Indreasam School Lunch program PDF  Click Here

Indreasam Church Communion Service PDF  Click here

We drove to this area.  Right by the side of the main road, the ground had been dug out for drainage or something else.  We saw several huts in this trench.  As we went down, we heard some singing and walked toward the long hut.  As we entered the hut we saw around 30 believers singing with such passion.  They had electricity and we could feel the presence of God there.  We were so happy to find this group of believers.  We could see that they loved the Lord with such passion and zeal that could not be matched.  We witnessed to them about the love of God for a little while.  At the end of the service, we told them that we brought 10 mats for them.  We were wondering how we were going to distribute them.  We were surprised to hear that they needed mats for the church for the people to sit down.  Each family was saving to buy a mat and donate to the church.  They could not believe that we brought the mats.  They felt that the Lord used us to bring the mats for their church.  God works in mysterious ways.  We were a bit shaken to feel His mighty power.  It is amazing how the FETCH resources get used. 

This church in the gutter is an indication that the Lord is reaching out to every nook and corner of the world to gather His children.  The  Bible text about “the very stones rising up to tell people about Jesus” kept haunting me. We don’t know how these people came to know about Jesus.  It was so wonderful to see them believe in Jesus and there was no trace of Hinduism there.  This was exciting!!!

These people were so happy to see us and wanted us to come back.  We plan to go back with the medicines and vitamins that are left over from the mission clinics.  We want to get to know them better, worship with them, and find out how they found out about Jesus.  It will be great to find out how we can start a ministry in the hut communities around Hyderabad.

God is good…thank you for your prayers! 
Bhagyam

As you are aware, one of the things that we were planning to do after the mission trip folk left was to buy some land to build another FETCH facility to serve the poor people in the outskirts of Hyderabad.  We did not know where to go and where to start.  We prayed for God’s intervention.  We thought we would start with the Sarpanch (mayor) of Indresam. This morning we were sitting in his office waiting for him.  Not sure, if he would help us.  He was happy to see us.  We explained to him our need and that we would like to buy a piece of land that would give us a chance to help the women and children of the village in a much bigger way.  He said that there were no plots left. He then went on to say that the best thing for us is to lease the land for 99 years from the government.  He said that there were 5 acres given to a woman that just recently built a home for the aging people in the village.  He asked us to go and talk to her if she would sub lease a few acres to us.  Her house was in Miapur which was on our way to Kukatpalli.

So we had the driver get the directions and we proceeded to her house.  When we went to Miapur, it was crowded as it was the farmers market day.  The driver wove his way through the market and we arrived at the lady’s house.  We knew she was a well-to-do lady by the looks of the house and the car.  She came to the gate to receive us.  When we walked into her living room, we knew that she was quite well known in Andhra Pradesh.  She had huge pictures of herself with the chief minister and other political figures.  When we told her what we wanted.  She told us her story:

After she retired from a successful political career, she wanted serve the Lord.  She had a particular burden for the elderly and wanted provide them a home.  She said that God showed her the land that she should purchase and the very next day someone came and took her to the Sarpunch of Indresam and she was able to lease the land from the government.  She was able to build the home and she is able to feed the hungry every day.  She has been looking to sublease 2.5 acres of the land to someone with the same desire to help the poor.  She had 10 people come to her with various requests and she almost made a deal with someone the day before but she was hesitating because they were going to start a plant nursery business.  At this point, I did not know which God she was talking about.  I was in shock when I realized that she was talking about Jesus Christ.  This was a Christian woman.  “Praise the Lord” is what I thought in my mind.  When we told her about the church and the school we built and about the work of FETCH in Kukatpalli and Indresam, she was so happy and she could not believe that we came to see her..  In fact, she said went to our facility in Indresam to see us several times but did not find us.

We started the serious negotiations and she was happy to sublease the land for 99 years at Rs400,000/acre to us. We knew that we could not get land like this anywhere for this price.  I could not believe what was happening.  There was so much we could do with this piece of land.  It was on a main road with electricity. We could put a bore well.  People were growing fruits and vegetables around this land.  She offered to help us with getting the government to level the grounds for us.  She said that she was praying for a school and that God brought us there.  I have no words to describe the joy I felt in my heart.

In a few hours, we made a deal and we are going back in the morning to sign the papers.  It is like finding a needle in a hay stack.  God paved the way for us to find favor with Sarpanch who pointed us to Mary(the woman we made the deal with)  who turns out to be a devout Christian who shares the joy of helping the poor and bringing the love of Jesus to them.  We serve an amazing God.  The land is next  to a huts village where the needs are great.  We are so excited…I had to share this experience with you immediately.  Please continue to pray for us as we continue to ask for God’s leading hand in our work here in India.

Thanks a bunch!
Bhagyam

February 8 2010 - FETCH Mission 2010 Summary:  The last of the FETCH team left and arrived home safely.  This is always a huge ”sigh” of relief.  So many things could go wrong.  We always face challenges…this year it was the political unrest and communal riots and demonstrations.  Things have cooled down a bit.  Most of all God was with us and we were able do everything that we planned to do and more!!

The past week was good and we were able to do things that we could not fit into our 10 day mission schedule:

1.   We were able to go to Kukatpalli.  This is where we built the first church and the community center.  Whenever, the children saw our cars, they would run and waive and ask us about when we were coming to see them.  We did not have time this past couple of years.  This year we were able to have a clinic and a mini VBS there with them.  We summarized the Bible story of creation and taught them all the songs that we sang in Indresam.  We did couple of crafts,  We gave them crayons and coloring books to take home.  They had a bag to take home which included some snacks, toys along with the crayons and coloring books.  We watched these children grow up…they caught us as we were leaving and said that we had to come and see them otherwise they would all cry till we came back.  We did promise to return!

2.   We used to go to Neelofar Hospital in the city of Hyderabad.  We used to take care packages for the patients.  We also gave out sarees to the nurses aids…who work really hard for very little wages.  Their work is not very pleasant and not appreciated.  We wanted to make them feel special, so we started this effort.  We were getting messages from them  to come and visit them each year but we could not go to both hospitals – Sangareddy hospital ( near Indresam) and Neelofar hospital (in the city).  This year, we decide we should pay a visit.  We did not have a budget for sarees but we had some funds to buy stainless steel lunch boxes.  They truly appreciated our visit and liked the presents we took for them.  We were really happy that we stopped.  We were also able to see the twins that are attached at the head.  They have grown a lot.  They have not been separated because only one will survive.  We are planning to go back there to visit them.  I wish there was something that could be done for these children.

3.   We were able to go back spend the Sabbath at Indresam.  We had a Sabbath School for the children and the church service for the adults.

4.   At Indresam, we had a little girl that we have been helping for several years.  She went through our tailor training course.  Unfortunately, her parents decided to get her married.  They were only looking at the job that the husband had but did not see that he was a drunkard. He has been drinking and beating this little girl.  She is currently 7 months pregnant, she came back home to Indresam because she was afraid for her life and her unborn child’s life.  We were able to do something special for this little girl.  We gave her baby clothes and a baby blanket that was lovingly knitted by one of the FETCH supporters.  We will be following up to see that she is well taken care of.  There are so many families that came by seeking help and were saddened that the FETCH team was leaving.  We were able to tell them that we will be here a little longer and we will be running more clinics and Bible studies in the coming weeks.

5.   We were able to organize our supplies and get ready for next year.  Please pray that we will be able to purchase some land for our next FETCH site.  We are hoping to build “one day” school and women’s ministry centers.

All in all, we had a great mission trip…a great group of missionaries for Jesus.  We know the Lord is coming soon and what a great way to spend our days telling everyone about the hope that we have of meeting Jesus and living with Him…where there is no poverty and suffering!!!

Bhagyam

Marce

Wednesday, January 27, 2010:  We had another good day.  God was with us.  No matter what was going on in the city, we were able to go safely to Indresam and back.  It is amazing how you get used to seeing the demonstrations.  When you see these demonstrations every day and the Lord’s protecting care, we are able to focus on the mission and not on the political situation.  Thank you for your prayers.

We sent the first timers for sightseeing and shopping in the morning while the rest of us do the prep work for the evening meeting.  We were also able to squeeze in a foot clinic before the children’s meeting.  We had a big crowd  and it is always a challenge to keep things going while we keep them quiet.  We gave out guavas, that were freshly picked from an orchard.  The farmers gave us flowers (free of charge) and Dr.  Thomas was having fun passing them to the girls.  When he gave them to the boys he would say “if you don’t like it give it to your mother!”  That was nice touch!

We were able tp get home a little early, so had a wonderful meal,  of fresh pineapple, papaya, guavas, grapes, oranges, beats and other items.  We thank God for another day that we could serve Him!

Bhagyam

Muslim woman have been so kind to us and we have enjoyed taking and sharing pictures on our camera. Their eyes peeking thru the veil with their eyes showing a smile. Most of the woman wear their black berka. I did see a couple that removed their veil from near their month and adjusted the berka exposing their hair. It was a warmer day. Different cultures, different religions. Yet we are not miles apart.
A smile expresses so much. God intends for us all to get along with one another to appreciate the diversity of one another.

(Editors Note:  Just received some additional reports from the FETCH team, specifically Marce.  As they were for several previous days, I have inserted them on the the correct dates below. )

Tuesday January 26 2010:  Today, was an exciting day for several reasons.  Delbe was coming in the morning.  Since many women come to the clinic they prefer a lady doctor.  So we were waiting for Delbe to come. 

Since the airport is far and because the driver was doing a good job bringing the people from the airport, we sent the driver to pick up Delbe.  Unfortunately, the Driver with his sign did not connect with Delbe.  She called her husband, Ed in the US, who called our daughter (who was getting ready to tape her segment for LLBN).  She called us telling us that Delbe was stranded at the airport.  So we started making calls…in a few minutes we got another call that Delbe was on the bus coming to Kukatpalli.  So Franklin and I got ready and when to the bus stop to pick her up.  We waited and we waited and she was not in any bus that came into Kukatpalli.  We were concerned but knew that God would take care of her.  I went back to the condo to get breakfast ready, because we a had a full day ahead.  When I went to the condo Delbe was already at the Condo.  She asked the driver to drop her off at the condo and he did.  We called Franklin and said that Delbe was home.

By this time we had half an hour to get ready and go to the Republic day celebrations at the Indresam school.  Delbe brought balloons and a pump and we were able to make dogs out of the long balloons for the 50 students at the school.  We made them in the Indian flag colors.  They were a big hit.  We also gave the school children cookies.  The mayor of the town shows up every year.  This year he gave a speech where he said that he appreciates the work that we are doing and on behalf of the village he would like to thank us.

After the celebration at the Indresam school we went to the Prasad hospital and ran a clinic.  It was a great clinic – we had 2 doctors and also included a massage room with Chris and Marce assisting there.  We saw 50 patients  and made so many families happy, we prayed with them, gave them medication, gave the medical and health advice.  The women were happy to see Delbe.

On the roads, we saw demonstrations.  One of the drivers said “even though the American embassy tells Americans not to come to Hyderabad during this time, I am amazed that they still come and pass through these dangerous roads to serve the people”.  I was able to witness to the driver about why they come and why they are not afraid.  The Lord’s protecting care was over us and thanks again for all your prayers.

Click here for Photos of Today's activities!

From Marce:  Today is Republic Day in India. Each town or city is celebrating with dignitaries visiting and each town or city having a flag raising. It truly was a wonderful sight to behold. The children at Indresam had prepared for some time with singing patriotic songs. Incense was lite before a picture of Gandhi and then a moving event of flag raising. The Indian people have so much to be proud of. Our mission school had their own flag raising with the major officiating. Franklin Moses led with a patriotic anthem during the flag raising.

A clinic was held at a hospital. This hospital was clean and organized. Delbe and Dr. Thomas assessed each patient. It reminds me how Jesus came and crowds would follow for healing. So many needs. One feels that they are instrumental in spreading the gospel in a tangible way.

Our children’s ministry continues with a new addition to the Team, Delbe. She is the daughter of the Thomas’s. Maybe 60 - 70 children present today. The children that come are so attentive. They especially enjoy participating in the front of their peers.

Sincerely,

Marce Williams

We had three clinics so far.  Clinics are an exciting part of the ministry.  We saw several patients.  The exciting thing is that we get to pray with them after the visit.  It takes about half an hour to get set up.  We give out tickets with numbers on them.  This helps keep the crowds under control.  We set up different stations for them to get their temperature, height weight. BP and blood sugar taken.  Finally they go to see the doctor.  Dr. Thomas is our doctor here.  Delbe is coming tomorrow so we will have 2 doctors.

There is a great need to run an eye clinic.  There were so many cases. We did what we could for them.  There were women wanting to have children.  All we could do is pray with them.  The rest of the cases are flu, cold/cough. skin problems and stomach problems.  We were blessed with so many medicines, thanks to the Thomas’s and Delbe.

It is always exciting to work with the children and visit their homes.  The children are so excited to come each day for their meetings.

From Marce:  Each day is a blessing to see a community come together with us to praise the Lord. The children are eager to learn English and delight in singing the songs.

½ a day off to assist with cooking and shopping. We try not to “shop until we drop.” We shopped locally to save on time. With some tailoring to be done in later evening after the meeting in Indresam.

We are able to get an early start with the children’s ministry. We have had less children. Today has been a Hindu Holiday. Some children go to the SDA school and some go to the government school.

Thinking of the responsibility we have to teach the children about Jesus. Simple delight on their faces as they sing and learn. We had about 60 - 70 children attended.

Received this update for January 23 on Jan 26:  We started the Sabbath with visiting the Kukatpally church near by. Dr. Thomas spoke during the sermon. Chris McKay sang a wonderful song with Shirley Thomas playing the keyboard. This was truly a wonderful Sabbath. As I sat listening, I could hear a bird singing sweetly in the trees. Truly a Sabbath blessing.

Our ministry to the children today was about the 3^rd Day of creation with a health nugget on dry itchy skin. The program continues with many songs that the children have learned quickly. A puppet show is also presented with laughter beaming from the children.

A flower made from tissue paper and a pipe cleaner was easy to create. As each child filed past me saying goodbye I could truly see the joy beaming from their faces. What a blessing to serve in this ministry.

Sincerely,

Marce Williams

Report by Bhagyam

Although we were not able to go yesterday to Indresam to prepare for the meetings, we were determined to make the first day work with God’s help.  We spent a lot of time in prayer and we also knew that many people back home were praying for us.  So we got up and were having worship when my brother called.  He said that things were not good and that the city has been shut down again because of riots.  So we went into a season of prayer and asked for God’s leading.  We told everyone to make their own decision on whether they wanted to go and or stay home for the day.  After much discussion and thought, we all decided to go.

We loaded up the cars and started our journey to Indresam.  Things looked fine but as we approached Indresam, we saw a wall of rioters across the road and no vehicles were allowed to go.  This time the rioters were a little ahead on the road to Indresam which allowed us to take a side road. We were also blessed with a driver that knew the side roads well.  He was able to weave through the back roads and before we knew it we could signs to our church complex.  We could not believe how we landed there.  The children saw us and started running to us.  It was wonderful to see many familiar faces of children, men and women.  We were able to clean up the place and set up for the meeting.  The eager children could not wait for the meeting to start. 

The children were so familiar with the entire process and it was so much easier to manage:

1.       Obedience school in the school yard

2.       Wash up

3.       Go upstairs and sit in their station

4.       Run the program

a.       Song service

b.      Prayer

c.       Creation story

d.      Nature nugget

e.      Health talk

f.        Craft

g.       Coloring

h.      Prayer

i.         Take home goodies

The new missionaries were wonderful and were able to go with the flow and get involved in make the meeting a success.  We praise the Lord for making a way for us to have the meeting as planned and for His protecting care over us.  It was certainly a miracle that we were actually able to have a meeting today!

***************************************

Personal report from Marce Williams

What is it like for a single woman (SDA) to travel around the world to India on a special mission for FETCH?

I experienced India as a young  child as I sat  and heard the wonderful stories told by a dear friend of our family.  My auntie Vi, who told us stories about elephants and tigers.  Now I too can experience the sights and sounds and tastes of an ancient culture.

Franklin and Bhagyam have taken me under their wings.  We have such a comfortable place to stay in their condos in Kukatpalli.  Good food prepared by Mary.  Safety for all of us is their prime concern.

Today we noticed that the demonstrators had increased in numbers.   It is wonderful that there are other roads to the mission.  The main road was blocked by the demonstrators.

Arriving at the mission, you could see a few children from far making their way to the school.  Little by little the word spread that we arrived.   The children are so photogenic….enjoying their picture taken …and being able to see their face as an image in the camera.

Hearing around 200 children singing is astounding.  Their faces lightening up.  Bhagyam had made the remark that many of the children remembered the words and the actions of the songs.  The children were so obedient and sat in groups of 10 in circles.  The creation story – day 1 was presented.  The children appeared to be attentive.  Many songs were sung.  Some needing help with the craft project.

May God be glorified in this mission endeavors.

Wednesday, January 20, 2010:  We were all excited and started the day with all the preparation that needed to be done for the meetings that are starting tomorrow.  Just when we were ready to leave the condos, my brother called and said there were riots on the street and that we should seriously consider staying in.  So we were a bit discouraged.  So Franklin and Bret went out in the car to the main street to see how things were.  They came back saying everything was fine and that we should go.  So we packed into the 2 cars and started going to Indresam.  When we were half way there, we saw police and huge crowds on strike and burning tires.  Police told us to turn around.  So the driver took a detour and tried to bypass the area that was having trouble.  Once we got back on the main street, we saw that it was getting worse and the people were burning tires and would let us go.  So we turned around and came home.  We came home and had a prayer session…thanking the Lord for keeping us safe.  We heard after returning that the people were smashing cars and causing a lot of trouble.  We also prayed for God’s guidance.  We spent the rest of the day. Working on project getting ready for the meetings.

We are planning to start the meetings tomorrow.  We ask for special prayers by the members of our church.  We understand that this is a strike between the 2 communities of this state – Telenganas and the Andhras.  We don’t want to be caught in the cross fire.

January 18, 2010:  Finally everyone is here and we thank the Lord for His protecting care over us.  Those of us who were here earlier getting things ready, are filled with joy and excitement to have the entire team here.  The weather is good, the condos are ready and comfortable and we have couple of days to prepare for the event filled 10 days of serving the Lord.

We have not seen any signs of riots here.  Things have calmed down.  The Lord always prepares the way for us.  We know that there are many prayers being sent on our behalf.

Today will be spent in unpacking, shopping getting things organized.  According to Franklin, there will not be any sleeping during the day.  This the best cure for jet lag. It is “all hands on deck” today!!

Anelda’s Report:

Anelda was the first to arrive and God not only gave her a safe trip but provided her with good seating partners.  Bhagyam and Franklin arranged for Mohan (driver) to be picked up at the air port.  Mohan drove her to the hotel which is near the conference office.  This was done because the airport is very far from the condos and the condos were not ready to be lived in.  Anelda wanted a few days to get acclimatized to the environment before the mission events. 

Anelda wanted to go to the Cyber Café to do email and was asking people how to get there and people provided an escort to take her there.  When she was there she could not figure out how to set things up and a kind gentleman set up the whole thing for her to send email to her family.  Anelda wanted to explore the streets around the hotel.  The streets were extremely busy and as she was waiting to cross the street a stranger came and helped her across the street.  This happened every time she needed to cross the street. Anelda said “I know that this just did not happen by chance but the Lord was taking care of me through these strangers.  I was not afraid in the strange land that is so different from ours and never felt alone because the Lord was taking care of me.  It is a privilege for me to serve God in a different capacity and I am grateful for the leadership of Bhagyam and Franklin.  They had the vision to remove the hotel stay to a lovely home setting to promote more interaction within the group.  It is wonderful to experience the kindness and hospitality of the Indian people given to strangers visiting their country.”

We are looking forward to attending this church this morning.  We miss attending our home church Beaverton SD

Happy Sabbath!
Bhagyam

The rest of the team is coming within the next 6 days.  We are glad to go ahead and get things set up before everyone arrives.

We are thankful to the church for all the prayers on our behalf.  We will keep in touch.