District 9
298 People trained in 29 villages. A community of lepers lived in a village for several years. One training team identified the community and began visiting them, serving them, cleaning their wounds, buying them medicines, teaching them hygiene, and sharing the good news. Soon families started to respond to the message of love and compassion. In the first couple of months, 35 people got baptized, and many more followed. Last reported, 117 people were attending 9 house groups. Also, through one female volunteer and her family, the gospel has reached 11 new villages in the past few months, and 104 families have accepted Christ. 23 house groups formed, and 18 Churches started in January, February, and March.
District 10
281 people trained in 20 villages. During February, a training team prayer walked a remote village and eventually came into contact with some of the locals. Soon there was word in the village that people were preaching a new God who heals and delivers people from evil spirits. Some were opposed, yet some accepted; and the kingdom expanded and was established by the power of God. In another village, a widow who was paralyzed and mute after being struck by lightning attended a training with her family. They heard the news that God is able to heal. On the third day, the women jumped with joy that she was healed though no physical signs were evident of her healing. By the fifth day, the family had received God in their lives. The interesting part in that nobody prayed for her, but God touched her life and body in an amazing way. 24 house groups formed, and 28 Churches started in January, February, and March.
District 11
319 people trained in 34 villages. A volunteer was visiting a family when he came to know about the family’s daughter with leprosy, whom they had been hiding for two years. They hid her in their home so that the village people would not drive them away from the village. Understanding the sensitivity of the situation the volunteer decided to not to tell anyone and to nurse the girl himself. So he regularly visited them, cared for the girl, prayed with family, and shared the compassion of Christ. In a couple of months, the family was worshiping God, and the girl was close to being healed completely. 9 people in the family accepted Christ. 22 house groups formed, and 13 Churches started in January, February, and March.
District 12
287 people trained in 27 villages. A village headquarters has been greatly affected by the caste system. Backward class is not allowed to use the same water well; low caste children are not allowed to sit with the other high caste children in school. The believers have also been affected; the trainers have been gathering the high and low caste believers in different groups since the high caste new believers are not willing to worship with the lower caste families. Please pray that the believers mature quickly and are delivered from this evil practice quickly. A girl was sick with epilepsy when she met a volunteer. After a volunteer prayed for her at a training, the family complained that the girl had an attack and became worse. Then the team decided to fast and pray for the girl. The trainers reported that for three and a half hours demons continued to come out of her, and she was delivered completely. The following week, a total 14 people from the family accepted the Lord. 32 house groups formed, and 20 Churches started in January, February, and March.
District 13
313 people trained in 30 villages. In one village, while a group of believers were sharing the gospel with the village head and his family, one of his sons started to feel sick. He was unable to breathe and the family started to consider taking the boy to the hospital. They also started to think that since they are allowing a foreign God in, their generational gods are cursing them. Realizing the situation, the believers immediately took control, exercised their authority, and commanded the demons to leave. Immediately the boy became normal. The family of the village head accepted God that night and was baptized the next morning. Also, a village farmer with skin disease met one of our volunteers, came to one of our trainings and was prayed for, and in few days, the infection was leaving. In two months, the infection left the farmer completely, and he was baptized with his family. 20 new house groups formed, and 19 Churches started in January, February, and March.
District 14
321 people trained in 26 villages. In one of the villages, an untimely death of a shoemaker left his widow and two sons in a bad financial condition. Being of a low caste, there was not anything they could do. Soon after meeting a volunteer, a team of trainers collected some money for them, and they found the widow some work at a believer’s farm. Through this act of mercy, they were open to the gospel, and they were baptized after hearing the good news. Now the widow and her sons are preaching the same message of love and compassion to their fellow shoemakers and winning families in the kingdom. After an accident, a local policeman was paralyzed on one side. A few days later, a volunteer met this policeman on the road and shared the good news and God’s power to heal, if only the man believed. The policeman called the volunteer a week later and asked him to pray. After sharing the good news one more time, the volunteered prayed, and suddenly the dead muscles and tissues started to show a sign of recovery. The policeman was able to move his paralyzed side a bit, and in three days, the sick man had 80% recovery. This was great news! A total of 23 people accepted the Lord as a result of this healing. 28 house groups formed, and 28 Churches started in January, February, and March.
District 15
297 people trained in 24 villages. In this district there has been a lot a persecution lately. A few of our trainings were disrupted, and some men and women were beaten as well. 9 believers were put in prison but were later released when I (Eric’s Indian partner) and some local influential men intervened at different levels. In one of these villages, a believer’s skull was fractured, and he spent 3 days in coma and 2 weeks in the hospital. It may take some time or a long time for him to recover. His wife and two sons are still witnessing and praying for the lost. A villager was healed of asthma during one of the trainings and then started witnessing. In 2 months, this man has brought 17 people to the Lord and has prayed for more than 200 people, ministering healing to several. This man was also instrumental in starting 8 house groups, and he still continues to witness and disciple people. 14 house groups formed, and 19 Churches started in January, February, and March.
District 16
320 people trained in 35 villages. In one of the villages was a man who had been blind since birth and who everyone in the village knew. During one of our trainings in this village, this blind man came, and the team shared the gospel with him and requested him to come every day to hear what was being taught. At the end of the third day, the blind man asked a team member to pray for his eyesight. The team fasted and prayed for him. And guess what!!!! One eye gained sight instantly, and the other eye gained complete sight in few hours. This made news not only in the village where the man lived but also in the surrounding villages. Many came to see what had happened and how the blind man could now see. This resulted in a wave of baptisms in all the villages. And the kingdom thus expanded to greater boundaries. A villager with a long-term fever was prayed for by a volunteer and recovered completely in a couple of weeks. This man started to share his faith with other people, and soon he was discipling other people. He started a fellowship in his home which grew uncontrollably. In just 8 weeks, 39 people were attending, and by the time the report was sent to me, the gathering had grown to 52 people. 39 new house groups started and 26 churches started in January, February, and March.
District 17
288 People trained in 30 villages. One day in a mostly animistic family, a believer introduced a new God—Jesus whom he had heard about from his friend. The family rejected the idea and despised him for following Jesus. One of the children (age 13) was bitten by a poisonous snake in the fields. Unable to go to the hospital, the family decided to go to the local witchcraft doctor. The witchcraft doctor did his thing but could not heal the dying boy. When the family remembered the new God and asked the believer if his God could do anything. By this time, the boy was partially unconscious. The believer prayed for the boy and shared the good news with his family. After two hours, the boy was still unconscious, and the family, not having enough faith and patience, started to blame the believer, saying that a curse had come over their family because he was not worshiping their family gods. However, soon thereafter the boy woke up and was restored completely from the bite though a bit weak. The family rejoiced and praised the new God! The whole family accepted the Lord! Now they have opened their home for worship, and most of the family is involved in sharing their story with the fellow villagers how God saved their dear one. A woman was healed of malaria a few months ago and accepted the Lord with her husband. She started to share her faith and preach and pray for her fellow women friends and relatives. In 4 months, she had already baptized 69 women and was instrumental in having 83 other men and women baptized who are now attending different fellowships. 18 house groups formed, and 21 Churches started in January, February, and March.
District 18
299 people trained in 34 villages. In a very small village, a medical health assistant was assigned to set up a two-day eye check-up camp. While working, this man came across a group of believers who shared the story of their lives with him and how God made a difference in their lives. This medical assistant began weeping asking forgiveness of his sins. He went back to his family, his office people, his friends, and neighbors and told everyone he knew his story of how God changed his life and made him a new man. In two and a half months, he had witnessed to about 50 people, out of which 32 believed. A village head was sick from terrible headaches for a few years. He tried to find healing, but nothing worked. When one of his relatives met a Christian he learned that the God of Christians can heal people. The village head was directed to a training. The team of trainers prayed for the village head, and the headaches never came back. The village head donated a bicycle for the work, but has yet to accept the Lord. Please pray for those who have seen great healings and deliverance in their lives but never accepted the faith. 26 house groups formed, and 19 Churches started in January, February, and March.
District 19
277 People trained in 28 villages. One new believer was murdered for his faith. Please pray for his family as they continue to follow Jesus. One night, a volunteer was attacked by a group of thieves. The volunteer had nothing to offer them except his faith in his Lord. The thieves wanted to know more and spent the whole night listening to stories of deliverance, healing, compassion, acts of mercy, and the good news. Five of the six thieves accepted the Lord. One was still not sure he understood the volunteer’s words. They renounced stealing and decided to follow Christ and were baptized the next day before the village people. An influential man was completely healed of tuberculosis after suffering from it for a few years. He even went to the hospital, but the doctors could not find a trace of tuberculosis. The healed man did not wait at all in accepting the Lord with his family and being baptized. 21 new house groups formed, and 24 new Churches started in January, February, and March.
District 20
300 people trained in 26 villages. Well known for her witchcraft practices and considered to be an incarnation of a goddess, one woman was respected and kind of worshipped in her village. One night, the 22-year-old son of this witchcraft doctor became very ill. She summoned her demons, tried her gods, and used every bit of power she had, but nothing helped. One relative suggested they call the Christians from the neighboring village. The woman wasn’t sure if the Christians would come since for several years she had put spells and curses on them and plotted persecution against them. When the believers arrived, they told her that when the boy is healed she will have to give up all the things she was involved in, and the woman agreed. The believers prayed almost half of the night, and finally the son was healed. So the witchcraft woman gave up her practices, renounced her faith, and burnt all that the things she used for her dark powers. The next morning, the woman, her son, and his wife publicly accepted the new faith, got baptized, and opened their home for fellowship. 33 house groups formed, and 13 new Churches started in January, February, and March.
District 21
292 people trained in 29 villages. One night, a believer was severely injured while praying for a demon-possessed man who got out of control. After a couple attempts as well as fasting and praying, a team of trainers prayed for him, and he was delivered immediately. Then, the family of five accepted Christ. An old woman who lived alone heard the good news from her neighbor, and eventually accepted the Lord. After this, she sold her home and her belongings and set out to serve God in any way she could with the last days of her life. This old woman traveled from home to home and village to village sharing her story and the love of God. Last I heard, she was still traveling and preaching, and she had 3 more old ladies accompanying her. 20 house groups formed, and 13 new Churches started in January, February, and March.
District 22
271 people trained in 21 villages. One Hindu activist had lot of influence in his village. It was his duty to convert the animists to Hinduism. After being in a head-on collision, he was partially paralyzed and completely speechless from damaged hearing. The believers know the ones who stand against and persecute them. When the news spread, some of the believers were happy, but some of the believers decided to visit the injured man. Three went and prayed for him, and they took turns caring for him at night for two weeks. By the end of the third week, the activist was well, and his heart had melted towards Christians experiencing this love and compassion. Soon after this activist became Christian and preaches the good news. A village farmer was sick with long-term fever for a few years. One of his friends mentioned to him that the Christians pray for healing. The farmer was so ready to be healed that when he came to the training place he was already repetitively saying that he was healed. No one ever prayed for him, but he felt fine, happy, healthy, and wonderful. Later, he accepted the Lord with his wife and two adult children and now continues to share his story with his friends. 47 house groups formed, and 18 Churches started in January, February, and March.
