CROWN OF JOY NEWS FROM THE MISSIONS Issue 8 8
Crown of Joy
News from the Missions
Issue Date
REACHING THE UNREACHED
AUGUST 29, 2016
Editor’s Table
Greetings from all of us here at the Crown of
Joy. May the Lord grant you help from above
to enjoy His presence in its fullness.
We want to thank the Lord for blessing the work of God through Crown of Joy. Each one of you had a part in it this past year. Thank
you so much for the great support for the various assembly ministries in India during
this year. Your prayer and support is a great encouragement to the Lord’s servants in India and they are immensely grateful to you
for that. Please continue to stand with them and do everything possible to enable them to
do greater things for the Lord in the coming year, if the Lord tarries to come. Needs for the work of God by assemblies in India are greater than ever before. Allow us to share
some of them for your prayer and help.
Please note that these workers are not under
any organized group or organization, they are fully dependent on the Lord for their needs. However, it is very true that there are
several Assembly funds in India who support them periodically with very limited funds they receive from the Lord’s people. In most
cases these gifts are not sufficient to meet
their daily needs. We are happy to route your designated gifts for them through Crown of Joy.
We covet your support and prayers
Crown of joy Team
Inspiration
“We are the Bibles the world is reading; we are the creeds the world is needing; we are the sermons the world is heeding.”
Billy Graham
“Life is wasted if we do not grasp the glory of the cross, cherish it for the treasure that it is,
and cleave to it as the highest price of every pleasure and the deepest comfort in every
pain. What was once foolishness to us—a crucified God—must become our wisdom and our power and our only boast in this
world.”
John Piper, Don't Waste Your Life
Persecuted for Christ in India
We can rejoice however, in the fact that persecutions have often helped the growth of the Church around the world through many centuries….
Page 3
ECS Ministries in India
Emmaus India is serving the Brethren community in India for more than 60 years by providing sound Biblical lessons through Emmaus Courses….
Page 4
Ministry updates
CROWN OF JOY NEWS FROM THE MISSIONS | Issue 8 2
Koi Tribal believers conference is planned in
the first week of the month of January 2017 in Bankadi, Odisha. 500 Koi tribal believers are expected.
EVG. ANATA WADEKA, ODISHA
Assembly believers conference is planned in the month of November 10- 13 in Goa. Three hundred believers are expected.
ELDER. DESHMUKH, GOA
Assembly Bible Classes (ABC) for new
believer will be conducted during 10 days Christmas Holidays in Chakradharpur.
ELDER. S.D. EKKA, JHARKHAND
Five VBS camps are planned in Nowakhat, Ulubari and Kadalpara in the state of Assam
EVG. BIREN GOYARI, ASSAM
Gospel out-reach work is going on in Cooch-Behar of West Bengal. It’s one of the most neglected area for the gospel work. Please pray for the team members.
EVG. TANMOY SAH, WB
News from Nepal
Nepal is one of the fastest growing Christian population in the world according to the world Christian data base.
Assembly work is initiated mainly by three groups of brethren.
1. Brethren from Nepal origin
2. Brethren from Indian origin 3. A group of Brethren from German
REMEMBER YUR BROTHER
High in the Himalayas, Christianity is on the rise. And so are religious tensions.
Please remember the evangelist like Prakash Rajbansi, Simon Murmu, Naryan
Tudu, Sam G John, Vikram, Tashi Lama and many others facing opposition in the Lord’s
work in Nepal.
Religious persecution of Christians continues
in India with very little help from authorities to prevent them. It is certainly a matter of
prayer. We can rejoice however, in the fact that persecutions have often helped the growth of the Church around the world through many centuries. There is ample evidence for this phenomenon in Church Anti-Christian violence in India refers to religiously motivated violence against
Christians in India, usually perpetrated by Hindu nationalists.
The acts of violence include arson of churches, re-conversion of Christians to
Hinduism by force and threats of physical violence, distribution of threatening literature, burning of Bibles, raping of nuns,
murder of Christian priests and destruction of Christian schools, colleges, and cemeteries.
Violence against Christians has been seen by
Human Rights organization as a tactic used to meet political ends
The Indian Church is growing in leaps and bounds. Nevertheless, times like these also provide us opportunities to review our current strategies related to gospel
proclamation and presentation. Our full time workers should position themselves as
contributing agents to the society they live in, through community services and institutions. Our approach should be more
and more holistic in nature modeled after our Lord
Jesus Christ
PRAYER POINTS
And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake.... Matthew 10:22
Above picture was taken during the violence against Christian in Odisha. Many were beaten to death and were forced to leave their homes.
CROWN OF JOY NEWS FROM THE MISSIONS | Issue 8 3
ONGOING EVENTS
Gospel Out-reach in Nepal Gospel out-reach work is going on in Jhapa district of Nepal. Its three months’ program to reach the entire district of Jhapa district. Please pray for the team.
Short Term Bible Class Bible short term course is going on in Chamurchi, at West Bengal, (India Bhutan border). Please pray for 25 students studying God’s word.
FAST FACTS
2.3% 1.26 Billion is the total population of India out of which 23 Million is Christian population. Can we do something?
33% Approximately 33% of the total population is still un-evangelized. Will you join us to reach them?
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Mrs. & Mr. John & Narelle Melville
Email: [email protected]
Story of an evangelist in North India
Evangelist Antony was born and brought up in a Catholic family in the southern coastal area of Kodungallur in the Kerala state. At
the age of 18, Bro. Anthony had an opportunity to attend a Bible Class in a nearby Brethren Assembly. He came to the Lord in 1983 and was baptized in 1984. After
graduation he came to Alwar, Rajasthan and continued there as a class teacher for a few years. In 1990 he received the call for the
full-time ministry and started his work in Satna, Madhya Pradesh. He is married to
Prabha and blessed with two children – Enoch and Grace.
Both Bro. Anthony and Sis. Prabha used to concentrate on village evangelism and the Lord blessed their labor and now there is a growing assembly in Satna. But his growing work immediately got the attention of anti-gospel elements that have repeatedly attacked and harassed them.
On May 22, 2016 a group of people came to their church and started to shout and abuse
Bro. Antony accusing him of converting people to Christianity. After the church meeting, Antony and his family returned to their home along with few others. On the
way to home, a group of people stopped their vehicle, and started to abuse and manhandle both Bro. Anthony and Sis.
Prabha for 2 hours. Then they were forcefully taken to the local police station.
Under severe pressure from the leaders of enemies of the Gospel, the police filed non-bail able charges against them and produced
them before the court. The court denied their bail and jailed them. They were falsely
charged with illegal conversion and
desecration of the Indian flag which is a very
serious offence in India. But the Lord intervened and they got bail after being in the jail for a few days. According to Bro. Antony, the Lord blessed the time they spent
in the jail, and he got the opportunity to share the love of Christ with inmates.
Although they got the bail, the case is still pending and we need to pray for the peaceful
resolution of his case and that he will be able to continue the work in Satna. If you need more specific information on this case,
please contact the
Prayer Points
* Pray that in India God will give the government divine wisdom in dealing with
the immensely complex issues of this large and multi-cultural nation. May there be
security with justice, development with sensitivity and may religious freedom be recognized throughout the nation.
* Pray that God will be the refuge and
strength for the vast number of believers going through fiery experience. Pray for
healing for their physical and emotional wounds and that the ever-present Holy Spirit may comfort and counsel their hearts.
* Pray for continued church growth in the
midst of oppression and suffering in the nations of India. May Christians display the refreshing righteousness of Christ in the
midst of nations struggling with corruption, dictatorship and injustice
(Philippians 2:12-14).
CROWN OF JOY NEWS FROM THE MISSIONS | Issue 8 4
ECS Ministries in India
Emmaus India is serving the Brethren community in India for more than 60 years by providing sound Biblical lessons through
Emmaus Courses. We also support, in a limited way the ministries in our neighboring countries and the Gulf through these
courses.
In India, we promote Emmaus Courses in 14 Indian languages and also in English, Nepali
and Dzongkha (Bhutanese).
Emmaus course books are helping many new
believers to grow in maturity and also a great help in evangelism. According to the present situation in India, open-air preaching and
gospel meetings are restricted in many parts of North India. Therefore, personal
evangelism and literature ministry is become more important in these days.
Here is a brief summary of the work carried out in the year 2015-2016.
ASSAMESE LANGUAGE: 6 Courses are available, more courses under translation. Courses are distributed through our
Evangelists and Assemblies. SBS/VBS
Conference in Guwahati has helped to promote the Emmaus Courses.
BENGALI LANGUAGE: 12 Courses are now
available and they are helping in Church planting and outreach ministries.
In Sundarbans Islands, more than 700 people
are studying Emmaus Courses, 465 of them completed 10 Courses, resulting in 16 local gatherings in the Island. Emmaus Bengal also provides Courses for ministry in Bangladesh.
HINDI LANGUAGE: 11 Courses are now available, including 5 recently added courses.
4 more courses are under translation.
Activities included:
NEPALI LANGUAGE: 8 Courses are now
available. A new initiative was recently taken to reach the Nepali Community at both sides
of India/Nepal border, Sikkim and Bhutan. A Conference was held in Siliguri on 7&8 June, 2016.
ORIYA LANGUAGE: 6 Courses
are available now and more courses are under translation. Course distribution is being
carried out through Assemblies and Volunteers. A highlight was
the recent promotion of the courses through SBS/VBS in Bhubaneswar
PUNJABI LANGUAGE: 4 Courses
are available. Hindi and English Courses are also distributed in
Punjab.
Steps are being taken to revive the ministry
in the Punjabi language.
Emmaus Ministry is carried out through the
free will gifts of believers from the
Assemblies. The courses are translated,
printed and distributed by volunteers from our Assemblies and distributed free of cost. It takes about Rs. 30/- for a course to reach a student.
You can sponsor a course in an Indian language with an amount of Rs. 30,000/-,
which would cover the cost of printing of 1000 booklets and reaching 1000 precious souls for the Lord Jesus
Christ!
For more information, contact
P. SAMSON – ECS North India
Coordinator [email protected]
.
CROWN OF JOY NEWS FROM THE MISSIONS | Issue 8 5
Serving the Lord’s servant’s
More than 2000 Lord’s servants are serving the Lord in India. Few are well supported but man y are not having basic needs met. They struggle for their Children education, house rent, medical needs and many activities in the ministry of the Lord. Through the free will gift of AUS Brethren, Crown of joy is able to support few needy workers for such cause. Crown of joy uses such designated funds to encourage Lord’s servants for the gospel work and also for the social development and building up good society.
Like:
Financial help for the evangelist’s
children education
Helping the widows by providing
cloths, blankets, medical aid, solar
light etc.
Help to start and run Free tuition
center - to give free tuition to poor
children.
Provide training to the women for
stitching cloths and craft work as a
self-employment.
Building small budget assembly hall
in village area.
Conducting gospel out-reach,
conference, Special meeting,
leadership training program, VBS
etc.
Providing medical aid to the needy
evangelist.
Financial help to the poor
evangelist’s daughter’s marriage
expense.
Providing two-wheel motor bike to
The evangelists for the gospel work.
We praise God for your
encouragement in the Lord’s work
Initiative projects of Mr. John Melville & Brethren of AUS (A brief report on the support extended by the believers of AUS to the “Crown of Joy” for the various ministry & social development work.)
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