Breaking News for GRM Missions

October 2007:
2 Water Wells and 2 Church Buildings Completed
Leper Village and Slum Village receive a water well and a church building!

GRM completed two water wells, the Slum Village Well and the Leper Village Well! More than 300 to 500 families live in the Slum Village and more than 500 families live in the Leper Village.  There was no proper drinking water supply close, so they spent nearly two hours fetching water from a far off  place.  But now, they have a water well of their own.  Thank you for your prayers and support for these wells.  We know that these strategic wells will open the doors for more people to come into the Kingdom!  These villagers never had anyone to care for them until now.  Now they not only have a water well, but they have realized for the first time that people and, more importantly, God cares for them!

Our Indian director has told us that both of these water well projects have evolved into spiritual awakenings. For weeks we have been doing all the work with aquiring land, permits, tribal permission, and all that is involved with building these two churches.

1. Slum Village

Pastor J has been working along with his wife and two sons in the Slum Village for the past one and a half years.  He has told our team that everything is changing due to the recent GRM water well. He is very excited. The day the well was put in great joy and happiness was in the village. Souls are coming to Christ and the momentum will not stop. Pastor J asked if we would consider building a church to capture the harvest We could not say no.  Praise God we have a church building in this village. 

The people in the slum village are below the poverty line, living in small thatched huts or in small cabins of old tin sheets.  (There is little space between each cabin/hut).  This slum is the place where they live, they bathe, and they use even as a lavatory. It is just like people living in the gutter. It is a very dirty place and the whole village stinks very badly.

Both men and women work very hard; some work on daily wage basis, some pull hand rickshaws, and others are doing other petty work.  Despite their hard work, they all receive very low pay and spend their wages even before coming home.   To meet their daily basic needs they send their own children at an early age to do work such as : collecting and selling waste paper and empty bottles from rubbish, sewing buttons by hand, etc.  Even this money is spent usually on entertainment.  In this area, there is no true morality.

In the slum village, the well is being used by the whole area. They have waited for a well for years. So many people are happy about the well and it has greatly changed their lives. They are now excited about having a small church building to worship the Lord in. The slum pastor said that if we build a church in the slum area many will start coming to church in a very short period of time, many will be saved, and we can form a good congregation of believers and it has already begun!

2. Leper Village

Pastor A. along with his wife and three daughters have worked in the leper village for two years.  When he began his ministry he was opposed by the villagers and had no response from the people.  At that time he was working as an assistant pastor.  One day he was called by a few believers in this village to minister to them because they had no pastor and no one was willing to come since they were lepers.  He was faithful to the call and he now has a congregation of  75 believers in his church and God has opened many doors for other types of ministry.

The villagers adhere strictly to the caste system and are looked down upon by most other villages.  They are considered "untouchables" due to their leprosy.  Today due to God's people providing a water well and church, every one in the midst of pain will have hope. Our team has made multiple trips and told us that the whole atmosphere of the village is changing and hope is in the air. They see this as God's love and it is deeply touching their hearts. Until now very few people wanted to help them!

In the leper village people were meeting outside to worship in the hot Indian sun. It is so humbling to see their pictures. They have a piece of land marked off with no overhead cover and this is their church. Now a nice building is in its place.