“..that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.”
Colossians 1:10
We thank our Lord Jesus Christ for the manifold opportunities He gave us in the previous year to serve Him. As we’ve already entered into the New Year, we want to approach Him with a sense of thanksgiving, praising Him for who He is and what He does toward His people. The above-mentioned text is our motto text this year. We want to walk worthy of our calling and want to be fruitful in every good work. Of course, this will not be possible unless we are united with the Lord in constant fellowship. If we were to produce more spiritual fruit, it would only be possible when one sees the two-fold biblical mandate. And that is to grow in Christ individually (John 15:5) and to grow with the fellow believers in the local church, which is the Bride of Christ (Acts 2:42).
Our Local Church (Reformed Baptist Church)
- On the 15th of December 2013, Brother Sekhar M. was baptized. Brother Sekhar was a Roman Catholic. He has been coming to our church for three months, and he was gripped by the Word and surrendered his life to the Lord. Brother Sekhar was introduced to the church by Bro. Adibabu. Bro. Sekhar is a tailor in his village and is married. Right after his baptism, his wife Sunitha became ill and has been paying endless visits to hospitals. Please pray for him and also for the speedy recovery of his wife. They also have one daughter.
- We had quite a few visitors visiting the church on Christmas Day. Many non-believing people from other religious backgrounds came and heard the message. Please pray that God in His Grace would move their hearts to come to Him.
- As a result of our Evening School, many Muslim and Hindu children are coming for the free tuition we offer in the evenings. Because of this program, a lot of these children are also coming to our Sunday School. We have two Muslim children, ‘Shazia and Nazia,’ who are not only coming to Sunday School, but they are also coming to the main services on and off. But their father is not liking the idea of seeing his children becoming very interested in Christianity.
- If these two kids were to become Christians, they would have to go through a lot of persecution from within the home. Please remember them in your prayers.
- Brother John Paul, Brother Adi Babu, Brother Johnson and I are doing street evangelism distributing Gospel tracts every Saturday. The Lord is indeed blessing this ministry. We in fact had a young man coming to church on and off as a result of this. Please pray that the Lord will give us boldness, clarity of thought and freedom of speech to make the Gospel known to people from all walks of life.
Street evangelism in our city
- Please pray that the baptized believers (the members) may continue to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Savior. Often times, this
seems to me the most challenging and crucial aspect of the ministry. - As we have continued to write in our prayer letters, we want to build a new facility to accommodate more people in the sanctuary. Please pray that the Lord may help us.
Our Church-Plant Ministry
As we wrote to you in our earlier prayer letter, the Lord is indeed blessing the work in N_________. We are getting 100 boarding students every Sunday evening. It’s been a tremendous opportunity to preach Christ Crucified. Some students were convicted and repented of their sins and wanted to get baptized. But the college authorities and their parents do not like the idea of their children becoming committed Christians. We have also been able to distribute Telugu Bibles to many of these students. Please pray that the Lord would overrule all these objections and also grant us wisdom and boldness to counsel these students in a biblical manner.
The Bible Training Institute
In the month of December 2013 (from 11th to 13th), we had a pastors conference for the first time. We had 48 pastors registered for it, and Pastor Mark R_____ from Michigan, USA taught us. After every session we had a Q & A. The local pastors asked many questions, and they were answered satisfactorily. Please pray that conferences like these will take place more often and that local pastors would be thoroughly taught all the biblical doctrines to keep the churches pure and Christ-Glorifying.
News from our HeartyCry Missionaries
- (The Gospel Meeting at J__________ where Bro. Yesu Das works)
- In the month of December, we were able to visit Brother Yesu Das’ village to see his ministry. And we saw many people coming to church on that evening, and many heard the Gospel. But nominalism has become the greatest hindrance for true growth in Christ’s church. Bro. Yesu Das has no option but to preach the Word in season and out of season. Please pray for him.
- On the 15th of Jan 2014, we had a youth meeting and children’s meeting at Brother John Hyde’s church. There were about 70 to 80 present on that day. Bro. Colin T______ (Northern Ireland) preached the Gospel. Please keep Brother John in your prayers.
- On the 11th of Jan 2014, we were also able to visit Bro. Yehoshua in his village. Brother Andrew T________ preached the Word, and immediately after that a woman got convicted of her sin and wanted to get baptized. We are continuing to counsel her and lead her toward Christ. Please pray for Brother Yehoshua.
We are all looking forward to attending the conference in H_________ towards the end of this month. Please pray that all our pastors would be encouraged and strengthened to serve our Saviour effectively.
In His Grace,
Sandeep
