Prayer Letter - October 2009

What ministry is all about

The third time he said to him, "Simon son of John, do you love me?" Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, "Do you love me?" He said, "Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you."  Jesus said, "Feed my sheep. John 21: 17

The first time Jesus confronts Peter on the shores of Galilee after His resurrection, He asks the disciple the question: Do you truly love me more than these? As I reflected on this question and the two repetitions of the question as a pre-requisite to ministry (….feed my sheep), I realized the quality of love that is demanded of Jesus’ disciples:

1. It is a love for Jesus that is set above all other things – including ministry itself, and people: In Luke 9 Jesus emphasizes this priority. It is a love that calls for you and me to give up everything (Lk 14:33) for Jesus. And that includes setting the right priority regarding family relationships and comfort (Lk 9: 57-61; 14:25,26), counting the cost and counting it worthwhile to set a lower priority to one’s work or business (Lk 14:16-20) in favor of the Lord Jesus Christ. It’s a love that would move you and me to give our best to the Lord as Mary did when she emptied the bottle of her most fragrant perfume on Jesus’ feet. The evidence of her love filled the whole house as the fragrance of the perfume spread. Jesus’ question rings in our ear: Do you truly love me more than these? Your work, your ministry, your family, your comfort, your prized possessions? Sometimes we could be so consumed with our ministry that we forsake “our first love”. Isn’t that the warning given to the Church at Ephesus? (Rev 2:4)
2. It is a love for Jesus above a love for “me”: Throughout the Gospels and Paul’s letters, we see evidence of the call to discipleship being a call to “deny self”. Our Lord paints a beautiful word picture in Jn 12:24 & 25: Unless a grain of wheat is buried in the ground, dead to the world, it is never any more than a grain of wheat. But if it is buried, it sprouts and reproduces itself many times over. In the same way, anyone who holds on to life just as it is destroys that life. But if you let it go, reckless in your love, you'll have it forever, real and eternal. (The Message). In other words, it is in my own “death” and “forgotten-ness”, that my love for Jesus manifests in the growth of other lives. It’s a reckless love. This is why the Apostle Paul is able to declare with confidence  “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live….(Gal 2:20). It’s a tough choice, but it is the only way to answer the question Do you love me more than these? It is this self-effacing kind of love that attracts us to others because they do not see “me”. They see Jesus Christ in me.
3. It is a love for Jesus that motivates me to feed His sheep: This intense love for Jesus must be translated into feeding His sheep. The fact that there are millions of so called “religious” people in our country following different spiritual pathways without that hunger and thirst ever being met is reason enough for lovers of Jesus Christ to present the message that He taught us and empowered us by His Holy Spirit. And that message does not point the seeker to some vague philosophy or ideology, but to the very person of Jesus Christ who said: “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty (Jn 6:35). So Jesus asks His disciple “Do you really love me?” And when the disciple says that he does, Jesus’ response is “Feed my sheep”. All ministry converges on feeding the sheep that God places in our pathways. The answers to everybody’s need ends with Jesus Christ!

June 2009 marked 175 years since the death of that great missionary hero William Carey. It is his picture that we have on the first page. Sitting in his little cobbler’s shop with a leather globe that he made representing the world, he wrote a small pamphlet in 1791 entitled An enquiry into the obligation of Christians to use means for the conversion of the heathens. It is Carey’s intense love for the Lord Jesus Christ that fueled his passion for mission. This pamphlet marked the beginning of the modern missionary movement.

Do you truly love me more than these…….Feed my sheep

Will your love for Jesus fill you with a consuming passion to “feed His sheep”?

Cochin SLS, Sep 30th to Oct 4th, 2009	Kolkata National Seminar, Sep 24th to Oct 4th, 2009

• Successful visit of Mr. Rajesh Malaki to Hapur-Ghaziabad, Ajmer, Udaipur, Jaipur, Faridabad, Ludhiana & Gurgaon to meet Alumni & Alumni Association who are planning Seminars.
• Promotional visit by Mr. Vijaykumar Sasane to Palghar, Borpadle/ Kodoli, Wadgaonsheri & One day Promotional seminar held at Vasai dated 13th Sep’09.
• New Alumni Association formed at Kolhapur dated 21st Sep’09. Please pray for the office bearers- Mr. Uday Anand Bijapurkar, President and Rev. Sanjay Bapurao Dhanawade, Secretary.
• Successful visit of Mr. Donald Pant to a new district, Damoh dated 22nd to 25th Sep’09 and Alumni Association Meeting conducted with 36 Alumni at Bhilai-Durg dated 29th & 30th Sep’09 which resulted in planning of a seminar for Pastors.
• Elections held for Bhubaneswar Alumni Association dated 19th Sep’09. New Office Bearers are Mrs. Ranjita, President and Mr. Birendra Kumar Behera, Secretary. 
• The brainstorming session held on 21st Sep’09 of the leadership of Haggai Institute.
• The seminars conducted in the month of September: Northern Region: Ambala; Eastern Region: Gumla - Jharkhand, Kolkata NS; Western Region: Mumbai; Southern Region: Karigiri – Vellore SS, Coonoor SS, Yelagiri (twin) SS, Cochin SLS; Central Region: Bhopal; AP Region: Bathalapalli –Rayalaseema, Vizag, Vijayawada SS, Indra Nagar – Hyderabad; North –East: Betagre.

Please Pray For:

• The Alumni Get-together of Shillong AA scheduled on 8th Oct’09 and also for the planning of a State Seminar at Agartala.
• Faculty Development Seminar scheduled at Nagpur on 21st to 25th Oct’09.
• Regional Alumni Get-together of AP Region scheduled on 2nd & 3rd Nov’09 at Hyderabad.
• Funds for Haggai Institute National Ministry.
• The bereaved family of Mr. N. V. Srikanth Rupavatharam, Vice-President of Twin Cities Alumni Association, whose father passed away on 5th Oct’09.
• Relief aids to reach the different areas in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh which were badly affected due to heavy rains.
• The eradication of Swine flu, that God would have mercy and put a stop to this epidemic.
• Suitable candidates for the posts of Regional Director for Western Region & Area Manager for Northeast Region.
• Mr. George Zachariah who is unwell
• The upcoming State Level Seminars in 2009 – 10: Panchgani 15 – 19 Oct, Nagpur 16 – 20 Oct, Pune 20 – 24 Oct,  Chikhali 20 – 24 Oct, Dimapur 27 – 31 Oct, Raipur 2 – 6 Nov, Pune 24 – 29 Nov, Patna 12 – 16 Jan’10, Bhatapara 21 – 26 Jan’10, Pune 2 – 6 Feb 10, Pune 9 – 14 Feb’10, Lucknow 26 Feb – 2 Mar’10.

NS – National Seminar, SLS – Special Leadership Seminar, SLSD– SLS for Doctors,
In-house - seminar fee is not disclosed as it is a sponsored seminar.

Please Note: We seek your prayer support for all these National Level seminars coming up. We also solicit your assistance in the recruitment of suitable candidates for these seminars. For more information regarding these seminars please feel free to call us at 040 27131209, 27141221 & 32928823 or email at hiindia@haggai-india.com also browse our website: www.haggai-india.com

Seminars in October 2009

Note 1: Please be informed that you can now deposit your donation Cheques/DD’s favouring ‘Haggai Institute’ directly with our account # 01262560000416 in any branch of HDFC Bank. Please do intimate our office the deposit details indicating your name, the amount and the date of deposit.

Note 2: We would appreciate if you intimate our National Office of any changes in your postal address, phone numbers and email id’s. Our contact details mentioned above.

Yours in Him,
Paul Balasundaram