We thank God for our partnership with Harvesters. Over the years, we have enjoyed working together to build the Kingdom of God spiritually, socially, and economically.
Last year we embarked on empowering the women in our community through providing micro loans so that they can work to be bread winners. A micro loan can cover a number of projects.
Gertrude
Gertrude is a widow taking care of her three children, one of whom attends our primary school. She also runs a grocery retail store, which was left to her by her late husband. However, this business could not meet their basic needs. She came to our ministry for a micro loan. Since receiving the loan, Gertrude’s business has been picking up so well, and her capital is increasing! She is now in position to efficiently take care of her family.
We have also provided training to other women in the community, together with their husbands, on modern farming. We conducted a workshop in November, which attracted 102 participants. This training enables them to productively use the small plots of land they have to do multiple things.
Emmanuel
Before he gave his life to Jesus Christ, Emmanuel was practicing witchcraft. During his work as a witch doctor, he met a young lady with whom he had a child. Because of her strong Christian faith, his family refused to let her live with them, which forced him to move to Pallisa. While there, he was introduced to River of God Church and was led to Christ five years ago. Through our discipleship programs and practical ministry, Emmanuel has led many to Christ in open-air crusades, door-to-door outreach, and street preaching. Not only that, he has also developed skills in running our church sound system. Currently, Emmanuel runs our daily lunch hour meetings, which draw a huge crowd. He is among those that we are planning to send out this year to plant a new church.
Our passion is to win souls for our Lord from our pagan country, India. India has 1.3 billion people. Approximately 80% are Hindus, 15% are Muslims, and only 4% are Christians. There are 33 million gods and goddesses in India. We are working hard to win souls by conducting mass evangelism through Gospel Crusades. Many are giving their lives to Christ through these Crusades, joining our churches, and growing in the Lord. At the same time, we are encountering a lot of persecution from the government and also from the people in the villages and cities who are Hindu fanatics. We desperately need your prayers and support to conduct these mass Gospel Crusades.
Also, please continue to pray for our training of pastors. So far, we have been able to train 220 students from two Telugu states – Andhra Pradesh and Telangana State. This year, we are training 75 students, which will graduate in August. Some will be starting new ministries in unreached areas. Please continue to pray for all of our pastors and students has they take Jesus to the unreached. Pray for their protection and for provision while they are sharing their faith and the Gospel.