The Macedonian Cry…

Eleventh Hour Laborers
Jun 10, 2016
8 min read

Updated: Sep 30, 2020

Hello Friends, warm greetings to you in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I trust that you are taking a firm hold upon the Lord today, especially as we see the events of bible prophecy rapidly fulfilling in our time.

By the grace of God our family is doing well, and still pressing on with our missionary endeavors in different parts of the world. Inevitably, there are many and varied struggles to be met as one embarks upon this kind of labor, but God has proven Himself strong to His servants, and has been a sure and ready defense in every time of need.

When we first arrived in India in 2010, we did not know what would become of our labors. We had no point of reference for such an endeavor, it just seemed to us that time would have to tell our story. Our family labored with an unrelenting zeal from the 1st day that we arrived in India until the present time, because we did not want to fail in our our church planting and missionary endeavors. As time progressed, we came to see that the blessings of God were indeed upon us, and that God Himself had taken the reigns in His own hands. Though we were young, untrained, laypeople, we came to learn by experience that all God needs are people who believe Him, and take Him at His word. Natural and acquired endowments are good, education and finances all have their place, but as a humble family, we have found faith to be the chief ingredient necessary for success in the Lord’s work. Hebrews 11:6 tells us that “ without faith it is impossible to please Him” and that by faith, “the elders obtained a good report of God,” Hebrews 11:2. The book of Luke 18:8 further amplifies the point when it asks the question “ When the Son of Man comes will He find faith on the earth?” As Adventists in particular, we talk much about “finishing the work,” but the chief ingredient necessary to do so in my opinion is not money, contrary to popular belief, but a whole-hearted faith in God, and a resolute determination to do His will come what may.

A short time ago I was privileged by God to be able to re-visit the place in India where this faith journey begun for us. What an amazing journey this was for me, as I was able to travel and survey the condition of the work. Time had indeed told it’s story, and the report was indeed a good one. The District of Villupuram was now a strong and robust Region, with many church congregations, many lay pastors, large groups of eager dedicated young people, and many ministerial and Evangelistic projects of all description. It seemed as though this small, insignificant, barren region, had received new life, and had become a massive fruitful tree, bearing much fruit to the glory of God. The men and women of the different churches now seemed to be revived, and many were, as in the days of Nehemiah, ready to “arise and build”. Friends of mine, my joy knew no bounds, as God permitted His humble servant to see some of the fruit of our family’s struggle, toil and sacrifice, of the last few years. In the beginning, it seemed like we took the ultimate gamble, as we gave everything, and thus had everything to loose. I learned an important lesson through our time spent in India, that it is not a vain thing to work for and serve The Lord. Even though tasks in life may seem impossible at first, but, with patience, diligence, and much faith and prayer, success can come from even the most discouraging and forbidding situations, if we follow the leadings of God. With this lesson permanently etched in my mind, I pray that our ministry shall be enabled to traverse every nation, kindred, tongue and people. Thus spreading the mighty three angels messages, and preparing a people to see Jesus come in the clouds of heaven the second time.

Unlike past missionary journeys, this trip was conducted with some help from friends in Europe. In the days of the old testament, the Children of Israel were commanded to go forward and possess the promised land in the name of the Lord. Each tribe was to assemble their armies and to assist their brethren until the whole land of Caanan was possessed by the people of God. As a family, we had attempted the church planting and evangelistic work in India without many others collaborating with us. Though we had friends who visited us in India from time to time, this was the first time we had workers who had come specifically for the sake of Evangelism.

The team of 4 members who joined us from Europe was quite a joy to work with. We were all in somewhat of the same age group, except for Michaela, a young lady from Austria, who was only 16 years old. I must admit to you that I was a bit hesitant to have a 16 year old girl under my responsibility, as I knew of the harsh and difficult conditions that must inevitably be endured in the rural villages of South India. Nevertheless, I was pleasantly surprised as to Michaela’s maturity level, as she seemed to me at times to be a young woman beyond her years. Her calm, quiet, cooperative disposition were traits that were to be be admired by all. Her unshrinking kindness extended to the many villagers near and far were truly commendable. She was willing to embrace those who were disabled, and even those who were dirty or dingy from lack of hygiene. I also discovered that young Michaela also had an extremely robust immune system and constitution, the entire team ( including yours truly) came down with several different stomach infections, and all had to be on medication at different times. This young lady was like a native Indian, and she never once got sick in the least, and was well the entire trip.

Deborah is a PHD student from the country of Australia, who came also with the group. A very gracious young lady, with a beautiful singing voice, and a warm loving hug for everyone, Deby (as she likes to be called) was a true joy to work with. She was a very thorough, meticulous worker, who had to arrange all of her presentations in great detail before she left home everyday. Her wonderful sense of humor, and concern extended to all, made Deby deeply beloved by the India people as well.

Sebastian is a young man from Germany about 23 years old. He was the tallest in the group, as he stood about 6’6” tall. That may not seem like extreme height to those of us who are from the West, but to the Indians, he was quite a giant, and had to constantly duck down to avoid hitting his head on fans and very low doors. He was a new Adventist, but I could tell that he was a young man who loved the Lord deeply, and came to India as a service to his God. He was a very systematic young man, who arose very early in the morning while the group was wrapped in slumber, to go on the roof patio for early morning prayer. Though of a shy and at times reserved disposition, he also did his service for the Lord with a willing heart and gave his all in his service to the Master, especially as he daily taught the bible lessons at the local Adventist school.

Dr. Markus from Austria was the leader of our mission group from Europe. We met some years ago in Mexico in a past mission trip, but never thought that we would work together in India of all places. Markus was always an encourager to our family since the days of our first mission trip, he had heard us make the “Macedonian Cry” time and time again, and so at the Lord’s leading, he felt impressed to personally come to our aid. Markus is an extremely gifted and talented young man, who often translated in German for Michaela and Sebastian, translated in Spanish for Deby, spoke to me in English, and was also trying to learn Tamil during his trip.He was also the main preacher in his mission group. Markus and I are about the same in age, but we differ vastly in culture, race, educational background etc., but it is such a beauty to see young people of different nationalities, and backgrounds come together, and work together with the common goal in mind of advancing the kingdom of Christ in these last days. We all had many precious seasons of prayer and study together during their time in India. Every one was in oneness and unity the entire trip, and there was never a discordant note.

The trip though successful, was met with many obstacles even from the start. I was quite delayed in getting to India to prepare for the group’s arrival due to some legal challenges that I was facing. The very 1st night of our meeting, I was taken very, very ill. In fact, I was sicker that I have ever been in all of my time spent in India since I first arrived. Everyone in turn also got sick from various stomach ailments as mentioned before. It was also the beginning of rainy season, and we had no Church building to accommodate us for for our first series of nightly meetings. The meeting in one place was conducted outdoors, and the rain seemed to threaten our meeting almost on a nightly basis. Not to mention the fact that we had to endure almost nightly power cuts, which proved a major inconvenience to our team, especially since we were working with a laptop and projector. The incessant mosquitoes, bugs, and other flying insects, coupled with the extremely high and humid temperature at nights, proved a real test to our resolve. Not to mention the fact that we were working in places where there was no running water, or toilet facilities available. Nevertheless, in spite of these and many other conditions, the group pressed on, night by night to conduct our meetings anyway. The day time was reserved for weeks of prayer that were conducted at the local Adventist school. Electricity was a problem here at times also, but still the group took good courage, and all performed their duties cheerfully in spite of these and many other challenges.

We are happy to report that as a result of the generosity of the mission group from Europe, we were able to construct 1 new SDA Church in a village that was previously Evangelized. This church building was also another miraculous answer to prayer. Upon entering that particular area in 2010, it was our earnest desire to construct a church for our newly established company there. The believers were worshipping in a structure that was similar to an animal shed, and this was quite a pathetic sight to behold indeed. We promised that we would one day build them a proper church by the grace of God, as a result of the sacrifice of our missionaries from Europe, this promise also became a reality during my time in India.

Please continue to pray earnestly for our work around the world. Remember in a special way our widows, orphans, our blind group in the city of Bangalore India, and our many other church planting and evangelistic plans around the world. Please also pray for our upcoming mission trip to the Country of Cuba that will take place in the next few weeks.

May God richly bless you my friend, may we all continue to be faithful to the Master, and labor with our might while the day lasts, as the night will soon come when no man can work. May God bless and keep you in His loving care, Maranatha.