PRAGUE – Pastor Henry Madava and Bishop Eduard Grabovenko co-chaired a meeting of the Empowered21 Cabinet for Central and Eastern Europe in Prague on 5 and 6 November. Executive Director Ashley Wilson joined the meeting via Skype.

NOVOSIBIRSK (RUSSIA) – Leaders of the world famous ministry International House of Prayer (IHOP KC) will become participants of the first in the history of Siberia conference "IHOP-Siberia". On the eve of this large-scale event, we had questions to the senior pastor of the Covenant Church, bishop of the Russian Church of Evangelical Christians Vitaly Maximyuk.

– Vitaly Vladimirovich, the movement IHOP KC, known for its 24-hour service of praise and worship, can undoubtedly be called one of the largest prayer centers in the world. How relevant is this prayer movement for the modern church?

– 18 years ago, at the beginning of the IHOP KC movement, there were only a few places in the world where people carried around the clock prayer service. Today there are about 20,000 such prayer houses on the planet. What I saw at the International House of Prayer in Kansas City is likely to be arranged differently than, for example, in Egypt, Mexico and other countries. What unites people who serve the Lord with prayer? The thirst for the presence of God, and the understanding that before anything happens, the church prays. The apostle Paul says: "First of all, I ask you to perform prayers, petitions and prayers." Prayer precedes what will happen. In the ninth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus speaks of a harvest and a few workers. He speaks of prayer: "Pray for the Lord of the harvest, that He sends laborers into His harvest." He does not say, "Go," He says, "Pray." Therefore, prayer is a state in which the church must remain constantly. We need to sacrifice something, refuse something, to pray and be in the presence of God. This revelation is carried by the prayer movement IHOP KC.

– The fast pace of life often leads to lack of prayer life among modern Christians. How do you manage to cope with this?

– It's always a challenge. I have to postpone something, or even completely refuse some things. It was easier before. Now I ofetn say: "I'm sorry, I'll answer tomorrow," "I'll answer later." I set aside time for prayer, quiet time with God, I try to do this in the morning. If I'm on the road, I do it when I'm alone. These are questions of discipline, as well as what I am prepared to sacrifice. Often I have to give up some projects and even relationships in favor of spending more time with the Lord.

– What are the most noticeable prayer ministries in the world?

– They are in many countries. The events in South Korea are widely known. Here, Christians over the past 50 years have inspired the world with their prayer life. It all began with David Yonggi Cho, a famous minister of God. His mother-in-law acquired land on one of the mountains, and they built prayer cells there. It became the morning prayer place for the church. There are thousands of prayer mountains in Korea today. The Chinese church surprises the world by the prayer, which occurs at home, a silent prayer – they can not pray loudly and make a lot of noise. I met with a representative of the Chinese prayer movement and was surprised to learn how much the church prays in the days of persecution. Pain, stress, imprisonment of brothers and sisters put the church on their knees before God. We see this in the book of Acts: when Peter was in prison, the church diligently prayed for him. I talked with a young minister who was 32 years old, he was the son of a pastor and since the age of 16 he has been founding prayer houses in Mexico. He opened more than 60 prayer houses across the country. This young man is filled with the fire of prayer, the desire to inspire the whole body of Christ in Mexico for constant prayer. The prayer movement in Brazil is widely developed. Brazilians are hot in temperament. They pray loudly, expressively, the Lord does great things in this part of the world.

"Within minutes, 50,000 people chanted the name of the Savior – the presence of God was incredible!"

– How are things in the Muslim countries? Is there also a widespread prayer movement?

– Muslim countries are no exception. On November 11, 2011 amazing events took place in Egypt. The Holy Spirit prompted the leader of the prayer movement, he was not even a pastor, to organize a joint prayer of Christians of different denominations from 6 pm to 6 am. Just a few weeks before the final decision was made, during a discussion with the bishops of the Coptic, Catholic, Lutheran and Evangelical churches about all Christians 12-hours gathering to pray for the country, about the movement of God in Egypt, they let an ad run on television. One day before the appointed date the director of one of the Christian TV channels asked the organizer of the prayer night: "How many people do you expect?". He replied: "I will be happy if 3-4 thousand people join us." His interlocutor then expressed doubt, saying: "God grant that they came, because before that there was no such experience, and no one can predict with certainty whether people will respond." More than 50 000 people arrived! Thousands of buses from all over the country. People came together to pray. About two o'clock in the morning people in the audience unexpectedly and spontaneously started shouting: "Jesus! Jesus! Jesus!". For a few minutes, 50,000 people chanted the name of the Savior – the presence of God was incredible! After this, the feud between denominations in Egypt ceased. Christians fell in love with God's Word – they began to read Scripture every day. People read the Bible from beginning to end several times a year, and this movement continues to this day.

"We are on the verge of one of the largest prayer movements ..."

– What is the significance of the IHOP-Siberia conference for Russia?

– Any awakening in history had prerequisites. One of the most important factors in the awakening has always been prayer. Studying the awakenings of the past, we will notice that every movement of God, a change in culture, the outpouring of God's Spirit on earth was preceded by prayer. I deeply believe that we are on the verge of one of the largest prayer movements, and the changes will, in my opinion, be obvious to the whole world. Today, the Spirit of God through Bob Jones and other prophets announces that the last awakening before the coming of the Lord will come through the Russian-speaking world, through the Slavic people. When the fire of thirst for God's presence, the prayer fire will flare up in Russia, among the Slavic people, it will sweep the whole world. These are the prerequisites for awakening, but in order for the Spirit of God to be to poured out, the Russian church must light the torch of prayer.

– Christians of Russia have always been in prayer. How should this prayer movement differ?

– Of course, we prayed when there were persecutions, but these were different prayers. We are talking about prayers of intercession, worship, contemplation on the beauty of God. This is a different nature of prayers – we are not looking for "Give me" or "Answer my need." On the contrary, we are looking for "How to serve You, Lord?", "We magnify You!". When the focus of our prayer shifts from ourselves to our Lord, this will be the starting point of the awakening that will change our country, the people, the whole world.

"This is a small turn, which opens a wide road leading to the awakening of our nation..."

– In our country there are many events, many conferences. Why should I postpone everything and come the IHOP-Siberia Conference?

– This is not a regular conference. To make this event possible, people prayed for decades, searched for ways to bring this fire and this revelation to our country. We believe that this is the door that opens today. This is not just another conference, it is the birth of a prayer movement in the Slavic world. I know from the Lord that this is the beginning. It's a small match that will ignite a big flame; a small lump of snow that will cause an avalanche; this is a small turn, which a opens a wide road, leading to God's movement and the awakening of our nation. The IHOP–Siberia Conference will be held in Novosibirsk from 28 to 30 of March 2018. One of the leaders of IHOP KC movement John Chisholm, as well as youth pastor and director of the school of service "Forerunner" David Slicer will be speakers of the Conference.

The site of the event: www.ihopnsk.ru

Sergei Mityanin

The Theme for Perm Conference is: “A CERTAIN KIND. Discipleship That Re-Defines Success In The Ministry”

A synopsis of the conference: The greatest need of the Church is leadership. To produce a certain kind of spiritually qualified leader, authentic discipleship and intentional disciple making are the biblical keys. The chief goal is life transformation – building depth in the lives of leaders to influence the Church to arise to be what God intends it to be!

When: November 17–18, 2017

Where: New Testament Church, Perm, Russia
(93, Uralskaya street, Perm)

For more information visit our web-site: novizavet.ru

---

Reverend Edmund Chan
Leadership Mentor, Covenant Evangelical Free Church
Founder, Global Alliance of Intentional Disciple Making Churches
 
Edmund Chan is a highly sought-after expository preacher and an esteemed leadership mentor. His insightful biblical teachings are very well received, resulting in worldwide speaking invitations up to five years in advance.

Edmund also mentors top-level leaders, including business leaders and CEOs, bishops, senior pastors as well as the founders and directors of Christian organizations globally.
 
He travels extensively to minister in diverse countries, including South East Asia, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Russia, Africa, Europe, UK, Australia, Brazil, Canada and USA.

After his 25-year service as the Senior Pastor of Covenant Evangelical Free Church, Edmund transited in leadership in 2012 to provide leadership as Founder of the Global Alliance of Intentional Disciple Making Churches (IDMC Global Alliance). He remains on staff at Covenant EFC as the leadership mentor.

A highlight in ministry was the launch of the Global Discipleship Congress (GDC) in Manila, in partnership with Christ Commission Fellowship. The inaugural GDC 2013 was attended by over 8,000 pastors and leaders from 61 nations; and have since paved the way for major regional discipleship summits, particularly in Europe and Africa.

Edmund distinguished himself academically by completing his two-year post-graduate degree at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (USA) in less than nine months and graduated summa cum laude.
 
He has written several books, including Growing Deep in God (2002); Mentoring Paradigms (2008); Growing Deep In Faith (2010); Cultivating Your Inner Life (2011); A Certain Kind (2013), Radical Discipleship (2014), Life & Legacy (2015) and Discipleship Missions (2016).

Edmund is married to Ann, who actively ministers and mentors alongside him around the world. They have two lovely adopted daughters, Amanda and Belicia.

---

Pastor Ann Chan
Pastor, Covenant Evangelical Free Church
Director, Global Alliance of Intentional Disciple Making Churches

Ann Chan ministers actively alongside her husband, Reverend Edmund Chan, championing the Intentional Disciple Making Churches (IDMC) vision around the world.

A gifted leader and teacher, she has pioneered many of Covenant’s ministries, including Women-In-Covenant ministry.  No stranger to pain and suffering herself, she has been an empathetic and wise counsellor to many who have approached her over her years of ministry.

An educator by training, Ann graduated with a Master of Arts degree in Christian Education (with Honours) from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in 1994.  She has also mentored, preached and taught in Hong Kong, Australia, America and London. 



Global Alliance of Intentional Disciple Making Churches
Covenant Evangelical Free Church
No. 2 Kallang Avenue
#10-26 CT HUB
Singapore 339407
(Tel) +65 68926811

MOSCOW (RUSSIA) – On October 25, an outstanding event took place in Moscow. The Archbishop Dieterich Brauer accepted symbolic keys to Evangelical-Lutheran Peter and Paul’s Cathedral from the Assistant director of territorial administration of Federal Agency for State property management in Moscow Nikolai Peshkov, as a sign of ownership.

Head of administration of the Head Bishop Ivan Borichevsky, and Senior Presbyter of the Central Association of the Russian Church of Christians of Evangelical Faith Boris Dikidzhi took part in the event.

According to the cathedral’s pastor Viktor Weber, the decision to sign over the Peter and Paul’s Lutheran Cathedral building to the Evangelical-Lutheran church of Russia on the 500th anniversary of Reformation is the first step to restoration of the historical justice and returning other religious buildings to the believers all across the country.

President of Germany Frank-Walter Steinmeier has arrived with a private visit to participate in the ceremony. Representatives of the Russian President’s Administration, Government of Moscow, State Duma, and all Christian denominations of Russia participated in the event.

Vladimir Medinsky, Minister of Culture of Russia, and Henry Bedford-Storm, Head of the Evangelical church of Germany, made greeting speeches.

The Russian Church of Christians of Evangelical Faith

MOSCOW (RUSSIA) - In 2018, Russia will host FIFA World Cup. On December 13–15, a meeting of the coordinating council of the Alliance of sports ministries was held in Moscow. The purpose of the meeting was preparation for the championship. During the event evangelical churches will organize activities related to engage teenagers and young people into a healthy lifestyle.

ST. PETERSBURG (RUSSIA) - On December 10 and 11, St. Petersburg hosted the Global Leadership Summit 2015. It was organized by the North-West Association of the Russian CHurch of Chrostoans of Evangelical Faith and the Church of Evangelical Christians-Baptists.

A featured speaker of the summit in St. Petersburg this year was Dr. Satish Kumar,  pastor of the church in Hyderabad, India, which has over 120,000 members. The minister shared the word about family, ministry and personal relationships with God.

Few things are more iconic than the Star of Bethlehem — the star Magi from the east followed to ultimately find and worship the Christ Child. Over the centuries, many have speculated that the Star of Bethlehem was some sort of natural phenomenon that took place, but Dr. Richard Hammar, who teaches astronomy at Evangel University (and is also well known for his standard-setting prowess when it comes to church and law), believes the common explanations simply fall short. Hammar says he views the Star of Bethlehem as one of the most endearing yet mysterious aspects of the Christmas story as it only appears in one passage in the gospels, and that being in the Gospel of Matthew.

MOSCOW (RUSSIA) - On November 19, Dr. Kim Sung Ho, the president of the South Korean Hansei University visited Moscow Theological Institute. Dr. Kim is a spouse of the world-famous pastor of the world's largest evangelical church David Yonggi Cho.

Hansei University has several educational departments such as theology, management and business, humanitarian and social studies, information technology and others.

Institute of Bible Translation in Russia has recently published an illustrated edition of “Bible Stories” in the Dungan language, spoken primarily in Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and China. This book is a short version of IBT’s beloved Children’s Bible that introduces readers to 58 stories from the Old and New Testament.

Institute for Bible Translation (IBT) has released an audio recording of the book of Proverbs in the Kumyk language. The Kumyks are the largest Turkic people in the northern Caucasus region of Russia, with approximately 432,000 living in Dagestan and another 70,000 or so in other parts of Russia.

The latest New Testament to be published by Institute for Bible Translation (IBT) is in Bashkir, a Turkic language spoken by more than 1 million people in central Russia. IBT began work on this first-ever translation of the full New Testament into Bashkir in the mid-1990s with a view towards producing a clear, accurate and natural text. Positive scholarly reviews of the translated text by the Institute of History, Language and Literature in Ufa, the capital city of Bashkortostan, testify to the fact that this goal has been achieved.

MOSCOW (RUSSIA) - In the end of January, the Institute for Bible Translation in Russia/CIS celebrated the 20th anniversary of their official registration as a Russian organization. Since 1995, IBT staff and their partners in other Bible translation organizations have been working on translating Holy Scripture into more than 60 languages in the former USSR. The New Testament has been translated into 19 languages (including Bashkir, which is currently at the print house in Ufa), and the full Bible into 2 languages, Tuvan and Chechen.