List of  Programs	Coordinators Name	Mobile Number
BFF Training	Sol. Blessy Vivian	+91 98410 34637
Conducting Troop Church	Sol. Mohanasundaram	+91 94451 20678
Paul School of Deliverance (FRP)	Sol.Benjamin	+91 90030 21979
Jeremiah School of Prophecy	Sol. Benovin	+91 82201 23810
David School of Worship	Sol. Theodre	+91 98401 54775
Bethestha  School of Healing	Sol. Dr.Albert	+91 98405 77293
Martha School of Hospitality	Sol. Dinesh Crimson	+91  96633 62589
Nazareth School of Family Building	Sol. Dr.Sujatha / Sol. Paul Hudson	+91 96771 92227 / +91 90031 82275
Joseph school of Financial Discipline	Sol. Dr.Benedict	+91 98405 44151
Night Prayer	Sol. Vani Santhosh	+91 83744 12377
Shadow Parli	Sol. Arvind (Goa)	+91 98221 81817
Communication  (Beryl wing ) Kingdom Gazette	Sol. Felix	+91 73584 20497
Transformation India Programme --TIP (Free service)	Sol. Dr.Acha	+91 93600 18004
Children Programme	Sol. Paul Vasanthan/Dr.Petricia	+91 81246 77493/ +91 98424 82493
24 hours Worship	Sol. Johny	+91 98427 81183
24 hours Prayer	Sr. Leema Rose AJ	+91 94446 53591
Ezhuchikkural (Monthly Magazine – Tamil)	Sr. Anitta AJ	9540328369
Media (Zoom)	Sol. Shaji Thomas	+91 81800 11100

 

Thousands of Iranian Muslims Accept Christ in Spiritual 'Pandemic of Hope'

As Iran continues to struggle with the coronavirus pandemic, internal strife and its conflict with Israel, many of its Muslim citizens are turning to Jesus Christ.

According to CBN News, despite the Iranian government issuing a show of force by conducting executions, such as the killing on Monday of Mahmoud Mousavi-Majd who was accused of spying for the CIA and Israeli intelligence, many Muslim Iranians are converting to Christianity, a move that could get themselves killed or arrested as well.

"This is a regime that's facing a possible rebellion in the near future, regime officials talk about it, so they are executing a lot of people to put fear into the public," Alireza Nader, an Iranian expert with Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told CBN News.

Nevertheless, many Iranians are fed up with its Islamic government and are turning to Christ by the thousands.

"That's why we are calling this a pandemic of hope," said Mike Ansari, director of operations for Mohabat TV, a popular Christian satellite channel in Iran. The outlet has recorded a tenfold increase in online conversions as opposed to this time in 2019.

CBN News notes that since the coronavirus pandemic hit Iran in March, there have been 3,000 conversions to Christianity each month.

"We are registering around 3,000 personal decisions by Iranian Muslims to leave Islam for Christianity during this revival," Ansari said.

"People in Iran are just not happy the way their economy is going, the way the government is robbing them of their national resources and exporting Shia Islam to the neighboring countries, so they just don't trust their government," he added.

Converting from Islam to Christianity is considered heretical in Iran and many converts are arrested, especially if they choose to share their newfound faith.

According to Open Doors USA, Iran is currently ranked number 9 as one of the worst countries for Christians to live in. The watchdog organization explains that “the rights of and professional possibilities for Christians are heavily restricted” by Iran’s Islamic law.

At the same time, however, the growth of Christianity in Iran is spreading faster in Iran than in any other country worldwide.

“India: Christian woman killed, the fifth victim in two months

Source Link : https://www.vaticannews.va/en/church/news/2020-07/india-bishop-laments-killing-of-christian-woman.html

In the wake of the recent murder of a young Christian woman in Jharkhand, Bishop Binay Kandulna of Khunti appeals for religious tolerance, saying that "we have to respect all."

By Vatican News

A young woman, constantly harassed for her Christian faith, has been murdered by unknown assailants in Redhadi, a village in the Khunti district of Jharkhand.

Suman Munda, a 25-year-old Christian, was discovered dead in a deserted place near her home on 19 July after a search by family relatives who had come to visit her but could not find her.

This sad development makes Suman Munda the fifth victim in a disturbing trend of murders of Christians in India in the past two months.

On 24 June, another Christian, Ramji Munda, 27, was killed on the outskirts of his village in Khunti district in Jharkhand, Eastern India.

Lamenting the situation, Bishop Binay Kandulna of Khunti said that “it is a matter of serious concern because the state witnessed a Christian man killed only last month in the same district.”

Local media reports indicate that the Police are questioning four suspects in connection with the murder.

Christians worried

According to a local pastor, Munda converted to Christianity about six years ago and had since then been continuously harassed by some radical Hindu nationalists for her decision. He pointed out that other Christians in that area are still faced with that challenge.

“We are scared and our people are shattered,” the pastor said expressing his concerns.

“We have to respect all”

Calling for religious tolerance, Bishop Kandulna said, “Persons of faith are a creation of God and we have to respect all.”

But, he pointed out, “some vested interest groups are trying to target minorities in the state to spread hatred among various faiths who are otherwise peace-loving people.”

“We condemn the killing and appeal to the administration to take strict action against the culprits,” he said, adding that “it is very unfortunate that we have lost a precious life.”

Other victims

Between 25 May and 10 July, four Christians – a man, a woman, a teenage boy and a pastor have been killed for their faith in the Asian country.

The killings took place in Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha, and Maharashtra.

Persecution Relief, an ecumenical forum that supports persecuted Christians in India, recorded 527 cases of Christian persecution in 2019 compared to 447 in 2018, 440 in 2017, and 330 in 2016, with 293 cases in the first half of 2020.

Between January 2016 and June 2020, therefore, there were 2,067 crimes inspired by religious intolerance against Christians in India.

Links : https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/topics/i/india/

https://www.christianheadlines.com/topics/india/

https://www.persecution.org/category/news/

http://www.christiantoday.co.in/

Source Link : https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2020/april-web-only/india-churches-covid-19-coronavirus-pandemic-lockdown.html

The Pandemic Lockdown Is a Godsend for the Indian Church

As churches deal with the reality of increased community needs—since many people are unable to perform their jobs during the lockdown—they face complicated decisions. In the past, many churches were apprehensive when responding to the poor, since they could be accused of having an ulterior motive to convert those they were serving. Many churches also did not have adequate resources or tools to help their non-Christian neighbors who had no interest in the church.

Now, I have heard amazing stories from our multisite congregations across North India where neighbors who once were hostile toward us have come forward and supplied the church with free food and aid to distribute to vulnerable community members. At one of our churches, the neighbors even volunteered to come with our team to provide aid to the community, and shared that it came from the local church.

As the Indian church is expressing its love for those who are suffering the most, previously antagonistic neighbors are partnering with the church in our expressions of help. This marks a new day.

For example: I know a local church community in rural North India that has been struggling even in the best of times. Despite showing genuine love and concern for the community around them, they have continually faced opposition and threats. After COVID-19 hit India and a nationwide lockdown was put in place, the local police showed up at the doors of the church. The pastor was apprehensive. The police brought a request from the government for the church to make 1,000 cloth face masks in its center to be distributed among the community. The officers then accompanied the pastor to a local cloth shop, specially opened for them to procure the necessary materials. What the police did not know was that this church community had been praying for ways to respond during the lockdown. The Lord answered by providing an opening to serve and the potential for better relationships with the authorities.

Finally, a common refrain being heard in all Indian churches and denominations is to repent. Even in our conservative Indian culture where sins are not openly confessed, people are being more transparent. The church is repenting of its own sins, the sins of the city, and the sins of the nation. We pray this prayer regularly: “Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”

The world we will come back to after this pandemic will look very different. Therefore, the church’s priorities must turn from looking inward to looking outward. I believe the church has been ushered into a new age of growth and engagement with each other and with the world around us. We are witnessing a huge turning after God. The last revival in India was in 1905-1906. If all the nations of the world repent, then we can anticipate a mighty movement from God in our times.

LGBT Heresy-Hunters Now Targeting Christian Politicians     

One of the perverse things about today's progressives is not simply that they are so often wrong, but that they often mean precisely the opposite of what they are saying but do not realize it. The promoters of "diversity" and "tolerance," for example, make the witch-burners look positively relaxed as they ruthlessly hunt heretics and hound them from their jobs. 

Diversity is acceptable only within the narrowest of lanes -- you can, for example, support the LGBTQIA2S agenda, but nobody will get too fussed if you just say you support the LGBTQ agenda, because it is presumed that you mean the same thing. Any indication that you do not support whatever the newest thing is, however, will not be tolerated.

The latest would-be victim of the heresy-hunters is British Columbian politician Laurie Throness, the MLA for the constituency of Chilliwack-Kent. Throness and several other MLAs, as it turns out, had run ads in a Christian publication that, to the horror of Chilliwack Progress editor Paul Henderson, apparently holds Christian views on sexuality:

The controversy started when it came to light that Throness and several other MLAs, including [Andrew] Wilkinson, used taxpayer dollars to advertise in "The Light Magazine," a Langley-based Christian publication that frequently runs articles that express antipathy towards the LGBTQ community in various ways.

Three MLAs have since apologized, and party leader Andrew Wilkinson tweeted out the required statement that there is no place for any anti-LGBT sentiment in the B.C. Liberal Party. The B.C. Liberals also announced that they would be reviewing their advertising policies to ensure that no ads were placed in such magazines. As CTV put it:

The Liberals had already pledged to review their advertising policy after critics pointed out ads for the party that ran in The Light Magazine, a Christian publication that has opposed B.C.'s Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGI) policy in public schools.

Apparently, opposing BC's radical sex ed curriculum, which foists dangerous gender ideology on children, is beyond the pale. Throness, at least, has noted that he will continue to advertise in the magazine as he shares its "Biblical Christian values," noting that "Biblical Christians follow their Lord in their sexual practice. 

They don't attack other people, they don't condemn other people, because Jesus did not condemn other people. They withdraw from sex outside of a marriage between a man and a woman. That has nothing to do with intolerance, it has everything to do with following their conscience and following their Lord."

To anyone familiar with what Christianity teaches, that's pretty standard stuff. But to progressives, this is genuinely offensive. NDP MLA Spencer Chandra Herbert sent a letter to the B.C. Liberal Party demanding that Throness be kicked out of caucus or fired from his job as opposition critic for the Ministry of Children and Family Development. 

The Vancouver Pride Society even took the dramatic step of threatening to ban the B.C. Liberal Party from marching in the Pride Parade over the ads, stating that the magazine has "published articles elevating anti-trans and pro-conversion therapy rhetoric targeting LGBQAI2S+ people."

"Despite being reassured by the B.C. Liberal leader that that was no longer going to happen, they continue to invest in this magazine," Michelle Fortin, co-chair of the Vancouver Pride Society, noted ominously. "We've basically said to the Liberals until you take action and stop investing in that kind of publication, and until you deal with MLA Throness, you will not be allowed into the parade."

Fortin even gave the B.C. Liberal Party a deadline: the deadline for parade registration for the virtual parade being held on August 2. Throness must be "dealt with" before then. Like the NDP, the Pride Society wants Throness either evicted or fired from his critic role. In short, they want a scalp. Throness is refusing to disavow Christian standards and will not disassociate himself from others who share those standards. Thus, he must be punished. "In 2020, a B.C. Liberal Party that still thinks it's OK to support transphobic or homophobic messaging[.] ... It's appalling," said Fortin.

Every political party will be forced to respond to such demands in the future. Organizations like the Pride Society are not demanding diversity or tolerance; they are demanding that politicians conform to their standards or else. Media folks like Paul Henderson of the Chilliwack Progress, a bigot who spends much of his time fulminating on his editorial page about the wickedness of those who disagree with him on LGBT issues and abortion (that would include Christians, Orthodox Jews, Muslims, Sikhs, and Buddhists, just for starters), ensure that these non-stories get the coverage they need. 

Thus, a Christian politician posting an ad in a Christian publication that frequently covers issues from a Christian perspective becomes a threat to civilized society in the minds of the progressive heresy-hunters.