Bev and I have been in India the month of March, helping to strengthen the work we are doing in establishing new congregations among the unreached villages of Maharashtra State. Pastor Mike Ewoldt, a dear friend of ours, met us in the city of Jalna where we have been able to launch over 100 house churches in the past year and a half. Some of these churches are significant in size, upwards of 200 people. We are working to develop a model church in the city of Jalna and Pastor Mike has committed to help us by contributing $30,000 toward the construction of a new building. We're building for about $10 per square foot. The church already has a piece of land and though it is small, it looks like we will be able to seat about 600 comfortably when the building is completed. The congregation is already 600 members so they will be going to two services when the building is finished sometime in the next 6 months.

In the city of Nanded, we ministered to the congregation of one of the pastors we have helped to launch last year and were amazed to see that he has been able to develop a congregation of well over 200 adults in fifteen months. Even more amazing was the fact that every single member of his church had come from a Hindu or Sikh background. We ministered in a late afternoon meeting where they assembled well over 400 people in a little room that should not have held more than 200 sitting on the floor. The conditions were stifling but the people remained for nearly four hours of service. Some of the members are from the Sikh sect, which is a hybrid of Hinduism and Islam. I wish you could have seen Beverly dancing with them during the worship. Priceless!

We are now in the city of Aurungabad where we are helping a young pastor I met on my last trip here in December of 2005. From Aurungabad we will travel by train to the Pakistan border and cross over into Pakistan where we will spend the month of April. Thanks for all you are doing to help us establish the Kingdom.

Rick