Musa’s Great Adventure
Opening the door of God’s Kingdom to the Mankidias of India
When Pastor D. B. Hrudaya of Orissa, India, first heard of the Mankidia people group, they were among the most nomadic and illiterate peoples of northern India. They were known as “monkey hunters” and forest dwellers. There were no believers in Christ among them. They worshiped evil forest spirits. Their culture was rampant with oppression and hopelessness. They could boast of no high school graduates, medical knowledge or social graces.
Two such examples were Arun Mankidia and his wife Salomi. They lived in a primitive hut made of branches in the remote Dengam jungle. They suffered with severe depression due to the influence of the evil spirits that they worshipped. They had to walk 25 miles through the jungle to sell the hand made rope that they wove from the forest vines at the nearest market. They were without God and without hope in the world.
Into this picture, stepped a man named Musu Marandi. He is one of Pastor Hrudaya’s field staff. Hrudaya and his team had been praying for an opening among the Mankidia people for over 10 years but with no breakthrough. They had reached the point where some of Hrudaya’s workers had learned the Mankidia language. With some outside support, the ministry was able to send Musu into the jungle areas where they lived. Finally, on one of the weekly market days, Arun met Musu in the market. After a lengthy conversation where Musu shared the good news of Christ with him, Arun decided he wanted to know more about the wonderful person of Jesus.
Arun went home and shared what he had learned with Salomi. She had just miscarried a baby for the third time. The hopelessness of her married life was at its greatest height. But on that wonderful day she received new hope. The news of forgiveness and a new life in Christ was a revelation to her. God had begun His good work in her and Arun’s hearts.
Arun and Salomi visited Musu at his home. He fully explained the plan of salvation to them in their language. On that day, Musu led them to Jesus Christ. Their lives were forever changed. They immediately began sharing the news of Jesus with other Mankidias. A new work was born!
Not long thereafter, both Arun and Salomi came to Pastor Hrudaya’s training center in Balasore, Orissa, for Biblical training and church planting training. In 2014, they graduated and went back to work among their own communities. Starting in their own village and reaching out from there, they now have spread the Gospel into 13 villages. So far, about 2000 Mankidias have come to Christ. Today, they have developed a small outreach team focusing on reaching the remaining Mankidias for Christ.
Though funding has been very limited for this wonderful project, much has been done to raise the living conditions of the Mankidias. Efficient farming techniques have been introduced, land for growing crops has been provided to them, medical clinics have been held and literacy centers have been established. The first Christian Mankidia marriages have been celebrated. The Mankidia project, initiated in 2014 in order to introduce the Mankidias to the God who made them, loves them and died for them, has developed them in every way. The included pictures bear testimony to that reality.
But this is still just the beginning. With the provision of strategic funding, the project can touch many more lives.
Here is what is needed to bring the Mankidia work into fuller effectiveness:
1. The provision of regular support for 5 workers at $100 per month
2. Funding for four Medical Camps at $800 per camp
3. The establishment of literacy centers among the not yet reached villages of the Mankidias. These cost about $300 to set up and $150 a month to maintain.
4. One motorbike at $1000 for a regional worker to travel among the villages.
5. Establishment of a Mankidia Goat project. This effective project works as follows: A family is given 3 goats at a cost of $50. The family cares for the goats for two years in which time their small herd normally grows to 10. After that, the additional goats can be sold in the market. Past project experience shows this will provide an annual income of over $600 to the family. Pastor Hrudaya wants to start this project with 60 Mankidia families so is seeking $3000 to get it launched.
Will you help us provide new support for this fruitful work among the Mankidia people? There are many Arun’s and Salomi’s out there who will become wonderful ambassadors of the love of Christ to their fellow Mankidias.
With deep thanks,
Lance Thollander for HBI, Pastor Hrudaya and the Mankidia people
A team from
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On a fun note, w
It’s been a terrible season of natural worldwide calamity. With the disasters facing our own country brought by hurricanes Harvey and Irma, our attention and hearts are naturally drawn to help those closest to us. That good work must continue. 
The recent hurricanes have taken a huge toll on property and livelihoods. Many pastors and evangelists have lost their homes and property. Three destroyed houses of believers in Cuba are pictured here. In Haiti, the sister of Pastor Clovis, a co-worker of our partner Cebien Alexis, was killed from flying debris at their church. The government in Cuba, which in past hurricanes has offered some aid to the victims is not doing so this time. They are just too overwhelmed. Even food distribution that was previously offered free of charge now comes with a price. There is significant risk of starvation and disease among the people. 
To call the road rutted would be an understatement. Better to say the deep ditch ahead looked daunting. But we had been driving on such roads for several days in our travels to see the work of Cebien Alexis and his ministry, Army of Ch rist, in Haiti. Our HBI team, consisting of Christie and me, and our longtime friends Jim & Ann Witkower and Mark Bodycombe was getting used to such conditions. 
We had almost reached our destination, the school in Robinette, where Hope Builders’ donors have helped fund a recently opened church building and is helping with school and agricultural development. Our hearts were stirred with excitement as only a few years before the only school structure here consisted of some wooden benches under a rusty tin roof held up by bamboo poles. Today we would serve lunch to 75 beautiful young school children, who meet in cinder block classrooms while a large school and agricultural training building are going up nearby. Their songs and words of devotion to the Lord brought smiles to our faces. Everywhere we went the believers greeted Cebien with hugs of joy. 
Thankfully, as time went on, the weight of glory began to shine through. We watched Cebien serve with joy in his natural environment, and met Kathy and Alice, his dedicated American co-workers who have served with him for 40 years. We saw the smiling faces of the children in their care and began to get a feel for the magnitude of their good work in the face of opposition, government instability and corruption, the deadly influence of voodoo, poverty and danger. Our spirits were lifted. We found the Lord and his Kingdom in the midst of the chaos. 
We attended lively church meetings and a pastoral training gathering of 70+ leaders. We met more of those that Cebien works with and through whose leadership the Gospel of Jesus Christ is being preached. We saw the grounds of the university where a nurse’s training program is housed and where very soon training in careers as an electrician or mechanic will be provided. As mentioned, we traveled four hours to bring lunch to children in the area of Robinette and meet their teachers and the local pastor in that area. The foundation for a large new school has been laid and the building waits for additional funding in order to be completed. The church is growing and the local people are encouraged. Agricultural land has been purchased here to train believers in effective farming techniques. The potential is evident. 
Another day’s journey took us over the top of a mountain from which we could see a large red tin roof, provided by HBI that covered a seemingly massive church building. Though construction is not finished on the inside, over 200 Haitians already meet to worship God there. We sat by the nearby river with local believers and were treated to some fine Haitian coffee, sweet and strong. We found out that this is one of the areas where goats will be provided to Haitian families that will enable them to earn income. Through the Lord’s mercy and your help, we have provided enough funds to give three goats to each of forty families at $200 per family. We look forward to sharing photos of some of those families with you as the goats are provided.
On top of all this, Cebien, who is also a doctor, continues to see upwards of 100 patients a day in his medical clinic, located on the school compound. Patients began lining up as early as 5:30 in the morning to receive his loving care. 
Haiti, with its ten million people, is the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere. To worsen things, in January 2010, a massive earthquake virtually destroyed the capital of Port-au-Prince, resulting in 300,000 deaths and leaving 1.5 million homeless. In October 2016, devastating Hurricane Matthew slammed into southwestern Haiti, affecting over 2.1 million people. Some of the damage is shown above. 
Cebien Alexis sees the gospel as the only answer to Haiti’s problems. And he knows how best to apply it. Cebien came to the Lord as a boy through a Baptist missionary’s vacation Bible school. When he told his family, his father kicked him out of the house. With help from relatives, he completed high school, and Bible school as well. The Bible school taught not only the fundamentals of preaching, church history, and theology, but also many practical skills. Cebien absorbed it all. Then he enrolled in a correspondence course with a Swiss seminary. Following more study in Switzerland and the Ivory Coast, Cebien received a Doctoral Degree in plant-based medicine in 1979. But most of that he did in his spare time. 
From that small beginning, Cebien’s ministry, EBAC, known in English as Army of Christ, has borne great fruit. Cebien and his co-workers have raised up more than 200 churches in Haiti and the Dominican Republic. In the process many witch doctors have come to Christ. An orphanage has been founded which has transformed the lives of hundreds of children. Cebien conducts evangelistic crusades four times a year. When possible, EBAC helps provide buildings for thriving churches. His ministry includes elementary schools and school lunch programs, business start-up projects for church members, and disaster relief. Faith Christian University, started by Cebien, provides training to Christian men and women in agriculture, nursing, environmental protection, and disaster risk assessment. 
In June Christie and I and a small team will be visiting various ministry sites with Cebien in Haiti. It will be a great opportunity to see the work Cebien has been doing. HBI was blessed to send funds to aid in the relief work following Hurricane Matthew. We have sent funds for schools, building projects, pastoral support, economic development and the like. Now we will see first-hand how the funds have been utilized. We plan to bring funds with us that can be applied directly to the most urgent areas of need and opportunity. The more we can raise, the more we can directly support this excellent work. One current project Cebien is working on is the provision of 3 goats to families that lost everything in the hurricane. This will enable them to both earn income and provide sustenance to their families. By growing their flocks, they will be able to give young goats to other families. The cost is $200 per family. 
“Today, we served approximately 200 displaced Christians, all newly arrived from Iraq with just the clothes on their backs. A hot plate of rice and beans, tabouli, and a piece of chicken filled the stomachs and warmed the hearts of those in need. Looking on, I was again struck by the number of widows and children, who always bear a heavy and unfair burden from war. Following a time of prayer and delicious food, all were invited to take what they needed from tables of clothing, blankets and more. All left with a copy of The New Testament in Arabic. The kids gleefully charged the table of Christian children’s books and departed with one or more treasures clutched to their chests.
Syria is now in its 7th year of civil war, with a total of over 400,000 dead, and 6,000,000 Syrians displaced. The end of the violence and suffering is not yet in sight. Brother Isam is now on his way to deliver much needed support for medicine and food and another $9,000 for Bibles. Recently Manara was given permission to enter the latest refugee camp in Jordan, near the Syrian border. The excitement of these stressed people in need is evident. It’s been an unusually cold winter in the desert. Yet, in the midst of this makeshift camp, these parents find a way to educate their children. Your help is invaluable to every refugee man, woman and child in this camp.
