India

Mission:   Church for the Distant Ministries

Location:  India

Site Director: Rev. K. Chaitanya Kumar
Parent Website: http://www.cfdministries.org

Location: Andhra Pradesh, India.
HQ:  Rajahmundry.

Site visited by LOT.Global:  Sept, 2015

Introduction: A glimpse of the field in Rajahmundry.





Leper Colony located by a town garbage dump.




Reaching the Unreached : as mission description by Pastor Chaitanya Kumar.

OVERVIEW

Brief:

The Church for the Distant Ministries is an outreach mission located in the rural areas of Andhra Pradesh near Rajahmundry, India. The CFDMIN provides spiritual and physical support to widows, lepers, orphans, and exceptionally poor families of the lower caste of that region. This ministry also provides training, Telugu Bibles, and support for approximately 250 pastors – who cover the larger rural areas with the mission to spread the gospel of Christ through action and dedicated service.

**

Circumstances:

Most of the people helped through this ministry are former Hindus and are belonging to the lower social caste of their culture. Because of this (being a lower caste AND having converted to Christianity), they face an exceptional degree of various persecutions and neglect from their society. The pastors of this ministry also face an ongoing element of threat to their physical safety from those of their society who dislike Christianity and disapprove of the evangelical mission of this ministry to bring others to God through Christ. This persecution ranges from verbal attacks and social alienation – to beatings, burnings, and even death.

A sizable portion of those who are helped through this ministry are lepers - who face not only forced isolation, but also 24/7 physical and psychological suffering because of their disease. Some of them live in a colony with their children (who have yet to show signs of contracting the disease themselves), and are dependent on begging and scavenging for survival. One of the pastors of the CFDMIN lives on site at one of these colonies and helps care for the lepers there.

**

Immediate Needs:

There are more needs than resources within this ministry. The field and harvest are great, and the burden falls on a few. 

-FOOD ::The foremost needs are physical ones as funds for food to feed the widows, lepers and orphans that rely on scavenging and begging to be fed.  Presently, there are over 50 widows and over 50 lepers attending within two project sites of this ministry. The need for food not only applies to them, but also for the pastors who live in the area and minister to them.

-BIBLES :: The greater spiritual need is for the purchase of Telugu language bibles.  These bibles (when purchased) are distributed amongst the pastors who then distribute them to the heads of households of the families in the regions that they cover. Due to the large illiteracy rate among the poor caste there, bibles are given to those also who can read to the ones who can’t read.  The demand for these bibles is great; and many are still needed.  

-Supplemental support :: The pastors of this ministry dedicate their entire life to the service of the Lord in the spirit of apostolic discipleship. They do not have jobs, and spend their every day in the service of ministering to the poor and needy.  This ministry does include physical labor on their part – it’s just not for an income for themselves.  Supplemental support is desired to enable them steady meals for their families as well, and to afford basic living expenses and travel costs for their work in the field.

**

Long-term Goals:

-LAND DEVELOPMENT:  Most of the widows, lepers and orphans helped by the CFDMIN do not have homes. They take refuge wherever they can. Many of them are sick, diseased, and have a very poor quality of life and physical suffering. One of our goals is to purchase tracts of agricultural land (land that already has crops, fruit trees, or livestock) to donate to the various mission sites.  With this land, the able bodied would be able to work to harvest the crops, and then the harvest would be sold to finance their feeding, other needs and further land development. Grass huts could also be constructed on these land tracts to house the beneficiaries.   Each land purchase will be seen as a self-sustaining and income-generating project, to solely benefit those living there and the pastors of each region.

-CHURCH CONSTRUCTION:  Along with the land development would be the construction of a church for each location. Many services are held in modest and small grass huts; but some have no place to hold service inside from the elements.  A Church construction project will provide a place of congregation for prayer, worship, and fellowship for those living near.

-INCOME GENERATING PROJECTS:  We’ve already invested in several income generating projects through the CFDMIN that have benefited certain needy families. These were invested in over the past 3 years; and during our recent visit – we were able to meet with some of these beneficiaries and see the progress of the projects. Each project has continued to generate an income for the beneficiary family and has allowed for an increase in their selling inventory.  It’s a goal of the CFDMIN and Least of These Global to continue providing for income generating projects for not only families, but also for the areas of intended land development.  By providing the startup costs and inventory for an IGP, we provide a livelihood that will sustain itself.

-SANITATION: Most of the sicknesses and diseases suffered by the poorer class are due to unhygienic conditions and lack of clean drinking and bathing water. Due to the cultural practices of the entire society, fecal matter pollutes most of the ground water supply – so that even well water is unsafe to consume. One of our goals is to provide each mission site with water filtration and education on sanitizing their food and water supply.

***

Your prayers, support, and encouragement are greatly welcomed and appreciated for this ministry and for any ministry in which God leads your hearts.

**

The Grace to Anna widow project: 

The widowhood in India is not a comfortable life - it's more a living death. Deprivation and starvation often plague many a widow. Indian society is dominated by religious superstitions and cultural practices wherein a widow is deemed as a bad omen, and forced to live a lonely and depressed life. Auspicious occasions are called off when a widow is found nearby. 

Remarriage, literacy and acceptance are very rare for widows. 

More often than not, a widow's health is affected due to malnutrition, poverty and lack of medical help. Another depressing factor is the churches are lacking genuine concern. 

The Grace to Anna project ministers to 50+ widows; attempting to provide them with food, clothing and medical care. $20 per month can provide for one of these widows in all three areas. 

Please consider sponsoring one of these beloved, and sharing God's blessings with them through your witness.  

Aid to Leper Colony:



Lepers are abandoned by their families because of the stigma attached to Leprosy Disease, a common story among those who have it. At any age of a leper, no one cared for them in the society. If married, after one's life partner dies, their family left them not long after. They were kicked out of the family and villages they lived in because people were afraid to look at them. Anyone can see the physical effects of the Leprosy. Is visible and seen on one's face and eyes as well as ulcers on their hands and feet. In India, lepers are living in remote areas, distant from villages, with their fellow patients as more of a graveyard than a home. 

In this far away place, they have become outcast with little access to personal interaction with people of society. They have to walk nearly an hour to buy anything to cook, which is one of the biggest struggles for residents.

For more info, please contact Rev. Kumar via email: cfdmin@gmail.com 

*****
For anyone who would like to join our L.O.T. Facebook group - and become actively involved with our task force in tackling needs as they arise; please request to join.