J&C, South Asia
“And I gave you a land on which you had not labored, and cities which you had not built, and you have lived in them; you are eating of vineyards and olive groves which you did not plant. No, therefore, fear the Lord and serve Him in sincerity and truth.”
Now is the time of the year that if you come visit our churches planted in the villages, you will get the company of leeches on the treks. Yes, the rains have come and it’s monsoon season. The rice paddies are wet and green. The cornfields are fully grown, some as high as 7 feet tall!
Fighting has ceased in most regions. This has made my outstation travels smooth going and safe. Seizing this moment of peace and calm, most of our works are stepping up their evangelistic efforts in reaching out to the surrounding villages with the Good News of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Church Planting
Our 9th church-planting course is in progress since July. From across the nation, 17 students consisting of 3 ladies and 14 men have been selected for the 3-months in house training. Pray that the Lord would raise faithful and effective workers for the harvest fields from this batch of trainees.
9th BATCH
17 pastors undergoing training to plant churches in their home village.
A total of 14 new churches were planted in the first half of this year. 8 were started by our 8th batch of trainees and the rest from previous batches. This brings a total of 35 churches planted to-date. All glory to God for making it all happen! We believe more new churches will be planted in the rest of this year.
Two plots of land were bought for the growing works in Nectar and Angsana Church. Like other works, the believers in each church raise funds for their own church building. The building for Sunflower Church is also near completion. Again, the Lord is praised for supplying the needs of land and building through His special and generous people!
TULIP CHURCH
Planted in December 04, there are now 95 believers meeting every week.
TULIP LAND
9,583 sq.ft. of land was purchased for Tulip Church in November 05. The believers are now raising funds and gathering the materials for the church building project
JACKFRUIT CHURCH
Planted in September 04, there are now 140 believers meeting regularly in a rented place. Due to space constraints, the church has recently started two services to cope with the growth. They are praying for a piece of land on which to construct a big church building
MANGO CHURCH
This is one of our first works planted in February 00. As the work grew, CNL helped to purchase the land in April 02. The believers came together, contributed and constructed the building themselves by December 02. With a gathering of 150 believers weekly, the church has become self-supporting, self-governing and self-propagating since January 05. This month, Mango Church has branched out a new work – Raspberry Church.
Hope Trust Orphanage
We nearly lost Melissa (5), our youngest girl. She came to our home about two months ago with her sister Liliana. Both were undernourished and C supplemented their diet with milk everyday. However, last month Melissa had diarrhea and she threw out everything she took. The diarrhea had caused severe infection in her urine. She became so weak she was unable to stand or sit by herself. She was immediately put on a drip and was hospitalized for almost a week. With lots of care and prayer, Melissa began to recover and regain her strength. All of us at home were relieved and very thankful to the Lord for preserving Melissa.
Pray for C, Sujana and Pawana (our house parents) as they manage the growing home and provide sufficient care for each of our 25 children. Ask the Lord to send more good workers for the home. Pray also for a special door to be opened for us to secure land for the home in the days to come.
CLOSE CALL
Melissa recovering from a bad bout of diarrhea
Please keep the following items in your prayers -
- July to Sep – The trainers, trainees and training in the 9th church-planting course
- August 17-18 – Annual Pastor and Family retreat for our outstation pastors
- September 23 – Graduation for our 9th batch of church planting trainees.
- New Life Leadership Missions Centre Vision 200/20 – To establish 200 vibrant churches in 20 years in the Himalayan regions where there is no church by 2025. Pray that with God’s help, we can start at least 10 new works each year to realise the vision.
