By now, Pastor Dennis Balcombe is a legend in China, and most of you know about him. Here is a short video we hacked up about some of his legendary work.

Watched this already? Fine. Have you checked the website? Here is the link to his international organization: Revival Chinese Ministries International …→

Keep scrolling – more cool stuff below!!

60 Asians, 14 Africans, 12 Europeans, 8 people from Central and South America, Mexico and the Caribbean, 5 from the USA and Canada, and 1 person from Australia or New Zealand.

Communications

The people of the village would have considerable difficulty communicating: 14 people would speak Mandarin, 8 people would speak Hindi/Urdu, 8 English, 7 Spanish, 4 Russian, 4 Arabic. This list accounts for less than half the villagers. The others speak (in descending order of frequency) Bengali, Portuguese, Indonesian, Japanese, German, French, and 200 other languages.

Religions

In the village there would be: 33 Christians, 22 Moslems, 15 Hindus, 14 Nonreligious, Agnostics, or Atheists, 6 Buddhists, 10 all other religions.

Poor and Rich

In this 100-person community: 80 would live in substandard housing. 67 adults live in the village; and half of them would be illiterate. 50 would suffer from malnutrition. 33 would not have access to clean, safe drinking water. 24 people would not have any electricity. Of the 76 that do have electricity, most would use it only for light at night. In the village would be 42 radios, 24 televisions, 14 telephones, and 7 computers (some villagers own more than one of each). 7 people would own an automobile (some of them more than one). 5 people would possess 32% of the entire village’s wealth, and these would all be from the USA. The poorest one-third of the people would receive only 3% of the income of the village.

More to Ponder

If you woke up this morning healthy … you are more blessed than the million who will not survive this week. If you have never experienced the danger of battle, the fear and loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture, or the pain of starvation … you are better off than 500 million people in the world. If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof overhead and a place to sleep … you are more comfortable than 75% of the people in this world. If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a dish someplace … you are among the top 8% of the world’s wealthy. If you can read this, you are more blessed than over two billion people in the world who cannot read at all.

Copyright

This material is copyright-free. You may reproduce it. Original version by Donella H. Meadows More info at www.odt.org

Another great site for Free Stock Photos & Images for personal, educational and non-commercial usage is www.stockvault.net/

Another one I like for church is creationswap formerly CreativeMYK

If you are looking for backgrounds for your website, try subtlepatterns.com. They have a very nice collection of good backgrounds. Just pick what you like and then login to WordPress and click, Appearance, Background and upload the image.

Please Pray for North Africa and the Middle East

Islamic World In Turmoil

Download the PDF

As regimes topple in North Africa and shakings threaten Middle East leaders, could this be the breaking down of a wall of Islam many have predicted for years? Or will it have the opposite effect? Will it strengthen extremism and create an open door for radical Islamist groups to take power?

In the space of just weeks the impossible happened in the Muslim world. Starting in Tunisia December 17, 2010, Mohammed Bouazizi’s suicide started revolts against repressive regimes in the region. The Tunisian government was quickly overthrown and people in Algeria, Egypt, Yemen, Libya, Iraq, Jordan, and several other countries began demonstrations.

For those of us who have been praying and working into this area of the world for years, we are amazed and rejoicing at all God is doing. Nevertheless, it is too soon to abandon prayer for the region and assume the job is done. We need to listen to God’s prophetic voice and continue to pray and intercede in accordance for the people.

This short guide (PDF) will help you. Download: Islamic World In Turmoil

Dear Friends,

The eyes of the world have been on Egypt, wondering if a very courageous revolt demanding the resignation of the President, reforming the constitution, and ending corruption, would possibly succeed.  Protected, and yet not assisted, by our armed forces, these hundreds of thousands of protesters, at great risk to themselves, persisted stubbornly in their revolt for 18 days until Friday, February 11, when President Mubarak resigned and the Army promised to fulfill the protesters’ demands. They have already dissolved both houses of parliament, suspended the constitution and are now working towards the rebuilding of both in time for presidential elections in September.

Last week, like in July 1952 when young army officers overthrew the King and declared a Republic, Egyptian history was re-written and we all believe we are in a new and exciting phase of this great nation’s destiny.

Thank you

I would like to Thank You on behalf of the Bible Society and the Christians of Egypt. We were overwhelmed during this time by a flood of emails, phone calls and Facebook messages from all over the world, assuring us of your prayers and the real desire to help (I am sure you will appreciate why it has been impossible to answer each of you personally).

On the “night of rampage”, January 29th, when many businesses, shopping malls,vehicles and police stations were vandalized and destroyed, a bunch of hooligans approached the Bible House in the middle of the night. Our security guard had fled and the Muslim neighbors guarding their homes told us that they were preparing to protect our beautiful building when suddenly, for no apparent reason, the gang stopped in their tracks and returned from whence they had come! The neighbors were convinced that this was divine protection of the Bible Society and told us so! We were sleeping at the time, but undoubtedly, some of you, in different time zones were praying for us!

How is the current situation in Egypt?

People feel empowered; they have broken the bonds of fear from a totalitarian system. Much goodwill and unity has been expressed. However, some costly damage has been done like the stealing of valuable archeological treasures from the Cairo Museum, the destruction of many government properties and the escape of many prisoners. There are also dozens of strikes and demonstrations by varied groups of society who believe they were unjustly treated by the previous regime and now feel free to demand their rights. All this continues to create a feeling of insecurity among many. On the positive side there is a massive, spontaneous “clean up” campaign going on in which Christians and Muslims of all classes of society are working together to clean up and rebuild Cairo and other cities across the nation.

I am sure you can imagine that with the country having come to a standstill for 18 days and with most foreigners (including businessmen and tourists) having left, it will take a lot of time and effort to restore Egypt to the economic stability we had begun to enjoy during the last year.

The present situation is extremely complex. It seems obvious to me (but not to many others) that the kind of “democracy” which could eventually be achieved by this revolution will be within the framework of a country whose main ideology is based on unwavering loyalty to a major religion. (A 2009 Gallup poll indicated that Egypt is one of the most religious countries in the world!). There will, hopefully, be much more freedom of expression and a more democratic governing system. But like all the nations in our region, there will still be restrictions for us as Christians which we will not be able to easily ignore.

Bringing the core message of the Bible to Egypt

While most Christians are encouraged by the “winds of democratic change”, many others fear that the well-organized Muslim Brotherhood could win in a free election, and that if this happens the status of Christians in Egypt might be worse than before. Many believers in Egypt are used to equating God’s blessing with physical comfort and even prosperity. Most expect a relatively peaceful life, and are not equipped to handle difficulties within a Biblical framework. Some Christians have not hesitated to flee the country, while many of those remaining wish they could leave as well.

The Christian faith was born in unstable political circumstances and has usually thrived most when threatened. Our vision at the Bible Society of Egypt is to take a deliberate role in affirming to Christians of all classes and persuasions basic Biblical truths. We are on the precipice of opportunity, and feel that there is an incredible spiritual gap that must be filled. The Bible Society is in a strategic position to address the whole church (Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant). Our urgent desire is for the Word of God to speak. We cannot fail to seize this opportunity to share the relevance of God’s Word during this momentous time in Egypt’s history.

The Bible speaks to the Revolution’s aspirations

Nearly all the dreams and aspirations of the youth who began this revolution are basic Biblical values. Unfortunately, some of the corruption and injustice against which they are revolting was perpetuated by so-called Christians as well. We know that, unless people’s hearts are changed by the Holy Spirit, all hope of a real “reformation of life-style”, to which many Egyptians now aspire, will be impossible to achieve. There has never been a time when God’s voice is more needed.

Developing new materials suitable for this crisis

As the current theme of the nation is “Let’s Build Egypt Together”, we are working on a Scripture leaflet based on Nehemiah’s rebuilding of his city and later of his people’s faith and conduct.

Pray for wisdom and creativity as to HOW to provide the appropriate message. We are planning several strategies: a nation-wide public media campaign featuring Biblical values which resonate with the revolution’s aspirations, a series of small, printed leaflets or booklets, a general newsletter aimed at all Christians in Egypt, and short audio and audio-visual clips which, like the parables of Jesus, will convey powerful messages from the Bible right to people’s hearts.

To quickly reach out in this way with God’s Word, we will be giving out all these specially designed materials free of charge. Our dream, in these days of unprecedented freedom, is to flood Egypt with God’s Word.

Book Fair Canceled

January and February, (the Bookfair Season) is our peak selling time of the year during which we receive 1/4th to 1/3rd of our total sales income. We produce and purchase large amounts of stock and pay our creditors after these 2 months. The Bookfair has been canceled, and we now face a financial dilemma.

We have, therefore, extended our Bookfair sales season until the end of March and challenged all our staff across the nation, whatever their particular job may be, to become active salespersons of the wonderful Scripture products we produced for the Bookfair season and to also fundraise from their friends, relatives and churches.

Helping Egypt Now

We unashamedly ask you to help us financially during this time of crisis and opportunity. We do not want to let our people down and will have to make a big leap of faith to begin producing and distributing all these materials before you have time to send us your donations. Below are different ways you can send us funds.

Security in God’s Word

Just today, some grandparents came into one of our bookshops and bought CDs and coloring books for their grandchildren. They said, “Now is the time for our children to connect with the Word of God, to find real security. We must build their trust in the Lord, and not in a certain regime or political solution.”

Please pray for unusual creativity and effective approaches to spread God’s Word in Egypt.

PS: Thanks for all who have asked about my health. I am taking strong medication to slow down my pulse and this makes me feel weak.

PLEASE FEEL FREE TO CIRCULATE THIS LETTER THROUGH ALL MEANS AND TO ANY PERSONS OR GROUPS YOU THINK WOULD BE INTERESTED. MANY THANKS.

If you have not received this email from the Bible Society of Egypt directly and would like to be added to our mailing list, please simply click reply or send a note to updateme@bsoe.org

Gifts can be sent through credit cards, cheques, or bank transfer

General Director
The Bible Society of Egypt

Our 21st Edition.

20 July > 19 August, 2012

Our 20th Edition – August 1-30, 2011

Order your booklets today!

Project Hope is based on a joint City of Joy venture starting in Nepal. My friend Sandy and his daughter and team are there at the moment. I look forward to hearing the good reports. (No, the photo above is not of Nepal but one from my archives in North Africa – I’m just working on good Nepal photos now.)

Why Intelligent People Fail → from Michael Anissimov

This is an arm band which serves as a reminder to be a blessing. Cool.

See the site too: bandofblessing.org