“I waited patiently for the Lord; and He inclined unto me, and heard my cry” ~ Ps.40:1
July - August 2008
Dearly beloved,
Greetings in the most loving name of Jesus, our Lord. How do you do? Summer bade farewell in India to say ‘Hello’ in the U.S. I know you are looking forward to enjoy summer. May the Lord make your summer more enjoyable and more useful to exalt the name of the Lord. Many things are passing changing the colours of life. As well many things have happened in our ministry.
1. After I returned from Himachal Pradesh, I have advised William John to go to Wazid Pur in the state of Punjab, to contact Surender Kumar Sagar, about whom the Lord put a burden in my heart. William John and Ram Chander went to meet Surender in his village which is 250 kilo meters away from Nahan. Surrender is positively responding to the gospel. Therefore, now we are convinced to seriously think about the small village.
2. The Freedom Youth Camp of PEFCOC which we conducted on 1st, 2nd, and 3rd June has yielded astonishing (ASTOUNDING) fruit as many of the youth are sharing their testimonies in the Sunday Worship Service week after week. I cannot explain the joy the parents are experiencing. It is a tremendous answer to our prayers for the salvation of our youth. Glory to God!
3. We have transported half of iron and crushed stone for construction of our church in Ponnamanda, but we could not afford other items for the construction work to start. We need another One lakh Rupees (US $ 2500.00) to start the construction. Eagerly waiting at the feet of the Lord for His miraculous provision.
4. Durga Prasad’s family in Rajahmundry church are converts from Hinduism. Jayachandra, their son had been a thorn in the flesh of his parents. He was not able to complete his Tenth Grade. He wouldn’t attend church services, and if the family did not attend church service any Sunday it meant he created some unbearable trouble at home. We prayed for the young man. In our Youth Camp the Lord dealt with him. He accepted Jesus as his personal saviour. Since then until his Exams took place, he did not leave the church for three weeks. Every one knew that he would never pass X Grade. Rama Raju, one of our youth helped him in his preparation for exams. Now the result has been announced, Jayachandra scored good marks and is now joining college for further studies. What a joy to the parents and glory to God!
5. We are planning a Children’s retreat for one day for all our churches in Kona Seema. Please pray. We want to gather 300-400 children and conduct this program with skits, puppet show and the word of God, and provide their food for the whole day. We need your prayers.
6. This week our missionary in H.P., Munnilal is shifting to Kala Amb, and we expect a new missionary, Gulab Singh to come to Nahan.
7. Mrs. Chanda, w/o our missionary Lakhan Lal is expecting a baby soon. She needs our prayers for a safe delivery.
8. I’m planning my trip to US in the second week of August. Please pray that the Lord may open some doors of support for this great ministry.
9. God willing, Bible College will come into existence from the last week of July. We need quality students, since we target them for missions.
Please pray that the Lord provide funds to meet all these needs.
In His bonds
Rufus
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
May - June 2008
Friend,
What a joy it is to be in regular contact with you as a co-laborer in Christ’s vineyard! The Lord gave us a collective job, to be encouraged by each other’s prayers and spiritual progress in our respective ministries. Praise God! Let me thank you for your sincere prayers for this small ministry.
Once again God gave me opportunity to visit our ministry in Himachal Pradesh. Pressed with the work of our forthcoming Theological college I made this trip very short, but brisk. After returning from Bangalore on 21st May, I set on my journey to Himachal Pradesh on 23rd night. Morning I reached Visakhapatnam, took my flight to New Delhi via Hyderabad, landed in New Delhi at 9.00 p.m. Rev. P.D. Emmanuel arrived from Bangalore, joined me in New Delhi. We reached Nahan in H.P. at 7.00 in the morning. Freshed up and participated in the Sunday Worship Service where Rev. Emmanuel ministered the word of God. Our missionary William John’s wife, Asha, was very sick for a month due to cerebral malaria. She was writhing in pain and groaning. The evening I prayed for her with her hand in mine. The next morning, Monday, Asha looked hundred times better. Praise God for His great love! both of us, Emmanuel and I left for the state of Punjab where we spent the night. Tuesday returned to Nahan at 11.30 a.m. .After a bath and lunch left for Dadahoo with Pastor William John. Dadahoo was very picturesque on the high hills. We had prayer meeting there with Bro. Emmanuel sharing Gospel. Returned to Nahan at 8.50 p.m. Immediately left for a prayer meeting followed by dinner. Wednesday morning at 5.30 Pastor William John dropped at Ambala Cant. Boarded a bus bound for New Delhi on our journey back home. Unfortunately the journey was very tedious. Reached New Delhi at 6.00 p.m., put up in a hotel till 2.00 a.m., proceeded to airport. Bro. Emmanuel embarked his flight at 4.00 a.m., while I had to wait till 9.00. Landed in Visakhapatnam via Hyderabad at 2.00 p.m on 31st. Again the same night boarded sleeper coach bus at 10.00 p.m. for Guntur (450 k.m.) to attend the Holy Matrimony of a friend’s daughter. After the wedding reached home at 9.30 in the night. Had bath, supper and good sleep till 7.00 in the morning of Sunday. Ministered the word of God in the Worship Service. On the whole the trip covered nearly ten thousand kilometres of distance.
PEFCOC YOUTH CAMP – 1-3 JUNE ’08
“Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw neigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them” Eccl.12:1
A very special Youth Camp, aimed at salvation of all the participants. Therefore we targeted only thirty young men and women, but 57 turned up out of whom 5 were Hindus, including 30 young men and 27 young women between 15 and 25 years of age. This program we have organized in our church at Rajahmundry, to continue from 1st through 3rd night of May. This is in collaboration with UESI. UESI resource persons came and ministered the word of God. Our goal was that all the participants should come into the salvation experience. Among the Christian youth 31 have come into born again experience and out of the 5 Hindu boys two accepted the Lord as their personal saviour, and one was oscillating, while two had some more questions to be clarified. We are planning to hold a few one day retreats in the villages of the participants as follow up work. On the whole the camp yielded tremendous fruit. Praise God. The program was a hundred times worth the money we spent. We need to pray for the young souls that the Lord may enable them to stand for the decisions they had taken.
PRAY FOR SURENDER KUMAR SAGAR IN PUNJAB: On 26th morning, Monday, both of us, Emmanuel and I left for the state of Punjab to meet a young man who visited Bro. Emmanuel in Bangalore some time ago with one of his uncle’s. to travel by bus in the hot summer sun began to tell upon our health. Full of fatigue, reached the village after commuting by two buses and a taxi at 2.00 p.m. I came to know there was no church or a servant of God within 25 kilometres from the village we went. I began to feel a burden for the village and the young man. Evening I proposed that we go for a walk with the young man. In the fields God gave me chance to deal with him. First of all I shared with him my testimony and then from the word of God. We sensed that the spirit of the Lord began to work in him. At home I prayed for the young man with his hand in mine. I’m sure God has great plans for him. William John has already visited and strengthened him. Please pray for the Lord may remember this place and help the people.
PONNAMANDA CHURCH CONSTRUCTION: God willing we want to start the construction work next week. Though we lack money we are not in a famine of faith.
PRAY FOR PASTOR NAGESWARA RAO’S SON (KONA SEEMA): The young man met with a motor cycle accident and is undergoing surgery on his hip for a broken leg on 6th June.
PRAY FOR OUR PROPOSED THEOLOGICAL COLLEGE: You are aware that to continue our work of church planting in Himachal Pradesh and north India we are compelled to take up the decision of having our own Bible college. God willing it will function from July 2008.
PRAY FOR NEW MISSIONARIES: I have interviewed two young men who desire to work in Himachal Pradesh. One of them, I’m confident, will join us by the end of the month.
With Christian Love
Rufus
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
March - April 2008
Friends,
Praised
be the name of the Lord who kept us safe under his wings these two months in
the new year. His grace is sufficient to us. He did great things in ministry
of PEFCOC these two months and during Christmas time too and we are claiming
the above promise the Lord has given to the church in Rajahmundry.
I thank you very much for your unceasing prayers and kind financial support. We celebrated Christmas in all our churches in Himachal Pradesh and Kona Seema in A.P. it was a time of great joy to all our believers. As usual we have distributed 228 (Two Hundred Twenty Eight) saris to the poor ladies in our villages during the celebrations. It was real celebration to all the recipients. A few Indian sisters in the USA have contributed through sister Lalitha for accomplishing this sari distribution in order to manifest Christ's love to their less fortunate sisters in these remote villages. We wanted to give clothes to old men, but disappointed them. So sad!
1. On the midnight of 1st January we, about half a dozen church members gathered to roam in the streets in order to cover with blankets the weather worn bodies of those who are sleeping on the pavements without a rag to protect their bodies from the winter cold. The Lord has enabled us to distribute 94 (Ninety Four) blankets this year. A dear sister, Mrs. Sundara Rao in Rajahmundry has provided finances for the fulfillment of this desire.
2. We have conducted our regular Annual Youth Camp (16th in Rajahmundry), and Revival Meetings in our church on 10,11,12 January. We had two speakers to minister to the youth as well as to the congregation - Dr.David Chigurupati (New Jersey, USA), and Dr.Rev. Gadde Livingstone (Kuwait). The two brothers had been a great source of inspiration to all our youth and believers.
3. We had been spiritually blessed in a great way. Praise God! Apart from providing for all the physical arrangements of the programs, it was a time of feeding more than 250 people the whole day beginning from early morning tea through dinner for three days. I thank all the good brothers and sisters who supported me in completing this task with their prayers and finances.
4. As prayed, our missionaries in Himachal Pradesh have participated in the Youth Camp and Revival Meetings. They have enjoyed, and had been challenged in a greater way for the ministry.
5. This year God inspired us to declare it as 'The year of Sanctification' in our HQ church, Rajahmundry, and endeavouring towards the new goal.
6. By His abundant
grace monthly 'Whole Night Prayers' (form 9.00 p.m through 5.00 a.m) are taking
place for a blessing in our Rajahmundry church. Now our other churches are also
encouraged to adopt this.
This year has been a landmark year in the history of the Ministry of PEFCOC
1. The Lord has
sustained us for ten years in the ministry in Himachal Pradesh.
2. I remember the day I landed in Nahan with a intention to start ministry.
It was 29th September 1998. It was on 16th October that we received a threat
from some religious organization with a warning to immediately leave the town
for life. The Lord spoke through my lips to those people who, later, never attempted
to give us any trouble.
3. It was in February 2000 that my wife became sick in Rajahmundry with her
deadly cancer in the gall bladder while I was preaching in Himachal Pradesh.
She died on 17th June.
4. It was in the wake of 2001 that our first missionary in HP began to revolt and defame us and joined hands with some deceptive brothers to totally eliminate our ministry in HP. However, the Lord did not forget not did he forsake us. The revolutionaries had been totally silenced;
the missionary lost his vision, though he is still in some ministry.
5. As well we are completing 15 years in Kona Seema.
6. Our first convert in this are, Pastor Srinivasa Rao, was baptized in June
1992, and committed for the ministry soon after.
7. In the early years we conducted worship service on the veranda of his father's house. Then we shifted into a small hut in an area of 48 sft. Eight years after this again we had to move to the veranda.
8. However the Lord had gifted us with a beautiful church building which we constructed in 2002. Glory be to the Lord who had been good to us to continue in the ministry in spite of many hardships and difficulties.
9. Here, one of our pastor's aunts stole some of our sheep in order to fulfill her desire of running a church and also to establish her ministry in opposition to us. She was able to draw a few families away form our church. But today by the abundant love of God we got the prodigals back in the church, except the pastor and his aunt. The righteous Lord multiplied our ministry, and we could spread into many surrounding villages.
10. We have added one more Bible Woman in Kona Seema ministry form January.
Now, after completing
15 years, we are determined to spread fast into the many poor villages where
no body ever attempted to help the people hear the gospel. Let us trust that
the Lord will help us to go with our mission of fulfilling His Great Commission.
Our great challenges for this year -
1. During Christmas celebrations in the village of Ponnamanda, we have promised
to begin construction of the church building in the first week of March. I have
the challenge of fulfilling my word.
2. We have to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of our ministry in HP, and 15th
in Kona Seema.
3. We have determined to send at least 2 more missionaries to HP before we celebrate
the anniversary. This will cost an additional amount of Rs.9000 (USD239.00)
apart from all the travel and establishment costs.
4. We have been thinking of having our own Bible College where we can train
up our missionaries in order to avoid problems facing from missionaries who
are new to our vision.
Friends,
I would like you to continue to pray for this ministry as a man/woman with a
heart for missions. I trust you will appreciate the work we have been doing
only if you try to take a chance to visit personally. In the mean time your
prayers and encouragement is solicited. Glory be to Him for ever and ever!
"Blessed be the Lord who daily loadeth us with benefits " Psalms.68:19
Blessings,
Rufus.