Greetings to our friends, supporters and prayer partners, and once again my thanks for your support and encouragement in so many ways. Thank you especially for your faithful prayers for those who serve the Lord in India, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines and Thailand. The leaders of the Advent Christian ministries in those countries often express their appreciation for the fact that they know there are many in New Zealand and around the world who pray regularly for them and their ministries. Sister Ruth in Malaysia recently wrote “We want you to know that your love, prayers and help are honored by us. You are in our daily prayers. We will always appreciate your prayers for us and our Advent work here.”
INDIA
The temperatures in Metro Chennai (9 million plus inhabitants) continue at unusually high levels for this time of the year – Immanuel tells me that they had about 10 minutes rain one evening this week!! There is no sign of the monsoon rains which are due about now, and the weather forecasters there usually seem to be able to tell the people exactly when the first rains of the monsoon will arrive – they are completely quiet at the moment! The provision of water right now for the city and surrounding areas remains a major problem and if the monsoons don’t deliver the usual amount of water to the reservoirs, the problem will be even worse next year. Please continue to pray that our YJM families, members of AC churches and indeed all the residents of this huge city, will somehow have sufficient water as their summer continues. The mosquitoes are having a great time at present too – Immanuel tells me that more than 500 people have died in Tamil Nadu from Dengue fever in recent weeks. We need to pray that the government will act to prevent another catastrophe among the poor.
Thank you for praying for the sale of the Guindy land – we have had confirmation that the party who until recently was very keen to buy the property, was “frightened off” by some within the AC Conference who don’t want the property to be sold as was agreed back in 2010, and confirmed by a legal agreement we know as the “Colombo Agreement.” Please pray that the Lord will change the hearts of those men who oppose the sale of the land, for reasons concerned with personal greed, in the way it needs to be done to protect the capital in the long term, or ask the Lord to somehow remove them from the scene? Immanuel is talking to two further keen parties who are doing “due diligence” at this stage, but of course, we may experience the same stumbling blocks further along the negotiations – we have some ideas as to how we may counter these.
The sale would bring the possibility of much needed financial stability for the Advent Christian Conference of India and its ministries and would allow YJM/AAM to greatly extend our ministries.
Please continue to pray, that one of these two new enquirers may finally be the Lord’s chosen one; that He will clear the pathway and that the sale will be completed as soon as possible.
Pastor Denny Moses has recently reported about recent activities of the Advent Christian Conference of India’s outreach in Bihar, where the Lord continues to bless the efforts of the team led by Pastor Paul Sunder Raj, and the outreach efforts of teams from many other denominations who co-operate with each other in the State now known as the “Vineyard of Missions”. Pastor Denny Moses wrote…
September and October field report 2017 (Bihar)
Beloved in Christ,
I am glad to share the Gospel work of our field (Khagaria, Bihar, North India). For the glory of God
I, with our team have received His everlasting Grace to do some kinds of ministries during the past months. I bring these happenings to your knowledge so that you could join your hands with us to magnify our Father’s glory.
From Sep 16th for four days we had received Mrs. Shakila Chella Kumar’s team in our field. Their earnest
coming to our field made worthy gatherings at various places. They shared The Gospel in many places (at Mukesh Khut, Bala Bazar, Rampur and Khagaria). Pas. Ranjit Gabriel is blind from birth, he came from the Hindu background and accepted Jesus as a personal Savior and started work for His Kingdom. He shared the word of God and we realized the Holy Spirit’s anointing in his preaching and glorified the Father’s name – in Hebrew, Shenai, Adhonai, Elo-hinu. They also met our School’s VIII, IX & X class students and shared the word of God. On the last day, they distributed gifts to our field workers, missionaries and all the children. (Pictures below)
Pas. Ranjit Gabriel and Mrs. Shakila Chella Kumar Sharing gifts to all the ACC team.
The pastor’s quarters and Advent Church at Baliya has been dedicated by ACCI President, Bishop Rev. Francis Thangadurai along with Head Missionary Paul Sundar Raj; Area Chairman of the Sembakkam church in Chennai Rev. Magimai Doss; Old Pallavaram Area Chairman Rev. Charles Ebenezer and Arumbakkam Church Pastor Pas. Mark. (Pictures below)
On the same day (07/10/2017) Br. Rajesh and Sis. Rani‘s marriage and Br. Rakesh’s (Allouli Pastor) child’s dedication were celebrated. All the church believers & Pastors gathered to lift up the highest name of our Father on these two occasions. Child dedication and a marriage service were held – the bride Sis. Rani & the groom Br. Ramesh are both handicapped, Br. Ramesh has completed his Bible training in GEMS Bible School and continues to serve God as a pastor in our mission.
Kindly pray for them to get a handicapped scooter. As they are handicapped they are unable to get in or get out of any train & buses or any other vehicles. May our Lord fulfil their need by your valuable prayers. (Pictures below)
On 08/10/2017 the Church in Prabatta was dedicated. The church building’s whole construction expenses were a gift from the Old Pallavaram church believers (Chennai, Tamil Nadu). We praise
our Savior for these great things. The Church at Baliya, which was dedicated on 07/10/2017, was funded through the support of other offerings and our School’s support (Bihar). (Pictures below)
On 10/10/2017, our Mission’s President, Bishop Rev. Francis Thangadurai upgraded the school’s management committee members by promoting their designations. Our Head Missionary Pr. Paul Sundar Raj has been promoted as Director of Schools in Bihar (he was the Principal of the School previously), School’s Office In-charge Mr. Sadhu Sundar Singh has been promoted as Principal of the school and the teaching staff. Mr. Santha Kumar has been promoted as Vice-Principal.
Head Missionary M. Paul Sundar Raj, Mr. Sadhu Sundar Singh and Mr. Santha Kumar were honored by Bishop Rev. Francis Thangadurai
May the seeds of your prayers from far-way be planted every day, then we could receive the fruits of blessings here to serve among our people. Continue your prayer to support for our Head Missionary as he is going to concentrate his maximum time in ministry. Pray for the school’s Principal, Vice-Principal, Office & Campus In-chargers, all teachers, and all the Church field workers and believers, that they may work hard and eagerly build up the everlasting Kingdom. We too pray for you and your ministries, we shall meet through the forth coming months’ reports. May God bless us all.
Prayer Points:
3 days fasting prayer in Khagaria, Bala Bazar, Baliya, Rampur and Mukesh Khut in this month pray for the all needs.
For those nine of God’s servants from different places going to share the word of God. God use them mightily and bless their health condition.
Around 40 people will go to take Baptism, pray that there should not be any hindrance from anti –Christian people like BJP, RSS or some other ways, because these days Hindu rituals are going on in Bihar.
In the month of November people from Advent Christian Church Agaram-Then Chennai are coming to do village ministry – pray for their travel and ministry in Bihar.
Pray for newly married couple Br. Ramesh and Sis. Rani (at right) as they are physically handicapped, but they have committed their lives to serve God in Bihar. They are unable to walk like normal people, so they need a physically challenged vehicle. For that we need 90,000 Indian rupees {about NZ$2,010}, please pray that God will provide for them so that they may do God’s work earnestly for His glory.”
YJM ministry partner Pastor Ahaj Kumar Pani in Odisha, continues his busy ministries and continues to regularly communicate and express his appreciation for financial assistance and our prayers. Last week we received the following report…
“We are doing an Outreach Gospel preaching ministry here. Orissa Mission staff is reaching to the unreached with the Gospel of our Lord Jesus. We are preaching the good news of our Lord Jesus Christ to this village’s people.
Please pray for this village people who for the first time heard the Gospel from us. Please pray for us and for North India ministry.”
On Monday of this week we received a further report and pictures…
“Today we did a feeding program here in Orissa. Nearly 90 people attended in the feeding camp. We want to thank our Missions Manager M.M.Immanuel, arranging funds towards feeding the poor.
Please pray for us and for North India ministry.”
THAILAND
On Monday 23 October, the team at Christian Mission put the following report up on their Facebook page…
“Soup of Love in October.
We went into Ban Naratchakwai {Ban = Village} and gave Soup of Love to some elder people. They gave us their big smile so we’re very happy. Thank you for this great project.”
They later commented…
“Soup of love project is going to be well-known here. That makes it easy for us to share God’s word to people and give love to them.”
The members of the CMN team were wearing black tops, as were many of the villagers, as a mark of respect for the end of the year of mourning for their late, much-loved King – King Bhumibol Adulyadej -who ruled the country for 70 years until his death in October last year. His funeral and cremation were held on Wednesday and Thursday this week.
Earlier, on Sunday morning, they had gathered for worship at their morning service. They commented…
“22/10/2017
Hello everyone. We were here to worship God and had fellowship together. Today we wear black shirts and prayed for the King Rama 9 and pray for Thailand.”
(above) Praying for their country Brother Boontaa, his wife Phon and their daughter Bow.
Please continue to pray regularly for Sister Maeo; the leadership team Ploy, Parn, Lita, Job and Guitar; and for Brother Boontaa as he teaches and preaches, and his family, and of course for all to whom they minister, especially the children and young people. Pray that the Lord will bless them as they “share God’s word to people and give love to them.”
MALAYSIA
Kluang Advent Christian Group’s ministry
Please continue to pray for the small group of faithful, Advent Christian believers who gather weekly on Sundays for worship in the home of Sister Ruth Devairakkam and Brother Wilfred in Kluang and in members’ homes for Bible study and communion during the week. Christian ministry is not easy or without danger in Malaysia, but Ruth and Wilfred faithfully continue their one-on-one ministries of friendship, practical assistance and counsel to friends, neighbours and other contacts.
Ruth recently shared some thoughts entitled “FIRSTBORN: As seen from the Malaysian Perspective.”
“Previously in our culture, in Malaysia, the firstborn has to fulfil the wishes and desires of the parents before they die. In the event of the death of the parents, the firstborn has to take the responsibility of handling all the important matters for the family.
But now, this has changed. It is no longer necessary for only the firstborn to fulfil all the wishes of the parents. These days, the father chooses from the family members regarding with whom he wants to stay for the rest of his days.
The son or daughter who takes care of the father will receive the blessings and inheritance from the father. The father will give away whatever that belongs to him to the son or daughter who takes care of him to the very end, to the one who is with him and for him. This is the general trend. This view might differ with some families. Even the funeral rites will be handled by the one who takes care of the father in his old age.
In our society and culture, taking care of aged parents is highly respected. So the firstborn who takes care of his parents is thought of highly in our country.”
MYANMAR
You will have seen in the news that there is still considerable fighting and difficulty in the north-western State of Rakhine. Hundreds of thousands of refugees continue to flee from Myanmar across the border with Bangladesh, apparently under great duress from the Myanmar army. Pastor J has recently been in the area and following is an edited (to protect him) version of his report.
“A trip to Rakhine State (border of Bangladesh and Myanmar) was made in October. The Lord of God is moving on unreached peoples’ groups of Dai, Myo and Letu. The trip was blessed with fruit by God.
To reach these people, the team had to travel where fighting is taking place between Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) and the Myanmar Army. This ARSA has cut many trees and people can no longer travel easily. Bombing has destroyed the roads and some of the tribal people have been killed.
October is harvest time, so the team members went to the fields where the villagers plant rice to reach out to them. Many of the people from the village are running to mountainous area, because they fear ARSA. Many from the village are so sad and hopeless, because they lost their family and homes. To survive, they now stay in the jungle.
This is a great opportunity for us to show God’s love and his redemption to his people. Your support allows the Myanmar Conference to continue the work in Myanmar by standing up and speaking out for unreached people and meeting the urgent, humanitarian needs among the poor, unreached people in Myanmar.”
Pastor J described the picture above as follows… “We bring them to where safety for them. Some children does not eat food for three days.”
PHILIPPINES
The latest information we have in regard to the situation in Marawi on the Island of Mindanao, which is very close to Cagayan de Oro (Oro Bible College and several AC churches) and Iligan (where the Philippine Advent Christian Conference has two churches) is that the fighting between government troops and the rebel Mautes continues, and although the fighting is contained to a small area in Marawi, there are still severe restrictions, including curfews, which are also affecting the people who live in surrounding areas including Iligan and Cagayan de Oro.
Please continue to pray that this situation may be resolved so that “normal” life can continue.
Sister Nely Gamayon, Director of Oro Bible College recently asked us to pray as follows…
“Please include in your prayers {Faculty member} Minda, who is sick with pneumonia and today I sent her to go to another doctor because there is a lump in her neck and we are also wondering why her cough is not healed with all the medicines she had taken. Also, please pray for {Faculty member Pastor} Reniel, his heart has enlarged a little bit in his last checkup. His triglycerides count is still high, fasting blood sugar is also a little bit high and blood pressure too. His son, Elisha was also hospitalized due to pneumonia and allergy. {Faculty member Pastor} Billy is also having swollen feet because of arthritis.
Also please pray for my mother, she is diagnosed with acute leukemia. She is 79 years old and has heart enlargement and infected lungs.
Please pray for the approval of the revised curriculum to be implemented by the school year 2018-2019. Pray for teachers in the General Education courses and Professional courses and books for the new subjects included in the new curriculum.”
Please pray regularly for all the ministries mentioned above, and for all those involved – those who minister in the Lord’s Name and those to whom they minister and share the Good News of Life in Jesus Christ. Pray that through the Holy Spirit, the Lord’s power, peace, provision and protection, will be very evident for our brothers and sisters.
May God bless you richly as you serve Him in Missions by your prayers and support.
Greetings to our friends, supporters and prayer partners, and once again my thanks for your support and encouragement in so many ways. Thank you especially for your faithful prayers for those who serve the Lord in India, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines and Thailand. The leaders of the Advent Christian ministries in those countries often express their appreciation for the fact that they know there are many in New Zealand and around the world who pray regularly for them and their ministries. Sister Ruth in Malaysia recently wrote “We want you to know that your love, prayers and help are honored by us. You are in our daily prayers. We will always appreciate your prayers for us and our Advent work here.”
INDIA
Thank you for praying for the sale of the Guindy land – we have had confirmation that the party who until recently was very keen to buy the property, was “frightened off” by some within the AC Conference who don’t want the property to be sold as was agreed back in 2010, and confirmed by a legal agreement we know as the “Colombo Agreement.” Please pray that the Lord will change the hearts of those men who oppose the sale of the land, for reasons concerned with personal greed, in the way it needs to be done to protect the capital in the long term, or ask the Lord to somehow remove them from the scene? Immanuel is talking to two further keen parties who are doing “due diligence” at this stage, but of course, we may experience the same stumbling blocks further along the negotiations – we have some ideas as to how we may counter these.
round 40 people will go to take Baptism, pray that there should not be any hindrance from anti –Christian people like BJP, RSS or some other ways, because these days Hindu rituals are going on in Bihar.
MALAYSIA
PHILIPPINES