Reached Only on Foot
By Dodla Wilson
Tribal ministry in the central zone of India
I am the youngest in a family of thirteen children. By God’s grace, my father came to know Jesus Christ as his personal Savior after being brought up in a Hindu family. After living hopelessly, God spoke to me and I accepted Him as my Lord and Savior. God then spoke to me through His Word and I dedicated myself to serve Christ according to His will and purpose. In a wonderful way, God put me to work with Source of Light Ministries International in the year of 1981.
I have been involved in conducting Seekers Conferences and Discipleship Training Camps through the use of SLM Bible courses. This led to the start of 17 Bible fellowship groups and nine churches being established. Five medical camps have also been conducted.
I am serving Source of Light India, Central Zone, in Andhra Pradesh state, in the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad. The Lord burdened me to take the Gospel to the unreached remote tribal villages. Along with my church leaders, we have been regularly sharing the Good News as we are able. Because of regional movements and instability in the region, along with transportation problems, we are limited to only a few villages. Eleven tribal villages have been visited. God has been gracious in opening doors among the highest hills and thick forest areas dominated by Naxals. These forests are on the borders of Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Orissa, and A.P. state. After reaching these tribal villages we have to walk into these places, sometimes climbing the hills, because vehicles are unable to go into the thick forests. In spite of the problems, we are going forward the best we can to reach these tribal people with the Gospel.
At present, God has opened the doors for us to work with seven tribal people groups: Koya, Gottikoya, Kondareddy (on the borders of A.P. and Chhattisgarh), Kuwi (on the border of Orissa), Banjara (on the border of Maharashtra), Yerukala, and Yanadhi (on the border of Tamilnadu).
Many are coming forward and accepting the Lord Jesus Christ as their personal Savior and some are following the Lord in baptism. Along with sharing the Gospel with these people who have never heard that Jesus loves them, I have been burdened to provide clothes for tribal children and slates to educate them. Two small children’s schools have been started with a total of 45 tribal children. Medications have also been provided and a solar light system has been erected on top of the hill as they have no electricity in the midst of their huts. Other help has been given for their basic needs as they have limited local funds.
The tribal people are happy to have us come and share the Word of God with them every month. With God’s help, we have started five churches among these new tribal villages and are helping five pastors with a little support.
God loves all people and I am grateful that I have the opportunity of sharing His love with these people who have never heard. Please accept my heartfelt gratitude for your partnership with us. Pray for protection as I travel to these remote villages and that God will supply the needs of the ministry.
Christians in India Increasingly Under Attack
By Rev. Ron J. Barnes Jr.
According to the World Watch List, by Open Doors, India has risen to number 15 on the list of places where those practicing the Christian faith are most likely to be persecuted, with North Korea at number 1.
India has experienced a significant escalation of attacks on its Christian minority in 2016, generally led by Hindu nationalists acting largely with impunity. Just over 2% of the country’s population is Christian, and nearly 80% of Indians are Hindu.
“The increase in Christian persecution across the region has been driven by extreme religious nationalism, which is often tacitly condoned—and sometimes actively encouraged—by local and national governments. Religious nationalists attempt to forcibly convert people to the dominant faith of their nation, often turning to violence when community discrimination and non-violent oppression do not succeed in imposing their religious beliefs on minority Christians,” said Lisa Pearce, of Open Doors UK and Ireland.
Since the beginning of 2016 a church is burnt down or a cleric beaten on average ten times a week, a threefold increase on the previous year according to formal news, but informally, the numbers are much higher. Weekly, Source of Light team members in India and administrators in the US are contacted with new reports of abuse.
Please make it a matter of urgent prayer, that these men, women, and children will be strong in the face of adversity and persecution and endure for the sake of the Gospel. It is each of our prayers that this season of persecution will be used of God to see the Gospel actually spread, like it has throughout history.
