Marching on ...

By the sure mercies of God

79th Anniversary & Entering the 80th Year

A little one shall become a thousand, and a small one a strong nation:
I the LORD will hasten it in his time. Isaiah 60:22

Table of Contents

Preface

New Centres and Advances

Worldwide Labours

Youth and Children’s Camps

The Big Campaigns in Andhra Pradesh

Widespread Labours in India

Literature Ministry

Radio and Television Ministry

Internet Ministry

Our Schools

The Annual Retreat

Promoted to ‘Beulah Land’

Conclusion

PREFACE

In every field, what is most sought after is power and men are killing each other over trifling differences, seeking power. We have deprived the horrible heart of man the only cure for saving them from the pre-Christian disease of spreading death, at every turn.

After the Lord Jesus Christ made His plain declaration, soon after His resurrection from the grave— “All power is given to me in heaven and earth”, immediately He followed those words with, “Go ye into all the world…” (Matt. 28:18-19). Such a power source and resource is never neglected. Yet we have been so slow at responding. The most talented, the first-born boys in many families, have made light of serving the Lord. The call of high qualifications and well-paid jobs have been gripping their hearts. When did the call of money become so important, even to our people? Have the sacrificing, faithful people become a minority, even in our midst? Unthinkable!

When late Mr. N. Daniel took up the work of the Fellowship, his only desire was to produce disciples of Jesus who walked like Him. We have much to repent of. We need to put on sackcloth.

Bro. Joe’s health condition wilted under the many burdens which he has had to carry. But nothing stops. The whole work is marching on … That he could manage the long trip in May from Detroit to London and then on to Madras is the sheer mercy of God. But the challenges in Europe and America and South America have to be faced. We cannot leave them and run away.

At this point, it has become necessary for us no longer to dump all and sundry burdens, needs etc., of the Fellowship on Bro. Joe. Therefore the following changes will take effect from this point.

John Daniel, who has been faithful, can no more be called a young man. He has been shouldering many burdens in the background, quietly. Now he has to face challenges of faith, patience and love. During these several years, he was a typical tent-maker, as Paul was at Corinth. John has refused consistently to touch the Lord’s money and has earned his own bread, feeding and taking care of his large family. In this, his wife, Bridget, and the five children have greatly supported their dad by living frugally.

We hardly know how young Timothy was when Paul deputed him to the heavy responsibilities at Ephesus. Moreover, Paul tells us firmly in I Tim. 4:12, “Let no man despise your youth.” Traditionally in some cultures it is only the old men who are the accepted preachers. But that is not true in Spurgeon’s, Finney’s and Bro. Joe’s own case and in the lives of several men of God.

Henceforth the whole Fellowship should follow humbly the directives as before. John’s hands will be strengthened by members of our experienced Board of Trustees.

God’s promise to late Mr. N. Daniel and then to Joshua Daniel was: “As for me, this is my covenant with them, saith the LORD; My spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed’s seed, saith the LORD, from henceforth and for ever.” (Isaiah 59:21) Hence Bro. Joe is looking forward to the day when all his children have a Word from the Lord and participate in building His Kingdom.

Now this does not mean that Bro. Joe is relinquishing all his many responsibilities. He is stepping back to recuperate his strength and pray more. Some of our valued senior most intercessors have been called away to heaven. The weighty role of intercession will rest on Bro. Joe now.

NEW CENTRES AND ADVANCES

Chiangmai, Thailand

For a long time, Eisen and his wife, Bliss, had been asking Bro. Joe for revival meetings in Thailand. At last the Lord enabled Bro. Joe and Sister Lily to make a visit to Thailand to address revival meetings in Chiangmai, which is situated in the north-west of Thailand.

Many missionaries, by and large, appear to be engaged in relief activities. Eisen, however, said that there was very little need for so many to be engaged in various relief measures, seeing that there was very little real poverty in Thailand. Evangelism in Thailand has been both tardy and of a low key.

Our team came up with what seemed like a real hindrance. There were four other much advertised meetings, all at the same time! We never like the appearance of seeming to compete with other organizations or meetings. Some feared that none would be present at our meetings. But the Lord brought in many needy souls and the word of God went out with great power.

Bro. Eisen sent us this report after the meetings concluded: “On the first day, Bro. Joe spoke on the Spirit of God who can release us from the bondage to demons and adultery, citing many examples. No international preacher has ever addressed these issues here. The message was a fearful reality. This is the message which Thailand needs. More than thirty percent of the congregation were missionaries. On the second day, the message was an exposure of the true heart condition of the local Christians and missionaries. Many were touched and blessed.”

Now we are taking steps to give the Word of God to the people of Thailand through television. God willing, we will be having our regular telecasts in one of the popular TV channels in Thailand. Pray that God may use our telecasts to touch many souls in this Buddhist country.

Our New Premises in Calcutta, West Bengal

The great missionaries William Carey and later, Alexandar Duff laboured hard in Calcutta. This city and the river hard by have seen many ritualistic human sacrifices and the fervid worship of the goddess who is said to delight in drinking human blood, still continues with much zeal and devotion.

Our labours in this vast and crowded city have been poor, and evangelistic meetings in general have been few and far between in this area. Yet our young workers have been courageously and prayerfully labouring on in this city.

Our meetings and services had hitherto been held on the topmost 12th floor of a commercial and residential building. The flat owners were anxiously waiting to see us leave their building, as they did not like our holding Christian services there.  But in such an expensive city, where were we to go? The Lord most marvellously opened a way to acquire an old building of the Salvation Army, after much travailing prayer. This building is in a rundown condition and requires extensive repair work. After a team of our brothers worked hard to get most of the repairs done, we moved our services to a small part of this building in October.

While we are most grateful to the Lord for the premises which afford much more room for the developing work, we need to pray with true burden for the souls of so many in this city and in the state of West Bengal, to whom the Lord Jesus is a foreigner and a stranger.

Bro. Joe addressed revival meetings in this new place in February. He poured out his heart unsparingly in the four-day revival campaign here and many have been greatly stirred and blessed. There is still much work to do and millions to reach. With the shout of praise and the cry of faith, we shall advance.

Jaipur, Rajasthan

Jaipur is the capital and the largest city of the Indian state of Rajasthan in North India. Quite a bit of the state is a desert. One of our young families trained at our headquarters has been posted to labour in Jaipur and they have begun a Sunday service also. We need to pray much for this fledgling ministry in Jaipur.

Silchar, Assam

In one of his journeys to North-East India, contrary winds and bad light forced the passenger plane from Calcutta to seek a quick landing in Silchar, Assam. Lo and behold, Bro. Joe was forced to spend the night in a small hotel room. He spent a part of that time questioning God why He had forced him to spend the night in a strange and quite an unfriendly place.

By the grace of God, work began when some of our boys became active in the university here and a regular Sunday service is taking place now.

Karimganj, Assam

Karimganj is quite close to Silchar and near the eastern borders of Bangladesh. Two of our young people have been sent there. Both of them had met the Lord and the husband had been trained at our Bible School in Beulah Gardens and they will be in close touch with the work in Silchar.

Beautiful Books Website

In this age of rapid expansion in the field of Information and Technology, we have fallen behind in making our books widely available. Our books have been a great blessing to many thousands in various languages. Our bookstall is always crowded with people who take hold of these precious books at all our revival meetings and retreats. But the outsiders rarely get to know about our books. So we have developed our own website. Now anyone can log on to: www. beautifulbooks.org.

Now people can see on our website the cover pages of all our books in many languages and what is more, they can order them online and get the books delivered at their homes. This new venture is slowly gaining steam and more of our books are now being ordered in this quick manner, through our Beautiful Books website. One gentleman, who was blessed reading some of our books, placed an order for all our books in English and Telugu. Please introduce this website to your friends and others and let the blessing spread.

Book Fairs in Nepal and Arunachal Pradesh

One book fair team visited Kathmandu, Butwal, Bhairawa and Pokhra in Nepal. They went almost to the border of China and had a book table in the border town of Barabasi. God must make a way by which good Christian literature can reach sparsely populated areas in the high plateau, where there is a much contested border.

Tawang, the northernmost town in Arunachal Pradesh, which can only be reached by going through a Himalayan pass at the height of 13,000 feet, has only a rough track, to reach there.

Pray that the labours among these people will produce much fruit. They had book fairs in Roing, Yingyong, Along, Daporijo, Basar Yazali and Ziro in Arunachal Pradesh, which has a long border with China.

The Enlarged Hall in Pallamcottah

The great pioneers of the Christian Missionary Society (CMS) and Society for the Propagation of the Gospel (SPG) laboured in Palamcottah.

Bro. Joe laboured here with much love and many tears, as a young man, together with his parents, in the fifties. In the churches where they laboured, God granted them to see revival outpourings and many lives were touched and transformed. Mr. N. Daniel (Senior) used to say, “If we can lead the people of Tinnevelly to deep repentance, then we can reach the whole of India.”

Our Sunday services and prayer meetings took place in our small prayer hall here all these years. Now our prayer hall has been redesigned to have more accommodation. While the reconstruction is taking place, this new hall is being quickly filled. Let us ask God for a good harvest of souls from various colleges. Bro. Joe is having to send younger men who are conversant with the special problems of this area.

The New Centre in Ongole, Andhra Pradesh

From the days of late Bro. N. Daniel, some small work of the Fellowship has been taking place in Ongole. This town has grown greatly in importance lately. Situated around 300 km north of Chennai, this place has seen much feuds and fightings in churches.

From week to week we hired some suitable hall for our worship services. With no suitable place for people to gather for prayer during the week, we were greatly handicapped. After much prayer, the dear Lord enabled us to acquire a suitable piece of land, right on a principal street.

The one evening meeting which Bro. Joe addressed, was held in the wide Baptist College grounds. A few thousand people gathered and heard God’s Word with great earnestness.

Early next morning, under our tent, pitched in our new plot of land, we had a special meeting. People began to pour in, such that the traffic police appeared on the scene lest the traffic on that road should be held up. The Lord gave us His Word. It looks like we have to soon put up a commodious structure, where people can find a little nook, where they can sit.

WORLDWIDE LABOURS

IN EUROPE

Summer Retreat in Quinta Hall, London

The Summer Retreat was held in Quinta Hall out in the country, some 200 miles from London. The Lord made it possible for John Daniel to join Bro. Joe and take a part of the load.

The apparent indifference that one senses and sees in England and UK is one big cover-up. If you just open any deep conversation with a thoughtful British person, you will find a ready admission that the country is headed in the wrong direction. Now this is simply no secret. Members of families are spending hardly two hours with each other in a whole week in conversation or interaction of any sort. That creates a great distance amongst siblings and parents. This is leading to the disintegration of the family and the nation.

The two sessions of prayer we had were times when people poured out their hearts before God. Many there are, however, especially among the immigrants, who neither have the urgency of the grave condition nor the wellbeing of the nation as a priority burden. The Lord alone must wake them up and make them true prayer warriors.

Winter Retreat in UK

Leaving the US right after Christmas, Bro. Joe and Sister Lily flew into London in the afternoon of 27th December. The same day, the winter retreat commenced in the evening. Even for the first meeting in our hall, which is attached to the Beautiful Books showroom, there was a goodly number of people. Some of our regulars, though, were not present. Whatever the reason, some of our people were preoccupied with other things. Around noon, on this last Saturday of the year, we got down to prayer. There was a good spirit of prayer. But judging by the need in Britain today, it is quite evident that we are far from prevailing in prayer for UK. Instead of the roaring tides and seas around Britain, O, that there will be billows of blessing—the blessings of revival. Earthly concerns are cluttering the hearts of Christians and the life that emerges from the seed of God’s Word is being choked. On Sunday the retreat closed.

The German Retreat – Gottingen

The German Retreat commenced in the Youth House in the university city of Gottingen, soon after the British Retreat.

Now the problems of Europe are hardly noticed by the casual visitor. While everything appears to be rolling forward smoothly, the inner rot which has set in, is eating up the vitals. There has been so much shifting of population, and many people brought up under communism have simply no fear of God, and are now in the body politic of Europe.

The Church appears to be at a very low ebb. Preaching at such a time as this puts a heavy responsibility upon Bro. Joe. Bro. Gunter Meinusch was on hand to help with the interpretation as usual. Brother Johannes Weidenmuller and his wife Regina travelled all the way with the filming and recording equipment.

It is the Lord’s mercy that we are still able to support our own TV programme out of Dusseldorf. The singing team around Mike Lucas and his wife and their son Benji added some beautiful music to this retreat.

Our days were full and the prayer session, though short, gave all an opportunity to humble themselves before God.

Summer Retreat in Paris, France

There was quite a gathering of people at the opening meeting of this Retreat.

Some of our telecasts which go out in English and Tamil are being well received. There is quite a population of Tamil-speaking folks living in various pockets of France.

Sister Lily and Johannes helped Bro. Joe quite a bit sharing the ministry, as he ran into a spell of bad health. To him preaching with fever is no great hardship. But when there is a doctor to monitor you closely, such luxuries (follies) have to be given up by preachers.

We are in the process of lifting people out of a refugee mind and heart, and lifting them into another realm – the heart of a disciple. The young people are also responding in a responsible way. Pray much for our team in France.

IN THE US

Retreat in Sebring, Ohio, USA

There was very little time after getting to this busy continent, for Bro. Joe and Sister Lily to get ready for this important retreat. Taking care of the people spiritually and supplying them three meals a day requires some planning and purchasing of some groceries, etc.  Fortunately, Sister Lily takes up this work and allocates kitchen duties to our willing girls. The men do the washing of vessels, etc. Always the mess hall is left clean and free from clutter.

Lydia the youngest of Bro. Joe’s children drove him the 230 miles to the camp. John’s hands were full taking care of a number of things including driving the sensitive sound equipment and setting it up. Many of the platform responsibilities also fall upon him generally. James the youngest of his boys, came from California and led the singing. Betty was at the piano, and Bridget, John’s wife, at the organ. Though most of our people are no great singers, much of the singing was from the heart.

As for Bro. Joe, he commenced preaching in great weakness, being ill.  Johannes, who had come over from England, helped with two Bible classes. John also took up part of the preaching responsibility.  Even from the second day, Bro. Joe began to improve and the fever gradually abated.  He is not used to half-hearted preaching and so the Word of God went forth with power.

While some of our backsliders are backing off from taking up much (any) responsibility, those who have been transformed from a heathen background, are rising up to bear the cross  and are learning to put the Kingdom first.

This nation itself is in a perilous position morally and there is much suffering.  It is so sad that we are not doing much to bring revival to America. 

Winter Retreat, Novi, Detroit, US

Those who longed for the Word of God, overcame many obstacles and came.  Though our numbers were relatively small, more people than usual attended this retreat.  If all those who were converted in our meetings were present, our church building would hardly hold them.

The Word of the Lord went forth with power. John worked hard to get all the things in order and also helped Bro. Joe by giving some messages.  Betty helped with the music and singing. Bridget, John’s wife, and children and many others pitched in and everything went forward smoothly.

Continue to pray for America that they may reverse course and a true spirit of repentance may come upon them, for they are treading in the path wherein Sodom and Gomorrah went, when God rained fire upon them.

Easter Retreat, Novi, Detroit, US

The weather was bitterly cold during the previous weeks, sometimes going down to -15 degrees celsius. But for the Easter week-end in April, we had some good weather.

It seemed to be unclear whether Bro. Joe could minister. He was so weak and tired as he had been strangely attacked, just before a demanding retreat or campaign and have always experienced that His grace is sufficient. Many of you, including children, pray for Bro. Joe. Such faithful prayers have succoured and supported him. He is very grateful to you for that. Those who were hungry for the Word came from distant areas.

IN SOUTH AMERICA

Guyana, South America

The journey to Guyana and the ministry there have never been easy. People there have always received the message with eagerness and interest.

With Dr. Danny having suddenly been translated to glory, our small team has been working very faithfully. Ruth, the eldest daughter of Danny, together with her husband, Dr. John Lazarus, has joined the team there.

The meetings which were scheduled from Nov. 7 to 11 were well attended. Quite a number who were present were very young people.

James, Bro. Joe’s youngest boy, led the singing and John, Bro. Joe’s oldest boy, assisted him by preaching thrice. Someone said, “We need young preachers in Guyana.” The problems which confront young people in their places of work are so complex, that it is true to say, that elderly preachers are not always able to address these vexing problems.

The last meeting was in a large housing settlement called Diamond Village, where we are setting up a centre. The presence of the Lord was strongly felt at this last meeting. The team here worked hard and we must pray for them.

IN SOUTH-EAST ASIA

Revival Meetings in Singapore

Building a deep work for the Lord in Singapore is proving to be a greater challenge than we had at first envisaged or expected. Not only are our people here kept very busy by the nature of their work, but the lack of steady personal work is proving to be a great drawback. On top of this, the absence of a location where people can freely go and pray is very detrimental to the work.

We have never encountered any situation which did not yield to fervent prayer and we do not believe that there are exceptions where an apparently solid wall can withstand the force of the prayer of faith. Thus we must confess that our prayer and faith are not enough.

One feature of this busy island State is that things are always in a state of flux—people are coming in or leaving. Hence one never sees the same congregation again. A number of people, who were strangers to Bro. Joe, were at the meetings held in February. As always, there was a line of people who sought Bro. Joe’s prayer.

Both Dr. Rajadorai and Enoch are labouring hard to reach souls. It must be said, however, that these meetings were too few and did not cover any substantial area of need.

YOUTH AND CHILDREN’S CAMPS

The International Students’ Camp

Even in the first meeting of the International Students’ Camp, on Friday evening, Jan. 10, there was a goodly gathering at our Beulah Gardens hall. The number who registered and were resident at the camp increased rapidly until we were somewhere near 6200 people.

Our Lord has no problems and there is nothing impossible to Him. In spite of the high cost of the several ingredients that go to make the Indian meal, the Lord supplied all that we needed.

We should be careful that our hearts are not hardened as the hearts of the disciples of Jesus after the feeding of the 5000 with the five loaves and the two fishes. It is amazing to see how God enables us to give the residents at the camp free board and lodging. Yet there is no one who comes to the camp for want of temporary food.

Following the preaching of the Word of God, there were great outpourings of God’s Spirit. There was a mighty spirit of supplication and crying as young people poured out their hearts at the Feet of our wonderful Saviour. This spirit of prayer should continue with the young people that were touched by the Lord. Unfortunately these blessed times at Jesus’ Feet come rapidly to a close. Then begins the period of assimilation, which results in advances on all sides.

The speakers too had to be alive and alert in the discussion groups to face some penetrating questions of the students. Many were seen praying alone.

We fear that many of us in this Fellowship are getting dull in spirit and are tending to take the great mercies of God for granted! Let us be humble and grateful that the Spirit of God still operates amongst us, breaking, cleansing and renewing us.

Children’s Camps

The children’s camps conducted at the headquarters and Royapuram in Chennai, and in Bombay, Vellore, Salem, Vijayawada, Kakinada and a few other places were greatly blessed of the Lord.

At these camps, a good number of teenagers and young people too gather to hear the Word of God. We have separate sessions for them, to take care of their particular needs.

We must pray that God may touch these children and young people and make them understand the emptiness of the world quickly, before the world with all its vanity and wickedness makes inroads into their lives. They need our prayers very much.

THE BIG CAMPAIGNS IN ANDHRA PRADESH

Stuartpuram Convention

For several months, prayer had been going up locally for the convention, and there was prayer with fasting extending to several days before the meetings commenced. When the meetings began on Wednesday, the 22nd of January, even from the first day there was a continuous stream of people coming in, using all kinds of transport. The cars and the multi-purpose vans were so many that it was difficult to accommodate them in our campus.

Bro. Whitson, who normally opens the convention, was joined this year by other able preachers. Bro. Joe was able to address the crowd from the second day. Even from the beginning, it was evident that God’s power was upon the people, and souls were humbling themselves. This movement of God’s Spirit continued to intensify as the meetings went on.

Hitherto some were placing the size of the crowd at 100,000. Annually, however, there has been a steady increase of the congregation. This year there was a much bigger crowd and though we had expanded our enormous hall by a thatched-roof structure that sheltered people from the sun, yet all our efforts to provide adequate room for the people seemed inadequate. Literally thousands stood by the trees which had grown in the meantime and others found only standing room in our large campus.

To any onlooker or stranger, the orderliness of such a large crowd would have amazed them. The police however insisted that they had to be present, in view of the large crowd. The meetings extended over many hours during the day and into the late evening hours. It is a wonder to us how the Lord takes care of the people, without any untoward incident or accident.

Vijayawada

Closing the Stuartpuram convention, Bro. Joe and Sister Lily got to Vijayawada just in time for the second message of the evening on Sunday, the 26th of January. As usual, it was a very large crowd which extended practically for nearly a hundred metres from the platform.

It was really unfortunate that Bro. Joe could preach only on Monday and the morning of Tuesday, the 28th, in this very strategic centre. The meetings continued for two more nights. During the day also, there was quite a large attendance both at the 7 am students’ meeting and the 10 am general meeting.

Rajahmundry

Rajahmundry is on the shores of the 3-kilometre wide river, Godavari. The two nights which Bro. Joe could give to Rajahmundry were greatly blessed by the Lord. The Lord brought in a huge crowd which literally packed our grounds from end to end.

Bro. Joe was able to meet all the local preachers, instruct them and pray with them. The district is full of great opportunities but we are failing both in vision and in love.

Vishakapatnam

Our new hall, which accommodates some few thousands in its three floors, was quite full and many sat outside at the garden space at the revival meetings here addressed by Bro. Joe. Many of our brothers helped him much at both the Bible classes and prayer sessions.

A team of our brothers and sisters reach out to many suburban areas with the Word of God. Yet there are several pockets such as the Naval Base and several colleges which are to be attended to, in an adequate manner. What we are doing is so small compared to the need in this place.

WIDESPREAD LABOURS IN INDIA

In Gujarat

Bro. Joe has been feeling and saying for some time now that Bro. Whitson in spite of his zeal and the needs of the new work in Gujarat, which has its border with Pakistan, is no longer strong enough for those itinerations. This state of Mahatma Gandhi is made up of many princely states. These Maharajahs and princes made sure that there was no room for Christian work or preaching, by and large.

From this very difficult state of India, there comes good news. Small groups of people are meeting to worship the Lord Jesus at five or six cities. Bro. Whitson travelled quite a bit to minister to these souls. At a recent Children’s and Youth Retreat at Jamnagar, about 120 children and 50 young people were present. From Daman which is a Union Territory, there is news of the Lord working both to heal and to give light to darkened souls.

Bro. Joe says, “Bro. Whitson did good work and with his talents, he is equipped to do work in areas where I am not the most suitable person.” To find him returning as a patient with an altogether new heart condition was a surprise to us at the headquarters. Now Bro. Whitson is recuperating and regaining strength. The serious nature of his heart condition does not allow him to run hither and thither as before. Pray for him.

Gummidipundi, Tamil Nadu

Gummidipundi is a small but busy town which is around 40 km to the north of Chennai. What commenced as a small medical clinic in a busy bazaar has seen the conversion of many from the revival meetings of successive years.

Today our prayer hall and the Primary School together with our medical and dental clinic, are unquestionably the noblest buildings on the main street. But we glory not in buildings. It is the need for accommodation that obliges us to build larger and larger prayer halls.

Bro. Joe was able to preach there only one evening at the revival meetings held in February. Dr. Jesudas and Fuchsia his wife, bore the bulk of the load. The place was packed and overflowing with people at these meetings.

But it has been evident to us for some time now that the enemy of souls is very active in this area, containing our best efforts. Some of those young men who were converted during the pioneer days are now retired older people. What many do not realize is that when one gets older, they appear to let down their defences and become a prey to useless talk or unseemly worries. In the Indian situation, we must add to this observable weakness of older people the wrong feeling of superiority through age. We must demolish this feeling of superiority through mere age, as it can produce a wrong spirit and bring to an end the free workings of God’s Spirit. We have had to bring in some changes to revive the work in our centre here.

THE LITERATURE MINISTRY

As the Fellowship expands and presses on to reach new areas all the time, there is the urgent cry for more soul-winning and soul-nourishing literature. Hence we constantly publish good books and biographies in several languages.

The distribution of our books is always on the increase. As our books are continually in great demand, we constantly run out of stock of our publications. Our book fair teams take tons and tons of books and Bibles with them to various nooks and corners of this country and neighbouring countries. So we have to supply them with the required literature. Bro. John Daniel is guiding our publication team to be proactive, keeping them on their toes. The spacious book-warehouse in Beulah Gardens is getting filled rack after rack with these beautiful books in many languages.

The challenging collection of true life stories of eleven men under the title, “Enslaved, Yet Made Free” was revised by Bro. Joe and it has come out of the press with an attractive new cover. We do hope this book will be used of God to touch and transform many lives.

By God’s grace, we have brought out six new titles in Hindi, three in Tamil, one in Manipuri and one in the Nepali language. In Telugu, six new books have been published.

We had book fairs in Ludhiana and Chandigarh in the Punjab. Many orthodox Sikhs came and bought Bibles and Christian literature. Pray that the Lord will speak to them and open their eyes. A second team of brothers had book fairs in some important cities of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu where thousands of people flocked to buy valuable books and Bibles.

Bro. Joe says that our present coverage in literature distribution in India and the neighbouring countries is so poor that our hearts must grieve over our small faith. We need to get into large-scale printing of huge editions of many books, in several languages so as to reach the millions.

RADIO AND TELEVISION MINISTRY

Our television crew at our Headquarters in Chennai are kept busy with the production of our television programmes for 20 channels in 17 languages, covering the greater part of the sub-continent of India. The dear Lord helps us so graciously to pay the enormous bills for these telecasts.

These telecasts are bringing great enlightenment and blessing to the many people who know little or nothing of the great and loving Saviour who died to bring them salvation. Let us cry to the Lord for His touch upon all the viewers. The Word of God is the only hope for all nations.

In UK, our Sunday morning telecast over Reality TV from 7.30 to 8.00 am and the Thursday evening telecast over Revelation TV from 8.00 to 8.30 pm cover almost the whole of Europe.

Our telecasts from Dusseldorf, in the heartland of German industry, must needs penetrate hitherto indifferent hearts. There is a steady increase in viewership.

Out of Paris, France, it is still a small effort, and the message is being received by many expatriates who have found shelter and refuge in France.

The small nation of Guyana in South America continues to have “The Lord’s Challenge” given to them both by radio and television every Sunday. This television ministry brings many contacts to us. People call us and tell us that those messages are very important to their families. Bro. Joe meets the TV viewers every time he visits Guyana. More and more people are responding to the messages. Many people are watching our television programme in Trinidad too.

In Australia, 33 radio stations are now airing “The Lord’s Challenge.” In addition to these radio broadcasts in Australia, the message of God’s love and power goes out over television in the cities of Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth. God’s Word is bound to impact the practical bent of the Australian mind.

We must also pray that God must bless our ten weekly quarter-hour broadcasts in the US.

A true understanding of the purpose of our radio and television broadcasts and the wide scope of their blessing and a live expectation that God will touch the hearts of millions, must grip our hearts.

THE INTERNET MINISTRY

Many needy people appeared to have tuned in to the messages of both morning and evening sessions of the Annual Retreat on our website, in several parts of the globe. Many hits took place and reports of blessing are coming in from places far removed from this part of the globe. In fact, one family in Europe set their clock to the Indian Standard Time and participated in the Retreat.

The United Service at the headquarters is now put online and many are being blessed by this effort. At some of our big and small centres in India, the Sunday morning congregations are now able to watch Bro. Joe’s message live on a big screen and are thus greatly blessed.

Though it has become quite an expensive undertaking to put the messages live online, even if a handful of people are blessed, we feel it is worth the effort and the expense involved. It is the deep yearning of Bro. Joe that the Lord alone should be seen on the platform. He is the message.

The message which goes out every Sunday from our small church in Detroit, which is called Community Christ Church, at 10.00 AM EST (7.30 PM IST) is proving to be a great blessing to some needy people who watch it live online. Those who cannot afford to watch the messages live online, they download these messages from our website later and share them with many and are thus greatly quickened and blessed.

Much of the resources on our website are now made available in eleven other languages, viz., Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Indonesian, Italian, Russian, Spanish, Burmese, Hindi and Telugu.

OUR SCHOOLS

The only purpose for running our schools is that the light of the Gospel must shine upon the hearts of little children in their tender age so that they get the right values in life. It gives great joy to Bro. Joe whenever he sees this purpose fulfilled. The dear Lord is causing His Word to be planted in the tender hearts of the children. We must pray that these precious students may rise up as faithful witnesses for the Lord, from our schools. So we measure our success with that yardstick and not by mere academic achievements.

We praise God for the good results in the Matriculation exam this year. Our schools in Bansi in Uttar Pradesh and in Salem and Mettupalayam in Tamil Nadu continue to maintain their record of 100% passes. In our Bansi School, 28 out of the 32 students passed with distinction, obtaining more than 80% marks. Likewise, in our Salem school, 14 out of 17 students, and in our Mettupalayam School, 43 out of the 45 students have scored more than 80% marks.

In our Ponneri School, out of the 29 students who appeared for the school leaving Matriculation Examination, 28 passed, and out of the 19 who appeared for the Plus Two Examination, 18 passed.

Our Primary School in Nepal has got a very good name in that area. Many children of the Maoists are studying in our school. We are always facing new challenges here and we need much prayer for our team. We are in need of more dedicated teachers, as the strength of our school keeps increasing constantly.

While many schools give large salaries to their teachers, collecting high fees from the pupils, we try to keep our fees at a most moderate level in order that we should not be a school for the rich. Hence our teachers have to be sacrificial people who make do with small salaries. We are in need of such teachers who will sacrifice and build great lives through prayer, exemplary conduct and excellent teaching.

THE ANNUAL RETREAT

When Elisha cried inconsolably, when he saw Elijah being caught up into heaven, “Where is the God of Elijah?” it seemed almost like the cry of a desolate orphan. To us, our Immanuel, “God with us,” never leaves our side.

Brother Arthur Hill left behind a very sick wife and our precious Andrea Bills, Rodney’s wife, volunteered to take care of her. Bro. John Branch, who is being expanded in his faith taking care of a growing church back in the US, pitched in, simply brushing aside the high temperatures.

It has always been the prayer of Bro. Joe that Christ only should be seen on the platform. He says, “God chose to take me off the platform, while our brothers did much of the work.” We are having to be very careful not to let a controversial spirit or the spirit of self-importance or lovelessness to have any room on the platform. “O, to be like Jesus!” should be our cry.

Towards the middle of the Retreat, a large number of people vacated their places and a second batch, hungry for the Word, took their room. We do not like the departure of so many people right in the middle of the Retreat. But alas, though we build and build, we just cannot keep up with the demand for accommodation. Now construction materials have become so expensive and labour has become scarce. We must know that it is the Lord who is the Builder of His Church. More than wood, brick, steel and human organization at its best, it is the Lord who builds His Church. Human organization cannot do it. The Lord of truth and holiness, He only can build His own Church. At best, we can only build a flimsy structure which will be ‘gone with the wind’ and produce a compromising people whose real god is money.

Halfway through the Retreat, it was reported that the pumps were not bringing up the water. Now this would have been disastrous. But the good Lord made the springs of water rise again.

The prayer sessions were full of persistent supplications and brought the fire of God on many souls.

Let us pray that the 9940 people who registered and attended the Retreat, will take the blessing to many corners of the globe.

PROMOTED TO ‘BEULAH LAND’

Though it gives us much sorrow to lose any of our dear brothers or sisters, heaven is a wonderful place and these people who were called Home must be rejoicing in ‘BEULAH LAND’—the word with which John Bunyan, the classic writer of ‘Pilgrim’s Progress’, called it.

Rebecca Yohan

Rebecca, the oldest daughter of late Bro. Jagapathirao, who before his conversion was a strong communist, has been such an example to many as a quiet worker in the Fellowship, alongside her husband, Yohan. She corrected and taught many and was a blessing to the people who knew her. She exhibited great faith and courage in the face of much physical suffering and remained a cheerful and faithful witness to the Lord till the end.

John Freddy

When John Freddy was given the responsibility of reorganizing a lot of things in our Ponneri School, he did his work ably, despite many difficulties. At a time when we badly needed his steadying hand, he has been promoted into the Saviour’s presence. He was spared the usual ordeal of lying sick in bed until death.

Sister Esther

Since the very time she met the Lord, Sister Esther became a most faithful disciple of the Lord Jesus. Her religion was tested in the pharmacy departments where medicine often disappears. That could not happen when our pharmacist Esther was in charge. Anyone who had eyes to see, would have found a great challenge through the consistency and transparency of her faith.  

Though weak in body, she chose to serve the Kashmiri women for seven years in the heavy snows and dangers of Kashmir. It made us very sad to hear of her death, which came suddenly.

 Newman

Everyone who knows Bro. Newman would say that he was a quiet and humble person and a faithful follower of the Lord Jesus. Some of the trials which he had to pass through were quite severe, but he never looked back, nor did he sit nursing his wounds and blaming others. After his conversion, he could not bear to see any duplicity or falsehood.

It came as a shock to everyone when two repeated heart attacks took him Home. What a welcome he would have received in Heaven, after his tenure on earth!

CONCLUSION

The conclusion of the whole matter is that we should return to our first works and our first love and begin to walk like Jesus. Then we and our children will truly be blessed .

We often sing the chorus,

My life is in You, Lord,

My strength is in You, Lord,

My hope is in You, Lord,

In You, it’s in You...

So be it ... ALWAYS!