July 2022
“The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not willing for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance.”
II Peter 3:9
Beloved Ones,
Dayan and I returned home safely from India at the end of June, and we are so grateful that we were able to minister in Kerala again. I am especially thankful that my health allowed me to travel and I was able to meet with lots of our evangelists, Children’s Home children and Bible School faculty. It was a special blessing to have Sunday morning worship with several local congregations who gathered together, and I was blessed to be able to share the Word of God with them.
Many of our evangelists whom we support traveled to Kerala to see me and to update us on how their ministries are going. One of these evangelists has been supported by IEM for more than 40 years. He is operating Christian schools and a church in Rajasthan. We had a blessed time catching up. He has a wonderful testimony how God saved him from a destructive lifestyle to become a Christian minister.
As I mentioned before, one of the big challenges we have is opening up our campus after Covid restrictions. We praise the Lord that our Children’s Home could reopen with a small group of 14 children. Our administrator, Reji, is working with the local government to enlarge our children’s program by next year.
Likewise we are happy that our Bible College was able to reopen with in-person education again. Due to the ongoing Covid problem, we have a very small number of students, but they are eager to receive biblical training from our faculty. During the lockdown we revamped our curriculum, and we are excited to see the Bible school grow in the coming years. Please pray for these students, many of whom are from North India, as they are adjusting to a different cuisine and culture in Kerala.
Several of our new students came to us from Uttar Pradesh in North India through the influence of our evangelist, Robin, who has been working there for the last year. He is actively working in local villages, not only distributing food kits, but also leading people to the saving knowledge of Christ. We are excited to see what God is doing in many small villages of Uttar Pradesh. Please continue to pray for Robin and the work he is doing for our Lord.
Thank you to all who have been praying for us and the ministry in India. We really sensed your prayers and felt your love as we traveled. Please continue to pray for my strength and my health in the coming days. It is my privilege to partner with you in this ministry. We will be having our local mission banquet in Washington on September 18 and in Ohio on September 22. We look forward to seeing you and updating you in person on the work of our Lord in India.
God bless you all,
G.V. Mathai and Dayan Mathai