Sion Assembly | India
About The Ministry
Sion Assembly Church (SAC) was established in 1993 in Vijayawada, India by Pastor Ragendra Kumar Yellamelli who continues to lead the ministry today. Vijayawada is a large, rapidly growing city of well over one million people. The spiritual and material needs there are overwhelming. The area population is 91% Hindu and 7% Muslim.
Ministry Focus
SAC has created numerous opportunities to serve the community and share the Gospel including medical clinics, Bible seminars, a prison ministry, and much more. With thriving churches and plans to plant more, training is provided for men to serve as pastors. A daily television broadcast gives them an even wider reach.
SAC operates an orphanage in Vellaturu, which is attached to the church. While the physical needs of each child are met, the ultimate goal is to reach them with the love and care of God. Many widows also receive food through the orphan ministry, and some even stay the night, sleeping on the church floor. The orphanage houses a sewing center where the women are taught to sew so that they can begin to support themselves. Classes and the use of sewing machines are free of charge.
Location
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Evangelism & Church Planting
Harvesters exists to share the gospel and love of Christ around the globe. Among our partners , evangelism takes place in many forms. In many of the countries in which we work, there are high illiteracy rates, so chronological storytelling is the predominant way of sharing the gospel. Some of the people groups do not have written scriptures in their own language and still others have to walk many miles to get to a place of meeting, which may be under a tree or in a secluded room in someone’s home. Evangelistic campaigns and community conferences frequently attract hundreds of people eager to hear the Gospel. Our partners are not just interested in raised hands and altar calls. Relationships and small group discipleship are vital to the spiritual development of those who make decisions to become Christians. Church-planting is an extension of our partners’ evangelistic efforts. Our partner pastors and evangelists often have multiple preaching points that they visit to train, encourage, and shepherd church communities. Our partners are totally sold out for the Lord and put their lives and personal comforts on the line each and every day to share with those who may never have heard and to plant and water seeds of the truth to a lost and dying world. Harvesters offers you the opportunity to provide financial support to these hard-working servants as they bring the Gospel into new areas, often in difficult circumstances. This allows them the economic freedom to focus on the difficult day-in and day-out work of the ministry without the worry of how to provide for their families. Our goal is always that these new churches become self-supporting through the giving of their members, including providing financially for their pastor and staff.
Education & Training
Philosopher John Dewey wrote, “Education is a social process… Education is growth…Education is not a preparation for life; Education is life itself.” Education is a key element of the holistic strategy of our partners. Young people are the future of their communities and our desire is that they are equipped, both physically and spiritually, to rise above their circumstances and have the tools they need to become productive members in, and change agents of, their communities. With a foundation of spiritual development, our partners execute this aspect of their strategies in a number of ways. In many areas, the local church sponsors kindergarten classes. Several partners run their own schools, training centers, or Bible colleges. Others help students by paying school fees or assisting with transportation to and from schools. Our partners use this as an opportunity to teach character, integrity, and Christian values. In Kenya, the four children’s homes are closely aligned with local schools. In India, the thrust of the ministry in this predominately Hindu area is education. All of the partners are conducting conferences and training opportunities within their communities and local churches. Many of our partners are faced with cultural challenges that value what a child can do around the home (fetching water, tending animals, and watching younger children) more than equipping children for the future. In many areas, the infant mortality rate is so high that the majority of children do not live to be adults. Each partner is different, but each one has the goal of helping people develop into the men and women that God intended them to be.
Children & Orphan Care
Children are precious in the sight of the Lord. All of our partners invest themselves in the lives of at-risk children in some way. In Kenya, 900 children are cared for at three homes operated by POM. In Myanmar, 145 children live with house parents from local churches. And in India, several hundred low-caste, predominately Hindu children are shown the love of Christ through their studies. The youth of today are the leaders of tomorrow and we feel that investing in their future offers a sure footing for the continued sharing of the Gospel among the many people groups we work with globally. Whether they are in one of the homes, in class, or participate in one of the sports camps or conferences offered by a partner, each child is loved and valued. They are learning scripture and life skills to prepare them for the future. Several of our partners participate in child sponsorship programs organized by themselves with the assistance of Harvesters or through an incredible partner organization like NoChild.org that sponsors 800 Pokot children!
Medical Services
Many of our partners work in areas that lack roads, sanitation, and electricity, making adequate health a challenge and in many places, nonexistent. Pokot Outreach in Kenya operates a medical clinic that offers reduced cost medical care to people that would otherwise not be able to afford treatment. They treat hundreds of people each month for issues like cholera, typhoid, malaria, and many others. Additionally, each month a mobile clinic is conducted in some of the most remote areas of the Pokot region, offering free care to people who otherwise have no access to medical treatment. Several of the mission stations in Pokot are equipped with small clinics and staffed by nurses. Partners in India and Uganda offer mobile medical camps similar to Pokot in an attempt to reach remote areas with the gospel and medicine they so desperately need. Neither religious nor ethnic background hinders the extension of the hand of compassion by the ministry staff who use difficult cultural and religious situations to build bridges to people and communities rather than to erect walls.
Water
Water is hope. Water is life. Without clean water, physical or spiritual, a body will die. With clean water, communities have an opportunity to thrive, water-borne diseases are reduced, and there is hope for the future. Several of the people groups with which we work are plagued by the lack of access to clean water. Pokot Outreach Ministries, one of our Kenyan partners, has its own drill rig and crew and has been drilling deep-water wells in the arid Pokot area since the mid 1990’s. Kerith Ministry, our Uganda partner, has recently started installing wells in village communities where they are planting churches. Clean drinking water brings not only physical life to the people, but also opens the door to share of the love of Christ. Installation of wells is coordinated with local staff, communities, and church leadership. Water committees are formed in each community that assumes responsibility for the well after it is completed and is trained on managing the vital resource and asset that has been provided. Many communities request that a pastor be posted in their community so that they can learn more about the God that cared enough about them to provide them with life-sustaining water.
Women’s Empowerment
Every person has a purpose and is valued by God. In many cultures, women are not as highly valued as they should be. Our partners are committed to empowering women to reach their full potential and to be confident in their value to God and in society. Women in places like Pokot, Kenya, are often abused by their spouses, and are expected to fetch water, cook meals, care for the children, and build the houses. Women in Rwanda are faced with the horrific effects of sexual abuse and the stigma of HIV. Our partners focus on spiritual development and encouragement of women through the local church. Several partners have formed micro-enterprise groups that help women achieve economic stability, fellowship with other women, and the dignity that comes with being able provide for their families.