Please rejoice with the Yesuway Jeevan Mission team, that by God’s grace and because of continuing, quiet consultation by Mission Manager Immanuel and FBHC President Rev. A. Jerald and with the cooperation of the respective leaders and members of the congregations of two FBHC churches in the south of the Tamil Nadu State, and with some assistance from the local authorities, the churches at Kodaikanal and Periyakulam have been restored to the control of the Fellowship, and new pastors have been appointed and accepted by the congregations.
At Periyakulam, which is about 500km to the south-west of Chennai, Pastor T. Daniel, who was pastor of the church some years ago, has been re-installed as Pastor, and he and his wife Jenimol and their three sons were welcomed to the church and consecrated to the Lord’s service by FBHC President Rev. A Jerald before the congregation of about 70 believers on Sunday 12 November. The congregation had recently put tremendous effort into cleaning and repainting the building, and a leadership committee to work with the pastor has been formed.
As mentioned in a recent article, the Fellowship of Blessed Hope Churches recently appointed Pastor Jebakodi Muruthuraj as pastor of the church in the hill station of Kodaikanal, and as an encouragement to him and the members of the church, a teaching seminar was held from August 22 to 24, with Dr Thinakaran Richards from BILD International leading teaching from the Acts of the Apostles – another in the series which he began at Saidapet, in Chennai, a few months ago. A group of ten FBHC pastors travelled to Kodai for the seminar and were joined by Rev Neil Armstrong, an independent pastor who has been assisting with preaching and teaching and visitation whilst the pastorate has been vacant. Rev Neil Armstrong will be continuing to mentor Pastor Jebakodi for some time.
Many of those who attended have commented to Mission Manager Immanuel that they benefited greatly from the classes. Good accommodation and good food were provided for all who attended, and one of the local church members, Mr Arockiadoss, took charge of all the arrangements for these practical matters. We are very grateful to him for his willingness to serve the Lord in this way for the seminar.
Mr Arockiadoss, who is a builder, is also doing some repairs to the parsonage before Pastor Jebakodi and his family move in, and he has also contributed generously of his time and materials to repainting the church inside and out, and carrying out other improvements in the building. A new motor has been fitted to the water pump so that there is now a good supply of water available from the bore.
Please pray for these two newly appointed pastors – T Daniel and Jebakodi Muruthuraj and their families and the church members, as they come back into the fold of the Fellowship of Blessed Hope Churches once again, and pray that their witness in their respective towns will be blessed by the Lord.