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NEWS AND PRAYER NOTES
February - March - April 2015
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IRFA News and Prayer Note
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February - April 2015
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As we face the challenges of 2015 we, on the IRFA team, believe this year is crucial as we support our Fellowship of Churches on the Indian subcontinent. The political developments in India will become challenging for the churches generally in India; and those churches that we have become intricately part of will play a pivotal role on how the Church in India will respond to these challenges. The instances of persecution in India are dramatically increasing under the new BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) Government that chooses not to respond to acts of persecution and exclusion of Christians who have been targeted by the Nationalist neo-Nazi Hinduvada Movement and its various political organisations.
Even though the Reformed and Presbyterian Churches are relatively small in India, they are highly influential and a source of great encouragement across the denominational fabric of the overall church in India. One of the things that has been in our favour is the widespread use of the internet in India where there has been a reporting hotline set up so that instances of persecution can be reported on it, and information can be used effectively to bear some kind of redress under the circumstances. The trial-run of this facility has been well received and effective. The Indian Church, above all else, needs concerted and sustained prayer at this very crucial time in its history.
A Christian journalist in India and a good friend of mine in Delhi, Vishal Arora, posted this excellent article on the 'Reporting Hotline' for Christians to use when instances of persecution arise. Excerpts from this article will give you an idea on how it works:
By Vishal Arora and Anto Akkara
Jan. 26, 2015 Indian Christians from across denominations have formed a legal-aid agency, complete with a telephone hotline number, to respond to increasing attacks that have followed the rise of Hindu nationalists to national power. The United Christian Forum for Human Rights was formed Jan. 19 "to coordinate both legal and advocacy assistance to the community, which has been traumatized in recent months by communal violence in several states," said John Dayal, a prominent Christian activist and spokesperson for the new group, in a statement to World Watch Monitor. Harassment of India's Christians has increased since the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, or BJP, swept parliamentary elections in May 2014.
The Catholic Bishops' Conference said that recent attacks on Christians, the clamour to turn India into a Hindu nation and attacks on churches and Christians in several parts of the country have "shaken the faith in the secular fabric of the nation." "The UCF has commissioned a 24-hour National Helpline, 1-800-208-4545, so that lawyers and experts can assist victims of violence, intimidation, coercion and illegal confinement by any criminal or political group," the organizers said in the statement.
"We have had more than 4,000 calls already. Most of them are out of eagerness to verify if it is working and also to express solidarity," said Tehmina Arora, a lawyer with the Alliance for Defending Freedom India. But already, three serious cases of atrocities have been reported, Arora said. These include a dozen Christian families being ostracized near Kanyakumari, in the peninsular southern tip of India; Christians being prevented from building a church in western Gujarat state; and intimidation of Christians in eastern Bihar state. So far in 2015, at least one violent incident against Christians has been reported each week, according to speakoutagainsthate.org, a website that monitors violence and other attacks on Christian religious freedom. "2014 has been a ... traumatic year... A campaign based on hate ends the year in decisions based on hate," Dayal said at the launch of the new forum, alluding to the election campaign of the BJP and its victory.
In 2014, the EFI monitored at least 144 such cases, but said the actual number is likely to be much higher. While Christians, churches and their institutions are being attacked in Delhi and various state capitals, cases in smaller cities and villages often go unreported, and victims have little help.
The BJP is widely seen as the political wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, an umbrella Hindu nationalist group which champions the concept of Hindutva, an ideology that envisions a Hindu India where minorities are allowed to exist, but in subordination to the majority. Dayal said Christians live under pressure in India no matter who is at the helm of the government.
John Dayal said Christians should meet the challenge in prayer "on bended knees.""But bended before God," he stressed. "Not bended before man and not bended before non-state actors or (the) state itself. India is our motherland, and we claim our rights as children of God and citizens of India with the Bible in one hand and the Constitution of India in the other."
Yours in His all sufficient grace
Richard and Ann Wilson
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| Pastors from the Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Sikkim |
FIRST SEASON OF MINISTRY FOR 2015
By the grace of God I will be visiting India for the month of March and I will be able to visit all points of our Ministry during this First Season of Ministry for 2015. My GP is happy for me to make this short trip of one month at this stage, and I can report that, in the last several weeks, the lung infection has completely abated for the first time since I have been ill.
We have also been able to obtain the appropriate Immigration Visa which gives me a further twelve months' door-of-entry into India - for which we can give thanks to God. It is my plan to visit India twice this year in March and October. It would have been good to have made a third visit, but we will content ourselves with these two visits at least, and maybe a third visit could be possible at the end of the year.
I will be able to visit every point of ministry in IRFA's circuit of ministry except - with great regret - Sri Lanka, with the Reformed and Presbyterian Churches and the Free Church Mission in northern Sri Lanka.
PLEASE PRAY SPECIFICALLY THAT GOD WILL:
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Give thanks to God that I was able to obtain the appropriate immigration Visa for the next twelve months.
- Thank God for the twelve Presbyterian and Reformed Fellowship denominations that are progressing in their testimony across the Indian subcontinent.
- Pray for the First Season of Ministry that which is planned might effect the extension of the kingdom of God. Pray for open hearts and open doors has we move forward in the various opportunities for ministry.
- Pray for my wife and as she keeps the home fires burning. Pray for both Ann and I in terms of our spiritual readiness to face the challenges of this ministry.
- Give thanks to God for answered prayer concerning my health issues. I am totally clean in terms of lung infection and my cardiac problems have been completely healed.
- Pray for Luxmi Solanki as she recovers from surgery.
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For DONATIONS
Visit the IRFA Website
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With Pastors of the Bible Presbyterian Church, Delhi
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Delhi, Bible Presbyterian Church (RPCI) -
4 March 2015
This will be an Orientation Day, and hopefully I will be able to attend the Pastors' Prayer Meeting that is usually on Wednesdays. We have to dissolve our Educational Company called 'Enchiridion Education Services Pvt Ltd (EES)' so that we can set it up as 'Enchiridion Education Services Trust' under the existing 'Initiators Trust' that was set up by Hiralal Solanki some years earlier. We are arranging with our Chartered Accountant for this to be facilitated, as it will be less costly and not so 'exposed'.
Prayer points:
- Give thanks to God for His provision for the church-planting pastoral training that has been conducted by extension through the Presbyterian Theological Seminary of Dehra Dun.
- Pray for the twelve church-planting pastors in the Delhi region as they continue their ministry in some of the most difficult places in India.
- Pray for the political situation in India and that the Ministry of the Gospel will extend despite potential persecution from militant Hindu and Muslim political groups.
- Pray for the continuing support for Hiralal Solanki and his family as IRFA continues to support Hiralal by supplying his regular stipend. Hiralal will be representing the 'PRC I' churches in Brazil from 23 March for several weeks. Please pray for Hiralal as he visits the Presbyterian Church of Brazil.
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| Mirik, Darjeeling Hills Bible School (DHBS), 6 March 2015
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Students at the Darjeeling Hills Bible School
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I will only have time to visit DHBS and to catch up with all those on the Faculty - including Dr and Mrs Rai. I will have opportunity to minister God's Word during their prayer and fasting day that happens to be on this Friday.
The new facilities that were partially funded by PresAid of the Presbyterian Church of Australia have been a crucial help, as the ministry of DHBS is actually extending.
Thankfully, churches in Geelong and elsewhere in Victoria are supporting two theological students who are preparing for pastoral services in the Nepali-speaking churches in northern West Bengal, Sikkim, Bhutan and Nepal. I will be able to deliver the funds that will be necessary to continue funding these students for 2015.
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Prayer points:
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As the new session for 2015 begins at DHBS, new students have been enrolled for either their Christian Workers' Training Course of six months or their three-year BTh Pastoral Training Course. Pray that the students will settle down and begin to reap the benefits of their theological training, and that their appetite for the Word of God will ever increase.
- Pray for the Faculty with particular reference to Dr and Mrs Rai, Krusal Rai and Kingchar along with others who are on the Faculty.
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Gangtok, Sikkim - Evangelical Presbyterian Church (EPCS) and Paljor Namgyal Girls' School (PNGS) - 8 to 14 March 2015.
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Phonics seminar at PNG School
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We have been taking an LEM Phonics Seminar most years at PNG School and have included a number of other schools in the area. Now that we have had such a breakthrough at Faith Academy in Delhi with the phonics program, these schools want to fully implement the LEM Phonics program right across the school. This would represent a real breakthrough in our Ministry with the schools. We really need to pray that this program will become thoroughly implemented, as they have become determined for this to happen.
There will be opportunities for theological and scriptural teaching with church groups as in the past. 'EPCS' continues to grow rapidly in Sikkim and is hungry for the Word of God. For me, this represents something of 'Heaven'.
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| Prayer points.
- Pray that the LEM phonics ministry through PNG School will fulfil the aspirations and the hopes of these schools as they implement the program.
- Pray for the teachers as they learn more accurately, and ask God to give them wisdom as they implement this program Pray for open doors for the Ministry of the Word of God across the churches of EPCS.
- Pray for safety on the roads as I travel on these narrow Himalayan range roads.
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Faith Academy, Delhi
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Delhi, Faith Academy and Bible Presbyterian Churches in Delhi (PRCI) -
15 - 20 March 2015.
I will be teaching the second module of the LEM Phonics program to the teachers at Faith Academy. This second module concentrates on teaching teachers how to teach the spelling process that is enshrined within the LEM Phonics program. At the beginning of last year Faith Academy, which is a Presbyterian school of 3000 students, implemented LEM Phonics for writing and reading into their first four year levels. This has been so successful that it represents a wonderful breakthrough in our work with LEM Phonics for India.
Faith Academy is a highly regarded school in Delhi, and we are hoping that many schools will begin to take up LEM Phonics across the city of Delhi. If this happens, it will become too big for me to handle, and others will have to step up to the mark and take on this opportunity as a future Ministry and Educational Business. However, for the moment, it is our breakthrough.
I will be staying with Hiralal and Laxmi Solanki for this week and there will be ongoing Ministry of the Word of God each evening with the PRCI church-planting ministries across Delhi.
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| Prayer points:
- Thank God for the success of LEM Phonics in Faith Academy.
- Pray for the Module B LEM Phonics Seminar that establishes the spelling program.
- Pray for the new teachers who have been employed at Faith Academy as they are taught the earlier Module A LEM Phonics seminar for writing and reading English.
- Pray for wisdom as the teachers implement this program from K to year 5 across the three streams that are in the school.
- Pray for the ongoing ministry that I will have with the church planters in Delhi. I have prepared lectures on 'The Kingdom of God' which I will deliver wherever they are appropriate for this Season of Ministry.
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Pastor Uma Sharma (R) with Elders from Nepal Campus Church
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Kathmandu, Nepal - Nepal Campus Church, 21-25 March 2015
IRFA has managed to raise support through our support network here in Australia for a missions team of Nepal Campus Church to conduct four missionary outreach trips scheduled for this year into some of the remotest parts of Nepal. We are extremely excited about the prospects of these missionary journeys into the Himalayan range in some of the remotest areas of Nepal. We are praying for further support, so that a further publication of Christianity Explored can be printed in the Nepali language. Existing stocks for this publication are now running out. Pastor Uma Sharma, along with his wife Santosh, and elders and deacons with the team of evangelists are now preparing for these missionary trips.
Dear Rev. Richard,
Greetings from Kathmandu
Thank you very much for your continue prayer for Nepal Campus Church & Shineland Day Care Centre.
God is continue blessing our ministry. Some young people are giving their life in Christ and Campus church is also serving our mighty Lord in the midst of persecution. I do appreciate your prayer for us.
I am so thankful for your great contribution to expand of God's Kingdom in Nepal through CE trainings.
It is confirmed one CE training in ARGHAKHANCHI district on 24-26 February. It is nearly 400 km far from Kathmandu and it is Hindu dominated district. There are only 36 churches in this district. I am so glad to inform to you that 16 church leaders are interested to join this training. It is hilly district.
Please pray for this training.
When I arrive in Kathmandu I will be giving a series of lectures on 'The Kingdom of God', which will be a biblical theology approach to this subject. Last time I was able to introduce Covenant Theology as the foundation of the Scriptures. I will only have three days for this visit, but it is vital that we accomplish what we are planning.
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| Prayer points:
- Thank our Lord for the generosity of those who have given support for the four missionary trips that are planned for 2015 to the remote regions of Nepal.
- Pray for further support for the re-publication of the Nepali Christianity Explored material.
- Pray for the believers in Nepal, because many people who are opening their hearts to the Gospel of Jesus Christ are being converted. With that is the increasing pressure of outright persecution against the Churches.
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Pastor Moses and myself visiting friends at Ramachandrapuram
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Andhra Pradesh, South India - Covenant Reformed Assemblies, Ramachandrapuram , 26-31 March 2015.
Pastor Moses and his wife, Hepisaba will be visiting Cornerstone URCNA in Grand Rapids, USA - for the first time, the supporting church of the Covenant Reformed Assemblies in Andhra Pradesh. If everything goes to plan they will be making this trip in October 2015. It is vital that the members of their supporting Church get to know personally Pastor Moses and Hepisaba. We are very excited that this opportunity has finally come.
PresAid of our own Presbyterian Church of Australia has managed to raise AU$10,000 to go toward the commencement of funds to buy land and build churches with their Pastors' residences. It is planned that, in these very poor rural areas, a paddy field is to be purchased so that the members of the Church can raise their own funds by working these paddy fields in a productive manner to pay back interest-free loans that were used to set up these facilities. In this way, these funds can be used time and again. The funds that PresAid has raised are but a commencement fund, as larger amounts will be required for this fund to become operative.
I will be delivering the series of lectures that were prepared for this March season of Ministry on 'The Kingdom of God'. The itinerary for Andhra Pradesh could also include ministry with the pastors of the Presbyterian Church of South India. This may require extensive travel to various points in Andhra Pradesh; and bus travel in Andhra Pradesh is not easy.
I will also be preparing proper reports for the Cornerstone URCNA in preparation for Pastor Moses and Hepisaba's visit to Grand Rapids in October.
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| Prayer points:
- Give thanks to God for the foundation support from PresAid PCA (Australia) for the 'Rural Church Building Fund' for Covenant Reformed Assemblies in Andhra Pradesh. Pray that further funds will be given to this foundation support so that building can commence with supporting paddy fields' production, and therefore these funds can be repaid progressively for others to use in the future.
- Pray for Pastor Moses and Hepisaba's preparation for their first visit ever to their supporting church, Cornerstone URCNA in Grand Rapids, USA.
- Pray for safe travel as I visit centres for the Presbyterian Church of South India.
- As I return to Australia on 2-3 April that I should return in good health and that I should pass my test of not returning to hospital.
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| Church Visitation Program
Plans for my Church Visitation Program are well advanced for 2015. Upon my return from India I will spend April and May visiting churches in reach of my home in Brisbane in the South East of Queensland. If there are any churches that would like me to preach and/or present the work of IRFA could they please contact me by email.
I will be spending the entire month of June in Victoria and Melbourne, and there are some vacancies that can be used. If you would like me to visit, I would be really happy to do so. In the last week of June and the first week of July I will be in Tasmania. Then for the second and third weeks of July I am planning to be in Sydney and Newcastle. I will be back in Brisbane for the months of August and September.
As mentioned earlier, I will be returning to India for the month of October and perhaps for some of November.
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Contact Information
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Richard Wilson
INDIAN REFORMED FELLOWSHIP - AUSTRALIA
Enchiridion Education Services Pvt Ltd
Darjeeling Hills Bible School, Deosey Dara, Mirik (India)
PO: DS, Mirik, Darjeeling, West Bengal
16 Cassatt Place, Forest Lake Qld 4078, Australia
Phone:
+61 7 3271 4119 H/W
Mobile: 0411 090 398 (Australia)
+91 97 4921 4046 (West Bengal & North-east India)
+91 99 7184 8624 (Delhi & North-west India)
Skype: richard.wilson76
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