Greeting to you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

I am doing good by God’s grace. Thank you for your prayers and support.

It is is a joy to see church members and Bible Institute students growing in the knowledge of the Word of God. We had a Bible quiz competition. It was a written test that was organized by a national organization. Members from many churches in our district participated in it. One of our church members one first prize out of the whole district and another won third prize! The man who got first place is a student from our Bible institute who is going to graduate next month.

It is such a great reward for me to see the fruit of our hard work teaching the Word of God to our students and to those in our church. They are growing in their faith and knowledge of the Word and the result is evident.

I can look back and see the importance for growing in Christ and in the Word of God. Three families of our church are from a nearby village. A few years ago, they went through so much persecution in their village. Many people from their village who had accepted Christ and were part of other churches turned their back from their decision. However these believers, who attend our church, stood firm and faced the persecution. They were excommunicated from their tribe (Hindus have many tribes) and were denied any privilege in their village. They were not allowed to talk to other people or buy basic necessities from their village shops. In spite of all this, they stood firm in their faith. I think that one of the main reasons is that their faith is grounded in true knowledge of the Lord according to the Word of God. This encourages me to work even harder to minister to them from the Word of God.

We had planned to do some Christmas programs and outreaches in December. However, we were not able to do all of them because were not given permission by the local government officials. Last year an anti-Christian government came into power in our state.

I was invited to be a guest speaker for a Christmas program at a Christian school. The students of that school performed a really beautiful dance and skit. Then I was given time to address the students and teachers. I shared the real Gospel message to the students and staff of the school. Most of the students and staff are non-Christians. Even the principal is not a Christian. I thank God for the opportunity that I got. I pray that the seed planted in their hearts will grow and that they will be saved.

Prayer Requests:

• Pray that God will continue to use me among the students, church members and community.
• Pray for my health. May God give me complete healing. I have a dust allergy and my town has a lot of dust.
• Pray for the students and staff of the school who have heard the Gospel.
• Pray for a revival in our town. May it become a Christian town. Pray that the Lord will open doors for us to share the Gospel.
• Pray for the growth of our church.

In His service,

Pastor 9

* Names and faces have been changed or omitted for security reasons.

Greetings to you in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

I hope you are doing well! Thank you for your prayers and support. I am doing good by God’s grace.

In September, I got the opportunity to visit Thailand. We had a conference for those who are serving God in Asia. I had a blessed time hearing the stories and ministry updates of all of the people I met. 

It was such a blessing to meet those who have been doing ministry in difficult places for many years. It challenged me when I learned about their perseverance in the ministry of the Gospel in spite of all the difficulties that they face. I was really encouraged when I met the young adults who are just getting into the mission field. It was encouraging to see their passion to reach the un-reached.

Last month we had an annual convention organised by all of the local churches in our town. Together they invited unchurched people to attend the services and hear the Gospel. We had a three-day meeting and the Gospel message was preached. I am grateful that I got the opportunity to be a part of the choir and to lead the worship on the first day during the evening meeting.

The pastor taught against prosperity Gospel preaching. The topic of his message was “We need only Jesus”. His emphasis was on coming to Jesus only to get Jesus (not material possessions). On the third night, the last night of the convention, many people who heard the Gospel surrendered their lives to Jesus. They asked me to pray for them so that they may grow in their personal relationship with Jesus.

Along with the young adults of my church, I organised a one-day youth meeting. We invited young adults from our town and the nearby areas. We were expecting 60 to 70 people. 96 young men and women showed up for the convention! One of our graduates (who leads worship at our church) and I taught on four different subjects.

At the end of the meeting, we handed out a feedback form for everyone to fill out. We got positive feedback on all of the forms. They shared that the meeting helped them realize their need to grow in the Lord and be His witness to young adults who are living a worldly life. Many of them shared that they want us to do one-day youth meetings more often. 

Prayer Requests:

• Pray that I will continue to grow in the Lord.
• Pray that God will continue to use me for His glory as I teach and disciple these students.
• Pray that I will be a blessing to the young adults and teens whom I disciple.
• Pray for the people who heard the Gospel. Pray that those who decided to follow Jesus continue to grow in Him and that they stand firm during difficult times.
• Pray for God’s protection upon us. Persecution is increasing in our area.

God bless you,

Pastor 9

* Names and faces have been changed or omitted for security reasons.

Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!

I pray for you and your family. May the Lord keep you and bless you. Thank you for partnering in the ministry through your prayers and support.

I am doing great by the grace of our Saviour. The new semester of our Bible Institute has started. I am teaching “Systematic Theology” this semester. I am excited to connect with the new students. I am looking forward to ministering to each one of them not only in the classroom, but also at a personal level as I get to know them more and disciple them individually. Overall, we have a total of 9 students.

We are running our Bible Institute in a small, rented house. We cannot have a lot of students because the students also stay at the same facility. Another reason for not having many students is that there is a lot of persecution going on in our state. Having a lot of students would draw the Hindu fanatics’ attention since they are always looking for any Christian activity to attack.

At the end of last year, we had an election in our state. The anti-Christian government came into power. Last month we had a national level election, and the same anti-Christian government has been re-elected. The same anti-Christian party is in power in our state and also in our country. They have some laws against Christian mission work. They also have many local groups everywhere who track Christian mission work. They persecute the churches. They come in groups and attack churches and Christian schools. They beat people and destroy their property. Last year many Christians in our state were forcefully kicked out of their villages and their homes were destroyed.

We thank God that we can continue to do His work. We will continue to do ministry as long as the Lord keeps the door open. I know that God is in control, so I am moving forward and trusting Him in all circumstances.

My grandma went to be with the Lord on June 28. She was 95 years and 6 months old. Her life was a life of prayer.

Prayer Requests:

• Pray that God continues to use me for His glory as I teach and disciple these students.
• Pray for my health. I am having trouble with an allergy to dust. I have to take medicine every day.
• Pray for the students to adjust well. Most of them are from different states.
• Pray for the God’s protection upon our lives and ministry

Blessings,

Pastor 9

* Names and faces have been changed or omitted for security reasons.

Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!

I hope you are doing well! Thank you for your prayers and support.

I am doing well by God’s grace. Two weeks ago, I was little sick for about a week. I had a fever, throat infection and upper respiratory infection, but now by God’s grace I am doing well!

In the end of January, I had my birthday. I am thankful that God added another year in my life. I had a blessed year last year. This last year I have grown closer to God and have been given more ministry opportunities.

We have 4 students at our Bible Institute who are in their second year. They will be graduating this summer. Right now, I am teaching 1st and 2nd Peter.

Since 4 students are graduating this summer, they wanted me to also teach the book of Galatians. They asked me to because after they leave they will not really have more opportunities to learn. In our language, we do not have many commentaries and study materials. The students do not really know the English language. So, I am also taking extra class and teaching them from the book of Galatians in evening.

Last month I went twice to a village to preach at the Sunday service. I mentioned in my earlier updates about this village where we do church service. It encourages me to see them standing firm for God and not turning back when there is persecution. At one time there were lot of people who used to believe in the village, but after persecution came, many of them turned back. A few of them stood firm. It is a blessing to preach and teach those believers to continue to grow in the Lord.

Prayer Requests:

• Pray that God will continue to use me for His glory.
• Pray for my health. I am allergic to dust and we have a lot of dust in my town. So I get sick very often.
• Pray for the students to be prepared to start church planting ministry.
• Pray for my ministry among youth and young adults. May the Lord continue to use me to minister to them.

Blessings,

Pastor 9

* Names and faces have been changed or omitted for security reasons.

Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!

I am doing well by God’s grace. Hope you are also doing well! Thank you for your prayers and support! 

By God’s grace our Bible college is nearing the end of this semester. We have only a few weeks left. The students are doing great as they continue to study and learn the Word of God! 

Last month I was invited to the southern Bible College campus to teach. They had just begun their semester. I taught the book of Genesis. Although the students came from Christian families, most of them did not really know their Bible. So, I was grateful to God to have the opportunity to teach them about Creation. Even though the students did not know much about the stories and doctrines, I could see the eagerness in them to learn. That is why they were there. 

At first the students did not ask many questions because (as I they told me later), they were a bit intimidated when they were informed that a teacher from another state was coming to teach them. But as the Lord helped us to bond well. They slowly began to open up, while bringing up thoughtful questions from the Bible which God helped me to answer. 

When it was time to leave, I noticed one of the student’s tear-filled eyes. They call sometimes just to let me know that they miss me. It means a lot to me even though we were only together for a short time. This provides a good opportunity for the Lord to use me to continue to serve them even while far from them. I trust that God will help me minister to them whenever they have needs. 

In one of the states of our country, Christians are being attacked and killed. Hundreds of Christians have lost their homes and their lives! Furthermore over 300 churches have been burned down. The government has not been taking any serious action to stop this persecution because the government is anti-Christian. Many believe that the government is actually behind this persecution. Last month all the churches of our city held a peaceful rally in support of our brothers and sisters of that state. We also signed a petition which is being sent to the President appealing for action to be taken. 

Prayer Requests:

• Please pray that I may continue to be mightily used by God.
• Please pray for my health, as I depend on medications to prevent me from sneezing nonstop every morning due to some kind of allergies
• Please pray that all the students God has entrusted to me will grow in their faith and be prepared for the future ministry that God has in store them. 
• Pray for the upcoming rally in my city organized by all the churches to help the Gospel be preached and heard by many. 

God bless,

Pastor 9

* Names and faces have been changed or omitted for security reasons.

Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!

I thank God for you all as you continue to pray for me and support me financially.

I am doing good by God’s grace. Right now, we are having summer break for the Bible Institute students. They have finished their first year, and have one more year left to complete the Bible Institute. It gets really hot here in the summer. The temperature usually gets up to 110⁰ F during the day, so its really hard to go outside in the afternoon this time of year. Therefore, we have a longer summer break than winter break. In the winter the students only get a 2-3 week break.

During this past school year, I have seen all of the students grow so much in their knowledge of the Word and in their knowledge of the Lord. Some of them already had good Bible knowledge, while some did not even know how to read or write properly. But by the end of the school year, with our continued efforts and by His grace, I rejoice to see all of them doing really well. I see that this knowledge of the Word has caused them to love the Lord even more as they spend more time praying and studying the Word by themselves. They also have the heart to reach out to their friends and family members who are not saved. I believe that right now they are witnessing to them as they are back in their homes. I am in touch with them through phone calls.

I have also been teaching children (above) from the Bible each week for over a year. I am blessed to have this opportunity to lead them in their spiritual journey while most of their friends are enjoying a worldly life. They love the Lord. I am so glad that they do not give in to peer pressure as they stand for the Lord and live out what they have been learning.

A few weeks ago, I was invited to preach at a medical college’s chapel in my city. The topic of my message was “Living for Christ”. I had a positive response from the students. There were about 40 students. They told me that they were really blessed by the good solid teaching of the Word. They told me that most of the teaching that they hear is prosperity teachings. At the end, the student leader thanked me saying, “Thank you for presenting the truth without sugarcoating it.” A few of them told me that they would love to visit my church so I gave them the address. I plan to follow up with them and get in touch with them.

Prayer Requests:

• Please pray that I continue to grow in my spiritual life and the knowledge of God.
• Please pray that I will be used mightily by God.
• Please pray for the Bible school students. May God use them right now as they share the Gospel with their friends and family during this summer break.
• Please pray for the children and teenagers of my city with whom I am involved. May they stand firm in their faith at this age when Satan tries to distract them.

Blessings,

Pastor 9

* Names and faces have been changed or omitted for security reasons.

Greetings to you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ!

I hope you are doing well! Thank you for your prayers and support.

I am doing good by God’s grace. I am teaching 1st &2nd Corinthians at our Bible school. They students are doing great. I can see the improvement in them. When they first started, some of the students did not know anything about the Bible at all. And couple of them even had hard time with reading. I thank God that He has helped them grow! They have improved a lot in their reading and understanding of the scriptures. I am blessed and thankful to God that He has chosen me to be the part of this ministry–where I can invest in the lives of these young men and in future watch them start their own churches.

At the end of January, I had the opportunity to attend a conference in the South. It was really good to meet all of the pastors from all different parts of our country. We had a blessed time as we shared with each other about what God is doing in our ministry. Things are getting harder in our country when it comes to sharing the Gospel. People are getting more hostile and persecution is increasing. But, I thank God that the work is spreading. Just as Paul says in second Timothy, the Word of God is not bound/chained. At the conference, I was also reminded that the our main purpose is to church plant. To teach those who we disciple that they need to teach the same to those who they disciple. So that they can start their own church and so on. 

Prayer Requests:

• Pray for me to continue to grow in the Word of God.
• Pray that God will continue to uses me here.
• Pray for the teenage children whom I teach the Word each week. Right now they are taking their school final exams. Please pray that they will do good in their exams and glorify God.
• Pray for my country. Persecution is increasing. Pray that the Work of the Gospel will also increase. 

Blessings,

Pastor 9

* Names and faces have been changed or omitted for security reasons.

Happy New Year! I hope you had a blessed Christmas season!

By God’s grace, we also had a wonderful Christmas season. We had organized a few Christmas programs to share the Gospel with non-Christians, and everything went well by God’s grace.

One evening, we had a program for children. We invited children from the neighborhood and friends of the children from our church. So many non-Christian children attended the program! We performed a few skits and a dance, taught them action songs, and shared the Gospel message. We also had a fun time—we played games and distributed gifts and snacks. I believe that the Word that is being planted in their hearts right now will bear fruit one day.

For three nights, we had carol singing. The people of our church gathered and visited different Christian homes, sang Christmas songs, shared a brief message, and then prayed for each family. At a few places, while we were singing carols in front of the Christians’ homes, many non-Christians who were passing by stopped to hear the songs. As a result, we had the opportunity to preach the Gospel to them. Some unbelievers came to us and shared their problems and sought our prayers.

However, there were also some who were filled with hatred and did not want us to be there. Overall, it was a blessing to share the Gospel and pray for those who came seeking prayer.

One day, we, along with some of our church members, went to the nursing home in our town. We sang Christmas songs and then shared the Gospel message with them and distributed fruit and groceries as a Christmas gift.

Every year in our town, all of the Christian churches gather together and conduct a Christmas rally. This year, we had the Christmas rally in the afternoon on December 18th. We went around the town singing and proclaiming the Gospel. It is always encouraging to join this group every year and see all of the churches sharing the Gospel.

Prayer Requests:

• Pray that God would continue to use me for His glory.
• Pray for all of the people who have heard the Gospel message during this Christmas season to put their faith in Jesus.
• Pray that our church will continue to grow in the Word and in number.
• Pray for the Bible School students to continue to grow in the Word and in His knowledge.

Blessings,

Pastor 9

* Names and faces have been changed or omitted for security reasons.

Greetings to you in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ! I thank God for your prayers and support!

We are reaching the end of this year’s first semester of our Calvary Bible Institute. The students are doing really well in their study of the Word of God. I think that I mentioned in one of my updates that they are diligent (not intelligent) students of the Word. Sometimes when I visit them in their free time, I see them studying and discussing theological questions, which makes me really happy.

The Lord has been opening new doors for the ministry. In recent months, God gave me opportunities to get in touch with local Christian teens and young adults from different churches in my town. Last month, one local church teen/young adult group invited me to their church to share the Word of God. I thank the Lord for these teens and young adults who He has given me to help grow in the Lord and in His Word.

During the last week of September, all the churches in our town organized a 3 day conference. This was another opportunity for me to connect with the teenagers and young adults of different churches, since we were all part of the worship choir. I am praying that God will raise up this generation who are willing to stand for Christ. Since I am involved with local Christian teens and young adults, they see me as an example. I am thankful that they come to me with their Biblical and spiritual questions and that during their time of need they come to me seeking spiritual guidance. God has opened the door for these teens and young adults to trust me and come to me when they are low and need spiritual uplifting.

One of the brothers with whom I grew up at the church, now has his own church in his village. He lives quite far from where I am right now. If I took a train, it would take me more than 24 hours to reach his village.

He has started Bible study from the book of Genesis on Fridays for the believers of his church. I am grateful that he gave me the opportunity to teach at his Friday Bible study a couple of times. It is encouraging to see new believers learning for the first time about creation and the fall of man. Most of these believers are from villages. Many of them do not know how to read or write. We try to keep it simple when we teach them, so that they can understand.

Prayer Requests:

• Please pray that I may continue to grow in the Lord and in His knowledge and be used by God.
• Pray for my health. I have been taking medication for the past few months for allergies. I am still trying to figure out what I am allergic to.
• Please pray for the Bible Institute students to be equipped for the work of the Gospel. 
• Please pray for the teenagers, young adults and school children whom I am ministering to, to stand for God and be the light in the darkness around them.
• Please pray for the brother and the believers in his church, who I mentioned above, to continue to grow spiritually and stand firm in their faith. They are going through persecution. 

Blessings,

Pastor 9

* Names and faces have been changed or omitted for security reasons.

Greetings to you in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!

Thank you for your prayers and support!

We have started Bible School again here in the central part of our country. The classes are held in the same hall where we have our church service. For the students to stay, we rented out a small house near the church so that students can just walk to the classroom. We are looking for another place where the students can stay and have classes in the same place.

Right now, we have six students living in the rented house. We have another person who lives at his house nearby and attends our classes. We have another student from one of our churches in the North who attends live online through his mobile phone. The student from the North came to faith a few years ago through one of our pastors there. He always has really good questions from the Word. He is a really good student of the Word and calls his pastor or me to ask questions. He is married and has a small child, so he could not come and live here. But since he wanted to study, he is attending the classes through audio and video calls.

So, this semester we have a total of 8 people attending the classes everyday. They really like the way we teach the Word of God and have been growing in the knowledge of the Lord. I have been teaching them Systematic Theology. I am really enjoying teaching this subject. I have to study a lot to teach them and studying it has been a blessing to me as well.

Prayer Requests:

• Pray for me. This last week I was not well and had a high fever. Now, I am much better, but I am weak. Please pray that I will recover well.
• Pray for me and the other teachers to be a blessing and good teachers to the Bible school students.
• Pray for the students that they may also grow in the Word and be well equipped to be used to expand the kingdom of God in their places.
• Please pray that we may find a good place nearby for the Bible school. 

Blessings,

Pastor 9

* Names and faces have been changed or omitted for security reasons.