In addition to the week-long youth group trips that I usually talk about, Adventures In Missions also sends teams all over the world for 3 months to 1 year. One of the locations we have been sending teams the past few years is India. They work with a ministry called Hopegivers which cares for orphans and raises them up to have a relationship with Jesus and how to be missionaries, pastors, or professionals.

I received this urgent plea for prayer for the orphanage in India today. The Christians are being heavily persecuted and need our prayers! The first email is from AIM staff member Alli who just returned from India. The second email is from the leaders of Hopegivers. I am touched how they praise God
for their troubles.

Dear Staff,

Our Indian partnership, Emmanuel/Hopegivers, is in trouble and needs our prayers. On Wed. of this week the radical Hindu branch of the government plans to take over the Kota orphanage, throwing 2500 kids back into the streets and slums. Please, please join us in prayer. The persecution has reached a new height, and our pastors have gone back into hiding. It's an intense time in the life of the ministry, but as you can see from the letter below, they are praising God in the midst of it!

I've just returned from India with Meagan McCall and Joe Countiss: we've seen the effects of the persecution close-up, and this is very real. Our pastors are having to change locations every few days, change cell phones every few days, and are being sought after as I write this. Our team in Delhi, lead by staff member Angel Sevigny and Marissa Vignola, is the sole source of food and water for the orphanage in Delhi. People have given generously towards our orphanage fund, but looking at all of the money, Angel is concerned that we will only be able to make it though the end of July with what we have. Angel is keeping receipts of everything and buying things herself when possible; it is costing $7.50 a week per child to feed them, provide water for them, and pay their school teachers. This is the true, actual cost of taking proper care of our precious children. There will be 370 kids back in the orphanage this week, returning from having been sent home due to the persecution. The needs are more real now than ever. We were hoping that the orphanage funds that were frozen by the government would be released by now, but as you can see below, the radical Hindus are celebrating the closing of Emmanuel/Hopegivers.

Please forward this to those who will pray.

Thanks to all of you,

Alli Mellon

Dear loving Christian,

Greetings in Jesus' name!

We praise God for the scripture. What a comfort. "...... If Mordecai be of the seed of the Jews, before whom thou hast begun to fall, thou shalt not prevail against him, but shalt surely fall before him (Esther 6:13)."

If we are the children of God the enemy will not prevail. Thank God for the assurance that we have " we are the children of God!!!

* We praise God that the high court's order " cancelling all our license" was celebrated by our enemies in many parts of Rajasthan.

Mr. Madan Dilawar ( social welfare minister) and Mr. Kataria ( home minster of Rajasthan) celeberated today with many fireworks.

Praise God that at least few shops had some sales of fire works.

* We should pray, the Lord should pull down all the strongholds which satan has put around Emmanuel/Hopegivers ministry. " For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds; Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Chrsit ( 2Cor 10:4-5)".

" The world never hates the imitation of Christianity".

* Last night a team of officers from "Social welfare" ministry came to see where they would be staying at the orphanage. Today many officers from the "social welfare office" are at the orphanage. We still do not know what they mean by, that they will take over.

We praise God even if they plan to take over. May be this is one of the ways they ( government officials) will hear the word of God. Pray that we may never loose our rights and privillege to worship Jesus!

* The officials have started to make the list for taking over. They plan to take over by this wednesday. Pray that their plans may fail ( pray for the will of God to take place).

* I also take this time to thank you for sponsoring a child for $1.00 a day. So far we have less than 800 children fully sponsored out of 10000.

I thank you for your prayers, but let us do little bit more than prayer and that is at least sponsor few children. Some time the devil brings a thought that since the goverment is planning to send all the children back on the street, I should let them. As it is we don't have enough funds.

* To that my reply is that these orphaned and abondoned children are the children of the king of Kings. My responsiblity is to let the need be known and it is for God to meet the need. Some of you say what can we do apart From prayer, I humbly say support at least one child a month with $1.00 a day ( $30 a month). Tell others also to get involved.

* When we heard that the goverment officials are going to take over all the schools, hospital, churches, leper colony, churches...... The Lord gave us a word, " And the kings shall be thy foster fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers: they shall bow down to thee with their face toward the earth, and lick up the dust of thy feet; and thou shalt know that I am the Lord: for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me ( Is 49:23)".

Our enemy is strong, but not all powerful. " For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places (Eph 6:12)".

* We covet your prayers we are planning to get a "stay" on all our cases. If we do not get a "stay" we then would plan to get all our cases trasfered to Delhi from Rajasthan. Pray that all the transition may be smooth.

* Pray that we may remain bold and faithful during the persecution.

* For every orphan/abondoned children under the care of Emmanuel/ Hopegivers, " But thus saith the Lord, even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered: for I will contend with him that contendeth with thee, and I will save thy children......... And all the flesh shall know that I the Lord am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty one of Jacob ( Is. 49:25-26)".

Sometimes we feel that if we do not hold on tightly enough to God, we will fall. But the fact is that God continues to hold us, even if we let go of Him. We may fall asleep, but He never does.

* Please pray that we may get a judge who has a heart of campassion and know to do what is good.

* We ask you all to continue to pray for the situation.

* Pray for our lawyers who went from Delhi to Jaipur. To give an appeal for transfer and for "stay" on all the charges.

* Persecution ( tortured , martyrdom, imprisonment) will come and go, but children will always be with us. They are the future of any nation!

* Please pray for God's wisdom upon Dr.Brahm Dutt, Dr.Sajan George, Babu C.J, Mathew, Akram, R.K.Jain, Purohit, and for judges.

* Pray for God to grant us a relief before the end of this month. Since, the new session for orphanage, school , and Bible college starts in July.

Have a blessed day!

Our Hope is in Him!

Bishop, Dr. M.A.Thomas & Bro. Samuel Thomas (the leaders of Hopegivers)