KINGFISHER INTERNATIONAL FAMILY NEWS
FEBRUARY 2019
ISSUE 7
Whatever the season - be prepared St. Paul challenged his young protege, Timothy, to “Preach the word of God. Be prepared, whether the time is favorable or not. Patiently correct, rebuke, and encourage your people with good teaching.” (2 Timothy 4:2). Around the world today, there is a rising sense, both of the unfavourable times and the urgency to ‘preach the word of God’. In India, over Christmas in one church in Delhi, 150 people accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour. Over the past few months in that country, ten new Kingfisher churches have been planted: two in Delhi, one in the Punjab, five in Harridwar and two in Uttar Pradesh.
sponsorship project that so many of us support. Lives are changing, churches are being strengthened, leaders are being equipped. Even in the UK, where we are used to hearing of decline in church attendance, of people abandoning the faith, a recent article The Times a different picture that is beginning to emerge: “The number of atheists in Britain has fallen in the past year, according to a survey suggesting that more people are attending church, albeit irregularly. It has long been assumed that the decline in weekly congregations is down to Britons losing their religion and abandoning church. A YouGov survey of 1,660 people commissioned by The Times found that the number of those going to church may have grown in the past year.” (The Times, December 28, 2018)
In Africa, there is a fresh urgency to spread the word, as Kingfisher teaching is taken to Rwanda, to Zimbabwe, to Kenya. Each of these countries is experiencing increasing social and economic instability, and yet there is a hunger for the word of God, a deep desire to be equipped to be disciples of Christ, to see people come to know the Lord and to plant churches.
In Spain, Living Water church in Mojacar reports new life, church growth and a sense of purpose and life. Whilst the world is experiencing economic uncertainty, social and political upheaval, and the situation regarding the UK and the EU in particular is providing great instability, the Kingdom of God continues to grow and expand and people increasingly are searching for answers, for community and for security. Whatever the season - be prepared to reach out with the love and security that Jesus Christ offers and that this world is increasingly desperate for.
In the Philippines, where approximately 90% of the population is Christian and the country itself is the 5th largest Christian nation on earth, the lives of the Dumagat tribe are being transformed as they begin to harvest their ginger crop, the seeds for which were provided as part of Kingfisher’s Harvest Appeal in 2017. The shelters are almost all built now to provide accommodation for the Dumagat families as the children attend Sibug Elementary school, courtesy of the DEP
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Dumagat Education Program update
News from India
Resources available