Koinonia India Ministry

Medical Mission Team Ministers in Pune

Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary.
So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all people. Galatians 6:9,10

_{The medical team on New Year's Eve}

Returning to Pune for the fourth annual medical mission project, a team of medical and lay personnel is currently conducting a free medical outreach in conjunction with the Koinonia Medical Clinic (KMC). This year’s team is lead by Pastor Tony Joseph and consists of the following volunteers:

Jacqui Doucette, R.N. - Pediatric specialist
Dr. Christine Jegadesh - Pharmacy Professor and Women’s Health Instructor
Klara Manning, Alicia Habershaw, Kim Wilbert - Pharmacy Students
Sarah Hiller, Kelly Refner - Dental Hygiene Students
Kathy Tetlow, John Cole - Medical Clinic Support
George Jegadesh- Reading Eyeglass Clinic
Tony Joseph - Prayer station.

For more pictures as they come in, visit our Facebook page.

- DAILY UPDATES -

- Tuesday, January 10 -

The Lord Blessed our two-day medical outreach in Daund. Hundreds of children & their teachers at the very large campus came through the medical clinic and by God's grace each heard the awesome gospel of Jesus Christ. We have much to share on the various medical & dental findings.

Pastor Joseph as always gave us great encouragement and we appreciate his example of leadership. Sister Christine will be sending a update on Saturdays women's meeting. Double the amount of ladies came this year. The Lord is Great!!

We are ever so thankful for your prayers. Today Pastor Joseph is taking the team shopping. Miss you all...

Glory to God in the Highest,

Team Medical

- Saturday, January 7 -

We ended our last clinic day seeing a total of 1759 patients for the week!

The Lord Blessed today with a young Hindu lady giving their heart to Christ!! We handed out several Marathi language New Testaments to those who wanted to know more about Jesus. We ended the Medical Camp with an ice cream social for nearly 50 servants including volunteers, translators and helping hands.

- Wednesday, January 4 -

The Lord brought 366 patients today mostly poor local families with great need for personal medical services. We are ever so thankful for the many volunteers /translators and servants that Pastor Joseph has surrounded us with each day. Today we had two Hindu girls ask for New Testaments and were invited to attend Sunday services... Praise the Lord !!!

2 Cor 3:5 Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God

- Tuesday, January 3 -

Praise the Lord, we ministered to 315 patients today. Many more Hypertensive conditions found as well as an individual with a 515 blood glucose level! The support staff and translators have been a tremendous help. The reading glasses station and dental area were in much demand.

We are so thankful for all the prayers of the saints and the love & hospitality of Pastor Joseph & his wife Vishranti. Thank you for your continued prayers for this outreach. God is faithful and His mercy endures forever!

- Monday, January 2 -

We were so blessed to see nearly 300 patients Monday at the Pune Medical outreach! The "first timers" got right into it and Praise the Lord we were able to minister to many poor and needy families. Dr. Namrata and Dr. Projecta were with us throughout the day. We discovered several patients who had very high blood pressures and sugar glucose readings. Also one 60 year old individual who received reading glasses said he was now able to see clearly for the first time!

By God's wonderful grace,

Team India

Video Overview of India Ministry - 2011

Dim lights

A Need: The Case for a Building

Dr. Andrew Sargent and John Donnelly have returned to Boston from ministering at the Koinonia School Of Ministry, and are pleased to have attended the opening semester of the first year of the new Bachelor of Theology (BTH) three year curriculum.

^{Dr. Andrew teaching at KSOM in June}

After years of laboring toward this point, KSOM has welcomed the first class of BTH students in a program designed to provide global, cultural, Christian and Biblical literacy with solid practical ministry training through a mentorship model. The program was designed with input from accrediting body ATA and is built on Biblical Languages, Biblical Theology, and solid interpretive methodology. Having a program that is accredited brings credibility and integrity in a nation where for centuries training of nationals has been neglected.

The school has also welcomed three new faculty members: Akash, Eliazor, and Rosy, bringing our number to seven. All the faculty members are working hard to prepare themselves for the continued expansion of the program in reaching the full three year course load. In addition, we’re looking beyond this to future Master's programs as well. They are a promising group of ministers, and KSOM is blessed to have their help in this noble work.

^{Artist rendering of new KSOM facility in Pune}

During their visit, John and Andrew evaluated the professors, their courses and lectures, had intense daily faculty meetings, continued the development of the curriculum, and taught a rigorous class each night called, “Meeting the Jesus of Mark: An Introduction to Inductive Bible Study Methods”. It was an exhausting but highly productive period for all involved.

The Lord continues to stretch and build the ministry in India. It is quite obvious to all involved that the entire India Ministry runs by faith, and we are thankful for God’s continuous provisions!

We currently rent and operate out of three facilities in Pune, and are in the process of adding another one to care for orphans. Renting was a good option when we began the ministries but the Lord has now grown them, and they have functional, operational, growth and sustainability needs that need to be addressed. We are spending 34% of our budget in rent, separate utilities, and transportation between facilities. Every year we have seen a minimum of 10% to 15% increase in rent, and even though the possibility of being told at any moment to vacate the premises looms over us, up to this point we have not been able to take the steps necessary to construct a facility on our land.

^{KSOM student during week of prayer}

Details: Lord willing, we could construct a 5-story building that will house the Medical Clinic, School of Ministry, a multipurpose room for church services and conferences, a dining room that will serve 200 people at any given time, a library, and a ministry center from which we can operate. Currently we can only house 12 students, but in the proposed facility we would be able to house up to 50 students. The harvest is ripe and the potential is enormous, but now we are stifling the opportunities to train men and women to preach the gospel because of our current physical limitations.

The total cost to construct the entire 5 floors is $250,000.00. We are looking to begin construction by faith, and to do that we need the first down payment of $100,000.00. Our prayerful desire is to sign contracts in October 2011 and begin construction in January 2012, and we could possibly be moved in by May 2012. We have an option to do the construction in 2 phases: phase 1 being 3 floors and phase 2 adding the other 2 floors to make it 5 floors.

Right now, however, we are in a catch 22. We do not have the capital to do the construction, and yet the rent continues to increase. Our option: Pray! So we have been praying over the last several years and believe now it is time to take those Steps of Faith!

Goal: Raise $100,000.00 or have commitments towards this amount by October 2011. Have the $100,000.00 in hand by January 2012.

Would you please pray about what the Lord might have you do?

Also please pray for the churches, pastors, students, graduates, the girls’ orphanage preparations, upcoming pastors’ family conference, medical clinic, etc. Thank you so much for being faithful in praying and supporting the work of the Lord in India! Although God could choose to accomplish His purposes in India without us, we have been enormously blessed to be included in His marvelous works and life-changing plans. Praise His Name!

In His Service,
Pastor Ben

Dr. Hiwale gives tour of medical clinic

Dim lights

LIVING THE VISION

“These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.” Hebrews 11:13

Are you at a place where you find that your dreams and visions have remained just that – dreams, hopes, and visions? Do you feel like you belong to the men in Hebrews chapter 11? Don’t lose heart! I pray that as you read this India Connection you will be encouraged. May the Lord confirm those things He has spoken to you and may your faith be strengthened!

^{2011 KSOM students}

In the few years the Lord has given me the privilege to be involved in the India Ministry, I have experienced the following progression: First we caught His vision, then we talked about His vision, then we made prayerful plans and got involved in doing His vision, and today we are seeing some of the fruit of the vision. We have not produced the fruit, but as 1 Corinthians 3:6 tells us, “God gave the increase.” We are privileged, saints! I am eternally amazed that our Almighty God would think of incorporating us in His mighty plan, but He does and all the Glory belongs to Him!

This particular story begins in the slums of Chhattisgarh. As our vehicles came to a stop a few years ago, we were ushered down a path that was wide enough for just one person to walk, with shacks made out of plastic on both sides, open sewers running below, no lights, no water, no sanitation. At the end of this small long passage, we were ushered into a small open area where we would be preaching the Gospel.

From what I had been told, our pastors had been reaching this slum six months prior to our visit and it was a “hard ground” – filled with people who were desperate, just hanging on by a thread – physically, emotionally, economically, and spiritually. Steeped in superstition, jailed by the caste system, threatened by the slumlords – hopelessness and despair were the main diet each day for these poor people. For three nights we were privileged to preach the Gospel boldly and openly to these men, women and children, and each night many came forward for prayer and to give their lives to Jesus. The Word of God does not return void (Isaiah 55:11)! The Gospel pricked their hearts and they responded. As we left this slum, we prayed that the Word would fall on good soil and bear much fruit. The very next Sunday morning, people gathered and began to worship Jesus – in the face of persecution, amidst looming threats of grave harm if they became Christians – and yet they were compelled to worship Almighty God and proclaim Him Lord of their lives.

^{Dedication of new church building in Jagdalpur}

The Lord put a burden on Pastor Joseph’s heart to put up a church building right there in the slums where these saints can worship. Today, I am thrilled to report that this church building is finished and it was recently inaugu-rated, and a flock of some 150 saints worships there. Please keep them in your daily prayers. One thing I have learned from experiencing this whole thing is to not despise the day of small beginnings. (See Zechariah 4:6-10.) The Lord is Almighty, Powerful, Creator, and NOTHING is impossible for Him (Jeremiah 32:17; Luke 1:37)!

For the past 15 years we have invested in India with an undivided heart and a single mind to train Christian men who will lead the Indian Church at large and train the next generation, as the Lord tarries. Speaking of “Living the Vision” – we are! At the Pastors Conference we met many of our older pastors and their wives, but we also saw graduates of the Koinonia School of Ministry (KSOM) who are now married, have little children, and are pastoring churches all across India. We as a body of Christ here at home get to Live the Vision! You are partakers of what the Lord has done in India, and continues to do in a mighty way. We know that it is His Church; He owns it and He builds it (Matthew 16:18). We get the privilege to be those “living stones” (See 1 Peter 2:4-7.) – check that: How many living stones have you come across in your life? But Jesus the Cornerstone, the Capstone has made us alive by giving us the opportunity to receive Him as our personal Savior, forgiving our sins, and adopting us as His sons and daughters. I am fascinated by the fact that He builds with living stones and not bricks. Bricks all look the same, come in the same size, color, weight and height, etc. Stones on the other hand are all different, unique, and only God in His sovereignty can put us all together as a body of Christ to bring glory to His name.

JESUS SPEAKS...

Twice a year when we visit India, a request for practical items is distributed and you have responded generously over the many years. Last March we visited Pastor Arvind at his church and in one of the conversations we got on to the topic of the shirt he was wearing. He began to share the following story.

In October 2010 he went and visited his cousin after the Pastors Conference. One evening as they were getting ready to go out, his cousin was ironing his shirt and asked Pastor Arvind to give his shirt to him so he could iron it for him. When Pastor Arvind gave him the shirt, he described that his cousin’s jaw dropped and for a long moment he could not even communicate his thoughts, and so Pastor Arvind said, Is everything OK? He said, Yes, but I am dumbfounded. I cannot believe that you can afford to wear a Peter England.

^{Pastor Arvind & family with Pastor Ben}

That response dumbfounded Pastor Arvind. He said, Peter England? Who is that? Is he a preacher? No, his cousin replied, I am speaking of this shirt! Shirt? Yes, he continued, I work in Information Technology and for the most part I am considered upper middle class and I cannot afford to purchase this shirt in India. I am surprised that you as a pastor can.

Pastor Arvind said at that moment the Holy Spirit took over and this was an opportunity to share Jesus with his cousin. He said, actually I have no idea what Peter England is but this is what I do know, there are people who love Jesus, and every year at our Pastors Conference we get encouraged and blessed by the Word of God and then they send us these wonderful gifts. I happen to have received this shirt as a gift. I can see that this has left you speechless.

The cousin replied, Yes, because I cannot understand someone that does not even know you spending that kind of money and buying such an expensive gift. Pastor Arvind replied, They are doing this because God the Father sent His Son Jesus Christ to this earth to die for you and for me, so when you repent and believe on Him and accept Him as your only personal Savior, you will have the assurance of salvation and eternal life with God. These people understand the priceless sacrifice Jesus has made for them and everyone who chooses to repent and believe in His name. Because of that love that was demonstrated for them and for us, they now in a very small way give their best to bless me and many other pastors and saints around the world.

Pastor Arvind’s cousin was so overwhelmed with the practical love displayed by you, saints, that currently he is asking many questions that relate to his beliefs, and every week he seems closer and closer to coming to a saving knowledge of Christ Jesus. He is reading the Bible for the very first time in his life!

Do you realize that Jesus speaks through everyday life? Witnessing is not as complicated as we seem to make it. It concerns me when we spend so much time discussing how we will witness rather than witnessing. Saints, we must put others ahead of ourselves, but we must put the Lord ahead of others. Of the three people involved in ministry – the Lord, the minister and the person ministered to – the Lord must come first. In Exodus, eleven references are made to "minister to the Lord". Surely they were ministering to the people as they taught and offered the sacrifices, but their first responsibility was to the Lord and not to the people.

Get Involved

As the Lord tarries, we are preparing young men and women to plant churches and lead the church in India. For $40.00 a month, you can invest in this important effort to raise the next generation to serve the Lord in India.

Medical Mission Team Ministers in Pune

- DAILY UPDATES -

Video Overview of India Ministry - 2011

A Need: The Case for a Building

Dr. Hiwale gives tour of medical clinic

LIVING THE VISION

JESUS SPEAKS...

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