Jossy Chacko

I was so encouraged by this story from one of our Empart church planters, as to how the Lord is able to bring something good out of a bad situation.

Jagthar graduated last year from an Empart training centre and the Lord sent him to a village in Punjab. The Lord began to do some miraculous things and people began to be saved. Very soon he had no more room in his little one-room home for everyone to meet for worship.

Jagthar approached a local government officer and was able to get the use of the local government building – free of rent. The church continued to grow and things were going very well until the news about the growth and impact of the church reached some antichristian people. They began to create problems for Jagthar and last month he had to give the building back. With no place for worship they were not able to have a church service.  They were so disappointed by this antagonism – they had done so much to bless this village.

Disappointed but not giving up, Jagthar and some of the believers started to fast and pray. Then, just last week, one of the village leaders came to Jagthar and said, “You people are so good and you have been a blessing to the village. You have helped many of our widows and young women through the tailoring programs; you have educated us about health and hygiene; many people with alcohol and other problems have been helped. It is shameful on us all that you have no place to worship. So I want to give you 1000 square metres of my land so that you can build your own church and have freedom to worship your God.” And this village leader, a Sikh man, has given the land to the church – for FREE! What a wonderful God we serve.

The believers are now collecting funds to build a building on this land. Will you join with them in prayer for provisions?. Friends, no matter what you are going through, if you love the Lord, remember that He is able to bring good out of every bad situation in His time. Trust Him; fast and pray like Jagthar – let the Lord know that you need Him and that you are so dependent on Him. Hang on to His word and do not lose hope – no matter what.

May the Lord bless you and make His face shine upon you.
Jossy Chacko

India is probably the most “spiritual” country I have ever known. No other country in the world is as spiritually hungry as India is; on the trains, streets and offices you can talk about spirituality. One of my favorite questions to perfect strangers in India is, “So what do you think about God?” Then I just sit back and listen to their ideas about God for the next hour – or day! This also gives me the opportunity to ask questions that make them think (in my view this is the best personal evangelism strategy). I have used the same question all over the world but in most other places the answer is not quite as long as it is in India!!

I would love you to take 3 minutes to watch this video from a Rat temple in North India, where people come from all over the world to worship, touch, stay with and eat with rats. Yes, it’s true. In a country where 340 million people struggle to have one meal a day, there is plenty of milk and food for the rats. And no, this is not from 500 or 200 years ago, this is happening here and now. These people worshiping the rats are not all foolish/stupid – many of them are well educated and some of them very wealthy. They all have one thing in common – they are all lost and in search of truth and salvation.

It is images like this that get me out of bed and compel me to do what I do with Empart. How can we, who believe in Christ, sit back and do nothing?? I am not saying that we should make them all into Christians but I am arguing the point that they should be given the opportunity to hear the truth (the teachings of Jesus) and know their Savior (Jesus). While we argue about postmodernism in the west, we fail to remember more than 80% of the world is still in the dark ages (without the light of the gospel).

What do you think? What is our responsibility? If you are a follower of Jesus, can I ask you what would Jesus do? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

For the Lord and the lost
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

One of the greatest challenges I have in living in two worlds (Asia and the West) is the constant change between the two cultures, expectations and practices. While an airplane can take me from one place to the other within hours, my mind has difficulty catching up!

In Asia people love relationship; everyone wants me to visit their home and have a meal. They all want to sit and talk about everything and anything and everyone has time for each other. Even if we have not seen, called or written to each other for years, the minute you see each other you are so connected and there is a depth and quality that is hard to express. This is seen and experienced in the families (extended family culture), offices and more importantly in the church (no one is rushing to run out the door when the final Amen is said). The worship service is not a production, rather a gathering that could last for 3-4 hours on Sunday and then continue throughout the week.

On the other hand, when I come to the West I have to make my mind adjust quickly to a different culture and expectation. Here, none of us has time but everyone wants to connect on email, mobile, Facebook etc. (One of my American Indian cousins – caught between cultural expectations – recently said to me, “I feel weird when I got a Facebook request from my uncle saying that he wants to be “friends” with me!”)

The online social media explosion is a good reflection of where the western society and culture is heading. No one has time but everyone wants to be friends with everyone. (And yes, you can be friends with me on both Facebook AND Twitter – jossychacko!!)

There is one thing I find in common around the world, no matter what the culture or language is: people are hungry for contact and connection with people.

I am not saying that one culture is better than the other, but I am troubled by one thing: western society is moving to a culture where we want friendship without relationship. If someone is not happy with your content they can instantly drop the “friendship” and find another friend within seconds! Wow, think about the consequence of this kind of world for the Church and Kingdom. I am fearful that one day people will say – hey, I want to be friends with God but I don’t want a relationship with Him. (Maybe we are already there?!)

Fellow Christian leaders and thinkers, we need to start getting our heads around this very quickly and come up with ways of meeting this challenge effectively. Otherwise we will have lots of friends for the Kingdom and not many disciples!

What do YOU think? Tell me, please write your comments, I want to hear from you. I want to be part of the solution, not just point out the problem!

Thanks and blessings

Jossy Chacko

I had an incredible time, thanks Bob.  Bob Roberts is very unique and “unusual man of God” the more I know him the more I love him.  I consider him to be a western white guy with an eastern brown heart and a global mind.  You can check out his blog

jc-middle-east-slideshow-23

A small group of highly strategic leaders from around the world was selected to share and learn from each other (thanks guys you blessed me).  It was incredible to listen to everyone – the amazing thing was we all spoke the same language: disciples, planting churches, movements, fulfill the great commission, global etc. everyone has huge ministries but no one was satisfied – everyone has a desire to see the world reached and changed. I thought I was in heaven with these guys.  Many of them face great persecution etc. but that was not on the agenda – rather how can we collaborate and learn from each other, how can we see a truly global church planting movement? Some of the guys could not make it either because they could not get out of their country or could not get visa for Israel.  We are planning to meet again in Dec 09 in Philippines (please pray for us). God well could use this small group to do something incredible. We are blessed and privileged to be living in one of the most successful harvesting season in history (because of security reasons not able to say too much).

The situation in Israel is not very good for neither the Jews nor the Palestinians.  They both are hurting and struggling, Jews with security and Palestinians with freedom.  On the way out of Israel I had more than one hour security check (the longest ever) because they sew in my passport that I visited Malaysia, they were not happy with my explanation so had the “special treatment” most foreigners and Palestinians have to go through this. I was more than happy to sit and wait (well read my book) but I am not sure if this going to help them with security or create more problems in the long-term? I asked a Palestinian business lady (who was also searched next to me), she has Israeli passport but every time she comes and goes she is checked (she said it could be from 1 – 3 hours each time). She said that I am not happy but ok about it but my sons are not so ok about it!  The whole west bank, the wall and check posts etc. (again may be all necessary) but not sure what it could produce in the long-term.  One Palestinian Christian leader said, few months ago he was sick and needed to go to Jerusalem for treatment, but could not get permission to go then finally when he got, it was for 3 hours, he said sometime it will take about 1 hr to get through the check point one way, then travel etc. but most incredibly when he was at the doctors the police rang to see if he was there or if he was lying! Both groups feels victims, (one leader put it well – we both are damaged people not sure if we can sort out our own problem – we need Jesus) they both are hurting and in need of God’s love, grace, forgiveness and more importantly His peace.  Let us pray for both of these wonderful people who are created in the image and likeness of God and for whom He send His only son to die.

Thanks for praying for me and the ministry – love and thank the Lord for you.
Blessings – Jossy Chacko

Being in the historic land of Israel has inspired me to do a bit of research and learn from history.  Although history tells us that we never learn from history, over the next few weeks I am going to look for lessons from some great lives!   

First on my list is Winston Churchill. This is because I believe he was one of the greatest communicators, and since I am in the communication business I thought I better have a closer look at him!

 

Winston Churchill – confidence and communication

On May 10^th 1940, Winston Churchill at the age of 60 was elected to be the prime minister of England.  As he went to bed that evening (3am!) he writes: “I was conscious of a profound feeling of relief. At last I had authority to give direction over this whole scene. And I felt as though I were walking with destiny that my past life has been but preparation for this hour, for this trail… I was sure I would not fail, I will not fail to save the world from the greatest mechanized might ever known, and with a minimum of equipment and men.”

Wow – what a confidence!

Within days he organized the government and gave his 1^st speech as the prime minister.  “You ask, what is our policy? I will tell you. It is to wage war. It is to wage war by sea, by land and in the air with all our might and with all the strength that God can give us. To wage war against a monstrous tyranny never surpassed in the dark lamentable catalogue of human crime. That is our policy.  What is our aim? One word – victory – victory at all cost, victory in spite of all the terror, victory however long and hard the road may be, for without victory there is no survival- no survival for the urge and impulse of the ages.  But I take up my task with buoyancy and hope, I feel sure that our cause will not be suffered to fail among men.” The same day he went on the radio and continued his speech, “…We shall not flag nor fail. We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France.  We shall fight on the seas and the oceans. We shall defend our island whatever the cost of it may be.  We shall fight in the fields and in the streets; we shall fight in the hills.  We shall never surrender.”

In another speech he said: “Come then, let us to the task, to the battle, to the toil-each to our part, each of us to our station. Fill the armies, rule the air, pour out the munitions, strangle the U boats, sweep the mines, plough the land, build the ships, guard the streets, succor the wounded, uplift the downcast and honor the brave…”

Wow – what an ability to communicate!

Churchill had a brilliant depth of thought, a great breadth of view, an inspiring philosophy of life and a great understanding of human nature. But his greatest weapon during the war was his ability to express and articulate his thoughts in a way that everyone could understand and be inspired by. He always had the right words for the right idea and he never had a word too much.  I don’t think it was just the ability to put words together that made him powerful; rather it was his character that gave life to those words. He meant what he said and lived the life to match those words. 

I take way from Churchill two key lessons:

1.      Confidence. Believe in your destiny, and let everyone know that you believe in what you are saying. Use your words and actions to take the doubters and the pessimists to your level of faith, optimism and eventually to destiny.  Don’t let circumstances or others allow you to under-achieve your destiny.

2.      Communicate. Find ways to communicate through words and more importantly through your life. Discover your message and use words and expressions to inform, inspire and invite people to join your destiny.  Don’t let circumstances or people allow you to change your message – stick to your message.

May God enable us to find and live our destiny with confidence. And may He give us the ability to communicate powerfully and effectively.

Blessings – Jossy Chacko

Two days ago I had the privilege of doing my morning walk around Galilee! It was incredible to walk where Jesus walked. I was thinking about some of the things He said and did while he lived in this part of the world. This region is where he lived during his ministry and performed so many of the miracles. It is not a big place – just a small town, about 3 days walk from the biggest city in Jesus’ time, Jerusalem.

Today we think a lot about the strategic importance of cities for ministry (and I believe they are strategic), however I wonder why Jesus chose a small town instead of the big city to be his ministry base? And we know that people from all over the cities and the region came to this small town to hear his teachings and experience His miracles. Even though it would not have been easy for some of them to get there – with days of walking through the desert or mountains – we know that they did come to him.

While all this was going through my mind as I walked, I saw a man sitting by the side of road. It was only 6am and he looked like he had slept there. I went to him and started to talk to him. His name is Richard. Originally from Poland, he shared with me his recent story.

A few months ago he was backpacking around Canada and a man who picked him up hitch-hiking started to share the gospel with him. Richard was raised in the Catholic Church but had no faith. He was very interested to hear the testimony of this man (Richard could not recall his name). Soon they parted ways but the words were echoing in his mind. He told me that later, while sitting by himself, he started to pray to Jesus and “something happened, I can’t explain. I began to feel a peace that I never had so I asked Jesus to forgive me of my sins and I made Him my Savior”.

Richard decided to continue his travels, but now in the Holy Land. He wanted to see for himself what he was learning about in the Gospels. He was so blown away by the reality he discovered, the evidence and facts about Jesus’ life. It confirmed for him the truth – the Gospels are not just a made up story but they are about real people, real places and real miracles.

When I asked Richard what had surprised him the most, he replied, “All this evidence is here, the facts are here, they are walking where He walked. Everything is here but the Jewish people still don’t believe in Him.” Millions of people who have never seen the Holy Land, many who can’t even read, choose to believe in Him but His own people, in His own land, refuse to believe in Him!

Unless you take a step and choose to believe, it is not faith. Faith requires a leap. It is a decision, regardless of the facts or the evidence. It is not blind faith – the Bible says faith is the substance of things not seen. It has substance, it is reality – just not able to be seen or experienced by the natural body. It requires something from within us.

How is your faith? How is your ability to see the substance of things not seen? Don’t look for proof, facts or evidence – take a leap. In eternity you will be so glad you did!

Jossy Chacko

RecentlyI received one of the most encouraging letters from our field leaders, I know you will be blessed by reading this.

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Dear partners and brothers and sisters in Christ,

Greetings from India and Nepal. We have never written like this before but we the leaders wanted you to know our thoughts and prayers during these days. 

Serving the Lord here has many challenges but we also understand the sacrifices you make to help us to reach the un-reached people, especially with the whole world facing economical issues.  And also we have heard from pastor Jossy that many children and pensioners sacrifice to give finances to enable us to carry out the Great Commission.  We know you don’t necessarily give because you have lots of money but because of your deep love for the Lord and the needy and lost people.  It is very hard for us to explain all the incredible things the Lord do through us but we want you to know that the efforts you make are having a big difference in India and Nepal.

What we don’t have, you help us with and we give all that we have and together we make great partnership and God is glorified.  Because of us together, everyday almost three new churches planted and thousands are hearing the gospel for the first time and hundreds of children and women experience the love and care of Jesus.  One day we will stand together before our Saviour and together we will hear great words and receive the rewards.

Friends we believe with all our heart that this is great harvest time, because multitude after multitude are coming to the Lord, so we ask you to do what you can to stand with us and not leave us alone.  We promise that all of us will give our 100%. Together we are strong, us alone we will be weak, so please continue to pray, give and come and not allow the current situations to take the focus away from what the Lord is doing. Our share market in Heaven will give you 100% reward on time. 

Every day all the children, women and believers are remembering to pray for you.  God does everything on time, whatever He does it is for our good, so do not lose heart, keep your eyes on Him and He will bring us through.

Thanks for your love, care and support.

With love and prayer in Christ, (signed by)

Abraham – For Chandigarh Region, James – For Lucknow Region  Jose – For Udaipur Region, Johnson – For Orissa Region  Vivek - For Nepal Region, Varghese - For Management Team  Paul – For Field Staff, Thomas – For Board

(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