PANDEMIC DEVASTATION
In India, official COVID-19 deaths number more than 400,000. However, these are only the tip of the iceberg. Hospitals and crematoriums have been overwhelmed, and rural patients were never tested, making an accurate count impossible. Comparison to expected deaths in a normal year indicates that the pandemic may have taken the lives of 4 million people in India!
The bad news: The devil comes to steal, kill and destroy. The wonderful news: Jesus comes to bring life in abundance!
PLANTING NEW CHURCHES
Using new bicycles purchased by World Missions, brave and energetic young evangelists in North India are traveling mile after mile on dirt roads to take the gospel to villages where the name of Jesus is unknown, and their efforts are bearing fruit!
With people saved, delivered, and healed in these villages, new churches are being formed for worship and discipleship. Most of these churches are meeting in homes but, in some villages, the believers are making extraordinary efforts to build houses of worship using discarded bricks and whatever materials are available.
In order to disciple the new believers, the Word of God needs to be in their hands. A project has been set up to purchase Bibles in the Hindi language for the Christians in these villages.
Baptizing New Believers
Building a Village Church
MEETING CRITICAL NEEDS
In India, lockdowns to contain the virus are more than an inconvenience. For daily wage earners, a day without work means a day without food. Thanks to funds provided through the WMM International COVID-19 Relief Project, our churches are continuing to share food supplies with suffering families.
Cycling Evangelists
Thousands of Indian villages are dependent upon distant and dirty rivers for drinking and washing. In addition to hardship, this results in the spread of disease, especially among children. At an average cost of $1,500 per well, we are digging new wells to provide clean water for whole communities as funds are available, one village at a time. We have found that these villages have become very receptive to the living water of the gospel!
New Village Well
Food for the Hungry
POINTS FOR PRAYER
• Pray that the spread of the virus will be halted in India, and pray for sufficient vaccines and medical supplies to serve the population of 1.3 billion.
• Pray for our national leaders, pastors, evangelists, and church planters as they take the gospel to the unreached, plant churches, and disciple new believers in cities, towns, and villages.
• Christians number about 2% of the population in India, and in some states, they are persecuted or oppressed by radical Hindu governments. Pray for religious freedom and human rights for Indian Christians.
• Pray for us as we oversee mission work in India and 11 other nations in Asia. The task is great, and we need your prayers and support!
• Pray for provision of bicycles, Bibles, water wells, and relief funds to meet needs and further the spread of the gospel. You may donate to these projects online at the links below:
• https://give.iphc.org/project/india-north-bicycles
• https://give.iphc.org/project/North_India_Society_Bibles
• https://give.iphc.org/project/ptp-water-wells
• https://give.iphc.org/project/covid19-international-relief-fund
Thank you for your partnership in the gospel!
Russell & Sandra Board
"You can give without loving, but you cannot love without giving." - Amy Carmichael
