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Monthly Archives: November 2010

The Malhavaranallur and The Periya Sevalai Villages

Hello Family, greetings to you it has been a few weeks since our last blog but that has been because we have been extremely busy here in the Vineyard. By God’s help we are now in the Evangelistic phase of our Mission trip. It has taken us 2 months to visit most of the Villupurum district Churches, meet with and organize the Pastors and Lay Pastors and seek to lay a foundation to begin .

Things here are quite different from what one might expect as far as Evangelism goes. There are no bible workers here to prepare the way for us, there are only a few lay Pastors who are dispersed over a vast territory here in Villupurum, So we have had to do the bible work and outreach work to get to this point. But we thank and praise God that in spite of sicknesses, discouragements, inconveniences, heat, mosquitoes, monsoon rains and many other trials God has kept us and we are moving steadily forward with an even firmer and stronger determination to complete our Mission here in India.

Some of the pictures that you will see in this week’s blog came from a Village here in the Villupurum called Malhavaranallur. I know it is a really long word but the local people say it here with no problem. It took me about 1 week to learn to say it correctly.

Whenever a person hears the word Village one normally thinks of a small community in a rural district. Well Malhavaranallur is very very rural Village, but it is a far way from small. I can honestly say that I have never seen so many Children in one place in my life. It seemed that everywhere you looked every step you took there were children all around you. I was usually busy taking care of the electrical equipment and setting up, but Marion was always surrounded by a large number of Women and Children. As you can probably imagine, people in these very rural places have never seen anyone of her race and so it was truly a moment of awe and amazement for them. I felt sorry for her at times as she could not walk without people (adults and children) staring and many touching her from every angle. One lady even wanted to give her a baby girl as a gift, to which she graciously said no thanks. Another wanted her to allow Noah to marry one of her daughters when he got older. On the 1^st night of our meeting we counted almost 200 people who were in attendance. These very poor people in this Village have no Church building and so we were forced to worship outside as it was the only place that could accommodate all the people who showed up. But being outside meant that we had to contend with the rains which interrupted our meeting several times of our week long Campaign. Nevertheless in spite of the rains and constant electrical problems we finished our Meetings with several souls committed for baptism.

The next Village that we visited was a Village named Periya Sevalai. This Village has an actual Seventh Day Adventist Church which was a blessing as we did not have to deal with trying to conduct a meeting outside with a Laptop and Projector and running from the rains.

The Pastor of this Church is a man by the name of Ahab Daniel. This man’s son is a one of the Pastors of the Southern Asia SDA Church in the Washington DC area. We received a very warm welcome from Pastor Daniel’s Church family in Periya Sevalai . There were church members who had many struggles and trials but their faith in God was truly remarkable. There was one young Brother who is the son of the 1^st Elder. This brother has been suffering with brain tumors since he was a very young boy. He’s had so many surgeries that we can’t even number them but still this brother Pastor’s one of the local churches in his area on a volunteer basis. He is very sick and is awaiting surgery but he still came out to the meetings and was enthusiastic to be involved. There was another Sister who came to the last meeting after she attempted suicide by jumping in front of a bus. One of the locals brought her to Pastor Daniels church because his church is known to help many in the village. I (Marion) prayed with this sister and asked her why did she attempt to commit suicide? She told me part of her life story. She said that she got married in 1994 and her husband started physically abusing her shortly after they were married. I asked her if she could stay with some family and friends to get away from the abuse but she was very reluctant because she has four children. My heart was touched with sympathy for her and her situation and I even told her that my Mother was physically abused by my father when I was very little. I wanted her to know that it was not her fault and that others have experienced the same abuse but by God’s grace they were able to escape. These are just a few of the stories that we hear on a daily basis when we go village by village here in Villupuram. The Lord is giving us strength and wisdom to reach out to many people who have never heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the marvelous power of his love.

As you can imagine there are many calls to us for help from every side. Most of our expense here besides our transportation is what we give away as donations to people. The needs that we encounter on a daily basis are beyond the power of words to describe. We know that we cannot meet every need but by God’s grace we assist who we can. There are many, many children in these Villages both boys and girls that just walk around completely naked as many of them have no clothes.

We are embarking upon a project on this Christmas Season to provide as many Children as we can with clothes. We are in need of $10 donations per child so that we can provide clothes to some of the Children in this Villupurum Region, many of whom are in desparate conditions and suffering terribly. If you are impressed to support at least one child in India this Christmas season you can make a secure donation at our blog: http://3goingforward.wordpress.com/ just click on the donation button. Please continue to pray for us as we labor to finish God’s work here in India. Sincerely, The Simpson Family.

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Posted by thesimpsonsgoforward on November 30, 2010 in Uncategorized

The Alagrannam Village

05 Nov

The Alagrannam Village

The pictures from this week’s blog are mostly from a small Village here in the Vulupurrum region named Alagrammam. This Village is a very rural and difficult to reach place, but by God’s grace we were able to conduct a week long series of meetings here. It is now rainy season here, and so it rains just about every day. We had to travel 1^st by bus from our residence and then by a three wheel auto into this remote Village. We had to contend with the rains and even thick mud in some places every night, a few nights we even had some downpours in the middle of our presentation. As these Villagers don’t have a Church we had to go to the Pastor’s house to continue the Meetings. In spite of some obstacles we were still able to share with a group of mostly young people some critical bible truths for this time.

The Alagrannam Village is a place with many problems. Alcoholism is a very,very serious problem here, it is almost like an epidemic in this Village and in many surrounding Villages. It’s only comparison that I can think of is the crack epidemic of the early 80’s in the US. The Alcohol that is used here is a home made concoction that is unfiltered and mixed with a certain kind of acid. This produces an intense high, but also gives instant concussion to many of its victims. Many men here even in their thirties die from heart attack caused by this drug. Many women and Children here suffer daily physical abuse because of husbands who use this form of alcohol. One night after the meetings we even saw a man who was half exposed, laying in the mud and water, passed out but still clutching a bag of this poison in one hand. If it was darker our vehicle could have easily ran him over as he was in this condition the middle of the road.

There is a picture in this week’s blog with myself and a little girl by the name of Sanguita, her story is indeed a touching one. We arrived one night and someone told me that this girl’s Mother had died just 6 months prior to our arrival. She has a Father but he does not want to provide for or take care of Sanguita or her brother, and so he has given them to the Uncle to take care of. I went to visit the house where the children live which was only a small, cramped thatched roof hut. The uncle is not happy to keep the children as he himself is struggling terribly and they are just an additional burden to him. Sanguita and her brother are quite emaciated and you can actually feel the brother’s bones through his clothes. I can honestly say that I have never seen children living in such destitute conditions. They have become incredibly attached to Marion and myself, especially Sanguita. I can remember as she held my hand tightly one night even as I entered the vehicle that was to take me home, she ran and followed the vehicle because she did not want to let me go. No one shows them hardly and love, attention or care so we have been trying to assist them occasionally with supplies of food. We want to request your prayers for these children as they are living in a terrible condition. We have friends that have an Orphanage that are willing to accept the Children and provide them with food and clothes and shelter, but we have been told by others that the Father will not let them go. He does not want the Children, cannot and does not provide for the Children but will not let them go to a place where they can get some help. So please keep them in your prayers as we are going to meet with the father and Uncle in a few days.

The pastor of the Alagrannam Village is Pastor Sambath. He is a very strong and dedicated man of God who has kept this Village Church in his home for the past 15 years. This man is also an ex-offender who was incarcerated for 15 years but he discovered the love of Christ, left Hinduism and has been a Christian ever since that time. Most of the members of his church are young people, many of the village adults are Hindus but they will allow the Children to go to the Village Adventist Church for worship because of their respect for Pastor Sambath.

Noah has been having a great time here with the Children and he has made many, many friends since arriving here in India. The Children in Alagrannam waited nightly by the Village road that leads to the Pastor’s house and as soon as our Vehicle began to approach you could hear the shout Noah, Noah, Noah and all the Children flock to him at one time. One night in the Meeting I was preaching on a very important topic, Noah decided to go to the bathroom and all of a sudden half of my congregation followed after him to the restroom so we had to get the local Pastor to bring them back so that I could finish the Meeting. Noah is especially endeared to the boys of this Village because he brought all of his matchbox toy cars with him from the US and gave all of the boys in the Village one as a special gift.

Sister Felicia Chelliah from the Seabrook Church in Maryland came and spent a week with us here in Vulupurrum. It was so very good to see a familiar face all the way on the other side of the World. We spent the week in Ministry at the Village as well as helping in the Vulupurrum district annual revival. We all were speakers at the Revival Meeting, Marion and Felicia spoke and I gave 2 Messages on this grand occasion. It was truly a spirit filled day as we all sought by God’s power to inspire our brethren in the region to do their part to finish The Lord’s work and hasten his coming.

Please continue to pray for us as we are laboring in the master’s Vineyard in the fields of India. Please pray for our health, safety and our courage as daily we press on to do the Master’s work. If God has impressed you to support our Church planting project here in Vulupurrum India you can make a secure donation through the donation button at the home page of our blog at http://3goingforward.wordpress.com/ May God continuously bless you.