have. “We act like just because a child is poor, they are going to be able to do without all the things our kids have and be the same as our kids and come out all right. We sow nothing, we reap nothing,” Jones said.

Even 10 years later, Jones is still amazed at how the school changed. “There’s nothing particularly great about me. [God] just said, ‘You’ll do,'” Jones said.

“I know I can do anything if I align myself with God.”
Jean Van Houten in Grand Rapids, Mich.

A Moscow-based ministry has converted portions of Scripture into 62 languages in the world’s largest country
Mikhail Kindruk and other Pentecostal missionaries spent 20 days traveling by boat along the remote rivers of eastern Siberia, visiting 25 villages inaccessible by road. What they found, he said, was astonishing: even a full decade after the fall of the Soviet Union, no one had heard of Jesus.

“Not one person had a Bible. Not one person had heard the gospel,” Kindruk said. “In every village, practically everyone came out to hear the Gospels and to get a Bible from us.”

About half of the literature distributed in last summer’s trip is provided by the Institute for Bible Translation, an ecumenical Christian organization that has been working in the world’s largest country since 1973, first secretly and now with varying degrees of openness.

Perhaps more than any other Christian organization, the institute has laid the groundwork for evangelizing the 130 ethnic and language groups of the former Soviet Union by working to provide them with Scripture in their native languages. The institute’s most popular publication–with 8 million copies in the last 20 years–is the Children’s Bible.

“To date, I think this is the best one. It is very accessible to kids and even to adults,” Kindruk said, noting its usefulness to those encountering Christianity for the first time. “Out there … people don’t know God at all. There was a lady who came home to her husband and said, ‘Today, I accepted Jesus.’ He got indignant and said, ‘Who is this Jesus?’ He thought Jesus was another man.”

Aside from the Children’s Bible, the institute specializes in translating the Bible into the languages spoken by ethnic minorities throughout the former Soviet Union, a vast area spanning 11 time zones. Although the majority of people speak Russian, evangelists said it makes a huge difference for people to read the Bible in their mother tongue.

“People think in their own language, so it is one less step mentally for them to read the Gospels in their own language,” noted Kindruk, who spent 10 years building the Pentecostal Church of Jesus the Savior in Chita, a remote Russian city of 400,000 north of the Mongolian border.

In his work in Chita, Kindruk said he often encounters Buryats, a historically Buddhist people with their own language. So far all he has been able to offer them is a brochure about Jesus. This year, however, the institute plans on publishing the Children’s Bible in the Buryat language. In the coming years, the entire New Testament will be published in Buryat, says Natalya Gorbunova, one of the institute’s 30 employees.

“Irrespective of the number speaking their language, we consider that every nation has the right to read the Bible, or at least a portion of it,” Gorbunova said.

Boris Arapovic, a charismatic Christian from the former Yugoslav republic of Croatia, founded the institute in 1973. He set up shop in Stockholm, cobbled together funds from Scandinavian churches and set about the daunting task of translating Scriptures into the non-Slavic languages of the Soviet Union.

Today, the institute is centered in Moscow and boasts 62 translations ranging from a full Bible for the 8 million Tajiks to the Gospel of Luke for the 2,000 Itelmen people living on the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia’s Far East.

“We thought this would just be a book for the libraries,” Gorbunova said of the Itelmen translation of Luke in 2002. “But then the local archbishop organized dog teams to deliver it and presented it to schools and libraries. People were so happy. It was a major event. We’ve never had a response like that.”

There are up to 60 million Muslims living in the former Soviet Union. Some countries–most notably Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan–severely restrict the institute’s work by denying visas or thwarting shipments. The leaders of other Muslim regions are welcoming.

“For the people who don’t have printed books, even if they are Muslims, it is a special honor for them to have a holy book in their language,” Gorbunova said.

Gorbunova said she is devoting more time to fund raising and developing contacts in the United States to help cover the institute’s $800,000 annual budget.

“For the last few years the institute has experienced very big financial difficulties,” she said, adding that a donation of $2.50 covers the cost of one Children’s Bible and $3.50 pays for a New Testament.
Frank Brown in Moscow

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Contributions to this Russian Bible translation project are being matched by an anonymous donor. Send your tax-deductible gifts to Christian Life Missions, “Russian Bibles,” P.O. Box 952248, Lake Mary, FL 32795-2248.

The Church of God and the Church of God of Prophecy are linking for a three-year effort of cooperative evangelism
The announcement of a joint evangelistic effort by two long-estranged denominations is being welcomed as not only a major step in the healing of one of Pentecostalism’s deepest divisions, but also the foretaste of a new level of unity in the wider movement.

The agreement between the Church of God (Cleveland, Tenn.) and the Church of God of Prophecy (COGOP)–which between them claim 7 million members worldwide–was unveiled at the end of April. It sees the two groups linking for a three-year effort of cooperative evangelism, which is viewed as a significant attempt to repair the breach–officially described by COGOP as an “awful schism”–that stems back 70 years.

Though the two churches have their international headquarters on the same street in Cleveland, they have relationally been worlds apart since COGOP was founded in 1923 after A.J. Tomlinson was ousted as leader of the Church of God in a dispute over church government.

In their statement, Church of God general overseer R. Lamar Vest and COGOP general overseer Fred Fisher Sr., described the initiative as “a practical demonstration of the common purposes and spiritual heritage” of their two groups. “Because of the evangelistic opportunities presented by a global spiritual harvest, [we recognize] the value of a cooperative use of available human and financial resources.”

The program launches this month and will be led by a six-member committee. COGOP evangelist William Wilson was appointed international minister of outreach of the initiative, which will involve joint services and evangelistic meetings in the United States and abroad.

The seeds of the joint effort were sown a year ago at a historic meeting in Washington, D.C., that assembled around 30 leaders of the country’s major Pentecostal and charismatic movements for a first-of-its-kind roundtable.

The group–including senior figures from Word-Faith, charismatic, and traditional and Oneness Pentecostal streams–met for three days with no agenda other than to get to know one another better and pray together.

Pentecostal historian Vinson Synan, dean of the School of Divinity at Regent University in Virginia, called the Together 2002 meeting “truly a first,” adding that the recent Church of God-COGOP announcement was very significant.

“It’s a step in the right direction for everybody and serves as a concrete example of what can be done, because they were not even on speaking terms for decades,” he told Charisma.

Fisher said that although Together 2002 was important, relations between COGOP and the Church of God had been improving in recent years. Vest could not be reached for comment.

Together 2002 was convened by the Center for Spiritual Renewal (CSR) in Cleveland, whose director Robert Fisher was “very excited” about the joint agreement. “It is an indicator of what the Lord is doing in general in terms of bringing down denominational walls,” he said.

Many of those who attended Together 2002, joined by other key figures who had not been able to attend last year, regrouped in May for Together 2003, which followed a similar format.

Jeff Farmer, president of Open Bible Churches, said he came away “even more encouraged” than last year. “Clearly, one of the future elements is cooperative ventures and ministry initiatives,” he said, adding that he had been “exchanging ideas with another Pentecostal group on how we can work together.”

Billy Joe Daugherty of Victory Christian Center in Tulsa, Okla., who attended for the second time, said he believed Jesus’ prayer for unity in John 17 was being fulfilled. “Friendships are being established that cross denominational lines,” he said. “Out of relationship comes communication and cooperation.”

The informal Together network is expected to play a key role in the worldwide gathering being planned in Los Angeles in April 2006 to mark the centennial of the Azusa Street Revival.

CSR is spearheading the event, which will include both a celebration of the birth of the modern Pentecostal movement and an assessment of where it has come since.
Andy Butcher

Graham’s previous visit to the city 27 years ago was nearly derailed due to racial and denominational divisions
In a dramatic contrast to Billy Graham’s last visit to the area, the evangelist’s recent Mission San Diego crusade saw record-breaking attendance at its children’s and youth outreaches, as well as 16,000 decisions for Christ over four days.

Local pastors say the success of the crusade–which brought 270,000 people through Qualcomm Stadium May 8-11–reflected the unprecedented cooperation of 650 area churches representing 66 denominations. Local ministers invited Graham in late 2002, but because of the 84-year-old’s failing health, they did not have the usual two years to plan.

“We had only four months from start to finish to unite the churches for the mission,” said pastor Jim Garlow of Skyline Church, a charismatic congregation in San Diego. “I asked the pastors to lay down their egos and their logos at the foot of the cross and lift up only the name of Jesus, and that is what they did.”

Racial and denominational division all but derailed Graham’s previous outreach 27 years ago, said Bishop George McKinney of St. Stephen’s Church of God in Christ, who was in charge of organizing the 1976 meeting. Participation was low, and several local churches boycotted the event.

“It’s pretty common knowledge that during the civil-rights movement the white evangelical church did not sense the pain and the cries and that longing for justice,” McKinney told The Southern California Christian Times. The Anglo community felt “we should be content with the status quo.”

Rick Marshall, director of North American ministries for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA), said the show of unity in San Diego this year was historic. “In the 23 years I have been with Billy Graham, I have never seen so many churches draw together on such short notice anywhere in the world,” he said. “It is historic, and it wasn’t us laying the groundwork. It was God.”

More than 20,000 volunteers served as counselors and distributed 60,000 backpacks filled with food and other basic supplies to homeless teens. The BGEA also gave 10,000 military families $20 gift certificates to Wal-Mart, as many of the troops sent to the Middle East were deployed from San Diego.

Organizers said the terrorist attack on Sept. 11, coupled with a shooting at a San Diego County high school and the abduction and murder of Danielle van Dam in February 2002 contributed to the cooperation at this year’s event.

“Desperation, trouble and adversity bring people together, and differences don’t seem that important anymore,” Marshall told Charisma. “The tragic events in San Diego over the last three years have created a sense of humility and pulling together.”

Former San Diego Chargers kicker Rolf Benirschke, who was the mission chair, agreed that the community needed to be comforted. “Billy Graham’s visit to San Diego is a gift from God because the community needs healing,” he said. “This mission is not a Christian party, but a desire of the Christian community for San Diegans to know the hope and future one can have through a relationship with Jesus Christ.”

McKinney, one of this year’s organizers, said the attention given to the diverse communities in San Diego and bordering Mexico also contributed to the its success. The services, at which Graham issued his classic call for salvation, were translated into 16 languages, including Spanish, Korean and Japanese. And in what local pastors said was a rare show of cooperation, churches in Tijuana, Mexico, united with San Diego congregations in planning the event.

“Though times appear to be frightening, these are the best days in the history of the world because there has never been such a spiritual hunger as there is now,” said Fermin Garcia, pastor of Unidad Cristiana church in Tijuana.

At a press conference before the event, Graham asked local leaders not to look to Mission San Diego but through it for the broader things God is doing.

“The mission wasn’t about all of the different churches getting together,” Garlow told Charisma. “It was about the church, the one body of Christ in San Diego sharing the hope of Jesus Christ.”
Daniel E. Kennedy in San Diego

Hosanna Church, which recently dedicated a multimillion-dollar facility in Managua, leads hundreds to Christ weekly
More than 3,000 people gathered in Managua, Nicaragua, for the recent dedication of Hosanna Church’s multimillion-dollar sanctuary.

Sitting atop a hill overlooking Lake Managua, the facility is home to the largest evangelical center in the nation, which sees more than 500 decisions for Christ each week, regularly receives reports of miracles that occur during its TV program and hosts daily radio broadcasts.

At its helm is pastor David Spencer, who once fled the nation after becoming a target for the ruling Sandinista regime. Today he is described as a dynamic and motivational speaker who has helped win thousands to Christ in one of the world’s poorest nations.

“David Spencer is the most impressive person I know,” said Thomas Paino Jr., former pastor of Lakeview Christian Center in Indianapolis who helped build Hosanna Church. Spencer, who was translating for Paino at the dedication service in October, refused to translate the comment.

Impressive or not, Spencer is influential. Former Nicaragua President Arnoldo Alemán sought him out for prayer and counsel after Alemán was charged with laundering more than $100 million of government funds. Spencer prayed daily with Alemán, who left office in 2002 and is currently under house arrest awaiting trial.

A son of U.S. missionaries, Spencer, 58, first came to Nicaragua with his parents in the 1960s, then returned in the 1980s to preach during the Sandinista war. Under scrutiny from the Marxist-Leninist regime, Spencer received death threats after he spoke before 20,000 people in the national stadium. After several deportations and a jailing, Spencer left Nicaragua in the late 1980s vowing not to return unless God gave the word.

In the early 1990s, after the defeat of the Sandinistas, Spencer was invited to Nicaragua to speak at a pastors conference. During the meeting some pastors told him they believed he was called to Nicaragua. Then leading a large church in Panama, Spencer determined that he would return only if God confirmed it.

A short time later two ministers separately told him they believed God wanted him to return to Nicaragua. Upon his return to Panama, Spencer said he began to sense God confirming their words during his own times of prayer.

Within two months Spencer and his wife, Bonnie, were on their way to Nicaragua. Before he arrived, Spencer called a real estate agent and asked her to check the price on a piece of land he had seen on a hill overlooking Lake Managua.

The owner demanded $525,000 and a six-month “buy” period. If he did not complete the purchase in time, Spencer would forfeit all funds paid and lose the land. Spencer said that was the beginning of his walk of faith. Before then, he said, the largest amount of money he had ever received was $20,000.

The first payment of $60,000 arrived on time. Then the second payment of $70,000 arrived on time. The third payment of $150,000 was slow coming. At the last minute, he received a call from a donor offering $100,000. Raising the balance didn’t seem so daunting after that.

Since then, Spencer, who is on the board of directors of Paul Yonggi Cho’s church in Korea, has purchased more land to build a prayer mountain, and bought a small radio station. Now he has his sights on starting a TV station, and he’s searching for more property to build a school and preschool, and grow a farm.

And Spencer said he isn’t afraid to ask God for more. “You know that Scripture ‘Ask and you shall receive?’ Well, what is the next word? It’s ‘seek and you shall find.'” he told Charisma. “It is fervent asking, fervent seeking and fervent knocking. It’s perseverance. It’s tenacity. If you are doing something that you can do alone it probably is not from the Lord.”
Joan Wilson Carter in Managua, Nicaragua

The shipments of surplus Christian literature sent by an Illinois-based ministry have helped bring thousands to Christ
It’s an unlikely sounding strategy for world evangelism, but Steven Schmidt credits some simple spring-cleaning with bringing thousands of people to Christ and starting scores of new churches in other parts of the world.

The former Assemblies of God pastor gathers surplus Christian literature and ships it overseas to parts where the otherwise trashbound materials are like gold dust.

Schmidt solicits literature from publishers, Christian bookstores, churches and individual believers, asking them to go through their materials and pass along anything they don’t need anymore.

This year alone his Butler, Ill.-based Love Packages ministry aims to send about 700 tons of discarded and unused books and curriculum. “We have an abundance, a glut of inspiration and information in this country,” he told Charisma, “but for people in other parts of the world it’s gold.”

Schmidt told of visiting a Bible college in the Philippines where only 10 of the 70 students had a Bible of their own, and another in Africa where the school library consisted of just four short shelves of old books.

In 1999 he visited Zambia and met with government and church leaders, later sending two containers of Christian literature. As a result of the distribution, churches recorded almost 160,000 decisions for Christ, he said.

Raised in the Lutheran Church, Schmidt dropped out as a young man, turning to drugs, alcohol and rock ‘n’ roll. Then he became a Christian and entered the ministry. In the summer of 1975, he sensed God telling him in regard to some old Christian magazines he had lying around his home: “You’re wasting that.”

He gathered it up, eventually shipping 60 boxes of literature to missionaries overseas in just 12 months. Other people began passing along their castoffs as word of his efforts got around.

Individuals and churches across the country started mailing him materials, too. The work grew so much that he stepped down from the pastorate to devote himself full time to Love Packages.

The ministry took over an old school in Butler, and the several tons of mail it receives each week not only saved the small community’s post office from closure, but also required the building of an additional room to accommodate all the materials.

Schmidt drives to collect large donations from publishers including the Assemblies of God and the Southern Baptists, who give him excess Sunday school and vacation Bible school materials, as well as devotionals.

Some Christian bookstore owners promote Love Packages to their customers, and even pass along unsold publications that they cannot return for one reason or another. Sometimes they donate Bibles on which a name may have been inaccurately embossed.

“We can never get enough Bibles,” said Schmidt, who has traveled to more than 25 countries to arrange and check on distribution of his supplies. “It’s hard for us in America to understand that there are pastors overseas that don’t have their own Bibles, but that is the case.”

Jim Whitaker of New Life Christian Stores in Lynchburg, Va., supports Love Packages by collecting the donations from his local church–Victory Christian Center–and adding items from his store before mailing the box.

“Maybe books that are not returnable, but are not selling and are just sitting there on the shelf, or leftover Sunday school materials,” he said. “There are folks that will benefit that we will never see, but don’t have the ability to obtain products that we do [in this country]. We want to be able to bless others with the blessings God has given us.”

Individual packages sent fourth-class book rate arrive in the mail and are sorted by teams of volunteers. Cult and secular publications are weeded out, as are magazines with too much advertising or irrelevant material.

Schmidt said he had heard “thrilling stories” of how Love Packages shipments had made an impact. He was told that a tract from some literature he sent to India had been given to a paralyzed Hindu man who was healed and saved, later becoming a traveling evangelist.

“Thousands have come to the Lord and tens of thousands have received a witness through Love Packages literature,” Schmidt’s Indian contacts informed him.

“I have been doing this for a long time, but it still blows my mind, when I see the lack of materials [overseas],” he said.
Andy Butcher

The following reports were released during the last month by Charisma News Service. Go to our Web site at www.charismanews.com to subscribe to the free weekday service or to access full-length versions of each day’s stories. The site also includes a search engine so you can access archived news.

BISHOPS ENDORSE CARLTON PEARSON
At its annual meeting in May, the International Communion of Charismatic Churches (ICCC) “affirmed and confirmed” that Bishop Carlton Pearson of Tulsa, Okla., is a member in “good standing.” Pearson has caused a firestorm for preaching universal reconciliation, which says no confession in Jesus as Savior is needed to go to heaven. “We … recognize him as a valuable leader in the body of Christ,” said the ICCC statement, which was signed by Earl Paulk, the group’s presiding bishop. Bishop David Huskins, another signatory, said universal reconciliation was not discussed at the meeting, but that the statement is an endorsement of Pearson and not his doctrine. Pearson raised concerns recently when he said he believes Satan himself may go to heaven.

CANADIAN COURT OPENS DOOR FOR GAY MARRIAGE
Two Toronto men wed June 11 in North America’s first legal gay marriage after an Ontario, Canada, appeals court ruled that the heterosexual definition of matrimony was unconstitutional. The court also ordered marriage licenses issued to nine homosexual couples involved in the case, the Associated Press reported. The Canadian government did not challenge the ruling. Vermont and the Canadian province of Quebec have allowed gay civil unions, but not full marriage. Conservative groups blasted the ruling.

MOVIE NUMBER PROMPTS DIVINE INTERRUPTIONS
A pastor and a Christian couple have been answering calls to God after their telephone number appeared on a fictional pager in the new Jim Carrey hit comedy, Bruce Almighty. Carrey stars as a constant complainer who receives the powers of God, who tries to reach Carrey by repeatedly leaving a phone number on his pager. But instead of the usual fictitious 555 prefix used by most TV shows and films, God’s exchange is listed as 776. When people in Sanford, N.C., dial the number, they reach Bruce MacInnes, pastor of Turner’s Chapel Church, the Associated Press reported. In Horrell Hill, S.C., David and Myrtle Hallman received more than 30 phone calls the week after the film opened, The (Columbia) State reported.

EUROPE ‘THE NEW MISSION FIELD’
Ugandan minister Arnold Muwone is part of a new breed of missionaries in Europe who are coming from countries once on the receiving end of evangelistic efforts. Muwone said his Pentecostal ministry “targets first and foremost the British people as a gesture of thank-you for coming to Africa and bringing us the gospel,” Time magazine said in a report examining how Christianity is becoming a minority faith in Europe. The newsweekly also mentioned a 1,500-strong church in a Paris suburb founded by an Indian man, Selvaraj Rajiah, whose members are almost all from outside France. The report also noted the success of Alpha, a discipleship course launched at a charismatic Anglican church in London that has spread to more than 130 countries since 1992.

T.D. Jakes Urges Pastors To Confront Racism

Bishop T.D. Jakes challenged pastors to preach against prejudice during the National Conference on Racism in the Church in Fairfield, Ohio, June 12. “We must preach against racism … until people are … falling on the altar and confessing racist behavior,” he said, The Cincinnati Post reported. Jakes was a keynote speaker at the three-day event organized by Cincinnati Area Pastors . Others included Bill Hybels, Fred Price and Glenn Plummer, chairman of National Religious Broadcasters.

Pastor Ron Mehl Dies

Oregon pastor Ron Mehl died May 30 after a 20-year battle with leukemia. He was 59. Mehl was senior pastor of 6,000-member Beaverton Foursquare Church in suburban Portland, and supervisor of the Columbia District of Foursquare Churches. Mehl hosted a daily radio program and wrote several books, including Right With God, the official handbook for the 2003 National Day of Prayer. Mehl is survived by his wife, Joyce, and their two sons, Ron Jr. and Mark.

Leon Patillo Arrested

Former Santana lead vocalist-turned-Christian minister Leon Patillo, 56, was arrested recently “over a real estate check,” his wife, Renee, told Charisma. “It’s not ministry related,” she said. “It’s from a long time ago. That’s all I know.” The Federal Bureau of Prisons confirmed that Patillo was being held at the Central Detention Center in San Bernardino, Calif. Patillo reportedly had not been allowed to post bail.

Ministries in Missouri and Michigan offer healing prayer and medical care at unique new outreach facilities

Churches in Kansas City, Mo., and Lansing, Mich., have opened health and healing centers to treat body and soul.

World Revival Church, home of the Smithton Outpouring, celebrated its seventh year by opening the House of Hope and Healing, a lodge-style retreat where people suffering from illness can relax and receive healing prayer.

“It’s a place of dignity and understanding, and it’s free and open 24 hours a day,” pastor Steve Gray said. “It’s about helping people get free of the circumstances or diseases that hold them hostage. We counterbalance the clinical feeling you get in a doctor’s office with an atmosphere of warmth, where people can experience the healing power of God.”

The house is the next step for this revival church, which seven years ago experienced a move of the Holy Spirit that has drawn hundreds of thousands of visitors. The church moved to Kansas City in 2000 and is adding community service to its mission.

“Our church was transformed by the power of God, but I’ve always had in mind the sick, hurting, frightened people in our community,” Gray said. “They get an X-ray or a bad diagnosis and ask, ‘Where do I go now?’ We want to be the place they come to.

“This is a season of teaming up with our neighbors to make this city a better place. … Yes, our revival services are still exciting and life-changing, but we have to take what’s in our hearts and bring it to the community. There are times to blow in with the power of God, but there are also times to build bridges.”

In Lansing, the multimillion-dollar Gilead Healing Center has a similar approach. “We want greater Lansing to be the healthiest, happiest place on Earth,” said Dave Williams, pastor of 4,000-member Mount Hope Church Assembly of God.

The healing center has a two-pronged method: One half of the large facility is given to prayer, counseling and casting out demons. The other side is a medical center with $2 million in medical and dental equipment, and a full-time doctor.

“The center is not a substitute for regular medical care, but a supplement to it,” Williams said. “It provides a faith-filled atmosphere to encourage healing in the entire man.”

Mount Hope launched Gilead in part because of a rash of adverse drug reactions that resulted in several deaths in their church. “I thought, there’s got to be a way to keep God’s people healthy,” Williams said. “So many ministers don’t believe it’s God’s will to heal anymore. You can’t minister in faith like that.”

The church studied the ministries of Kathryn Kuhlman, Aimee Semple McPherson, Maria Woodworth Etter and John G. Lake, who pioneered the concept of healing rooms.

“The first approach is always ministering in prayer and faith,” Williams said. “The second approach is alternative medicine and natural therapies that are gentler to people than some of the medications that can cause more harm than good. The third approach is conventional medical care.”

The clinic offers free workshops on exercise, nutrition and divine healing. Doctors and nurses volunteer, and one doctor will have her practice on site. There are healing and counseling rooms, nine medical examination rooms, an X-ray room and a fully equipped dental room.

In Kansas City, the House of Hope and Healing overlooks a wooded hillside on the church’s forested spread of land. An impressive lobby opens up to a 38-foot limestone fireplace and a cozy sitting room with pine cabinets. Living room-style prayer rooms ring the lobby.

At the grand opening, the church hosted hundreds of guests, a state senator and former Kansas City mayor, a city councilman and the chaplain from a local hospital. Soon after the ceremony, the house was already in use as a woman prayed with two volunteers.

Gray and Williams are convinced God wants to heal people through prayer and practical lifestyle changes. “Healing happens when God and man work together to make people better, which is why we’re adding lifestyle ministries here–cholesterol screenings and fitness instruction,” Gray said.

But the main ingredient at both places is hope in the power and love of God. “Healing, helping power is here,” Gray said. “And everyone is invited to come and experience it.”
Joel Kilpatrick in Kansas City, Mo.