The five Americans left for the U.S, but we continued our Gospel meetings at our churches and believers' homes. Also, I performed several weddings.

In the first week of May, I took a trip to North India by train to survey the area for future expansion of our ministry. I traveled all the way to the foothills of Himalayas and to the Pakistan border. At the places that I traveled, I noticed very few Christians and Churches. It was overwhelming to see that a great deal of work needs to be done there. "...The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few." Matthew 9:37.

The trains in India are very busy most of the time, especially in the summer months. (The reservations must be made well in advance). In my return trip, I made reservations, but not enough time. So, they put me on waiting list. If you were in waiting list, there was no guarantee that you get a seat or a berth.

My journey began from Delhi to Vijayawada without a seat to sit or a berth to sleep (this was a 2 day journey and about 1200 miles) It was extremely hot and humid (115 + degrees). Since I can't drink water from the train or from the train stations, I had to buy bottled water and stock them up until I could find them again. In the meantime, because of extreme heat, the water in the bottles turned into hot water! Imagine, drinking hot water in hot weather!

There were a couple of people beside me without reservations too. There was only standing room at the doors. After some time, we tried to sit on a corner of other passengers' seats, but they did not allow us to. The train was moving at a high speed through the barren and desert landscape. One of the guys who stood with me said, "I wish we have berths to lay down and think about God." When he said, "God." I asked him, "Are you a Christian?" He said, "no, I came from a very high caste Brahmin family." I said, "oh...!" Then I asked him what he did? He said that he was a businessman and was going on a business trip.

We were quiet for awhile and still standing at the door. He asked, "what do you do?" I said, "I am a Pastor." He looked at me with a surprise and said that he read the Bible, but not completely. He explained, "Ever since I read it, I wanted to talk to someone about Jesus. I thought to myself, "This is it." I began to share with him about the Lord. We talked 4 - 5 hours standing at the door. We lost time! People pushed us constantly, while they went in and out of the bathrooms. Nothing seemed to disturb us. Finally, he said that he wanted to receive Jesus in his heart. He asked me if he had to go to a church in order to do that. I said, "No." "You can ask Jesus in to your heart right here, right now!" He said, "Yes, I want to receive Jesus now." I prayed for him right there on the train. He repeated the prayer and was born again. When I opened my eyes and looked at him, there was a smile on his face, shiver in his body and drenched in sweat. Praise the Lord!

Then I thought that this might be the reason I couldn't get the reservation, so I could talk to him about the Lord! So for the rest of the trip, I didn't feel sorry for myself for not having the reservations. We became like brothers and watching each other's luggage when the other had to go to the bathroom or got off the train to buy food or water. I Praised God for His divine appointment!! Maybe he will be a key link to expand the ministry in the north. Please pray for this Brother. His name is ALOK, but he said call me "ALEX." He is from Agra, where the TajMahal is located.

As I shared with you in my previous newsletters, we are focusing on sharing the Gospel with the tribal groups. Recently, we have had many interesting and sad things take place.

A letter from one of our Pastors, who is leading a group of tribal pastors in the jungle areas.

"Presently some of our tribal brothers are working with their own tribal groups such as Koya, Gondu, Gotte, Adivasi, Sugali, Lambodi, Albi and several others. Most of these people live in the mountains and deep in the forests. They worship trees, animals and have a strong belief in witchcraft and human sacrifices. Each of the above groups have their own dialect and customs. Most of them have never heard the name of Jesus Christ. There are no Tracts, no Bibles, no religious programs, no evangelists and no churches in these villages.

Now, God is opening up doors for us to preach the Gospel to these people. We are training tribal Christians and sending them to their own people to tell them about Jesus. They are facing many difficulties...

In the month of June, in the State of Madhya Pradesh, two of our Pastors, Stephen and Aron and 25 believers from their churches walked 20 miles through the jungles to conduct a Gospel meeting in a tribal village at night. While they were conducting the meeting 20 extremists came in and stopped the meeting, then burning all their Bibles and tracts. They were severely beaten and warned against preaching the Gospel to these people.

In spite of all the oppression and difficulties, many tribals are coming to know the Lord. There is a great need to send more evangelists to these tribal villages."

Pastor M. Jacob

We are now sending a team of pastors to our next State called Maharashtra to survey the area and to preach the Gospel. Also, we are sending a Jesus Film with them to show in the tribal villages. Please continue to remember us and the ministry in your prayers.

Thank You!

In His Service,
Jacob Beera

Mark 16:15 - Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all of creation.

This verse never seemed real to me until I experienced this myself. I spent 3 months in India with Jacob and Jaya Beera. I spent the first month traveling around to the different homes with them. I tried to imagine what the children's homes would be like. I thought the children would be eating just enough to live on and the living conditions would be horrible. But when I saw the homes, they were beautiful places. Each home had it's own gardens for food and plenty of room for the kids to play. The meals that were prepared for the kids and the amount they were eating at each meal, were more than I usually ate. Most of the children don't have families or they don't see them very often. The caretakers for each home have so much love and compassion for each child, each home is one big, happy family.

The next 2 months, I went on to teach at the school. The students are at a much higher level of education in India than in the United States. Children start in the lower kindergarten class at age 3. I was shocked to see kids in the upper kindergarten class multiplying and dividing. In the U.S. we don't learn this until 2nd or 3rd grade. The discipline in India is very different than the U.S. (they still slap the student with a ruler), but there isn't a need for major discipline very often. Education is very important to each one of the kids. In most cases, going to school is the only hope the children have for any type of future. The teachers work very hard, both inside and outside, of the school to prepare each child for their exams. Every year near the end of the school year, the whole school prepares for the Annual Anniversary Day. Dancing is a big part of the Indian culture and each child works very hard to learn and perfect each dance. The parents and the villagers are invited to this celebration.

During the 3 months that I was in India, I attended various gospel meetings in each of the cities where the children's homes are. A lot of time is put into each meeting, going around nearby villages, hanging posters and announcing the meetings. Guest speakers are invited to share messages, testimonies, and conduct bible study seminars. At each of these meetings, hundreds of people accepted the Lord and many more were healed. Many people came to receive prayer for arthritis and other diseases. We saw them leaving the meetings healed. Another man that was on the trip with us was praying for a lame man who came to the meeting sitting on a board with 2 wheels to push himself. When the prayer was over, he stood up. He walked away rejoicing in the Lord. There were many Hindu people, after feeling the love of God and seeing His healing power, accepted the Lord into their lives. People came to these meetings from miles away. Many had no place to stay for days and came as families to hear the Gospel.

As we traveled to each of these meetings, whether in a car or train, everywhere we looked, we saw homeless people and many children without families. The first thing we saw wasn't their bare bodies or hungry mouths, but the hurt in their eyes and the feeling of loneliness. Many people come to these meetings in the same situation, yet we saw them leave with a different spirit about them. Many are going back to the same situation as before, but they are going back with the spirit of Jesus in their lives. We can see the joy of the Lord in their eyes.

Please keep all of these people in your prayers. Each time Jacob and Jaya return to India, to their families and friends, many lives are touched. There are still many parts of India that have never heard about the Love of God. Please pray that the Lord would keep opening doors for them to minister to the unreached people.