INDIA l BIHAR | St Xavier’s High School

Advent Christian Conference of India’s St Xavier’s High School

In 2013 Government authorities advised the school board that unless they relocated and met government regulations as far as the size of land and buildings required by those regulations, the school would be compulsorily closed in April 2014! The owner of the rented premises from which the school operates had also been pressing the school board over the past year or two to relocate as he requires the land for other purposes.

This was of course of great concern to Pastor Paul Sunder Raj who leads the Conference ministry team in Bihar and is Principal of the school, as the school is a major and important part of their ministry in the city and the district of Khagaria. Since it was purchased in 2003 the school has been developed from having a roll of less than 200 students to a well-known and respected high school, teaching students from nursery to 10th standard with over 1,000 students attending. The high standard of English medium education and the Christian background of most of the staff have meant that the parents of the children who attend have a very high opinion of the school and on more than one occasion in past years have defended it when those with anti-Christian attitudes have sought to cause difficulties for the school and staff. It has become a major bridge into the mainly Hindu community for Pastor Paul’s team.

Pastor Paul and his team have been working tirelessly since 2013 to try to meet the requirements of both the government authorities and the owner – refer our article – St Xavier’s High School and of course have been seeking prayer and financial support in an effort to ensure the school’s continuing service to their community.

Thank you for your prayers and for your financial support. Please praise the Lord that the land described in our February 2014 article was paid for in full and the sale registered on April 10th – Good Friday indeed!! This is of course a major step forward for the school, but leaves the school with private debt and the need to raise funds to repay that debt and to build new buildings on the property which will meet the government requirements. Please pray that the Lord will continue to provide as He has so wonderfully done in the past. (Ernie Schache)

Pastor Denny Moses, reporting on behalf of Pastor Paul and the Khagaria team wrote as follows…

Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever. (Ps.136:1)

Greetings to you in the Name of Jesus Christ. As King David said (Ps. 13:6) I will sing unto the Lord Because He has dealt bountifully with me. As we have for the past 15 years prayed and worked for new land for our St. Xavier’s High School He has done marvelous work in our Khagaria outreach ministry. God saw a piece of land last year – we had to pay a huge amount of money for that. With faith we stepped out and many of God’s people prayed and supported us for that. Because of all this we could buy and register the land on 10th April 2015.

We praise God for His wonderful work and we thank all of you for the kind concern for our Bihar ministry.

May God bless you all.

Head Missionary and St. Xavier’s High School Principal Pastor M. Paul Sundar Raj on the School land

On April 6th the School’s new academic session of 2015 – 16 started.

• Please pray for the children as they study in a Christian insitutution – may God sustain His wisdom to allow them to perform well in their studies.
• Pray for the staff – those who are working in our school as teaching staff and non-teaching staff Pray for the construction work for the new land and its needs.

On April 9th we started construction work for Parbatta Church. Here we have been doing ministry since 2009, our Brother Bipin taking care of the Church in that place. Our Pallavaram Advent Christian Church in Chennai offered land in 2013. Now the construction work foundation stone was laid by our Conference Bishop Rev. Francis Thangadurai and with him Rev. Gnana Prasath prayed for the work to be completed.

• Please pray for the construction work to be completed soon and for the needs.

Bishop Rev. Francis Thangadurai & Rev. Gnana Prasath prayed and started the construction work for the Parbatta Church

On April 18th we had one-day family conference for the Pastors’ families in our St. Xavier’s School. It went well by God’s grace. 30 members of pastors’ families attended to equip the family and Church. The speakers came from Trichy, Tamil Nadu – Dr. Joel & Mrs. Joel Shanthi delivered messages and family experiences.

Family Conference 2015. Mrs. Shanthi sharing Word of God