Hi, Welcome to the AJ Times - the official newsletter of Andrew De Jonge’s mission work, written by AJ himself.
If you would like to write to AJ (or send him any confectionery) you can reach him care of me, Jason Jones, at 52 Park Ave., Roseville NSW 2069. You can also now email AJ directly, as [email protected]. He would really appreciate the correspondence, especially now, during the cold, dreary winter.
If you have any inquiries about AJ’s financial support, or any friends who may be interested in also supporting AJ’s work overseas, then also please don't hesitate to contact me, either on (h) 9417-1025, (w) 9333-1875, at the mail address above, or as [email protected].
Now, over to AJ....
RAMAZAN
We are currently in the middle of Ramazan. Ramazan is a month long event in Muslim countries where a fast is kept during the daylight hours, people gorging themselves at night. It is a time when Muslims are supposed to practice self-discipline refraining from many kinds of pleasures in order to show a commitment to Allah. They also claim that it helps them identify with the poor. However, it is an undisputed fact that more food is consumed during Ramazan than any other time of the year - every night after Sunset being a party of food eating, culminating in a massive feast at the end. Unfortunately, besides cultivating a works mentality, Ramazan generally makes people more irritable and leads to more frequent outbursts of violence by radical Muslims.The Christian 40 day Prayer focus for muslim is aimed at encouraging
Christians to be praying for the Muslim world during this time, encouraging
Christians to also consider fasting (Christian style, not Muslim style)
for their lost brothers. Perhaps too late to start for this year Ramazan,
but perhaps something to consider for next December?
"EVAN"
"Evan" is a friend who is a very committed Muslim. Surprisingly, often the more committed Muslims can also be the more open to receive the gospel message. This may be in that they are being convicted by the Spirit about sin and righteousness, something they are unsuccessfully trying to fulfill within Islam. But Islam doesn't deal with their need for a relationship with God, or with the problem of sin.We showed him the Jesus film and he hung on to every word, asking many questions once it ended. He remarked how all this new information gives him a lot to think about. He says that it is disturbing to think he may not be believing in the right God, but how he wants to know what is really truth. Christianity sounds so logical, and the joy he sees in believers has made a large impact on him.
As he has thrown himself so fully into Islam and found it hollow, how much more will he be committed to living for the truth if he finds it? Please pray for him. He has asked that we pray for his search.
SUMMER PROJECT ENDS!
Things have finished for the 97/98 Summer Project team - we've sent them back your way so let us know if they haven't arrived yet. For those of you who may not be too familiar with the lingo, an SP (Summer Project) is a short eight week trip giving students an experience of ministry work in a foreign country and for generating a lot of new contacts which we can then follow up.An important part of ending a Summer Project group is to make sure all the friends they have made who are interested in the gospel are followed up by us STINTers once they leave. We need to be able to transition the friendships across, so we try to meet up with them on any outings they go on with their friends, and end with a large group trip up to Ephesus to which everyone comes. One person actually became a believer during the SP and several other promising contacts are being currently followed up.
PRAYER CORNER
Generally people are either ripe for the gospel message and take an immediate interest, or show some curiosity - perhaps after being struck by the claims and truth of the gospel but seem reluctant to apply it to their lives. Others can show no interest at all, but want to talk to us solely because we are foreigners and want to know how they can apply for Australian or American citizenship.A big part of our work is trying to discern who has a genuine interest in the gospel and avoid those who are just wasting our time. Below I have listed the names of the people I have met - please take some time to pray for them over the next month. If you honestly don't think you'll get around to it, perhaps it may be a good idea to take a moment and pray for them now.
Show a keen interest to learn about Jesus: "Evan" and "Ivan"
Are interested in learning more about the claims of Jesus: Onay, Ertogal, Taner
STOP PRESS
My friend Erhan who I spoke of before is under much spiritual attack from Satan. Many things are disturbing him and I pray that God is using this time to teach him of his inadequacies without the power of Jesus.I talked to him on the phone tonight and he related to me how he met a girl who was very much into Witchcraft and scared him. He was initially attracted to her, and went over to talk to her before she started telling him that see was Satan and Satan was not afraid of Allah. He is afraid now that Satan might hurt him, and sees this as a punishment for him being attracted to this girl. He is constantly battling with temptations - "Satan is always at war with me" he says. We can pray that God uses this time to draw him to the power of Jesus which can break him out of the bondage to which sin holds humanity.
Unfortunately, while he believes my motives to help him are sincere and he appreciates what I am doing for people in this country by my work, he saw the name of our organization (the American name) on one of my roommates books and this disturbed him greatly. If you know the name I mean (Campus Crusade for Christ), you would understand his consternation. Please pray he can get over the suspicions he now has about the genuinity of our organization.
I am strengthening myself in the Lord, God has been good. One particular contact from the Summer project, Tamer, is growing strongly and quickly in the his newfound faith. He already is sharing the gospel with all his friends and believes everyone in Turkey needs to hear the good news.
The last ten days we spent in retreat meeting the other Stinters from the country and local believers who are part of our organization. It was a good time for everyone to be encouraged by news of work in different parts of the country.