Missions Ministry
Go into all the world and preach the gospel to the whole creation.
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The call of making disciples is the authority given by Jesus Christ and sustained by the power of Holy Spirit.
In New Testament we read that preachers like Paul, Timothy and Barnabas and other apostolic teams were going from town to town preaching the gospel, to bring the awareness of the kingdom of God. These were itinerant workers, people that today we would probably call missionaries. Every disciple of Jesus has a role in the process of gathering the sheep. That’s why in 1 Corinthians 3:6 Paul clearly says, “I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase,” As we read in Act 13 :1-3, the brethren at the Antioch church — through their fellowship with the missionaries, obedience to Christ’s commission, and submitting to the Spirit’s instructions — were influential in the conversion of many souls. While they certainly would have been able to accomplish many great things in the city of Antioch with these men, there was an additional principle of stretching beyond themselves to reach others in distant lands. In 1 Corinthians 16, we read that “Now about the collection for the Lord’s people: Do what I told the Galatian churches to do. On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with your income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made. Then, when I arrive, I will give letters of introduction to the men you approve and send them with your gift to Jerusalem”. As we read in Acts 11:27-30, when the disciples heard from a prophet by the name Agabus, that a severe famine would spread over the entire Roman word, decided to provide help for the brothers and sisters living in Judea. They send their gifts to the elders by Barnabas and Paul. We read in Romans 15: 25-27, Paul says “For Macedonia and Achaia were pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the Lord’s people in Jerusalem. They were pleased to do it, and indeed they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have shared in the Jews’ spiritual blessings, they owe it to the Jews to share with them their material blessings. At Ebenezer Christian Assembly, as a church we pray in all our meetings for the missionaries and mission fields around the world. Apart from that by God’s grace we financially support various missionaries in India especially in Jharkhand, Bihar, Kerala and Andhra. Christianity is a minority religion in Jharkhand, a state of India. The state is tribal dominated and the main tribes are Santhal, Oraon, Munda, Ho, Kharia etc. Many missionaries are working hard in this area in a vision to bring the true Gospel light to the people who are entangled in darkness and poverty. With the help of missionaries these people also receive free food, clothes, education and hospital facilities. In Jharkhand we are currently supporting 2 missionaries under the leadership of Pastor Isaac Mathai. In Bihar, we are privileged to contribute for a portion of the large mission field of Pastor Aby Mathew by supporting 10 missionaries. This mission was started in 1999 and they have more than 1500 village worship gatherings in over 40 districts, over 100 schools for children where Bible study is their main subject along with other subjects. This ministry also conducts crusades, conventions and workers meetings in various districts. They reach out to the unreached villages in central India. In Kerala (Kumbala, Kasaragod district), we provide monthly financial support for one missionary of Pioneer missionary church (PMC) under the leadership of Pastor Mohan P David. There are around 30 churches in Kerala and Karnataka. Their vision is to plant churches in unreached areas of Kasaragod where evangelism is very tough. In Telangana, we support one missionary Pastor Isaiah under the leadership of Pastor Ashok Midisala of Peniel Church. This mission field was pioneered by Evangelist Joshy Cheeran. They work among the poorest people affected by AIDS. They are also housing orphan children abandoned because of AIDS. They have more than 14 churches across Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. The harvest is plenteous, but the labourers are few. Let us pray and ask the Lord of harvest to send out more missionaries to go into these rural areas where the Gospel light did not reach. Oswald J. Smith once said "Any church that is not seriously involved in helping fulfil the Great Commission has forfeited its biblical right to exist." |
If God willing, Ebenezer Christian Assembly is planning to support more missionaries and mission fields in future. If you would like to be a part of this ministry, please contact our Pastor on Ph: 0412 004 214 or email us at info@ebenezeraustralia.com.
