Jossy Chacko

We all know that the world around are changing and perhaps we are living through an extraordinary time in History that happens once in every 500 years or so! Some of this can be very exciting – as we enjoy the benefits of internet, Skype, iPones and internet. But there are other things that can be very scary and challenging.
Check out this video – it will open your eyes!

After I watched it I thought – wow, what does this mean for me, my children, churches, great commission, helping poor and needy people? I don’t have any answers to these questions but I do have one answer – Jesus. Who says I AM not was or will be but I AM.  He is never changing – He is alpha and omega, He is the same and He promised me that He will be with me and will never leave or forsake me.  If you ever felt that you don’t need God I tell you we need God more than ever not only for eternity but for here and now!
I don’t know how we can live in this changing world without an unchanging God? If you don’t have Him with you I pray that you will find Him soon and allow Him to lead and guide you through this life and into eternity.  If you do know Him – hang on to Him – don’t let Him go!
Tomorrow I leave for India and Singapore – thanks for your prayers.
Blessings – Jossy

In 2007, Jani came to an Empart Training Centre in Orissa with the vision to reach a remote and unreached forest-dwelling tribe in Orissa that had never heard the Gospel. After he graduated, Jani built a small home and a church and began ministering there. God blessed his obedience and the church began growing. But on July 18th, Jani’s church and home, along with four other houses, were completely destroyed when a herd of elephants charged through the village.
In the dark of night, everyone was woken by the sound of an earth-shattering elephant stampede. They got up and run to the forest. When they returned in the morning, all that remained was a pile of sticks. Pastor Jani is devastated by the destruction but he is very grateful to still be alive. “Thank God our lives were spared” he tells me. “I am sad that we lost everything but I know that God is in control”. They even laugh about it, saying “It looks like the elephants had a good time playing!”

Friends, please pray for Jani and the believers as they cope with the aftermath of the stampede. There are no houses available to rent because of their remote location in the forest. A temporary shelter has been created but the rainy season is approaching and our brothers and sisters are worried. In 2008 they dealt with severe persecution and now they have to rebuild everything again. However, they are trusting in God for another miracle and have requested your prayers.

Thank you for partnering with faithful Church Planters like Jani who have incredible vision and passion to take the Gospel to the least reached people on earth and help them practically. Without your prayers and financial support, they would not be able to go through such difficult situations. I thank God for you and want you to know that, together, we are changing lives both now and for eternity!
For the Lord and the lost,
Jossy Chacko
P.S. Visit www.empart.org/donate to donate to the Rebuilding Orissa Fund. We can rebuild for just $3000 per house and $15,000 will rebuild homes and churches affected by this devastation.

Most of us in the west have little idea about the cast system in India; even most Indians living in the west and the upper cast in India have little understanding about the evil of cast system. Unless you are one of the untouchables it is very difficult for us to comprehend this outdated system of slavery.  I was ignorant about this until I became friends with some of them and they started to share their pains with me. Let me share with you the story of Ram

Ram was enjoying a glass of chai (Indian tea) at an outdoor road side tea shop when his friend, Jimun, happened to stroll by.The two greeted each other warmly across the crowd, but his friend made a fatal error. Instead of greeting Ram as thus, he unwittingly yelled out Ram caste name.

That name was heard by every customer at the tea shop, and the shop keeper himself. A jovial mild mannered man one minute, and a whirlwind of anger and accusation the next the shop keeper ordered Ram to leave his premises.

“Get out” he roared. You are polluting my shop, my business will be ruined, he added, shaking his hefty fist at an astonished Ram.

You see, Ram might be a young, educated man, but he’s from one of India’s lowest castes  the potters’s caste.  India’s caste system might be outlawed, but the reality is, it’s flourishing. It’s also ensuring that young people like Ram, people with dreams and hopes, never rise above their status.

Ram was frozen with anger, but the shopkeeper’s tirade continued, You will have to pay for the ritual cleansing of my shop to get rid of any trace of you and your low caste presence.

At that time, a dog came by the shop and urinated on the leg of the table. The shopkeeper barely batted an eyelid. Ram dignity cracked; he threw his chai glass on the ground where it smashed into pieces, and fled. Worthless, useless, he was broken with the realisation that he was valued less than a dog.

The leaders of the untouchables are crying for help, one of them said why doesn’t anyone care to notice us, we are also humans like you, they are begging for help to lead their people out of bondage and slavery. I’m a little daunted; altogether, there are more than 700 million people who are in the untouchable group. They cry; will you help our children get education? Can you help us learn a skill so that we can do jobs that will give us dignity? Friends the chains of their caste are so strong unless we help from the outside these precious people will continue like they have for thousands of years.

Will you join with me? Are you prepared to use your time, talents and resources to bring freedom to over 700 million people? If you want to make a difference please let me know, I want to hear from you.

let us join together and change the the plight of 700 million people here and for eternity – Jossy Chacko

Brothers and sisters, I’ve spent the last few days in Singapore, meeting with business leaders and motivating them to lead a life of significance… it’s impressive, probably one of the most organised and cleanest cities in the world. 

Then the contrast – today I’ve woken in Lucknow, North India, it’s noisy, polluted, and it’s SO hot. There’s no air conditioning, but my hotel is still better than 90% of the homes in India.  I pick up the newspaper and its headline grabs me at the throat – “Not Enough Food… So Children Learn To Eat Mud.”

 The mud is laced with silica, it fills their distended bellies so for a brief moment, they imagine they are full. I think of my own four children, especially Joshua and Jasmine, aged 3 and 5. As a parent, how would it feel to watch your children eat mud because they are starving? You are helpless because you cannot feed yourself.

 Yet this is what is happening in one of the fastest growing economies in the world, a country with more millionaires than the entire population of Australia.  The song, “What a Wonderful World’, enters my mind but it’s an irony. How can we live in a world of such contrasts, a world with riches and excess and success, while one billion of our children live, and die in poverty? That’s one out of every two.  Asia, alongside Africa, accounts for the majority of underweight or stunted children. 

This is a huge problem. But not too huge that we cannot offer solutions.  There’s more than enough money in the world to solve all of the problems of poverty and health. But is there enough political and moral will?  Are there enough people willing to share their wealth? It made me think, if I had a billion dollars, what would I do?  Where would I spend it first? Who was most needy? It still wouldn’t be enough… the problems are insurmountable.  It’s all too hard…

But then I realised I was doing what we all do – getting stuck on the big problem, on the macro. We think about the big problem and become trapped… so we reach the conclusion that we can do nothing. The solutions required for such a huge problem are exactly that, HUGE.

Instead, we should be asking, what do I have, and what can I do?

 Today, through Empart’s initiatives, more than 3,500 children are cared for, given education, food and hope. And that’s because there are so many individuals who haven’t been overawed by the bigger problem. Instead they care to give and share what they have, rather than being paralysed by what they don’t have.

 So here’s what I can do – I can ask you for help – for the children who have to eat dirt. Go on, do a stock take of what you have? Take a chance – decided to use your skills, your gifts, your passion to change the world.  Could you tell me now, via this blog, commit in writing, what you’re willing to risk?  With this image of a little girl eating a handful of mud in your mind, what will you do?

Log onto www.empart.org and learn how your skills and your passion can help immediately.  In eternity you’ll be so glad you did.

Dear Friends,
As this year draws to a close, I’ve had the opportunity to pause and reflect on how truly blessed I am to partner so many others from around the world in fulfilling the Greatest Commission given to humanity. As we approach the joyous occasion of our Saviour’s birth, I’d like to thank you most sincerely for your prayers, support and partnership in 2009.

While we celebrate the reason for Christmas, the precious gift of Jesus, millions of people around the world have not been able to hear the Gospel message even once. Your support has enabled us to care for some of the neediest people in the world and share about the hope and new life available to them through Christ.

Let us remember to pray and continue to do all we can to reach out to the almost two billion people who have not yet had the opportunity to hear about Jesus. We are truly blessed to be able to read God’s word, enter into relationship with Him and be a part of His Kingdom on earth and we have a duty to share that joy with others.

Thank you to all who have given Empart Ripple gifts to bless your friends and family. I encourage you to make this a part of your regular giving tradition. Bicycles, sewing machines, Book Kits, chickens and Education Programs are all practical gifts that provide realistic opportunities to benefit an entire community. Remember, one gift starts a ripple, one ripple transforms a community. Visit www.empart.org to learn more about how you can give gifts that will have an eternal result.

Jenni, Jemimah, Jacob, Jasmine, Joshua and I wish you a Happy Christmas and pray you experience God’s richest blessings in 2010.
For the Lord and the lost,
Jossy Chacko

PS. This is how much God loved you, me and the world: He gave His Son, His one and only Son – let us celebrate Him and do all that we can to make His name great.

(I write this as an Indian Australian who has been calling Australia home for more than 20 years, and as someone who travels around the world regularly. And I am greatly concerned about the potential loss of trust and international reputation of a great country).

Over the past few days in Melbourne (and also in India) a hot issue has come up – is Australia a racist country? Tuesday morning over 1000 Indian students were protesting by blocking traffic in the heart of Melbourne city, with 18 subsequent arrests. It has truly become an international issue.  Due to the hype and speculation, a well known Indian movie star – Amitabh Bachchan – has rejected an honorary doctorate awarded to him by the Queensland University of Technology.  He said, “Under the prevailing circumstances I find it inappropriate at this juncture to accept this decoration.  My conscience does not permit me to accept this decoration from a country that perpetrates such indignity to my fellow countrymen.” 

The stabbing with a screwdriver of an Indian student has become a hot political and social issue at the highest level, where the two countries prime ministers, ambassadors and every other group that you can imagine has got involved.  And here is my two dollars worth – or should that be two rupees worth?!

I have been living in Australia for more than 20 years and have many Indian friends; I have never experienced any situation that could be labeled as racism. I have many friends who are Indian and of other nationalities who all love Australia and see it as a privilege to be living in this country. That is not to say all Australians are perfect – far from it. Australians are just as much sinners, selfish and nationalistic as anyone else in a civilized society. 

In fact, the only time I have felt racially discriminated against was while I was in New Delhi, India! I was taking a taxi but because I did not speak Hindi (being south Indian my mother tongue is Malayalam) the taxi driver got angry with me and scolded me – in English – saying, “If you don’t speak Hindi you don’t deserve to be driven by me!”

In one sense we are all racist, including myself – I might think that my food and way of thinking and doing is better than others. So in this and any other similar situation let us remember the words of Jesus:  “He who has no sin cast the first stone… first take the log out of your own eye and then take the speck out of others’ eyes.”

So before getting excited by what you see, hear and read in the media and start pointing fingers at others and making allegations and accusations against the general public, it is better that we take time to review, assess and evaluate ourselves.

Now, I am not saying that there is no issue with Indian students in Australia. In fact, the statistics and circumstances tend to prove that there are major issues (it is reported that there is been more than 500 attacks on Indian students over the past 4 years). But is it racially motivated or could it be because of other issues? I don’t believe that it is racially motivated; if it was, the whole of the Indian community would become a target but very clearly that is not the case.

I don’t believe that these are racially motivated attacks rather opportunistic because of following reasons:

Most Indian students come to Australia through various agencies, who are interested in making money; they get the visa and get the students in the country. Generally speaking, once they are in the country they have no responsibility. The students are largely left to find their own way in a very different culture.

-          So they end up living in areas where they are vulnerable and often exposed to the worst groups of people in the society.

-          They also look for part-time jobs. Again, because either they are desperate or because they are not educated about the risk of certain jobs, they end up doing some of the more “risky” jobs like driving taxis or doing nights working at petrol service stations.

-          Most of them work late and rely on public transport and walking to get home. Again, because they are not educated or aware of the nasty elements of the city they walk right into these areas and become victims.

-          Most of the students also come from a very close family and community culture. So when they are in a new city they are desperate to find a “family and community”. This also could lure them into the wrong crowd if they are not careful.

-          Indian culture is a very hospitable culture; they talk to anyone and everyone. If you have traveled on Indian trains or buses you will know what I mean.  So when they are here, they will do the same, smiling, joking and talking with or about strangers is very normal but could have a very different result in this culture. Inviting a stranger into your home or giving your personal details in India is quite normal but may not be wise in this culture.

This list can go on and on but what I believe is that all of these factors could be putting the Indian students in the wrong place, at the wrong time with the wrong group of people. With more than 80,000 students studying across Australia, and more and more Indian students going overseas to study, we will likely continue to see such incidents.

To get rid of these kinds of things in the future I believe the following steps should be considered:

1.       The agents who bring the students should be held responsible in helping, managing and educating the students into the new country, culture and society and not be allowed to end their responsibility once they have their payment.

2.       The Government and universities who are financially profiting from these students need to ensure they are providing relevant cultural education, get the police to teach about the nasty elements of our cities etc.

3.       There should be a national hotline and a centre where these and students from other countries can call for help, report incidents and dob in dodgy agents, land lords etc. Many foreign students will be afraid to go to the police (or other authorities)  because of their own understanding of the police role in society.

Is Australia a racist country?  There is no doubt about Australia’s racist past but I know that each of us (individually and as counties) have our pasts and some skeletons in our closets. Are Australians today the same as in the past? The simple answer is, if you consider yourself to be racist then Australia also could be! Even if there is a small group of people who are racist we need to be very careful in not slamming the vast majority of good natured, generous and kind-hearted Australians who love to support the underdog and believe in a fair go for everyone!

Let us all pray for wisdom, common sense and justice – and a good, quick resolution.

Blessings – jossy chasko