EDWARD, JOHN & ROJA

Habbakuk 3:2 – LORD, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, LORD. Repeat them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy.
John and Roja’s vision is to establish the kingdom of God in the various places in India God has called them to. John oversees the Mission’s work of Shiloh Evangelistic Mission and the Shiloh Bible Colleges in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.
He travels around India and Srilanka with a heart to reach the unreached and lesser reached people groups living there. His desire is to bring the revival fires of God amongst the churches in India and to reveal God in power to this generation.
Roja ministers amongst the kids and teens in Chennai, India. Her heart is to raise a generation of children who will glorify God in powerful ways. They would later impact their societies for Christ. She also has a pre-school called Little Eden. The vision is to provide quality education to kids who can’t otherwise afford it.
Shiloh Bible School’s work is unique in that we train young people from (mainly) tribal backgrounds. Many of them are from remote to very remote areas. They struggle for even their basic necessities. Their spiritual state is also the same without any or very little knowledge of God. The other challenge in this regard is many of them are unlearned. This poses an unique situation.
However, by the wisdom and the empowerment of Christ in working with them; we have seen God transform many of them into His generals for His glory and purposes.
There are many testimonies. One is that of Dhilip Maida. He currently works as a missionary in Khusalgarh of Rajasthan. When he came to Bible School; he wanted to run away but the love of Christ won him over. In his first year of ministry after school he brought many in a village to Christ.
One more testimony is that of our girls working in Rajasthan. They were trained in our school. It is unheard of in some of those parts for girls to go out and evangelize. However, our girls ( to name just a few) Lalitha Kamol, Asheetha , Archana … minister there and that too with a lot of zeal bringing the gospel to many by foot braving the Rajasthan terrain, heat and radical elements.
Once, our missionary Lalitha Kamol left a meeting early on one occasion only to find out later that the entire group gathered there were beaten by radicals.
We thank God for enabling us to enable His kids. In our two years of training in the Bible School, we do as much as possible to get them to the place of spiritual self-sufficiency. God’s heart is not just to bless them spiritually but to make His children flourish in every way. So, later we build homes for them; get them vehicles for transport and help them with basic necessities as deemed necessary. This does put an additional burden at times but if we are one family in Christ then these are our immediate family. So, their well-being is also our top most priority.
In the Mission front we reach out to many underprivileged, destitute and tribal people in some of the remote to very remote parts of India. We have many testimonies in our travel and from our missionaries working there.
For instance, in the Camorta Island of Nicobar there was a hindu poojari known to many. He had a piercing in his cheek; longer than any other in that island. He was diagnosed with a growth. After prayer the results came normal. Now, he has removed his piercing and is ready to take baptism, giving his life to Christ.
In Srilanka; from the moment we stepped foot there; supernatural favour and guidance was in abundance. Within a few years the doors opened wide amongst pastors from nearly 10 provinces to start training Centers for Missions. It was a huge breakthrough. This we believe would lead to much needed missionary movement later there.
We are praying for God to open the legal doors and the necessary finances to start with the training centers.
In the North East of India there are openings in a village called Moreh near Burma. This will give us easy access to us to Burma which by large needs the gospel.
In regards to Roja’s kids’ ministry, by the grace of our Lord, we have been making small steps of progress. There has been a shift in the vision of the kid’s ministry that has been going on for the past 8 years.
Sometime back, we decided that to expand our vision towards education of the children in needy neighborhoods; esp in places where kids are poor and are struggling with access to quality education. In this way, we are able to teach academic skills and eventually the gospel to these places.
For this purpose we have started and Educational nonprofit trust. The vision of this is to establish a center for children where they can not only learn academics and other skills but also come to know God.
Apart from this we have Bible Study Classes and special meetings for children regularly. During these classes children study God’s word and are strengthened by good fellowship. Counselling sessions for teens are also held on Sundays from time to time.
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Many children have grown in the Lord and in their talents and gifts God has given them as result of these ministries. They are now shining for God in the local churches and in the places God has put them. Not only that many families have been greatly helped financially in sending their kids to our school ; something that they can’t afford in other places.
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Pray for our various ministries that God would empower us to fulfil His will in everything for His glory. Pray for the various needs of the ministries to be met. Regarding the Bible School; we sponsor the kids fully as many of them are extremely poor. Cost of supporting a student comes to 50 dollars a month only.
In regards to Missions; pray that all our travel needs are met. Not only that, our missionaries work in some of the most remote and poor areas and they need resources in every way. Pray for those to be met also.
With so many activities bustling at the kids Center, It is our desire to put a shed on top of our rented house. In that way, we can accommodate more children There is also the possibility of starting a sewing class/computer class for women in a separate place closer to our center. We can reach out to the neighborhood and provide the women with job skills as a result.
The cost of the shed comes around 3000 dollars. The cost of renting a new for reaching out to women in the neighbourhood would come around 2000 dollars.
If God puts in your heart do stand with us financially in getting is work done.
Thanks so much for standing with us all these years. Your valued support and prayers have helped us a lot in fulfilling the vision and burden God has given us. He that sends and those who are sent have their equal share in the rewards from our Father in heaven who is no respecter of persons!