SERVE India

Hello e-pray friends,
I was so happy to talk with John this morning. He just returned from his trip to Sierra Leone. He did not have much internet access so he was not able to communicate easily with us or with our Pastors in India. He is just now starting to understand how they were all affected by the hurricane and flooding that went on while he was away.
Here is the news from John after visiting with some Pastors today…

On Saturday, Oct 12th (a hindu holy day to worship the goddess of destruction), Cyclone Phailin, like Hurricane Katrina, tore into the coast of the states of Andhra Pradesh and Odisha, affecting 9 million people. The storm destroyed more than 800,000 homes, wiping out entire slum areas and devastating villages of mud huts.
These people already face enormous poverty but to lose what little they have is very difficult. Now by losing their boats and nets it affects their livelihood. It seems impossible to know where to begin to recover.
Among the devastation we had 4 Pastors & congregations greatly affected, Pastor Satym, Pastor Titus, Pastor Victor, and Pastor Elisha. Since the cell towers were brought down by the storm they have been unreachable by phone. Please pray for these Pastors and their congregations as they face the difficulties they have in recovering from this.
I was able to travel to Pastor Titus’ place and there they are okay as their homes & church sit up on a hill. They said as the situation was predicted the government came and moved communities away to different shelters. This saved many lives.
Many returned back to see their property destroyed and they are now deprived of basic needs like food, water, clothing, shelter and care. We are trying to provide some assistance by giving rice, clothing, and drinking water.
I have not been able to find out more news from the other Pastors, so please continue to pray for their situations. I hope to be able to visit them soon.
One of the believers, Devadas, shared, ‘Although there is much devastation, we praise and thank God that when they predicted it is approaching us we cried out to our living God for our lives. He rescued us. No human life was lost among us.’ The total death toll all across the area of the storm is 17, which is a small number compared to the last storm of this size that hit in this area, which killed 15,000 people. Thank you for praying and your loving concern for us.
‘We worship an amazing God to whom the wind and sea obeys!’ says Devadas.
Please continue to pray as Christians share a witness to their neighbors who don’t have any answers to life and difficulties. Please pray that they will be able to see the LOVE of God for them also.

We will send more updates next e-pray, along with news of John’s trip to Sierra Leone. The banks and government offices are open again in our state, after weeks of strikes, so John is hoping to be able to finish the land sale work before he returns to the U.S. at the end of this month. Please keep praying for the land sale work to be completed!!
One more request, please pray for my parents, Rick & Sharon, and all of our family, as my dad recovers from a heart attack he had this past week. Hopefully, he will be able to come home from the hospital in a few days. The Lord continues to bless us with his life!
THANK YOU!!
As always, we are SO grateful for your prayer & care for us!!!!!!!
His blessings, Love, The Nanda’s