Festival of Sacrifice

Today and the next 3-4 days is a holiday that is celebrated by Muslims called Eid al-Adha. It is called many things - Greater Eid, Festival of Sacrifice and Baqra/Baqri Eid (Goat Festival) are some of the main names for this holiday.

There are many Muslims in Delhi and they will be celebrating this holiday. The Mosque in the picture below is Jama Masjid. It is a very famous mosque in Delhi.

On Eid, men, women & children are expected to dress in their best clothes and perform the Eid prayers. Jama Masjid will be filled with many people during this time.

Muslims that can afford to do so will sacrifice their best domestic animal. In Delhi, it is usually a goat. This sacrifice is in remembrance of the story of Abraham and God's command to sacrifice his son.

One of the most effective ways to witness to Muslims during this time is to explain to them the true history and meaning of the sacrifice and how it all pointed and culminated in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ!

Please pray for Christians during this time that they will be bold in sharing with the Muslims of Delhi! Many people are afraid of Muslims and do not talk or share with them. Please pray for boldness that they will not be afraid to share with them about the hope that they have inside!

Pray that the Muslims will be open to hearing and are able to understand the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus Christ!

God will Provide!

As Thanksgiving is coming upon us, it is awesome to remember the things that we are truly thankful for!

One story from the Bible really reminds me of what I really have to be thankful for! God tested Abraham and God told Abraham to take his son and sacrifice him as a burnt offering. He did as God said and cut the wood for the sacrifice and took his son on the 3 day journey to the place God told him to go. Abraham took his son to sacrifice him. His son asked his father where the sacrifice was and Abraham told him that God will provide the lamb for the burnt offering. Abraham followed what God told him to do and just as he was about to sacrifice his son, an angel of the Lord told him to stop. Abraham showed that he feared God because he didn't withhold his son. After this:

"Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. So Abraham called that place 'The LORD Will Provide.'

(read the full story here: Genesis 22)

As Christians, we have so many things to be thankful for! The most important thing we have to be thankful of is that God provides!! He provided a sacrifice in place for us!!

Please pray for the people that don't know anything about that sacrifice! There are millions of people in Delhi that don't know about the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Please pray that they will get opportunities to hear!!

Joyti

Joyti is a faithful woman. She began going recently to a training in her neighborhood in West Delhi to learn about how to share her testimony and teach others about Jesus. When she first started going, she didn't have any confidence. Joyti and her 2 close friends can't read or write and have never been told that they could do anything besides just go to church. After just 3 weeks of learning how to share and learning Bible stories, Joyti came back with some exciting news!

Joyti and her 2 friends learned that they could do more than just go to church. They learned that they could share the Gospel with anyone and everyone they know and they also learned that they could teach Bible stories too. After just 3 weeks, they started a group in their house. They sing, pray and tell the Bible stories that they have learned. They now have at least 15 people meeting together weekly in Joyti's home! Praise the Lord for faithful people like Joyti! She is using what she knows and is sharing it! She is being faithful with what she has been given! Please pray for Joyti and other people like her in Delhi!

Children's Day!

Today is an Indian holiday called Children's Day! This holiday is internationally celebrated on the 20th of November, but India celebrates it today on the birthday of Jawaharlal Nehru (India's first Prime Minister) who loved children. Children get special treatment on this day and it is a day loved by all children.

Please pray for the children of Delhi! There are millions of children in Delhi that don't have a relationship with Jesus Christ! Please pray for them, as they go about their day. Pray that they will learn about Jesus. Pray for the Christian children - that they won't be afraid to share with their friends about Jesus! Pray for boldness!

Stories

While Delhi has a higher literacy than most places in India, it is still about 20% illiterate. How do illiterate people learn about Jesus if they can't read the Bible?

Storying has become a big and very useful tool in Delhi for teaching and reaching illiterate AND literate people! There are even audio stories in Hindi available here for free to download (just search "Hindi"). Praise the Lord that the Gospel is not only available for those that are literate!

Pray that those that know stories from the Bible will share what they know with their friends & family!!! Pray that they will not only share the stories, but teach them!!

"And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses, entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others."

2 Timothy 2:2

Delhi Information

Delhi is about 82% Hindu, 11.7% Muslim, 4.3% Sikh, 1.1% Jain and 0.9% Christian. While Delhi's death rate is lower than most of India, there are still about 271 registered deaths in Delhi per day. With only 0.9% of the population claiming to be Christian, that is a lot of people that are dying daily without a relationship with Jesus Christ!

Please pray for the 99.1% of the people in Delhi that don't have a relationship with Jesus. Pray that they will get the opportunity to hear about Jesus! Pray for the Christians of Delhi that they would be active in sharing their faith with the people they are in contact with daily that don't know Jesus!

"I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ."
Philemon 1:6

Temptaion

Delhi is about 1% Christian. There are very few Christians in Delhi and our Enemy wants to keep it that way. One of the ways the enemy attacks Christians is through different temptations. There are temptations to keep silent (and not share the Gospel), temptations with pornography & lust, temptations to love money & possessions more than their relationship with Jesus, temptations to lie, cheat & steal and many other temptations that can ruin their witness to the many lost people around them. Pray that the Christians in Delhi will stand strong to the many temptations around them!

"Watch and Pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak." Matthew 26:41