Tidings of Great Joy at Christmas

Christmas always brings joy to our families. But for more than 360 men and women in our house church leaders’ training program, Christmas was also a time of harvesting souls. As part of their practical training, they went out to their neighboring, unreached villages to share the Gospel, starting on December 14th through the day before Christmas. With your help, we provided them with all the resources they needed for the outreach. They shared the Gospel and distributed literature to more than 29,000 homes, in 152 villages, in just 10 days! To wrap up the outreach, they conducted 42 public meetings in different unreached villages, and more than 12,000 people attended these public meetings and again heard the Gospel. For most of them, this was the first time they had attended a Christian meeting. Over 1800 people responded to the altar calls and expressed their desire to follow Jesus in their life.

Everywhere the outreach team went, the presence of God was tangible and they could see the favor of the Lord. In every public meeting, Jesus healed the sick, delivered the demon-possessed, and broken families were reunited.

The Power to Heal was Present

A* has lived in the same village since birth. Until he fell ill, he drove cars for a living, and his mother and two sisters took care of the house and small farm they owned. Unexpectedly, A* became very sick. He was admitted into the hospital 3 times, but none of the treatments worked. His last visit was for two months. The doctors did everything they could to treat him but his condition did not improve. Instead, the family fell into deep debt. They borrowed money from the lenders and got into financial difficulties the family could not repay.

During the Christmas outreach, a few sisters visited A*’s home with literature, and shared the Gospel with A*’s mother and sisters, working in the field. They had never heard the name of Jesus before, but the Holy Spirit moved in their hearts. In tears, they shared their problems with the sisters, including their brother’s sickness, and asked them to pray for them. Our trainees went with them to their home. A* was lying in bed, barely able to get up, a young man who had lost all hope. Our sisters prayed with them for A*’s physical healing. Our trainees felt the presence of God in that place. They invited the family to a public meeting. On December 24th, A* and his family, along with four other families, came to the public meeting, which was held in the neighboring village. They met with the sisters who visited them and shared the Gospel with them and prayed for them. A* was walking energetically, happy, and he testified that he had been delivered and healed. He gave his testimony in that meeting, and on that day, at the end of the meeting, A*, his mother, his two sisters, and 9 of their relatives gave their lives to Christ. The following Sunday, A* brought still more people to church.

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The Multitudes Hear the Good News

R* is a village with more than 300 families, situated in the middle of a field in a remote area. When our team arrived, there were no known Christians in the village. In December, our Christmas outreach team went to each house, systematically shared the Gospel, and gave out literature to everyone. With the village chief’s permission, on December 23rd we had a public meeting in the village. Our brothers pitched a tent and a small sound system, expecting between 100 and 150 people. By 11am, more than six hundred people had come to the Gospel meeting. Our tent was too small, and the sound system was too small for this many people. Humanly speaking, the arrangements were poor and inadequate.

The Multitudes Hear the Good News

But God was big enough to touch and heal and deliver and meet the needs of the people. The Holy Spirit moved in a special way in the meeting. Many people were delivered from evil spirits; many were touched by the power of God. During that meeting, more than a hundred people responded to the altar call and gave their lives to Christ. In response, our brothers began a Sunday afternoon meeting, where 70 people attended the first week and more than 100 people attended on the second week.

Set Free by the Power of the Gospel

One woman who heard about the meeting was suffering from severe headaches for a long time. She had been to all kinds of treatments, but nothing worked, and she fell into a deep depression. A relative from another village told her about the Christian meeting in the village, and in desperation, she walked 4 miles to the meeting, all the while still suffering with the headache. When our brothers prayed for her, the Lord touched her. She had been tormented by the powers of darkness, but during the prayer, God delivered her completely from the evil bondage, and set her free from the headache. She became very happy, and was overwhelmed with heavenly peace and joy. She shared her testimony with the people, and returned home as a new person.

The Multitudes Hear the Good News

The Bible says “The people which sat in darkness saw a great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death, light is sprung up.” Yes, thousands of people who sat in darkness for many generations were able to see the glorious light of the Gospel through the outreach. This was made possible by our Lord, by your prayers and financial support. Agree with us in asking the Lord of the Harvest to send more laborers into the harvest field, and that He would provide them with the necessary financial support to be effective.

February 2019 Letter

Dear Partners and Friends,

As we reflect on the year that just ended, and look ahead to the year in front of us, we have an opportunity to thank God for everything He has done in us and through us in 2018. He has provided everything we need pertaining to life and godliness. In other words, He cares for us both spiritually and physically. Let’s take a moment to stop and thank Him for His goodness in our lives.

Celebrating Last Year’s Successes

Last year, you helped us reach 1700 formerly unreached villages with the message of the Gospel. Our teams shared the Gospel with more than 350,000 people. That’s like the entire city of Honolulu, Hawaii hearing the Gospel door-to-door in 10 days! We started more than 300 new prayer groups and house churches in unreached villages. We gave baptism to more than 6,800 people. We trained 418 men and women to be new house church leaders. We gave away more than 9,000 Bibles, more than 29,000 New Testaments, and thousands upon thousands of Gospel tracts and other literature. We started 11 new sewing centers, where 243 women finished the training and can now provide income for their families. All this was accomplished because of your prayers and financial support, along with the hard work of our outreach teams.

In this month’s newsletter, you will read stories about our Christmas outreach, and how the Gospel message continues to touch and transform all who embrace it. Unreached villages need to hear the message of hope we carry. They need spiritual help, but they also need food and shelter, and sanitary ways to prepare food. God sent the manna from heaven when the Israelites wandered through the wilderness, but today food often comes through believers who make sacrifices and share their resources with others who are in need.

Looking Toward the Future

As you can see, our ministry has impacted more than a quarter of a million people in the past year. How many people can we reach this year? Much of it depends on you. Our teams are ready and willing to work. Will you help us to equip them? As the New Year begins, please remember the needs of the unreached people of India. If you are able to help, complete the enclosed response card. And please share this newsletter with as many believers as you are able. Copy it, send them to our website, do whatever you can do to get the word out. We overcome by the blood of Jesus Christ, and the word of our testimony. The more people who receive this newsletter, the more hearts will be touched, and the more God will provide for our missionaries. Without your help, we could do nothing to promote the Gospel.

Thank you for continuing to pray for all of us here. And thank you to those who support us sacrificially every month. No words can adequately express our gratefulness for your partnership!

Blessings in the Wonderful Name of Jesus,

Thomas