Dear Brothers and Sisters,
On 12th December 2015, we baptized Achamma and Bulliah. The Lord has performed a miracle in the hearts of these two people. Let me share with you the joy we’ve experienced as these two professed the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Achamma, has always lived right in front of our church. It was a couple of years ago, as we were venturing out on Saturday Evening to distribute gospel tracts, I thought to myself that, “before I go into the town and talk to strangers, let me talk to my neighbor first.” As I approached her with the gospel tract, she not only listened to whatever I said, but promised me that she would come to church next Sunday. Initially, I didn’t take her promise very seriously, as I’ve had the reverse experience of broken promises many times. People promise often to show up at the church but they never do. But this time, Achamma showed up at the church next Sunday. She has continued to come to the church ever since. When she wanted to be baptized after a year, we put her on hold, and gave her a lot of counseling. It was our privilege to baptize her on 12th Dec. 2015. When she stated her testimony, she testified that she was a sinner, and that Jesus died for her. She spoke of Jesus cleansing her of all her sins through His blood. She wanted to live for Christ alone.
Bulliah, has been my friend for many years. He is from one of the near-by villages. Often, he used to come to church and discuss many spiritual things, but never showed any personal interest in the spiritual things. Miraculously, God changed his heart and mind after attending one of the gospel crusades by a tele-evangelist in V___________. Here is his testimony, “I got in touch with Brother Sandeep six years ago. But I was never interested in spiritual things. I thought Jesus Christ was a good man and did a lot of good things and died. Although Christians talk about the resurrection of Jesus Christ, I never believed that Jesus Christ rose from the dead. Brother Sandeep, and many others, shared the gospel with me many times, but it never made sense to me. There was a gospel meeting going on in V___________, and I went there out of curiosity. But then the gospel of Jesus Christ really touched my heart. I was shocked to know that the Lord Jesus died for me on the cross. Then I repented of all my sins. After the meeting was over, I went to meet the preacher and asked him a few questions about the resurrection of Jesus Christ. He showed me from the Bible, He indeed was resurrected. And also told me to meet my pastor. Then I told Brother Sandeep about what happened. He then counseled me many times, and told me what Scriptures I should read. God has been extremely kind to me in my life. But today I was not baptized for all the benefits he did for me, but I was baptized because the Lord Jesus died for me and shed His blood for me. My wife also wanted to be baptized along with me. But I told her, and explained to her, that salvation is a personal thing not a family thing. I want to follow Christ, and I want to be a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Annual Conference at Reformed Baptist Church from December 9th to 11th.
Pastor Mark R. taught the Pastors for three days. He taught us the responsibility to share the gospel, both as individuals and as the church. His first lecture/sermon was an exposition of Acts 1:1-13 entitled, “You are My Witnesses.” His second lecture/sermon was an exposition of Acts 11:19-30 entitled, “The Church as a Witnessing Community.” He also gave us a lecture on the life of William Carey. He split that lecture into two lectures. The first one was on William Carey’s English years, and the second one, was on William Carey’s Indian years. The last lecture Mark spoke about was on “Sermon Preparation” and “House Visitation.” Apart from Mark R., Brother Sundar spoke on the Inerrant, Authority, and Inspiration of the Scriptures. Brother Kiran N. spoke on the “Ten Essential Characteristics of a Local Church.” All the pastors were encouraged and inspired to preach the Gospel, not only from the Pulpits, but also on the street corners. Thank you so much for your prayers and help.
May the Lord bless you.
In His Service,
Sandeep
