The Advent Christian Conference of India has received notice from the owner of the property which their St Xavier’s School in Khagaria, Bihar presently rents, that he wants them to vacate the property as soon as possible. Several deadlines have come and gone but the request is becoming more insistent.
Pastor Paul Sunder Raj, who is in charge of the Bihar ministry and the school, has advised that they have located suitable land to which the school could be relocated, and asks us to pray that the Lord will provide the funds to enable them to buy the land as soon as possible.
Indian Government regulations decree that a minimum of 40 kattas of land (1 katta = 1,900 square feet. 40 kattas = 1.75 acres approx. – or 0.71 hectares) is necessary for a school. The cost of the land they would like to buy is 3 lakhs (300,000) rupees per katta which gives a purchase price for the land alone of 120 lakhs or 12 million rupees (approx NZ$267,000 approx or US$224,500 approx). The cost of building the school buildings and necessary infrastructure would of course be considerable once the land is purchased.
St Xavier’s School is the AC outreach ministry’s “bridge” into the Khagaria community and has been one of the main activities which has allowed the outreach to be appreciated and valued by the people of the city. The parents of the children who attend the school appreciate the quality of the education that the school provides for their children. On more than one occasion over recent years the parents of the school children have stood up for the AC ministry against opposition from Hindu factions which have tried to oppose the presence of Brother Paul Sunder Raj and his team.
The school presently has 886 children on its roll, in 13 classes from Nursery to Standard 10. There are 26 teachers and 10 non-teaching personnel on the staff – a total of 36 of whom 21 are Christians.
This need is of course a HUGE one, but our God is a God of miracles and it is not too much for Him, if this is His will. Please pray that God will make His will very clear to Brother Paul and his team and to the AC Conference in Chennai and that “the Lord will provide” if this is His will.
(Ernie Schache)
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