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Dear Friend and Prayer Partner,
A long time ago a man named Jabez (I Chronicles 4:9-10) prayed to God in heaven asking God to bless him and to expand his territory and God did as Jabez had asked. We are seeing the same kind of thing happening at GCM. God has blessed and answered prayer in ways we could not have foreseen one year ago.
The first half of 2011 has been a busy time in ministry. It has also been a time of dramatically increased harvest and at times suspenseful. Let me share some fresh news from Asia, Russia, the Middle East and Africa.
Asia's Awesome Harvest Field...
To date, we have been able to conduct historic, high impact media outreaches in 56 cities in 10 countries. Imagine, over 100 million people have been reached in the past 8 years. This is something we could not have envisioned at Great Commission Media Ministries back in 2003.
Our first mega city campaign this year took place in Kathmandu, Nepal in the Himalaya Mountains. We saw tens of thousands of Hindus respond to the message that God does give men and women the power to lead changed lives.
Kathmandu
Our Nepalese campaign manager Pradeep sent us a fresh update from Kathmandu. He told of one church in Gongbu where 40 Hindus now attend the church. In another church the pastor had delivered 320 campaign books to Hindus who had ordered the books in his area. Another church had ordered 1,600 more books for outreach to interested Hindus. A team from a Bible College visited a mountain village where many had received Christ as a result of the campaign.
Pradeep says: "We thank the Lord for what He is doing in the lives of millions of people in Nepal as a result of the campaign."
In April we were in the mega city of Chennai, India where the ministry call center logged 94,000 telephone calls and 800,000 hits on the website in just five weeks!
 Included in those numbers were 46,000 response forms from 46,000 people who the churches in Chennai are now busy following up.
Think for a moment!
Imagine a stadium with 94,000 people asking questions about faith and God’s power to change lives. Imagine that 46,000 of those became involved in a follow-up program at their own request! 46,000 people received a 100-page book with 15 stories of dramatically changed lives though faith in Jesus Christ, steps to experiencing the power to change. 46,000 people were directed to the prayer of salvation, and the first steps of faith in their walk of faith in Christ. That is the power of the 56 mega city campaigns that we, by the grace of God, have been able to conduct. And the phones in Chennai are still ringing at a rate of 100 calls per day 6 weeks after the campaign is over.
 In June we had the first meeting of Church leaders in Hyderabad, India. Hyderabad is the IT-capital of India and is a city of about 8 million people. There is a sizable and a very visible Islamic population in the city.
Our India director, Ashvin predicted that response in Hyderabad could surpass 100,000 calls. It is estimated that we will reach 7 million people with the powerful testimonials of change via the television programs alone.
When a harvest field is as vast as a nation like India with over one billion people, the Lord of the Harvest will have an equally effective way to harvest that field. Otherwise the Great Commission, "Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature" would not be attainable.
Why Cities?
Campus Crusade For Christ founder, Bill Bright once said:
"The majority of the people living in the industrialized world and developing countries today, for whom Christ died, are packed into cities. From the viewpoint of the Great Commission it is decisively important that they are the focus of our prayers and a well thought out strategy to reach them!"
By the year 2020 a total of 75% of the world's population will live in cities. Cities are the number one mission field of our time!
Russia's Cities
Russia continues to be a key target area for missions at Great Commission Media Ministries. Preparations for a citywide media outreach in East Siberia near Lake Baikal are under way. This is amidst mounting opposition to church outreach across Russia.
Just last week Vasily, our director in Moscow reported that the Pentecostal Churches of Moscow planned a combined baptismal service for 50 new converts. City police and state security arrived on the scene to prevent the baptismal service from taking place. This was disturbingly reminiscent of Soviet times where the church was severely persecuted.
One officer arriving at the scene of the baptismal service admitted that a political directive from high levels of government had been issued to take action against the planned outdoor church service.
This is indicative of the changes taking place in Russia. Opportunity for city campaigns in Russia is rapidly eroding.
Despite the recent events we have received invitations from many cities in Russia. The following cities are on our prayer list:
Moscow (pop. 16 million)
St. Petersburg (pop. 5 million)
Bryansk (pop. 450.000)
Barnaul (pop. 600.000)
Murmansk (pop. 400.000)
Tver (pop. 420.000)
Ulan Ude (pop. 400.000)
Kyzyl (pop. 100.000)
Irkutsk (pop. 600.000)
Bratsk (pop. 500.000)
Khabarovsk (pop. 600.000)
Vladivostok (pop. 700.000)
Reaching Decadent Europe
The Lord willing, in September we will launch the first mega city outreach in a European capital.
Europe is a decadent and spiritually dying continent with 500 million people, few of whom know anything about the love of God.
Helsinki is a northern European capital city. We are targeting 1,4 million people. There are 62 churches involved.
We ask for your prayers especially for this city as this is our "Jerusalem" and our "Nazareth" all in one.
What happens in Helsinki in the fall will be indicative of what may happen in capitals all across Europe. And that is a definite challenge to the Body of Christ.
Zulu Outreach in South Africa
In May, we were invited to South Africa by Lazarus. Lazarus is a Christian leader who had witnessed the fruitful mega city campaign in Chennai.
While in South Africa, we met with Zulu pastors and promised to include them in any future outreach in their own Zulu language.
South African pastor Songe Chibambo challenged us: "I only wish you had come earlier! The mega city campaign is the missing link in how we can reach our cities. The timing of this visit is divine. No government program can solve the social problems we face today. Only the Gospel can bring change to our cities."
Central Asia
Using mega city media outreach together with local churches we were able to reach 22 million people in Central Asia between 2006 and 2009.
The cities targeted were Almaty, Bishkek, Osh, Dzalal-Abad, Kyzyl-Kia and the Fergana Valley.
This would not have been possible without the instruments of mass media. Consequently, thousands of Muslims received the Gospel message.
Kazakhstan has long been known for its tolerant position on religious freedom in Central Asia. Some weeks ago the President of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev announced a major shift in policy.
Freedom to practice their religion will be restricted to two groups, the Islamic society and the Orthodox Church. Soon only Islam will be tolerated. Again, the timing of the Central Asian media campaigns was divine.
Al Qaida Enemy Number 1
 Egyptian born Priest Zakaria, 77, is the most wanted Christian leader in the Islamic world today. Al Qaida has offered a $60 million dollar bounty for his life.
His TV programs are watched regularly by several hundred million Arabs across North Africa and the Middle East.
Great Commission Media Ministries has committed to assist and to co-work with Zakaria on his new satellite channel. This year GCM will produce 600 TV programs in Arabic.
Many a Muslim has found Christ through the ministry of Zakaria. Here is one example as shared by Priest Zakaria:
"The wife of a Saudi Sheikh watched Zakaria on satellite TV whenever her husband left for the mosque. This happened over a period of one month. The wife became convinced of the teaching she heard. She contacted Zakaria who prayed for her salvation. She had a burning desire to tell her husband of her faith in Jesus. But she was afraid to tell him as she could be stoned to death, imprisoned, or be divorced from her husband.
One day she confessed to her husband that she had been listening to Shia Muslim Sheikh on television who spoke of very logically of interesting issues though they were contrary to Islam and Muhammad.
Out of curiosity the husband was drawn to the programs. Together, both husband and wife watched the TV programs. The husband wondered why this "Islamic speaker" (Zakaria) wore a cross. The wife responded by saying that it made no difference whether the speaker was a Sheikh or a pastor he spoke the truth. The husband asked whether his wife truly believed the words of this man. She was prepared to die, if necessary, for her faith. So she said that she could no longer be silent. She confessed she not only believed the pastor but that she had put her faith in Jesus Christ.
Upon hearing his wife's confession, the husband also revealed that he too had become a believer one year earlier but that he had not had the courage to tell her of his faith. He had prayed for the conversion of his wife all the while!
God's truth is certainly marching on—even in the Islamic world!
Thank you for standing with us and for making it possible to preach Jesus to the nations, to our generation. Summer is usually a quiet time regarding finances. We will be more than grateful thankful for your prayers and support. May the Lord bless you and your loved ones as you enjoy, rest and recharge this summer.
On behalf of our GCM team,
Dr. Hannu Haukka
Great Commission Media Ministries
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