Dear Family in Christ,
I hope you all are doing well. I am continuously remembering you all in my prayers. I am very thankful to God for every thing that He is doing. I am also very thankful for your prayers and support. We praise God and thank Him when we pray for you. You have been such a great encouragement to us in building the kingdom of God. “God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them.”
I am very excited to share the things that God is doing here in South Asia. I hope this will encourage you and lead you to pray more for the work that is going on.
Update on the College
God, in His mercy, has helped us successfully finish the semester. We have wrapped up our semester classes as of 16th of May. In addition to that, our CBI is filled with thanksgiving toward our God, for helping us through the process of registering our own property for a campus building in the city. Praise God, that He has been with us in all the documentation process. We pray that He who has begun a work within us, will bring it to completion.
The students are very grateful and thankful to God that He is teaching them a lot of things from the Word of God! It really makes us happy when we hear from them that the Word of God is working in their lives; that they understand it’s truths; and that it sets them free from sin. They focus on sound doctrine and hold to sound teaching. Whenever I talk to the students, they share what God has been saying to them and how He is touching their hearts to reach out the lost! They are praying for Him to reveal the place where they need to go to preach the Gospel after they finish the whole academic training. God has placed a burden in our hearts to reach the states that speak this language and beyond and to raise up the next generation of pastors and leaders.
Interns Are Being Sent
God’s vision is our vision. It is His heart, to make disciples. When the opportune time comes, God, the Holy Spirit, commissions the disciples and sends them wherever the workers are needed. Two graduates, namely Brother A*and Brother C*, have been sent out for the harvest.
Brother A*, has been faithfully serving with his home church (his father pastors a few churches) in P* district. He’s been praying to reach out to nearby villages, towns, districts by organizing youth meetings and pastors’ conferences in the coming season. His heart is to see the Word spread, whatever the cost. We are rejoicing to see what God has planned for many of these young churches!
Brother C* has been fasting and seeking the Lord’s direction. The Lord has clearly spoken to his heart that he must go, where the name of the Lord is unknown. A week ago, we at our Calvary Chapel, prayed over Brother C* and sent him. He’s now working in the field to make more connections for the church plant in the H* region. We are praising God, that He has been stirring up the minds of the disciples to start a new work in unreached locations!
The Students’ Local Outreach
As a part of our curriculum, we have been helping our students to get involved in outdoor evangelism. In that process, most of our students have been able to share the Word of God in public spaces more freely. We have been ministering, in parks (above), busy markets, shopping malls etc. They’re all going to practically apply whatever they have heard and put the Word in action.
Chapel Talks at Calvary Bible Institute
Chapel talks play a vital role in a student’s lives to enrich and enhance their preaching and teaching skills. Every day during the semester, we take time for chapel talk. We give a portion of Bible verses from a book of the Bible. They prepare all week and then get the opportunity to teach that Word of God for 30 minutes during the evenings. We train them to teach the Bible, chapter by chapter, and verse by verse. We are seeing the growth of our brothers in rightly dividing the Word of truth. In an age of nonsensical preaching, we help our brothers to carefully handle the Word of God, and to correctly communicate with the people of God. All of our brothers have been doing a great job in inculcating their commitment to preaching and teaching of God’s Word!
Youth Meeting in G*
God’s plan for each and every one is mighty and powerful. When we see it unfold, it looks like a great piece of work to save one soul, which will then spread to save many. Last year when Brother A* came to the school of worship for the first time, he had little interest in learning the Word. But after a year, the Spirit of God eventually moved his heart to come to the Bible Institute. We were very glad to see him back. Since then, he started to grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ. He then suggested to his dad, who is a pastor, to conduct young adult meetings. We ministered in that village; one day for young adult meetings, and then a couple of days for open-air meetings. There are already many false teachings that have been affecting churches, in and around this village. They were very interested to learn more of the Word. We are going to plan many village meetings, youth conferences, and pastors meetings to educate, empower and build the body of Christ.
Open Air Gospel Meeting
I Praise God for using us to share the Word of God in different churches in our states. Recently, we got invited by a pastor from a village, to come and teach the Word in the outdoor meetings that he’s conducting. A year ago I preached in the same place and people were encouraged by the Word of God. Again this year we got invited to share at the meetings.
This village is heavily affected by false doctrine and a lot of superstition. Even inside the church, very lawless things are happening. The challenging thing here in our country is to bring them out of fear of shame. You know that in our area we have a culture of shame. People trust Jesus and give their life to God, but they do not stop doing the wrong (Hindu things) they have been doing. For example, they have the fear of superstitious things, the fear of black magic, and the fear of curses. They have more fear of the Hindu culture, than of God. It is like they do not want to pay the cost to live for God. So even in many churches, even pastors do not say NO to those kinds of things. They are too afraid that the people will quit coming to church if they confront them. When I was in that village, I got to encourage that pastor to take up the Word of God and rebuke those things. Because this church belongs to God, not to us. He paid the price for the sinners. I shared with the pastor in the village, that we are not called to please people, but God.
On the day I was preaching in the meeting, I addressed these issues about backsliding and falling back into the false religious things. On that day, God revealed that there are many people who are still in this situation. We need to work hard to reach them, and show them the love of God, and to rightly teach the Word! For many people do not know that we have a spiritual life that we are to grow more in and come closer to God. It is really heartbreaking to see people who are in the bondage of superstition and don’t even realize it! People need to know that Jesus has come not only to cleanse the sinners and save them, but also to break their chains of bondage to sin. So on that day God spoke to all the people about needing this transformation. Romans 12:2.
There is more work here in our country! We need many faithful servants of God who are devoted to teach the right doctrine and show the love of God. I think that is why God has placed a burden in our hearts to equip and train young men to send out to reach those people for God so they don’t perish! I want you all to pray that God could use us more to raise up men to do the work.
T* Village Ministry
I hope you are praying for this village, because we are seeing the fruit every week when we visit them. We now have four families that are attending both the Bible study on Fridays and the Sunday worship service every week! There are also many challenges that we are facing. God has been faithfully leading us in those times of struggle.
Recently, we went door to door in that village preaching the Gospel. A lady asked us why we are coming to the village every week and sharing about someone. They rejected us and said, “We have our own gods. We are not in the need of any other!” The Christians who are in that village are living in fear. But the Bible study is giving strength to live the life of God during difficult times.
People are really showing hatred towards the pastor and Christians because of what’s happening (because false teachers and pastors are focusing only on money, rather than a burden to preach the Gospel)
There is a man from a Muslim family. Every week we have been meeting with him to tell him the Gospel. His family opposes him coming to Jesus. He is living in fear of coming to Christ because he is afraid of his family rejecting him and what they might do to him. Pray for this person! He is lame.
Youth Ministry and Future plans.
Youth at our Calvary Chapel, are involved in various outreaches to help share the love and grace of our Lord Jesus through word and deed. In the upcoming season, we are all set for a youth conference in the month of July, which will help the youth to know their purpose in Christ. Along with that, we are also going to plan free food distribution programs for the homeless, twice a month! It’s a good way to express the love of Christ through the preaching of the Word and also serving in our neighborhood.
J* Outreach
The time has come for all of us here in our Calvary Bible Institute to make use of all God’s grace and wisdom to spread the Word in near and far. It is with so much faith, that we are stepping into the new work that God has started in the city of J*. We will be ministering from 24th of May to 4th of June during which many youth meetings, pastors meeting, kids camp, village outreaches, evangelism are going to be held. We are so excited for this open door! We are hopeful that God will open many hearts to the Word and make them taste the goodness of God toward each one of them attending. It is also a great time for our students to be involved in outdoor ministry to use the Word of God in a practical way, so they can also learn to be ready to do ministry after finishing the lecture phase. This also helps us to recruit students for the Bible school. So be praying for this outreach.
Our Calvary Chapel Church Update
I cannot stop thanking God for the things that he’s doing in our church. People are being equipped to truly understand the Word of God. Every week we hear amazing testimonies from the church families. It really encourages a lot of us to move forward. Our Good Friday service and Easter Sunday Resurrection worship services went really well and were blessed.
God is doing amazing things through women’s Bible study. In our church most of the women are from Hindu backgrounds and were tortured by their husbands! Being in the Word really sustains them in faith and helps them to be strong. Children ‘s ministry is also going on every week and kids are growing in the Lord. As they are being raised in broken families and disturbed situations, the Word of God is playing a major role in their lives.
We are also reaching out to our local community from our church by serving among the aged women who were abandoned by their children in nursing homes. We are going to those homes and caring for them by sharing the Word of God. Spending time with them gives a lot of joy to them and for us, too. Praise God that he’s using our church to reach out to our community and heal the broken-hearted and comfort.
PRAYER REQUESTS:
- Pray that we grow more in preaching the Gospel.
- Pray that the people in the village see Christ.
- Pray for the many broken families.
- Pray for Brother S* from the village. He has gone through a broken marriage.
- Pray for our outreach to the central part of the country.
- Pray for our interns who are in the field.
- Pray for the T* village church plant.
Thank you,
Pastor 6* and Family
*Names and faces have been changed or omitted for security reasons.