Precious Baptisms Today

Today was a special day for us, as several of those whom we work with in ministry took baptism in the Bay of Bengal (ocean off the east coast of India). Six of our children, 4 mothers of our children, one of our widows (2 of the mothers are also widows), and one widower all took baptism today. Praise the Lord! Below is Brother Benjamin (pastor and Bro. Prasanth's father) giving baptism to Arun (15). This had to be a very blessed day for Arun's mother, Sister Bharathi. Bharathi (who has a terminal disease, but is doing much better now) thought she would die soon when we met her in 2020, and had dedicated Arun to the Lord, asking the Lord to make him a minister of some kind. Please pray for Arun and all who took baptism today. We will try to share more in this month's newsletter and update.

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Birthday Girl Now 8

Deborah (middle girl nearest the cake) turned 8 in late October. She's a sweet girl who's been part of this ministry since she was 3 or 4 years old. Her little brother, Vijay Kumar, is the little one in front of Deborah with the big smile. Their Daddy left their mother (young woman in the back) a few years ago. She works in the agricultural fields to help her family, she and the children staying with her mother Chandramma (left), who's been part of our widows & elderly ministry for several years. Maybe all these children with Deborah and Vijay are neighbors from Hindu families. Please pray for little Deborah.

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Monthly Support

I'm not really sure why some people feel they should be very serious in the photos, but our Brother Wesley (who oversees part of our widows & elderly ministry) is one of those people. He actually is a very friendly brother in the Lord with a great smile, but unfortunately we rarely see that in the photos he sends us from the ministry. Here he is with Chinamma in the church at VV Palem. We have 13 widows & elderly who attend this church from 2 different villages. Chinamma is married, but they are poor. We currently have 44 elderly who are receiving monthly support through this ministry via cash or food, and another 50 who are not receiving the monthly support, but are able to receive reimbursement for any medical expenses they might have. Continue to pray for the funding of our widows & elderly ministry going into 2025. If you know of any friends, believers or church members who have a heart for the widows/elderly, and think they could be interested in supporting this ministry, let them know about us. Thank you!

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Happy Birthday Johnny!

His actual name is Johnbasha (from a Muslim background), but we generally call him Johnny. He turned 16 in late October. He's the one in the middle with the blue shirt. From left are friends of Johnny and the ministry: Arun, Prasanth, Pradeep, Samuel, Johnny, Brother Marthababu, Paul and Johnny's mother, who came to JESUS within the last year or two. Praise the Lord! And He has been working in Johnny's heart also, who has been wanting to be a good witness to others over the last few months. Please pray for Johnny.

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Pray for Widows & Elderly Ministry

James 1:27 says, "Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our GOD and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world." One of the Scriptures we like to use regularly in our communication is from Psalms 9:18, "For the needy will not always be forgotten, nor the hope of the afflicted perish forever." Simply put, this is a cruel world, but our heavenly Father's Heart is one of compassion. In this life, He wants us to care for the poor and neglected. And praise His Name, that for all eternity the injustice will come to an end! 

We ask you to pray for our widows and elderly ministry in India. Toward the end of 2023 we had some great donations given in behalf of the elderly, and in January 2024 again World Challenge helped us with another $10,000 for this year. It looks like we may spend a total of about $35,000 in 2024 for the WE ministry (WE = widows & elderly). At the current rate we might have approximately an $8,000 balance going into 2025 for the WE ministry. Our regular donations for WE in '24 is about $900 a month. If we calculate the same for 2025 we might (Lord willing) have about $19,000 total to work with for the widows & elderly in 2025 (it doesn't appear as if World Challenge will be helping us in 2025). That is $16,000 less than what is needed to maintain the same level of support and care, compared to what we accomplished this year. Please pray about helping us continue blessing our widows and elderly in 2025. Of course, we would love to be able to care for more elderly next year, and care for them more extensively (such as giving larger amounts for their medical needs, and helping them with house repairs), but with the Lord's help we hope to at least maintain the same level of care in 2025 as was given in 2024.

Below is Vijaya Lakshmi near her sewing table, with widows Sarojinamma and Lakshmamma behind her, all from Brother Wesley's town of Singarayakonda. Vijaya Lakshmi has never married, having polio since she was a baby. Already she was walking with a cane, only having one strong leg. She fell and broke her good leg earlier this year. RHM is helping her some, and other believers have helped her a lot with her various needs. 

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Sister Rose and Her Children

In the Telugu language her name is Roja, her children Lasya (girl, 8) and Eswanth (maybe 5). Roja has been coming to her nearby church for a few years now. Her husband (the children's Daddy) is an alcoholic and violent, beating Roja very badly at times, even threatening to kill her. He leaves for weeks or months at a time, and comes back at random times. Please pray for the family's protection and the Daddy's salvation. RHM helps with monthly food for this family, the Daddy not providing, so Roja does agricultural work or whatever work she can find. We're also helping Lasya with her 2nd grade education.

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