My Dear Friends,
Namaste!
I have great pleasure in informing you that a Boys’ Orphanage was inaugurated in Jaigaon at Indian-Bhutan border on July 12, 2010. This is our 16th orphanage in India.
We at AIM ASIA had been praying for an opportunity to serve the children in this area for the past many years. I believe it is the Lord’s time now.
God has provided a good house for the purpose. It is a rented facility and is good enough to accommodate all the children and the home parents. It also has a big open place to hold meetings and training programs.
A simple inaugural service was held in the orphanage premises. Over three hundred local people gathered to witness 50 destitute children received in. These children come from destitute, displaced families that work at tea gardens picking leaves 8 hours a day for a dollar and a half. They do not have a home to live in or a regular job to sufficiently fend for their needs. Sending their children to a school system is like a dream.
Many of you have expressed your desire to visit this area. I want to encourage you to do so because you will not be passing through the city as a mere tourist but there is a place now where you can play and enjoy with the little children, teach them, feed them and help them grow.
The landlord of the orphanage building is a Christian and wants to sell the property at a very low price of $30,000 though it is worth much more by the virtue of sharing international borders with Bhutan.
If any of you would like to make a contribution toward this project, you may donate on line from this web site.
We appreciate your partnership and value your support.
Yours Because of Calvary,
Joab Lohara.
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MESSAGE FOR MAY
My Dear Friends,
Namaste!
We have three prime events coming our way in June.
FIRST, a one-week portable training program for Walling’s men in Rajasthan. 70 Native workers are expected to participate for a time of learning and to seek God’s face: 7 – 12 June.
SECOND, a district level youth conference in Nizamabad to be held 17 – 20 June. Young men and women from the churches in the district will be attending. According to our superintendent Jesdas, 100 young people have already registered for this event. Susant Chhatria, Peter Paul and others will be ministering.
THIRD, a Breakthrough Seminar is scheduled in Punjab 24 – 27 June. Area Supervisor Dhiraj Kumar and his men have been preparing expectantly for a refreshing time among his people. Over one thousand delegates from the region are expected to gather. Please pray for a spiritual breakthrough.
I want to thank all those friends who prayed for me and facilitated my visit to Japan and U.S.A. last month. Everywhere I went, I found a comfortable bed, generous hospitality and wonderful opportunity to minister. I am grateful.
With Greatest Hope,
Joab Lohara.
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MESSAGE FOR MAY
My Dear Friends,
I have just returned from the Northern region. I was there to participate in the united Easter Festival (Mela) of our churches. As you are aware, the Easter Mela for us began on April 4 in Orissa and ended April 25 in Rajasthan.
BATHING FROM THE MATKAS
It
was a wonderful experience to meet with people
of different cultures in their own hamlets.
Squatting on the floor of their hovels, eating
food cooked in their own way (there was no trace
of curry that India is so famous for everywhere),
bathing in the open with the help of a dipper
(tumbler) from water stored in matkas (Clay
pots) were all part of the daily chores.
Rajasthan was very, very hot. I would have preferred to be in shots like some of my overseas friends. But Indian culture does not allow the reverends to do so. So the next best option was a thin, cotton lungi (skirt). I was still feeling the heat under a scorching sun (130 degrees).
KERBSIDE OR LAVATORY?
The
natives are poor, illiterate. Young people have
found a new interest in education though. The
absence of electricity, drinking water and sanitation
revealed sub-human conditions. Peeing and crapping
in public is not uncommon, nor an aberrant behavior
as some of you have witnessed (perhaps done
it yourself). People still favor a kerb side spot to perform their morning ablutions. Men find their own dudes while the women go with their friends. They chat and laugh peeking behind the bushes, mounds of dirt or a stone that separate one from the other.
There is no hesitation or self-consciousness. Men, women, cows and buffaloes enter the dirty, stagnant waters of the same pool to wash clothes and to bathe. The sight of naked urchins jumping in to play and cool their bodies in murky waters is as much dreadful as fascinating.
CHILDREN IN BOARDING SCHOOL
Please
do not ask me the hygiene part of it. But I
am exulted to share with you that at least 87
children of this area who are being cared for
by AIM ASIA will not have to live in those conditions.
Some of them are in boarding school while others
are enrolled to English medium education. We
are thankful to ICCM which sponsors 47 children
and to ICC for total sponsorship of 40 children.
What’s more? These children get good food, clothes, education, and godly care of their parent and at our Jehovah Jireh Boys’ Home as well. At this pace, 5 to 10 years down the road, we will see a totally transformed generation of young people contributing to the development of tribal churches.
IN THE THROES OF SOCIAL CHANGES
The
situation is also changing in churched areas.
They are in the throes of a social revolution.
People live cleaner, eat better, wear nicer,
smell fresher and speak sober. Their outlook
changes; they do not look the same as before.
Our Easter Melas were designed to bring people together for a celebration, friendship, fellowship, unity, spiritual uplift and strength. It was my joy to minister the word at all these places. Thousands were blessed.
Night llages began at around 9:00 PM after every one had taken dinner and went on till 3:00 in the morning. One night at Chekawada, people kept awake till 4:00 AM.
They would sing, pray, praise, share testimonies and hear words of exhortation. They call it “Bhajan Mandli” (Group Devotion). Such zeal and fervency is uncommon in many churches today. They used local instruments to accompany their singing.
HARD TO BE DISPASSIONATE
Plenty of my books were sold which provided some funds for our expenses. Seeing the impact of the Melas, our superintendents are planning to hold large scale Melas next year. It is hard not to be passionate about going where the multitudes wait eagerly for a divine touch. We want to thank everyone who prayed for me and our team. Please keep praying to help us keep moving. Yours Because of Calvary,
Joab Lohara.
 |
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| An Open Dorm for our Ministry Team | What in the world is a goat doing on my bed? |
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EASTER FESTIVAL
MESSAGE FOR APRIL
MESSAGE FOR APRIL
My Dear Friends,
April began with a wonderful Easter Festival. We are in fact organizing Easter celebrations at several prime stations. I have just returned from Orissa and I hope to join Walling's group in Rajasthan in the last week. Walling Masih is our North West India Superintendent.
Jehovah Jireh Boys' Home, one of our 14 orphanages in the sub-continent, is situated right where Walling has his area office. I am looking forward to the opportunity of visiting this orphanage and spending some time with the children.
Besides taking a camel ride through the sand dunes of Rajasthan and signing my name on the yellow hills of famous Panipath, I love the colorful, yet simple folks of the desert land. The occasional sight of turbaned shepherds with their ethnic outfits surely delights my eyes.
Walling and his men have a great mission on hand to uplift the poverty stricken people of their tribe known as the Bhils. A partnership with Walling is a worthy venture to everyone interested in seeing a backward community empowered and transformed.
Yours because of Calvary,
Joab Lohara.
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THE NINE WONDERS!
MESSAGE FOR MARCH
MESSAGE FOR MARCH
Hello Friends,
Warm greetings!
I have just returned from yet another wonderful
trip to Orissa, witnessing two great works
of the Lord.
ONE: our new orphanage in southern
Orissa.
Fifty destitute children from a hilly region
have been taken in and are being provided
with free food, accommodation, education,
medical attention, parental care, etc. Most
of these children did not have a school
system in their native village. It was difficult
for the young children to walk several miles
on mountainous roads to go to school as
they could not afford to stay in a boarding
school in a distant town.
When the children are deprived of primary
education, the family encourages them early
on to try hands at work for the support
of the family. They learn to work and grow
up as illiterate menial laborers who earn
a meager wage after the day’s hard work.
Their economy is so brutally crushed that
they have no strength to stand on their
own and rise to a new height.
Education will surely improve their living
condition, transform their community and
set them on progress. And this is what we
have been aiming at among other things through
our child care program. Over a thousand
children are being affectionately cared
for in our orphanages at various towns.
TWO: the great Orissa Convention.
Over 30,000 people gathered
for 4 days: 7 – 10 March. The venue was
about 80 km from the new orphanage.
I have been a speaker at this convention
for the past several years. It was my privilege
again this year to minister to thousands
of people. Please see my blog for some pictures.
The convention is a wonder
in many ways. I encountered 9 wonders:
- A small village community became the host of this convention. Most of the villagers are menial laborers.
- The little local church had also undertaken for a colossal need of fixing a huge tent, PA system, water supply, electricity connection, and other logistics of such a giant event.
- People who attended the convention were mostly poor. But they travelled from all parts of the region spending their own money and made provision for their 4-day stay in the village. All they needed was an open field.
- A small stream was the source of water for the village. It gets dry in summer; water is not enough even for one village. Only God knew how the water was enough for the use of thousands of people.
- People woke up very early, finished their morning chores, cooked their food and went fully determined to sit through the meetings. There was not a break for tea, coffee or water. The meeting commenced each day at 9:00 A.M. and ended at 7:00 P.M. with just a two-hour free time for lunch.
- There were no chairs to sit. People squatted on the ground the whole time.
- There were no fans or air-condition. People sat under a huge tent. The weather was warm and humid, 90 degree Fahrenheit. A piece of paper or a hard cover in their hands served as the fan.
- Nobody felt like eating food or drinking some water during the meetings. It appeared as though nobody needed to go to the bathroom (if fact there were no bathrooms; people had to nurture God’s creation everywhere they found a tree in the open field).
- There was hunger for God’s word that only God could satisfy.
I was greatly overwhelmed by the warmth of the people and their desire for spiritual things. I wish some of you could go there with me some day to see the amazing movement of the Spirit.
Thank you so much my friends for praying for me. The Lord has heard your prayers and prospered my journey. Blessed be the Name of the Lord!
With Greatest Hope,
Joab Lohara.
“Do what you can, with what you have,
where you are.”
--------------------------------------------------------
THE RIPPLE EFFECT
MESSAGE FOR FEBRUARY
MESSAGE FOR FEBRUARY
I recently chanced
upon reading Anita Roddick, known for
her outstanding work for the disadvantaged
children in Asia and Easter Europe.
She observed, “If you think you are
too small to have an impact, try going
to bed with a mosquito around you.”
That, I thought, was powerful, not just humorous.
The reason many people cannot think out of box is because they think they are too small to impact. Many churches do not want to go outside the boundary line because they think they are small.
But the fact is, God can put them on the world map, no matter how small a group or a person is. If the simple act of a pebble dropped into a pool of water results in ever expanding ripples, just imagine the ripple effect when God is in it.
When Calvary Commission began in India in the year 1986, it was small, fledgling. A dear friend reminded me a week ago how we suffered for a few rupees to buy fuel to go on an outreach. I know the existential difficulties of a Christian worker in a country like mine, especially when one has to work in a new place with no friend or a relation. I had left home with a borrowed suitcase. I still remember the words of that friend who gave me his bag: “Joab, God wants to bless you; when He blesses, remember me!”
That friend had the faith to see through my future before I ever knew anything about it. I had to be relocated in a new state; everything was alien and everybody a stranger. But the Lord was with me, the same Lord whom I had met while in my hometown. That made the difference. The ripple effect was far reaching; impact of what God has done with me is felt by at least 100,000 people today in 14 states of India.
If God could do it with a poor, Lohara boy from an obscure mountain village, he could do it with anyone. He could use a brilliant attorney like Finny to be the father of American revivalism; He could also use a poor cobbler like Carey to be the father of modern missions;
I got a mail from a far off country recently. A friend asked, “If I wanted to give a modest ongoing support, what would you suggest it would go for?”
I would say, no giving is modest and no giving is too large for the Kingdom of Christ. He could use a boy’s lunch to satisfy the multitudes or a fortune like that of C. T. Studd to reach the world.
Take heart, my friend! The kingdom waits for you just as you are. Our Lord is not way too much impressed by the riches of a young ruler, nor is He disappointed by a widow’s mite.
As the Book of Job says, “If you are pure and upright, He would awake for you, and prosper your rightful dwelling place. Though your beginning is small, yet your latter end will increase abundantly.”
Never hesitate, my friend, to invest in eternity. As C. S Lewis said, “All that is not eternal is eternally useless.”
That, I thought, was powerful, not just humorous.
The reason many people cannot think out of box is because they think they are too small to impact. Many churches do not want to go outside the boundary line because they think they are small.
But the fact is, God can put them on the world map, no matter how small a group or a person is. If the simple act of a pebble dropped into a pool of water results in ever expanding ripples, just imagine the ripple effect when God is in it.
When Calvary Commission began in India in the year 1986, it was small, fledgling. A dear friend reminded me a week ago how we suffered for a few rupees to buy fuel to go on an outreach. I know the existential difficulties of a Christian worker in a country like mine, especially when one has to work in a new place with no friend or a relation. I had left home with a borrowed suitcase. I still remember the words of that friend who gave me his bag: “Joab, God wants to bless you; when He blesses, remember me!”
That friend had the faith to see through my future before I ever knew anything about it. I had to be relocated in a new state; everything was alien and everybody a stranger. But the Lord was with me, the same Lord whom I had met while in my hometown. That made the difference. The ripple effect was far reaching; impact of what God has done with me is felt by at least 100,000 people today in 14 states of India.
If God could do it with a poor, Lohara boy from an obscure mountain village, he could do it with anyone. He could use a brilliant attorney like Finny to be the father of American revivalism; He could also use a poor cobbler like Carey to be the father of modern missions;
I got a mail from a far off country recently. A friend asked, “If I wanted to give a modest ongoing support, what would you suggest it would go for?”
I would say, no giving is modest and no giving is too large for the Kingdom of Christ. He could use a boy’s lunch to satisfy the multitudes or a fortune like that of C. T. Studd to reach the world.
Take heart, my friend! The kingdom waits for you just as you are. Our Lord is not way too much impressed by the riches of a young ruler, nor is He disappointed by a widow’s mite.
As the Book of Job says, “If you are pure and upright, He would awake for you, and prosper your rightful dwelling place. Though your beginning is small, yet your latter end will increase abundantly.”
Never hesitate, my friend, to invest in eternity. As C. S Lewis said, “All that is not eternal is eternally useless.”
--------------------------------------------------------
FIRST DREAM OF THE YEAR!
MESSAGE FOR JANUARY
FIRST DREAM OF THE YEAR!
MESSAGE FOR JANUARY
Hello Friends:
All the staff of AIM ASIA join me in wishing you a very blessed and promising New Year!
As we face the challenges of an unknown year, I would like to bring to your memory the words of Malcolm Forbes, “WHEN YOU CEASE TO DREAM, YOU CEASE TO LIVE.”
A life that just exists with no purposes and goals is miserably a self-contented life. It is like how Prophet Hosea described the people of Israel in his day, “Israel empties his vine and brings forth fruit for himself” (Hos.10:1). BEARING “FRUIT FOR ONESELF” IS CLEARLY A DIVINE COMPLAINT.
FRUIT THAT REMAINS FOREVER
Many
might evolve brilliant plans and set lofty
goals for their businesses and family concerns.
I do not mean to talk about those. I am
primarily referring to the words of Christ
in John 15:16, “You did not choose me but
I chose you that you should go and bring
forth fruit and that your fruit should remain.”
It is not jut bearing fruit but bearing
fruit that remains is obviously the Master’s
desire.
Do you know of any lasting fruit, my friend, which came out of your business last year, something that would remain forever? Is there something you did that is not called “fruit for yourself and your family” but consecrated for kingdom purposes? Even the works of some ministries cannot guarantee this. That is why Paul was so concerned for the Corinthians: “Every man’s work will become clear, for the Day will declare it because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test every man’s work, of what sort it is” (1 Cor.3:13).
INTENTIONAL SHARING
After reading my last blog last month, many friends responded with magnanimity. One of the mails I received was from someone I had met only once. He said, “My wife and I want to be with you in spirit for your Christmas service with the people in the streets. We have some funds that we want to share with you. It is our joy.” It was so sweet of them. I was very much moved.
They were visitors in a church that I spoke at a couple of years back. I was not in touch with them. I have never been to their house nor have they ever visited my work. There is no reason for them to be involved in a ministry they have never seen. But this couple like few others made conscious efforts and intentional sharing of the fruit that God has given them. The dream of their lives has taken their investment half way round the world.
A PEOPLE WITH ABJECT POVERTY AND STIGMA
It
is this awakening dream that took to me
to a leprosy colony last month on the Christmas
day.
We have been serving the leprosy patients for many years. In fact 50 families from this colony come to our Ministry Center once every month to receive their food supplies. But going to their poor hamlet on a day of celebration to see how they lived was a totally different experience.
While the Christendom sang, “Joy to the World”, I witnessed abject poverty and dejection in this camp. The disease has disfigured their bodies causing lesions on the skin and progressive debilitation.
I saw the ulcers on their hands and feet closely. I was much discomforted to see their helplessness to work not only because of the deformities leprosy has caused but also because of the age-old stigma. They had no medicine and bandages which are so desperately needed every day to bring healing to their ulcers. The flies kept buzzing over their uncovered sores.
They had no food supplies either. Begging every day wherever they are allowed to do so has been their only way of survival.
WOMAN WITH NO LEGS
“I
am the most unfortunate,” said Subbamma,
a sixty year old leprosy patient. “Look
at me. I cannot walk and go begging. There’s
no one to take care of me.”
Both her legs have been amputated because of bone-eroding ulcers.
INNER BRUISES & OPEN SORES
I heard their inner bruises too.
“Everybody keeps a distance from us, even our own family members,” said Narsiah who has both his hands and feet deformed. “You made our day. We are so encouraged to have you visit with us in our unclean colony today.”
Their open sores reminded me of Lazarus who lay at the rich man’s gate desiring to be fed with the crumbs that fell from his table. Jesus said, dogs came and licked his sores. But the rich man never turned a compassionate eye on him.
CAN WE STOP DREAMING?
AIM ASIA has been providing food supplies to 50 leprosy families of this colony every month. We decided to increase it to 65 families from January 2010 onwards. There are 120 families living in this colony who are as needy as others. We have also desired to run an Outpatient Clinic for them where leprosy victims can be administered with medicine and bandages every day. A trained Health Worker will be appointed to bind up their ulcers. It will cost us an additional $500 every month. But we believe the Lord wants to have us serve them and that He will show us a way, or someone to provide for it. When we want to live, how can we stop dreaming? This would be one of our first dreams of the year. We do not want to let them die at the doorstep.
Thank you so much for your prayer and participation.
Yours because of Calvary,
Joab Lohara.
All the staff of AIM ASIA join me in wishing you a very blessed and promising New Year!
As we face the challenges of an unknown year, I would like to bring to your memory the words of Malcolm Forbes, “WHEN YOU CEASE TO DREAM, YOU CEASE TO LIVE.”
A life that just exists with no purposes and goals is miserably a self-contented life. It is like how Prophet Hosea described the people of Israel in his day, “Israel empties his vine and brings forth fruit for himself” (Hos.10:1). BEARING “FRUIT FOR ONESELF” IS CLEARLY A DIVINE COMPLAINT.
FRUIT THAT REMAINS FOREVER
Many
might evolve brilliant plans and set lofty
goals for their businesses and family concerns.
I do not mean to talk about those. I am
primarily referring to the words of Christ
in John 15:16, “You did not choose me but
I chose you that you should go and bring
forth fruit and that your fruit should remain.”
It is not jut bearing fruit but bearing
fruit that remains is obviously the Master’s
desire.Do you know of any lasting fruit, my friend, which came out of your business last year, something that would remain forever? Is there something you did that is not called “fruit for yourself and your family” but consecrated for kingdom purposes? Even the works of some ministries cannot guarantee this. That is why Paul was so concerned for the Corinthians: “Every man’s work will become clear, for the Day will declare it because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test every man’s work, of what sort it is” (1 Cor.3:13).
INTENTIONAL SHARING
After reading my last blog last month, many friends responded with magnanimity. One of the mails I received was from someone I had met only once. He said, “My wife and I want to be with you in spirit for your Christmas service with the people in the streets. We have some funds that we want to share with you. It is our joy.” It was so sweet of them. I was very much moved.
They were visitors in a church that I spoke at a couple of years back. I was not in touch with them. I have never been to their house nor have they ever visited my work. There is no reason for them to be involved in a ministry they have never seen. But this couple like few others made conscious efforts and intentional sharing of the fruit that God has given them. The dream of their lives has taken their investment half way round the world.
A PEOPLE WITH ABJECT POVERTY AND STIGMA
It
is this awakening dream that took to me
to a leprosy colony last month on the Christmas
day.We have been serving the leprosy patients for many years. In fact 50 families from this colony come to our Ministry Center once every month to receive their food supplies. But going to their poor hamlet on a day of celebration to see how they lived was a totally different experience.
While the Christendom sang, “Joy to the World”, I witnessed abject poverty and dejection in this camp. The disease has disfigured their bodies causing lesions on the skin and progressive debilitation.
I saw the ulcers on their hands and feet closely. I was much discomforted to see their helplessness to work not only because of the deformities leprosy has caused but also because of the age-old stigma. They had no medicine and bandages which are so desperately needed every day to bring healing to their ulcers. The flies kept buzzing over their uncovered sores.
They had no food supplies either. Begging every day wherever they are allowed to do so has been their only way of survival.
WOMAN WITH NO LEGS
“I
am the most unfortunate,” said Subbamma,
a sixty year old leprosy patient. “Look
at me. I cannot walk and go begging. There’s
no one to take care of me.” Both her legs have been amputated because of bone-eroding ulcers.
INNER BRUISES & OPEN SORES
I heard their inner bruises too.
“Everybody keeps a distance from us, even our own family members,” said Narsiah who has both his hands and feet deformed. “You made our day. We are so encouraged to have you visit with us in our unclean colony today.”
Their open sores reminded me of Lazarus who lay at the rich man’s gate desiring to be fed with the crumbs that fell from his table. Jesus said, dogs came and licked his sores. But the rich man never turned a compassionate eye on him.
CAN WE STOP DREAMING?
AIM ASIA has been providing food supplies to 50 leprosy families of this colony every month. We decided to increase it to 65 families from January 2010 onwards. There are 120 families living in this colony who are as needy as others. We have also desired to run an Outpatient Clinic for them where leprosy victims can be administered with medicine and bandages every day. A trained Health Worker will be appointed to bind up their ulcers. It will cost us an additional $500 every month. But we believe the Lord wants to have us serve them and that He will show us a way, or someone to provide for it. When we want to live, how can we stop dreaming? This would be one of our first dreams of the year. We do not want to let them die at the doorstep.
Thank you so much for your prayer and participation.
Yours because of Calvary,
Joab Lohara.
--------------------------------------------------------
JOAB’S HEART BEAT!
MESSAGE FOR DECEMBER
JOAB’S HEART BEAT!
MESSAGE FOR DECEMBER
Hello Friends:
Happy Christmas! May you have a joyful season of festivity and a promising New Year!
In the recently concluded National Staff Conference (see the report in “Current Events” section), the Lord taught us many things. This was our 23rd Anniversary Celebration.
It was so humbling to learn that in spite of us God can use our lives to change the future. What has been accomplished so far can in no way be compared to what lies ahead when we walk in obedience to His will.
The National Staff conference is a special annual event when we have the opportunity to meet with all our men and women working in 14 states of India and to hear their stories of how God has been at work, uplifting the poor and providing for the orphan children.
People throng around me every time there is a tea break or lunch break in between sessions. I love to hear their stories, and the more I hear the more I become convinced that the story of the poor has been the story of our ministry.
As
I talked to a group of men one afternoon,
an 18-year old approached me with a flashing
smile. What the Lord had done in her life
is simply unbelievable. She came from one
of the broken homes in the slums of Hyderabad.
A drunken father could not afford to feed
her two meals a day or provide for her education.
She was therefore admitted to Immanuel Girls’
Home in the outskirts of the city when she
was just 9.
This was Balamani, a frail, dark-skinned girl of gentle disposition. Nobody knew what her future would be like but we provided all care, affection, upbringing and education. She grew up in the company of 150 destitute girls in the orphanage and was one like them until she took her High school exams. The Education Department of the Government of Andhra Pradesh took notice of her excellence in mathematics and offered a free seat for her to study Electrical and Information Engineering.
What a transformation, indeed! She will be an Engineer working for the state in the next few years. If this is the way God wants to change the future of the poor, I want to be in it involved headlong. There are thousands of destitute children like Balamani who need our care. A little bit of our affection can change their destiny and direction in life.
I have personally seen the affluence of the Christian world and how wonderfully God has blessed them. As we enjoy the delights of Christmas, it would be so appropriate to think of those children who have nothing, not even a slice of bread to satisfy their hunger.
Please do not hesitate to write if you want to be a friend and a parent to a child in need. For $100 we can serve a special Christmas dinner to 50 destitute children. A further supply $20 a month could change the future of a child.
Yours Because of Calvary,
Joab Lohara.
President/CEO.
Happy Christmas! May you have a joyful season of festivity and a promising New Year!
In the recently concluded National Staff Conference (see the report in “Current Events” section), the Lord taught us many things. This was our 23rd Anniversary Celebration.
It was so humbling to learn that in spite of us God can use our lives to change the future. What has been accomplished so far can in no way be compared to what lies ahead when we walk in obedience to His will.
The National Staff conference is a special annual event when we have the opportunity to meet with all our men and women working in 14 states of India and to hear their stories of how God has been at work, uplifting the poor and providing for the orphan children.
People throng around me every time there is a tea break or lunch break in between sessions. I love to hear their stories, and the more I hear the more I become convinced that the story of the poor has been the story of our ministry.
As
I talked to a group of men one afternoon,
an 18-year old approached me with a flashing
smile. What the Lord had done in her life
is simply unbelievable. She came from one
of the broken homes in the slums of Hyderabad.
A drunken father could not afford to feed
her two meals a day or provide for her education.
She was therefore admitted to Immanuel Girls’
Home in the outskirts of the city when she
was just 9.This was Balamani, a frail, dark-skinned girl of gentle disposition. Nobody knew what her future would be like but we provided all care, affection, upbringing and education. She grew up in the company of 150 destitute girls in the orphanage and was one like them until she took her High school exams. The Education Department of the Government of Andhra Pradesh took notice of her excellence in mathematics and offered a free seat for her to study Electrical and Information Engineering.
What a transformation, indeed! She will be an Engineer working for the state in the next few years. If this is the way God wants to change the future of the poor, I want to be in it involved headlong. There are thousands of destitute children like Balamani who need our care. A little bit of our affection can change their destiny and direction in life.
I have personally seen the affluence of the Christian world and how wonderfully God has blessed them. As we enjoy the delights of Christmas, it would be so appropriate to think of those children who have nothing, not even a slice of bread to satisfy their hunger.
Please do not hesitate to write if you want to be a friend and a parent to a child in need. For $100 we can serve a special Christmas dinner to 50 destitute children. A further supply $20 a month could change the future of a child.
Yours Because of Calvary,
Joab Lohara.
President/CEO.
--------------------------------------------------------
MESSAGE FOR NOVEMBER
MESSAGE FOR NOVEMBER
Hello Friends,
Welcome!
Thank you for visiting our web site.
If you do not know me personally, I want you to know that I do not believe in missions. Upset?
Just a second! When I say I do not believe, what I mean is I do not believe in missions if you are talking about one that is badly crippled or has the looks of an old jalopy stuck in the mud.
I read Charles Spurgeon when I was 18. Ma…n, he beat the restlessness out of me! His words were awesome: “Any fool can say I will do as much as I can. But he that believes in Christ’s power does what he cannot do."
In other words, if we believed faith in Christ has the genius of transforming the barely possible into actuality, our mission would move on to attempt the impossible.
There was a time I brushed aside Carey’s famous words: “Attempt great things for God…” A frail and shy young man that I was, I said, that’s not for me. The only thing I could possibly do was, submit to the heavenly vision.
30 years have passed. We have seen Christ’s power at work. How else could we ever initiate 3 mega missions like Calvary Commission India, Aim Asia and the Immanuel Fellowship Churches?
My wife Suchitra and I have been responsible for training over 500 native workers who now help us take care of thousands of destitute children, widows, leprosy victims and aids patients. Our orphanages and vocational training centers have specialized in raising a new generation of godly, industrious, talented young men and women. Hundreds of literacy schools and praise plants across the sub-continent are like the cherry on the ice.
Our commitment remains as fervent as ever to uplift the poorest of the poor. We invite you, my friend, to partner with us to offer hope to a world in need and watch the communities transform.
Yours because of Calvary,
JOAB LOHARA
President/CEO