Independant Church of India

MESSAGE OF LOVE
The long journey to reach those who have
never heard the name of Jesus

... by Kathy A. Smith

The main mission of Independent Church in India is to reach those living in remote villages and mountains that have never yet heard the name of Jesus. The Lord has placed in Pastor Britto's heart a burden to reach eight hundred villages in the next five months. Even in the 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 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.

Pastor Richard stands by the bus that took them as far as it could go by road. Now the rest of the journey had to be by foot.

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. Twenty-five 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.

After the bus trip, they would be on their own. Because of the rough and rocky roads, they could only continue either by walking on foot or riding horses. They decided to walk. Meeting their new orphan friend Chinnan had made it possible for them to find their way to his people.

From left to right: Pastor Isaac, Chinnan, Pastor Richard and Pastor Nesan. Pastor Britto is taking the picture.

So the pastors began their long journey. Crossing all fifteen 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.

Pastor Richard is sharing the Gospel and giving tracts to the tribal leader of this group.

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.

Pastor Richard sharing the Gospel with the tribal group.

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.

Pastor Britto and his ministry have a special burden for these people. They love these people so much and it breaks their hearts that they cannot provide more for them. If you would like to help Independent Church in India to reach these unreached groups with God's wonderful message of love and also to help provide basic needs for them and their precious children please donate here.

This ministry is also praying that God will provide a vehicle so Pastor Britto and Pastor Richard can take their teams with them to preach the gospel. If you would like to help them to reach these far away villages, please click here to see the vehicle that they are believing God for.