OUR MISSIONARIES TO INDIA
never heard the name of Jesus

... By Kathy A. Smith



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Britto's heart a burden to reach eight hundred villages in the next five months. Even in the
fulfill the burden that God has placed on their hearts. Carrying out this mission in India is
midst of persecution and threats to their lives, he and his team workers are determined to
fulfill the burden that God has placed on their hearts. Carrying out this mission in India is not
always as easy as just getting in the car and driving into town or even driving many hours to
another state. But these men of God at Independent Church in India are them.
Determined to do whatever it takes to preach the Gospel wherever their Lord may lead
them.

Pastor Britto and Pastor Richard have been praying for an opportunity to share the Gospel
with the tribal societies.The Lord graciously answered their desperate prayer one day when
they met an orphan boy named Chinnan at one of the children's outreaches they were
conducting. Chinnan eagerly invited them to come to share the Gospel with his people in the
mountains.

THE TRIBAL SOCIETY
Chinnan is living with a group of people called a tribal society. Through family relationships,
they have formed their own society of around fifty members. Each of these societies have a
tribal leader. Chinnan's group lives in the mountains and call themselves "the frustrated
people" . These tribal people have a very hard life and many of them live like slaves. Their
landlords give them a very small amount of money to cultivate and oversee their coffee
fields. They work from early in the morning until late at night, taking their children along with
them. They survive mainly by living off the land. Most people outside their tribe are not
willing to meet with them because of their dress and food.


The Lord had provided an open door for them to share His glorious Gospel with those who
had never yet heard! Their next task was to actually get to this orphan's tribe. They knew
that it would be a long journey ahead. Many mountains had to be crossed to reach this
orphan's tribal group. But they were determined that no distance would stop them because
they knew that their Lord wanted to pour out His love upon these people.

Starting very early in the morning, Pastors Britto, Richard, and two of their branch Pastors,
Isaac and Nesan, took a bus that crossed over ten mountains.

So the pastors began their long journey. Crossing many more mountains was very tiring in
the heat. Many times they would need to rest under a shade tree. But the love for these
people who had never heard about the God that loves them strengthened them to go on.
After many hours of intense walking, these faithful and determined men of God finally
reached the ophan's tribal village in the evening, but no one was there. Eventually around
eight o'clock that night the tribal people came home from a long day out in the coffee Fields
when they saw Britto and his ministers, they thought that they were policemen that had come
secretly to arrest them, because of a murder which had happened the previous night.


Then the orphan boy introduced them, assuring his people that they were not policemen but
had come to preach about God's love. This convinced the tribal group to receive the pastors
and they gladly welcomed them, even sharing their hard-earned and scarce food with them.
It is called weatoppuma and it smelled horrible, but the Pastors knew that the Lord wanted
them to love these people, so they ate it to show them the love of Christ. They were
determined to preach the Gospel no matter what the cost.

.
After eating together with them the pastors shared the Gospel with the people, and the
tribals received the good news with joy! They were very eager to hear about Jesus Christ,
for they had never before heard about the wonderful plan of salvation. One man told them
that his people have a great desire to educate their children but they have no money. "Many
times we have to put our children to bed very hungry. But after your preaching about Jesus,
we believe that Jesus will provide our needs and also take us to heaven!"


That night they stayed with the tribal group and in the early morning, before the tribal group
went back out to their fields to work another long day, Pastor Britto and his ministers
prayed for them and asked them to tell them their needs. These people had been
worshipping their forefather's spirit and would go to diviners for their needs. But now they
have heard the true Gospel and many of them have hope in Jesus Christ the one who has set
them free!

After this, Britto and his team returned on their long journey back home.

After the meeting, Pastor Britto is rejoicing and singing songs to his team members. They are
very tired from the long day of walking. Pastor Isaac is not feeling well.

Please pray for these tribal groups. Independent Church in India is praying that God will
open more doors so they are able to preach the Gospel. They must know someone in each
tribal society so the people will accept them when they go to preach. There are many
groups living in that area that have never even heard about the Lord Jesus Christ and His
wonderful free gift of salvation.