Silly Girls at the Beach

Happy girls at the beach. Each month we're trying to take some children on some kind of outing in order to bond with them more. There's a couple of boys that didn't get in the photo, as well as Raju, Pavani and a couple of grandmothers who also came on this trip. Please pray for the children's ministry, and for the ability to reach out to many more children in need.

Girls singing song

Girls singing song: 

Click onto the above link to see the older village girls singing a nice Telugu song in a prayer meeting in the village of Madala Narayana.

Chilakala Colony prayer meeting

Chilakala Colony prayer meeting: 

Click onto the above link to see brother Prashanth sharing the Word during the Chilakala Colony Christmas function/prayer meeting.

Zealous for Good Works, RHM Update

RHM Update 

Click onto the above link to see the latest from the ministry in India. Everyone who actually opens the link will qualify to have their name entered into our $5,000 lucky drawing. 

JUST KIDDING! But you might very well be blessed in ways that goes far beyond the things which money can buy. Bless you. Keep us in your prayers!

Annamma (photo & caption in update)

Pray for This Family

Below is Nirmala Devi and her 3 girls. The girls (left to right) are Sonia (11), Divya (8) and Kavya (5). Not long after Kavya was born, their mother decided to leave their father (they were living in a different state of India), as he was drinking and beating her daily. Nirmala's own father died when she was young, and her mother died of Covid in 2020. When the children are at school or with another nearby relative, she works as a construction laborer, carrying the sand or cement. Two of her children's deliveries were C-sections, and as a result sometimes she is not in good health or able to work. RHM (your donations) is helping her and the girls with food, and the girls with their education. Please pray for this family. 

Brother Prashanth sharing word

Brother Prashanth sharing word: 

Click onto the above link to see the nice Christmas program which has been conducted in the month of December in Nandayapalem. Here, Brother Prashanth sharing Christmas message.

Education

In this photo is Akshaya (12), showing us her trophy and certificate for ranking as the 2nd best student in her class, now in 7th grade. We have about 40 children which we're assisting in education, whether it's school fees, books, uniforms, whatever. There's another 6 to 10 tribal village children that we're giving tutoring to (numbers fluctuate because of their inconsistency to attend), hoping to put all of them in a private school next year. Some of the children go to govt schools (we would call them "public schools" in America, but run by the govt). Generally, the govt schools have a lower standard of education. One village boy, Chinnu, is in the 3rd grade, but still doesn't know his alphabet. So through providing the children with a better education, it helps them academically, but perhaps more importantly, helps us to bond more with their families and gives us a better opportunity to share Christ and His ways with them. We have connected with one private school where the principal also has a heart to help the poor; he's agreed to take any of our children into his school at about $200 or a little more per year, which includes transportation. Pray for the children which RHM is trying to reach, as well as their families.

Distributing clothes

Distributing clothes:

Click onto the above link to see the distribution of clothes and sweaters in ST Colony, which is located next to the roadside in Karlapalem. Please pray for this colony (small village), as most of the men and Dads are drunkards. Many of the women and children are coming to the church and Sunday School, along with one young man. We're trying to encourage the children to regularly attend school, and hoping in Him to do great things in this village.

Praying for Construction

In the photo, Brother Benjamin is anointing some bricks, part of a traditional "dedication" of this future house/church to the Lord. Some will remember that Joy, a 13 year old girl, went into eternity last April because of diabetes-related issues. Her father is a pastor, he and his wife to the left of Benjamin in the photo. The Lord touched the hearts of those at World Challenge to give a donation to this pastor in the memory of Joy so that they can build a church and home (one building), RHM implementing this project. Their previous "church" on this property was only a shed without walls, and they have no home of their own, but are renting. Pray for the Lord's blessing upon this construction, which is supposed to actually begin tomorrow.

Pastor John sharing the Word

Pastor John sharing the Word: 

Click onto the above link to see the nice prayer meeting which has been conducted in the month of December in the village of Ponnur. Pastor John is sharing message, giving points about why Christ came to the earth: to bring salvation, to be Emmanuel (GOD with us), and to bring Peace to the earth.

Tutoring the Children

Most of these children normally don't attend school, being from tribal villages where their parents don't require them to go. This is one way in which the poverty level within the tribal villages just passes on from one generation to another. Several of these little ones are from a family where their father has 2 wives. Mostly he has forbidden his wives and their children to attend the church services or Sunday School, but occasionally he is allowing them to go. At this time, he and the other parents within the village are willing to send their children for daily tutoring, and we hope to send several of them to a private school when the next academic year begins in June (many private schools in India are ridiculously cheap compared to American private schools). They are meeting here at the tutor's home; her name is Mary. Pray for the protection, blessing and favor of the Lord upon this endeavor to help the children academically and spiritually.

Nageena's birthday

Nageena's birthday: 

Click onto the above link to see Pastor Benjamin praying in Nageena's Birthday meeting. 

Such a Precious Woman

"Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised." Proverbs 31:30  Our Sister Raja Kumari suffered so much over the last year, having fluid in her lungs, and doctors not able to find the source. But she held onto her faith until the end, receiving her promotion from this evil world on the 1st of February. Her birth name is Krishna Kumari ("daughter of Krishna", a Hindu god). We called her Raja Kumari ("daughter of the King"). A very gentle and loving mother, who will be sorely missed by her daughter and son (both in the photo as the coffin is being taken from the funeral). Please pray for the comfort of her children and many who are grieving.

Wanna Ride?

Certainly not a typical Sunday School experience when a man comes through a rural village offering camel rides! Not sure if any of the children got to ride, but it was exciting for little eyes nonetheless. Camels might be a normal sight in some parts of India, but not in the areas where we do ministry. Pray for our ever-expanding children's ministry. Of course, it can only expand as the Lord provides donors, so please pray. We have a brother who usually leads Sunday School in 2 villages each week. And the Lord has brought more than 40 precious (and needy) children into our lives to help them with school/college expenses, medical needs, food and clothes needs, and anything else they might need. One of the most fruitful aspects of the children's ministry is that we're having a great opportunity to help their mothers and other relatives in the home to find Christ and draw closer to Him. All glory to Him! 1 Corinthians 10:31

Little girl singing

Little girl singing: 

Click onto the above link to see the Christmas meeting in the village of Nandayapalem. Here, little Madhu is singing nice Telugu song.

Honoring a Precious Saint

VIMALAMMA passed away on January 30th, passing away from this corrupt world in order to "be with Christ, which is far better." (Philippians 1:23)

Each time we would go to be with her (since she became mostly bedridden in 2019), she would cry, having a desire to leave this world. The Lord used her in her village to bring souls unto JESUS, a village where previously there were no believers. One of those souls was her daughter Jayamma (a widow herself, like her mother, and taking care of her mother for the last few years of her life). According to one brother who shared a message at her funeral, "her daughter Jayamma was filled with the Holy Spirit. It was a powerful time; she was praying, thanking GOD, and praising GOD with tears for her mother..." I can remember when I first met her around 2018, that she was still walking maybe 3/4 of a mile both to and from the church for services, well into her 70's at that time. She truly loved the Lord. Please pray for the Lord's comfort for Jayamma, family and church members who will miss her dearly.

Jayamma at her mother's coffin, shortly before taking her body to the cemetery.

Pray for the Tabitha Tailoring Shop

Below are photos taken today for a new tailoring shop for women and girls. The top photo is brothers and sisters praying for the Lord's blessing upon the shop. The next photo is 6 young ladies who are planning to work in the shop, along with Sister Bujji who will oversee it. These ladies are all believers. This shop is a follow-up to a "tailoring training project" from November '20 thru Sept '21, training single mothers and unmarried girls how to do the tailoring. 

As the ladies were facing various challenges to being able to earn income after they learned their new skills (male domination in the tailoring market, Covid, their own shyness...), the Lord put it upon our hearts to start this shop. It's the only tailoring shop for women & girls' clothes that we know of in this area of India which is actually run by women. 

We had a sponsor for this shop during the planning stages, but that didn't work out. So now RHM is bearing the costs for the first 6 months (including supplementing the ladies' salaries), trusting the Lord to bless this endeavor so that it can stand on its own feet within that time frame. We're estimating the cost of this 6 month project at about $8,000. If any feel led to help us in this project, it is much appreciated. Please pray for the Lord's blessing upon the shop.

The sign above says "Tabitha Ladies Tailoring" (from Acts 9:36-42)