IN Network's vision is to glorify God and win men, women and children to Jesus Christ. Our mission is to connect Christian partners in effective evangelism, discipleship and community development.
It is reported that Mahatma Gandhi,Father of India wrote a note to his leaders in 1948, which today, is relevantto us as well. He said, "I will give you a talisman. Whenever you are in doubt,or when the self becomes too much with you, apply the following test. Recallthe face of the poorest and the weakest man or woman whom you may have seen andask yourself, if the step you contemplate is going to be of any use to him orher. Will he or she gain anything by it? Will it restore him to control overhis life and destiny? In other words, will it lead to swaraj (freedom) for thehungry and spiritually starving millions? Then you will find your doubts andyour self melt away."
‘Usha' in Nepali means Dawn of the Sun.Usha, the young woman, comes fromone of the farming classes of the Newar community of Nepal. They are thought tobe people who are good with their hands but with limited intelligence.
In her testimony Usha says, "I was justa village girl when I first heard about the Lord in a small Christian meetingalong with my friends. In a few weeks all my friends stopped going to thefellowship but I kept attending and believed in the Lord. When I shared myfaith with my relatives they were really upset and treated me very badly but Icontinued to believe."
Usha had dropped out of school afterthe fifth grade and people thought she was not capable of anything except tobear children and be a farmer. But when she found the Lord she was motivated tobe something and this is the time when she was introduced to Lydia VocationalTraining Centre in Kathmandu. She was timid and fearful and when she was in theschool she did not show much sign of talent.One day when the Lydia Centre needed someone to come and helpas a maid she applied for the job. She was fine when it came to making tea andsweeping and washing floors but to her horror she was asked to clean toilets aswell! This was too much because itis the job of the Chame (low sweeper caste) in her community. She went home andcomplained and cried in front of her husband. He told her to think and praybefore quitting the job. She prayed and in her own words says, "Whenever Iprayed the Lord showed me only toilets. I asked the Lord to remove the visionof the toilets but it would not go away. Then the Lord told me to be humble andclean the toilets and that settled the matter and I joyfully cleaned thetoilets too."
In a few months she was asked to helpstudents in crafts during her free time and there she found that she had a naturaltalent for designs and handwork. Later when there was vacancy for a craft teachershe applied and got the job. Now she had found a niche in the school and therewas no looking back. She asked us to provide her with more training and we senther for all the needed training and today she is managing the whole department.She not only teaches but also sells the items produced at the Centre. She toldme, "When I was asked to sell I was told to use a calculator but I had no cluehow it worked. One man taught me how to use a calculator. Today I can doaccounts of any amount for Lydia." When I heard this I challenged her to learncomputer and now she can do simple and basic work in computer as well.
She says "I want to thank God for allthe things He has done. Before I came to Lydia I did not know anything but nowI am capable. I am also privileged to help many girls who come from thevillages who are as ignorant as I was. Now I know all I have is given by God toempower other ladies."
Let us always have those like thisyoung lady in front of our eyes. We should honestly ask, "Will our decisionbenefit and empower people like Usha?"
True to her name Usha today brings thedawn of hope and life to many women. But we must all also realize that Usha iswhere she is today because of a sponsor somewhere sending money faithfully, anoffice assistant laboriously compiling letters and reports and a host of peopledoing big and small things.
Nicanor Tamang
Showing a better way
CzechRepublic
Patrik Muller, an I.N. Network CzechRepublic youth worker, who lectures in schools, tells of some significantevents in his ministry of late.
We have decided to participate at a socialservices exposition of our Liberec region. One of the visitors who came to ourstand was a young woman. She told us that she experienced one of my lecturesnine years ago and that some of the things I said then still had beenencouraging her. She said that she decided to accept things that I said duringthat lecture because she felt I told the truth even though she had not known meprior that time. The lecture was about venereal diseases, where I also focus onself-value and reasons why we do not understand it and treat ourselves likejunk. It was at a medical high school, where students are mostly girls. We mustunderstand that those girls use their emotions to positively influence thepatients. However, they do not know where to obtain necessary encouragement forthemselves. So they seek for relationships with young men to rechargethemselves hopelessly searching for the right man. The girls are also underenormous peer pressure from their classmates. This young woman decided to goagainst this flow, for example, no longer wearing provocative clothes. ThankGod that this young lady decided to take different path. I was only able toinvite her to some of our events we do in our church.
Another encouraging event was a talk withgirls who regularly attend our free time club. After several talks one of thegirls has been having a deep desire to be baptized. She hasn't turned her lifeto Jesus yet, however, Christianity is something appealing and pleasant to her.I long for her to know God. Two more girls joined that conversation and theylater expressed their passion to know God, too. I encouraged them to pray andso meet God as He is, so that they do not rely on emotions only. These girlsalso joined events organized by our church.
Our NGO (a ministry of I.N. Network) joinedwith our church and prepared huge event for families with kids called ‘The Festivalof Ideas'. There were around one thousand visitors. Girls from our churchworked at different stations where kids completed various tasks.
Children were given an opportunity to visitfree-time activities founded by our church, mothers were informed aboutmothers' centers run by the church and seniors (retirees) were presented withwork of our elderly care service. Also the teenagers were able to see our clubZakopanej pes (dug dog). The program was composed of different shows by ourkindergarten and free time activities' children, music by our church band,stations for kids with rewards, horse riding and most interesting was a twelvemeter long strawberry cake prepared by professionals.
In September we are opening a new socialservice - club Zakopanej pes (Dug dog) - drop in center for children andteenagers. It will be another alternative where we can invite children and studentsfrom schools where Christians can serve them.
Romila’s Story
Nepal
Some time ago Nicanor Tamang of I.N. NetworkNepal, was invited to a fellowship meeting in a place called Khokana, a largeprison-like compound home to five hundred lepers, in the Kathmandu Valley. Thelepers were in a bad state, some had no eyes, some had open wounds oozing withblood and pus and others were terribly deformed. Some of them looked healthyenough just to move around. The government did not want any of these peoplemoving out to the city and so they were kept in the colony. They were givensome rice and money so that they would simply survive, away from the healthycity population. Leprosy is a symbol of the curse of gods in Hindu society. Inthis colony around 35 people had come to know the Lord.
The pastor took Nicanor to a little place inthe colony and in one of the narrow passageways where they held a churchservice. Later when Nicanor started a church in Kathmandu Valley most memberswere from a leper background. The church undertook to take care of that littlefellowship in Khokana and he became their Pastor as well. Having been initiallysick to his stomach with the smell and sight of the plight of the lepers,Nicanor soon was able to break bread and drink from the same cup.
On one of his visits he noticed a littlegirl. She was chubby with an angelic smile and twinkling eyes. "From the backof the little crowd a small man came up to me and told me that she was hisdaughter. Then he told me, ‘Pastor, herethe child has no future and the schooling is almost nonexistent. Would you takethe child and educate her in Kathmandu'. I did not know what to do eventhough she was a lovely child. Nevertheless both her parents were lepers.I told him that when I returned in twoweeks I would let him know. I shared the matter with my wife and she agreed toallow me to welcome the girl into our home until we were able to put her in aschool. The next week I went back to the leper's colony and brought her backwith me on my motorcycle. She and our two daughters were like sisters. Aftersometime we were able to find a sponsor and a Christian school for her. In timeshe completed her high school and nursing school.
"We offered her a job in Lydia VocationalTraining Centre and she ministered among the rural ladies who came to the centrefor training. Later she was promoted as Supervisor of the Centre and was ableto disciple hundreds of ladies.
"She is now married to a lovely young manwith two healthy children. She and her husband minister to many people and havea special heart for the lepers. What an amazing change took place in her life.Today, she is a person who brings hope to many people in Nepal. This waspossible because of a few people who got involved in her life. We thank theLord because He gave us the grace to see her need and make a difference in herlife."
Ministry to Iraqi refugees
Turkey
Ilyas is a I.N. Network
church planter in Istanbul,
Turkey. Along
with other believers he has a ministry among Iraqi refugees. The stories he
shares give us an insight into the plight of these people and their need for
hope and security.
Halide came to Istanbul
with her two children, not knowing whether her husband is alive or dead, in
prison or free. She had to flee from Iraq due to many threats. When Ilyas
and the others visited her she looked deeply troubled and full of sorrow. After
talking with her about her difficult situation he shared the Good News with
her, in an effort to bring comfort in the midst of her deep distress. The
team's prayer is that she and her children will be healed from their deep emotional
and spiritual wounds.
After being threatened and going through hunger and
want, Seran aged 28 years took her three step-siblings aged 17, 14 and 12 years
old, and fled from Iraq. Both her parents have died and she has chosen to care
for the younger members of her family even though she is not obliged to do so
in the Middle Eastern culture. She has chosen to do so by God's provision in
the face of all the obstacles. Words of love and grace were shared with them by
the team. After prayer she opened her heart to the Messiah.
Cemal and his wife learned that their daughter, while away
visiting her mother in law was killed brutally by a local gang of criminals. Ilyas
shares how they endeavoured to bring comfort to them through words and prayer
knowing that only the Holy Spirit can comfort their hearts and reveal Jesus to
them.
Pray for Ilyas and the others for the Lord's
encouragement and His power to work through them as they minister to these
folk.
Growing in the ways of the Lord
Nepal
Janita Rai is the only Christian in her family and
seldom received permission to travel the distance required each week to attend
church in a nearby village. This year Janita joined the intake of young women
at the Lydia Vocational Training Centre in Kathmandu, Nepal. She is very
thankful for the opportunity granted her to constantly be in fellowship with
other believers and to attend church regularly.
She says, "I
am very happy that I am being able to learn so many things about God and so
many skills. I like being the rules because I feel if we can't live a
disciplined life then how we can follow what Christ has asked us to do. I have
learnt so many things like the importance of prayer in a Christians' life and
how prayer can help us in our daily growth and that we are one in Christ and He
loves everyone equally and we should not discriminate others by their caste. I
feel there are still so many things to learn. After my graduation I have
thought of going to my church and teaching what I have learnt to others. I want
to open my own tailoring shop."
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