Beloved sponsors of BCM,

We send you the blessings of God in Jesus’ name through this exciting ministry report.

Every prayer and every support of yours encourages us to do the ministry of our Master throughout India. We thank God for your partnership in this mission. God will surely reward you for what you supply in Jesus name, through your faith.

Even though there are many risks in doing outreach ministry, we are very happy to be able to tell you that our Lord’s words have reached countless unreached people. An outreach ministry team under the leadership of R. Shajin did ministry among the hillside villages in September, 2011. Our BCM staff, Brother R. Mani, was one of the members of the Gospel outreach team. This is his account of the trip: 

“Our Gospel outreach team began the trip to the hillside vilages on the first of September. Along the way we stopped to meet Pastor Arunodayam at a town called Neyveli. He took us to see a lignite (soft coal) mine in the area. It was amazing to see such a resourceful place. Most of the people who work there are from all over India. They earn enough money to live comfortably, and aren’t interested in hearing about Jesus Christ. Pastor Arunodayam is laboring in ministry in this region, and needs to be uplifted in our prayers for his difficult task.

“We left Neyveli, and headed toward the Javaadhu-Malai hills. When we reached foot of the hills, one of our tires got a flat. There wasn’t any place nearby to buy a new tire, so we put on the spare and continued our trip. We finally reached the top at 9 P.M.  Once in the hills of Javaadhu-Malai, we stayed at the house of a local pastor, K. Manickam, who has been doing the ministry of God among the mountain villages. K. Manickam lives in a village called Jamuna-Marathur. While we rested, we talked with the pastor about our purpose for coming and about our plans. He was very happy to meet our Gospel team. The next morning we awoke with fresh zeal, and went outside to hold our morning devotions on a large boulder. Pastor Israel shared from the Word of God, and we all thanked God, praising Him for bring us to these mountain villages to preach the life-giving Gospel to the people of Javaadhu-Malai.

“One sister in Christ, Senthamarai, who is blind, invited us to her house for lunch. She took extra effort to prepare a nice meal for us. We had our lunch outside, in front of her house. The mother of Sister Senthamarai, along with other members of her family, was very supportive to the growth of the ministry among the mountain villages. We had good fellowship with them, and prayed that God would bless them, and would allow them to be a channel of blessings to others. After thanking them, we headed out to three different villages, whose houses were scattered over the mountainside. We handed out Gospel booklets to the people we met, and these they received. They hesitated, however, to come to any sort of gathering or assembly, so we preached the gospel in the streets, where they were able to hear the message of Salvation. We were able to perform a short Gospel drama in one of the villages, which a few adults and about 20 children watched. After this, we went to a village called Chindaloor. There we were able to show a Gospel film which more than 50 people, both children and adults, came to watch. We handed out Gospel booklets to these people, and then we thanked God in prayer and rested.

“On the 3rd of September, we went to a village called Palaamarathur where we showed a Gospel drama. The women gathered for a women’s meeting, and they also watched the drama. The children of this village were very interested in us, so we taught them a game with the help of Pastor Israel.

“The wife of the leader of another village came and asked us to show them a Gospel film. We agreed to come to her village, and headed for it the next day, eating our lunch on the way. After this, we traveled to four more villages, to continue the ministry. In one of these villages, Thimrimaathur, the people were piling into a tractor, just as we arrived, to head to a Hindu temple. We performed a short Gospel drama, which all fifty of the villagers watched, and then Pastor Israel preached the Good News of Lord Jesus Christ.

“I also got the chance to preach the Gospel at a village called Palamarathur, where about fifty people heard the message of salvation, and our team leader, Brother Shajin, was able to preach the Gospel to about twenty-five people from the village of Alangenoor. At Kunnendi, we showed a Gospel film to about fifty people. Some young men there asked us for Gospel literature, which we gave them.

“September 4th was Sunday, and we all attended a service which was held in the home of the blind sister, Senthamarai. Some children from nearby villages also came. The local Pastor, K. Manickam, led the Sunday service, and we all worshipped God along with the local believers. One of our team members shared his testimony, and Bro. Shajin shared a message from God. God blessed the Sunday service.

“We rested for an hour, and then, in the evening, we went to a village called Mel-Nellimarathur. There we played a Gospel drama which fifty to sixty people came to watch. Pastor K. Manicakm preached the Gospel and explained the meaning of the drama. Then we went on to the next village, Veerapnoor, where we played another Gospel drama. This village is fairly large, consisting of about 150 families. We went to each house and handed out Gospel booklets to the people we met. Brother Price, one of our team members, taught a special class for the children. He shared the love of Jesus with them through a story and songs. After some time, we went to another village, Kanaganeri, where we sang Gospel songs. Sixty people of all ages gathered to hear the songs. We preached the Gospel to them, and they listed silently. They were very interested in hearing more about the Lord Jesus Christ. That evening we went to the house of a believer where a cottage prayer meeting was being held. Brother Shajin shared the Word of God, and Brother Shabon, one of our team members, shared his testimony in English while I translated into Tamil. Our worship together was blessed.

“The next day we went to four more villages to preach the Gospel. About fifty villagers gathered to see up at the first village; Bro. Shajin preached the gospel to them. We also found a school where we handed out Gospel booklets to the children. They received these with much interest. We also passed out Gospel booklets to a crowd of people who were waiting to receive food from a ration shop.

“On the next day, we did the ministry in five more villages. About twenty-five people heard the Gospel in the first village. Brother Bakir, one of our team members, told his testimony and I preached the Gospel. We ate our lunch, which Pastor Manickam’s wife prepared for us, before heading to the second village, where twenty or twenty-five families lived together in a hamlet. At the third village, Kuriyanoor, performed a Gospel drama and Pastor Manickam preached the Gospel. About fifty people gathered to watch.

“In the evening we showed a Gospel film in a village called Kaanaganeri, and the next day we played a Gospel drama in Puliyoor. We found about fifty school children, as we were traveling from one place to another, to whom we gave Gospel booklets. They received the booklets with great joy. Then we walked through the forest until we reached a village called Athipattu, where Brother Shajin preached the Gospel to more than sixty adults and fifty children.

“Jamuna-Marathur, where Pastor K. Manickam and his family live, is the biggest village of all hilly villages in this area. Monday is their weekly market day. While we were there, Pastor K. Manickam took us to see the weekly market. There were about 3000 people there. We gave Gospel booklets to them, and most of them received the booklets with interest. We found one school and hostel. It was lunch break for the students, so we used the opportunity to give Gospel booklets to the children. We also found another school, some distance away, and we handed out about two hundred Gospel booklets to the young children there.

“When we went to a village called Kundalathur, where the people were preparing to worship a Hindu god. A local told us that it might cause some disturbance if we tried to distribute Christian books while the preparations were going on, so we only gave a few Gospel booklets to the children.

“We went to the next village called Seramarathur, where we saw a multitude of people. We handed out Gospel literature to them. We also gave Gospel booklets to the people we met on the hills.

“After that, we returned to Palamarathur, where we had promised to come back and show a Gospel movie. When we were arranging things to show the film, rain began to fall in sheets. We prayed to God to stop the rain, so that we could show the Gospel movie. God answered our prayers, and the rain stopped within 10 minutes. We were able to show the film, and the people were blessed through it.

“On September 8th, we went to a few villages, were we did Gospel outreach ministry. Then we got a chance to visit a waterfall, called Beeman falls. We spent some time there and relaxed. That night we slept at the home of Pastor K. Manickam. We left Javaadu-Malai on the 9th of September at 5 o clock, and arrived at Rameswaram, after a long journey.

“God protected us and strengthened us to do the ministry successfully. We give thanks and praises to our living God, Who used our team to spread the Gospel in the hilly villages.”

Dear sponsors, we heard the stories and testimonies of this Gospel team, and were encouraged in our spiritual lives. May God encourage you through this Gospel outreach ministry report! Amen.

Yours in spreading the Gospel to the villagers,
Body of Christ Ministries.
Rameswaram.