Encouraging Indians During the Pandemic
Our Heavenly Father continues to show He is in control and that His Word does not return void even in the midst of the pandemic. It is uplifting to know that in these trying and uncertain times that God is working and doing amazing things. In the last few months there have been some exciting new developments in Go Give Hope. But first we would like to say thank you for helping support this ministry by prayer or financial support. We are so blessed to have you join us in helping spread the gospel to the people of India.
For a while now GGH has been thinking of how to help saved people in India dig deeper into the gospel, but teach them at their level. The terms and concepts taught in the Bible that are familiar to us are not always understandable to the people of India and can be overwhelming to them. In response to this need, the Go Give Hope team have developed the Explore and Discover Bible Study. This study follows the same idea of the Inductive Bible Study, but is aimed at meeting the needs of the people of India based on their level of comprehension. Imli and the team have come up with an approach geared towards the church planters and pastors, which is based on teaching key phrases and terms in the Bible and what they mean. It looks like this; a GGH team member and several India church planters and pastors have a Zoom meeting where a section of scripture is read aloud in English by the team member and then translated into Karbi by someone from India. Key words are then taken from the scripture being read and the church planters and pastors work on finding other verses that have the same key word in it. After all the key words have been gone through, everyone thinks of a way to apply the section of scripture to their life based on what the Holy Spirit has spoken to them. The Holy Spirit is the dynamic power in the Bible Study that brings wisdom and growth to these church planters and pastors so that they can pass it on to others they meet. Please pray about becoming a Bible study leader. GGH needs people who are willing to be led by the Holy Spirit and faithfully teach the Word of God to these men.
Children in India have been missing a lot of school due to the lockdown. Google classroom and Zoom meetings are not an option for children in the rural villages so they simply stay at home all day and try to help their parents. But some GGH teachers have decided to leave their homes and go teach the kids anyway. They walk for miles through the jungle in order to reach the rural villages so that the kids can get the education they need. Please pray for these teachers as they are taking a great risk by leaving their homes during this time. Not only are they providing education for the kids, they are teaching them about Jesus and helping them understand the importance of following Him. GGH offers educational and spiritual teaching to the kids in order to raise up future leaders who will help their villages become more than just rural farming communities and continue to make disciples and plant churches.
The Feed the Families ministry has been able to feed 1,158 families thus far with the help of generous supporters. One family that was recently discovered was of group of six siblings trying to survive off of one meal a day. The eldest sister would try and forage for vegetables in the jungle in order to try and sell so they could buy other food. The mother and father had each met someone else and chose to leave the kids behind. Please continue to pray for this ministry. During this pandemic it has become a crucial tool for helping spread the gospel.
Some Go Give Hope church planters have been able to secretly go spread the gospel even in the midst of the lock down. They have been able to establish new contacts in the villages and pray over people who are sick or demon possessed. These church planters have become like emergency first responders to the people in the villages because they know and see these men and women are able to help them. Word then spreads that the people the church planters prayed over are getting better so then they are invited to the next village to help those in need. The villagers in need are sometimes prayed over for several days to drive out what is ailing them, whether it be a sickness or demonic possession. The power of prayer is becoming an awesome testimony. In the village these church planters have been visiting sixty Muslim people accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior. In August all of them were baptized.
It is currently the monsoon season in India. There is heavy flooding in the state of Assam. Three teams of church planters have been affected and been forced to move to higher ground where it is dry. The monsoons not only cause massive flooding but also brings disease due to the amount of garbage and raw sewage swept up with the water. One church planter who has been serving the Karbi people a long time recently came down with a case of typhoid. Please keep him in your prayers.
The ministry to the International students here in Grand Junction, CO. is picking up since the fall semester is underway. GGH was able to have a reception dinner with them. Currently there are six international students, including two from Egypt who are Muslim. A man from Lebanon who is a believer happened to be in town and met these two Egyptians. He has been sharing his faith with them. We believe another of the international students had a conversation a GGH volunteer about Jesus and put his faith in Him. Please continue to keep these students in your prayers as we minister to them.
Please continue to keep the people of India and Go Give Hope in your prayers. Prayer is one very effective weapon we have for waging war in the spiritual battle taking place. There is still a tremendous need in India. While we know there is nothing our God cannot do, we would ask you to prayerfully consider partnering with GGH either financially or offering the gifts and talents the Lord has given you to help with this ministry. May God continue to magnify Himself through you as you serve Him. We may not know what the future holds, but we do know who holds the future. Our great comfort is in knowing that God wants us to be a part of what He is doing now. There are many areas in Go Give Hope to serve.
In Christ,
Go Give Hope team
