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Making a Difference, March Update
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Right Hand Ministries
RHM: PO Box 12385 Oklahoma City, OK 73157 rhmhope1@gmail.com
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Making a Difference
March Update
Dear RHM Friends,
Greetings once again in the Precious Name of our Lord JESUS.
"Making a Difference" where, and in whose lives? By His grace we hope that we are making a difference (the donors, the intercessors, those "on the ground" in India, whoever is a part of this work) in people's lives in various facets of the ministry. But especially we can see how His Hand has led us into the widows' ministry.
For the first 13-14 years I was coming and going to and from India, I hardly noticed the plight of the widows & elderly there. Perhaps most are taken care of in India, but there a small percentage who do not get their needs met properly. In a nation of well more than 1 billion people, a "small percentage" could be a lot. For example, if there's more than 100 million widows & elderly in India, and 10% don't have sufficient to live on, that's more than 10 million people!
In 2006 we started with a small group of widows in HOPE, who still meet daily for food, and some of them for daily devotions. Then it branched out to other elderly outside of HOPE, but all within the HOPE region (everyone less than an hour journey from HOPE). Then in 2018 an unexpected blessing happened, something we did not plan for or try to make happen: an organization in America began to inquire about our ministry to widows. Now they are giving a significant amount to help us bring our Father's blessing into the widows' lives. So now we have the HOPE widows, the elderly whom are cared for via the donations which come to RHM (specifically designated for widows) and we have a larger number of widows who are cared for via this one major sponsor.
But the most exciting thing to me, and I believe to our Brothers Wesley and Prasanth whom I work with in this ministry, is that we recognize His love has increased within our hearts for these elderly people. And we recognize that He is giving us messages to share with them which is truly impacting many of their lives. We can see some of their countenances changing, and a greater hope arising within their hearts concerning their own sense of purpose in this world, a greater understanding of the Father's love for the poor and downtrodden, and a greater expectancy for our final deliverance from this evil world, into an eternity of joy with our heavenly Father and with His glorious Son. Just a few more days, and we're going home!!
A few more items before I sign out: pray for the HOPE children's exams which are coming up. One girl, Kumari, is already having her finals in her 2nd year of "intermediate" studies (the equivalent of 12th grade). Most of the other children will have final exams over the next month and a half. Pray for the needs mentioned in the photo captions below, at least one of them very critical (leg amputation). The children in the other girls home which we're a part of have about the same exam schedule, but finish a little earlier. Pray for them.
Remember to check out
RHM's YouTube channel, and the
BLOG on the website. We're trying to make posts more regularly, and these avenues will keep you informed concerning some of the ministry going on here, and also what to pray for.
Thanks for your prayers and support! Bless you.
Brother Dan
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ABOVE: Brother Raju is leading our literacy program in several villages of the widows and elderly ministry. We're very thankful for his willing heart to try and inspire these elderly people to study when many of them have never gone to school in their lives. Our main approach to trying to encourage them was showing them the value of learning to read GOD's precious Word. We're thankful that several elderly (and a few younger ones) in at least 5 villages have taken up the challenge. Praise the Lord!
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ABOVE: Raju teaching very poor people in the village of Kondu Botlavaripalem the Telugu alphabet. As you can see, we wanted to encourage some of the younger people also to come, as almost no one in the village has any education.
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ABOVE: Krupamma in a village on the outskirts of the town of Bapatla. She has diabetes, got a wound on her right leg and it had to be amputated. She had an infection on her other leg also, and the last I heard the doctors were planning to remove that leg also. Please pray for Krupamma, a new member in the widows/elderly ministry.
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ABOVE: This is the wife of a prisoner who is unjustly in prison, one of the "fall guys" in the murder of a Hindu priest years ago. Her husband has now been in jail for 10 years, without a shred of real evidence against him. She has one young boy. Her house was in bad shape, so a gracious sponsor (and others not connected with us) are helping her to build a new home.
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ABOVE: Children from a girls home which we've been a part of for several years getting ready to do a dance during a Christian meeting which Brother Wesley and I attended. The smallest girl you can't see. Pray for these 11 girls, and for the completion of a new girls home, construction underway, but stalled due to a lack of funds.
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ABOVE: It's precious to see little ones learning how to pray, and being directed to the right GOD to pray to! This is the HOPE School children during a birthday function in recent months.
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ABOVE: Cute HOPE girls doing a dance at Christmas time. Please go to our "Right Hand Ministries" YouTube channel (link above), or to the RHM website BLOG, and you can view this little dance and song. It's precious.
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ABOVE: HOPE children singing during children's ministry (sometimes calling it Sunday School) in the village of NTR Colony.
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ABOVE: This is one of the compound walls around the HOPE boys property in Chinthayapalem, the property where the yellow buildings are. This one wall was not built with sufficient strength, so we were concerned it could eventually fall down (long story). Some extra construction was just completed recently to make it stronger.
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ABOVE: This is Rajamma, a widow from a tribal colony in the village of Jampalavaripalem (don't you love the easy-to-pronounce names?). She and her adopted son stay in this hut. Not sure if the clothes and material on the roof is to slow down the leaking, or if the clothes were put there to dry. She's a new widow in the widows/elderly ministry. Lord willing, we will build a new hut soon.
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ABOVE: It may be a little difficult for the untrained eye (including my own) to see, but this is a new roof for Venkateswaramma in the village of Buddam. Some of the frame needed to be replaced, and most all the palm leaves. As it gets near to the rainy season, we are planning to put large tarps over the huts which we've built or repaired this year for the widows and elderly. This will preserve the roofs for a longer number of years.
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ABOVE: Brother Prasanth taking the thumb print (in lieu of a signature because most of them are not able to write) of a sister in the village of Betapudi in time of distributing monthly support to them. We love working with the poor in JESUS' Name! Colossians 3:17
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ABOVE: This is Ratamma from Brother Wesley's church in Singarayakonda. Her husband had a mental disorder and wandered away from the house about 20 years ago. They never heard from him since. Her son is an alcoholic, and her daughters are not able or willing to help her much. Pray for her. She also is a new addition to the widows/elderly ministry. Lord willing, we will see a smile on that face soon.
"Because I delivered the poor who cried for help, and the orphan who had no helper...and I made the widow's heart sing for joy." Words of Job in 29:12-13. PTL!
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ABOVE: Kamalamma from Kondu Botlavaripalem. Her husband died some years back, retired from the military. For some reason she was not able to access his pension, which is very sad. Probably government corruption, which is so prevalent in India. Pray for her.
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ABOVE: Narsamma, a new widow in the village of KB Palem (same as above, but tired of typing that long name). She's very needy in different ways; she needs the Lord. Pray for her heart to be opened up to the Gospel as we and perhaps others share with her. Many huts among our widows & elderly in KB Palem need to be repaired (or torn down and rebuilt). But the govt. officials have told them they need to move out of there, as it is not their land that they settled on. It's govt. land. We are waiting to see what the officials do. Pray they will allot these pitifully poor people a different location to settle.
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ABOVE: These women are part of the widows & elderly ministry in Paliboinavaripalem. The younger woman with the granddaughter, her husband abandoned her a few years ago. She has many health problems, so doesn't work much or none at all.
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"Whatever you do, do all things to the glory of GOD." 1 Corinthians 10:31 |
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