A Letter From India

Dear pastor Richard Merrill, elders and the congregation,

I greet you all in the name Jesus Christ.

I hope and pray that all of you are doing well. and church is going well. Might be very cold  and some snow?

Here in Calcutta our school will have the final exam in March and new session will have to start from April and we are praying for our own building by April.  So far we have 3300 hundred dollars and we are praying for the rest to buy the property. If we will not be able to purchase the the building, the school will be forced to close down. This $3300 includes the missionary support money which is $ 700 gave to me last year  and the other contribution from the st john congregation and the offering and  gifts from other friends in Christ. Thank you very much for all your prayers and financial help which made that fund. I thank you all from the bottom of my heart for your help and prayer.

Please continue to pray that God will provide the rest of the fund for the school. If any member of the congregation  or the church would like to make a the contribution or  would like fund for the school please talk to the pastor .. Thank you very much and may God bless you.

We also show Jesus film to non christian people in Calcutta and in the state of west Bengal where less than one percent are Christians and Jesus died for these people too. More people are coming to the Lord; We had  7 new baptism last month .  Faith comes by hearing and hearing from God's word. There are seven co workers are working with me and we have total 17 church fellowships in different places in Calcutta and in villages which is rural areas. Jesus said that He will build His churches and we are co workers with Him. He depends now for His work.  Please continue to pray for the work here. Your prayers and support can make an impact on our spiritual and moral strength and help us to work more effectively. We trust God for the support for the native  missionaries  and cost for showing Jesus film and printing literature, transportation etc. Please continue to pray for us . We can do something for the Lord while we are alive and nothing can be done after that. So we need to use our time and resources for His glory and night is coming that no man can work.

We  had Christmas program in our school and in out church fellowships and we gave gift to the poor believers in our church. All were happy and praised God.

Children in our school performed skit dance and songs in Christmas function in our school

We also conducted bible training program for the local workers so that they can be more effective in their evangelism. Thank you for reading this news letter. Pastor Richard, I sent to your email and to the church email  and it bounced back. Please let me know if your email has changed , I miss Cyndi. Thank you once again for all your prayers and financial support,help  and love for the Lord and  for us.

God  bless you all.

With love and prayer,

Your missionary for the lost in India,
John Thomas

A Letter from India

Greetings to you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

I hope and pray that all of you are doing well and the congregation. Weather might have cool down there .. Here it is still sticky but get lot of rain almost every  day called monsoon . From Nov it will cool down I had a safe journey back to India.Thank you very much for all your prayers and all the help you did for the Lord work here in India and for the school. May God reward you.  I miss Cyndi.   Linda,  If you would like to put this news letter in the bulletin it will be great .Thank you.


School is going well and the first term examination result will be out on 12 Sept. There is total $1910 for school building fund.

Here is the description of the source of fund.

$700 from the church for the missionary support for John Thomas  ( Which I would like to put into the school building fund rather than using for any other ministry needs)
$300 from BBS by Bethany Mallory
$100 from St John LWML by June Neddermayer
$100  Byron and Karen Weiss
$100 from Joel and Leesa
$25 from Iva lee Kulman
$190 from other three believers whose name is not given to me from St John Lutheran church.
$100 from  Gailen Meseck from triple parish church Rickets
Total from Lutheran church  $1615.

Received gift from other friends $ 295
Total  $1910 for school building fund. Thank God for that.

Need another $ 38,090 to purchase a building.

I thank you very much for those who contributed to the school building fund.
If any body would like to support for the school builind fund or for mission work here, please contact Linda or pastor Richard or Bill Magill. 

We are praying to conduct bible training course  for 20 new converts from non christian back ground  from 9-11 Sept. ( I do not want to mention the name of the religion from which they are saved by the Lord for security reason ) so that they will be able to teach others as well about the Lord   .2 timothy 2:2 Teach faithful  who are faithful to teach others as well..  We are praying to   give them lunch and dinner free of cost as they can  not afford to pay anything . One brother and I will  teach. Field is ripe but laborers are few.Matt 9:36. It is the desire of the Lord that every one should get a chance to hear the gospel and those who are responsive will get eternal life. Jesus trained his disciples for three years.

People from England were Christians that is why America became a Christian country (majority Christians. ) because Americans came from England.  But we need to remember that Islam was advancing towards Europe and some faithful people of God stood against the advance of Islam and pushed back and many faithful servants of the Lord sacrificed their life for that cause. Because of some people,s, faithfulness, sacrifice America got Christianity, .  somebody payed the price for it.  somebody made a difference. some people payed the cost and that is why today America  has  Christians. N ow is the time for America  to rise up and do the work for the Lord so that those who did not hear the gospel may be able to hear and will have  church for all people.Matthew 28:18-20

We need to make a change , be a revolutionary for the Lord as Jesus and His disciples did. We have a responsibility towards the Lord. We can not just live for ourselves and for our own agenda. We need to obey Jesus so that all will have a  church and got a chance to hear the good news of salvation, Mathew 28:18-20. It must be our first priority to take the gospel to the end of the earth. Acts. 1:8.  Otherwise we are just dead people in the sight of God having no life. Rev 3: 1,2.  Jesus is speaking to the church. You have name that you are living but you are dead. Watchful, change, because I have not found your work acceptable   to God. "

. Please remember that Jesus is speaking to the church.and not to the gentiles., Grace is given that we will be able to be what God has called us to do, Grace will change us. empower us. Only through grace  (power of the Holy spirit}  we can what God wants us to be  not by works . Some people think that they can live in any way and still  can be saved, The  bible does not say that. If any one is in Christ Jesus , he is new creation.  Old things have passed away behold everything has become new. 2 cor 5:17. That is grace.   But we are given grace already (Power of the Holy Spirit) and if we are not  changed or empowered  we need to examine that if we are in Christ or not. Those who belong to Jesus has his mind. 1 cor 3:16.

We all have to stand before the judgement seat of Christ to give account for what we have done in the body weather good or bad. 2 Cor 5:10,11
.
Pleases convey my regards to all church members . Please remember the ministry here in your prayer. Thank you. You are in our prayer.

In His vineyard,

John

Help Spread God's Word with Children in India

"How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? "
~Romans 10:14

India is the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most largest democracy in the world. India has the largest concentration of people living in poverty (according to the World bank).
80.5% of the population of India are Hindu, 13.4% are Muslim, and only officially 2.3% call themselves Christian. Because there has been so much mission work, there may be unofficially  7 or 8 % Christians.

Even though William Carey (1761 –1834) a Baptist missionary from England translated the Bible into Bengali, Sanskrit and other Indian languages over a hundred years ago, Life to the World Ministries President, John Thomas believes that of the 95% of non-Christians in India.

"50 percent of the population have not heard the gospel yet. and another 40 percent needs to hear the gospel one more time," said Thomas. Thomas is committed to the goal of bringing the good news of Jesus to all Indians within a generation (30yrs.).

Thomas was a high school teacher but he believes that God called him to reach India's poor children with the Gospel. Based in Calcutta, the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, Life to the World Ministries holds Gospel meetings, presents screenings of the Jesus Film, and helps plant churches in the poor villages surrounding Calcutta.

St. John member, Cyndi Ulrich met John when she visited India on a mission trip. Eventually they fell in love and were married.  For the last two years, John has spent much of the out-of-school season in Charter Oak, Iowa with Cyndi and her family.

Life to the World also operates a school for  poor and needy children who would otherwise not be able to afford to attend school. According to Thomas, two of the most important things they do are to teach English and study the Bible. Unfortunately, the landlord has not renewed the school's lease, so that when their next school year end in March 2012, the school may cease to exist if they are unable to find a new building.

Life to the World is hoping to raise $40,000 between now and March 2012. Recently, St. John's Vacation Bible School collected $300 in offerings to support Life to the World's school in India. 

John Thomas sent a letter out asking for pledges of support for the school, any gift, from $1 to $2,000 would be welcome. Anyone wishing to contribute to John and his wife Cyndi's missionary work in India, especially helping purchase new property for the school can contact John, Pastor Merrill, or Bill Magill.

Please pray about if and how much you would be able to help. Even if you are unable to give anything at this time, please commit to praying for the school and Life to the World Ministries, and keep John and Cyndi in your prayers as well. Thank You.

Life to the World Ministy; John Thomas

17 Oak Ave.

Charter Oak, IA 51439

(712) 267-4430

lifetotheworld@yahoo.co.in

76/1 M.G. Road, PO Haridevpur, Calcutta-700082, India.

http:/www.life-to-the-world.org

 John Thomas (at right) with another staff member at the Life to the World Ministry's Christian school in Calcutta.

Cyndi (Ulrich) Thomas shares Jesus wrist bands given by St. John, Lutheran, Charter Oak,  with students in India.

Life to the World Ministry's
Vision Statement:

1.To preach Gospel among the unreached cities and villages and plant churches. Our Goal is to preach the Gospel to 1000 unreached villages and plant churches and schools for poor and needy. 70 percent of Indian population live in villages. Not many go there to preach gospel but only go into the cities.We have vision for both cities and for villages.

2.To reach out to the poor children in 100 slums and give them education and food at least one meal.

3. To train 50 Christian workers every year for the Masters use in His vineyard. The Field is ripe but laborers are few.

VBS 2010: Night TWO

Representatives of each age group, along with VBS Director Bethany Mallory and Pastor Merrill pray over missionaries Cindy (Ulrich) Thomas and John Thomas. John will be returning to Calcutta India later this week where they operate two Christian schools for poor children.

PreSchoolers wait for closing devotions to begin.

Zoomtacular Crafts!

Story Teller Ted Mallory talks with third and fourth graders about Jesus' feeding of the 5,000

Pastor Merrill explains the rules for outside games to the fifth and sixth graders.

James and Tonya Funkhouser challenge kindergarteners at the Super BEEliever Bible Challenge.