Our Missionaries In India

This is from Mani's last weekend in India doing medical campaigns. It rained all day, but these ones still desired to be baptized:



Mani has been all over the large country of India, encountering danger and having many great opportunities to share the gospel. He recently sent this update in an email:

"The work here in India is going just great and i will have one more medical campaing this coming Sunday and i will be done with the trip to India. I will head to Hyderabad Sunday evening and spend that night with my sister's family and catch my flight to Denver on Monday. Please thank Bear Valley for me for the prayers all of you have been offering on behalf. You and your support is priceless. Here are some pictures from Tamil Nadu. As a part of that, i was in Kanya Kumari (the southern most tip of Indian peninsula). which is just 250 miles from the Island of Sri Lanka (one more notorious place for millitants). We can see the lights glowing in Sri Lanka during night if we can go to the top floor of the hotel. This state of Tamil Nadu is very very religious with a lot of idol worship. There is high alert security in this area too. One picture is of a gospel meeting. the other two are of Vivekananda Rock Memorial. This is 1/2 km in the Indian ocean from the shore. This was built in the memory of Indian philosopher Swami Vivekananda, who spent many days on that rock in meditation before he went on world tour during the late 1800's. People who follow him say that they are spiritual but not religious. Andhra Pradesh (my home state) is considered to be the Bible belt of India. The next place in those lines goes to Tamil Nadu." We are endebted to Mani for such insight into the fruitful work in India. He returns to us on August 5th.

With Randy home, Mani has turned his attention to other parts of India. He first went to Goa on the west coast of India on the Arabian Sea. He encountered heavy rains there. The people in that state were very religious, steeped in Catholicism thanks to the Dutch and Portuguese influence in times past. Vasco de Gama discovered this area in the 1500s. Then, Friday (7/25), Mani traveled to Bangalore (in the state of Karnataka). This is where the serial bomb blasts occurred. While evangelizing there, Mani worked with the pressure of a high security alert in that city. But, the power of the gospel was unabated. Notice the two pictures below, showing a couple of those baptized where Mani was working. Please pray for Mani's work. He'll be home August 5th. Please keep praying for Denny, David, and Ralph, too!





The India work continues, even as we've had a few more workers go into a different part of the country (Denny Petrillo, David Hamrick, and Ralph Williams). Randy Gordey, coming home on July 22, leaves Mani behind to work until August 4th. Here are pictures from the Lord's Day on July 20th:








On July 3rd, BVBID instructor Bill Stewart, 2008 BVBID grad Randy Gordey, and current Bachelor's and Master's student Mani Pagidipalli arrived in Vijayawada, India. They began preaching on July 4th, with Mani's father, a gospel preacher, arranging the opportunities.

Mani's father introducing the speaker for the gospel meeting

Mani preaching after one year at BVBID

A picture of Randy preaching in the meeting

Bill returns to the U.S. on Tuesday, 7/15, and Randy will stay an additional week.

The "team" meeting with denominational preachers and engaging in a series of discussions with them to try and lead them to the truth.

Here, Bill is preaching in a gospel meeting. Mani has been doing all the translating.

Randy playing cricket, something he likely has not done before. Cricket is popular in many countries throughout the world, but not yet an American staple.

Meeting with local preachers in the area.

Randy teaching (Mani translating). Bill is seated to the right.

The fruits of their labors. A picture of a man Mani baptized during their evangelistic efforts.

These men are grateful for your prayers. Their efforts together will come to a close this week. Please pray for their continued safety and success. While Mani will be staying a while longer to be with family, Bill and Randy are slated to return this week. How wonderful to have those of our own go and do such work, and through our association with them be, in that way, a "part" of their efforts.