Prayer Drive

As the Indian heat continues to rise unabated amidst the chaos in the political world, we had a team of five young men crisscrossing the state of Rajasthan, praying for each and every district and sub districts.

With day temperatures soaring above 43 degrees, most of the driving was confined to early mornings and late nights.  Every place they went to, they prayed over the land and the people, met kids on the street, taught them songs and shared the love of Jesus. They had a few near escapes from accidents and also miraculous provisions of shelter, food and other provisions.

Meetings were conducted wherever there were believers.  "We never had a prayer meeting in our house since we came here.  This is the first meeting and we are very refreshed with this fellowship, " said a family who had been posted as a government nurse in a remote village for the past one year.

Heat From Within and Without

As the Indian heat continues to rise unabated amidst the chaos in the political world, God and his people are at work in the highways and the byways.  Neither the summer, nor their surroundings is stopping them.  As I write this, I am in awe of again both, God and his men!  I had the privilege of meeting one of our missionary working in Rajasthan.  To put things into perspective, he lives in such a remote location that he has to walk two hours to reach the highway and then take a bus for an hour to reach the nearest city.

But he is not daunted.  He has been faithfully serving the Lord in that region for over two decades now.  But then he had the guts to believe that one day God will allow him to build a church building in this remote place. Where would the materials come from?  How would they be hauled?  He had no answers but he kept praying and believing.  He had to wait long, but he did not give up hope.  

Recently we were able to help him build a small church building in this remote location and I got to witness it personally.  I was once again amazed at the passion they have to love Jesus and to hear his Word.  He ministers in six villages and he is training his oldest son to help him.  “I am happy to do whatever I can to serve Jesus” said his older son when I asked him about his involvement in serving the people."I don't have  any formal training but I join him to pray for people," he continued.   I walked away from that place thanking God for using ordinary people to do extraordinary things.

This was a passionate man and his passionate family.  Thank you for helping us to help them.   Keep praying and keep giving.

Even The Stops Are Ordained By The Lord

“Pastor, can you come in the end of May to be with us and spend a few days with us?” This was the call that I received earlier in the year to come and spend time with our missionaries and trainees from the forest area of southern Chattisgarh. With my heart always wanting to equip and encourage, I prayerfully confirmed my arrival.

I was aware of the tense situation that was there in that region, with a separatist group trying to gain power by forced killings and terrorist attacks.  But every time that I had gone in, God had miraculously protected me and so I felt confident.  Besides, the vibrant ministry and the leadership would definitely be helped, I thought to myself.

Having travelled long, we were hardly 200 kms from our actual destination when God asked me to stay back and meet the believers in another town.  I did not like the idea at first but then I obeyed and met the believers and pastor in this town and we had a wonderful time with God and his people. 

After the meeting, as we went to a small hut for dinner, I watched the news and I was shocked.  There had been a terrorist attack in the region and 29 people were ambushed and killed on the road.  And where did this take place?  Very close to the road that we would have taken.  I kept staring at the news and thinking of how God stopped me from going to that region.  I was not happy then, but I knew better now.

We don’t lay claim to anything except your prayers and the grace of God.  It is important that we do the will of God, but it is more important to keep listening to him every step of our assignment.  As was famously written on George Muller’s Bible, next to Psalm 37:23, “The stops too are ordained by the Lord.”

Church Buildings

A building gives visibility, permanence and security to the believers.  We partner with local communities to construct a church building. Right now we are constructing buildings in Sagwa (Rajasthan), Pipalwada (Maharastra), Jodhpur (Rajasthan) and four other similar locations in Orissa and three in Gujarat.

The cost of building these varies based on the size and the distance from the nearest town.  On an average you need Rs 200,000 (app $5000) to help the believers finish the building.

When Women Lead

What happens when men and women begin to share equal responsibilities to see the church grow and go on?  This is not a debate that we conducted recently, but the realization that came to us as we witnessed persecuted churches coping with circumstances.

When pastors were being threatened for their life, if they entered the village to conduct services or pray for the sick, the women stepped in.  They took over services, they led the people who gathered for prayer and they were not afraid to tell the group what God had laid on their hearts. This happened several years ago.

But last month, when connected and premeditated incidents of persecution began to be unleashed on the believers, the women had to step in again.  This time, they were well prepared.  They had the Bible in their hands and in their hearts too.  They were ready to meet the needs of the people and also to approach the authorities for the needed protection.

“One look at these precious ladies, and you would think that they are too silent and too accommodating.  But their real strength was displayed when they began to pray.  There was no way that heaven would not entreat on behalf of their teary and passionate prayers”, observed a visitor the region.

On the cultural front, we are still coming to terms with women sharing equal status, but in the spiritual field, God is raising these women up to become ‘mighty women of valour”

“When I got saved, I was in a desperate situation.  My two children had died, my husband was an alcoholic and there was no income in the house” Ambu briefly narrated.  “Now that I am saved, I am happy, my husband is free from alcohol and we have bought a rickshaw on loan that is bringing us steady income.”  She continued while pointing her finger at her neighbours, “But it is important that they get saved, and I am praying regularly for their salvation.  I don’t want them to go through what I underwent, and I will make sure that I bring Jesus to them”  Now remember Ambu has known the Lord hardly for a year and it is  totally revolutionizing to her testimony and her desire to bring Jesus to others in her locality.

Leela is another hero. Three kids, one husband, no job, no place to stay and constant sickness in the house meant that she was always knocking the doors of doctors and those who would help her. Then she found Jesus and her life turned around.  He bought a push cart and also rented a small house in the slums.  God blessed them and the kids began to go to school.  She had two more children but God began to bless her abundantly.  They bought the shack where they were living and began to rebuild it by faith.  With no money but total faith, she completed her house! And recently two of her children aged 12 and 9 recited the entire epistle of Colossians on a Sunday morning.  God began to show her visions and dreams and all were coming true.  Then she started to pray for the sick and they began to be healed.  Her house now has become a centre for healing and help.

“I have received so much from the Lord and I don’t know how to thank him” she said to us recently, ‘so I have decided now to spend at least one hour in the prayer room in the church interceding for my community and the nations of the world.  I have a sense that it is going to be the best gift I can give to the Lord.”

Women indeed  are changing the spiritual scene in this country, becoming not just recipients of grace and compassion but becoming the very life that brings about a total and radical change in their homes, their families and in their communities.

Children Homes

'Let the children come to me', said Jesus.  That is our singular vision of giving children from difficult circumstances a life time opportunity to connect to the Way, the Truth and the Life. Every child that we care for, has the potential of becoming an agent of change in his village or town, maybe a role model for an entire generation.

“When I came to the home, I had only desire and that was to run away,” told Viram.  It took me three months to settle down and to actually enjoy all that was being done for me.”  Six years later, he had completed his studies and he wanted to do what had been done for him.  So he decided  to come to the Bible College.  After studying for two years, he decided to go back to Kotra to help with the work.  Today, he is the Warden of the same home, where he stayed.  He also is pastoring a church there and overseeing over 18 others who are serving God full time.

One of Viram’s four children is deaf.  “After two children, a son was born to us.  We were delighted but soon we realized that the baby was deaf.  We waited for over four years, thinking that it would go away.  But it stayed. We prayed but it did not change.  I believe that God has set a time for his healing and we are praying and waiting for that moment”  But this does not stop us from going ahead. I am working now to cover every single village in my area and bring Jesus to them in a culturally relevant manner”

Kotra is one of the places where we have a children’s home.  People like Viram make sure that the children that God has entrusted would become true children of God.  Please keep them in your prayers.

NMM has established homes in 16 locations and are caring for hundreds of needy children in these places.

Modern Livingstone

MUKESH D
Imagine going to a church service with a death sentence on your head.  Each time you leave the house for church, there is a death threat issued to you on the phone. You complain to the Police but they are helpless.  But you just cannot hide yourself in a hut when hundreds are about to congregate to worship in another hut, far from your house.  So what do you do?  You say a quick prayer for safety, bid your family good bye and tell them that you will meet them in the service and kick start your bike to reach the worship site. Your drive takes you through lanes that pass through dangerous sections of the town where all the people know you and all of them don’t like you.  You have an appointment to keep and an assignment to do and none can stop you, even death threatening calls.  Welcome to a regular worship day in the life of Pastor Mukesh D.

In his own words, “I heard about Jesus for the first time from my older sister.  She had been going to meetings and had seen the power of God.  When she took me there, for the first time I saw the power of God at work and there was no magician or blood flowing from animals sacrificed recently.  I was hooked.  I wanted to go the next week with her too.  Soon I was praying like everyone else.  Before I knew anything, I was doing what everyone was doing and getting all the blessing.   After I finished my studies, I wanted to know more about Jesus.  So I enrolled in the one year Filadelfia Bible Training programme, and since that there has been no turning back.”

He returned to his region to start work, but it was not that easy.  People would not trust him but he kept ploughing the ground.  One miracle led to the other and one family began to bring others to the meetings.  They were coming from far and soon it was getting impossible to reach all of them.  Then Mukesh began to conduct services on Tuesday, the open market day.  This was the day they would come to buy and sell their goods.  It was perfect.  Once the people had finished their dealings, they would come to the meetings.

The first hut was hired, then the second.  But they all had to be vacated to accommodate the number of people coming.  But with growth came persecution too.  Regular complaints against him were lodged and regular visits to the police station ensued.  The work and the threats have grown consistently.

The last time I met him, he was taking two men with him to go to the meeting, in spite of all that was happening.  That was three weeks ago.  When I spoke to him two days ago, it was again a similar situation.  He was not happy to receive all these threat calls, but as he said to me, ‘the only thing that you can do is pray for me and the people.  Please go ahead and do it and if I come back, I will give you a call.”

Hundreds of young men like him are facing heavy persecution right now.  Join us in praying for their safety and for the qualitative and quantitative growth of the churches in those areas.