The Call_GEMS Eng Mag_Sep 2018

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GEMS Church Dedicated in Giridih for the Glory of God

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THE CALL Transforming Peoples to Transform Nations

Contents From Bihar With Love

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Gospel Echoing Missionary Society

Bro. D. Augustine Jebakumar

Church Dedication in Giridih, Jharkhand –9 Lead Next: Leadership Training– 12 Independence Day Celebration – 15 Opposition in Basantpur, Bihar – 19 Bridge & School on Rohtas Hills– 21 Published for Gospel Echoing Missionary Society

11, 13th Cross Street, New colony Chromkpet, Chennai - 44 Ph. : 044-22386031, 044-22380295

Published by GEMS Educational Media Services 14, Jeba Nagar, Vasanthapuram south, Near Vijaya Garden, Tirunelveli 627005 Ph. : 9488771655

Field office GEMS, Sikaria, Indrapuri - 821308 Rohtas Dist., Bihar , Ph. : 06184 - 234567 (Railway station & courier centre : Dehri on Sone) Website : www.gemsbihar.org

is a Christian mission organization that serves to bring about wholesome transformation in all the lives that it touches staying true to its motto ‘Transforming peoples to transform nations’. It touches the hearts of the people through the gospel of Jesus Christ and serves as a beacon of love and hope to the deprived, disadvantaged, exploited, destitute and homeless thousands fulfilling this vision through Spiritual, Educational, Medical and Humanitarian Services primarily in Bihar, other Northern States of India and beyond since 1972.

E-mail : gems@gemsbihar.org

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From Bihar With Love

Beloved Prayer Partners in Christ Jesus, Greetings to you in the name of the Lord who rewards His servants -prophets and saints and those who fear His name - both great and small (Rev 11:18). May the One who said, “Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay each one for what he has done,” come soon (Rev 22:12).!

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Just as an enemy nation seeks to disrupt a nation’s economy by distributing fake currencies, our enemy, Satan introduces false doctrines to disrupt God’s work. Just as fake currency and black money diminishes a nation’s economy, false miracles, false worship, and false doctrines diminishes the integrity of the church of God. And relationships breakdown crushing families and affecting social fabric. The one who holds a fake currency is unaware that he is holding worthless money and can be even proud of the presumed value of the currency. It is similar in the spiritual realm too.

They say, ‘‘I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that they are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked’’ (Rev 3:17). The end result being church disintegrates and becomes ineffective in its call to evangelize. And the nations are unable to know God. In this letter therefore I would like to talk about false prophecies, false doctrines and false worship so that we can take heed and maintain the integrity o f the church.

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False prophets and false teachers In his 2nd letter Peter wrote: “But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you” (2 Peter 2:1a). There he described the ways to identify them. These false teachers will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves (2 Pet 2:1b). They will lead people to deny the Lord in word and deed. That will lead people to hold on to them instead of God and because of them the truth of God’s word is blasphemed.

Their motive is greed. They will exploit people for monetary and other selfish gain (2 Peter 2:3). They will have many eager followers who delight in their sensual ways (2 Pet 2:2).

It will be foolhardy to use large following as a yardstick to measure one’s spirituality. It is rather sad that the present Christendom lays importance on the size of following a certain minister or ministry has. The scripture however exhorts us to only follow those who walk in accordance with the truth of God’s word. “Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith” (Heb 13:7).

Identify the false prophets

Look at the exhortation that God gave to Israel: “If a prophet, or one who foretells by dreams, appears among you and announces to you a sign or wonder, and if the sign or wonder spoken of takes place, and the prophet says, “Let us follow other gods” (gods you have not known) “and let us worship them,” you must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer. The LORD your God is testing you to find out whether you love him with all your heart and with all your soul” (Deut 13:1-3). Any teaching that does not lead us to God is to be rejected outright. That is why the Lord Jesus said, ‘‘He who gathers not with me, scatters’’ (Matt 12:30).

Again God said, “When a prophet speaks in the name of the The Call

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LORD, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word that the LORD has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously. You need not be afraid of him” (Deut 18:22).

From the above two scriptures it is evident that any prophecy that does not come to pass or that which leads us away from God is a false prophecy. Unlike the people of the Old Covenant, we who live under the New Covenant, can verify prophecies by the written word already available for us. However there are a number of things that the scripture foretells whose fulfillment is awaited. Such prophecies are not to be considered false. The Lord has already told us what will come about but the time of fulfillment is entirely in His hands. He may delay it or hasten it (1 Kings 21:29, 2 Kings 20:19).

Another way to identify false prophecy is by finding out if the prophet gathers profit by it or the prophecy separates us from God. Once when Paul was accused of attracting people to himself deceitfully, he questioned if he had demanded praise from any of them (2 Cor 12:16, 17).

When someone speaks in the words of the Lord for name and fame, it is deceit in the eyes of the Lord. What is spoken can be a teaching, preaching, counseling or a prophecy, but it amounts to deceit when the motive is name and fame.

Recognize, take heed and warn

We are living in days where ‘‘men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of [godliness, although they have denied its power’’ (2 Tim 3:2-3). We are to avoid all such people, ‘‘For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth’’ (2 Tim 3:6-7).

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In defending his ministry Paul says, “For we are not, like so many, peddlers of God’s word, but as men of sincerity, as commissioned by God, in the sight of God we speak in Christ’’(2 Cor 2:17). He further says, ‘‘but we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God’s word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God’’ (2 Cor 4:2).

Paul did not hesitate to identify the false teachers to the church of Thessalonica for fear that somehow the tempter had tempted them and their labor would be in vain (1 Thes 3:5).

Paul also pointed out that those who labour for their belly are enemies of God (Phil 3:18, 19). Also he warns us to stay away from the ones that cause divisions, obstacles and are contrary to the doctrine. They, says Paul, by smooth talk and flattery deceive the hearts of the naive (Rom 16: 17, 18). The number of lives wrecked by so called prophets who interfere in marriage proposals, saying, ‘The Lord has shown me this and that and that you should marry this one or that one’ are simply too many.

May the Lord give us grace to test every doctrine, teaching, preaching, counseling and guidance in the light of God’s word, understand their motives and keep ourselves and others safe.

Worship in Spirit & Truth

In the new covenant we are called to worship God in Spirit and Truth (John 4:24) but it has become traditions and rituals. For those who give importance to traditions and rituals the Lord says, ‘‘you hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said: ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men’’ (Matt 15:7-9). A number of people claim to worship God in spirit but their uncommitted life and uncontrolled tongues testifies otherwise. The prayer of the Pharisee had every element of worship and praise, but it was all about self-glory. (Lk 18: 9-12).

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God does not want offering from strained relationships (Matt 5: 23, 24). Nor does He accept offerings, where motive is to receive blessings. The Lord says, “When you come to appear before me, who has required of you this trampling of my courts? Bring no more vain offerings; incense is an abomination to me. New moon and Sabbath and the calling of convocations— I cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly. Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hates; they have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them. When you spread out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood” (Isaiah 1:12-15).

We ought to worship God from a pure heart and offer fruit of our lips. Therefore it is vain and false to worship God with unclean lips, unwashed hearts, distorted thinking and lustful looks. What do we see today in many so called worship gatherings? Colourful lights, heavy metal music, smoke and screens, and excitement! These are like fig leaves worn by Adam to cover his nakedness. And add to this, to deceive the chosen, the deceiver is using signs and wonders during these false worship (Matt 24:24). Those with superficial faith turn against God by these miracles performed by the devil as these are the last days (Rev 16: 13, 14).

Satan loves worship and he will use anything to make others bow down before him. He did not spare even Jesus our Lord (Mt 4:9)! He used the bait of glory of this world for it. But God despises that which is glorified by the world (Lk 16:15).

God will certainly perform miracles in worship and we can seek for them. But what God seeks is humility and holiness which is seldom being spoken off today. In Romans 12:1, 2 Paul described what acceptable and holy worship of God is?

It is to offer our body as a living sacrifice and to have our minds renewed from following the world. Then God will be pleased and will perform great things in our midst.

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The outcome of falsity

There are already so many hurdles facing the work of the Lord and we should not add to these by allowing falsity in Christendom which discredits the work. This is enemy’s strategy to raise question mark on our work. He is busy trying to stop us by decaying our vision, making us lose our saltiness and multiplying ministries that are not burdened but everything is become a routine.

False prophecies Make us loose our ground and goal where we can no longer hear the voice of God and we have to face the consequences. It will not only prevent us from going in the path we ought to go but also push us in the path we ought not to go. As the vision t is lost, the path becomes hard with ups and downs. It will push us into a state if unconsciousness making us unconcerned.

False teaching

Will separate us from God, spoil relationships with others and lead to contentions where winning an argument becomes a goal. Obviously pride will rise its ugly head leading to despise others thereby preventing team work and cooperation. Unhealthy spiritual life will set aside the joy of the Lord and replace it with vain things.

False worship

Makes self-satisfaction a priority and will lead to a rootless life resulting in disinterest in fruitful living. A person involved in self-fulfillment will not be concerned about others.

False signs and wonders

Steal the glory of God. They will weaken our faith on God and destroy the good characters that comes from periods of trials. Progressively we will trust more in man and become a slave of him.

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Let us persevere

When men were sleeping, the enemy planted the weeds. When the grains grew the weeds grew too with them (Mt 12:24-30). Since pulling out the weeds may damage the grain, may the Lord help us to wait for His acts to be revealed instead of us focusing on removal of the weeds. Our main responsibility is to protect the grains and gather them into the barn. Even if we are unable to pluck the grains from the outside we can protect against enemies like insects and foxes by identifying and preventing them. We can strength the fence. Weeds grows up feeding on the nutrient that belong to the grains. But those that come from outside eat the fruit and make the sowing impossible (They swallow the seed with the fruit).

May we, as good watchmen, strengthen the fence by prayer and protect the young vine from the army of Satan working with false preachers, teachers and worshippers. Let us not keep gate open, visible and be vigilant against the wild boars that seek to enter in.

In His Vineyard

Bro. D. Augustine Jebakumar

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GEMS Church Dedicated in Giridih for the Glory of God GEMS House of Prayer was dedicated in the DAT field Giridih of Jharkhand (GEMS Vananchal Zone – Eastern Region).

The House of Prayer at Giridih was dedicated for the glory of God on 22nd July 2018. Bro. Victor Immanuel (Regional Director, Eastern Region) cut the ribbon and inaugurated the church.

Bro. Arjun Karmali (Regional Director, Southern Region) led the congregation in worship and Bro. Emerson (Executive Director, GEMS) shared the word of God and encouraged the participants to build their life in Christ and in His word. Bro. Rakesh (Associate Director, GEMS), Bro. Peter Jayaraj (Regional Director-Designate, Southern Region) and Bro. Paul V (Zonal Superintendent, Vananchal Zone) felicitated the dedication ceremony.

Bro. Gnanapragasam (DAT Leader) serves as a missionary in Giridih along with his family.

Giridih is the 8th largest city of Jharkhand and its name in Hindi means ‘land of hills’. It is a mineral rich land with Mica and Coal in prominence. Because of which there are several small, medium and large factories. Giridih is a centre of the prestigious Indian Statistical Institute and is also one of the six Data Processing Centres of Data Processing Division of National Sample Survey Office.

Pray for the Church at Giridih to be a powerful witness of the gospel.

Pray that the church may be effective in reaching out to both the rural and urban people.

Pray for the believers to continue to grow in discipleship and for this city to be touched and transformed wholesomely.

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Lead Next Takes GEMS Leaders on a Learning Journey Towards Excellence GEMS in partnership with GIFT conducted the first phase of Lead Next program for its leaders. 56 leaders participated in this first phase program.

Lead Next is a two-year program to train GEMS leaders. Select group of leaders were divided into two, for ease of language and communication. The aim of this training program is to prepare the leaders to be more creative, committed, confident and to be better communicators and delegators with right attitude.

Sessions were based on interactive and creative learning pattern.

Bro. Gnanapragasam (DAT Leader) serves as a missionary in Giridih along with his family.

Hindi – First Phase

The first phase of Lead Next in Hindi was conducted at Sewa Kendra, Patna from 13th to 17thAugust 2018 in which 32 leaders participated.

Dr. Vijay Kanth (Founder, GIFT) facilitated the faculties and the for this program. Bro. AlokGuha, Bishop Rolly Singh and Dr. Vijay took the sessions.

Apart from them Bro. Emerson (Executive Director) and Bro. Rakesh (Associate Director, Church Planting) encouraged the participants by sharing the Word of God.

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Dr. Vijay took sessions on Vision, Mission, Call, Mission Statement and Goal settings. He included group discussions and exercises in his sessions. Mr. AlokGuha (Raipur) took sessions based on Biblical Finance. Bishop Rolly Singh (Lucknow) took sessions about ministry and family.

English – First Phase

The first phase of Lead Next in English was conducted at Sikaria from 3rd to 7th September 2018 in which 24 leaders participated.

Dr. Vijay Kanth took on Vision, Mission and Goal settings, Mr. PKD Lee (Chennai) shared on Christian leadership and on vision sharing and fund raising. His experience from working in leadership positions in the government greatly benefitted the participants as he shared on how a good godly leader acts in various situations. Pr. Chaitanya Gera (Hyderabad) spoke on leadership from a pastoral perspective and his rich experience of pastoring a church.

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The very first phase of Lead Next was a great learning for the participants.

There was very active participation and all the leaders individually worked on their goals for different areas of life.

Pray for all the leader who are participating in the Lead Next program that this learning may truly equip them to be effective leaders who would maximize their potential.

Pray for all the resource people that they may bring in the needed areas with their experience with God and life and influence transformation.

Pray that all the leaders of GEMS maybe equipped in the forthcoming issues through this program that the leadership may truly be excellent and bring glory to God.

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GEMS Institutions Celebrate 72nd Independence Day of the

Nation The 72nd Independence Day was commemorated and celebrated in all the institutions of GEMS. On the occasion of India’s Independence Day on 15th August 2018, every institution of GEMS celebrated the day by hoisting and honouring the National Flag, by singing the National Anthem and by taking the oath.

Various cultural programs were conducted that reminded the students and the people of the sacrifices that Indian freedom fighters made in acquiring India’s independence and the issues of the nation. The speeches by the Chief Guests inspired everyone to be a responsible citizen of the country and to exhibit patriotism by being the change to bring about the change in the society.

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DC Lewis Memorial School – Renukoot

DC Lewis Memorial School – Renukoot

GEMS English School – Bhabua

72nd Independence Day of the The Call

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GEMS English School – Dudhi

GEMS English School – Nabinagar

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GEMS English School – Darbhanga

Pray for all the institutions of GEMS to impart the values and truth to the students that they may become responsible citizens of the nations.

Pray for the people and leaders of the nation to practice and model good ethics in the society.

Pray for that all the people of the nation may truly become free from all

bondages of oppression and corruption.

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GEMS Church and Missionary Opposed and Threatened in Basantpur of Bihar People affiliated to the Sangh threatened the GEMS missionary at Basantpur, Bihar and tried to stop the Sunday worship service.

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A group of religious fanatics tried to disrupt and stop the Sunday worship service of GEMS House of Prayer at Basantpur, Siwan district (PEACE 2 Zone - North West Region) on 26thAugust 2018. They came to the church at 8:00 AM before the service began and threatened the missionary pastor Bro. Gyanchand to not conduct the worship service.

Then they came back at 12:30 PM and once again threatened him with dire consequences if he preaches the Lord Jesus Christ.

To intimidate the church and the believers, the group of fanatics took videos and photographs of the church. Basantpur is a very strategical place as it’s

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the meeting point of three districts, Siwan, Saran (Chapra) &Gopalganj.

Bro. Gyanchand serves as a missionary at Basantpur with his family. Last month, in July 2018, this missionary family lost their 15-year-old son to snake bite (http://news. gemsbihar.org/2018/07/gems-mk-passed-away-due-to-snake-bite.html).

Pray for this GEMS church at Basantpur for the missionary and the believers to stand strong during such opposition.

Pray for the opposers to know the love of Jesus Christ, the true work of the gospel and to be touched and transformed.

Pray for the church to continue to be a powerful and effective witness to the gospel.

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Bridge and School Built on the Rohtas Hills Blesses the People of Bihar GEMS built a Hindi High School in Dugha and MPTC candidates along with GEMS church and the village community built a broken bridge in Chainpura.

Bridge, Chainpura Chainpura is a village on the Rohtas Hills and to go to this village one has to cross a river.

During the monsoon the villagers couldn’t cross the river because the bridge was damaged for years and the river was not safe to cross because of crocodiles.

MPTC (Missionary Preparatory Training Course) candidates from Bangalore when they had come for field visit saw the plight of the people and wanted to do something about it. They helped rebuild the bamboo bridge through the GEMS church involving all the villagers. The bridge was dedicated and opened on 20th August 2018 by Bro. C. Suresh (Central Region Director) and it made a great impact on the people.

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Hindi High School, Dugha GEMS built a school in Dugha in the year 1995, but it was bombed by the Naxalites in March 2010.

It was rebuilt and opened in November 2012, but was far from fulfilling the education demand of the area which had not one High School and the children had to go down the hill to pursue high schooling.

Many villagers could not afford to send their children down the hills and there were also possibilities of such children staying away from their parents in unsecured places to be exploited.

As an answer to their needs, the GEMS school at Dugha could be extended as High School and it was dedicated on 25th April 2018 by the The Call

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General Secretary Bro. D. Augustine Jebakumar and the guests. Dr. Ashok Kumar (Associate General Secretary), Bro. Emerson (Executive Director), Bro. C. Suresh (Central Region Director), Bro. Gilbert (Zonal Superintendent, Rohtas Zone) and many leaders of GEMS, Pr. VikiVignarajah& Pr. Bob Lawson participated and felicitated the dedication ceremony.

Children of GEMS projects and students of GEMS schools made the ceremony colourful through various cultural programs.

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Even though the school is now an answer to the education needs of the children of the surrounding villages, still many are deprived because they could not travel long distances on the hills to come to the school. GEMS is planning to build a hostel for boys and girls which will help them to stay and study at the school.

Pray that the bridge built at Chainpura would enable the church to engage

more with the community with the gospel and for the people to be touched and transformed.

Pray for the Hindi High School at Dugha to be a blessing to the children on the Hills; pray that the planned hostel may enable more children to be educated.

Pray for the ministry on the Rohtas-Kaimur hills to transform the people wholesomely.

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