alpha india newsFOR PRIVATE CIRCULATION ONLY | TO SEE THE EVANGELISATION OF THE SUBCONTINENT & THE TRANSFORMATION OF OUR SOCIETIES | ALPHAINDIA.ORG

THE QUARTERLY NEWSPAPER OF ALPHA INDIAVOLUME 3, ISSUE 4 | OCTOBER - DECEMBER 2012

news in BRieF

Alpha at Suvarta Kendra:Breakthrough in evangelization at the National Center for proclamation, Pachmarhi, MPPg.4

New PartnershipsManipur Baptist Convention and the Cornerstone school, in Nagaland, partner with Alpha India.Pg.5

GAT in Kathmandu, NepalNational Leaders from India lead a GAT in Kathmandu. Pg.6

Interview with Pastor RockyAn indepth interview with the Pastor of University Evangelical Fellowship (UEF - Delhi). Pg.7

Facebook Church and AlphaA simple and unique online church concept, used with Alpha to unite a body of believers.Pg.8

News from the SouthRead about how Alpha has changed the lives of many people. Pg.9

Financial PartnershipWe appreciate your financial partnership. If you are inspired to support Alpha India please use the details below, or contact Josy Joseph at the Alpha India Office.

Alpha India Account:

Account Number: 911020054880929 NAME: ALPHA INDIABANK NAME : AXIS BANK LTDIFSC CODE : UTIB0000734BRANCH : KALYAN NAGAR BANGALORE.Acc Type: Current Account

AwakeningEmpowering Women, Influencing the World.

About the conferenceWhen women heard the good news and they reached out to many far off regions. For instance, the woman at the well, in John 4, brought the whole village, Lydia in Acts 16, took the gospel to Europe etc. There is something about a woman that distinguishes her from menfolk. Her capacity to love, care and her compassion along with her perseverance are unimaginable.

We have been praying for the last few months to create a community of women leaders who engage homes, churches and communities to see transformation happen. We are also launching Alpha among these women. We will be addressing concerns regarding fairness, justice, dignity, inheritance, and economic issues that women face as well as training women to run the Alpha course. We expect this movement to snowball and gain momentum. We also plan to have regional conferences next year. Please pray for this conference.

Details on Page 12

2 alpha notes

READERS STORIES & PHOTOSThank you for the testimonies, stories and photos that were sent to us. Once again in this issue your stories have been printed throughout the newspaper, along with other encouraging stories that we have received from across the nation.

Please send your stories to, Email: stories.alphaindia@gmail.comFacebook: www.facebook.com/alphacourseindiaTwitter: @AlphaInIndiaPostal address: Alpha India National Office219, 5th A Main Road,HRBR 2nd Block, Kalyan Nagar, Bangalore - 560 043

National Alpha Office contact details:Alpha India:219, 5th A Main Road, HRBR 2nd Block, Kalyan Nagar, Bangalore - 560 043Tel: 080 2542 0902 IDD: +91 80 2542 0902Email: contact@alphaindia.org, Web: www.alphaindia.org

National Director: Mr J. Varadaraj

Board Members:Chris Sadler, Chairman of Alpha Asia-Pacific Scott Norling, Chairman of Alpha IndiaJ Varadaraj, National Director of Alpha IndiaDon Anderson, India Country Head-Shell LubricantsClarissa Anderson, Entreprenuer and InvesterMathew Anthony, Secretary for Evangelisation, Archdiocese of DelhiChurch Advisory Board:Archbishop Vincent ConcessaoBishop Rt. Rev. V. M. MalaviyaRev. Dr. D. Mohan, Superintendant of AOG India

Alpha India Regional Offices:North West Region, Chandigarh: Rupak NayakEmail : rupak.alphaindia@gmail.comMob : 090233-91414West Region, Ahmedabad: Jimmy HarshkantEmail : damorejimmy@gmail.comPh : 09825-444197East Region, Kolkata: Prabir MandalEmail : prabir.alphaindia@gmail.comPh : 096744-61951North East Region, Shillong : P.O Ryn Jah, Shillong - 793006Ph : 090851-57153

National Coordinator’s Contact details:Alpha in the Workplace: Santosh ChettriMob: 090070-22889Alpha for Prisons: Peace Khapai Mob: 09597-421832Student & Youth Alpha : James Michael David Mob : 097429-98618North-East Diaspora: Rampan MuivahMob : 099029-90313

Coordinators’ Contact details:Andhra Pradesh: Susheel K Chattar Mob: 098660-99184 Andhra Pradesh - Hindupur: Paul J L Mob: 094408-61979Bihar: George Muller Mob: 094310-16124Kerala: Binu N. Philip Mob: 093882-04322South Karnataka: Sam Victor Mob: 099646-98118North Karnataka (Hubli): Abraham VinayMob: 095914-22225Odisha: Tushar K BeheraMob: 093371-41600Odisha: Jayadeep SamantroyMob: 098535-03813Rajasthan: Kamlesh ParmarMob: 099830-03637Rajasthan: Johnson JamesMob:098290-77374Uttarakhand: Janus Peter Mob: 094581-90983Uttar Pradesh: Vinay P Dayal Mob: 093594-86843West Bengal: Dilip Debnath Mob: 098742-07760Tamil Nadu : John RajanMob : 098434-95572Northeast : Ninghor K Shimray Mob: 090851-57153Kathmandu : Rupa ChetriMob: 00977 98132-81683Kathmandu: Reuben PradhanMob: 00977- 98020-25522Marriage Course, Kerala : Mon C GeorgeMob: 094464 83577Youth Alpha, Chandigarh : SameerMob: 078370-51735

© Alpha India 2012, edited and published by J.V. Raj for Alpha India

ALPHA INDIA NEWSOCTOBER - DECEMBER 2012

Arthi KAmAKCOMMUNICATIONS ADMINISTRATOR

ABrAhAm ViNAYASSOCIATE REGIONAL CO-ORDINATOR, HUBLI

rUPA ChEtriREGIONAL COORDINATOR, KATHMANDU

rEUBEN PrADhAN REGIONAL COORDINATOR, KATHMANDU

SEEmA COrNELTRAINING ADMINISTRATOR

JOhNSON JAmESASSOCIATE REGIONAL COORDINATOR,

JAIPUR, RAJASTHAN

ALPhA iNDiA StAff UPDAtES

Catholic Fr. Vijay Shantiraj speaks of his experience with Alpha Dear Mr. J. Raj

Loving greetings to you from Suvarta Kendra, National Centre for Evangelization, Pachmarhi. This short note is to acknowledge your valuable partnership in imparting the Good News of the Lord to the people of India.

Besides the two Alpha trainings we had earlier, this was the third Alpha training in the Catholic Context conducted at Suvarta Kendra, the National Centre for Evangelization, Pachmarhi for 33 priests and religious sisters from 19 dioceses, from August 20-22, 2012.

The training was conducted by Mr. Vinay Dayal and Mr. Rahul Pant from Alpha. I admire their faith and the commitment they have made to the Lord. On these 3 days we really experience the Lord. Both of them motivated us to conduct Alpha courses in our respective places. As a result, on the third day an action plan was drawn to run Alpha in 19 dioceses.

The Conference of Catholic Bishops of India is grateful to Alpha India for your great commitment to the Lord and your partnership in sharing the Good News of the Lord to all the people of India. My special acknowledgement and thanks to you, Mr Raj, the National Director and Mr. Francis, the Training Manager, for your willingness and readiness to collaborate with us.

With best wishes and assurance of my prayers for you,

Yours in Christ Jesus,

fr Vijay ShantirajExecutive Secretary and Director, Suvarta KendraCCBI National Centre for Proclamation, Madhya Pradesh- 461881

Read more letters on Pg. 5

3alpha notesALPHA INDIA NEWSOCTOBER - DECEMBER 2012

FROM THE DESK OF THE NATIONAL DIRECTOR

How soon time flies by. We can only redeem the time that we have, otherwise, it will become a part of history. I keep wondering as to how we can best serve the cause of the great commission in our time. Each day of serving the great commission makes life worth living because the great commission is about the Great Commissioner who said, “I am with you always”.

Our joy has been complete as we are enabled to diligently serve Him. What the Lord is doing is much bigger than our investments in terms of our energy, time and funds. We continually pursue in prayer and hard work. We long to see a fresh move of God in our days.

I am amazed to hear that all ministries are reporting encouragement from the fields. This emboldens us to ask for more fresh impetus and new moves.

We continue to seek the face of the Lord to see breakthroughs in the field. We believe in a Lord who can transform the whole nation in a day. In our neighbourhood, Nepal is seeing exciting times in our ministry.

Some of the regional leaders met in Singapore which was a great encouragement. I find the need to be continuously encouraged so necessary.

We have been praying and working towards the National Women Leaders Conference in Jaipur, for more details please see page 12. The purpose is to engage Christian women leaders and create a community of women leaders to influence other women in our country. Issues concerning women like fairness, dignity, justice are all still a distant dream. Please pray that this will be a blessing to the nation.

While a lot of work is happening in seeking to reach out the world with the gospel, a lot more needs to happen. Certain issues concerning children, like malnutrition, education, healthy environment continue to trouble. Issues like connectivity, transportation, supply of pure drinking water are all a matter of concern and prayer.

We are asking the churches to pray for us during a week in November 2012. In this newsletter, we have given models which can be used. Please join us.

We welcome all the new staff.

Please write a note, should you want to bless us.

Warmly,

rajNational DirectorAlpha India

from the field4

People challenged to share- Rampan Muivah

We have trained leaders from various cities like Imphal, Chennai, Delhi, Bangalore and Mumbai. Some of our trainings immediately resulted in courses. Our greatest joy was to see our friends from other faiths join the Alpha course and enjoy it.

One of the leaders in Chennai was so fascinated with the Questions of Life book that he is presenting it to everyone who partakes in the talk during the Alpha course.

Another exciting part was to see our advisers involved in trainings that they have organized by themselves in their areas of influence.

We are mainly focusing on evangelism and some of our training’s have had a great impact in the hearts of people. Few people who attended our training had mentioned that they have never been able to share their faith before and that the Alpha training has really challenged them to share their faith.

75 pastors from UP attend Alpha- Vinay P Dayal

When Alpha was introduced to the diocese of Lucknow (Church of North India), Bishop Morris E. Dan wanted to train all his Presbyters-in-charge to use Alpha for evangelism and growth of the churches. Hence, we decided to have a two day training programme for all the pastors. This training took place at Allahabad, with 75 pastors from different parts of UP attending. Rt. Rev. Morris E. Dan encouraged his colleagues to focus on the Great Commission and remember God’s calling. The evangelistic training focused on reaching the unreached.

All the pastors were very keen to know more about Alpha India’s ministry and how it can be used in different contexts in UP. They were convinced that the Alpha course could indeed make a huge difference in their Church ministry.

Prayers answered in Uttarakhand- Janus Peter

A one day Alpha training was conducted in Nanakmatta, Tehsil, Khatima and Udham Singh Nagar in Uttarakhand at the Missionary Church on 20th August 2012. Seventy two people attended the training. Pastor Kamal Singh Rana who organized the training said that the Church prayed for a month to prepare for this training.

It was overwhelming to see such a good response and also be blessed during the training. There was a strong presence of the Holy Spirit and many people were in tears as they confessed their sins and committed their lives to God.

The Missionary Church has as many as 20 pastors and Deacons in Khatima and Sitarganj. 10 pastors have signed up to run the Alpha course.

33 Roman Catholic priests and sisters from 19 dioceses in Suvarta Kendra (National Centre for proclamation, Pachmarhi, Madhya Pradesh) attended a training that was conducted to teach them how to use the Alpha course to evangelize people in their native places. The main focus during these three days was on how the Alpha course works and how it can be used for the extension of His kingdom.

The presence of the Holy Spirit and the hand of the Lord were very evident in these three days. The delegates learnt about the Alpha course and as a result a lot of questions were answered regarding evangelism, church growth and the usage of Alpha in different contexts.

The delegates actively took part in the small group discussions and were very captivated with how the Alpha small group works. Every day, time was set apart so the delegates could pray for each other.

Sessions on the Holy Spirit came as a new experience to a lot of the delegates and many of them experienced a personal encounter with the Holy Spirit. This training imparted a lot of interactive learning to the delegates and they got an overview on how the Alpha course practically works.

The training ended with the delegates creating a road map on how the Alpha course can be started in their respective congregations.

Read about what Fr Vijay Shantiraj the Executive Secretary and Director of Suvarta Kendra has to say about Alpha on Page 2

Breakthrough in evangelization at the National Centre for proclamation, Pachmarhi, Madhya Pradesh

ALPHA AT SUVARTA KENDRA

ALPHA INDIA NEWSOCTOBER - DECEMBER 2012

- Vinay P Dayal

from the field4 ALPHA INDIA NEWSOCTOBER - DECEMBER 2012

from the field 5ALPHA INDIA NEWSOCTOBER - DECEMBER 2012

ThE alpha couRse FAQs

1. How do I get started running Alpha?

Prayer is vital to the planning, preparation and effectiveness of your Alpha course. Find a group of people who will pray for every aspect of your Alpha course.

Step 1 - Pray

Step 2 - Participate

Step 3 - Plan your course

Step 4 - Prepare your team

Step 5 - Procure your resources

Step 6 - Persevere

Step 7 - Pass on the vision

2. How do I run the Alpha course outside of my church?

Using the same Alpha course content and structure, you can run an Alpha course at school, colleges, workplace, prisons, hospitals, homeless shelters, army bases, slums, among eunuchs and red light districts.

3. What resources and training opportunities are available to me?

• Access to Alpha’s national training conferences and local training events.

• Access to a full array of products through the Alpha India website to promote, run and augment your Alpha course.

• Access to a network of Alpha coordinators and Alpha advisors

4. How do I contact Alpha India?

You can contact Alpha India National Office, Regional Office, State coordinators to help you locate a training event happening near your city.

Please find the contact details on Pg. 2

from the field 5ALPHA INDIA NEWSOCTOBER - DECEMBER 2012

NEW PARTNERSHIP

OTHER PARTNERSHIPS

Alpha India and Manipur Baptist Convention- Rampan Muivah

The month of July ushered in a new wave of God’s blessing and favour on Alpha along with the largest Christian body in the state of Manipur. After months of prayer and planning, Alpha India along with the Manipur Baptist Convention (MBC) signed an MoU towards a new strategy for evangelization.

The MBC consists of 29 associations and 1330 churches under its wing. The MoU has been signed for a 10 year period to ensure that all the associations and churches would be equipped and enabled to reach out to their respective communities.

Alpha intends to cater to the different needs and groups of the MBC. Interventions would include and not be limited to Student Alpha (for college graduates), Youth Alpha (a course designed exclusively for teenagers), Jesus Lifestyle ( a series adapted from the Sermon on the Mount), A Life Worth Living (the official follow up to the Alpha Course based on the book of Philippians) in addition to the Alpha course.

This partnership requires your ongoing prayers in addition to your participation. As the first phase of this new strategy, the youth secretaries of MBC would be trained and equipped to run the course with their youth secretaries.

We would also like to thank Rev. Dr. W. Konghar (General Secretary) and Rev. Mathotmi Vashi (Youth and Literature Secretary) for their commitment and dedication to further God’s kingdom in the state of Manipur. Their burden for the community paved the way for this partnership.

Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh – Evangelical Lutheran Church with Bishop Emmanuel Panchoo said, “We have trained 40 senior pastors in total. We will take Alpha to our church.”

Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh – Indian Evangelical Team with Rev. Renny Chacko. 45 senior pastors from across MP have been trained.

Lucknow – Christian Training College with Dr. S.W. Prasad.

Mumbai – New Life Fellowship International Church with Pastor Shekar Kalyan.

Letter from The Rt. Rev. Morris E. DanIt was with great joy that I saw the Alpha training provided to our Ministers of the Diocese of Lucknow. I believe Alpha is a programme to initiate and open the door of friendship with one man and when the friendship grows it could become a group. This programme should be confined to a smaller group to provide them the Christian understanding and the joy of salvation.

May God bless the organization and utilize them more.

Yours in Christ

the rt. rev. moriss E. Dan, Bishop of Lucknow, CNI

Alpha in a Hindi Newspaper

Durgapur Diocese – CNI churches with Bishop Probal Dutta. Our regional managers and their team have trained 24 senior pastors. They will implement the Alpha course in 60 churches.

Zunheboto, Nagaland - Cornerstone School has partnered with Youth Alpha to integrate the course into the curriculum for grades seven through ten. Additional courses like Searching Issues, Jesus Lifestyle and A Life Worth Living will be covered as well.

Lucknow - CNI Diocese with The Rt. Rev. Morris E. Dan

The Alpha course is reaching every nook and corner of India. The Alpha course was introduced at the Methodist church in Pitthoragarh.

The Methodist church is the oldest mission here. At present there are about 5 churches in this city. The Alpha introduction was covered by the Hindi regional newspaper, “The Amar Ujala”, which has a reader base of over 2500 people.

ALPHA RESOURCES

Alpha course resources are available in

English, Hindi, Marathi, Punjabi,Gujarati, Kannada,Tamil,

Telugu, Malayalam,Oriya, Assamese and Urdu.

Contact :resources@alphaindia.org

6 FROM THE FIELD

Guwahati - Alpha Training - Rev. Ninghor Shimray

The first Alpha training for Pastors and Missionaries was held at the Council of Baptist Churches in North East India (CBCNEI), at their conference hall at Guwahati. In spite of heavy rain for two consecutive days the training was attended by 41 Pastors and Missionaries from various churches and denominations. We are thankful that there is a desire to run the Alpha course in Guwahati, Assam and in North East India.

The participants showed a lot of interest and wanted to start an Alpha training. After the training; 13 churches registered to run Alpha courses.

Bijoy Basumatry, (Pastor of Zion Rivival Church), was one of the participants during the Alpha intro and he said “I’ve attended the Alpha Training when I was a student in Kerala, it was conducted by Solo K. Phillip, it’s a very helpful and useful tool for Evangelism”. He was so excited to see the Alpha ministry reaching Assam. We conducted a local sponsored Alpha Training on the 8th of September. They have got 4 churches with 714 members.

World Vision and Alpha in MP- Vinay P Dayal

World Vision organized a 4 day conference for church leaders to enable and equip them to be more effective in their communities. The first district leadership conference took place in Jabalpur with an audience of about 135 church leaders.

Alpha was introduced at this conference and the local community agreed on the effectiveness of the Alpha course as a tool for evangelizing. In lieu of this a 2 day training programme was organized for the church leaders in Jabalpur and Ujjain. Consequently opportunities to train leaders in IET and St. John’s Church, Bhopal opened up.

Gwalior hosted a district leadership conference where Alpha was introduced, giving way to a number of enquires and requests for church leaders to be trained to run the Alpha course.

Bro. Khristi Gershombhai and Rev. Anil Martin require special mention for their commitment and dedicated work in furthering God’s kingdom in North India.

Youth Alpha at the Ever Vision School- Reuben Pradhan

Earlier this year the Ever-Vision School, funded by a Korean Christian Agency, conducted a two month course called “Spiritual Development” for 45 of their final year students. While planning for the course, I decided to take them through the Youth Alpha course.

Some days were more difficult that others due to the travel and problems with controlling the students. Yet the love of God gave me the grace to continue to the end. Eventually some of them expressed their desire to follow Jesus or to join a church and some even testified of being healed during the prayer session after the lesson on “How to be filled with the Holy Spirit”.

One young boy testified that he used to have chronic stomach ailments but was healed as he was being prayed for. He has been reading the Bible since then with his Christian classmate. Three other students gave wonderful testimonies on their graduation day about how after going through the Youth Alpha course their knowledge about Jesus grew and their negative concept toward Christianity changed altogether.

ALPHA INDIA NEWSOCTOBER - DECEMBER 2012

GLOBAL ALPHA TRAINING IN KATHMANDU, NEPAL

While in Nepal we shared the blessings that we got through the Alpha course with a group of Pastors. We gave them an introduction to Alpha and the pastors were very encouraged and they requested for a training. Pastor Sundar Thapa was the first one to encourage us to train his church leaders.

I prayed and asked God to help us train them well so that the churches in Nepal would be blessed through the Alpha course. God heard my prayers and He turned a simple training into a GAT. My prayer was answered with more than what I had asked for. A team from India including the National leaders of Prison Alpha, Youth Alpha, Student Alpha, Marriage Alpha, and God at Work course along with the National Director came to train us. Pastor Sodemba, encouraged and helped us.

On the second day of GAT the mothers group from Siloam Bansbari church led a spirit filled worship. For example - Mrs. Deu Maya who is a mother of four and

grandmother of 6 led us into worship with an electric guitar. All of us were rejoicing, and dancing. It was like tasting Heaven on earth as we sang “Hosanna to the King of kings”.

We were trained on facilitation skills and after that we broke out into 11 small groups for group discussion. People from 26 churches from Kathmandu came for two days to learn how to run an Alpha course. There were around 200 leaders from these churches. After the GAT, many Alpha courses have started in Lalitpur and Kathmandu districts.

- Rupa Chetri

National Leaders from India lead a GAT in Kathmandu

7FROM THE FIELDALPHA INDIA NEWSOCTOBER - DECEMBER 2012

Pastor Vardan LeeI am a Youth Pastor in the Peace Tabernacle Church at Gorakhpur. Members and new believers from different Churches came for the Youth Alpha course. A lot of people who attended the Youth

Alpha course were physically ill. During the talk “Does God Heal Today?”, we asked the people who wanted healing to come forward for prayer. One of our Church members was addicted to tobacco for many years and has tried to quit but failed every time. However after receiving the touch of the Holy Spirit, his life totally changed. He quit his bad habit and is now a powerful worship leader in Church.

Many young people were struggling with a lot of doubts and questions – how and who will guide them, etc. We prayed for them, counselled them from the Word of God and at the end of the Youth Alpha course, they testified that it helped them make the right decisions.

Rev. Subhas LyngdohWe had a 4 day GAT where Ranjit De and Rajesh trained us to run the Alpha course. Since then my Church has started running the Alpha course in 4 places in Shillong and the number of people

attending our church has increased. Many young people who attended the Alpha course believed in our Lord and were baptized. Our church members were excited to learn basic doctrines through Alpha.

After attending an Alpha Master Training I started conducting Alpha Trainings in different churches and denominations in various North East Indian states and Nepal. Due to this, Pastors started inviting me to introduce Alpha and conduct trainings in their churches. Today, around 45 churches are running the Alpha course in Meghalaya.

INTERVIEW WITH PASTOR ROCKY

Ms. Jatri Naik

I am from the village of Charighariya. In the past 50 years of my life I had never heard about Jesus. I spent my life in darkness by consuming alcohol and smoking; my life was terrible.

One day I got an invitation to attend the Alpha course. At the course I found answers and a purpose to my life. I accepted Jesus Christ as my personal Saviour and was baptised.

TRANSFORMATION THROUGH ALPHA

- Rampan MuivahRev. Rocky Angumei - Pastor of University Evangelical Fellowship (UEF-Delhi)

master training at UEf-Delhi

Ai - Why have you been running the Alpha course?

Pr: Well, I heard so many good things about it. Alpha was introduced to us in Hong Kong in 2001 by my wife’s church. After a couple of years when we came back to Hong Kong

we saw a huge difference in the attendance there. I asked them what was the secret they said it’s the Alpha course. I was very fascinated by it. One of the Pastors presented us the Alpha course material while we are returning to India to pastor the church in UEF, Delhi. I went through all the books and decided to start running the course right away with our Student Leaders group in 2008.

Ai - how long have you been running the Alpha Course? And how many have attended the course?

Pr: We have been running it since 2008, this year we have run it just twice and next month we are going to start again. Around 130 -150 people have attended the Alpha course through UEF Delhi.

Ai - have you seen any specific difference after running the Alpha Course?

Pr: Yes definitely, I would say most of the courses we did were successful, of course some people drop out. The interesting thing about Alpha is that some of the non believers who attended the course have now become believers. Recently I baptised 2 non believers,

one girl from Uttarkashi and one from Bihar. Another girl- Sidi Segal joined the Alpha course and immediately accepted the Lord. She said “I am ready, I want to be baptised”. Another person, Dr. Raman a dentist from Haryana joined the Alpha course through one of our student leaders and he just loved the Lord. When I look back I can smile and say “it’s worked!” It has been worth doing the Alpha course.

Ai - Any particular struggles you have faced while running the Alpha course?

Pr: Well yes! Our leaders were not trained to run the alpha course so I think we miss out on the small things which are important. I think the details are important. Secondly, sometimes our guests don’t understand the jokes and some of the points made by Nicky Gumbel, so I have to lead the course along with one helper. Thirdly, we have experienced that when we don’t prepare or are very busy with others things and then we lead the course it’s so dry. If we don’t prepare well it doesn’t work so we have to really prepare. Other than that it has been very positive and that is why I want the Alpha course to be part of the main curriculum. I think all the students and members that join UEF henceforth should go through it.

Ai- Any best practices you’d like to share; so when we publish this people will read it and say “wow, i can try that in my church!”

Pr: Alpha is very simple and friendly. I really like the fellowship and how we always feel welcome. Each time in great excitement I buy a whole set of new tablecloths, ball and glasses. All this makes a difference and I think that is very important. As hosts we have to be

very humble and friendly. If you can, prepare delicious food because the more food we eat together the closer we become. I have noticed this especially with people from other faiths during the Alpha course.

I cannot say enough about Nicky Gumbel. The way he teaches and communicates is excellent. I think I have seen his DVD more than 15 times and every time I watch it I learn something new. It’s like it’s a living thing. The Alpha course has been a great blessing to me. I do this course mainly because it is helping me personally. In the process I see lives being changed and because of this most of the people who attend bring their friends and introduce them to the Alpha course. This is how the Alpha course has been running so far.

Ai - if you were to talk to pastors and church leaders about the Alpha course in india or abroad what would you say?

Pr: I would say go for it! Now that we are connected with you we can help more churches in the northern part of Delhi. Trust me the Alpha course is really needed in our churches today.

YESHUA ADONAI YOUTH- James Michael David

To KNow ChRIST AND To MAKe hIM KNowN

introduction of facebook church

Gaurav Singha Ray is an assistant manager with an MNC bank who heads is heading the Facebook church. He is also an evangelist, apologetic and motivational speaker.

The Facebook church is a very simple and unique online Church concept that is used to unite a body of believers online. As we all know many people (especially the youth) spend a lot of time on Facebook without a purpose. So we thought why not add a purpose and meaning to their lives. There are also many believers, new seekers, and friends from other religions who are searching for the truth and want to know more about Jesus Christ.

So I created a group called “The Facebook Church”, where a congregation of followers of Christ can meet like they would in a Church. But this time the location is Facebook!

Alpha india and the facebook Church

The youth of Kolkata were buzzing with excitement when Alpha India and The Facebook Church met for a 1 day presentation of the Gospel.

God at Work and the Alpha course were discussed at the meeting. Celebrated preachers representing various denominations and circles joined in. Owing to the good promotion about the Alpha meeting on Facebook, people from far and wide wanted to join us. So we initiated a unique concept; for the first time this meeting was online and live on Skype. People joined us from Delhi, Mumbai, Australia, and USA for a live online session.

We discussed how we could reach out and start a focused training for the city. We identified future prospective youth leaders. We prayed that whichever denomination they belonged to, they will bring a mighty revival to their churches.

FACEBOOK CHURCH

from the field8 ALPHA INDIA NEWSOCTOBER - DECEMBER 2012

alpha.org

The Institute for World Evangelisation - ICPE Mission (ICPE stands for Istituto Cattolico Per l’Evangelizzazione in Italian) is a Catholic

Mission made up of Christians committed to the goal of world evangelisation. The ICPE Mission is dedicated to the formation and training of Catholics so that they may become more effective evangelisers.

The Institute for World Evangelisation-ICPE Mission India is situated in Bangalore. The ICPE Mission India was officially opened in 1999 by the then Archbishop His Grace Ignatius Pinto.

Every week the ICPE community ministers in the local area through various ministries; one of them is the Yeshua Adonai Youth where they help teens and youth in their walk of discipleship through regular Praise and Worship, teachings, outreaches to educational institutions, mentoring and sharing of life. They

have been using the Alpha course to do this. A committed core team provides dedicated support. We spoke to Maria a member of the core team and the Alpha course coordinator:

AI- Why are you running the Alpha course?

Maria- Alpha is about revisiting the basics of our faith. We think we know God but the truth is we can never know God enough. There is always some facet of him which we can discover and re-discover every second if we are open to him. Alpha does just that. It helps people to build that solid lasting relationship with Christ using the basics of Christianity. The entire history of salvation can be summarised in just one sentence ‘We forget. God reminds. We forget. God reminds’ If you look at the bible it is this story which is repeated infinite number of times through the years. Somehow we forget the basics and God continuously reminds his people that he is there and running the Alpha course is great to put that zeal and spark back in us irrespective of where we are in our walk with God.

AI- How do you run it?

Maria- We have daily and weekly intercessions. An hour of praise and worship with activities. A short activity based on the session. Nicky Gumbel’s video is played for the talk followed by a live summary by one of our youth group members. Small groups discuss in groups of 5. Fellowship continues through the week where the small group members stay in contact with their leaders for doubts, prayers etc. We also have skits and videos that are related to the topic.

AI - What is the impact of running Alpha?

Maria- The impact is tremendous. It really helped us to rediscover the richness of our faith. It has also helped us in building a close knit community of believers who share one heart and are of one accord bound together in cords of love. In running the course many of us discovered our gifts and talents in ministry.

alphacanada.org

from the field 9ALPHA INDIA NEWSOCTOBER - DECEMBER 2012

Training in Tamil Nadu- John Rajan

We had an Alpha training in Pudukkottai and as a result many Pastors started running the course. Pr. Jacob Robert has started running two Alpha courses. At one of the courses, in Uthayasuriyapuram he noticed that Mr.Prabhakaran and Mr. Selvam, who had a huge loss in their business, came regularly for the course and they experienced God’s hand in their life and their business improved.

At the course, in Pudukkottai, two women said that they had many problems in their life- as their husbands had left them and they were considering ending their lives but after coming to the course they were so encouraged and they decided to live their lives for Jesus.

Pastors in Tamil Nadu speak on Alpha:Pr. Anbaiya, Maranatha church - “It is the best, most systematic and effective weapon to transform society”.

Pr. Yesurajan, Sankarankoil - “Alpha is the easiest way to share the Gospel”

Pr. Kumar, Sankarankoil - “I will take up the course and use this tool in my church because it will surely help me in the development of my church. It is a powerful tool”

Pr. King David, World Missionary Evangelism, Tanjore - “Alpha is one of the easiest ways to share the gospel and to win souls for Christ”.

Pr. Nixon, Praise of God Church - “We are so thankful to Alpha because it really helped our church grow. We plan on starting many more Alpha courses. It is one of the most powerful tools that can be used for the growth of the church”.

Pr. Samraj, MPA King Jesus Church, Thirumayam - “The Alpha course has helped people know more about Jesus. All the 15 topics covered in the Alpha course are simple and easy to understand and it will surely help unbelievers to grow in Christ.”

Pr. Carmel, Tamjore - “It is one of the most effective tools for the growth of the church.”

NEWS FROM THE SOUTHGod at Work course at Infosys- Santhosh Kumar Chetri

Sam is a trainer at Infosys and he is presently running the God at Work course at Infosys, Bangalore.

He says “We have almost come to the end of the course with only the sessions on Managing stress and Work-life balance remaining. The response so far has been good. Our Lord has been working in the hearts of the 14 people who have been regularly attending the session.

I believe God has opened a door for me to reach out to professionals to help them take their faith to work. In the process while I prepare prayerfully for the sessions, He has revived my passion for Him.”

Alpha helped me grow in faith

I am T. Rekha Samba from Maharashtra, I moved to Hyderabad with my children in search of a job. Life has been very tough in a new city. Due to various circumstances I was not interested to know

about Jesus or experience Him personally.

After I started going to the Banjara Hills church, the desire to know God has gradually increased in my heart. I attend the Alpha course every week and my whole family is growing in faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Alpha course has been a tool for me to develop my inter-personal relationship with Jesus, to hear Him and to speak to Him. The Alpha course is helping me to witness to others with full confidence as I now know why I believe in Him.

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UPCOMING GATSECUNDERABAD

25th - 26th October 2012 YWCA Secunderabad, APSusheel Kumar Chattar

09866099184

MADURAI29th - 30th October 2012

Pillar, Madurai, TNJohn Rajan

098434 95572Pr. Jeyaraj

9360218120

JHARSUGUDA8th - 9th November 2012

Utkal Jyoti Educational Society, Jharsuguda,Odisha

Jayadeep Samantroy098535 03813

DELHIALPHA FOR PRISON GAT

19th - 20th November 2012Mayur Vihar, Delhi

Peace Khapai095974 21832

10 alpha indias week of prayer ALPHA INDIA NEWSOCTOBER - DECEMBER 2012

• Liberty - To assure that every citizenofIndiahasthefreedomofspeechandexpression, religious independenceand thechoiceofgoingbyone’sownbelief

• ProtectionagainstterroristattacksonIndia

Prayer:

Lord we pray that you will enable ourcountry to have a stable government thatwill rule in righteousness and justice. Wepray foryourpeace to reign in this countryand keep all terrorists and other forms ofantisocialelementsfromharmingourNation.Wespeciallypray forourPrimeMinister toestablishastablegovernment.Wepray thatother political forces will not unnecessarilytarget our PrimeMinister and that he maygovern this country peacefully. Let thepresent government successfully amend theconstitution of India for the benefits of thepeopleofthiscountry.Amen.

TueSDAyWomen in IndiaProverbs31:30

Prayer PoInts:

• Violence, crimes and sexual harassmentratestocomedown

• Statusofwomen to improveandgenderissuestoberemoved

• Female literacy rates in India are lowerthanmaleliteracyrates

• Domesticviolence

• Femaleinfanticide

• Trafficking

• Healthissues

• Womenwhohaveunhealthyaddictions

Prayer

DearFatherinheaven,

Wethankyouforcreatingwomen.Wepraythat there will be a revival amongwomen,thattheywillopentheirheartstoreceivethegoodnewsandtheirliveswillbetransformed.

We pray that the women of India will befreedfromviolence,statusissues,trafficking,addictionsand life threateningsickness.Wealso pray that theywill avail of the qualityeducation that is available to them and use

theirabilities,vision,hospitalityandgiftsalltoglorifyGod.Amen

WeDNeSDAyFirm FamiliesEphesians3:14-16

Prayer PoInts :

• GodlyfamiliesthatupholdBiblicalvalues

• Unityinthefamily

• God’speacetoreignsupremeinfamilies

• God’sguidanceandcounseltobesoughtinalldecisionmaking

• Godwouldriseupallprayingfamilies.(Afamilythatpraystogetherstaystogether)

• Faithfulness between the spouse andobedience on the part of the childrenwouldbethehallmarkofallfamilies

• SeparationanddivorcewouldbeunheardofinChristianfamilies

Prayer:

GodyouareaGodoffamilies.WepraythatyouwouldriseupgodlyandprayingfamiliesthathavetheBibleat theirveryfoundation.Mayunityandpeaceprevailinfamiliesandlovingheartsliveinhomes.

Let not the spirit of separation and divorcehaveanyroominfamilies.MaytheloveforGodandoneanotherwithinthefamilyunitprevail.Amen.

ThurSDAyBurden for the youthEcclesiastes12:1,1Timothy4:12

Prayer PoInts:

• 40% of our population are children, 400million

• 33% of children consume alcohol andnarcoticseveryday

• 50%ofnewAIDS infectionsarebetween15-24yearold’s

• 21millionchildrenareoutofschool

• 16studentsadaycommitsuicide

• 17millionchildlabourersareinIndia

SuNDAyChange the nation Psalm14:5,1Timothy2:1-2

Prayer PoInts:

• Sovereigntyofournation

• Forleaderswithgoodcharactertofunctionaspertheconstitutionoftheland

• Forpeaceandprosperityofournation

• Theboundaryofourlandwillbeprotected

• Therampantcorruptioninthecountryandchurcheswill be checked and eradicatedbytheleaders.

• Thedisparity between the rich andpoorwillbereduced

Prayer:

Lord,wepraythatyourrighteousnesswillfillour land.Webringourgreatnationtoyourpresenceforyourmercyandgracesothatitwouldmove in the right direction towardspeace,growthandproperdevelopment.

Help the members of our parliament tounderstand the need of the hour to standupfortruthandsincerity.Fillthislandwithyour awareness; transform the lives of ourcountry’scitizensbyyourword.Amen

MoNDAyGovernment of IndiaRomans13:1,Jeremiah29:7,Psalms127:1

Prayer PoInts:

• PraythatthePrimeMinisterofIndiawillnotbe targetedbyunnecessary litigationandthathecanconcentrateongoverningthecountryinpeace.

• TheConstitutionofIndiaforthepeopleofIndia.

• Equality - To have equal opportunityforoneandall

• Justice-Fairjudgementinthefieldofpolitics,societyandeconomy

• Fraternity-Worktowardskeepingtheintegrity and strength of the countryintact along with special stress onindividualdignity

11alpha indias week of prayer

PrAY fOr ALPhA iNDiAPrAiSE POiNtS:

- Praise God for all the grace and blessings He showered on us all through this quarter.

- Praise God for the lives that were transformed and souls that were touched through the work of Alpha across the world.

- Praise God for all the partnerships that Alpha is venturing into this quarter.

- Praise God for the increase in number of trainings during the last quarter especially in the North and North West Regions.

- Praise God for the doors and opportunities that opened up in Universities and Schools for Student and Youth Alpha.

- Praise God for providing for all our needs in the last quarter.

- Praise God for expanding the Alpha Family; thank Him for all the staff that came on-board last quarter.

PrAYEr POiNtS:

- Pray for God’s hand upon the work of Alpha in India and across the world.

- Pray for the upcoming Trainings and GATs in India.

- Pray for the upcoming Women Leaders’ Conference, so that the right delegates can particiate and get equipped to bring transformation in the society.

- Pray for all the delegates who have so far attended the trainings, that they may be encouraged to run courses.

- Pray for God’s guidance and protection upon all the Alpha India staff and coordinators.

ALPHA INDIA NEWSOCTOBER - DECEMBER 2012

• AllchildrenandyouthChristianministriesputtogetherreachonly4millionchildren

Prayer:

OurHeavenlyFatherwejoinourheartsandcommitourchildrenintoyourhands.Lorditisyouwhohassaidthatthekingdomofheavenbelongs to thechildren.Lordwhenwe lookat thestatisticsbeforeus, it isdishearteningto seewhat our children are spending timeon.Lordweprayforyourhandofprotectiononourchildrenastheytravelduringtheday,weprayfortheirmindsandwhattheylearnfrom their schools, colleges, friends and themediatoday.Thereisagapintheirlivesthatthey desperately try to fill with addictions,relationships and wrong choices. We cryout toyouFatherasanation to forgiveourchildren.Weaskforwisdomasparentstobeabletoberolemodelsforthem,toprovideforthemphysically,spirituallyandemotionally.Lord havemercy especially on the childrenwho cannot afford to go to school, on thechildrenwhoareabused,lostandsearchingfor the truth. We ask for your Spirit toempower our families, churches, ministriessowecanreachouttoouryouthsotheymayhavearelationshipwithYouthatbearsfruitand together theymay take a stand for thenation.Amen.

FriDAythe Lord will build his churchMatthew16:17-19

Prayer PoInts

• Godsconstantrevelationwouldbeuponeveryleaderandbelieverslife

• Godwouldopen thespirituallyblindedeyesofthepeople

• Believers ask for forgiveness for neverprayingforsaintsandchurchleaders

• God would raise many leaders whowoulddevelopotherleaders

• Church leaders have the Boldness toaddresstheissueswithuncompromisingtruth

• God would protect marriage life ofLeadersaswellasBelievers

• Parentswillbearolemodelforchildren

• Evangelismshouldbemandateinallthechurches

Prayer:

Dear Father,we thank you that theChurchis your plan, for this very reason you havesent your son Jesus and promised that youwill build Your church,we come before youas we are, acknowledging the fact that wecannotbuilditbyourfleshandbloodbutbytherevelationofthefatherbyYourspiritonly.Please fill us today with a fresh revelationabout Your Son Jesus and open our eyes tosee what You have done and what You candoforournationthroughthechurch.WeaskforgivenessfornotprayingforYoursaintsand

leadersofYourkingdom,weprayYouwouldraisemanyleadersthatwouldinturndevelopmanyleadersandthattheymayproclaimYourtruthuncompromisingly.Wealsoprayasyourservants are working in your vineyard; mayyou protect their marriage and families mayyoubereflectedinourchildreninandthroughofourlivesandfinallyweaskAbbafatherthegreat commission of sharing theGoodNewsabout Jesus would be taken as priority forexpectedtransformationinournation.Amen.

SATurDAythe WorldPsalms.48:1-2,3,Zechariah.12:5

Prayer PoInts:

• Pray forpeace in the emergingnations -BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India China andSouthAfrica)

• Pray for all the nations to peacefully co-existwitheachother

• Pray that theharmfulnexusnationswillnotprosper.

• Godtostrengthentheleadersandpeopleof Jerusalem and Israel to stand in Hiseverlasting covenant and that Jerusalem,theCityoftheGreatKing,willremainthecapitalforever.

Prayer:

DearLordJesus,weprayforall thenationsto live in peace and harmony, to love andupholdthedignityofeveryindividual.MayalltheKings,PresidentsandPrimeMinisterswhoareinpositionsofhighauthoritysubmittoourLord.WealsoprayfortheupcomingelectionsintheU.S.AthatYouwillinterveneasthenationdesperatelyneedsYourwisdomanddirection.Maytherebeagreatawakeningwhich would sweep across the world asthe Lord’s people humble themselves inrepentanceandprayer.(2Chronicles.7:14)

AwakeningEmpowering Women, Influencing the World.

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