Newly Constructed Doors Of The Church
Love & Hope Ministries Update:
April 2022 Newsletter
Dear friends and partners,
Greetings to you from Love and Hope Ministries!
Love and Hope Ministries celebrated it’s 18th Anniversary on March 4, 2022. God has been so good and so faithful to this ministry for the last 18 years. We started this ministry with six dollars in 2004. God has blessed this ministry over the years and continues to extend it’s borders for His honor and glory. We encountered so many challenges, discouragements, and disappointments during these 18 years, but God has extended His grace and strength to us to stay true to the call which He has placed upon our lives. At times we wanted to quit the mission work in India and Haiti, but God’s love and compassion compelled us to press on, to plod on, and to march on. Dr. Benjamin Crandall, former President of Zion Bible Institute, used to encourage us with these simple but powerful words when we were students at Zion: “Don’t quit. Never, ever, ever, ever, give up. Keep on, and keep on going. Don’t run from the problems and challenges in life and ministry, but face them with an unwavering faith in God and in His Word and through fasting and prayer. Don’t look back and move forward until you finish the race.” Those words echoed in our hearts and minds whenever we wanted to quit. They still encourage and motivate us to go forward with the work which God has entrusted to us. God be the glory! His mercy endures forever!
A Baptism At Adonai Gospel Center
Ministry Update In India:
Despite the growing opposition to Christianity in India, God is building His Kingdom. God helped us to complete the church building in Pedavegi, which is the mother church for Love and Hope Ministries. After graduating from a bible college, Pastor Jeffrey started that church under a tree in the beginning of 2018. Later on, we built a shed where he conducted services. Finally, we completed the walls in 2021 and installed the doors and glass windows by February of this year. Bathrooms were constructed for the church. We also built a parsonage next to the church, where Pastor Jeffrey is residing now and giving his undivided attention to the growth of the church. All the glory belongs to God. We thank each and every one of you who contributed to this project.
The church is still in need of a water supply. We are hoping to dig an artesian well. At present, we are depending upon the farmers next door to us, who are graciously allowing us to use the water from their bore well. God also provided a sound system for the church but it still needs two sound boxes. We estimate that it will cost at least five thousand dollars for these two projects.
Recently, four people were baptized at the church and currently 30-40 people are attending each Sunday. Please continue to pray for Pastor Jeffrey and for the believers at Adonai Gospel Center so that they will grow spiritually and numerically and impact the community around them.
We have undertaken another church building project in a village called Sandragunta. Pastor Anandam who went to be with the Lord in October 2021, was the pastor of this church for many years. He conducted his services in a small hut for over 15 years. He prayed and believed God for a permanent structure until his death, but he did not see it happen. He died in the arms of Pastor Raju Rapaka, the National Director of Love and Hope Ministries. Before he died, these were his last words: “God is calling me home. I am going home. My desire to build a church in this place never came to pass. After my departure, please make sure that you will build a beautiful church here for God’s glory.” After he uttered these words, he went to his eternal home.
God provided for us to start the construction work in January of this year in answer to Pastor Anandam’s prayers. We have just finished laying the foundation and have erected the pillars and have laid the concrete slab for the roof. Please pray for the completion of this church building project. The iron, cement, sand, and labor rates have doubled in the post-Covid world. We are in need of more funds to complete the building. We are trusting God for at least $8,000 – $10,000. If God leads you to contribute to this project, please do so. It will be an eternal investment.
We are planning to go to India on a missions trip as a family in November of this year. We are also planning to take a team with us. Please keep our upcoming missions trip to India in your prayers.
In 2008, we took a team to India. During this trip, we prayed over this plot of land that we had purchased in the village of Pedavegi, which is on the outskirts of Eluru.
Praying Over The Land In India
In 2010, Rev. McRae layed the foundation stone for the future ministry building that God would lead us to build.
Rev. McRae Laying The Foundation Stone
In the beginning of 2018, Pastor Jeffrey started Adonai Gospel Center. He and his congregation met under this tree for about 6 months.
Pastor Jeffrey & His Congregation Meeting Under A Tree
We started the building process for a permanent church building in the summer of 2018.
Starting The Building Project For Adonai Gospel Center
This structure with a roof was completed in the end of 2018. The members of Adonai Gospel Center met under this structure throughout 2019 and 2020.
The Structure Built For Adonai Gospel Center
We started building the walls in the spring of 2021 and finished the walls and floor by the end of 2021. Throughout this time, the church continued to gather amidst the construction.
The Almost Finished Church Building
In February 2022, we completed the doors, windows, and finishing touches. It has been a journey of 4 years to see this church building come to fruition! Here you see the finished church building with the completed bathrooms on the left and the completed parsonage on the right. God has been so faithful!
The Finished Church Building For Adonai Gospel Center
The Bathrooms On The Left Side Of The Church Building
The Parsonage On The Right Side Of The Church Building
We also built a baptismal next to the church building. Here are some of the new believers being baptized.
A New Believer Being Baptized
A New Believer Being Baptized
Here is the congregation of Adonai Gospel Center gathering for one of their Sunday Services.
The Congregation Of Adonai Gospel Center
In the beginning of 2022, we started this new church building project in Sandragunta Village in honor of Pastor L. Anandam. Here is the progress we have made so far.
The New Church Building Project In Sandragunta Village
Honoring The Life Of Pastor L. Anandam
Honoring The Life Of Pastor L. Anandam
Pastor L. Anandam passed away due to heart failure this past year. He was my Sunday school teacher. He resigned his job from a private plastic company in 1974 after receiving a call from God to enter fulltime ministry. After attending a local Bible School for a year from 1975-1976, he did an internship for one year with my spiritual father, Pastor K.P. Devasahayam.
Later, Pastor Anandam pastored a church for about two years in a village called Duddukuru. Then he moved to Sandragunta in late 1979 or early 1980. He stayed and ministered there for more than forty years until God called him home on October 14, 2021. Pastor Anandam became a part of Love and Hope Ministries in 2012 and was elected as the President of Love and Hope Pastors Fellowship in 2017, the position which he held until his homegoing.
In 2019, when I visited India with Jeremiah and a team from the U.S., we dedicated Pastor Anandam’s son-in-law, Pastor K. Ephraim, into full-time ministry. Currently he is looking after the church which Pastor Andandam left behind. Please pray for Pastor Ephraim and his wife Sanjeevamma and their 2 year old son.
Picture With Pastor L. Anandam
Picture With Pastor L. Anandam
Picture Of Pastor L. Anandam
A Believer In Haiti Receiving A Tarp
Ministry Update In Haiti:
God has given us great favor and success for the “Haiti Tarp Distribution Project”. We were able to distribute more than 250 tarps to believers in 8 different towns who had been affected by the earthquake last fall. We also gave them toiletries, water containers, and water basins to help meet their immediate needs and to help them store drinking water. We sincerely thank each and every one of you and all the churches who donated to this noble project.
We are planning to hold an Evangelistic Event for Children and also to have a Womens Conference in Haiti in the coming months. Please pray that God would remove every obstacle and that the children and women would be blessed by these events.
We are diligently investing in the Kingdom of God in Haiti by investing in the lives of young people. Our focus has been to provide tuition for their education so that they can continue in school despite the ongoing crisis happening in Haiti. At the moment, we are sponsoring about 8 children who’s grades range from elementary to highschool and we are also helping 3 young men with their studies.
The country is devastated by the spreading of gang activities. Many poor uneducated young men are being recruited by evil men to continue the violence. Love and Hope Ministries is being proactive in encouraging young men to pursue a relationship with the Lord Jesus and to further their education. We want to invest in more young people in the near future as the Lord provides.
These water containers were given to believers affected by the recent earthquake so that they could store their drinking water.
Water Containers For Believers In Haiti
Here are some of the Haitian believers receiving tarps to use as temporary shelters.
Believers In A Haitian Church Receiving Tarps
We were also able to distribute water basins along with some of the tarps. These water basins can be used for many purposes such as cooking, cleaning, and laundry.
A Haitian Believer Receiving A Tarp & A Water Basin
Thanksgiving Family Picture
The Lord foils the plans of the nations; He thwarts the purposes of the peoples. But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of His heart through all generations.
– Psalms 33:10-11 (NIV)
Please send us your prayer requests! We regularly pray for our friends and partners and their needs.
Thank you for standing with us in spreading the Gospel and advancing the Kingdom of God for the last 18 years. Your partnership with us is an immeasurable blessing to countless individuals in both Haiti and India. May God continue to bless you and your loved ones!
Blessings,
Jabez & Gloria Rapaka
Your Global Missionaries to India and Haiti
Please prayerfully consider contributing to Love and Hope Ministries. You can send your donations via PayPal by going on our website at:
www.loveandhopeministries.org
You can also give via Zelle using the email:
[email protected]
If you wish to send a check, please make it payable to “Love and Hope Ministries” and send your contribution to:
Love and Hope Ministries
P.O. Box 65295
Virginia Beach, VA 23467
Love and Hope Ministries is a 501 (c) (3) tax-exempt non-profit organization.
All contributions are tax-deductible.