Missionary Challenge

M I S S I O N A RY CHALLENGE
by
MOSES PAULOSE
Published by BODY OF CHRIST MINISTRIES Rameswaram 623 526, Tamil Nadu, India
MISSIONARY CHALLENGE Moses Paulose
4th Edition, 2009

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Published by
BODY OF CHRIST MINISTRIES

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www.unreachedvillages.org www.bcmindia.org
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DEDICATION
This book is dedicated first and foremost to the glory of God. Then I wish to dedicate this to the godly women in my life. God blessed me with a praying mother who demonstrated through her life the joy of serving God with a whole heart. Also my wife, Sarojam, who has been a constant and faithful support and has persevered through all of our suffering and rejoiced with me in all of Gods victories.
Missionary Challenge
As you read through the pages of this book, you are having glimpses of the true life of a pioneer in India and is the profile Of
Body of Christ Ministries

Rameswaram, South India. We invite to partner with us today, together we can fulfill the great commission of Lord Jesus Christ to reach the unreached.
CONTENTS
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7 Foreword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11 1. Seek those things that are above . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13 2. To Seek others well being . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 3. Not only to believe but also to suffer . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . 35 4. The Birth of the Vision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .51 5. As Sheep for the slaughter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 6. With God nothing shall be impossible . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 7. Do not fear him who can kill the body only . . . . . . . . . 81 8. Walk forward without shame . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 9. God is our Protector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 10. Beseech the Lord of the harvest . . . . . . . . . . . . . .101 11. The Fields are white for harvest . . . . . . . . . . . . . .119 12. Testimonies from the Fields & Trainees. . . . . . . . . . .131 13. As a light that shines in a dark place. . . . . . . . . . .153 14. This new thing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167 15. Helping the suffering body of Chirst. . . . . . . . . . 187 16. Training Center. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
INTRODUCTION
As a new Christian, emerging from the fog of youth some thirty years ago, I learned that, about every time my heart beats, someone on the other side of the world dies and enters into eternity, without ever hearing about Jesus. That haunting fact has driven me ever since. I first met Moses Paulose in October, 1983. We were journeying together with a team of Indian evangelists, on a small diesel boat, through the unreached backwaters of Kerala, South India. I was a clueless and forgettable young American, pummeling his patience with relentless questions, as we plied those quiet waters toward remote villages. But I remember him. As we spoke, it became plain that he wielded a palpable connection with God, such as I had never before encountered. Along with that, he imparted a contagious and clarion vision for reaching Indias lost for Jesus. He understood his place in Gods Kingdom, and his purpose on earth. His life was forfeit, for the sake of bringing as many souls on earth into that Kingdom as he could. This book is intended as your introduction; not to Moses Paulose, but to those on whose behalf he has written this: the 500,000 villages in India where the Name of Jesus has not yet been heard, and the growing army of native disciples, who are prepared and purposed to plant new churches in those villages, or die trying. Your servant in Jesus, Stan Avery Treasurer, UNREACHED VILLAGES (UV)
FOREWORD
Since 1983 it has been such a distinct pleasure to walk with this man whose testimony is in the following book. I have read this testimony, but more than that, I have witnessed the living out of this testimony before it was ever written with pen and ink. Paulose is a man whom the Spirit of God has chose to move upon in a powerful way. He is a living epistle. His devotion to Christ is dynamic. His spiritual discipline is unparalleled. His distinct ministry grows daily in influence and inspiration. Paulose is a man who did not listen to the karvah spirit to leave his family behind. His wife is a holy helpmate and his two sons and five daughters walk in the Spirit of Christ. He is a man of the Word, of the Spirit, of prayer, and of great compassion for the lost and dying of our world. He is a visionary who has personally accepted responsibility to see that the Gospel of Christ is faithfully preached, especially in the places where His name has never been uttered. It is his goal and spiritual ambition to see that thousands of young men and women be trained in Rameswaram to go to all the world. I believe he will see that goal fulfilled and youll understand why after you read his testimony. Prayerfully, Rev. Farrell Fisher Founder and President of Macedonian Ministries
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PREFACE
Dearly beloved, I bless you in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. The content of this book contains my life story. I have shared my testimony with thousands at crusades, conferences and churches. They have encouraged me to write this book. After much prayer and fasting the Lord Jesus Christ appeared to me to write this book. My prayer is that those who read this book will receive grace and courage to stand fast in any trial, temptation or persecution that may come against them. My hope is that this testimony will ignite your heart with a passion for Jesus Christ. That this passion will kindle a fire to share the Gospel with a dying generation that is in the world without hope. Though the times may change, God remains the same. The calling, counsel, protection, comfort and faithfulness of God are evident in my testimony. Those who are suffering in the present should take comfort that God will do the same for them. We only have one life. Gods Word will enable us to live it in the right way. Jesus, the author of our salvation, suffered for us, leaving us an example that we should follow in His steps (1 Peter 2:21 NKJV). To be empowered to follow, we must receive His grace. For the Twenty-First Century Church this will be a blessing in many ways. So in His presence and in His glory, I humbly submit this book. May the living Christ speak to each one of you as you read of His faithfulness. Pastor M. Paulose Rameswaram
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SEEK
THOSE THINGS THAT ARE ABOVE
If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.
- Colossians 3:1
This book is the testimony of the Lord in the lives of my family and many others who have joined themselves to us for the sake of the ministry. Our lives have been poured out as a drink offering to Jesus who alone is worthy. It has been over thirty-five years since the Lord called me into full time ministry. Please read this book acknowledging that there is a benefit of knowing some of the results of the choices that have been made. You will read many testimonies of powerful and miraculous interventions of the Lord, including miracles of healing and deliverance from harm. You will also read of the suffering and persecution that we endured for many years and still continue to face now in some areas of the ministry as we battle for the souls of the lost in India. I often ask the Lord, What has been the reason for all the suffering and hardships our ministry has endured for the gospel? This is His answer to me: To show that He has taken us to the lowest place so that we will understand what the mission field is truly like; that the blessing will come at the end of the age. So that we can encourage thousands of workers who are going through similar circumstances. To help them understand that Gods grace is always sufficient to their every need and to uphold them in times of difficulty, and to help them be overcomers that stand and do not grow weary when times are tough.
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MISSIONARY CHALLENGE
To show that, through all these trials, He has been forming in us the very character of Christ. That we will be a blessing and an encouragement to others in the end. Through our life experiences, He has birthed in us a compassion for the poor and needy ministers and their families and compelled us to reach out to help and extend a hand to comfort them. By the grace of God, we have entered into a time of reaping what has been sowed for three decades. We are sending out missionaries who are themselves suffering as we did and we are able to do so with understanding of their circumstances. We are reaching out and comforting and helping ministers who are in the midst of their time of testing and endurance. Gods ways are perfect and we are thankful for each trial and test that we endured and passed by the all-sufficient grace of God. We say with the apostle Paul (Phil. 3:8-10 KJV) Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death.
THE BEGINNING
I was born in 1947 and raised in Kerala, South India, in the town of Thiruvananthapuram. It is a beautiful state with mountains, fertile fields, lush green coconut groves and miles of sandy beaches. I was brought up in what some people called a Christian home. My mother and father were members of the Church of South India (originally the Church of England). Even though they attended church they had no personal relationship with the Lord.
SEEK THOSE THINGS THAT ARE ABOVE
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I was the fifth boy born into my family. My father was a very prosperous landlord, on our land we raised various crops including coconut. Our life was joyful until my fifth year when we were suddenly hit by sickness. My three older brothers Father, Mother, Yesudas & Moses died. My older brother Yesudas and I thought we had escaped the illness. Suddenly, it struck us as well. In South India we tell a proverb about a Great Green Tree. The tree is very beautiful and fruitful, suddenly little worms come to it and begin to eat the leaves. The worms destroy the tree. My family was like that tree, the sickness came and began to destroy it. My parents took us to the hospital, but it didnt help at all. At the point of death they carried us to the church to receive prayer. By the grace of God and through the diligent prayers of our parents, we were completely healed and given new life. Because of this, my mother and aunt committed their lives completely to the Lord. My fathers heart did not change and he went on as before. A Pentecostal pastor named Sathiyadas who came from a rich family and was highly educated came to our area to start a church. When my mother learned of this new work and the prayer meetings they were conducting, she went to them with great joy and thanksgiving in her heart. She made arrangements with the pastor to host a prayer meeting in our house once a week. We had no electricity in our home; therefore, the pastor would come with a kerosene lamp and a drum. My father told him he could not light the lamp or beat the drum. My father threatened him that if he disobeyed his counsel, he would break the lamp and drum and cast the pastor out of our house. As the pastor proceeded, my father drove the man of God from our house. Because of bitterness, anger and unforgiveness, my father despised the spirit-filled life. We were so ashamed of the way he treated this man of God. The Pastor felt called to forty days of prayer and fasting. My mother had taken ill and went to the prayer house to receive prayer. She was totally
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healed and received the baptism of the Holy Spirit and was baptized with water. When my father learned she had been baptized, he began to persecute her. He dragged her out of our house and cast her into the public road and began to beat her like an animal. He publicly humiliated her. When her body was broken and bloody the Spirit filled her with joy and she began to greatly rejoice. My father then turned his anger on Yesudas and me. He sent us out into the street as beggars and told us we could never return to his house. Despite this, our mother started to encourage us with the Word of God by saying, though your earthly father has forsaken you, your Heavenly Father would never leave you nor forsake you. Because we had received Jesus as our savior, humiliations and homelessness had come into our lives. We had no resources for any food. But in all this our mother was persevering with great joy. She taught us a very valuable lesson. This was a most difficult time for us. Imagine being raised for ten years in a very prosperous home and then to be suddenly thrown out into the streets by your own father, and to be left with nothing. In a childs heart there are many expectations and dreams. One expectation is to have the love of their father and mother. They expect to have all their needs and desires met by their parents. This was no longer true in our lives. My mother did not have the resources to meet any of our needs. She was suffering greatly just to provide the food we needed to sustain life. Seeing her suffer like this broke my heart. I was always looking for some opportunity to help in any way I could. I began to think that I needed to grow up very fast so I could go to work to help. I so wanted to be able to dry the tears that my mother cried. Walking in the streets I saw the men working. They were driving taxies or trucks and I began to dream that I would grow up and do these things to earn money. Then I could support my family and do the work of the Lord.
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We continued to pray for the Lord to touch my fathers heart. A severe sickness came upon him. As he was lying on his death bed, he requested that someone come and pray for him. My mother went to the pastor and told him. He went to my father and laid hands on him and the Lord Jesus healed my father instantly. He came out of his traditional religious church, repented of his sins and received water baptism. This physical healing also healed our family. The Lord filled my father with His Spirit immediately after he was baptized with water. My father was so excited about what God had done in his life that he began to tell everyone that he met about the love of our Lord Jesus. With great joy the whole family began to minister together. My mothers suffering for the sake of the Gospel had produced much fruit. Isaiah 41:18 says the Lord declares I will open rivers in desolate heights and fountains in the midst of the valleys. I will make the wilderness a pool of water. And the dry land, springs of water. This is what welled up in my heart as my whole family stood together to minister the love and Word of God. The Lord put faith into my heart to see Sauls turned into Pauls by the touch of the Master. THE CALL TO MINISTRY In 1966, I learned to drive and got my license to be a driver (remember my desire at the age of 10). I was small for my age and my feet did not reach the accelerator or brake pedals. I didnt let this stop me, however, as I put a pillow behind my back to support me and continued to drive. I began to dream of owning my own truck to help support my family and other Christians in the ministry. The Lord spoke to me directly. He said, Paulose rather than money, I want you full time for ministry. As soon as I heard the voice of the Lord, I had a desire to go to the mission field of North India. I wanted to share the joy and happiness in my heart with others, not only in India, but also all over the world. Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy fathers house, unto a land that I will show thee: - Gen 12:1
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Since I was the youngest son the relationship between my father and me had grown very strong. We had drawn very close over the years and had developed a very close and loving bond. Because of this I struggled to separate from him for the ministry. God spoke to me at this time and brought to my mind the words of Luke 14:26, 27, 33 (NKJV), If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father, mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes his life also, he cannot be my disciple. And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me, cannot be my disciple. Also Matthew 10:37-39, He who loves father and mother more than me is not worthy of me. And he who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me. He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for my sake will find it. After the Lord spoke these things loudly to my heart I submitted my whole life and will to my Master, the Lord Jesus Christ. I had heard about an organization called Operation Mobilization (OM) and God birthed the desire in my heart to join the ministry. When my will and desire lined up with that of the Lords, He opened the door for me to go. There is a proverb in India about churning butter. After much work when the butter is almost finished the churn breaks and the almost-formed butter spills out and is ruined. In such a way, someone told my father that I was leaving to go to the mission field. He came to me and hugged me. He told me he was a very old man and the only desire he had left was that I stay by his side until he died. With tears of love my father told me that the last thing he wanted to see as he died was my face. At this same moment, the Lord spoke to my heart and said, Paulose, wherever you may be at the time of your fathers death, I will speak to you. You will be able to come and see your father before he dies. Then you will be able to bury him in peace. In order to fulfill the will of God and begin the work He had called me to I had to leave. Because of the close ties to my parents I was trying to leave without their knowledge. As my father left for the fields one day, I took my bag and ran to the bus stand to await the bus. My father
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returned from work at the end of the day and found me gone. He was very disappointed. As I boarded the bus, much to my surprise, my father was standing in the bus in his field clothes all sweaty and muddy. I was in the front of the bus, he was in the back. He said to me, My beloved son, wherever you go please take me with you. He started to beg and plead with me to take him also. This was very difficult for me. I loved my father greatly, but I knew I had to obey the call of God on my life. I did not know how to make him understand that I had to go and that I had to go alone. The bus driver gave me the signal that the bus was leaving. The bus started to move and my father was still holding on to the rail. The conductor asked me where I was going and how many tickets I wanted to purchase. I told him the name of the town I needed to travel to and that I would purchase just one ticket. He asked me, What about this old father? I told him that I did not know what my fathers plans were. He had the driver stop the bus and told my father that he needed to buy a ticket or get off the bus. My father asked me to buy his ticket and with a heavy heart I refused. Finally the conductor pushed my father to the floor of the bus. My heart was breaking seeing my father like this. With tears in his eyes my father got off the bus and returned to his field. I cried as the bus pulled away from him.
Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.
- John 12:24
My mind was racing even faster than the bus. I had all sorts of questions I put before God. Here I was leaving everything that was familiar to me, my birth place, hometown, my parents home and family. I wondered what would happen to my father and mother. I was traveling to northern India, a new place, new culture, new language, and even the food would be different. Then I knew in my heart that for the sake of the Gospel, one must be willing to lose everything. Only then can we achieve great things for God.
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I believe that you cannot be a true disciple if you love anyone or anything more than Jesus. God then birthed in my mind to live and do things that had eternal value.
This one thing changed my life so much. I wanted to give my whole life to preaching the truth of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. I made a decision to give my first priority to Jesus. The Apostle Paul in Colossians 3:1 said: If you are raised with Christ seek those things which are above. By this word I received the comfort, counsel and encouragement I needed to keep my journey going. Most Christians think we can expect to receive only those things from the Lord that are good. But many times we forget that God in return expects certain things from us as we live our lives for Him. We look for a good lifestyle, a good education, the perfect husband or wife expecting God to provide them without any hardship or difficulty. We expect a joyful, godly life. However, the Word of God says in Col. 3:1 If you are raised with Christ (first you must identify with His death, then only can you be raised with Him) seek those things that are above. So, dearly beloved, seek those things which are above!! Seek heavenly things rather than seeking the things of the world. Do not seek idols of stone and sand, the works of mens hands, but seek only those things of the Living God. I exhort you not to seek degrees or positions, but the heavenly Father. Not the pleasures of this present world, but Christ and His cross. The only life we have should not be spent living for sin or for ourselves but through the help of the Holy Spirit seek eternal life as Matthew 7:7 says, Seek and you will find.
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TO SEEK OTHERS WELL BEING
Let no one seek his own good, but that of his neighbor.
1 Corinthians 10:24
God truly opened a wonderful opportunity for me by getting me into OM (Operation Mobilization). God did so many things in my life while I was involved with their ministry. He transformed my heart, my life and molded my ministry. Truly, Gods Spirit moved in my life in those days. 1 Peter 2:21 tells us, To this you were called, that you might suffer and follow in His footsteps. This was the foundation that the Lord built in my life. These words that God spoke into my life came to effect the rest of my ministry. While working with Operation Mobilization, Dr. George Verwer and Ian Farr were my teachers. They had great input into my life and played a formative role in molding me into a disciple of Jesus. They taught by the example of their lives how to be a disciple of the Lord. I really saw a witness of the power of the Lord moving through their lives. In their personal lives and in their ministry the Lord was evident. Gods grace and the gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit were continually being manifested through their lives and in their relationships with others. Their everyday life was an inspiration. Because of the intense training I received through OM, I felt equipped to go anywhere in my country. Regardless of the culture, language, food or anything, I felt I was fully equipped to minister in any circumstance. They also taught me how to rejoice in my suffering. They instructed us that no matter what our circumstances might be, we could fully bring forth the gospel and the life of Jesus Christ.
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The Lord enabled me to visit all but two states in India, they were Assam and Nagaland. I worked with OM from 1966 until 1972. I had a brother in the Lord in OM named Stephen. We were preaching in the streets of a village when the police came, put chains on us and took us to prison. The police were called because the RSS was persecuting us. The RSS is a very radical and militant Hindu religious group. They believe that only the Hindu religion should be preached in India and all over the world. They have taken a vow to kill Preaching with OM any person of any faith other than Hindu. These men came against us while we were preaching the gospel of Jesus. They demanded that we stop preaching! When we refused to stop, they beat us severely and tore our clothes. Someone who witnessed the severity of the beating called the police thinking they would stop the continued abuse. When the police arrived they too tried to stop us from preaching. The police put us in chains and the beating stopped. They took us to the police station, this act removed us from the RSS and protected us from further abuse. On the way to the police station I began to sing in Hindi, the language that is spoken in northern India. I sang a Hindi praise song. I felt comfortable singing this song because the police were protecting us. I knew that the people along the way would hear the words to the song and understand it. I also sang because I did not know what awaited me. I did not know if I was to be put into prison, and for how long or what would happen to me there. I felt that this was my greatest opportunity to preach the gospel to those around me. Under the protection of the police I began to sing the gospel. The literal translation of the song into English is: From the wounds of His hands, a blood river is flowing. Whoever will take a bath in the river of blood will be completely forgiven and totally healed. Jesus Christ is our redeemer and He died on the cross and shed his blood to make the river. I believe in Him.
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The police became very angry with me as I sang this song. I did not know a lot of Hindi at this time in my life. I knew this song and enough to preach, but not much more. A policeman turned to me and said in Hindi, Shut your mouth! I did not understand what he had said to me so I just repeated the same words in Hindi that he spoke to me, Shut your mouth! They thought, WOW, this guy must be someone big and important to talk to us that way. They discussed this amongst themselves and decided they needed to do a better job of protecting us. When we arrived at the station the policeman on duty asked why were we brought there? We used this as an opportunity to preach the gospel to everyone standing around in the station. As we preached the man who was the highest ranking officer was granted repentance from the Lord. He received Jesus right there at that very time. As he was receiving the saving grace of Jesus Christ he released us from custody. We rejoiced as we went back into the streets to preach more of the gospel.
A LIFE POURED OUT

While I was traveling in northern India I traveled through hundreds of villages that had never heard the name of Jesus, not even once. I began to search for a reason why the church had never preached the gospel to these unreached peoples. With the help of the Holy Spirit I began to realize that most Christians do not have the willingness in their lives to go to places like that. I began to search my own heart and asked the Lord if there was anything in my life I could sacrifice, give or do to reach all these people. After a very short inventory of the assets in my life, I realized that I had nothing to give but myself. So I made an agreement with the Lord that I would give my life as a living sacrifice to reach these people. I made a commitment to the Lord for the sake of the furtherance of His gospel, that I would follow after Him no matter what it cost me. I made the commitment to the Lord that I would give Him anything I had available to reach these people. I soon learned that it would include my very own blood.
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God gave me grace and opened the door for me to work on a ship called the Logos. While on the ship we traveled to Kuwait, Dohr which is in Tamil (a country in the Arabian Sea area) and to Doubai. Even though I was in these Muslim countries in the Middle East, always my heart was yearning to be back in my own country telling my people about Jesus. The burden of all the lost souls in India was always on my mind. The burden became so intense that I began to cry out to the Lord and asked Him how I could reach all these unsaved people? How could I present the gospel to these unreached Asian people groups in a way that would move them to salvation? The Lord spoke to me by the Spirit and told me if I could get a movie projector I could go to all these people and show them on film the gospel of Jesus. If they could just see the death of Jesus on the cross and witness His resurrection, it would speak into their lives the very life that Jesus gave for them. The movie showing the love Jesus had for them would present the gospel in a way they could understand and receive. As soon as the Lord spoke these things into my heart I found a friend on the ship and shared all the Lord has spoken to me. I asked him if he knew how I could purchase a movie projector. This man understood my financial situation. I did not even have one dollar to my name. At that time, we were in Kuwait and blood was worth a lot of money because it was in short supply. My friend suggested that I should sell my blood to earn the money needed to buy the projector. Jesus had given His blood for me so I could partake in His kingdom. I decided at this point that I wanted to give my blood so that others might partake of the kingdom too. I was very lean at this time of my life. I only weighed 120 pounds. The burden was so heavy on me and the conviction and desire so great that I was willing at any cost to get the projector. I would use any means available to me, even selling my own blood. With excitement in my heart I went to the doctor and explained to him what I wanted to do. The doctor told me that they had no need for my blood. They did not take my blood because I was too small to be a good candidate for giving
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blood. He sent me away. I was so discouraged and disappointed that I returned to the ship. The next morning I went back to the hospital to try again. By Gods grace a different doctor was there and he ran tests on my blood. It was the first time I even knew what type of blood I had. I turned out that I was A positive and they were over stocked in that blood type. They did not need my blood, so once again I was sent back to the ship. As I was walking back to the ship I asked the Lord if He could change my blood type. I asked a lot of different people if this was possible. All of them told me no, and I became discouraged even more. Upon returning to the ship I went to the ships doctor and told him what I was trying to do. This man had great compassion on my situation. He wrote me a letter of recommendation to the doctor in Kuwait, asking him to please accept my blood. The next morning I went back to the hospital for the third time. It was different this time because I was armed with a letter of recommendation. Because of the letter and my persistence they agreed that they would draw my blood. I was so happy when they told me they would take my blood and pay me for it. I was as happy as a little child who gets cookies and candy. I went jumping all over the hospital compound. The glory of God was shining through my face. I was so excited that I was literally beaming with joy. They took me to a room, laid me on the bed, put the needle in my arm and began to draw my blood. Ten ounces of blood came flowing out of my body. Suddenly the flow of blood stopped. That was all that would come out. I was in such a weak physical condition that no more would come. I was malnourished because I had been very seasick on our voyage. My cabin was in the most inner part of the ship as well as the back side of the compartment. I had been seasick for months. When the blood stopped I asked the doctor if that was enough blood to provide me with the money to buy the projector. He told me no! I had only given enough blood to pay for half of the projector. I asked the doctor if there was any way for me to get more blood out of my body. I had nothing else to give and I would give it all. My blood was the only thing I had that
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would give me the money to buy the projector. He told me to relax and pump my hand. That would help to increase the pressure and allow more blood to flow out of your heart. I would then have enough money for the projector. I began to pump my hand and the blood began to flow again. As I gave more blood, I became very weak and shaky. I felt very overwhelmed, like the life was leaving my body. I had become engaged before I left India. As the blood was flowing out of my body Satan whispered to me, Paulose, you will never go back to India and you will never marry. Even as the devil was speaking these things in my ear, Holy Spirit began to speak to my spirit. He called to me, Paulose, and He spoke life to me and told me things that would happen in my ministry. I had a vision, a map of the world appeared. Asia and India were right before my eyes. The Holy Spirit was crying over this area and told me what I was doing was right. I saw a movie projector showing the movie about Jesus and thousands were sitting and watching the movie. They were crying out for forgiveness of their sins and asking Jesus to come and save their lives. The Lord spoke to me, You will reach multitudes with the gospel. During the vision I continued to pump my hand and the blood continued to flow. When the vision was finished the bottle of blood was full and they took the needle out of my arm. As soon as the needle was out of my arm I was a frantic man. I wanted the money immediately. On the way to the hospital I had stopped at the market to find a projector. There was one projector left. I was in a hurry to get back to the market to purchase it. When they finally gave me the money, I counted it over and over the whole time, contemplating the fact that it had come to me through the giving of my blood. I counted every bill and on every one of them I saw a movie projector and peoples lives being transformed through watching the movie about Jesus. As I went to the market and purchased the projector I was so excited that the very vision the Lord had given me was coming to pass. I could now take this projector back to India and preach the gospel of Jesus to the people.
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Throughout the earlier years of my ministry, whenever I used this projector to preach the gospel, I would often sit and watch the people. I would think that this is the value of my life, this is what my blood was able to give. It was so useful in the early days of preaching the gospel in my country. Through OM I realized a truth about my ministry. It would be more effective if I ministered with a group of people instead of individually. I learned three things while working with OM. The Holy Spirit showed me through their ministry the following: 1)The value of brotherhood, serving with another and serving one another, 2)The importance and necessity of submission one to another, 3)Like Paul, I needed to learn to be content in any and every situation. I had many experiences, some of them were very, very good and others were terrible. It was important that I learn how to be content in all circumstances. I would like to share with you some of my experiences.
He did not come to be served, but He came to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many.
Mark 10:45
In India we have a caste system. In the middle class of the caste system when you eat as a guest in someones house you are served your food on a banana leaf instead of something like a paper plate. When you are through with your meal, if you are not in a lower caste, you just leave your banana leaf lying there and someone from the lower caste will come and clean up after you. While I was part of OM, there was a Western missionary eating with us one day. When we were finished eating, this man came and got my banana leaf and took it and threw it away. This challenged me very much. In Mark 10:45 the Lord said, He did not come to be served, but
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He came to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many. This Scripture spoke very strongly to me in my heart and in my mind. I began to believe what the Scripture said, that it is a blessing to be a servant to others.
Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind let each of you regard one another as more important than himself;
Phil 2:3 NASB
Pastor Moses deliver breakfast to the Children's home
On another occasion we were traveling together in the state of Bihar, which is close to Calcutta. When we traveled in India, we usually traveled in either some kind of truck or in a van. This time however we were walking. While we were walking we discussed the need to look for a place where we could spend the night. We began to look for a church to stay in. We could not find even one church in the state of Bihar. In this particular state, literally hundreds and thousands of missionaries had been killed for preaching the gospel. The name of this state in our language is literally the state of the martyrs. As we were walking along we ran into an English missionary in one of the villages. Our team leader talked to the missionary. He then led us to the missionarys house and told us this is the place we would be spending the evening.
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In the room we were to stay in there were many cots. We each went to a cot and sat down. They were so soft and comfortable. There were seven cots and eight of us. As I was looking at the cots, I noticed that one of them had a set of springs beneath it that would make it extra comfortable. I spied it out and decided that it was the one I would spend the night in. As soon as we were finished with our ministry for the day I ran back to the room and placed all my stuff on that cot. I then laid down and put a cloth over my face so it would appear that I was already asleep and snoring. It was also the only cot in the room that was placed underneath a fan. So, I felt like I was in heaven there with a soft cot and a cool breeze. I had rushed back to the room and taken that cot because everyone had sat on that cot earlier that afternoon. They all knew how soft if was and that it was underneath the fan. Everyone was rushing to get back, but I had beaten them all. As I was lying there pretending I was sleeping and snoring, my mind was awake and active. As I was lying there, I couldnt shake the thought that there were eight of us and only seven cots. I began to wonder who was the one who would be left without a cot. I didnt know but I wondered who it could be. After lying there for an hour, my conscience became very heavy on me. I got up and slowly began to look around. What I saw pierced my heart to the extent that I couldnt even move because I was so stunned by what I was seeing! There was no room anywhere in the house. People were sleeping everywhere. I looked out and on the verandah laying on a piece of newspaper was the English missionary. He was shaking all over because he was cold. The verandah was made out of stone. I tried to wake him by shaking him, but the Lord had blessed him with supernatural deep sleep that I could not arouse him. So, I went back and laid in my comfortable cool cot, but I could not sleep. All night long I laid there thinking about this man who came all this way and preferred his brother over himself, that brother being an Indian man, me. That brother taught me a great lesson that night. I too wanted to live my life without selfishness and without thinking only of myself. As I laid there that night I determined in my heart that I would live my life like this missionary and prefer others over myself. As the Word says in Philippians 2:3, Con-
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sider others more important than yourselves.

Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.
Mat 5:24 KJV
Another incident that happened while I was with OM would constantly come up in my teaching through the years. It happened in Bangalore. Once a week while I was in OM they would give us mutton and rice to eat. We would all look forward to that day because we knew we would all get to eat a good meal. There was one particular weekend when we bought our mutton early in the morning and then we prepared it. We had to skin it and clean it before we cooked it. As it was cooking it smelled so good. When it was finished we left the meal uneaten and went out into the mission field. We did not eat until we were finished for the day. As we ministered that day I could still smell that mutton. As I was handing out tracts and talking to people I could still smell it and the taste would even come into my mouth. I couldnt wait to get back to the house and eat that mutton. Finally the end of the day came. We had worked hard all day. We all rushed back to the house in anticipation of our meal of mutton. What we saw when we got home horrified us. We had been sent out in teams of two to work and some of our team had gotten back early. When I returned my plate was clean and hanging up in the cupboard. I asked everyone where my food had gone. One of the early comers had eaten my portion of that daily meal. Since I got back very late, that plate was sitting there for over an hour and the person who ate the food thought it had been left over, since nobody had taken notice that Paulose did not have his meal yet. He had not known whose plate it was, either. Our team leader was Ian Farr. He went and talked to others in our group, trying to find out whose food he had eaten. One of the brothers told him it was mine. He came to me and confessed to me that he had eaten the food and not known whose it was. He told me the food in his stomach was churning around and not digesting well. His conscience was bothering him and his stomach continued to bother him.
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There is an old Indian proverb about the way a worm jumps around in a fire. He felt that the food was jumping around in his stomach much as the worm jumps around in the fire. When he realized it was my food he had eaten, he began to inquire among the Indians what would be the best way to come to me and apologize and ask for my forgiveness. Someone suggested that asking forgiveness would not fill my empty stomach and that what he needed to do was go out and buy some food for my meal. He told them that he would do both. First, he would come to me and ask for my forgiveness, then he would go buy me some food. One of the Indian brothers told him that the most honorable act of forgiveness would be to take me into a room and as I stood before him to lie prostrate at my feet and plead for forgiveness. They told him that if he would do this, no matter what had happened forgiveness would come. He took me into a room and fell prostrate before me and began to cry. Tears began to fall on my feet and roll onto the floor. He asked over and over again, Please forgive me. I really didnt understand why he was behaving in such a manner. The Lord taught me a lesson through this mans humility of the importance of asking one another for forgiveness, even over little things like eating someone elses mutton. This man was so convicted and so passionately seeking my forgiveness. It has taught me a life long lesson of submission to one another, walking in true humility and asking for forgiveness even in the small things. I immediately had completely forgiven Ian. In Matthew 5:23 & 24 the Lord instructs us that as we go to the altar to bring a gift to the Lord and there remember that our brother has ought against us, we are to leave our gift at the altar and go immediately to our brother and ask his forgiveness. Then, you can come back and offer your gift to the Lord. From that day onward I strove to be sensitive to the Spirit of God and conviction to always ask forgiveness if there was anything I had done and to seek forgiveness if I had offended others. So often in my childhood I had seen Christian people so unwilling to forgive one another and quarreling over the least important things. I had seen Christians physically fighting one another and suing another in
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a court of law. Somehow these Christian people have no conviction of the Spirit or any guilt in their life. These people never go to one another and ask for forgiveness or reconciliation. Even on the rare occasion that one would go and ask forgiveness it would be refused. The other determined to stay in unforgiveness and anger. Then, bitterness would well up inside them. This one action of this Western missionary showed the importance and power of going to one another and truly seeking forgiveness and asking to be forgiven from the heart. I became very, very close friends with a young man during these days in OM. His name is K.P. Yohannan. He was a living example of Christ to many people. I would sometimes refer to him as a living martyr. It was truly a work of God in his life that he always sought the good of others and never what was good for himself. The passion of the things of God truly burned in his soul. His only desire was to do Gods will and to see Gods will fulfilled in the earth. In his willingness to lay down his life in those days, by his sacrificial giving, I literally saw thousands of people come to the Lord.
Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier.
2 Tim 2:3 NASB
In 1 Corinthians 9 Paul tells us that he had certain rights as an apostle. And he had certain rights as a Christian and a man of God. Yet, for the good of other people he was willing to sacrifice his rights that others might come to know Christ. On the earth men who serve in the military and in armies are put under a lot of rules and regulations. Those who work hard, serve well and do a good job receive a reward. In the same manner, Paul is exhorting us who are in a heavenly army and that we should live our lives and run our race in such a way that we will receive a reward. In order for us to be in the army of God and be presented before Him spotless and holy, we must be trained and we must encourage others to be trained. As messengers of God we will go forth and capture people out of darkness. This will bring victory to the Almighty
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God. Without hesitation and laying aside all earthly, fleshly, demonic desires and thus keeping our minds set on the value of eternal things, we must make it our passion to have a heart like Christs. Are we willing to give up everything to reach a lost and dying generation? We need to learn the ways of God and before Him serve humbly. With boldness we will go out and conquer the world for Christ, seeking the well being of others by laying down your life and humbling yourself. We must allow Gods holy fire to consume and burn away everything that is in our lives that is selfish or self centered. It is only in this way that you can truly seek the well being of others.
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3
NOT ONLY TO BELIEVE BUT ALSO TO SUFFER
For you have been given not only the privilege of trusting in Christ but also the privilege of suffering for him.
Philippians 1:29
Who can find a virtuous and capable wife? She is worth more than precious rubies.
Proverbs 31:10
After my days with Operation Mobilization and the ship ministry, I came back to India with my projector to begin my ministry. In the previous chapter, I told you I was engaged to be married. When I returned to India, my marriage was all set up and everything was ready. I would like to tell you what qualities I had asked the Lord to give me in a wife. The first quality I asked the Lord for in whatever girl He sent to me was that she would love Him above all things, including me. It did not matter to me if she had property or worldly possessions, these things were insignificant to me. I felt it was expedient for me to marry a woman that did not have a job or have any resources for earning money. I had even considered an orphan girl who would not have any family. That way, she could be totally dedicated to the Lord and to the ministry. When the Lord sent me my wife, she in fact was an orphan. The reason I asked the Lord for an orphan was because in India we have a dowry system in which the girls family must pay a great deal of money to obtain a husband for the daughter. This often causes problems. I did not like the way women were treated in our society. They were treated as merchandise and considered of value only according to the amount of the dowry the mans family could obtain. In the days when I was growing
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up it became almost like selling cattle or livestock. They would barter back and forth and make deals. It was like a business of selling possessions. Many women had to remain single as a result of the dowry system. I was totally opposed to the dowry system, so I petitioned the Lord to send me a wife that had no possessions or family. So when I preached, I could be an example to the next generation of the faithfulness of God, of the supply of God and how a wife is a precious thing in His sight and not a possession to be bartered for or traded. In the Scripture we find that Abraham paid Rebeccas family for her to be Isaacs wife. I was totally convinced that the dowry system was not Gods way. So, I decided that I would marry a girl who did not have any abilities to pay any dowry. That way, my life could be a living example of my beliefs. That way I could, with conviction, preach what I practiced. God granted me my hearts desire and according to His will, He brought into my life my wife, Sarojam. For many people getting married is an exciting time. They think about it, they dream about it and plan for it. It is a goal and turning point in so many peoples lives. Its like springtime after a long winter. The trees bring forth leaves, the flowers bloom, the grass turns green and the birds sing. You have that feeling of newness and excitement in life. Thats what marriage is like. Before I married, I felt like the woman I was to marry needed to have the heartbeat of God. She had to have the heartbeat for the lost. She had to have the heartbeat and vision that God gave me for the call of God on my life and the ministry, which He had called me to do. I often said before Sarojam came my way that if God did not place such a girl in my path, then I would live my life and go on my way unmarried.
Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?
2 Cor 6:14 KJV
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There are so many people who want to get married because of the lust of youth and the excitement of life. They marry the first person to come along in life. So many of them as their marriage matures, they mature and their vision matures and becomes clearer. Then, they go through a very dry time; such a wilderness time in their lives. Ive seen in these marriages so often that they dont have a common vision or goal, so there is always struggle and strife in their relationship. Therefore, the very thing God means to be a blessing in a persons life ends up becoming a curse in their life. Where there is supposed to be harmony, there is discord. Where there should be unity, there is disunity, so they can no longer go in a common direction. So many times Ive seen people get married for the wrong reasons. They marry because of lust or because they think this person is beautiful, or they might think a certain person can cause them to be popular or wealthy. Whatever the reasons are, if they are not motivated by fulfilling the will of God in their life, they are marrying for the wrong reason. I have experienced so many times in my life that when relationships like that go bad, these people blame God. I am telling you right now that you cannot blame God when you have been disobedient to His will and have married for the wrong reasons. Before you get married, the choice is yours. It is in your hand. It is better to wait and be certain of the will of God than to take that step and miss the Lord. The choice is yours now, but once you marry the choice has been made. Its much better to be in Gods will and be happy than to be with someone and not in Gods will and be miserable. It not only effects you, but your whole life, even unto the next generation. Its just like cancer in your body affects all parts of your body and your family. A bad marriage choice will effect your children and grandchildren. I have witnessed many people in my Christian life that I have felt sorry for. They should be seeking a wife with Godly character (a Proverbs 31 woman), a woman who would build her house and have inner beauty and not outward beauty only, a woman that would have regard for the things of the Lord instead of having regard for the things of this life.
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Instead of seeking these Godly characteristics, they seek the wrong attributes. Ive seen so many men marry unbelieving women and then having them baptized, hoping that some change will take place in their life. Unless Christ truly moves in their heart and there is that inward circumcision, the baptism wont change their heart and it certainly wont sanctify your marriage. 1 Cor. 6:13 says that the body is not meant for immorality, but the body is literally meant for the Lord and the Lord for the body. No matter what kind of reasons or worldly excuses you have, you cannot change the truth of the Scripture. Let me tell you its much better to marry a girl that is baptized in the Holy Spirit and full of the life of the Lord than to receive $15,000 and a demon. By the grace of God, Sarojam and I understand each other. We understand our callings. We understand the gifting the Lord has given us. We understand a common vision, goal and purpose for being here on this earth. Together, we are striving in the hope of the gospel. Through this unity and the blessing of the Lord, Sarojam and I were joined together in marriage and began our ministry in India.
THE EARLY DAYS

We had many young brothers and sisters in the Lord who joined with us because they wanted to be a part of the vision God had given us. We joined together as one group. We took the gospel everywhere in India, to the seashore, to the hills, into remote areas and into villages where the name of Jesus Christ had never been heard. We decided this was our calling, this is where we should take the gospel. Everywhere we went, we always showed the Jesus film. As the people watched the life of Christ, how He suffered, how He laid down His life, how He died on the cross and was resurrected on the third day, they would cry and wail. Tears would be flowing freely from their eyes and down their faces. Lives would be transformed as they watched and they would commit their lives unto the kingdom of God and unto Christ. As I watched the people respond, my heart was so often filled with joy, pleasure and thankfulness that Gods
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Spirit was moving in such a way that it caused these peoples lives to be changed. I was so encouraged to see the effect the film and the team was having in ministry in those early days. God showed Himself truly faithful in those days to provide for every need we had as a team. We went through many difficult times. We went through many wine presses and many crushing times in our lives in those early days of ministry. In all of it, we were rejoicing and thankful to One of the early batch - Now they are the Lord. The Scripture in Psalm Leaders 34:10 says, The young lions do suffer and lack because of hunger; but those who seek the Lord will lack no good thing. That scripture was truly alive in those days. Sarojam became pregnant and as her time to deliver drew near and as the labor pains began, we were thankful in our hearts that God was going to add to our numbers another person to be on our team. So many people in this day and age think that children are a curse, but the Word says that children are a blessing from the Lord. Also, blessed is the man whose table is full of children. Sarojam and I committed to the Lord that we would have as many children as He wanted us to have. We began to pray that God would fulfill His will through our lives in giving us the number of children that He wanted us to have. Our first child was a beautiful baby boy and we named him Billy Graham. Sarojam had Billy at home, there were a few complications with the delivery. After a few days, Sarojam forgot who she was and began to act crazy. Because of her craziness, many people thought she and Billy would die. Sarojam had no parents, but she had ten unbelieving brothers and sisters. They thought she should be committed to an institution because she was acting crazy. They took her to an insane asylum and they put her in chains and locked her up in solitary confinement. The doctors there
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began to do electric shock treatments to her brain. Some days they would shock her up to seven times in one day. Her mind was so bad that she forgot how to do simple things like eating and dressing. There were a lot of times that she would be only partly dressed and sometimes she would be half naked. Other simple functions she forgot how to perform. One of her brothers went to visit her a month after she had been there and he saw that her condition had deteriorated drastically. She was not improving at all. The truth was she was getting a lot worse. Up to this point the doctors and her family would not allow me to go near her and pray for her. Finally, when she was very bad, they said there is nothing we can do for her, please come and pray for her. I told many pastors that I knew that I was going Pr. Moses, Sarojam and to pray for my wife. They began to fast and Billy Graham agree with me in prayer. Instantly God healed her completely in one day. It was such a miracle that even though it had been a whole month, the instant God healed her she asked, Where is my baby? I have a baby. We all assured her that Billy was being fed by other women. We immediately went home and became a family again. As Billy grew up, Sarojam would carry Billy everywhere we went as we did the ministry and preached the gospel. After two years she became pregnant again and we had another son. We named him Israel. Sarojam waited only 58 days until she began to take Israel with into the field. Everywhere we went she would go and take Israel with her and preach the gospel. Watching her in those days, it became clear to me that we as human beings could do so much more if we set our hearts to it. If we truly have the passion of Gods heart and truly have a call and vision and direction in our ministry His ability to perform through us can overcome any difficulty or obstacle we find ourselves in. By His grace we can perform the ministry in difficult times and situations. Just simply moving around in those days was difficult. We had no vehicle of our own. We
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had the two small children, the projector, Bibles, tracts plus the rest of the team and all their things. Sometimes we would be standing at a bus stop and the bus would pull in and take a look at all of us, our children and all the stuff and literally just pull off and leave us standing there. Often in those days we would be out in the middle of nowhere sitting at a bus stop and being disappointed because we couldnt get a ride. We would just have to sit there. Many times as we sat there, we would cry out to the Lord. Could You just provide us with a car or small bus? We knew that with any form of transportation we could be much more effective in the ministry. So many times as we traveled in the small villages people would look at us and say, Look, a tribal group from the jungles, look at them! Look at them! Look at them! We didnt have a house at this time so as we traveled around we would stay in bus and train stations. We even slept in alleys and in the road in front of little shops. Anywhere we could find to lay down, thats where we stayed. In the morning when we awoke we would go and take a bath anywhere we could find water. It could be a pond, a pool, a river or even a mud hole, anywhere there was water where we could rinse off. Then we would go into the field and preach the gospel and hand out tracts. In the evening we would show the Jesus film and many people came to the Lord. Then we would go and find some place to sleep. Sometimes on the beach or anywhere. The next morning we would get up and start the whole process over again. In those early days of ministry, because of the lack of money, we could not afford to buy things like milk powder or food for our children. They were crying constantly because they were hungry. They were always unsatisfied and under nourished. Also because we moved around so much they were always picking up different sicknesses, diseases and skin problems. These were hard suffering times for us. It is a hard thing for a parent to see his child cry from hunger. Things were very difficult in the ministry, but since we were seeing such tremendous fruit, we continued on with the work of the Lord. In the evening as we sat and watched literally thousands of men and women sit on the ground to watch the
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film about Jesus then coming to the Lord and being touched by the Spirit of God, any suffering we had in our lives would just melt away. We could see Gods eternal purposes and His eternal plans. It was our goal to make ready and to prepare thousands of disciples for Christ.
Crowd earnestly watching Jesus film
In those early days of ministry many people completed Bible College and they could have gone and been a pastor somewhere, but they felt the call of God to do what we were doing. So they forsook their careers and their plans for their lives, gave up everything and came to join our ministry. One man who came to join our ministry was named Philip Varughese. He was a part of our ministry for many, many years. As our group sought the Lord in prayer we felt we should begin to minister in the coastal areas. We started out along the southern Indian coast in Tamil Nadu. During the days we would pass out tracts and share the gospel with the fishermen. What we decided to do as a group was that every one of us would carry a parcel of about 60 pounds of tracts on our head at the beginning of the day. We decided as a group that we would work all day long until every tract that we carried had been given away. Only then would we return to where we were staying. In the evening we would then show the Jesus film. After it was over, we would go to the beach and find a place to sleep. The children fell asleep at night during the ministry time. We would have to wake them up and move them to where we would spend the night. They often had no dinner and went to sleep hungry. There was always some resistance to the gospel, even dur-
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ing the showing of the Jesus film when we had a good response. The people who were against us even tried to cause us harm and to stop the work God was performing in their area. There were many times when these people that were in opposition to us would come in the early morning hours when we were still sleeping and go to the bathroom in a circle all around us. They would defecate to the extent that we would have to walk in it to get out of our area. They would literally encircle us with human waste. God always gave us abundant grace to continue on with the ministry. He taught us not to consider the suffering of this present age anything to compare with the glory that was being stored up in heaven. The country of India is divided into many states. Each state has its own culture and food. On many days, even though all of us were native Indians we were experiencing diarrhea and abdominal pains from eating food we were not familiar with. The food was a large challenge that we had to overcome. Truly over those days the Lord Jesus Himself was our protection and shield, our sustainer and supplier. He protected us and brought us through those days.
And let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we shall reap if we do not grow weary.
Gal 6:9 NASB
Though we suffered many things in the early days, the fruit of our labor was to remain for many years. Even now as I look back over the last 30 years I see churches that were started at that time. There are literally thousands of churches that were started in southern India where there had never been a church before. In that we see the eternal fruitful purpose of God in all we suffered. There are many testimonies from young men of that time that opposed what we were doing. God sovereignly touched their lives and transformed them to such an extent that these same young people have come into our ministry, have been trained up and have become pastors of the churches we started. I feel just like a farmer that has cultivated
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and planted his field. Now that day has come to reap the harvest and there is such joy in my heart over the young men and women who are fruits of our labor in the ministry. They are now serving and working in the kingdom of God. They are serving the Living God and are free from the demonic control of Hinduism. There are so many towns and villages in southern India where we went in and labored, passing out tracts and preaching the gospel, and not one person became a believer. Now when I go to those towns I see thousands of believers in hundreds of churches worshipping and praising the Living God. It is my prayer, brothers and sisters, that my testimony would encourage you that as hard times and people come against you in your ministry and against the vision God has given you, that you would not become discouraged or weary, but would hold onto and believe in the Lord. Believe in the vision He gave you. Believe in the promise He gave you. Truly you will stand and see the fruits of those labors. I believe it for you because thats what happened in my life. Though others may think we are facing failure, you must always remember that we are on the winning side. During this time my dear friend K.P. Yohanan, his wife Gisela and their son Daniel came for a visit to southern India. He saw the hardship that our ministry was facing financially. At the same time he witnessed the fruit as the thousands sat and watched. He saw the reaction of the people as they watched Jesus die and be resurrected. As they heard the message of the gospel and the hope that was presented to them, he saw the fruit of our ministry. At that time he made a commitment that he would help financially. When Sarojam became pregnant with our third child we were in a beautiful area of India called Kerala, which is the area where I was raised. The Lord instructed us to go to a very dry area called Tamil Nadu. We went to the south side of a town named Pooyiyoor. We were ministering there. It was such a dry area that we were thirsty. We met a girl that was carrying a pot of water. We asked the girl if she would give us a drink
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from the pot of water. She used her sari to filter the water for me and then I drank it. I asked her where she had gotten the water. She answered, I got it 500 feet down the road. Youll see it when you get there. When we got there, there were cattle and buffaloes in the water. There were people washing their clothes and taking bathes in it. It was green and obviously not fit to drink. It was too late for I had already drunk it. Because I drank that water I came down with typhoid fever soon after. Boils broke out all over my body. They were very itchy, scratchy and crusty. They carried me back to my home in Kerala to be cared for. While I was recuperating as the brethren from the area came to visit me, I kept asking them if there was any type of ministry happening in the area where I got sick. The answer was always the same No. No one is preaching the gospel there. The fact that no one was preaching the gospel there bothered me more than the boils and the typhoid fever. I would beg the believers to go preach the gospel there. I asked that they would not wait for me to get well but would go, and go now. Not even one believer would commit to go and try. That no one would go and preach the gospel really discouraged me and broke my heart. I was literally on my deathbed at this time. While I was laying there God spoke to my wife to come to me. She did and she spoke a prophetic word over me that raised me up out of my death bed. Sarojam prophesied over me, My son you will not die! There are many things yet to do in your life and I will be with you! As soon as she spoke those words over me I felt supernatural strength come into my body and I got up out of my bed. Immediately I asked my wife what she had prepared for the family to eat. She told me she prepared mutton and tapioca (a potato like root). This type of food is very strong and very difficult to digest. A person who had been as sick as I was should not eat this kind of food. I told Sarojam, however, to get me a plate of it. I so believed the word she prophesied over me that I told her you are the one who spoke the word over me that brought me life; now feed me to increase my strength. I ate the food and was perfectly healed and we began the ministry again.
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At this time I began to work with George Kuty, P.J. Matthew and his father. We made a commitment to each other and a covenant with the Lord that we would go wherever He sent us. Regardless of the circumstances, whether no food, bad weather or other adversities we would preach the Gospel. God spoke into my ear that we were to go to a coastal area called Pooyiyoor to preach the Gospel. In this area of India the people are known for their violence. Every house had a still to make illegal alcohol. You could compare these people to the Cretes in Titus 1. They just want to eat, drink and they have no regard for anything or anyone. When I got there, God gave me such boldness to preach the gospel. God showed me that if they didnt repent judgment was going to come to their town. I boldly told them this word from the Lord. Because of the hardness of their hearts they didnt turn from their sin and they did not believe. They began to taunt mock and scorn me. Immediately it began to rain and it did not stop. The lakes filled up, and the river began to overflow its banks. The ocean swelled and came inland and engulfed these people. I found out later that it was a great cyclone that came through and hit this coastal town. The people who had made fun of us, mocked us and spurned us because we had spoken judgment against them under the leadership of the Holy Spirit, these same peoples houses began to float like boats down the river and went out to sea. Major devastation happened in this town, houses were destroyed, livestock drowned and literally the judgment of God came upon them because they did not believe the Word. After the storm was over the Lord instructed us to go back into this community and to preach the gospel again. Some people still refused to repent. They blamed us for the destruction that had happened to them. Others, however, were crushed and broken hearted and they cried out to the Lord for mercy and healing in their lives. We saw thousands of people who had previously rejected Jesus come to the Lord in this community. All the people who came to the Lord had been involved in the making of illegal alcohol. After receiving Jesus they all quit. They all turned and
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started to serve the Living God. This was a radical conversion for people with such a violent, abusive background to have a heart change and come to know Christ. At this time I want to encourage you dear brothers and sisters as you read this book, if God tells you to go somewhere, please obey. You may not see the fruit now, but you do not know how God is working in peoples lives, or what God is going to do in their lives and how they may remember what you said to them. Please remember that the calling to go is the highest calling there is. No matter what happens, stand, for you will see the salvation of God. You will see those men and women you were sent to delivered unto a living, holy God.
I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.
Philippians 4:13
At another time I was in the Cape Comorin, Kanyakumari district with another brother. As we were preaching the Gospel, the fishermen came and surrounded us. They began to beat my brother severely. I saw what they were doing to my brother and went to them and tried to stop them. When I intervened they did not stop beating him and started beating me in the chest and continued until I was unconscious. I do not know how long I was out laying on the ground. When I came to, I tried to get up off the ground and they began to beat me again and to kick me. There was nothing I could do to stop them. The normal response if one man is getting beaten would be to run away. Then later you make up a thousand excuses to justify why you were righteous in running. In this instance the Lord truly gave us the grace and unity of heart to suffer together. After a while the fishermen left us alone and we were laying on the beach. We slowly began to get up and look around us. Our books and tracts were scattered everywhere. We began to gather our things. Our clothes were torn and bloodied, but we were rejoicing that the Lord has spared our lives and that we could continue to minister and preach the gospel in His name. When we returned home we were in such bad conditions that
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Sarojam instantly realized that we had a very difficult day. Some of the brothers in the ministry came and prayed for us and encouraged us. They asked us where we had gone to receive such a beating. They said, Wow, we had a brother that went there just last week to preach the gospel and he never returned. They killed him and buried him right where we had been beaten. We were truly grateful to God that He had spared our lives. He restored us and enabled us to go out again in boldness to the seashore areas and preach the gospel again. God gave us a schedule for our ministry. We would spend six months preaching along the coast to the fishermen and then travel to the mountainous areas and preach to the tribal people. In each area we had people come and try to place fear in our hearts and stop us from preaching the gospel. Gods grace was always sufficient. He enabled us! He encouraged us! He always gave us strength and boldness to proclaim the salvation that He brought through the life of Christ! During this time we asked the Lord if He would provide us with a bicycle. God put it on someones heart to give us 50 rupees (at that time the exchange rate was approximately 32 rupees to 1 US dollar, so that would be equivalent to $1.70) With it we bought our bicycle. We loaded it with books, tracts and the projector. We would then take turns pushing it up into the mountain areas. By the time we had pushed this bicycle to the mountains we would be totally exhausted. Even though we would be sweaty, dirty and tired, our hearts would be rejoicing and our spirits would be alive because we knew that God would bring much fruit from our efforts. We were expectant and excited to see what God would do in our labors and ministries there. Our meetings would begin with praising God. We would sing songs, then the children would sing songs. Sarojam would follow by giving her testimony of how God had miraculously healed her. Next I would preach the gospel. We would then go into ministry time and pray for all those who came forward in response to the message. In those days I would carry everything; go and conduct a meeting by myself. I would not get home until 3 or 4 oclock in the morning.
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There were so many young people that wanted to join with us in ministry. They would just wait around to work with us. It was a time where we were growing and very alive. One time we were in a village called Vandiperiyar in Tamil Nadu. We were there by invitation of the mayor. He, in fact, had arranged a meeting for us where we could preach. His Early ministry with the team wife, however, was a very rebellious woman and she told him, As long as Im your wife, they will not come here and preach. She was opposed not only to our ministry, but also to the Lord Jesus Christ. We moved our meeting outside of town. This woman owned a cow that was out grazing in the field. A tiger came along and attacked the cow and killed it. Upon hearing what happened to her cow she sent someone out to us to ask us to come back into town and preach. She said, Please, come into our town and preach.
Let her own works praise her
Proverbs 31:31
Sarojam was always supportive and very involved in my ministry. The following demonstrates this. In 1979, the Indian government was trying to pass an anti-conversion law. I felt convicted of the Lord that I should go and protest against it. I called all the other churches in the area and talked to the brethren and found only two men who would go with me. I was going to the high court in Kerala. We had written Scriptures on a board stating why we thought they should not pass this law. We put these boards on the front of us. We also loaded ourselves down with tracts and other pamphlets that we were going to pass out. I told Sarojam I would see her there, speaking of heaven, because I thought surely they would kill me there. For in India, if you demonstrate against the government concerning religious matters, you dont come
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back home. They may put you in prison or you will die. Her response was, Okay, I will see you there, and I left. We were passing out these booklets inside of the courthouse and I saw a man walk through and he had the same materials that we were handing out. I asked him where he got it and he responded that there was a women on the other side of the building passing out tracts. I went around to see who it could be that was demonstrating for this cause of Christ. There stood Sarojam with a pack over each arm passing out tracts. I asked her, What are you doing here? She answered, Well, I said Ill meet you there! My dear brothers and sisters who are reading this book I want to encourage you. If you have relatives that are coming against you or your ministry or the Lord, you dont have to fight against them or struggle with them. All you need to do is trust the Living God who will cause all these things to work together for good. Whatever plan God has for your life, it cannot be hindered or stopped by circumstances or relatives. Remember that no matter what the circumstance looks like, you are on the winning side. In the end, the LORD will cause you to see His salvation and to triumph in His name. So, be bold and full of faith and good courage as you go through the trials and situations! I encourage you to be bold and to be strong in the Lord. Do not fear and remember that the Lord has called us not only to believe in Him, but He has granted that we might suffer in His name.
4
THE BIRTH
OF THE
VISION
So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.
Isaiah 55:11
Even though we were doing ministry in Kerala and Tamil Nadu the Lord put a burden on my heart for the rest of India, Asia, and other unreached places. The Lord spoke to me at this time and told me to take a break from the ministry. He directed me to spend 40 days in prayer and fasting. The Lord gave me a promise that on the 40th day He would appear to me and give me instruction. So in October and November of 1979 I obeyed the Lord and fasted and prayed for 40 days. I was eager for the 40th day to come. I felt like Moses who got to see God face to face. I could hardly wait for that day. Then early in December 1979 the 40th day came and the Lord did appear to me. The way I saw Him was awesome and almost indescribable. The light in my room seemed to come from the light of 100,000 suns on that day. It was so bright and intense. The whole room filled with the very presence of the Living God. It was so awesome and intense that I could not sit or stand. I just fell prostrate on the floor. There was such an awesome presence of the Lord that came upon me that day that I have never been the same and my ministry has never been the same. As I was lying there on my face before the Lord, He spoke to me and said, Paulose, I want you to go to a place called Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu. The Lord told me that there He would move mightily through me. He said thousands would come to know Him because of the divine commission from Him to go to Rameswaram. There, many men and
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Temple in Rameswaram
Map showing Rameswaram
women of all ages will turn and commit their hearts and lives to the Living God and serve Him in the ministry. Thousands of people will be trained and sent out and multitudes will be touched and come to know Him through this experience.
Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, ... For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
Luke 12:34-35
At this time we had three children Billy, Israel and Susanna. Billy was in the second grade, Israel was in the first grade and Susanna was three years old. When I received the word from the Lord, Sarojam agreed that we would go to Rameswaram as soon as physically possible. We knew that Rameswaram would be a very difficult and hard place. I did not want anything in Kerala to draw our hearts or minds back there. So, we took all the money we had in the bank and spent it on crusades and ministries. We gave away everything that we had so when we went to Rameswaram it would be just us and the Lord. We would have nothing to fall back on. The Lord also spoke to me and told me to sell our land in Kerala and to give the money to a certain missionary who lived in our area. So, I sold our land and gave the money to the mission. We were left with nothing. I felt the Lord confirm in my heart at that time that this was going to be a testimony to other believers who feel a call to missions. There was a sense of expectancy about what God was going to do through our family and through our obedience as we gave everything away and
THE BIRTH OF THE VISION
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just trusted Him. If we could do that, then anyone could. After we spend all our money on the crusades I didnt even have enough money to get to Rameswaram. The Lord spoke to me and gave me a promise that He would provide 200 rupees ($5.00 US). The postman came later that week. I went out to meet him and asked if he had 200 rupees for me. He was very shocked and said, Yes. How did you know that? I answered, The Lord spoke to me and told me you would be bringing me these 200 rupees. The fact that the Lord would speak to someone like that was a real challenge to him. Sarojam was seven and a half months pregnant at this time. I told her I thought she should stay in Kerala until she delivered the baby. We had family and friends there who would help her. I knew that Rameswaram would be a hard place. I could go on to Rameswaram without her. She spoke to me with great boldness that the Lord has spoken to us and told us to go! He had provided the money He had promised! We should delay no longer! She said even as God had spoken to Abraham and told him to go, Sarah went after him, calling him lord and master. She felt the same way. She would follow me wherever the Lord called me to go. Even if I was to be in delivery tomorrow and the Lord spoke to go today, I would go today, she said. I began to cry as she was speaking these things to me. With her totally beside me the Lord gave us much courage and boldness to perform His will. We decided that I should go straight away and get the kids out of school and we would begin to pack for Rameswaram. When I got to the school the school master told me that if the kids stayed in school one more week, he could give them a certificate of completion for that year. I told him that the Lord had spoken to us and we needed to leave right away. He told me I wasnt a good father, that I wasnt placing enough importance on my childrens education, that I was not looking out for their future, that I was ruining their lives. I responded that it was more important for me to model obedience to the Lord before them. I told him that I believed that would carry them further in their lives than
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education would. I reasoned and argued with him. Finally, he relented and agreed to give us their certificate of completion of school. We went home and began to pack the pots and pans, the film projector, the microphone and even the mats we slept on. We packed them in bags and put them on our heads and began to walk down the road towards Rameswaram.
And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them awaySo they, being sent forth by the Holy Ghost, departed
Acts 13:3-4
As we walked down the road we thought it would have been nice to be commissioned by a ministry from here. It would have been good if someone would have laid their hands on us and sent us out. Just as we were thinking this and discussing it, a woman came up to us and said she was a prophetess. She said that the Lord had spoken to her in an audible voice and told her to come and bless us and send us out. She spoke the same words to me that the Lord had spoken to me when He appeared to me on the 40th day. It was total confirmation to us of the Lords leading us, sending us and blessing us. This was far different than other times when we had gone out in ministry. Sometimes Sarojam had stayed at home and the kids had stayed in school. This time we had all packed up and left together. We were going to a place that was totally different. It had a different culture, language, and climate. It was hot and humid. It was right on the ocean. It was a totally different atmosphere. As we prepared we did not know what to expect. As we were walking down the road our neighbors began to laugh at us and mock us. They said these people had a nice house. Why would they leave all of it and go somewhere they dont even know? No matter where we go or what we do, if we dont have the Lord and His blessing with us nothing else in this world or this life matters. Family, friends or homes dont matter. If you have the presence of the Lord, you have everything.
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Old home in kerala
I can tell you from my life experience that fulfilling the word of the Lord and fulfilling His will for your life is the most important thing you can do with your life. To have worry or anxiety over things is just a distraction. Instead, you need to trust in the Lord and in His faithfulness. What he has spoken to you, if you are obedient, He will bring to pass. We caught a bus just outside of town. There was nowhere to sit. So for hundreds of miles we all stood, even pregnant Sarojam, and rode the bus towards Rameswaram. We were able to ride this bus to a place called Mandapam which is just across the bay from Rameswaram. In 1979, there was only one way to get across the bay to Rameswaram, by train or by boat. They had a train bridge and the train ran three times a day. There were hundreds of thousands of Hindus that went to Rameswaram each year on pilgrimages. We had to wait in this crowded train station for a spot on the train to get from Mandapam to Rameswaram. Eventually, a train came and we were able to squeeze on, but it was so crowded. We arrived in Rameswaram with hundreds of Hindu pilgrims going there to worship their gods. As we were looking at the ocean and the beach we were also looking at the Hindus. We began to rejoice that God had called us to such a place. We knew that God was going to do a great work in this
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Pamban railway station where we arrived
place that so desperately needed Him. They desperately needed to hear the Gospel. We just rejoiced to see this land. I watched the waves crash into the beach, and I began to think that the Lord was going to send thousands of workers trained, armed and equipped from his place. They were going to sweep across the nations. We could not get any kind of accommodation when we got to Rameswaram. So, we spent many days just sleeping in the train station and in the streets. Later on we took the train 10 miles back toward the mainland to a place called Pamban, which is situated, at the north end of the island. We were here able to secure a fish shack where we could stay at night. It was used to pack and wrap fish during the day. At night we would move all our stuff in and sleep. When morning came, we would have to take all our stuff out and sit under coconut trees. Because we didnt know the language or customs we were literally beggars living among these people. We lived in this fish packing shed for one month. This shed was eight feet wide and six feet long. This was a fishing packing plant and it had no sewer facilities. When they washed it out, the waste just ran outside. That was where we stayed in the daytime. The odor was horrible. It was an atrocious place to live. Many times we felt very nauseous and thought we would faint at any moment. We met a brother there from Kerala. He could speak both languages. We asked him to write scripture verses on big white sheets of paper for us in Tamil.
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Fish packing shed, where we found shelter
We would hang them over us like a sandwich board. We would witness to those around us by walking around like that. We would let them read the front then we would turn around and let them read the back. That was as much of the gospel of our Lord we could communicate with them. As we walked around, the people in the street would laugh at us and mock us. They said we were crazy people who had come out of an insane asylum. We consider these reproaches of Christ to be great gain. So, we rejoiced during those times that they would treat us this way because of the gospel and for His sake. When we arrived at Rameswaram, we had five rupees left ($0.15 US) of the two hundred the Lord had given us to come there with. I began to pray, Lord, you sent me here. How are You going to provide for us? How are we going to get food and a house? How are You going to provide the basic needs to sustain our lives? You sent us here, Lord, and we have $0.15. I took the children and they went out into the street and began to sing praise songs in Malayalam, our native language. Then I would begin to preach in Malayalam. We were carrying the signs written in Tamil on us. For some reason the people thought we were beggars and they began to give us money, five paise and two paise, they continued to give to us until we had fifty paise, which is half of a rupee. We took the money and bought food and rice. We were able to eat. This is the way
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the Lord provided food for my family. This was a very hard time in our family. The children were often hungry and asked, When are we going to back to our homeland? When we lived in Kerala we had so much food. We begged our children to eat. Now, we had to beg to get food that was never enough to fill our stomachs. The children cried in hunger and longed for food. The fishermen often gave us fish and I would sell a Bible. We would take that money and buy rice for our meal. Sarojam would have to go out into the jungle area to find wood to build a fire to cook over. As the food was cooking, the children would lay on the ground and cry, Please, give us food to eat. As Sarojam served the food, the children would plead with her saying, Please, momma put more rice on my plate. Dont put so much water, put more rice. Sometimes they went as many a three days without food. They pleaded these things after one of our best meals. There was a two week period that we only had one meal a day. After we had sheltered in the fish packing shed one month, the manager came to us. He said, It looks like Sarojam would deliver at anytime, so I want you out tomorrow! We had no idea where we would stay. We packed all our belongings and took the train the ten miles back to the Rameswaram train station. When we got there, we looked through the streets for an Inn where the pilgrims would stay when they come to the temple there. Every time we found one with a room, they would look at Sarojam and see she was about to give birth and would turn us away. They would say, This is not a place for you to stay, please leave. At one inn the owner asked me what religion I was. I told him I was a Christian. He refused us the room because of our beliefs. Just like Jesus parents could find no place for Mary to give birth, we could not find a place for Sarojam to give birth to our daughter, Mary. As we were walking down the street someone came up to us and told us that they knew an old man who would have mercy on us. We went to his house and talked with him. He agreed to allow us to stay in his inn
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Inn where we stayed
for three days. The room he gave us was six feet by six feet. We put all our belongings and five people into this room. As we were ministering over the next three days we always had an eye out for a place we could stay on a permanent basis. We found nothing. On the third day, the day we were supposed to leave the inn Sarojam began to have labor pains. The inn didnt have a bathroom or a toilet. We wondered what we would do. There was no privacy. Because there were no facilities, this was not a good place to have a baby. So, Sarojam and I held hands and cried out to God, Could You please extend the delivery date until we can get a house? The Lord miraculously stopped the labor pains and gave us twenty more days. We were notified at this time that someone had sent us some money. It had come through the postal service and had been delivered to the fish packing shed at the north end of the island. I was very anxious to go retrieve the money. We desperately needed food and shelter. I didnt even have money for bus fare on a public bus. The fare was less than one rupee, but we had nothing. As I was considering what to do, the thought came to me to rent a bicycle. You pay for these rentals when you return the bicycle. I rented a bicycle with a friend and we began to peddle toward Pamban. It was ten miles and we were peddling against the wind, the sun was beating down on us and we hadnt eaten for two days. It was
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a very difficult ride for us. With the vision of the money in front of us, we persevered and continued on. The first thing I did when I got the money was go to a motel and buy a feast. I bought mutton, rice, and fish. I put it in a big bag like a doggy bag. When I carried it into the inn where we were staying the children began to rejoice over the food. They were so happy, they were jumping up and down. The children ate and ate until they were full for the first time since we got to Rameswaram. It was such a blessing the way God provided this money and food for our family. Sarojam was also grabbing for the food. She knew that she could give birth at any time. She didnt know when, today or tomorrow, but soon. She hadnt been eating much and wanted to be nourished when the time of delivery came. I wanted to make sure where Sarojams heart was, so I asked her if she wanted to spend the rest of the money going back to Kerala for our life was much better there. She answered, Kerala is a wonderful place to live, but Rameswaram is a wonderful place to die for Christ. Her answer to my question gave the confidence and boldness that I needed to continue the work of the Lord in this place. I would now like to exhort my dear sisters in Christ. Are you encouraging your husbands and strengthening his ministry, or are you trying to pull him back by hurting his heart? And, dear brothers, I ask you, Are you encouraging your wife and strengthening her in the ministry or are you condemning her by pointing out her weaknesses and pulling her down? I would like to make a humble request of you, my dear brothers and sisters, that you would encourage one another and strengthen one another, that you would not point out each others weaknesses and faults, that you would not argue and bicker. Instead, encourage each other in the things God has called you to. I have been blessed in my life and ministry because my wife has never once discouraged me or torn me down. She has always been there as a strength and encouraged me to go on with the Lord. Keep this in the front of your mind. Your children are going to
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follow in your footsteps and that you are a living example to them. Whatever you do in front of them is going to be a seed that will take root and grow in their life later on. I want to encourage you to be an example to them by following after the will of God and Christ. If you who are presently in the ministry are experiencing problems, dont grumble or complain. You need to remember that Christ suffered and died for you. If Christ died for you, surely you can endure whatever trial or temptation comes your way. Accept the sufferings and hardships as a precious blessing in your life. God is glorified when you maintain a positive, Christ-like attitude when you are experiencing times of suffering and trails. At this time, the owner of the inn came to us and said, You were supposed to be here only 3 days. It has been 22 days now, so you must vacate this room. I told him that we were looking for a house to rent and the only reason we were still there was we could find no one who would rent to us. He told us he didnt care, tomorrow was the deadline for us to leave. I left the inn the next morning with a desperate cry in my heart to the Lord that He would show us and provide for us a place to live, especially a place where the baby could be born.
God will provide
Genesis 22:8
As I was walking the street in ministry that day I noticed a house that was locked behind a temple. I inquired who owned this house. I was told the owner who rented it was very sick and had been hospitalized. If I wanted to see him, I would have to go to the hospital. I was told he was also a communist leader on the island. He was so sick he could not open his mouth or eyes. I took a brother with me and we went to the hospital to see this man. We felt impressed to pray for him. We laid our hands on him and prayed for him. We then left and went home. When I returned to the inn, I told Sarojam all I had learned that day and what had happened. We knelt and prayed for that man and for our situation. We felt a conviction in our hearts that we would not leave Rameswaram,
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even if we didnt get this house. We determined in our heart that we would stay, even if we had to live in the train or bus station or another fish packing shed. Thats what we would do because this is what God has called us to do. That night the Lord miraculously touched the man in the hospital. When he woke up, he was totally and completely healed. He began to inquire what had happened to him. The people in the hospital that attended to him told him that we had come to him and prayed for him. They told him, you were healed because Jesus touched your life. He told those who were attending to him that he needed to speak to those men this morning. They sent a message to the inn that we should come to the hospital. This is the same morning that we had been evicted from our room at the inn. When we got to the hospital the man was sitting up in his bed and smiling. He was completely healed. We had introductions, then he asked if there was anything he could do for us. I told him we had need of a house. He said he had a house that was locked and no one was in it. You can have it, he told us, and he gave me the key. Instantly, I took the family to the house. He didnt require any down payment. This is the way the Lord miraculously provided us with a home. And, it was right by a Hindu temple. An interesting footnote to this blessing: the day we left Kerala was the day the previous tenants had vacated this house. It had been locked and kept for us. It sat there, vacant, while we went through this time of testing, waiting on God to open the door. In the same way, the father of our faith, Abraham, was told by God to go up on Mt. Moriah and sacrifice his son. He knew in his heart and stated, I know that God will provide. When he got there, God had already provided a ram that was stuck in the thicket up on that mountain. In the same way, God tested our obedience to see if we would follow his will. Then, provision was there for us when we needed it. This landlord is now serving the Lord and serving this ministry as a guard at the compound! He is a faithful member of our congregation.
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The rented house Lord provided
You know what Sarojams condition was when we got our house? It had been over two weeks since we had prayed that God would prolong her labor. She began labor the very day we moved into our home. When she went into labor, we sent for a nurse. When she got there she looked at Sarojam and said she was not strong enough to give birth. She recommended that we admit her to the hospital or both Sarojam and the baby would die. Sarojams response to the nurse was that she had already given birth to three babies at home. If God had given strength to a ninety year old woman, Sarah, then He could give her strength to deliver this child. When the nurse heard her reply, she said, You will need to be responsible for yourself to the Lord, and she left. I began to pray in tongues and the Spirit of God came upon me and I was completely filled with the Holy Spirit. At that moment the baby was just born. No more labor pains, no waiting, just instantaneous delivery. The child that was born was a girl and we named her Mary. At the moment of delivery someone ran after the nurse. She had only gotten 300 yards from the house. They said, Come back, the child is born. The nurse came back and saw the baby and said it was a miracle. I have helped birth 100 children and have never seen anything like this. She went home and testified to her husband. They both came back and received the Lord and were baptized and joined the other believers in Rameswaram.
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Many sisters in the mission field when they get pregnant and get close to delivery desperately want to go home to have the baby. I want to ask you a question, If the Lord can provide for the tribal people you are ministering to, to have a safe birth, cant our Living God provide the same for you?
AS A TREE PLANTED BY RIVERS OF WATER

Psalm 1:3 says, Blessed is the man who is like a tree planted by rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in season, whose leaf does not wither and whatever he does shall prosper. In our lives whenever we face difficulties or unusual circumstances, if we put our trust and confidence in the Lord, in due time He will strengthen and lift us up. If we put our trust in man or any other visible thing we will be discouraged and disappointed. Jeremiah 17:5-6 says, Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart departs from the Lord, for he shall be like a shrub in the desert, and he shall not see when good things come, but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land which is not inhabited. Please stop and think for a moment, where is your trust? Is your trust in man or in God? If your trust is in the Lord, then whatever circumstance you find yourself in you will be blessed. You will be like a fruitful tree planted by rivers of living water! However, if your trust is in man, you will be like a shrub in the desert. So, who are you today? Are you a shrub in the desert? Or are you a fruitful tree?
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AS SHEEP FOR THE SLAUGHTER
As it is written, for thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
Romans 8:36
We moved into the house and got settled in and continued the ministry. The rainy season came and we discovered that the roof was in poor condition. Everywhere we went in the house was like being in the shower. Water was pouring down everywhere, so much so that we didnt know where to sit or where to sleep. Everywhere we went in that house we got wet. It seemed like the rainy season would never end. It was a trial and test just to sit in the corner and watch the rain falling in the house for many days on end. The water in the well was salty, it was so salty that as we boiled our food, we didnt have to add salt to it. Over time, we got so used to the salty water that when we went somewhere else where there was good water, we would add salt to it so it would taste normal to us. The problems with having enough food continued during this time. Our children continued to have problems with malnutrition and hunger.
Pastor Moses and Israel
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Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead
Heb 11:19
One of the most intensely difficult times I ever had in my life was the time after the birth of Mary. In the few weeks following her birth, my wife could not feed her the breast milk anymore because of lack of food which had made her body very weak. In fact, once in a while she began to spit up blood. So, in order to maintain my little childs life, I managed to feed her boiled water instead of milk! I watched the way she was drinking and she probably couldnt tell that wasnt milk. By Gods mercy, He preserved her life. This went on for days. During this time she was a little over a month old. All of my children were laying in the bed looking to me to feed them. My son Billy began to vomit frequently and even the drinking water made him sick. During this time, I had to lay my hands on the childrens stomach and ask the Lord to take the hunger away from them and to give them sound sleep. One time during this situation, I was at the very last point of seeing this hardship. So, I went out to the backyard expecting that I would find some green leaves in order that I might be able to cook and feed my children. But, what I had seen there was shocking; there were no leaves in that tree, only the branch because worms had eaten already. As I returned back to my room, Satan whispered in my ear that my children would die and I was going to dig the hole in the ground with my own hands and bury them one by one. Responding to that, I told Satan, Even though my children would die, I would not go back, but the Lord whom I serve is the Lord of Abraham who is able to raise them from the dead. At this point, Satan left me. Even in this situation, I did not have any desire or thought to go back and leave the work of God undone. The early years in Rameswaram were very tough. We didnt send the children to school because they were so weak and often sickly from lack of food. The second year we somehow managed to send them to school, but often times they were still weak from lack of food. Sometimes, they would faint on the streets on the way to school. Someone
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would come to us and say, Go, tend to your children for they have fainted on the street. We would go get them and bring them home. Those first few years were very difficult on the childrens education because of our lack of food. During this time, the Chief Minister of the region we lived in, called Tamil Nadu, had instituted a feeding program for middle school children. We began to send the children to school just so they could eat a good meal everyday. We had some young brothers and sisters join our ministry at this time. We did not want them to see how bad our personal condition was. They soon realized how under fed and malnourished we were. They joined us in our ministry and our suffering. They banded together as part of our family and continued to proclaim the gospel to the people of Rameswaram. There were many times that we would pick lemons and eat them while we were out ministering. We would drink government provided water leaking out of a pipe. This is how we nourished ourselves during this time. There were many days we were very, very hungry, but we never discussed it. We would just discuss what areas we wanted to go into next. Just like the Apostle Paul said, we learned to be content in all things. I did not once hear any of our team members grumbling or complaining, they were always content with whatever circumstance they found themselves in. I asked the Lord why we were continuing to have problems getting enough food to eat. He told me He wanted to teach us through this experience the real circumstances that foreign missionaries had to go through when they come to a new country. The food is so different and sometimes not available to them. The Lord was trying to build this into our lives to be a part of the ministry as later we began to train up and send out ministers to foreign soil. The Lord proved Himself faithful to us so many times in the area of provision. One time a man came from Kerala. God had shown him in a vision our address and our need. He came all that way to visit us. We
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did not even have enough money to buy a lime, for lime juice. As he was leaving, he handed us enough money to supply our needs for a whole month. On another occasion the Lord showed a man in a vision our name and our address. He brought cooked food from 500 miles away and delivered it to our door. The Lord proved over and over again, just like He provided for Elijah in the middle of the wilderness, that He provides for His people. The Lord has shown us many times that as we go through trials we need to have patience and perseverance in our lives. If we continue on through the trial there is a blessing, just as He doubly blessed Job at the end of his life. Because of these trials, perseverance and the blessings of God, we can pray for and have hope for other brothers and sisters who are going through like persecutions and sufferings in this world. We know that God will comfort and bless them just as He comforted and blessed us. When Jesus went to the garden and prayed, the disciples went to sleep, but Jesus went in and agonized with the Father so much that He sweated blood. We need to have such a burden for other people that we wont go to sleep when intercession time comes but that we would have that persevering prayer that touched the very heart of God.
Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.
Isa 48:10 KJV
We had two Bible Schools in Kerala that sent their students to us at this time. The Lord used this period in their lives to equip them and train them. Anything the Lord provided for us we shared with them. We had all things in common. What God worked in their lives as they worked with us enabled them to be trained to the point that we sent them out. They were used mightily for the gospel in Asia. We took these students around to evangelize all the villages in the area. Most of the time the village people would reject us. They would throw stones at us and sometimes beat us. They would not receive what the Lord was trying to do in their lives. During one of these meetings we
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had a man named Peter come forward and accept the Lord. When he did this, it caused a complete life change for him. His family kicked him out of the house and totally rejected him. He came and lived with us and became a part of our ministry. Peter is now pastoring a church in Tamil Nadu. Peter and a few other men began to go to the railway station and pass out tracts. He was so valuable to our ministry at this time that we praised that Lord that He had added him to us. One day, Peter and a brother named Mohan were witnessing to the pilgrims that came to be baptized in the ocean by the railway station. The Hindu crowd turned on them and began to beat them severely and spit in their faces, taking their tracts and completely tearing them into pieces. These two brothers did not resist them in any way. They Israel handing out Tracts just stood there and took the beating. When they were severely beaten the crowd stripped their clothes off of them. The police came and took them to prison in nothing but their underwear. We did not hear about it until sometime later. As soon as we heard we immediately went to the jail and talked to the police. They were then released into our custody. After recovering from their injuries, they returned back to the place where they were beaten in order to reach the pilgrims. A short time later there were some brothers at the bus station. They were doing the same thing, passing out tracts to Hindu pilgrims as they came to Rameswaram. The crowd turned on them and started to spit on them. They took their tracts, Bibles and bags from them, threw them in a pile and lit it on fire. They then turned on the brothers and began to beat them. As they stood there taking a beating and watching all their materials being burned they determined in their hearts that even with what these men were doing to them, nothing was going to stop them from preaching the gospel.
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A gold smelter refines gold. First, he puts it in under intense heat and it begins to bubble up and all the impurities come to the top. Then, he skims the impurities off the top until he can look at the gold and see himself. In the same way, our Lord was turning up the fire. He caused intense heat in our lives. He skimmed away everything within us that wasnt like Him. It caused our dedication and zeal to increase. What should have been a discouragement actually became the fuel that fired our ministry. Romans 8:35-39 says, Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written: For your sake we are killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels or principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd.
Mat 9:36
In 1984 civil war broke out in the country of Ceylon, which is now Sri Lanka. This is an island that is just off the southern coast of Rameswaram. This war caused the people of Ceylon to flee from their country. There were literally thousands of refugees that came to our island. The Lord gave us the grace and ability to have a dramatic influence in their lives through our ministry. Many of these people who came to Rameswaram had lost family members. Some had lost all of their family. Some were injured and had lost body parts because of the war. These people came with no home or family or place to go. They didnt know the language, so they just went and sat on the beach. It was as if they were in shock. They didnt know what to do.
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During this time three organizations: Link International, Gospel for Asia and Intermission, out of Germany, gave us money to do social work among the refugees. We began to feed thousands of them every morning. We would give them food and coffee. As they were eating, we would feed them Srilankan Refugee the gospel also. The Government came to us and gave us permission and a permit so that legally we could go into any refugee camp in Tamil Nadu. This enabled us to do social work and preach the gospel. It gave a completely open door to us. We were able to pass out New Testaments to everyone we fed. Hundreds of people received the Lord during these days when they saw the compassion the Lord had for them in the state they were in when no one else wanted them. As we worked among the refugees, the people of Rameswaram started to notice the compassion of the Lord and His provision. We had many people added to our church through observing the Lords compassion. I want to encourage you, brothers and sisters in the Lord. Wherever God has called you, if you dont see a lot of increase, fruit or numbers right now, if you will just remain faithful to your call, God will reveal His purposes in your life. God can cause a great harvest to happen in the area in which you are ministering if you just remain faithful.
Anxious childhood waiting on line for turns
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Through these years of refugee ministry, 1986 to about 1988, there were many young rebel militant types that came out of Sri Lanka. The Lord really touched them and transformed their hearts. He turned them from wolves into lambs. They became hungry disciples. We re-trained this army of young disciples and sent them back into Sri Lanka in 1988 to evangelize their country. This was a marvelous work of the Lord. There was not much war in Sri Lanka in 1988 and 1989, but in 1990 and 1991 the war picked up again. The stream of refugees began to come again into Rameswaram. When they first started arriving we no longer had assistance from the other organizations because we didnt have the need. We decided that any money we had that was spent on food above rice we would give to the refugees. We will buy food and feed them. That worked for one day. We literally spent a months worth of food money that we would have spent as a family and for our ministry team on one days food for the refugees. The Lord opened the doors
A tiny refugee enjoying her breakfast
back up with other organizations and they began to provide. We began to feed and touch these people. People started to provide mats for them to sleep on, clothing for them to wear and buckets for water. We funneled all these things to the refugees. We were feeding 4,000 people every morning, every day of the week. We had literally hundreds of people receive the Lord because of the kindness of these ministries pouring through us. We had so many people come to the Lord that we started
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a church in the refugee camp. There were hundreds of refugee camps in the state of Tamil Nadu, where we live. As we went into each camp, the people would recognize us as the people who fed them and showed them kindness when they first came out of the country. We were able to start a Bible study and prayer group in every refugee camp in Tamil Nadu. We had hundreds of young people come. They were discipled and trained. We also provided them with materials, preaching and instruction. In 1992 we sent them back into the country of Sri Lanka to evangelize and plant churches. The Lord added two more children to our family during these years of ministering to the refugees. We had two more daughters; the first we named Persis and the second Sarah. Also, during this time the Lord enabled Billy Graham, Israel and Susanna to go to and graduate from Bible school. When they returned, they were such a help to the ministry. In the students that came to help in our ministry and the Paulose Family new believers that were added to our church there were a number of women who committed themselves to full time ministry. Once Sarojam and a group of ladies were at a village 150 miles from the house. They were conducting evangelistic outreach meetings. The crowd became very violent and began to attack the speakers as they were speaking. They took the microphones and slammed them on the ground and broke them. They became enraged. Suddenly, a woman who no one had ever seen before came through the crowd and stood between the women and the angry mob. No one could come forward to harm them. The sky opened up and it began to rain. As the rain began to fall every one ran for shelter. This totally broke up the meeting and the attitude these people had toward them. They were then taken to a house for shelter and safety. While they were in the house praising and wor-
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shipping the Lord, suddenly the rain stopped and the people gathered back together. They began to throw stones at the house and cut the electricity so they couldnt have any more meetings. God protected them in such a way that not one of them even had a scratch. Today, as I write this book, we have a church in this village that has fifty believers who praise and worship the Lord. Dear brothers and sisters, do you find yourself facing difficult situations today? If you do, be encouraged for the Lord is able to turn it around and use that circumstance to bring souls into the kingdom. If you find yourself today being persecuted by family members because of your love for Jesus, I want you to take heart and be encouraged. As you stand and hold fast, God is able to take those hearts that are opposed to the gospel right now and cause them to follow after Him. He can turn a Saul, who persecuted the church, into the Paul who propagated the gospel. First, you must work, then you receive a pay check. First, you must plant seed, then you will reap the harvest. First, you must study hard, then you get a degree. In the same way, when God calls you to the ministry, first you must endure hardship, then you will reap the rewards God has for you. While doing the Lords ministry let us sacrifice anything without bitterness. Les us do so without waiting for others to do. We must truly have the attitude of sheep sent to the slaughter and know that even like Romans 8 says, in all these things we will be more than conquerors; that we will triumph in Christ Jesus. As we do the ministry of God and work out the will of God in our lives, we have set our hearts to be steadfast to the call of God in our lives regardless of the circumstances or situations we find ourselves in.
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WITH GOD NOTHING SHALL BE IMPOSSIBLE
Ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you.
Mat 7:7 NASB
We had moved into our rented house in 1980. By 1984, we had outgrown it because of the growth in our family and the ministry. We also used it for a center for evangelistic outreach. We realized it would not be a long term solution to our needs. We held church meetings there and had one hundred people in attendance. The house was just too small. We began to pray and cry out to the Lord to provide for us a place that would establish us on the island of Rameswaram. In 1985 while I was in the Spirit, the Lord showed me a picture of Rameswaram. He took His finger and drew a circle around a plot of land. He made a promise to me that this was the land on which He would establish us. We had several confirmations from people that this was truly the land that House the Lord provided God had called us to live on. God had given the same vision to other people. In 1985 K.P. Yohannan called me and told me that he had a word from the Lord that He would provide 50,000 rupees for the purchase of this land. Just as the Lord promised, the money came in and we bought the land. We applied for a permit and supplied blueprints to the government, but we were denied. It was an area where there were no Chris-
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tians, but there were several Hindu temples. This was the reason we were denied. We re-designed the plans and re-submitted them to the authorities. The plans just showed us using the land to build a house which we would use as a residence. The house plans were designed with a very large living room that could be used for meetings if necessary.
Preparing to Build
We hired a contractor to begin building. When the neighbors in the area found out we were building a house and we were Christians, they came and stopped the work. They said, We dont want any Christian work here. This is a Hindu holy place and we dont want any other gods but Hindu gods to have a home here! We had all our supplies placed around the land and had begun to dig a well. When the neighborhood people rose up against our contractor the police came and stopped the work. The workers feared being thrown in jail so they fled the job site and refused to work for us anymore. The second highest government official in our town came to us and said they would be willing to give us another place with more land where we could live peaceable if we didnt build on this Hindu holy ground. We knew in our hearts that the Lord had shown us a vision that this was the land that He wanted to be glorified on. We determined in our hearts that we would stand in faith and wait and see what God would do, for we knew this was the place we were to call home.
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We felt impressed to build a temporary shelter on the land. So, under the cover of darkness we built this shelter. We then moved the family and workers on to the land. The next morning the police came to us and told us we must tear it down because we didnt have permission to build there. I felt like the Lord told me to tell them that this was our land, that this was our shelter and we are staying. The police had a discussion between them and decided they didnt have the authority to remove us from our own land or from our own home. They then left the area. At this time the Lord laid it on the heart of the believers from our home state of Kerala to come and fast and pray. They were praying that God would win the victory in this neighborhood and in the peoples hearts. They came and stayed with us, spending many days doing nothing but fasting and crying out to the Lord for deliverance. As they were doing this Billy, Israel, Sarojam and I were digging on the well. We knew it was vitally important for survival in this land. As we were digging the well, the Lord began to do a work in our neighborhood. The attitudes of our neighbors began to change. The violence and hostility they had against us just seemed to melt away as God removed it from their hearts, causing them to be at peace with us. Keeping in mind that Rameswaram is an island and our land was not too far from the ocean, most if not all of the wells produce salty tasting water. The land that God had provided for us and where we placed the well was different. As we were digging, we struck rock and the water just started to gush out of the rock, and it was sweet. We have the only fresh water well on the island of Rameswaram today. Even to this day as we are writing this testimony, seventy-five families come to our well on a daily basis just to get good water. All of my neighbors come and are blessed because of the land God gave to us. We continued to fight in the court system for the right to build our house. After about six months of fighting, the high court in Madras which is over our region issued us a permit saying it was legal for the
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The sweet watered well dug by the Paulose family
construction to go ahead. All the workers in the area were still afraid to come and work for us because of what had happened before. Therefore, we hired workers from Kerala, transporting them to Rameswaram on buses, to come and build our home. Praise the Lord! The first Christmas after the house was completed, we were doing our usual Christmas festivities. It is wonderful in India to witness about
Bethel House
who Christ is and why He came and what He died for. Some of our neighbors came to our place and threw stones at our house and said, Here is our Christmas gift to you. the stones broke out windows and broke light bulbs. We collected all the stones together and as a family
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and a group of believers gathered around these stones. We laid our hands on them and began to pray, Lord, we ask you to save every person who touched these stones and threw them at us. About one week later the leader of this gang got drunk and tried to come over the wall that is around our house. He was armed with a knife and was carrying it in his hand. We didnt have a phone to call for help, so we fell to our knees and began to cry out to the Lord for deliverance. The man fell off the wall on the other side and disappeared. Later on he came back to our house. He told us that he had a troubling spirit and couldnt even sleep the night before, so he had called out to the Lord. God came and totally changed him and we no longer need to fear him. He fell at Sarojams feet and began to cry. He asked her to forgive him for his intent to do us harm. He asked her to pray for him to receive the Lord. This man had been in prison thirty times and been a big troublemaker in the whole community, but Jesus came to him and totally changed him. He told us that he would no longer oppose the work there and he wanted to join with us. The Lord miraculously and sovereignly touched this man and changed his heart, giving him a heart of flesh instead of a heart of stone. The Lord is faithful! Over the years He has touched the heart of every person who threw a stone at us that first Christmas. Praise be to God! That same Christmas I had a special time with Sarojam. I took her to a town in India called Sivakasi. There is a cemetery where they buried an Englishman who was martyred for the faith. This man had been educated at Cambridge and was to become a governor in England. Instead, he felt the call of the gospel and felt love in his heart for the people of India. He came to India and suffered greatly. He suffered with the food and he didnt know the language. Finally, the local people killed him. As we stood around his grave I told her that someday I, like this man, would lay down my life somewhere on Asian soil for the love of the gospel and the love of the Lord. Sarojam was completely broken and began to cry. She said she wanted to make that same commitment that she too would lay down her life somewhere in Asia for the Lord.
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Dear brothers and sisters, our Lord patterned by his life that no greater love hath any man than this that one lay down his life for his friends. We felt the call of the gospel that we too must lay down our lives for the mission. In the early 1990s the emphasis of our ministry began to change. The focus became to reach out to the young people of India. We began to visit schools with evangelical outreaches and distributed tracts. We would pass out books and sell books. We desperately needed a van at this time to increase and continue this ministry. We therefore began to pray fervently that the Lord would provide us with a van. Our prayers were answered through Gospel for Asia. They provided a van for us. The outreach to the children just exploded! We were able to reach not only the children, but also the teachers. We were able to reach a whole generation in India that had never before heard the gospel. The teachers were encouraging the children to read our tracts and books. They also encouraged them to have a relationship with Christ for it would increase their ability to study and learn. They saw the value of the gospel and the word and the value of Christ in someones life. We took the projector and the P.A. system and showed the Jesus film in schools all across the area. We had a tremendous response. Our outreach and our ministry were truly blessed of the Lord in the early 1990s. This has taught us many times that as we endure and persevere, His hand can open even those doors that seem to be slammed shut and closed to us. It is a wonderful thing to see the hand of God and His faithfulness towards His people. Even those things that seem unshakable the Lord can shake. Even if it seems like you have Jericho walls or a giant like Goliath trying to stop your ministry, our God has proven through the ages that He is able to remove these obstacles from your path. Yes, our God is able!!
Gospel tracts distributed to school children
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DO NOT FEAR HIM WHO CAN KILL THE BODY ONLY
And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
Mat 10:28 KJV
We had divided into two groups to be more effective in our outreach. The men went in one direction and the women went in another. During 1991, in a womens outreach some severe opposition came against them. They took the microphones they were using while they were speaking and broke them into pieces. They began to throw a sister in the sewer and to shout loudly to try to stop the meeting. Someone brought a horse and they took Sarojams face and slammed it against the face of the horse. This knocked out her front teeth and blood poured out of her mouth. Yet, another sister stepped up and began to preach. Some of the peoples hearts were touched by this act. They saw our commitment to Christ, to love them and to proclaim the gospel. That day many people came forward and received the love of Jesus in to their lives.
There is neither Jew nor Greek, bond nor free, male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.
Gal 3:28
At this time, I want to encourage the sisters who are reading this that they are vitally important to the ministry of Jesus and to the kingdom of God. Its time that you rise up and take your place on the front lines. That you would preach and proclaim the gospel into the nations of the earth. That you would see that the Spirit of God can move through you just as it says in Joel, that your sons and your daughters will prophesy
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when the Spirit is poured out. I pray that you would have the courage and the boldness to commit your life to the ministry.
For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
Rom 8:18
In July 1991, the Lord laid a certain district on our heart. We began to prepare to go there. We went to a town named Vembar. We went there to do evangelistic outreaches in the schools. When we got there we divided our team into three different ministry groups Each went to a different school. A brother, My son Billy Graham and I were one group. We were in a school passing out tracts and testifying of Jesus when a man suddenly came to us and said, You need to come quickly! They are beating another group that came with you. we left and went to the place that man had said. When we arrived I saw my son, Israel, and another young man being beaten severely. Their clothes were torn and all their materials were scattered everywhere. They were completely surrounded by people who were beating them. The beating was so severe that a teacher who was watching fainted. When she came to, the first question she asked was; Are they still beating those young men? the brother who was with Israel got beaten in such a way that the blood began to come out of his nose. I rushed in to try to stop the beatings. When the group found out I was the one in charge, they turned on me and decided to kill me. Then, they would kill the rest of the team members and stop the work. They laid hands on me to kill me. They started to kick me. I was rolling on the ground as they were kicking and beating me. They dragged me inside the school and threw me in a little room and left me there. After a short while everyone disappeared. We came back out of the school room and were collecting all our scattered belongings and walked out to the road. When we arrived at the road, I saw a group of people coming with some kerosene to burn our van so we couldnt escape. I told Billy and the other driver to get in the van and drive it away so we would have a way to
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leave later. Billy obeyed me and managed to escape. After Billy left, I went to find out how the other group of brothers was doing. When I got to the last school I saw a horrible sight! There were twenty men one each had one of their arms trying to pull their arms out of their sockets, trying to literally rip their arms off their bodies. The men were just screaming in pain. All the while this was going on a man would stand in front of each brother and say, If you will deny your Christ and repent from preaching this gospel and declare that you were wrong we will stop and let you go. Our brothers began to remember Stephen and they started to rejoice and shout praises to the Lord. I also noticed on arrival that they had tied up one of the brothers. They had called the lamb skinner and were going to take his skin off. I went over to try and help him by untying him. As I was doing this, some men surrounded me and kicked me in the stomach so hard that I passed out. They thought that I had died and they started throwing water on me. When I revived I cried out to the Lord for the strength to endure this. Please, Lord, give me your grace and your mercy right now. There were about forty men in all who surrounded us and most of them were in some kind of a drunken stupor. They were just kicking, beating, tearing and screaming at us. They took two of our brothers and locked them inside of a room. Then, they surrounded me, but were screaming at each other, Somebody find the lamb skinner, quick! We have to do this quick. There was confusion among them. They were searching all over the town for the lamb skinner. What they had planned to do was to rip our skin off! Then pour chilly powder on us, and after sometime tie a rock to our feet and throw us into the ocean so no evidence of the horrible crime of murder could be found. As I was sitting in the middle of that vicious circle, I began to cry out to the Lord. Lord Jesus, please have mercy on us. Lord, please help us and deliver us from this situation. The lamb skinner had left his place for the day, which foiled their plans. Without the lamb skinner they could not skin us as they wanted to.
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When it was discovered that the lamb skinner was unavailable they went and got the other two brothers and brought them back to where I was. When they saw how badly I was beaten they began to weep. I was their spiritual Father. These men had tried to rip my arms out, then they grabbed the back of my head and threw me on the ground. They were screaming at me, You fall at our feet and repent from this worthless Jesus that you serve. Repent from this worthless doctrine that you are preaching here. Suddenly, the Holy Ghost welled up in me and I boldly told them, I will not repent from telling you what is right. I will not repent from following after the Lord of Lords - Jesus Christ! I then looked at the brothers and told them it is better for us to die right here preaching the gospel than to live fifty years by renouncing the Lord. I told them if we die right here then God will raise up thousands of young men from the very soil our blood drops on. Because the Lord was speaking through me like that, we were all strengthened and encouraged. At the same time the beating was going on Sarojam and a group of women were in intercession. The Lord clearly spoke to them that there was trouble with the team. He instructed them to especially pray against a spirit of violence and a spirit of murder. So, they began to cry out and to intercede. Suddenly in Vembar a man appeared just like Peter was ushered out of prison. This man said to us, Here is a way of escape, and opened a door for us. He said, Run, run, run! So, the five of us rushed out. We had no idea where Billy had parked the van. We just walked out of the village down a road. We found Billy under a tree with the van about a mile down that road from where we had been. When we found him he was in the van on his knees crying out for God to bring deliverance to us, that God would have mercy on us and bring us unto him. When Billy looked up and saw us we had a great time rejoicing. I announced that we were not going home. This one village had been reached but there were many more who hadnt heard the gospel. Before we go home I wanted to go and preach the gospel in other villages.
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So we went just like we were all bloody, beaten and our clothes torn. We spent two more days in ministry and reached ten villages before we went home. In Matthew 10:28 the Word says, We are not to fear the man who can kill the body, but we are to fear the One who can kill the body and cast the soul into hell. As we were leaving the last village I got an impression from the Lord to rent a house in a village neighboring Vembar. I commissioned a brother to go there. I told him to stay in that rented house and to fast and pray until God moved in the village where we had been beaten.
Tree that died
When we arrived home, a man came to us the next day and told us God had already moved in Vembar. This was the report: among the other trees the center one that we were beaten under had a supernatural touch of God. On the third day after our beating the middle tree died from the root and the leaves began to fall off. The tree completely died. The people in the community began to tremble with fear in their heart that they had done some horrible thing to us. We now knew that they were ripe for the gospel. The condition of my body wasnt good. Because of the blow to my stomach and the one to the back of my head I didnt have much control over my bladder and kidneys. I had a severe case of diarrhea. I literally
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had to lie down at the entrance to the bathroom. I was going twenty-five to thirty times a day. While I was lying there on the floor I was reminded of all the Lord had suffered for me. I told Him that if He would heal me within a week then I would return to Vembar and preach the gospel. As lay on the floor my wife was in the other room and the Lord told her to lay hands on my abdomen and pray. She did so and the Lord instantly healed me! When we went back to Vembar we could tell the atmosphere had totally changed. The people were humbling themselves before us, bowing. There was a great reverence, fear and respect that we sensed this time where there was contempt and violence before. We stood right in the middle of the street where we could see the sight of the dead tree and began to preach. Hundreds of people came to listen to us. In the same ocean that they were going to throw us into after they skinned us, we baptized ten new believers. As a footnote to this incident, the land on which Billy had parked the van and cried out for our deliverance is now our land. We were able to purchase it and build a church on it that now has 250 believers who worship and praise the Living God. They are training up and sending missionaries into the mission field today. They have baptized over a hundred people in the ocean where they were going to dump us. Praise the Lord! You never know what is going to happen when you are on ministry outreach teams. One time one of our group that included Sarojam and Billy were coming back from a village. As they were walking a group of women was standing beside the road with buckets in their hands. As they were walking by, the women surrounded them. These women had mixed cow dung, water and human waste into a slurry which they were carrying in these buckets. As our team was standing there wondering what was going to happen to them these women dumped their buckets on them. It ran down all over their heads and faces and into their eyes. They had to walk from there to the bus stop where they had purchased tickets to ride home. When they got on the bus everyone was making fun of them and began to taunt. The conductor even joined in saying,
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What is wrong with you people? You havent bathed in years and you stink so bad. The joy of the Lord fell on them and they began to rejoice, dancing and singing praises to God. After they got home and bathed they met in the living room and began to intercede for those women. They began to cry out to the Lord for the salvation of those women. Two days later a message came requesting us to return to that same village. All those women had been struck with an illness and were deadly ill. They all had very high fevers. They had gone to the hospital and were turned away. The doctors told them there was nothing they could do for them and sent them home to die. As we entered the room we could see the women lying on their cots. They were hiding their faces because they were so ashamed of what they had done to the team. The team walked in and prayed Gods blessing on them, laying their hands on them and praying God would heal them. They were all healed instantly. They got up out of their sick beds and received Jesus right then and there. We baptized them the following week and these same women are part of our ministry today.
The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, I call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised, And I am saved from my enemies.
Psalm 18:2-3 NASB
In early November 1992, Israel and another brother were in the street preaching. A group of Hindu radicals came up and surrounded them and began to beat them. They told our brothers, Just as the Lord was crucified, we are going to crucify you. They beat them severely and left them in the street and told them they were going to burn down our ministry training center and church. The center had been completed in 1990. Since its completion we had brought in, trained and sent out 3,000 who were from various ministries. Along with this, we have sent many young people as missionaries to the field. Through these missionaries the kingdom of light was spreading, pushing back the kingdom of darkness. That kingdom was not happy
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Training Centre burned to the ground
about our training center. On the night of November 18, 1992, about midnight a group of Hindu radicals came, surrounded the building and poured gasoline on it. They then set it on fire. There were three brothers staying in there at the time and they were able to escape with only minor injury. The Lord sovereignly touched them and healed them. Their lives were spared, but we lost everything. In that building was stored all our equipment (instruments, tables, benches for class) and all our materials (Bibles, books and tracts) plus our kitchen. This training center that had been so mightily used of the Lord was now nothing but a pile of ashes. The same group informed us the next day that they had hired the RSS to come within the week and chop our heads off. Now, the RSS is the most violent, radical Hindu group in India. They are involved today in a holy war in India, killing Christians and Muslims alike. They are trying to eradicate anything that is not Hindu from the entire nation. They had set a particular day and meeting place to gather before they came against us. A large group of these angry young Hindus met together. The Lord sent a spirit of confusion into their midst and they began to argue with one another. Instead of banding together, they fought among themselves and grabbed the leader of the RSS, brought accusation against him and finally ended up knifing him. He was badly injured and died in the hospital a few days later. Fear came on the whole town. These men had burned down the training center and plotted to kill us, but our God had turned it around and killed the leader of the most radical group in India. Later on, one of the companions who burned the training center got saved and is now following the Lord.
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Along with our out reach team we went to the northern part of Tamilnadu to visit Srilankan refugee camps up there. After a short visit with Pr. Johnson (who works among the refugees) we reached Dharmapuri, our mission station for the north TN. Our weary bodies were too weak to withstand the mid summer sun and hence we decided to get up early in the morning to reach the villages. During one of those days, I woke up at 5o clock and was kneeling down for prayer. Our van driver was sitting about 5 feet away from me. The morning sun was peeping through the thatched roof and there was only little light to have a clear vision. As I opened my eyes, the startled vision of a hooded cobra made me speechless. Again I closed my eyes and lifted my heart to heaven. Over the past years I was snake-bitten about 11 times and every single time He has saved me from the deadly clutches of snake venom. The driver slowly crouched to the ground and smashed the venomous reptile with a wooden pole. God, as He has always been the protector and the author of my life did prove again that he has bigger plans for me. My dear brothers and sisters, I dont write this testimony to suggest that you should endure the same things and go through the same trials we have. I do want to encourage you in the faithfulness of God that no matter what befalls you He is able to supply all that you need. I want to encourage you brothers about the importance of having your wives included in your ministry. She is a helpmate to you given by God. No matter what trials and tribulations you are going through, she was given of God to be a support for you. You should embrace, nourish and encourage that support. Dear sisters, I would like to encourage you to support your husband and the vision God has given to the both of you for your ministry. It is important that you support the direction your husband is going in his life. I encourage you both to lead your children into the ministry. Set before them a path that they can walk in. The purpose of our lives is to bear fruit to God. In 2 Peter it says that
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even though sometimes we suffer for doing good we are not to lose heart, but we are to bear fruit. Philippians 1:6 says, Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ. May God give you the grace and strength to fulfill the calling that is upon your life and ministry. If you obey Him, whether in this life or the life to come, we will be in His presence and will be with Him for eternity. May Gods grace, peace and blessing be upon your life and upon your ministry. I pray that my testimony would be an inspiration in your life that you would hear the clarion call of Christ to come away with Him and follow after the mission.
8
WALK FORWARD WITHOUT SHAME
I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes.
Romans 1:16 NIV
OPPORTUNITIES IN THE SKY

As believers, we clothe ourselves with the presence of Jesus Christ, carrying Him wherever we go. If we are listening to the Holy Spirit, daily He will present opportunities for us to share His love with those he divinely brings across our paths. The Holy Spirit goes before us, preparing hearts. We must stop trying to do Gods work for Him, and expect the Holy Spirit to lead us to those in whom He is already working. In recent years, I experienced one of these encounters. Sitting aboard a plane, I was praying as I quietly observed my surroundings. My head rested against the back of an economy class cushioned airplane seat, it could have been the perfect opportunity to restbut God had other plans. I found myself staring at the button directly above my head with an etched outline of a flight attendant. The air hostess reminded the planes passengers over the loudspeaker that if we had any needs, not to hesitate to press the button and the nearest flight attendant would be prepared to aid in any way possible. I continued to stare at the button. My heart was inclined to push it. The Holy Spirit gave me the idea that I could draw a flight attendant to my seat and share the gospel with them. Just after the idea entered my mind, I began dwelling on the consequences that might arise if I ventured to do such a thing. It was a primarily Islamic flight, and sharing the gospel could potentially raise problems and controversy. My head told me to be careful, but my heart said go on.
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I reached up to tap the button, and within minutes a young air hostess walked to my seat. I told her, I have an important message to share with you; can you spare a few minutes? She willingly agreed and I proceeded to share of Jesus love and death on the cross. As I was sharing, she listened, wide-eyed and interested. Immediately after finishing, she asked if I could come share the same important message with her manager. She escorted me to First Class where the manager gathered the majority of the flight attendants together to listen. There, I was able to share the gospel againbefore a whole group of flight attendants who eagerly listened. If we are obedient to the Holy Spirit and follow through with what He inclines us to do, even greater opportunities to share will arise. The opportunities didnt end that day on the airplane. After we landed, I had the privilege to share yet again in the immigration line. This time, I didnt even open my mouth to speak. I was wearing a T-shirt a friend gave me that read, Jesus in bold letters on the front. The back side read, Died for my sin, was buried, rose again, saved my lifeturn from sin to him. A few people behind me scurried from right to left and moved their heads to fully read the text on the back of my shirt.
Pr. Paulose in Scripture T-shirt
Caution
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This heightened movement in line caught the attention of the immigration officer who also began to try to read my shirt. Since I could see he was having trouble, I simply turned around to give him a full-scale view so that he could read with ease. After seeing the text of my shirt, he called out, Who gave that to you? Calmly, I told him a friend gave it to me. He seemed extremely upset and I began to wonder whether or not I would make it through the immigration line. Because of the traffic of people behind me, the officer forcefully stamped my passport, reluctantly letting me through. He knew the dangers of wearing a shirt with such a bold and blatant message. Be careful, he told me under his breath as I walked away. Though that shirt posed many questions and threats that day, I continue to wear it boldly for the truth-filled message it delivers and the opportunities that arise as a result. As believers, we must boldly proclaim the gospel daily, regardless of potential consequences.
A TRAIN ENCOUNTER
More recently, in March 2008, I had yet another opportunity to share Jesus while traveling. This time I was aboard a train headed on an overnight journey to Chennai to share with a group of recent Bible College graduates. I had one companion on my journey, but he was out of sight in a separate train car towards the back of the train. I handed gospel tracts to three different people before settling in my seat for the evening. As the speed began to pick up and the gentle rhythmic motion of the train ensued, I placed my back against the wall and breathed deeplyprepared to travel the several hours of railway ahead. Just as I was closing my eyes, one of the men who had read the gospel tract I gave him approached me. He coaxed me to come out to the nearby hallway, because he desperately wanted to discuss the tract and learn more about the Bible. There was plenty of seating room next to
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me, so I motioned for him to join me instead. The Holy Spirit gave me an uneasy feeling and I knew this man was far from trustworthy. As I looked into his eyes, a fierce anger radiated from them. His intentions were far from sincere. He didnt want to discuss the gospel; he wanted to kill me. In the hallway, I could hear a small gang of his followersready and prepared to throw me from the train. When I refused to accompany this man to the hallway, he left for a brief moment, only to return with his gang and punch me with one significant blow to the ear. I had since put on a set of large headphones to listen to an audio version of the Bible while lying down to attempt to rest. The gang leader lifted the headphones off and targeted my left ear with his clenched fist. Quickly, I placed the headphone back on my ear. He once again removed it to punch me. Shouting and swinging their arms, the small gang continued to harm me until a passenger stood up and moved in front of me to protect me. That passenger was able to break up the violence and the gang eventually dispersed. After such a fierce encounter, I lay down praying and trusting that God was with me as I fell asleep that night. Hours passed before the train came to a halt, stopping briefly at a station. I sat up to see a man just outside my window making a cell phone call. He signaled to me through the window, coaxing me to come out of the train to talk to him. I immediately felt uneasy and the Holy Spirit counseled me to stay inside the train. He motioned several times, but I refused to meet him outside. As the train prepared to move again, he climbed aboard. By this time, it was the dead of night and people were sleeping soundly in their respective beds on board. I placed the audio Bible back over my ears and continued to listen to the word of God as I prayed. When the train approached a secluded forest area, the gang membersincluding the man who motioned to me from the windowreturned to the area I was resting. With all of the lights in the train off, it was too dark for anyone to see them come near me. They lifted my headphones and punched me yet again. Will your Jesus save you? they questioned in a threatening tone. I am going to throw you off this train! one gang
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member promised me. I thought for sure I would be murdered in just minutes. I could feel blood accumulating in my mouth from the progressive blows. With all of the strength I had in me, I attempted to reach the light above my head. I managed to switch it on, only to have the gang switch it back off again. Once more I flipped it on, and again, they turned it off immediately. My attempts to draw attention to the situation seemed futile. I began praying, preparing in my mind to meet Jesus. The Lord reminded me to pray for my enemies and bless those who were persecuting me. I began repeatedly praying, Lord forgive them again and again out loud in Tamil and in English. Suddenly, though it was too fast for me to see, someone turned on the light above me and the beating scene was exposed. That same individual lifted the men off of me and threw them into the hallway, breaking up the fight. After the gang was gone, I began to massage the soreness in my lower jaw, releasing more blood. I looked up to see one lady weeping and cryingshe had been watching the entire time, but feared if she spoke up that they would kill her, too. Through prayer, I decided not to tell my travel companion what had happened. He had recently become a believer, and I was afraid if he found out who hurt me, he would try to retaliate. Somehow, through rumor aboard the train, he did hear that I was beaten and immediately wanted to know the details. I told him I would not reveal who had hurt me. He looked at my injuries and was filled with anger towards those who had attempted to kill me. I was thankful for his protective spirit, but knew it was best if he didnt find out who the perpetrators were.
Pr. Paulose wounded at the train incident
Once we reached our destination Chennai, I was x-rayed and scanned in the hospital for any broken bones or internal bleeding. After the hospital visit, I realized the importance of finishing the work God had sent us to do. With that, we headed to the Bible school to address
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the recently graduated students awaiting my arrival. There may have been trials in getting there, but the Gospel could not be hindered. I shared a message with the students that was framed by my recent experience and injuries. Many of the students were responsive and proclaimed through tears their desire to share the Christ boldly and to suffer for the Gospel. After visiting the school, I headed to Kerala for two weeks of physical therapy and a time of monitored healing. During my recovery, my mind ventured to the countless others who were also suffering physically for the sake of the gospelmany of which are here in India. The Lord put it on my heart to see rehabilitation and recovery center built on our campus for those who are being persecuted. A place for the injured to find rest until necessary physical healing takes place. Please pray along with us for this envisioned rehabilitation facility for persecuted missionaries to become a reality.
After Train Inccident taking an oil Massage
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GOD
IS
OUR PROTECTOR
Psalm 91:11 NLT
For He will order his angels to protect you wherever you go.
GOD CHANGING FOR GOOD WHAT WAS INTENDED FOR EVIL

Five years ago, I experienced the true protective care of our great God. I was traveling by car to Madurai with my daughter, Mary, to preach at a conference. The driver, Babu, was in the front seat along with Salinis thirteen-year-old brother, Mahesh James. I was sitting in the passenger seat, and Mary had long since been lulled to sleep in the backseat of the vehicle. With little warning, a truck collided with our small carthe noise of the sudden blow resonating like a relentless thunder. Our car thrown far off the road, I caught a glimpse of Babu, crushed behind the wheel his body curled over and twisted severely. Mahesh James had jolted out of the vehicle and was lying motionless in the road. I could only see from my right eye as my left eye was filling quickly with dripping blood. It felt as though I had lost my eyeball, and my lower jaw was jostled as well. I glanced backward at my daughter Marystill in the backseat. By the grace of God, we all survived the accident. Babu, Mary and I had only minor injuries, and Mahesh James was completely restored to health after a month of treatment. Immediately after the crash, someone pulled our bodies from the dilapidated vehicle. Mahesh James was rescued from the center of the road. There we lay on the side of the road, miraculously saved from what could have been a deadly crash. Normally in India, when an accident
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occurs and a car is abandoned for more than a few minutes, people will approach the car to steal all of the valuables from within. Out of my right eye, I could see people comingbut they were not coming to steal anything. They were gathering to see what was wrong with us as we lay on the roadside. The longer we lay there, the more people approached. In my head I thought, It will be best to stay here, attract a large crowd, and then use this opportunity to share the gospel! That is exactly what happened. As a throng of villagers gathered around us, I stood up and began to share the Gospel. I told the crowd that Jesus was mighty and able to save them, just as he had just saved the three of us in the car crash. The villagers listened intently to every word. God provided a miraculous ending to that otherwise disastrous event many people gave their lives to Christ right there on the roadside and three people were baptized afterward!
Car accident
The accident provided for even greater opportunities, as we were able to escort some of the local villagers back to their area where they showed us their lack of viable drinking water. We decided to return to that same village and build a hand pump well in their village as a thank you to their kindness in aiding us after the accident. Praise the Lord, only He is able to turn potential disasters into miracles for His glory.
GOD IS OUR PROTECTOR
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Through sharing of Living water (Jesus) we are also provided natural water.
GOD ALWAYS SHOWS UP ON TIME

Though Gods divine protection has been present many times in my life, I will never fail to recall the time God was with me in the midst of danger several years ago as a young manjust before the time of my marriage. I was on my way from North India (Punjab) to Delhi. When I finally arrived in Delhi by train at the railway station, it was after midnight. It was a gloomy night, filled with rain and penetrating thunder. Due to the heavy rainfall, there was no electricity and a blanket of complete darkness filled the air. I waited until the rain subsided and flagged down an auto rickshaw, like a taxi, to take me to my destination. As the driver slowed down to pick me up, two other men entered the rickshaw on either side of me. Within minutes, another two large-bodied men entered the front side, just next to the driver. I found it suspicious that these men entered so quickly after my boardingespecially at such a late hour.
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The driver started travelling full speed in the rickshaw, speaking to his comrades. Though I couldnt understand their language with my own ears, the Holy Spirit gave insight to my heart, translating their every word. I heard them say that they had plans to rob me. His bag is full of money, one of them said. My bag had no money in it at all, but these men suspected that I was carrying some wealth with me and they made plans to confiscate it. As I kept listening to their banter, the Holy Spirit continued to reveal their every word. They made plans to take me to a desolate, abandoned area where they would kill me. I began thinking about my future and my upcoming marriage. Please stop, I have to go! I shouted to the driver. The lights were still out all over the city. He refused to listen to me and kept on driving. I must go now! I demanded, praying that the Lord would provide a miracle. That moment, the vehicle did stopinexplicably. Without warning, it just came to a sudden halt. Just as the rickshaw stopped, the lights of the city came back on as the electricity returned. I looked out the window to see that we were conveniently stopped in front of a building that read, Delhi Police Station in bold, large letters. Somehow, the driver, though well-educated in the geography of the city, stopped in front of the police stationby Gods miraculous provision. A police man stood just in front of the rickshaw armed with a rifle. The driver quickly let me out to avoid the police mans questioning. The police then helped arrange a new ride for me to reach my destination. God with his powerful, protective hand ruined the plans of the taxi driver and his companions, keeping me completely safe from harm. There is nothing our God can not do!
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BESEECH
THE
LORD
OF THE
HARVEST
Then He said to His disciples, The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.
Matthew 9:37-38 NASB
This book was originally written in Tamil. During its fourth printing in English, we realised that the years had passed since it was first published, but the testimony of what God was doing in our lives and through our ministry has continued on. Our God, Jehovah, has continued to show His greater mercies, grace and guidance in our lives over the years. With that, He has given us even greater vision to reach the lost.
THE
MISSION PLACE
Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu, is one of the holiest places in all of India for the Hindu faith. Over the years, I have seen millions of Hindus come here to bathe in the ocean, attempting to wash away their sins and receive pardon and peace. I have seen pilgrims drink the urine of cow gods, believing it to be a shower of blessing. Witnessing all of these rituals made me realize what a vital purpose God had for us when He called us to leave our home and come to Rameswaram to bring His gospel to these people. Jesus is the only hope for these people. By the grace of God, we want to continue to minister to these people hoping to change their eternal destination. Lets work together with the Lord and the gospel of Christ to rescue these people from the eternal lake of fire while we still have the opportunity. The Hindus in India have many festivals. One of them, Cavadi, has touched me and broken my heart. Every year during this festival mil-
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Pilgrims bathing in Indian Ocean at Rameswaram
lions of people try to save themselves by making personal sacrifices. One sacrifice requires the pilgrim to pierce his flesh with four hooks placed in his back. These hooks are tied to ropes attached to a chariot that weighs approximately two hundred pounds. The pilgrims task is to pull the chariot to the temple. His journey may be six or seven miles. His flesh tears and bleeds the entire way. Another pilgrim sacrifice is to place a three to five pound iron rod through the cheeks. After reaching the temple, the pilgrim will pull the rod out so that they will bleed profusely. In yet another sacrifice, the pilgrim puts eight hooks in their back to hang from these hooks off an ox cart. They usually hang for about four hours. These pilgrims live in darkness and under the bondage of an evil
Hanging eagles Flesh Lifting
The cruelty of Paganism.
People need the Lord
BESEECH THE LORD OF THE HARVEST
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power. They believe they can save themselves and their households through rituals that only make them bloodied and more desperate. These pilgrims dont understand that Jesus has already paid the debt for their sin. As we have been ministering among these people over the years, we have seen many come to the truth of who Jesus is. They now worship the true and living God. Still, many of them are spiritually blinded to the truth and are attempting to save themselves through bodily suffering. We are deeply sad, because we know that without Jesus, they will be suffering for eternity. We are working fervently to turn these people from darkness and lead them to the marvelous light.
THIS IS MINISTRY
Christmas march-the perfect occasion to share the Gospel
As I have mentioned before, Christmas is a wonderful time to share the gospel. As a group, we travel to many towns and cities sharing the true meaning of Christmas. Remember our first Christmas when stones were thrown at our home. This has continued. Year after year, every Christmas day, our house is stoned. Things are broken in the process and we pray. Each year, we add stones to the rest of our pile and continue to lay hands on them and pray that the Holy Spirit would move in those who threw the stones with conviction and bring them to salvation.
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As a testament of Gods faithfulness to save, I would like to share with you some of the fruit from the workers we have trained and placed in the field. Workers whose lives have been radically changed. There is a pastor, Thangaraj, who was one of the early workers that came from Trivandrum. He was a wicked man who was an alcoholic. He bothered everyone in his neighborhood. We prayed for him for a long time, and through the softening of his heart by the Spirit he came to know Jesus. He joined our ministry immediately after he was saved. His testimony touched so many lives. He died only a couple of months after he was saved. One of the pastors in our area, along with other ministers,
Village outreach
prayed over his body as his funeral was being prepared. That moment, God, in all His sovereignty, breathed new life back into him and raised him from the dead! While he was dead, God showed him a vision of heaven and hell. His heart was filled with passion to bring the gospel of Christ to the lostto save them from eternal burning in hell. What a thrilling miracle to the glory of God! God spoke to Thangaraj and told him to travel eight hundred miles and take the good news to tribal people who have never before heard the gospel.
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Thangaraj sold all he owned and went to these people. He had enough money from selling his possessions to live for two years. After that, we began supporting his ministry. The tribal group he ministered to has one hundred thousand members, and he desired to lead all the people to the Lord. Daily, he faced opposition and received threats to his life and family (he had his wife and three small children with him). One day, he invited the village leader and his son to come to his house for dinner. While he was there, the leader told Thangaraj that he was interested in hearing more about Jesus and asked him to come visit the next week. Thangaraj and his wife went to this mans house. When they got there the leader locked them in the house; he and his son grabbed their guns and were going to kill them. They shouted at them, You will never preach the gospel again! Thangaraj and his wife lifted their hands to the Lord and cried out to the Lord for His help, because they had three small children. They said, We dont want to leave them orphansplease dont kill us. Put yourself in their place and imagine how difficult this situation would be. As the guns were raised and about to be fired, the presence of the Lord filled that place and they commanded the guns not to fire. The men had used these guns for hunting and knew they worked. Can you imagine their wonder that these weapons wouldnt fire because these people had spoken to them? When the leaders saw this miracle, they fell at their feet on their faces and began to weep and asked for their forgiveness. They made confession to the Lord and received Jesus right there. This leader opened his home to be a church for the village. It now is two hundred believers strong and growing as the news spreads. They have sent several young people to our training center and these young men and women have planted four other churches among the people. Another brother we support who was trained at our center was also called to a tribal group. This too was a pioneer work as none of the people had ever heard the gospel. He and his family live just like the tribal people do, in mud huts. He was constantly facing opposition from the militant Hindu radicals. One evening, three young men came to
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their house and told them their mother was very sick and asked them to come with them to pray for her. He went with them not suspecting any trouble. On the way they were crossing a dam and these boys picked up the man of God and threw him over the dam. The water was coming over the dam with great force and forced his body all the way to the bottom. When he came up, his arm was broken and there was no one around to help since it was after 10:00 p.m. Even with his broken arm he began to swim. At about 2:00 a.m. he finally reached land. In the morning the owner of the property found him and took him to the hospital. God completely healed him in two weeks and he went back to the tribal people. They had thought him dead and here he was preaching the gospel with miracles following him. This turned many people to the Living God and a church is now there with new believers being added all the time. It is not an easy thing to accept Jesus in India or Asia. It often costs you everything. Even your own family sometimes disowns you and you loose your inheritance. The community may also cast you out, so often you have to start a completely new life. Such was the case with Bro. Darmaraj. Darmaraj was looking for true peace. When he heard the gospel he knew he found it and accepted the Lord. This totally transformed his life and his wife didnt like it. While he was away from home one day she drank poison to try and kill herself. When we heard of this, we rushed to the house to find her in a hopeless condition. There were many bystanders who werent Christian standing around watching what we would do. We began to cry out to the Lord for her healing and He heard from heaven and healed her right then and there. Because Darmaraj would not renounce Jesus she planned to kill herself again a few months later. This time she decided to hang herself. The Lord spoke to Darmaraj and told him his wifes life was in danger and to go back home. She was at the point of death when he found her hanging from the rope. He cut her down and saved her life. A few weeks later a great sickness came upon her and she was dying. We prayed for her and again God saved her. This time as she understood the love of God, she
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repented from her evil ways and asked Jesus into her heart. She is doing well now and getting ready to do the ministry right beside her husband. This story of Darmaraj and his wife is an example of what it costs to become a Christian in India. We have experienced many more miracles over the years. I would like to share this one with you. there was a woman who was very sick; she was going through the medical care at her home for four months because of the seriousness of her condition. She was taken to the hospital and without hope the doctors sent her home to die. Some of our team brought her to the prayer house and we prayed for her and she was totally healed. This miraculous healing made a way for us to enter her village, which was the same village we had been turned away from the day before. Hinduism is very strong in that place. After her healing, she took one of our teams with her into the village. The people were very curious about what had happened to her because they knew she was supposed to die. She took us to her home and asked us to sit down. Without prompting she brought out all of her idols, pictures and anything Hindu and began to destroy them right in front of us. She told all who were watching, our team and village members that these idols had not given her any hope or healing. She had been in the hospital and was going to die until we prayed for her and Jesus healed her. She said these are all false gods and Jesus is the only true God. She became a living testimony in her village. She took all the pieces of her old idols and threw them into the Indian Ocean while everyone watched. Her whole family turned away from worshipping idols and opened their home so others could come into the kingdom. That same day many people brought their sick and demons possessed to us and as we prayed many were healed. By the end of the week one hundred people were coming to church. The building was only fifteen feet long and ten feet wide and would not hold all these people, so they worshipped outside under the trees. God provided a good prayer house for them and we sent a dear brother in the Lord to pastor their church. God has appeared to him and told him that He had many souls in this state marked
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for salvation and gave him a vision to plant fifty churches. He also told him the number of believers would be five hundred by the end of 1995. True to His word God has brought in those believers and that ministry has already planted four churches in neighboring villages. He has sent many young ones to our training center to be trained up and to help fulfill the vision and call that God gave them.
Pr. Mohan along with his church believers
We never know what kind of response we will receive when we go to these villages. Sometimes it is good and sometimes we have to flee for our lives. This is one such account. We sent a team to a tribal village to preach the gospel. The crowd turned on them and the team was running for their lives, carrying the equipment with them. As they were running up this steep hill out of the village they fell into a very deep pit. The second person to fall was carrying the amplifier and he landed on the first man, injuring his arm. God protected them from being killed by the tribe. After a couple of days their injuries were healed and they have gone back into the mission field. On another occasion, one of our teams, which included Billy, went to a village where the gospel had never been taught. These villagers were known for their violence to each other. While they were showing the Jesus film a demon entered an ox and it began to trample the people. People ran away, but there were some small children sleeping and the ox trampled them breaking arms, legs and necks. At this time the whole
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village (about two thousand strong) turned on us with knives and began to attack our team. The power of God came on Billy and the Lord told him to command the hands to be stopped. As Billy boldly spoke the hands stood still. This made a way for them to pass and they hurried to the van and made their escape. God had sent His angels to protect us in their midst. We now have churches in that village as well as neighboring ones. God has given us the grace to train approximately one thousand native missionaries over the years whom we have sent out to the unreached peoples. Here are some of their stories. When one of our brothers came to the Lord his family pushed him out on the street with his wife and four small children. He joined our ministry and we took care of their needs while he was being trained. It took four years and in that time they had two more children. God spoke to him and told him to go to one of the driest places in all of India, a place no one wants to go. So he took his wife, who was a wonderful woman of God, and their children and moved to this place. The house they found is only ten feet long and not big enough for all the children. So he and the older children slept outside under the trees. They also cooked outside over an open fire made from wood which they had to gather. God has done a great work in that place and they rejoice over the inconvenient suffering they faced for the sake of the gospel. God has moved in power in their ministry. The sick have been healed and the demonized have been set free. As they continued in the ministry, times got harder and they ran out of money to buy food. The children were going hungry. They cried out to God to bring provision. The children began to cry for the wanted food. They went three days with nothing to consume buy water. By the fourth day they were desperate. His wife was pregnant with a child and near delivery. They didnt want to ask for help because it would seem to diminish Gods power. On the fourth day without food her labor started. Because of her state of malnutrition she did not have the strength to
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deliver the baby and in great agony she died. The children then began to cry out to the Lord: Lord, we havent had food in four days, and now we have lost our mother, too! They did not even have a rupee to purchase food to keep them alive. When I was finally informed of their condition, Sarojam and I left immediately to go and be with them. Because we had suffered similarly in our early ministry, we could relate to their suffering. We went to them with broken hearts and helped prepare the burial. We then ministered to this dear brother and his six children, all of whom are under the age of fifteen, and we began to support them. Events like this make me consider the millions of dollars spent each year on the things of the world that will rust and rot. I know the story of a family, who, for the sake of Christ and His gospel, faced dying of starvation when hundred dollars a month would have been provision enough to feed them. Carrying the gospel sometimes carries a higher price tag than we expect. There are hundreds of families in situations like those described above. They face crises daily to bring the gospel to the unreached and unsaved. Even now, some of our co-workers are going through similar situations. Dear brothers and sisters, would you like to help them by praying for them and supporting them as they do the work of the Lord? Early in 1995 one of our team members was returning home around 10:00 p.m. Seven Hindu men on bicycles came and caught him. They began to beat him severely. He just smiled at them and said, Jesus loves you my brothers. They continued to beat him. When he could no longer stand up or move his arms he fell to the ground. The men picked him up and threw him on a trash heap full of broken glass, thorns and filthy things. He began to pray, slowly moving his mouth. They thought he was going to die so they left. In the middle of the night God gave him the strength to get up and walk to my home. We brought him in, cleaned him up and put him to bed. After only a week he was fully recovered and out preaching the gospel once again. Periodically, we bring our native pastors together to encourage them.
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Late last year in 1995 we did so. One of the couples who came has a very small church in a village. They have been there two years and have only seventeen members. There is a lot of opposition and the church was not growing. After being at the meeting they went home much encouraged. In a neighboring village lived a couple who had been childless for years. They finally had a baby boy. He was four last year and they had not had any more children. They loved this boy, their only child. He became deathly ill and they took him to the hospital. The doctors could do nothing and he died. As they were carrying him back home to bury him, someone said, Why dont you take him to the Christians, you have nothing to loose. This little church was in prayer when everyone arrived (many of the village people were with the parents) and made their requests known. The pastor followed Jesus example and put out everyone but the parents and they began to pray. The Lord spoke to Grace, the pastors wife, and told her, If you will pray for thirty minutes I will raise this child from the dead. She didnt tell anyone what God had spoken to her, she just continued in fervent prayer. As minutes began to drag, everyone kept looking at the boy to see if there was any change. Grace just continued to pray. After twenty minutes most hade given up hope, but Grace continued to pray and call out to the Lord to raise this child. Even her husband began to watch the clock and Grace kept on praying. After twenty nine minutes of prayer the pastor looked up and saw the boy sitting up. They fed him and restored him to his family. Their church grew to over two hundred in one week and they have planted churches in several of the neighboring villages.
THIS IS TRAINING
Remember when we moved from Kerala and I took Billy and Israel out of school? Billy was very poor in English and he struggled with it. They gave him a certificate from school saying he was a buffalo brain, which means stupid. When Billy was filled with the Spirit of God, he was
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completely changed. He is a different person and God gave him wisdom to understand English. Both of my sons have had a call on their lives from the womb. I mentioned before that both of my sons attended Bible school. This school was sponsored by Youth With a Mission (YWAM). When he was at YWAM he would go outside at 10:00 oclock at night and sit under the street light to memorize his English words. The air was swarming with mosquitoes and he was bitten all over. He continued to study. In this way God enabled him to speak, translate and preach in English. Israel learned English the same way.
Billy with his classmates in YWAM at 1992
Billy began to seek God for his future. He was fasting and praying. On the seventh day of his fast God appeared to Billy face to face. At that time God gave Billy a clear vision on how to reach millions for the Lord. His vision is to do crusades all over the world. The Lord spoke to Billy and I both to train up others to go out and plant churches. From my testimony you know that in 1992 the building that was facilitating training and serving as a church burnt to the ground with everything in it. We did not have the means to rebuild it. So, we went into the forest and brought in limbs and covered them with palms from coconuts trees. There were no doors or windows, and the floor was only
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Billy in his younger days
sand. There was no indoor plumbing, no electricity or fans to cool us, but we continued by the grace of God. We had seventy-five children in our family of believers and as we all sat on the sandy ground, some of these children ate the sand and became ill. Our believers didnt want to attend church because of the conditions there. But we persevered. Because we had no windows or doors, the wind blew sand into the building. We had a few trainees living there that awoke in the morning with a pond of sand on their bed sheets. The sand also blew into their food, but glory to God, the ministry continued on.
The early church members in Rameswaram
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Our building was attacked a second time at the end of March, 1995. Four brothers were sleeping there at night and seven Hindus approached to cause trouble. They saw that one brother was sleeping at the door of the church and they carried him out into the field while he was still sleeping on his bed. There, they put a rag in his mouth and began to beat him with a large stick. They also threw big rocks on him and finally put his bed frame on top of him and jumped up and down, crushing his body. He was unable to cry out loud because of the rag in his mouth. He finally lost consciousness and they left him for dead and went back to the church. They entered the church and found the other three brothers asleep and began to beat them as well. Then they took them and tied them to the pillars and continued to beat them and to kick them. One of them was kicked in the face, subsequently loosing his teeth. His face was bleeding profusely. The Hindus also carried three-foot swords especially utilized for dismembering Christians. They threatened to kill all of the brothers that night with those swords. They were so badly beaten that skin was peeling off their bodies. They decided to burn the church again with the brothers inside. They poured gas on it and lit it ablaze. Suddenly, it started to rain and the church would not burn. Since they were unable to burn the church, they stole what was left there. Clothing, musical instruments, offering boxes and all of our audio equipment was gone after their invasion. After a while, the brother they had taken into the field returned to the church, found the brothers tied up, and released them. Lets take a moment and put ourselves in their place. How would you feel in that situation? As soon as I heard what happened to them I went to them to help. When I saw how badly they were beaten, I too felt their pain. God is in control in the midst of every storm. In our ministry we have been attacked by people, suffered from lack of food, been burdened by financial pressures and by witchcraft, but nothing has been able to stop the work that God is doing here. Shortly after the attack on our church, we faced a new threat. A report came to us that 200,000 Hindu radicals (of which only 100,000 came) were coming to Rameswaram to
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do their sacrifices for the purposes of gaining more power. Part of what they wanted to do was attempt to stop the work of God that we were doing. They even threatened to kill us. We cried out to God to deliver us. He sent his angels to protect us and the government sent special troops that surrounded our property. God was mighty on our behalf and some of those who were protecting us came to the Lord. Two weeks later we held a crusade meeting and five thousand people came. Thousands came forward to receive Christ and many new Hindu converts were added to our church. Those who received the Lord came for worship on Sunday and were baptized. In 1 Corinthians 12:26 it says, If one part of the body suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. The same people that had almost destroyed all our work two months ago were there and, once again, God proved himself mighty to save. While Billy was studying his bible college in New York, he could not visit his family for two years. The whole family in India was so excited to hear that Billy is coming back after the graduation. We all decided that we should be at the airport to receive Van Accident him. On our way back from Chennai the van met with a terrible accident. It was mid night and the van happened to hit a truck at a blind spot. We were all deep asleep and all I could hear was the feeble voices of our little children. This happened near a village where they worship a demon who causes accidents to happen almost every day. The villagers loot everything they can from the dying victims to make a living out of it. I was concerned about the safety of my family but I knew God was in control of every thing as he always has been. We were so relieved to see that except Sarah, our youngest daughter none of us had any major injury. Sarah was taken to a near by hospital and had a couple of stitches on her forehead. At the break of
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dawn, we hired a truck to continue our ten hours of travel in an open truck deck. In September 1995, we held a second crusade. God moved in power at that one, too, and more believers were added to our numbers. We then had 350 believers attending our services on a weekly basis. We suffered so much for the Lord, but seeing this fruit made us rejoice in what He had called us to. There was still a great need to rebuild the church and training center. We train our crusade teams at the center and send them all over Asia to help fulfill the vision God has given us. These young men and women are very committed to spreading the gospel. Right before they graduate I take them to the cemetery where the foreign missionaries are buried. I use them as an example to explain the sacrifice these men and women made to bring the gospel to these unknown people. When these men came to India it took them months or more to come from England and America. They came to a foreign place, not knowing the language, culture, food or weather leaving behind everything that they were familiar with. Their passion for Jesus and the burden they had for the lost caused them to leave behind their warm comfortable lives to come to this place. They brought all their belongings in a coffin because they were willing to lay down their lives for the furtherance of the gospel. They were committed to stay in India until death, a lot of them spilling their blood on Asian soil. Many of these missionaries were martyrs. They died by stoning or were ripped apart by dogs and left in the street to die. I share the lives of these missionaries with my trainees and tell them if these saints can travel all this way to lay down their lives on our soil, cant we give our lives to reach the lost in our own country? At this the students cry out, lifting their hands to heaven and commit themselves to the cause of the gospeleven unto death if necessary. Then they graduate and we sent them into the mission field. God presently is moving in power through our crusade teams. They are presenting the gospel to thousands and reaching multitudes. God is
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performing miracles at these meetings and shaking the cities and villages. Along the way we are planting churches to care for all the new believers. In the coming days we are planning, in the timing of the Lord, to take these crusades world wide. God has told us that the time is short until the return of Jesus and there are still so many millions of unreached people to go to. There are also hundreds of young men and women waiting to be trained and sent. This is our vision for the Training Center, that it is built and used for this work of reaching millions.
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THE FIELDS ARE WHITE FOR HARVEST
Do you not say, There are yet four months, and then comes the harvest? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes, and look on the fields, that they are white for harvest.
John 4:35
SRI LANKA
In August of 1998 Sarojam and I went to Sri Lanka to visit our churches and hold some outdoor meetings, to call people to Christ and strengthen the workers, who were worn out in the battlefield. The civil war was still going on. It broke our heart to see the chaos and the distraction they had. Even as we were ministering, we heard bombings nine times. There are broken roads everywhere, and neighborhoods destroyed. People live in fear all the time. There is not sufficient food, and what may be found is extremely expensive. In the midst
Rev. Ian Farr and the Pauloses in Srilanka
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of this the Lord moved in a mighty way. First of all, we had a seminar for the pastors. This was one of the most moving situations we had. A dispute had arisen among the pastors, with each of them wanting to build up their own influence, rather than the kingdom of God. The Lord Almighty moved in a wonderful way. Conviction broke out, and all of them were on their knees and began to repent and reconcile before the brethren. In the end the Spirit of the Lord moved in prophecy and the word of knowledge. Many of the pastors and workers were strengthened, and they rose up for Christ, in unity. Then we had a crusade with a few thousand people; although such a gathering was risky during a time of war. Many sick were touched by the power of God and healed, and many souls were healed as they came into the kingdom of God.
The Pauloses ministering to the refugees
CRUSADES
There has always been violent opposition to the true Gospel in India. Whenever the brothers reach a village with the Word of God, the results are unpredictable. They may be thronged with eager listeners, desiring to obtain Gospel tracts and listen intently to the message. Or, they may be stoned and beaten, and see their materials burned by angry Hindu radicals.
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Those groups who are organized and committed to violent opposition toward the Gospel of Jesus have been faced with a government policy, which has stood against open violence. This has, until recently, helped us to hold so many crusades in more urban areas, where we can draw many thousands together at once, to hear the news that heavens door is opened by the blood of Jesus. That all changed in the national elections of 1998. A Hindu political party, which opposes any Christian influence in India, gained control over the national government. The enemies of Christ soon learned that this new government has chosen to turn a blind eye toward any violence against Christians. That added much to the cost of the Crusades. Aside from the normal financial burden, we made ourselves an easy prey for the violent radicals. But none of those things moved us; neither do we count our lives dear to ourselves. (Acts 20:24) In a crusade in Dindugal, we had a very good response, despite the violent opposition. It was one of the strongest fanatic Hindu places. One of our team members, Bro. Isaac, a blind evangelist went out with some other brothers to announce the meetings, and while he was speaking some fanatic Hindus came and stopped him. They took the microphone from his hand and beat his forehead and face with it. They injured his head and eye, but the Lord healed him in few days and he went back out again that same week to proclaim the gospel to the people. The Lord did awesome things at that crusade. Many sick people were healed. There was one demon possessed woman who kept giving us problems every night during the altar call. On the last day the Lord touched her and healed her completely. A month later a pastor in that town told about the results of the meeting. I was told that the same woman, after her deliverance, went to this pastors church and was baptized with water and filled with the wonderful Holy Spirit. Now, she is a strong believer in that church for the glory of God. One of our crusades was in a city called Anakaripatti, near Madurai. God prompted us to hold a crusade in this villagea place where they
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sacrifice to the Hindu gods. The crusade was well received, and many Hindus came. When we gave a call for prayer, so many came forward that the ministers became wearybut the results were positively manifested in healings. Since the response was so great, a church was founded there to nurture them. At one crusade, we saw people coming from all over the surrounding villages (which showed us how much they were starving for truth.) We saw people coming by tractors which the farmer uses in the field, and some came by ox cart. We had over 10,000 people at this crusade. Many had never heard of Jesus in their entire life. It was so awesome to see these people not hunger for the natural food, but for the word of God. As the altar call was made, they thronged in the front. Tears began to flow from our eyes seeing just as the Lord said in Matthew 9:36-38, But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd. Then He said to His disciples, The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest. As we saw this urgent need of planting a church for this needy people we began to pray, Lord, show us the right brother to appoint as a shepherd. The Lord told us to appoint a pastor who is very mature in the Lord and has several years of training at our training center. His name is Pastor Samuel. Even though the village people were so hungry for the Word, the local city people were known as the most violent people in the whole state of Tamil Nadu. It had been told by many leaders in the ministry that if we can had a crusade or a church planting in this city then we could do it anywhere in the state. This city was very well known for the crime and the murders that took place there every year. We held another crusade at Kulasakaram. This meeting solicited a good response from the people. We had a follow-up meeting for the new believers after the crusade meetings were over. We had over five hundred people come every night. Many new believers were baptized in the Holy Spirit and we had a wonderful time of worship. There was great joy
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Intercession for the salvation of India
on the faces of these people. We are still keeping in touch with each one of them. Another crusade was held in the city of Paramakudi. Around this city there are about two hundred villages. Most of the people from these villages are living in poverty. For a hard day of labor, they make between one to two dollars. These people were hungry and ready for the reality of the true God. There was openness in their hearts for the Lord. As we were sharing the Word they were very eager to listen and willing to be changed. At this meeting the Lord did so many miracles, and many souls were added to the kingdom of God. When we gave the altar call most of the crowd came forward to accept the Lord! There was great joy in the city. At this place we also had wonderful meetings with the pastors. They were like sponges, soaking up the Word of God. Many of the pastors had broken hearts, but the Lord renewed their love and zeal for the ministry. The next crusade was in the town of Ramnad. Ramnad is a very dry area of south Tamil Nadu. The previous year, there was a gospel meeting that was conducted by one of the local pastors in this town. At the end of the meeting, a Hindu militant knifed him. By the grace of God, the violent spirit was removed from the city at the time of our crusade. In Ramnad, we had our largest crowd. It was estimated by the local pastors
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The massive crusade in the town of Ramnad
and ministers that there were twenty thousand people that participated. There were many healings. A lame man was brought off the street by one of his friends. His friend just wanted to see if Jesus could really heal people, and as the ministers prayed, the Lord touched him and healed his legs. He jumped up and ran back and forth on the stage and glorified God. At this crusade, over five thousand people gave their hearts to the Lord. The Lord mightily moved in this city and many of the unreached were touched by the grace of God. During five crusades in one region, we planned to visit a tribal group in the nearby mountains, called the Kannyees. I had been told that this area had never heard the Gospel even once. No one had ever made the sacrifice to reach out to that lost and dying people. When we first arrived, the people were afraid to come close to us. They were very timid, but we smiled and told them with love that we came not to harm them but to share Jesus love with them. One by one they came closer while we waited on a rock at a distance. Then an old lady came out to us. She said she was a hundred years old and had been living on that mountain for fifty years. Brother Danny, one of the team members asked her if she knew Jesus. Who is Jesus? she asked and
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then continued, If you tell me then I would know Him, and I want to know Him. It didnt take very long to share who Jesus was. As we were sharing she began to cry with tears of joy. She has a hope for eternity. God preserved her to be a hundred years old so that she could embrace the Gospel and make it to Heaven. That day in those mountains, the whole village turned to the Lord. They confessed their sin and received Him in their lives. A team of five workers were sent on an outreach to a place desperate for the Good News. They went to a central village, Madukulathur, in an area where the people are hardened to the Gospel because of idolatry and a stronghold of witchcraft. Once a year they have a festival. The main priest of the town goes out into the graveyard and digs a pit where a dead body has been buried. Once uncovered, he begins to eat the decayed flesh. Then taking the bones, he blessed the people, showing that he has overcome the power of death, and is now the god of their town. When we heard this shocking ritual we made arrangements to fast and pray against it. This time their work did not succeed. The priest came back empty handed and disappointed. We serve a God who hears us! Through this our team was able to go and minister to these people. They worked there intensively for two weeks, reaching 40 villages. The people were very hungry and open to the Gospel. Many accepted Jesus, and the following Sunday we had 20 new people come to church. Now they are serving God. We held yet another crusade in the place called Uchipuli. Of the 100,000 people in this area, there were only five families called Christian. An amazing event took place there. A local Hindu leader, Velu Chemi, agreed to help organize the crusade. He was the same man who, a few years earlier, had rallied 100,000 Hindus to Rameswaram to call on their idols, to try to destroy our church and training center, and to kill us. After one crusade, he invited us to come to his home and bless his family, and for his neighbors to come and hear the Gospel.
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At that same crusade, the healing of a local man known to be deaf brought many people to find deliverance from the bondage of Satan. Also, two Hindu priests and a ruler received the Lord openly, and this had a powerful effect on the people of that region. Operation Mobilization (OM) invited us to a prayer walk at a Hindu festival called Kumbh Mela. This festival takes place once every twelve years in the city Haridwar, located on the banks of Ganges River. The word Mela means religious gathering, and Kumbh means nectar of life. The Kumbh Mela attracts some Kumbh Mela 20 million pilgrims during the months of January through May. It is the largest religious gathering in the world. Each pilgrim spends thousands of rupees to go dip in the river, which they believe will deliver them from their sins. The government spends a fortune to prepare the city for the festival. They widen and build new roads and bridges, also clearing large areas of land for people to live on. God gave us a burden to fast and pray for the people making these pilgrimages. Arriving on site, we began to pray for the salvation of these people and bind up the works of the enemy. It was very busy and crowded with thousands of lost people. In His mercy, God heard our prayer and confounded the works of Satan. There was national disappointment with what they consider to be their place of salvation. Approximately 100 Sadhus, naked except for the ashes on their bodies and their long hair, normally have a procession in the morning to the riverside to bathe, which they believe makes the water holy before the pilgrims arrive. On their way to the river, they were stopped by the police who prevented them because of the number of women who were in the procession. The priests were offended and a fight broke out. Eight Sadhus and one police officer were killed. Some were admitted to the hospital and the Sadhus were scattered throughout the city. Some of the gospel workers visited the Sadhus in the hospital.
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A number of the Sadhus gave their lives to Jesus, left their religious garments and left the hospitals. One of the Sadhus, touched by the Holy Spirit, shaved his head and came to church that evening to worship with the congregation. The highest day of Kumbh Mela is the 14th of April. About two million people were there that day. Again, the Sadhus wanted to make a procession, but following the first incident, a law was made to contain all of the Sadhus in their camp. This time the government was prepared and they were restrained by the military. The Sadhus began to say that this was no longer a holy place and that salvation could no longer be found there. Consequently, the number of pilgrims has decreased. We thank God that he has destroyed the works of darkness and that the people are beginning to see that the things that they have believed for centuries are not the way of salvation. We, among others, passed out the gospel tracts to the people as they came out of the water, so that they had the Gospel to take home with them.
THIS ONE THING I DO

God is moving in the island of Rameswaram! After long years of prayer, the Lord has enabled us to see His great work. We have believed according to the Word and vision He gave us in the beginning, and we must not grow weary or faint. Recently, we took two days of corporate fasting and prayer, seeking the face of the Lord. We extended invitations to many of the surrounding churches to join in prayer. The local village leaders, working with the Roman Catholics, were not happy with people going to these non-denominational prayer sessions. We were threatened on the phone that if we continued on with prayeror if or anyone said, Hallelujah, bodily harm would come to them and the time of fasting would turn into a feast of beating. We continued to pray that the Lord would intervene on behalf of those people who were praying. That same day, there was a Mass at the Catholic Church. At the Mass, when the priest was about to
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give his sermon, the only thing that came out of his mouth was, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah! for seven minutes straight! This was extremely abnormal because, in India, Hallelujah is considered only a Pentecostal form of worship. The people began to wonder what was going on, and they quarreled and fought each other while the priest escaped from the church. During this time, we continued without any difficulty due to the distraction caused in the Catholic Church. We had an outdoor meeting at the Training Center property, even though we had come to a time where outdoor crusades were prohibited by the radical Hindus influence, since they were in political power. Regardless of all this, over 2,000 people came, and the Lord moved in mighty power through signs and wonders. A crippled man was healed, and many other healings took place. Many gave their hearts to the Living God. On one occasion my wife, Sarojam, and the team prayed for a man who had some heart problem, which threatened his life. As they ministered and prayed, the Lord miraculously healed him and now there are no more problems in his heart. Thank God for His healing power. He and his whole family were baptized and now follow the Lord. One of our Hindu neighbors was beaten badly by her husband and she was completely humiliated. The devil began to whisper in her ear that she should commit suicide by hanging herself. She was sent to Sarojam who gave her good counsel. Sarojam explained about the Lord Jesus, His salvation, His forgiveness, Heaven and Hell. Finally she ended up praying to Jesus and the Lord took away her suicidal thoughts. The very next day she reconciled with her husband and now they are living in peace. In 1997, my fourth daughter, Mary, was in 11th grade in a school in Madurai, which is 3 hours from our house. In the beginning, she had a hard time, but things changed dramatically at that school. By the grace of God, ten Hindu students received the Holy Spirit and 51 students came to evening and morning prayer gatherings. The teachers also often came to her for prayer. The Lord used her mightily to turn that school upside down. Glory be to God. Girls who were impossible for the
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Mary Paulose along with her friends
teachers to deal with were transformed into precious saints by Gods Spirit. Marys teacher found repentance, also, and I had the privilege of baptizing her. The Principal of the school supported Mary fully, even in the midst of threats of losing her job. Mary didnt want to come home, but wanted to stay at the school and lead many more students to the Lord. I understand exactly how she felt.
Glorious Childrens home
Since 1998, the Lord added two very powerful burdens to our ministry. One was an orphanage that we started in September 2000. We currently have about fifty children that we care for in all aspects of their life. We clothe and feed them and provide their shelter. We send them to the King of Kings English Medium School that we also started on our compound. Most importantly, we teach them of the love of Christ and give them an opportunity to know and love their Heavenly Father. We are committed to these children and the church community in Rameswaram has become their family.
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TESTIMONIES FROM THE FIELD AND TRAINEES
Blessed are the eyes which see the things you see; for I tell you that many prophets and kings have desired to see what you see, and have not seen it, and to hear what you hear, and have not heard it.
Luke 10:24
REACHING THE REMOTE

Tribals Seek the Savior: The wild Ghat Mountains, which divide southern India, are home to some of the remote villagers in India who still live in isolated tribal conditions. It is a unique challenge to reach them with no roads or maps only rumors and reports of their whereabouts. Pastor Ravi had heard such news of a particular unreached tribe and of a trail that might lead to them. He also heard that they lived in an area of danger from aggression of wild elephants, bears, and ever-present cobras. Billy Graham Paulose and his wife, Salini, decided to join Ravi, his son, Dannymon, and three other evangelists on a trek to try to reach this people group with the Gospel. The people are hunter- gatherers with very little contact with the world beyond their mountains. The disciples had no guide other than a rough idea of which mountaintop to head towards. This was Billys report: As we looked up at that mountain, it seemed impossible to climb
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up there; but we prayed and started walking. We left in the morning and climbed onward through brush and steep, rocky places, finally coming upon the mountain top in the evening. At first, the people were afraid of us, but we had brought gifts of clothing and sweets. After a while, they decided we were okay. When Salini and I saw their living conditions, our hearts melted with compassion for them. Their houses were only a few feet wide, made of sticks and weeds. When it rained, they sat under the trees and got wet, until the downpours came to an end. During our time there, I became extremely sick from something that occurred before our journey. We asked about staying the night, but we had no shelter and were told that sometimes bears would come in the night and cause trouble. Some of the men offered to guide us with torches down a faster route they knew of to the base of the mountain. I was so sick, two people carried me most of the way. When we arrived at the valley, it was the first time these men had ever seen a van. We rested there all through the next day. On the third day, we set out once more for the mountain. This time we took a generator, video projector and more clothes and food to distribute. The tribal chief met us at the base of the mountain and carried the generator on his head the entire way.
Billy & Salini during one of their ministry trips among the Tribals in the remote mountains
TESTIMONIES FROM THE FIELD AND THE TRAINEES
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We arrived to a warm and joyful welcome, explained the purpose for our coming there, and distributed the clothing we had brought. They had never known the use of electricity or engines, and when we started the generator up to show the Jesus film, some of them ran off for the forestafraid that our noisy machine was going to grab them. They eventually came back and sat enraptured by the simple story of the life of Jesus. As we preached the simple Gospel to them, they understood for the first time how the one true God sent His Only Son to die for their sins so they could receive His life, both now and forever. Their response broke our hearts. I counted about 143 individuals who openly prayed in repentance to receive Jesus that day. What a privilege it was for us to see the new joy of Salvation coming from their faces. We knew that Heaven was rejoicing. Pastor Ravi has returned to them once a week, to disciple the new believers and plant a church. We are praying to somehow build a meeting house for them, as well as improve shelters for themsince their present houses are about the size of a bed frame. Please pray for Ravi and the other brothers as they minister among these people, that they would be kept safe and be able to convey to them the Word of God. Since that time, with the help of disciples from the West, we have been able to provide them with better shelter and provision. A few village churches are thriving there and recently a team from Rameswaram joined the tribals in constructing several thatched church buildings to accommodate the joyful throng. CANNIBALISTIC TRIBE FOREVER CHANGED The Karnataka-Tamil Nadu border is a mountainous jungle; primarily a wildlife preserve. It is home to some of the fifty million tribals found throughout India. They are generally illiterate, primitive and sometimes devoid of outside contact.
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Three years ago, Rajan and his wife, Valsala, moved to the edge of the tribal region north of Erumadu. They felt called to bring the light of Jesus to that area of void. Rajan had trained several years under Luke, an older BCM associated pastor, planting churches in northern Tamil Nadu. The young couple went alone and unsupported, willing to suffer, and assured of Gods promises. They settled and planted gospel seeds in one unreached village where they heard reports of isolated tribals living far into the steep jungle, some rumored to still practice cannibalism. Constrained by Christs Love, Rajan and Valsala planned to trek into the jungle together in search of the tribes, despite the fact that Valsala was six months pregnant. Late in the afternoon of their first days journey, Rajan left Valsala to rest on a high rock while he went to find a stream for needed water and fruit to sustain them. When he returned, she was gone. He shouted her name everywhere, but heard only echoes from the rugged slopes. In great distress he rushed further into the mountains, hoping that she had only gone ahead. As daylight waned, Rajan could see light from a distant fire, and hurried there, hoping against hope that it was Valsalas signal. As the camp came into view, Rajan was stunned in horror to see Valsalas lifeless body dangling upside-down over the flames, encircled by those they had hoped to reachwho where already starting to pull the flesh from her arms. In agony he turned away and stumbled back down the mountain until darkness overtook him. He cried alone in the dark, then returned by mornings light to the village on the valley floor. Devastated by grief for months, he could only cry to God. Then one day the Lord clearly reminded him that He, too, had been slain by those He came to save, and asked if Rajan was willing to return to that tribe with Gods message of forgiveness and love. He obeyed with a trembling heart, knowing he might perish just as his wife had. When he finally relocated the tribe, he was amazed to be received as an angel. They were eager to hear of his God and broken by Rajans forgiveness for them.
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He has gathered that, before she died, Valsala was able to speak of Gods Love to her captors and that Gods word had planted powerful seeds of life. Since that time, many from that tribe are turning to Jesus. There is now a team of ten men from that tribe who are going with Rajan to carry the Gospel to other tribes in that region. Your prayers and support are needed everyday to reach these people groups and others in the unreached corners of India and neighboring countries. MINISTRY IN THE ANDAMAN ISLANDS Nearly twenty years ago, a zealous young disciple named Bovert Regulas journeyed to Rameswaram to be trained through BCM in preparation for a life of church-planting ministry. For years afterward, he labored faithfully on the southwest coast of India planting churches, pastoring and making disciples. As the new millennium began over two years ago, God established an exciting new vision for Brother Regulas. He had been encouraged by our familys testimony and the work in Rameswaram, and he was praying for a vital and sacrificial work to do. Gods answer was to go to the Andaman Islands. The Andaman and Nicobar Islands are an archipelago of over 500 islands stretching for about 500 miles in the Bay of Bengal, about 800 miles from India. There are about 400,000 East Indians who live there, but most of them are around the capital city of Port Blair. Scattered throughout the thirty-six inhabited islands of the region are a myriad of primitive tribes and clans divided into five diverse tribal groups all unreached and isolated hunter-gatherers. India, as a whole, has many millions of souls still living a primitive tribal existence. The tribal peoples in the Andaman Islands are some of
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the most unreached. Many of the groups have yet to be impacted by modern civilization. They live with little or no clothing, no knowledge of the world beyond their ocean, and are lost in the hopelessness of darkness. Warfare and cannibalism still plague some of the isolated tribes. There are presently about fifteen disciples laboring together with Brother Regulas. They went there as a team two years ago. For the first year, no one knew they were there except for a few families in western India. Then about one year ago, we were told by God to go to the Andaman Islands. While wondering the meaning of it (since I knew of no one who lived there) Sarojam and I were surprised to receive a letter from Brother Regulas, inviting us to speak at their first pastors conference in the Andamans. After their ministry among the disciples there, Body of Christ Ministries has been able to find sponsors for several of the pastors and evangelists there. The work among the tribes of the Andaman Islands was exciting and very fruitful, as doors and hearts were opened for the first time ever. Since dialects of Malay and Tamil are spoken on the islands, Brother Regulas and other disciples with him have been able to make many inroads into reaching tribes. Also, since the people there are mostly primitive animists, the organized Hindu opposition to the Gospel (which is pervasive on the mainland) is not so much a problem in the Andamans. A more serious obstacle is the lack of transportation. There are simple boats which can carry the brothers to the smaller islands, but they have been mainly reduced to walking great distances under daunting conditions in order to reach various tribes. Recently, enough funds have been sent from various families in the west to provide them with a used van, which will greatly expand the ministry there on the main islands. They will be able to convey teams on a regular basis, to reach new villages, and to disciple new believers in many locations.
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BILLY MEETS THE PRESIDENT OF INDIA

When Billy and Salini were married, among their thousands of guests was a brother named Ezekiah Frances. He openly prophesied to Billy that he and Salini would be meeting with the leadership of the nation of Indiawho would also play a part in establishing the Body of Christ Ministry. Although Brother Ezekiah was known as a faithful prophet, it was a great challenge for Billy and Salini to even imagine how such a thing could come to pass on our poor island, in a nation of over one billion people. During the final week of attempting to get a U.S. visa for Salini that summer, the ruling party of India chose Indias next president. They picked Abdul Kalam, Indias foremost nuclear scientista man who just happened to grow up on the island of Rameswaram. Just a few days before Salinis visa was finally apParental house of proved, Billy heard that Mr. Kalam was going to quiKalam etly visit his childhood home to seek a blessing from his 80- year-old brother, before officially taking office. Billy and Salini stopped by the home, hoping to leave a Bible there as a gift for Mr. Kalam. Heavily-armed guards were dispatched to send everyone awayexcept for close friends and family members. For some reason, Mr. Kalams nieces came out of the house and brought Salini into their room, where she told them about the gospel. Meanwhile, one of the guards confronted Billy, asking him if he was with Mr. Kalamss family. Billy said he wasnt, but that he was involved in a ministry there on the island of Rameswaram which he hoped to speak about to Mr. Kalam. Unexplainably, the guard told Billy to go into the house, where he was given a wonderful opportunity to meet with the president-elect, explain Body of Christ Ministries, and present him with a Bible. Mr. Kalam expressed his heart-felt encour-
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agement and support for their work in ministering to the needs of the poor in Rameswaram.
ILLITERATE SRI LANKAN REFUGEE, GRACE, WINS VILLAGES FOR CHRIST

A Personal Preface from Stan Avery Five years ago, when Theresa and I journeyed to Rameswaram, we met Sister Grace. Her manner was that of a quiet and humble servant. Ben Lillie, a brother from Oregon who was traveling with us, was suffering from painful edema in his feet. As Sister Grace walked by, she saw Bens feet elevated and swollen, and asked through a bilingual brother what was wrong with him. Then she chirped in Tamil, Oh, we should pray for him. She kneeled down on the concrete, drew her sari over her head, touched Bens feet and spoke to God. His pain disappeared, and never returned.
Stan Avery and his beautiful family (Who is helping us greatly in the administration at the US Office)
As we watched this, I remember whispering in wonder to God, Who are these people?
Sister Grace found Jesus and was discipled by us some years ago. She was an illiterate Sri Lankan refugee, daughter of a warlock and wife of a Hindu priest. There were no other Christians in the Trichy region of Tamil Nadu where her family lived. Nonetheless, God had given her an amazing strength of faith and power in the Holy Spirit. In the wake of her ministry, there are now 42 village churches in that region. God has healed countless people through her, and raised a few from the dead.
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She testified at the recent pastors seminar of what has just happened near Trichy: The ruler of a village where they were ministering forbade anyone from the village to go to the church meetings. He demolished his wifes new Bible, beat her badly, and threatened to kill her if she ever went again. Sister Grace and the other believers began to cry out to God concerning this. Soon, the man became mysteriously paralyzed so that he could not even stand. Medical efforts failed, so he finally asked for Sister Grace to come and pray to her God for him. She laid hands on him and prayed, and that same hour he was healed. Now he and his wife, along with the other villagers, are flocking to the church to learn of the amazing God who saves. The news of these events have spread among other nearby villages and many, more are coming to the knowledge Jesus.
Sister Grace
Grace concluded simply, ...so, this is how we do church planting. A RENOWNED PRIEST DECIDES TO FOLLOW CHRIST After training in Rameswaram, Pastor Rajayya was sent by God to an unreached and remote Hindu village, hardened through centuries of idolatry. The idol Iyappan had long held a powerful influence over the entire village. For seven years, the local Hindu priest had made an annual, oneweek pilgrimage trekking barefoot through rugged terrain to a mountain top temple seeking absolution from his gods and earning the devotion of all the people. Brother Rajayya was led to target this priest through strong prayers and gentle preaching. At first the priest was very hardened, and adamantly rejected this new message of Jesus. Yet, as the days went by, the Lord changed the mans heart to be tender and he opened to the truth. Soon, the priest gave his whole heart to Jesus. He was so radically transformed that he brought forth all images of Hindu gods he possessed and burned them in front of the whole village, proclaiming that these never were gods at all, and that Jesus is the
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only God. Now his entire family, as well as all his friends and many people of the village, are packing into the church meetings to hear for the first time about this new, knowable Goda God who changes, heals and forgives. WORK AMIDST FIERCE OPPOSITION NOW BEARING FRUIT Arun Paul grew up in a devoted Hindu family steeped in witchcraft in a remote village of northern Tamil Nadu. Nine years ago (1993) when Arun was still a young man, an evangelist passed through his village declaring the Gospel of Jesus. He was thrilled to hear this new message and his heart was opened to receive Jesus. He began facing increasing opposition for his new faith from his family members and the village leaders. Eventually he had to flee from his home. Arun journeyed to Rameswaram, where the evangelist had come from. He spent the next five years being discipled by Moses Paulose, learning the scriptures, training for the ministry and doing village evangelism. In 1999, Arun Paul responded to Gods direction for him to return to his own village and plant a church there. The whole village adamantly opposed him and for several years, his brother was his only solid convert. Twice he built a thatched building for Bible meetings, and twice the Hindus burned it down. He remained undaunted, laboring in fasting and prayer, preaching and enduring. Arun was quietly and patiently confident in his Lord Jesus, who sent him there. In the winter of 2002, Arun received a visit from Brother Isaacan evangelist who was blinded years ago. Isaac and Arun Paul fasted for three weeks, praying together against the powers of darkness hindering the work there. Soon things began to change. There were several miraculous healings and some people possessed by demons were delivered. Afterwards, some of the Hindu villagersmostly young peoplebegan
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opening their hearts to Jesus and were radically converted. They began to pray with Arun Paul, often for 5 or 6 hours each day, in the face of a growing storm of fierce opposition from the Hindus. There were Hindu temples scattered throughout the surrounding villages, each with its own special festivals for sacrificing animals and worshipping demonic gods. The new disciples began praying together specifically for weeks before each festivalthat God would bring the temple worship to a halt. During each festival, those temples were overwhelmed with fighting, strife and violent conflicts among Hindu worshippers. As a result, four of those templesestablished generations before were closed that winter, and remain closed today. Today, the Hindus who have been afflicting and opposing the disciples have actually become afraid of them in the face of this obviously powerful God they have never known before. The Christian church continues to grow in that area. Their next target is the main Hindu temple of that region. Saints are praying and demons are trembling. Some time after the winter of 2002, we happened to visit Arun Pauls village, where we baptized twelve of the new converts. There are about forty disciples there now, together living for Jesus. They are all willing to be martyrs for Jesus. One of those baptized was Aruns mother who, after years of prayer, finally repented and now is with the Lord. The persecution in that area was so strong; we had to baptize people in the dead of night, with only one flashlight. But, the spiritual light that came from these peoples new joy was unspeakably profound.
GODS KINGDOM COMING TO EARTH THROUGH PRAYER AND MIRACLES

We heard a report recently from Pastor Stephen and his congregation in the village of T. Ramanathapuram. A demon-possessed woman
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was taken to the church for prayer. She was bound by the devil so strongly that she could not open her eyes or speak. They prayed for her for a halfhour until she was delivered and suddenly able to see and speak. Her story became known to all the people living in the surrounding area, and her deliverance brought many to glorify God and believe in Jesus. In a nearby village where Pastor Stephen was evangelizing, the town president forbade them to preach the gospel and commanded them to depart immediately. The whole church prayed concerning this, and as Pastor Stephen said, Our high Lord has heard our humble cry, and has done mighty things. Shortly afterwards, that same village leader was voted out of office, losing all his power and authority, so the disciples were able to return and continue working there. MIRACLE WELL In the region near Sedapatti, five churches have been planted by Pastor Ravi and Sister Komalom. With dozens of villages there, over 150,000 people are being reached with the gospel now for the first time. The Lord provided two and a half acres there for them to use. They have constructed a small church building and two rooms for themselves and their two children to live in. A serious drought this year dried up many wells in the area, including their own. It was an old well, about 20 feet across and 25 feet deep. They had the well deepened 7 feet into the bedrock, yet found no water. A church in the U.S. sent funds to install a drilled well. Many of the Hindu villagers came to watch this event. Sister Komalom directed the well-drillers to where God had told her the well should be located. They drilled down through 390 feet, but found only dry, solid rock. The Hindus lost no time in mocking God over this, and publicly humiliated Ravi and Komalom for trusting in Jesus. The money was spent, the well was completely dry, the Hindus were laughing and, as night fell, the disciples were in great despair.
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But the mercies of our God are new every morning. Early the next day, Ravi went in desperate hope to the new well shaft, and dropped a pebble in. He was astonished to hear it hit water 25 feet down. News of the amazing turn of events soon reached the village and many came to see the Jesus water. It was sweet and clear, unlike the many brackish wells of that area, and the height of the water spoke of some unusual source. The tears of the saints were turned into joy, and their sorrow into dancing. Many of the villagers who had been mocking now saw this as the hand of God. An old woman and her granddaughter, both very sick, decided that if they could drink some of the water then perhaps Jesus would heal them. They had enough faith to walk from their village and ask for a cup of the new water. God healed them both as soon as they drank it. GODS WORK THROUGH ORDINARY PEOPLE Brother Singharayan is pastor of one of the 60 village churches on the island of Rameswaram. He and his wife, Jaya, were shown by God to visit a Muslim family, whose home was next door to the local Bro. Singharayan and his wife Jaya Islamic mosque. Throughout Inalong with Billy dia, and indeed, worldwide, Muslim communities are very closed to the gospel, and it is rare for doors to open for evangelism. As they entered the home, Sister Jaya asked for permission to pray for them. As she prayed, she received a prophesy from the Holy Spirit revealing to her many secrets about the family who lived there. She told them of the curse that had been cast over their familybringing them to ruin and afflictionand how they had spent much money on healing, yet they were increasingly robbed of any peace and rest.
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The Muslim family was amazed at the revelation from God, concerning matters only they knew of, and their hearts were opened to the Truth of Jesus. Through prayer, their family was dramatically set free from the enemies curse and they confessed that Jesus is truly the Lord. There was such a joy in their family. Now, against much opposition from the Muslim community, two women are daring to ignore their persecutors and are openly attending the village church. Day by day, their family is being changed. Pray that this will lead to many more open doors among the Muslim women and families around them.
FOREST GOSPEL MINISTRY

Twenty of the disciples who have been trained through the Ministry in Rameswaram have formed a team called the Forest Gospel Ministry. They are focused on taking the gospel to the many tribal groups hidden in the mountains and forests. India alone has about 50 million tribal people, largely despised and forgotten by the world around them. The first tribal group they reached was devoted to many gods through endless sacrifices. They had even offered a human sacrifice just before the teams arrival. Upon their arrival, the men of the tribe threatened to sacrifice them as well if they did not leave. After departing initially, the team decided to return and look to the hand of God for rescue. They encountered one of the villagers who was in misery, soon to die of cancer. They cried out to God and the cancer was completely healed. This opened the door wide for them to preach the Gospel to the whole tribe. On that same day, there were about 80 souls saved. A church has been established there and they are praying to somehow be able to build something large enough for all the new believers to gather in. Brothers Steven and Ravi were expanding their outreach to a new area of Tamil Nadu. Their preaching of salvation in Jesus was being opposed by the local Hindu priest. The man held considerable power over
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Our missionaries packing to move to another area in the forests for ministry
the villagers there through his bloody sacrifices of goats and chickens by which he promised the people that he could remove their sins. Through his power and threats, he made every effort to turn the people away from listening to Steven and Ravis teaching about Jesus. Finally, the two brothers openly began praying unto God that the opposition of the Hindu priest would cease. Shortly afterwards, the priest died, suddenly and dramatically. The thousands living in that area knew it was the hand of God and they are now coming to listen with faith to the message of true salvation in Jesus preached by Steven and Ravi.
EVENTS BEFORE AND AFTER THE TSUNAMI

Anand Ezra, an old prophet in the city of Trichy, Tamil Nadu, was wakened at 3:30a.m., December 26th, 2004, by the startling visage of he angel of death. The angel declared that he had claimed the Island of Rameswaram, and that it would soon be utterly destroyed. Anand quickly arose and called church leaders around the region, imploring them to join him in intercession through the nightthat God would spare the island from destruction. Six years before, he had also prophesied of the construction of the Training Center in Rameswaram, and now he knew the enemy wanted to destroy the work of Body of Christ Ministries, to stop the work of the Gospel. Many disciples prayed with him through the remainder of the night.
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At about 7:30 am the following morning, massive tidal waves struck the entire east coast of India, Sri Lanka, and many other nations. The destruction miraculously bypassed the island of Rameswaram. The mayor later declared that, we didnt even lose a chicken! Just twenty miles to the north, death and desolation prevailed throughout the 1,000 miles of coastline, with entire villages swept out to sea and millions left homelessfacing the specter of certain famine and disease. To the south of Rameswaram, the cape of India was devastated, leaving thousands to be buried in mass graves. Two days before the tidal waves, a high government official had brought petitions from the radical Hindus to Billy in order to stop the completion of the Training Center. He confiscated the ministries papers, and declared that the construction would never be finished (because it jeopardized the Hindu temple worship). He contacted Billy
Billy showing just a few of the hundreds of the boats which huge waves brought into the villages along the coastline breaking houses and lives
immediately following the tidal waves and apologized for his hasty edict. He explained that he did not realize the importance of their ministry and their new building, that it was the only structure in their region suitable for large-scale refugee work. He was hoping that they would be able to help with the staggering numbers of displaced people among the coastal population. Our God reigns!
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The following day, Sister Sarojam spoke to the same official by revelation of the Spirit, telling him of physical and emotional problems he was afflicted with. He was amazed, and opened his heart, confessing his failures to her. In response, he extended the Training Center building permit for another year. The churches in Rameswaram launched an extensive outreach to the mainland refugeesto sustain them with rice, clothing, essentials and shelter, until they can rebuild their lives. Many, whose hearts were willing and ready, were brought into the Kingdom of our Savior, Jesus. During the few months following the tsunami, churches in the West joined us, bringing relief to the survivors in Sri Lanka and the Tamil Coast. Over $200,000 was raised for the effort, and teams came from Oregon and Alaska to help in the heart-rending outreach and large scale distribution. The Indian Government largely obstructed foreign aid agencies from reaching the stricken villages, to appease the Hindu radicals who were offended at the idea of aid flavored with a foreign religion. But, as a native ministry with years of experience in refugee work, we were completely at liberty to organize relief work and present the Gospel to anyone who was interested, and they were interested. It would take an entire book to detail the accounts of how many hearts, and entire villages, were broken open to the love of Jesus through that horrific tragedy. Villages where our pastors had been beaten and driven out before were now beseeching us to help them. They not only longed for needed provisions, but for the truth. Their leaders, priests and gods had forsaken them, and Jesus had captured their attention through His undeniable love. Through this tragedy, many found they can no longer afford to cling blindly to religious tales, fables, and cruel spirits. Confronted by agonizing questions, Jesus has given them answers. The inhabitants of Rameswaram were spared from the sudden bereavement and starvation faced by those along the coasts around them but not for long. By March, hunger began to stalk the island, driving thousands of families to despair. Unlike those on the mainland, the population of the island has no agricultural base to rebound and sustain
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The strong Tsunami which ripped through buildings and lives
it. There is only fishing, and the business of providing for the Hindu pilgrims. After the tsunami, many pilgrims chose to wait until another year to visit, assuming the island had been devastated. Fishing was banned for several weeks by the government, because of the number of victims bodies in the ocean. Even later, fishing continued to be hopeless, due to scarcity and higher diesel costs. By March, the churches in Rameswaram found themselves with over 6,000 starving families quite literally at our doors. Again, with continued help from many disciples in the U.S., we were able to provide a months supply of food for those who came for help. And, again, many of them are finding Jesus, and turning from idolatry. A Hindu Member of Parliament, Bavani Rajandran, made a surprise visit to the island, and viewed the BCM relief work. She gave a speech there, in which she said, These Christians are doing more good and help than the government could ever do for you. Listen to their words, and worship Jesus, who is blessing you all today. Two weeks later, as the disciples were distributing help for another 2,000 families, the Mayor of Rameswaram, a prominent Hindu, came to see the work. He was so moved by the love of Jesus that he told the whole multitude, In my thirty-five years of service I have never seen such selfless love for people. You need to listen and obey the words of Jesus, and He will bless
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you. These people are here to love and care for you, so believe in Jesus. The next day, he asked Sister Sarojam to come to their home, to share more about the Lord Jesus. Now, the Mayors wife is coming to church, along with over 1,000 Hindus who have abandoned the temple and idols, and are coming to learn of Jesus. Twenty to fifty new people began showing up at the BCM center daily, and teams of trained disciples were prepared to bring them to Jesus for Salvation. Long ago, the church meetings outgrew the old building and were moved into a finished part of the Training Center. Now, the worship services are so full, they have spilled into the unfinished entrance, where river sand has been spread out on the rough floor for seating. Still, more come each week, despite the heat and discomfort from the incomplete roof and walls. Special teams from other ministries in India have come for outreach and prayer. Twenty of them met at a bus -stop for four hours of prayer. About 2,000 people then gathered to pray with them. Serious opposition is arising, also. RSS agents sent false accusations to Delhi, triggering a federal audit under penalty of prison. After the initial investigation, the senior auditor recognized the BCM staff for their diligence and honesty; that, in his thirty years of service, he had never seen such meticulous records. The Hindu temple leadership is now openly planning ways to try to stop the Training Center completion, charging that, if the conversions to Jesus continue, Rameswaram will soon become a Christian island. For once, they may be right. Our God is claiming Rameswaram, as has been repeatedly prophesied, to grow into a dynamic center for carrying His Everlasting Gospel to those who are perishing throughout India.
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AS A LIGHT THAT SHINES IN A DARK PLACE
It is our Gods merciful nature to shine His Light brightest, in those very places where the darkness seems greatest.
...REVEALED UNTO BABES

For many years, pastor D.C.R. and his wife have been planting churches in the region west of Madurai among seventy unreached villages. One town in particular had stubbornly resisted the gospel. A certain boy from that village had a serious speech impediment. In 2006, as a six-year-old, he heard stories of the nearby Christians and persuaded his parents to ask the pastor to pray for him to be healed. After the pastor prayed, his stuttering ceased, and was able to speak clearly. His family began to join with the believers. Not long after, the little boy encountered a fourteen-year-old girl who, plagued often with seizures, had fallen into convulsions on the floor of a candy shop he was frequenting. He later suggested to her that she could get prayer also. Reluctant at first, she remembered how he had been unintelligible previously, yet had obviously been healed. So, she went also for prayer, and was healed. Next, the two of them went to a man in their same village who was sorely afflicted with huge boils on his chest. He believed their testimonies enough to follow them to the pastors house for prayer, and now he, too, has been healed by Jesus. Now, Gods miraculous signature has opened wide a door for the gospel in their village..
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...HAVING TURNED TO GOD FROM IDOLS...

Soon after, we sent a Gospel outreach van team to that same village. The disciples were discouraged about showing the Life of Jesus film there, because a loud commotion was emanating from the Hindu temple in the center of the village. Pastor D.C.R. thought we should go ahead and try. As we were working on setting up our sound system, the Anti-Christian priest approached, asking about our intentions. We told him plainly, and he smiled and said, No need for that. You can use our large temple sound system and microphone. Its already set up. We will turn off our temple music. That amazed us, as normally they would oppose us, or at least ignore us. Then, we began to dig holes to set the poles for the film projector screen. Again, the priest intervened, offering for us to tie the screen up by ropes from the large idols perched on each side of the temple. After the film and Gospel presentation that night, sixty people publicly committed their lives to Jesus, and a church was planted there, beginning with several families assembling openly to worship Jesus. All this started with a boy of six who could not speak. Such openness in an AntiChristian village is evidence of the power of God and a serious change in the making. Late that same night, we were all finally packed up, very worn out, and hoping to go home for some rest. As we pulled out of the village, a woman appeared in the dark, standing directly in front of our van. Our driver honked for her to move, but she refused to budge. She cried out, You are not leaving this village, until I see my daughter healed. I cannot know when you will return. Our team climbed down, and followed her to her home. There, we saw her seventeen-year-old daughter, hopelessly tormented by demons and afflicted by seizures. Her mother confessed that she had devoted her daughter to a local idol since she was in the womb, and she pleaded to us for help from our God, Jesus. After about thirty minutes of intense prayer and spiritual warfare, the evil spirits left her and the girl was completely healed from that hour. The rejoicing in that village grew yet more and more that night, as Gods Spirit swept into many lives, once long lost in darkness.
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Several months prior to that account, a different team spent several days in a northern region of Tamil Nadu. They were intent on reaching an entire area, with numerous villages where the gospel had never been heard. They rented a small house in the central part and began visiting village after village. One particular Hindu village was very opposed to them, and refused to allow them to even be there, telling them to never return with their strange new religion. That same night, the disciples heard a knock at their cottage door. A group of Hindu men were carrying a desperately sick woman on a stretcher. They were trying to get her to a hospital to save her life. The disciples offered to pray to Jesus for her, but the men said, No, just get us to the hospital in your van. The team quickly agreed to transport them, and returned home. Around midnight, another urgent knocking was at the door. The same men, carrying the same sick woman, explained that the doctors had sent the woman home to die, giving her an hour at the most to live. Some had gone ahead of them, back to their village, to dig the womans grave. They besought the disciples to arise and pray to their God, Jesus, for her life. They were desperate, had nothing to lose, and no hope. The team gladly took her in, and prayed through the night for her healing. Before the first light of the next day, she was delivered from several demons who were contributing to her demise. Healed, she arose and asked the disciples for food and water. After sunrise, she asked the team to go with her back to her village. When they arrived, they were surprised to discover that it was the very same village which had ejected them the day before. The woman marched into her house and came out again, carrying the idols and images she had worshipped all her life. She called out to her neighbors to help her destroy the useless idols which she now understood were intent on her destruction. The astonished villagers watched as she and the delighted gospel team set about to demolish her dusty pile of gods with a hammer, and throw them onto a heap. The testimony was so powerful, and the hand of Jesus so clear that, by the end of that day, 200 of those same villagers had decided to follow this new God of healing and deliverance, the Lord Jesus.
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A GREAT DELIVERANCE
In October of 2005, a series of Gospel crusades and village outreach campaigns were being conducted near the mountains south of Bangalore, by an evangelism team in a large area where several pastors had been laboring for years. Among the works of God there was the healing of cancer in a Anti Christian man, who right away publicly followed Jesus into baptism, and took the name of Baruk. His best friend, Murugan, the village mayor, was quite impressed by this, and wanted also to become a follower of Jesus. However, a devil had possessed him for 37 years, since before he was born, invited there by his parents, who had dedicated him invitro to an idol. If he even said the name of Jesus, the demon would cause him to writhe, and produce hideous sounds. This went on for two days, and looked to everyone as though it would take long days of prayer and fasting. The second evening, with his wife and daughter present, God intervened mightily through bold prophesy and discernment. After two hours, the foul spirit departed, and Murugan was able to thoroughly and joyfully praise the Living God. He was baptized before many witnesses the next morning, and took the name Epaphras. Now there is a thriving church in that village, and many more have been baptized.
...RESCUE THE PERISHING

The notorious plague of femicide is endemic among the Anti-Christian villages of India. Anti-Christian doctrines work with the dowry system to induce countless families to discretely kill their new-born daughters, usually with boiling water, to escape the debt and penury of having to pay a bridal dowry, years later. This horrible practice still grows, and in some regions boys now out-number girls by as much as 20%. Pastors with Body of Christ Ministries are watchful for any chance to intervene in this tragedy. They look for any avenue to quietly offer to an AntiChristian family before a newborn daughter is killed, that BCM would take the child instead, to be raised by the disciples.
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Recently, fellow-workers in the US have sponsored the building of a Rescue Nursery here, which is now complete, and easily able to care for several infants at a time, complete with a nurses station and air conditioning. One by one, baby girls are arriving, brought to Rameswaram by the pastors who are able to rescue them in time.
Infant home children and staff with Pauloses
Eight years ago, Pastor Ravi received word from a friend in a nearby village that a certain woman was in labor, and that the family had determined to kill the child if it was a girl. Ravi dropped everything and sped the several kilometers to their home to try to save it, if the child was a girl. Too late, he was instead handed a tiny scalded body to bury. Ravi and his wife Komaloom wept long and painfully over the child, as if it was their own. Since that time, they have not given up, and have been able to successfully rescue four newborn girls among the surrounding villages. In April 2007, Ravi again chased hopefully after the sudden rumor of an imperiled birth in an adjacent village. Arriving just after the birth of a girl, he got the family to agree to the Christians offer to take the child. Ravi hurried home to get the funds demanded by the family, to pay for the midwife and other expenses. On his return, the infant had been already scalded to death. The father had changed his mind. Ravi was seriously devastated. They, and many other pastors, are willing to risk that agony, against the hope of rescuing even a few of these innocents.
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...UNTO ONE OF THE LEAST OF THESE

The temple streets of Rameswaram have often reminded me about the premises of a mental asylum. Pilgrims from all over India visit here at least once in a life time and the ones with mentally challenged relatives make this the best opportunity to get rid of their ill ones. Dumping them in this so called Holy place gives them a peace of mind that they have left those hopeless ones at the entrance of Moksha the gate to eternity (according to Hindu mythology). With no roof over their heads they are often mistreated to feed on nothing but the waste dumped from the vegetarian restaurants. It has been our long time desire to reach out to these desperate souls. As we gathered them one by one, and carried them back to the Training Center, it caught the curious attention of the Anti-Christian priests and the police. Although such a thing would not be astonishing in America, with a historical tradition of missions and relief work, in India it is totally unheard of. After bringing those we found to our ministry compound, we proceeded to give them things most had not had for a number of years: haircuts, baths, clean clothes, nail trimmings, and decent food. These were simple blessings, such as we might take for granted, but the overall effect was surprisingly dramatic. As we tried to do what seemed like that which Jesus would do, there was an observable joy and hopefulness that invaded their faces. Once lifted from the madness of despair, they were able to interact (although they spoke a number of different languages). Some of them are staying with us, slowly rising above the fog of their despair and dementia. They recognize love, and we make sure they understand as best they can, that it all comes from Jesus. What might seem like a sacrifice has turned into a great blessing for our churches. John Isaac was one of the many mentally challenged individuals we took off the streets of Rameswaram who has stayed with us here on the campus. After being prayed for and shown deep kindness, John Isaac is a
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We identified another man rejected & neglected by himself and everyone
Transformation under progress
He is greatful for the new life and we rejoice with him
Praising God for the new life
completely transformed man. He is actively involved in the ministry doing everything from joining outreach teams, to singing in church, to preparing and delivering tea to the labor workers at the Training Center. His life is a representation of the transforming power of the love of Jesus. Beyond the individuals we took off the streets, others were affected as well. It became clear to the temple priests what we were doing, and they were so amazed that they declared, If this is what the Christians are doing now, then eventually this whole island will become Christian. We recently received a surprising phone call from the police authority, about
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No one cares or me...
Pr. Paulose sharing the love of Jesus
Billy sharing God's love & care in action by helping this weak man
There is true Transformation now
our new outreach to these people. Years ago, during the beginnings of our ministry in Rameswaram, there was a time when the same police department literally had their rifles aimed at our family, awaiting orders from the Anti Christian officials to shoot us. Now, they called to inform us that they were completely supportive of us and our new care ministry, and that they would gladly silence any grumpy Anti-Christians who spoke against the gospel ministry of Jesus.
...KING OF KINGS ENGLISH SCHOOL

King of Kings English Medium School for children, which opened ten years ago in a little thatched building, has grown immensely. A fam-
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King of Kings English Medium school
ily of disciples from Winston-Salem, North Carolina, along with other faithful disciples, have taken on the King of Kings School as a project during recent years. Now, the third floor of the new school is completed, which enables accommodations for 350 students. The classes are now for students through the 10th grade. A series of young American disciples have taken turns teaching authentic English for the past six years. Test scores are unmatched by any other school in the area. Recently, some of the Anti- Christian priests have even been sending their children to us for education. While all this is good, the goals given to us by God remain the same. We are making disciples for Jesus, any way we can. About eighty percent of the students now openly follow Jesus. Also, about one third of the students families are now believers, who gather with us to worship the Living God.
...PRINCE OF PEACE TAMIL SCHOOL

In May of 2006, with the funding aid of New Life Community Church at Pismo Beach, California, along with other faithful disciples, we were finally able to open Prince of Peace Tamil Medium School. This is a
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Prince Of Peace Tamil School
Tamil-language school that provides education free of charge to the poorest families among the villages. We were able to start with 150 students, and currently there are 300 students enrolled. In 2008 we were able to secure a separate 13 acres on the main road, for this new school to expand onto. We are eternally grateful for the helping hands rendered by New Life Community Church of CA and Devenport Engineering of Winston Salem of NC. Eventually, our goal is to have 10,000 students enrolled. These would be children who would otherwise have no realistic hope of a good education. More importantly, these children will be ours, to bring carefully and thoroughly into the knowledge of the Kingdom of God.
...SUFFER THE CHILDREN TO COME

Unlike the Wests three months summer vacation, Indian summer vacation from school is about six weeks long. But that is just long enough. We started Vacation Bible School twelve years ago in Rameswaram, with sixty children in attendance. It has grown continuously, as God has expanded the work. In May, 2007 we fielded about 3000 to 3500 village children from all over Rameswaram, for seven days of worship, music, evangelism, drama and discipleship. The impact of this outreach is incalculable for the ongoing lives of these children who are each imprinted with the message of Life in Jesus, and also on the whole island, as each
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VBS Children gathered inside the facility
child leaves with a school backpack printed with Salvation Scriptures in Tamil, which they will carry all year, throughout the island.
...REACHING
OUT THE
NEEDY...
It has been our long time desire to meet the medical needs of the poor in India. The voice of experience has often taught me a big lesson. When ones physical needs go unmet they remain unaware of the spiritual needs deep within turning their backs to the truth of the gospel. God in his perfect timing has equipped many teams to wipe the tears of these destitute in our nation. Among those great souls the teams from
Dr. Robert Kinsaul and his wife Sheila Kinsaul is treating a muslim woman
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Medford, Oregon, Eagle river, Alaska and Phoenix city, Alabama has made their presence so special and unique through the visits. Our joy knew no bounds when 20,000 souls came to the path of light lit by these medical missionaries. As you can see the picture of DR: Bob and Sheila Kinsaul attending a Muslim patient.
...EQUIPPING
DISCIPLES FOR THE GOSPEL
TC Inside view
Now the Training Center is nearing completion. As things are proceeding, God willing, it should be roofed and outfitted in short years to come. Each season brings new and expanded use for training and equipping the Gospel workers, and for getting the Gospel to those who have not yet heard. Once it is finished, weekly Gospel crusades for 20,000 will be attainable. That many Hindu pilgrims still file down the road past our gates, every few days. God also has us looking beyond the completion of this facility, to sending out many teams of evangelists, in vans equipped to get the Gospel effectively into villages all over India. Even now, at this early stage, God has expanded our outreach, with teams established in
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fifteen states (and with more in the works). We could never have foreseen Gods plans from the beginning, but it is enough for each of us to be willing to obey, to believe, and to follow. Over ten years ago, an encouraging prophesy was carefully recorded in our fellowship, given by a faithful prophet. I received it at that time, knowing the greatness of our God, and the agreement of earlier prophesies. However, its potential for fulfillment was not even remotely evident at that time, by our sight, reason or experience. Back then, we were few in number, with few friends and an abundance of enemies. We were discouraged, parked on sand and ashes, our bodies beaten, and our buildings burned to the ground. Yet, someone had faith to prophesy this to us: The revival which I am about to bring upon the world, I will also bring to Rameswaram. Do not think for one moment that you have reached a dead end, for I will cause you to break through into a new beginning. The prayers you have invested here in my Kingdom will bear fruit abundantly. No enemy shall stand before the Lord of Hosts when He comes in power. The strongholds will fall. It will not be your doing. It will be my doing. You will stand back and see the Salvation of your God. As a great stone dropped into the ocean, where you are, the ripples will spread over both land and sea, Sri Lanka, and well into India. Seek me at this time. Seek my presence, and the sweet fellowship of my Spirit. People will come from far and wide to experience what God is doing in Rameswaram. I saw a mighty angel with a flaming sword, facing the North of the island. No one could go past him, unless he allowed it. He was very great, very mighty. I then saw some men who looked like Hindu priests, running away in fear from where they had been sitting; and others, tearing their clothes, casting off their religious gear and bowing to the Lord. God is saying: Your prayers over many years have been silently gnawing away at the strongholds of the enemy. God will come in power, the undermined strongholds and thrones of the kingdom of darkness will fall, and there will be a great harvest. We have learned to expect great things from our Wonderful God.
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THIS NEW THING
Because of the Lords great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
Lamentations 3:22-23
Just as God spoke over our ministry and to our hearts many years ago, Never think for one moment you have reached a dead end, for I will cause you to break through into a new beginningHe has been faithful to repeatedly do just that: establish new beginnings, new reasons for hope, new victories that point to the power of His awesome hands ever working on our little island of Rameswaramand beyond. The following stories are continued testaments to the new beginnings that God consistently creates day by day in our midst. Recordings of the miracles, the provision, the moments of lightand darknessand the ways that God has been faithful to us through it all. These stories are an eclectic assortment of testimonies and encounterspersonal experiences taken from Rameswaram and testimonies from the mouths of missionaries beyond the boundaries of our island. Please read each of the individual following accounts for what it is: a poignant tale of Gods awesome power incessantly moving through the nation of Indiascattered pieces of the very heart beat of God. For every word recorded, there are thousands more that will likely go unheard. Soak in the details that follow with open ears. Take a moment to enter the world of those who are daily strivingand dying to see Gods Kingdom come to earth in the nation of India. Listen intently, for the stories that follow are stories worth telling.
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A NEW CAR AND A RENEWED LIFE

Nearly three years ago, as one of the roof sections of concrete was ready to be poured for the Training Center, construction had to be halted due to limited finances. Billy was preparing to leave for a three month trip to the United States, and felt the burden to sell his car. With the money received from the sale, the concrete work could be successfully completed in time. Billy trusted fully that the Lord would provide all of his needs when he returnedincluding his need for a vehicle. The Lords faithfulness prevailed in ways beyond Billys expectations. When Billy returned from the United States, God had miraculously provided a new car for Billys family from a friend in Denver, Colorado. The same man had given generously to aid in the construction of the Training Center. But in this particular situation, the Lord spoke to Him that Billy was in need of transportation. Money was sent to India before Billys return, and as he came homea brand new car was waiting in his driveway. Through giving, God had given Billy something even better in return. Shortly after receiving his beautiful new car, Billy was thrilled to be driving it into the city of Rameswaram. He sat high as he rode along the familiar streetpausing briefly to look out his window at a place near his old house. Every time Billy passes that area, he glances out his car window. It is the same area he remembers passing out on along the roadside as a young boy due to lack of food when his parents ministry was just beginning and proper nutrition was beyond their ability to afford. Billy was humbled for a moment as he sat in his new vehicle, remembering the struggles and difficulties that came before such tangible blessings. Billys memories continued to emerge as he finished up his business in town and prepared to drive home for a series of important meetings. Glancing once more at the familiar roadside spot on his drive back to campus, Billy noticed a severely handicapped man walking on all fours painfully hoisting himself along the dirt and gravel road. As he watched
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the man hobble alongside that same area he remembers from his childhood, Billys heart dropped. Late for his important appointments, he glanced forward and kept driving. As he continued, the Holy Spirit sent serious conviction into Billys heart, telling him to turn around and help the handicapped man. Turn around and go backthis is more important than any of your appointments, the Holy Spirit spoke to Billys heart. Are you sure? Billy questionedmaking every kind of excuse possible not to turn around. But the conviction was burning, and Billy responded to it. Upon returning to the spot, Billy stopped his car, only to have several other familiar faces stop alongside the road asking if he was alright, if he had a flat tire, and if he needed assistance. Before long, there was a huddle of Billys friends and strangers gathered around. Billy immediately felt a bit ashamed, but the compassion of Christs heart for the handicapped man in front of him was strong in his heart. Billy opened the backdoor of his car and picked the man up to set him inside. The handicapped man was extremely unhygienicdripping in his own excrement, his pants and shirt covered in potent filth. By the time Billy hoisted the man inside his car, his hands were sopping wet from touching the mans soiled pants. Those watching were horrified. In Hindu culture, it is unheard of to help a man of such social standing. Billy aiding the man on the roadside was proof of Christs love and heart for the downtrodden and the least of these. Though he winced as he cared for the man, it was the love of Jesus that moved Billy forward. Once Billy reached campus, he parked his car in front of the home of several young men who live on campus, training for ministry work. Billy typically parked his car there to bring an assortment of treats to greet the young men with, but that day, he brought something entirely different. As the ministry men came outside, they were shocked to see the crippled man in the backseat. Together they helped remove him from the vehicle as they cleaned him from head to toe, giving him new clothes and praying for him.
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After a week of continually praying for the handicapped man every day, God began to miraculously strengthen his feet and hands. By the time he left campus, he was able to fully walk on his own two feet without any assistance. Gods picture for his life was far grander than anything ever imagined. The handicapped man was actually visiting Rameswaram from his village which is located in a difficult region that we were having struggles reaching with the gospel. But, through this mans story, a new door was opened up in his village for the gospel. When one listens to the Holy Spirits voiceand more importantly, when obedience and action followthings happen beyond what we could ever foresee or imagine. GODS PROTECTION IN THE HEIGHTS OF THE MOUNTAINS BCM takes several teams from abroad on outreach trips every year. Groups from all over the world have participated in bringing the gospel to villageslocal and remotethrough these outreaches. Numerous opportunities to join such an outreach are continually openingwhether the outreach involves staying at a nearby hotel (due to health or limited mobility) and sharing the gospel on a localized level, participating in trips to nearby villages through van transportation, orfor the heavy adventurerstraveling to the unreached villages in the mountainous jungle areas of Tamil Nadu.
Gods Army
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In December of 2007, Billy took a group from Trail, Oregon, on one of the more adventurous type outreaches high into the mountains to seek out an unreached tribal group. December is a challenging time to do outreach work due to heavy winter rains. Though the rains threatened to come, the team pressed forward with determination of heart their goal set before them. Prior to departure, another pastor was sent ahead to the specific area of ministryreporting that the tribals needs extended beyond hearing the good news. They were also desperately in need of practical items like blankets, food supplies, and other aid for their daily life. Equipped with materials to last the journeytents, cooking utensils, a generator and sound equipment for open-air ministry, and a number of supplies to aid in the tribal peoples practical needsthe team filled the entirety of their van. At 6:30 am, the van departed for the mountains base. The fifteen team memberswhich consisted of both Americans and Indiansreached the valley just below the mountain around 8 am and began hiking immediately. Chopping branches that extended over their path, they blazed a trail through the valley for nearly one mile before beginning to climb. The climb itself was vigorous with many dips and rocky cleftsrequiring scaling rock surfaces at times. The team plowed forward, arms filled and backs packed with supplies. Vinu, the driver, carried the massively heavy generator on his head the entire way. With only one stop along the way to build a fire and cook lunch, the team marched relentlessly forward until they reached their mountaintop destination at 6:30 pm. With the last rays of the suns light set and the blackness of night filling the air, the team was exhausted from their physical exertion, yet filled with a supernatural energy to accomplish what God had sent them to do. To their surprise, the conditions of the mountain top were far from what they expectedloud music blared from giant speakers and endless crowds of people swarmed the area.
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A pastor had gone to investigate the area a month prior to their trip, but failed to realize that the conditions would be dramatically different upon the teams December arrival. Without realizing it, the team had arrived on the very last day of a giant Hindu celebration involving over 100 villages. Hindu devotees used this time for extensive drinking, feasting, and making blood sacrifices from chickens and animals to their respective gods. The celebration was wild, and the last night especially significant. Recognizing the tension of the situation, Billy could immediately tell it was not a night to be openly evangelizingespecially considering there were thousands of Hindus and only fifteen team members. Instead, he suggested setting up tents to rest and reconvening in the morning to deliver their blankets and other supplies to those in need before leaving the mountain top. The tired team agreed, and they began setting up their tents in a public, community center-type area. Just as the team was preparing for sleep, a group of Hindus walked through the open room they were in and began suspiciously eyeing each member. Shortly afterward, a number of Hindu priests circled the teams tents before leaving and quickly returning with a mob of nearly twohundred people. While the Americans and women from the team stayed inside the tents, the mob began questioning Billy and the other Indian team leaders why they were there. Billy stated that they were just visiting and planning only to spend the night. He told the questioning men that they needed a place to stay for the evening, because it was too dangerous to travel through the mountains after dark with the copious amounts of wild animals. As Billy and the other team leaders reasoned, the mob became increasingly suspicious, irritated and angry at the uninvited guests. Without warning, some of the Hindus grabbed Billy by the wrists and a priest openly declared that since it was the last day of the celebration, they should make Billy a human sacrifice. Billy had seen the flat
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stone where animals were previously sacrificed during the weekblood spilt and dried along the rough surface. He began envisioning pictures of his wife, sons and several friends, playing like a film reel in his mind, as his life literally flashed before his eyes. As the angered crowd started to drag him off, Billy felt the Holy Spirit advise him to speak up. Immediately, he opened his mouth, We actually have to be somewhere in the early morning, he said, and for that, we have to leave right now! With Billys words, God threw the men into an inexplicable confusion. Some shouted, Let him go! He has to be somewhere!even though it made little sense for them to free him. Others reminded, No, he is going to be our sacrifice, remember? Lets kill him. The mob argued back and forth in utter confusion until finally they shouted at Billy and his team, Leave! Get out of here now! With that word of release, the team took no time to pack their bags and flee. Though their hiking journey had already totaled nearly twelve straight hours, they were making their way through the mountainous jungle yet againwith intent and speedthis time, with the darkness against them. The team was well aware of the variety of wild animals in the junglebears, boars, elephants, and anacondasthat would make for dangerous travel. Danger was before them and behind them, with a trail of enraged Hindu men following closely. In addition, the team had little energy from the strenuous exercise they had endured just hours before. Every member was reminded that God alone would protect them that evening. They placed their trust in him, and continued forward. With no light to guide their pathway, Vinu used the generator on his head to power a floodlight that Billy carried at his side. With the limited light emerging from the generators power, along with a few headlamps, the team hiked until they crossed a river. At the rivers edge, the Hindus who had followed them for miles eventually turned around. Though the wild crowds were no longer following, the wild animals were still present. With eyes open for potential danger and complete faith in Gods protection, the team kept pursuing the trail. When ap-
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proaching a rockslide, Vinu slippeddropping the overheated generator on his handburning it severely. He insisted on continuing to carry it despite others efforts to relieve him. The generators power failed, leaving only the small beams that headlamps produced for trail lighting. Trudging ahead, one of the Indian brothers told everyone to quickly stop. Do you see that? he questioned, pointing to an oversized dark figure with giant, flapping ears looming in the nearby shadows. An elephant stood just feet from the team. They began praying quietly, and God heard their prayers, causing the elephant to walk off without causing any sort of harm. After hiking until 2 am, the team stumbled across a wide, flat rock face and communally decided that it would be an ideal place to stop and rest for a short time. The intense journey was taking its physical toll, and no one could go any further. A short nap later, the team awoke at the suns first light to continue to the bottom of the mountain. They were shocked to see that, about 100 feet from their resting place, numerous tree branches had been splintered and smashed to the ground. Holes covered the groundalong with scattered elephant dung. Miraculously, though elephants had plowed through their camp area, no one was hurt and no one woke up during the night!
Carrying some hope over heads for the tribal people
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Shocked, but filled with thankfulness for Gods faithful provision, the team continued on until they reached the base of the mountain. Ending up in a different place than they started, the team had to pile into the back of an open truck to return to their van. As soon as the truck started driving, a sudden, heavy rain began to fall. If such intense rains had began any soonerwhile the team was still in the junglehiking would have been impossible. Once again, Gods protective hands were obvious and close. As the truck drove the team to the safety of their van, Billy reflected on Gods providence. He recalled Daniel being saved from a den filled with ferocious lions as he remembered the close-call with elephants the previous night. God had been faithful in countless waysfoiling the plans of the enemy, and ruining any chance of harm from wild people and wild animals alike.
A STORY FROM THE PEN OF STAN AVERY

Stan is eternally dedicated to serving alongside us in Gods work here in Rameswaram. Though he is a constant partner in our ministry from his home in the United States, we have had the privilege of experiencing his physical presence with us from time to timeone of those occasions being just a few years ago. The following story he encountered on his last visit to India in October 2005 while visiting Yerimalai, a mountainous region of Tamil Nadu, is both faith-building and life-giving.
The Baby that Changed a Mountain Simons Story

After camping overnight at the base of a large mountain range, our teamwhich included myself, my fourteen-year-old daughter, Desiree, and two of her friends, prepared for the challenging hike high into the hills to reach tribal groups we had recently learned of. With the aid of ten small donkeys we prepared to move a half of ton of rice and stacks of wool blankets up the mountainside. A small group
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of tribal men also met us at the base of the mountain to aid in carrying suppliesincluding a generator to show the Life of Jesus film once we reached the top. Our strange caravan trekked for hours up the steep forest on ancient stone paths. Those of us unburdened arrived first at the top of the mountain. We climbed onto the roof of an old locked government shelter and sang songs to the forest people while we waited for the rest of the group to reach the peak. The mountain top world was so beautifulpunctuated with little paddocks of green grain. Two castes of people lived therethose who owned land and those who worked for them. They were all very impoverished, completely illiterate, and had never seen white people. They spoke a dialect of Tamil that some of the BCM disciples could work with, speaking slowly and carefully. We traveled village to village distributing rice, blankets, soap, and news of what the creator God has done in the world to bring us back to Himself. There were tribal groups scattered throughout that mountain range. In India as a whole, there are an estimated 50,000,000 tribal people, mostly hunter-gatherers, unreached and disconnected from outside civilization. From one of the mountaintops, I was able to stand with a view of many other mountains in three directions, as far as the eye could see. I was reminded of how much work there is yet to doand how many are ready to be sent to do it. On arriving at our final mountain village destination, we distributed the rest of our supplies to the thirty families present. We shared the gospel with them and nearly everyone in the village prayed to receive Jesus. During our time there, we were approached by an elderly couple that explained that their daughter-in-law had just died in childbirth four days before. They asked if there was any way we could take their newborn grandson with us, to give him a new life. They shared that their
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was no hope for his survival there without his mother. Desperately desiring to see him live, we all agreed at once to do it. Billy and I entered the elderly couples home and had a formal meeting with the whole familyincluding his two young children. We gave them a little money to help them out and made a covenant with them that we would raise and educate the boy, and send him back to them when he is grown, to bring them more of life in Jesus and to bless and help them. Much time had passed, and we were faced with the challenge of getting down the mountain through a maze of trailsback to the valley floor before dark. Amidst all of this, we were holding a newborn, equipped only with a blanket and a little goats milk. The grandmother insisted on coming the entire way with us to carry the infant, and the grandfather came as well. Monsoon rains were sweeping through the mountains as we marched, soaking wet, through the steep forests. At the base of the mountain, we still had to walk out of the canyon a few miles. The rains had created a swollen torrent thereabout two feetwhich we had to precariously cross seven times on our way out.
Stan Avery and Billy Graham with baby Simon and his family
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We made it to the van just at dark. I cried to watch the grandmother touch the child one last time, pronounce a gentle blessing on him, and disappear into the soggy darkness. The girls named the precious baby Simon Browne. He spent two days in an intensive care unit in Madras as he had contracted malaria from his mothers blood. Now he is thriving, at the Glorious Childrens Home in Rameswaram, while his people in the mountains await his return someday. I am sure they will never forget him, and neither will we.
An Update on Simon
Simon, the infant that was taken from the mountaintop three years ago, is now an active toddlerbeloved by all the children and his caretakers at the Glorious Childrens Home. Simons little life has made an impact far beyond the BCM campus walls. A pastor from his native area communicated to Billy that twenty-three people from his small village have recently been baptized, including his grandmother and grandfather who regularly attend church. The mountain he was rescued from as an infant has been given the name Simon Mountain, and locals consider little Simon a hero of sorts. Plans for Simon to return in three or four years are in the making, as Simon will be able to share his personal testimony of faith with his own people. The village eagerly waits the approaching day when they themselves will be able to meet Simon, their village miracle child. Big boy Simon in School uniform
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A CHANGED HEART
Few people opposed the gospel with their lives more than Shanmugam. A renowned gang leader with an intimidating frame and an affinity to tobacco (chewing around fifty packets a day), people feared Shanmugams presence. Though Shanmugam was cruel towards believers and cynical of Christianity, both his wife and mother-in-law prayed daily for his salvation. After several years of coaxing, Shanmugam began to attend nearby Sunday services at Pastor Mohans church to appease his wife and motherin-law. He would always sit near the back during the three hour servicesmingling amongst the church believers for the first fifteen minutes, the sneaking out the back to catch a movie at the nearby cinema while the service commenced. Just before the ending of the sermon, Shanmugam would weasel his way back increating the illusion that he was a weekly church attendee. During this time, Pastor Mohan had frequent encounters with Shanmugam who seemed to be completely resistant to the gospel. Though Shanmugam opposed the Christian movement with every fiber of his being, Christ pursued him relentlesslygiving Shanmugam only failures in the areas of his life that were not yet surrendered to Him. Shanmugam attempted several different lines of work, all which seemed to be disastrous. First, he was a bus conductor, but every time he drove the bus, accidents would ensue. Frustrated, he moved on to shop keeping. With a knack for swindling, he was sure he would succeed in this fieldonly to find failure yet again. God had alternate plans for his life that were yet to be revealed. As Shanmugams family continued to faithfully pray for his salvation, his wife recommended that he be baptized. Though he was animate against the idea, Pastor Mohan baptized him anyway. Shanmugam was miraculously changed from that day onwards. There was certain recognition of his personal sin and dwindling lifestyle without the pres-
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ence of God. From that moment, he became a new man. Pastor Mohan took him and his family under his wing, taking care of their financial needs. One day, God showed Shanmugam a clear vision. In the vision, he was carrying a basket of fish and tomatoes on his head toward a nearby village he had lived in. Even before Shanmugam saw this vision, three families attending Pastor Mohans churchwho lived in that very same villagehad a similar vision about Shanmugam. In this way, God confirmed that Shanmugam was to begin ministering to that particular area. Though a recent believer, Shanmugam obediently followed his new calling and started visiting that village three times a week until, eventually, he moved his family there completely. In the past three years, 150 people have been baptized and touched by his powerful story of transformation. If God could change me, Shanmugam always says, He can change anyone. Shanmugam has had several profound encounters since the day he began following the Mr & Mrs. Shanmugam Truth. One of the members of his old gang ran in to him on the street and shared with Shanmugam how he too had given his life to Christ. He proceeded to share with him that every other member of their gang was now in prison. God continues to use Shanmugam in powerful ways. He recently testified of one of the many healing miracles that have occurred in his ministry. He shared of Kuttiyandi, a thirty-year old man who had suffered from tuberculosis, and eventually died on the roadside. One afternoon after finishing ministry outreach, Shanmugam and some of his church believers saw Kuttiyandis lifeless frame on the side of the road, surrounded by a mass of grieving friends and family. The doctors had already came, pronouncing Kuttiyandi dead and ready for burial. With a sudden surge of faith, Shanmugam and the believers knelt down to
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Kuttiyandis body and began praying over him. God heard their prayers and immediately Kuttiyandi came back to life and started talking, wondering what had happened to him. Soon after this miracle, Kuttiyandi was baptized and now attends Shanmugams church. Whenever people see Kuttiyandi, they recognize him as the dead man whose life was restored and his testimony has drawn many people to Jesus Christ.
It all started with a woman of prayer

Perhaps Shanmugam would not be following Christ today if it wasnt for the intercession of his mother-in-law, Elisabeth. A widow of simplicity and tiny stature, Elisabeth is powerfully dedicated to her ministry of prayerfor her family and community. Fifteen minutes away from Shanmugams village, Elisabeth lives in a small home where she is dedicated to interceding throughout the day. She initially felt Gods calling to do ministry among the poor and destitute, specifically the sick and dying. This specific calling led her to spend the majority of her time at a local hospital where she prayed consistently for patients and witnessed a variety of miraculous healingseven from patients who were HIV positive. News quickly spread in Elisabeths community of this little lady of prayer, and people began postponing their hospital visits and traveling to Elisabeths home insteadwith the hopes of a miraculous healing. Soon, Elisabeths home became like a mini-church as she prayed day-in and dayout for strangers that were brought into her home. Elisabeths prayers began early in the morning, creating a ruckus that was far too much for her devout Hindu neighbor to handle. Frustrated with the noise and all it represented, he sought counsel from his throngs of Hindu friends on how to handle the situation. His friends suggested building a temple in his backyard, equipped with a loud horn to counteract the prayerful noise rising from Elisabeths property. When she starts praying, they advised, sound the horn.
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With that advice, the Hindu man purchased a number of supplies to build the temple shrineeverything from sand and bricks to a series of idols that would be propped throughout the backyard. As deliveries for the temple construction arrived at his home, Elisabeth watched from her back window. She was thoroughly aware of his intentions. The Holy Spirit gave her insight on the enemys plans and she immediately made a vow aloud, I will pray and my God will change this situation. With that, she began praying relentlessly until 2 a.m. Around that hour she felt a surging peace that God would take care of the situation and bring breakthrough, after which she fell asleep. In the early morningjust a few hours after prayingElisabeth woke up to the sounds of heavy monsoon rains. She peered out her back window to see her Hindu neighbors construction materials being carried away by the massive rushes of floodwaters. Even the idols have collapsed and brokenleaving armless and legless statues of stone staring helplessly towards the sky. Elisabeth knew exactly what had happened her God had prevailed, just as promisedand ruined the plans of the enemy. The Hindu man was furious upon the destruction of his recently purchased materials. Beyond that, he was filled with a fear of what the broken idols could possibly mean. Seeking counsel, he approached a local Hindu priest and asked what it all meantdid the broken idols represent a curse or his imminent death? The priest advised him that he should not build the planned temple due to the problematic circumstances. To reconfirm, the Hindu man decided to visit a witch doctor after meeting with the priest. Immediately upon entering the witch doctors home, the witch doctor asked, Do you have any Christians living near you? The Hindu man replied, Yes. Next doorthat is why I was building the temple in the first place! The witch doctor proceeded to probe, Do the Christians living near you pray? The Hindu man shared, Every day! All of the time! The witch doctor realized the power in Elisabeths prayers and gave the Hindu man the best advice he could, You had bet-
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ter move and leave that area completely. In response, and out of fear, the Hindu man did just thatmoved far away from his house. With the Hindu man gone, Elisabeth was freed up to continue her prayer ministry with no distractions or threats. To this day, she ministers to countless people who are in need of prayer and healing. Many, many individuals have given their hearts to Jesus through this ordinary widows ministry that started with nothing but faith in God and the power of prayer. When Elisabeth shared her testimony with Brother Billy Graham Paulose, he was so moved by her consistency and fervent heart. He was also struck by the ways God had used such an ordinary woman for such extraordinary Kingdom purposes. All he could think about was how the world would literally be turned upside-down if every believer had the faith and heart for intercession like Elisabeth, the humble widow with a giant faith.
GOD WORKS IN UNLIKELY CIRCUMSTANCES

Discouragement seemed to be a theme of one of our church planting pastors near Salem in northern Tamil Nadu. After training here in Rameswaram, He felt the Lord calling him to concentrate his work on the dry and difficult Hindu villagesthose with great opposition and little promise to ever bend their ways. But through prayerful determination, the Salem pastor had faith that God could move even the driest of hearts. His faith and hard work was countered with multiple rejections and, at times, the need to flee from villages because of outward threats. But, with persistence to the work God set before him, little by little people started turning to Jesus. His congregation was completely made up of women at first. In India, most churches have more women than men, because the gospel message is one of liberation and acceptancea message that is powerful and esteeming to women in the midst of a Hindu culture that is very oppressive and devaluing.
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Seeing the need, the Salem Pastor extended an open invitation to his small congregation to take three days of fasting and prayer considering the difficult situations the church was facing in bringing the gospel to the surrounding areas. Meeting in the tiny church, a few women from the nearby villages accompanied him for this extended prayer time. The first evening, during their time of prayer and crying out to the Lord on behalf of the stiff hearts of the community around them, loud noises and chanting started just outside the church walls. When the pastor peered out the window, he saw a huddle of men with knives, sticks and pipes, ready to attackand possibly kill. In maddened screams, the men threatened and began hitting the roof and sides of the church. Inside, the women continued to pray. The pastor prayed, Lord, you are going to have to come down and help us this hour. But, if you dont come down, it looks like I will be coming up! As fervent prayers continued, suddenly the noises outside ceased. The leader of the moba tall, threatening gang member well-known by the surrounding villageshad collapsed to the ground and was foaming at the mouth. In a state of shock, the other members of the mob decided to flee, fearing that they would be held responsible for his death if anything happened. Once the outside noise ceased, the pastor exited the church to investigate the situation. There, he saw the man laying motionless, face-down in the mud. With one quick glance at the mob leaders face, the pastor recognized him immediately. The mob leader was a Hindu radical who had chased the pastor previouslynow he was flat on his face in a pile of murky mud. With the help of a few others, the pastor picked the mob leader up by his hands and feet and carried him inside the church, laying him flat on his back in front of the women who were praying inside. Upon seeing him, one of the elderly ladies began screaming frantically. The mob leader was her son! She revealed that during the entire time of fasting and prayer, she had been praying for her son. As she had been intercessing
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inside, God was answering her prayer just on the other side of the church walls. This womans fervent prayers testify that God listens to the prayers and cries of mothers whose children are not walking in righteousness. Not only does God listen, He answerssometimes with immediacy. As the mob leader regained consciousness, he started to speak with tears in his eyes, The hand I was using to throw stones at the church is paralyzedI cant move it. Shortly after he broke down entirely, begging for the forgiveness of those he had tried to harm. He then sincerely asked for prayer. As the pastor and others began praying, little by little sensation returned to the mob leaders arm. Before long, he was able to move it entirely. After such a miraculous complete healing, the mob leader was so ecstatic; he wanted to be baptized immediately. After his baptism a week later, the mob leader was a changed man. He told the pastor his aim was to travel everywhere with him, sharing the gospel and sharing his personal story. After some hesitation, the pastor agreed to his companionship in the ministry. Today, in an area that was formerly closed off entirely, the Salem pastor is seeing fruit come of his ministry that he never could have expectedand that never would have happened without Gods mighty intervention. The former mob leaders story continues to touch hundreds of lives, and today there are too many believers to fit in the pastors church. This powerful, transformative story has eternally turned the Salem area upside down for the Kingdom of God.
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HELPING THE SUFFERING BODY OF CHRIST
Everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will suffer.
2 Timothy 3:10-12
Suffering is promised to us in a life of following Christ. Our brothers and sisters in the state of Orissa, India, have experienced physical suffering of an incomprehensible magnitude first-hand, being the targets of brutal attacks from Hindu radicals. Prominent Hindu leader, Swami Laxamananda Saraswati, was murdered August 24, 2008, by a group of Maoists. Even though the Maoists took complete responsibility for the leaders death, Hindus blamedand continue to blameChristians anyway. The Hindu extremists brutal attacks against believers have little to do with the actual murder of Saraswati and more to do with retaliation against the spread of the gospel in Orissa by Christians. The statistics of the violence to-date are staggering with the Hindus killing over ninety Christians, burning over 450 churches, destroying 4,000 homes, and leaving 70,000 Christians homeless in their wake (as of October 2008). One church leader and victim of the violence A Church building demolished reflected that, The attacks on Christians by the persecuters. in Orissa was an attack on the sacredness and dignity of human lifesomething the world must know. In some
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countries, even animals have rights and laws. In Orissa, we were treated worse than animals. Every possible indignity, obscenity, and torture were meted out against helpless Christians. Men, women, childreneveryone became targets of their brutal atrocities. Though the extreme violence has notably died down, killings still occur and even greater problems remain. The Orissan government is doing little to reestablish the lives of the homeless and countless refugees, and they are altogether refusing outside humanitarian aid of any kind. One believer claimed that, even today, she is living in constant fear of more attacks. Story after story reveal endless pain and anguish of the victimized as families have been separated, loved ones have been lost, and countless others have been abused and beaten. Thousands of Christians still hang on a precarious thread, in terror of what is to come. Yet, amongst the rubble, piles of ash, and looming cloud of griefhope in Christs love and constant care continues to rise in the hearts of believers. Several men from our campus, including Pastor Israel, were able to visit the victims in their distress and encounter first-hand both the sorrow and the faith phenomenon that continues to grow in Orissa, despite the Hindu radicals attempts to extinguish it. The following are the stories of those encounters.
The team from Rameswaram along with the persecuted christians
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ENTERING THE LIONS MOUTH:

Pastor Israel visits Orissa
It all started with a prayer. In October 2008, Israel had been capturing glimpses of the horrific persecution going on in Orissa through scattered media reports, but it wasnt until he started praying that an intense burden for the victimized began to develop in his heart. Israels burden for the Christian victims in Orissa continued to grow until one evening, while evangelizing in Nepal, he received a phone call from his brother, Billy. Billy, on an annual fundraising trip in the US, had been sharing the news of Orissa with New Life Community Church in Pismo Beach, Californiaa church that ultimately wanted to know more. General media only revealed small shards of information, evading the harsh reality of the persecution situation. In attempts to seek the truth, Billy asked Israel to goto investigate the Orissa situation firsthand. Willing to go, but also fearful of the looming threats and potential danger for Christians in Orissa, Israel considered the situation in prayer. Feeling Gods calling, he cancelled his ticket home from Nepal and trekked his way to Orissaone bus to the nextuntil he arrived two days later in Andhra Pradesh, a state bordering the west side of Orissa. Israel was just steps from Orissa, but with no knowledge of the Oriya language. An answer to prayer, Pastor Jac Jeevan from Andhra Pradesh decided to join Israel. Jac Jeeven had already visited the aftermath of the persecution more than once. Together, they crossed the state borderline and entered Padalachamathi. Padalachamathi, they found out, was the same city that sixty Christians had fled to just days earlier after the burning of their homes in Kandamahl district. A local pastor took Israel and Jacjeevan with him to distribute new Bibles to this group of people who had so recently lost everything. When asked if there was anything they needed, Israel said, tears
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welling, all they wanted was Bibles. That was it. They didnt even mention the bare necessities like blankets or food. Getting the word of God back into their hands was their first priority. As Israel and the other pastors handed out the new Bibles, people held them close to their chests recognizing their precious value. Thrilled words were shouted back and fortheven the children were hugging and gripping their new Bibles with wide smiles. I couldnt understand a word they were saying, Israel mentioned, but I was so powerfully moved by their excitement over the word of God.
The word of God consoles the wounded spirits
Supplies carried to the jungle interiors
Israel with the relief provision
Just before leaving, Israel had the opportunity to pray for the crowd a crowd that had lost everything they physically owned and yet received so much more through the gift of their new Bibles. After praying, Israel shared, In your time of need, since you gave priority to Gods word, He will never leave youHe is your provider. What Israel didnt share was that his brother had just called from California informing him that New Life Community Church had donated money for the very purpose of supporting Christians in need in Orissa. Without saying a word, Israel and the other pastors left. That evening, they bought unlimited supplies to bless the sixty, now-homeless believers with. After filling a truck with tarps, blankets, mosquito repellent candles, vegetables, crackers, and nearly 7,000 pounds of rice, they traveled back to the same area. With enthusiasm, they were able to deliver the unexpected gifts of provision to all sixty peoplepeople overwhelmed with thankfulness.
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After such a touching encounter, visiting the next village proved to be a tremendous challenge. This village wasnt filled with smiling faces it was relatively empty. Physically deserted. The houses were dilapidated burnt to the ground in piles of cinder and ash, only the remnants of their frames standing. Out of the mass of blackness, a tarp stood, fixated within a burnt housing frame. Underneath the tarp, a family was livingrebuilding their life with very little to survive on. Israel and Jac Jeevan approached The remnants of a demolished house covered with tarps for the family who began to tell them the story protection of the villages attack. The village had been aggressively burnt to the ground during broad daylight by around five hundred Hindu radicals. First, the Hindus scouted out the pastors home, attempting to kill him on the spot. Miraculously, the pastor was able to escape and run into hiding. After the pastor fled, the radicals targeted their next prioritythe destruction of the local church. With gasoline, firewood, and a bomb blast, the church was completely destroyed. After the church burning came the village burning. We lost everything, a concerned mother told Israel. My son just graduated from collegenow his diploma and every document representing his education is gone. Everything was gone. Not a house was left standing. Every cross and representation of Jesus was utterly destroyed. Amongst the scattered wreckage, Israel stood powerfully moved. Why are they doing this; it makes no sense! he kept questioning, overwhelmingly frustrated with the outcome of rubble he was staring at. Every person killed or hurt was innocentall were innocent! Empathizing with the hopelessness this village must have felt, Israel was fighting back tears. While leaving the village, he met a young man who, despite the loss of his home, had a genuine hope to one day attend a Bible college. An enthusiastic desire to minister exuded from him
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even after all the turmoil. This boys profound passion for the gospel was a spark of hope in the middle of a crushed pile of rubble and looming despair. With heavy hearts and overwhelmingly burdened minds, Israel and Jac Jeeven continued another ten miles to see yet another villagedestroyed even beyond the last. The only way to this village was through a very narrow road, dodging trees and other obstacles to reach the entrance. Beyond the inaccessibility, it was also an extremely dangerous area. A predominately Hindu village stood just behind the remains of this village, and if Israel or any of the other pastors were seenthey would be questioned and their lives would be at risk. At the village entrance, a believer met Israel and Jac Jeeven, taking them on a very quick walk through the rubble. They roamed through a literal ghost town, previously home to over forty families. The local believer led Israel and Jac Jeeven to the entrance of the church, now wrecked and smashed in on all four sidesa pile of burnt bicycle parts and unidentifiable blackened objects lining the churchs exterior. As the three men rummaged through the remains, they found remnants of human bones scatteredtheir white color standing starkly against the black ash.
The atrocious cruelty upon the christian homes
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The believer began to share the tragic truth behind the bones. Hindu radicals had come to attack the village late in the night. In their rage, they locked a family of four inside their home. The innocent family was cornered and the radicals threatened to burn the father in front of everyone in the house. Before they began, they shot the father in his lower back, the bullet traveling through him and into the mothers hand. A second bullet was directly aimed at her. The daughter was cornered and lost one of her limbs to the Hindu radicals machetes. The only family member left untouched was the son. Crying and screaming, the entire family watched their father as he was tied up and doused in gasoline, then burnt alive. The bone remnants in the pile of outstanding ash were all that remained of this mans martyrdom. Israel and the other pastors gripped pieces of bone in their hands and, with tears, remembered the heroic faith of the martyred father. Just minutes later, they had to flee to safety. On the road again, they were headed to a relief camp for displaced Christians.
The burnt bones of a christian man who was put to stake alive
At the relief camp, fires struggled to keep a-flame while pelted with heavy rains. Crowds huddled under limited tarpscoverings replacing their homes for the time being. When Israel explained he was from Tamil Nadu and visiting to be a source of encouragement, many of the
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refugees began to openly cry. You are the only people who have come to visit us, they shared. They expressed their deep gratitude and thankfulness towards the visiting pastors. One refugee shared how they had been running for safety for three days in the nearby jungles without food or water. Returning to their villages was just too dangerous. Hindus awaited them, ready with threats to forcefully convert. Even the children couldnt return to their schools without being beaten for refusing to convert to Hinduism. Some of the elderly members in the camp were frail beyond fixationready to die from their lack of food and water. One older woman sat, squatting on the floor, hands clasping her ears and a look of horror painted on her face. She was literally going crazy from fear. Fear prevailed throughout the refugee camp. Hundreds of homeless people living in the memories of the horrors so recently endured. Upon visiting a second relief camp, Israel met the son of the martyred man whose very bones he had held in his hands. In his early twenties, the young mans eyes were reddened with lack of sleep. He shared how incessant nightmares were plaguing him and visions of terror followed him throughout the day. Traumatized, he asked for prayer. Israel prayed, fighting as hard as he could to hold back tears as not to provoke more tears from the helpless young man. Immediately after leaving the relief camp, Israel and the other two pastors cried together for hours. Weeping, their prayers were beyond wordsgroaning was the only expression that escaped their mouths in that moment. That night, Israel couldnt sleepvisions of bones and the burning body of the young boys father haunted his imagination. Every village and relief camp the three pastors had visited were in Gajapathi districtthey hadnt even entered the epicenter of destruction and violence, Kandamahl district. Filled with fear, Israel was ready to turn around. But the Holy Spirit kept him moving forward. Just before entering Kandamhl, they returned to Padalachamathi for an afternoon to meet with a man who had requested to see Israel. After
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traveling alone to his home, Israel was pelted with several ministry questions by the man. An uneasy feeling began to grow in Israels stomach. Soon, the man revealed he was a Hindu. Within minutes, the man was raging with anger and screaming as he locked Israel inside his home. Israel winced in response to the outrage, then began to think of the immediate danger he was in. The man drilled Israel with questions, Why are you here? Why are you going to Kandamahl? Havent you heard what is happening to pastors there? Do you want the same to happen to you now? He proceeded to threaten to kill Israel. Somehow, in the midst of his fear, Israel experienced a moment of peace. Jesus, he prayed, its all up to youyou do what you want. I have no control. After praying, Israel was flooded with peace. That very moment, the Hindu mans wife pulled him aside and started begging him to let Israel free. Convinced by her words, he opened the door in an impulsive moment and told Israel to leave immediately. The Hindu mans wife yelled after Israel, telling him to run. Israel took off in a sprint. After running about one hundred feet, the Hindu man was filled with a second wave of anger and began chasing him. Israel ran through the streets, dodging back and forth through different alleys in a thick sweat. He could hear the Hindu man screaming, making a dangerous scene and threatening to have other friends join him in Israels hunt. Israel continued to run, even faster, until he completely lost the Hindu man. Looking around, he had no idea where he was. Struggling to make his way back to the other pastors, Israels imagination began playing tricks on his mind. Every face he passed looked like an enemy. Head down, he continued to track his way back to familiarity. In those fear-filled moments, Israel was able to empathize with the terror that so many other Christians were presently facing all over the state of Orissa. After the narrow escape in Padalachamathi, Israel and Jac Jeeven prepared to enter Kandamahl. Israel thought to himself, After all weve seenwe are foolish to continue in to Kandamahl. We are entering the very mouth of the lion!
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As soon as they crossed into Kandamahl, a threatening, frightening atmosphere was present. The area was torn apart. Forests were cleared and trees lay toppled into the roadside, cut down for the purpose of creating roadblocks to trap Christians in their very villages in order to successfully destroy them completely. Traveling into a local pastors village, they greeted the pastor in a pile of burnt ash. Every home in his village was destroyed. After living in the jungle for nearly a week, the pastor was now residing separately from his family for increased safety. Israel asked him how he felt and how his faith was enduring in the midst of the horrific trials. With a wide, unexpected smile he replied, I lost everything, but I have the love of Jesus in my heartand thats all I need. I am stronger than ever before to serve God. I still follow Him and believe He is good. Ill never turn away. Surveying the situation, Israel and Jac Jeeven were burdened to help provide the pastors village with relief supplies. Some of the villagers had been living in the same clothing since the attacks. The pastor was moved, but mentioned the dangers of their intervention. He took a sum of money instead and promised to pass relief supplies on to his congregation. Before leaving Kandamahl, Israel and Jac Jeeven were stopped in a nearby city and forced to find a place to stay for the evening. Checking into a hotel, the suspicious desk worker began questioning Israel. Jac Jeeven told the desk attendant that Israel was his brother and they were just passing through. That night, they stayed in a room sharing a wall with a group of rowdy Hindu radicals discussing their plans of destruction. Praying until they fell asleep, Israel and Jac Jeeven left the hotel quickly at the break of dawn. That afternoon, they heard that two hundred Christian homes were burnt to the ground just after their departure. Israel swallowed the news with horror as he traveled back to his home in Tamil Nadu. He recounted the glimpses of hope seen in believers hope after losing everything, hope rising from piles of ash, hope that can
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only come from a gracious God of new beginnings. Simultaneously, thoughts of Christians being overwhelmed with paralyzing fear, trapped in their very homes filled his head. Memories of terrified faces stood sharply in his mind. Reminders that the battle in Orissa is not over. Reminders to act and to pray.
RENEWED HOPE:
Pastor Israel Visits Orissa a Second Time
One month after his first visit to Orissa, Israel began to sense an urge to return to visit his brothers and sisters in Christ who were still in distress and turmoil. He ventured to Orissa, meeting up with another pastor, Paul Arvinth, who was native to the Chennai area but had been ministering in Orissa for several years. Pastor Pauls deep dedication to the Orissa victims was obvious as he had over sixty of them living in his two-bedroom, one-bathroom home. Before starting their journey to visit the affected people still in villages, Israel interacted with the victims at Pauls house. Though there was a multitude of people crammed into such a tight living situation, they were so grateful for a place to stay. Pastor Paul and Israel teamed up with another six believers and rented a car to take them towards the affected areas in the previously targeted Kanmandahl district. On their way, they stopped at a hospital in Berampur. There, they visited a number of admitted victims and families. There was a fourteen-year-old girl who had been severely raped and completely burned on one side of her body. Paul and Israel so desired to speak with her and encourage her, but she had just been moved to a plastic surgery ward in another hospital. The idea of A young survivor from the what she had endured at such a young age stake pole. sent such a writhing pain through Paul and Israels minds. Though they missed their opportunity to encourage that
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particular young woman, they were able to provide spiritual comfort for families throughout the hospital. Upon leaving the hospital, they ventured to Ballugam. Ballugam was one of the predominate Christian areas that Hindus attacked, leaving entire villages of people homeless and roaming in the nearby jungles. Since the initial attacks, many people had ventured back to their villages. The area was still marked with the evidence of recent violencepiles of aftermath and collapsed trees still lined the roads. To encourage the people of Ballugam, Paul and Israel arranged a small gathering that would last around three hours in the morning. Even though it was a substantial risk to meet in the open, around two-hundred people came, thirsty for a word of encouragement. The two pastors shared, prayed, and Israel was able to speak from Isaiah 49, reminding the believers of Gods profound care and remembrance of themhow He had carved them in the palms of His hands and how He will never forget them or stop working for them. After a time of encouragement, they gathered togethersharing a celebratory fellowship meal. Even though there were threats made regarding the time of gathering, the believers were ready to face anything. They were desperate to gather together in the name of Jesus. From Ballugam, Paul and Israel traveled to Gububakkyaa village that was entirely destroyed. Those who were affected were making tents
Our help comes from the Lord and the Lord only
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in the village and staying amongst the rubble. Since the government prevented from bringing any relief items, Paul and Israel gave small things to those in needglasses, plates, and sums of money to families to purchase things they needed on their own. In Gububakkya, the people were so hungry for Gods love. Their faces were painted with expressions of lost hope and peace. After a time of ministering and prayer, new strength and a sense of joy began to spread among the crowd. Israel reminded them that the God of all comfort was with them and taking care of them. As the pastors prepared to leave, the villagers attempted to follow and stay with them. They were starving for encouragement. After Gububakkya, they went to Udayagiri where government relief camps housed nearly five thousand people. Trying their very best to enter the camps, they were denied entry and visitation rights. So desperately desiring to help aid the people, Paul and Israel waited outside and approached refugees as they exited the gates. After discussing with them about potential ways to help, Israel was shocked to hear that the Orissan government was not allowing any relief materials to enter the refugee camps. NGOs and many other organizations were prepared to help, but the government was resisting their efforts entirely. The refugees received only two small meals of rice a day. A small tent with limited supplies proved to be less than sufficient in keeping families warm and protected during the cold season. In addition to limited food and inadequate shelter, the refugees were only allowed three hours a day to leave and were locked inside throughout the night. Such conditions had the refugees complaining that camp was like a jail. But even the jail-like conditions were more bearable than returning to their homes, where Christians are threatened with forced reconversion to Hinduism. To them, living in a prison-type environment and thriving in Jesus is better than sacrificing their God for their old faith and ways. Because of the heavy restrictions, Paul, Israel and a handful of refugees had to strategize just how to bring materials to those in need. They finally decided on choosing two or three main shops a distance from the relief camps, giving the shops a lump sum of money, and sending desig-
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nated refugees to the shops to get the supplies they needdistributing them back to others within the camp. With this plan of action, government officials would have no way of tracing where the relief supplies came from. Paul and Israel chose 150 refugees to obtain supplies for the rest of the camp. Israel recalls of his second experience, Where my first trip to Orissa was filled with visiting and encouraging many distressed individuals and families, my second trip proved to be one of increased action and strategy on how to aid the affected families. It is apparent that the violence has really died down. The atmosphere of Orissa is entirely different, though the hurt and pain are still undeniably present. While visiting the outskirts of the relief camp, Paul and Israel met four women who had lost their husbands. One lady watched in horror as her husband was chopped into pieces before her own eyes. She screamed and wept as she told her storyher pain and emotional wounds still fresh and very raw. Another lady shared an account of three pastors that were forced to leave their village carrying kerosene for a group of Hindus. Once they exited their village, the Hindus took the men to a nearby forest where they doused them with A widow showing the photo of her husband who attained the kerosene, hacked at their bodies, and martydom. burnt them alive. The pastors had carried the very kerosene that lead to their own death sentences. A third woman shared that she still doesnt know where her husband isthough she has heard rumors of his death and discarded body. She was a young woman, with three small children. It was victims like these women that Israel and Paul were so animate about aiding desiring to do everything within their power to meet the physical needs of those still facing utter distress and despair. The battle in Orissa clearly is not over, Israel remarked, I desperately want to see stability return to the people.
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Though the stories Paul and Israel saw and heard were devastating, they walked away with a greater sense of trust in God and His ability to fight for the people of Orissa. Gods mighty hand at work was more evident and obviously present than ever before, Israel shared, Even though the believers in Orissa are not fighting back with their own flesh and blood, it is apparent that God is fighting for them. He is with them. He has not forgotten them. GENEROSITY THAT MULTIPLIED The outbreaks of Orissa attacks took place as Billy was traveling the states fundraising. While at a mens breakfast in Pismo Beach, California, Billy shared the extreme realities of the violence and the aftermath thousands of people left homeless and without shelter during the rainy season. Billy continued, explaining that all the Orissa victims needed was a tarp to provide temporary shelter until they could rebuild their lives.
Together we can make a big difference ( Pr.Ron with Billy)
Moved by this reality, Pastor Ron Salsbury of New Life Community Church was abhorred at the idea of doing nothing. It takes a whole lot more than a tarp to make me happy, he said teary-eyed, convicted and humbled by the stories. Immediately after the mens breakfast, Ron purchased a tarp. He brought the tarp to the following Sunday service where he retold the storylaying the tarp out flat for anyone to leave money in to donate towards relief work.
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Donations made for the tarps
The generous donations from peoples hearts placed into the tarp that Sunday supported relief work that affected thousands. We were able to send three teamsfourteen men totalto three different districts of Orissa to bring aid and encourage the victims. Though the Orissan government was strictly forbidding any relief work, the men from our congregation were able to strategically distribute tarps, rice, blankets, food, and numerous supplies. In one area, the teams gave new roofing materials to villages where roofs were entirely collapsed, the shingles resting in piles on the floors. The teams also had many relational encounters, including encouraging four women they metall recent widows due to Christian violence.
Thank God for the roof over our head
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In total, we visited three different districts. Our prayer is to visit the other eleven affected districts, sharing the hope of Jesus Christ. Please pray on how you might be involved in sharing with your brothers and sisters in Orissa during this painstaking time. Pray how the Lord might use you to help restore the needs of those who are desperate for renewed hope.
THE STORY CONTINUES

It is our greatest prayer that we would continue to bring deeply needed refreshment and hope to hearts around us. Much has changed here in the little island of Rameswaram during these three decades, as God has brought us from being a lone and obscure family, scarcely surviving, to an army of disciples devoted to reaching India. But, this is only the beginning, the foundation, the launch pad. The vision of reaching every village of India, and of other nations, and the anguish of over 700 million souls (in our nation alone) who have yet to understand that the Lord Jesus has redeemed each one of them, remains, and compels us forward.
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TRAINING CENTER
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16
TRAINING CENTER
In 1998 we decided to rebuild the training center that was burned down in 1995. My desire was to construct a building 100 feet long and 50 feet wide. We approached the engineers and they gave us the plans for the building. As we laid the foundation stone getting ready to build, the Lord gave me a word, Your plans are not my plans; my plans are much higher. This is where I want trainees to be trained and pilgrims to be savedto go on and share the gospel in their villages. The facility will be much bigger then what you are planning. Within a month following that word, a prophet came for a meeting in Rameswaram. At that time, God spoke through him and gave us specific instructions for the building of the Training Center. As God did with Noah and Moses, He gave us dimensions in height, width and depth even the details about the numbers of columns and rooms.
Billy, Salini, Joseph and Samuel at the New Training Center where the building work is in progres
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God also spoke to us additional directions about the operation of the building. For us to even hear what God was instructing us to do was overwhelming. The building was so large that we could not imagine actually accomplishing such a work. (Please see picture on the back cover of this book.) There is no place in India where this kind of building has been constructed by Christians. Being on an island makes construction even more difficult. Our response was much like Sarahs when God told her that she was to bear a son in her old age and she laughed. After giving the details of the building, God continued to enlarge the vision. He told us that we were to have a twenty-four hour worship room and that the Shekinah glory would descend and the presence of God would abide in the auditorium. He continued and said that villagers hearing of the move of God in this place would come to get saved and touched by the Lord. They would come village after village and whole families would be saved. The Shekinah glory would be so strong that even as people entered the building, the anointing would be present and they would be healed and run to the altar to be saved. God said There will come a time that the Hindu pilgrims that are coming to their temple will turn aside and enter this place to be saved. The Hindus in India come to Rameswaram by the millions from all over India on a pilgrimage to try to find salvation at their temple and to wash away their sins in the sea. A visit to the temple in Rameswaram is to the Hindu in India much-as the pilgrimage to Mecca is to the Muslim. Gods plan is that many will be saved in Rameswaram because of His presence at the Training Center. Those same people will be trained at the Center and sent home to their villages and own language groups to share Gods good news of salvation by grace alone. One of the major barriers to reaching the lost in India is that the majority of the people live in small villages and there are over 1,000 languages and dialects spoken. Looking back over the past 30 years, we can now see why God sent us to this small island.
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Training Center side view
All Hindus are compelled by their centuries old traditions to come to Rameswaram once their lives, seeking absolution for their sins, through rituals and sacrifices. After God initially directed us to build such a remarkable structure we came to understand its potential for reaching Hindu villages through out India. Instead of us trying to go to them God will bring them to Himself through the work of the Training Center. This is a plan only God could conceive and bring to pass. Without His guidance and most importantly without His presence we could do nothing. The Training Center is situated right on the main road traversed by millions of Hindu pilgrims. As it is a church-owned facility, we are completely at liberty to host ongoing Gospel crusades for thousands of people at a time. The vast majority of pilgrims that stop in will be hearing for the first time about Jesus sacrifice for their sins. When they return to their homes throughout India, many of them will be the first in their villages to carry back the amazing story of this perfect God-man who lovingly died to give us eternal life and regained His own life to be our King forever. We now also understand that we cannot depend on being able to do large scale evangelism however we want. Government can change frequently, as we have seen. However, the various anticonversion laws do not apply to meetings in a church facility. Gospel meetings in our own
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building are unaffected by all these recent oppositions. Our Father in Heaven foresaw all these things. He continues to lead us faithfully. We continue to trust in Him.
Ariel View
It has been a struggle at times to keep the work going. We need about $40,000.00 every month to continue the construction.Because of the limitation of the island, we have to bring most of our construction crew from Kerala. We house and feed them and it is important to give them work on a consistent basis.
Guest rooms under construction
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God has been faithful to bring gifts and support during the past ten years as we obey Him. He also has encouraged us by unexpected miracles of healing and salvations among the priests of the temple. On one occasion we had a crippled man who was healed just as he walked through the gate of our house. No one touched him or prayed for him. He came and was healed and then saved. We know that experience was a foretaste of what God will do in the future with the Training Center. We have also seen Hindu priests coming to the Lord. This too happens only by a sovereign act of God. The head priest had a vision of my wifes face and God told him to come see her; that she would tell him the truth. He has now been saved and, for his safety, we are helping to move him to another location. All of these things confirm to us that the word that God has spoken is trustworthy. One of the unexpected results of this project has been to enlarge our partnership with many churches and individuals around the world. We have had assistance in practical areas including plumbing and architectural drawings and people have given sacrificially to fund this great project. We have been blessed and enriched by the generosity of believers around the world and they tell us that being a part of the vision of God for the salvation of Indias millions of lost souls has challenged and blessed them as well!
THESE
ARE THE FOLLOWING THINGS HAPPENING AS WE ARE BUILDING
Vacation Bible school In the midst of the ongoing building construction it was a big risk to conduct the VBS due to safety reasons. By the grace of God we were able to reach out over 10,000 young souls for Jesus in the past few years.
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Little heads, little hearts all for Jesus
Convention Our annual conventions are wonderful times of fellowship and worship under the shade of the Training center. Pastors and believers from all over India gather in our island to share their ministry experiences and
Young generation of men and women dedicating for the missions
testimonies. India is often known as the The land of diversities but seeing them all together redefines India as Unity in diversity under the Christian flag. When our pastors share their sufferings and hardships we empathize with them as we know from our life what they are struggling
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with. We encourage and motivate them to stay on the course He has set for them. This wonderful ministry has so far strengthened and blessed thousands of brethren across the nation.
Conference India as a nation is built upon the foundation of Hinduism. The culture and religion has much effect on the minds of traditional Hindus.
Washing feets wiping tears
For this same reason it is very hard to carry on with the vision God has entrusted them with. The mission fields are dry and the persecution severe. Often they feel to give up and walk away from the mission but our pastors conferences remind them about the better plans God has for them. We wash their feet and wipe their tears as the extended hands of Jesus. Once they are refreshed and strengthened they are send back to fulfill the Great commission. By the grace of God we were able to host over 6,000 pastors inside the Training centre facility so far.
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Bible College It has been the burden of my soul to equip young disciples for the kingdom establishment. As the lord said the harvest is plenty
Graduation Ceremony - International School of Ministry 2009
but the laborers are few my heart ached to see his longing come true. The bible college (International school of ministry) now functions inside the training centre facility. My second son in law John Joseph is in charge of the training process. More than 500 students got graduated during the past few years sowing the seeds of truth in our nation.
FUTURE PLANS FOR THE TRAINING CENTER

In the year of 1979, while we stayed at the fish packing shed, I had a clear vision in which the Lord showed me sheaves of wheat transported by train loads from the island to different parts of India. To my human eyes, the vision appeared impossible but the faith in me asked my complete surrender before the masters future plans. I knew in my heart that one day an army of disciples would take over our nation for the Most High. Our vision is to train ten thousands of young men and women to reach the millions of souls in the 7,00,000 villages of India. This facility is the training ground where we intend to equip our soldiers for His
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service. Ministries from across the nation are anxiously waiting for the inauguration of this facility to conduct 21 days fasting prayers and youth conferences. A youth ministry is planning to gather over 10,000 students for a conference inside the facility.
FINAL CALL FOR THE COMPLETION OF THE TRAINING CENTER

Since the work has been started in 1999 God has opened the hearts of many faithful friends and partners who has given generously to stretch the construction this far. Now we are at the final stage of completion, the roof is on, structural skeleton completed. The finishing process includes the plastering, painting, carpentry, plumbing and electrical works. It would cost about $9,50,000 to bring the entire facility to completion. If, as you read this book, God moves on your heart and you receive a burden for our ministry in South India, we invite you to partner with us in both prayer and finances. As we join together in this work we will see a great harvest and effectual ministry to the billion or more lost souls of India.
Pastor Moses Paulose and his wife in front of the Traning Center
OUR VISION FOR THE MINISTRY
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We are continuing to minister to millions of pilgrims who come to visit the Hindu temples in Rameswaram every year. The effectiveness of this ministry will be multiplied many times over, once the Training Center is complete.
We hope to expand our orphanage and English Medium School in Rameswaram, rescuing the babies from death and the children from desolate circumstances while giving them education.
We desire to see the Prince of Peace School continue to expand, reaching out to the thousands of children who are impoverished and in the lowest caste system. Through providing them with free education, we pray for open doors to share about Christs love and see a great multitude of soldiers for the Kingdom of God be raised up through this school.
We continue to feed the refugees from Sri Lanka as they arrive in Rameswaram.
It is in our heart to uplift and encourage the Pastors and Christian workers in the South India, the entire nation of India, and Nepal. We have meetings and minister spiritual food and blessing to these soldiers. As the Lord provides, we give them tools to
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help their work. These tools may be tracts in their language, bicycles or motorcycles to help them travel from village to village.
Jesus ministered to peoples physical needs as well as their spiritual condition. We follow His example and present the gospel to poor villagers by giving them food and clothing too.
We continue to minister to the youth in schools using drama, music and tracts.
We long to see many vans sent out into all of Indiaand beyondsharing the gospel and reaching the unreached.
We are training young men and women to be missionaries for the ministry. As they graduate, we desire to assist them in planting churches - where none exist. It is our goal to produce true disciples who are willing to lay down their lives for Jesus.
The suffering that our family experienced in the past, as we pioneered this work in Rameswaram has made us sensitive to the conditions of many ministers in the villages. We try to assist, financially and spiritually, the Christian workers in the field who are experiencing hardship and other problems.
To reach the suffering ones in their time of need as we did with the recent Tsunami relief work.
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We desire to host several crusades a year to reach the unsaved, then to plant churches among them and to make disciples of them.
Our vision is not limited to India, although our main focus is this nation. We currently have missionaries in Nepal, Sri Lanka and Africa. The Lord has given us a burden for Asia as well as a worldwide ministry. There are so many opportunities open for you in our ministry today - for you to join with us in this great work and fulfill the great commission of our Lord Jesus Christ effectively.
Please write to us or call us today. God bless you.
Our Address:Unreached Villages/BCM and mail to: Body of Christ Ministries PO Box 1848 Bandon, OR 97411 USA Tel: 541-347-1910 For India Contact number : 011-91-94431 21340 E-mail : billybcm@earthlink.net sendthelight@earthlink.net www.unreachedvillages.org www.bcmindia.org
MISSIONARY CHALLENGE MOSES PAULOSE
God called Pastor Moses Paulose into the ministry in 1966 when he was nineteen years old. He has faithfully served the Lord for more than forty years. He began as an itinerant evangelist until God called him through a vision to move to Rameswaram, South India and plant a work. Through the preaching of the gospel with miracles, signs and wonders following, the ministry has grown from one church in Rameswaram to hundreds in India and Asia. Pastor Paulose has impacted lives around the world by his godly character and powerful ministry. May the reading of his testimony enrich and bless you as well as challenge you to live wholeheartedly for God.
A testimony that will ignite your heart with a passion for Jesus Christ and compassion for the millions who die without ever even knowing His name!
A his
f Bo ory o
dy o
ist M f Chr
inistr
am ies, R
eswa
N., am, T
India
M O S E S PA U L O S E
Clockwise from below: A few events of our early ministry - (1) Burned down Training Center (2) Man raised from the dead (3) Our early church members in Rameswaram (4) Van accident.

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M I S S I O N A RY CHALLENGE

MISSIONARY CHALLENGE Moses Paulose

4th Edition, 2009

BODY OF CHRIST MINISTRIES

Printed by : Lovely Offset Printers (P) Ltd., Sivakasi. www.lovelyoffset.com

Body of Christ Ministries

SEEK THOSE THINGS THAT ARE ABOVE

SEEK THOSE THINGS THAT ARE ABOVE

SEEK THOSE THINGS THAT ARE ABOVE

TO SEEK OTHERS WELL BEING

A LIFE POURED OUT

TO SEEK OTHERS WELL BEING

TO SEEK OTHERS WELL BEING

Pastor Moses deliver breakfast to the Children's home

TO SEEK OTHERS WELL BEING

sider others more important than yourselves.

TO SEEK OTHERS WELL BEING

TO SEEK OTHERS WELL BEING

NOT ONLY TO BELIEVE BUT ALSO TO SUFFER

THE EARLY DAYS

NOT ONLY TO BELIEVE BUT ALSO TO SUFFER

NOT ONLY TO BELIEVE BUT ALSO TO SUFFER

Crowd earnestly watching Jesus film

NOT ONLY TO BELIEVE BUT ALSO TO SUFFER

NOT ONLY TO BELIEVE BUT ALSO TO SUFFER

NOT ONLY TO BELIEVE BUT ALSO TO SUFFER

NOT ONLY TO BELIEVE BUT ALSO TO SUFFER

Map showing Rameswaram

THE BIRTH OF THE VISION

THE BIRTH OF THE VISION

Old home in kerala

Pamban railway station where we arrived

THE BIRTH OF THE VISION

Fish packing shed, where we found shelter

THE BIRTH OF THE VISION

Inn where we stayed

THE BIRTH OF THE VISION

THE BIRTH OF THE VISION

The rented house Lord provided

AS A TREE PLANTED BY RIVERS OF WATER

Pastor Moses and Israel

AS SHEEP FOR THE SLAUGHTER

AS SHEEP FOR THE SLAUGHTER

AS SHEEP FOR THE SLAUGHTER

Anxious childhood waiting on line for turns

A tiny refugee enjoying her breakfast

AS SHEEP FOR THE SLAUGHTER

WITH GOD NOTHING SHALL BE IMPOSSIBLE

The sweet watered well dug by the Paulose family

WITH GOD NOTHING SHALL BE IMPOSSIBLE

Gospel tracts distributed to school children

DO NOT FEAR HIM WHO CAN KILL THE BODY ONLY

DO NOT FEAR HIM WHO CAN KILL THE BODY ONLY

Tree that died

DO NOT FEAR HIM WHO CAN KILL THE BODY ONLY

Training Centre burned to the ground

DO NOT FEAR HIM WHO CAN KILL THE BODY ONLY

OPPORTUNITIES IN THE SKY

Pr. Paulose in Scripture T-shirt

WALK FORWARD WITHOUT SHAME

WALK FORWARD WITHOUT SHAME

Pr. Paulose wounded at the train incident

After Train Inccident taking an oil Massage

GOD CHANGING FOR GOOD WHAT WAS INTENDED FOR EVIL