1. India: Missionaries Beaten, Jailed, Released 2. India: Miracles Surpass Persecution for Mission Workers 3. India: Missionary Sees Much Fruit After Heart Attack 4. Nepal: Maoist Animosity Does Not Stop Missionaries 5. Kenya Ministry Saves Destitute Children 6. Peruvians Testify of Deliverance from Witchcraft 7. Photo of the Week: Mountain Church House

———————————————————————- These are the contents of today’s Missions Insider Report by Christian Aid July 16, 2003 Vol. 4 No. 28 Visit our website at http://www.christianaid.org ———————————————————————– John Lindner, Editor Sarah Carter, Assistant Editor ———————————————————————– Note: Missions Insider refrains from mentioning names that could make the subjects targets of anti-Christian activity. Names are sometimes mentioned of ministries conducting work commended by authorities or located in areas of greater religious freedom. ———————————————————————– 1. India: Missionaries Beaten, Jailed, Released

Last month Christian Aid learned that members of a missionary outreach team in India’s Andhra Pradesh state were beaten and arrested when they visited a certain village in April.

The arrests of the leader and his team members were ordered by the village chief. The missionaries told Christian Aid that as they were preaching the gospel and distributing tracts, a group of men sent by the chief came with knives, sticks and rods. They beat the missionaries, tied them up and took them to a local prison.

The believers were in custody for a week. The director of the mission that sent the team out met with the chief to plead for the Christians’ release. At first the chief refused to hear him, but after continued prayer, the leader reports, “The Spirit of the Lord moved him and he listened to my words and released the workers.”

Such opposition is all too common in remote villages of India. Yet missionaries persevere to make the Lord known, and He is blessing their efforts. In April alone, this particular ministry sent missionaries to 355 villages, where they distributed 100,000 gospel tracts, preached to 67,000 people, and saw 457 commit their lives to Jesus. Also in April, the mission conducted five free medical camps that treated 6045 poor tribal people.

The mission continues the work of the Lord, hoping to achieve the high goal of evangelizing all the people of Andhra Pradesh. It aims to acquire 5000 Bibles and 10,000 New Testaments in the Telugu language of Andhra Pradesh. To learn more about this ministry, write and put MI-428 600-PERS on the subject line.

———————————————————————- 2. India: Miracles Surpass Persecution for Mission Workers

An evangelistic ministry in northern India has seen its blessings increase even in the midst of a hostile environment.

Out of 235 villages in one state where it operates, over 100 now have growing cells of churches. The ministry has set a goal of planting a dynamic worshiping group in every remaining village by 2005. To accomplish this goal, gospel workers have each “adopted” a village to evangelize.

In the past four months alone, a missionary in one village in this state saw 50 people, mostly from Sikh background, positively respond to the gospel. In another place, 50 former Sikhs attended a Bible study to become more firmly grounded in the Word of God.

The mission leader recently told Christian Aid of several specific ways in which the power of God was manifested. While one Christian army officer was away from home, his young daughter became very ill with a fever. Since there was no doctor for miles around, his other children joined his wife in praying for the little girl. Miraculously, she recovered.

A missionary from another area reported the conversion of a 100-year-old woman. The woman was beginning to have health problems, and, worried about her eternal destiny, sought a missionary for counsel. The missionary said, “The lady, without any argument, simply as a little child accepted the Lord Jesus into her heart.”

Such good fruit comes at a high price. Many missionaries and new believers have been rejected by their own families for confessing Jesus Christ. One couple was accosted in the night by unidentified people that broke into their home and threatened them to stop teaching the Bible.

Please pray that these believers will hold strong in the face of opposition and that their ministry will continue to grow. For more information, write and put MI-428 652-OPA on the subject line.

———————————————————————- 3. India: Missionary Sees Much Fruit After Heart Attack

Despite a heart attack he suffered two-and-a-half years ago, a mission leader has since seen his ministry bring the gospel to hundreds of thousands of people of a major tribe of Central India.

During these two-and-a-half years, the gospel was taken to 10,000 villages through the distribution of tracts, Bibles, New Testaments and gospel packets. As a result, hundreds of thousands were exposed to the gospel, and over 100,000 attended crusades and open-air meetings. The tribal group is deliberately not mentioned to avoid identification of the ministry.

These efforts bore solid fruit. At least 600 people from the low-caste tribe and other Dalits or “untouchables” were brought to faith, discipled and baptized, establishing new churches in ten villages. In addition, the ministry cared for 25 children in an orphanage, graduated 50 young people from its Bible school, and provided further training and encouragement to 30 native pastors and missionaries.

Looking back over these few years, the leader said, “I was satisfied [with]

what God has done, and I asked the Lord to give me some more time to do something more for Him.” His goal is to bring the gospel to each of the 40,000 villages of his tribe in his state.

A member of the same tribe himself, the leader was brought up by uneducated Hindu parents. He came to the Lord in 1969 at a Christian meeting. After graduating from Bible college and marrying, he felt called to bring the truth of Christ to his native people. Once there, he and his wife met many struggles, but today he rejoices to see the continued growth of his ministry.

Since his heart attack, the leader has been under tremendous strain. Finances have been a problem as he tries to pay back the money he borrowed to pay for expensive heart surgery. His debt accrues at 10 percent interest per month. To learn more about how you can help this mission leader, write Christian Aid at and put MI-428 637-PGN on the subject line.

———————————————————————- 4. Nepal: Maoist Animosity Does Not Stop Missionaries

Two Nepali missionaries traveling to bring aid to mountain villages were stopped on their return trip and interrogated by Maoist rebels for two hours before being released.

The men were released on the condition that they ask permission from the Maoists before entering the mountain area again.

The believers, one from Kathmandu and one from Chitwan, had visited two areas. One locale had been hit by a violent hailstorm that destroyed crops, creating a food deficiency. The leader of the ministry told Christian Aid that the situation was so bad that “when visiting believers, [the missionary] feels embarrassed to eat in their homes because they have nothing to feed the guests.”

The other area the men visited lacks a worship building. Believers in this community meet in a temporary structure made of plastic sheets and tree leaves. The congregation continues to grow, but with such an inadequate meeting place, the number of those who can come together is limited.

So are the missionaries’ aid funds. Despite the threat of Maoists, by faith the missionaries still take gifts to local leaders to help them meet the needs of the suffering people.

Needs remain. The community in need of a church still does not have enough to build. Those suffering the effects of the hailstorm continue to struggle for food. To learn more about how this ministry is helping them, write and put MI-428 702-TLA on the subject line.

———————————————————————- 5. Kenya Ministry Saves Destitute Children

On a continent ravaged by poverty and diseases such as AIDS, one ministry in Kenya is reaching the most vulnerable victims-children-with the gospel.

Ebenezer Life Center ministers to the whole needs of orphans and street children. At the Ebenezer Orphan Home, 162 children receive food, clothing, schooling and hygiene training. Another 77 orphans are cared for in private homes since the orphanage is not large enough to house them.

All school-aged children in the home attend Ebenezer Christian School. In 2002 this school was recognized by the government as a “center of educational excellence.” The students’ performances in the school continue to improve as staffers strive for high standards in education.

Another aspect of ELC’s ministry is its Rehabilitation and Rescue Centre for Street Children. This project began in 1996 with 80 street boys from Ahero in western Kenya. To date, at least 40 have been totally rehabilitated from lives of poverty and vice. Twelve are under vocational training. Nearly all have accepted Christ as Savior. A number of boys are ministered to at a halfway home. There they live semi-independently, doing regular chores and being trained in skills such as mechanics, carpentry and motor vehicle wiring.

The children’s home and the rescue centrer continue to grow, meeting the physical and spiritual needs of the lost children of Kenya. For more information on this ministry, write and put MI-428 572-ELC on the subject line.

———————————————————————- 6. Peruvians Testify of Deliverance from Witchcraft

In a land where many tribal people are still steeped in Satanic superstitions, a ministry is reaching out and claiming lives for Christ.

This ministry told Christian Aid of the salvation of an entire family that had been involved in sorcery and witchcraft and actively opposed the gospel. One missionary, however, was faithful to share the message of Christ and pray with them. After six months, the mother first came to the Lord. She “was convinced that [God] was the only One who can deliver her from the power of evil, and so it happened,” the missionary said. Soon after that, her husband also came to Jesus. Now, the whole family preaches the gospel of salvation in their community.

The ministry also reports the story of one 54-year-old man who was held captive by witchcraft and alcoholism. Through this mission, he came to the Lord. He then shared the gospel with his wife and daughter, and they were saved. Now, he has donated some of his land to the ministry for a church building.

These are only two examples of the work God is doing through this ministry in Peru. The mission continues to hold evangelistic crusades at which 6000 or more people hear the gospel. In six months alone, 600 people came to the Lord. The ministry has also planted 300 churches across Peru.

To learn more about this church planting and evangelistic organization, write and put MI-425 245-NLEM on the subject line.

———————————————————————- 7. Photo of the Week: Mountain Church House

http://www.christianaid.org/pow/pow-4-28.asp

Since 1977 a North India mission agency has been working in Sikkim, but the worker subsequently left the area and the church was temporarily closed. A young missionary by the name of Caleb opened the work again in these mountains in 1998. The church now includes 12 families but faces difficulty because it must rent facilities from non-believers. Recently a plot of land about 300 by 200 feet became available, and it already has this well-built house on it. Please pray that the amount of $6,500 to purchase the land and house will be provided. For more information write and put MI-428 675-HIC on the subject line.

———————————————————————- Mission Statement:

Missions Insider is a free weekly email report from Christian Aid Mission, your link to the world of indigenous missions. We seek to establish a witness for our Lord in every tribe and nation (Matthew 24:14) by supporting highly effective native missionary ministries based in poorer countries overseas, or where believers are persecuted. Christian Aid has contact with more than 6000 indigenous ministries that have a total of 300,000 missionaries on the field or ready to go when support is available.

———————————————————————– Permission to Republish

The content of Missions Insider is Copyright 2003. You have permission to share this newsletter with any evangelical Christian whom you think would be interested in reading it. Permission is granted to reproduce articles in whole or in part on websites, e-mail networks or print media as long as the stories are faithfully replicated and credit is given to Missions Insider at http://www.christianaid.org. Please send notices of publication to . Thank you.