Tagged: india

India, Nepal, Buthan

 Mission Trip to India, Nepal, and Bhutan 

October 12th – November 2nd, 2014

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In our last mission trip to India in 2006, I had the privilege to meet two former inmates; Nar Rai and John Monger. They were both originally from Bhutan but refugees in Nepal and were recently released from the prison in Nepal when I met them. They came to Southern India (Kerala) to give a testimony about their persecution (because of their testimony of Jesus Christ) and life in prison. We established a good relation with them and they invited us (almost every year) to come to visit Nepal and Bhutan but I postponed or hesitated to their invitation every time until this year when I felt moved and compelled to pursue in this mission trip. This mission trip to India, Nepal and Bhutan, was a result of many years of culminating ground work, prayer and searches. The team for this trip consisted of Victor Balas and I, Nar Rai, Santi Rai, Ran Maya Rai, Ganga Maya Gurung, Yam Maya Biswa, Kharka B. Biswa, Parsu Koirala, Pastor Ryan Walker, Gail & Charlie Packard, Cathy Maxwell from Boston, MA.

India

I flew from Chicago to New Delhi where I met the whole team and continued our journey to Bagdogra in West Bengal, India. I had one day in New Delhi to fly to Bagdogra where our mission conference was organized by the Himalayan Good-News Networking Ministry. When I came back to take the flight to Bagdogra, I found out that the flight was canceled due to a technical issue. I sought the Lord to see what He had for us to do in such a circumstance in New Delhi. To my surprise, when I opened my e-mail, I found an e-mail a couple of minutes old sent by P.P. Job’s team. I saw a number on the e-mail and dialed it. I found out that the HQ of the Coimbatore Orphanage that was founded by P.P. Job (which we visited in 2006), was only ten minutes away. His wife Mary Job was very surprised to hear that we are in New Delhi and invited us to visit her family and the Mission Headquarters. We first visited the church in New Delhi and blessed the people that were there with the Word of God. Later that evening, we visited Mary’s home and encouraged her to be strong in the Lord as she lost her husband and two sons.

On the next day, we continued our journey to West Bengal and we were amazed and truly blessed as we experienced the move of God as we had long dreamed and prayed for a special touch of God in this area of West Bengal. The conference took place in Siliguri, IN (near Bagdogra) in a rented conference building. There was such an excitement for this conference right from the beginning. Pastors and leaders attended from all over the country for a period of three days to be encouraged and empowered. The theme of the conference was Building Bridges. I was privileged to speak at this conference among Pastor Robert M. Massbach from the UK, Pastor Jordan Greeley and others. I was truly awed and humbled by the passion, hunger and the desire of these leaders to stay there for three full days and nights. The people were touched and blessed; the entire team had a powerful sense of God beginning something new and very powerful in that part of India. This Himalayan Leaders Empowering Summit organized by Himalayan Good News was hosted by Rev. Dawa Singye Bhutia who was a former guard of Dalai Lama but saved by Jesus Christ to become His humble servant. In this area, we also visited some churches and poor villages and distributed medicine, eyeglasses and other goods. We then visited an orphanage and a land for a future location of a missionary center (if God wills it). We also visited a training institute Bible School in Darjeeling Mirik where we held a one day conference of teaching and empowerment of the students attending the Bible School. I also preached at the local church about being empowered to live in the Spirit and be moved by the Holy Spirit.

During the time that I was ministering here, I received a call from our Romanian missionary to visit Patna. From here, we flew to Patna via Calcutta where Maria Teresa was doing her life’s charity work and we were inspired by her devotion and dedication. In Patna, we arrived during the holiday where Indians from all over came to the Ganges River to offer rituals and ceremonies according to their belief. We went also to the river to observe what was happening and prayed that the Lord would remove the scales on their eyes and the veil of ignorance to see the true God in this century of information and resources where people should not live in ignorance and be guided by their traditional and illiterate ancestors. I also preached to churches in Patna and I was amazed to see the youth that was baptized in the Holy Spirit and hungry for God to grow in His Image. We also visited schools and preached to the students to seek the Wisdom of God which is above any other wisdom. From India, on our way to Bhutan, we visited Assam and stayed in Bongaigaon where we had a one day revival.

Bhutan

One country that really moved me and the Lord placed in my heart to visit during this mission trip was Bhutan. This is a country sandwiched between China and India. This is a very small country in the Himalayan Mountains that is ruled by the kings. It is difficult to enter Bhutan because you need to pay for an expensive Visa per day and also a guided tour. We were blessed to have a Christian tour guide that brought us by a road through the Himalayan Mountains to the capital Thimphu. Here, we were able to visit churches that were established in homes since Christians are not allowed to have a dedicated church building. The love of these brothers toward Jesus Christ is so genuine and they welcome us to preach and teach and have fellowship with them. I was impressed by the youth service that I attended on Sunday afternoon. I was informed that Bhutan had a great revival in the 1990s when a lot of people received revelations and Holy Spirit manifestations. The evening service of a church in Thimphu was held in the attic of a four story building apartment where hundreds of people came to worship the true God. They have to climb a lot of steps to get into the worship room. Since they came with expectation and anticipation, the Lord moved mightily during the preaching and a lot of believers surrendered all to Jesus Christ and came forward for prayer to be blessed and refreshed. The senior pastor (a very wise and serious brother) interpreted from English to Dzongkha for us. During the prayer time, the Lord guided someone else to interpret and pray along with me for the people that came forward. I saw something special in that person; the Glory of God was shining on her countenance. I was really thrilled to see the youth form this church together with the elderly to seek the Lord with all their hearts which is not often happening in our country. Bhutan is a country that we need to join in prayer for regarding the work to be continued and future development. We are open to join the Lord for the work that He will be doing in the future for this country.

Nepal

Coming back from Bhutan through India, we moved onto the next country that the Lord placed on our hearts to visit. We heard about the Bhutanese descendants from Nepal that were kicked out of Bhutan in the 1990s; from where Nai Rai and John Monger were. After they were deported from Bhutan to Nepal, United Nations provided a refugee camp for them where they still lived today. Some of them were immigrated to the United States, Canada, Australia and other countries but others are still in the campus for almost twenty years. As we visited this campus, we realize that the Lord has an excited plan for changing the refugees from Bhutan. Being deported and kicked out of their country with almost nothing left in the refugee camp, they sought the Lord Jesus Christ and a lot of them were saved. They established churches even in this campus. We held a conference in the campus with the leaders and pastors. There was such an encouragement for them to see that someone from a long distance is carrying about them and they are not forgotten. When I visited this campus, I remembered my days spent in Yugoslavia’s refugee camp in 1987. I gave my testimony to the people in the Nepal camp and I reminded them about the people from the Bible that were immigrants. At the end, we prayed for the sick and asked the Lord to heal them physically, emotionally and spiritually. The purpose of this mission was to encourage, to build-up, to lift-up and do social work. Out of all the words that God inspired us to tell the people, it was awesome to see God’s goodness, His love, His guidance, His grace and His very presence manifested in our life during this time of ministry. This experience was life changing for us. I felt like we were just scratching the surface and understanding God in a new dimension. I want to thank God for opening this new door and opportunity to be used at this time to continue to do with this ministry what our Lord Jesus had begun. We are called to proclaim the truth and be used by God in this important task for the day and time. I want to thank you for all that are standing with us and believe in this ministry that declares the Power and Truth of the Gospel to all the nations. Immanuel, God is with us and it is amazing to sense and have this confidence in Him. Our prayer is for the Himalaya Mountain Region to be saved and sanctified by the Fire of the Holy Spirit and God will send the fire of Revival!

“And ye said, Behold, the Lord our God hath shewed us his glory and his greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire: we have seen this day that God doth talk with man, and he liveth.” Deuteronomy 5:24

Rev. Constantin Lupancu together with the Blessed Hope International Mission Team

India, Vietnam, Cambodia

 Mission Trip to Indonesia, Vietnam & Cambodia 

December 6th – 21st, 2011

Dear mission partners and friends,

As the year of 2011 comes to an end, we reflect at what the Lord did through our vessels. We can ask the question ‘How faithful we were with what the Lord had entrusted us?’ Before the end of the year, the Lord opened the door to bless many churches, ministers and children in Indonesia, Vietnam and Cambodia. The Christmas and New Year’s season is a time of giving and sharing the joy of the Lord and so we all wished to share this with other people and other believers in remote regions of our planet so that they can enjoy a warm and peaceful season in the Love of God. Therefore, together with the Hope Mission from Australia, we had the privilege to have a mission trip for the purpose of evangelism and charity in three countries of Asia. The teams consisted of the following:

From Australia:Pastor Natanael Costea from Perth, Pastor Nelu Istrate from Brisban, Daniel Costeafrom Melbourne, Benny Iacob from Perth, Ben Baliban with his wife and twodaughters from Perth, Tibi Vancia from Adelaide.From Romania & USA: Ionut Turda from Cluj, RO; Anna Lupancu and myself.From Italia:Sergiu Asuenci

All of us met in Jakarta, Indonesia and from there we flew to the Kalimantan Barat Jungle located on the west side of the Kalimantan Island in Indonesia. Indonesia is the largest Muslim country in the world where Islam is the main religion in Indonesia. Only 5% of Indonesians are Protestants and 3% are Roman Catholics. Christians are facing a lot of oppositions from the Muslim people and sometimes are martyrized. Christians in Indonesia live in fear. Hope Mission has started the work with children, youth, pastors and teachers on this island in about 18 villages. Locally, the Gloria Foundation is doing a great work in spreading the gospel and helping the Dayak tribe which was formerly a cannibal tribe on the Kalimantan Island.

After many hours of flying from Chicago to Jakarta, we flew to Pontianak, Indonesia and then drove three hours to Tikalong, a very isolated village and also the headquarters of the Gloria Foundation. We arrived on Wednesday the 7th and there was a house of prayer at Gloria Foundation’s headquarters where over 500 people waited for us. They were celebrating the coming in the world of our Savior Jesus Christ, the only reason for the joy of this holiday. I preached on the free gift of Salvation in John 3:16.Pastor Natanael made an altar call and a few people received the free gift of Salvation and surrendered their life to Jesus Christ.

“But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” John 1:12-13

”Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift.” 2 Corinthians 9:15

The people living in these villages work only to survive by cultivating rice, collecting rubber paste from trees and others by farming palm trees. They earn about $4 a day which makes their lives very hard to survive. Children are very ignored, hungry, sick and left to care of themselves. The purpose of Hope Mission here was to encourage the church leaders to continue with the work that they had started to change the course of the new generations. For this purpose, they established schools to promote Christian and moral values and so the children may break the curse they inherited. Because of the church’s involvement and education a new generation of blessings is being raised up in a lot of villages. The Gloria Foundation is showing the villagers a practical example in working and creating jobs like chicken, fish and palm farming. Pastor Natanael Costea is doing a great work together with Gloria Foundation in sponsoring the schools and other projects. During this short trip, we visited villages

Pa’Unga, Rancang & Purasak. We ministered to the churches and brought hope for the children with little gifts that Anna Lupancu prepared at home with the gifts she received from 46 youth in Chicago during her Gift Raising that she had setup as she planned for the mission trip. In the village of Purasak, Adriana Coroama, a Romanian missionary is presently working as an English teacher and hygiene teacher. She is a very devoted missionary which learned the Dayak language in only 10 months. She came there diagnosed with cancer but the Lord healed her completely. She  also followed us throughout the entire mission trip.

During our mission trip in Indonesia, we lived at the headquarters of the Gloria Foundation and traveled from there to the other villages. We were happily welcomed by each village. The children from the villages sang with enthusiasm and passion which touched the entire team. Almost every child received a uniform and candy. After the service in each village, the pastors welcomed us in their poor home and offered us their best meals.

On Saturday the 10th, we spent almost the entire day at the Gloria Foundation headquarters and talked with the youth. The discussion was encouragement to study seriously and to approach a purposeful life. When we asked the teenagers what they wanted to become in life, they had great desires and dreams to come back and help the villages. At night, there was a youth meeting which was titled “Friendship among boys and girls”. Pastor Natanael preached the message and encouraged them to live holy and pure. The problems among these youth are because they are bored which causes them to seek immoral lifestyles.

On Sunday, the 11th, we held the last church meeting in Gloria Church from Tikalong. Nelu Istrate and I preached and prayed for the people. Even though it was a rainy season, it didn’t rain during our time there until Sunday afternoon which was very convenient considering the environment, muddy roads and isolated villages. In the afternoon, we departed back to Pontianak, Indonesia where we visited the equator site. From there we headed to Jakarta where we prepared for our next destination to Vietnam.

 

Vietnam

Vietnam is among one of the few communist countries. This is a country that was affected by the Vietnam War between North and South Vietnam (where the north won) and the whole country remained ruled by a communist government. In the recent years, small businesses have been established and approved by the government and grew very fast but in the rural area, people are very poor. The churches in Vietnam categorizes of two parts. Traditional churches with history of functionality which are approved and controlled by the government. Ethnic churches which function in people’s homes and are not approved and controlled by the government. These are illegal and are underground and have a lot of opposition from the government. A lot of underground churches were demolished and sometimes the leaders were imprisoned for three months for the preaching the gospel illegally. Pastor Natanael Costea was the first from the West to visit these underground churches. Some of them were in the isolated Mekong Delta. We started the ministry in Ho Chi Minh City formerly known as Saigon. We held a pastoral conference in a restaurant where due to the special celebration meeting about 46 pastors attended. The topics of the seminary were leadership, serving the Lord with devotion and power. The conference was from the morning until late evening. All the participants were blessed with a gift and paid expensed for transportation from the village where they came. Hope Mission is planning to do a project to equip the new generations of Christian workers. This center can be undercover as a small restaurant. This is one of the greatest needs for the new generation.

On Tuesday the 13th, the missionary team visited the church of Pastor David Nam which was the leader of the movement. For the following day, the mission team became very interested in visiting remote villages in Mekong Delta which is rich in fish and the soil is fertile. Nearby Can Tho City is a famous flooding market where agricultures bring their crops and all the transactions are done from one boat to another. In all of the Mekong Delta, there are over 70 underground churches and we visited some of them. We accessed each village by a small boat and we traveled mostly at night so we could not attracted attention as a big group of westerners. First night after a trip of six hours with the bus and one more hour with boat, we arrived to the first church in the Delta. Here the church of about 100 members was waiting for us. We shared the word of God and gifts. Next day, we visited another three churches all over crowded and very open to the gospel. We encouraged them to be strong in the Lord and to invest in a generation of workers which will continue in spreading the Gospel. This was the first time where such a large team visited these churches. Even the presence of the team transmitted the message that God loves knows, loves and uses them for His purpose. One man surrendered his life to Jesus and we prayed for him and gave him a Holy Bible. During our tour in the Mekong Delta, James, a young Vietnamese college graduate, decided to receive the baptism in water. He surrendered his life to Jesus four months ago and was filled with the Holy Spirit. His baptism was done without the attention of a lot of people and only our team and Pastor David witnessed the baptism. Most importantly he did the baptism before the Lord and fulfilled the commandment of Jesus:

“And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.” Mark 16:15-16

“Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.” Acts 2:41

“Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” John 3:5

“For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” Galatians 3:27

“The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ: Who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him.”1 Peter 3:21-22

 

 

In another service in a village of a remote area in the Mekong Delta another man also surrendered his life to Jesus Christ. We prayed for him and gave him the Holy Bible. The people from all the villages we visited responded with joy and proclaimed that it was such a great blessing for them. In one of the villages over one hundred children were waiting for us. This village is very poor with a lot of abandoned and orphaned children of which an elderly family took in some of them in their home and is taking care of them. Other Christian families are doing the same and raised them with a big sacrifice. Another day we visited a site named Cu Chi Tunnel from the time of the Vietnam War. We learned from them what the horrors of their war were. Lots of people lived underground during those times and fought for their lives and obtained their freedom from the south and their reunification of the country in April 30, 1975.

Cambodia

Cambodia is one of the poorest in Southeast Asia. It is a country with a lot of interior turmoil and wars. It was oppressed by a regime under the leadership of Pol Pot whom killed over 2 million people of which the majority were ethnic, educated and professionals. “Khmer Rouge” was the name King Norodom Sihanouk (king of Cambodia from 1941 – 1955) gave to his communist opponents in the 1960s. Almost all of those that wore glasses were considered a danger for the government. During the Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia from April 1975 – January 1979, almost all the intellectuals were killed by the oppressive regime in order to bring the country into an agricultural age that of which was in the 11th century. The Khmer Rouge wanted to transform Cambodia into a rural, classless society in which there were no rich, no poor people and no exploitation. Public schools, pagodas, mosques, churches, universities, shops and government buildings were shut or turned into prison, stables, reeducation camps and granaries. The Khmer Rouge asked all Cambodians to believe, obey and respect only Angkar Padevat, which was to be everyone’s “mother and father”. One day we visited the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum which was formerly a high school in Phnom Penh known as Tuol Sleng. It was converted into a prison called S-21. More than 14,000 men, women and children passed through the gates of S-21 before being executed by the Khmer Rouge, their bodies dumped at Choeung Ek on the outskirts of town. In 1979, with the help from Vietnam, the country was liberated from the dictator Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge regime and is now enjoying peace and slow economic progress. Keeping the memory of the atrocities committed on Cambodia soil alive is the key to build a new strong and just society. Those that lived through that oppressed regime were severely traumatized by their experience.

From this historical platform, the country is rebuilding by a generation which desire to learn and make improvements. In the countryside, however, life is very difficult and people only earn enough to survive. Because of this, a lot of people moved to the city but the life in the city is very expensive. A lot of people are homeless and a lot of children are on the streets stealing and doing all kinds of immoral activities. Thousands of children are on the streets of the capital city, Phnom Penh. Because of these sad situations, a missionary from Malaysia by the name of pastor Bala, mobilized a family to start a small orphanage in Cambodia ten years ago. Now they have a facility where over a hundred children have food, shelter and school in the village of Ta Khmau. Here they also established a grammar school and a church in this facility. Pastor Bala came from a Hindu family and he was a Hindu priest before he was Christian. The Lord transformed his life and he has a passion for children ministry established in schools, kindergartens and churches. We encouraged the children to seek the Lord and have an encounter in the presence of Jesus who can change them and break the curses of their generation. We explained to them the importance and reason of the Christmas Holiday which is to focus on Jesus Christ who is the gift from God given to the world.“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16“Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.” 1 John 3:16

Another objective we met was to visit the center of the FirstKids organization in Cambodia founded by Pastor Bala. Located in the city Phnom Penh is the first FirstKids kindergarten. The purpose of this kindergarten is to teach the children the English language and to introduce Christian values among the very young children. Learning English will give them a better chance and broader work path in Cambodia or elsewhere. As we passed by them they said “Take my picture, take my picture” in English. The kindergarten also offered jobs for teachers. The Agape Church is located on the last level of the building. The church offered two services; one in Khmer (the local language) and the other in English. Our team ministered to both services. Pastor Nelu Istrate and Natanael Costea encouraged the church to walk with God and served the needs of the people. I preached during the English service to a group of people that are working in Ta Khmau from Malaysia about the power of Jesus Christ which is available to us to overcome the flesh, circumstances and the devil. In the morning I ministered to the church in the village about God’s promise of Christ from the beginning. “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.” Genesis 3:15

Pastor Bala had a vision to purchase a building for the church, for the kindergarten and he had done so by faith and the Lord performed miracles to help towards the purchase. We helped him purchase the AC units for the new building. Our vision for Cambodia is to help them to send some missionary that will be English teachers in the school. This mission trip was a success for the Glory of God. May the Lord be glorified in all that we do. Be strong in the Lord and we wish you blessings in Jesus Christ for 2012.Rev.

Constantin Lupancu together with the Blessed Hope International Mission Team  

India

Raport Misionar – India

Iunie 2006

Dragi prieteni,
Recent, Dumnezue m-a binecuvântat pe mine şi pe Pastorul Aurel Balici cu oportunitatea de a-L sluji într-o misiune de 2 săptămâni (28 iunie – 11 iulie, 2006) în diferite regiuni din India. Acolo, am descoperit o lume scufundată într-o confuzie şi într-un întuneric spiritual de nedescris. Însă în acelaşi timp, o lume însetată după un Mântuitor care să le poată aduce fericire şi pace în minte şi în suflet. Astfel, scopul nostru în India a fost de a duce mesajul nădejdii celor deznădăjduiţi, de a-i încuraja pe cei care deja erau convertiţi la creştinism şi de a-i motiva înspre lucrarea în penitenciare. Pentru aceste motive, am vizitat diferite orfelinate, leprozerii, biserici, ţinând seminarii de pregătire.  Prin acest articol intenţionez să mărturisec despre modul în care ne-a folosit Dumnezeu pentru a atinge vieţile oamenilor, precum şi despre modul în care vieţile noastre au fost atinse de cei pe care i-am întâlnit şi cu care am avut părtăşie în rugăciune şi în Cuvânt.
În primul rând, terbuie să spunem că am fost mişcaţi până la lacrimi în timpul vizitei la şcolile şi orfelinatele din India. Una dintre experienţele de neuitat a avut loc în data de 1 iulie, 2006, o sâmbătă, când ne-am oprit la un orfeliant din YYY, unul dintre marile oraşe industriale din sudul Indiei. Acolo, eu şi cu Pastorul Aurel Balici am rămas fără glas, în atinşi până în străfundul inimii, când sute de fete ne-au urat „Bun venit” întrîo aliniere perfectă, iar apoi L-au lăudat pe Domnul în limba lor. Directorul orfelinatului, împreună cu fiica fondatorului, sora ABC, ne-au făcur un tur de prezentare a clădirii construite în 1976.  După 2 ore de părtăşie şi predicarea Cuvântului, am plecat întăriţi de dedicarea pe care am văzut-o la acele fete orfane, precum şi la liderul lor care face o lucrare uimitoare în învăţarea Cuvântului lui Dumnezeu şi în pregătirea lor pentru viaţa socială prin învăţarea meseriei de croitor.
O experienţă similară a avut loc în data de 3 iulie, pe când ne aflam în faţa unei audienţe formate din 600 de copii perfect aliniaţi şi îmbrăcaţi la fel. A fost o binecuvântare pentru noi să şim că fiecare din acei copii avea privilegiul de a învăţa şi de a creşte într-un mediu creştin, într-o instituţie care aparţinea organizaţiei creştine ABC. Mesajul nostru pentru ei a fost de a continua să studieze pentru a-şi atinge scopurile înalte, însă să nu uite să nu se abată de pe cărările drepte ale singurului Dumnezeu adevărat.
Ba mai mult, pe când călătoream spre nord, înspre YYY, capitala statului XXX, am fost de-a dreptul smeriÅ£i de întâlnirea cu două familii române de misionari extrem de dedicaÅ£i. Ambele familii ÅŸi-au sacrificat ÅŸansa la o viaţă mai bună pentru a lucra ca misionari într-un oraÅŸ în care mulÅ£i creÅŸtini au fost omorâţi în mod bestial de radicalii fanatici.  ÃŽn acest oraÅŸ supra populat, în care întunericul spirutual apasă ca o ceaţă densă, aceste două familii tinere  ÅŸi-au dedicat viaÅ£a pentru a-i învăţa pe copiii săraci să citească ÅŸi să scrie.  Alături de munca lor socială, ei se roagă ÅŸi speră ca aceÅŸti copii să-L accepte pe Hristos ca Mântuitor – ÅŸi aceasta într-un stat în care se află doar 15 misionari creÅŸtini care mărturisesc celor 100 de milioane de închinători la idoli.
Alături de lucrarea nostră cu copii defavorizaţi din India, am ţinut şi seminarii cu studentţii care erau interesaţi în lucrarea din penitenciare. Fiecare dintre cei care au participat, a primit o diplomă de ansolvire care le dă dreptul să lucreze în acest domeniu. Primul seminar a avut loc în ziua de vineri, 30 iunie, la Colegiul Biblic din YYY. Prima jumătate a seminarului a fost condosă de Pastorul Balici care a vorbit deste post şi rugăciune, arătând rezultatele practice pe care umblarea noastră cu Dumnezeu ar trebui să le aibă. El a prezentat multe mărturii care vorbeau despre eficienţa, rezultatele şi beneficiile binecuvântărilor lui Dumnezeu. De asemenea, a vorbit puţin despre faptul că, dacă postul şi rugăciunea sunt utilizate într-un mod potrivit, Dumnezeu va aduce soluţia la fel cum a făcut-o în vremurile biblice. În a doua parte a seminarului din penitenciar am înmânat diplomele li ne-am bucurat când cei 30 de studenţi şi-au exprimat interesul în implicarea în lucrarea din penitenciare.
Următorul seminar, ţinut în oraşul YYY, la marginea regiunii YYY,  s-a desfăşurat într-o manieră asemănătoare, cu excepţia faptului că audienţa a fost formată din 49 de pastori care au răspuns chemării Pastorului ABC, venind din diferite părţi ale regiunii. La seminar, am încercat să echipăm şi să pregătim lideri pentru lucrarea în penitenciare. De asemenea, ne-am rugat ca prezenţa lui Dumnezeu şi a Duhului Său cel Sfânt să le umple vieţile în această călătorie misionară.
După trei zile de la data seminarului din YYY, am călătorit înspre YYY unde am ţinut un seminar de pregătire într-o staţiune. Această întâlnire a fost pregătită cu grijă de fratele ABC. În timpul acestei întâlniri am aflat că mulţi dintre pastorii şi lucrătorii creştini prezenţi acolo se convertiseră pe când erau închişi, auzind Evanghelia lui Isus Hristos predicată în cadrul lucrării din penitenciare. Decicarea şi angajamentul lor pentru lucrarea în penitenciare erau evidente chiar şi în modul în care ne-au primit, binecuvântându-L pe Dumnezeu că le-a răspuns rugăciunilor de a primi ajutor în organizarea acestei lucraări. Aproximativ 22 de fraţi au participat la această pregătire, dorind să primească inspiraţie în organizarea cât mai efficientă a lucrării din penitencuare. La acelaşi seminar au mai participat şi 8 evanghelişti care au fost dedicaţi şi numiţi, pentru prima oară, capelani în diferite închisori din regiunea YYY. Pastorul Aurel Balici s-a rugat ca Dumnezeu să-I umple cu Duhul Său cel Sfânt şi cu râvna necesară lucrării cu deţinuţii sau foştii deţinuţI şi familiile lor. După ce am împărţI diplomele, Pastorul Aurel Balici i-a provocat să ceară ungerea lui DUmnezeu, putere de conducere, fiindcă nu diplomele erau cheia transformării inimilor lor, căci doar lucrarea Duhul lui Dumnezeu în noi are puterea de a schimba vieţile pentru totdeauna.
Pe lângă aceste seminarii, am fost implicaţi şi în vizitarea diferileor biserici, locuri în care am simţit mâna lui Dumnezeu la lucru. Printre bisericile în care prezenţa lui Dumnezeu ne-a atins vieţile, se alfă şi Biserica YYY, al cărei pastor senior este Rev. ABC.  Mesajele intitulate ,,Bucură-te întotdeauna în Domnul” şi ,,Dumnezeul nostru este un Dumnezeu viu” a cercetat inimile celor 400 de oameni prezenţi pentru a asculta Cuvantul Lui. Mulţi au venit în faţă pentru a ne ruga pentru ei.  De asemenea, am vizitat şi singura biserică penticostală locală din orşul Patna, care are aproximativ 70 de membri. Amândoi am avut ocazia să predictăm în această biserică şi să proclamăm mesajul mântuirii şi al încurajării în implinirea trimiterii pe care Hristos ne-a dat-o şi pe care trebuie s-o facem indiferent de prigoniri sau de încercări.
Totuşi, în mijlocul bucuriei şi al fericirii pe care am simţit-o la acea seară de părtăşie şi rugăciune cu fraţii şi surorile noastre în Hristos, am fost foarte întristaţi de lumea care îi înconjura şi care era pierdută în confuzie şi în închinarea la idoli. De exemplu, când am plecat din Coimbatore să visităm câteva temple hinduse, am fost şocaţi  de întunericul spiritual în care trăiau acei oameni, care se închinau la tot felul de creature, precum copaci, animale, pietre etc. Doctrina lor hindusă pretinde că la după cum nu poţi separa razele soarelui de soare, tot aşa nu Îl poţi separa pe Dumnezeu, Creatorul, de lucrurile pe care El le-a creat. Greşeala pe care o face această doctrină este evidentă în Biblie, care condamnă ,,oamenii care se închină la lucrurile create în loc de a se închina la Creator, Dumnezeul care îi binecuvântează veşnic.”
O altă privelişte care ne-a tulburat inima a fost aceea a Râului Gange care este recunoscut de hinduşi ca fiind ,,Râul Sfânt”. Legenda hindusă îi învaţă pe oameni că acea apă izvorăşte din capul lui Shiva, dumnezeu cel mai respectat. Oamenii, în orbirea şi întunecimea în care se află, cred că, aducând jertfe acestui râu, vor primi binecuvântarea lui Dumnezeu. Mai tulburător este faptul că ei sacrifică până şi veţi omeneşti acestui râu, în special tinere fete care se nasc nedorite în familiile hinduse.
Datorită tragediilor pe care le-am văzut în cele 2 săptămâni de călătorie prin India, atât eu, cât şi Pastorul Aurel Balici am plecat din Aeroport în ziua de 11 iulie, 2006, mulţumind Domnului pentru binecuvântarea de a fi fost născuţi într-o ţară creştină precum România şi pentru că aveam oportunitatea de a trăit într-o ţară care promovează libertatea religioasă, precum America. Recunoştinţa noastră faţă de Dumnezeu s-a mărit când am aflat despre atacul fanaticilor islamici asupra oraşului Bombei, atac care a avut loc imediat după sosirea noastră în Chicago. Eu am mulţumit lui Dumnezeu că m-a salvat de 2 ori de la moarte, dându-mi şi mai multe motive pentru a-L sluji pe El şi pe aceia care doresc prezenţa Sa binecuvântată în fiecare zi.
Într-adevăr, această călătorie nu ar fi fost posibilă fără călăuzitea şi protectţa Sa de-a lungul celor 19.000 de km pe care i-am făcut, călătorind în diferite locuri din inima Indiei. În acelaşi timp, această călătorie n-ar fi fost atât de efficientă dacă nu ar fi fost toţi  aceia care ne-au ajutat pe parcursul ei. Astfel, a’ vrea să-mi exprim recunoştinţa faţă de fraţii ABC şi YYY care ne-au aşteptat la aeroport şi ne-au dus în diferite locuri. În al doilea rând, aş vrea să mulţumesc lui Rev. Ilie Tomuţa de la Biserica Penticostală Philadelphia din Chicago, fiindcă m-a motivat să fac această călătorie şi fiindcă ne-a însoţit în ea. De asemenea, aş vrea să mulţumesc misionarilor români, fiindcă sunt mărturii vii ai credinţei şi ai persistenţei într-o lume pierdută. În ultimul rând, aş vrea să încurajez pe fiecare din voi care a citit acest articol să se roage pentru lucrarea misionară din India şi pentru ca Dumnezeu să deschidă uşi, astfel încât tot mai mulţi oameni să fie mântuiţI din braţele stricate ale religiei hinduse.


Constantin Lupancu


India

India Trip Report

June 2006

Dear Friends,

Recently God has blessed me and Pastor Aurel Balici to serve Him for two weeks (June 28 – July 11, 2006) in different regions of India. There we have discovered a world of extreme spiritual darkness and confusion, but at the same time a world thirsting for a Savior that can bring them happiness and peace of mind and soul.  Thus, our purpose in India was to bring a message of hope to the hopeless, to encourage those who have embraced the Christian way of life, and to motivate them for jail ministry.  For these reasons, we visited different orphanages, leprosy colonies, churches, and held training seminars.  With this article, I intend to communicate how God used us to touch people’s lives and how our lives have been touched by those we met and had fellowship in prayer and in the sharing of scriptures.
Foremost, our hearts were moved to tears as we visited the schools and orphanages of India.   One of those unforgettable experience happened on Saturday July 1, 2006 when we stopped at a children’s orphanage in the city of Coimbatore, one of the major industrial cities in South India.   There, I and Pastor Aurel Balici found ourselves speechless, but deeply touched as hundredths of young girls welcomed us in perfectly straight rows and they praised God in their native tongue.  The director of this orphanage and the founder’s daughter, Sister ABC, gave us a tour of this complex built in 19XX.  After two hours of fellowship and preaching words of encouragement, we left the place strengthened by the commitment we witnessed from these orphaned girls as well as from their leader who does an amazing work at teaching the word of God and training them to contribute to the society with their sewing skills.   A similar experience occurred on July 3rd as we stood in front of an audience of about 600 children aligned perfectly and dressed alike.  It was a blessing to us to know that each one of these children is privileged to learn and grow in a Christian environment and in a facility provided by ABC Ministries.  Our message to them was to continue studying and achieving high goals, but most important to keep the ways of the real and only God.
Moreover, as we traveled north to Patna, the capital of Bihar State, we were deeply humbled to meet two dedicated missionary families from Romania.  Both of these families sacrificed their chance for a better life in order to work as missionaries in a city where many Christians have been cruelly murdered by radical fanatics.  In this heavily populated city where the spiritual darkness hangs over it like a dense fog, these two young families dedicate their lives to teach poor children the alphabet and how to read and write.  Along with their social work, they hope and pray that these children will accept Christ as their Savior in a state where currently only 15 Christian missionaries stand as true testimonies among 100 million of people worshipping other gods.
Along with our ministry to the underprivileged children of India, we held seminars with students interested in jail ministry and each one of them who participated were given a certificate of completion that will enable them to work in this field.  First seminar occurred on Friday, June 30th, at Bible College located in ABC. The first half of the seminar was led by Pastor Balici who approached the topic of “Fasting and Prayer” with practical results in our Christian life walking with God. He brought many testimonies of effectiveness, results, and benefits of God’s blessings. He also touched upon the fact that if fasting and prayer is done properly, God will provide the solution just as He has done in biblical times. The second part I held a prison seminary, handed their certificates, and rejoiced when 30 students showed interest in jail ministry. Next seminar held in the town of ABC, on the outskirts of ABC, developed in a similar fashion with the exception that the audience were 49 pastors who answered Pastor ABC’s call and gathered here from different parts of the region.  At the seminar, we equipped and trained leaders for the jail ministry as well as prayed for God’s presence and His Holy Spirit to fill their lives and ministry journey.
Three days after our seminar in ABC, we traveled to ABC and we held our prison training seminar in the resort.  This meeting was gracefully arranged by Brother ABC and we soon learned that some of the pastors and Christian workers present at this seminar became believers after hearing the gospel of Jesus Christ while doing jail time.  Their dedication and commitment for jail ministry was evident in the way they welcomed us and blessed the Lord who answered their prayer in sending us to help them get organized.  About 22 brothers came to this training seminar to get inspired and to do jail ministry in an organized and efficient way.  At this same seminar 8 evangelists were dedicated and appointed for the first time chaplains representing different jails in the region of ABC. Pastor Aurel Balici prayed for God to fill them with His spirit and with the passion necessary in ministering to inmates and former inmates and their families.  After we handed them the certificates, Pastor Aurel Balici motivated them to seek God’s anointing, leadership and power since certificates do not hold the key to transforming hearts, whereas God’s Spirit working in us has the power to change lives forever.
Besides the prison seminars, we also visited various churches where we felt God’s hands at work.  Among the churches where God’s presence touched lives was ABC Prayer & Healing Church whose senior pastor is Rev. ABC.  The message “Always rejoices in the Lord” and “Our God is a living God” stirred the hearts of the 400 people gathered to hear the word of God and many stepped and asked for prayer.  We also went to the local and only Pentecostal church in the city ABC. There were about 70 members. Both of us were able to minister to this church and bring a message of hope and encouragement to fulfill the commissions that Christ gave to them and to preach the good news despite persecutions and trials.
However, in the midst of the joy and happiness that we experienced in fellowship and prayer with our brothers and sisters in Christ, we were extremely saddened by a world surrounded by false gods and lost in their confusion. For instance, when we departed from ABC and visited some Hindu temples, we were astounded to see the spiritual darkness that these people are living by worshipping every kind of creature such as trees, animals, rocks, etc… Their Hindu doctrine claims that just as one cannot separate the rays from the sun, one cannot separate God, the Creator, from the things that He created.   The error in this doctrine is self-evident in the bible since it condemns when “people worship the created things instead of the Creator, God who is blessed forever.”   Another site that troubled our hearts was the River Gange which is recognized as the “holy river” by the Hindu people.   The legend of Hindus taught people that water flows from the head of Shiva, the most honored god.  The people in their blindness and darkness believe that by bringing sacrifice to this river, they will receive God’s blessing in their lives.  More troubling is that even human lives are being sacrificed in this river and especially girls since they are not wanted by Hindu families.
Due to the tragedies that we witnessed in our two weeks journey to India, I and Pastor Aurel Balici, departed from ABC airport on July 11th, 2006 thanking God for His blessing to be born in a Christian country like Romania and to be able to experience more religious freedom in America.  Our gratitude to the Lord augmented when we heard about the Islamic fanatics’ attack that happened in the city of Bombay shortly after our arrival in Chicago.  On my part, I thanked God for saving me twice from death since four year ago from this same date, He sent His angel to protect my life from the gang member who shot me in the chest in Chicago.  God, however, saved me and gave me more reasons to serve Him and those who want His blessed presence in their lives.  Indeed, this mission trip could not have been possible without His guidance and protection along the 19,000 kilometers we traveled to the various destinations in the heart of India.  At the same time, this trip would not have been as effective if it was not for all those who helped in our journey.  Therefore, I would like to express my gratitude to Brothers ABC who welcomed us at the airoport and took us to different sites.  Second, I would like to thank Rv. Ilie Tomuta from Philadelphia Pentecostal church in Chicago who motivated me to come on this trip and who also accompanied us in our journey.  Also, I want to thank the Romanian missionaries for being true testimonies of faith and persistence in a lost world.   Lastly, I want to encourage each one of you who read this article to pray for the mission work in India and for God to open the doors that more people can be saved from the wicked arms of Hindu religion.