Their Ministry Continues: In memory of Harold Stevens

In our last newsletter, we ran a special article on our dearly beloved Harold Stevens who went to be with the Lord.

His widow and ministry partner, Josephine and daughter Becky, are spear-heading the fund-raising for the new “Light of Life” school in India by donating all of the “Harold Stevens Memorial Fund” to the India school project.

This fund will provide the resources for the construction and operation of the new school. This spiritually dark place has a light that has not been seen before. This school will help make the light brighter.

We cannot think of a better living testimony to the man who touched the hearts of so many people.

Only God knows how many people have been touched by the lives of Harold and Josephine Stevens, but one thing is for certain, neither of them have kept their faith hidden. There are and will continue to be choruses in heaven singing praises to our King, because of Harold or Josephine specifically, or as a result of their influence on someone else.

Although we miss Harold every day, we know that he will live on through the lives of those he touched personally and those who the disciples he trained will touch in the years to come.

India is the largest harvest field in the world and we praise those who are laboring faithfully there and who daily risk their lives for the sake of the Gospel of Christ.

Josephine Stevens remains in Griffin, Georgia, in the couple’s home with daughter Becky nearby. Her ministry continues in the local church as she grieves the loss of her husband and ministry partner.

When Light does not Occupy the Land, Darkness will

Harvesters International Missions has worked in the country of India for the past two years helping to assist national partners Kamlesh and Ranu. It is a privilege to promote ministry in a country in which lives more than one of every six people in the world.

Despite legislation to the contrary, India remains under a caste system where those of the lowest caste are granted no rights or privileges. Kamlesh and Ranu know that God sees all people the same and their ministry focuses on educating those of the lowest caste.

The district they live in has a population of around 14,000,000 people, with 1,135 villages. The ministry focus is a school called the Jagat Jyoti or “Light of the World”. In this spiritually dark country, this school provides an education for the low-caste children who have no way to attend a public school. Students also receive a set of clean clothes, a nutritious snack and most of all, knowledge of Jesus Christ.

By reaching out to the children, there is an opportunity to reach the parents. The Lord has blessed the Jagat Jyoti School, and many more families desire an education for their children.

The Lord has opened the door for beginning a second school in a neighboring village, an English medium school call Jeevan Jyoti, or “Light of Life”. July 1st marked the start of the new school year and the doors of the new school with 45 students. Ranu is in the process of pursuing her Bachelor of Education degree to add to her doctorate in sociology.

The Lord is blessing the ministry to these poorest of the poor children in India. Please pray for this couple as they reach out to this new group of students.

By: Sandi Roach

How will You Celebrate?

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas… How will you and your family celebrate the season?

Why do we celebrate the season? For some, it is about being with family. For others, it is about exchanging gifts.

While we are bombarded with carols and advertisements of the newest gadgets, please don’t overlook the celebration of Christ’s birth.

It was this divine birth that led to the guiltless and sufficient death that now grants us the opportunity of salvation through faith. It is this message of hope that Harvesters and our ministry partners seeks to share with those who have not heard during this season and all others.

Many thanks to those of you who faithfully support Harvesters with your prayers and finances. As you consider your final contributions for this year, remember that only gifts postmarked or otherwise delivered by December 31 qualify for a tax deduction for the current calendar year.

Warmest wishes to you and yours during this blessed timed of year. Click here for giving opportunities

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:6

A Future in Medicine

As Harvesters International Missions (HIM) seeks to reach its goal of establishing 15 new mission stations over the next five years, the need for nurses increases.

Each of the 10 existing mission stations consists of a well, a church that often doubles as a school, a small home for the pastor and a clinic. With each new clinic, there is a need for medical staff.

As the Pokot children are able to start completing secondary school, it is the hope that more and more of them will be able to attend university to be able to train in the areas of medicine, teaching, politics and agriculture. With these skills, these graduates are starting to return to help their people.

One of those who recently completed her medical training is Miriam. Miriam is the wife of Pastor Job, one of the young pastors serving at the first mission station at Chepturu. We praise the Lord for Miriam and the contribution that she is making at the station. She is an example to the young people that she touches. She has completed her medical training as a wife and mother – no easy task.

We pray that others will have the opportunity of education and will find it a pleasure to give back to the Pokot people through the ministry of medicine. In addition to the station clinics, we are also praying that a small hospital will be built within the next five years.

Currently there is no hospital that is easily accessible to most of the tribe. The closest hospital, in Eldoret, takes is at least a day’s journey, if not more, for most Pokot.

Then there is the problem of payment for treatment and the issue of communication. There is a tremendous medical need, and so few qualified to meet that need.

With proper staffing and an adequate supply of medicines the future may hold life expectancies beyond 40 years and more than one in five children living past the age of 4.

Life is hard for the Pokot, but simple medical treatments can drastically improve their lives.

Glad that God has Chosen Us

“Glad that God has Chosen Us.” I heard this from Kamlesh Biarwa of India in October 2006 on my first mission trip to the Pokot. These words hit me hard and drew tears.

I hadn’t thought of that before. I knew God wanted me there and I was excited to be serving Him, but I didn’t realize that God had actually chosen me.

Why would He want me? What did I have to offer? I was baffled and humbled by these words. They still resonate with me today and more and more I’m learning to understand their meaning.

Ten months ago before that trip, I felt that God was calling me to missions but never knew what that really meant. I thought I would maybe make a yearly mission trip, but that would be about it. Yet, on that trip God confirmed His calling and set before me a path that has completely and totally changed my life.

Through the Pokot people, my heart was changed. God used the clinics, the bush, and the beauty of the experience to bring me to the realization that this is what He had for my life. He opened my eyes and my heart.

It was the last night in the bush, on that first trip, when I told my teammates that this was God’s will for me and I was ready to follow. Since that time I’ve spent many hours in prayer and asking the Lord how I could serve Him through missions.

God has been so faithful and has continually laid the path out before me, one step at a time. I’m humbled and honored to say that God has made the way for me.

God has really changed my life in great ways since that trip in October. He took any plans that I had for my life and set them aside, so that I might follow His plans, and for that I am so grateful.

A year ago I would have never imagined that I would be working with full time missions. I am so thankful that God’s ways are not our ways. The path isn’t always clear, but it is straight. It isn’t always easy and sometimes it’s honestly just frustrating. Yet walking in Christ is always good. The Lord does have a plan for each of us.

The Great Commission is not a recommendation. It’s a command to us as believers. Christ meant for us to go and make disciples in all nations and to give to those in need. I’m convinced that we can all do something.

God is calling each of us to the work that He has set for us. I challenge you to seek Christ, do the work of the Lord, and do something for those in need around the world.

There is a great physical need, but more importantly there are so many that have never heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Let us not be still, but active in the work of our Lord.