This Good Friday as promised our church in Kolkata hit the streets after facing a short rain shower and some pretty sticky humidity with temperatures in the 90′s. We packed our bags with fruits and food and went out to share the good news on Good Friday!
Recently we were able to finally proceed with two very important construction projects in the village at our school in Nadia. Firstly, as we have been asking prayers for previously, we have finally been able to put the roof above the boys’ dining hall where they eat all their meals. Before we merely had some old iron sheets of tin which were rusty and worn out with lots and lots of holes after many long years of use which allowed the monsoon rains to leak into the hall making mealtimes always an interesting endeavor during the frequent rains. Read more »
Each Spring, annually, our school in Gangnapur has its day long sports competition of all its students in various events from the 100m, 200m, 400m, relays, sack races, wheel barrow races, etc. and to end it all the tug of war followed by cricket of course! This year, a great time was once again had by all with prizes going out to all our “winners!” We thank you for making special days like this possible to encourage our students to go much further in their education. God Bless you all for such a wonderful day indeed! We appreciate all of our sponsors & well wishers so much as well as our staff and teachers along with our very special students who are “winning” life’s race today because of you! God Bless you!
Ever wonder really why Good Friday is called Good? I mean stop and consider what all happened that day. Of course we all most generally focus entirely on the end results and gloss over the means at times. Yet during this Season of Lent like most, millions are refocusing their lives and hearts where it really and truly matters. Come Good Friday this year many will once again fast, pray, and hold a solemn festival going to church and offer final prayers and offering various forms of penance as one might expect before the glorious and grandeur of the following Sunday Morning.
We at Lord Jesus Ministry have decided to add to all our solemnity a chance to hit the streets for Jesus this year in Kolkata. Mainly our Christmas program is widely and openly received while we tend to be more withdrawn on Good Friday for our own services. This year we are asking for prayers and donations to go towards a street ministry program to reach the masses with the Good News on Good Friday! Please join us in prayers!
If you feel led, please consider an extra donation at this time to reach out to the least and lost on the city streets of Kolkata at $5 per packet. Be a special part of our mission here to fulfill the Great Commission by sharing the faith among the filth of this world’s loneliness and sin as we are separated from God yet made whole by the work of Christ on Good Friday! Let us reach out with outstretched arms of love just as He did for the sake of the call! Let’s DO GOOD Friday Because of Him!
Our school in Namchi was founded in March of 2006, yet after five years we are still getting all the new state required and mandated registrations completed. We have over 50 students there which attend up to Class V as there is no longer any more space to fit any more classrooms in the rooms we have completed. We are asking for prayers for both the completion of the registration which is in process as well as the construction of additional floors for our ever expanding programs there.
Back in September of 2011 the town there was the center of a major earthquake and our primitive mountain church in the outlying remote areas was severely damaged. Thankfully, we have been able to make some major repairs to continue having services there, but a much better construction is required. We are ever joyful that no one was hurt in the earthquake and God provided the funds for the much needed repairs, but we still need to consider something entirely more solid in the future against such landslides. Please join us in prayers for our brothers and sisters in Namchi for a better church facility that is not made up merely of dried mud, lattice work, bamboos, and some paint.
In April, we will be traveling to Nepal for a lot of work at our churches there finishing up the paperwork along with ministering and baptizing at least one family who has come to the faith. We ask you to join us in prayer for the provisions to make that much needed journey and for that family as well as many others who are in their own decisions for Christ as Joel 3:14 aptly describes how multitudes upon multitudes are standing in the valley of decision and as Paul so well put it in Rom. 10:14, how can they hear without a preacher?
We are praying for the additional resources of $200 per month for a full-time pastor there in the mountains as the people there live entirely off the land. As we have no land ourselves at the moment to live off of, a full-time pastor would need this amount to start out on in order to do the much needed ministry there. Please join us in these peoples’ prayers as they so sincerely wish to have the like faith we have that has been delivered to the saints. God Bless you for your continued interest, prayers, and support of our mission and the work we do to reach out to the least and lost of Asia for Christ!
Zaffar Khan
As we have informed you before, in April we face a huge challenge with our high school students and their start up fees for the new academic year. This year two of our students are currently this week finishing their board exams for Class X and we had asked you to be praying for them. Joining new in the month of April are two more students. Across the board inflation has caused all prices to rise in India and with the current economic downturn across the world needs are up while giving is down.
Schools in India have greatly increased their fees as a result in the coming new year. We face a cost alone of about $1600 USD for our high school students which has to be paid before they can enroll in the new year. We are asking for your prayers and continued support for these students as they face the growing changes of a new school of which we currently are unable to supply them with our own programs as they are very costly indeed. We must send them to an outside school which for us is a huge undertaking. We are asking you to join us in prayers for their education needs as we have been stretched to our very limits in these days to see to all the price increases as the markets are responding to the downturns and the current economic crises. Read more »
When Carlton recently returned from the mountains of Nepal, he brought back with him to India three new disciples for training in Kolkata where they are not only currently pursuing courses in Discipleship, Bible Classes, and Leadership along with Social Work, but also in cooking, sewing/tailoring, as well as Spoken English and many other skills through our various education and training programs. They are hoping for training in whatever means for them to be able to reach out in ministry to share the Love of God found in Jesus Christ of which they themselves have come to know and to understand. Read more »
Carlton has returned from the mountains of Nepal having done all the paperwork for our church there, but he will have to return in April to finish everything up. We are asking for prayers for a full-time pastor to work there which would cost us about $200 per month initially to support him. We have longed to send them someone on a permanent basis. Please help us pray this much needed request through!
He did manage to bring three students back with him to join our Bible College program to learn English, computers, guitar & keyboard, worship, and other much needed and valuable skills. Along the way, a new church was planted as well in the mountains near the border in Nepal as well. Needless to say, it was a very fruitful endeavor indeed! We also ask for prayers for the new church and God’s work there!
We thank everyone for making it possible for us each and every day to make a difference in someone’s life! Because of Him so many are saved! Because of you, we can share the love of God and help them to grow in their faith and relationship with God! When Carlton left, he was fighting a terrible cold and quite feverish; but stepping out in faith, he is now rejoicing at all the joy in serving a living God who uses surrendered hearts to make advances in the kingdom of God! The sickness is gone and lives were touched! God Bless you for supporting the work we do with your daily prayers and faithful love and care!
We all know how very important it is to hear. Listening to God is extremely important as well as listening to each other for greater communion and fellowship within the Body of Christ, so we are listening and giving an ear to all those who are sharing with us their concerns as we have been sharing our concerns with you. One concern was streamlining the donation process after we made our transition in 2012 from the church we were working with previously in Flora, IL to the new church we began working with in Mt. Carmel, IL. New in 2013, we are now going to ask that all gifts and donations be sent to our NEW ADDRESS in Mt. Carmel:
Lord Jesus Ministry
PO Box 1016
Mt. Carmel, IL 62863
By changing our PO Box we will save the time it takes for your checks to be cashed and once a month we will receive the funds in India to use for the work God has called us to. We are at present working on tax receipts for all of those who have made them in 2012 and will be sending them out soon. Please check carefully through them to see all your donations are listed and the amount matches your records. In the event they do not, please contact us immediately at our email address:
LordJesusMinistry@gmail.com
Or now you can call us at our new phone number:
58-MISSION-9
(586) 477-4669
So we will be closing down our old PO Box and switching to the new one. Please continue to make your checks out to “Lord Jesus Ministry”. And we still are continuing to work through a missionary fund of Abundant Grace Fellowship. For those using the online PayPal system it has automatically been adjusted and is working 100% now. The only thing we ask is that you make sure you use the “GIFT” option rather than the “Payment” option otherwise PayPal takes a cut. Thank you for all your love, prayers, concerns, and support! We are praying for you and ask you to feel free to send us your prayer concerns. May God truly and richly bless you for all you are doing to build His kingdom across the earth!
