This month we are bringing you some report from Orisa: For the details of Orissa State we can also do the online search so we are not giving those details….here is mission report. Thanks.

Travel:
It was long traveling time, had to take taxi to go to Delhi from Dun, since maria was not well and because of her sickness i had to miss bus which would take me to Delhi airport on time. Anyways, took flight to Raipur, where one of our pastors, Hemlal was waiting for me. From there we both took bus to Baramkela, border of Orisa…reached finally at the mission field in the middle of the night.

Welcome given to me by the people:
Few families were waiting for us, and as we reached they had kept some flowers at the door to welcome us and as we entered pastor asked me to sit on some thing like a chair and took my shoes off and washed my feet and kissed hands. One by one the entire gathering there washed my feet and kissed hands. One of them was 80 years old believer. At the end there was time of prayer and few of them thanked God as we reached safely, it is the sensitive area these days.

Meeting with people:
Next morning we got ready and went out to visit people. It was great time of learning from people how they were able to experience all the protection from our God in the times of trouble that they went through. We could meet with the local non-Christians who are appreciative of the work of Pastor Hemlal. We then went to meet with some believers and spoke with them about their needs and encouraged them to stand firm in their faith. They were greatly encouraged to see me there. It was blessing for me that these people were expecting a visit and prayers from us more than anything else.

Prayer Meeting:
They had called a small prayer meeting in the house of one of the believers, there was also a banner welcoming me in the town. I spoke in that meeting from the Matthew 28, the whole chapter. Showed them two kinds of people; ones who were against the gospel and had money and power at thier side and the Christians who had no money and no earthly power or authority at their side but there our Lord gives them courage and says… all authority in heaven and on earth has been given unto me therefore go…! Meeting was attended by all the main key Christians in that area. So we could talk about the importance of getting these churches organized. One of the key person there said it was very encouraging for them to listen to the importance of getting their church organized for the further growth. Meeting was over in the late afternoon with some tea. After the meeting we took our bicycle and came back to the border of Orissa where we had found one small hotel where we could eat, and stay over night.

Baptisms:
There were three believers waiting for baptism since last whole year. They come from H-i-ndu background and came to know the Lord through Pastor Hemlal. It was my privilege to talk with them for long time and find out that they truly are ready to take baptism, since there is no church and i was not able to be there till Sunday, we thought we should give them baptism at pastors house. All of them agreed but then pastor asked me if we can take them to one of the lakes in the jungle, and give them baptisms there, i agreed with them. We reached the lake, it was beautiful place right in the middle of the jungle. I was wearing Indian cultural shirt and lungi… and so we entered into the water, while standing in the water i poured water on their heads and baptized all three of them one by one.

Did some Observations of the surroundinga:
People are POOR. At times i could not believe that it was in India. I felt very sorry to take pictures of all these people just to keep their dignity. But some i took for the sake of our prayer report. People eat fish and rice as their main food. Clothing is very simple and each one has a church dress, they keep that for church and look very neat in the worship services. There is great need of schooling and Roman Catholic church has schools there. RC leaders are also having dialogs with the political authorities there to seek some protection from the anti-christian elements in the area. The ladies in the area need lot of counseling and encouragement and medical care. I had very hard time with the mosquito, my hands were full of bits.

What help did we give them:
We have been able to help two families in the congregation to get their lives back to normal as they faced loss of things in their houses in the time of trouble that these churches had gone through. We were also able to help two pastors in there time of trouble.
Prayer Points for the churches who are going to be part of RPCI soon:
Please pray for the educational needs of the children of our pastors
Pray for the ladies of the church, for their health, spiritual nourishment and family counseling that they need

Thanks:
We are thankful to the Lord for his gracious care. We are also thankful to Rev. CA & Rev. AAH and Promi for their financial contributions. We are thankful to our kids and PTS graduating few friends who prayed for it. Thank you all for praying for the work of MPM. God Bless!