Houston, Texas
Saturday, November 22, 2008

Dear Saints of the God of all Compassion and Comfort,

We have just received an update from our brother Pastor Subdoh Jena about the persecution of believers in Orissa, and would like to share it with you.

Brother Subodh ministers in Orissa under Pastor John Thomas, Founder of Shalom Ministries. He and Shalom Ministries hosted and trained with The Elijah Challenge in October 2007. Brother Subodh wrote:

“Now as the situation of Orissa cools down a bit, I hope surely in the days ahead everything will be alright. Before telling about the present situation of Orissa let me relate to you an outstanding miracle God did for a high caste Hindu family in the town of Bhawaniptna.

One of the well-educated high caste Hindu families accepted Christ as their Saviour. They had an eleven-year-old boy who suffered from sicklin [sic] and other diseases in his body for the past ten years. He was not able to go to school regularly. After hearing about us, they came to our church for healing by the Lord Jesus. [As we ministered to him] God healed him completely!

Please pray for this family that they may stand firm in the faith.

Last week our Pastor John Thomas and his team came to Orissa. They were here for one week. We went to a few districts such as Kandhamal, Gajapati and Bhubanewasr.

We saw and met with suffering people [persecuted followers of Christ] who were in relief camps. Those people were there for the last two and half months. They cannot go back to their homes because there is nothing that remains in their village. So they are still in the relief camps. As you know, the government of India has provided nothing for them. When we went and met with the people we saw the tears of the believers.

We went to the district of Kandhamal where a thousand people are in the same miserable condition. Then we went to the district of Gajapati from where I come. We found the same conditions over there too. There are also a thousand people living in the same condition in a relief camp.

We have helped with financial assistance for one hundred and thirty families. After seeing the terrible situation of those people I felt in my heart to share it with you. Whoever sees them will feel compassionate for the people just as we did.

If any of your friends or believers in the USA or India would like to extend any kind of relief to the neediest/persecuted believers of Orissa, please let us know. We can help them in the areas of their need. The believers are in desperate need this winter.”


Please pray for these fellow believers in Orissa, dear ones. If you would like to give for their needs, you can send your gifts to The Elijah Challenge and we will forward them on to Pastor Subodh.

Sincerely in Christ,

William & Lucille
The Elijah Challenge
P. O. Box 168
Barker, TX 77413-0168

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