Sponsorship really does make a difference!
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Orissa is situated on the eastern coast of India, about a 12 hour train trip away from Calcutta in West Bengal. It is an intensely religious state with more temples than all the rest of India combined. The tribal people often combine Hindu religion with the worship of spirit forces which they believe are embodied in wood, water, and animal life. However, the tribals of Orissa are becoming increasingly open to Christianity because it promises social and spiritual equality, something the tribal people have always been denied due to the Hindu caste system. Christianity is seen by Hindu zealots as being a threat to the Hindu way of life and there have been many attempts to drive out Christian evangelists and to intimidate Christian converts. It is a difficult mission field to reach with the gospel.
To grow up in Orissa, India, as a tribal child - without caste, without an education, and often without one or both parents - is to have no hope for the future. Many such children live in tiny, one-room mud huts with only one cot for the entire family. Some must beg for a living. Others earn a few rupees gathering straw or firewood. Due to unsanitary living conditions and no money for medicines, many die from disease and sickness. Many of these children never receive a proper education because the parents are too poor to provide school uniforms and lunches for their children. Consequently these children often have no other destiny but to follow in the path and lifestyle of their parents - a life of crushing poverty, idolatry, and backbreaking labor. They are the poorest of the poor.
Grace Life Ministries in Orissa, India reaches out to poor tribal children, offering them a real hope for the future. Through Canadian sponsorship the children from poverty-stricken areas are given the opportunity to attend a childcare center where they receive nutritious meals, medicine, healthcare, and a high standard of education. They have the opportunity to learn skills that will serve them in the future and lift them out of poverty. Best of all, they will learn about the Lord Jesus Christ and His great love for them.
Grace Life Ministries works with Mission of Mercy, Colorado Springs, USA
Christian evangelists visit these tribal areas and present the gospel of Jesus Christ to the people in hopes of winning them to the Lord and starting a church in the area. They often face physical hardship and financial difficulties because the people are too poor to provide for a pastor. Grace Life Ministries is able to help these workers by providing financial aid through Canadian sponsorship. In this way, some of the burden is lifted.
Pastors such as Peter Khura go into an area to preach the gospel, often traveling long distances on foot, or on a bicycle if they own one. If the people of a particular village are receptive, Peter will continue to visit the village as often as he can, meeting with individuals and winning converts to Jesus Christ. The new Christians will meet together in homes or construct a church building out of mud and thatch. Peter has several preaching points and must travel between them, shepherding each flock on a rotation basis. Pastors and evangelists in Orissa need prayer and intercession as they continue to minister in these tribal areas.
Hello from Orissa, India
To Grace Life Ministries and Canadian Contributors:
“ Greetings in the matchless name of our Savior Jesus Christ the Lord. What a joy it is to serve the great and Almighty God together. We thank and praise God for your love and support to Orissa ..As I visited the pastors and their fields, I saw that really God is moving mightily and saving the souls through the pastors. Although they are struggling due to financial problem, yet they have trust and faith in God for His supernatural provision to meet their necessary needs as house rents, bicycles, tracts, Bibles, etc. We want to have a half-yearly workers' revival meeting so we are praying and believing for the necessary finance. Now Orissa is ready for harvest, where the doors were closed, now they are open. Not by might nor by strength but through My Spirit says the Lord God Almighty. So let us go at once and possess (win) Orissa for Jesus; for we are well able to overcome it. Orissa workers convey their hearty thanks for your love and kind support. May God richly bless you.
Thanking you,
your brother in His service,
Pastor Joseph Mangaraj”
Healed in Jesus' name!
This middle-aged man was suffering from tuberculosis and he was near death. We prayed and God healed him. Now he has come to the Lord and is serving Him. Praise God!
God Does Not Forsake the Aged
This old woman has no one to look after her, but she is so happy in the Lord and strong in prayer and faith. Psalm 37:25 (the righteous are never forsaken by the Lord).
Childcare Needed
This woman's husband died early in life due to demonic oppression and severe poverty. Now they have come to the Lord and we are praying for a childcare home for these kind of children. At the childcare center they would hear about Jesus, receive one meal a day, and they would receive a Christian education . This would be a tremendous help to the parents who are very poor. We are praying about opening up a new Grace Life Ministries childcare.
Grace Life Ministries
Box 3583
Courtenay, B.C. V9N6Z8
Canada
Ph/Fax: (250) 338 2897l
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