Greetings to our friends, supporters and prayer partners and welcome to the first update for 2022. My thanks for your continued support and encouragement in so many ways, for those who serve the Lord under the Advent Christian banner in Asia - in India, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines and Thailand.
Thank you, especially for praying – God continues to answer your prayers in wonderful ways and although Covid-19, with its lockdowns and restrictions and effects on ministries and day-to-day living and incomes, continues to significantly affect and hinder their activities, those we support are continuing to do all they are able to do in ministry and are continuing to touch lives for the Lord Jesus Christ.
Sadly, nothing concerning Covid-19 has changed very much since our last update in December - in all of “our” countries, and in New Zealand, the statistics show a downturn in cases and deaths until the end of December 2021 but a rapid upsurge in the New Year as Omicron arrived around the world and brought with it rapid case number increases but thankfully relatively low death numbers compared with numbers during the Delta and the initial outbreaks of the virus in 2020.
Restrictions and difficulties caused by Covid-19, continue to affect most of the ministries that we support, in respect to their fellowship and meetings and other ministry activities and their financial situations, and the members of their congregations also of course. Restrictions still prevent many members from working or working full-time, and this continues to cause economic hardship for families, and this of course is reflected in offerings to the churches and many of our pastors and their families and the families of their members still face significant financial hardship. Please continue to pray for our brothers and sisters in Christ – those who are part of AC ministries and in fact all who honour and serve our Lord in sincerity and truth.
INDIA | Yesuway Jeevan Mission
Covid-19 continues to have serious effects in India – new cases reported on 22 February numbered 15,102 with a seven-day average of cases at 20,496 and a seven-day average of deaths at 393. They still remain at second place in the world behind the USA with total deaths numbering 513,000. There are continuing news reports quoting experts who claim that the official statistics for India are probably significantly understating the actual figures.
Tamil Nadu State, where most of the Advent Christian churches are situated, continues to be affected but new case numbers have decreased considerably – with 788 new cases on 22 February and a seven-day average of 1,117 and a seven-day average of only 6 deaths.
We need to continue to pray for India and its people as the track of the graph of new Covid cases daily is still very high.
Please continue to pray for Mission Manager Dr. Ehzil Christadoss, asking the Lord to give him great wisdom and patience as he has taken over the responsibility for the leadership of YJM under very difficult circumstances. Pray too for the staff and their families on the compound at Guindy.
Thank you for praying over a long period for the new banking arrangements for foreign currency, caused by the change in government regulations in September 2020 concerning the receipt and use of funds received from outside the country. The new FCRA (foreign currency) account and associated local accounts for the mission have now been set in place and approved by the Ministry of Home Affairs and we were recently able to send funds to assist and encourage a number of YJM’s ministry partners. The Guindy office has already had a visit from a government FCRA inspector who was happy with what he saw!
One of the ministry partners to which we sent funds was Shelter Trust, which has three hostels for children and young people who have HIV/AIDS, many of whom have been sent out from their homes because of their illness. Many of the children have been in the care of Shelter since they were small infants. The founder of the trust is Rev. A.D, Solomon Raj (at right in the picture below) and his stated aim has always been to give the children “Life, Love and Laughter.”
Following receipt of the funds we sent, Pastor Solomon Raj wrote…
“Greetings to you from Shelter Home.
I take this opportunity to thank you from the bottom of my heart for your love, concern, and support that you have rendered towards our children. During this global crisis, your support means a lot for us.
I also wish to apologise for not able to respond earlier than this, due to my sickness. I am recovering from Covid but still am very weak and not fully there. I did not visit the children or office for more than 2 weeks. But praise God, now I am able to move around and put in few hours of work.
Regarding the prayer concerns as of now, kindly pray for the
Wellbeing and protection from Covid to all our children. (Due to HIV, they are already immune compromised).
Schools have reopened, so children are going to school by public transport system. Pray for protection & safety.
Sukumar aged 12 years old boy, but he is totally malnourished. His present weight is 10 kilograms. He is suffering with kidney stone problem. Pray for healing.
I will hereafter periodically send pictures and brief reports and prayer request through brother Chris.
Once again we appreciate your prayers and support.”
Please pray regularly for Pastor Solomon Raj and his team of helpers (most of whom have HIV/AIDS) and for the children and young people they care for and often literally give life to, because of the wonderful care they receive.
Another of the recipients of our recent remittance was the Adda Road Advent Christian Church in Andhra Pradesh led by Pastor Paul Gandham and his son Pastor Victor Abraham. The funds we sent were used to make payments on a new autorickshaw which they bought some time ago and which is used to transport large numbers of their members to and from their service and ministry places – it is very, very well used.
The following article recently appeared in the Advent Christian General Conference’s weekly newsletter…
“Adda Road Advent Christian Outreach Continues Church Planting Work
INDIA – In a remote village area called Vishwanadapuram, a group of new Christ-followers gathers in the darkness in the open air to experience the love of God in Christ Jesus and to learn from God’s Word. There is no church building. There are no resources at this time to construct one. They are led by church planters Paul Gandham and Victor Abraham. There is music, singing, testimonies, skits depicting the gospel, preaching and a showing of the Jesus Film. Such was the scene recently as Pastors Paul Gandham and Victor Abraham relentlessly continue to share the gospel with villages that have never heard it before.
The following article recently appeared in the Advent Christian General Conference’s weekly newsletter…
“Adda Road Advent Christian Outreach Continues Church Planting Work
INDIA – In a remote village area called Vishwanadapuram, a group of new Christ-followers gathers in the darkness in the open air to experience the love of God in Christ Jesus and to learn from God’s Word. There is no church building. There are no resources at this time to construct one. They are led by church planters Paul Gandham and Victor Abraham. There is music, singing, testimonies, skits depicting the gospel, preaching and a showing of the Jesus Film. Such was the scene recently as Pastors Paul Gandham and Victor Abraham relentlessly continue to share the gospel with villages that have never heard it before.
The results of this new work in Vishwanadapuram? There are 25 believers who gather every week. In this recent gathering, more new people came to faith in Christ. Four new believers are preparing to undergo baptism very soon. They are eagerly learning the Word of God.
These pastors are driven by a passion to communicate the sacrificial love of Christ to all humanity. We are so grateful to partner with them. Just recently we have been able to restore our ability to send them support funds. This is kingdom work in action, involving people from all over the world.”
Please pray regularly for Pastors Paul Gandham and Victor Abraham, their families, and their team of helpers, as they bring the Gospel to their people.
THAILAND | CHRISTIAN MISSION NARATCHAKWAI
On Tuesday 22 February Thailand reported 21,232 new cases of Covid with a seven-day average of 18,819 and a seven-day average of deaths at 31. There have been 22,730 deaths since the pandemic began.
Because of government Covid restrictions, the Mission was closed from June of last year until early December, when they were able to have their morning service for a few weeks and took their Soup of Love to the needy in their village for the first time in many months, but as Omicron rolled around the world early this year, services were put on hold again. However, the members of the leadership team have continued to have their weekly prayer and fellowship meeting online on Sunday mornings.
On 13 February they recommenced the morning service but for the adults-only as they did not think it safe to have the children attend at this stage of the pandemic. On Sunday 20 February the message on the Facebook page was…
“Thank you God for this Sunday. It's suddenly cold here. And because of Covid-19, we still don't have children come to the service. Please pray for us.”
Maeo has been quite unwell since mid-October and after several visits to the doctor, she was finally diagnosed as having hepatitis, kidney and gall stones and liver problems. She has lost 22lbs because she was not able to eat, but after taking prescribed medications she is feeling better and is able to eat a little more. Please pray for a quick and complete recovery for her.
Ploy and Parn graduated on 15 December
from Nakhon Phanom University with Bachelor of Education with English Major degrees, and teacher’s licences.
Thank you for praying for them as they sat exams for entrance into the Thai civil service in February – please thank the Lord that they passed the first stage exams and are candidates for the next and final stage. There were 175,403 candidates who sat the two first stage exams and of that number, only 28.3 % (40,637) passed and come to the final stage.
The final stage is an interview on Saturday 12 March to “show their teaching skills to a committee.”
– the government will choose only 11,887 (29.25%) from the 40,637 to join the civil service! They are both concerned that they do not contract Covid before this date, as if they miss the interview they will have to wait a year before getting another chance – please pray with them that they will keep healthy.
Passing this final hurdle means a difference in salary for a teaching position from 5000 Thai baht (about NZ$235) per month for a teacher not in the civil service to 15,000 baht (about NZ$705) per month for those in the Thai civil service!
Please pray that it may be the Lord’s will that Ploy and Parn pass this final stage and that they will be able to get positions close to Nakhon Phanom within the teaching profession. This will allow them to continue their service for the Lord at Christian Mission.
Pleasecontinue to pray for the leadership team at ChristianMission- there have been some changes
In personnel recently. We don’t have a picture of the new team yet but will have one for the next update.
The young lady named Kaopun has left the team and has been replaced by another young lady whose name is Guitar, so there will now be two Guitars! A young man has also been added, named Pea.
Until we can show you a picture, please pray for Maeo, Pastor Boontaa, Ploy, Parn, Lita, Job, Guitar, Gungging, Guitar II and Pea, and Dtee who is the driver.
Thank the Lord for the time and effort they put into planning and supervising every aspect of the ministry, including the English lessons. Ask the Lord to help the girls balance their service for Him with their studies at High School and University, although for most of the year schools and the university have been closed while the church has been closed.
MALAYSIA | Kluang Advent Christian Group
On Tuesday 22 February Malaysia reported 27,179 new cases of Covid with a seven-day average of 27,182 and a seven-day average of deaths at 36. There have been 32,488 deaths since the pandemic began.
In recent correspondence, Sister Ruth Devairakkam wrote as follows…
“As for us over here, we still do not meet together for worship services on Sundays at my home, but we meet for prayer as a small group, at one of the member’s homes, once a month.
Most of the members are working outstation, and they are back once a month. Whenever they are available, they will call us and we arrange for a prayer meeting. We strictly follow S.O.P. (Social distancing and wearing the mask). We don't stay too long. Some of them request for prayer over the phone, when they are unable to join us for the prayer meeting.
We praise and thank the Lord as all our members are safe during this global pandemic. Pray that God's protection will be there for all of us always. Thank you for remembering us in your prayers”
Please continue to pray for Sister Ruth and Brother Wilfred and the members of their group as they faithfully continue, as much as they can within the Covid regulations, their one-on-one ministries of friendship, practical assistance and counsel to friends, neighbours and other contacts.
MYANMAR | Advent Christian Conference of Myanmar
Information on an international organisation’s (Worldometer) website shows Myanmar, on 22 February, as having 3,563 new cases with a seven-day average of 3,443 with a seven-day average of 4 deaths. It shows 19,349 deaths since the pandemic began, but there are virtually no detailed statistics for the period from mid-February 2021, when the army took control of the country, until mid-June 2021. It is therefore fairly likely that this deaths figure is not accurate.
Some of the ACCM’s leaders have told us of them, and their families and some of the orphan children they care for contracting Covid. Pastor D, whose organisation cares for 97 orphans recently wrote to say that most of his children and he and his family are sick with flu or Covid and asking us to pray for them.
Pastor T has asked us to pray for the pastor of one of their outreach churches in Yangon and his family, as all five of them are presently suffering from Covid 19. Pastor KS and his family care for 12 orphans. Please pray for these folk, asking the Great Physician for quick and complete healing for them all. Please pray also that the children they care for will not catch the virus.
ACCM leaders advise that many offices and banks are now open and broadband and mobile phone services are much improved to what they have been, so communications are much easier. We have had some problems getting funds to some of the leaders, but we have recently been able to get funds to them by Western Union. However, some of the leaders have been blacklisted by WU, they believe because of pressure from the army who are in control of the country and because they are Christians, so we cannot send funds directly to them but have had to find roundabout ways to do that.
But despite the pressures of Covid and the seasonal flu and the attitude of the army to Christians, our brothers and sisters continue to share the Gospel with their people and God’s Holy Spirit touches the hearts and minds of some. In early January Pastor K had the joy of baptizing two new members of God’s great, worldwide family (left below) who attend his church. In late January he wrote of holding evening Bible study classes for new converts, at which he was teaching about Eschatology (right below).
Last week he sent pictures of the digging and blessing of the foundation for a new church building at a new outreach of one of his church planters in another part of the country – an outreach from an outreach!
Last week he sent pictures of the digging and blessing of the foundation for a new church building at a new outreach of one of his church planters in another part of the country – an outreach from an outreach!
Pastor T wrote of the joy he and his wife and their family recently experienced as they witnessed the marriage of one of the orphan children that he had raised from a very young child. This young man, H T, completed a Bachelor of Theology degree at a Bible College last year and married MC, and together they are seeking the Lord’s leading and provision to plant a church in a Buddhist area of Yangon. Please pray with this couple and for them as they seek to share the Gospel with their people.
Please pray regularly for the four leaders of the ACCM - Pastors T, K, J and D - and for their country and its people, and especially for the Christians - Open Doors indicate that there are about 4.3 million Christians in the country, about 8% of the population. Pray especially for the leaders’ families and members of the ACCM churches and the 304 orphans and underprivileged children who they presently care for, in particular asking that they can continue to provide sufficient food for the children – prices for food have been and continue to increase substantially.
Please pray for God’s miraculous intervention in the situation the country is in with the army in control.
PHILIPPINES |Advent Christian Movement | Manila
On 22 February the Philippines had 1,425 new cases of Covid, with a seven-day average of 1,587 and a seven-day average of 108 deaths. They have had a total of 56,165 deaths since the pandemic began. There is now no national lockdown in the Philippines although there continues to be lockdowns of varying severity in some cities, towns and provinces.
Pastor Roy Rocha advises that they are still at Level 2 restrictions in Metro Manila which allow 50% of the usual number to gather. He wrote…
“Covid variant Omicron is rising here in our country. The start of January was challenging that most of my church members got flu including me. Some said that if we did test for Covid it would be positive. But we did isolate and cancel church services for 3 Sundays. 2 of my church members got positive tests as they commit to swab test as required by their work.
We appreciate prayers as the last time I know in the news when Covid case was 28,645 in the whole country, 17,000 were in Metro Manila. (Data was 1st week of January)
We are all ok now. We continue our live services but on limited attendance. All of our members are vaccinated except the kids. We also have our midweek services, and we are starting to have dawn prayer every 1st and 3rd Saturday of each month.”
Praise the Lord that he also wrote… “Last Feb. 12, we baptised 3 young people. I thank God for all the good development we have as of now”
Please pray for these three young people, asking that they may grow in grace and in the knowledge of their Lord, and for Pastor Roy and the church members as they mentor them.
Please pray for the Pastors and Pastoras of the Philippines Advent Christian Conference, and Christian workers throughout the Philippines and in fact in all “our” countries, who are under significant pressures from Covid 19. As you pray for the leaders, please also pray for the members of the churches - under lock-down conditions life is difficult for everyone, especially financially, with the general situation in Asia being “no work, no pay”.
Once again, my sincere thanks for your partnership in the Lord’s ministries in South-East Asia.
Thank you for your prayers and encouragement to and financial support for our brothers and sisters in the LORD. If you feel the Lord’s leading to help our brothers and sisters financially in any of our countries, please contact our treasurer – glenise@slingshot.co.nz - we can get funds to all our countries now, albeit much more slowly than usual in some cases.
Please continue to pray for the leaders and members of the Advent Christian ministries we support in India, Thailand, Myanmar, Malaysia and the Philippines – pray that they will know the leading, guiding and blessing of the Holy Spirit as they present the message of God’s love for their people and His plan of salvation in Jesus Christ our Lord.
One of the ministry partners to which we sent funds was Shelter Trust, which has three hostels for children and young people who have HIV/AIDS, many of whom have been sent out from their homes because of their illness. Many of the children have been in the care of Shelter since they were small infants. The founder of the trust is Rev. A.D, Solomon Raj (at right in the picture below) and his stated aim has always been to give the children “Life, Love and Laughter.”
MALAYSIA | Kluang Advent Christian Group
MYANMAR | Advent Christian Conference of Myanmar
PHILIPPINES |Advent Christian Movement | Manila
