from the monastery to the mission fields

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FROM THE MONASTERY TO M ission F ields DR. C.V. VADAVANA

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FROM THE MONASTERY TO

MissionFields

DR. C.V. VADAVANA

SOULS THROUGH GOD’S WORD

Our Aim

FORM THE MONASTERY TO

MISSIONFIELDS(English)

Dr. C.V. VadavanaCopies : 3000

Copy right (C) 2005

First Print 2005

Second Print 2010

All rights reserved

Published By

Sathyam MinistriesThottabhagom P.O.,Thiruvalla - 689 541, Kerala, IndiaTel/Fax : 0469 - 2619209, 2619005Mobile : 9447126182E-mail: [email protected]

U.S. AddressSathyam MinistriesP.O. Box - 1088La miradaCA - 90637 - 1088, USATel - 562 477 8372

ISBN: 81- 87357- 53-3Layout & Cover : Computer Graphics, Kerala.Printed at : Sathyam Press, Kerala, India

Years in Literature Ministry28

SATHYAMMINITRIES

�For yourselves, brethren, know our entrance

in unto you, that it was not in vain: But even

after that we had suffered before, and were

shamefully entreated, as ye know, at Philippi,

we were bold in our God to speak unto you the

gospel of God with much contention�.

(1 Thessalonians 2:1-2)

IN THE MONASTERY“There is a moment in each day

That Satan cannot find.”

William Blake

I was raised in an orthodox Roman Catholic family. My family wasvery poor and we lived in a small village. We had no tiles or marbles onthe floor, just cow dung which had been dried and spread on the floorto keep the surface cool. My father was a farmer. My mother had astrong and potent religious background. She was and continues to bevery strict with church matters. She saw to it that I attended the holymass every day. I was very hard working from my childhood. Helpingthe people in need was my passion and I always enjoyed serving peopleless fortunate than me. I was also an active member in all the youthmovements.

C H A P T E RI

From my childhood, I spent much time in prayer and was veryactive at my church. Serving as an altar boy paved the way for myclose association with other priests. It is no exaggeration to say that Igrew up in the company of priests and they became my motivation andinspiration. Impressed by their simple ways of living, I desired to followtheir example, and knew someday, I wanted to become a priest myself.Even as a child, the poor and needy were very special to me. Theconviction of my heart was to spend my life in the company of thesepeople and endeavor to raise their quality of life. So, it was no surprisethat, after completing my basic education, I joined the seminary. Myparents had always wanted someone from the family to become a priest,and were thrilled with my decision to pursue the priesthood. Our villagecommunity

was also pleased, and encouraged my decision. Thus, with the supportof my family and friends, I was determined to become a monk anddevote my life to serve the poor. Though my parents were not financiallysound to send me to the seminary, my mother used to collect coins in abox and keep it under the firewood. Learning that these savings wereinsufficient, my father sold our cow, our primary source of income, tomeet my expenses.

In 1980, after completing my studies at the monastery, I wasordained as a Franciscan monk. The day I was ordained, my parentsand relatives cried tears of joy because they had been anticipating thisday with so much excitement. Their son was now following in the footstepsof Saint Francis of Assisi, bringing great honor to the family and village.I felt it was a divine calling and commission from the Lord to communicatethe love and mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to the outcasts, poor andilliterate of the society by cleaning their wounds and providing themwith kindness and comfort to the best of my ability. I was very contentwith my life as a monk, serving the poor and hungry. My parents andthe village community were happy with me and took great pride in whatI was doing with my life. Little did I know that a simple piece of literature,given to me by a shabby looking country preacher, was about totransform my life radically.

The extremely crowded bus I took to my parents’ home was full ofpeople pushing, jostling and arguing for a seat. Children were cryingand yelling at the top of their lungs, and vendors were desperately tryingto sell their goods. Amid this chaos and heat, I was grateful to God forgiving me a place to sit. As I sat in my seat, sympathizing with the

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struggling street vendors, I noticed a slovenly dressed old man enteringthe bus. From a cloth bag hanging from his shoulder, he began to passout papers to people. Some people accepted them, while others didnot. As I saw him approaching me with one of these pieces of paper, Icould see that he was contemplating on whether I would accept orreject him. I noticed that others were watching me when I took thepaper that he gave me. While giving a quick glance through the paper, Irealized that it was a gospel tract, and felt as if the questions that itcontained were being hurled on my spirituality. So I folded the paper,thrust it into my pocket in order to give it a detailed study once I getback to the room. Little did I know that this single sheet of paper wouldsoon be redirecting my life’s course forever.

As soon as I returned to my room, I took out the tract to read itcarefully. As I began to read, I was fascinated with the content becausethe tract was saying something contrary to my belief. I read its contentthoroughly several times. I personally felt that the questions it containedwere real and were being pointed to my spiritual conscience. I heard avoice in me asking, “Do you really have Jesus in your heart?” Until thatmoment, never did I once doubt my salvation. To me, salvation was byworks and nothing else would take me to heaven. Jesus was a goodman, a great philosopher and thinker, who had immeasurable compassionon the poor and outcasts of society. His good works earned him heavenand many others followed his footsteps with the hope of entering heaven.Saint Francis of Assisi was a follower of Jesus and now I too wasfollowing the steps of Saint Francis to gain heaven. However, according

to this little tract, no amount of sacrifice or work would ever earn me aplace in heaven. This was greatly disturbing.

I tried to forget it, but every single question in that tract reverberatedto the very foundation of my faith. I could not sleep nor could Iconcentrate on my work. I knew I could not continue with this strugglein my mind, so I approached my rector and told him how this tract wascausing me such mayhem. My rector heard me, and comforted mesaying that it was a passing phenomenon and I should not be troubledby it. It did bother me, however, and I started reading the Bible. Themore I read, the more I was convinced of my sin and need for a Savior.The battle within me was great; on one hand was the tradition andeducation I had embraced since my childhood; that my salvation isattained by good works. On the other hand, the ‘double-edged sword’was piercing my heart and convicting me of my sin. So on that very day

C.V. Vadavana taking priestly oath during his ordination8 9

From The Monastery To Mission FieldsFrom The Monastery To Mission Fields

inside the monastery, I fell on my knees and confessed Jesus Christ asmy personal Savior and Lord.

My parents were devastated by my conversion to Jesus Christ. Theirson, who once brought honor to the family, now brought disgrace. Theybecame the laughing stock among relatives and friends. I can still picturemy mother coming to the monastery, crying at the top of her voice andbeating her chest for her son who brought disgrace upon them. Theauthorities in the monastery thought this was a passing phenomenonand that I would soon return to my normal routine. But I knew I couldnot stay in the monastery for long because my convictions had changed.I would no longer do social work to gain salvation, but rather, it was anexpression of my love for God, for giving His only son to die on thecross for me.

Despite my newfound faith in Christ, I continued to stay in themonastery, but did not have peace of mind. Every day in the monasteryhad its own difficulties and challenges and I knew I could not continueas a hypocrite for long. Realizing my need to profess my faith publicly,I approached the rector and told him of my struggles since I had becomea Christian. I told him of my desire to serve the Lord. My rector advisedme to stay in the monastery and continue to do the work I was doing.

I thought many times that I should leave the monastery, but themonastic authorities encouraged me to stay back because they thoughtI would change my mind. They knew I had a compassionate hearttowards the poor and the neglected in the society. My rector then toldme that they had planned to start a program for the poor and wantedme to help them. I was ecstatic with the idea. India, with the secondlargest population in the world, is also one of the poorest. It is widelyaccepted that over six hundred million people live in exstreme povertywith three hundred million people living below the poverty line. Becauseserving the poor and needy was my passion, the plan to start this programexcited me.

Now I could secretly continue to live as a Christian and at the sametime fulfill the mission of serving the poor. This compromise gave me nopeace of mind. Deep in my conscience I was being unceasingly convictedof my hypocrisy, so I wrote to the authorities about my newfound faithand sought permission to leave the monastery. Leaving the monasterywas not easy because I had promised to keep my vow to poverty,chastity and obedience until my last breath. Now within only four yearsof taking that vow, I was in jeopardy of breaking it. My letter surelycreated chaos among the authorities, as they advised me and tried to

The catholic bishop who mentoredC.V. and is still working with him

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explain the foolishness of my new convictions. They reminded me that Ihad taken the vow in the presence of God and men, and of theconsequences involved in breaking it. They tried to persuade me to‘come back to my senses’. By then, however, I was already determinedto act on my decision to follow ‘The Way’.

Realizing that they could not turn me away from my faith, they gaveme the letter of dispensation, releasing me from all the vows I had taken.Although the future looked bleak and my days in the monastery werenumbered, I decided to persevere and run the race. I focused on Jesus,

the pioneer and perfector of my faith. My decision to leave the monasteryleft me with only one mission in life; to preach the Good News to thepoor. I had not been trained for this task, and did not know how to do it.

I had witnessed the poor being mistreated my whole life and I hadcompassion for them, but never really knew how to help them. Now,having met the Savior, I knew my mission would be to help the poorand the needy by introducing them to Jesus who had come to redeemthem and set them free. Deep in my spirit, I envisioned reaching theneglected and downtrodden in society. The Bible verse that often cameto my memory was “…He has anointed me to preach good news tothe poor, He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives andrecovering of sight to the blind and set at liberty those who areoppressed.” (Luke 4:18).

I knew God had a definite plan for me. I knew He had called meout of the monastery to set me apart for His ministry. I knew God hadcalled me to be a light for the voiceless, oppressed and neglected onesin society. God had given me a mission with a vision to reach out tothose who are poor, oppressed, depressed, downtrodden and struggling.I knew helping the poor would be my lifelong mission, but how to fulfillthat mission haunted me.

Will people accept me and believe my message? Who would supportme for my provisions? Where will I stay? How will my needs be met?Even with these questions unanswered, I was firm in my resolve toleave the monastery and follow Christ.

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LEAVING THE MONASTERY

Come ill, come well, the cross, the crown

The rainbow or the thunder,

I fling my soul and body down

For God to plough them under.

Robert Louis Stevenson.

With the vision to serve the poor, I was determined to commencethe very mission that had dishonored my family, brought disgrace uponmy friends, humiliation to relatives and shame to my home church. Oneof my final steps before leaving the monastery was giving away thecassock –the symbol of authority, power and pride, which I had beengiven when taking the vow of celibacy, poverty and chastity. After

receiving my letter of dispensation, I was told to return the cassock. Itwas a Monday morning, and only while ironing the cassock in preparationfor its return did the harsh reality dawn on me that I was no longer apart of the monastery.

The monastery, which had been my home for nine years, was nowforeign to me. Those dear brothers, who had studied with me andpromised to stand by me through thick and thin,

C.V. Vadavana being baptized as he is testifying the Lord

C H A P T E RII

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began to look down upon me as if I were a stranger. I was no longeraccepted among them. My presence brought silence in the rooms;nobody wanted to talk to me or wanted to know of my newly foundfaith. It was as if I was an intruder, destroying the peace and harmony,which had been there since its formation. It was a frightening realizationand I felt fear gripping every inch of me before feeling the tears startingto flow down my cheeks. I felt insecure about my life, my future and Iwas both confused and shattered. If only there was somebody to drymy tears; but I found no shoulder to lean on other than Jesus.

I realized I could not stand and cry for long in the pretext of ironingthe cassock. My fellow monks were watching me. I was quivering andfelt as if my legs were too heavy to support me while my hands felt tooweak to lift the iron box. I thought my knees were about to give out dueto the intense physical weakness that I felt. Within a few hours, I wouldbe leaving the monastery without the slightest idea where God wasleading me. Where am I to go from the monastery? Who is going tomeet my needs? Can I go back to my parents whom I have disgraced?Returning home was not an option, for my parents did not have theslightest idea that I had abandoned the Catholic faith and was about toleave the monastery.

Enduring great emotional struggles, I finished ironing the cassockand went to my rector to return the cassock. As I entered the room, Ido not know if the expression on his face was one of sympathy orhatred towards me. After handing over the cassock, my superior priestgave me 153 Indian rupees (four U.S. dollars) and offered me a ridehome, which I had politely refused. The bundle of 153 rupees that he

had given me had come from the Sunday’s offering that contained oneor two rupees. The dispensation that I received had a reason instilled init – to go serve the lepers hospital. But the conflict inside me said that Ihave to continue my journey to proclaim the Truth which I accepted.This was my turning point. Not knowing where to go, I set out from themonastery on 11 February 1985 with only an old rusted iron trunk filledwith books on philosophy, and the money given by the superior priest.

With no destination in mind, I stood at the bus station where buseswould be going in all directions. I could hear the helper boys in everybus shouting the name of places the buses were destined. There waspushing and jostling everywhere. Everyone seemed busy and lookedas if they had a purpose behind their journeys. I was in no hurry for Ihad no place to go. When I looked above, I could see the sky stretchedout like a blue sheet above me, and when I looked below, I could seeacres of land stretched before me with people hurrying in it to finishtheir task before dusk. I was overcome with emotion and before Iknew it, I found myself sobbing. Soon I realized that people werewatching me. Some college students were laughing at me. I felt as if thewhole world was conspiring against me at every turn. But where couldI possibly find solitude? I had nowhere to go.

My only companion was the old rusted iron trunk, which silentlystood beside me. I was afraid the bus station authorities would questionme for loitering without riding a bus. Trying to hide from both theauthorities and the scornful eyes of the people, I went to the corner ofthe bus stand and sat there. Still, the question in front of me was “Whereshall I go?”

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Sitting in the bus station discouraged and disappointed with no onenearby, I decided that I would follow Jesus whether my parentsaccepted me or not and complete the mission of reaching out to thepoor to whom God had called me. In that dark hour, as I sat alone in acorner of the bus station, God began to speak to me and revealed thatHe is responsible for me if I preach His gospel. I just had to trust Himand depend on His grace. He told me that it was His responsibility toprepare for me a house to stay and that He would attend to all myneeds. All I needed to do was to preach God’s gospel as Paul did. Idid not know where exactly in the Bible Paul spoke of preaching God’sgospel, but what was vaguely impressed in my mind was that if wepreach God’s gospel, God would take care of the rest. I later discoveredthat the Bible portion by which God dealt with me in my darkest hourwas from II Thessalonians 2.

Paul often says in this chapter that it is God’s gospel and He isresponsible. I had the assurance that what I was going to do was notmy business but God’s. As God began to speak to me, great peaceflooded my soul and I realized that God is responsible for me. I justneeded to do his bidding and he will take care of me. Still, the dauntingquestion lingered in me: where to go?

As I stood in the bus stand thinking where to go, I remembered anaunt of mine who had recently accepted the Lord. Immediately I tookthe bus going to her place and reached her home. She was surprised tosee me with my trunk but gradually I told her the reason why I was at

her home. She accepted me gladly as her own son and took care ofme. I knew I could not stay in their home for long doing nothing.Uncertainty was written all over my future for I did not know how Icould face the realities of life without any resources and any kind ofsupport. I was afraid that I would become a burden to those aroundme, which was the last thing I ever wanted to be.

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CHALLENGES

“The desire for God which cannot break the ties of

the world is a mean thing.”

E. M. Bounds

I stayed with my uncle and aunt during the period of my life whenI had no idea where my life would be leading me

In the mean time, my mother discovered that her son had left themonastery to follow his newfound faith. At first she could not believewhat she heard and had to have the news verified by several sourcesbefore accepting it as being the truth. It was the last thing she expectedfrom me - to leave the monastery.

She was astonished and became filled with both grief and shame forher son. She could not stand the thought of her son, who had dedicated

his life to becoming a monk, defying the holy orders of the CatholicChurch.

From relatives and friends she discovered where I was staying andcame to meet me with the hopes that she would be able to convince meto go back to the monastery and repent for all the trouble that I hadcaused.

When she finally found and confronted me, she began to scream atthe top of her lungs about how I had brought shame and the wrath ofGod on my family and me. She pleaded me to repent or else I wouldbring a curse upon everyone. According to her, I had taken the vow toremain faithful to God by leading a celibate life and serve him; breakingsuch a vow meant bringing the wrath of God on my entire family. Notonly that, our family had become the laughing stock of the community.My mother could not believe that I had done such a thing to them.

As a son, it was extremely difficult for me to see her cry and Ipersonally knew the struggles she had endured just to send me to

C.V. distributing tracts in Rajasthan, India

C H A P T E RIII

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the monastery. I can still vividly remember when my mother realized thereality of my dedication to being a Catholic monk. On that day, she hadbrought in a piggybank filled with coins that she had been collecting andbroke it open to help provide for my needs. When she realized themoney in her piggybank was not enough to buy even the basic ofnecessities, she went to the extent of selling the calf to help me. It wasbecause of her kind and generous heart that I could meet some of theimmediate needs. Now this son, for whom she had given up everything,was shattering her dreams. She was furious and wanted to know whohad bewitched me. Seeing the tears flowing down her face, I felt awave of grief but I told her how I could not go back to the seminarybecause I had found the Savior. I had noticed that her eyes were redand face was swollen due to her crying. When she realized that shecould not convince me to change my mind she left for home with aheavy heart.

From this moment on, I realized that I could not depend solely uponpeople nor could anyone I know understand my reason for leaving themonastery, which was Jesus Christ. People thought I was insane to giveup everything for the sake of this gospel. It was during this time that Iwas inspired to write the first tract. I still had the money that was givento me by my superior priest when I left the monastery. With that money,I printed the first tract, “Why I am not a Roman Catholic.”

Though I had left the seminary, I was still preparing for the universityexam that I was enrolled in when I entered the monastery. While I wentto the seminary to take my university exam, I also took the tract, whichI had published and gave to all the students and teachers who hadcome for the examination. Within a few hours after distributing the tract,

it was banned in the seminary for I had written against the adorationtowards Mother Mary, a subject taboo among Roman Catholics. I didnot do it to disturb the church but to let the people know the rightteachings of the Bible.

Yet, despite the confidence I had in my spiritual life, the questionthat still hung over me was how I would meet my financial needs. Mypride prevented me from asking people for money or receiving moneyfrom any one despite my struggles for meeting even the most basic ofnecessities. Many people offered to help but my pride foiled me fromaccepting it. However, I will never forget the moment when my uncle,who earns his living by selling fish, pushed an old crumbled note of Rs 5into my pocket. He realized that I was struggling for provision and,knowing how I always refused assistance, he just pushed it inside mypocket. Tears glazed over my eyes for I was in desperate need of moneyand my uncle, though struggling financially to look after even his ownfamily, had given me money. That was the first offering that I had receivedafter stepping out of the seminary. I am grateful to this uncle of mine forhe realized my needs and aided me despite his own personal difficulties.It was my friend Johny who taught me to receive every gift withoutrefusing if given in God’s name. I still remember Johny coming to meone day and giving me some money. I refused it right away but heinsisted that I take it for it is the right of the servant of God to take tithe,so I accepted his offering. That was the second financial assistance Ireceived. From then on, I have not refused people offering me money,for my provisional needs or ministry.

Meanwhile, I contacted many Christian leaders and one of the leadingChristian leaders of Indian Pentecostal Church, Philip Sir, encouraged

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me to study God’s word. Having studied in the seminary for so long,my impression was that Jesus Christ was simply just the greatestphilosopher and nothing more. I now realize what an insignificant aspectthis was of Christ and that I was just a beginner in my walk with theLord. With the encouragement and support of Philip Sir, I joined thebible curriculum at Kottayam, one of the largest cities in the state ofKerala. As a new born again Christian, I was trying to learn whatever Icould about this man Jesus who had revolutionized my world. In theprocess of learning a completely different theology, I had to unlearnmany of the things I was taught in the seminary. Even when I joined theBible curriculum to study the Word of God for myself, I still saw Jesusas a philosopher. I found it difficult to accept all those things written inthe Bible without proper reasoning and logic. One of the issues I struggledwith during that time was on adult baptism. Looking back, I thank Godfor all those teachers and friends who, with their finite knowledge ofscripture, tried to answer all my questions and encouraged me to putmy entire faith in Jesus.

During my study of God’s word, I came to discover that Jesus is theonly living God. I was under the impression that those who had takenchild baptism did not need to be baptized as adults. However, afterstudying more on God’s word, I realized what God expects from us isadult baptism - to know him personally in our lives and declare publiclyto the whole world of our faith in Jesus through the cleansing of adultbaptism. Therefore, in obedience to His word, I obeyed the Lord inwater baptism. I was baptized by Pastor P. M. Philip, one of the mostrespectable senior pastors of his time who encouraged me during theearly days of my Christian walk. It was during my study at Kottayam

that I understood the need for personal evangelism. I was introduced todoor-to-door evangelism and street evangelism and told of the necessityof witnessing to my neighbor.

Though I was studying at Kottayam Bible College and witnessingChrist, I was still ashamed to testify about Jesus to the public. I did notwant people to recognize me as a believer of Jesus Christ. Thereforewhenever I went to church, I wrapped my Bible in a newspaper so thatpeople on the streets would never recognize that I was going to church.I knew what I was doing was not right. I began to pray that God wouldgive me boldness and strength to witness as he gave to his disciples. Asdays went by God gave me new boldness and He told me that I wouldcarry the Word of God all over India. At that time I never reallyunderstood the meaning of it and in my finite thought it was an impossibletask. But now looking back I can testify that His plans for our lives ismuch better and higher than we think for ourselves and He is faithful tohis promises. God has given me the privilege of literally carrying bundlesof Bibles on my head and in bags hanging from my shoulder to differentcities in India and abroad. I have carried bundles of Bibles in trains andbuses and often been abused for causing inconvenience to fellowtravelers. And now my prayer to the Lord is that he will give meopportunity to smuggle Bibles.

Throughout this whole time, I was still staying with my aunt whopatiently accommodated me in her house and considered me as one ofher children. But I still found myself worried about my future. I knewpeople were anticipating that I would fail and I found that to be verydiscouraging. How are my daily basic needs going to be met? Whatwould be my means of finance? Who will sponsor me? I have a desire

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to be in the ministry but who will support me? How am I going to beinvolved in ministry without any financial support? Doubts anduncertainty constantly gripped me and I wondered at times if it wasworth leaving the monastery so that I could live this life filled with fearand ambiguity? I felt that I could not turn to anyone to express suchfeelings, for everyone was expecting me to fail and proclaim, “I toldyou so.” I felt like a fish out of water with no hopes of finding relief inmy struggle to survive.

UNDERSTANDING THEPOWER OF THE WRITTEN

WORDWhile studying at Kottayam, I became aware of the need and

necessity of witnessing to others about Jesus. Deep inside, I wanted toshare about Jesus and the salvation we receive through him to everyoneI came across. But the problem was I did not know how to communicateor share about Jesus to others. As the days passed by, I knew I couldnot simply sit and give the excuse that I do not know how to shareabout Jesus. During that time, as I was battling with the thought of “howto share Christ with my non believing friends,” I became aware of theneed of reaching out to my own Roman Catholic friends. Keeping theRoman Catholic community in mind, I thought of printing a book that Ihad written while in seminary. The book, THIRUVOSTHI

C H A P T E RIV

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URUMPUTHINNAL, contained the details on the holy mass. I usedto keep this book in the monastery with the doors closed tight behindme, as I did not want anybody to discover it until it was published.

I wanted to convince them that what they were doing was wrong,and that Holy Communion and mass were against the Word of God.But the question was, “how would I be able to print it without money?”I was struggling to make both ends meet and was living at the mercy of

my aunt and now printing a book seemed like an impossible task to me.I was worried. I prayed about it and waited for a miracle to happen. Iwent to different publishers, pleading with them to print the book bypromising to give the money once the books were sold. However, nopublisher wanted to take the risk for the obvious reasons:

I. The book strongly opposed the Catholic Church and their beliefs.

II. I was a new figure in the field of publishing and there was noassurance that my books were going to sell.

III. I did not have the money necessary to publish a book.

I went from one publisher to another but no one wanted to take therisk. I was shattered. Finally a Catholic printing press owner took pity

on me and said that he would print my book and I could give him themoney after the books were sold. I was thrilled. I thought things wereworking in my favor. But my joy was short lived. Although I had aprinter who would print my books, I had to find a publishing companyto buy my books and sell them for me. To find a publishing company, Iwent from one person to another pleading with them to help me sell thebooks. However, no one wanted to take the risk of selling a book thatpotentially would incur a financial loss but, more importantly, no onewanted to incur the wrath of the Roman Catholic Church, which thebook opposed strongly. To make the matter worse, I was just beginningmy career as a writer yet the publishing companies were not sure howthe public would respond to my writings. Nobody wanted to take therisk.

But the main reason why nobody wanted to publish my book wasbecause I did not have any money. I did not know what to do andevery door I knocked on seemed tight shut on me. Every plea I madefor help fell on deaf ears. I did not know where to go, what to do andwhom to approach. To make the matter worse I had no one on whomI could lean. I had no parents to support me, or friends to stand with methrough the thick and thin. In fact, it was so bad that I had no one withwhom I could pray. I was a discouraged and disappointed man. Butamid this trial, I said to myself, “I will not be defeated by anycircumstances and will overcome every hurdle, and be a conqueror.” Ifelt confident that one man with God is a majority. Soon mydisappointment went away for I had the assurance that God was withme and that He would guide me. I said, “I am more than a conqueror inChrist.” With this perspective, I kept persevering and asking the Lordto open new doors for me.

In search for a publisher, I met an evangelical publisher who agreedto publish my book. I was thrilled because the answer to my prayerscame true. Like an excited little boy, I ran to the press, which had

A view of Sathyam book store in Kerala

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agreed to print the book for me, and gave them the publisher’s name.They printed the book for me and I showed a copy of the book to thepublisher with the hope he would be happy and appreciate me for myhard work and contribution in the Christian literature world. As he wasreading my book, I waited for him to tap me on the shoulder and say,“great work.” However, as the minutes went ticking by, I becamenervous. Through the corner of my eyes, I watched him glancing throughthe pages and the expression on his face told me that he was not happy.After flipping through the pages for a while, he kept the book on thetable and looked at me. By then all the excitement I had with the printingof my first book vanished and I was sweating profusely.

The publisher looked into my eyes and I wanted to disappear. Hetold me that he could not sell my books for it condemns the CatholicChurch and its practices. And if he published such a book, he wouldincur the wrath of his Catholic friends and many would stop buyingbooks from him, which meant a loss in his business. His words almostbrought tears to my eyes. He opened the book and realized that hisname had been printed as the publisher. He contacted the press, whichhad printed the book and told them to somehow remove his name asthe publisher because he did not want to be in the bad light amongst hisCatholic friends. However, the people at the press said that all the bookshad been printed and nothing could be done to remove the name of thepublisher. The publisher became very angry and said that the bookscould not be sold in his shop. I was shattered because I needed to sellthe books and pay the printing press money for printing the books. Myfirst attempt at Christian literature was a great disappointment. But soon

I said to myself, “I will not let defeat overtake me. I will take everyfailure and disappointment as a challenge.”

I reminded myself, “My life was transformed reading a little gospeltract. This book I wrote contains the living Word of God and the livingWord has the power to transform people.” With new determinationand vigor, I decided that no matter what the price I have to pay, I willcontinue to write and tell the world The Truth I have found in JesusChrist. I took up the challenge to cross every hurdle and pave the wayfor writers like me to express their thoughts and ideas without hindrance.I said to myself, “I will not complain but accept all that God gives as achallenge and opportunity to spread the good news of Jesus Christ.”Although I had no money and I owed the press people their money, Idecided one day I will establish myself as a publisher to promote God’sword. If you asked me how it was going to be possible, this I did notknow.

Later that day, I brought the books with me to the place I wasstaying. I told my plight to a few of my friends who studied with me atthe Bible College and they promised to help me. They took the booksand introduced them to their churches and friends and soon my bookwas in great demand. My book quickly sold in their churches. I wasthrilled with the book’s success and was able to pay the printer. Fromthis experience, I learned God is faithful to those who trust in Him andrely upon His provisions. Little did I realize how this one, small bookwould be just the “tip of the iceberg” that God had in store for us.

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SOULS THROUGHGOD’S WORD

The first edition of the book sold quickly and we developed a secondedition. I was excited with the success of the book. Everywhere I wentpeople were asking me for a copy. I was thrilled and happy that mypain and labor was beginning to pay off. I now knew the purpose forwhich God had called me out of the monastery. I accepted writing booksas the ministry in which God wanted me to be involved. To fulfill thiscalling, I burned the midnight oil writing books. All the books I wrotewere a war against corruption and wrong teachings of the CatholicChurch. Despite the financial struggle, I continued to write with thehope that God will open doors for me and through my books peoplewill be able to see the light.

With the sale of these books, I was able to pay off my debt to theprinting press owner. However, I was still struggling financially to makeboth ends meet. Despite the emotional and financial struggle I was goingthrough, I kept my pain inside by putting on a fake smile in front of thepeople not letting them know what I was going through. However, Ipersevered in my work because I knew that the truth needed to reachmy Catholic community.

Within a few months, my second book was ready for printing. Butthe question once again was, “where is the money for printing?” I waitedfor a few days for something to happen but nothing happened. I knewthat if I did not do something, the book, which took many sleeplessnights and was the fruit of my labor, was never going to see the light.

I was willing to risk anything to get my second book published. Inthe end, when no doors seemed to open, I was determined to go andknock at the door of the owner of the press who had published myearlier book.

According to the courtesy of the day an initial deposit had to be paidin advance to the press. But I had no money. Prepared for the worst, Iknocked on the door of the press owner.

Bible Encyclopedia being Released

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He welcomed me warmly and after exchanging courtesies, I told himthe purpose of my visit and the financial strain I was going through. Thepress owner was moved with sympathy and promised to print my secondbook without any advance. I promised to give the money as soon asthe books were sold. By God’s grace, the second book was printedand I was on my way to selling books again.

After receiving the books from the printing press, I divided the booksinto bundles so that I could carry more books and the weight would beevenly distributed. Every morning I set out to the market with one bundleon my head supported by the left hand, another bundle hanging from abag in the left shoulder and third bundle I held in my right hand. Thebundle of books were incredibly heavy and extremely difficult to carrybut I could not sit and brood over my fate because I owed money andwas convicted to be obedient to God’s call in being a writer and publisher.Even though my 100-pound frame could hardly hold the weight, I movedforward in faith to sell as many books as possible.

So carrying as many bundles as I could, I pushed my way throughthe crowd to sell books. Not a day passed, while I carried those bundles,that the crowd did not abuse me for inconveniencing them. One of themost painful memories is of the bus conductor who abused me in frontof all the passengers in a crowded bus for bringing in all the bundlesinside the bus. Seeing me carry the bundles on my head, hand andshoulder, people ridiculed and laughed at me. In the midst of all this,more than the physical pain, it was the emotional pain that was difficultto bear. Often people tried to push me away when I approached themfor they thought I was just another sales man trying to sell books because

he has no other job. This brought great discouragement. By evening,my whole body would be writhing in pain carrying such heavy bags. Inaddition, I had no one to tell of the physical pain or to share my emotionalstruggle. More than the physical pain, it was the emotional struggle,which was bothering me. However, I kept going out day after daybecause my greatest concern was to pay the press for printing the books.

I had promised the printing press that I would pay the amount withina certain period and the dead line was approaching fast. I somehowneeded to pay the money or else I would not be faithful to my word. Onthe given date, I collected the money through different sources and gotinto the bus. I was happy that I was able to pay them the money on thedue date. When the bus reached my destination, I got out of the busfeeling light hearted and joyful. I felt I was on top of the world. Humminga very familiar song I slowly walked towards the press. At least now,nobody would laugh at me or push me away for I was not carrying anybooks with me nor was I pleading with people to buy my books. As Igot nearer to the printing press, I slipped my hands into the pocket tomake sure the money was there. I stood there for a minute checking mypockets and as I searched all over, I began to perspire. The money Iborrowed from friends, which came at the cost of abuse and scorn, hadvanished. With a lump in my throat, I realized I had been pick- pocketedwhile on the bus.

Standing in the middle of the road, I wished the earth would open upand just swallow me. But nothing happened. With great difficulty, Idragged myself into the printing press and saw the owner. The owner

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welcomed me warmly and wanted to know why I looked so pale andwhat was bothering me. I broke down and told him while on my way topay the money I was pick- pocketed. The owner, a very kind man,comforted me and said that he trusted me and I could pay the money ata later date. As the owner of the publishing company spoke those words,I felt as if the mountain had been rolled away and a great peace floodedmy soul. Soon I found myself relaxing at his office. As I left the printingpress, I thanked the owner profusely for trusting me and promised topay back the money as soon as possible.

Encouraged by the response of the people I was determined to writea third book. As I was writing the third book, it struck my mind thatwhat I was writing was the truth. So then and there, I decided thatwhen I become a publisher, my publishing company would be knownas Sathyam (Truth) publishers. I was convinced of the power of theprinted page in transforming lives and the Lord gave me the motto ofmy mission,” Winning Souls through God’s Word.” But I still did notknow when my dream would become a reality. In the meanwhile, Istarted printing a magazine in Malayalam called “Jeeva Vachanam”.From there, I gradually started climbing the ladder of success in theworld of publishing with God being my guide and counselor.

FIGHTING AGAINSTTRADITIONS

Direct me? Yes, I know He will For God the Word

hath spoken The heavens and earth may pass away

His promise ne’er be broken; I see not what before me lies

‘Tis wisely hidden from my eyes, But to my Lord ‘tis

always clear, And while He leads I need not fear.

Kate Satines

My personal friends and those who wished me well encouragedme to get married. Since I left the Catholic faith and brought disgrace tomy family, neither my parents nor my relatives would help me get settled.

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In India, especially in traditional, orthodox families, it is the parentswho take the initiative in finding a suitable life partner for their daughter/son and it is the parents who take care of the wedding expenses.Marriage is one of those occasions where the family’s wealth is exposedand is the status symbol of society. How rich you are depends on thecar you hire/buy on the wedding day and the number of guests youinvite and the clothes you wear and the food you serve.

It is also important that you have the beautician helping you get dressedand have plenty of photographers and camera operators beside you.Such arrangements help you earn the respect of the community.

In India there is no greater event in a family than a wedding. Indianweddings are very bright events, filled with ritual and celebration thatcontinue for several days. Arranging a marriage is a critical responsibilityfor parents and other relatives of both bride and groom. Arrangedmarriages have been traditional in Indian society. They are not smallaffairs, anywhere between 100-10000 people attending. Even todayan overwhelming majority of Indians in India have their marriages plannedby their parents and other family-members. Arranged matches are madeafter taking into account factors such as age, height, personal valuesand tastes, the backgrounds of their families (wealth, social standing),and their castes.

My marriage was an arranged marriage. One of my friendsintroduced Mary to me. At that time she was working as a teacher in anEnglish Medium School. I met her and I understood that she knewabout me from reading my first book, this made the arrangements easy.After 3 months of communication through love letters and so on, wecame to know each other deeply and decided to get married. However,her parents strongly objected. The main reason for these objectionswas that I was a writer against Catholicism and I had a poor financialbackground. Mary took a firm step and told them that if she were tomarry she would only marry me. Finally, her parents and relatives agreedto let her decide.C.V. and Mary on their wedding day

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Everyone with whom I was closely associated encouraged me toget married. I had left the seminary as a revolutionary, fighting against allcustoms and practices, which I thought, were evil and I decided to fightagainst such traditions starting with the wedding. I determined in myheart that my wedding would be different. I would not let the culture orcustoms of society rule my wedding and I proceeded into preparing thewedding arrangements.

One of the very first thoughts that come to our minds when we makepreparation for the wedding is getting the invitation cards printed. Buton the other side of the card was the invitation given for the officialinauguration of Sathyam Ministries. My relatives and friends wereoffended. They objected my book as it was against their faith andpractices. I had ruined their status in society by organizing the releasingfunction of that book on the wedding day. Also, the Sathyam Ministriesinauguration was at two o’clock in the afternoon followed by wedding,which starts at 3.30 P.M. The plans for the wedding spread like wildfire. There was a great uproar at my home church and my parents werethen excommunicated, for their son was going to get married outsidethe church without receiving permission from the authorities of the church.My parents were devastated by my decision to get married outside theCatholic Church and they were once again the laughing stock of thefamily.

My parents in particular were shattered with my decision for theywere now targeted and scorned by relatives and church members alike.Though difficult to witness, I decided to stick with my decision. I wasnot moved by the chaos or disturbances I was causing. I thought, “I willkeep up my revolutionary spirit and fight for it out with all of my strength.”

While all this was going on, I began to receive letters threatening to killme if I wrote any more books against the established church. However,I was not deterred. I reminded myself, “God had called me out of themonastery to fight against the corrupt practices and teachings of thechurch and I will continue to do so till my last breath and that will be mymission.”

In spite of the threats I received, both through letters and in person,I persevered. On one occasion while I was returning home, a group ofpeople stopped me on the way and they threatened to kill me if I wroteany more books against the Episcopal churches. I told them that theycould kill me and I would be happy to die as a martyr than die as ahypocrite. They warned me once again and threatened me with direconsequences before letting me go. I was not discouraged or afraid. Iwas glad that God had considered me worthy of the mission to fightagainst the evil practices of the established Churches.

Amid all the chaos and threats, there was still a wedding to plan andI was running around inviting friends both for ceremony and theinauguration of Sathyam Ministries. I decided I would not invite anycatering services to cook or serve food but instead told my close friendsto bring homemade goodies so that, after the wedding, tea and snackscould be served to the guests.

I thought to myself that I also needed to fight against the evil practicesin the wedding ceremonies. My marriage would be different butsimultaneously difficult to accomplish. I had no money to buy the weddingdress. I went to the shop by myself and bought the dress and the totalcost of all my wedding dress was Rs 140 ($3). I wanted my wedding tobe very simple. Bringing about a change or revival in the church was

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added to my mission of serving and helping the poor and I thought itbest to start it with me - my wedding. I had no car waiting for me at thedoorstep decorated with flowers. I did not know who would attendbecause most of my relatives were upset that I was conducting twoprograms on the same day that were also at the same venue.

To make matters worse, it began to rain when it was time to go tothe venue for the programs. My pastor had come to pray for me, andafter the prayer, I went to my wedding, riding in the pavilion on thepastor’s bike. While we were on our way, it began to rain and by thetime I reached the place of my wedding I was drenched to the skin. Iknew people were laughing at me, while others looked at me withsympathy. I was not bothered by their reactions because I knew I wasa revolutionary fighting against the customs and traditions that boundman. The program started as it was scheduled: Me - the groom in hisdress, drenched to the skin, gave the welcome speech and told the planand purpose behind starting and officially registering Sathyam Ministries.At the end of the program, as I was giving the vote of thanks for theSathyam Ministries official registration, the bridal party arrived. I invitedthe bride and others to occupy their seats. I wanted my wedding to besimple while bringing glory to God.

WHOM DO YOU TRUST?

“True valor lies, not in what the world calls success

but in the dogged going on when

everything in the man says, Stop”

Amy Carmichael

Though my parents were not happy with me leaving the monastery,they gradually accepted my wife Mary and me into their home. I wasglad that my wife and I could join them. My wife, a teacher by professionbegan to teach at a school. Her school was located in another townnamed Kumbanad, which meant we had to move into a one bedroomrented apartment. Keeping Kumbanad as the base, the Sathyam

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Ministry continued. Our goal was to reach out to the poor and oppressedpeople of the society. India is one of the poorest countries of the worldwith its population growing at a rapid pace. There we started the firsttailoring institute for women with the goal toward self-employment. Allthe money we received was reinvested in the ministry. During our stayat Kumbanad, God enabled us to conduct the first Biblical symposiumwith 600 people on July 14, 1989 at Kottayam, one of the largest citiesin Kerala.

On July 24, 1989 our son Sam was born. When Mary was admittedin the hospital for the birth of our first child, the doctors advised that shewould be given an injection called Anti D within 24 hours after thebaby was born because our blood groups did not match. The doctorswanted us to take the injection because if we ever planned to haveanother child, the child would be disabled. We did not take the injectionthe doctor prescribed because we did not have the money for takingthat injection which we were told was very expensive and secondly thatmedicine was not available in India and had to be imported at our ownexpense from abroad which for us was an impossible task.

After only one year, Mary was transferred to another town calledKandamperoor, which meant we had to move our house toKandamperoor, where she got the posting. Though our stay at the newplace Kandamperoor was very short, it was a memorable stay for thehistory of Sathyam Ministries. It was while we were at Kandamperoorthat we conducted the first Leadership conference at Charalkkunnu in1991 based on the theme,” church leadership” which was a great successas it was attended by all the leaders and pastors of the brethren church.

Another milestone in the history of Sathyam ministry was thepublishing of the magazine called, “Jeeva Vachanam.” We had no staffto assist us, so all the work on the magazine was done by my wife andme. After my wife returned from school, she would look after our sonwho was one year old and at the same time manage the home. Afterfinishing all the household chores, she would sit along with me late intothe night writing addresses on the magazine wrapper and sticking stampsto get it all ready to be posted the following day. Every cell and fiber inour body cried for sleep but we had to keep the ministry going, whichGod had entrusted in our care. Since we had very limited finances, wetried to save every penny possible. To save money, instead of hiring ataxi or auto to take all the magazines to the post office, my wife wouldcarry one bundle with her to school and leave it at a shop near the postoffice and I would follow her by carrying two more bundles. When Ireached the shop, I would take all three bundles and post them fordelivery.

Yes, our finances were limited during those days but we had thejoy and happiness of knowing God and serving Him. As human beingswe worry as to how our tomorrow will be but God never lets us gohungry or naked. On one occasion we ran out of money and there wasno rice at home to cook. Then we remembered the table drawer wherewe put all our coins. When we counted all the coins, we found out thatthere was more than enough money to feed us for several days. TheLord has been faithful to us in meeting all our needs as we serve Hisministry.

My wife was transferred again from one school in Kandamperoorto another place called Kumbanadu, which meant we had to move

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again. While we were living in the new place Kumbanadu our secondson Justin was born. While my wife was in delivery, all I had was Rs 4and I did not know how the hospital expenses were going to be paid.The doctors had also advised my wife to take an injection worth Rs500 ($9) because our blood groups did not match, but since I did nothave the money my wife was not given the injection. When our sonJustin was born we knew something was wrong with him. We werelater told that our child had learning disabilities because we failed totake the injection prescribed by the doctor after the birth of our firstson. I knew my relatives and friends would have happily given me moneyif I had asked them but I decided that I would not ask anyone for anysort of financial assistance and the Lord miraculously met all the needsat the hospital. When my wife was discharged, we came to the rentedapartment, which had been our home and office for one year.

Sickness, difficulties, financial crisis, criticism and tears were all apart of our lives. My mother always said that I had brought the wrathand curse of God on me and my family by writing a book againstCatholicism. But there was no turning back. I often remembered theproverb, “Opportunity never comes and knocks at our door.” So I wasalways on the lookout for opportunities to expand the ministry and touchsouls with the love of God.

During that time we were told of the International Book Fair in Delhiand I set out for Delhi carrying 23 bundles of books. I had no one tohelp me and to make matters worse I had no travel reservations. I washelpless and sitting in a corner of the train when I cried out to the Lordfor help and mercy. And the Lord heard my cry and answered me thatvery hour. When the fellow passengers on the train saw that I had lots

of luggage and had to travel such a long distance, they were filled withcompassion for me. They immediately made room for my luggage andhelped me be comfortable. After reaching Delhi, few bundles weresent to me by post from Sathyam Office so that I could exhibit and sellthose books at the book fair.

After the book fair I did not bring the remaining books home butstarted a Christian book store in Delhi. The world book fair at Delhiwas a major breakthrough for the Sathyam Ministries. During this bookfair, we received many contacts and from then on our publication workimproved. Thrilled with the success of the book fair at Delhi, I wasprompted to conduct similar book fairs in the future. So after returninghome from Delhi, the Sathyam Ministries conducted similar book fairsin different parts of India and the response of the people has beenencouraging. We also started the Sathyam Book Club where wepromote readers to buy books and read.

During this time we had to shift to a larger town known as Eraviperoorfrom Kumbanadu because the ministry was based at Eraviperoor.Moving houses had been hard especially with two little kids and agrowing ministry. It was in Eraviperoor that we got the first Sathyamstaff working with a payment of Rs 300 per month ($7). Though wehardly had any resources coming in, we all worked together with aburden and passion for lost souls. I would often ride the bicycle formiles carrying bundles of printed books and magazines to be postedbecause we had no money for hiring an auto rickshaw. The SathyamMinistries headquarters was also moved to the same city Eraviperoorwhere we were staying and we saw a tremendous growth in the ministry.

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While we were in Eraviperoor, our son Sam fell and hurt his mouth.He started to bleed and we thought the bleeding would stop after awhile. However, hours passed by and he was still bleeding. Worriedabout our little son, we tried whatever home remedies we could to stopthe bleeding but it would not stop. Finally, we took him to the hospitalfor stitches. Later we noticed that the blood was not clotting, and anycut or wound would bleed for hours and even days. This was a causeof great concern for us. With the advice of his doctor we took him toVellore Medical College and later to All India Institute of Medical Science(AIIMS) in Delhi. At AIIMS the doctors, after thoroughly checkinghim, advised us to do a bone marrow test on our 3½ year old baby.While our son Sam was taken to the room for his bone marrow test, wewaited outside. Later the doctor called me inside to help him hold thebaby. As a father I found it difficult to see the struggle my son had to gothrough at such a tender age. I thought the doctors were merciless onthe tiny skeleton of my son as they bend his body and almost made afull circle with his head touching the lower part of his legs and at timesbetween his legs.

The process seemed to last forever because Sam was trying hisbest to get away from the hold of doctors while they were putting in allthe energy to keep the boy under control. At last after struggling forwhat seemed eternity to me they got him into the position they wantedto insert the needle into the backbone for collecting the marrow. Aslittle Sam writhed in pain with the insertion of needle I felt helpless andcourage failing with every ticking of the clock.

At that juncture when my courage and strength failed me, I heardthe voice of God and heard his voice screaming into my ears, “You

fool”. I came out of the room trembling and told my encounter with theLord to my wife and friends. I was terrified but did not then understandthe meaning of it. After two days Mary, Sam and I went to the hospitalfor collecting the result of the bone marrow test and to consult the doctor.The doctor told us after going through various reports that our son hada rare disease called ITP but would be cured when he gets old. As thedoctor told these words to me, my encounter with the Lord began tomake sense to me.

Though days had passed after hearing the words “you fool”, it wasringing loudly and clearly in my ears. I felt guilty that I trusted doctorsmore than God. Sitting in the doctor’s office I repented of my unbeliefto God and vowed that I would never again put my trust in horses orchariots but in the name of my Lord, God. I rededicated my life onceagain to serve Him. Looking back I can say that this incident was aturning point in my life. Till then all I wanted to be involved in wasliterature ministry but from now on I decided to send out nativemissionaries so that people out in the villages would also know andexperience the power and presence of the only True and Living God.

After returning from the hospital we got immersed in the ministry.But Sam was taken for regular treatment to the hospital. At the age ofseven the doctors advised that our son undergo spleenectomy (a surgeryfor removing the spleen)

We thought it was best for our seven-year-old son. But where wasthe money for surgery? We could not approach any one for help. Andif anyone was willing to help us, how much money could they give us

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and how were we going to pay them back? But one day, Lord led oneof His great servants to come to my home and give us some amount ofmoney for my son’s treatment. I first thanked him for his generosity andthe help he offered, but I kindly refused it. After he convinced me andinsisted me, I accepted the money for the treatment. Thus, in this way,we were blessed by God to continue Sam’s treatment.

DARK DAYS IN MINISTRY“The symbol of the Christian Church is not aBurning bush nor a dove, nor an open book,

Nor a halo round a submissive head, nor a crownOf splendid honor. It is a Cross.”

C. M. Clow

With two little boys to feed, and suffering a deep financial crisis,we were pulling on our days. At times, we were discouraged but wedecided we would not give up but run the race faithfully until the end.People were laughing at us and some hated the sight of us but wedetermined in our hearts that we would not give up. God has not calledus to be failures but to lead a victorious Christian life.

In spite of all the personal struggles, we carried on with the ministry,which God entrusted to our care. Since most of our ministry was

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concentrated in the publishing department, we were finding it difficult tomove forward without a printing press. Earlier we had sold the printingpress, which we had bought on a loan at much cheaper rate becausewe needed money to take our son to the hospital. As we were thinkingof it, the Lord opened a door for us and in 1995; we bought a computerwith the loan received from the bank and started the Desk Top Publishingwork. At that time, we thought of printing the Bible in Malayalam languagewith reference but could not complete the project due to varioushindrances.

During this time, we also published books by other authors whoapproached us to publish their work. A man of God had written a

book and approached us to publish his work. I gladly accepted it andSathyam Publication published his book. It was a book that made acomparative study of Christianity with other religions and stronglycondemned other faiths. After releasing the book, I went to Delhi forthe meeting of Bible Society, which spoke against including the apocryphain the Bible.

In my absence, my wife continued with the office work. One day, asmy wife and other staffs were working in the office, about 20 menrushed inside the office and started talking in a very rude manner. Mywife and the other staff members understood that something was wrongbut never knew what. The men who entered inside asked, “Where isVadavana?” After threatening my wife they left the office. In Delhi, whileI was attending the meeting, I was told of the developments takingplace back at home. I was worried, so I proceeded to cancel all events,and return to the Sathyam office to be with my family. My wife lookedpale due to fear. To aggravate the situation, the fanatics had made it apolice case. The police were searching me because the book that SathyamPublications had published, offended the religious feelings and freedomof others. I was disappointed with the ministry and I thought to myself,“Is this why I had come out of the monastery - to be caught by thepolice and labeled as a criminal? To be charged and accused falsely?”I was discouraged and almost on the verge of quitting the ministry.

During these times of discouragement, we received phone calls frompastors and believers, both in India and abroad, saying they were prayingfor me and the ministry which really strengthened my faith. By then thenews spread that the police were searching for me and I went into

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hiding. Though I was away from home and the office, the work ofSathyam ministry continued, and in the magazines, prayers were solicitedfor the ministry and me. Letters began to pour from different parts ofthe globe saying they were praying for us. That strengthened our faithand boosted our energy to strive on. I was forced to go into hidingbecause the police had charged an arrest warrant on me. Eluding theeyes of the police, I hid in the houses of my friends and came home inthe middle of the night for hardly 5 minutes just to know what washappening with my family.

One day, as I was going to the hospital to see my son Justin, whowas admitted there due to high temperature, the police van came andstopped beside me and told me to get in. But I did not get in because Iknew if I got inside, it would be on the headlines of the newspaper thenext day. I told them that I would surrender myself to the police stationafter visiting my son at the hospital. By then I had published an explanationabout my religious faith and chaste intentions in all the local dailies.After publishing the book, the police demanded an apology as they hadinterpreted my book to be a means to convert the people. The S.Iasked me to submit an apology letter stating that Jesus Christ was notthe only Saviour, but other gods also were saviours. But I did not submitany apology letter as I believed and trusted in one God, my Lord andSaviour, Jesus Christ. Instead, I took this case to the court and in theend, I won the case.

But we were told to remove the books from the literature departmentand that they were not to be sold anywhere. The fanatics warned usthat the books should not be found anywhere in the Sathyam office or

at our residence. The police gave us the notice that they were going toraid the house and, if they found any books, we would all be arrested.We were terrified. The book had already been printed in large numbersand the author had promised to collect all the books as soon as possiblebut he did not turn up. All the books were piled in our office cumresidence. I was thinking, “What are we supposed to do? Where arewe supposed to hide all the books?” We were worried and every timea vehicle came near our house we were afraid that the police werecoming to raid our place or arrest us. Only after making sure that thevehicle did not belong to the police did we go about doing our dailychores. My mother and my wife hid as many books as they could inwhatever places they could think of that the police would not search,including between the firewood. A couple of days later the author cameand collected all the books. It was only after he took away the booksthat we began to relax; for we knew even if the police came they wouldno longer be able to arrest us.

It was during this time I understood the meaning of Jesus’ words,“carry your cross and follow Me.” As I went through these trials anddifficulties, I realized that following Christ is not an easy task; it is definitelynot a bed of roses but rather extremely demanding- it demands mysoul, my life and everything!

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WIDOW’S MITE FOR THEIMPOSSIBLE

“Expect great things from God; attempt great things for God.”

William Carey

In 1996, The Sathyam Ministry office was shifted to a larger cityTiruvalla in a rented building and was named “Aksharakhani.” Wecontinued in that rented building for six years. During those years, weexperienced the mercy and providence of God. We needed a hugeamount to pay the rent in addition to the money needed for the staff aspayment. With the Sathyam publication based in the heart of Tiruvalla,the ministry began to flourish. I had a great desire to settle down in theThottabhagam area but we had no money to buy any piece of the land.

During this time, a man of God told me about some property which wasgoing to be sold in the Thottabhagam area and the Lord enabled us tobuy the land there. After constructing the office on the piece of landthat we had bought, we shifted to Thottabhagam where our office islocated at present. Soon Thottabhagam became the base for Sathyamministry and became the headquarters of Sathyam Ministries in 2001.

We were able to establish ourselves as publishers in the Christianliterature world in the south. But then we were burdened to reach outwith Christian literature in the northern part of India as well, wherehardly any Christian literature is available. But the question we facedwas, “How can we reach out to the whole of North India with Christianliterature?” India is a vast country with the second largest population inthe world and reaching out in the North seemed like a Herculean task.We had a strong desire to reach out to the communities of the Northbut had no idea how we would do it.

Sathyam Ministry Head Office, Kerala

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It was then that we came up with the thought of having a mobilebookshop where we would be able to reach out to most of the states ofNorth India. But we questioned where we would receive the financefor obtaining such a vehicle. The idea of owning a mobile literature shoplooked great but funding seemed to be the one hindrance from turningour dream into realty. Meanwhile, our magazine, “Jeevavachanam,”changed in 1997 from a monthly to a fortnightly magazine.

During these years though the ministry was going on, I was constantlyharassed by police and I had to report to the police as and when theydemanded. And the newspapers found pleasure in writing about meand the ministry in which I was involved. It seemed God was not listeningto my prayer or bothered about what I was going through. Finally Icame to a point when I said to myself, “I cannot go on like this withpolice always behind me and newspapers writing every move of mine.I am going to close down the ministry.”

I and my family always make it a point to share with each other theword and works of God before we started our prayers. We alwaysspend an hour or so sharing some encouraging stories, experiences ortestimonies with the children that would bolster their souls and spirits.This was the only time when the entire family would meet each other.That particular night, as we sat for family prayer, I shared with my familyabout frustration with the police and newspaper reporters. I alsodeclared my decision to close down the ministry. As I spoke of closingdown the ministry, my wife Mary, who had been silently sittingsympathizing with me, spoke up and asked me, “Who told you to start

this ministry?” As Mary asked me this question, I felt a sword piercingright through my heart. On that night we as a family rededicated ourlives once again for ministry and resolved to do the literature andpublishing ministry more effectively.

As soon as the prayer was over I went back to the room and beganto ponder over the question Mary had asked me during the prayer,“Who told you to start this ministry?” In those quiet moments, God toldme that what I was doing was God’s ministry and not mine. I was onlyan instrument in His hand for fulfilling his plan and it was His job to takecare of me, my family and the ministry. I went to bed fully assured ofGod’s provision and protection for me and my family and the faith thatGod was going to bless me and the ministry he had entrusted in mycare.

It had been my desire ever since I left the monastery and into literatureministry to own a mobile book bus which would enable us to carrygospel to every nook and corner of India. This desire of mine becamemy passion. I shared my passion with my friends and many of themthought I was crazy to even think of such a big project which costedaround 15 lakh rupees ($ 35,000). Some of them encouraged me butmost of them laughed at me saying it was an impossible task.

Others told me that they would help me financially for my dream toturn into reality. I trusted these friends of mine and hoped that theywould give me financial assistance. But these friends did not help meand I learned my lesson. It is better to trust in the Lord than to putconfidence in man.

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I still remember with gratitude the three widows who on hearing myvision project came forward to meet me after the speech. They gavewhatever little they had for this project. They were the first people todonate for this cause. And God Almighty blessed the widows’ mites.

During this time the Lord opened a way for me to go to the UnitedStates. While in the United States I was told of an exhibition of mobilebook buses in the state of Ohio. Immediately, I took ticket and flew toOhio. I visited every company that were present in exhibition andcollected every brochure available on mobile book buses. I took asmany pictures as I could of the buses to bring down to India with me fordesigning the bus. During my stay in United States, I visited most of theBrethren churches. I shared my vision and passion of having a mobilebook shop to reach “the un-reached” people or groups, with the churchesI visited. I laid before them my blue print and the expense involved inturning this dream into reality. The Kerala congregations were thrilledwith my vision to reach to those deprived of God’s word in North Indiaand they ended up donating generously towards this project. From theKerala churches in the United States alone I received a sum of Rs 12,000, 00 ($27,906) for this cause.

I returned to India excited about the way that the Lord worked in thehearts and minds of people.

The book mobile team ministry in North India

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Vachana Vahini, the Mobile Book Shop

WHO WILL LOVE THEM? ORPHANAGE

He is the Life that I want to live.He is the Light that I want to radiate.

He is the way to the Father.He is the Love with which I want to love

He is the Joy that I want to shareHe is the peace that I want to sow

Jesus is everything to me.Without Him, I can do nothing.

Mother Teresa

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After returning to India, I went to Bangalore. Here I visited a companythat manufactures buses and laid out my plans and blue print for them.With the contributions made by the children of God in different parts ofthe globe, we were able to buy the vehicle. Within months the bus wasready to go on roads!

We named the mobile book shop as, “Vachanavahini” meaning“Messenger of His Word.” With the mobile bookshop, we were ableto reach out with the Christian literature to most of the states of NorthIndia.

Some time ago a Hindu gentleman was asked, “Who is a Christian?”He gave an answer that was both very simple and surprising. “AChristian is someone who gives of himself.”

I know many Christians may not agree with this answer but this istrue. God gave us His Son not because we were rich or worthy orhighly educated but because He saw our helpless state of sin. JesusChrist while on earth gave us the greatest command to love our neighboras our selves. The question that each one of us reading this book needsto ask

is,” How am I to love my neighbor as myself?” The answer is, by givingour time, money, health and above all showering him with the love ofChrist. But we Christians in our Christian race to reach heaven are soheavenly minded that we are no earthly good. We are so focused ongetting to heaven that we forget to look and see what is happening.Often we forget the purpose behind God calling us and setting us apart.

God has called us to heal the broken hearted and set the captives free.From the very start, we believe that to be a Christian is nothing otherthan to give oneself for the sake of Christ. God so loved the world thatHe gave us His Son. That was the first act of self-giving. His Son wasgiven to us because He wanted to be one with us, like us in every wayexcept sin. He wanted to pass on to us the opportunity to give ourselvesto Him, so we could turn our love for Him into living deeds.

As I got into the ministry, I decided that I would give my time, healthand wealth for the poor and oppressed in the society. I would expressmy love to the Lord by loving them and being their hands and feet.

Whenever I went to Mumbai (Bombay) I visited the slums and sawmany boys and girls wandering through the streets not knowing whomtheir parents are and where they would spend the night. If you everpass through the streets of Mumbai, you will see children doing all kindsof awful jobs just to feed their hungry stomachs. Though child labor isbanned in India, most of the restaurants and shops employ childrenunder the age of 18. The employers are keen on employing these littlechildren because they can be easily exploited, made to work for longerhours and paid very little or no wages. But not all children are lucky toget menial jobs to fill their stomachs. Not all are born with good healthand many of them are victims of chronic illness. The question is, “whatdo these children do to feed themselves who are too small or sick towork?” They are not blessed with caring and loving parents whosepriority is feeding their children. The sad part is not many kids knowwho their parents are or where their house is.

Kids at the Sathyanikethan Orphanage

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Mumbai is one of the largest and fastest growing metropolitan citiesin India. Industrially and commercially with thousands of large factories,Mumbai is a thriving city in a modernizing India. But with economicgrowth comes the people who flock to the cities in hope of findingwork. And the city of Mumbai cannot support their demands. Thereforethe city’s slums are grim reality. With thousands of slums and the estimated12 million slum dwellers, Mumbai is having one of the world’s largest, ifnot largest slum area growths.

If you happen to visit the railway stations in the major cities of India,you will find these children sleeping covered with mud and dirt on thepavements and on the railway platforms. Most of them stink terriblyand are blanketed with flies. But they are not aware they need to havea shower and put on clean clothes to keep off flies. For them beingblanketed with flies has become a part of their lives and are not concernedabout keeping themselves hygienic. If you tell them to take a shower,the question they ask is, “Who will give us clothes to change?” So mostof these street kids hardly take a shower or change their clothes. Sincethese children are living in such grubby, unclean and unhygienicenvironments, they have various types of skin diseases and other chronicillnesses. The most pitiful sight is when these children loiter near therestaurants waiting for the customers to throw their leftover food intothe trash bin so that they can all grab one bite each. Seeing the plight ofthese innocent children with no future, I was disturbed and my heartwas heavy. I knew many of these little girls would turn to prostitutionand the little boys would become drug peddlers and criminals. I wasburdened to do something for them. I often imagined myself standingbefore the judgment throne and God saying to me,

“I was hungry and you gave me no mealI was thirsty and you gave me no drinkI was homeless and you gave me no bedI was shivering and you gave me no clothesSick and in prison, and you never visited. (Matthew 25: 42, the Message)

Every child I looked at was crying for bread, for justice and forhuman dignity; yet I passed them by! Not just once or twice but manytimes. I saw in my dreams the faces of these little innocent childrencovered with dirt and heard their voices telling me, “ I am naked andstripped of every necessity, denied justice and even the simple recognitionthat I am just like you, created by the same loving God to love and tobe loved. But I was left for dead, alone and dejected. I was thrown outinto the streets, unwanted, unloved, and ignored. Do you have roomfor me?” These thoughts for these street children kept haunting me andI decided to do something for them.

I realized that the poor do not need our pity. They do not need oursympathy. What they need is our love and compassion. We do notneed to love them from our abundance. We must love them withwhatever we have. We must love them with our time, our hands andour hearts. In short, we need to share all that we have. For these needychildren, we need to live a life of sacrifice.

I shared my concern of starting an orphanage for these helplesschildren with my friends, Randy and Mitchell. They were instantly filledwith great joy as they too shared the same thoughts that I had and wereabout to bring the same to my attention. Without delay, they prayerfullydonated some amount of money for this noble cause and thus we started

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the Sathya Nikethan, an orphanage at Mumbai for children. We remindedourselves that today’s children are tomorrow’s citizens.

With much prayer and determination to create a better society,Sathyam Ministries opened its first orphanage in Mumbai on February17, 2004. Sathya Niketan or ‘Shelter of Truth’ was inaugurated just onthe outskirts of Mumbai, mere miles away from what is known to bethe largest slum in Asia. On the inauguration ceremony of Sathya Niketan,many government officials and elite in the society honored us with theirpresence and assured us of their moral support for this noble cause. Pr.David Mills from California, USA honored us by dedicating SathyaNiketan for the glory of God. Today Sathya Niketan is a witness ofGod’s faithfulness to the poor, fatherless and the needy.

At present Sathya Niketan is a home for 50 children. Sathya Niketanis definitely home for these children because they are blanketed withlove and care by are dedicated staff who spend their days and nightswith these adorable little children. We hope to provide these childrenwith good health care, the best education possible, nutritious food andabove all with love and compassion. We try to provide not only physicalcare to these children but also spiritual. We have constructed apermanent building for the orphanage in the newly owned seminarycampus.

At Sathya Niketan children are introduced to Jesus from the veryfirst day of their arrival and are taught to love God because we believeGod has brought them to us with a special purpose and God has aspecial plan for their lives. The words of psalmist, “He lifted me out ofthe miry clay” is literally true in these children’s case. They have literallybeen picked out of dirt and bathed. They have literally been picked outof dirt and bathed. They are given a new set of dress to wear, we cuttheir unkempt and lice filled hair, treat their wounds and sickness, andgive them an altogether new look, which at times is a real challenge. Buttill date God has given grace and wisdom to our staff to do everythingas they would do to Jesus.

These children are hungry for God and love. These children aregems because they give us a lot of love and joy by accepting us. Theyare grateful for the shelter they have. They have no complaints with thefood provided and are happy with the clothes they wear. For themevery broken toy is a treasure that they cherish. Above all, theyappreciate the little things we do for them.

C.V. praying with the Kids at the Orphanage

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When I see these innocent children, the smiles on their faces, theirenthusiasm to study and involvement in extracurricular activities, tearstrickle down my cheek. It is the tears of joy for these children who havebeen pulled out of the clutches of poverty, drugs and other abuses andgiven new life. And when I see these children I am assured that ourefforts are not in vain but will produce better citizens for the countryand bring glory to His name.

On 1 November 2009, a massive fire had left the orphanage incomplete ruins. By the good grace of the Almighty Lord, there were nocasualties. The fire was caused by a huge gas explosion that occured inthe building.

While sister Mini was preparing dinner for the children, the gas leakedout, which ultimately led to a giant explosion. The villagers who wererattled by the sound of the explosion rushed to the spot with buckets ofwater and with great effort managed to put down the fire.

The children who were clutched to the trauma had to be soothedand comforted by the staffs as well as some village women. The childrenand the staffs had to reside in another shelter until the orphanagerecouped its ruins. The persistent support from the villagers had madethings easier for us.

After months of toil and sweat, the Sathyanikethan Orphanagerecouped its loss and has started functioning normally by the grace ofGod and through prayers.

Swingli, a church father once said “Gospel without social work issoul without body.” Apostle Paul said, “For we are his workmanshipcreated in Christ Jesus for good works which God preparedbeforehand that we should walk in them”. (Ephesians 2:10)

So the next time you see the poor and neglected, remember Godhas chosen you and set you apart not to condemn them but to lovethem; not to push them away but to hug them. They do not need yoursympathy but your sacrificial love, time and energy.

The Orphanage house in Gujarat

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GOD HAS NO HANDSBUT OURS

“Make us worthy, Lord, to serve out brothers and sistersscattered throughout the entire world, who live and die in

poverty and hunger. Through the service of our hands, give themtheir daily bread and by our understanding love, give them peace

and joy.”

Mother Teresa.

In the past, our country has witnessed many calamities likeearthquakes and flood, famines and the Tsunami in 2004. When calamitystrikes one part of the country, the most common tendency of the lessaffected people is, “They are paying for what they have done” or, “ThankGod we are safe.”

January 26, 2001 was like any other day for the people of Gujarat.Being Republic day, children dressed in their best when attending schoolto pay respect to the country. The older working folks were making thebest use of their long awaited holiday by chatting about their gloriouspast and valiant deeds when all of a sudden the people of Gandhidham,Gujarat realized that the building in which they were residing was tilting.Was it a dream? No, they could hear the vessels falling on the groundand cries of women and little children from the kitchen saying the buildingis collapsing. The serene atmosphere was filled with cries of men, womenand children - all running for their lives. There was an earthquake and inno time, the skyscrapers were razed to the ground.

Thousands of people lost their lives within a few seconds and manybecame crippled for the rest of their lives. As I heard the news, I becamerestless and I said to myself, “We as the light of this world and salt ofthis earth need to do something about it. We also need to reach out witha helping hand.” I was more burdened than ever to reach out to the

More wheelchairs for the Tsunami relief operation

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people there because only a few months before our mobilebookshop, “Vachanavahini” had been to Gandhidam to conduct manymeetings. So, with a team of men from the Sathyam ministries,

I left for Gandhidam. We carried with us old used clothes, medicinesand wheelchairs.

When we reached there, all that we could see were the debris andthe rescue operations still going on. The stench from the corpses wasterrible. The fear of the government authorities was whether or not anyepidemic like cholera, malaria and plague would breakout. Whilecovering our noses with handkerchiefs, we made our way through thedebris and the sight was heart wrenching. Many children had lost theirhomes with nowhere else to go. The old clothes, medicines and wheelchairs all vanished in no time and we returned to our homes. Though Iwas comfortable within the four walls of my house, my mind was

disturbed. I was not at peace with myself. I could still hear the cry oflittle children searching for their parents and while the older folks writhedin pain. So after a few months, I once again paid a visit to the earthquakeaffected areas of Gujarat and I realized that people still had not recoveredfrom the aftermath of earthquake. What really bothered me were theinnocent faces of children walking about the streets playing.

As I walked through the streets, I asked the children in my brokenHindi, “Why are you not going to school?” They told me that in theearthquake, their school had vanished and there were no schools nearby.I was concerned about their futures for I knew today’s children aretomorrow’s citizens. I also realized that if these children are not educated,they will pervert to crime and will be a threat to the society. I camehome with the determination to do something for these innocent children.

A few months later, I returned to Gandhidam with the idea of startinga school for these innocent children. The government was not in favorof Christians and Gujarat is one of those states in India where the anti-Christian movement was so strong that Christians were persecutedfrequently. However, with the support of Mission Global Impact as

Food distribution in the flood-affected area

Food distribution in north east India

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well as the help of like-minded people and friends, the school was startedon a rented building in June 2003.

The intention of starting the school was not financially driven but toprovide an education to the children of the villages because I believeeducation is the right of every child. Depriving a child of his/her educationis to deprive him/her of a decent livelihood and a secure future. So westarted the school providing scholarships to the less privileged ones,irrespective of their caste or religion and now Sathyam Mission Schoolat Gandhidam in Gujarat is one of the leading schools in the region.Every child who attends the school is taught from scripture to love Godand live for Him. School has turned out to be a powerful medium ofspreading the good news of salvation. A Christian banner flies at theentrance of the school but this has not prevented the parents from sendingtheir children to receive an education there. We are using everyopportunity in every possible way to spread the good news.

In December 2004, when the Tsunami waves hit different parts ofthe world, people were terrified. Millions of people died and manywere left homeless. The rich and poor, officers and beggars all cameunder the shelter of rescue homes. Those rescued from the Tsunamiaffected areas were in tears for they had lost everything they had andnow craved for one meal. The cities of Ernakulum and Alappey inKerala and Koduloor and Velakanny in Tamil Nadu were the placesthat were affected by Tsunami. Many islands of Andaman and Nicobarwere wiped out from the map of the world.

Hearing the plight of the people, and seeing their condition on thetelevision, I could not sit at home without doing something for the peoplein need. As I lay down to sleep, words once heard and long sinceforgotten came to mind. It said, “God has no hands but ours, He has nofeet but ours. We are His messengers of peace and love and we are Hisspokesperson.” I knew God wanted me to reach out to the Tsunamiaffected areas with His love and compassion. With three trucks full ofold clothes, food and wheel chairs, a team from the Sathyam ministryreached the Tsunami affected areas and distributed it. We are not doingit out of abundance but with whatever limited resources we have. I doit because I love God. I know whatever I do to the least of my BrethrenI do it to Him. The only motive and joy in my life is to love Him andserve Him among the oppressed, poor, hungry, thirsty, unclothed and

C.V. with lepors in a village in Andhra Pradesh

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homeless. By working this way I am proclaiming the love andcompassion of God for each one of my brothers and sisters who suffers.

We live surrounded by a sea of suffering and poverty. If we lookaround, we can see hundreds of families struggling to make a living.India is a country with the second largest population in the world andhas 16% of the world population. According to Reaching IndiansMinistries International (www.rimi.org), India has over 1 billion peoplein an area 1/3 the size of the US and in India. Over 600 million individualslive in deep poverty and 300 million live below the international povertyline. It is estimated that by 2020, India will become the most populouscountry in the world with nearly 1.3 billion people.

One of the major problems India is facing is unemployment.Unemployment is like a cancer, eating society of its health and deprivingpeople of joy and peace in their lives. Unemployment has resulted in agap between the rich and poor, where the poor borrow from the richfor their existence. Often, the poor are unable to pay back their loans,

causing major problems among the people. To avoid the shame of notbeing able to pay back their debts and to avoid facing the threats frommoneylenders, many of the poor, along with the family members, commitsuicide.

Very often we think that poverty cannot be eradicated, however theproblem can be lessened if we are willing to share our food with thehungry and provide shelter to the homeless and clothes to theunprotected.

If the poor have at times starved to death, it is not because Goddoes not care for them; rather, it is because you and I have refused togive them food. We have not been instruments of love in God’s handsso that He can give them bread or offer them clothing.

If we want poverty to disappear, we must share what we have. Agentleman once asked Mother Teresa, “What must we do to eliminatepoverty from India?” She replied, “We need to learn to share with thepoor.” Sharing with the poor and helping them in their need is somethingthat God demands from us.

The number of the poor is very high because India’s population isvery large, the second-highest in the world. The income distribution inIndia is better than three-fourths of the countries of the world, howeverit has not trickled down to all the sections of the society. Theimprovement in social indicators like health, education, population,income, etc. has not kept tempo with economic growth and povertydecline, and this has led to escalating interstate inconsistencies in growthand poverty. Low or no income and education are some of the majorfactors that point to poverty. Poverty apparently lands one into hunger.

The bus team getting ready for Gujrat earth quakerelief operation in 2001

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This hunger is clearly seen on the streets, villages and footpaths. TheIndian governmental policies on income and education have not beenimplemented in a way that benefits the poor. Many women areunderweight and undernourished which has made a major contributeto the fact that 30 percent of Indian babies are born weighing less than5.50lbs.

India is home to 57 million (more than a third) of the world’sundernourished children. According to the National Family HealthSurvey, 46 percent of children under the age of three are underweightand 70 percent of children under five are anemic. Indian Prime MinisterManmohan Singh has acknowledged the severity of this situation as a“national shame.” The World Bank, quoting estimates made by the WorldHealth Organization, states “that about 49 per cent of the world’sunderweight children, 34 per cent of the world’s underdeveloped childrenand 46 per cent of the world’s washed out children, live in India.” Limitedor no access to electricity, water, houses and sanitation are some of theother factors fueling poverty in India.

Therefore, in order to help the weaker section of society, we starteda tailoring institute in the city of Vishakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh whereabout 100 women are given training to stitch clothes and do embroiderywork. The women who had been trained in the earlier batches are earningtheir livelihood by stitching clothes. Their income has been a source ofblessing to their families because they could send their children to schooland meet the basic needs of the family. We were also able to providemany economically backward families with sewing machines irrespectiveof caste or religion. The Lord enabled us thus far to provide 65 sewing

machines to needy families and we hope to give more sewing machinesto needy people in different states of India in the future.

If you are a regular reader of the newspaper, you will notice thatevery day in different parts of India women are burnt to death or theycommit suicide due to the problem of dowry. In India, the people rejoiceat the birth of a baby boy but with the birth of a baby girl there isgrumbling and dissatisfaction. People express their unhappiness at the

Gujarat Relief Work

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birth of a girl not because they do not like the child but because theyneed to pay a large amount as dowry at the time of the girl’s wedding.

One of the evils prevailing in the Indian society is the dowry system.In many families, the girl is considered a burden right from her birth. Atthe time of their daughter’s wedding, the family needs to pay a hugeamount of money (varying from place to place) to the groom’s parents.I do not call this a gift because a gift is something you give voluntarilybut in this case it is demanded. And the bride’s parents have to givewhatever amount the groom or his parents demand. If they fail to givethe amount within the stipulated time the innocent girl is harassed andtortured both physically and mentally. Many families are in tears becausethey are not able to get their daughters married off since they are notable to meet the dowry demand. I was disturbed when I saw the plightof so many families and the Lord enabled the Sathyam Ministries togive financial aid to a number of families, irrespective of their caste orreligion and thus get their daughters married.

Gift boxes and love buckets were distributed to the victims ofchikungunia and their family. In January 2001, our teams had alsoparticipated in the relief work in the earth quake affected areas of Gujarat.

Some of our members visited the schools in the village school inVijayanagara and other places, where they distributed several gift boxesand love buckets. The gift boxes brought smile and happiness onto theface of the children, which in turn brightened our souls.

28 September 2009 shone a black day on the people residing inAndhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Goa. The normalrain took a cruel face, a torrential rainfall which eventually led to a

grave flood. The Government has described this deluge as the mostawful in many decades in Southern India, which killed more than280 people. Thousands were left without a roof over their head anddeprived of food and clothing.

The weather officials said that a depression in the Bay of Bengal ledto the heavy rains in the region. This ultimately led to the death of about169 in Karnataka, while the neighboring state Andhra Pradesh witnessed50 deaths and 21 in Maharashtra.

Our Sathyam Ministry Relief Centre workers were sent to AndhraPradesh. They were on their toe to help the people, who have beendeprived of shelter, food, clothing and other necessities, recoup.

Through charitable works we were sharing the love of God. Weproved that we were “created in Christ Jesus, for good works”(Ephesians 2: 10).

As we live in this dark world, St. Francis of Assisi prayers to theLord,

Make me an instrument of your peace;Where there is hatred, let me sow love;Where there is injury, pardon;Where there is doubt, faith;Where there is despair, hope;Where there is darkness, light;Where there is sadness, joy.

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SATHYAMTHEOLOGICAL SEMINARY

If you ever travel from one part of India to the other in a train youwill pass be many dirty, unclean villages and, according to the statistics,about 60 % of the country’s population live in villages. They live in tiny,thatched-roof, mud huts which are hardly ventilated, with dirt all aroundthem. While traveling by train I have often thought about their eternity.I have wondered, “Have they ever been reached with the gospel? Arethere missionaries working in these slum villages?” And to this day Idon’t think my question has a positive answer. Though I have never

been able to reach these villages personally, I always had a burden forthese lost and perishing people. Deep inside I wanted to declare tothem that Jesus is the only true and living God who could give them joyand peace. At the same time I also understood my inability to reach outto them. The Lord knew my innermost desire and He opened the doorfor starting Sathyam Theological Seminary.

Theological Seminary was initially started by the Faith CommunityChurch, Los Angeles (California). One of the goals of Sathyam Ministriesis to equip able men for the evangelization in the North Indian villagesand we realized that we could at least aim towards

this goal with the help of a seminary. Therefore in order to bring this intoour dream of reaching the North Indian villages with love of Jesus Christ,Sathyam Ministries started Sathyam Theological Seminary on July17,2003, at Mumbai (Bombay). The seminary was opened at the same

C.V. with the Seminary Students

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time when the leadership conference was held at Mumbai sponsoredby Sathyam Ministries.

Sathyam Theological Seminary was started not to add to the list ofseminaries. It was not started to compete with any other seminaries inthe country. It was not started with the financial promises of an individualor a church. It was started with a clear vision and direction from theLord. It was instituted when the Sathyam Ministries clearly felt the needof training native missionaries and sending them out to reach the peopleirrespective of caste or creed or religion with the

gospel of Jesus Christ. It was established when the Sathyam Ministriesfelt the need for more native trained men of God to stand in the frontline of the battle field, especially in the rural areas, by equipping themthrough theological education. It was set up because the SathyamMinistries believe that each servant of the Lord has the right to masterthe basic doctrines of the Bible which will also prevent the teaching andspreading of false doctrines and also being victims of it. The desire andmission of Sathyam Ministries is to produce good native theologians

“rightly dividing the word of God” with a vision and passion for the lost.Our desire is that the graduates of our seminary will become the localpastors and church leaders on the front lines of evangelizing India.

The first batch of students in the Sathyam Theological Seminaryrepresented six states of the country, with a total of 26 and 20 students,respectively. It was a humbling experience to train these men in theknowledge of the Word of God knowing that these dear students ofours were going to be the pillars of the ministry in rural villages of India.

The third batch of 16 students graduated on 16 March 2010 in thepresence of Evg. Mathew Paul from Coimbatore, Pastor David H Millsand Pastor Jonathan Marshall.

At present, the fourth batch of students is being trained at theseminary. They are being educated in English and Hindi, as knowledgeof both is essential for effective evangelism in North India. As part oftheir training, the students participate in the following programs inconjunction with their regular curriculum: Evangelistic outreach in remotevillages, distribution of Gospel tracts, and preaching at open air meetingswithin the cities.

The students who study at the Sathyam Theological Seminary areprovided with free boarding and lodging and given help in many otherways as and when the faculty and staff feels the need of it. I am gratefulto God for providing Sathyam Theological Seminary with dedicatedteachers and staff who love the Lord and labor for Him irrespective oftime and are willing to cross any hurdle for the smooth functioning of theseminary. Without their hard work and dedication, smooth functioningof the theological seminary would have been difficult.

Third Graduation Ceremony

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At present the seminary is located in Kerala. In the long run, ourvision is to accommodate about 500 students and to become an excellentacademic as well as church planting institution in India. For this purpose,we need to construct a hostel and classrooms for students, and quartersfor the faculty and staff. Hence, we prayerfully rely on God to provideus with the same.

Sathyam Research Institute andDisability Center

Every child, blonde or black, yellow or brown, is a gift from God.God has given them to our care to love them, nourish them and bringthem up in the fear of the Living God. It is the desire of every parent thattheir child would grow up to be a person who brings them honor andrespect in society. But what will be your reaction if you are told thatyour new born baby, whom you had longed to see and had beendreaming of all these months, is not a healthy baby as you had wishedand will live all his life as a mentally disabled person? Do you think yourcastle which you had been building for your son/daughter will come

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Justin’s Home

crashing down? Well, that’s how I felt when my son Justin was bornand doctors said that he is a mentally retarded child.

The moment our second son Justin was born, one look at him andwe knew something was not right with him. But then we knew he was agift to us from God and God wanted us to be good stewards of the gifthe had given to our care.

Raising a differently able child at times is a real challenge. Mary andI had been challenged many times in the past few years in raising him.These children cannot go to regular schools and have to be given specialcare and attention in every step.

As a child we took Justin to different hospitals and all they told uswas his IQ was low. No doctor ever told us that he should not be put ina regular school for children. So when Justin was about 4 years old likeany other kid in our country, he was sent to a regular school with thehope that he will pick up his lessons. But every day we got complaintsfrom the school about Justin’s inability to adjust in the class and hisattitude problem. Since we were receiving complaints from both teachersand students, we were forced to remove him from school.

At that time, we were told of a school for the mentally disabledchildren in another city. We drove to that city and met with the authorities.After talking to them they promised to give Justin admission in theirschool. But the problem was since the school was far away; he couldnot stay with us and had to be in the boarding. On our way home, wetold our son that he was going to be sent to the boarding school. Otherthan that the drive back home was quiet. The silence was broken byMary when she expressed her desire to start a special school for thementally challenged children in the town where we were staying. I didnot encourage the subject because I knew that to start a school requireda lot of finance and we did not have money then. Justin was disturbedwith the thought of being send to the boarding school and did not sleepthe whole night. We as parents were worried about the developmentstaking place in him and we dropped the plan of sending him to a boardingschool.A Mentally Retarded Child undergoing Vocational Training

C.V. and Mary with the kids at the special school

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He was sent to another regular school closer to Mary’s school whereshe was working as a teacher with the hope that she will be able to paymore attention to him. But changing schools or placing him in a schoolcloser to Mary’s work place did not improve the situation. We keptreceiving complaints from school about him. The worst to suffer wasMary because in my absence she had to take care of him, managehome, office and then go for work. It was taking its toll on her. And ifJustin failed to go to school one day, Mary had to take him with her toher school where she was working as a teacher. Justin was hyperactiveand disturbed everyone.

Mary still remembers vividly one particular incident where she reallycried out to God asking for special grace. Mary had been teaching thetenth grade when she was interrupted by one of the helper boys ofJustin’s school. Excusing herself from class she came out to meet him tolearn what happened to Justin and he told her that Justin has soiled hisclass room by wetting his pants. Mary excused herself from the classafter explaining the situation to her students and by the time she reachedJustin’s school- to his class room, there were no students in the classexcept him and he had messed the room completely. Anger andfrustration gripped every inch of Mary and she was almost on the vergeof tears. The other children were accusing Justin of soiling their classroombut Justin was least bothered about what was happening around himand what people were saying.

Mary looked around for water to clean both Justin and the classroombut there was no running water available anywhere. So she went to thewell, fetched water and cleaned Justin and the classroom. People lookedat her with sympathy but she did not want their sympathy. She was

frustrated. She cried out to God “Please God, find me a special schoolfor mentally retarded children closer to my home or give us money tostart a school.” And God heard her despairing cry and when Justin waseleven years old, a special school for the mentally retarded childrenwas open in the neighboring town and Justin was admitted there. Inspite of finding a school for Justin, Mary was forced to quit her job totake care of him.

In the mean time we came across parents with children who werementally disabled. In India to send a mentally disabled child to school isexpensive and not every parent can afford it. Mary was moved withsympathy and she wanted to do something for these neglected anddiscarded children. Both Mary and I believe that God has gifted us withJustin to be a blessing to other parents who are struggling. Mary was allmore burdened to do something for these mentally challenged childrenafter reading Rick Warren’s book, The Purpose Driven Life, and shebegan to pray to God for opportunities to serve mentally challengedchildren. God answered her prayer and we were able to open SathyaNiketan – a learning disability center for the mentally challenged children,in a rented building and currently we have 48 children between the ageof 3 and 15. Though much expense is involved in maintaining and runningthe institution most of the children coming to Sathya Niketan do not payany tuition fee as they are from poor families. Our prayer to the Lord isthat God will strengthen our hands to manage this institution for Hisglory and to be a blessing to the mentally challenged children and theirfamilies.

For 22 years, Sathyam Service Trust has been working in the fieldof social welfare and charity and had thrown light to the downtrodden

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in the society, through its outreaching programs and activities. It hasmainly focused its activities in the area of disability and has preparedthousands to be independent. We understand disability as a conditionof dependence, which can be ameliorated through proper guidance andtraining.

Hence, with the vision to empower the disabled population throughthe help of the society, I started the Sathyam Research Institute andDisability Center in Tiruvalla, Kerala. SRIDC is the result of immenserequirement of uplifting the disabled population in the Indian society.The mission of SRIDC is to expose and develop the hidden skills andabilities of a person with disability, to train and develop life skills, topromote and direct employment opportunities to people with disability,to remove social, cultural, economic barriers of disability towardsdevelopment, to provide basic education and training for betterment inthe life of a disabled person, to organize and implement a comprehensive,integrated program of research and training, to develop rural communityinfrastructure, to enhance opportunities for people with disabilities andto achieve their own goals by leading healthy and independent life.

We at SRIDC provide services like screening and identification,referrals for hospital and surgical interventions, physiotherapy,occupational therapy, speech therapy, mobility aids like wheelchair andtricycles, social survey and research works, day care and residentialservices, parent and student counseling, community and house basedrehabilitation, health care and medical facility, daily living skills, andnutritional skills.

Apart from the Sathyanikethan School for the mentally retardedchildren, SRIDC also supports Women Employment Program, IndustrialTraining Center, Computer Training, Training Program for staff and

parents, Skill Development Programs, Pre-vocational Training, PrintingTechnology and Tailoring Unit.

Sathyam Ministries organized the 2nd International Seminar on MentalRetardation on 27 November, 2009 and 28 November, 2009 at theKaviyoor Disability Center, Tiruvalla, Kerala. Around 250 people keenlyparticipated in the seminar.

Jackie Mills- Fernald, Washington DC, who is considered to be themost valuable resource person interested in improving the access forpeople with disabilities, was the key-note speaker for the two-dayseminar. She instituted the Capital Area Disabilities Ministries, a coalitionof 20 Washington DC churches, in 2007. She has been an activeparticipant of the Access Ministries since 1999.

The Tailoring Unit of SRIDC

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The parents of mentally retarded children were taught the techniquesto educate their child. They were also introduced to the ways to preparea special curriculum tailored to their child’s needs. “Involve your childin extracurricular activities to foster a sense of social interaction”, saidJackie Mills.

The aim of this seminar to provide awareness to the parents as wellas teachers in making their child self dependent, was successfully sentacross to the hearts of all the parents.

About 100 mentally retarded children were left with excitement andhappiness when they were given a great opportunity to cut a 300 kgcake in the form of a shooting star, as apart of the 2009 Christmascelebrations, which was organized in collaboration with the PhysicallyHandicapped Association, Pathanamthitta, Kerala.

At the dawn of a new century, we are witnessing a new day inmissions. A few years ago, no one dreamt that the Asian church wouldbe ready to lead the final thrust. But dedicated native evangelists arebeginning to go out and reach their own. Even more exciting: we have arole. God is calling all of us to be part of what He is doing.

Sathyam Mission Schools

The moment you think of school, the picture that comes to ourmind is of children neatly dressed in their school uniforms and sayinggoodbye to their parents as the school bus comes to pick them up attheir doorstep. This is a privilege that is enjoyed only by a few especiallythose living in cities. For the simple village folks, this is a fairytale or,even if reality, could happen only in a far, far away land.

In most of the villages the children do not go to school. For sureeveryone will be enrolled in the school but hardly anyone goes to school.As you read these lines, you might wonder why it is that child do not goto school or why the parents are not taking the initiative in sending themto school?

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In villages, more children means more hands for work in the fieldsand home. These parents do not know the importance of educationand can hardly understand the need for it. For them sending a child toschool is waste of money and time. They may consider sending theirsons to school but many village folks still prefer to keep their daughtersat home and the reason is “she is to be given in marriage to some manand why bother to teach her to read and write.” And the other reasonfor not sending the girl child to school is “she is not going to get any jobby studying and so why teach her and spend money on her. Instead ofgoing to school, if she learns how to manage both household work andthe work at the field, it will be easy finding a suitable groom for her bythe time she is of marriageable age.”

If you go to many of the villages in North India, you will find villageswhere not even one person has cleared his tenth grade. These villagesare economically very poor and you will find people who haven’t crossedthe boundary of their village. They do not know how or what a city or

town looks like or cannot imagine that a person could talk over a phone.For them, the phone, computer and internet are still unimaginableconcepts. When the ministers of our country are talking of a hi-techcity, it makes no sense to the common man in the village. What bothershim is his paddy field and his animals which he wants to give his childrenas their family property.

Why blame the parents for not sending the children to school or whyblame the children for not going to school? Most of the schools do nothave even the basic necessities like benches and tables. The children siton the ground and write by bending towards the floor, and during thewinter they have their classes outside under a tree! And what shockedme the most was the complacent attitude of the government becausemost of the schools have only two or three teachers and they are tomanage 5 to 6 classes at a time which is impossible. In addition to that,these teachers have to maintain all the records and accounts resulting innot going to classes and not teaching students.

Students of the Mission School, Gujarat

Children of the Mission School in the Vijayanagaram Village,Andhra Pradesh (India) along with their gift boxes.

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When I look at these children, I am always reminded that they aretomorrow’s citizen and are to be the pride of the nation. But if they arenot disciplined and educated right from their childhood, they would, forsure, follow the path of their parents. I believe as Christians, followersof Jesus Christ, we have responsibility and obligation to our society andour country at large. The privileges and jobs that we enjoy today arebecause our parents strove to give us the best education possible and ifwe consider how our parents or grandparents were inspired to educateus, it is because of the output of missionaries in their lives. Themissionaries who came to India have made us aware of the need foreducation, they established schools for us so that we could study andrise on the ladder of success. But not everyone in India has beenprivileged as we are. Many of the towns and villages in our country stilldo not have access to education. If we ourselves who claim to be childrenof the Almighty God cannot do it for our own people, who will do it?

.C.V. with the grade 1 students during their graduation ceremonyat Gujarat school

As I traveled to some of the Indian villages, my heart ached andI determined to do something for them. The more I traveled the moreI became sensitive to the need of starting schools in the villages, notwith profit motive but for serving the poor, downtrodden and theoppressed.

After the devastating earthquake hit Gandhidam, Gujarat, SathyamMinistries saw the opportunity and need to take part in the rebuildingprocess. In partnership with Global Impact, the Sathyam Mission Schoolwas opened in Gandhidam. Later on we felt an urgent and immediateneed to develop a school in the village of Vijayanagara. In each ofthese schools, the children are taught not only to read and write, butalso about the only true and Living God who can save them from eternalhell and give them joy and happiness and a promising future.

At Sathyam Ministries, we do not do these things because we haveabundant resources, but because the love of God compels us. Ourdream and prayer is a better India where everyone will be educatedand call upon the name of the only one Lord who is Jesus Christ.

Sathyam Mission School has a twofold purpose. First, to create aChristian institution that would function as the head quarters for theministry in the northern state of Gujarat and second to educate andraise up the children in a Christian environment and prepare them fortheir role in budding the Gospel. Scholarships are offered to the financiallypoor children so that they will also receive the same quality education.

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Mission activities have recently been prohibited in Gujarat as thestate government has made new laws. Religious fundamentalists in thechanging Indian government have passed laws which make both publicpreaching and baptizing a new believer as illegal acts in Gujarat. This inturn has made these activities, the forefront of many anti-Christian laws,still pending in the state legislature.

The Sathyam Mission School is one of Sathyam’s efforts to findnew ways to spread the good news. The Gospel message is proclaimedto the enrolled children despite the laws prohibiting the preaching of thegospel which at the same time is difficult to do in public ministry. Althoughthe majority of the students are of Hindu religious backgrounds and aChristian banner flies at the entrance, parents are willing to send theirchildren because of the quality curriculum and facilities available, makingit a promising school.

The Lord has blessed Sathyam Mission School with a new 15 seat-bus that will provide transportation for its ministry needs. Currently, the

school is running in an owned building, while the new building is under-construction. Truth Ministries International is praying that in the nearfuture, plans for the purchase and construction of the building will be onits way. Please continue to pray for this new and exciting ministry. Praythat the children will be the good soil in which the seeds sown by thegospel grow and bring forth fruits pleasing to the kingdom of God.

Gujarat school

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Kids in high spirit eagerly waiting to play on the newplayground received from Kids around the world & friends

CHURCH PLANTING &VILLAGE MINISTRY

In February 2004, while I was visiting the state of Andhra Pradesh,a lady about 80 years old came with tears in her eyes and hugged me.I asked her, “Why are you crying and what can I do for you?” As Iasked her these questions she began to sob uncontrollably and told methat she had been waiting to see me to thank me for sending the SathyamTheological Seminary students to her village. And she wanted to knowwhy the Sathyam Ministries delayed in sending missionaries to her village.

What she told me opened my eyes to the fact that there are stillmany villages in India which have never been reached with the gospeland the question,” Why did you delay in sending missionaries to myvillage?” by that old woman kept ringing in her ears. Then it dawned

on me that though the cities are crowded with mission organizations,pastors and evangelists, the villages are yet to be reached with thegospel. Therefore the Sathyam Ministries decided to send missionariesto interior villages that are unreached with the gospel.

Training evangelists for village ministry is one of the goals of Sathyamministries. We have been able to train men in many batches teachingthem basic Christian doctrines and methods of evangelization. We haverealized that there are hardly any churches in the villages. Hence we arefocusing on remote villages where there are no churches.

These men who are send out to reach the unreached villages arepeople with passion and vision to reach out to them, willing to pay anyprice and use whatever means are available for spreading the gospel.Many of these missionaries travel from one village to the other eitheron foot or bicycle to spread the good news. Rain or shine, they maketheir way through the rough gravel roads, along the paddy fields to theneighboring villages so that those illiterate, poor village folks will alsoknow about Jesus. These villages are really the front line of the ministry.In the cities, other churches and ministries are present to uphold truth,

Believers of a Village Church

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but out in the villages, there are no churches. Most of these peoplehave never heard the name of Jesus, much less of His great love andsacrifice. The wonderful thing about this ministry is that the people areso open and receptive to the Gospel. In many of the villages there isvery little opposition from religious fanatics, and the work is fruitfuland unhindered.

Comparing with the urban ministry, ministry in the rural villages isless expensive. The cost of a church building comes to nearly $100and the evangelist can have their basic needs met for a mere $25 permonth.

The life of a missionary in a village is really tough. Some of them toilfor the Lord in those areas where no electricity or sanitation facility orproper transportation is available. But the native missionaries aredetermined to plant churches in those villages/ areas where there arehardly any churches. What makes the Sathyam Ministries reach out tothose interior villages with the gospel is the love of God. Many of thesevillages do not have churches and compared to the cities, the cost ofbuilding a church in village is cheap and the living expense of the peopleis also cheap. In the villages it has been estimated that a family can havetheir basic needs met for a mere $50 a month and church constructedfor only $500.

During December 2005, Sathyam Ministry students and the mobileliterature team visited these villages. The team distributed thousands ofgospel tracts and preached God’s word in many villages.

We have also had organized various and numerous seminars andconferences on Church planting, especially in the North-eastern India

where access to the word of God is limited. Many foreign pastors, suchas Pastor David H Mills have come and made the church leaders awareof the need to plant churches in those places where people desire tohear the word of God, but have no access. States like Vijaynagara(Andhra Pradesh), West Bengal, Assam and Calcutta are the maintargeted areas where we have started plans to plant the churches. Thechurch leaders from various and near-by states have been made awareof this noble cause and they have promised their full support and prayerstowards this action.

Some leaders used to address the gathering with the word of theLord, while the other evangelists share the updates of their ministries,their Assembly gatherings, church building and the needs of theirassembly. Often, their meetings and worships have to be conducted insmall open air sheds or in rented buildings. Despite such adversitiestheir passion to spread the Lord’s word is truly incredible and inspiring.

Pastor David Mills explaining to the leaders the importance ofChurch Planting

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Most of them, who come from Hindu background and had to facemuch persecutions from within their family and society, took theseordeals and tribulations as a mark of increasing their faith.

When I see these missionaries working for the Lord I often imaginethat God will give them a standing ovation as a mark of respect becauseforsaking the comfort of city life they are willing to live in villages withtheir families. For them not having a fan to relieve the heat of summerdoes not bother them or not having dry fire wood to cook meals duringthe rainy season is no reason to grumble. They are happy to climb hillsand walk through valleys for the Lord Jesus Christ. If you ask themwhy they are doing it, all of them would unanimously say, “God hassaved us and how can we not tell of this God to the village folks.”

The church leaders from various states taking notes during theconference

LITERATURE MINISTRY

If you ever asked me how I met Jesus Christ or who introducedme to Jesus Christ, without hesitation I would say, “a gospel tract.”Yes, it was through a gospel tract given to me in a bus that changed mylife. And I believe the written word has the power to transform

Sathyam book store at the world book fair

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the life of an individual or a community.

It was a simple gospel tract that revolutionized my thinking and forcedme to get out of the monastery not knowing what the future was holdingfor me.

I believe if a gospel tract could transform my life, it can do it to otherstoo. And it was this belief that forced me into literature ministry. To giveliterature to a person you don’t need to be an orator or a preacher buta simple instrument in the hands of the living God. When I got out of theseminary, I was only a babe in my Christian faith and I did not knowhow to witness Christ or serve the people. But I knew I could write andthus began writing for the glory of God. When I saw my first book, “Why I am not a Roman Catholic?” being sold in the market like hotcakes I was thrilled and determined to write again. Along my life’sjourney of literature ministry God honored me and helped to become aleading publisher in South India.

As the ministry began to grow we felt the growing need for publishinga Christian family magazine informing the people of what is going on indifferent mission stations of the country. Thus Jeeva Vachanam, a familymagazine, was started in 1991 and published as a biweekly. Throughthis media we are reaching out to people with news from different missionstations of missionaries with their struggles, challenges and also newsfrom around the globe. We also publish Christian articles which help inthe growth and renewal of individuals and churches both in India andabroad.

As we ventured further into the literature ministry, I realized thatthere were very few books in Malayalam. This meant the common man

had no access to books of his own language. This thought really botheredme and the Sathyam Literature Service took up the challenge oftranslating the books of some of the well known authors of the Christianworld like Dr. Billy Graham, D. L. Moody, C. H. Spurgeon, C. H.Mackintosh, Dr. H. A. Ironside and Dr. Paul Yongi Cho. God enabledus not only to translate their books but also publish them. Translatingand publishing these books had been a painful and tiresome job. Butwe forget it all when we see smiles on the faces of people as they areable to read and understand it in their own language. We forget aboutthe struggle we endured and the money spent when we see studentsstudying in the vernacular medium buying it for writing their assignments.When I see all these happening right in front of my eyes, I silently thankGod for saving me through one Gospel tract. It is my dream to translatemany more books and make it available to the people in their ownlanguage. Please pray for me and the Sathyam Literature Service thatGod will give us the grace and strength to translate and publish manymore books.

The landmark of our literature ministry was when the SathyamLiterature Service published the first encyclopedia in the Indian language.For this major task more than 100 Bible scholars from India and abroadcontributed. This encyclopedia is published in four volumes and contains5000 pages and a lot of colored pictures.

It had been my dream to own a large Christian book shop and Godopened way for it in 1988. Sathyam Literature Service now has a largeChristian book store in the heart of Tiruvalla and is known as SathyaKoodaram. Today it is one of the leading book stores and also servesa distribution outlet of Bibles, cassettes, Christian books etc. My prayer

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to the Lord is that the Christian book store, Sathya Koodaram, willcontinue to serve the needs of the people and every person who comesinto the store will know and love God.

I had always desired that every believer rich or poor will have accessto Christian books which will not only encourage them but help them intheir spiritual growth and walk with the Lord. For doing this, last yearSathyam Literature Service decided to start libraries by donating booksin different parts of the country with the co-operation of local churchesand Christian organizations. We do this not because we have manybooks to be given away but with the prayer and belief that people willhave access to Christian books and will not be disappointed at nothaving money to buy them. Please pray that God will strengthen ourhands to donate books to many more churches in different parts of thecountry.

Though Sathyam Literature Service Trust started the Christian BookStore, Sathya Koodaram, in the city of Tiruvalla and about hundredChristian libraries with the cooperation of local churches and Christianorganization around the country making literature accessible to as manyas possible, the thought still bothering me was, “What about those villagesand towns which still has no access to Christian literature?” In manyways I was happy that God had enabled us to reach out with the writtenword of God to thousands and thousands of people but I was notsatisfied. I wanted to reach out to the whole of India- the dirty mudcovered villages up in the north, the red light areas in the city of Mumbai,in short every corner of my country with the Gospel.

The only way we could do it was through mobile literature ministry.But then the question was finance. I shared my vision with my friendsand church both in India and abroad and they generously helped forthis project. With the prayers and help of believers all around the world,the Lord has made this Mobile Literature Unit called Vachana Vahini,or “Messenger of God’s Word” a reality.

Vachana Vahini is a custom designed large bus which serves notonly as a mobile book shop but also provides with a convertiblepreaching platform as and when the situation demands. This mobilebook shop, Vachana Vahini, is always on the move from one state tothe other giving away literature and conducting meetings wheneverpossible. The road for Vachana Vahini had not always been smooth.Often Vachana Vahini has come under attack from religious fanaticsand anti social elements. At times the inmates of the bus have beenthreatened and were forced to cancel all other programs for that areaand leave for the next city or village. Will you please pray for this ministrythat God will honor our desire of reaching the villages and cities with thelove of Jesus Christ through the written word? Till now Vachana Vahinicovered all states of India except Jammu & Kashmir and ArunachalPradesh. Our prayer to the Lord is that God will enable Vachana Vahinito go to every state in India proclaiming Jesus is Lord.

Sathyam Ministry opened a new Literature Center in Mumbai in2009. Translating the Bible into various languages has always been oneof the goals of the Ministry. It has been our vision to publish the Bible invarious languages, and hence equip the unreached with the reachableand readable word of God in the form of Bible translated in their native

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language. The centre has always been on the efforts to interpret theBible in Hindi, which by God’s grace became successful.To date, Sathyam Publications has published 482 Christian books, inaddition to ‘Truth Alive”, a monthly Christian family magazine in English, whichis circulated to over 2,500 readers in India, U.S.A, and the Middle East.

Bible Encyclopedias, Bible Commentary, Systematic Theology,the Indian edition of Dake’s Annotated Reference Bible, Ryrie StudyBible in Malayalam language, Hollman’s Bible Dictionary, Bilingual Biblein Malayalam-English and Bilingual Bible in Hindi-English are some ofthe most prominent works of the Sathyam Publications.

A Christian family magazine

INDIGENOUS MISSIONS

Can you picture a scene in heaven like this? After your death,you go to heaven and you are a bit nervous as to what is going tohappen there when people realize your presence there. As you enterthrough the door, not knowing what to expect, an old man comes andshakes your hand and introduces himself. Soon you

Pastors at the conference

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are engaged in a happy long conversation. During the conversation theold man is hugging you with tears rolling down his cheeks and beard butis so overwhelmed at seeing you. All this while you stand there notknowing why the old man is crying and between his tears he is callingout “Jesus,” “Father Abraham,” “Moses,” “Peter,” “John,” “James” andother people of whom you have only read in the bible. As you are tryingto listen to him while he calls out different people, you also hear somenames being called out which are not familiar to you. Hearing the oldman calling soon there is a big crowd and you are the centre of attraction.And everyone is so happy to see you and some of them hug you andlike the old man they are also crying but in between the sobs you canhear their whispers, “thank you.” For you nothing makes sense. Afterthe initial commotion has died down, you ask the old man, “Why arepeople thanking me?” and he would say something like this. “Thesemen are from different villages and tribes and culture and languages inIndia and nobody had ever been to their villages to share the gospeluntil a few years ago.

The mission agencies in India wanted to send missionaries to these villagesand they had no resources of any kind to send them. During this time,you prayed for them and gave them financial assistance by sacrificingyour luxury of eating ice cream after dinner and giving up on junk foods.And you continued to send money to the mission agencies in India whoin turn used your money for sending out native missionaries to unreachedvillages and tribals. As a result these native missionaries could go, sharethe gospel and lead many to the foot of the cross. And all the peoplewho came and said ‘thank you’ to you are people from those villageswhere native missionaries went with the money send by you.”

Do you think this is going to be an imagined story? I believe it is going tobe reality. The question to be asked is, “Is this going to be just a dreamor will it be reality for the church in the west?” I believe this couldhappen and on that day we will know where we have laid our treasure.

God had blessed the West with many things. The people of the westhave been born among the privileged elite of this world. They haveeverything in abundance while many parts of the world have little. Theyhad the opportunity to hear the gospel or in fact to be saturated with thegospel message for centuries where as in India there are still peoplegroups and villages which have not heard the name of Jesus even once.In many of the Indian villages if you go and ask them, “Do you knowJesus?” or “Have you heard the name of Jesus?” they would tell us, “Iam not aware of any one with the name Jesus staying in this village butyou can contact the chief and he might be able to guide you to hishouse.” Or if you are asking the question to a shop keeper, he wouldsay, “The commodity called Jesus is not available in this shop but maybe available in cities.”

C.V. Inaugurating the Tailoring Unit at Andhra Pradesh

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The people of the West have every reason to be thankful because theyhave been born into affluence, freedom and opportunity to hear thename of Jesus whereas the people here in India are poor, bound bytheir traditions and customs and not everyone born in this country ofIndia had the privilege of hearing Jesus. But the people of this land arehungry for peace and joy and are willing to go miles and journey fordays to meet the Guru or visit the holy place or are willing to take a dipin the dirt-flowing river which they call the sacred Ganga. If you askthem why are they taking the trouble of visiting the Guru or the holyplace they would tell you that it is for peace in their lives, for solution totheir problems and ultimately for getting to heaven after death. It is theprayer of every Hindu that once in life time they will be able to take adip in the sacred river Ganges and visit other pilgrim places becausethey believe it promises them heaven and peace and prosperity.

I still remember the day I cried out to God saying, Lord, “send me as amissionary” after reading an article. A woman had thrown her two yearold son in a river because a Guru had told her she would receive peaceand happiness in her life if she could sacrifice her only son to the rivergoddess. She stood there watching her child rising and falling accordingto the surge of water, sometimes

hitting the rock but his hands stretched towards his mother in the hopeshe would save him from death and all the while crying his lungs out tobe saved from drowning. As she saw her child disappear, tears welledup in her eyes but she continued her prayer to the river goddess that thegoddess would be pleased with her sacrifice and would grant her joyand peace and happiness.

Unaware of what was happening in her life, a man approached herwith a small booklet in hand and told her that reading the book wouldhelp her find Jesus and he would guide her to eternal life and give herthe joy and peace for which she had been searching. As soon as sheheard this she burst out crying, held him by the collar of his shirt andbrought her face closer to his and screamed in his ears, “Why did younot tell me about this God a few seconds before? Why did you delay incoming to my house, village to tell about this God?” “If only you wouldhave come a few seconds before, my son would not have died.” Butthen it was too late. Her son’s cry could not be heard any longer, and hedied so that his mother could receive the joy and peace for which shehad been searching.

Who will go to these unreached people groups, tribes and languagegroups? How many more innocent children will have to die so that theirmother/ father or family can receive peace? Who is responsible fortheir death? Is it their mother? Is it their beliefs or tradition that isresponsible for the death of their son? No. It is you and I. We failed toreach them with the Gospel.

We have been complacent in our attitude and in our teachings. Wehave been content with what we have and what we are. Or maybe weA chain Prayer of pastor for the missions in India

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are too busy accumulating for our future, children and attending businessmeetings on how to expand our business. God wants us to invest ourtime and energy and wealth for the extension and expansion of thekingdom of God. He wants us to invest our treasure in heaven wherethe moth will not destroy and our treasures will not rust.

God is calling us Christians to alter our lifestyle, give up the nonessentials of our lives so that we will be better equipped to invest ourwealth in the kingdom of God. Most of the native missionaries comefrom Hindu background. After having accepted Jesus Christ as theirSavior, they had been kicked out of their houses, and chased out fromtheir villages. And many of them have lost their jobs and ultimately hadto flee to save their lives. Is it their crime? They have accepted Jesus intheir lives and thus brought disgrace to their families and tribes. Butnothing could stop them from following Jesus. And these nativemissionaries have taken up the challenge of giving up their dreams andfamilies and going to villages with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

More than 50,000 villages are yet to be reached with the gospel inthis land of India. And undoubtedly the unevangelized villages are someof the greatest evangelistic challenges facing the Christian communitytoday. India, it is estimated, has more than one billion people - threetimes the population of United Sates. And only 3.5% call themselvesChristians. If the present trend continues, India will be the most populousnation in the world with millions yet to be reached with the Living Word!

India not only has a very huge population but each state has its owndistinct culture, language, dress and diet and people groups. It is this

diversity that makes India such a tremendous challenge to missionarywork.

Sathyam Ministry believes that the native missionary movement isthe only hope for these unreached villages. Thousands of nativemissionaries are being raised up by the Lord in different parts of thecountry to reach out with the Gospel to the neighboring villages. It hasbeen widely demonstrated that the native missionaries are easily acceptedinto new villages as they are able to identify with the people, their strugglesand difficulties and to assimilate into their culture. I believe with thedawn of a new century, we are witnessing a new era in missions withthe native missionaries leading in the battlefield. Years ago no one dreamedthat the Indian churches or the native missionaries would be ready tolead the final thrust. But dedicated native evangelists are beginning togo out and reach their own people and nation for the Lord.

The exciting part in what is happening with the native missions is thatthe church in the west need not be a spectator to all that is going on.God is calling you to be a part of world evangelism, to be a part of whathe is doing. How? With the prayers and financial support of the westernchurch, the native missionaries would be able to preach the Word moreboldly and to many more people. In order to fulfill the task of the greatcommission the whole family of God is needed. The body of Christ,forgetting petty differences, needs to come together to rescue soulsfrom the clutches of Satan and the door of hell.

Can you hear the cry of a mother who lost her son to appease the rivergoddess for peace and happiness in her life? Can you hear the bereaved

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mother yelling to the native missionary, “Why did you not come to ourvillage a few minutes earlier with the gospel?” Well, church, it is time toforget our differences and unite together to spread the gospel. What isyour role in spreading the gospel?

Romans 10:13-17 says that if these millions of people who do notknow their right hand from the left call upon the name of the Lord, theywill be saved. But how can they call on Jesus if they don’t believe inhim? And how can they believe in Jesus if no one has ever gone to tellthem about Jesus? This is a question we all must answer.

I encourage you to pray and see what role the Lord wants you toplay in this indigenous mission. If the Lord is laying a burden on yourheart to pray for the native missionaries, please let us know and we willbe happy to give you details of them for prayer. Or if he is asking you tohelp support one or more of native missionaries let us know of yourdecision, you will receive the photograph and testimony of the missionaryyou are praying for and supporting.

CONCLUSION We can make it possible for millions of brown and black feet tomove out with the liberating gospel of Jesus Christ. With the prayer andfinancial support of the western church they can preach the Word tomany multitudes. The whole family of God is needed. Thousands ofnative missionaries will go to the lost if Christians in the west will help bysharing resources with them.

Should all western missionaries pullout of India forever? No, ofcourse not. God still sovereignly calls western missionaries to do uniqueand special tasks in Asia. But we must understand that the primary rolefor westerners now should be to support efforts of indigenous missionworks through financial aid and intercessory prayers.

C H A P T E RXVIII

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I often picture the following the scene in my mind. And I am sure thiswill be reality in heaven. People from every tongue and tribe and nationwill come and hug us and thank us for sending missionaries to theirtribe, village, culture etc.

India has more than one billion people - three times the populationof the United States. Only 3.5% of these call themselves Christians.Although this figure reflects the official government census, a number ofkey Christian leaders who understand the situation believe the numberof Christians is actually much greater than reported. Still India, withnearly 500,000 unevangelized villages, is undoubtedly one of the greatestevangelistic challenges facing the worldwide Christian community today.If present trends continue it will soon be the world’s most populousnation. Many of the states in India have larger populations than wholenations in Europe and other parts of the world. Not only are theirpopulations huge, but each state is usually as distinctive as if it wereanother world. Most have completely different culture, dress, diet andlanguage. In short India is a nation with many languages, people andtribes. This diversity is what makes India such a tremendous challengeto missionary work.

As I sat for dinner after days of missionary conference the topic ofour discussion was the preacher and his classes on leadership.

As I visit different villages, I can sense and experience God movingmightily among native believers. I believe these are the days of revivaland the time for the whole family of God to unite and share with one

another as the early church did, that is richer churches giving to thepoorer.

The body of Christ in the East is looking to the West to link handswith them in this time of harvest and to support the work with the materialblessings that God has showered upon them. With the love and supportof the West, I believe, we can help native evangelists and their familiesmarch forward and complete the task of world evangelization in thiscentury. I believe the will of God will not be accomplished in ourgeneration unless the people of God wake up and respond to the cry ofthe lost. Each of us must follow the Lord in the place to which He hascalled him. There has always been the system of ‘the native missionaryin his land and the sponsors in their land’. Hence financing and supportingthe native evangelists should also be done from India, apart from theWest. Some obey by going while others obey by supporting. You mightbe saying that you would like to go as a missionary but my responsibility/circumstance is holding me back. You don’t need to be disappointed.I think I have good news for you. You may not be able to go but canfulfill the great commission by helping send native brothers to the pioneerfields by supporting them with your finance.

God has placed us on this earth with a purpose. God wants us asHis children to serve Him, love Him and be His witness. The greatcommission reveals the reason God has left us here on earth. The reasonGod has placed us on this planet is to be His witness. To be a witnessinvolves not only handing out leaflets, holding street meetings orpreaching. It also means to pray, to help missionaries and encourage

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missionaries to reach out to the unreached people groups and villages.As the days go by, I continue with the same message, which is thathungry, half naked, hurting native missionaries are waiting to go to thenext village with the gospel, but they need your prayer and financialsupport. What we need in this century is not new theories or theologies,but the cooperation of Christians in both east and west in spreadingGod’s Word. The challenge we have is: are we as Christians, one in thebody of Christ, willing to join our hands and hearts together - regardlessof our national boundaries - to spread the good news?

Dr. C.V's graduation from Biola University, California

Truth ministries Intl. board meeting

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“The harvest is plentiful butthe workers are few”

(Matthew 9:37)

I N D I A C H A L L E N G E S

! Over 1 billion people in an area 1/3 the size of the US.

! 28 states and 7 Union Territories

! 4,635 people groups 6,400 castes.

! 40% illiterate (equal to the entire population of the US,Canada and Mexico!)

! 18 main languages with over 1,650 dialects.

! Over 600 million live in deep poverty with 300 millionliving below the poverty line.

! Per capita income of $370/ year (1.2% of the US).

! Religion: Hindu 80%, Muslim 12.5%, Christian 2.4%(less than 1% in Northern India).

! Over 600,000 villages (2/3 of these villages have noChristian resident workers!).

I have a vision to reach the unreached villages/people groups withthe gospel. I can hear the cry of the poor, down trodden and oppressedin society and am determined not to be a spectator or silent listener totheir cry but help them know Jesus, the giver of eternal life, joy andhappiness. I understand that it takes only $50 to sponsor a nativemissionary family per month and $100 to construct a village church.Tosponsor a child in the orphanage/seminary would cost $25 per month.

To begin sponsoring today call562 477 8372 (USA)

orContact

Truth Ministries Intl. Inc.P.O.Box - 1088

La mirada -California, USA - 90637or

Sathyam MinistriesThottabhagom P.O.,

Thiruvalla -689 541, Kerala, India.Tel/Fax: 0469 -2619209, 2619005

Mob:9447126182Email: [email protected]

www.sathyam.org" All the money sent by you goes directly to your chosen cause

and nothing is taken for administrative purposes." All donations are tax deductible.

HOW CAN YOU HELP US ?

1.Plant 50 new churches in each State of India.

2.Conduct 5 Evangelistic event every year.

3.Establish one seminary in each State.

4.Build up the main seminary in Kerala.

5.Conduct five leaders conference every year.

6.Develop one orphanage in every state.

7.Distribute 5000 free wheel chairs to each state

8.Establish medical clinics.

9.Construct one Vocational Training Center in each

state.

10. Establish a more advanced special school and

develop a training program for special

teachers in Kerala state.

11.Make one evangelistic mobile bus team for each

state.

12.Establish 10 schools in different parts of the

country.

13.Print the Bible in 10 Indian languages.14.Distribute 10000 tailoring machines to poor women in villages.15.Eradicate caste system through starting schools.

“Expect great things from God and attempt great things for God”

SATHYAM MINISTRIES15 YEARS GOALS

William Carey

WE CARE THE BODY & THE SOUL

TRUTH MINISTRIES