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P.R. Swamy: A Coworker Like No Other |
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| Louis Rushmore | Seroja & P.R. Swamy |
P.R. Swamy is a coworker in the Gospel like no other with whom I am familiar. A former Hindu, over the past few decades since his conversion, he has been directly or indirectly responsible for over 53,000 baptisms in his native country of India. In my eyes, he is the apostle to India, though I realize that the apostolic office did not extend beyond the appointment of the apostle Paul. I know of no one on any continent who more industriously seeks each waking moment to reach some soul with the Gospel of Jesus Christ, or to prepare others to more effectively teach precious souls the Good News of Salvation. I know of no one who travels more extensively, under often less than ideal circumstances, to prorogate and grow the kingdom of our Lord. See for yourself in his humble reports, but be careful, because reading about his energetic pursuits for the cause of Christ will make you tired through involuntary empathy.
A snapshot of the Year 2009 So many things have happened to us in the Lord’s work this Year. Some are encouraging some are discouraging. But God’s word is always true. “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose”. We thank our God for His unspeakable mercies. God is always good to us. We will be ever greatful to Him. I must also thank the elders, Deacons and Saints, having provided my personal support for over 3 decades. Bro. Don Norwood introduced me to Pleasanton congregation elders. Then Elder, Ned G Royal and preacher Don were encouraging me in the beginning. We must thank Bro. Don Norwood and Bro. Wayne Barrier and the churches associated with them, are now providing our working fund. Our special gratitude for all those individuals and the congregations, who came forward to provide financial help towards Saroja my wife’s treatment. Without that timely help, I don’t know what would have happened to Saroja? Thanks, Thanks, million thanks for all of you brethren. Visitors from abroad who Jan: 18th- Elder, Mike Norwood his wife were the first visitors to Bangalore. 19th:- One Elder, Mr. David Shaw from USA attended our Sunday worship. Mr. Suba from Sri Lanka, spoke on this Sunday, as a guest speaker. March 29th to 2nd April:- Jeremy Barrier, Joey Barrier, Travis and Roy came from USA Via New Delhi. Conducted 2 Bible Seminars. One in Ooty the other in Bangalore, Resulted in 15 souls obeyed the Lord. These young preachers have done a marvelous job of encouraging the youth. April 28th:- Mohan from Srilanka visited us. Aug’11th:- Mrs. Vanarose and her two sons came from Canada. One more son and his daddy are in Canada. He is sick and paralyzed. I baptized him in 1971 at Bangalore. Then he went to Chennai for his bible training. He subsequently married and settled in Chennai. Now they are all Canadian citizens. Oct 9th:- Bro. Louis Rushmore and Sis. Bonnie Rushmore arrived from USA. Evening-Bible study in one member’s house. 10th &11th:- 2days gospel meeting at Davis Road church meeting place. Louise Rushmore taught us from Parable of Jesus, so wonderfully. We all have enjoyed very much. 13th:- Seminar at P. Vellore. Evening- Bible study for 10 Blind people. 14th:- Full day Seminar at Namakkal. 16th:- Departure to Vijayawada. 17th:- Visit to Iruvuru congregation, attended their meeting, Rushmore spoke. 18th:- Visit to Chilakaluripet and their meeting. Evening visit to Guntur congregation. 21st:- Rushmore and I went to Colombo. We were received by Liliani and Harold and they accommodated us in their house. Rushmores stayed with them till 25th and they left for Burma. Wherever we went Rushmore taught them from the Parable of Jesus. It was a rewarding study. I was in Colombo till 23rd and I left for upcountry 6 hours by bus. There I visited several congregations and shared the gospel. Also I shared with all of them the tracts I brought from Bangalore, written by Louise Rushmore about one church of the Bible Jesus built. I translated in Tamil and Kannada. I met several preachers here and encouraged them. One preachers Mr. Gunasekar wanted to come to Bangalore for 2 months to under go Bible training in our “Bangalore Institute of Biblical Studies”. 27th:- I returned to Bangalore from Colombo. 3 days Gospel meetings. Nov, 13th to 15th:- David Peterson spoke. 19th:- At Christian workers center, Bangalore , a debate was conducted between Jim Waldron and dwin Harrell. Both are from USA. 20th to 22nd:- 3 days gospel meetings. Jim Waldron spoke. 28th:- The preacher I met in my last visit to Srilanka, arrived in Bangalore. He is under going Bible training. My out station visits Feb:- 14th to 16th:- Vijayawada, Tiruvuru and Chilakaluripet. 23rd to 28th:- Trip to Colombo March:- 14th to 16th:- Trip to Mumbai with Venkatesh, our Kannada preacher. May:- 3rd to 5th:- Trip to Ooty. Summer school was conducted. 4th to 8th:- VBS was conducted in Bangalore. 12th to 18th:- Trip to Erode, Madurai Batlagund, Sarathupatti, Namakkal, Kalambur. 27th :- Trip to Madurai area. June 12th:- I had a Flu attack. 4 days in the hospital. Sep:- 1 to 5th:- To Cuttack, Puri and Bhubaneshwar of Orissa State. 25th to 27th:- Trip to Hyderabad Oct’2nd:- Trip to Vettuvanam. Nov:- 2nd:- Trip to Erode, Kangayam, Uttukuli. Nov’26th and 27th:- Trip to Katpadi Dec:- 7th to 11th:- With Venkatesh, trip to Vizianagaram of Andra Pradesh. 21st:- Saroja had the last injection. One more Pet Scan is due. Death 1.Veeraswamy- faithful member of Davis Road Church. 2. Ambika - Faithful member of Davis Road Church. Both passed away in their 80’s 3. Philip Peter – Our Kannada preacher died in his 70years. Our Bangalore Institute of Biblical Institute-Short term Bible school in Ooty and Bangalore are going good. Total number of souls lead to Christ=1004 Dear brethren, We all wishes you brethren in USA for a Happy and fruitful New Year in the service of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Pray for us, we remember all of you in our daily prayers. Yours in Him, Saroja and P.R. Swam |