Eurasia Partners Update
Members of the local church organized a Christmas camp called Give Hope, for orphans at a local orphanage. This boarding school has 155 children, most of them (80%) are orphans with no relatives: children without parents or relatives in general (died, deprived of parental rights, etc.), and the rest 20% have only one of the guardians (only a father or a mother, or relatives) who for various reasons cannot provide for their children or take care of them.
Our Christmas project consisted of several parts. The first part of the project was a Vacation Bible School (VBS) itself and a final part was a concert with the presentation of gifts to the children.
Our team consisted of twenty three people. Fifteen members of the team were Christians from our church. The rest of the team was composed by volunteers: youth and teenagers who either did not know God, or had only a small knowledge of Him.
The main goal was to draw children closer to God, strengthening their knowledge about Jesus Christ. Also through this camp we wanted to show the orphans what real Christmas was, and how the birth of Jesus Christ affected the world, and in particular all of us.
Did we succeed? Absolutely!
Orphans heard the Gospel, received a lot of positive emotions and at the end each one received a wonderful Christmas gift that was lovingly collected from the residents of the city. Christians have been able to get out of their comfort zone, serve society and respond to their needs. It was nice that eight unbelievers guys, who first visited as volunteers, they all became friends with the Christians of our church. Of these eight, seven young men began to attend small groups, Sunday services and other activities of our church. And just four days ago one girl from the team of volunteers repented. This is a victory! Serving God by participating in the needs of society, we sow the seed of the Gospel to unbelievers, and it brings a good result!
Thank you, friends, for your prayers and financial support of the Christmas VBS! We together were able to make a Christmas celebration for orphans and show the love of God for these young children who most need it!
Galina, a teacher in the orphanage: “Thank you for the work that you do. It was nice to see a lot of smiles and happy faces here in the orphanage. These small gifts let children think that they are not alone in this world. This is a good project, and you do well. In this world, it seems that our orphans are forsaken by our state and our nation. On your arrival time goes differently. We begin to understand that we are not forgotten, and we are needed. And children become kinder and more open.”
Vision 2020 Bethel Gospel Church Hyderabad, India
Pastor Sudakar has been partnering with Spanish River Church since 2010. Hear Pastor Sudakar discuss the impact of SRC, David Nicholas and how teaching the Bad News and Good News has had in Telanga State, India and his vision for the future.
News from Cuba
SRC Friends,
During my trip to Cuba in mid January, I had interesting conversations with leaders regarding US-Cuba relations. Read some brief descriptions of what we discovered in the newsletter below. (click on the link below)
Pray that God will continue to lead these leaders as new opportunities and possible threats affect their ministry.
Allen
J. Allen Thompson, PhD
Spotlight: Manipur State, Northeastern India
God is working in India through the ministries of Khen Thoming, check out Steve Olmo and his experience on a trip to India.
Spotlight: Tone Benedict & The Well, Jacksonville
Grace and Peace to you. Just wanted to send you a quick update. We had a great time celebrating our 2 year anniversary a few weeks ago. God showed up in amazing ways, through the music, the testimonies, the message and as we baptized 9 more people bringing our total to 95 baptisms in less than 2 years, along with that we had what looked like our largest turn out ever! Which made it even more fun! I put a little video together to share with you a few of the testimonies and the baptisms. I appreciate your prayers and support. Please send our thanks to SRC for your partnership with us here in Jax!-Tone Benedict