Dear Friend:
Greetings in the name of our Lord whose we are and whom we serve!
I am back after an amazing three week ministry in Orissa, India.
I know that you had been praying for Lilly and I. Thank you for
your prayers and support. God kept us safe and poured out His grace
as we travelled from one village to another with His gospel.
How can I fully share the breakthroughs, my excitement and the great
possibilities? I am limited by words. I also do not want to give
away too many details since most of my communications are believed
to be monitored by fanatics. I pray that the Holy Spirit will communicate
what I cannot do.
IT ALL BEGAN
Well, it all began in 1981, when we went as a family to a primitive
southern Orissa and lived in a very remote village in Orissa. We
lived in a grass hut made for Rs. 50, fetched water from the nearby
stream, cooked food with wood collected from the nearby forest and
used lamps for light. We would then travel from village to village,
sharing the gospel to people and tribes who had NEVER heard the
name of Jesus. It is estimated that as a result of those seeds more
than 1000 churches were planted and several hundred indigenous leaders
were trained among these once unreached peoples.
Well, earlier this year, as I recalled those small beginnings in
Orissa I felt compelled to go back to Orissa-to another unreached
region-and do it all over again.
DOING IT ALL OVER AGAIN
So, in November 2009, we arrived in Orissa. A mud hut was built
in a village for us to stay and use as our base for travel from
village to village. However, due to serious concerns for our safety,
we were asked by my co-workers to stay in the nearby town of Baripada.
We soon found a one room house with a kitchen and a small toilet.
We rented few chairs, bought some cooking utensils and settled down.
I stacked up our two suitcases and it served as my office table.
It was heaven for us, because our Lord was with us. We also purchased
a motorbike (Rs. 45,000) to help us travel from village to village.
In 1981 rode rickety bicycles. We also had access to a jeep borrowed
from another region, to help our long distance travels and to carry
our evangelistic tools-tents, portable PA system, gospel literature.
THE PASTOR'S SEMINAR
IET had already started work in this region some time ago. We began
by gathering the 46 church planters in this region. Lilly and I
ministered to them for two days. These church planters, facing persecution
and loneliness in remote areas, have no other discipleship resources
available. They soaked up the Word.
The third day onwards we began to travel from one village to another,
from one tribe to another, with the gospel message. It was extremely
dangerous but our lives are not ours. I felt a great excitement
as I carried the gospel, along with my team of co-workers, from
one people group to another.
A TYPICAL DAY
On a typical day, we would leave for a pre-selected village at 8:30
AM. Some of my co-workers would arrive the previous night and set
up a make shift tent. No one in the village would be informed of
our intentions. This was done to protect any planned attacks. It
was just a few hours before the meeting would start, the brothers
and sisters who spoke the village language would go from house to
house and invite people for to come and hear Good News. By 10:30
AM, our brothers and sisters would start to sing songs in the village
language. The songs would be accompanied with indigenous musical
instruments, lot of clapping and, at times, even some tribal dance.
People, mostly curious, would come under the tent and find a place
on the sheets spread on the ground. I would finally stand up to
share.
I would explain the 'message of salvation' in very simple and clear
terms through a translator. At the end we prayed for those who would
be open to receive our Lord. The first session would end after noon,
when those gathered would have a common meal-a heap of rice with
little bit of watered down lentil soup. We would all sit on the
floor and eat together.
Then we would get back under the tent. Lilly and I would preach
again, teaching how a disciple of Jesus should live. It is critical
to not only lay down the plan of salvation but also to teach on
holiness. After all we are called not just to be born again but
also to be His disciples. Each message would be translated into
the state or tribal language. In every village we would end up with
a group of people keenly interested to follow Jesus Christ. The
IET leader for this region would then assign one of the church planters
a group of villages. The church planter would follow up, to disciple
the seekers and new believers in each village. The goal is to establish
churches in each village and ultimately train indigenous pastors
in the next few years.
WOULD YOU COME TO OUR VILLAGE?
Extremely tired, we would return to our one room house by evening,
looking for a peaceful meal and some rest. However, every evening
we would find people, who had heard about us and the message we
were sharing, waiting and asking my fellow IET workers, "Would
you come to our village?" We could see the eagerness in their
eyes. How could our comfort come in the way of His call? So, we
would quickly finish our meal and drag out tired bodies to another
village. Every evening we would speak to a new tribe or in a new
village.
Every village we visited, we found villagers waiting for the 'people
with the book'. As soon as they saw our jeep lights, they would
start to sing, welcoming us in their tribal way. Our feet would
be washed with water, a tribal custom, and oil would be applied.
Our eyes would always fill up with tears at this great love, at
the open doors and at the privilege He has given us to be His gospel
carriers. I would stand by the oil lamp, reach from the Bible and
then preach to the huddled mass about our Lord and His love.
UNDER HIS WINGS
Orissa is one of the most dangerous places for Christians. Proselytization
is prohibited by law. Every day several Christians are attacked
and some even killed. Fanatic Hindus are being trained all over
and fanatic groups have spread terror throughout Orissa. Refugees
from the last mass-attack against Christians are still afraid to
go back to their village. Most live in fear. So, we had to be very
careful. No one knew of our plans. It was only a few hours before
we started our meetings, that our brothers and sisters would go
from house to house in that village and invite people for prayer.
We went to so many villages; we held so many meetings in the open;
we prayed with hundreds of people. It was amazing that the news
of our activities did not leak out and no attack took place. In
few places there were disturbances created by local hoodlums, but
God soon brought those under control. God protected us and allowed
us freedom to preach, even in such dangerous times. As I look back,
I realize that it was also your faithful prayer that guaranteed
our protection.
MANOHARPUR: WHERE GRAHAM STAINES WAS KILLED
We also decided to visit Manoharpur, where the Australian missionary,
Graham Staines, working among the lepers, was torched alive along
with his two young sons. The few Christians in this region live
under great fear. Many have even backslidden. I remembered the words
of a pastor, "Only a continuing revival can keep a church on
fire." History shows us that Christianity will soon become
a ritualistic religion or a dead faith if there is no continuing
discipleship and revival. We all need ongoing individual and communal
revival within us.
Manoharpur is a tiny tribal village with no electricity and few
Christians. The Christians there told me the tragic story that happened
on 22nd January 1999. My heart cried out for the unreached nations
and for my fellow brothers and sisters who pay the price. As I stood
there, I prayed that through this sacrifice the Church in Orissa
will find great strength and eventually spread out wilder and stronger.
I, also, remembered the words of Tertullian, the church father.
Tertullian in A.D. 197, writing to the Roman governor of his province,
who was persecuting the Christians loyal to the empire and its laws,
says, "…kill us, torture us, condemn us, grind us to dust;
your injustice is the proof that we are innocent. Therefore God
suffers (allows) that we thus suffer; for but very lately, in condemning
a Christian woman to the leno (prostitute) rather than to the leo
(lion) you made confession that a taint on our purity is considered
among us something more terrible than any punishment and any death.
Nor does your cruelty, however exquisite, avail you; it is rather
a temptation to us. The oftener we are mown down by you, the more
in number we grow; the blood of Christians is seed.
About 100 Christians gathered in the small church building at Manoharpur.
I encouraged them to continue to trust Him, live for our Lord, and
be His witnesses. The next day was Sunday. We erected our tent in
an open ground here and began to sing songs. About 300 people gathered,
100 of them non-Christians. Many of us were afraid of possible attack.
But, we continue to worship our Lord. Lilly and I preached. I encouraged
and admonished the believers. At the end as we began to pray, several
non-Christians came asking for prayer. One Hindu priest sitting
at the back, observing us, walked up to one of my co-workers and
asked, "Do you think that he will pray for me?" I shared
about the love of our Lord and prayed for him, too.
As we finished up our time at Manoharpur, I was asked by a pastor
to come back in January 2010. He informed me that they conduct convention
every 21st to 24th January, to mark the martyrdom of Graham Staines.
The next convention would be conducted in a forest. He informed
that they do not have money to pay my train fare, but he asked Lilly
and I, "Would you come?" How could I refuse? I immediately
made plans to cancel my other plans to be there in the forest with
our fellow brothers and sisters. It is believed that over 2000 believers
from various parts of Orissa will gather in this forest for four
days. Many will walk long distance. Each believer will bring their
share of rice to feed them. These will stay in temporary tents or
in homes of other Christians in surrounding villages. I pray that
God will use this time to heal, encourage, and revive. I need His
grace and ask for your prayers.
FUTURE
We have experienced significant breakthroughs in many villages,
where we presented the gospel for the first time. IET church planters
are already carrying out the follow work. I believe that with continuing
support-training, tools, finances-at least 100 new churches will
be planted in this region within the next few years.
WHAT DO WE NEED
We need to build a ministry center here to train new church planters
and to provide continuing encouragement and training to the current
pastors and ministry leaders in this region. This is a critical
need. The need is to purchase a 2 acre land and build classrooms
and dormitories to get the ministry center running. We have a trained
and able church planting leader in place to run this center. We
also immediately need some critical ministry tools to continue the
follow up work. These include, 1000 Bibles (Rs. 80 per copy), 5
motorcycles for the junior leaders (Rs. 45000 per bike) and one
jeep (Rs. 450,000). Would you pray for these needs?
THANK YOU
I want to thank you for letting us be part of your lives and prayers.
I have always believed that we are a team. Those who drive the jeeps,
those who preach, those who prayerfully send and those who provide
finances are co-equal members of this team. I am humbled that He
would choose us to serve Him together.
Once again, thank you for your friendship and prayerful support.
Please do continue to stand with us. Continue to pray for IET, particularly
for the villages where visited during our recent Orissa stay. Finally,
I encourage you to stay faithful to Him and His call to fulfill
the Great Commission, even to the uttermost parts of the world.
May we give our all, I ask, to reach the unreached. Let us give
our all for Him, our Lord and Master.
His slave and your brother,
Khuda Barkat De/
God bless you.
Yours to count on to
see India is evangelized in our life time. No one can do it alone.
But together we can do it. Let us do it - now,
PG Vargis
www.pgv.com
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