Every day thousands of Indian men, women and children dip into the filthy waters of the Ganges to make penance for sins. Throughout Asia, the Middle East, Haiti and Africa millions bow before idols hoping to find the rest that only comes from right relationship with God. Here in America we move more clearly toward Godlessness. What breaks through the powerful bonds of Hinduism, Islam, witchcraft and materialism? Only the good news of forgiveness and new Life in Christ. Your support for our friends overseas and our ministry here at home enables us to reach out in expanding circles and share the Gospel to those who don’t yet know the love of God. We are excited about the opportunities ahead and the many open doors that lie before us. Thank you for joining with us in this great kingdom endeavor!
Have a Blessed Christmas,
Lance & Christie Thollander
Click HERE to see how you can help this Christmas!
Time for rebuilding in Orissa
May 26, 2009
Anti-Christian violence in India’s Orissa state has left thousands homeless but there is hope on the horizon.
With the sound defeat of the BJP, a nationalist Hindu group, in recent elections, there is now a good possibility for peaceful coexistence between the majority Hindus and other religions in Orissa, an Indian state that has witnessed considerable aggression against the Christian community.
While there is now an atmosphere of cooperation that will enable the victims of the violence to rebuild their lives here, that seemed to be an impossibility less than a year ago.
Close to 4,000 homes were totally destroyed and another 400 damaged during the carnage following the murder last summer of Swami Laxamanananda Saraswati by Maoist rebels. The World Hindu Council blamed his death on Christians, sparking the rampage that also saw at least 100 Christians killed, 50,000 people displaced, and more than 150 church buildings destroyed.
Have your retreat, conference, wedding, or other gathering here!
Historic Oakleigh--nestled at the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains just 20 minutes west of Charlottesville, Virginia--is available for all types of gatherings. Click HERE for more information!
News Around the World
Patrick Off Ventilator, Barb Begins Rehab, Son Takes Help to Haiti
February 1, 2010 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Condition Improves for Patrick & Barb Lataillade, Aid on its way to workers
The news from the Lataillades continues to be encouraging. Patrick is still in the ICU unit but has been taken off the ventilator and is able to breathe on his own. He can carry on conversations and has even begun to joke with his care givers and family. The family is hopeful that he will soon be able to have his own room. This is good news indeed. One especially touching moment came when Barb stood on one leg by his bed, Patrick turned toward her, and they shared their first kiss in two weeks.
Barb keeps on astounding the staff who continue to exclaim, "You don't need rehab at all!" as she hops out of bed and speed walks her walker to her destination. All are grateful for the continued prayers, gifts, and notes of encouragement that are coming their way.
The Lataillade's son, Agape, leaves tomorrow for Haiti. He will see Pastor Gary, their lead man there and bring much needed medical supplies and funds for the pastors and clinic workers. The news continues to be that all the sponsored children are safe and well. Agape will return at week's end with a fuller report.
Please continue to hold the people of Haiti in your prayers. Contributions for Living Word Ministries and the ministry of Cebien Alexis in the north of Haiti, Army of Christ, can be made by check to the address below or by clicking here. If desired, you can designate which ministry you'd like to support by writing their name in the memo box. Otherwise we will allocate the gifts where most needed for ministry work in Haiti.
January 31, 2010 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Latest News from the Lataillades and Cebien Alexis
Dear Friends,
Thank you for your continued prayer and support for our ministry partners in Haiti. The latest reports that we have had are encouraging in that Patrick and Barb Lataillade of Living Word Ministries continue to make progress and that our partners working with Cebien Alexis in Cap Haitien in the north of Haiti have started reaching out with food and aid to the grief stricken.
Barb has finished her surgeries and is off an IV and antibiotics. She has set up a blog at www.patrickbarb.blogspot.com where you can follow their story. She has already been a tremendous encouragement to those who have been able to visit her. Patrick is still in serious condition and remains sedated, . The good news is he has started to respond to input, shaking his head yes when asked if he recognized those around him and knew where he was, and he has even spoken a few words, a very encouring sign.
Patrick Loses Right Arm, Barb loses right foot; both are still in shock.
The latest news from the Lataillades is very serious. When they were airlifted to Florida doctors determined that both needed immediate surgery. Barb's right foot was amputated halfway between the ankle and knee. She has been upbeat but is still in a state of shock. Patrick's condition turned out to be much worse than first thought. He remains in critical condition. His right arm had to be taken at the shoulder and he, too, is in shock. He is on a ventilator and having dialysis for his kidneys which have failed. Please pray that they are able to keep him stable through this critical time. They will both be in the hospital for an unspecified period of time.
January 13, 2010
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Doubtless you have heard some news of the massive 7.0 earthquake that hit Haiti last night. Patrick and Barbara Lataillade of Living Word Ministries were in the center of where the quake hit. We spoke with their daughter Rachel this morning and learned that Barb has been taken to the hospital with unspecified injuries. Rachel does not think they are life threatening but does not have complete details on what has happened to her. Patrick was trapped under their house which has evidently been demolished. Patrick was alive and a team made its way to dig him out. He had air and water but nothing else was known about his condition until he was finally dug out. Thankfully, he was able to walk around, although we have no word on the extent of his injuries. We have not received any word on the children they care for or the ministry people with whom they work.
We cannot thank God and you enough for your prayers and gifts that make this vital and effective ministry work! In September we continued training over 70 HUB leaders to strategically plant churches in Zambia and to train the new pastors so as to make disciples of their own people.
We drove over 1500 miles and distributed more than 1500 Bemba Bibles to our leaders and the churches they have planted. Denson has since delivered another 1000 Bibles. Over 5000 more Bibles are coming soon. We were also able to give 12 new bicycles to pastors in rural areas that will help them be more effective in their ministries of training other pastors and helping to mentor them in their duties.
We rejoice to share this great news that we have just received from Elam Ministries
Lance Thollander for the Hope Builders Staff
RELEASED! Maryam and Marzieh have been set free after 259 days in prison
Praise the Lord! Maryam Rustampoor and Marzieh Amirizadeh were released from Evin prison in Iran today, Wednesday November 18, 2009 at 3:30pm, without bail. However, they may yet have to face a court hearing and still need our prayers.
"Words are not enough to express our gratitude to the Lord and to His people who have prayed and worked for our release," they said.
Maryam and Marzieh were arrested because of their Christian faith on March 5, 2009. Though their health has suffered greatly while in prison, they are doing as well as could be expected, and are rejoicing in the Lord's faithfulness to them.
"Maryam and Marzieh have greatly inspired us all. Their love for the Lord Jesus and their faithfulness to God has been an amazing testimony," says Sam Yeghnazar, Director of Elam Ministries.
We hope to share more details soon.
In the mean time, please pray:
For their health to be fully restored.
For their continued safety.
For their full acquittal.
Thank you again for all your support and prayers.
The Elam team
American poverty vs. Malawian poverty
Nov. 9, 2009
Poverty... a word everybody knows.
The critical thing to understand, however, is that poverty is relative. When we discuss poverty in the United States, we're often talking about families whose children qualify for free school lunches or government-run health programs.
But such is not the case in many countries of southern Africa. Poverty there means watching your children die from a disease that a few cents worth of medicine could cure. Poverty there means being thankful to have a bowl of thin gruel with a couple pieces of rotted vegetable floating in it.
As Americans, our concept of poverty is skewed. We base it on what we see around us and how society defines it.
The following account is from the bulletin of a church that recently participated in a missions trip to Mozambique:
The theme this week is ‘What God lovesmost about us, moving beyond dutifulness’. We share with you some stories from our Mission team, having returned from Mozambique. We can be sure that they were willing to be obedient to the Lord, by participating in this outreach opportunity.
Before we left on the mission trip, Brian Smith prayed for the team and prayed that there would be signs and wonders.
"The success of the trip is a testimony of God's grace and love in Christ Jesus."
With these words, HIMAfrica Director Jeff Hawkins summed up his recent trip to Zambia, which ends tomorrow (Monday, Oct. 5).
"The Bible distribution was also incredible," he said. "We were able to deliver 1520 Bemba Bibles to our brothers in the Northern and Luapula Provinces of Zambia." These were delivered to nine distribution points, where 27 pastors representing 277 churches were able to pick they up.
The trip was not without its trying moments, however.
September 16, 2009 Update from Zambia: Robbers, Borders, and Books
We continue to rejoice in the goodness of God! He has been good to US!
What a privilege to serve Him and His men being trained in pastoral studies and mentored by other pastors to shepherd the flock of God here in Zambia. Our 53 Hub Leaders and 6 District leaders have been focusing their hearts and mind upon the mission of HIM Zambia... Planting churches, training leaders and making disciples.
Christian Women hold prayer vigil outside Iranian embassy in London
By Dan Wooding
Founder of ASSIST Ministries
LONDON, UK (ANS) -- On Saturday, September 12, Iranian Christian women held a prayer vigil outside the Iranian embassy in London for the release of two female converts who have been imprisoned for six months.
Maryam Rostampour (27) and Marzieh Amirizadeh Esmaeilabad (30).
According to the Farsi Christian News Network (www.fcnn.com), they were dressed in white, and stressed the plight of the two Christian women whose health has begun to deteriorate "due to the overcrowded conditions and limited facilities," as stated on the International Christian Concern (ICC) website (www.persecution.org)
The vigil was organized by Iranian Christian women and supported by Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW). CSW identifies itself as a human rights organization specialized in defending the persecuted Christians around the world.
Since March 5, Maryam Rustampoor, 27, and Marzieh Amirizadeh, 30, have been held in Evin prison in Teheran. There they have been deprived of proper medical care and often blindfolded and interrogated for hours.
After being held for five months, they were tried on August 9 and told to recant their faith, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports. When they refused, they were sent back to prison and faced charges of apostasy, which under Islamic "Sharia" law means death.
CSW has petitioned the Iranian government to release the innocent women.
Mervyn Thomas, Chief Executive of CSW, said, "We wholeheartedly stand in solidarity with Maryam and Marzieh, who are being held solely on the basis of exercising their most basic right: freedom of thought, conscience and belief."
Zambia is one of the poorest nations on earth, ranking 117th out of the 128 nations listed in the 2007 Global Competitiveness Index. Per capita annual income averages less than $400. Well more than half the population lives on less than $1.25 a day.
Think about that... a Sunday newspaper here in the United States costs more than most Zambians can afford to spend for food, clothing, or shelter for an entire day.
But it gets worse.
Twenty percent of the population is infected with HIV, and will most likely end up dying of AIDS. This tragedy contributes to the incredibly low life expectancy in Zambia of 40.9 years.
Devastating mudslides have wrecked portions of West Bengal, India, according to a report from Nabin Mangrati, a native missionary there.
The series of rainstorms—beginning in May with Cyclone Aila and culminating this month—have caused dozens of deaths in the area, as well as the loss of thousands of houses just in the Darjeeling region alone during four separate series of mudslides this summer.
August 23, 2009 Political turmoil in Nepal disrupts Christian event
Strikes and road blockades in Nepal restricted participation at Nepal Gospel Center’s (NGC) retreat for graduates of their Advanced Discipleship Training program that saw 29 students pass the course. Only nine graduates were able to make it to the retreat.
The political situation prompted the United States Department of State to issue a warning about travelling in Nepal. “Political violence remains a problem in Nepal,” the report said, adding that the Young Communist League “continues to engage in extortion, abuse, and threats of violence” while other armed splinter groups “remain a significant concern.”
Nepal, nestled in the Himalayas between India, Tibet, and Bhutan, is home to close to 30 million people, and is the only official Hindu state in the world. Eighty percent of the population is Hindu, another 11 percent Buddhist, and eight percent are either Muslim or Kirant. Less than one percent are Christian.
URGENT PRAYER NEEDED: “We will not deny our faith”
In a dramatic session before the revolutionary court today in Tehran (Iran), Maryam Rustampoor (27) and Marzieh Amirizadeh (30) were told to recant their faith in Christ. Though great pressure was put on them, both women declared that they would not deny their faith. Maryam and Marzieh were originally arrested on March 5, 2009 and have suffered greatly while in prison, suffering ill health, solitary confinement and interrogations for many hours while blindfolded.
On Saturday August 8, Maryam and Marzieh were summoned to appear in court on Sunday August 9 in order to hear a verdict on their case.
Brother James is 52 yrs old and married to “one wife,” Agnes Nkandu. They have four boys and three girls and 11 grandchildren.
James was saved in 1971 and baptized with his wife the next year at Mpatamato Baptist Church. He followed the Lord’s calling in 1980, leaving the mines and attending seminary where he received a certificate in church ministry. In 1982 he located to a province in northeast Zambia and began 17 churches in there. He now pastors a church while training and overseeing the HUB Leaders who are planting churches and training more pastors in his district.
Malawi update: The missions group—including four Americans—that just returned from Malawi had some exciting news to share, according to Johan Gous, Africa Director for Hope Builders International.
“It’s been a long haul for [the team] but they are excited about the results of the outreach,” Gous said.
Working with Harvesters International Ministries:
·The outreach groups worked with eleven congregations that are part of a new Hub formed late last year.
·A total of 23 villages were served, with a new church planted in each village.
·The “Jesus film” was shown twelve times.
·The total number of people reaches is estimated at between 15,000 and 18,000 (it is hard to ascertain numbers during the showing of the Jesus film as it is dark, people stand around in clusters, and people arrive throughout the movie as they hear the sound projected by the loudspeakers).
·A total of 8,800 names of people who made confessions of faith in Jesus Christ were shared with the pastors so local follow-up could be done by the participating churches.
“From this, it can be seen that God has answered the prayers of the saints all around the world who received information of this outreach and undertook to pray for their safety, effectiveness in sharing the gospel, and receptive hearts of those with whom they shared the Word of God,” Gous said. “All praise and honor to Father God and to the Son for His sacrificial death to open the door for us to be reconciled with the father, under the indwelling guidance of the Holy Spirit.”
God is moving mightily among the “untouchables” in northern India. The following report was just received from Native Missionary Movement, one of Hope Builder International’s partner ministries:
God has blessed Native Missionary Movement’s children’s homes beyond anything we could have imagined. We have been given the privilege of bringing the love of Jesus Christ to more than 2,500 boys and girls now enrolled in our 20 children’s homes scattered throughout northern India.
Most of the children are Dalits—the "untouchables"—who are considered lower than animals by the Hindu caste system, and who, for generations, have never had the opportunity to go to school.
June 28, 2009 "Hub" model impacting lives in Africa
“Traditional Western methods of going to Bible College for several years are not always very practical,” says Stephen Loots, president of HIM. “Often when someone does feel called, and can somehow find the funds needed to go to seminary or Bible school, they almost never return to their village. Training must be provided on the job and teaching must take place close to home. Our Church Planters and the Coordinators provide training at the hub churches. This takes away the problems of travel, accommodation and high expenses.”
And this method is having an impact on the lives of those being trained.
“I am able to do my day to day work to support my family and at the same time being trained as we twice a month meet at our hub centre and have discussions led by our hub leader,” says one of the student pastors being trained in the Word of God... thanks to your faithful support.
“I have been a pastor for a long time but I had no any training,” adds another pastor. “[Through the hub model training] we [pastors] know each other, encourage and share our burdens.We pray for each other.”
Bringing the trainees together at the local hub church enables them to have fellowship with each other that they might not otherwise have without taking them away from their villages for long stetches at a time.
Of course, it is the prayer and financial support of Christians around the world that help make this possible.
Christians on Sri Lanka—an island country off the southern coast of India—are suffering persecution at the hands of anti-Christian zealots.
An email just received from one of our friends there reports that a native missionary’s hut was set on fire at three in the morning, but by God’s grace, Radha and his family were able to escape the raging flames.
This brother had moved to the village because he could not afford to pay his rent in the city. In Sri Lanka, rents are paid in advance for the entire year. Unable to do this, Radha found an old hut in the village that he planned to fix up. The nighttime attack forced him to return to the city where he faces eviction from his old home.
Unless he receives help soon, Radha and his family will be thrown out onto the street.
Jan. 4, 2009 Despite persecution, Mission continues to serve children
Written a month before the deadly terrorist attack in Mumbai, India, a letter from Sheba Sunayana of Compassion Clement Mission in Andhra Pradesh, India, warned of continuing attacks from Muslim terrorists. FULL STORY
29 Dec 2008 Update from Haiti: Post-Hurricane Work Continues
Living Word Ministries continues to serve the people of this impoverished nation, with the gospel, food, medical care, and education.Full Story.
TRAVELOGUE
South Asian Travelogue: Reflections on India, by Jonathan Dickinson
Hope Builders International works with many native ministries around the world… from the Caribbean to southern Africa to the Middle East to India and Nepal. We do this to help these ministries fulfill the biblical mandate to “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.” (Matthew 28:19) Full Story.
28 October 2008 - Wayne Jacobsen, editor of The Shack, shares God's love at HBI. Full Story.
