The team then had the opportunity to visit with Sarah’s Covenant Home for orphans.  There they prayed over the children and had the opportunity to witness how God is using Sarah and ICM to truly care for the orphans.  Please continue to pray for these children as they are experiencing some of the hottest temperatures of the year.

Please continue to lift up the team as they travel home to the United States.  Pray that their flights and layovers would go smoothly.  Pray that the Lord would affirm in their hearts the need for the gospel in India.  Now ask God how he would use YOU to help spread the gospel in India.

Here are some pictures from the trip:

The team then traveled approximately 6 hours to Ongole, Andhra Pradesh.  This is the home of one of our most strategic partners, India Christian Ministries. The temperature there today was 106 degrees so please pray that they would stay well hydrated and that rains would fall to cool the ground.  The remaining days of their trip are jammed packed and we hope to bring you more updates each day. To receive multiple updates from the team follow us on twitter @globalhopeindia

Pray for continued favor for our village development projects, favor from the government as we move forward, and favor from sponsors for the funding of these projects. Above all, we seek favor from God that the wells continue to supply water thru the dry season. Ask Him to provide new wells full of fresh pure water. Ultimately our prayer is that these projects will not only bring life to the body but draw the people to the water of life found in Jesus.

The higher ranges of the Amrabad Plateau are pure, dense forests and are almost exclusively inhabited by the Chenchu. The Chenchu are an aboriginal tribe of the central hill regions of Andhra Pradesh, India.

  Life for the Chenchu revolves around the struggle to survive. Whenever food resources become scarce, they migrate to another place in search of new possibilities. A market economy and sophisticated machinery are totally absent from this group of hunters and gatherers. Likewise, concepts such as ‘profit’ or ‘accumulation of wealth’ are unknown to them. As Hindus, the Chenchu hold a relatively high caste (social class) status. They prefer to remain segregated from other groups, living on the outskirts of multi-ethnic villages.

Alcoholism is a serious problem for many of the Chenchu. Their addictions allow them to temporarily escape from the reality of their difficult lives, but they need to find the permanent source of peace.

In search of that peace, this Chenchu man named Kondal found out that JESUS is that source of peace. He is now the first generation Christian of the Chenchu tribe in the Maddimadugu village. Let’s hear his words.

“My name is Kondal. I am 25 years old. Before I came to Christ, my life was like a hell. I was addicted to alcohol and Gutkha (chewable tobacco). I was unable to quit my habits. I developed a very sore throat and later it became infected. I also found out that I had contracted TB (Tuberculosis). I experienced severe weight loss and thought I would die soon. At this time my mother offered many prayers to our Hindu ‘gods’. She offered many sacrifices before all of my then ‘gods’. There was no cure in me and my family had lost all hope.

  Meanwhile a pastor from Communion of Covenant Churches (CCC) was visiting my village. My mother who was desperate to save me from death, wanted to give a try to this ‘God’ of whom the pastor was sharing about. My mother and the pastor prayed fervently for my health. I am totally healed now but even better, I am a born again Christian!!

The people in my village struggled to find pure drinking water. God answered our prayers by providing a bore well through GHI. While the digging was done, there was a lot of mocking and humiliation from the local Hindus. It was a great challenge for us as new believers in Christ. We praise and thank God for His mighty works in our lives. Now we are drinking water from this new bore well!!

Being a new believer I realized there is inevitable victory over inevitable challenges in a Christian life. Please continue to pray for all those Chenchu young people who are yet to know Christ Jesus.”

                   

Ask the Lord how he would use you to rescue the orphans and widows of India.  Your efforts can make a huge difference and save lives.  Would God be calling you to sponsor a well in a village or a child to receive education and a meal each day?  Click here to find out how you can make a difference.

  “My new name is Lot, which was given to me by my pastor who also baptized me; however, most people know me as ‘Shedaru’. I am from the Maddimadugu village of Mahabubnagar, Andhra Pradesh. Being the oldest son in my family, it was my duty to offer a sacrifice before the Hindu god “Mai Samma.” This would be done as offering from my family during the community feasts and festivals. The transformation from a strong devotee of Hindu gods to a committed believer of Jesus wasn’t very easy for me, but now that I have found the True and Living God, I am the witness of many wonderful and amazing miracles of Jesus Christ.

One such miracle is a bore well in my village!! Many said “it’s impossible to get water in such a rocky region,” I knew the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and also of Moses could do it. Just like in Horeb where God told Moses to  “Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to drink”, He told my village church and GHI to strike the rock.  With much faith and prayer, the rock was struck. Now we are drinking water from this new bore well that God has gifted us.  Thank you to all of the people of GHI and Covenant Christian Churches for bringing water to my village.

See more of the Maddimadugu VDP here:

                   

Here is the status on some of the VDP’s currently in progress:

1. Nellore: Goats have been distributed, still waiting on district government’s approval on construction of toilets. Pray for God’s favor and timing.
2. Nizamabad: Borewell as been drilled & set! Goats have been distributed. Toilets are currently being constructed.
3. Medak: Water filtration shelter is being constructed.
4. East Godavari: Here we are getting a UV purifier. This Purifier is going to be maintained by the village elders. The rest of the funds will be used to construct toilets.
5. Kurnool: Water filtration shelters are being constructed.
6. Visakhapatnam: Water filtration shelters are being constructed.

Status on last month’s VDP’s:

1. Adilabad: Goats have been distributed. About Toilets here, for this village Government can only start building toilets after 3 years as the people here have not yet been registered their residential addresses in the Government. So we got Goats for the remaining budget after bore well.
2. Mahabubnagar: Goats have been distributed in this village.
3. Retlapalle-Prakasam will get all the toilets constructed this week. We are waiting on launching date from District officials in the Government.

Please continue to pray for God’s favor over these project.

We also received a report from this month’s India Christian Ministries district leaders meeting. All of the district leaders and the staff were very excited to see the VDP’s pictures and the other district leaders are now eagerly waiting VDP’s in their villages. The leaders also spent 3 days in pray and planning, asking God to double the amount of churches in Andhra Pradesh. The pastors in India are seeing with their own eyes that God is up to big things in India. There is a renewed spirit in these pastors and there is no doubt that God is using GHI and our partners to EMPOWER THE NATIONALS.

Every 20 seconds a child dies from water-related disease. Over 1 billion people lack access to clean drinking water. India has 17% of the world population, but only 4% of the world’s water.

Most Indians in rural villages are forced to drink water Americans would never allow their children play in, much less drink!

These Village Development Projects not only demonstrate the Gospel, they also dramatically improve the health of these villagers. The result is spiritual and physical transformation! Now that is empowering change!

We can’t thank our partners enough for allowing God to use them to make this happen.

Please let us know if you or someone you know can help sponsor a Village Development Project between now and the end of 2012. Our goal is to 100 Village Development Projects by the end of 2012.

We would ask that you pray this week for the planning of our upcoming trips.  We now have trips to India planned in the months of May, August,and October, and we sense that God is preparing hearts for even more.  Please pray for those who are going and those who are being called of God to join a team.  Pray that he would anoint each team member to boldly proclaim His story and that they would be open to being used in mighty ways for His glory.

  Our list of villages in desperate need for village development projects continues to grow longer than those that are already supported.  Please pray that the people of God would rise to answer the cries of the suffering people.  Pray that God would break the hearts of his people for the things that break his heart.  Pray that new sponsors and global partners would rise up and the churches in the Indian villages would be empowered through the drilling of new wells and the feeding of the hungry people.

Please pray for our staff here in Raleigh.  Many are in the midst of life changing events and are relying on God to guide their paths.  Pray that he would strengthen and empower our team here.  Pray that we would be bold in proclaiming what God is doing in India.  Pray that all of their needs would be met for the Glory of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Again, thank you for joining us in prayer and know that as our partners, we pray for you daily and thank God for how he is using you to encourage us and empower His people in India.