Village ministry

Today we travelled into the mountainous areas and early evening we met up with a village pastor called 'George'. He was a man with boldness and strength in his voice but clearly a man of God. He led us on foot to a tribal village that he spends time with on occasions. You can see us walking up a path surrounded by green pepper vines (as in salt and pepper) towards that village.

We met as is the 'norm' in what appeared to be the center of this village where around 30 kids greeted us with joyful, happy faces.

We observed that very near by was a Hindu temple and the reality of the spiritual opposition was very evident. In fact a few hours earlier we were struggling with all kinds of silly issues and even Kym and I were a bit 'frayed at the ends'. If only we realised earlier that the enemy was working against us and that might explain some of these issues.(We took time to pray in the foot path and proceeded onward.)

Another IVCM pastor taught the children a new song to which some of the adults tried to join in. Pastor George spoke to the kids and he can be seen raising his hand with the temple in the back ground. Kym did a children's message and I followed with a gospel message. I was especially aiming at the few adults (mostly old) who were still gathering in response to the worship and activities we were performing.

9 adults responded and made a decision to follow Jesus which was so encouraging and we gave them each a copy of the N.Testament to take home. Pastor George made himself familiar for follow up later on and invited them to his church some 15 minute walk away.

A very special thing happened after we distributed the bibles and prayed with these new believers, was a small young boy came up to Kym and I and asked if we would pray for him! These are beautiful moments we treasure as this was clearly his own response, and we also gave him a NT.

Thanks for your prayers and encouraging emails that some of you have sent, sorry if we cannot reply to all, but it is encouraging to know our efforts to keep you updated are helpful.

Kids & Kids (Goat ones!)

Tuesday evening had us visiting a very rural village which we had been to once before. This time IVCM has appointed a pastor who travels to this village and helps a few believers. As you can see from the pics ... it's very rural goats/cows and all!

It always amazes me that within moments of arriving some plastic chairs appear and some mats for the kids to sit on. The one issue however that appeared to be a challenge was going to be the lack of light as it was approaching dusk. About 25ft away from us was a single power pole with numerous wires hanging off it, and before you could say Ardu... (Tamil for Goat) a man went shinning up bare foot with a flood lamp trailing a pair of wires. In moments and with no safety equipment (as you can imagine) he strapped the light to the pole and had it connected...and then there was light ! Approx 40 kids and about 35 adults filled the village square.

Kym preached the gospel with some difficulty as we had no portable PA system (something we desp need) and the kids were very unruly at times. All kinds of distractions from bleating goats and a few drunken people on the side lines. At times I felt this was an impossible situation. I then rounded off using the light of the world illustration using visual aids. With a further enlightenment of the gospel, I felt brave enough to make an 'alter call' for people to respond. Approx 24 adults (inc. a few older youth) responded to the messages.. Praise the Lord.

I introduced pastor Immanuel (IVCM) to these people after praying with them. Pastor David interpreted the prayer of response as well as what to do next, and this was so encouraging. Please keep praying as despite the battles and aggravations God is working thru us.

'Meet and eat'

Approx. 85 + Women turned up to the first IVCM women's meeting in this town. More would have come but some stayed at home to obtain their weekly supply of water, as this can happen at any time during the morning.

Kym delivered the main message which was greatly appreciated and Rod spoke after the tea break with a time of reflection. The meeting concluded with distribution of saris and bibles to nominated ladies who were so pleased to receive these.

One lady seen here can be seen getting a bible but then later requested prayer from Kym, as she was potentially facing a gynaecological operation and was extremely anxious about this happening.

A very successful meeting with positive feed back which concluded with lunch as we call it 'meet and eat', all part of IVCM 's getting people together from rural churches

People all the way....:

This evening had us concluding the day with a visit to another rural church around 7pm. Not many people were present and if I am honest our reaction was one of disappointment. After about 20 minutes of worship led by a very gifted young man others started to arrive.

I recognised a couple of young people who I had recently baptised and their enthusiasm along with others changed our whole outlook. we had a really special time of fellowship, who were very attentive to both Kym and I as we spoke.

The children were delightful as you can see, and the young people were so excited to receive a new Tamil bible.

Some more 'teddies' were handed out and in particular to one handicapped young man who is permanently on crutches. He plays the bongos and sings with great passion and you can see he is devoted to Christ.

More saris were given out by Kym and this was followed by prayer, one lady asked for prayer for her eyesight which had been defective from birth. A real test of our faith and we are praying for healing!

Please also pray for our driver, who faithfully takes us around from place to place. This he does without any questions from 9am to 9pm every day so far. What is amazing tho is that he is now attending some of the services and meetings for some of the time. Tonight he heard the gospel and has witnessed baptism and other activities. Please pray for him and us as we look for the right opportunity to share Jesus one to one.

Running out of steam a bit, but have one more full day before we have a day off. Please keep praying. Thank you

Teaching the teachers:

A packed day which demanded our full concentration as the whole morning was devoted to a pastors seminar for independent rural village pastors. We hire a small hall and provide transport subsidies and lunch, so that they may come together for fellowship and teaching. Here you can see some of them in worship.

A huge responsibility to lead this program and to teach them. Our recent training at Bible college made us better equipped to do this, and on this occasion we were able to use some visual aids via  projector. Kym spoke on Jonah and then myself on leadership principals.


This was a very special time of fellowship and many people gave encouraging remarks. After lunch I spoke to the newly formed group of 'trainee pastors' as part of my college placement again on leadership. Some IVCM pastors also attended. This was the actual 'launch' of this new program, which needs a name (suggestions welcome!). The aim is to enable men who have a heart for the ministry but who have had no formal training and also could not afford to do so, to meet up on a regular basis for ministry training. 

Sunday: A day of rest??!!!

A total of 3 services today so we have well and truly been blessed albeit quite demanding as we have ministered in so many different ways! A wonderful privilege to distribute saris to widows, and Bibles to the needy. Their expressions of gratitude leave such an impression upon our hearts and makes this so worthwhile for all the effort in raising finance and coming here to demonstrate God's love for them.

One new church that has become involved with IVCM sits on the top of a small hill and as you can see is a good walk to reach it. Such rural settings signify the importance of this ministry. The children are such a colourful picture and so good to see them come under the influence of the gospel at an early age.

On our way to the evening service we saw small rural shops with friendly people whom we are able to engage with even in a small way.

Beauty for ashes:

Sunday morning had me planting the two small raised walls to the entrance of the new church we were going to anoint, and dedicate to the Lord. A small crowd of excited people gathered to watch and participate in this brief ceremony.

The very first service was soon held following which more Bibles and saris were distributed, a real blessing for them.

Such a joy to be involved with such lovely believers and be there to encourage them! It was a beautiful service with such passion for Christ expressed during the service in worship and prayer.

You could hear (even if we did not understand) an elderly man pray tenderly with such fervour that had me and others moved to the point of tears! And this woman was fully in love with Jesus as she worshipped him with her whole being, tears running down her face.

What an awesome thing it is to see these beautiful people saved by grace and showing true love to the one and only true God that we also worship. There is something marvellous to know that these and many others, have accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour in remote rural areas of India


Finally, so great to see this blind man (who we have met before) lead the church in worship and be totally included in the service as he helped us worship by playing the drum. Another fabulous picture of believers serving Christ wholeheartedly regardless of any physical disability.

Pictures

Don't forget, all of Rod and Kym's photo's from this and other trips can be found here

Do take a look....

Baptisms, Bibles and Blessing!

This afternoon I had the pleasure to Baptise 8 people in a rural church but cannot show any pictures for security reasons. An awesome experience that was truly a beautiful moment of celebration and praise.

This was followed by an evening service in a small house church. Here Bibles were handed out to needy people, and also some Saris given to some very poor widows (expressions of gratitude can be seen in the pics). Always a humbling experience , the evening closed with an opportunity to pray for many individuals. 

Some knitted 'toys' and sweets were given to the children does anyone recognise the 'teddie' you made ? The children were so happy ! 

This is what we love to do, reach out with love...

Despite the distractions....

Today started with a morning of youth and what we called India Youth Olympics... 'running the race .....and obtaining a crown of righteousness'. It was not without problems!! All kinds of distractions and interference as well as 3 temp power failures happened ion a short time. At one point one microphone became 'hot' electrically speaking as some how it got connected wrongly, and while David and I both got shocks, no harm was done; then the power went out, (x3) and then some visitors turned up to look at the hall we had hired and walked on the stage and caused distraction... they were soon persuaded to move on!

We all felt the satan was making good efforts to inflict disturbance and distraction to the max. PLEASE double your prayer efforts as we are in enemy territory! despite all that over 80 young people re committed their lives to Christ which a wonderful response! 150 young people had signed up to come but actually 200 attended! (most were new comers!)

At first only one young lady responded to an 'alter call', but because of her boldness (which was truly amazing) approx. 19 others soon joined her and made a decision to accept Jesus. They were all given New testaments in Tamil.

Ready for planting..In more ways than one!

While some of you were thinking fresh coconut milk, and everything looks like holiday mode, well that all changed as we got straight into selecting plants at a nursery ready for planting up tomorrow. 

From there we got headlong into various aspects of our evening programs as we gathered with David & 8 of our co-pastors for prayer, communion and mission discussions. We were honoured with some beautifully crafted shawls.

 After the pastors left we enjoyed a meal and fellowship with David and his family, and watch the two boy's unpack some belated Christmas presents! 

            

Time for bed now as it's 10.30pm local time = around 5pm your time, but we have yet to sleep so night night!

Safe, Sound, Sleepy

While you guys were going to sleep we arrived safe and sound in Bangalore... but then started our day having collected all our luggage and proceeded South! Wow had we forgotten the sounds, and sights as even at 5am, the city was coming to life!

The journey seemed much quicker than before, stopping on the way for a cool refreshing coconut, and around lunchtime arrived in Salem complete with knitted teddies all screaming ..."let me out", and bags of toothbrushes, combs and pencils etc. After a quick breather we set off to purchase plants in preparation for a new church opening. A garden coming on me thinks ! Thanks for your prayers keep them coming!

Nearly there:

Just a note to say that we have received sufficient funds for carrying out the mission which is a real blessing ... Thank YOU Jesus !

Please continue to pray as we head off from London on Thursday and arrive in India in the early hours of Friday.

Pray especially for all our luggage (and there's a lot of it!) to make it thru without hassle and delays, also for no issues with our visa's on arrival. 

And finally that we also might arrive in good shape to start the programs that very same day, after a further 6-7 hrs driving!!

Funding for the road ahead:

We have been encouraged by the responses to our appeal for mission funds and are grateful to those who have been prompted by the Lord to contribute financially and for pledges of prayer support. The huge gap first reported has closed considerably and we ask that in this last week IVCM supporters continue to pray in the balance of funds needed. 

We have faith to believe that "our God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus; as this is Kingdom business we are about! (Phil 4:19)"

God promises us riches, but not of the sort we're used to pursuing here on earth. The riches God blesses us with are spiritual riches, namely the grace of Jesus Christ and the spiritual benefits of following him.

Keep praying !!

2011 visit countdown:

Greetings to you all in this New Year, we pray that God will bless your lives and ministry during 2011 and that you will continue to pray for IVCM.

With passports and visa's duly stamped we are fast approaching the date of our departure to South India (Jan 27th),  there are so many preparations still needed to be done as well as church/college and business obligations. Please pray for all those needs to be met as well as the preparations going on India for our mission to succeed. We intend doing a blog again so that you can follow our progress, but more of that in a couple of weeks.

We are writing to appeal for your help to join with us in prayer for the Lord to make provision by His people for the balance of funds needed to bless the very poor people we shall meet on this trip. You can see from the above (attached pictures) that so many believers where blessed last year by being given a full Bible in their own Tamil language. Many received a bible for the first time in their lives and you can imagine what impact that has had upon their spiritual lives to have their own copy of God's word!

We understand the economic hardships that many people face (more for those who have lost jobs or even homes), none the less for the first time we are appealing for help as these believers also need support as they face similar hardships.  We are approximately £1200 short of our target, and at this time can only afford around 90 bibles instead of the normal minimum requirement of 500 plus 200 New testaments. In addition we usually bless some of the poor widows with a new saris as this will be the only help they will get in 2011! (you can see Kym giving one to a young widow as she prays for her).

I have been reading today as part of my studies a book by Richard Foster on the subject of money, and he reminded me that if we own a car and a home that we are still more wealthy than 90% of the rest of the people on this planet. This means we are (despite our perception of our current needs) among the world's upper class. Please note that this is not intended to to make us feel guilty; it is intended to to help us capture an accurate picture of the real situation in the world. He goes on to say that " we badly need conversion in our understanding of ownership, perhaps we need to stamp everything in our possession with the reminder 'Given by God, Owned by God, and to be used for the Purposes of God".

Would you please consider making a financial contribution towards meeting these costs for Bibles and Saris so that we may bless some of the poorest people in rural and tribal villages. Time is short but if you can mail a cheque (or give it to us in person) so that we can deposit it into our UK Mission bank account, then please make this payable to IVCM;   If you simply cannot afford to do this right now will you please pray alongside us that God will prompt His people to be generous for building His kingdom in India. 

It is not necessary for everyone to give large sums of money, Just £10 would enable us to buy 8 bibles, £25 = 20 bibles;  so if a number of people joined in this appeal then we could achieve our target easily. We are praying in faith believing that God will provide.


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