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revival UPDATE 2014Newsletter of the Revival Fellowship Council ISSUE NO. 25 News, photos and testimonies from Revival Fellowship assemblies around the world was a significant event on the Brazilian calendar in 2013. Chances are, you might never get to some of our Introduction overseas fellowships so we like to introduce you to far-flung parts of the work and how each got started. In this edition we bring you our special Welcome to the 25th Council Newsletter of the report on The Netherlands and explain how the Revival Fellowship. Since our last issue there has now 250-strong fellowship grew from just two been plenty of inspiring action around the globe baptisms in 1989. which we would like to share with you. We summarise the 31st PNG Rally held in Kimbe, On the African continent, revival continues to where more than 700 went through the waters of expand as the saints faithfully preach the gospel. baptism, and bring you an astonishing testimony You can read about the new outpost in Congo of the saints who miraculously survived after they Brazzaville (the ‘other’ Congo!) and an exciting were swept out into the Bismarck Sea. new work in Mozambique, across the border from Finally, we show you some snapshots of a num- Malawi. There are also updates on the fellowships ber of camps that happened around the world this in Uganda, Burundi, Zambia and Rwanda. year—great fun and fellowship! We report on rallies in PNG, Kenya and Kupang, Please enjoy our 25th issue, and when you have and successful outreaches in the Solomon Islands finished reading, why not share it with a family and France. The March Hall Opening in Fortaleza member, colleague or friend? Continued overleaf . Spring camps in Hungary (above right), and Georgia, USA (below) Our beliefs 2 PNG 13 Convention 3 Netherlands 16 Brazil 4 France 17 West Timor 5 Camps 18 Inside Solomon Is. 6 Outreach 19 New Caledonia 7 Contacts 20 Africa 8 We believe in the infallibility of the Bible. We believe Jesus Christ is the son of God. We believe the gospel of His death, resurrection, and directive to repent, be baptised and receive the Holy Spirit. We believe we are baptised into the Body of Christ (the Church) through the Holy Spirit, with the Bible evidence of speaking in tongues. We believe in the miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit in the Church. What we believe We believe in prayer for the sick and healing by the power of God. We believe the Bible identifies modern nations and gives signs of the imminent return of Jesus Christ. 2 The material in this publication is copyright. Enquiries and contributions of material should be sent to: [email protected] A baptism in Africa Baptism in water and in the Holy Spirit In this newsletter Acts 2:37-39 Now when they heard this, they were pricked in you will read of people their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of around the world being baptised in water and the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? receiving the Holy Spirit, speaking in tongues. Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be You will find these same experiences recorded baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus in the Bible where people nearly 2000 years Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall re- ago responded obediently to the preaching of ceive the gift of the Holy Ghost. Jesus and his disciples. For the promise is unto you, and to your chil- Baptism in water and in the Spirit is still dren, and to all that are afar off, even as many available today, and required for anyone who as the Lord our God shall call. wishes to obtain the promise of eternal life, and be granted entrance into the kingdom of God. The Vogue assembly choir International Convention The biannual Revival Fellowship International Convention was held over the June long weekend last year in Adelaide, and as always was a fantastic time of inspiration from the scriptures, powerful testimonies of the power of God in people’s lives, and fellowship with old and new friends from The Elizabeth assembly choir around the world. The theme for the weekend was “Life”, and was brought out time and time again in testimonies of people’s lives completely changed by God. There Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues. Convention were countless astonishing testimonies of heal- The convention was well-represented internation- ings from mental illness, infertility, addictions and ally, with over 1200 saints gathering not only from 3 heart disease to name but a few, as well as folk Australia and New Zealand, but also from Papua testifying of God giving them a sense of purpose New Guinea, Fiji, China, Indonesia, Singapore, the and direction in life where they had none before. Philippines, South Africa, the Netherlands, Eng- There were a number of outreach activities as- land, and the USA. sociated with the convention, and the most excit- Our thanks go to the Adelaide saints for all their ing highlight of the weekend was the fifteen peo- hospitality. The next International Convention ple baptised by full immersion, receiving the Holy will be held in June 2015 on the Gold Coast. Communion meeting at the convention View all sessions online at www.life.adelaiderevival.com Brazil hall opening The big news from Brazil is that, after the calami- tous collapse of the Fortaleza Hall in the previous Brazil monsoon season, the Brazil Fellowship has been able to rebuild the hall to almost three times its original capacity. The Bible promise that “all things work together for good to them that love God...” proved true yet again. God is truly gracious, and has all in hand. With the help of the mission fund, the Fellowship managed to buy the building 4 next door, pull it down, and erect a large and stur- dy structure capable of seating about 560 people. (They were planning an even bigger structure, but technical restrictions on the foundations meant A couple of the children help Pastor Esteves cut the ribbon they lost some of the hall’s planned length.) It is a wonderful facility and it will certainly be put to good use by the Brazilian saints. Our senior pastor in Brazil, Jorge Esteves, re- ports that local saints worked energetically for “We arrived in the week before the opening and more than six months to construct a building that were impressed by the frenetic pace of activities is now the pride of the Moura Brasil slum district. as the Fellowship raced to complete the hall in Pastor Kevin Quirk and brother Jeff Riddle from time. Assembly folk were working almost around Perth went to attend the grand opening night on the clock in the last few days. It has really turned Sunday 10 March, 2013 and he reports as follows: out to be an outstanding building in this quite poor area. The auditorium holds seats for about 560 people and there is a second story, divided into rooms, to cater for many of the children. There is also another small house at the back, attached to the property, which serves as a type of Sunday school area for the teenage boys. Altogether, it’s a great complex. On the night of the opening, assembly members excitedly filled the hall and spilled out onto the street outside. Pastor Esteves asked two of the as- sembly children to help with the ribbon cutting ceremony (see photo). This was followed by a Three of the teachers who conduct free reading classes three-hour concert, with choruses, entertainment, clowns and a presentation about the assembly’s history. Pastor Esteves concluded the celebrations with a short talk from the gospel of John, chapter 3, and asked for baptisms. Twenty-nine of the visi- tors filed forward to be baptised—almost all had received the Holy Spirit and spoken in tongues. It was a great night, Praise the Lord!” The hall is quite a landmark in this locale, and used most days of the week. Apart from various church meetings, the Fellowship also uses the hall for reading classes. It is having considerable suc- cess helping local saints improve their skill set. The accompanying photo shows three teachers from the church who conduct these free classes. Baptisms in Brazil The new hall fills quickly on opening night At the Kupang Rally in West Timor He also tells us that the assembly’s banana farm a hospital with a couple of other saints, and two in the country to the southwest at Gadelha is con- more people received the Spirit—an old and very tinuing to support the Fellowship there, including sick lady, and a young man. two full-time pastors. The old lady was listless and non-communica- Revival continues unabated in Brazil. In the tive when we met her, but after she received the week leading up to the hall opening the assembly Spirit she was thrilled and hardly stopped talking. baptised 89 people throughout the fellowship. In The transformation was astonishing.” another recent outreach out in the country area of The Indonesian saints are very appreciative of Gadelha, there were more than 30 people baptised. Timor West Pastor Esteves is grateful for the contributions from the Mission Fund and sends his thanks to all 5 whoKupang have helpedoutreach the Brazil Fellowship. Our fellowship in Kupang in the West Timor re- gion of Indonesia recently hosted a rally. The fel- lowship in Kupang is young and enthusiastic. It is led by Pastor Teddy, who moved to Kupang from Bali with his wife Elsa three and a half years ago.