Alpha India January 2013

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alpha india news

VOLUME 4, ISSUE 1 | JANUARY - MARCH 2013

NEWS IN BRIEF

Alpha Prison Mission: Read about the Alpha Prison GAT in New Delhi and letters from pastors, current and Ex inmates.

Pg. 4-5 Alpha and Episcopal Area Deaconesses, Lucknow: The Deaconesses strongly believe that the Alpha tool can help them reach out to colleges and schools.

Pg. 5

THE QUARTERLY NEWSPAPER OF ALPHA INDIA

NATIONAL CHRISTIAN

WOMEN LEADERS CONFERENCE

Awakening Conference: Speakers from Holy Trinity Brompton share their experiences from the National Women Leaders conference in Jaipur.

Pg. 6-7 Marriage course in Chandigarh: Alpha Marriage course book in Hindi helps fastrack the Marriage course in North India.

Pg. 8 Transformations through Alpha: Testimonies of people whose lives have been transformed by the Alpha course.

Pg. 9

Financial Partnership We appreciate your financial partnership. If you are inspired to support Alpha India please use the details below, or contact Josy Joseph at the Alpha India Office.

Alpha India Account: Account Number: 911020054880929 NAME: ALPHA INDIA BANK NAME : AXIS BANK LTD IFSC CODE : UTIB0000734 BRANCH : KALYAN NAGAR BANGALORE.

Acc Type: Current Account

The much prayed and planned for first national “Women Christian Leaders Conference” far exceeded our expectations. There was a festive occasion as 115 women leaders, along with a 6 member all women worship team, apart from the Alpha staff and 5 speakers, came together at the Gold Palace and Resorts, Jaipur. They were very simple though sophisticated women, including PhDs, bankers, lawyers, doctors, heads of institutions and church leaders.

The vision was cast by Mr. J. V. Raj—“To create a Community of Women Leaders who can influence Homes, Churches and Communities at large to bring transformation in our societies.”

Rev. Erin Clifford, Ms. Sally Prince, Rev. Emmy Wilson, Ms. Shaneen Clarke along with Ms. K.C. Ranjani and Ms. Elca Grobler spoke with clarity and power.

The follow-up: 7 Regional Conferences in 2013 have been planned and the leaders identified.

2 National Alpha Office contact details: Alpha India:

219, 5th A Main Road, HRBR 2nd Block, Kalyan Nagar, Bangalore - 560 043 Tel: 080 2542 0902 IDD: +91 80 2542 0902 Email: contact@alphaindia.org, Web: www.alphaindia.org

National Director: Mr J. Varadaraj Board Members:

Chris Sadler, Chairman of Alpha Asia-Pacific Scott Norling, Chairman of Alpha India J Varadaraj, National Director of Alpha India Don Anderson, Advisor to Petroleum Ministry of Qatar Clarissa Anderson, Entreprenuer and Invester Mathew Anthony, Secretary for Evangelisation,

Archdiocese of Delhi

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ALPHA INDIA NEWS JANUARY - MARCH 2013

READERS STORIES & PHOTOS Thank you for the testimonies, stories and photos that were sent to us. Once again in this issue your stories have been printed throughout the newspaper, along with other encouraging stories that we have received from across the nation.

Please send your stories to: Email: stories.alphaindia@gmail.com Postal address: Alpha India National Office 219, 5th A Main Road,HRBR 2nd Block, Kalyan Nagar, Bangalore - 560 043

Church Advisory Board:

Archbishop Vincent Concessao Bishop Rt. Rev. V. M. Malaviya Rev. Dr. D. Mohan, Superintendant of AOG India

Alpha India Regional Offices:

North West Region, Chandigarh: Rupak Nayak Email : rupak.alphaindia@gmail.com Mob : 090233-91414 West Region, Ahmedabad: Jimmy Harshkant Email : damorejimmy@gmail.com Ph : 09825-444197 East Region, Kolkata: Prabir Mandal Email : prabir.alphaindia@gmail.com Ph : 096744-61951 North East Region, Shillong : P.O Ryn Jah, Shillong - 793006 Ph : 090851-57153

National Coordinator’s Contact details:

Alpha in the Workplace: Santosh Chetri Mob: 090070-22889 Alpha for Prisons: Peace Khapai Mob: 09597-421832 Student & Youth Alpha : James Michael David Mob : 097429-98618 North-East Diaspora: Rampan Muivah Mob : 099029-90313

Coordinators’ Contact details:

Andhra Pradesh: Susheel K Chattar Mob: 098660-99184 Andhra Pradesh - Hindupur: Paul J L Mob: 094408-61979 Bihar: George Muller Mob: 094310-16124 South Karnataka: Sam Victor Mob: 099646-98118 North Karnataka (Hubli): Abraham Vinay Mob: 095914-22225 Kerala : Mon C George Mob: 094464 83577 Odisha: Tushar K Behera Mob: 093371-41600 Odisha: Jayadeep Samantroy Mob: 098535-03813 Rajasthan: Kamlesh Parmar Mob: 099830-03637 Rajasthan: Johnson James Mob:098290-77374 Uttarakhand: Janus Peter Mob: 094581-90983 Uttar Pradesh: Vinay P Dayal Mob: 093594-86843 West Bengal: Dilip Debnath Mob: 098742-07760 Tamil Nadu : John Rajan Mob : 098434-95572 Northeast : Ninghor K Shimray Mob: 090851-57153 Kathmandu : Rupa Chetri Mob: 00977 98132-81683 Kathmandu: Reuben Pradhan Mob: 00977- 98020-25522 Youth Alpha, Chandigarh : Sameer Mob: 078370-51735 Assoc. Coordinator, Chandigarh : Vikram Sathyarahi, Mob: 096467-76120 © Alpha India 2012, edited and published

by J.V. Raj for Alpha India

RESPONSE CARDS These are a few responses from people who have attended Alpha

ü It was an amazing experience having group discussions ü Alpha training is really good for church leaders and church growth ü Alpha course is very good, very easy to run and very effective ü It was a blessed time that will help us in our practical life. I would love to learn more through Alpha ü The training tips are creative and wise but challenging ü Excellent way to share God’s love

Praise God for these Advisers

These 16 advisers are currently actively helping us in providing training in the North West Region of India. We are thankful to God for his chosen people in HP, UK, Punjab, Chandigarh and Jammu. We have received good responses from them every month.

This year we are planning to add a few more advisers to our team as we look forward to conducting many more trainings in the new year, 2013. Please pray for these amazing advisers who were trained in 2012.

ALPHA INDIA NEWS JANUARY - MARCH 2013

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GOD TRANSFORMS

“Behold, I make all things new”

Rev. 21:5

In the recent past, the country was pulverised and paralysed at the rape and violence of a young lady student who was returning home on that fateful evening. It is reported that every half an hour on average, a rape takes place in our country.

Even after strong protests and anger against the perpetrators of such crimes against women, several cases of similar inhuman episodes have been reported.

A lot of discussions have happened. New legislations have been sought. Courts and the governments are seized by the matter. Extreme, exemplary and violent solutions are offered.

One solution that must be considered is the “gospel” solution. Paul writes of the gospel as the power of God that transforms individuals. This is a time to consider the power of non-violence that can overcome all forms of violence. We are tempted and provoked to retaliate with an eye for an eye.

We must believe that for every violent and cruel rapist, there are tens of thousands of good men in the country. We must believe that there are good things happening in our midst.

The Christian message is of hope in a dying world. Charles Beard, the American Historian famously said, “When the skies grow dark, the stars begin to shine.” Our duty is to “work while it is still day.”

As we look ahead towards 2013, we have a God with us who said, “Behold, I make all things new”. Even as God makes all things new, we must cooperate in this process. Men, women, boys, girls, we all must collaborate in this activity of becoming new .

I urge you all to specially mobilise prayers for a transformation to take place in our country.

Raj National Director Alpha India

from the field

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ALPHA INDIA NEWS JANUARY - MARCH 2013

Alpha PRISON GAT

- Rupak & Peace

A team from India and HTB London came together for this GAT A Prison Alpha GAT was held at the Eastern Theological seminary campus in new Ashok Nagar, New Delhi on the 19th and 20th of Nov 2012. Sixty five delegates attended this Prison Alpha GAT that was lead by Emmy, Sally, Shaneen and Erin who came from HTB (Holy Trinity Brompton) London.

Peace Khapai our National Coordinator for Prison Alpha and Rupak Nayak our North West Regional Manager along with Santosh Bagh and 5 of his co-workers extended their services to accomplish this.

There were representatives from across India present at this GAT. States like Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Chandigarh, Haryana, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan were represented at this GAT The delegates were from different denominations such as the CNI, Pentecostal and Catholic Church. The participants were divided into 5 groups where they decided that a plan of action will be taken to reach out to all the different jails in India. The participants agreed to organize special meetings for mobilization of prayers and fund raising for the event to take place in January 2013.

We pray that we will see a great move of the Holy Spirit in different prisons across India. We believe this breakthrough is the beginning of a new era in the history of prison ministry in North India.

INSIGHT ON Alpha’s Prison Ministry - Peace Khapai I am so thankful to God for opening doors wherever we have gone so far. If the Alpha Prison mission continues to grow in this manner we will have involved around one thousand three hundred and seventy five prisons with their 3,70,000 inmates in India in some kind of activity by the churches of India by the year 2020.

I thank all our prayer partners for faithfully standing with us in reaching out to the Prison inmates. Please continue to pray for the prison workers and also for the inmates so that His Kingdom can come in all the prisons of India. I believe the life transforming stories of the prison inmates in this Alpha news letter is an answer to your prayers, so let us continue to Pray.

I would also like to thank all the AFP (Alpha For Prison) Advisers who have adopted the prisons. May God give all of us wisdom, courage, understanding, favour and strength to carry out the work we have committed to do.

Asha I was in a prison for one and a half years and I was beginning to feel very lonely. However when a Christian organization called Alpha India came to our prison and taught us about praying to Jesus and sang songs, they touched my heart.

Rozid Zamail

Ps. Jacob Jayaveeran

I would like to talk about how Alpha is helping us in many different ways. They support us mentally and spiritually. They have done this by telling us about Jesus, about who He came to this world for, who He is, why He died and how we can have faith.

Apart from this, they have also given us work We are very thankful to Alpha India, especially to do, we make paper jewellery, ribbon pens Mr. Peace and his wife for giving us handicraft and embroidery. Through this work we have work through which we can now share our been able to share our needs in the prison. daily needs and help our family.

I am very grateful to all of you.

We are thankful to all of you.

Lord Jesus.

Yours faithfully, Yours faithfully, Rozid Zamail Asha

I was invited to attend the Alpha Training Programme (GAT) conducted at the Union Church, Nilgiris. The training was meaningful and a blessing to me. After the training I started the Alpha course in Ootacamandu.

I ran it twice and more than 20 people successfully completed the course each time.

Today they are witnessing for our

from the field

ALPHA INDIA NEWS JANUARY - MARCH 2013

I am used as a trainer by the Alpha leaders and am involved with Alpha India as a training resource person. My opinion towards Alpha is that it is one of the key tools that can be used for the growth of churches in India. May the Lord use Alpha as a channel of blessing to our churches in India.

Babu

5 The Alpha course FAQs 1. How do I get started running Alpha?

Prayer is vital to the planning, preparation and effectiveness of your Alpha course.

Find a group of people who will pray for every aspect of your Alpha course.

Pastor Jacob Jayaveeran Nilgiris, India

Step 1 - Pray Step 2 - Participate

Pastor Praveen

Pastor Praveen

I greet you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

I have been serving the Lord for 4 years in a small village called Begur in Bangalore, Karnataka. It is a cluster of 36 villages.

I started by working with a small group of people for 3 years. However it never grew, despite visiting prisons and a few tribal areas. One day a friend of mine from Ooty told me about the Alpha course and then Brother Peace came to visit me and he shared information about the Alpha Training and how to share the Good News easily in prisons. So I attended the Alpha Training course in Ooty and since then I have started running the Alpha course and using their materials. Gradually my church has started growing. Now from the prison, 25 exprisoners are attending the church in Begur.

5 Families and many others gather in the T. Narasipura town.

Babu We met Babu 8 months ago in Chamrajnagar Central Prison.

He attended the AFP course and accepted the Lord Jesus Christ.

To my surprise he showed up in my church at Begun along with his family. So I asked him to share his story and he started sharing and giving thanks to God and all the church members for praying for him.

Step 3 - Plan your course Step 4 - Prepare your team Step 5 - Procure your resources Step 6 - Persevere Step 7 - Pass on the vision 2. How do I run the Alpha course outside of my church?

Using the same Alpha course content and structure, you can run an Alpha course at school, colleges, workplace, prisons, hospitals, homeless shelters, army bases, slums, among eunuchs and in red light districts.

3. What resources and training opportunities are available to me?

He said, “My life has never been the same once Jesus came into it. Even within the prison there was a great joy in me and I started praying that all the inmates will also receive Jesus. After much prayer I was released from the prison and have not stopped sharing about the amazing God Jesus who transformed my life. I am out of prison and have restored my relationship with my family and most importantly- Jesus is in my life!”

• Access to Alpha’s national training conferences and local training events.

• Access to a full array of products through the Alpha India website to promote, run and augment your Alpha course.

• Access to a network of Alpha coordinators and Alpha advisors

For me Alpha has been a good support for my mission and field work.

“I thank pastor for bringing Alpha to the prison.”

• Your local state coordinator then

Thank you,

Thank you,

Pastor Praveen Begur

Pastor Praveen and Babu Begur

• The Alpha India National Office They can all help you locate a training event happening near you.

4. How do I contact Alpha India?

Your first point of contact is

• The Regional Office and finally

Please find the contact details on Pg. 2

Alpha and Lucknow Episcopal Area Deaconesses - Vinay P. Dayal A seminar for the Lucknow Episcopal Area Deaconesses was held at Siloam, Shillong from the 9th to the 11th of November 2012 under the esteemed and able leadership of Bishop Phillip Masih. The theme of the seminar was - Looking Back with Praise and Looking Ahead with Faith. It was a blessed time reflecting on how miraculously God works in the life of his people.

Apart from our reflection time we were given the gift of Alpha training, by our respected bishop. For all the Deaconesses the Alpha training was very beneficial because they were introduced to an amazing tool of evangelism that they can use in schools and hostels. Alpha training was conducted by Rev. Subhash and Rev. Thapa and we understood the Alpha vision of evangelization of our nation and transformation of our society. We believe that students are the future of our nation and they are the ones who are going to impact and rule our nation. So, if we can win them today for our Lord tomorrow we can win our nation for our Lord.

Alpha training has helped us to understand how easily we can reach our college students in a friendly atmosphere; we strongly believe that the Alpha tool can bring about a strong revolution among the colleges and schools.

NATIONAL WOMEN LE

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AWAK

Interview with the Speakers Rev. Erin Clifford AI - What is your message for the Indian Woman?

Erin - My message for the Indian woman is that God loves her.

That she is capable of anything, really, and she should dream as big as God is because God has made her for a purpose and to seek out that purpose is all that God wants her to do.

AI – How was the conference?

Erin - Oh the conference was in a word “Inspiring”. I loved getting to know all the different women. We had women who work in economic areas here, we saw women who work in micro enterprise, and we saw women who work in orphanages, with widows, women who are pastors’ wives. I was just so inspired by the women of India and all the ways that they are making a difference in their communities.

AI – What is the one thing that you will be taking away from this conference?

Erin - The one thing that I will be taking away from this conference is how brave the women of India are. In a place where it’s not always easy to be leaders I have met a hundred and fifteen amazing leaders and so I will go away being really inspired myself to be more brave and more courageous where I am.

AI – Any other comments?

Erin - It was a wonderful conference and that everyone should come to the next one!

Shaneen Clarke AI - What is your message for the Indian Woman?

Sally Prince AI - What is your message for the Indian Woman?

Sally- The most important message is that every woman can be a leader.

Leadership is about catching the vision and passing it on.

Alpha is an exciting vision because we AI – How was the conference? are already seeing how it is being used in India, how it’s growing and it’s very easy for Shaneen- The conference not only impacted women to be able to take it and use it and to the women it impacted me. To see such hunger help others to use it too. in Indian women who are willing to actually take on the challenge to see a transformation AI – How was the conference? in society and to take on the Alpha course as Sally – The conference has been amazing. a tool. It really ministered to me as a woman There were 115 lovely ladies here, they to see how important family life is. Most of the have come from all over India and they are women said they understood that the vision all so encouraging, keen and they have been is not just for them it is for the whole family. I wonderful. They have been a great blessing think to place value on your family and to pass to me and for all our team and I am sure the blessings on of what we are learning in everybody has been a blessing to each other. this generation is so important.

AI – What is the one thing that you will be AI – What is the one thing that you will be taking away from this conference? taking away from this conference?

Sally- I think it would be to encourage people to Shaneen- I am taking India away with me to think small beginnings. We have an expression pray because I know God is doing something in the UK, which is about a big tree called an so powerful in this nation and I believe that Oak tree and the fruit of the Oak tree is the women are the key to transformation in acorn and we say “from little acorn’s big Oak society, in economics, in government, in trees grow”. I think when you first start thinking politics and education. I think as we reach the “should I start an Alpha course?” and you hear women, India will see a change in every level. stories about big Alpha courses running all AI – Any other comments? over the world you think “Oh I can’t do that!” but you can start small and you can learn how Shaneen- I have enjoyed coming and we it works and then very soon it will grow into a are really excited about the vision and about really big Oak tree. coming back to India and equipping women.

Shaneen-My message is that they are called to be life givers for the nation, they have the power to change and transform communities.

EADERS CONFERENCE

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KENING Empowering Women, Influencing the World.

peakers at the conference Elca Grobler

Rev. Emmy Wilson

K.C. Ranjani

AI - What is your message for the Indian Woman?

AI - What is your message for the Indian Woman?

AI - What is your message for the Indian Woman?

Elca - Each woman should believe in the value of the women next to her. Indian women are so strong, courageous and beautiful. They need to believe in themselves, not just themselves, believe in the woman next to you and if she can do something small to help.

Emmy- There is a job for each person to do and a role that God has already prepared for each person. What we have to do is listen to the Holy Spirit so that He can reveal to the women what that role is and then to believe as we are empowered by the Holy Spirit that He will give us all the energy and all the different ways we need to be quipped to fulfil that role.

Ranjani The destiny of our nation is in your hands and hearts. Understand your potential and work that out in hope and faith.

AI – How was the conference?

Elca- The conference was absolutely blessed and like a miracle from God. So many women came up and said that the blessings and the Holy Spirit and the new breath of life was great.

The conference was what everybody dreamt it to be which was Awakening! Awakening of the women’s minds, bodies and spirits.

AI – How was the conference?

Emmy- The conference for me was amazing.

I have never seen such hunger in all my life. I have never met so many women in one room who are just excited about being filled with the Holy Spirit, excited about every message, AI – What is the one thing that you will be really engaging with the talks and inspired. taking away from this conference?

AI – What is the one thing that you will be Elca- With a group of women you can do so taking away from this conference? many things but without Jesus and the Spirit we are only people. Every day and night we Emmy- The one thing I will be taking away saw and heard so many wonderful speakers from this conference is that if every woman and wonderful things but it was when the I meet around the world is as excited as the Spirit moved that the women were moved. So women I have met here then the world can be what I take away is that we never forget the changed. power of the Spirit and of Jesus in our life.

AI – Any other comments?

AI – Any other comments?

Emmy- I would love just to add that I think Elca- I want to encourage the women to take that Raj who leads Alpha India is the most what they have learnt here and go share it. inspirational person and the most humble Not just the Gospel and the Alpha course but person with a vision that is just so vast and everything that they have learnt about the I’ve been honoured to meet him. beauty and the value of being a woman.

AI – How was the conference?

Ranjani - The conference was Inspirational.

AI – What is the one thing that you will be taking away from this conference?

Ranjani - The manifest love of God through His people.

AI – What is the one thing that you will be taking away from this conference?

Ranjani - I was impressed with the dedicated leadership team of Alpha, and also the process of training and networking which is impacting many lives for eternity.

TOPICS DISCUSSED AT THE CONFERENCE: • • • • • • • • • • •

Normal Christian Woman Understanding our needs in Jesus Economic empowerment What is Alpha?

Alpha Essential Elements Awakening to Family Leadership Domestic Violence and Social Justice Sex Crimes and Social Justice How to pray for Guests on Alpha Awakening to God’s Prophecy Localising your Alpha Course

from the field

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ALPHA INDIA NEWS JANUARY - MARCH 2013

Marriage Course in Chandigarh - Rupak K Nayak Release of the Alpha Marriage course book in Hindi fastracks the Marriage course We felt that there was a great need to educate the Hindi speaking belt in India about marriage with the Alpha marriage course. After the Hindi Marriage book was published by Alpha India the first training was successfully completed in Dec 2012 by Mr. Vikram and Mitika Satyarahi at the Church of God, Chandigarh.

Six couples including the senior pastor of the Church attended the complete training; they were excited about the programme and are planning to introduce this course to their entire church. The Hindi marriage course will be spread strategically to other states of the North West region and we are looking forward to raising new Hindi marriage course resource people.

Youth Alpha in Chandigarh

Training in Banbasa, Alpha to the Orphaned Uttarakhand

- Sameer

- Janus Peter

- Janus Peter

A Youth Alpha course was conducted by the Faith Community Centre in Chandigarh.

8 young people attended this course and 6 of them accepted the Lord as their personal Saviour. This course has been a blessing to them and they were all excited about it. There was positive feedback from their families as they saw changes in their children during the course. These young people are ready to start a new journey with Jesus. Below is a testimony from one of them:

On the 26th of October a one day training was conducted at the Storm Farm, Banbasa in Uttarakhand. 56 people participated in the training including pastors and lay leaders.

The small town of Banbasa, in the district of Champawat in Uttarakhand, is the home of The Good Shepherd Agricultural Mission, a farm-based orphanage home for almost 100 children. It is run by Rick and Clifton Shipway from Australia and the children’s home is an oasis of love. This orphanage is nestled on the foot of the Himalayas and here the children are given an education, support and most importantly Christian teaching. For years the delivery method of this teaching has been through Sunday church services, Bible studies and Youth groups.

Benjamin Varghese Attending “Alpha for Youth” has been a blessing for me. It has helped me not only understand my identity in Christ but also know what He did and His love for me. Alpha has helped me get an understanding on how to pray, to listen to God and read His Word. It has helped me become more mature in my decision making, deeds and words. During these Alpha sessions I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Saviour.

The people there were full of enthusiasm and excitement upon seeing a fresh approach being used to share the gospel and reach out to the community in such a non-threatening way.

Laxmi, Pauri Garhwal in Uttarakhand A widow and mother of two grown up daughters is an assistant teacher in Angan Bari. She was possessed and often had bad dreams.

She started attending the Alpha course; however, not until the group went through the topic of “Why and how should I pray”, did she ask the group to pray for her and her family.

She shared her problems with the group and they prayed for her. This changed her and she experienced a deep sense of contentment and healing. She learnt to confess and ask through prayer and felt that even though she came from a different faith and community she experienced love and care from the Alpha group.

When Rick and his son, Clifton who had been involved with Alpha in his church in Australia, met Alpha’s Uttarakhand Co-ordinator Janus; they were extremely excited to find out that the Alpha programme was available in India.

After some discussion a plan was made to start the Alpha course in the orphanage in early December for the children and staff. We pray that this would bring about an amazing change in the lives of everyone at The Good Shepherd Agricultural Mission.

follow us on @AlphaInIndia

from the field

ALPHA INDIA NEWS JANUARY - MARCH 2013

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TRANSFORMATIONS THROUGH ALPHA Sangita Das I am from Modhanpur, Nadia. I was born and bought up in a village which was highly influenced by the caste system. My father was a labourer who worked in a rich landlord’s house. This made freedom seem like a distant dream because the custom with such landlords was that people who worked for them had to do exactly what they commanded and it became very difficult for me to adjust to this lifestyle.

When Bro. Debu Manna came to our village and invited us to join the Alpha course, I did just that. As the weeks passed by I came to know more about Jesus through this course.

All this was very new for me and gave me the sense of freedom that I longed for. Then the time came for me to choose if I wanted to receive Jesus as my personal Saviour or not and I decided to receive Jesus Christ into my heart and life.

Raghunath Suna I used to worship various idols with different names. I believed that they were incarnations of God. It was at this time in my life when I attended a discussion about the meaning of one’s life with 15 other people that I was hooked. I found out that there will be a series of meetings where different topics would be discussed. I started attending

these meetings that were held by Alpha and discovered that everything I believed in was false.

The talk and discussions held by Alpha were very interesting and throughout the course Jesus was our main focus. I learnt about the life and death of Jesus, about the Holy Spirit and about a believer’s lifestyle. All this changed me and my beliefs completely. I realized that Jesus was the only incarnation and it is only in and through Him that we can find God. On one special day a pastor prayed for me and I felt like something different had happened in my life; I felt a power coming, touching and blessing me. I also felt peace inside me. So the course really brought changes in my life.

Now I am a follower of Jesus.

Sheba The Alpha course has helped us to share from God’s Word in a very simple and practical way to those who are starting their Christian life and beginning to read the Bible. The course gives us an opportunity to see the nitty-gritty details which many Christians ignore or have forgotten.

Personally this course has helped me peep inside me and take a closer walk with God. To closely study the life of Paul, his zeal and gusto for God leaves us with a message that when everything seems dark and gloomy, when you think everything is against you, even if you are in a prison like situation, we have all the reason to be joyful. We have this joy, in all its fullness, which is found in Jesus Christ and this is something that the world cannot take away from us.

Anita Tamang Being a part of the Alpha course took my faith and knowledge about God to greater heights.

I was living my life in Jesus but there were many things I had not understood especially about the Holy Spirit and His work. However in the Alpha course we had various teachers who taught us about “Who is Jesus?”, “Why did Jesus die?”, “Why and how do I pray?”, “How does God guide us?”, “Who is the Holy Spirit?”, “How can I be filled with the Holy Spirit?” and most importantly “How can I make the most of the rest of my life?”

Very courteously all our queries were discussed and answered during the Alpha course. I was very curious to know more about the Holy Spirit and in the Alpha course I learnt that our relationship with the Holy Spirit grows through prayer and reading the Word of God. I was blessed to learn that Christianity is not about living a perfect life. It is about living an imperfect life under the grace and love of God.

ALPHA RESOURCES Alpha course resources are available in English, Hindi, Marathi, Nepali, Punjabi,Gujarati, Kannada,Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam,Oriya, Assamese and Urdu.

Contact: resources@alphaindia.org

Alpha among TRANSGENDERs - Moses and Kiran, Alpha course leaders We partnered with Jagdish and the Zeuchs with the help of Alpha ministries in ministering to one of the most misunderstood, exploited, abused and unloved group of people – the transgenders. This group consisted of 36 members under the leadership of Devi who attended gospel teaching for a period of 4 months.

At the end of these meetings 12 of them accepted Christ, Devi their leader got baptised and 8 from the group are now a part of Mercy Vineyard church.

Devi and another member by name Laxmi publically expressed their desire to be called by their original name David and Kumar respectively. Their conviction in Christ and radical change from their old lifestyle attracted great deal of opposition. But the beauty and strength of God’s work is that despite strong opposition these people are relentlessly walking with God. Last but not the least, as a team we are all working towards helping them to learn skills to be rehabilitated and lead dignified lives, now much desired by them and also the way God would want it.

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5 ingredients of Church growth

ingredients of Church growth

Acts 2:42 --- They continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine, fellowship, breaking of bread and in prayers.

There are five elements that make up the life of early Christian community.

These five elements caused the church to be dynamically connected and exponentially grow. The book of Acts records the story of first seventeen years of the Church growth. Dr. Rodney Stork, an eminent sociologist in his famous book- ‘The Rise of Christianity’ says that the church grew at an average of 40% per year. The challenge before us is to get back to New Testament Church practice. By continuing in this way, they reached the then known world. There is such a chasm between belief and behavior in both the personal life of believers as well as the corporate Church life. While we can not undo all the ill-effects of history on us, we can certainly do some reverse engineering and boldly get back to Bible ways. Some bold steps are needed.

They continued steadfastly:

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church- which also had a fair share of Gnostics, and rationalists, decided to continue steadfastly in path- breaking steps of obedience to the gospel ways.

They acted on their decisions. Actions bring transformation. They continued till results came in. Faith opens up the way. Faith also helps us into a life of sustained commitment.

…in apostles’ doctrine:

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They confirmed their life to the Word of God. They submitted to the leadership and their teaching. The Word of God is primarily given for obedience. Our mind needs to submit to the understanding that the Spirit gives. Mere mental working out can render us both legalistic and powerless to obey. Alignment to The Word of God is a primary sign of transformation. This will necessitate a constant realignment to His Word as we live in a corruptible world. There will be temptations to align the Word to our life- ideas, settings, culture, passions, experiences etc., The result will be a life of compromise. The Word of God is like the bones of the body.

Without the bones, the body will lack form and direction. In 1912, the whole of Russia became Christian because their benevolent Czar had embraced the religion. Due to nominal and compromising Christian life, the country became Communist and subsequently disintegrated. The early Church understood the discipline of submitting to the word of God.

To continue to do what the Scripture enjoins us without vacillating is a challenge to the mind. When the mind is challenged with various modern concepts,(both of ideas and experiment), it is time for the spirit to exercise faith. While Faith is not “being unreasonable”, it is certainly beyond reason(Reason Plus). Reason is based on knowledge- both acquired and experiential. Faith is based on knowledge of God. Knowledge of God …in fellowship: comes through obedience to revelation. The root Word for fellowship has been This is spiritual. The heart knowledge of rendered in three ways. In Luke 5:10 God, His Truth, sets us free. The early we see the word “partners” meaning

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ALPHA INDIA NEWS JANUARY - MARCH 2013

J. Varadaraj

partnership. In Phillipians 1:5 we see it translated as ‘sharing’. In 2 Cor. 13:14, it is translated as “communion”. Christian Fellowship is a partnership. The basis of fellowship is our fellowship with the Father and with the Son. 1 John 1:3 Right relationship with the Father and the Son expresses in right relation with other believers. The Church is a body of people who have a common vision and a purpose. Therefore they choose a common lifestyle committed to the vision. The core values will be essentially same though outward manifestations could vary. Therefore also they will invest their energies, talents, time and money towards the common vision.

Acts 2:43-48. This will help in times of persecution, gospel preaching, serving the needs of the body. During the Nazi reign of terror, Dietrich Bonhoffer had such fellowship groups. In India the Ashram movements under the leadership of Dr. Stanley Jones were a similar experiment. Common vision, Common lifestyle and Common purse were the normal features of ashram lifestyle.

…in breaking of bread:

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Our gifts distinguish us from each other, whereas brokenness binds all human beings Christian Fellowship is a fellowship of brokenness. When we come to break bread, we recognize that who we are is by the grace of God demonstrated in the brokenness of Jesus’. It also expresses our incompleteness without others in the body. When broken people find meaning and purpose in all their suffering and trauma, the outside world will find hope. The world we live is a broken world. Add to this the empty salvation the world offers them. Only a community of broken people who are fulfilled in their broken Lord is the hope of a dying world. The message is simple

ALPHA INDIA NEWS JANUARY - MARCH 2013

5 ingredients of Church growth

yet clear. “There is no wound that the cross of Christ cannot bind; there is no pain that the cross of Christ cannot heal”. It is only the broken who can bless and be fruitful.

…in prayers:

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Even as the community lives in a dynamic relationship, prayers will become a necessary expression of the need to depend upon God for a well supply of vitality. It is only while working out the details of community living, one begins to discover the need for God and His intervention. The power to love one another comes from God. Corporate prayers, especially in times of growth, when change constantly happens, and in times of outside pressures, become

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a way of life. Corporate prayers are an expression of involving God in the affairs of the community. The book of Acts is also a book of answered prayers.

The truth is that only when the above factors fall in place, our prayers become “answerable”.

A local church is a dynamic expression of God’s new society in a locality. God speaks and moves through relationships and not in a vacuum. When we read the above passage, the people began seeing God’s hand in the community, their transformed behavior, and their mutual affection in Christ. Fear came upon them. Miracles followed. Many were added to the group. Radical Christian living always influences others around facilitating Church growth.

Pray for Alpha India Praise Points: - Praise God for all the grace and blessings He showered on us all through this last year.

- Praise God for the lives that were transformed and souls that were touched through the work of Alpha across the world.

- Praise God for all the prison work that Alpha is venturing into this quarter.

- Praise God for the increase in number of trainings during the last year.

- Praise God for the women and speakers who attended the National Women Leaders Awakening Conference.

- Praise God for providing for all our needs in the last year.

They continued steadfastly in apostles’ doctrine, fellowship, breaking of bread and prayers …

Alpha Staff Retreat 2012

Prayer Points: - Pray for God’s guidance as we are planning to increase the number of employees in Alpha India this year.

- Pray for the upcoming Master Trainings and Master Trainers attending.

- Pray for the upcoming Regional Christian Women Leaders’ Conference, so that the right delegates can particiate and get equipped to bring transformation in the society.

- Pray for the upcoming Youth Festival in Hyderabad and the Relationship Central conference planned for this year.

The Annual Alpha India staff retreat was held in Bangalore. The retreat started off with prayer and worship and few words of encouragement from our Chairman Mr. Scott Norling. We also had Mr. Benny Prasad share his testimony with us and play on his “Bentar” which is the world’s first Bongo Guitar.

Pastor S.R. Manohar and his family were also present at the retreat. He led us into amazing times of spiritual reflection. Some of the thought provoking insights he shared with us were, “What you hold back from God is what you worship” He also said, “On the sixth day God created man and on the seventh day He rested. God found his resting place in man.”

- Pray for the Chariman, National Director and the Board Members who are heading Alpha India.

- Pray for God’s guidance and protection upon the Alpha India staff.