Pratim Masih January 2010 Update

Dear Friends and Co-workers in Christ,
We are glad to send you this update.  Praise the Lord for giving us such wonderful time with our families and friends in Chhattisgarh.  We were quite busy and it seemed that our time passed so soon.  We had opportunities to share the gospel with some people and to preach in churches. Aroma enjoyed playing with friends and Reuben enjoyed fishing almost every day with his uncle.  There was a talent show program for all the Christian boys and girls in Dhamtari.  Reuben and his friends took part in it.  They played a small skit and got the second prize.

One evening as I was praying in Mussoorie before we left for Chhattisgarh, the lord told me to buy shawls for three Hindu women of a Sahu (a caste in Chhattisgarh) family in Chhattisgarh.  One of these women is Vinita’s friend and two of them are her sister in laws.  The younger sister in law is the Head of the village. I shared this with Vinita and we agreed to obey the Lord not knowing how it would work.  We visited them in the village and presented a shawl and a copy of the New Testament to each one of them.  We have done as He asked us to do and we believe that the Lord is going to do something in this family.   Pray for this Sahu family.

We celebrated the New Year with Vinita’s parents.  They live in a village which is 10 minutes drive form my home town.  It was also a joy for me to be there because I started a church in this village  a few years before we moved to Mussoorie.  We owned a house here and I started the church in that house.  When we moved to Mussoorie, I handed over this church to our home church (‘The Church Of God’ in Dhamtari). This church is growing in number.  Many new converts from surrounding villages have joined this church.  Some of them come to the church secretly.   They are persecuted by their community for coming to church.  New believers face so much persecution in Chhattisgarh.  I preached in this church on 3rd  January 2010.  I always feel attached to this church.  In the village we were invited by an ‘Adiwasi ‘(people live like early man) family for a ‘Chhat-thi Bhoj’ (feast given on the sixth day after a child is born).  In the village when there is any feast, people are made to sit down on the ground and are served food on leaves; plates.  We loved to eat with them.  If it is God’s will, I want to come back to Chhattisgarh to work among the ‘Adiwasi’ in future.   Pray for His guidance for us and if it is His will, He would open a door for us.

Our Church has started an orphanage in this village church.  There are 13 girls and 3 boys from 7 years to 12 years old.  I was filled with joy to see these small children leading the worship service playing tambourines and drums.  They get up at 5 o’clock and spend one and a half  hours in prayer and worship.  They memorize Bible verses and recite in church on Sunday.  Running an orphanage is a wonderful ministry.  It gives 98 % to 100% result.  I believe that all of these children will become Christians.  Pray for them.

I was invited to speak at a three day convention held by a small church in another town (three hours journey by bus from Dhamtari).  All the members of this church are new believers.  During these three days I had to go to different families for breakfast, lunch and dinner.   I was blessed by their testimonies.  The Lord has done great miracles in their lives.  One lady who invited me for the breakfast was mad for seven years and her family spent so much money on her treatment all ,in vain.  Finally she was brought to the church and the Lord healed her and she accepted the Lord.  She shared the gospel with her relatives and now her daughter, son in law and her own sister have accepted the Lord.  Another family invited me for  lunch.  In this family the husband and wife both are teachers.  The husband was also mad and was healed by prayer, but did not accept the Lord and after some time his sugar went so high even doctors could not control.  He came to the church again for prayer and was healed and then he, his wife and children all accepted the Lord.

One man shared his testimony at the convention.  He was a witch doctor in the village.  He had evil power and even the police and government officers respected him.  First his son came to the Lord and when he came to know this he chased his son with an axe to chop off his head.  But now he has accepted the Lord.  When he became a Christian, one day he was going to some other village through the forest and the devil came to him in a human form and said, “Come back to me I will give you all power.”  But he rejected him.  He is an illiterate, but by His grace now he can read the Bible.  The believers of this church have endured much suffering.  Some of them have been rejected by their families and have lost all their possessions.  They are all poor people but are rich in their faith.  What a blessing it was for me to be there for those three days!  Please pray for these new believers.

We are back in Mussoorie, but our hearts still in Chhattisgarh.  Reuben and Aroma have one more month holiday.  Their school resumes from 2nd March 2010.

Co-workers in Christ,
Pratim and Vinita