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A
letter to all GRM Friends from Native Pastor Simon Paul
Dearly
beloved brothers and sisters in Christ,
My
team, my son and I have just returned safely from Gujarat.
Praise the Lord! It is really amazing to achieve our goals
when the devil comes so strongly against us! Again it
proved God is always with us, and with Him we get the
victory.
We
left May 7th for Gujarat. The team was myself, my 7 year
old son Chandrahas, and 4 team members from my church.
2 pastors in Gujarat joined with us, along with 5 children
from our Gujarat orphanage. Still the conditions are very
bad. It was hard to even reach our village. The riots
are still going on. Houses and shops are still being burned.
One of our team members was able to reach some of the
tribals in hiding. They are still so terrified of the
Hindu fanatic groups. Two of our believers homes have
been burned recently. Some people have run from the villages
and are hiding even now.
I
sent some of our team members into all the areas. The
scriptures helped me so much. It was like when Moses sent
the spies ahead into Canaan. Our men brought back a good
report. Still the villagers are loving Jesus. They hold
fast to the strong message of faith I preached to them
before I left Gujarat after the first attacks. The word
of faith preached under a strong anointing has given us
a good result. After this report, I took my son Chandrahas
and our whole team and went into the villages. We were
very watchful and careful as we travelled.
Received
with Rejoicing!
The moment we entered the village, all the people ran
together, rejoicing and dancing singing "KUDA NAY
BEJA HAMAR SAHIB AYAHAI" In their language, meaning,
"God sent our helper." They all rejoiced and
kissed my son. They all said "We will stand strong
for God and for you. We never expected you to come back
after what they did to you. We see that even in this moment
you are not worried for your son or your own life. We
understand your love for us." For 3 days we preached
strong messages, and the children performed skits for
them. We encouraged them to have strong in faith for God.
The people were amazed at the skits of the children. When
my son spoke they really cried. In one accord, the people
said they would protect us - that even if the enemies
came, they would die to protect us. As we encouraged them,
they also encouraged us.
Fruit
for the Lord
On the last day of ministry we gave 20 baptisms! Praise
the Lord! 10 more people, who were to be baptized, had
to leave the village because their houses and food and
everything were all burned. The other villagers told us
they will return soon and take baptism.
Strategy
Before we left them, we taught them a strategy to deal
with the persecution. We taught them to set watchmen in
the village for every hour to protect the village and
the church.They come together for prayer every night,
praying for Gujarat, for their tribes, and for GRM-India,
and GRM-USA. Please pray for them! Faith is building in
their hearts. Please pray for our next trip back to Gujarat
in June, that God will provide more funds, and that the
10 believers will be returned safely back to the village
so I can baptize them. Our many thanks go to all who prayed
for us and sent funds to help us. It is your love and
prayers that protected us.
Yours
in Christ, Bro. Simon Paul
This man's courage, commitment, and zeal is an inspiration
and conviction to us all. The small number of believers
and churches of Gujarat are terribly persecuted. Yet,
they persevere, and in spite of the opposition, the church
in Gujarat is growing.
Call
to Action
Our goal is to get full sponsorship for Simon Paul and
his team of 4 assistants. They are not afraid.
Only a lack of funds keeps them from doing more. Let's
join hands with some of the greatest soul winners among
the most unreached people groups in the world today. Just
$600 (or $50 per month) will enable one native worker
to fulfill the call God has put on their hearts. Please
pray and allow God to use you to send them to reach the
last of the lost today.
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