Jossy Chacko

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.

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.

It’s Easter… a wonderful time to remember what our faith is all about – both the pain, suffering and the great hope we share for this world and for eternity.
I believe the Easter message is just as relevant today as it was when Jesus hung on the cross then defeated death three days later. It is particularly important for the 1.8 billion people who have never heard, who are still waiting to hear this message for the first time.

It is also important for the millions of people who are faced today with war, fear of terrorism, natural disasters, poverty, loneliness, broken relationships, sickness and pain. While it can be overwhelming that so many innocent people experience such pain and grief, the Easter message is one of hope. Consider Jesus, Himself an innocent man, who experienced such horrific physical and emotional suffering on the Cross… in doing so, He identifies with and relates to the pain we experience here on earth. This enables us to seek God in those times of despair and sorrow, and know that He relates to the challenges we face.

This Easter, would you take time to pray for the persecuted Christian brothers and sisters around the world? While we enjoy Easter eggs and new life in Jesus, three of our own Empart brothers are in jail and 12 others are still in hospital recovering from the beatings they received. Why? Simply because they have chosen to believe the Easter message!

My heart goes out to these precious brothers and sisters that are persecuted – they are so special to me. At times I find it difficult to know why God gives you and me such freedom and others such extreme persecution. But I do know that when one member of the body hurts, the whole body hurts with them – including the head, Christ Himself! And I also know that ALL things will work together for good because we love Him.

No matter what your situation might be this Easter I encourage you to take hope because the suffering on the Cross wasn’t the end of the story, and neither is our current situation. The Resurrection reminds us that there is hope in the midst of the dark days. The Christian faith is not one of denial where we bury our heads in the sand and pretend that adversity is not around us. Rather, in the midst of our adversity, sickness and challenges, our faith in Jesus gives us the strength to rejoice like Paul and face life and all its obstacles head on! We know that God meets us where we’re at and takes us through.

I had the privilege last year of visiting the tomb where they buried Jesus in Jerusalem – and it’s empty! He is not there – He has risen. The Resurrection of Jesus remains the foundation of every believer’s faith in God.  It gives us hope against all odds.

Jenni and I are believing that your life, ministry, business and family will be anointed with the Resurrection power this Easter. We pray that you will be filled with hope beyond your circumstances and situations.
Blessings and love in Christ
Jossy Chacko

PS. As you celebrate this Easter you might like to help someone who has never heard about Jesus. You can at https://secure.empart.org/get_involved/give/projects/13300022/13304233

Our Students' Precious Bibles and Tracts, Now Burnt

My friends, I’ve attached some photos of the destruction left by the Hindu militants on the Chhattisgarh training centre – you may have seen them on the Empart website.  These images will leave you speechless, perhaps in utter despair. I know that’s how I felt…

Yet it was the wise words of our Regional Leader in Chhattisgarh that gave me comfort, strength, and a focus of the ultimate task before us – to go out and spread the word of God to those whose hearts or hardened, or who are isolated from the power of the Gospel.

The Regional Leader said,  “Jossy, the enemy will try to stop us making disciples and training leaders but he can not and will not stop God’s Kingdom expanding. We will not stop no matter what happens. Please ask everyone to stand with us in prayer. We are not going to run away. God has sent us here and we will continue to share God’s love in words and deeds but we need you to stand with us. Don’t be worried for us, just pray for us.”

Bedrooms were trashed, bedding and clothes destroyed

This was the Local Coordinator's Room. He Was Bashed and Had To Be Hospitalised

In India, more than 750 million people live in enforced slavery, by dint of their caste. They are known as ‘the untouchables’ – and 70% of Indians fall into these castes. Eighty percent of them are illiterate, they earn approximately 50 cents a day.

They live with no hope, and resigned to their fate of eking out a living performing menial tasks for the higher castes.  By law, caste discrimination is illegal but it rules every aspect of society. Millions of our brothers and sisters are trapped, and cannot find a way out. Watch my video – it will change how you think.

“Thank you so much for helping me get out of this place. I thought I was going to die here!”
Brothers and sisters, our prayers have been answered. After 15 days of harassment and interrogation in prison, Kusulia, one of our church workers, has been set free. Why was Kusulia thrown in jail? For the simple act of sharing the word of God with some of the poorest people in Asia.
It’s going to take Kusulia a long time to recover – he’s physically and emotionally drained and his body is bearing the fresh scars of abuse and torment. We’ve already organised emergency medical care and counseling for him. He said of his ordeal, “I hope none of our brothers and sisters ever have to go through this.” I just want to thank every one of you who has prayed non-stop for Kusulia’s release, and also for others facing incredible persecution. Your devotion and dedication was worth it. It took much negotiation with the Government, and continued prayer from our Empart supporters around the world, to ensure that he was released safe, and alive.

Although Kusulia is now free, he was released with a warning from local police,” Be careful – next time things might be different”. Kusulia lives and works amongst an unreached tribal people in a remote forest area of Northern India. Despite his work in assisting the untouchables with literacy and education programs, not all are impressed with his teachings. You see, Kusulia, along with our Empart workers, teach the people of Asia the word of God, that they are all equal in His eyes. But not everyone wants to be considered equal with a dalit, especially not those who profit from their enslavement.

This remains the biggest opposition faced by Empart workers – they teach people that they are created in the image and likeness of God; they have equal value, worth and dignity to every other human being. But this teaching cuts to the core of “castisam and re-incarnation” through which India is able to keep 760 million people as ’slaves’. Yet some of these so-called ’slaves’ are no longer bowing to the wishes of the ‘higher cast’. Some members of the higher caste are retaliating, and these workers of God have become the enemy.

Please continue to pray for Kusulia and other Empart workers in these dangerous regions, that they will know God’s peace and presence. The Empart leaders and I remain unfazed, and more determined than ever to continue to take the liberating teachings of Christ to everyone of these 760 million people. Will you consider joining with me so that together, we can bring them the freedom that they deserve? Log onto www.empart.org or www.empartusa.org now to learn just how easy it is to bring the word of God, and courage and freedom to our brothers and sisters in Asia.

A faithful area leader in India has paid the ultimate sacrifice in his work to save the unreached.        

For the last three months Babulal had been working in an unreached village, not far from his own village. Then, on 24^th November, as he and some other believers left this village and headed for home, they  innocently accepted a lift on a tractor laden with heavy rock. As the tractor climbed a steep hill, the driver released the hydraulic lever. The tractor trolley tipped backward and rocks tumbled down on the passengers.  Babulal was killed instantly.  The sister of another Church Planter died on the way to hospital, and eight new believers were seriously wounded by the falling rock.

Babulal was a victim of his own faith in the Lord. A group of Hindu right wing militants had been watching him, and had paid the tractor driver to kill him off, and stop him from spreading the word of the Jesus.

In Rajasthan, killing believers under the pretence of an accident is the latest strategy of religious fundamentalists. While the militants may have succeeded in taking two precious lives, they can never take the love of the Lord from the hearts of the people Babulal introduced to Him. Empart worker, Saroj said, “They may try to kill all of us, and yes, they have taken Pastor Babulal but they have not taken his vision. We will fulfil his vision”.

Babulal was crushed to death only four days before he was to baptise 25 new believers. Yet Babulal’s work is far from over.  His legacy of his love for the Lord remains. Since graduating from the Empart training centre in 2007, Babulal planted three churches with 225 members, he had already raised up four other workers and had had inspired many others with a great vision to see his whole region reached with the love of Christ.

In his own village, Babulal was well respected as a great leader and a strong organiser. His villagers loved him because of all the opportunities he brought them. He is survived by his wife, Hugli and three children.  To prevent his children facing an uncertain future just because of their father’s love for Jesus, I’ve established a special fund to help them, and other families who have suffered for their faith.  If you feel moved to contribute, log onto www.empart.org

In October, I had the joy of spending three days with Babulal.  Even then, as I left Babulal and these other heroes, I was mindful that this could be the last time we meet.  Now I look forward to the day I see Babulal again, in heaven.

Each day, families, leaders and workers risk their lives for the sake of the millions of people who have never heard of Jesus. Please, remember them in your prayers. Never forget them.

If you have met Victor you will never forget him, he is tall and passionate, a man deeply in love with Jesus and on a mission to take His love to those who have never heard it.
I first met Victor 10 years ago, a very young man with a dream to see churches planted. He joined my first team of church planters and we have been serving the Lord since the beginning of our ministry.  In a very difficult region of North India God has used him to plant over 120 churches.
Along the way we have seen mighty miracles and also some incredible challenges but nothing like what he is facing right now. On the weekend he went to a special prayer meeting in a remote village. They had an incredible evening of prayer hundreds of people gathered inside and outside of a village hut, Victor and team did not want to disappoint anyone so they did not want stop until everyone was prayed for.  After four hours, exhausted and tired, they got in their vehicle and started the journey home.
It was very dark and all they could think about was a good night’s sleep. They suddenly noticed a group of people blocking the road. They stopped and got out to talk to them  but they did not get many words out before they heard shouting from a distance “yes it is them – kill them”.  Then they heard shots being fired. They started to run but they were caught and beaten up with metal rods, they pleaded with them to stop but then he and Pastor Ashok both were hit with the bar on their heads they both fell to the ground and bleeding heavily, they were unconscious.  Everyone thought they were dead, so someone called the police and reported that some robbers came to rob them and that they took defensive action and it seems that they might be dead please come and get them. So the police came and took them to the office and after four days they are still unconscious and on life support.  Their hands and legs are broken and have serious head injuries and internal bleeding.  And now they also have potential court case because of false accusations that they were robbers.
Friends, please pray for Victor, Ashok and their team as well as for them families and church members. There have been further threats made to believers that if they don’t stop worshiping Jesus they also could face a similar situation.
In this hour we also need to do more than praying, they need significant financial support to help with medical bills and also for the long road to recovery. If you are able to help in any way please make a donation online www.empart.org  or please send your contribution designated to “for Victor and team support”.
Please share this with your friends, family and church and remember them in your prayers.
I am on my way to India, you can find my updates on Twitter, face book also – please stay connected we need every bit of prayer and support that we can get right now.
Thank you for partnering with me – Jossy Chacko

 

I just got a very sad message: a handsome and smart boy, Ajay Digal, from one of our children’s home in Orissa had been suffering from some heart related issues, but he has has now gone to be with the Lord. He had just got his school report and was top in the class. As you know, Orissa region is where Empart church planters and children’s homes suffered greatly during the persecution over the past 18 months. Five of our Empart children’s homes were destroyed, along with 72 churches. You can view a video about this. In these attacks more than 500 brothers, sisters and pastors lost their lives. And now they have to deal with another tragedy.

I know they are very strong in their faith. I had the joy of visiting and encouraging them 3 times during this persecution. Please remember to pray for the other children in the home, school, the church planters and believers. I know they will be very grateful for your thoughts and prayers.

In these remote regions there is very little or no medical assistance available. The nearest hospital to this children’s home was 7 hours by taxi. This is the reason that Empart organizes medical short term teams. If you would like to know more about the possibilities to join a short term team please contact Empart.

Thanks for your love and prayers.

Jossy Chacko

WOW! – Praise the Lord – I have just been informed that the Indian authorities have given permission for Jenni (my wife) to enter India.  Accordingly she is planning to come back to India on the 23rd morning, please pray with us for a smooth transition through the immigration! They have not given any written documentation but have their “word”.  However, the negative report against her (that she was involved in missionary activities and such don’t allow entry into India) in the computer remains, until this is cleared it is difficult for her to enter India so please pray with us for this report to be cleared. Already efforts have started in this direction but we need God to speak to the right public servants and political leaders, so please continue to stand with us. 

During the past 20 days we have suffered much as a family however God has opened so many new opportunity to share the gospel, new contacts and friendships. Let us continue to believe for good and great things to come out of this situation. The kids can’t wait for tomorrow! Well I can’t either!!
A BIG and special THANK YOU to all who have been standing with us in prayer – thank you for sharing with us in our pains and now join with us in our joy with praise to a Great God.