The first CTMI follow-up trip to India took place last month, following the regional conference held in Kakinada in February this year. It was of special significance to Bro. Oumesh P. and Bro. Kishna S., from Mauritius, who made up the team, as India is the land of their ancestors. Despite having heard of conditions of life over there, the reality of seeing men, women, children and even babies sleeping on the streets was something they were not prepared for, and it made them realize afresh the grace of God we have just to have a roof over our heads.
After flying into Chennai (Madras), they took the train for a 12-hour overnight trip to Samalkote near Kakinada, where Bro. Emmanuel Raj Kumar and his wife Jessie welcomed them into their home and took wonderful care of them. Emmanuel was to act as an excellent interpreter throughout the 4-week trip. They travelled and met with many different pastors in the surrounding areas during meetings organized by Emmanuel and other pastors who had attended the Conference back in February. The message they brought was the simple but profound revelation of the gospel of the Cross and the Grace of God, which so often seemed to have been forgotten or left on a shelf. Religion and the traditions of man have replaced the power of the Cross to transform lives in so much of the Church at large today and this was evident in many of the places they visited. Over and over again Indian brothers and sisters they met told them, “You are different. Your lives speak loudly. This is what we need! This is what India needs – the revelation of the gospel!”
Over the 4-week period 20 meetings were held in 9 different localities in East & West Godavari and Visakhapatnam Districts of Andhra Pradesh, from the middle of town to rural villages. About a dozen of the pastors who were deeply touched by the meetings back in February organized gatherings of pastors in their areas and were waiting with great anticipation to hear more of the gospel. At every meeting pastors were deeply affected by the gospel, saying that it was as if their eyes had been opened. Many expressed their desire to hear more in order to be ready to take up their cross each day and truly gives their lives for their wives, their families and the church; to see the church restored and flowing with the life of Christ.
In addition to the gathering of pastors during the week, Bro. Oumesh and Kishna also visited a number of different churches on the 3 Sundays they were there. They were surprised to find that the majority of those present were women, often as much as 90% of the congregation. Apparently this was due to the fact that the men were working.
Overall the Mauritian brothers were encouraged by the thirst in the hearts of many they met to hear more of the gospel and to live something deeper and more real with the Lord.
The final five days were spent with the brothers in Chennai, holding a series of meetings as well as preparing and planning for the Regional Conference to take place there at the end of September. Raja Paul Gajendran, who had just spent a month in Mauritius and Lesley George, two brothers who had attended the meetings back in February, eagerly awaited the meetings. Bro. Raja Paul witnessed afterwards how the Lord brought new revelation to the hearts of the listeners through His word. Bro. Kishna shared on forgiveness at the Sunday service of Bro. Amal Raj’s church and many were moved to tears and repentance by the gospel.
A great expectancy fills the hearts of all the pastors from the region of Tamil Nadu, with whom CTMI is organising the conference. One of the pastors on the Organising Committee mentioned that, “We can feel the Holy Spirit convincing us to take the road of the cross, not sometime, but every time. It is clear to us that we need to put the church in the Lord’s hands.” They are expecting great things from the Lord and the Lord will not disappoint them – of that we can be sure!
The next CTMI Regional Conference to be held in India will take place in Chennai from Tuesday 28 September – Saturday 2 October 2004. If you are reading this report in India and would like to attend, kindly contact CTMI at info@ctminetwork.org
