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Dear friends and partners in the gospel,
As you read this report, we are on our way to India to host a minister’s
conference for all of the pastors, missionaries and evangelists working
with our ministry. It is
going to be a very exciting time for all of these servants of God who
travel great distances by trains and buses to get to the venue. The
theme of our conference is “Times of Refreshing” and it will be held
from Feb 6 – 13, 2010.
These ministers are constantly on the go; preaching the gospel, making
disciples and planting local churches.
We are asking God for a great move among us to revive, refresh
and refocus our vision.
After my trip to India, I will be travelling to Thailand to visit and
encourage some of our close friends and ministry associates that are
serving there.
INDIA
has a population of 1.1 billion people. It is the largest democratically
elected government on the face of the earth.
While the nation continues to grow and expand in science and
technology, there are great challenges facing the people. They live in
bondage of terrorism, natural disasters, lack of education, and poverty.
Millions of people suffer due to great hunger, lack of clean
drinking water, simple medicines, and vaccines. Over 20 million children
are malnourished and do not have enough food to eat.
Here are some sobering statistics:
·
In India over 35,000 children will die of malnutrition & preventable
diseases today.
·
Each
year, more than 12 million children under five years of age die in
India.
·
130
million primary-school-aged children have no access to education in
India.
Though India is a secular country and religious freedom is guaranteed by
the constitution, in recent years there has been intense persecution of
Christians. Thousands of pastors, missionaries and Christian workers are
beaten, tortured, and killed.
Churches, schools, and orphanages are burnt to the ground due to
violent protest by Hindu extremists.
In spite of these challenges, the work of God continues to make
great impact in the nation.
Harvest
NOW has helped plant hundreds of Churches and raised up missionaries who
are preaching the gospel with great power.
Signs, wonders and miracles are common and each day over 20,000
people are turning to Jesus Christ. This is the finest hour for the
Church of Jesus Christ to shine in India.
Orphans in Asia – Every day over 30,000 poor and orphan children die in Asia because of lack of food, shelter and a safe place to live. Many live under bridges, garbage dumps and in conditions that is unimaginable. Often they are sexually abused and exploited by small factories for cheap labor. We remember visiting an orphanage in China where 320 orphan babies were kept. Millions of flies were trapped in an enclosed environment where the babies were housed. Living in 21st century they do not have to go through these kinds of mental and physical tortures from such a young age. Thousands of pieces of soiled clothes remained unwashed because the laundry machine broke. They had no money to fix it. Harvest NOW was able to buy two washing machines and three hot water heater for this orphanage. This Christmas, please remember the poor and orphans and help them.
China experiencing great revival -
After our ministry in Thailand, we traveled to Shanghai. It is a
city of twenty million people. There we had special ministry to the
pastors and leaders of the city. We went to different churches,
preaching and teaching the Word of God. There was a prophetic flow
in these meetings. Each day we spent several hours praying and
ministering as hundreds came up for healing, prayer and personal
ministry.
Our team rode a night train for 18 hours to another city in the southern
part of the country. This city has a population of fifteen million
people. I have been in this city before and it is wonderful to hear of
great testimonies of all that God has done since our previous
meetings. The last few days of ministry resulted in much fruit. Because of the sensitivity of our work in China, we always have to move carefully to avoid any one trying to hinder the work of God. Every meeting is closely guarded by men outside to notify our hosts of any disruptions by the Chinese authority.
There is a great hunger for God in this region and because of the
large number of Christians living there; there has been a significant
effect on the economy. The Lord has prospered them with very successful
businesses. Please continue to
pray so that doors will remain open and we can continue to preach the
Word with boldness. Thank you for your prayer and partnership in the gospel. Together in the Harvest,
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