These three downloads are for Ascension Day 2013.

1.Poster

His appearances (PDF)

2.Two page tract

His Next Appearing (PDF)

3.Table showing the Biblical record

The Appearances of Jesus (PDF)

Korea

During a recent trip to South Korea at the invitation of the Korean History Church in Sydney and the Yonsei Central Baptist Church in Seoul where they had seating for twelve thousand people in their two hundred and fifty million dollar complex, we were bathed in worship and prayer for an entire week concluding with a Pastor's conference of three thousand pastors and their wives in the Prayer Mountain Retreat Centre.  The Australian group of twenty visited the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) where we prayed for the "wall to fall".

Our guide Pastor Daesop Yoon from the Orange Prayer House told the story of his father who was in the North Korean Army, was captured then released in South Korea at the end of the war in 1953. He married and Daesop was born along with a brother and sister. Some years later when Daesop was serving his obligatory one year's army service he was patrolling the DMZ when one of the helium filled balloons sent into North Korea with the Gospel blew back into the south where he picked it up, read it and accepted Christ as his Saviour!

The first president of Korea Seung Man Lee, was a Christian who had been imprisoned during the 1890's under the Korean Chosun Dynasty. He had led many of his fellow prisoners to Christ and some of these men became influential leaders after the Japanese occupation from 1910 to 1945.  With the help of missionaries he was educated at George Washington/Harvard and Princeton Universities. Lee even warned the US of a possible Japanese attack on Hawaii.

This year commemorates sixty years from the end of the Korean war in 1953 where sixteen nations including Australians fought the Chinese, Russian and North Korean puppet government.

Left in poverty Korea is now the eleventh wealthiest economy in the world with a GNP larger than England thanks mainly to the USA.  With very few Christians before 1890, missionaries built hospitals and schools. We visited the graves of 145 missionaries who profoundly influenced Korean society. Christians are presently nearly one third of the population with six of the ten biggest Churches in the world!

See Operation World for further details

Short video of the Demilitarised Zone DMZ

Short video of the Pastor's Conference at Prayer Mountain Retreat

Joel preaching to 20,000+ empty seats  at Yongi Cho's  Yoidi Full Gospel Church with 800,000 members!

Pray for North Korea: exposing the terrors of the gulag

Elizabeth Kendal

Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin | RLPB 197 | Wed 13 Feb 2013

By Elizabeth Kendal

In North Korea loyalty to and worship of the ruling Kim family is mandatory, as is acquiescence to the doctrine of juche (self-reliance). The official website of North Korea (DPRK) states: 'The Juche idea is based on the philosophical principle that man is the master of everything and decides everything. It is the man-centred world outlook and also a political philosophy to materialise the independence of the popular masses . . .' Consequently, being a Christian is a serious political crime in North Korea.

Some 200,000 'criminals' are incarcerated in the secretive State's gulag, including tens of thousands of Christians. Possession of a Bible is punishable by public execution (see here for a reported case). To eliminate disloyal family lines, the regime's policy dictates that three generations of any dissident be incarcerated in concentration labour camps where starvation and gross cruelty ensure the death rate is kept high. It is almost beyond belief that this horrific reality could have endured for more than 60 years. Refugee survivors such as Soon Ok Lee have testified that Christian prisoners are treated even more harshly than other political prisoners (Soon Ok Lee's testimony.) As survivors' testimonies become available, the terrors of the North Korean gulag are exposed.

On Tuesday 19 February refugee survivors Shin Dong-Hyuk and Kang Chol-Hwan willheadline the 5th annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy. The event is organised by a coalition of some 20 non-government organisations (NGOs) headed by UN Watch. We must pray that their testimonies are widely reported and effective in raising awareness of this horror. When Kang addressed the Oslo Freedom Forum in 2010 (" target="_blank" title="Kang addresses Freedom Forum">see video),  he described conditions in the camps as 'similar to that of Hitler's Auschwitz'.

Shin Dong-Hyuk's testimony is unique as he is the only known surviving escapee from a North Korean 'total control zone' camp. Three generations of Shin's family had been incarcerated after the Korean War as punishment for his grandfather's and uncle's defections. Shin was born and raised in Camp 14. When he was about 22 Shin met a new prisoner, Park, who had been on the outside and even in China. Until then, Shin had been totally unaware that an alternative reality even existed. One day the starving pair decided to escape. Park died in the attempt, but Shin eventually found his way to China and subsequently to South Korea. His testimony of life in Camp 14 is absolutely shocking. He says perpetual starvation drives prisoners to hunt rats and insects for food. He recalls the public execution of his mother and brother, along with the torture meted out to him when he was 13. The transcript and video of Shin's testimony, 'Three Generations of Punishment', is available on the CBS News and Geneva Summit websites.

When three generations of Kang Chol-hwan's family were incarcerated in 1977, he was only 9. Kang survived 10 years in Camp 15 at Yodok. His testimony is remarkably similar to Shin's, except that Kang was released in 1987 after his 'disloyal' grandparents died. Kang subsequently fled to China after being alerted that security police were coming to arrest him for listening to foreign radio broadcasts. Today Kang lives in South Korea, where he works as a journalist and human rights advocate. He became a Christian in South Korea, and in 2005, when US President GW Bush read his biography -- The Aquariums of Pyongyang -- and invited him to Washington, Kang saw the incredible exposure that meeting gave his cause as an answer to his prayers. Eight years later Kang is still praying and raising awareness at every opportunity.

North Korea has the fourth largest army in the world and is the most militarised nation on the planet. Military personnel are privileged -- they get food and heating! The regime does not care about anyone else -- they can all starve! North Korea wants re-unification, but only on its terms -- the regime desires the day when the North will devour the South. The only thing keeping North Korea from swallowing up South Korea is the US, which is why North Korea wants American forces out of South Korea. On Tuesday 12 February North Korea conducted another nuclear test, the dual purpose of which is deterrence and maintenance. 'Without this threat,' writes Sohn Gwang Joo, Director of Daily NK, 'there would be no other way for Pyongyang to obtain Washington's attention. A North Korea without nuclear weapons is just a regime burdened by economic woes, inflicting human rights abuses on its people, suffering defections and battling with bottom-up marketisation. Only with nuclear weapons are they able to maintain their regime, hidden away from the world. This is how they keep their people in chains: through military tension.'

PLEASE PRAY SPECIFICALLY THAT THE LORD WILL:

* bless Shin and Kang and use their testimonies to awaken multitudes to the

reality of North Korea; may international fascination with the entertaining yet

criminal Kims be replaced with a commitment to ending the appalling suffering

of multitudes.

* draw his Church into prayer for North Korea -- and then answer her prayer,

giving a spirit of wisdom to those making decisions and strength to those who

turn back the battle at the gate (see Isaiah 28:5,6).

* infiltrate North Korea in a new and surprising way, bringing peace and

liberty to his 'Chosun' (ethnic Korean) people. 'The earth is the

LORD's and the fullness thereof . . . Lift up your heads, O gates! And lift

them up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in.' (Psalm 24:1a,9

ESV)

* use Shin and Kang's testimonies to soften the hearts of South Koreans that

they might have the love and sacrificial generosity required to heal North

Korea after its more than 60 years of captivity.

Link to prayer bulletin:

NATIONAL CHRISTIAN HERITAGE SUNDAY 3rd FEBRUARY 2013

This is in honour of the first church service on 3 February 1788 by Richard Johnson, chaplain to the First Fleet in Australia.

Next year the National Day of Prayer and Fasting will be held on Sunday the 10 February 2013. The theme for 2013 will be LIFE. We invite you to mark it in your diary now and set aside this time in your own church, send a representative or come yourself to the Prayer Service in the Great Hall, Parliament House, Canberra between 10AM and 4PM on Sunday the 10 February 2013. The National Day of Prayer and Fasting is followed by 40 Days of Prayer and Fasting over the period of Lent from 13 February – 24 March 2013.

• www.40daysofprayer.com.au

Next year the National Day of Prayer and Fasting will be held on Sunday the 10 February 2013. The theme for 2013 will be LIFE. We invite you to mark it in your diary now and set aside this time in your own church, send a representative or come yourself to the Prayer Service in the Great Hall, Parliament House, Canberra between 10AM and 4PM on Sunday the 10 February 2013. The National Day of Prayer and Fasting is followed by 40 Days of Prayer and Fasting over the period of Lent from 13 February - 24 March 2013.

• www.40daysofprayer.com.au

We will be praying together for a Life Breakthru in our nation. Jesus said, "I have come to give you life and life more abundantly." We will be praying for an outpouring of God's Life to turn back the tide of death. We need to establish a culture where human life is valued from conception to a natural passing. Where old people are not threatened with euthanasia, where children are protected in the womb and all life is valued and considered precious. God loves children and as a Father he wants to protect his children. We should follow his example. The '40 Days of Prayer and Fasting coincides with '40 Days for Life'. Join with the mission of 40 Days for Life if you are able. For more information go to:

• www.40daysforlife.com

The over arching theme of the National Days of Prayer and Fasting is revival and transformation for our nation. If each church attending believer brought one person to Christ in one year, and discipled them to live through Gods life in Christ, we could double the Australian church in one year. At that rate we could win Australia for Christ in 4 years. Life produces life. Please pass this call to prayer on to your friends and networks. Together we can make a difference.

The vision is to hold a National Day of Prayer and Fasting every year for 4 years on the Sunday before Lent begins, and to use the National Day of Prayer and Fasting to promote a 40 day period of prayer and fasting during Lent. Many churches are already praying through Lent. Lent in 2013 is from the 13 February to 24 March. The foundational vision of this 40 day period of prayer and fasting would be the same as the National Day of Prayer and Fasting, that is, the spiritual renewal and transformation of our nation through the saving grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. How you choose to observe this call to prayer would be up to you. Why not pray about it? Maybe a Daniel Fast, maybe missing one meal a day or fasting one day a week.

Five Point Prayer Plan - LIFE

1. Call for you to renew your love and life for God.
2. Call for you to make a list of friends you will pray for on each of these 40 days, praying they will find new life in Jesus Christ. You could even give them a rose for Easter - a sign of God's love.
3. Commit to include this call to prayer in your church calendar and mobilise your church to pray for a release of Gods Life in our nation.
4. Pray that we will see a culture of life replace a culture of death and that "respect for life, from conception to natural death will be enshrined in law and public policy."
   • www.40daysforlife.com
5. Pray each day for an outpouring of life, revival and transformation for Australia.

Australia is falling into deep moral decay. Life is no longer precious. Jesus Christ is the only answer (John 14:6). Our nation needs to find God. We need a Life Breakthru. That miracle will come as we accept the scriptural challenge found in 2 Chronicles 7:14, "If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray . . ."

For more information please phone:

• Ps Matt Prater: 0433 192 267
• Dr Graham McLennan: 02 63 619773
• Ps Ben Irawan: 0416 111 201

www.nationaldayofprayer.com.au

Dr Graham McLennan Dental Surgeon

The annual trip to Vanuatu with Healthcare Christian Fellowship  took place recently to the Island of Tanna with its active Volcano Mt Yasur.

We treated 2,000 patients at Lenakel hospital, counselling over 1750 with Steps to Peace with God with a significant response, 469 making first time decisions and  188 rededications.

The Gospel of John published in Bislama by our son Michael McLennan, was also distributed. Both acute and chronic diseases were treated by the eleven doctors including an opthalmologist, gynaecologist, cardiologist and an exhausted Victorian physiotherapist!

Eleven Global Recordings Network MP3 players were distributed in local Tanna languages with flipcharts telling the Gospel along with many bible stories. One of those receiving an MP3 player, Isaac Won was recently converted from the John Frum cult that his grandfather founded seventy years ago. He acted as a counsellor.

Our dental team  treated nearly 350 patients and extracted 456 teeth, thirty deep scales,and about fifty therapeutic restorations. In Australian terms this is worth over $90,000!

We did make an HCF Vanuatu record one day by extracting 171 teeth in the one day!  Oral hygiene instruction was given to each patient by Jenny a Nivan dentist, over 800  toothbrushes distributed with the children receiving stickers of encouragement. For the first time we didn't have to rely on cold sterilisation and boiling to sterilse instruments as Wes (pictured above)  from WA managed to bring along a working autoclave which we greatly appreciated.

A lady from North Tanna, Sheila (pictured above) who founded a Christian school - the first  one was burnt down and the principle threatened with death, was given an MP3 player and  treated with a composite bridge to replace a lost anterior tooth. She departed with a great smile! We gave another MP3 player to Joe the man threatened with death - he went to South Tanna and commenced a Christian School there! The Southern Tanna people have just had their first bibles printed in their own language. It took an American couple 9.5 years to do it, finishing their project a fortnight ago.  Twenty four Moody Bible Institute linguistic students were present at the launch.

Following is part of a press release from the Director General of Health of the Republic of Vanuatu:

"The first Medical Team that visited and ministered to the people could be dated back to the early Christian Missionaries who landed on our shores more than a hundred years ago.  Some of the current public health facilities in operation throughout Vanuatu today were established by these early missionaries.  The missionaries back then did not come to just share the gospel of Jesus Christ, but also they were carpenters, auto mechanics, teachers and healthcare professionals like doctors or nurses.

The Ministry of Health saw the need to support and introduce the HCF in Vanuatu as an an initiative to provide holistic healing in the Healthcare Field.  The Motto of Vanuatu says "Long God Yumi Stanap" and also our preamble says that our country is established on our "traditional Melanesian Values, Faith in God and Christian Principles..."

Some of the counsellors and hospital staff at the closing ceremony.

Will Graham, the grandson of world-famous US Evangelist Billy Graham, has just finished the first series of Reality events in the central-west city of Orange in New South Wales. Orange has a population of just under 40,000.

Organised by a local committee, chaired by Graham McLennan, Reality Orange saw 17 local churches working together. “It’s been a great response. The Christian Life and Witness classes, which were run earlier in the year, were excellent. Five hundred people attended and that was what brought all of us together,” Graham said. “We were also encouraged to specifically invite people whom we knew to come and hear Will Graham preach under the Operation Andrew program,” he said.

The weekend kicked off with a luncheon at the Orange Ex-Services club last Friday (May 4th) attended by the Mayor of Orange, John Davis and the Member for Orange in the NSW Legislative Assembly, Andrew Gee.

They were joined by 200 guests who heard host Karl Faase interview former radio broadcaster Stephen O’Doherty about coming to faith. Will Graham then spoke about his grandfather and how he was called to preach, before bringing an evangelistic message.

The remainder of the weekend’s events were held in the Orange Function Centre. The youth night on Friday night featured well known bands ‘Jonnday’ and ‘Compliments of Gus.’

Families were invited to the Saturday night event which featured children’s entertainers ‘The Toads’ and an interview with Home and Away actor, Lynne McGranger, who spoke about her Christian faith.

At each event, Will Graham spoke about faith in Christ and the importance of making a personal commitment. At the conclusion, Will invited people to come forward as a sign of their willingness to make their decision to follow Jesus.

The weekend ended with a Sunday afternoon meeting which featured an interview with Kate Bracks, winner of the television reality show, MasterChef in 2011. A resident of Orange, Kate spoke about her search for ‘something to believe in’ and then how she had committed her life to Christ in her early 20’s.

Each of the live events in the Orange Function Centre were webcast via the internet around the world.

A total of 711 places watched the webcasts over the weekend, including in India and Ireland. The Orange Sudanese community met in a local home with ten counseling packs provided by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. The local Korean community were invited to watch the webcast at the Orange Prayer House with the Chinese community hearing Will's message in a local church.

Attendance for the three days was 2,400 with 129 people responding to Will’s invitation.

Online reviews of most of the Orange, Bathurst & Lithgow Reality Events can be seen at http://www.bgea.org.au/

Thirty respond to the Gospel after Will gives his Message. Most were teenagers, many from surrounding towns.

Orange Reality committee member Bruce Bennett said the weekend was a great success. “The numbers who attended, the quality of the artists who performed and the enormous volunteer effort was nothing short of fantastic. It must also be said that Will Graham himself, both as a speaker and as a person, was a breath of fresh air. He brought a simplicity and transparency to both his message and his manner, that made it hard not to like him,” said Bruce.

“It was also hard to miss his simple message about the need to get real about Jesus,” he added.

Team Youth Leader Dave Saunders was exuberant about the many youth groups coming together for the first time. "They were greatly encouraged", he remarked.

Reality meetings continued in Bathurst on May 9th and Lithgow, May 11th – 13th. Mr Graham also spoke at a supporters breakfast in Sydney on Monday, May 14th at Wesley Mission, 220 Pitt Street, Sydney.

For more information: Jorge Rodrigues. Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Telephone (02) 8825 1390

Luncheon with the Local State MP Andrew Gee and Mayor John Davis also present who gave a short message thanking Will Graham for visiting Orange City with Reality.

Elaine Cooper our Prayer coordinator writes

Thank you for your faithful intercession and partnership in Kingdom ministry. Thanks to meticulous planning, dedicated leaders and volunteers, godly artists and speakers, and faithful believers reaching out to their neighbours, the event was a wonderful success. Your prayers make a difference and will continue to do so in the weeks and months that follow as new believers learn more about Jesus, and as those who heard or saw a little of the Gospel continue on their own road of faith in Christ.

I pray that this time of reaching out to our city has been a great blessing to you.

We have plenty to give thanks and praise for:

• Hard work and attention to detail by everyone, no matter what degree of responsibility they had
• Generous donations of money, time, goods and services
• The commitment and vision of Will Graham, his team and BGEA and its associates in Australia
• People who turned up for meetings and brought friends from right across the Central West
• Enthusiastic response in high schools to the bands and Christian connections
• New believers and those who made a re-commitment, whether they went forward at a meeting or not
• The support across the churches of Orange
• The input John North has had in encouraging believers to make real connections for the Gospel among family, friends and colleagues.

But please, don’t stop praying now!

• That the Gospel will continue to spread in Orange through the lives of believers
• For the encouragement of the Churches and their leaders and for their protection and refreshment
• For the youth of the city, especially new believers and those who are interested to find out more; and for those who work in schools – chaplains, Fusion, Cornerstone, the High School Youth Worker, youth leaders, bible study groups and teachers and staff
• That youth groups within the Churches would be strengthened and grow, and their leaders encouraged and equipped and protected in the important work they do
• That prayer would constantly rise to the throne of God for our city, its leaders, businesses, institutions, families and citizens
• That the name of Jesus would be lifted up and glorified across Orange.

Stephen O'Doherty sharing his faith at the Orange Reality Luncheon

Andrew Gee MP standing on left

Mayor John Davis second from left with Councillor Fiona Rossiter to his right

Reality Orange Committee planning final details for the Reality event

Will Graham brings Reality to Bathurst

A capacity crowd was on hand Wednesday night (May 9th) at Bathurst’s Pitt Straight Centre at Mount Panorama as local churches staged ‘Reality 2012’. Featuring Will Graham, the grandson of renowned evangelist Billy Graham, special guests included Kate Bracks, MasterChef 2011 winner and Australian Gospel singer, Steve Grace.

There had been nearly 12 months of organisation for this unique evangelistic event, a dinner for 270 guests. Despite this preparation, the venue experienced a last minute electrical blackout causing the lights, audio equipment and kitchen to be shut down. Guests enjoyed their entree in the dark while Kate Bracks shared her adventures on MasterChef and Steve Grace sang and played ‘unplugged’.

Power was eventually restored more than two hours later, in time for the main meal and for Will Graham to speak from John 3:16 about the opportunity of knowing God personally. The message was very well received and 64 people responded.

The organisers are grateful to the BGEA community for their support and thankful that electricity could be restored! The night was a major success for churches in Bathurst, with similar events likely to be planned in the future.

The chairman of the local Reality committee, Pastor Jeff Lloyd, summed up the atmosphere of the event, by saying that, “there was a great sense of God's presence on the night, with many people commenting on the quality of the speakers, the food and the professionalism shown. This was a significant night for the Kingdom of God in Bathurst,” he said.

Will Graham with 2011 Master Chef winner Kate Bracks

Steve Grace performing in the dark at Pit Straight, Mt Panorama, Bathurst

Will Graham shares the final Reality at Lithgow

Will Graham’s second visit to Australia for a series of Reality events concludedwith a series of meetings in Lithgow.

The Combined Churches of Lithgow, together with the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, worked to put on youth and community events under the banner of ‘Reality 2012’. The events featured the winners of ‘Australia's Got Talent’ 2010, Justice Crew, the Melbourne Gospel Choir, up and coming artist Vita Adam and puppets by Quiz Worx.

Over 1,300 people attended the youth and community events. The youth event at Lithgow High School saw over 400 young people turn out to see Justice Crew and hear Will Graham speak on Friday night 11th May and over 900 people attended the events on Saturday 12th and Sunday 13th May.

Will Graham spoke at all three events bringing a message of hope and purpose to all who attended.

Reality 2012 was the result of 14 months planning by 14 local churches and right from the start, the commitment was to organise high quality, free events for the community of Lithgow. We praise God that with the help and generosity of churches, the Christian community and local businesses, the budget was met before the event took place.

“It was fantastic to see the church working as a body, contacts were established and friendships formed amongst volunteers and churches as a result of Reality 2012,” said Sandra Edge from The Salvation Army.

The organising committee would like to thank the many volunteers who gave up their time to make Reality 2012 a success. Without their hard work and commitment it would not have been possible for Reality 2012 to have taken place.

Most of all, the committee would like to thank the community of Lithgow for their support and attendance.

A full house in Lithgow for Reality