“And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sin.” (Matthew 1:21)

Merry Christmas, dear pastors and supporters! Praise God for His grace upon us and the strength He gave us to do so many programs this Christmas. Everything went smoothly and safely. I would like to thank each one of you who has helped me with your prayers and financial support to make these Christmas programs possible.

Four New Believers were Baptized! 

“For as many of  you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.“(Galatians 3:27)

Praise God! We had a baptism service on December 21. Everything happened safely. The same day, our whole state was shut down to protest for CAA and NRC. The protestors had blocked every road and did not allow anyone to drive or ride any kind of vehicle. If anyone tried to use their vehicle, the protesters set the vehicle on fire. All of the roads were full of police and army forces. My dad and I decided to reschedule the baptism service to a different date, but praise God three of the ladies came walking five kilometers (over 3 miles) to the church! Then, we worshiped and spent hours in Bible study. I had been teaching them about baptism for one and a half months. The Holy Spirit spoke to them and prepared their hearts to get baptized, and then we baptized them. 

Another lady was trying to get to us on the same day to be baptized, but she was not able to get there because of the protesters. They had burned down so many vehicles on her street that the roads were totally closed for her; so, we had her baptism on December 22. Both of the baptism days were very cold and foggy; everyone who got baptized was shivering from cold after the baptism. We made a fire to make them warm. They sat near the fire for some time and slowly got better and stopped shivering. Praise God they didn’t get sick!

Showing the “Jesus” Movie in a New Rural Village!

Praise God for giving us an opportunity to show a Christian movie, “Jesus”, in our language in a rural village without any disturbance. December 20-24, our whole state was shut down to protest. (There is a new law in our country that every person must prove their citizenship.) Police and the military were everywhere. On the morning of the program, my dad went to the village to look for a place to show the movie. He asked the village people if we could show a movie in their village. Some of them made excuses of reasons that we should not, but other people among the villagers invited us. They wanted to see the movie, so my dad and I went to the village with some of the youth from our church. We were thinking that the village people and police would disturb us, but when we reached the village, all of the village people had come to see the movie–even those who were making excuses in the morning! Praise God that no one disturbed us while we were showing the movie. Then, we invited everyone to come to our Christmas program, and some of the people showed up at my house for Christmas.

Sharing the Love of God Through Clothing

Thanks to our Lord Jesus Christ! He always provides us with everything we need. My family had been saving for a small donation fund every month for Christmas. On Christmas, we used that fund to buy saris (local dresses), blankets, jackets and shawls for the poor and widow families. My family has been doing this for 20 years now. This year, we were again able to buy 5 saris and 5 blankets for the widows. We have more than 200 believers from all 8 house churches, so we are not able to provide them to every believer. For this reason, my dad and I chose only five widows who are too poor and needy. We gave them a sari and a blanket each. 

The woman who is in the red sari is my neighbor. She is the only woman from my neighborhood who has been coming to my house for prayer. Her name is S. and her husband died after a 10 year long illness. She has two children, and she is a bit mentally challenged. She always comes to charge her mobile phone at my house because she does not have electricity. She is from the lowest cast in my area; no one will eat at her house or help her. Some people do not even allow her to enter their homes. One of my neighbors is trying to take her land forcibly because she does not have a husband or a helper. Her mind is slowly growing worse day by day because of what is happening to her. She does not sleep at night, cursing the neighbors who are stealing her land. She went to the police and the village leader many times, but they send her back giving her a very small amount of money every time. My mom is always sharing the Word of God with her. She is understanding the love of God a little bit. She always asks us to pray for her and her land.

Serving Lunch at Christmas

Celebrating Christmas with 350 People!

Thank you so much to everyone who helped us through your prayers and support for our Christmas program! We invited 300 people and prepared lunch for them–but 350 people came! Our whole church, all of our rooms and our backyard were full of people. Praise God everything went so smoothly! It was really a great time to share the Good News with everyone. My niece who has been living with us since she was very young danced, and all the people were blessed. Some people who were not able to fit inside began to peek in through the gate and the windows. Everyone heard the Word of God and had lunch with us. Thanks to God, nothing fell short and all the people could eat lunch on Christmas!

Prayer Requests:

  • Please pray for my family’s safety and good health during this cold season.
  • Please pray for protection when we go to more new unreached areas in January.
  • Please pray for good weather, because it has been very foggy here for a week.
  • Please pray for the woman mentioned above to know God and to find healing from her challenge/ problem.
  • Please pray for the believers to be strong in persecution.

Thank you for your prayers, love, help and partnership for the Gospel. 

God bless you all,

Pastor 11