May 23 : Drawn to Jesus. In a small Gujjar (pronounced goo-jer) village, children and women gather in a hut to learn to read and write Urdu, the national language. All the women are non-literate, and the families have no money to send their children to school. Besides, there is so much work to be done that the children don’t have time to go to school. Every day their herds of water buffalo have to be milked, the dried manure chips have to be gathered for fire fuel, clothes have to be washed and hung to dry, and food has to be cooked for the family – all before they can sit down for their lesson. Representatives have been visiting this village for some time and are well-respected. Recently representatives were able to show the “JESUS” film to the class, and even some of the men of the family joined in to watch. As they have seen love lived out in the life of Christ, please ask the Father to draw them to Himself, and pray that through His Spirit, His church will be established.

May 24 : Census Begins. On April 1, 2010, India began the process of counting and fingerprinting every citizen in the country as part of the 2010 census. The Home Minister states, “This is the first time in human history that an attempt is being made to identify, count, enumerate and record . . . 1.2 billion people.” Praise the Lord that our heavenly Father knows every one of these people and sent His only Son to die for their sins so they might have eternal life! Pray that each one of them will have the opportunity to hear the Good News.

May 25 :  New Opportunities. Praise God! He is leading Christians to begin a new project in India that has the primary goal of impacting marginalized people with God’s love. The project is in a city where many Bihari Muslims reside. It will include a school for children who live in a slum. An Indian church-planting partner who lives near the slum will oversee the operations of this school. The overall project will provide access to hundreds of families who need to hear the Gospel, an education for children who need freedom from the cycle of poverty, and sustainable income-generating projects to improve the quality of life for these poor families. Please pray that the commitment of these Christians will provide an open door into the hearts of the families and meet both physical and spiritual needs. Pray that they will find godly teachers and staff who will truly minister in the name of the Lord.

May 26 :  Seeking Obedient Students. “We have developed a comprehensive teaching on how to reach Muslims in North India and are now actively looking for places to teach the material and interested people to teach. Although we would love to have 100 percent participation, we would much rather teach this course to people who will put it to use. The full course is four days per month for five months. Please pray that committed people will be taught and that God will bless their efforts as they go out and reach people for Christ.”

May 27 : Family of Peace. In March, three groups of pastors, lay leaders, and church members were trained in how to plant churches. During the training, the trainees were asked to come up with a list of people and places that need to be engaged with the Gospel. Give thanks to God that the trainees took this seriously, made lists, and are seeking ways to engage these areas. One woman in particular asked representatives to go to a nearby village and have an evangelistic meeting. A “family of peace” (Luke 10:6) offered up their home for that meeting. Please pray for the salvation of that household. Pray for a church to be started in that village and for leaders to be raised up from among the villagers.

May 28 :  Greatest Story Ever Told. Stories are important to the V people. They represent 20 percent of the population of one state, and all of them are oral learners. Many are non-literate and uneducated. Because of this, there is a huge need to share the Good News through stories in a way that the stories can be told and retold, and passed from person to person. In the coming months, some leaders will be training national partners in how to “craft” Bible stories. That means taking a story from the Bible and putting it in the story form of the people, using words they recognize and understand, so they will learn it and tell the story over and over. Please pray for the three places where this training will begin. Ask the Holy Spirit to be the guide, and pray that because of these efforts, many will have a chance to hear and respond to the greatest Story ever told.

May 29 : Hospital Growth. Thank you for praying for the meeting of the hospital’s Governing Board. The board members were positive about the work of the hospital, its growth, and the physical and spiritual care it is providing to a large population. Pray for the hospital leaders as they carry out the decisions made.  Pray for a new chaplain who is joining the staff of the Pastoral Care Department of the hospital.  Pray for his witness, ministry to patients and staff, and his leadership in these coming months.