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Point of Impact - October 2007 - Issue No.4 Print E-mail
 

Impact Nations is committed to transformational ministry. This reflects our conviction that the Gospel of the Kingdom of God is intended to affect every part of life. We seek to put this into practice primarily by two means: Journeys of Compassion and Impact Projects. These projects are designed to be sustainable, providing ongoing income by helping the locals to begin small businesses.

In the June Point of Impact, I told you that, in partnership with IPCC (an Indian organization we are working with), a widows sewing project had begun in Andhra Pradesh, India where they would be taught how to become seamstresses, with a view to starting home-based businesses. Widows are the most vulnerable members of Indian society. The Gospel must bring tangible hope to their lives.

I am delighted to report that next week the first class of 30 women will be graduating. They have been taught sewing and how to start and maintain a small business. Over the past three months, the gospel has been shared with these women; every one of them has given her heart to the Lord Jesus. These ladies graduate not with just a certificate, but with their own sewing machine, which they will pay for from their profits, thus allowing us to continue to grow the program. Fifty more sewing machines have been purchased; a hundred more widows are waiting be trained.
[Please Support the Widow's Sewing Project]

Here is the story of one of the widows. A life rescued.
Revathi Balasari

Revathi Balasari, age 16
When Revathi was 14 years old she married to a man of her father’s choosing. She was not told much about the man, 25 years of age, or the arrangements that had been made. Revathi tried to refuse, but was forced into the marriage. She was unaware of the fact that her husband was HIV positive at the time. Her in-laws, on the other hand, were well aware of her husband’s condition. Within the first year of her marriage, she became pregnant. Revathi’s sister-in-law attended the delivery, employed as a nurse; she killed the newborn before showing Revathi. A second time, Revathi became pregnant and the baby was aborted at the will of her in-laws. Only after her husband committed suicide in the Krishna River was Revathi told that he was HIV positive. She was tested and found positive as well. Revathi’s in-laws threw her out of their home and onto the street. She returned to her parent’s home where she spent much of her time indoors, in an attempt to escape the gossip and slander of those in the community. Attending IPCC’s Sewing Micro-Enterprise training is a huge step for Revathi. At the young age of sixteen, she is learning not only to sew, but to truly live again. Revathi receives valuable training on our campus and, what’s more, she experiences the love of the Heavenly Father.

Revathi now receives treatment for HIV through IPCC’s Health Care Initiatives.

The safe water project is continuing to flourish in Chillakallu. Besides water filters going into homes, the local school system has requested that they be installed in classrooms. The health impact on the children is immediate. We are excited to see this Impact Project continue to grow. Bob and Sylvia Horvath will be returning to Chillakallu in late January 2008 to train a group of church planters from villages many hours away so that they too can provide safe drinking water to their villages.

Journey of Compassion Report:
Philippines September 3-14, 2007

Every Journey of Compassion has its own unique features and memories, and certainly our recent trip to the Philippines was no exception. Twenty-five people from Australia and Canada gathered in Manila for what proved to be a great adventure.

After meeting for orientation, training and sorting medications, we set out for Payatas, also known as Smokey Valley, a community of about 100,000 desperately poor people living in an immense garbage dump on the outskirts of Manila. We began with a walking tour of the area that was an assault on our senses. Yet in the midst of the almost unbelievable squalor, again and again we encountered wonderfully gracious and gentle people. For three days we conducted medical clinics, did a feeding program for children, prayed for the sick, equipped pastors and leaders and held outdoor evangelism and healing meetings among some of the poorest people in the entire country.

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These were the sickest people we have ever treated on a Journey of Compassion. The people we saw all came from the dump and from the slums. They have no other access to medical care. The pastor told me that normally, if their children become ill, they simply keep them indoors until they either get well or die. By providing the clinic, we were providing hope to those who are used to being invisible. Each morning there were large crowds of sick people waiting outside the clinic. The Impact team worked amazingly well together; besides all the medical work, there were people praying for the sick as they waited to be seen. Many were healed in the waiting area, and many gave their lives to Jesus. Others went into the neighborhood, going into homes to pray for the sick.

Here is an account from Heidi Dunbar, our medical director, of two lives that were literally saved:

Some of our mobile clinics while in the Philippines were held in the area surrounding the Metro Manila garbage dump. People live here as they are desperately poor and earn what they can from scavenging through the garbage. We set up the clinic in this covered square and people began to gather around the outside of the square to receive care. Within the first hour of the clinic, myself and the other nurses on the team had identified two children who were so severely ill, we knew that for them death was near. One of the children was nine, and she was able to give us a full history of what was happening. As we assessed her it became harder and harder for her to talk and she became less and less responsive. These children were suffering from bacterial meningitis, an illness that is very serious. We made the decision to transfer them to the local infirmary, as we did not have the capacity to care for them within our clinic. At the clinic, the doctor informed me that they too would be transferring them to a larger hospital because they also did not have the ability to adequately care for them. We prayed for the children, asking the Lord to heal them from this deadly disease, then sent a member of the community with them to the hospital. When I returned to our clinic and informed the little girl's grandma that she was going to the hospital, grandma was very upset. She had absolutely no means of paying for this medical care.

I quickly calmed her and shared with her about the hope of Jesus, and told her that we would pay. Later I was informed that in this community the cost of medical care is so daunting to families, they keep their children home and let them die, rather than face the hopeless cost of medical care. There is little hope. Later that night when we returned to the village for an open air meeting, we were informed by a very excited community worker that both of the children had been healed and discharged by the local hospital. Only Jesus could have done this. When I walked into the meeting, the little girl was sitting in the front row, alert and much better. The grandma later told me though tears, that she realized she needs to have hope in Jesus, because he will help her care for her family.

After the first day we had gone through almost as many antibiotics as we usually use in five or six clinics. But the Lord did something wonderful. A man who drove by saw our banner and stopped to enquire about what we were doing. He owns a company that distributes medicine. By the next day he had supplied all of the antibiotics for the rest of the journey. What an amazing blessing!

At the outdoor evening meetings we saw the Lord move through every Impact team member to heal the sick. We also worked closely with local pastors and church planters to insure that those who came forward to give their lives to Jesus were personally contacted afterward. One church planter started three new believers groups the day after one of the outdoor meetings. At another gathering, the host pastor invited all the other pastors in attendance up and introduced them to the crowd of new believers and encouraged them to go to their churches. It was great to see a leader with a Kingdom perspective.

During the second week of the Journey, we flew east to Bicol where last year volcanic ash erupted, destroying whole neighborhoods and killing many hundreds. This was followed by three typhoons, compounding the devastation in the area. We again conducted medical clinics, training and outdoor healing evangelism.

There was a great hunger for the gospel in this region. We saw about 450 people come to Jesus in the final two days, including some of the soldiers that had been assigned to guard the medications. Following the first evening’s meeting, the local church planter started three new believer’s groups. We were delighted to see how diligently the local leaders were following up with those who came forward in the meetings. At the very end of the final meeting a blind woman was brought to one of the team. As she received prayer, her milky-white eyes became clear, as did her vision.

Much was accomplished during this Journey of Compassion. Almost 1500 people received medical care. Over 500 people came to the Lord and were connected to local churches. There were hundreds and hundreds of healings—blind eyes and deaf ears were opened, tumors disappeared before our eyes, fevers instantly left. In each location, we trained the local believers and then watched as they healed the sick in Jesus’ name. The equipping continued on Sunday when our team divided up and ministered in 10 different churches. Men and women from Canada and all over Australia were activated into front-line ministry. For a number of the team, healing the sick was a first-time experience that would release them into ministry at home with a new confidence and anointing.

And that’s not all. As a direct result of this trip, Impact Nations is heading back to the Philippines to initiate water filtration projects in the Payatas garbage dump area, as well as in the south. We will also be returning for another Journey of Compassion, April 14-26, 2008. I hope that some of you reading this will join us for what I know will be a great adventure.s to have hope in Jesus, because he will help her care for her family.

Postscript:

I received an email from one of the pastors a few days ago. A woman diagnosed with cancer of the uterus had received prayer from one of the team. When she went back for more tests, she was informed that there was no cancer in her body. Thank you Lord. You love to heal.

UPCOMING JOURNEYS FOR 2008

Feb. 3-15, Chillikillu, Andhra Pradesh, India
This will be a second Journey to Chillikillu. Last year we saw incredible miracles, hundreds of salvations, and two thousand desperately poor people receive medical treatment. Come join Impact Nations as we see the transformational power of the gospel touch remote Indian villages. Check out our website for a report on last year’s Journey (See ‘Off the Beaten Track’).

April 14-26, Manila & Butuan, Philippines
We are returning to Payatas (Smokey Valley) with medical clinics, pastors training, healing ministry in the streets and outdoor meetings. Our recent Journey was for many of us, one of the most profound experiences of our lives. During the second week, we will be flying south to Butuan, where we will hold a conference for pastors and leaders, both Protestant and Catholic, hold medical clinics among the people living in the surrounding hills, and hold outdoor healing evangelism meetings.

We thank all of you for your financial and prayer participation in Impact Nations. Together, we are seeing God move powerfully, bringing hope, health and reconciliation to countless lives in the developing world