Dear Friends,
I haven’t written since Pastor Sharath and I sent out joint reports about the local flooding. We were happy we could offer relief for two villages.
Personally I am fine. I’m getting enough rest and enough activity and feeling good. Every day is busy.
However, the ministry is being affected by a national problem. The federal government of India declared that Andhra Pradesh State will be divided into two smaller states. Hyderabad will be the capitol of one area. Thirteen local districts will form a new state with a new capitol.
All the political parties in the Parliament signed a plan of agreement. When the plan was announced but before it was officially enacted, a reaction rose against it called a “Bund”, a general strike: groups of people stop traffic, forbid businesses to open, gather for rallies, and burn effigies in the streets. It’s a kind of mass movement.
We were caught in one of the rallies on the way to see Sharath’s mother last Thursday.
(She is recovering very well. Shanti’s father, Pastor Israel, who founded a Christian school for the blind, has come to stay at Peniel for a while after having heart surgery. So the family is busy.)
A large crowd formed a ring in the square holding hands, built a huge bonfire, and burned an effigy. It was a little unnerving.
Shop owners are threatened if they open when there is a general shutdown. Everything closes: banks, schools, hospitals, doctors, shops, railways, buses, stores and businesses. Everything was closed for four of the last eight days and will be closed again tomorrow. We lost two weeks of classes at the college.
The national government is at a loss. There are not enough police to stop the actions. As an American it is hard for me to get my mind around it.
The effect on the ministry is to keep the children out of school, close the college, and create idle time. We can’t get money or cash checks because the banks are closed. It causes a lot of inconvenience.
The church people accept the situation. They really shine under pressure. (We re-opened the college yesterday and even have new students now, but the children are still out of school.)
Sharath asks that you pray that the government leaders will receive wisdom, and that the general population will receive peace. We need a spirit of reconciliation. So far the agitation gets worse each day.
You can see that God has ‘dropped me in the middle of it’. I am glad that I have a protected place to stay and that I’m surrounded by wonderful brothers and sisters.
We are starting a new Blog entitled “Harvesting in India”. (Click Here: http://gfirazole.blogspot.in/) I just put up a post about our invitation to the B. Savaram village Independence Day flag-hoisting. It was a historic day. No Christian pastor has ever prayed on the municipal grounds before. Please read about it.
Some of you are new to the list with this mailing. Somehow I left off over a hundred people I promised to include. Sorry for the omission! I’ll post all previous emails on the blog for you to read.
If you don’t want to receive these reports, reply with “Delete” and I will take you off right away.
I hope this gives you plenty of ‘prayer material’. “Your Prayers are the Greater Work.”
Love and Blessings,
Steve Heintz
The Harvesters
Peniel Prayer House
Razole, E.G. District, AP India
I haven’t written since Pastor Sharath and I sent out joint reports about the local flooding. We were happy we could offer relief for two villages.
Personally I am fine. I’m getting enough rest and enough activity and feeling good. Every day is busy.
However, the ministry is being affected by a national problem. The federal government of India declared that Andhra Pradesh State will be divided into two smaller states. Hyderabad will be the capitol of one area. Thirteen local districts will form a new state with a new capitol.
All the political parties in the Parliament signed a plan of agreement. When the plan was announced but before it was officially enacted, a reaction rose against it called a “Bund”, a general strike: groups of people stop traffic, forbid businesses to open, gather for rallies, and burn effigies in the streets. It’s a kind of mass movement.
We were caught in one of the rallies on the way to see Sharath’s mother last Thursday.
(She is recovering very well. Shanti’s father, Pastor Israel, who founded a Christian school for the blind, has come to stay at Peniel for a while after having heart surgery. So the family is busy.)
A large crowd formed a ring in the square holding hands, built a huge bonfire, and burned an effigy. It was a little unnerving.
Shop owners are threatened if they open when there is a general shutdown. Everything closes: banks, schools, hospitals, doctors, shops, railways, buses, stores and businesses. Everything was closed for four of the last eight days and will be closed again tomorrow. We lost two weeks of classes at the college.
The national government is at a loss. There are not enough police to stop the actions. As an American it is hard for me to get my mind around it.
The effect on the ministry is to keep the children out of school, close the college, and create idle time. We can’t get money or cash checks because the banks are closed. It causes a lot of inconvenience.
The church people accept the situation. They really shine under pressure. (We re-opened the college yesterday and even have new students now, but the children are still out of school.)
Sharath asks that you pray that the government leaders will receive wisdom, and that the general population will receive peace. We need a spirit of reconciliation. So far the agitation gets worse each day.
You can see that God has ‘dropped me in the middle of it’. I am glad that I have a protected place to stay and that I’m surrounded by wonderful brothers and sisters.
We are starting a new Blog entitled “Harvesting in India”. (Click Here: http://gfirazole.blogspot.in/) I just put up a post about our invitation to the B. Savaram village Independence Day flag-hoisting. It was a historic day. No Christian pastor has ever prayed on the municipal grounds before. Please read about it.
Some of you are new to the list with this mailing. Somehow I left off over a hundred people I promised to include. Sorry for the omission! I’ll post all previous emails on the blog for you to read.
If you don’t want to receive these reports, reply with “Delete” and I will take you off right away.
I hope this gives you plenty of ‘prayer material’. “Your Prayers are the Greater Work.”
Love and Blessings,
Steve Heintz
The Harvesters
Peniel Prayer House
Razole, E.G. District, AP India
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