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NEW DELHI, INDIA - The nimble rickshaw puller squeezes between street vendors on the narrow streets of India’s congested capital.
Peering between the stands selling samosas and chai tea, two American church members glimpse a service at a Hindu temple. Worshipers, on their knees and covered in flowers, wait to get a blessing from the priestess.

Counting isn't easy

A trip to Chennai, in southeastern India, changed everything Dyron Daughrity knew about carpooling. The native of Calgary, Alberta, Canada, saw five people decide to put on Christ in baptism after a Sunday service in early February. Many more wanted to accompany them to the water.

To everything there is a season” (Eccl 3:1-8). “A time to be born—a time to die,a time to  plant—a time to pluck what is planted,a time to gain—a time to lose…a time to keep silence—a  time to speak.”God made every thing beautiful in its TIME. A multi-national company in the USA works during the day & at night turns over its work to India. In this way the company is working around the clock. God gave 24 hours each day for everyone—& if you don’t do the important things while you have the time, you may live to regret it.

Dear Brethren,

Greetings to you in the precious name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I will leave for India tonight. Accompanying me will be Quentin Clark, an elder with the Brevard, North Carolina congregation and his daughter, Milissa, of Raheigh, North Carolina. Jim Cunningham of the Sunshine congregation in Wheelersburg, Ohio, will join me in the work in February as the Clarks are returning to the States

Dear Brethren,

 

Let's go...fulfill the Mission! Juanita and I are homesick for our India brethren. We plan to go "home" to Hyderabad leaving from Washington Dulles International Airport on July 26n at 8:00 A.M. Come go with us...you will touch more souls in two or three weeks than you may teach in several years of work in the states.

 

THANKS FOR MY HEARING AIDS

 

Following our return home from our Winter Mission the Manassas Elders surprised us with a presentation of your gifts to purchase much-needed hearing aids. They had requested the gifts while we were in India. Not only did many of our readers help with gifts, but a large number wrote very kind and complimentary letters which the Elders shared with us. The hearing aids work well. I am actually enjoying hearing so many common sounds which most of us take for granted. The hearing aids are especially helpful in crowds and classes in church building auditoriums. The balance of the funds after paying for the hearing aids will be added to the India Fund for evangelism purposes.

 

REGULAR-MONTHLY SUPPORT NEEDED

 

We are blessed by having loyal supporters who remember our work on a regular basis. In reality it is their work...at best we are co-laborers with them and with our Father in Heaven. We are grateful. However, we need to enlarge this wonderful, sacrificial group. The work is growing in a superlative manner...numbers-God gives the increase daily- and in faithfulness as may be seen in the rapidly increasing number of congregations with Elders.

 

Growth always comes with a cost whether we are speaking of our own family and the needs of growing children, or of a local congregation of the Lord's people who must add classrooms and auditorium space "to handle the crowds", or of the success of evangelizing in India. It is God's work and we praise Him for all He has done. At the same time God blesses all of us, prospering our ways, so that we may give back to the Lord in order that His work may go forward.

 

$20,000 IS NEEDED B Y JULY 26

 

Our India Mission Budget touches all the matters one might consider. In no particular order I think of the following: The purchase of Bibles in the local languages; bicycles for preachers; benevolence; construction of church buildings and schools of preaching (the locals must provide the land and pay for some of the construction costs themselves); support of key preachers-those who speak English and serve as interpreters; and, transportation and lodging for the Bullards. Obviously, this is not an exhaustive list. Hopefully, it serves to stimulate your thinking and consideration for the practical side of ministry in a foreign land. It costs a lot of money to do the BIG work that God has led us-and you- to do.

 

Your help is essential...please pray for these needs to be met, and then give as liberally (and regularly) as possible. "If a brother or sister is ill-clad and in lack of daily food, and one of you says to them, 'Go in peace, be warmed and filled,' without giving them the things needed for the body, what does it profit? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead" (James 2: 15-17).

 

THREE STORIES FROM OUR LAST MISSION

 

First, persecution by militant Hindus seems to be increasing. In Raipur, three denominational preachers were teaching the Bible and conducting a prayer meeting. They were suddenly assaulted by Hindus who broke their computers and confiscated their cell phones and money. The radicals beat various people in the audience. They shouted that the reason they had done this was, "These Americans are converting Hindus to Christianity."

In an unrelated matter another Hindu extremist was quoted in The Hindu (a national newspaper) as saying , "When one man is converted to Christianity a new enemy is created; and, when one woman is converted hundreds of enemies have been created."

 

Second, we had an exciting time with brother V. Yesu Rathnam, Suriapet, at the second annual Elder's Lectureship. This Lectureship was directed by Joe Evans from Arkansas. There were 81 Native Elders (and 64 wives of Elders) from 30 different congregations in attendance. (It was noteworthy to learn that 8 of those congregations fully support their local preacher, and 14 had either constructed or purchased their own buildings.) I spoke on the subject, "Why Do Shepherds Smell Like Sheep?" I suggested they smell like sheep because they are sheep... though chosen out of the flock to be Shepherds they will always be sheep.

 

Thirdly, the brethren in Siliguri, northeast India, about 500 miles above Calcutta, asked us to purchase a plot of land for a cemetery. Burial space is a genuine problem which our brethren face all over India somewhere everyday they are confronted with this need. I recalled a thought heard in some lecture in an unremembered place: "How a society treats its dead says much about its character." This thought and some Biblical passages concerning the care taken in burying the dead came to mind. Based on this I challenged the brethren to raise the needed funds to purchase the land and to pay for one-half the cost of the stone wall to border the property. They completed their fund raising over a period of one year.. .purchased the land, and I, then, raised one-half the funds for the property wall from interested brethren in the states. Most of us have never faced such a problem, but cemeteries are a very real need among our Indian brethren.

 

GOD GIVES THE INCREASE CAMPAIGN TOTALS-COMPARING 2006 AND 2007

 

CAMPAIGN RESULTS-2006

MONTHS	MEETINGS	BAPTISMS NEW	NEW CONGREGATIONS	DENOMINATIONAL PREACHERS BAPTIZED
JANUARY-DEC 2006 TOTAL	143,915	277,242	2,482	443

 

CAMPAIGN RESULTS-2007

JANUARY-JUNE 2007 TOTAL

79,915

153,951

644

61

 

 

TO GOD BE ALL THE GLORY

OUR FULL-TIME MISSIONARY TEAM

Please keep each of us in prayer. The work is often difficult, stressful, and dangerous:

JERRIS AND JUANITA BULLARD

RON AND KAREN CLAYTON

KYLE CLAYTON

ROBERT HALL

BEN RENEGAR

 

K. P. Yohannan, President, of the Gospel for Asia, wrote in The Outlook, June 17, 2007:

 

Recent reports of persecution are clear indicators that preaching the gospel and following Christ are dangerous propositions for the people of India. Attacks on missionaries have become all too common, and now believers are increasingly coming under attack, too.

We must pray to God to bring about a heart change and give boldness to His people to love and proclaim the good news in the midst of persecution.

 

Ben is in India at this time. Robert plans to depart for India in a few days. The Bullards leave the USA on July 26. Ron and Karen leave for India about the second week of August. We all need your fervent prayers daily. Especially pray that we may find the lost souls and teach them the Gospel. That is our food and drink.

 

IN MEMORY...PSALMS 116:15

 

Nine Indian Preachers known to us died in January, February, and May. Among those who worked closely with us were:

P. Moses John and V. R. David

Sam James Polly Prosise

Cline Paden Bill VanWickler

Charlotte Perry Jess Willis

 

Let's go.... Fulfill the Mission

 

Your gift is needed and it will make a difference. An envelope is included for your convenience. We leave for India on July 26. By the grace of God and with your help we will have the funds to help our brethren and to reach the lost. Thanks.

 

Grace and Peace,

Jerris Bullard Missionary

September 26, 2016

 

Dear Brethren,

Greetings in the precious name of the Lord Jesus Christ.   We are partners in likely the greatest evangelistic mission that history has experienced.    God is doing a mighty work in our own time and with you and us as His co-workers.    We have experienced nearly one-half of a million souls baptized this year.  We are praying that by year's end we will have seen one million baptisms in 2016.   

Juanita and I have had several health issues this year.  We thank you for your patience with us as the Lord has rebuilt our health.  Juanita is completing her therapy to learn how to walk again following her left hip replacement.  Her recovery from this surgery has taken much longer than we had anticipated.  Your prayers, cards,  and other forms of encouragement have meant so much to us.  God has been gracious and we are both able to be doing the work again.  Of course, much has been done in the interval and we feel that we have accomplished most of our goals for the mission work which we had planned with the Indian brethren  while we were with them during January through February.  The Indian brethren have been very wonderful in communicating with us by telephone and Email in order to accomplish all the work we asked them to do.     

We are planning to visit as many brethren as we can during October, November, and the first half of December. Those supporters whom we cannot personally visit during this time will receive a CD which will provide much of the same information as we would share with the congregation in a personal visit.  The Lord willing we will return to India on January 12, 2017.  Following our return home sometime in March, we will do our best to visit those supporters whom we have not been able to see in 2016.   We really want to do this.  We miss the person relationship with each of you. 

 

BUILDING THE KINGDOM...ONE SOUL AT A TIMe

MEETINGS	BAPTISMS	NEW CONGREGATIONS	DENOMINATIONAL  PREACHERS CONVERTED
242,192	467,593	6,015	2,481

                                                          

• Above Statistics are for January 1--August 19, 2016.
• Average meetings per day 1,044
• Average baptisms per day 2,015  souls.
• Average baptized per meeting 1.93 souls.

(Our thanks to Ron Clayton and his office staff in Hyderabad for the above campaign report.)   

 

TO GOD BE ALL THE GLORY

1 CORINTHIANS 3: 6...GOD GIVES THE INCREASE

Please be in prayer for our Indian brethren and for their nation which has experienced  severe flooding as a result of monsoon rains.   Many  brethren have lost all of their personal effects:  clothing,  cooking utensils,  television sets, books, and bedding.   In some homes water has been as high as six feet.  (This is very similar to the floods in Louisiana.)  There is a shortage of food and medical supplies including their daily tablets.  There  are large scale outbreaks of malaria and denque fever (denque is carried by the same Egypti Mosquito that causes zika).  We need to supply funds for benevolence.   We  have several brethren who wish to provide medical camps for their affected neighbors and church members, but they have no funds with which to purchase needed medical supplies and medicines.  Please be as generous as possible and help us with this need.

 

YOUR HELP IS URGENTLY NEEDED

We do not maintain a large back-up of capital.  Every month we send your gifts directly to our bank account in India where it is immediately dispersed to the most pressing needs.  On average we send $18,000.00 dollars per month to our Indian brethren.  This is for every conceivable expense that one may think of for operating a large mission work.  As an example consider these urgent needs, and as the Indian brethren say, "pray...and then do the needful."

1.  Completion of construction of two buildings in Bagdogra (China border area)--   $30,000.00 dollars.

2.  Printing of 10,000 song books in the Telegu language at $1.25 per hardback copy.  $12,500.00 dollars. 

3. Benevolence for flood victims; eye glasses, numerous serious medical problems,  food and clothing.  $12,000.00 dollars. 

LOOKING AHEAD: 

Evangelism-- winter Campaign 2017--beginning January 12, 2017:  Airfares for the Bullards--$8,000.00 dollars. 

Eight major 2017 campaigns involving hundreds of Indian preachers--daily support, travel, meals, hotels, Bibles for distribution, and bicycles for preachers.  $18,000.00 dollars.

The needs are great and urgent.  Please help as soon as possible.  Thanks...your gift is appreciated, needed, and we do not take your sacrifice for granted.                           

CONCLUDING  APPEAL:

I am reminded of a note received from Hollye Clardy.  In the note,  Hollye  wrote, "I am praying for the Billions of lost souls."      Is it too much for us to pray that one million souls may be baptized in India this year?  May we all have the faith of sister Clardy.

The gospel is free, but we must pay the "piper".  Please pray and give as generously as possible...souls are at stake.   We are on the Master's  business!

"Give Me Souls Or I Die."--"Praying"   John Hyde

Grace and Peace,

Jerris Bullard, Missionary

 

ANNIVERSARY MILESTONE

 

 Joe and Rosemary Capshaw-60TH--Boerne Texas

 

IN MEMORY

Bobby Redd--Lake  City, Ga.                                               Jerry Wilson --Manassas, VA

 

PSALMS 116: 15.....REVELATION 14: 13