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

Pastor Britto and Kathy preaching the Gospel at a leprosy colony named Barugur.

I, my wife Kathy, and our two young children have been missionaries to India for nearly five years. Before then, we were living comfortably near Lebanon, PA, and had no plans to go on the mission field. Then God supernaturally brought us into contact with Pastor Britto of Independent Church In India, and our lives and ministry were changed forever. Pastor Britto and his brother Pastor Richard were young native pastors living in a very poor and difficult situation in South India, but they were the most committed and self-sacrificing men we had ever known.

They could barely afford to live, subsisting on rice, yet every day they were riding their bicycles or walking long distances to the remote villages, enduring the tropical heat to preach the Gospel to literally thousands of Hindu villagers. Even in the face of extreme hardship and persecution, they were grieved by the suffering and darkness in the land, and determined to reach them with the love of Christ. In their past eight years of ministry, we learned that God had used them to reach tens of thousands with the Gospel and pioneer eight churches in their state of Tamilnadu. Yet they were both so humble and totally sold out to serve Jesus. Then God opened the door for us to visit their ministry for ten days in 2002, and our whole world changed. We were so amazed to see how God was using these men to reach souls, and how many were being saved. Yet no one was helping them or supporting them. We knew that God had a call on our lives to go to India and work with them in reaching the multitudes. We also knew that we had to help them get support for their work because God would very greatly increase the harvest if they had resources. We now spend half of each year in India preaching the Gospel and ministering along with Pastors Britto and Richard, and the other half in the States sharing in churches and with folks about the need in India and how God is greatly moving through Independent Church in India.

Since the Lord gave the Smiths the great privilege to share the vision with others, the funds have been provided each year and the ministry is growing. These past five years up until now, Kathy has been working full time doing administration work, newsletters, sponsorships, the website, the videos and much more, and Lowell has been keeping the computers and equipment running for the videos and website and helping with the administration, emails and other important paper work. On top of that, Lowell had been working any job he could get during the time the Smiths stay in the US so they could live. Each week they are traveling to churches or Bible studies groups to share about India. For the last five years the Smiths, and a few part-time volunteers have been doing all these things themselves so they can put all the gifts coming in towards India work because they know of the great need there. The ministry has grown so much now that the Smiths are now both working full time to keep the ministry running smoothly and to work towards enlarging the ministry. There are many lives that are depending on ICII, such as the orphans, leprosy friends, and native missionaries, and souls that need to find Jesus. ICII has a board consisting of eight members that help make decisions for the ministry. But more help is needed here in the US. We are praying that the Lord would raise up more people living right here in the States to have a burden to share in the churches and with others about the great need in India. If anyone reading this would like to get more involved, we could use your help. For example, when more people join together to share the needs, so much more can be done. If more of us work together more souls can be reached and more needs provided for the poor and needy people.

We have had some requests from some of our supporters to occasionally share what is needed here in the US so the work in India can continue. We are overjoyed to see what the Lord has done in the work of Independent Church in India over the past five years. A ministry that has started very small with no support has grown over the past five years at a rapid pace. And as a family we give all of our praise and glory to the Lord, for without Him it would never have been possible. The Lord has done incredible things and has answered the many prayers we have prayed. We believe that the Lord is going to do even more incredible works in the upcoming years. Before we go on and share our needs here in the US, first we want to briefly share how our teamwork in India got started.

REMINDER! You Are Invited to ICII's Third Annual Banquet on September 15th. Bring along your family and friends for a night out, and help support the poorest of the poor in India. Please fill out the enclosed flyer and return it by September 10th. The buffet-style dinner will feature both Indian and American dishes.

There are many things we still cannot do that are so greatly needed, because of lack of funds. The Lord could use you in a mighty way. We ask anyone who is reading this to prayerfully consider doing a fundraiser for one of the areas listed on the enclosed sheet. You could have a bake sale, a car wash, a quilt auction, a spaghetti supper, or anything the Lord has gifted you with to provide any of the following needs. When you provide a need in India, remember this need would not have been met without you, and it will bless many desperate people and we know that you will be blessed greatly of the Lord. Also, if you know any church that might be interested in having Pastor Britto speak, you could be very useful in helping us get a speaking engagement which may lead even more people here in the US to get involved in the work. Whatever the Lord would lead you to do to help us here would make a big difference in the many desperate lives in the nation of India.

Lowell serving the lepers food at the weekly medical and food outreach.

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