Sunday School

Precious children in a village called Chilakala Colony, the name Chilakala meaning "parrots". Parrots are not common there now, but probably were common at one time. Looks like these children are answering a question from their Sunday School teacher, either our friend Bhaskara Rao, who leads them a couple of times a month, or their own village girl named Kumari who teaches them on a weekly basis. Pray for the Sunday School ministry to the children in 7 different villages.

Update on Keerthi

The latest on Keerthi, who tried to kill herself on Sunday (see previous post). 73% of her body is burned. There are blood clots in her body. She doesn't seem to be able to eat. They tried to give her something, but she wouldn't take it. They are giving her saline in her foot, probably because they couldn't find any good veins in her arms. Either because of the pain or the pain medication, she is also delirious. Please keep her in prayer, body and soul. "He heals the broken-hearted, and binds up their wounds." Psalms 147:3

Please Pray for This Girl (attempted suicide)

Please pray for Keerthi, a young mother of 3 who attempted suicide on Sunday by pouring kerosene on herself and setting herself on fire. From what we have learned, all her body and some of her head is burned. She is breathing okay, but in critical condition because of the burns. She has a husband, 2 little boys and a little girl. Some of you might remember a girl named Susmitha (who helps RHM with some video and website work); Keerthi is her older sister. PLEASE PRAY for the Lord's healing, mercy and peace upon this young life.

Precious Water!

Martha (16) filling a pot and bucket with water. For many people around the world, water supply is taken for granted. But for Martha, her twin sister Mary, their mother and brother, for much of their lives it was not an easy thing to get water. As is common with many in India, they had to go to another part of the village to get water in their pots and buckets, then bring it back to their home. And there are only certain times of the day when the authorities will release the water from the main source. If the family is not there at that time, then they may have to wait until the next day. By our Father's grace and love, just this month Martha's family now has their own pump which brings water from the ground (a "bore well"). PTL!

Chilakala Colony ministry

Chilakala Colony ministry: 

Click onto the above link to see  the video of  children doing nice Telugu action song during children ministry in the village of Chilaka colony.

Ready to Do Business

These two sisters, Vankateswaram & Sathyavathi, are starting a new "tiffin shop", tiffin being a typical word for breakfast. Sathyavathi (right) is one of the widows being assisted via RHM funds. She's been a widow for more than 15 years. She's not able to work regularly, now about 72 years old and having health problems. But she is a faithful believer, oftentimes staying in her local church, helping with whatever she can do and spending time in prayer. She wouldn't be able to do this business by herself, but with the Lord's help we trust these two sisters will do well together. 

This is the 3rd of at least 14 small projects we're hoping to do in order to help the elderly earn some income for their livelihood. For about $400 we were able to purchase this cart on wheels, the gas stove, and most of the other items needed to be able to make the typical breakfast foods which are popular in southern India. Please pray for the Lord's blessing upon this business. 

Widows and elderly meeting

Widows and elderly meeting: 

Click onto the above link to see one of the VV Palem widows praying as these elderly get ready to return to their homes. The 2 men are the pastors of the VV Palem church.

Giving Thanks; RHM March Update

RHM March Update

Click onto the above link for the latest from RHM. So thankful for all that He has done. Praise the Lord!

Little ones having some fun during lunch break at a recent meeting (more details in the update).

Girls Saying Scriptures

Girls Saying Scriptures: 

Click onto the above link to see girls saying memorized Scriptures from the Bible during a children's meeting in the village of Madala Narayana.

Another Birthday Boy

Happy Birthday to Simha ("lion"), who turned 15 in February. RHM doesn't assist Simha much, as he is staying in a hostel not far from where we do much of the ministry; that hostel takes care of his food, education and a place to stay. He has a younger brother who is also in that hostel (right of Simha in the photo). We only help them occasionally when extra needs arise, and sometimes help their mother when she is in need. Simha has some good leadership qualities. Pray for the Lord's blessing upon his life, and that his life will become useful for the kingdom of GOD.

Other hostel boys, and perhaps some young staff, giving cake to Simha

Prayer meeting in Karlapalem

Prayer meeting in Karlapalem: 

Click onto the above link to see monthly gathering prayer meeting in the village of Karlapalem. Brother Prashanth is sharing word.

Let the Little Children Come to Me

The world may not always appreciate the great value of children. But that's not the case with our GOD. The Lord JESUS even became angry with His disciples when they tried to stop parents from bringing their children to Him for prayer and a blessing (Mark 10:14, "indignant" is the word used in many of our modern Bible translations). The word "children" is found over 1,300 times in the Bible (NKJV), our GOD referred to as our Father, and believers as His children throughout the Bible. 

Look at a few amazing Scriptures about children, all from Matthew 18.

Verse 6, "But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea."

Verse 10, "Take heed that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that in heaven their angels always see the face of My Father who is in heaven."

Verse 14, "Even so it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish."

The 6 children in the front of the class receiving daily tutoring are from a pitifully poor village near one of our Brother's churches (some of their families attending). The 3 nearest the bottom of the photo are from a family with 2 mothers and one Dad (8 children). Our highest priority is not their education, but with His help, leading them to Christ. As He might bring them to your mind, please pray for these precious little children.

Update on Pastor's Construction Project

Brother John's church building/house is progressing well. Shortly before Christmas, we had asked you to pray for John and his wife Dayamani, as they were headed into a season of mourning for their daughter Joy. Joy's 13 year old body died in April 2021 from severe diabetes (and other unknown problems), so this was going to be their first Christmas without her (their only child). And Joy's birthday was on December 28th, so it was a hard time for her parents. Somehow some brothers at World Challenge in Colorado saw this prayer request, and the Lord touched their hearts to give a $10,000 donation to John and his wife in the name of their daughter Joy. Praise the Lord!! With this 10k and a smaller amount which John has been able to raise, they are able to build a small church/home on their own property. They always rented previously, and their "church" wasn't any better than a small shack. What an encouragement this has been to them, to know that the Lord has not forgotten them. "For the needy will not always be forgotten, nor the hope of the afflicted perish forever." Psalms 9:18

Praying for Arun & family

Praying for Arun & family: 

Click onto the above link to see brother Raju when he visited Arun's family (to whom RHM is assisting). Here, he is praying for them after sharing the Word of God.

Happy Birthday Bhavya!

Subba Lakshmi (one of our widows) is giving cake to Bhavya Sri on her 9th birthday in January. Bhavya's parents (Subbu Lakshmi's daughter and son-in-law) passed with AIDS when Bhavya was just a baby. Now Bhavya lives with Subbu Lakshmi, her grandmother. She's a very sweet girl, now studying in the 4th grade. Please pray for Bhavya.

A New Vegetable Cart Business

Jayamma and her daughter have started a new vegetable business. This is one of about 14 small projects which we hope to do as funds are available. In our current position, we hope to do more than half of these projects in 2022, the remainder in '23 (Lord willing). These projects are to help those on our widows & elderly lists to earn some income for themselves. By themselves they would not be able to cover the startup costs involved. Jayamma (left with the dark glasses because of a cataract surgery) is a widow since about 2008. She and her daughter (right) currently live together, the daughter's husband dying with AIDS, and the daughter having HIV as a result. We have purchased them a cart, veggies, scales and rented a shop from which they can work and keep their supplies. We rented a shop in a nearby town to their village, their village too small to generate sufficient income. They have also invested some of their own money (or took a loan) to purchase some other items. Please pray for the Lord's blessing upon this small business so that they both can live without the financial burdens.

RHM March Newsletter

RHM March Newsletter

This is an experiment to see if the pdf of our latest newsletter actually opens up for the viewer. If you can, let me know what happens. Bless you.

Little ones in a tribal village at the time of our monthly
food distribution. More info in newsletter.

Rani teaching scripture

Rani teaching scripture: 

Click onto the above link to see the video of Children learning Telugu bible scripture and Rani is teaching to them.

Pastors meeting

Worship song: 

Click onto the above link to see a nice worship song led by the pastor during a pastors meeting in the village of Bangarakka Palem (more villagers attended than pastors).

Communion Service in a Tribal Village

Blessed to see a good number of women and children listening to the Word of GOD. You might notice the lack of men in this photo, as most of the men in this tribal village called Jampalavaripalem (southern India) are drunkards and unresponsive to the Gospel at this time. But we have observed that another problem exists: our Lord JESUS said "the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few..." (Matthew 9:36-38). At the time He said these Words, He was looking at the people of Israel, a people who claimed to be GOD's people. Yet He said that they were like "sheep without a shepherd." THIS is another problem in so many of the villages of India, and likely a problem around the world: the lack of Godly men and women to reach out to the broken masses with His truth and in His love. One of the hard realities of why there are so many congregations which are 90% or more women and children, is because there is a severe shortage of ministers to reach out to the men with the love of the Father in their hearts. "Pray to the Lord of the harvest, that He will send out laborers into His harvest", and that the laborers will be obedient to His call. 

Pray for This Church

This is Brother Abraham and his small congregation in India. For several years this brother has been a pastor in a small city in Andhra Pradesh. He was conducting his services in a community hall free of cost, and had a good-size congregation. For the last year or more a radical Hindu man has been coming into the hall on Sundays and harassing the pastor and congregation. Finally, the man gathered 30 or more people from the surrounding area and forced the church to stop and locked the doors of the community hall. 

After that the pastor was just meeting in his home, which is about 2 miles from where most of his congregation lives. Most of them are very poor with no transportation. RHM helped him by providing the rent money so he could find a place to conduct services near the people he has a burden for. Pray that his congregation and ministry will begin to flourish again.

The little baby's name (left side of photo) is Sharon, the pastor's granddaughter. In November she was born prematurely, weighing only a little more than 2 pounds. By our Father's grace, as of late January she weighed 5.5 pounds and seems to be in good health. The baby and her parents, along with Abraham, his wife, mother and son, all live in a rented home. He seems to be a Godly man. Please pray for his family and for Sharon, and help financially if the Lord leads your heart to do so.

Children doing dance

Children doing dance: 

Click onto the above link to see the video of children doing nice Telugu song and dance during the children prayer meeting in the village of Chilakala colony.

Stitching Away!

A new tailoring shop being sponsored by RHM (your donations). The first woman, far left (Bujji is her name), runs the shop. She taught 2 of these Christian women during a "tailoring project" last year, training poor single mothers and older girls to do the tailoring (one married girl was also taught, but her husband doesn't take care of his family properly). Pray for the success of this shop. RHM is continuing to sponsor it for the first 5 or 6 months in business; then it will be on its own. It's a major financial undertaking for RHM. 

Left to right: Bujji, Mary (single mother, her 2 children in a hostel), Pavani (the 
married sister mentioned above; has 1 boy), Latha (single mother with 2 girls), 
Karima (single mother with one daughter).

Girls Doing a Dance

Girls doing dance: 

Click onto the above link to see the video of girls doing a nice Telugu song and dance during a Christmas prayer meeting in the village of Chilakala Colony.

A Defender of Widows

"A Father of the fatherless, a Defender of widows, is GOD in His holy habitation." Psalms 68:5

Aren't we thankful that the true and living GOD, the Creator of the universe, is not like human beings? Because of their wicked hearts, many of the leaders of this earth are cruel and heartless toward the plight of their own people, and even more heartless concerning the suffering they want to afflict upon those outside their own boundaries. But they often struggle to carry out their evil plans because of the opposition of others. Think about it: if our heavenly Father had an evil heart like so many upon the earth, WHO would be able to stop Him? But praise His Name, not only is He perfect in character and full of mercy, He even reaches down to those considered among the lowest of the low, and certainly among the most vulnerable within the societies of the world, the fatherless and the widow. And how does He normally manifest that love toward them? Through His children who have the same heart of compassion, HIS COMPASSION within their hearts. Pray about joining us in His mission to be a "Father of the fatherless" and a "Defender of widows".

Precious women: 6 widows, 2 married, 1 handicapped (HIV)