Pastor Joseph Offers Overview of Work in India
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Graduation Ceremony at KSOM - March 2010
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We do thank God for His great help to run this ministry during difficult times. All our churches and Pastors are men and women who are firmly founded on the Word of God. The Koinonia Church in India is continually being prepared to serve within and outside the church.
Planting churches is the very core of our vision. The Bible College (KSOM) is preparing young men and women for just such ministry. The graduates each year have gone to their local areas and planted new churches with just a few families. By sending young men into various parts of northern India, we have continued to plant 4 or 5 churches every year. We continue to look to the Lord to support our church planting efforts in the early years as these men become self-supporting. Each Pastor can use $100.00 initially per month as he establishes the Lord’s work in a given area.
The church in Pune continues to grow, and many are dedicating their lives to serve the Lord mightily. Pastor Dipak Samuel will be serving in the Pastoral capacity at the Pune Church. The church continues to prepare teams for praise and worship. We are so thankful for the guitar that was sent with Pastor Ray earlier this year. We could use more guitars and a good sound system, and we covet your prayers in this area.
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Pastor Joseph visits Agra church
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We now have 80 churches (the number is still growing) in 18 different states of Northern and Western India. We are in villages, towns, and cities. Most of our congregations do not have their own church building. We desire to help construct two or three church buildings every year. We have asked all pastors to get a piece of land where possible, and we will prayerfully ask the Lord to raise the necessary funds to construct a church building.
Please pray for these churches which are in the final process of completing documentation for land:
* Koinonia Fellowship in Jagdalpur – Construction to begin in August;
* Koinonia fellowship in Lanja, Ratnagiri – Working on land purchase details, with construction to begin immediately after possession of land.
* Additionally, Koinonia Fellowship in Agra is having plastering of walls and construction of a roof to complete their building.
We have pieces of land in Pune, Manipur, and Orissa that are on the short list for construction in 2011.
* The cost of constructing a village church is $7000 to $10,000.
* The cost of constructing a town church is $10,000 to $15,000.
* The cost to construct a city church (like the one in Pune) is $25,000 to $30,000.
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Koinonia Fellowship jeep in Pune
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We want to begin to send teams to villages for evangelism where we are beginning a new work or where we have existing work. We are thankful for the vehicle the Lord provided in 2008 that we have to transport all the guests back and forth to the airport and for all the long trips to visit with churches. Our second jeep is 11 years old (and smaller) and is very tired and can only be used locally now. We are praying that the Lord would put on someone’s heart this particular need for another vehicle to be used to evangelize many “unreached” peoples of western and northern India. If you have a heart for evangelism and you want to see the Gospel go farther, this tool will help us take the gospel to hundreds and thousands in India.
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Worshipers in Jagdalpur, Chhattisgarh
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We continue to pray that hearts will be touched to financially support our Pastors in the field. This support enables these men and women to go to a village on a train or bus instead of walking, thus maximizing their time in reaching the many lost of India.
We have completed six years at the Koinonia School Of Ministry. Since 2004 we have seen men come and get trained and are now in the field pastoring churches. Our vision is to train men and women for ministry during these days at the college, to mold them in spiritual maturity and impart Bible knowledge to them in order to become capable ministers and leaders. We have seen tremendous growth, and by God’s grace have seen this vision flourish and become successful.
We teach not only the Word but also basics in “practical skilled trades”, such as: electrical work, carpentry, computer technology, plumbing, driving a car, painting, etc. These trades will help them earn the finances needed to live as they devote their lives to serving the Lord.
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Current KSOM building
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Personally this is my prayer for this year. We have been renting properties around Pune to house the School and Medical Clinic. We have in our possession about 8000 square feet of land. We had an architect design a 5 floor building which will accommodate our School of Ministry and even the Medical Clinic. The total building will be 9000 square feet. To construct each floor it will cost $50,000.00. Please pray with me to see this project through. We will no longer have to rent facilities and we never know when they will tell us to “vacate” with just 15 days notice. Those funds for rent can be invested into the Kingdom. (Note from Pastor Ben: Our current monthly costs are $1200 for KSOM + $400 for the medical clinic [neither includes utilities], and the owner of the KSOM building is asking for $200 more per month now.)
We are looking for Theological Study Books for our library. We can always use desktop and laptop computers. We have been praying for a copier and a good camera so we can upload pictures to our website.
Thank you for praying with us and for us. We fast and pray for all of you at Koinonia Rochester and everyone that is affiliated with the India Ministry. We are grateful and thankful for your lives, ministry, families, and your desire to bear this burden of the Lord. May the Lord bless you abundantly as you serve Him.
Pastor Joseph
Editor’s note: If you wish to financially support any of the needs mentioned, use the “Donate” button on the right. Please be specific in your designation. For example, rather than designating “building”, specify either: “new KSOM building”, or “city church”, or “town church”, etc. Any questions, please use the contact form.
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