Dear Prayer partners
Greetings from Udaipur,.Rajastan. With much sorrow, please be informed that one of our Bijapur, Chattisgarh Bible School Student Aytu Telam was shot dead on October 29th, 2007 by Naxalites. He is survived with his wife and two year old daughter. His wife has been a helper at our Bijapur school and Tayloring institute. Please uphold the local church, and pastor Ramesh.
Even in all these troubles, we are more than conquerors.
" If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own son, but gave him up for us all how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God justified. ........ Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shoall trouble or harship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written, For your sake we face death all day long, we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered..
No, in all these things we are more then conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any power4s, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord" Rom. 8: 31-39.
Please remember the family and the church. If you like to help this family in any way, by prayer or financial support:
Please send your gift to :
CNI, 5449 Robinhill Ct., Norcross, GA 30093.
In HIS field,
Your brother
Thampy Mathew
Saturday, November 3, 2007
Russian Trip
Russia : A beautiful country 10/22/07
Thampy Mathew: My experience and thought about Moscow .
On 23rd October I reached here in Moscow. My host received me at the airport and made arrangements for my registration with the Ismailovo Delta Hotel. Then I was taken to the apartment 59 at the sixteenth floor. The main room was given to me and I was blessed to have everything arranged in this place. Praise God for HIS provisions. On 24 th I was taken to the Restaurant run by my host and fed me with the best of Russian/European food. Also I was introduced to the underground rail system which is an amazing system.
The underground rail system have eleven rail lines coming to the Metro, Moscow. Metro Moscow station is a marvel. People are very nice, but mind their own business, well dressed, very clean people. There are dozens of ethnic groups of people live in Moscow. Russia's population is around 140 million and almost 11million people live in Moscow. That means around 13percent may be. Moscow have three ring roads, inner and outer. The railway system as well as the bus (almost, all of them are electric….not battery operated, but each bus is connect with an overhead electric connection. These connections are through two long connections, positive and negative). The pollution level in Moscow seems to be very low.
Some of the underground stations are around 200 to 300 feet under. Fast elevators are used to carry the huge number of people. The flow of the system is superb. People are well educated and most of them read while travel. Everything is in Russian language. Road signs, to everything. For a foreigner, it is extremely difficult to go anywhere without a guide. I was blessed to have Nadia, a young girl from 1000 kim.. away, who study and live in Moscow as my guide for two days. I had the opportunity to witness to her and she was given a Bible. I spoke to her about God and she was wondering what is God, after all. Well, the communism had its effects on the people and people are not much concerned, or know anything about God.
It is estimated that 89percent of the people are Orthodox Christians . But, only 3 percent goes to church. The Moscow city is full of churches and cathedrals from the 18th and 19th century. The Orthodox church is the official state church. They did went through persecution and destruction by Nepoleon, World wars and the communism. The Churches are so beautiful, some of them are humongous and the domes of these churches are so beautifully made. The St. Basils cathedral next to the Kremlin, is an amazing architecture. The Kremlin wall is so huge… the towers around and the beauty is so magnificent. I could not go inside the Kremlin, but I had an opportunity to take a picture with Putin, (not real Putin, but just a statue close to be alive!!). Just kidding.
The red square is surrounded by Kremlin, the St. Bail Cathedral and a number of Monasteries. It is really really beautiful scene. The climate was not very good, so the pictures I took are so dull.. What to do. May be another time. We returned to Toplistan, the suburb where I was staying by evening through the metro rail system. Nadia, by guide spoke broken English, and it was very helpful.
The next day, I met with a young man . While speaking, I told him that I am from Atlanta and he said, he was an exchange student at Brookwood High school, Snellville, GA in the 1990's. We shared, and exchanged news about Atlanta. That was another experience. Very rarely you see people speak English. When you see someone who Speak English, it is really interesting.
The young people are very much interested in excellent dresses, and very expensive dresses. Also most of the young people are health conscious, I mean, very rarely you see young people very fat. They are so much interested in American music, discos and other things. One tragedy is that most of them, men and women, girls and boys smoke and drink. Drinking is a big problem all over Russia. Drinking in public is acceptable and you see everyone drinking beer in open like pepsi or cola. Also, I was told, and noticed that the lives of people are being destroyed by heavy drinking.
I was taken to a restaurant and I was shown to three people who was sitting there for the last 15 hours and three people together consumed 30 litres of beer. That is part of their life. Moscovites spent lot of money for this kind of lifestyle. I am just sharing what I have seen in few days. You do not see very much children in the country, because the birth rate is so small. Most of the women reach the age of child bearing, it is said 25% does not have the ability, due to drinking and smoking. The population is shrinking due to that and that is a major problem facing the country. The immigration process is so strict that not many people come here either.
Women outnumber men.. due to the fact that men live 55 to 59 years whereas, women live up to 75 years average. The middle aged men and women are of big physical body and looks more fatter than the younger generation. Almost all the people are white skin.. very rarely you see black or brown people. I was a rare commodity among them. I am told that there are around 5000 Indians live in Russia. I did not see any in my travel in Russia, or Moscow. People from Bangladesh Numbers around 500. Most of them doing business. There are a number of African students studying in the universities, scholarship students from African governments. Have seen a number of Russian girls with African students. But I was told that the Russian people does not like that. But the culture, and the thinking is being changed due to liberalization and capital market reforms.
It is told that the 90% of 'Russian money roll around Moscow. The people in the villages are poor and they live very poor life. Next day I was taken to the town, 100 KM from Moscow, by train to see the Geningrah, UNICEF, childrens home. This was partly managed by Unicef, and another NGO directed by an Ethiopian gentleman, Gehsyn. My travel by train was very interesting. These electric trains are very good. Every station, people enter and exit. Also it is a common seen that men and women, vendors selling items for their living enter into the train and make their pitch about the product that they sell. And then they walk through the isle and people who are interested will buy. Once one person finish his or her pitch, then the next person do the speaking and promote their product. I bought a table cloth, for 200 rubles.. that is 7 dollars.
Our train stopped at the Geningrah station and we exit and walked half mile through the muddy road to reach to the Unicef place. Unicef built two buildings here to accommodate and train refugees and asylum seekers. Mr. Sergi, the director of operation received us and provided coffee. Then I was introduced to the children from Iran, Afganistan, Iraq, Kazekistan and Kurdish Iraq. These children are being taken care well and they are expecting to reach to some place, may be in USA soon. Everybody is so fond of USA. They think that US is a better place and one day they can come there. Many people took pictures with us and we had good time together with these people. Then A was taken to a place where they give training to the people to stitch and make rain coats and other materials. My Ethiopian friend told me that the local people does not like to have refugees coming to their town and they stopped a building program in this town. The resistance to immigrants and foreigners are very high. I was told that Skinheads are very active and they hate and torture others.
The church in Russia is basically Orthodox only . The Baptist are still trying to buy property and establish… but the resistance from the local as well as from the Orthodox church is so severe that they could not accomplish their goals. The orthodox church join with the local government to oppose any such attempt. Many other protestant groups are still trying to have their church registered, but this is a herculian task in this country. Pray that the Lord will open new doors and new connections in the country and around the administration. Our God is a God of miracles and HE will do that.
Today, I visited the "Cathedral of Christ the savior church in Moscow. What a marvel. This was built in 1996 from the earlier ashes of the old history and church property. The original cathedral was intended to last for centuries, but the communists condemned it to destruction. It was destroyed precisely because it was the symbol of Russia. The church was blown up on 5 th December 1931. The communists wanted to erect a "Palace of soviets" but they failed to do that. They wanted to erect the statue of Lenin with a 415 meter high tower. But, that did not happened. In 1994 Moscow government approved to build the Cathedral and in 1996 they completed the project with speed and commitment. Today, this is one of the great symbol of Russia standing tall in the city of Moscow. The towers, the domes and the inscriptions all in the Russian language are of excellence. Thousands come to see the place and many light candles in front of the pictures. Some of the saints, their bodies are buried inside this huge church.. This cathedral is the largest in Russia and can hold 10000 people.
As I am here only few days, I spent lot of time in Prayer for the country and its leaders. God will do great things and next time I would like to plan it better and travel to the interiors of Russia. Russia holds 1/6th of the total land in the world, but have only 140 million people. The biggest pure water lake is in Russia. The rail lines are so long, some reaching 5 to 6 thousand kilometers. The Russian Economy is growing so fast and the real estate is booming. Moscow is one of the most expensive cities of the world. What we can do to bring gospel of Jesus Christ to these people. As I mentioned, these people are very loving and they give priority to families. But so many of the families are broken due to alcoholism and lack of faith in God.
We do have a responsibility to reach to these people and the first and foremost thing that we can do is to pray… pray… pray.. that God will bring great leaders and open the hearts and minds of the people. Is there anything too hard for the LORD? Thanks for your prayers and support. God bless. Your brother
Thampy Mathew
Thampy Mathew: My experience and thought about Moscow .
On 23rd October I reached here in Moscow. My host received me at the airport and made arrangements for my registration with the Ismailovo Delta Hotel. Then I was taken to the apartment 59 at the sixteenth floor. The main room was given to me and I was blessed to have everything arranged in this place. Praise God for HIS provisions. On 24 th I was taken to the Restaurant run by my host and fed me with the best of Russian/European food. Also I was introduced to the underground rail system which is an amazing system.
The underground rail system have eleven rail lines coming to the Metro, Moscow. Metro Moscow station is a marvel. People are very nice, but mind their own business, well dressed, very clean people. There are dozens of ethnic groups of people live in Moscow. Russia's population is around 140 million and almost 11million people live in Moscow. That means around 13percent may be. Moscow have three ring roads, inner and outer. The railway system as well as the bus (almost, all of them are electric….not battery operated, but each bus is connect with an overhead electric connection. These connections are through two long connections, positive and negative). The pollution level in Moscow seems to be very low.
Some of the underground stations are around 200 to 300 feet under. Fast elevators are used to carry the huge number of people. The flow of the system is superb. People are well educated and most of them read while travel. Everything is in Russian language. Road signs, to everything. For a foreigner, it is extremely difficult to go anywhere without a guide. I was blessed to have Nadia, a young girl from 1000 kim.. away, who study and live in Moscow as my guide for two days. I had the opportunity to witness to her and she was given a Bible. I spoke to her about God and she was wondering what is God, after all. Well, the communism had its effects on the people and people are not much concerned, or know anything about God.
It is estimated that 89percent of the people are Orthodox Christians . But, only 3 percent goes to church. The Moscow city is full of churches and cathedrals from the 18th and 19th century. The Orthodox church is the official state church. They did went through persecution and destruction by Nepoleon, World wars and the communism. The Churches are so beautiful, some of them are humongous and the domes of these churches are so beautifully made. The St. Basils cathedral next to the Kremlin, is an amazing architecture. The Kremlin wall is so huge… the towers around and the beauty is so magnificent. I could not go inside the Kremlin, but I had an opportunity to take a picture with Putin, (not real Putin, but just a statue close to be alive!!). Just kidding.
The red square is surrounded by Kremlin, the St. Bail Cathedral and a number of Monasteries. It is really really beautiful scene. The climate was not very good, so the pictures I took are so dull.. What to do. May be another time. We returned to Toplistan, the suburb where I was staying by evening through the metro rail system. Nadia, by guide spoke broken English, and it was very helpful.
The next day, I met with a young man . While speaking, I told him that I am from Atlanta and he said, he was an exchange student at Brookwood High school, Snellville, GA in the 1990's. We shared, and exchanged news about Atlanta. That was another experience. Very rarely you see people speak English. When you see someone who Speak English, it is really interesting.
The young people are very much interested in excellent dresses, and very expensive dresses. Also most of the young people are health conscious, I mean, very rarely you see young people very fat. They are so much interested in American music, discos and other things. One tragedy is that most of them, men and women, girls and boys smoke and drink. Drinking is a big problem all over Russia. Drinking in public is acceptable and you see everyone drinking beer in open like pepsi or cola. Also, I was told, and noticed that the lives of people are being destroyed by heavy drinking.
I was taken to a restaurant and I was shown to three people who was sitting there for the last 15 hours and three people together consumed 30 litres of beer. That is part of their life. Moscovites spent lot of money for this kind of lifestyle. I am just sharing what I have seen in few days. You do not see very much children in the country, because the birth rate is so small. Most of the women reach the age of child bearing, it is said 25% does not have the ability, due to drinking and smoking. The population is shrinking due to that and that is a major problem facing the country. The immigration process is so strict that not many people come here either.
Women outnumber men.. due to the fact that men live 55 to 59 years whereas, women live up to 75 years average. The middle aged men and women are of big physical body and looks more fatter than the younger generation. Almost all the people are white skin.. very rarely you see black or brown people. I was a rare commodity among them. I am told that there are around 5000 Indians live in Russia. I did not see any in my travel in Russia, or Moscow. People from Bangladesh Numbers around 500. Most of them doing business. There are a number of African students studying in the universities, scholarship students from African governments. Have seen a number of Russian girls with African students. But I was told that the Russian people does not like that. But the culture, and the thinking is being changed due to liberalization and capital market reforms.
It is told that the 90% of 'Russian money roll around Moscow. The people in the villages are poor and they live very poor life. Next day I was taken to the town, 100 KM from Moscow, by train to see the Geningrah, UNICEF, childrens home. This was partly managed by Unicef, and another NGO directed by an Ethiopian gentleman, Gehsyn. My travel by train was very interesting. These electric trains are very good. Every station, people enter and exit. Also it is a common seen that men and women, vendors selling items for their living enter into the train and make their pitch about the product that they sell. And then they walk through the isle and people who are interested will buy. Once one person finish his or her pitch, then the next person do the speaking and promote their product. I bought a table cloth, for 200 rubles.. that is 7 dollars.
Our train stopped at the Geningrah station and we exit and walked half mile through the muddy road to reach to the Unicef place. Unicef built two buildings here to accommodate and train refugees and asylum seekers. Mr. Sergi, the director of operation received us and provided coffee. Then I was introduced to the children from Iran, Afganistan, Iraq, Kazekistan and Kurdish Iraq. These children are being taken care well and they are expecting to reach to some place, may be in USA soon. Everybody is so fond of USA. They think that US is a better place and one day they can come there. Many people took pictures with us and we had good time together with these people. Then A was taken to a place where they give training to the people to stitch and make rain coats and other materials. My Ethiopian friend told me that the local people does not like to have refugees coming to their town and they stopped a building program in this town. The resistance to immigrants and foreigners are very high. I was told that Skinheads are very active and they hate and torture others.
The church in Russia is basically Orthodox only . The Baptist are still trying to buy property and establish… but the resistance from the local as well as from the Orthodox church is so severe that they could not accomplish their goals. The orthodox church join with the local government to oppose any such attempt. Many other protestant groups are still trying to have their church registered, but this is a herculian task in this country. Pray that the Lord will open new doors and new connections in the country and around the administration. Our God is a God of miracles and HE will do that.
Today, I visited the "Cathedral of Christ the savior church in Moscow. What a marvel. This was built in 1996 from the earlier ashes of the old history and church property. The original cathedral was intended to last for centuries, but the communists condemned it to destruction. It was destroyed precisely because it was the symbol of Russia. The church was blown up on 5 th December 1931. The communists wanted to erect a "Palace of soviets" but they failed to do that. They wanted to erect the statue of Lenin with a 415 meter high tower. But, that did not happened. In 1994 Moscow government approved to build the Cathedral and in 1996 they completed the project with speed and commitment. Today, this is one of the great symbol of Russia standing tall in the city of Moscow. The towers, the domes and the inscriptions all in the Russian language are of excellence. Thousands come to see the place and many light candles in front of the pictures. Some of the saints, their bodies are buried inside this huge church.. This cathedral is the largest in Russia and can hold 10000 people.
As I am here only few days, I spent lot of time in Prayer for the country and its leaders. God will do great things and next time I would like to plan it better and travel to the interiors of Russia. Russia holds 1/6th of the total land in the world, but have only 140 million people. The biggest pure water lake is in Russia. The rail lines are so long, some reaching 5 to 6 thousand kilometers. The Russian Economy is growing so fast and the real estate is booming. Moscow is one of the most expensive cities of the world. What we can do to bring gospel of Jesus Christ to these people. As I mentioned, these people are very loving and they give priority to families. But so many of the families are broken due to alcoholism and lack of faith in God.
We do have a responsibility to reach to these people and the first and foremost thing that we can do is to pray… pray… pray.. that God will bring great leaders and open the hearts and minds of the people. Is there anything too hard for the LORD? Thanks for your prayers and support. God bless. Your brother
Thampy Mathew
Kerala The Beautiful
Vow, It is awesome. My recent visit to Idukki district, the home of Idukki Dam... oh what a beautiful spot.. the green.. the water falls... the vegetations. Unbelievable! Amazing scenes. God's creation, a marvel. I am amazed at the wonders of the nature.. the creation of the creator. Thank you Jesus, for the beautiful world. We are HIS unique creation.
TM
TM
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