BLACKOUT 2015

WHAT’s ALL

THAT RACKET?

I sTAYED sILENT

MIKE PILAVACHI

ON RIsK

BROTHER WHO?

www.opendoorsyouth.org fB.com/opendoorsyouth @opendoorsyouth

GOT THE MAG? Tweet us @opendoorsyouth to let us know what you think!

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INSIDE THIS EDITION

WINTER 2015 EDITION #5

www.opendoorsyouth.org/blackout

SWITCH OFF FOR THOSE SILENCED FOR FOLLOWING JESUS

17-22 MARCH 2015 / 17-22 MARCH 2015 / 17-22 MARCH 2015

THE LITTLE

BLACK(OUT)

BOOK

Five short sessions about the persecuted

church to inspire you to live your faith out loud

WWW.OPENDOORSYOUTH.ORG/BLACKOUT

SWITCH OFF FOR THOSE SILENCED FOR FOLLOWING

JESUS. SIGN UP NOW!

Join the Blackout and get sponsored to spend at least 24 hours switched off from the web.

No Instagram. No Facebook. No Twitter. No YouTube. No instant messaging. Seal away your

smart-phone, put your social networking on hold and make a massive noise for those who

are silenced for following Jesus.

From 17-22 March 2015

SIGN UP ONLINE TO GET SENT YOUR FREE BLACKOUT PACK, INCLUDING A SERIES OF QUICK, ENGAGING BLACKOUT REFLECTIONS AND A PADDED ENVELOPE FOR YOU TO SEAL YOUR PHONE IN FOR THE LENGTH OF THE CHALLENGE.

DIF FERE NTLY

I am not impressed with people. People have built a fake world

around themselves. If only you were able to pierce right through

that... We try to look good, and we care more about what people

see of us than what God sees of us. That is our big problem. Brother Andrew

Sixty years ago, on 15th July 1955, a young dutch man called Andrew

took a trip to Poland. Back then the country was part of the Soviet

Union, a massive superstate run by communists. Religion was off the

agenda and the church in Poland was facing increasing restrictions,

pressures and intimidation.

Andrew carried a suitcase with a change of clothes and hundreds

of leaflets about Jesus. He met Christians facing persecution and he

committed there and then to spend his life serving and supporting them.

That trip started the ministry of Open Doors and Brother Andrew (as we

now know him) is now in his late 80s (and still going on trips!). But he

wouldn’t have done any of it if he had cared about what other people

thought of him. If he put other people’s opinions before his comittment

to God, his incredible life would be very different. Instead, he would

have worried about money, reputation and safety - he probably wouldn’t

have gone anywhere. But he chose to trust God, saying yes to his

heavenly Father, knowing above all else that he was loved.

This year we’re going to be celebrating 60 years of Open Doors

and we’ll be trying to let how God sees us become more important

than any other viewpoint. It’s a perspective many in the persecuted

church have had to adapt to. Hated by their communities, millions of

Christians know they must depend on the truth of God’s love for their

worth and value. It’s definitely a lesson we could do with learning

again, and again. Up for trying to learn it with us? We hope so!

Emma and Dan, the Open Doors Youth Team

Open Doors YouthPO Box 6, Witney, Oxon, OX29 6WG

Cell +44 (0)1993 777300 desktop www.opendoorsyouth.org Email youth@opendoorsuk.org

© 2015 Open Doors. Registered Charity in England and Wales No.1125684

BLACKOUT IS COMING!Could you go at least 24 hours

without Instagram, Facebook or

Twitter? Tough question. We’d love

you to join us in our annual fast

from the web - Blackout. The idea is

to get sponsored to switch off from

social networks in order to make

a massive noise for persecuted

Christians. We’d love you and your

group to join in, so check the deets

and get your free pack at:

opendoorsyouth/blackout

WORLD WATCH LISTWe’ve just released a list of the

50 countries where Christians

face the worst persecution. This

year North Korea (again) is top,

followed by Somalia, Iraq, Syria

and Afghanistan. Sadly, persecution

is on the rise in sub-saharan Africa

and Asia, with Islamic extremism

being the cause in many countries.

More at: opendoorsyouth.org/theproblem

PRAyER NEWSFor latest the very latest prayer

news and to take action visit

www.opendoorsyouth.org

NEWS

3

www.opendoorsyouth.org/blackout

SWITCH OFF FOR THOSE SILENCED FOR FOLLOWING JESUS

17-22 MARCH 2015 / 17-22 MARCH 2015 / 17-22 MARCH 2015

THE LITTLE

BLACK(OUT)

BOOK

Five short sessions about the persecuted

church to inspire you to live your faith out loud

WWW.OPENDOORSYOUTH.ORG/BLACKOUT

SWITCH OFF FOR THOSE SILENCED FOR FOLLOWING

JESUS. SIGN UP NOW!

Join the Blackout and get sponsored to spend at least 24 hours switched off from the web.

No Instagram. No Facebook. No Twitter. No YouTube. No instant messaging. Seal away your

smart-phone, put your social networking on hold and make a massive noise for those who

are silenced for following Jesus.

From 17-22 March 2015

SIGN UP ONLINE TO GET SENT YOUR FREE BLACKOUT PACK, INCLUDING A SERIES OF QUICK, ENGAGING BLACKOUT REFLECTIONS AND A PADDED ENVELOPE FOR YOU TO SEAL YOUR PHONE IN FOR THE LENGTH OF THE CHALLENGE.

DIF FERE NTLYSeeSee

Gavin is now Director of Mission for the Evangelical Alliance. It’s a pretty new job, before that he was National Director at Youth For Christ. He likes a chat, curry and is a passionate fan of AFC Wimbledon.

THE COsT / sPRING 2015 FEATURE ARTICLE

WHAT’S ALL THAT RACKET

And that’s good. I’m a

follower of Jesus, and I don’t

think he wanted me to be

quiet. If I follow his example

I should be loud, with my

actions and sometimes my

words too. He was noisy with

compassion and love, but he

could also win an argument.

He gave a bit of banter and

went to a bunch of parties. It

makes me think he wasn’t a

particularly quiet chap.

It’s was the same with the

early church. It was a vibrant,

noisy mess that God used to

change the world. Despite its

issues, despite the fact it was

led by a bunch of uneducated

fisherman, it made a pretty

loud impact on culture. 2000

years on and the church has

been noisy enough to shape

the entire western world.

It makes me think its good

when us followers of Jesus

make a bit of noise on God’s

behalf. We can change things.

We can show the world God’s

love. We can share hope. We

can bring life.

But for as long as the church

has been trying to get loud

and noisy, people have been

trying to silence it. And it’s

happening today.

In Eritrea the choice to

follow Jesus is a choice to be

persecuted. It’s a choice to

accept being arrested, hassled

and discriminated against. It’s

means an enforced silence.

Misgana knows this well. She

says “If you choose Jesus

your family isolate you. The

government hunts you... If you

are jailed, your salary would

be stopped”.

Churches are being closed.

Silenced from talking about

Jesus in public Christians are

quietly meeting underground.

Misgana says “I miss

worshiping freely… singing

and rejoicing loudly. But now,

it’s like whispering. You want

to rejoice but you can’t. But

he hears our whisper, He is

always with us”.

Misgana has made me think.

She knows what Elijah (a

prophet in the Old Testament)

experienced – that God often

draws close in the silence.

Elijah had an amazing

opportunity – God let him

come into his presence, but

God wasn’t in the noise of

an earthquake, the roar of a

I’m a talker. That’s part of my job. I speak out, think aloud, get passionate, argue, discuss... I guess I just like the noise.

4

WHAT’S ALL THAT

BY GAVIN CALVER

RACKET?RACKET?

sIGN UP TO GET YOUR FREE BLACKOUT PACK AT www.opendoorsyouth.org/BLAcKout

THE COsT / sPRING 2015 FEATURE ARTICLE

WHAT’S ALL THAT RACKET?

fire or the gush of the wind.

Instead, he found God in the

quietness of a whisper (read

more about it in 1 Kings

19:10-18).

Sometimes we’re so busy

getting caught up in the

noise of our lives - in the

constant instant messages,

status updates and tweets,

that we forget what silence

is. We’re gradually removing

silence from our lives, as if it’s

something we don’t know how

to deal with. But the reality is,

silence gives us an opportunity

to think, to be revitalised… to

find God again in the whisper.

As followers of Jesus I think

we’re meant to live our faith

out loud. It breaks my heart

that people in my church

family around the world can’t

even sing out their praise to

God. But people like Misgana

remind us that God can

be found in any and every

situation. We shouldn’t fear

the silence, instead we should

seek it out, asking God to

change us, refresh us and give

us new passion.

In the quiet, that is just what

Misgana has discovered. In the

midst of the silence her love

and passion for God have just

got louder and louder. She

says “Someday, somehow,

we will rejoice in Jesus in our

hometown. That is my prayer.

We are strong. God’s grace is

enough for us. Jesus saves!”

Amazing. I long for the church

to be as loud as it can be. I

long to live as noisily for Jesus

as I possibly can. But for my

passion to be at its peak,

maybe I need to be more like

Misgana and embrace the

silence a little bit more.

PRAY ACT

5

Re-read the

story in the

article about

Misgana and

focus on the things she says.

Spend a while being silent

before God and listen out for

him, not in the noise of life, but

in the quietness. Ask God to

protect and build up Misgana.

Remember the many others like

her who have no choice but to

be silent about their faith.

Take part in

Blackout and

switch off your

social networks

to raise money for persecuted

Christians. Our Blackout dates

are 17-22 March, and you can

take part in the fast from one,

right up to five whole days.

Sign up online or with the form

in the mag and we’ll send you

a great, FREE, Blackout pack:

opendoorsyouth.org/blackout

SIL ENT!

COULD YOU REALLY GO WITHOUT FACEBOOK, TWITTER AND INSTAGRAM FOR A FEW DAYS? PROVE IT! SIGN UP TO JOIN THE BLACKOUT AT WWW.OPENDOORSYOUTH.ORG/BLACKOUT

6THE COsT / sPRING 2015

INTERVIEW I STAYED SILENT

What was the hardest thing about staying offline during your Blackout?

Probably not listening to music either on my

iPod or YouTube. I've got so used to listening to

music whilst literally doing anything - homework,

cooking, whatever!! So the sound of silence was

very strange...

What did you learn? How much freedom we have to express our

opinions about faith. I was so worried about how

my friends would react when I originally posted

on Facebook that I was doing Blackout - would

they think I was mad?

I began to question though- how much worse

it must be for persecuted Christians? It wasn't

like I was about to face the death penalty for

sharing my views about Jesus on Facebook!!!

I've definetely been challenged since to use

my freedom to make a noise for Jesus and to

champion the cause of the persecuted church.

Why Should anyone else do it? Why not? It makes you realise how much we get

caught up in the 'noisy traffic' of social media

in our own lives, so much so that we drown out

the silent cries of the persecuted church. When

we shut down from technology, we come out of

our little bubble and can more clearly hear, and

connect with, God’s heart. Whilst raising money

was good and important, I found the whole

experience really challenging and valuable.

Over the years thousands of you have taken part in Blackout, chosing to go quiet online to raise money for Christians who have no choice but to stay silent. Becky from Chichester tells us how staying silent during her Blackout last year helped her turn up the volume on her relationship with God.

Join the Blackout yourself! For 24 hours to five whole days between

17-22 March, simply switch off from the web and

make more space for God. Sign up and get a

free pack at opendoorsyouth.org/blackout

I STAYED

SIL ENT!

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READ A FULL VERsION OF OUR INTERVIEW WITH MR. MIKE PILAVACHI AT WWW.OPENDOORSYOUTH.ORG/NEWS

7THE COsT / sPRING 2015

INTERVIEW RISKY BUSINESS

What sort of risks do you take for Jesus?Occassionally my friend Andy and I will get

inspired to go and see if God would use us to

speak to anyone in the centre of Watford. We

go into town, sit down and we pray, asking God

if he’d give us words for people. There’s more

failure than sucess. I once went up to a lady in a

green top in Primark, and as soon as I explained

I was a Christian, she shouted at me and ran off.

Andy got told to ‘F’ off by a bloke outside a shop!

When I was younger, just after I became a

Christian I heard someone saying how they felt

God lead them to a specific table in a cafe. They

struck up a conversation with the first person

they met, and that person became a Christian.

I was inspired to be like that. So one morning I

prayed and I felt the Lord say to me ‘Go up to

the front gate’. So I went up to the front gate. I

felt the Lord say to me ‘Turn left’. So I turned left

and then I followed what I felt were the Lord’s

directions. After 3 hours I have to admit I was

completely, utterly and totally lost – I had to ask

someone for directions to get back home!

It was my adventure in listening to the Lord and

all I was listening to was my imagination. I came

back feeling gutted. But now looking back I

think the Lord was smiling, saying ‘my silly little

delinquent kid, bless him, he didn’t know what he

was doing, but he had a go’.

We caught up with leader of Soul Survivor, and long time friend of Open Doors, Mike Pilavachi to chat about taking risks, dealing with failure and the sort of people God is looking for.

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So, how do you deal with failure?

I have no problem dealing with failure because

I’ve had loads of experience with it. Lots of

people I meet, especially Christians are afraid of

failure – the antidote is to fail enough times to

realise it doesn’t kill you – or anyone else. The

Lord looks at our hearts and our intentions. It

does matter that we seek his will, but you know

what, if we go for something and it doesn’t

happen, at least we’ve gone for it.

I want to feel a bit more like Peter. When he got

out of the boat and started sinking that was a bit

of failure, but he had the joy of walking back to

the boat, on the water, hand in hand with Jesus.

I’d rather experience that, than be like the other

disciples who never got out of the boat.

If not sucess, what is God looking for?First off he wants us to receive his love so that we

can share his compassion and his heart for his

world. He’s looking for us, in humility, to serve.

Some of the most Godly people I’ve met are those

that are serving Jesus no matter whether anyone

notices or not. They’ve learnt to serve in obscurity

as well as on a platform. We need to keep

pursuing Jesus, and part of that means obeying

him. In John 15, Jesus said if you love me, you’ll

obey my commands. God’s love language is

obedience. Ultimately he’s looking for us to

express our love for him by obeying him.

RISKYBusiness

BROTHER WHO?

Born on 11 May in Sint Pancras, the Netherlands Becomes a Commando in the dutch military. Shot in the ankle. Returns home and goes into hospital.

In hospital he begins reading the Bible and gives his life to Jesus.

Studied at World Evangelization Crusade school in Scotland.

Smuggles Bibles into Eastern Europe for the first time.

He makes the first of many trips to the Soviet Union in his blue Volkswagen Beetle which was to travel over 200,000 miles.

Open Doors expands its network throughout Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union to bring Bibles and encouragement to persecuted Christians.

Brother Andrew’s biography, God’s Smuggler, becomes one of the best-selling Christian books of all time. It is published the following year in the UK and is now published in 35 languages.

First meaningful contact with churches in the Middle East.

Project Pearl: One million Bibles are delivered to a beach in China in just one night.

Brother Andrew leads Open Doors in launching a seven-year campaign of prayer for the Communist Bloc. It ends with the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. The Soviet Union is opened to the Gospel and Christian prisoners are released.

Project Crossfire: Five million pieces of literature are distributed in Latin America and thousands of youth are discipled to share their faith in Christ.

Open Doors delivers one million New Testaments to Russia.

One million children in the former Soviet Union get their very first Bibles, many in remote areas.

Brother Andrew presents the President of Albania with the first copy of the full Bible in Albanian. Albania had previously declared itself the world’s first atheistic state.

Steps down as president of Open Doors, which had 20 offices in five ‘battle zones’: Eastern Europe, Latin America, Africa, Asia and the Muslim countries.

Honored by World Evangelical Fellowship as ‘LEGENDARY’.

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WANT TO KNOW MORE? Intrigued? We’ve printed up a bunch of retro comic versions of Brother Andrew’s ‘God’s Smuggler’ book. Email us with your name and address and we’ll send you one in the post. youth@opendoorsuk.org

It’s been 60 years since Open Doors founder Brother Andrew first responded to God’s call to serve the persecuted church. His life has been a pretty incredible, journey. If you don’t know, then get to know! Read about some of the highlights in his life and ministry below.