Open Air Meeting Tomorrow

Sunday night in front of our school there will be an open air Gospel Meeting. It is being put on by a traveling group who share the Gospel through skit, dance, drama, etc... I saw the same program on February 15th of this year. I remember the date because it was my due date and I spent most of the night very pregnant and very uncomfortable. And P. still decided to come 2 weeks late!

Previously this event was held on the grounds of a Christian school (not ours) and I think it was attended by most (if not totally) Christian people. I remember thinking, "Wow, this would be a lot more effective for people who haven't already accepted Jesus as their Savior." The whole event has been arranged by the Pastors Association* in our city.

So, here we get another chance and we're praying for a great turnout of lost souls. The program will be performed on a stage and located right on a main road so people can stop on by. Please pray with us!

*The Pastors Association was developed last year after the Orissa persecution. It has been a great blessing for unity in the church and among God's people in our city.

September 2nd

Here are some photos of the Prayer Rally for Orissa yesterday. We thank God for a peaceful and (we hope) effective rally. There were about 800 people who walked through our city for two hours to the mayor's office. We were a group composed of CNI, Methodist, Roman Catholics, Pentecostals, and independents like us.

Here we are praying before we headed out for the walk.
We walked two by two and prayed for our city, for Orissa, for India.
I wish I had a good picture of the line of people. We were probably about a mile long.

We got great news coverage on our local station last night. We thank God for that. One of the problems we face in India is a media that is biased against Christians. While watching the national news last night there was a long segment on the situation in Orissa. The entire thing was from a Hindu point of view. The claim that the man who was murdered (that started it all off on Aug 23rd) was murdered by Maoists but they were backed by the Christians. The news had a lot of coverage of "Christians" converting back to Hinduism, claiming they didn't want to serve a "foreign God."

It was painful and disheartening to watch. I pray for the media, also.

We want to THANK YOU because we know many of you have prayed and are praying.

Orissa

Orissa is an Indian state prone to violence against Christians.

Our pastor read a letter in church today written by one of our believers who is from that state and who wanted to give a testimony on the violence going on there since December 24th. He was too emotional to speak in church, so he wrote it down.

Hundreds of believers are homeless and churches are destroyed. I talked to this man after church and he had just arrived back in our city yesterday. He had to escape in the night through the jungle alone to get out of his village because all roads had been blocked off. His wife and children are still there.

Tomorrow, January 14th, is a big Hindu holiday in India. At that time the people of his area - those causing all the trouble - will decide what to do - continue to persecute the Christians or stop.

Please pray with us.

Even though we are also in India the news of these types of things happening doesn't always reach us. It is only because a man from our own congregation was there and witnessed people coming with swords and guns outside his own house and saw the burning buildings that we even know as much as we do know.

We get caught up in our own world sometimes and we forget our brothers and sisters who are suffering. Please pray with us.

I'll try to keep you updated as I know things.