The Cobra and trial of faith!

The call to pray for those who are new disciples

Last week has been emotionally challenging, making me ask the question, “God, how do I counsel this new saved family in the midst of suffering?” In a span of four weeks this family had seen all the four emotional seasons of life. In the first of June there was joy and laughter as Setal hosted a party for his son Vijay Marandi’s marriage which was attended by both believers and unbelievers. Vijay was his oldest son and this first marriage in the family was fully invested into by both the relatives of Setal and the entire village of Bariarpur. That excitement climaxed when Setal’s younger brother Malu came to faith. Setal believed this was a breakthrough in the mission of the house church he was leading. They had been praying for over 6 months for unreached people to be won through the testimony of his church believers. And there it was, the church gathered and welcomed Malu and his family. All was going well, when on the 24^th of June 4pm, his little daughter was bitten by a snake. The children had gathered leaves from the forest and was grinding them for her mother to prepare some delicious stew. There the snake bite her and her father heard her cry for help. He ran up to her and was first shocked. They searched for the snake and found it hiding under the bricks. It was a cobra. In the next four hours they heard suggestions from the villagers, some asking them to appease the evil spirits and some not to. Setal took a stand, that he will not ask the help of the evil spirits. He had the first to accept Jesus three years ago and since then he has led 9 families to faith. He prayed and sought to hire a vehicle to transport his daughter to a hospital 45 kilometres away. They rode the jeep to seek medical care, but on the way his daughter died. He came back home and all his unreached relatives and villagers blamed him for the death of his daughter. “If only you had sought the evil spirits, your daughter would have lived”, they told him. It broke his heart. He has lost two other children just a year ago, one in child birth and the other to dehydration. It seemed to him that the God he had believed in, was unable to protect and care for his family.

At the burial grounds I laid to rest his child, next to the other two of his children. He had lost a total of three children in the last couple of years. It just broke my heart. I shared this verse to Setal and family gathered there, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God, Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted,” Matthew 5:3,4.

We came back home and realised that this will incident will challenge the faith of Setal and the church in Bariarpur. Believers are under 0.2% and their faith is tested when they revisit the place of suffering and death that they were accustomed to in their animistic faith. And as a servant of the gospel, it gets painful and hard for me too! Thank you for partnering and supporting the ministry of Engage India to the least reached regions of East India. Your prayers for the new believers and for them to be firm in their faith is much appreciated.

Daniel Ponraj

Engage India ministry

Audacious Generosity - lessons from Abram about giving

Audacious generosity – Lessons from Abram about giving.

Abram give the best to his nephew Lot and asked him to choose from the best. “If thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if thou depart to the right hand, then I will go to the left. “ Genesis 13:9.

 

God blesses Abram 360. He gives his the north south, east and west and all of the land. Genesis 13:15

 

Abram goes to rescue Lot and his possession. He does not exploit his nephew’s state of helpless, when it would have been a very lucrative business move to react in a manner of hostility. Genesis 14:14

 

He refuses to take any of the possession, lest they say, on my account you have become rich. lest thou should say, “I have made Abram rich”. Genesis 14:23

 

God asks him to offer his son. Straight forward command from God. His only son received in his old age and the only hope of the promise made by God. Abraham obeyed and was willing to offer him. Genesis 22

 

On that mountain God asks Solomon to build the temple, on the mount of Moriah. On the same mountain Jesus was crucified becoming the salvation of mankind. 2 chronicles 3:1

 

How audacious is your generosity. Have you challenged yourself to give? As an act of obedience to God, as a show of your faith?

By Daniel Ponraj, daniel@engageindia.in

Women Bridges TOT Jharkhand Training!

On the 18^th, 19^th November we hosted the Women Bridges Trainers of Trainers (TOT) for the state of Jharkhand. 15 women leaders from 8 districts of Jharkhand participated at the event. They laid out a plan to host 4 regional events for the state of Jharkhand through the next 12 months starting January 2011. Through the next year we are hoping to mentor 60 Women Bridges TOT leaders. 

Response of the church to the Naxal movement!

7 states in india and 36 districts are Naxal affected in 2010 stated by the CSDC. I will call this the people's war. The naxals are from the soil of india. They are from within us, from the tribal regions in the red corridor of India. In this corridor you will find over 100 unreached and 15 unengaged tribes. The ones that are caught in the cross fire between the naxals and the security forces is the common man. "We are like a sheet of paper between the blades of a pair of scissors. Whenever the blades clash, we get cut." - Adve Kandu, farmer. The church has the power to make an impact. The church planters of Engage India, preach the gospel in these regions and many have a personal experience of the power of the love of God. Those who hear of the love of Jesus in this red corridor, see Jesus as a hope for the blood and conflict ridden region. They are weary about being in the cross fire and want both of the sides to give up the gun fire. "Jesus breaks the bow and shatters the spear". Please pray for the church planter who works in these difficult situations where there is violence. We as a ministry see our responsibility to nation building and the spread of the gospel. The church has a responsibility to take the peace of Jesus Christ to the broken society we live in and specially to those in and affected by the naxal people's war. Pray and support the ministry of Engage India / BCSD.

Daniel Ponraj - daniel@santaltribe.org
www.engageindia.in
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Bridges 2 course in Village Timothy Schools

11 people are sitting under a jack fruit tree singing songs of praise to God. They are being led by Evangelist Cornelius Marandi. You could overlook this small group and walk on, but for the enthusiasm and glow in the eyes of the Leaders. Don’t mistake them for ordinary people by looking at their simple clothing. They are leaders of churches and leaders of the church movement. They are learning the Bridges 2 to be able to lead their church planting movement to greater heights. They are into the second lesson in the course.  They are focusing on the stories of Paul in the book of Acts and the corresponding teaching his letters. Cornelius presents the core ideas to the group and then they break up to discuss and relate them to their lives. One person in the group reads the Bible aloud as others in the group listen. They recite the story to remember it and discuss the issues that come out from the story. They reflect on the teaching form the letter of Paul. They come back and share their learning to the group. The leaders get together to enact the drama. One of them becomes Paul, the other Roman leader and the other a man in the public and they enact the drama. When the drama has been enacted they are so overjoyed. They debrief their learning from the act and affirm the learning. One of them presents a song on the topic. He sings it in the typical Santali tune and wow they people are so happy. The school session wraps up with the leaders committing to one another. They commit to going and teaching it to their own discipleship groups and set the points they will be accountable for. They spend a while in prayer for each other. It was a time of drought for the region and the area needs rain. Cattle were dying and people have to travel long distances to get drinking water. They prayed for some time on this need. They got up to go to the house of Cornelius to sit again for some delicious lunch. Cornelius’s wife Mariam had prepared some great beef curry and rice. It was Thursday and the market date. One of the leaders had brought some cabbage from the market and Mariam had prepared a great cabbage curry. They had a great meal and dispersed back cycling. They will regroup for the Bridges course in their Timothy school class in a couple of days. They will revise the Bridges learning and present to the group what they have taught in their Church groups.

Presently the Bridges 2 is being taught in 5 Timothy Schools with over 45 master trainers in attendances who are teaching 800 students in their churches and ministry setting.  They are held in houses, under Jack fruit tress, in local community centers and in house courtyards. Two important outcomes emerge out of this: the gospel is being spread where the gospel has not been preached and the new believers are being systematically taught to become disciples of Jesus Christ.

Testimony from the Bridges movement in Jharkhand,

Posted by Daniel Ponraj, Engage India/ BCSD

daniel@santaltribe.org   visit www.engageindia.in 

Challenges for independent india.

I have been invited to be a part of the guest party to hoist the indian national flag at shalom christian school. It is 15th august and people take this day really serious. They are in their best clothes and the pivot of celebrations is the schools. The beautiful flag of india is raised in all schools and most important locations. It a bright occasion. You should see the decked up students and campus. It is really beautiful. I am sitting on the front stage and I am going to be called to speak in 5 mins. I have heard some hard core fiery patriotic speeches already. There are 500 children and 25 of them are christians. To me it is an opportunity to speak on the love of Jesus. I feel gagged as I wonder about the thought I should leave with the children and parents. I then decide to speak from my heart and I drop the written out sheet of paper.
I spoke from 1 cor 10:24. Every man show seek not his own but his neighbors good. I asked the people gathered to transform their community into people caring for each other.
In today's india there is more and more polarization of the society. Cultures and religions are getting more secluded and divided. There is much pain. We need as people of india to care for the people around as. Love is the greatest of them all.
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Chennai Network - Friends of Engage India / BCSD

On the 25th July evening, 8 of us met at an upstairs room in Chennai. This was a seed meeting organised to bring friends together and ask them to support the ministry among Unreached tribes. I see the need for groups of supporters in every city in India and the world who can be the backbone for the Engage India /BCSD ministry. I made a presentation to the friends and supporters gathered there and the response i got was "wow, i did not know this. I want to be involved". Originally scheduled from 5:30 to 7:30pm including dinner, the meeting wound up at 10pm. At the end of the presentation there was much energy. We decided on some small steps to gather a momentum for the network in the city. I will report on this in September 2010. I see a great dream for our Engage India/ BCSD ministry in Jharkhand. What will be the bones and flesh of these networks in different cities, i do not know right now. But i believe a time is coming when this inevitable support structure will be built up and when ready and running will uphold the ministry like none other. We need people to pray, support and engage in the ministry among unreached tribes. This vision of the ministry "reach the unreached tribes" can take us from a small village in Jharkhand to the ends of the earth. And that is the limit. There is much at stake. The unreached tribes breaks the heart of the Lord and we have a mandate to fulfill. I want to thank those who came for the event and sacrificed much to be there. They are heroes to me because they trusted me, though we are small and insignificant. Praise God.

Prayer update for Bedia Tribe!

Dear Friends!

Road blocks have come our walk with our ministry to the Bedia tribe. But don't we all know that it helps us find many other ways and possibilities that we never considered before. Praise God for such difficult moments. since we were asked to move out of the mission field, we have continually sort to consolidate our position, find new avenues and pray like never before. That day we were down and out, but today we are stronger and firmer than ever before. We pray like never before, praise God for road blocks.

Thank you for all of you who are praying for the Bedia people and you are faithfulness. Having been in ministry for about 11 years, which is a very small time, the Bedia ministry has the most challenging. I and the mnistry have been in persecution where our lives have been threathened, but something about the Bedia ministry asks for a deeper commitment. THe commitment come short, but it has been pushed to the limit. It is not the response of the Bedia people, which is a situation in our ministry settings too. I think it must be a mix of many things. But I call all the problems we are facing as challenges, because we are going to the finish with this, whatever the cost might be. I pray that this is the end of the bad times. In some ways we have seen the worst. But it is going to be a new strategy this time round. Please pray with us for:

1. The additions to the team, which is 6 more people.

2. Lima will assist with training and recruit

3. Jaganath will assist with training

4. Manish is my collegue in night meetings.

5. Cornelius and 5 others will assist with night meetings.

6. 14th - 18th - Will be the practice for night meetings. Dramas, songs, testimonies etc. will be a part of their activities.

7. 19th - 25th - will be the night meetings in the villages.

8. Pray that we will get a permanent residence in the Santal village.

9. PLease pray that we can social acceptance in the local villages.

We pray for you all you because you are in the mission field in Certenton. You do a fabulous job and there is much we are learning from you.

warmly

Daniel

Engage India / Bedia Project

The people's war in our backyard!

Every other day, TV news channels are airing news on the bombing of railway tracks, school building and kidnapping of officers by the Naxals. And more often than not these incidents happen from about an hours drive from where I live. And then it strikes me how close we are at what is happening. And you begin to realise that I am in some ways at the epicentre of India’s gravest internal security issue. I am trying to say it in the words of our Prime Minister. But the bombings and the killings do not get me to panic as much as persecution of Christians does. You might call that insensitive. But it is because of having lived here for 10 years and walked with the people in the remote villages.

I have always wanted to give vent to this burning issue and I have always refrained from it. It is a very sensitive issue. It is about us. It is about the poor of India. This war is going in a direction where the security forces are fighting the Naxals. Both are enemies. The home minister has clearly said that he will crush this movement. But there have been many voices from many groups who have said that force should not be the only option. But sometimes this compromise of developing and delivering to the needs of the tribal is seen as foolishness. The other day I heard a renowned lawyer, (he is stinking rich), say that “just find and eradicate these Naxals.” But there are only few who are singing to this tune. Unfortunately most of them who speak this line do not understand the tribal life in the red corridor of India. The disparity between the people in the towns and villages is really great. At one end it is the likes of IPL where teams go for 300 million and the other where a tribal family goes to sleep on the floor after a night’s meal of rice and salt. And most avoid viewing the situation from the other end, where poverty is. This does not justify violence, but gives us an understanding of what approaches will end this war.

Whenever I reflect on the people’s war my heart hurts. It hurts for both the sides, because this is a war that should have never happened. Both the sides are not going to get to their objective. This war will never be won. The Naxals will never get to rule the villages. The security forces will never end this war. At the most they will crush the people. But the harder they crush, the deeper will be the roots for resurgence. Here the people are the movement. The tribal and the marginalised society should have never gotten into this war. Rebellion is in their make up, but not war against society. The Indian war for independence saw the tribal Santals at the forefront, when it has been said that 20,000 Santals were martyred, but they died with a joy on their face. They have always been on the right side. They fought evil when it tried to suppress them. This people’s war is not where they should be. But many are!

I am jump from side to side, sympathising with both the groups. There are only causalities and no victors. At the end of the road nobody would have won. But it will leave behind deep hurts and many broken families and homes. It will take many generations to wipe out this mess from memory. It pains my heart.

I would call this people’s war, the war of the common man. Sadly it is you and me. In Jharkhand state it is. Some young people get forcefully carried into the war, some are enticed and some are tricked. At the end of the day 1 out of 10 really understand what this war is about. Frustration at government policies and the inefficient officers drives some of these people. Be it for any reason, the people of this land are being killed and are killing. And the casualties are many. Many good people who have nothing to do with this war are caught in the cross fire. At the end of the day, they are our people, both the Naxals and the Security forces. Both are brothers and in the wrong camps.

This People’s war will impact the lives of every single India. It is so large that both the prime minister and the home minister have commented on this. This is India’s greatest internal security issue.

The Church has a significant role to play in this situation. 85% of those fighting in the front lines of the people’s war in the state of Jharkhand are Scheduled tribes. 55% of tribal in Jharkhand state are displaced and their lands have been given to multinational companies. 90% of these people are unreached tribes. We have to pray. We have to influence. We have to preach the good news. The church has to wake up to this need at hand. Reach out to this need,

Daniel Ponraj

Professional Management in Church Planting - Engage India

We had a smashing time with Joseph Abraham leading training sessions for our senior evangelists and their leadership teams from the 24^th – 26^th February. 35 leaders from 6 different mission fields attended the workshop held in Jharkhand state. His focus was on improving the performance of the church planters. We spoke on topics on team building, planning, time management, and goal setting. The first day of the training was a family picnic for all the leaders. The following two days were intensive training sessions. Joseph is a professional no-nonsense, much focussed person who ran through the sessions with a purpose to get the people trained in the intended topics. The entire event was focussed on knowledge and skill building. 85% of the participants were oral learners and they got the value for their money. The training sessions were very interactive and skill based. Each session was started with illustrations, concepts and creamed with activities. Every single person gave a positive feedback at the end of the workshop. It was fun.

Some body would ask me what the marriage of Professional mamagement has with church planting. I would be surprised if this is not a priority in every ministry. Our ministry has taken to this because excellence matters to us. And we want to be the best and most successful with the task that our Lord has given us. Some times complacency and not taking responsibility for errors puts ministry on the back foot.

It has been three days of great learning and thanks to Joseph Abraham for the wonderful job. Our Oral Church planters were greatly blessed by it. He will review their performance every 3 months. I will report back in 3 months on the developments and evaluate the progress of the gospel in the unreached areas. I pray through all of this we are able to take the gospel farer, deeper and wider and may the coming of our Lord be soon.

Daniel Ponraj

For Engage India, Training wing

visit www.engageindia.in for info, write me daniel@engageindia.in

Keeping up Versus Growth - Discipling India

Keeping up: Growth & discipleship

In the business of expanding the kingdom of God, Engage India is sitting on a Gold mine. The need and opportunity of the spread of the gospel is at large in the mission field of Jharkhand. And the gospel is spreading far and wide in this largely tribal land. But it has its challenges. Largely the gospel movement has been spreading through what I would like to call the “Web movement.” It would mean that the spread of the gospel is through kith and kin and not so much as an entire village. That would mean that in a village 3 families would come to faith and somewhere 15 kilometres away 3 families would come to the faith through their influence. Well there is great joy that the gospel is spreading fast and far, but it makes discipleship really difficult. Distance makes it difficult to follow them up. Discipleship needs regular close up association over a long period of time. And distance makes things difficult. And you make a real effort to disciple the group and when you have made some progress you say well I have done my part and let me take it a little easy. And then the church grows again and spreads even further. And then the new leaders take this difficult role. Who ever said it was easy?

2010 is the year of discipleship. The deeper the new believers grow in the Lord the farther and deeper the church grows. When will India be evangelised

High, Deep & Wide - Gospel is unheard!

All of India needs to hear the gospel!

This week has taken me to a Baramasia village in a remote region in Jharkhand where a family was being oppressed by evil spirits. Through their son-in-law who has found hope in Jesus Christ, this family found a new way. They invited the evangelist in the region to share the gospel to them. I was invited to visit the region and share the freedom in Jesus. I was shocked at the number of villages there that have not heard the gospel ever before. There is no Christian in the entire region. The Catholics have over the last 30 years established many mission centres in the region. But they have a very small number of believers. But no Christian! I like to call Protestants as Christians. I am a strategist and immediately my brain was running fast to find a way to spread the gospel in these villages. Looking at this critical situation I would have normally said, it broke my heart! But over the 10 years in ministry, this has become a pattern. As you expand the mission field you find hundreds of villages that have not heard the gospel. My reaction this time round was, “I should lay out a plan for evangelization”. The gospel has to reach these villages. It is tough, because it takes any where from 1 to 6 years to get the first group of believing believers. It takes a while for the gospel to break through in a virgin land. The gospel still stands as an unheard way. The Christian world has much to respond to the need in the much un-evangelized North India.

Student Volunteer Movement - Jharkhand

“Student Volunteer movement”

“Engage ‘09” – Jharkhand Student mission conference

Jesus said, “Then saith He (Jesus) unto His disciples, the harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few;”

It is true even today. God loves the students of Jharkhand state. There is an urgent call from the Lord, “who will go?”

Dear friends of Jharkhand state, we at a point in time where we can fire the student volunteer movement in Jharkhand state. From the 6^th through 8^th , Engage India will be hosting the first ever Jharkhand Student Mission Conference, with 32 denominations, mission participating, and 450 students registering for this event. This Student mission conference is an opportunity of a life time for us to mobilise the young people of Jharkhand with the challenge of reaching the unreached and unengaged people groups of India. We need to give them a national and international challenge. The world is hungry for the gospel and they have a responsibility. If the regions of the world have to be reached with the gospel, we have to pray for this conference. This conference has the potential to imprint on their hearts the mandate of Jesus Christ.

The speakers are 28 in number and represent various civilizations and regions of India. They love the Lord passionately and are involved in the ministry of sharing the gospel. The motto of the conference is “whom shall I send, who will go? Isaiah 6:8”.

We are all set and waiting anxiously for the event to kick off. There is going to be a blast on the first day as the Band from Chennai led by David Livingston will lead worship. Today’s young people want it hard and loud and they will get that. They want to be challenged, they want to invest their lives for a noble cause. And we will give them the greatest challenge of all, to share the gospel to those who have never heard the gospel before.

We will also give them an opportunity to be contected to a leadership training program for those who want to be involved in pioneering evangelism. We will also help them connect with missons that suit their area of mission interest.

Thanks for praying for this fantastic event.

Daniel Ponraj

Is our Theological education cutting edge!

Yesterday's paper said "CMC makes it a first". "Vellore (TN), June 18: In the first ever across the blood group transplantation in the country, a youth here has undergone a "successful" kidney transplant from a donor with a different blood type at Christian Medical College Hospital. The operation was done on April 23 on 21-year-old Anbarasu, whose blood group is "O" positive while that of his donor mother is "A" positive. Both were recovering well, a hospital press release said." Source

This is fantastic to me, because a private, christian, and for the poor medical institution is at the cutting edge of their work. CMC hospital is amongst the top five hospitals in India, i can safely say the top most in the "private funded" minority sector. It has lived up to being Christian, and all christian institutions have a lot to learn about how any Christian Institutions can stand up for christian values in a non Christian world, providing the highest of quality services.

What has caught my attention is the training of Doctors in the hospital. They study for a little over 5 years and practice as an intern for one to three years. And apply to the PG program and there is a continual training program from there on. What is solid in their training program is that the faculty, teaching staff and students are all practicing doctors at the hospital. Any body who is teaching is practicing cutting edge technology and treating some of the most complicated medical cases. What the students get in the classroom, is up to date, cutting edge, in practice knowledge. When not in the classroom the students are practicing their profession with their senior doctors. What the students are also getting is not only just some text book stuff, which was written years ago, but also reflecting and practicing the knowledge in today's situations. This is fantastic to me. Well you might say that this is what happens in the medical world, this is old stuff.

But for me this matters so much because some of the Theological training in India has a lot of catching up to do. Our classroom learning does not reflect and is irrelevant in today's situation. Some of the theological training in India is amongst the finest in the world, but for sure not standing up to the realities of today and not preparing students for the challenges of today's mission field. How many of the teaching faculty are practising church planters, or counsellors, or administrators or principals of educational institutions or world class leaders or revival leaders. How many lecturers, professors and teachers of theological institutions are addressing the practical issues of today - i mean at the cutting edge of today's Indian Church, while they are teaching. How many of them are church planting, leading churches, top Indian evangelists. How many of them have been in the thick of the fire like persecution, revival, national disasters and come back to their classrooms and reflect with their students on these issues. This is my desire for our evangelists training school, the Jharkhand School of evangelism. I would like to see all the teaching faculty be at the top of the profession by practicing and being at the cutting edge of their ministry. CMC hospital is a shinning star and at the top of its league, I have a lot of catching up to do, and probably Theological institutions can learn some lessons from this.

Daniel, Engage India - www.engageindia.in

Ps. Sheila will have her second suture on Tuesday the 23rd and will have to rest for 10 days. After that we are expecting 2 months of Radiation therapy for complete healing. We are still in need of prayer and finances. Thanks for supporting at this time of need.

Daniel Ponraj - Engage India - Visit - www.engageindia.in

Experiencing God in Suffering!

The last 30 days have been a beautiful experience. This is an irony considering the pain and suffering my family and extended family has experienced. From the first day we discovered my mother had cancer, it has been a bumpy ride. first the doctor in Chennai has not diagnosed the cancer, in spite of the medical report that said cancer. Then we came to Vellore and we spent about 15 anxious days in diagnosis. Then when the doctors finally decided on surgery, we were stomped by the odds against it. The doctors and our family had to make the call, a hard call, if we should go ahead or not. It was a 50-50 chance. We prayed and decided we should go ahead with the surgery. We did and it was successful. The last month has been hard, but I have experienced the love and power of God. At every juncture i felt the Lord was close to me. The most wonderful moments where in the waiting, waiting for the doctor for the endless hours, waiting for appointment dates, waiting for payments in long queues, waiting for coffee, waiting for the lift, waiting for a transport from the missionary guest house to the hospital, waiting for the surgery to be completed, waiting for the nurses to clean the wound,waiting for my wife to join me in vellore after 22 days. In all of this waiting the Lord has been talking to me. He has spoken to me about my 10 years in ministry. April 2009, it marks my ten years in ministry and the Lord is steering my heart again. He is renewing me for another 10 years in ministry, where i can impact more unreached unengaged people in India. I had paused my dreams, i am dreaming again. The last 22 days being apart from my wife and children in the midst of a lot of challenges has also helped me introspect a great deal. very honestly i missed them so much. They were supposed to join me earlier, but their ticket for the train stayed on waiting list and they could not board the train. I was devastated. So was my wife. As the days approached for their arrival i felt the minutes move like hours. And finally when they arrived i went to Chennai to receive them and what a joyful moment it was. Our relationship has got stronger. I have experience God during this hour of pain and suffering. It has drained me, but i am feeling renewed again.

Daniel P.

Note: My mother is recovering from the surgery and she will be discharged from the hospital on Monday, I want to thank you for praying for her.

THE GIFT OF CMC HOSPITAL & MUT

In the 3rd week of May 2009, after a visit to the doctor, Sheila Ponraj was diagnosed with Cancer. She has served 38 years in ministry in the remote villages of India. She has served and defended people who could not fend for themselves. We at Engage India were shocked at this development. Questions were ringing in our head. What next, which hospital, what about funds, why did God allow this. When we could think clearly the first question was which hospital. Apollo Hospitals are considered the best, but they are atrociously expensive. Then the Tata hospital, but where do we stay in Mumbai. All doors were closed. In our discussions with friends and mission leaders, CMC hospital, Vellore was most often recommended. That was the break. Many things coincided with CMC. It is a christian institution that leaned towards subsidary for missionaries, and it is among the premier insititutions in India. That was just the beginning. We got a contact in a Christian missionary doctor at the Gynecologist department in CMC. We got many friends who were gracious in giving us hope that she could be treated there. That was all the encouragement we needed. But what would we do about stay? We needed a place near the hospital and it has to be affordable. Then the name of MUT (Missionary Upholder's trust) came up. That was another ray of hope. In 5 days she was traveling 2000 kilometers to this low profile town and in time she was standing at the door of the MUT office. The people were so helpful and they showed her a room furnished with four beds and with every single thing that is needed. The next morning she was assisted by a medical person who assisted her with all the procedures of the hospital and in about 3 hours she was in the office of a senior gynecologist consultant. In the next 2 weeks she had made more than 25 visits to doctors in different offices. In the process countless counter and doctor visits and tests have been done. The hospital has about 85% of patients from different parts of India and every single person from the gate keepers, receptionists, nurses, MROs, MBBS students, to doctors at every level, speak Hindi. They have responded and have adapted to Hindi speaking patients. As I drove around Vellore town I realize that the hospital has in every way changed the lives of the people in the town. The town and its people reflect the pride of the hospital. Doctors work over 60 charts a day from 8 in the morning to 8 at night. The place is overcrowded - (Close to Calcutta railway station), not to say it is not managed well, but just that the place is so sought after. Of all that I saw, what touched my heart was the work ethics. They reflect the love of Jesus in them. They serve. It is a professional institution, the most sought after, but you have to be dumb not to see the love of Jesus in every worker, the campus, the atmosphere and all that happens there.

MUT and CMC hospital, Vellore is heaven on earth. I have experienced it.

Daniel

Sheila Ponraj is the president of Engage India/ BCSD that preaches the gospel in villages of India, where it is not known. Visit www.engageindia.in to be involved.

Training Indigenous Church Leaders!

Training Indigenous Church leaders - Timothy school of Discipleship

 “Men were His method” – (Master plan of Evangelism - Robert coleman )

 “I have been transformed through this school, my understanding of the power of the word and my responsibility to oversee the new believers has come through clearly.”  – Usin Hembrom, Student

 In the 3^rd week of April 14 indigenous church leaders of indigenous newly planted churches completed their first semester in “church leadership”. These are leaders who are shepherding the newly planted churches among the Santal tribe. The Santal Church is focused on leadership training for the newly planted churches in unreached regions of Santal Pargana. Without this focus the churches would die. 

The Timothy school is built on 4 foundational lines of teaching, Biblical knowledge, Life character development, Skills for planting new churches, methods of shepherding new believers. The next semester will focus on further subjects which will teach the 4 basic foundations. 

The students in the last 6 months have shown tremendous growth in their learning. They have also exhibited ability in leading the local church. Most of them are oral learners and we are using oral methods to teach them. Scripture in Use (SIU) has some excellent materials that we have used to train our teachers. Any group working with oral learners cannot overlook the information that SIU has to offer.

 We are also successfully using the BILD methodology of training which is Church based theological education. This has been very effective, where the church has exploded in growth. To keep up with the church discipleship the BILD philosophy has been very effective. We call these groups the timothy groups. It is fascinating to see how the word spreads through these groups.

 You can pray and be a partner in the ministry of reaching the unreached people groups of India. Visit www.engageindia.in . Write to me at office@santaltribe.org .

 Daniel

(For Engage India/ BCSD) 

The Gospel saves Munsi from Evil Spirits!

Munsi's wife was sick with an illness and she was at the point of death. They heard about Jesus  for the first time and they went for prayer. By the power of prayer she was healed. Church leaders told her about the saving power of Jesus Christ and how He could give their family a  new life. They did not have to be afraid of the evil spirits any more. Munsi and his wife believed and they have been  added to the church. This is a story of the amazing power of Jesus Christ and how it is transforming families in unreached tribes in India. It is going to places where the gospel has not been made known.  There is an open door for the gospel among the unreached tribes. The evil spirits have oppresed people and their hearts are right for the sowing of the gospel. At Engage India, Indigenous evangelist proclaim the gospel from village to village. At every village where they host a gospel meeting large groups of villagers gather to listen to the gospel. If you are prayer partner I want to thank you for your prayers. You can visit engageindia.in for many opportunities of partnership in the gospel. 

Gospel Team, Engage India

visit www.engageindia.in or write to office@santaltribe.org .

Santal Tribe Children Make History in High School!

Making a better world for Santal tribe by empowering children through education:

5 Santal tribal boys, first generation christian children, are the first ever in their region of 300 villages, who have made it through English medium high school. In any known previous generations their forefathers have never been to school. The Santals are an oral culture. Over 150 years of known Santal culture, the Santals have been oppresed by "outsiders" like the British appointed land lords, tax collectors, and upper caste groups. Their innocence, and illiteracy has been exploited. They have lost their lands, family members and livestock. Many had even become bonded labours. The Santal tribe had waited for the dawn when their children will be educated and they will be able to defend for their rights. Today five Santal boys, have just got passed their high school exams. They know Jesus Christ as their personal saviour. They understand that it is because of the church that they have got this opportunity of education. They are role models and a hope for their community. They speak fluent english and grasp legal issues. They are a voice for their Santal community. This vision has been fullfiled because of the persistent effort of the president of Engage India, Rev.Sheila Ponraj. Through the Shalom group of Schools, there are over 1000 students in training who will be champions of poor communities. They are the hope that their children will come back some back, with the power of knowledge to stand up against injustice and oppression.

Go to http://www.engageindia.in/ and read more life changing stories and how you be contribute and be a part of this movement of reaching the unreached people groups.

Daniel, office@santaltribe.org

Unreached Tribes Movement - Jharkhand, India

Providing unreached access to the gospel :
Missions come together to reach the unreached:
310 of the unreached unengaged people groups are in India who have no access to the gospel. In the state of Jharkhand we presently have identified 8. There are other 20 people groups that are unreached and have little or no access to the gospel. On the 27th and 28th a group of 12 top mission and church agencies will come together to engage in a dialogue. At this meet they discussion issues will be tools, needs and opportunities for the preach of the gospel where it has not been preached. There is a lot of excitement for this cause. I want you to pray with me on this. There will be special presentations too at this meet, which will be orality, Unreached peoples list, Church based theological education and BILD, and also success stories of ministries. I will keep you updated on this, Thanks for praying,
Leave your comments or write to me at daniel@santaltribe.org

visit http://www.engageindia.in/ for further information,

Daniel, for Engage India/ BCSD