PRAY FOR THE BELIEVERS IN INDIA

BENJAMIN & HEPSI

Below is an excerpt (uncut) from an e-mail I received from the workers at Holy Wings, the place in southern India where we do our ministry each February through TCWM (Tom Cox World Ministries):

Dear Hugh&Millie,
Greetings in the name of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ.
We all are doing well by the grace of God and wish the same with you too.
Thank you so very much for all kinds of supports towards the ministry and towards
Our family.
We remember you and your ministry in our daily prayers.
For the last three and a half weeks we were in the field work in the tribal villages and different villages sharing the word of God and helping the people in their physical needs
I was able to cover 18 villages totally my dad who went down south of the state covered 3800 Kilometers and could visit 22 villages and 274 people were saved through the ministry we both were able to cover 5600 kilometers in the ministry just in two and a half months of our hard work and hope you know that the Christians in our country are having real hard time with the Non Christians and many churches are being burnt and mobs are attacking the churches during the time of service,Nuns are being raped and what not these non Christian parties are trying to do what ever they can to stop Christians worship in spite this situation we are working as hard as possible for Christ and try win souls for Christ cause we as Christians in India may not have much time to read and worship in public or in the churches."The more the percicution the more the Gospel" we stick to it and serve our Lord till the end of our journey in this world
God gifted us with 25 new villages where we can go and construct the church buildings and start our missions in those villages and making that particular village as the center we can cover villages surrounding them.
As for now in the third week of November we are starting churches in two big towns 350 to 650 kilometers from Visakhapatnam down south and we wish to start many more we are appointing new pastors who are fully dedicated to work with TCWM.
All these villages big and small come under one roof TCWM.
Praise God for he is blessing HOLY WINGS to get new villages for TCWM right now we have 40 villages and more under Holy wings for TCWM and by God’s grace we will try to continue this way and we will make a goal for the coming year to make it 50 by the end of 2009.
I can surely say that God blessed us through you all godly people all your prayers were
So powerful that God just gave us his blessing like that.
Please continue praying for us especially Dad cause his diabetics is making hard for him to minister, I know he loves to share the word of God and does so great he speaks two and a half hours and still makes the people ask for some more, I don’t know how to do that but I am proud to be his son I learn many things from him.I thank God for my parents very much.
As me and my dad were in our way working for Christ in different villages and in different regions of the state, I left the compound in God’s hands, Hepsi and my mom through God’s help did a very good job in taking care of the children and managed the ministry very well.
I thank you once again for your support all through this year and please continue praying for this ministry and for all that has to be done for Christ in this part of the earth.
In Christ
Ben

(Benjamin's parents, Prahbudas and Ruth, started the Holy Wings ministry many years ago, and they are passing the ministry on to Ben & Hepsi. They have 50 girls in Boarding School on the property).

A PARROT 4 JESUS

The tapestry above was presented to our church by the Primera Iglesia Bautista de La Chorrera (FBC La Chorrera) of Panama at the close of our trip this summer. The parrot is not the national bird of Panama, but is a very prominent part of the art work. The tapestry was made by an Indian tribe local to Central America.

As I commented to Pastor Abel regarding the intricate workings of the tapestry and asked him about the parrot, he recounted his favorite story about the parrot. New in the ministry, he was asked to be the interpreter for an English speaking evangelist. At the end of his work, he was presented a tapestry similar to the one above (with a parrot). He said, as he received the gift, he thought to himself, "That's what I've been this week - just a parrot, repeating whatever was said to me, voicing no thoughts of my own, just repeating what someone has said."

I thought to myself, "Isn't that what Christ wants us to be - just a 'parrot', repeating what He has said to us, voicing not my thoughts, but His?" Am I a "parrot" 4 Jesus? Do I speak my own thoughts or do I repeat His?

2 Corinthians 5:20 - We are therefore Ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making His appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. NIV

An Ambassador has an easy job. He doesn't have to figure out what to say. He just speaks the words of the King he represents. We all are appointed Christ's ambassadors. Let's proclaim His message to those around us.

THE PANAMA CANEL (See earlier post)

Trivia question: Which ocean is higher, the Pacific or the Atlantic? (see answer at end)




The Panama Canel is a marvel of unity and cooperation. Envisioned for many years before it was successfully completed, the United States finally completed it to unite the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic. The series of locks moves the huge ship up to the level of a large freshwater lake, then back down again to the level of the ocean. The 23 hour passage saves days or weeks of travel (plus the cost of fuel) to go around the tip South America.

When money, convenience, economics is involved, isn't it interesting how we can settle disputes and disagreements so readily while we don't take the time and effort to settle disputes amongst family members or friends or organizations quite so readily? Unity and cooperation are still top priority in the New Testament.


Answer: Neither. The locks move the ships UP from sea level to the level of the lake, then, after crossing Panama via the lake, the ship moves through the other locks back down to sea level into the other ocean! Don't laugh. This is a question we were all asking or being asked as we all thought there was only 1 series of locks rather than 2!

A CHRISTMAS GIFT THAT WILL ALWAYS BE REMEMBERED

What "things" did you receive for Christmas last year? What about in 2001? Anyone remember? I remember some from last year, but 2001? No way!

Have you ever received a goat for Christmas? I haven't! But I have received chickens! One year, my friend, Ann, sent me one of my most memorable Christmas gifts: chickens! She had made a donation in my honor to an organization that was buying chickens to help impoverished people in a third world country. I'll never forget that one!

Hugh and I travel to Uganda every year in June. The church there tries to provide goats for widows with children. A goat will usually have 2 sets of twin kids (that's the name for baby goats) per year. With that one gift of a goat, that widow can provide food for her family constantly. If I gave her the $45 it would cost to buy her a goat, that money would be forever gone in weeks. But the goat will keep producing income. The problem is that the church is poor and needs help buying goats. That's where we come in!

Would you like to give an unforgettable gift for a friend or colleague for Christmas? Get back to me, and I'll send you a list of potential "Lifetime's Most Memorable Christmas Gift".

WHO IS THE CAPTAIN OF YOUR "SHIP"?

Lessons from the Panama Canal:

As a ship enters the Panama Canal Zone, the Captain of the ship must relinquish total control of his ship to a Panamanian Captain. This Captain takes over the ship and guides it through the Panama Canal - a distance of 12 miles with 6 locks. This was a visual reminder that Christ is the Master/Captain of our lives to whom we must yield total control of our lives for a successful journey.

WHOSE AGENDA?

We stayed in a small hotel in La Chorrera. Every day a friend and I used the stairs to burn off the excess calories in the food we ate. On several days as I bounded down the stairs to race off to the church or to the park where we did "Fun in the Park" activities with the children, the desk clerk would greet me with a smile, a "Buenas Dias", and, pointing at the whole group, an "Excelentisima". Since we had had a filly named Excelentisima, I knew this meant "very excellent" and I quickly responded with a "Gracias" and a smile, and hurried on my way.

On the last day, as we were ready to leave the hotel at 6:30 a.m., she said "Hasta Luego" (meaning "see you later" as opposed to a final goodbye (indicating she hoped we came again)). Then again she repeated, "Excelentisima" and pointed with a big circle to the whole group. Again I said, "Thank you" and waved goodbye. As I hurried out the door, the Lord said to me, "What about her?" I stopped and went back to the side of the desk where I could talk directly to her (not through a dividing glass) and asked in my limited Spanish, "tu es Christiana?". She answered, "No, pero mucho gusto Christianos". (NO, but I like Christians very much or I'm pleased to meet Christians). I left her a tract "Steps to Peace with God" in Spanish, praying that the Lord would speak to her through His Word. I asked His forgiveness for hurrying past her every day and prayed He would use the written Word to woo her to Himself. As we drove off, I thought, " Isn't that so like me - rushing around on MY agenda and forgetting to be sensitive to HIS agenda."