Greetings Prayer Partners,
My heart is full of greatness and excitement to relay the incredible work God is doing through the ministry in our country of India. Recently, the Lord placed a heavy burden and focus on the city of Kazhakuttam, which is near the costal side of Trivandrum. This city is located in the state of Kerala, India. The population is around 25,000 with approximately 500 families who live right off the beach.
Fishing is the main source of income for families in Kazhakuttam. The men fish during the day while the women stay home with their children, some women also assist their husbands with the daily fishing. It is a very hard and rigorous lifestyle for these people. Around 1969 through 1975, our ministry outreach did extend to this particular area of India. During that time, there were no established roads in the area, no indoor plumbing and no electricity in homes. It was a very poor area of India. In addition to the poor physical surroundings, the spiritual climate also suffered, as the Gospel had never been preached there. During the early 70s we distributed Gospel literature, and during the evenings we had screenings of, “The Jesus Film.” The filming proved very successful, with hundreds of souls in attendance! Recalling back to those days, after the film, my Dad, mother, Billy, Susanna and I, would often sleep in the village right off the beach and start our day all over again repeating our ministry outreaches’ in other coastal villages. With our victories we also had many obstacles. Many villages unfortunately did not welcome our presence and we were often physically hurt and at one point we were even driven out of a village. Regardless of the opposition that we faced, as a family, we kept on with the mission to reach this area of India.
With the strong prompting of the Holy Spirit, almost 35 years later, we felt it necessary once again to penetrate this demographic with the love of Jesus Christ. The Lord placed such a special calling on my Dad to reach this area once more. As a family we began praying and soon, the Lord began to lay out a very specific plan. We began forming various prayer teams, and started training up to 35 local missionaries who had a heart and vision to reach this specific people group.
We prepared and printed thousands of Gospel pamphlets to pass out. It was amazing how quickly God orchestrated this outreach. A three day event was slated for October 27th through the 30th.
Our teams met and prayed over the work needed to be done. We then organized the teams into small groups and soon the street ministry began. Our teams passed out pamphlets and conducted open air preaching rallies. To our surprise, as we went into the villages there was a total drastic change! The towns and villages looked completely different with new roadways, well built homes with indoor plumbing and working electricity. The educational systems were much better condition. We also came across other missionaries who were reaching this area. There were many new churches and Christian schools and hundreds of strong believers living out their faith! Our family, our ministry disciples, along with our fellow leaders, Pastor Joy Kutty Chakko all felt a true deep joy to be able to witness such transformation for the Kingdom! My Dad’s heart was truly blessed seeing such restoration. He recalled the hardship our family faced; the sweat and tears that went into sowing the seed of the Word of God 35 years ago was now showing its fruit!
From our hearts we wanted to extend our sincerest, thank you, for your continued prayers and financial support. The fruit here is evidence of our efforts! More than 2,000 homes were visited and nearly 30,000 Gospel pamphlets were distributed. In addition the teams also passed out 600 copies of the New Testament. A total of 23 open air preaching rallies were conducted in various villages, all for His Kingdom! It is our continued prayer that one day, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord!
For His Kingdom,
Israel Paulose