In northern India, Pastor Lawrence S. and his family have been serving the Lord faithfully for decades. Lawrence is completely dedicated to making the Word of God known throughout India. He holds a massive open air Christian program every year that draws crowds close to 10,000 people. For several days people gather to hear guest speakers, to worship, dance and celebrate. These open air programs are a miraculous event in India because of the intense persecution from Hindu neighbors and the government. Lawrence has gained the trust of local leaders and the police help protect the crowds. The ministry that Pastor Lawrence has built is amazing. He travels to preach and teach in house churches almost daily.
Even though his ministry is growing, he continues to do village outreach in very remote areas. The ministry visits among the slums are painful to see. It’s common for them to have severe poverty and disease. Most people are homeless or live in small huts and suffer from various diseases. They have no money to get medicine or medical help. There is little food and the small children go without clothes. He describes the first time he had been to the village Pimpi. It is in a very thick forest and took 4 hours by motorcycle to get there. It was a hard tour through forests, mountains and narrow roads to the village. When he arrived, what he saw made him feel such sorrow for those living there. He said it was absolutely dry; there was spiritual famine everywhere he looked. There were only two believers in the village and the other tribal people are lost. They don’t know who Jesus Christ is; there are no churches, pastors or schools. The people are humble, loving and very simple in the way they live. They are extremely poor and live in mud and hay houses but are very hungry for the Loving Word of God. It was a glorious opportunity to preach the Gospel. He performed the very first marriage and child dedication at the village. Please pray for his ministry, health and finances so that he may continue his tireless work of making the name of Christ known to every Indian.