Dearly Beloved,
The earthquake in India was actually far worse than you have heard. We have just
received reports indicating that the death toll will climb well past the 100,000
mark. One official told Dr. PAUL KIRUBABKARAN (One of the heads of LIVING ROCK
MINISTRIES International of India, ) that as many as 150,000 people may have
lost their lives on that fateful morning of January 26, 2001.But a bigger story
is unfolding in the midst of this epic disaster - a spiritual story that has
implications for India's one billion lost souls. India is the center of a great
spiritual battle, and even the nation's secular media is catching on to this
fact.
On television and radio and in the major newspapers across India, reporters have
actually posed the question, "Is the Christian God angry about the persecution
of His people? "They are daring to ask such questions because the city of Bhuj,
the unofficial headquarters for anti-Christian persecution in the western India
state of Gujarat, was the epicenter of the quake. Within the past year, attacks
on Christian workers in and around Bhuj have been severe. Scores of church
buildings have been vandalized and torched. In an organized effort on one day,
over 200 pastors were beaten and threatened. Several have been martyred for the
faith.
The earthquake all but obliterated Bhuj, a city of 150,000. No major buildings
are left standing. At least one-fifth of the population was killed. The entire
state of Gujarat was rocked viciously by the quake, opening up chasms as much as
20 feet wide. In places, the earth literally swallowed people alive. As of this
writing, a majority of our pastors in Gujarat have reported to our ministry
headquarters in Kota (about 300 miles to the east(. The reports are amazing.
Not one Christian from our churches has died, and not one of our buildings has
been destroyed! A Hindu reporter asks about the earthquake, "Would the Christian
God do such a thing to take His revenge?" Such questions actually started over a
year ago, when India suffered two other natural disasters - the most powerful
cyclone ever, followed by the most deadly flood on record. Those disasters
happened in the State of Orissa, where Christians had been openly persecuted on
a wide scale. Orissa was also the state where Australian missionary Graham
Staines and his two young sons were burned alive in their jeep by militant
anti-Christians.
Something truly is beginning to happen in India. Gospel seed planted for
generations is starting to bear fruit. A great spiritual harvest is coming, and
we must be prepared to send laborers into that harvest. India has approximately
600,000 unreached cities and villages - places without a permanent Gospel
witness or a local church. Dr. Paul kirubakaran and Rev.Paul Jesudoss have a
plan to reach every one of those cities and villages through a unique strategy.
They are raising up thousands of orphans - God's Orphan Army" - to take the
truth of Jesus to all of India. Their goal is very simple; raise one hundred
orphans in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, and send them out as
missionaries. The plan is working. Hundreds of orphans have already been raised
and sent out, and thousands more are now being loved and cultivated for
Christian service. As of today, Church of Jesus is caring for over 300 boys and
girls in 3 orphanages. Hundreds more are waiting to be taken in. (One government
official has already asked .
Flora Joan receiving the untold number of orphans from Gujarat who were left
motherless and fatherless by the devastating earthquake.) Next year 45young
preachers will graduate from the Church of Jesus Bible Institute, Madurai,. A
large percentage of them are orphans who have been raised to serve the Lord
Jesus Christ. They are ready and willing to go wherever He leads. The entire
class of 2001 - all young pastors - have committed their lives to full-time
Christian service.
Every one of them, without exception. A large number are bound for Gujarat., and
most have chosen to go there simple because it presents the greatest challenge.
I will tell you as frankly as possible: We do not have the funds to support
these preachers of the Gospel. When they graduate on march we will give each one
a new church site or building but we have no money to help them begin their
ministries or to sustain them in the hard days ahead. We desperately need loving
Christians elsewhere who will stand behind each graduate with financial and
prayerful support.
Yours for a great harvest, signed (for forsaken babies home, Dr.Flora Joan
Jesudoss) plot#514,K.K.Nagar,Madurai-625020,India (Received on Friday March 2,
2001)
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