What an amazing and eventful year 2018 has been for Grace Christian Ministry! God has shown his provision, goodness, and faithfulness throughout this year. Praise the Lord!
As 2018 draws to a close, we wanted to express our heartfelt appreciation for all of you. Your prayers, encouragement, and support have been such a blessing to us all. Dr. Babu Samuel recorded a video for you HERE.
As many of you are aware, Kerala, India – headquarters for GCM – experienced unprecedented flooding this past summer. Babu, his pastors and other leaders within the ministry felt called to assist those in the area. Through extra love offerings given by you as well as a disaster relief grant awarded by IDES, they were able to do just that. They traveled to seven different villages and provided bags of food which contained rice, tea, and spices. They also provided chairs, bed mats, clothing, educational items and bibles. Five of these villages do not currently have a church. By the grace of God, GCM workers were able to not only hand out bibles, but also give a short message on the love of Christ, and pray for several of the villagers. The goal is to return to these villages and eventually plant churches. This has already happened in the village of Pravinkoodu. Below are some pictures of the flooding that took place as well as pictures from the relief work performed by GCM.
Babu also made the journey along with Pastor Jose Prakash and Pastor KK Samuel to visit GCM ministries in the state of Bihar and Odisha. God is moving in mighty ways in these states and the ministry is growing and reaching the lost with the gospel of Jesus Christ.
The ministry also received a generous donation through the Harvest of Talents hosted by First Christian Church in Council Bluffs. With these funds, they were able to purchase two small plots of land which will eventually be the site for two church buildings. This land is being given to two of GCM’s existing churches which have been with the ministry for many years. One of these churches was flooded in the August flood. The other has been meeting in a rented building in the middle of a rubber tree farm.
In the coming year, there is much work to be done. Your prayers and support will be vital for GCM and the work they are doing.
January 30 will kick off the 18th Annual Grace Christian Ministry General Convention. Every year all of the pastors from Kerala, Bihar, and Odisha come together to be encouraged, taught and to fellowship together. This is a major event for the ministry, but it is a great way for the shepherds of these flocks to be rejuvenated and refreshed. Due to the number of people involved and the effort it takes to put on the event, there is also an additional expense over and above the regular operating of the ministry. If you would like to make an additional offering in January to help cover the costs, it would be deeply appreciated.
Freddie and Jenn Jones will be traveling to India in April 2019. Your prayers for that trip and their preparation will be appreciated. They will be visiting churches, attending a small gathering of pastors, and a women’s meeting while they are there. Their second trip will be in October 2019. If you are interested in going with them in October, please contact either Freddie (freddiegcm@gmail.com) or Jenn (jenngcm@gmail.com)
We are planning many updates and additions to the GCM website. Stay tuned for regular blog posts, pictures
Again, thank you for your prayers and support for GCM. It is an amazing thing to see how the body of Christ has worked over these past many years to support the spread of the gospel in India. The harvest is plentiful. Please pray for the many lost souls of that nation which will be touched by the gospel work being done in the Lord’s name by Babu and his team.
