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Bethel Methodist Church, Bangalore

Bethel Tidings (For private circulation only )

The Power of The Power of The Power of

ResurrectionResurrectionResurrection

A BIL INGUAL M ONTHL Y BULL ET IN OF BETHEL M ETHODIST CHURCH

April 2016

Bethel Methodist Church, Bangalore 2

Missionary dedication on Missions Sunday

Baptism - Bro. Rajpal

Sunday School Seminar by CEF


Pastor: Rev. T. David Livingston Cell: 99865 26450 E-mail: [email protected]

Beth el M eth o d ist C h u rch 21 &22, Bet h el Na ga r , 1s t

Ma i n , Off Ko di geh a lli Roa d , K.R .Pu ra m Ho b l i ,

BA NG A LORE - 560 036. ww w.b mcb a n ga l o re.o rg

Contents Page

Events 2 Pastoral Letter - English 3 Pastoral Letter - Tamil 4 Announcements 6 What is your life - An article 6 The Temptation of things 8 Missions Sunday report 9 Prayer Diary 10 Missionary Profile (Eng.) - Corrie Ten Boom 14 April Program Schedule 16 Announcements - VBS 2016 19 Pulpit Calendar - April 2016 20 Volume 10 - 4

Pastoral Letter Dearly beloved,

Greetings to you in the matchless name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. I appreciate all the members and Area Fellowship leaders who involved and co-ordinated the Lent Season and Holy Week services. I thank Bro. Vijay Santhaseelan for co-ordinating the 40-40 prayers through the season. I thank Mr. Christopher and Mrs. Usha Christopher (Child Evangelism Fellowship) who effectively led the Christian Education Seminar and shared the message on the Mission Sunday. Rev. Dr. Ra-jasingh Elias, the new General Secretary of Indian Evangelical Mission brought the message on Easter Day. I thank God for Mr. Rajpal who was baptized on the Palm Sunday and joined the Church of God. Thanks for your prayers for my Dubai ministry trip. It was indeed a great opportunity to serve the Lord overseas. I could meet a lot of Indians who are worshipping the Lord fervently. I could meet few of our BMC fami-

lies and share greetings with them. May we pray for all our BMC families who are living in various parts of the world.

Christ is risen indeed. ‘There is more evidence that Jesus rose from the dead than there is that Julius Caesar ever lived or that Alexander the Great died at the age of thirty-three’ said Billy Graham. How true that our Lord resurrected from the death which is ever a mystery of all existence known.


The message of Easter is not just Jesus is alive. It is much more. By the resurrection, Jesus not just proved his power and ability of performing a wondrous thing that living being has ever seen. It is to give us life, power and victory over dead things. It is to show in our life. It is to hold on to the power of God and see a change in our lives. Sin leads to and leaves us in a dead life but looking unto Jesus in faith breaks it, diffuses it and helps us get out of it. It is to begin a story of victorious Christian journey. “The resurrection gives my life meaning and direction and the opportunity to start over no matter what my circumstances are” (Robert Flatt). Take heart, Victorious life is a promise of the resurrected Saviour for us when self has miserably failed us. Increase a deeper sense of victory within you which is expected to happen today or one day soon.

Remember to reflect that the resurrected Saviour lives in us through our earthly life. N. T. Wright said “Jesus’ resurrection is the beginning of God’s new project not to snatch people away from the earth to heaven but to colonize earth with the life of heaven. The Lord’s Prayer is all about that.” Let us pray that a part of heaven is real-ized through our frail lives every moment. Reminding the promise of God’s words,

If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised

Christ Jesus from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit

which dwells in you. Romans 8:11

Please pray for the upcoming VBS programmes in this month. We are conducting altogether four VBS programmes consecutively, starting from April 11, 2016 – BMC English, BMC Kannada, Whitefield, Irula tribe VBS etc. As we need teachers and vol-unteers all through these days and we need donors for the big budgets made, kindly be a partner in all possible ways. Pray continuously for the Lord to touch all the chil-dren and we believe that this is a very important harvest time. I wish God’s blessings upon all the students who are preparing for and writing the final exams.

Grace be with you all Rev. T. David Livingston

ப ோதகர் மடல் கிறிஸ்துவுக்குள் பிரியமானவர்களே, நமது ஆண்டவரும் இரட்சகருமாகிய இளயசு கிறிஸ்துவின் ஈடு இணையற்ற நாமத்தில் உங்கள் அணனவருக்கும் என் வாழ்த்துக்கள். லெந்து காெ கூட்டங்கணேயும் லபரிய வார ஆராதணனகணேயும் தணெணமளயற்று சிறப்பாக நடத்திய பகுதி ஐக்கிய அங்கத்தினர்கணேயும் தணெவர்கணேயும் நான் பாராட்டுகிளறன். லெந்து நாட்கள் முழுவதும் 40 -40 லெப ளநரத்ணத ஒருங்கிணைத்த திரு விெய் சாந்தசீென் அவர்களுக்கும் என் நன்றி. மிஷனரி ஞாயிறு மற்றும் விடுமுணற ளவதாகம பள்ேி ஆசிரியர் பயிற்சி ஆகியவற்ணற நடத்திக் லகாடுத்த, சிறுவர் அருட்பைி ஐக்கியத்தின் தணெவர்கோகிய திரு கிறிஸ்ளடாபர் மற்றும் திருமதி உஷா கிறிஸ்ளடாபர் ஆகிளயாருக்கும் எனது நன்றி. ஈஸ்டர் ஆரதணனயில் லசய்தியேித்த இந்திய அருட்பைி இயக்கத்தின் லபாதுச் லசயொேராகிய மணறதிரு டாக்டர் ராொசிங் எெியாஸ் அவர்களுக்கும் என் நன்றி. குருத்ளதாணெ ஞாயிறு அன்று ஞானஸ்நானம் லபற்று நமது


சணபயில் இணைந்த திரு ராஜ்பால் அவர்களுக்காக நான் ளதவனுக்கு நன்றி லசலுத்துகிளறன். எனது துபாய் ஊழியத்திற்காகவும் பயைத்திற்காகவும் லெபித்த உங்களுக்கு என் நன்றி. அயல்நாட்டிற்குச் லசன்று, அளநக இந்தியர்கணே சந்தித்து ஊழியம் லசய்ய ளதவன் லகாடுத்த கிருணபக்கு நன்றி. நமது சணபச் ளசர்ந்த சிெ குடும்பங்கணேயும் காை ளதவன் கிருணப லசய்தார். உெகின் பல்ளவறு பகுதியில் வசிக்கும் நமது சணபயின் அங்கத்தினருக்காக நாம் லெபிப்ளபாம் கிறிஸ்து உண்ணமயாகளவ உயிர்த்லதழுந்தார். ’ெூெியஸ் சீசர் வாழ்ந்தார் என்பணதவிட, மாவரீன் அலெக்சாண்டர் வாழ்ந்து மரித்தான் என்பணதவிட, இளயசு மரித்து உயிர்த்லதழுந்தார் என்பதற்கு அதிக ஆதாரங்கள் உள்ேன’ என்கிறார் பில்ெிகிரஹாம். நமது ஆண்டவர் மரித்ளதாரிெிருந்து உயிர்த்லதழுந்தார் என்பது எத்தணன ஆச்சரியமான உண்ணம! ஈஸ்டர் பண்டிணகயின் லசய்தி இளயசு உயிளராடிருக்கிறார் என்பது மாத்திரமல்ெ. இளயசு உயிர்த்லதழுந்தது, தன்னுணடய வல்ெணமணய லவேிப்படுத்துவதற்காக மாத்திரம் அல்ெ. அதற்கும் ளமொக, உயிரற்ற காரியங்கேின் ளமல் லவற்றியும் வல்ெணமயும் லபற்று அவற்ணற நமது வாழ்வில் அேிப்பதற்காகளவ அவர் உயிர்த்லதழுந்தார். நாம் இந்த ளதவ வல்ெணமணயப் பற்றிக்லகாள்ளும்ளபாது நமது வாழ்விலும் மாற்றத்ணதக் காை முடியும். பாவம் மரைத்ணத ளநாக்கி நம்ணம இழுத்துச் லசல்கிறது. இளயசுவின் ளமலுள்ே விசுவாசம், அதணன முறியடித்து, மரைத்ணத ளநாக்கிய பயைத்திெிருந்து விடுதணெயேிக்கிறது. லவற்றிமிக்க கிறிஸ்தவ பயைத்ணத ஆரம்பிக்க உதவுகிறது. ஆதொெ நாம் நம்பிக்ணக லகாள்ளவாம்! நமது சுய முயற்சியில் ளதால்வியணடயும் ளபாது, லவற்றிமிக்க வாழ்ணவ அேிப்பளத, உயிர்த்லதழுந்த ஆண்டவரின் வாக்குறுதி. நாள்ளதாறும் இந்த லவற்றிமிக்க வாழ்ணவ அநுபவிக்களவ ளதவன் நம்ணம அணழத்திருக்கிறார். உயிர்த்லதழுந்த ஆண்டவணர நமது பூளொக வாழ்வில் பிரதிபெிக்க மறக்கக்கூடாது. ’இளயசுவின் உயிர்த்லதழுதல், மனிதணர பூளொகத்திெிருந்து பரளொகத்திற்கு லகாண்டு லசல்வதற்கு அல்ெ, மாறாக லவற்றிசிறந்த பரளொக வாழ்ணவ பூளொகத்தில் அேிக்கும் திட்டப்பைிணய நிணறளவற்றுவதற்ளக’ என்கிறார் ணரட் என்கிற ளதவ மனிதர். பரளொக வாழ்ணவ ஒவ்லவாரு லபாழுதும் பூமியில் நிணறளவற்றி வாழ ளதவனிடம் லெபிப்ளபாம். “அன்றியும் இபேசுவை மரித்பதோரிலிருந்து எழுப் ினைருவடே ஆைி உங்களில் ைோசமோேிருந்தோல், கிறிஸ்துவை மரித்பதோரிலிருந்து எழு[ப் ினைர், உங்களில் ைோசமோேிருக்கிற தம்முவடே ஆைிேினோபல சோவுக்பகதுைோன உங்கள் சரீரங்கவளயும் உேிர்ப் ிப் ோர்”. பரோமர் 8:11 இம்மாதம் நணடலபறவுள்ே விடுமுணற ளவதாம பள்ேிகளுக்காக லெபியுங்கள். ஏப்ரல் 11 ஆம் ளததி ஆங்கிெத்தில் லதாடங்கி, பின்னர், கன்னடா, ஒயிட்பீல்ட் மற்றும் இருோ என்று லமாத்தம் நான்கு இடங்கேில் விடுமுணற ளவதாகம பள்ேி நணடலபறவுள்ேது. இந்நாடகள் முழுவதும், ஆசிரியர்கள் மற்றும் ஒருங்கிணைப்பாேர்கள் ளதணவ. ளமலும், இதற்காக அதிக


இம்மோதத்தில் ிறந்த நோள் மற்றும் திருமண நோள் கோணும் இம்மோதத்தில் ிறந்த நோள் மற்றும் திருமண நோள் கோணும் அவனைவரயும் சவ ேின் சோர் ோக ைோழ்த்துகிபறோம். கர்த்தர் உங்கவள அவனைவரயும் சவ ேின் சோர் ோக ைோழ்த்துகிபறோம். கர்த்தர் உங்கவள

ஆசரீ்ைதிப் ோரோக! ஆசரீ்ைதிப் ோரோக! Wishes from congregation to all who celebrate Birthday and Wishes from congregation to all who celebrate Birthday and

Wedding Anniversary this month. May God Bless you!Wedding Anniversary this month. May God Bless you!

பைத்ளதணவகள் உண்டு. இதற்காக லெபிக்கவும் உதாரத்துவமாக லகாடுக்கவும் உங்கணே ளவண்டுகிளறன். இவற்றில் பங்குலபறும் அணனத்து சிறுவர்களும் ளதவ ஆசீர்வாதம் லபற லெபிப்ளபாம். இறுதி ஆண்டு ளதர்வு எழுதும் அணனத்து மாைவர்களுக்கும் ளதவ ஆசீர்வாதம் நிணறய வாழ்த்துகிளறன். ளதவ கிருணப உங்களுடன் தரித்திருப்பதாக. ப ோதகர் படைிட் லிைிங்ஸ்டன்

ANNOUNCEMENTS Newborn:

திரு அருள் – திருமதி ொன்சி ஆகிளயாருக்கு மார்ச் 24 ஆம் ளததி ஆண் குழந்ணத பிறந்துள்ேது. ளதவன்தாளம இக்குடும்பத்ணத லதாடர்ந்து ஆசீர்வதிப்பாராக.

Renil Varghese and Sheril are blessed with a baby boy on 12th March 2016

Arul and Jhansi are blessed with a baby boy on 24th March 2016 Timothy and Grace are blessed with a baby boy on 24th March 2016 May the Lord bless the babies and the parents.

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE? By Stephen Jothiraj (Courtesy - ‘Care & Serve’ MUT Ministries) James in his letter to the Jews scattered all over the world says “Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that ap-

pears for a little while and then vanishes.”

Well, there seems to be no harm in the above plan – Go to a place, work/trade and get money in return. I find no harm in such an honest idea. I think everyone of us has such an idea. Go to a place, work and earn money to live. But James poses a piercing question “What is your life, is it just living

comfortably till your last breath?” James smacks you into thinking “What is


your life?” rather than “What is life?” We need not be philosophers to an-

swer James’ question. We know what we live for.

Just like Christ was crucified between two thieves, now, there are two kinds of Christians. Those two thieves each had something to say to Je-sus that day. Both of them had just a few more hours to live. So it was almost their last words spoken. It was of utmost importance. Those last words re-flected their philosophies of life. One said “Aren’t you the Christ? Save your-self and us.” Look at what he said. There is no harm in this. He was being honest. He needed a miracle and he asked for it and he asked the right per-son. In a few hours he would be killed. If there was one person who could

save him it was the Messiah. Clever chap!

Look at what the other thief said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” That was not very clever. Let’s stop a moment and think, here was the Messiah next to you and you ask him something that you cannot see now. Don’t you want to live in the present? The Messiah is the maker of the universe. Why would a thief with his death a few hours away

utter such a vague wish? Strange.

There are two kinds of Christians today in the Church. One kind is like the first thief. They seem to say, “Lord, since you are the God of this universe – omnipotent, all-powerful, please get me this thing.” And you would hear them quote Scripture too “Lord, since it is written in your Word that you will do much more than we ask for and beyond our imagination, we ask you to help us build this Church building, because we don’t have a place to sit on Sunday mornings.” Does this sound similar to the prayers in your church? Well, this life is what James calls a mist. This life is very precious to them or else they are perturbed. They will quote Old Testament Scriptures and sin-

cerely claim these promises. The wages of sin does not sting them.

There is another kind. They are like the second thief. They are not anxious about this life very much. They live here but they are always thinking about eternity. Their prayers are for spiritual growth – such as patience, abil-ity to forgive, freedom from love of money and the like. They have faith in God for delivering them from sin and to deliver them from an earthly enemy. They are preoccupied with going the way Jesus went. Their idea of God bless-ing a person is when there is power in that person’s witness. You seldom find people from this group. They are not often the ones in the limelight. They are not the ones who usually pray in public meetings. But we will know them in

eternity when we stand before the Judgment seat. What is your life?


The Temptation of Things – By Catherine Marshall (This article is excerpted from one of her books)

I’ve been through a small siege of temptation to worldliness that I’m

almost embarrassed to write about – and yet feel I should.

From the time I was a small girl I’ve loved pretty feminine things, especially jewelry; nothing very unusual or terribly wrong

about that. For most of my life I could not afford jewelry, so it was no issue.

Even when in recent years I could afford some jewelry, the De-

pression syndrome that permeated my family for many years has kept me frugal. One day a cheque for several hundred dollars arrived that I hadn’t expected. ‘Now I can get those gold earrings,’ I said to myself.

So I began making trips to jewelry stores looking for the exactly right earrings. Then an inner restlessness began to ruffle me. So I started to argue with God.

‘Lord, are you telling me that earrings are too frivolous?’ Silence.

‘Lord I’ve spent much more for a rug or a piece of furniture without this guilt complex. Now, really, isn’t this inner disquiet just my Puri-

tan, Depression-born complex?’

Then came the gentle response: I’m concerned over the inordinate amount of time you’ve given to this in your thought life.

At once I was led to the apostle John’s comment on worldliness and his warning about the ‘delight of the eyes’: Do not love or cherish

the world or the things that are in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh (craving for sensual gratification), and the lust of the eyes

(greedy longings of the mind) and the pride of life (assurance of one’s own resources or in the stability of earthly things) – these do not come from the Father but from the world (itself). And the world passes away

and disappears…. 1 John 2:15 – 17 AMPLIFIED

Here John is taking us into the higher reaches of spirituality. He doesn’t use the word ‘sin’; he doesn’t mention Satan. He’s concerned

with whether we realize the extent of God’s love for us – and how much love for God there is in us.

The crux of it: the love exchange between God and me is going

to suffer if I focus too much on worldly things.


Missions Sunday Report - Mr Atheejoe

We thank and praise God for the Missions Sunday which was held as

part of the worship service on the 13th of March 2016. It was split into

three parts.

Part I : We had a short update on our current ministries with special

focus on the Ministry at Priyanka Nagar which is done in partnership

with COME. Mrs. Ruth Parimala who is the Team Leader from COME

for the Priyanka Nagar Ministries took us through the ministry and we

all could witness the way God has been working there. When this min-

istry was started, the missionaries found it very difficult to work there,

but by the grace of God, many lives have been transformed. They now

meet as five groups (Children, Youth boys and girls, Married men and

women) every Sunday and have been sharing the gospel to about 200

people. We could also witness the miracles God has done through

prayers of missionaries.

Part II : One of the areas the Missions team began focusing in 2015

was to identify Mission organizations who could be supported by our

church. We had a snapshot on the ministry done by 5 mission organi-

zations, their focus areas, future plans and needs. We now look for-

ward to Area fellowships, wings of our church and families who could

support these ministries.

Part III : The highlight of Missions Sunday was the dedication of the

first fruit from our church for Ministries. We thank and praise God for

Ms. Sandhya who has committed and come forward to serve the Lord.

Sandhya’s testimony was an inspiration to many to do their bit for the

Lord.

We would like to thank God for Dr. Christopher from CEF, who was the

speaker for the day. He spoke from Deuteronomy Chapter 6 and verse

18 on “Doing what is right and good in the Lord’s sight” and challenged

all of us on our commitment in building the kingdom of God.


Prayer Diary Compiled by Mrs. Shyla William sunday:

I. Pray for Methodist churches in India: MCI, BRC (Bangalore Regional conference), Bishop Rt.Rev. SubodhMondol and Mrs. SudiptaMondol, District Superintendent Rev. Nathaniel, RTMC, KMC, our mother Church IMC, & other Methodist churches in Bangalore and Karnataka II. Pray for BMC: a. BMC concern areas: BMC would be spending more time in prayer, Effective functioning of all fellowship groups, effective functioning of all sub committees, will be relevant to the people in and around BMC, Church centred ministry would be active during weekdays as well, all BMC families would grow in Christ & involve in BMC ministries & outreaches, will have time disci-pline as a church, Will be fully united to build God’s kingdom, Effective co-ordination for Sun-day services, Hand holding of new members, regular Area fellowship leaders meet, All fellow-ship groups will be mission centred. b. BMC immediate needs: Follow up of Christmas outreaches, Finances for Church building improvement & Whitefield outreach, Place of worship for Whitefield outreach, Continued growth of English service at Whitefield, Lenten season programs, Yearly planning for 2016 -17. c. Planning and mobilization for VBS (BMC Eng, BMC Kannada, Whitefield Kannada, Irula Tam-il). d. Other points: Bethel Tidings, Worship leaders, Choir team, Music team. e. Missions we support: Raichur home, Vishwa Vani, Light ministries, DEAR ministry (Ministry among transgenders), and Sundayschool ministry in Sri Lanka. Monday:

I. Pray for current issues in the world:

FlyDubai flight crashed inSouthern Russia killing 62. Kindly pray for the families of the deceased.

Greece is under strain as it plans to send back to Turkey all “irregular migrants”. Continue praying for the refugee situation affecting the European countries.

Child soldiers are being 'brainwashed' by ISIS to murder their parents thereby ensuring complete control over them. Pray that the children will be rescued from these groups.

Pray for Christians all around being persecuted in the name of the Holy One, especially in Pakistan and Yemen.

II. Pray for BMC: a.KR Puram Area Fellowship & its members:Families of Ashok Doddanna, Atheejoe, Jayant, Jeevan, Naveen Warren, Solomon, Vivek, Arun, Johnson & Dev Sundar Raj, Senthilkumar, Satish &Santhi. b.Devasandra Tamil Area fellowship & its members:Familiesof Anandaraj, Koilraj, Philip, Ruth, Shekar, Prashanth& Wilson. c.BMCkey focus: Would be God centred, Word centred, Prayer centred, Fellowship centred and Mission centred; pray that we would be light & salt for the area in and around Bethel na-gar and other parts of Bangalore, Karnataka, India and other countries. d.Pastor’s family: Rev. David Livingston, Jaya Livingston, Tabitha and little Timo. Pray for Lord’s wisdom & guidance, travel safety, good health and for meeting all needs. Tuesday:

I. Pray for a country:Saudi Arabia A) Saudi Arabia is a desert country encompassing most of the Arabian Peninsula, with Red Sea and Persian (Arabian) Gulf coastlines. Known as the birthplace of Islam, it is home to the reli-gion’s 2 most sacred mosques: Masjid al-Haram, in Mecca, destination of the annual Hajj pil-grimage, and Medina’s Masjid an-Nabawi, burial site of the prophet Muhammad. Riyadh, the capital, is a skyscraper-filled metropolis.


b.The Saudi system of justice has been criticized for its "ultra-puritanical judges", who are often harsh in their sentencing (with beheading for the crime of witchcraft), but also some-times overly lenient (for cases of rape or wife-beating) and slow, for example leaving thou-sands of abandoned women unable to secure a divorce. The system has also been criticized for being arcane, lacking in some of the safeguards of justice. c. Virtually all Saudi citizens are Muslim, and almost all Saudi residents are Muslim. Estimates of the Sunnipopulation of Saudi Arabia are somewhere between 75–90%, with the remaining 10–25% being Shia Muslim. According to estimates there are about 1.5 million Christians in Saudi Arabia, almost all foreign workers. Saudi Arabia allows Christians to enter the country as foreign workers for temporary work, but does not allow them to practice their faith openly. The percentage of Saudi Arabian citizens who are Christians is officially zero as Saudi Arabia forbids religious conversion from Islam (Apostasy) and punishes it by death. d. Prayer points Praythat the king of Saudi ArabiaSalman bin Abdulaziz may be used by God as His instrument. Mission work in the country be made possible and the citizens would know Our Lord. II. Pray for BMC: a.Bethel Nagar Area Fellowship & its members: Families of Pastor, Anand, Sangeeth, Prabhu, Rajkumar, Sharon, Vijay Prakash, Uttam, Deep,Publius, Jays, Solomon, Christy, John Prashanth, Kalyan, Ms Simon, Steni, Venkat, Timothy, Billi, Selina Mohandas &James. b.Bethel Nagar Tamil AF & its members: Dorai, Jonathan, Justin, Solomon, Families of Pastor, Joseph, Paul Durai, Huldah & Vijay. c. BMC 3 year goals (2015-18):Make Whitefield English service a flourishing one; Every fellow-ship group should ideally support a mission and involve in an outreach inside and outside BMC; Support 30 missions; Work towards 30 additional fellowship groups including two wor-ship groups; Effective ministry around BMC.Effective 1st Friday prayer meeting; connect all women in area prayer cells, Men’s prayer meet.Mentoring individuals & families.Bible courses like TAFTEE, Small Bible courses for BMC members, fully functional Re-source centre. d. For BMC depts.: Sunday school, Youth dept.(MYF), Women’s fellowship (WSCS) and all the office bearers therein. WEDNESDAY:

I. Pray for a state in India: Pray for Odisha.

a.Odisha (formerly Orissa), an eastern Indian state on the Bay of Bengal, is known for its tribal cultures and its many ancient Hindu temples. The capital, Bhubaneswar, is home to hundreds of temples, notably the Nagara-style Mukteswar and the Lingaraj, both built in the 11th centu-ry. Some facts: Area: 155,820 km², Capital: Bhubaneswar, Population: 43.73 million (2014).Religion: Among the states of India, Orissa has perhaps the highest concentration of the Hindus, although all other religions have their followers in it. In 1971, the Hindus formed 92 per cent of the total population; Muslims, Christians and Buddhists forming the rest. b.Atrocities on Christians: Graham Staines, an Australian Christian missionary, was burnt to death along with his sons Timothy (aged 10) and Philip (aged 6), while they were sleeping in his station wagon at Manoharpur village in Keonjhar district in Orissa in January 1999. He was running the Evangelical Missionary Society of Mayurbhanj, an Australian missionary society. In 2003, Dara Singh was sentenced to life in prison after being convicted of leading the gang responsible.An outbreak of violence started on 24 December 2007 at Bamunigam village of Kandhamal District when Hindu activists removed a Christmas decoration placed on a site traditionally used during Durga Puja. c. Continued persecution: In August 2008, Swami Lakshmanananda, a Hindu swami and VHP anti-conversion and reconversion activist, was attacked and killed, along with four associates by Maoist guerrillas. The violence that followed resulted in the death of some Christians. The violence later spread to more than 600 villages in 14 of the 30 districts in the state, resulting in 5,600 Christian houses burnt and 54,000 homeless. 38 Christian people were murdered, while

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunnihttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shiahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity_in_Saudi_Arabiahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religious_conversionhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apostasyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_punishment_in_Saudi_Arabia


18,000 were injured. Human rights groups estimated 100 deaths, including women, disabled and children. 295 churches and places of worship were destroyed, along with 13 schools and colleges and 5 non-profit organisation offices. As of 2015, the Christian victims were still awaiting justice and rehabilitation. d.Prayer Points:

Residents practising Christianity may have peaceful prayerful lives. May missionaries trying to reach the unreached have His grace to continue their work. Pray for people in power to be touched by God’s spirit.

II. Pray for BMC: a.Whitefield Area Fellowship & its members: Jebakumar, Jeffry Samuel, Families of Alan Paul, Irwin, Praveen, Rajan Abraham &Sanjay Joel. b.Kodigehalli Tamil AF& its members: Families of George & Ravi Kumar, Latha, Shanmugam, Vadivel &Mary. c.BMC recent events: iLet’s continue to pray and contribute to the growth of Whitefield Methodist Church. ii. Praise God for the Missions Sunday which saw the dedication of the first missionary of our church. iii. Thank our Lord for the meaningful Lenten, Palm Sunday, Good Friday and Easter Services. d.BMC upcoming events: Heartfelt prayers needed for the success of VBS (BMC English, BMC Kannada, Whitefield Kannada, Irula Tamil). e.BMC depts.: Missions dept., Property, Membership, Social concerns and Lay activities. THURSDAY:

I. Pray for India: a.Pray for the Indian rivers interlink project envisaged to dam the water -surplus rivers and productively divert their flow to rivers with lesser flow. b. “Good Friday is a day to remember the pious and compassionate thoughts of Jesus Christ”, PMNarendra Modi said on Good Friday. Pray for peaceful lives for our missionaries and Indian Christians c. Pray for effective working of our legislators and parliamentarians and for peaceful polls in Assam, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, West Bengal and Puducherry. II. Pray for BMC: a.ITPL Area Fellowship & its members: Jeffin, Shanno Isaac, families of Anban, Clement, Dar-win, Franklin Koilpillai, Jabez, John Manoah, Ronald & Suresh. b.Priyankanagar Tamil AF & its members: Families of Inbaraj, Karunamurthy, Nithya, Rueben Gandhi, Swamidas, Suresh &Ellayaraja. c. BMC outreaches- White field, Irula, Priyankanagar and Sadarmangala. d.For BMC depts.: Christian education, Teens fellowship, Finance and Prayer. FRIDAY:

I. Pray for a missionary organisation:Prison Ministry India (PMI). a.PMI is a National Voluntary Organization that works for the release, renewal and rehabilita-tion of prisoners."Be a love Bomb, Let it explode, not to kill, But to heal the broken hearts".This simple sentence is the seed of Prison Ministry India. On 8th December 1981, the founders Varghese Karippery and Francis Kodiyan, (Philosophy Students in St Thomas apostolic Semi-nary, Vadavathoor, Kottayam), had been entrusted with the weekly office for attending prayer request phone calls. While on duty, they encountered a special intervention of God which bestowed them with a special gift to work for the least, the last and the lost. b.Brief History: On 1st of July 1985 when they started their work in the prison, Bro. Francis coined an apt title for the presuming board - 'Prison Fellowship India'. They began the minis-try with six months of chain prayers and fasting and very soon the ministry started to leave a legacy of abrupt change in the lives of several convicts and under trials.The group continued to pray for the construction of a renewal and rehabilitation centre for effective prison


apostolate. This dream came true in October 1991 with the purchase of 11 acres of land for the rehabilitation centre, earned laboriously out of begging from several philanthropic people all over Kerala. They accept the released prisoners whole-heartedly irrespective of what caste and creed they belong to. No recommendation is required, and they have the freedom to move in and move out. Inmates stay for mental adjustment, re-integration with the family, society, seeking jobs along with other rehabilitating activities. c.Present: They now have a network of more than 6000 volunteers who have very enthusiasti-cally committed their expertise and energy into bringing about hope and quality of life in to the lives of so many hopeless and helpless prisoners in our society.PMI has grown widely over 850 branches all over India. There are hundreds of well-wishers fully or partially involved in this noble task. They were registered as a National Body in the year 1995 under Societies Reg-istration Act No. ER 375. d. Prayer Points:

Pray for the prisoners that their hearts will turn towards Jesus and they’ll get saved by Him.

May the prisoner’s families as well as the families of the victims find solace in our Lord. Pray that the prison ecosystem and officials would work together with the PMI workers to

rehabilitate the reformed convicts in the community. II. Pray for BMC: a.Hoodi Area fellowship & its members:Ruth, Families of Arun, David Anand, David Jabez, Rev. Tilak, Isaac Peterson, Joel Thompson, Shibu, Leon Christian, Jeevan John, Tony&Vonica Ste-phen. b.Hoodi Tamil Area Fellowship & its members: Families of Andrew Isaac, Arul, Churchill, Glad-ston, Jyothi, Mary Rita & Sarah Sarojini. c. Outreach Sunday Schools: Hoodi, White field, Sadarmangala, Devasandra and KR puram. d. For BMC depts.: IT dept, Music & Multimedia, Publication & literature, Ushers and Nomina-tion committee. SATURDAY:

I. Pray for Churches, Missions & its leaders: a. Pray for mainline churches like CSI, CNI, Baptist, Lutheran, Marthoma and other AG and independent churches. b. For missionary organisations like IEM, FMPB, BYM, SU, IGCM, Campus Crusade, UESI, GEMS, Vishwa Vani, COME, CGMM, MUT, IMS, NMS, MVM, Mission to the Blind and others. II. Pray for BMC: a. Fellowship groups: BMC Sunday School, Teens fellowship, Tamil and English Youth fellow-ship (MYF)- Tamil & English Women’s fellowship(WSCS), Senior worshippers fellowship and all 15 area fellowships (6 English, 6 Tamil, 1 Telugu, 1 Hindi, 1 Kannada). b. For BMC admin: PC members, PC meetings, Subcommittee meetings, effective functioning of subcommittees, oneness & prayerfulness in PC & sub committees and that all departments will work towards their yearly & 3yearly goals. c. For worship services: For Sunday Tamil & Englishworships, Evening worship service and Dawn service. d. Prayer meetings: First Friday prayer, Women’s area prayer cell and Hour of power by men. e.Marathahalli English Area Fellowship & its members:Kasturi, Praveen, Ram Krishnan, Fami-lies of Dinakar, Frank Jeyakar, Himanshu, Dilip, Melwyn, Sathiya, Selvin, Vijay Dhanasekar, Wilfred, Senthil, Prem Francis, William& Johan Singh. f. Marathahalli Tamil Area Fellowship & its members:Dennis, Families of DC Franklin, Prabu Paul, Bernard, Vasanth, Paul Dinakaran, Vasu, Dr Raja Singh & Vinod.


Missionary Profile - Mrs Jhansi Praveen

Corrie Ten Boom – Boldness in Bondage

Birth and Childhood

Cornelia Ten Boom (Corrie) was born into a Dutch Chris-tian family on 15thApril 1892 in Amsterdam, Netherland. Cor-rie had two elder sisters Betsie, Nollie and a brother Wil-lem.Her father Casper was a famous watchmaker. Their house was located above their watch shop. Faith in God in-spired them to offer shelter, money, and food to those in need. The family had respect for the Jewish community con-sidering them as God’s own people. After her mother’s death, she completed watchmaking training and in 1922 she became the first licensed woman

watch maker in Holland.

Saving Jews during the Holocaust

In May 1940, the Nazis invaded the Netherlands. They banned Corrie’s club for young girls. Holocaust started against Jewish people by Nazis. Corrie was involved in the Dutch Underground by providing a temporary hiding place for Jews. Many people were using Corrie’s house, so they planned to build a se-cret room in case a raid took place so it would be helpful for them to escape. The secret room was in Corrie’s bedroom which was in the top floor of the house, as usually a raid will start from the ground floor. Building supplies were brought into the house by hiding them in brief cases and in rolled up

newspapers.

Betrayed to Nazis On Feb 28, 1944, a man came to Corrie’s shop asking for help. He told her that he and his wife were Jews and that his wife was arrested by Nazis, he need six hundred guilders (one guilder=100 cents) to bribe a policeman for her freedom. Corrie promised to help him. Only later did Corrie know that he was a Nazi informer. He betrayed her family to the Gestapo (secret service). Corrie’s home was raided and the whole family were arrested.The Jews who were hiding in the secret room escaped from the raid. Corrie’s father died ten days after the raid due to illness. Nollie and Willem were released imme-diately but Corrie and her elder sister Betsie were sent to a concentration

camp.

Mission in Prison

Betsie and Corrie were sent to different camps and finally to the Ravensbruck

concentration camp, a women labour camp in Germany .They spent several

months there. Corrie struggled to forgive the man who had betrayed her


family, but because of Jesus’ love she finally could forgive. Both the sisters

gave comfort to others in that camp by spreading the love of Jesus. They

used to conduct evening services by using a secret Bible. As days passed

there were no night guards in the camp so they boldly preached the word of

Jesus. Many people wanted to join their evening service, so they started a

second service after the evening roll call. The services were like a little pre-

view of heaven in that difficult place.

Betsie’s Death

Betsie become sick in the camp, she grew weaker and died on December 16, 1944. Betsie’s last words to Corrie were, “We must tell them what we have learned here.We must tell them that there is no pit so deep that He is not deeper still. They will listen to us Corrie, because we have been there”. Twelve days later, Corrie was released from Ravensbruck due to clerical er-

ror. One week after her release, all the women of her age were killed.

Work after War

The war finally ended. Corrie returned to Haarlem and tried to get back to her watch making profession, but she found that it was not God’s purpose for her, so she began travelling and telling her stories and what she had learned from the camp. She started a rehabilitation centre for the concentration camp survivors. In 1946 she began a worldwide ministry that took her to more than 60 countries. She wrote many books and “The Hiding Place”

(1971) was her bestselling book.

Honours for Corrie

Israel honoured Corrie by naming her as “Righteous among the Nations”. Corrie was knighted by The Queen of the Netherlands in recognition of

her work during the war. Corrie Ten Boom museum in Haarlem is dedicated to her and her family

for their work.

Death

In 1977 at age 85 Corrie moved to Placentia California. The next year she suffered a series of two strokes that left her paralyzed and unable to speak. She died on her 91st birthday, April 15, 1983, after her third stroke. Her pass-ing on this day evokes the Jewish traditional belief that says “Only specially blessed people are granted the privilege of dying on the date they were born.” In her lifetime she saved more than 800 Jews from death. She went through tremendous pain and suffering and learnt that Jesus’ love is greater than anything that this world can do to anyone and it is possible to share His

love even in the harshest of situations.


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Quotations - Power of His Resurrection

“If Jesus rose from the dead, then you have to accept all that

he said; if he didn’t rise from the dead, then why worry about any of what he said? The issue on which everything hangs is

not whether or not you like his teaching but whether or not

he rose from the dead.” - Timothy Keller

“The resurrection of Jesus changes the face of death for all

His people. Death is no longer a prison, but a passage into God’s presence. Easter says you can put truth in a grave,

but it won’t stay there.” - Clarence W. Hall

“Our Lord has written the promise of resurrection, not in

books alone, but in every leaf in springtime.” - Martin Luther

“The joyful news that He is Risen does not change the con-temporary world. Sti ll before us lie work, discipline, sacrif ice.

But the fact of Easter gives us the spiritual power to do the work, accept the discipline and make the sacrif ice.” - Henry

Knox Sherri ll

Bethel Methodist Church, Bangalore 20 Editorial Team: Shyla, Rosline Prabu, Hannah, Selvin, Wilfred & Pastor

Date Time Speaker Topic

3-Apr-16

7:00 am (Tamil) Pastor

In the message of the Risen Lord

9:30 am (English) Rev Dr Arun

6:30 pm (English) Pastor

10-Apr-16

7:00 am (Tamil) Pastor Over the dark pow-ers

9:30 am (English) Pastor

6:30 pm (English) VBS Director

17-Apr-16

VBS Sunday

7:00 am (Tamil) Rev. Dr. Tilak Samuel

Sing for Joy 9:30 am (English) VBS Director

6:30 pm (English) VBS final day program

24-Apr-16 VBS Sunday

7:00 am (Tamil) VBS Director You are God who

sees me 9:30 am (English) Rev. John Calvin (SAIACS)

6:30 pm (English) Rev. Dr Mrs Shanthi Tilak

Pulpit Calendar - April 2016 Theme: The power of Resurrection

bethel tidings - church with a differenceethel methodist hurch, angalore 4 the message of easter is...

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