"Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature" (Mark 16:15)

NEWSLETTER March/April 2006 VOLUME NINETEEN
INDEPENDENT CHURCH IN INDIA PO BOX 238 FREDERICKSBURG, PA 17026
website: www.indchurch.org email:info@indchurch.org

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Update on Building Huts For Flood Victims -Cont.

At another village named Koondangi-patti, ICII replaced two huts that had been destroyed. One family shared to their sponsor, "Before the flood we had lots of poverty and only if we go to work we can eat. Then after the flood everything we had got washed away. I got hurt in my legs because a rock hit me and because of this I could not go to work. I had to borrow the money to get treatment for my legs. Now only my wife is working. Only if she goes to work each day can we eat. Thank you, you have helped my family so much. I am praying for you who built this hut that you will have a very long and prosperous life. I am very happy about this hut. God bless you so much for building this hut".
A happy family who received a hut in the
village of Koondangi-patti.

Udaiyammal's village is a very big village where over five hundred people reside. It is divided into two parts because of caste. On the side where Udaiyammal lives, there reside over three hundred people whom we have been reaching with outreaches and building huts. On the other side of this village, over 200 higher caste people reside, who normally will have no fellowship with the dalits, so even though they are a part of the same village, they remained separate.

In the past, on this side of the village, the people have also been bound up in idolatry. There are at least seven idols temples, both big and small, surrounding the four new huts that the ministry has built on this side. Now, some of the people are coming over to Udaiyammal's side of the village for the Bible studies. Udaiyammal boldly goes to the other side of the village and is bringing people to church from there as well.

After building the huts Pastor Britto and Kathy openly shared with the people; "Even though you have all these idol temples, none of these gods could save your homes from the flood, nor give you homes afterward. But now Jesus, the true God who loves you, has made it possible to build you new homes". These people also openly agreed that their gods could not do anything, and they are coming to church now and worshipping the Lord.

Pastor Britto sitting with a family
in front of their new hut.

One very feeble elderly woman from this high caste side of the village shared to her sponsor, "Thank you for building this hut for me. I am praying that you will have a blessed life. Thank you for making my life blessed. After the flood washed away everything I owned I was thinking, how will I live? Because all I have is my son, but he has a mental disorder and he cannot go to work. Every day we both will go around our village and beg for our food for morning and lunch, and in the night we do not eat. We would sleep outside on the street at night. This is the situation we were living in, but since you built this hut for us this is so nice for us. It is more than enough for us".

The village leader on Udaiyammal's side of Peryapalla-paddi has warmly welcomed the ICII team as well. The village leader's wife said that she was having repeated bad dreams with someone coming to kill her in the dream. After ICII team prayed for her, she now says she is sleeping well with no bad dreams. After this, her husband has asked for prayer as well because he could not sleep either. He has also been attending the Bible studies. He said later that now he is also sleeping well. We praise God that He is allowing ICII to reach this village of Peryapalla-paddi where the name of Jesus has been heard only through this ministry. We look forward to what the Lord will continue to do here.

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