Charisma magazine (January) reports on “12 global hotspots” of Christian mission and growth that includes countries not usually associated with evangelical or charismatic Christianity.
Although much of the information is based on self-reporting by missionaries and church planters, the overview does at least show where charismatics see new centers of influence emerging. While China has long been identified as Christianity’s new powerhouse, the article reports that charismatic renewal has “identified state-sponsored churches.” In India, “indigenous church-planting” is occurring, while in Iran, believers are “finding increased openness to the gospel,” despite government crack-downs on church gatherings.
In Brazil, economic expansion is being accompanied by a “Christian awakening,” particularly as Presbyterian, Baptist and Nazarene groups have adopted Pentecostal practices (although RW reported relatively stagnant growth among Pentecostals in the November/December issue). The magazine reports on large church-planting efforts in Ethiopia and Romania, where many of the Pentecostals are “leaving old traditions and embracing a more relevant, charismatic faith,” as well as sending missionaries to the Middle East.
Singapore is becoming a “strategic base for both missionary sending and funding.” In such Muslim-dominant countries as Pakistan, Indonesia and Kazakhstan, the article reports new receptivity to Christianity.
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