Idol Worship

When you think of worshiping idols, what comes to your mind? Golden calves? Giant statues? Here's a sobering look from The Skit Guys at what we often look like when we bow down to our own idols.

This video shows clearly why we go to sporting events to proclaim Christ -


Please join us this winter at the FIFA 2010 World Cup™ in South Africa

2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™ Evangelism – Newsletter #2

We, Bill Adams (www.sfoi.org), Michael Rogers (www.livingwatersafrica.co.za) and Gary Crous (www.luke9.23evangelism@wordpress.com) have received responses from four (4) brothers in Christ who have shown a willingness to labour with us at the 2010 event. Keep praying to our Father for more laborers (Matthew 9:37, 38; Luke 10:2).

We have received the following report from Brother Nigel Titus in Cape Town who is graciously coordinating The 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa Draw™ Evangelism Outreach from December 4th-6th, 2009 –

On December 4, 2009, Cape Town will welcome FIFA executives, representatives of the 32 qualifying teams, the international media, and FIFA guests to the city to witness the Final Draw for the tournament at the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC). The Final Draw, which will take place in front of some 3 000 international guests at the Cape Town International Convention Centre will be broadcast live to an estimated audience of 150 million viewers in 200 countries.

The event is expected to have football fans around the world glued to their screens as the match order for the qualifying teams is announced. According to the City of Cape Town’s site, the Final Draw event will be attended by an estimated 8 000 people. Besides the local and TV audiences, a large number of soccer professionals and officials, associated celebrities, and sponsors will be in town for the event – bringing even more attention and visitors to our fantastic “Mother City”.

For Christians and like-minded evangelists, this presents a massive opportunity to spread the gospel and open-air preach to the thousands of fans, party-goers and tourists that will be descending upon the Mother City next week. In addition, we also hope to use this event as a good test run for the 2010 World Cup Evangelism Project which is coming up next year.

According to organizers, the main hot spots for the Final Draw will be the entire Upper Long Street, from Wale Street to Buitensingel which is to be converted into a festival zone for the Final Draw on Friday. The main stage will be situated at the Long Street baths, with several huge television screens further down towards Wale Street. The festivities will start at 12:00 noon with music and cultural performances with a South African and African flavor. Entrance to the festival is free and thousands of Capetonians are expected to congregate at Long Street to share in the world’s excitement of the Final Draw. Please also check out Cape Town Magazine.com Sport & FIFA 2010 for more information.

If you are interested in laboring with us to preach the gospel at this event, please feel free to contact us at the below numbers / email address. A final plan with all the necessary details of how we will operate will only be finalized by next week – we encourage you however to get in touch with us soonest if you wish to be a part of this event. We will also be setting aside next Wednesday and Thursday (2nd and 3rd December 2009) to earnestly seek God’s guidance in prayer and supplication on how we should approach this event. We acknowledge that our endeavors and actions will attract the attention of our spiritual enemy and we need to be sufficiently equipped and prepared before we go out.

For His Glory!

Nigel Titus
083 642 4454
legintitus@gmail.com

In Christ’s Service until He returns,

Gary Stephen Crous
tel. 033 - 394 9091 (Work)
Cell +27 722211233
e-mail gary@gdlk.co.za

www.chroniclesofafisherofmen.blogspot.com/
www.luke923evangelism.wordpress.com/
www.NeedGod.com

[Jesus] saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe the gospel.” – Mark 1:15

Pray for Brother Thomas Nunes

Thomas Nunes, a dear brother in Christ who resides in Atlanta, Georgia, came out to South Africa during the 2009 Confederations Cup™ with Bill Adams of SFOI. He faithfully ministered with open-air preaching, reading of God's Word in public and one-to-one witnessing. He proclaimed the Law and the Gospel of Jesus Christ to soccer fans, both local and international, as well as many Zimbabwean refugees who find themself jobless, homeless and in most cases spiritually dead in Johannesburg and surrounding areas.

He has been diagnosed with Stage III Cancer and has had an operation already. Please keep this wonderful brother in prayer and to all those saved and unsaved who are experiencing the same struggles at this time. May God be exhalted and be Glorified showing Himself powerful in every situation. You will read in Thomas' journal that even in his pain - a pain I can only imagine and yet can never truly comprehend - he has been faithful in being a steadfast witness for our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Please take some time out to encourage him and his wife Connie and their family and visit CaringBridge.org to read his journal and also to leave a spiritual message of encouragement and prayer in his Guestbook.

These photos here are of Thomas here on South African soil.

Alive

Sing a hymn of praises
to our Majestic God on High;
Who willingly lay down His life
and paid our fine and died.
When He was laid in a grave
to conquer all our sin;
He was raised in victory
to give eternal life through Him.

King Jesus showed Himself alive
and ascended into Heaven;
Where He now sits at the Right Hand of God
interceding for His children.
What a Wonderful Saviour we have
who gave His everything;
So when we die we do not fear
for we will go and live with Him.
~ Gary Crous ~

2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™ Evangelism Newsletter #1

Dear Friend

RE.: 2010 FIFA WORLD CUP SOUTH AFRICA™ EVANGELISING MISSION

We, Bill Adams (www.sfoi.org), Michael Rogers (www.livingwatersafrica.co.za) and Gary Crous (www.luke9.23evangelism@wordpress.com) take this opportunity of requesting your availability, Lord willing, to join us in reaching the tens of thousands of soccer fans and visitors coming to South Africa to be a part of the 2010 FIFA World Cup™. Add to this the 47.9 million (www.southafrica.info/about/people/population.htm) local people then we have the world’s largest sporting event in our own backyard where we can work with our Lord Jesus to reach His people.

You can check out the progress of the World Cup at FIFA.com and view the official website (www.fifa.com/worldcup/index.html). There are nine (9) cities that will be hosting the First Round matches in nine stadia, which are –

 Cape Town - Green Point Stadium

 Durban - Moses Mabhida Stadium

 Johannesburg - Ellis Park Stadium

 Bloemfontein - Free State Stadium

 Port Elizabeth - Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium

 Nelspruit - Mbombela Stadium

 Polokwane - Peter Mokaba Stadium

 Rustenburg - Royal Bafokeng Sports Palace Stadium

 Pretoria - Loftus Versfeld Stadium

You can expect from the magnitude of the sporting event and the logistics involved stretching from the west coast to the east coast and from the southern coast through the central and northern regions of South Africa that we do appeal to ambassadors for Christ (2 Corinthians 5:20) to join us in fighting the good fight for souls (1 Timothy 6:12) all for the Glory of God.

The vision is to get as many obedient and faithful evangelists who love the Lord and will willingly lay down their lives, set aside their time and resources in reaching the millions for Christ so that many will hear the proclamation of God’s Law and His Gospel of Grace, compelling sinners to repentance and putting their trust in the Lord Jesus Christ (see Acts 17:30,31).

We are looking to labour with our brothers and our sisters in Christ who will preach the true biblical gospel – not a soft, candy-coated, prosperity gospel – but the True Gospel which saves unto salvation where we will allow the Holy Spirit to “reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness and of judgment” (John 16:8).

We are convinced that as you are on Michael’s mailing list you have possibly heard or have been taught ‘The Way of the Master’ (Kirk Cameron and Ray Comfort), a ministry of Living Waters (www.livingwaters.com). Please do take some time to listen to the two Foundational Messages “Hell’s Best Kept Secret” and “True and False Conversion” on their website. If you have already, please do these as a refreshing exercise, as we all are to examine ourselves (see 2 Corinthians 13:5). We are trying to make certain that whoever stands up to preach Jesus Christ and Him crucified will be reading off the same Bible pages and not flying under the radar with another gospel (see Galatians 1:6-10).

We are also hoping to put together a type of “Ambassadors’ Academy / Way of the Master” style Evangelism Boot Camp. However, what might be more appropriate would be to get those ambassadors in the nine cities who are prepared to make a sacrifice to come together and be involved in a training camp within each city. This will create an awareness of the evangelism outreach for the 2010 event. We therefore appeal to you and request those who want to be a team leader of an evangelism team in your city and those who want to host an Evangelism Boot Camp to forward the following information to gary@gdlk.co.za :

 Your full names and contact details.

 Your church and pastor’s details – a reference.

 Have you taken / taught ‘The Way of the Master’ Evangelism Basic Training Course?

 A short testimony of your faith in Christ Jesus and any ministry / mission work.

 Have you listened to the Foundational Messages “Hell’s Best Kept Secret” and “True and False Conversion”?

 Do you preach sin, righteousness and judgment by using God’s Law (The Ten Commandments) and the Gospel of Grace through the Cross, Resurrection, Ascension and Second Coming of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ?

To host a team to conduct the boot camp will however require financial support so if you have any ideas please let us know by emailing suggestions / actions / support to the above e-mail address in order that the necessary arrangements can be undertaken.

The ultimate aim is to have a team of evangelists – open-air preaching and one-to-one witnessing –available in each of the nine cities, to be shepherded by a team leader (for accountability purposes) around the stadia and at the fan parks. This will be a corporate mission with prayer gatherings, transport, preferably Living Water’s gospel Tracts and/or One Million Tracts (www.onemilliontracts.com), accommodation and meals being organized by the team leader and the members (ecclesia) of each team. We would also appreciate photos and videos to be taken at the various venues so they can be posted, hopefully, on a daily basis on the Luke 9:23 Evangelism blog in order that our brothers and sisters in Christ from around the world can be informed of the mission and also be prayer warriors for the evangelists and the souls witnessed to.

As the sporting event progresses we hope to all come together, those who are able to, in the Second Round at the venues allocated and so on to the Quarter-Finals, the Semi-Finals until we will all be united in one huge gathering at the Third/Fourth Place Play-off and the Final. This is the vision and the prayer for our BIG GOD to give Himself all the Glory!!

We hope to hear from you, if you have suggestions or plans we have overlooked, please drop us a line. To get a feel of the Lord’s work at the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup™ please check out the following links –

o Photo Gallery - www.luke923evangelism.shutterfly.com/26

o Live Report by Bill Adams - http://luke923evangelism.wordpress.com/2009/06/20/live-report-from-confederations-cup/

o Thomas Nunes Report - http://luke923evangelism.wordpress.com/2009/06/24/thomas-nunes-confederations-cup-report/

o Bill Adams Friday June 19th - http://luke923evangelism.wordpress.com/2009/06/30/bill-adams-confederations-cup-report-friday-june-19th/

o Bill Adams Saturday June 20th - http://luke923evangelism.wordpress.com/2009/07/02/bill-adams-confederations-cup-report/

o Brothers on Mission - http://luke923evangelism.wordpress.com/2009/07/09/brothers-on-mission/

In Christ’s Service until He returns,

Gary Stephen Crous
Tel. 033 - 394 9091 (Work)
Cell +27 722211233
e-mail gary@gdlk.co.za

http://chroniclesofafisherofmen.blogspot.com/
http://luke923evangelism.wordpress.com/
www.NeedGod.com

[Jesus] saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe the gospel.” – Mark 1:15

Brothers on Mission

There is nothing sweeter than the fellowship of brothers walking with our Lord Jesus Christ in His harvest field. During the FIFA Confederations Cup 2009 in South Africa, four brothers from two continents prayerfully backed by their brothers and sisters in Christ from around the world proclaimed the Law and the Gospel of Grace to the hoards of local and visiting soccer fans.

The Word was proclaimed and preached to a dying, dark world. The Light entered into a spiritually dead and hungering vineyard, and we believe and trust in the Name of Jesus that God’s Word went forth and accomplished what He had sent it to fulfill His purposes.

From the time I fetched Bill Adams and Thomas Nunes from Oliver Tambo International Airport there was a togetherness that was evident. We would all be learning as we got to know one another better and also glean from each other what God had already prepared us to learn. My lesson to be learned up front would be patience. To drive and negotiate the Johannesburg traffic with the additional complications of roads being closed around the stadia we would visit and the “endless” roadworks was a definite test. The first trial was when I picked up our brethren and upon trying to negotiate the roadworks at the airport to get to the currency exchanger we were “swung” out onto the highway leading away from the airport. Patience and a few kilometres of the “scenic route” and we were back on track… mmm … patience.

Let us also not forget our most wonderful hosts who truly have servant hearts for our Lord Jesus, in the families of Michael, Natalie and their two young sons Caleb and Calvin and Grenville, Ruth (Michael’s sister) and their two young sons Joel and Nathan. Their hospitality to us leaves me – and I am sure the brothers, too – speechless, but rejoicing in Jesus. It was truly how the body of Christ should function. The fellowship, prayer and morning devotions were sweet to the soul. Michael Rogers heads up Living Waters Africa, so most mornings we would stock up with Gospel tracts in his study from where he runs the ministry. He was also kind and gave us many discounts and we also thank Grenville and Ruth for purchasing us some tracts, too. We love you all.

Bill and Thomas are true Ambassadors of Christ who are truly on fire for the preaching of God’s Word and engaging in conversation, with the lost and also amongst ourselves. What I was challenged by most of all with Bill is his many, many questions. Here is a man with a servant heart and a probing mind that had me tested to the limits. He is a brother that wants to learn as much as he can from his brothers and sisters around him, and I really enjoyed his probes. It had me examining myself and searching for the correct answers. In our Q & A sessions he also ministered into my life. Thank you brother and I look forward to labouring with you for our Lord Jesus.

Thomas, my room-brother, is a gentle and prayerful soul. He is a brother that has a heart for the lost who not only went the extra mile with his time spent with the lost souls, but made the added effort of taking down many, many, many names that would later find their way into his prayer journal. This brother is a kind man whose love flows towards mankind and children. I saw this trait in Bill, too, the way they spoke to the young sons of our hosts. For Thomas, being an ex-Zimbabwean, he found himself witnessing to many Zim-refugees at the plaza in downtown Johannesburg. I believe this was an appointed time by God for Thomas to be used of the Lord to minister into their broken, poor, sinful lives and those who were encouraged as Christians, too.

Later in the week our brother from Badplaas – Willem Pretorius arrived and joined up with us. Here is a brother who we are sure God challenged and brought him to a place where he exceeded unchartered territory. Here is a young man who has a passion to learn and please God and who broke the sound barrier by reading Scripture and preaching the Law and the Gospel of Grace for the very first time in a public forum. An Ambassador of Christ who stepped out of his comfort zone – and who nearly did not join up with us – and allowed the strength of Christ to overcome his challenges. Thank you Willem for your obedience in joining us in our Lord’s harvest field.

What was also a precious few days was that Thomas travelled from the USA and he got to see his brother Dilip (Botswana) and his dad Mr Nunes (Zimbabwe) who travelled to Johannesburg to visit. A reunion after five years. A wonderful work of God’s Hand bringing family together.

All Glory to God for the time we spent lifting up the precious Name of His Son our Lord Jesus Christ. As you can see from the posts hereunder from the FIFA Confederations Cup there are many witnessing stories that have been related to and there will be more to follow.

Under the Photos tab above there is a link to our photo gallery that reflects all the photos from our time on mission. We hope to have a video that captures the full extent of the mission up here in the near future.

Reports from the Confederations Cup 2009

What an awesome time God allowed Bill Adams (Atlanta, USA), Thomas Nunes (Atlanta, USA), Willem Pretorius (Badplaas, RSA) and myself (Pietermaritzburg, RSA) to fellowship, preach and proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour to the multitudes in South Africa. Both visitors and locals, refugees and the homeless, the saved and the unsaved heard the Word of God read, preached and prayed. We believe the Word went forth and accomplished what God willed and purposed for His Glory and the exalting of His Son Jesus, the Christ.

Here are three reports at the Luke 9:23 Evangelism blog, of which there will be more to follow:

* Live Report from Confederations Cup

* Thomas Nunes Confederations Cup Report

* Bill Adams - Confederations Cup Report Friday - June 19th

FIFA Confederations Cup South Africa 2009

Here is an update in respect of the FIFA Confederations Cup South Africa 2009, which e-mail Bill Adams has sent out on his mailing list. Things are definitely coming to a head and it is ALL GLORY TO GOD HIMSELF!!! Further reports will be posted here so please check back.





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Sports Fan Outreach International: Super Bowl XLIV Outreach Newsletter

Edition #11
May 21, 2009
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Two of us from Atlanta are departing in a month for the Confederations Cup Soccer tournament in South Africa. The Confederations Cup is the preliminary event to next year's World Cup being held also in South Africa.

The World Cup is the absolute largest sporting event on the planet. Thirty days of games throughout the entire nation.

God willing we are going back next year & this trip is to gain an understanding of ministry in South Africa.

Watch the Confederations Cup promo video to get a sense of the excitement & then register to go with us.

Confederations Cup Video Marketing Promo.

We are meeting with a brother in Johannesburg, South Africa, Gary Crous, who has been to the Ambassadors Alliance training & communicated with me after being interveiwed by Tony Miano on his blogtalk radio show.

Here is a promo for the World Cup.

World Cup 2010 video.

And for South Africa itself. South Africa video.

It's going to be an amazing time. Register today.

"Clark's Corner": "Glorifying God in your body"
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Pastor Clark gives another call to holy living: "Glorifying God in your body".

Email Mike with your thoughts: mclark707@yahoo.com.

SFOI Events: MLB All-Star Celebration
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This is the next event in the US for us. So pray about joining us at the Major League All-Star Celebration. It's being held from July 11 - July 14 in St. Louis, MO.

All the information & registration information is here: MLB All-Star Outreach.

Thank you & contact Information
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Hope to hear from you about traveling to South Africa.

Grace, mercy & peace,

Bill Adams
bill@sfoi.org
1-866-646-LOVE (5683)

Sports Fan Outreach International
P.O. Box 11667
Atlanta, GA 30355

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Evangelism Resources: Many Saints would be glad to "go" but can't afford it. If you have ever wanted to "Sponsor A Saint" for a particular trip or in general you can do so here: Sponsor A Saint.

MLB All-Star Celebration $300 per person.

If you give the name of the person(s) you sponsor will be sent to you.