The Alagrannam Village

The Alagrannam Village

The pictures from this week’s blog are mostly from a small Village here in the Vulupurrum region named Alagrammam. This Village is a very rural and difficult to reach place, but by God’s grace we were able to conduct a week long series of meetings here. It is now rainy season here, and so it rains just about every day. We had to travel 1st by bus from our residence and then by a three wheel auto into this remote Village. We had to contend with the rains and even thick mud in some places every night, a few nights we even had some downpours  in the middle of our presentation. As these Villagers don’t have a Church we had to go to the Pastor’s house to continue the Meetings. In spite of some obstacles we were still   able to share with a group of mostly young people some critical bible truths for this time.

The Alagrannam Village is a place with many problems. Alcoholism is a very,very serious problem here, it is almost like an epidemic in this Village and in many surrounding Villages. It’s only comparison that I can think of  is the crack epidemic of the early 80’s in the US. The Alcohol that is used here is a home made concoction that is unfiltered and mixed with a certain kind of acid. This produces an intense high, but also gives instant concussion to many of its victims. Many men here even in their thirties die from heart attack caused by this drug. Many women and Children here suffer daily physical abuse because of husbands who use this form of alcohol.  One night after the meetings we even saw a man who was half exposed, laying in the mud and water, passed out but still clutching a bag of this poison in one hand. If it was darker our vehicle could have easily ran him over as he was in this condition the middle of the road.

There is a picture in this week’s blog with myself and a little girl by the name of Sanguita, her story is indeed a touching one. We arrived one night and someone told me that this girl’s Mother had died just 6 months prior to our arrival. She has a Father but he does not want to provide for or take care of Sanguita   or her brother, and so he has given them to the Uncle to take care of. I went to visit the house where the children live which was only a small,  cramped thatched roof hut.  The uncle is not happy to keep the children as he himself is struggling terribly and they are just an additional burden to him. Sanguita and her brother are quite emaciated and you can actually feel the brother’s  bones through  his  clothes. I can honestly say that I have never seen children living in such destitute conditions.  They have  become incredibly attached to Marion and myself, especially Sanguita.  I can remember as she held my hand tightly one night even as I entered the vehicle that was to take me home, she ran and followed the vehicle because she did not want to let me go. No one shows them hardly and love, attention or care so we have been trying to assist them occasionally  with supplies of food. We want to request your prayers for these children as they are living in a terrible condition. We have friends that have an Orphanage that are willing to accept the Children and provide them with food and clothes and shelter, but we have been told by others that the Father will not let them go. He does not want the Children, cannot and does not provide for the Children but will not let them go to a place where they  can get some help. So please keep them in your prayers as we are going to meet with the father and Uncle in a few days.

The pastor of the Alagrannam Village is Pastor Sambath. He is a very strong and dedicated man of God who has kept this Village Church in his home for the past 15 years. This man is also an ex-offender who was incarcerated for  15 years but he  discovered the love of Christ, left Hinduism and has been a Christian ever since that time. Most of the members of his church are young people, many of the  village adults are Hindus but they will allow the Children to go to the Village Adventist Church for worship because of their respect for Pastor Sambath.

Noah has been having a great time here with the Children and he has made many, many friends since arriving here in India. The Children in Alagrannam  waited nightly  by the Village road that leads to the Pastor’s house and as soon as our Vehicle began to approach you could hear the shout Noah, Noah, Noah and all the Children flock to him at one time. One night in the Meeting I was preaching on a very important topic, Noah decided to go to the bathroom and all of a sudden half of my congregation followed after him to the restroom so we had to get the local Pastor to bring them back so that I could finish the Meeting. Noah is especially endeared to the boys of this Village because he brought all of his matchbox toy cars with him from the US and gave all of the boys in the Village one as a special gift.

Sister Felicia Chelliah from the Seabrook Church in Maryland came and spent a week with us here in Vulupurrum. It was so very good to see a familiar face all the way on the other side of the World. We spent the week in Ministry at the Village as well as helping in the Vulupurrum district annual revival. We all were speakers at the Revival Meeting, Marion and Felicia spoke and I gave 2 Messages on this grand occasion. It was truly a spirit filled day as we all sought by God’s power to inspire our brethren in the region to do their part to finish The Lord’s work and hasten his coming.

Please continue to pray for us as we are laboring in the master’s Vineyard in the fields of India. Please pray for  our health, safety and our courage as daily we press on to do the Master’s work. If God has impressed you to support our Church planting project here in Vulupurrum  India you can make a secure donation through the donation button at the home page of our blog at http://3goingforward.wordpress.com/ May God continuously bless you.