There is a story in this
report that I think you are simply going to love. When I read it, I
began to shout, so loud that everyone in the house came running to see
what was happening. Which one do you think it was?
It has been six-months
since we began this project. I want to share the results that have
been reported so far. Please know that I share these numbers to give a
general idea as to the significance of this movement. I have the
utmost confidence that these numbers are conservative. What is
important is not the numbers. What is important is that these numbers
provide significant evidence that God is at work to advance the Kingdom
among these two unreached people groups. That being said, here are the
six-month totals:
|
District: |
All |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Oct. 07 |
Nov. 07 |
Dec. 07 |
Jan. 08 |
Feb. 08 |
Mar. 08 |
Total |
|
People |
210 |
231 |
265 |
415 |
424 |
446 |
1991 |
|
Villages |
24 |
24 |
28 |
28 |
30 |
29 |
163 |
|
New Groups |
14 |
14 |
31 |
45 |
67 |
76 |
247 |
|
New Churches |
14 |
8 |
20 |
22 |
34 |
36 |
134 |
|
Baptisms |
56 |
113 |
40 |
198 |
366 |
529 |
1302 |
Please keep praying for
these 24 men and the 2 supervisors who are helping to manage the funds
and the work. God is truly at work, but the risks continue to be
high.
Finally, as I have shared before, this project costs Every Nation $2,000.00 monthly. We are still short by $1,400.00 for the month of April. I need these funds as soon as possible. Please ask God for His perfect and timely provision.
Until ALL Have Heard,
Eric
District 1
Trained 63 people in 4
villages. In one village, a school teacher was on his way to work when
an angry bull attacked him and threw him into a 13-foot deep pit. Our
trainer saw the wounded man and took him to the hospital for
treatment. This act of mercy resulted in an open door in this
village. Our trainer was able to spend much time with the teacher and
his friends and neighbors. All of this time resulted in some 37 people
coming to know the Lord. The school teacher is still resisting the
gospel, so please pray that his heart will soften. This district is
reporting 6 new house groups, 4 new house churches and 58 baptisms.
District 2
Trained 54 people in 4 villages. One
of the training volunteers was given permission by one of the
supervisors to lead a training on his own. This volunteer went to a
village where there has been much suffering from high fever and the
chicken pox. He was resting one evening when a believer in this
village brought his neighbor's son who was sick with a high fever. The
volunteer trainer prayed for the boy and he was immediately healed.
Within a few minutes of this, the father of the boy who had been healed
came with 8-9 people who wanted to be prayed for. Within 2 hours,
there was a line of more than 200 people who wanted to be prayed for.
The volunteer trainer kept praying and asked some of the believers in
the village to join with him. They prayed all night and at 10:00 am
the next morning, there was still a line of more than 250 people from
neighboring villages. They had heard that a healer had
come and they had come expecting a healing. The volunteer reported
that there were healings from multiple diseases. He said that he does
not even remember all that he and his friends did; they were just
laying hands on the sick and commanding, in Jesus' name, the sickness
to leave. He said that they estimate that at least half of the people
were healed instantly. There was no shouting, no great dramatics, just
the simple laying on of hands and people being healed. This amazing
outpouring of the Holy Spirit resulted in the formation of 29 new house
groups and 312 baptisms.
District 3
Trained 49 people in 3 villages. In one
village, a woman had been sick for a few years with stiff joints. She
had been unable to do anything without assistance. During the
training, she was prayed for by one of our trainers. By the end of the
training, she had been completely healed. She began to follow Jesus
and within one month has shared her testimony with more than 150
women. In another village, a man was healed of a skin disease he had
suffered from for over one year. This man and his family of 7 are now
followers of King Jesus. This district is reporting 13 new house
groups and 9 new house churches.
District 4
Trained 66 people in 4
villages. This district has seen remarkable growth in new house groups
formed and in baptisms. In addition, the number of volunteers has
grown. There are also 37 villages waiting for the training, over and
above the key villages we had identified to receive the training. In
one village, a farmer desperately needed to dig a well. He approached
one of our trainers and asked him to pray. This farmer had gone to
several witch doctors for advice about where to dig the well, but water
had not been found. The trainer shared the story of Jesus with the
farmer and then he prayed for God to reveal where the well should be
dug. He was led to a particular area and when the well was dug, a
steady stream of sweet water was found. The farmer and his family are
now followers of Jesus and he offered 500 kg of wheat as a thanksgiving
offering. This district is reporting 5
new house groups and 5 new house churches.
District 5
Trained 59 people in 5 villages. In one
village, a man who was a government official and a representative of
the local Hindu fundamentalist group came and observed our training.
He left the meeting and returned a bit later with a mob of people.
This mob stormed the training, took over the event and beat several
people, including the trainer. The training had to be stopped. One
week later, the man who instigated the mob was killed in a road
accident. This was followed by the village head man being healed of
tuberculosis. He and his family of 5 became followers of Jesus and he
has opened up his home and offered to help with the training and other
activities. This district is reporting 9 new house groups, 5 new house
churches and 41 baptisms.
District 6
Trained 60 people in 3 villages. In one
village, there was a woman who had been demonized for several years.
She was so bad that her family had to chain her up because she either
attacked others or harmed herself. While our trainers were in her
village, she threw a stone and injured the head of one of the local
believers. Our trainer was summoned and he approached the demonized
woman. He asked her who she was and the woman said that they were
many. The trainer and team of volunteers fasted and prayed and the
woman was delivered. This resulted in four families becoming followers
of Jesus. In addition, a woman was healed of a skin disease that she
had suffered from for over a year. This district is reporting 9 new
house groups, 3 new house churches and 31 baptisms.
District 7
Trained 57 people in 3 villages. Just
like in other districts, we are seeing more and more volunteers who are
helping with the training and training more to be trainers. We have
been able to gain access into new villages each month, many in which we
had little or no access. There is no question that the multitudes are
being healed and delivered each month. As the Word advances, the
Kingdom advances and so does the Church. I want to again thank brother
Eric and all of the partners who have made this possible. In one
village, a sister was healed of her paralysis, two children were healed
from a prolonged fever and one brother was healed of a long-term
headache. This district is reporting 5 new house groups, 3 new house
churches and 34 baptisms.
District 8
Trained 38 people in 3 villages. In one
village, an eight-year-old daughter of a Hindu fundamentalist has
suffered from the disease of epilepsy for several years. This man had
taken his daughter to the witch doctors, but nothing could be done to
help her. During the training, someone suggested to this man that he
take his daughter to the training and ask for her to be prayed for. He
reluctantly came to the training and the trainer commanded, in Jesus'
name, the demon and the sickness to leave the girl. Three days latter,
on the last day of training, the man came back to the training site and
testified that his daughter had not had an attack in three days. This
man and his family of seven are now followers of King Jesus. This
district is reporting 7 new house churches and 53 baptisms.
If you would like to give to support this work, please go here
and make a donation to the India category. If you would like to mail a
check, please make it out to Every Nation, list India on the memo line
and mail it to the following address:
Every Nation
PO Box 94564
North Little Rock, AR 72190
It is time for me to give an update on our four-month, People-of-Peace project (see Luke 10
).
The two unreached people groups we are working to reach live in
twenty-two districts (like a county), all located in the green area on
the map to the right. You may recall that our work in India has so far
been focused on only eight districts. This means there are fourteen
districts that we have not yet targeted. We are changing that this
year. Our hope is to see what is happening in the eight districts, as
evidenced by the monthly reports, jump to the other
fourteen
districts. To facilitate this, we have sent forty-two national missionaries,
all men whom we have trained, into the fourteen untargeted districts.
Their charge was to seek out people-of-peace, share the gospel and then
begin to disciple them as followers of Jesus. Our plan was to support
these forty-two men for four months, from January through April of this
year, at a cost of $4,000.00 per month. In July of this year, we will
train some of the people-of-peace that have been found and then we will
then send them out as disciple-making missionaries to the fourteen
untargeted districts beginning in October of this year; just like we
have sent people out to the other eight districts. 
As
you read the reports, please pray for God's perfect financial
provision. We still have some needs for our work in India. First, we
need $3,000.00 to finish funding the four-month, People-of-Peace project. The funds have been advanced, but I borrowed
these funds from our General fund, which is the fund that supports my
family. I needed the funds by the end of March and we had a cushion in
the General fund. That cushion is typical for this time of year and it
has historically carried us through the summer months when giving often
drops. Our hope is that these funds will be replaced. Second, we need
$2,000.00 to fund our April need for the
twenty-four men who are working in the eight districts. I will be
sending the March report for these eight districts soon as well.
Finally, we will need approximately $6,000.00
to fund the training project we have planned for June. There will be
other needs throughout the year, but I will share them as they come
up. As I said earlier, this is an aggressive strategy, but we do
believe that God is doing a great work and that He will work in the
hearts of His people to provide for this need. We have simply moved
forward in faith. Instructions on how to give to these needs are at
the bottom of this post.
