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Greetings everyone,

Spring is here and one can see the beautiful cherry blossoms blooming in many streets of Auckland as you drive by. The cherry blossoms symbolise the beauty of God and His awesome creation for us to marvel at and appreciate, so take a moment to stop from the busyness of life and enjoy His creation.

In the last newsletter, you may recall the story about a wealthy family living in a huge mansion with a million-dollar seaside view. Guess what? Last week, I received a phone call from that family, who called me up and asked for another visit to their home, rather urgently. When I arrived at their home, the father of the family shared that after my last visit three weeks ago, they could not shrug off Jesus from their minds and admitted that they are actually missing out on true happiness that could only come by making Jesus their personal Saviour. I was blown away by this news!  Glory, Hallelujah! So, with a lot of joy I led this family to the Lord through the salvation prayer. In my heart, I was jumping with joy. After planting the gospel seed three weeks ago, God grew the seed (1 Cor 3:6) and provided the harvest in His perfect timing. I was so jubilant by the salvation of this family. The Holy Spirit had gone before me and prepared everything ahead of time.

In fact, the wife had tears rolling down her cheeks when she received Christ. It was a beauty to watch. I then prayed over them, blessed their marriage, their new relationship with Christ. I demonstrated the roman handshake, which was powerful. I gave them a Bible, showed them how to read it, and taught them a prayer that they could say as a family each night. They are leaving for a holiday soon and when they are back, I will start a weekly bible study with them to disciple them. Please keep them in prayers. They have two children.

There are so many testimonies of salvation over the past couple of weeks. Almost daily I get the opportunity to visit, pray and share the Gospel with many people. It is really exciting. By the way, currently Shanthi, Ruth (daughter), David (son) and I are undergoing an 8-week mission school training (in the 10 – 40 window). We are planning to travel to the Middle East next year on a short-trip mission to share the gospel among Syrian refugees who are residing there. They are Muslim and have not heard the gospel and we feel burdened for them.  We will be raising funds for this, so please pray about whether the Lord prompts you to partner with us. Thank you very much.

We also had a wonderful Share your Faith training on the 5^th October and equipped nine trainees (see pictures below and opposite).  They are now doing the 7-weeks EV2. We also had six trainers helping us in the workshop. Praise the Lord for providing many trainers for our workshop.

Blessings,

Thank you for all your prayer support and financial support. Have a blessed month.

Raj Narayanan, EENZ National Director

Dear Prayer Partners,

On the first of the month, I begin a round of visits to all the EE leaders and teams in the Multiplying Nations in Oceania. It begins in Papua New Guinea and then on to the Solomon Islands. A few days later, I fly to the Marshall Islands, a new Multiplying Nation that I’ve not visited before, and then to Fiji and Australia, back to New Zealand for our own National Board Planning Day on 3 December, and finally Vanuatu.   It’s going to be a lot of travel in a short time, but I’m really looking forward to it; just don’t mention my carbon footprint!  The purpose is to  conduct the Annual Review together with the respective National Director and Board members, to assess progress, reveal area of the national ministry needing attention and, above all, encourage, help and focus the work for next year. But the visit to each nation is much more than just doing a review!

Now that you hopefully have a better picture of what happens on each of these visits, please pray for God to guide me, give relevance, discernment and clarity of expression with each of these different national teams. May ‘EE Team Oceania’ be blessed, encouraged and strengthened by our meetings together as we celebrate 2019 and look forward to 2020.

 Anne Bowie, VP Oceania

Greetings in Jesus name,

A few weeks ago I met a young girl who was severely depressed and suicidal. A friend of mine introduced her to me. Twice she tried to take her own life. She is only 23 and has a whole life to live for. But she has lost all hope and wanted to end her life like many young people in this nation. I had a long conversation with her and shared the gospel and gave her hope in Christ. I demonstrated the book of sin and, praise the Lord, she accepted Jesus as her personal Saviour. She understood what Jesus has done for her at the Calvary. I am currently following up with her. Please keep her in your prayers. For privacy purpose, I won’t be able to share her name.

The next day, after my sharing with this young girl, Jesus provided another opportunity, this time to share the gospel with a family who have all the luxuries of the world, with the latest gadgets, technology and comforts of life and even a million-dollar seaside view, but they were missing peace and joy that only Jesus could bring. I shared the gospel and prayed for them. They were very open towards the gospel and had many questions about Christianity. However, they needed more time to make that final decision. I see this as seeds planted and waiting for the harvest in God’s timing. 

On Saturday morning the same week, I was part of an outreach in the Botany neighbourhood, where eight people got saved, which brought tears of joy to me. I was reminded of what Jesus said, in John 4:35, “Look up and see, the fields are ripe and ready to harvest. The question is, Are we ready to be part of this harvest? Or are we neglecting it due to the busyness around us?

I am sharing this to encourage each one of you to share the gospel intentionally with those around you. The harvest is all around you. It is not too far away. If you are unable to share the gospel then please continue to pray for us and support us financially so that we can do this with your support. But it will take some sort of sacrifice on your part. Whatever it is, please, don’t let the worries of this world choke you and cause you to lose sight of the dying world around us. Jesus is coming soon. After that, it is night time, so let’s work while it is still day.   Let everything we do glorify Jesus.

Blessings,

Raj Narayanan, EENZ National Director

Dear Prayer Partners,

Spring beckons, daffodils are coming out in my garden, and the EE Congress of Nations is almost here!  How quickly the year flies by. In this letter, there is good news and disappointing news.

The good news is that the Congress Programme looks great.  Norman Blackaby, EEI Board member  is the Bible teacher each morning, followed by prayer time, presentations, discussions and resolutions on a variety of strategic issues, namely: new materials, internet training, strategy for reaching People Groups, leadership growth, developing succession in leaders, coaching for transformational leadership, growing young leaders, developing EE in new nations, the role of the Boards, building effective teams, and asking how many nations we need in order to reach the world with Gospel equipping.  Our own Raj is the Chairperson of the New Tools Track: Strategy for the Future and will be moderating the discussion on what materials we need and how we might accelerate materials development. Congress is a time for listening to the Holy Spirit, sharing experience and insights, developing fresh, creative and relevant ways to reach the world with the Gospel.

The concerning news, however, is that nine of our delegates so far do not have entry visas into Albania. Please pray that the leaders from Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, Fiji and the Solomon Islands will get them in time. Visa application has been a long and tricky process.  Leaders in Africa and a few in Asia are also waiting. Please remember them as well.

Finally, EE Cook Islands have decided not to be admitted as a multiplying nation at this Congress.  They will continue however, to develop and grow the ministry there in partnership with New Zealand and within Oceania.

Anne Bowie, VP Oceania

Greetings in Jesus name,

Winter is here, and we can feel the temperature dropping down. However, this cold weather will not stop our evangelism work which continues each day, both with equipping the saints and witnessing at the malls. My Monday night is fully dedicated to discipling new believers, Tuesday night for EV2 training, Wednesday night for XEE training, Thursday night for witnessing at the mall, Friday evening a break and Saturday could be either a Share Your Faith “one day” training or Hope for Kids training, depending on the need of the saints. I love what God has called me to do for His kingdom. Please keep praying for me and EE, for endurance and perseverance to do God’s work with diligence and joy.

Towards the end of June, Shanthi and I ran a Hope for Kids workshop at a local church, to equip children leaders who will be running a school holiday programme at the church during the 2^nd week of July. This school holiday programme is to invite children from the broken homes residing in the community and bringing them the good news of Jesus Christ as well as equipping them to witness to others. The leader of the holiday programme is in contact with the community social workers who are working with women who face violent abuse at home from their spouse. Very often children coming from these homes display aggressive behaviour and they need love and care. Most importantly, they need Jesus as their personal Saviour.  This is a free holiday programme that the church runs each year with up to 70 kids attending. This year it is a privilege for Evangelism Explosion Ministries to take part, not only to equip leaders to share the Gospel, but also to run the programme. Please keep this programme in your prayers. Please pray that many children will hear the Gospel and make a commitment to receive Jesus as their personal Saviour.

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Other good news is that we have one of our EE trainees currently in Fiji equipping young people on how to share the Gospel and also doing daily door knocking in the villages to take the good news to the local residence. He is daily seeing people giving their lives to Jesus and also experiencing physical healing and freedom from strongholds and spiritual oppression. This is a wonderful effort taken by someone who is passionate about spreading the good news to the lost. Please keep him in your prayers. We also have another EE trainee witnessing in the mall every Thursday, taking the good news of Jesus Christ to the people at the shopping mall. Please keep him in prayers as he has recently undergone eye surgery and is resting at home. Please pray for quick recovery and healing for his eyes.

Have a fabulous month filled with Christ’s love and peace.

Blessings,

Raj Narayanan, EENZ National Director

Dear Prayer Partners,

After ten days in the Cook Islands at the end of June, it is exciting to be able to tell you that EE Cook Islands has all in place to be admitted as an EE Multiplying nation at the Congress of Nations next month. The National Director, who is a dentist by profession and will be part-time at first. The Board Chairman has had a vision for many years to see EE take root and grow in the Cook Islands, he will be carrying its flag into the Congress in Tirana, Albania.

It is so encouraging to see the implementation of recent workshop training in Rarotonga.  Three CICC Churches are running Hope for Kids programmes and the children are responding enthusiastically and learning well.  The Aorangi CICC are running a very vibrant Friday night version of Hope for Kids that is drawing in unchurched children from the community. Week by week visiting continues at Avarua CICC, to homes, the hospital and the prison and it is bearing fruit. Following the Classic EE training conducted by Raj in May at Takamoa Bible College, the students are taking turns in going out on-the-job training with Avarua. The Principal told me that just this week, the students led the regular assembly at the local high school, Tereora College, and after singing and a gospel presentation, had an altar call to which many students responded.  There is so much for which to thank God and rejoice.

On a sadder note, the Chairman of the EE Fiji Board, Rev. Marika Ledua,  has passed away and gone to be with the Lord he loved and served so well. Marika was a highly respected and much loved leader and will be greatly missed. He led the ministry in Fiji with distinction, successfully navigating it through many challenges. I am personally very sad to have lost a great friend. He was registered for the Congress and looking forward to representing Fiji there, but God has called him to an assembly that is “better by far”.

Anne Bowie, VP Oceania

Greetings in Jesus name,

We had a fabulous EE AGM in the first week of May. Thank you to all who attended and made the AGM special.

We are doing weekly witnessing at the shopping mall and one of our recent sharing encounters was quite remarkable. With a new trainee beside me, I shared the good news of Jesus to a man who was seated beside a high coffee table, reading a book. We initiated the gospel conversation and the man ended up not only hearing the entire gospel, but gave his life to Christ and then immediately said to us “I loved what you shared and I want to do the same, can I follow you?”  Praise the Lord, a new convert changed to an evangelist in minutes – that is the power of the gospel. This man is now joining us again this week for our witnessing; he has just texted me confirming that he is coming. This man reminds me of the Samaritan woman who was with Jesus at the well and, after hearing the gospel, she went to her village and shared the good news with the entire village. We need many new disciples like this man.

Please continue to pray for our ministry and support what we are doing. Thank you.

Blessings,

Raj Narayanan, EENZ National Director

True Treasure

It was wonderful to see so many supporters of EE at the recent Supporters’ Dinner and AGM. I’d like to give a big thank you to all those who put in the hard work to make it all possible. Every year my personal highlight is hearing the stories of how Jesus has changed lives. I’ve been thinking lately about happiness and I’m reminded how happy it is to know Jesus.

Our world looks for happiness in all the wrong places. We, too, have to be careful to avoid this. Have you ever saved up for a new purchase only to get buyer’s remorse afterwards? Or looked forward to a new experience only to be disappointed? If you really enjoyed a movie the first time, chances are you will get a little less enjoyment each time you re-watch it. This is because happiness by nature diminishes over time.

We are prone to looking out for the next new thing that will find us happiness – a continual chase, a rat race for the next thing or experience that will bring us our next dopamine hit. If only I could have this, then I would be happy or earn more money or go on holiday more.

Our search for happiness is like searching for the perfect treasure, but are we looking in all the wrong places? Jesus has already told us where to find treasure, true treasure that will sustain and bring real joy, a treasure that will never diminish. His Kingdom is that ultimate treasure.

Jesus said “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.” (Matthew 13:44). The man in this story had joy as he sold everything in order to gain that treasure.

Are we experiencing that same joy? Every decision that is in line with the principles of His kingdom is never regretted. There is no buyer’s remorse. Every time we prioritise His kingdom in our lives it’s an investment that has returns that will last forever. So what small decisions could you make today that would make it a priority? Because His kingdom really is worth everything.

Chris Lange,

Board Chairman

Dear Prayer Partners

I have just returned from the Vice-Presidents’ Conference and their individual reports to the EE International Board in Asheville, USA. These reports, representing the entire global ministry of EE, gave rise to great rejoicing before God, but also revealed deep challenges. EE has grown globally by 200% over the last nine years, which is amazing, but also explains why staff and volunteers are feeling the strain of having ‘too much to do’.  We are visionaries seeking to reach the world, but to do that we need to recruit more talent, younger talent, develop and care for it more, as well as improve and simplify our systems and raise more finance.  Among much news is the 1.6 million people in Africa came to Christ over the first three months of this year and that one EE leader, who single-handedly brought the nation of Bolivia to Multiplying status in just one year!  Despite our shortcomings, God is working mightily through the ministry of EE.

Anne Bowie, VP Oceania

Greetings in Jesus name,

In March we ran our first SYF (Share Your Faith) training for 2019 at Greenlane Presbyterian church attended by 10 different churches. It was a one-day workshop, followed by 7-week EV2 (Everyday Evangelism) training.  Anne, Raj Kashyap and I had the privilege to teach and equip 12 people in total.

I also had an opportunity to be part of a gospel outreach organised by a in Howick. We gave out free drinks and cookies outside a mall and attracted mostly young adults, who were searching for their purpose in life. We shared and connected with about 30 people and three young adults gave their life to Christ on that day. The church has invited them to them church, where they will be discipled and nurtured. One of the young men lives in the city but happened to be in Howick to visit his friend.  Little did he know that it was the appointed time for him to make a decision for Christ. He came face to face with our living God, Jesus Christ and knew in his heart that this is the right thing to do. He looked overwhelmed, convicted by the Holy Spirit and thanked us for the experience and encounter with Jesus. Below is a photo of one of our team members outside the mall.

Our AGM is coming up on Sunday 5 May. Wow ! One year has passed so quickly. Diarise and do attend – it will be hosted at St Paul’s Presbyterian Church, starting at 3pm followed by our Supporters’ Dinner. The address is 223, Weymouth Road, Manurewa and there is heaps of parking. Please RSVP to office@ee.org.nz by 29^th April 2019.

Have a blessed month.

Raj Narayanan, National Director