Crosspoint of India

A New Season...

2012-02-02T04:31:00.000-08:00

We are at a new season in our lives and ministry. A season wehave always hoped for, and are a little surprised is here. It is a season ofblessing by just maintaining and improving what God has given us. This isdifferent for each area of ministry.

A great new change is our new offices. We went from one roomwith 4 very old computers to cubicles for each department, networked brand new computersand recently today, 10 cell phones for all our staff! Yes, most of them had onealready, but they were unreliable and costly. These phones are free when wecall each other. A great change!

In the orphanage, maintaining means giving out supplies whenneeded. Our new supply warehouse will really help keep us organized and use ourresources well. It also has separatelibraries for the college students and the children.

Keeping the kids fed is a big part of our daily need. We havehad a year’s supply of children’s multi-vitamins donated to keep them not onlyfed, but healthy as well! We are thankful for all the people who contribute inso many ways. It is a team effort of skills, donations and gifts that keepeverything moving forward.

Titus Women has also seen a LOT of growth this year. We are at a place where we have a lot of potential, but are holding back the group to improve the quality of our products. This seems to be the theme of the entire ministry during this season- Less Growth, Improve Quality. This is something we are all passionate about and thrilled to be able to do, without the pressures of moving into new facilties, getting a new kitchen set up, or major medical issues to tend to.

Spiritually, we need to keep investing in the lives of all these individualpeople we are reaching. We are already planning VBS for the children this summer, outreach projectsfor the students before graduation and a Titus Women retreat this month. Thereare many things on the horizon- and this season is good- because of yourpartnership with us. Thank you.

The blessing of a Mom...if you have one.

2012-01-26T22:11:00.000-08:00

We are well into 2012 aren’t we? I am reminded daily howfast this year will go by. Every day I see another pair of shoes that do notfit and are cast aside. I see pants that are getting shorter and shorter andlittle bellies that are growing and popping out from under the kids shortshirts! Our kids are growing up! Of course this type of development is moreeasily seen through glances at the children, but through spend time with themwe see their spiritual development as well.

This year we have 8 of our kids who are taking their finalexams for high school. Their future studies depend on how they do in this exam.If they do not score in the 90’s they will not be able to get into college. Ifound 3 of our young men studying on my porch last night. To see their disciplineto study blessed me and I hope it will bless you also.

Growing up in an orphanage has lots of disadvantages, butmostly I love the discipline that the children have to learn. They must helptake care of themselves. They learn to wash their own plate after each meal.Many of them wash their own clothes. When they do a poor job they wear dirtyclothes. They learn very quickly. Did you know children are very smart? Thesethings are important to me because I was taught this way.

I was taught when you get up in the morning you make up yourbed. Very first thing you brush your teeth. You put your clothes in the washat the end of the day and don’t let work pile up. Because my mom taught me how toclean, cook and be creative I am a disciplined adult and I appreciate her forthat. This month is my Mom’s birthday month and I am thankful for her life andfor the lessons she has taught me. I am reminded there are many children whogrow up without a mom. I was blessed with one. Have you told your mom you loveher recently? In India alone there are 36 million children who are orphaned or separatedfrom their moms. Be thankful for yours.

Happy Holidays Everyone!

2011-12-01T03:43:00.001-08:00

HappyHolidays Everyone!

BetweenAmerica and India we are working through about 15 different holidays in theselast 2 months of the year, so it seems very fitting to say Happy Holidaysduring the months of Oct and November in India! It has been awhile since wehave sent out an email newsletter. We are working on cleaning up our addressbook and apologize if you receive this more than once. If you can let us knowby a simple reply we will correct that in the future. Very soon we will be sendingout monthly newsletters to better connect our worlds and lives. If you areinterested in receiving one you MUST reply and let us know. We cannot add youwithout your permission. Hope you want to continue hearing about what God isdoing through Crosspoint of India in central India!

Here are afew updates:

We now haveover 80 children at Lighthouse Children’s Home. We changed the name of theorphanage this year to better reflect our vision for the lives of thesechildren as well as prepare for the day we move out of our city andonto our land! We do not have a departure day set yet, but you can help us makethat possible through your continued support throughout 2012. Our oldest Vikkyis in his second year of seminary in south India and our 3 youngest Joel, Sakshi andPrem are just 3 years old! We want to thank our orphan sponsors who make thishome possible.

The kids got some early Christmas gifts!- playground equipment...

and sweaters for the coming winter!

We are overhalf-way through the 12^thyear of Bible School. We continue to lack space for this area ofministry, but continue on because it is the heartbeat of everything we do.Graduation will be March 10, 2012. Will you pray about coming and sending offthese students with your prayers and encouragement?

We arebecoming a lot more seasoned to construction at this point. In 2011 we built anew building just next to our blue boys dorm (that was completed in 2007). Wededicated and opened our Head Office on 11-11-11! Once we make that final movethe ministry will no longer rent any facilities! This really is amazing since 3years ago we rented 5 different buildings. Our family is next! Prepare to hearabout our personal home construction coming in 2012 as well.

Theministry campus has made progress this year. We are ready to put in a septicsystem and begin building some children’s homes! Your continued support forthis area of our ministry is a great need. We appreciate all those who havegiven generously to the future home of our orphanage. God is working and we aremoving forward!

Our churchcontinues to grow. This year we have really encouraged our believers to take onthe task of sharing the good news. They have given out over 100,000 tracts thisyear! We are thankful for their zeal and passion.

The TitusWomen group has grown to over 70 members, with over 120 women passing throughour group in 2011! This has been an amazing amount of growth. Each of the womenare learning the word and worshiping with us weekly. It is exciting to see thepotential through this group of women. Thank you for your purchase of the TitusWomen merchandise. It has been a huge blessing this year!

Let’sfinish out this year well! We are in need of your support to complete a fewunfinished projects as well as close out accounts for the year. Please pray(but not for too long!) and consider giving a tax-deductible donation beforethe end of the year.

Waysyou can help:

· Head Office interior construction- $5000

Weare making inner interiors and will be purchasing desks and furniture. This isa great need. We have not had a proper office in years and this keep us fromhiring the staff we need and being able to send out updates, etc.( Thank youfor your patience in this area!)

· Back up BatteryInvertors for the children’s dorms $1500 each. We need2.

· 5new Computers for the office and a network system, printer, etc. $10,000

· Christmas Celebration Outreach $2,000

We will be feeding over 500 peopleChristmas day lunch as well as putting on a Christmas Program and rentingvehicles and caroling for 3 days!

Yourundesignated donation will be used wherever it is needed the most. Thank youfor your continued support for the past 12 years !

We love andappreciate each one of you! We are so thankful for the opportunity to serve onbehalf of you in India!

2011-09-27T01:40:00.000-07:00

This week I was looking back through some old pictures and thought you would be just as facinated as I was to see how much our kids have grown.

Mangesh came to the orphanage in 2003.

He has been with us 8 years and is now 17 years old!

Mangesh is one of our older boys and has learned to play the guitar and is responsible for evening devotions in the dorm. He also plays for our Sunday morning service.

His brother Manish is also at the home. He is 16.

He has also grown a lot through the years- and is pretty trendy as well!

Ritik came when he was just 3.

Today he is 9!

We care for these children long term. They have a home now, and a Father! Thanks for your support for each and every one!

Written by July visitor: Lorah Young

2011-08-31T08:53:00.000-07:00

"At the end of life we will not be judged by how many diplomas we have received, how much money we have made, how many great things we have done.
We will be judged by "I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat, I was naked and you clothed me. I was homeless, and you took me in."— Mother Teresa
Friends, If you knew all the stories behind each child’s face you would be so in awe of God’s amazing love and provision for each precious child’s life. They have had to overcome things that no one could imagine at such very young ages. Begging for food on the streets, searching for shelter and food on the railroad tracks, and being put into child prostitution. They have lost parents, grandparents, been abandoned, watched people set on fire, lived on the streets by themselves-- basically seen things that I can't even imagine. But I know why those things happen. We live in a world controlled by sin. It is broken. People suffer. Innocent children suffer. What blows my mind is that despite everything these children have been through, they can smile. They can laugh. They can love. They can worship. Every time you see them smile, laugh, love and worship with all their hearts you see a miracle first hand.
We are so blessed and have so much to be thankful for. We have not had to search through trash to survive. We have not had to sleep with rats on the train tracks hoping to get food from the train. We have not had to beg on the streets for food. We have been so blessed and we are blessed to be a blessing.

I have heard stories of India for years now through my friends R & A who live there, and even my Pastor and his wife have both gone and shared even more. I thought I was prepared and had a good understanding of what I was going into…yet I was so wrong. No amount of stories or pictures could have prepared me. When you are talking about a country that is much smaller than ours yet has 1.8 Billion people which over 80% are Hindu and only around 2% are with HOPE, you have just stepped foot on a very dark nation…and very hopeless nation. Every face outside of the organization that I saw was so hopeless. Look at the faces of these children who are living in a village miles outside of Nagpur. Look and see what I see and I saw over and over..Hopelessness.

I would be overwhelmed at thinking of ways to reach the people of India ..Yet God has given A & R clear vision and direction on what they are to do. They have vision to take in 1,000 orphans. They have vision to keep putting out into the nation of India workers each year equipped to win souls and plant c's. Out of the over 28 million orphans in the country- and that number is growing daily- just housing a 1,000 seems like a small number but I have seen that first hand that is much bigger and way more significant than you may think.
Thank you for investing into the kingdom with your giving. While I was there I was able to share with the orphans and the women’s group. I was able to a part of the dedication of the new building; the college guys dorm, offices and a large meeting hall.

Update, Summer 2011

2011-07-12T02:23:00.000-07:00

Hi friends, this is a guest post to update you on all that has been going on. The Pawar’s returned from a visit to the US at the beginning of this month. They enjoyed a few months spent visiting friends and family, but are now settled back into life here and ready to get back to work. 3 of R’s friends returned from the states with them to help them get settled back in and I’m here till the end of the month.

Here are a few of the things that happened this summer:

The girls moved into their new home near the boys’ hostel. They now have much more room for everyone and 6 bathrooms! Before all the girls shared 1!

All the girls in front of their new home.

About 10 new children joined LCH over the summer and all the kids are back in school now. They have started at a new school in the city, which they are very excited about. The school bus comes all the way to the hostels to take them to school every morning.

We dedicated the new meeting hall next to the boys’ hostel last week. Construction is nearly complete, except for a few finishing touches, and will be ready for the Training Center students to come at the end of the month. This building will house the offices, Training school men and a larger meeting hall for the church. On my first trip to India, this building was just in the beginning, the first floor was barely complete, so it is very exciting for me to be able to be here to see it completed.

Construction on the land is continuing. The wall is nearly complete all around the property. Workers have been leveling the land and the next step will be planning the sewage lines and beginning construction on that. Pray for provision so that construction can continue!

This ground has been leveled and the wall completed.

Electricity is at the gate. Just waiting for the funds to bring it the rest of the way onto the land.

That is all for now!! ~L

Graduation

2011-03-09T09:39:00.000-08:00

Promised Pictures...

Friends, I am unable to share too many details about these exciting times, but I did want to share some pictures.
Our 11th batch of 30 students graduated on March 5th. Total we have sent out 205 in the past 11 years. He has been good to us!

Students leave on the bikes there were given as a graduation gift. This is a tool for them as they go. As you can tell they can carry plenty on a bike and move from village to village faster then by foot!
Sending out with prayers

Lighthouse Children's Home prepared a drama to the sing "Burn Us Up" (Shane & Shane) These are the 3 who would not bow and Ritesh (the king) sends them to the fire...

Bicycles and books given as graduation gifts.

We would like to thank Oak Leaf International for giving to make these gifts possible. During the last week before graduation they have given to make these gifts possible this year. Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Thank you friends.

This is a very good feeling :)

Details, what details?

2011-02-11T04:40:00.000-08:00

Oh Friends,

How I wish I could share with you all that is going on! There are so many things about to happen, but not quite yet. I do want to share a short update about the girl's dorm

We have purchased and now own the girls home. We have been unable to buy the neighboring plot of land next door as we were hoping. It is not impossible, but is going to have to be a God thing. We ask you that would pray with us that God will make a way for us to buy the emtpty plot of land. It will be a play area for the girls and we hope to build extra bathrooms in the space.

Presently, we are delayed in moving in the girls because electricity has not yet arrived. These things take forever here. I am still learning this. How long can it take to run 50 feet of electric line in a developing neighborhood....a very long time.

In the mean time we are taking the time to make all the renovations we want to on the home before the girls move in. We have laid stone on the floors this past month and presently they are polishing them! They will look so good by the time they move in. We also built an additional 6 bathrooms for them and added a porch, closed a few extra doorways that were not needed, etc. I know these pictures do not explain much, but for those interested...

There is 6 rooms total in the house

bathrooms in the back

The view of the house

The plot holding all the stone in this pictures is the one we are praying to purchase. Please be praying about this with us. Thank you!

Other things you will hear about soon...

purchase of a tractor to level the ministry center land
the office/ church/ boys dorm building completion
Nagpur Training Center's 11th graduation program
Orphan girls home change
A&R's visit to the US
A home for the Pawar's

God is doing lot's of things! Thanks for being such a great part of the work here. God bless you!!!

RJP

More TW pictures

2011-02-10T09:22:00.001-08:00

The last post would not allow me to add any more pictures, so here are a few more. Read on for all the details!

Indian colored keychains

The quilt design that we will eventually raffle

painting paper beads during a class demo

fabric colored headbands

teaching about waiting on God and not giving up on our dreams. Ironic.

Women and more women

2011-02-10T09:03:00.001-08:00

Titus Women Update

This past week we had a wonderdul women's meeting at our fellowship. Over 60 women attended, most of whom are regular's at our Titus Women meetings. It was a great time of fellowship, worship, teaching, crafting and eating! We even got them to run a bit and play some games! Our main teaching was some quiliting that we are beginning. The women are creating a quilt that we will be raffling off by the end of the year. We learned many other things as well!

Here are a few shots of the 2 days of fun!

flower printed journals

ready to teach a crafting session

We had 2 crafting circles going on at a time! One was inside and one was outside!

The day after the retreat ended 2 women came to my house and shared some answered prayers. One said she returned home to her husband waiting for her. He said he had received an increase in his salary. This had not happened in 3 years and was an answer to her prayers!

The other shared that her husband (who we had been praying for since his motorcycle accident in December) had walked for the first time that night when she got home.

What awesome ways that God showed his power to these women AND so quickly. We are thankful for the oppurtunity to not only inspire and encourage them, but pray and sow seeds into thier lives. What a great group of women. I am so proud to lead them.

RJP

2011, here we come!

2010-12-31T04:32:00.000-08:00

2011 here we come!

2010 has been a very difficult year for me. As 2011 approaches I began to wonder if we accomplished anything this year. It seems we take more steps backwards then forwards at time. I know this will surprise many of you who feel taking care of 72 kids 365 days a year is a large enough task in itself. To me, I think about the vision more; all that is to come, all the kids who are not here yet, the ones we are not able to take in, the space we do not have. I know I should count my blessing, but this is my real, honest struggle. The God comes along and blows all my doubt right out of the water. So what did you do this year God?

He answered the prayers we had been praying for years...

Since 2006 we have been praying for electricity on our land. In 2010 God answered that prayer. We need about $20,000 for the poles we bought to bring it in. God is listening!

Here are a few of the many poles it took to bring it to our land.

We were able to watch as the workers strung up the wire.

You can bet we bowed our heads and thanked God for answering this prayer.

This same day we are able to see some of the final slabs of cement being poured in the wall. The last section had a border dispute for the past few years. It was cleared in December and the wall is now 99% done. Praise God.

This is a view of the final portion of the wall.

I am so blessed that God chose to show off the end of this year. I now look back and see ALL that He has done and how he was working so much sooner that I was aware of all along. I am blessed to see the progress with my own eyes and be amazed again at how large this vision is, how much faith is required to walk in daily, and how God is our God.

Happy New Year Friends. I hope you have been amazed by our God this year! He is amazing!

RJP

* one of the first things we get to do in 2011 is purchase a tractor to level the land. That is after we move our girls into their new home... we also hope to jump stateside for a little while :)

Update Finally!

2010-12-16T04:44:00.000-08:00

Finally I am getting around to an update about the girls home! I am always cautious to post details when I know very few myself! I end up sharing more of what I think will happen then what actually will. Thanks for your patience!

God provided the funding for the entire girls home within 2 weeks of us sharing this need. Actually, we have had enough funds to purchase the neighboring plot of land as well. For now it will remain empty and will be a play area for the girls. It gives us much more freedom with our construction however, knowing we are not tied down to a certain square footage on all side.

The home we have purchased is in the same neighborhood as our boys. You cannot throw a rock, but that is a good thing :)

We are in the process of completing the building construction, adding a larger sewer tank, applying for electricity, digging a well, complete the railing on the top floor, building a compound wall and lastly- painting! This (of course!) is taking longer than planned, but we knew that! We hope to move the girls during the month of January.

Here is a picture of the girls home

Thanks friends for making this possible. The Lord has answered 31 girls prayers from the last 4 years and they are very excited about thier new home!

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!

And the good news is....!!!!

2010-10-22T04:44:00.000-07:00

If you have not read the post below, please do so.

Before I even had a chance to post about this urgent and great need, God was already working. In the past month we have received the funding for the girls house! Praise God. For 2011 they will have a new, private home! This is a huge answer to prayer. Thank you friends for your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. We appreciate your generosity.
The home we are purchasing is built, but will need some work done before we can move the girls in. We need additional bathrooms, a compound wall, railing on the roof, and a few more minor things. PLEASE be praying that we will be able to complete it by Dec. 31, when we are suppose to be out of the other house!
Thanks friends! You amaze me with your generosity and strengthen my faith. I look forward to seeing many of you in 2011 so we can share personally about all of this!

We have needs...

2010-10-22T04:39:00.000-07:00

God is doing some new things through Crosspoint of India! Although we are very excited about what God is doing, we are also overwhelmed! We are truly seeking him as we step out on faith. We want to take this opportunity to update you on some of the changes. Everyone who has visited our ministry in the past few years knows how congested all of our facilities are. Presently we house over 70 orphans in less than 3000 square feet. Of course, this is no longer working. We MUST make some changes.
We have 24 acres of land located out of the city. We refer to this as the “future campus” of our ministry. It is taking much longer than expected to raise the funding to prepare the home of our ministry and orphanage. We must make some changes as we wait for God’s provision for the campus.
The latest difficulty that we have been working through is that our girls are being evicted from their home in December. This has not come as a surprise, because there are way too many girls in the home (over 30 in 1500 square feet!). We are drawing close to that day though and have only one option- buy a home for the girls.
If you are like us, you may be very frustrated to hear we are purchasing/building another facility that is not on our land. We feel we must stabilize what we have now before we can consider any more growth.
We have found a home that is located about 2 blocks from the boys dorm. It will be sufficient as a home for our girls. It will require some minor repairs and electricity, but is possible to have ready by December.

Some of the good news is:
1. It is located near the boys so we will be able to maintain and staff one kitchen for all the children.
2. All the kids could possibly be in one or two schools next year instead of 4 like the present situation.
3. We would no longer have to transport the girls back and forth for church and prayer times. They could walk! This would free up 2 jeeps and drivers!
4. They have an entire field in front of their house that is an open area to play in. Presently, they have a very small rocky area.

We are hoping to make a down payment on this house THIS week (Oct. 6th). The total cost of the home is $25,000. We need all the money before the end of November. Can you help?

10 ways you can help!

2010-09-02T04:54:00.000-07:00

10 ways you can help!

Pray! You can always pray for good health of the children, for hearts to be open, finances, for the staff and on and on…we can never have too much prayer!

Give! If you would like to give towards any specific area of the ministry we always have needs.

Volunteer! We can always use volunteers to assist with construction, help with VBS, teach in our women’s ministry, lead Sunday school, etc.

Sponsor an orphan! Invest in the children, one life at a time. Please contact us by email for more about sponsoring a child.

Sponsor a Bible Student! Put a village leader through school. This is one investment that will have incredible benefits for the Kingdom!

Use your talents! Can you sew, crochet, play the guitar, teach, preach, speak English, share stories, teach crafts, clean, pray? We could use you!

Encourage! Life is tough. Send a letter of encouragement- or some scripture. It gets us through some difficult seasons. Please feel free to do the same for the staff, students or kids as well.

Throw a party! A Titus Women party! Who does not like handmade things from India? Gather some friends and help us raise funds for the ministry by selling our great stuff!

Fundraise! Help us raise funds for our minstry by selling T-shirts, having a bake sale, carwash, whatever you think! We have a lot of need for the campus, help us get out there.

Donate Miles! We have Frequent Flyer Miles with Northwest/ Delta! Donate miles and help us cut travel costs!

Thanks friends for helping us make a difference in India!

2010-07-30T03:13:00.000-07:00

Lots going on...here are some of the highlights!

A's dad, B.B. had a good visit to the US. 2 weeks of relaxing was good for him. He attended a revival at my mom's church as well as saw all the scenic stuff, which in my town means he did a lot of hiking. Thanks to my Mom and Dad for hosting him and showing off our wonderful western NC!

We took in 7 new kids this summer. Desperate situations. The orphanage is now up to 72. The Bible School girls will move out of the girls dorm this week into another rented facility...we NEED to move on our land! The orphan girls dorm may also be making a move this year. We do not have any idea where, but are praying for a location- and funding...

Bible School started this week and we have a full- house this year already! We have a teacher joining us from the US . They will be joining us from KY in October. Please be praying for this class as they start out. Praying they all finish!

The building on the neighboring plot next to our boys hostel has all 3 roofs on all 3 floors, now we just need to do the sides. This will be used for office space, classroom and staff quarters as soon as it is done. You can see recent pictures on facebook. Thank you for continuous construction funds!

The wall around the land is 3/4 of the way done. We hope to complete the top large square within the next 2 months. It will be complete with gates and roads in. The strip heading down to the main road has a few gaps for now. (there is a map located in our website under this link: http://www.crosspointofindia.org/news_article-1401/ ) We will be completing it as we confirm boundary lines and a water way dispute. What we need done it almost complete. Thanks for your prayers and generous support!

RJP

Send the Light...the gospel light

2010-03-18T00:15:00.000-07:00

March 13th was our 10th Graduation and Dedication Ceremony for Nagpur Training Center! What an amazing service we had.

The ceremony began with the students marching in to the words of "To God be the Glory." We use this phrase often , because the ministry has really grown to be so much more than WE could have done. God has been and is in it! We look forward to what HE is going to do through us in the next 10 years.Nikki Clifton, who was a volunteer teacher this year, read a portion of scripture as a challange for the students. We will be living with us for a total of 6 months before she returns to the US in April. We praise God for her willing and flexible heart. She has been a joy to have serve with us.

The younest girls of the orphanage did a skit to "Seed to Sow" for the graduates. The older children did a powerful drama to "Arise, My Love" for Easter. ALL the children sang "For the Children of the World" as they marched in carrying thier Home flag, with Nagpur Children's Home written on it. They all did such an amazing job that they were invited to do all 3 for a large youth meeting in the city in April! Praise God!
Pastor Ken Pruitt from TX brought the challenging message to the students. It was powerful as each one stood up to accept the challenge to take the light into the darkness- no matter what the cost. We praise God for our 179 who have been taught and sent into the harvest field.

The year is over, the ceremony done, and Sunday afternoon we said goodbye to all our graduates as they left with suitcases in hand, and packed their sewing machines into auto rickshaws. The boys rode their bicycles miles to the train station- with a smile on their face the entire time.
Please pray for these young people as God lays them on your heart. We sent out 17 this year. They left with a fire in their hearts and I can almost be sure before their trains, buses and jeeps even reached their villages- they were sharing the gospel…now before I cry, let me post this.

Thanks to our Student Sponsors who help make this possible. You are their hero’s, and ours to.

RJP

2010 VBS Idea!

2010-02-23T18:44:00.000-08:00

Does your church do a Vacation Bible School? Do you take up an offering for mission? Looking for for a mission to give to to make a difference? We have a project!
We have been raising funding for a home for our children for several years now. We have had many churches give their VBS offerings regularly for several years now- and we appreciate it!
This year we are asking ALL churches who take up an offering in VBS to consider helping with this need.

2010 VBS Goal

We are raising funds for 1 orphan cottage - $40,000. This home will house 25 children and house parents.

Please consider how you can help! Together we can do this!

For more information you can email me at: rachelpawar@crosspointofindia.org

February 2010

2010-02-12T23:24:00.001-08:00

I admit, I do not use technology to the fullest. I have friends who blog about family and friends and what God is teaching them. It is not high on my list of to-do’s, but I do need to do better at updating through this way! Is it to late to set a New Year’s resolution? I am just in time in India, where everything is extremely late!

I will keep this short and sweet!

Our church grew by 4 members this December! A growing church is a good sign they say- and we had 4 babies born in our church in December alone! All of them were born to young women who have been through our Bible School, several of them married young men from the school! Vilesh and Anita are both our graduates. Vilesh still works on staff with us. They had a daughter the first week of December and asked Amol and I to name her. We named her Sarah! Last Sunday ALL 4 babies were dedicated to God- PTL!

Construction is coming along. We are about ¾ done with the wall and hope to complete it by summer. After that we will need to level the land. This will cost thousands of Dollars. We would prefer to buy a tractor and are asking for God to provide for that urgent need right now. Please help pray with us and give if you are able. After the land is leveled, we will use it for crops and for a lot more construction to come.

Nagpur Training Center is about ready to send out our 10th batch of students! On March 13th we will have our 10th graduation. We have 19 students graduating. Please pray for them as we take them a step further in laying their vision and making plans as they head out for ministry. Pray for their safety. (14 Pastors were killed in Orissa, India just last week!)

Nagpur Children’s Home is doing well. We have stopped growing for a little while. We are trying to care better for those we have instead of adding right now. Honestly, we are way over-crowded in our dorms. We will not be able to take in more children until we can expand to our land. The children had a wonderful Christmas. Crossroads Worldwide sent 2 teams over December that brought backpacks, tye-dye T-shirts, pajamas, school supplies, toys and MUCH, much more for the kids. They had another blessed Christmas. This is a group picture taken on Christmas Day.

Amol’s parents are doing well. Mummy has recovered from her accident almost 2 years ago. She does let her cane keep her from doing anything. She is very active in the ministry and has officially retired! PTL! Daddy’s health is well. He will be traveling out of town this month to attend a seminar and will be refreshed a bit with a break from all the ministry.

My (Rachel) parents are visiting. This is their second time to come and see the ministry in Nagpur. They leave tomorrow and we have enjoyed having them here t help with the homeschooling, cooking, shopping and visiting friends and family. They traded lots for snow days for 83 F days! The weather sure is heating up!

Thanks for your prayers and support. 2009 was a great year, God really restored what Satan was attempting to take- mainly joy from us leaders. Your prayers for our growing family is always appreciated. We love you!
A&R
So much for short and sweet- there is so much to say! Medical camps and circus news coming in the next one, as well as our boy who graduated 1st in a class of over 300- wonder who?

Home Sweet Home

2009-11-06T07:42:00.000-08:00

We are back at home in India! After a VERY long flight with an 18 month old on my lap the entire time we are glad to say we have made it and survived! We are glad we will not have to do that again for awhile! Returning reminds me of how small our home is and how desperately our ministry needs to move!

My home office where ALL emails and correspondence flow from!

We had a wonderful visit in the USA and appreciate all the families who invited us in their homes to stay and fed us (too!) well. We were very encouraged and returned with renewed zeal and excitement for what we are a part of here.

While we were in the US Nikki Clifton travelled with us and was a great blessing. She helped manage the kids while we visited and shared. We appreciate her sacrifice since it was also her last days in the US for awhile. She returned to India with us to stay for 6 months!

During our absence the work here has continued strong. I was surprised to find my "Titus Women" continued to meet every Monday. This was a surprise to me since we just began meeting earlier this year. We had grown quickly and I did not know if the group was strong enough to gather on their own. They are! They had a small welcome party for me this past Monday as I returned to my group of ladies. Praise God.

The children are doing well. I see many of them have grown even in just 2 months! Their pants from last year are now 2 inches too short. I have been informed our grocery bill has also nearly doubled this year. We are thankful for the many who sponsor our children so we can care for them- all 65!

Visiting the future home of Nagpur Children's Home!!!

We had a construction team from Memphis, TN come the day after we arrived. They were able to lay some of the foundation for the wall on the campus land and also paint the inside of the boys dorm (our blue building in the city). They painted the downstairs floor the first day and had the boys assist them with the rollers. The paint rollers were a new concept. We do not have them here. They returned 36 hours later to find 40+ boys had finished the rest of the building! The team did an excellent job of teaching the boys how to do it. We appreciate all their hard work.

Now we are preparing for Christmas again. Christmas is a BIG time of year when you have 68 children. We have begun wrapping and buying and are excited about this special time of year. I hope you also will consider how you will share the gospel this holiday season.

Thank you for your continued prayers and support. We are happy to be home and appreciate everyone who makes that possible.

RJP

Arrived!

2009-08-28T08:04:00.000-07:00

Hey Friends,
We have arrived in the US. We had a wonderful trip without any difficulties. We have moved into our temporary home and are getting ready to travel this weekend. We do not have email at home and are finding it hard to take 3 kids to the coffee shop, so if you can call about scheduling etc. please do. Our number is 828-385-2145. We look forward to seeing you soon!

Amol & Rachel Pawar

2009-08-09T03:39:00.000-07:00

The Pawars will be traveling to the US from August 20- October 20 for the purpose of fundraising for the mission in India. Below are dates and places you can meet them and hear personally about what God is doing in the people in their ministry.

Travel/ Speaking Schedule 2009

August 20- CLT arrival 3:20
August 22- PPC Homecoming
August 23- 9:30AM- Buck Hill Presbyterian Church- Newland, NC
August 23 – 6PM Riverview Baptist Church- Erwin, TN
August 30- 8:30 and 10:30 AM –Evangelical Methodist Church-Rutherford College, NC
August 30 –6:30 PM Balsam Missionary Baptist Church- Balsam, NC
September 3-4 Lynchburg, VA
September 6- AM Bartlett United Methodist Church, Bartlett, TN
September 7-10 – California
Sept 13-AM Friendship Baptist Church, Baxley, GA
September 13- PM- First Baptist Church of Grey- Grey, GA
September 20-10 AM- Riverside Christian Fellowship, Hernando, FL
September 23 - 6pm? Dellwood Baptist Church, Waynesville, NC
September 30-October 4- First Baptist Church of Fairfield- Fairfield, TX
October 11-AM First Baptist Church of Glasgow- Glasgow, KY
October 11-PM First Baptist Church of Hodgenville- Hodgenville, KY
October 14-7pm- Snowhill Baptist Church, Ledger, NC
October 17- Day of Prayer for India- Spruce Pine, NC
October 19- departure CLT

If you are interested in having them come and speak to your church please contact them by email at: amolpawar@crosspointofindia.org

Summer Update 2009

2009-07-29T10:07:00.000-07:00

4 months has officially passed since I last posted on this blog...read on to find out why!

Orphanage

Over the summer we had over 40 new applications come in to the orphanage. We do not have room for that many new children so we had to select those with the most urgent need. That is a very difficult job! We have over 65 children now in the home.

Priyanka (not shown) is 8 years old. Her sister Priya has been with us for 3 years now. This year her mother brought her as well. She has never been to school and is now officially 5 years behind! She is very poor and has not had a new dress in over a year. We are glad to finally have her in the home. She went to school for the first time this July!

We will be sharing more about the new children in our upcoming newsletter.

Bible School

We had our first day of classes today at Nagpur Training Center. Presently we have 17 students and are expecting a few more . (You can pray for 4 who are coming from Bihar, but have been delayed because of flooding.) This is our 10th year of training workers for the harvest and we are ready to go!

Construction
The wall around the ministry property is coming along! After much delay we have been able to complete nearly half of the wall up to the final height of 7 feet tall. It looks amazing! We have stopped constuction during the monsoon season and will start up again as soon as we are able. We have 2 construction teams planned for the end of this year and hope to accomplish the wall in 2009! Please pray for this!

I have a short story to share. When we began the wall construction the farming neighbors began to dispute the boundry lines, claiming that we were stealing land. We had the land surveyed twice to convince them it was correct. They still would not believe us. Amols father, Daddy- as we call him, called out the "big man" from the office to be present during the survey and witness the boundry for us. In the end we gained 30 feet on one side of the land! Praise the Lord!
Last Sunday I came across this verse, which seemed so fitting:

"Do not move an ancient boundry stone or enroach on the fields of the fatherless, for thier Defender is strong; he will take up their case against you." Proverbs 23:10-11

US visit
We leave for the US in 21 days! We will arrive in Charlotte, NC on August 20th. We will be busy from day 1 travelling and sharing about the needs of the ministry. Please pray for our safety and for many open doors to share about the work in India.
We need a vehicle to use while in the US from August 20-Oct 20. Please let us know if you or your church would be able to help! Please call and leave a message at 828-221-2082.

Thank you, thank you, thank you for your continued support for this ministry. God IS working and we ARE growing and expanding! We look forward to seeing you soon!

RP

March 2009 update- Reunion and Graduation!

2009-03-28T02:39:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends,

Greetings from a HOT India! I write you from my little office in the turn of our stairwell where it is 103 this afternoon! This is not the best time of day to work...but I must work when I have a chance!

There has been a lot going on in our ministry. My mother-in-law's surgery was the last time you heard from us. She has had 3 surgeries now on her hip and has an incision over a 12" long. Presently it has been nearly 3 months since her hip replacement and the Dr. has her laying flat on her back with very little movement. We have no idea if anything has been successful and it is very discouraging for her. She spent over 6 weeks in the hospital and we want to thank everyone who has given toward her medical expense. You have been such a blessing to her at this time. If you would like to you can send her a card at the address below to encourage her at this difficult time.

Ratnamala Pawar
Plot no 64, Durga Housing Society
Wena Nagar, Dattawadi, Nagpur 440023
Maharashtra INDIA

On March 12th we had a 3- day reunion for our graduates from the past 8 years. We had around 50 men and women attend from class of 2001 to 2008. They brought their spouses and children totaling over 100. It was such a blessing to hear what God is using them to do ALL over India! Pastor Ken Pruitt was the guest speaker and he brought 2 others with him from their church. Thank you FBC for sending your team from TX!

Our 9th Graduation service for Nagpur Training Center was March 14, 2009! We have graduated a total of 160 church planters in the past 9 years- 24 this year! This year Sujit, from our orphanage, completed the Bible School and graduated. We are so proud to see "our children" walking in the Lord. Please pray for ALL the graduates as they minister to their families.
Mangesh, who graduated this year, returned to his village to share with his family the truth that he had been in a Bible School the past 9 months. They are not Christians and thought he was studying computer in town. He was beaten by his family and called us within 3 days to ask for prayer for his life and his families souls. He came to Nagpur this week to tell us personally 5 people from his family have made decisions!!! PTL! This is what we have taught, encouraged and prayed for the past 9 months. PLEASE pray for them. It really is the least we can do!

This year it is really a miracle we were able to continue the Bible School. THANK YOU our dear student sponsors who understand the vision for this school. You have possibly made the greatest investment in these young people that you can ever make with money. One day when we meet together in front of God we will all understand not only your sacrifice, but the impact it has made for generations to come. THANK YOU! Becasue of the generous donation of The Knights from England, we were able to purchase bicycles and sewing machines for the graduates again. Thank you to BUMC in Bartlett, TN for your gift of NIV Bibles for the students.

The construction on our campus land has come to a halt. We have run out of funding and are unable to continue at this time. The wall is nearly half way around, with posts dug and poured all the way around. We need construction teams to help us complete this wall that is over a mile long. Please prayerfully consider how you can help. We are also nearly ready to bring the electric in and level the land. We have dug 2 more bore wells and continue to harvest crops on the land. We are in desperate need of a tractor as well. Please pray for us as we wait patiently on God for these next steps.
Please visit my facebook page for recent pictures!

The Pawar family continues to change. Abigail and Gabriel are doing wonderful in their homeschooling and I am amazed at how smart young minds are. Not only had they memorized their books of the Bible years ago, but they have learned over 100 verses this year. We are so proud of them as they recite Sunday after Sunday portions of God's words that are now in their hearts.
Luke is 5 weeks shy of his 1st birthday- and walking like a pro! His first tooth came through this morning and we are glad to see it! He is a delight and keeps us laughing with his constant "no" head shaking and laughing with extra expression. He is our new family clown for sure- actually we have 2 now!

We are gearing up for summer. The children are in the middle of their final exams at school. We have 49 now in the orphanage and are planning to take many more this summer. We have 8 children now who need sponsors- all boys. Please let us know if you are interested in helping with that.

Hope that you are well. We would love to hear an update from you and your family as too!

For more information, or if you have questions about the ministry, please email us at: rachelpawar@crosspointofindia.org

Working faithfully,
Rachel Pawar
www.crosspointofindia.org
facebook: Rachel Pawar
myspace: ForeverinIndia

To support this ministry please send support to:

Crosspoint of India
3714 Gailyn Dr.
Bartlett TN 38135-9444

All donations are tax-deductible