“This country is STARVING for the saving and redeeming grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. India needs Jesus like never before. The UEMI mandate for action comes to the fore” – UEMI Founder and Chairperson is all set to make major strides during the next ten years.
I see UEMI as a bridge.
On one side there are those fine soldiers of God the world over, who have a heart for the Gospel to reach every corner of India. On the other side are those committed to grass-root ministry in this country, in wanting the Gospel to reach the poorest and most downtrodden sections. UEMI is like the bridge in the center, but on both sides of the bridge, social and political hurricanes are taking their toll, the roads are threatening to wash away. The river instead of flowing under the bridge has been pushed to the right bank of the bridge. The point I am trying to get across is that we are living in an unpredictable, rapid changing world.
Every opinion, view or idea we may have had is going through evolution and revolution.
I think of those poignant verses in 1 Peter 3:15-16: “But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.”
To me, the word “always” strikes an alert. It means I must be prepared at any moment and at every moment to answer questions about the scope and intent of UEMI ministry. I also realize that the questions that were asked of me when I first started my ministry in the 1980s are going to be different from the questions asked of me today.
So I keep myself ready at all times. I spend considerable time in reflection on UEMI’s ongoing mission and role in bringing the Gospel to the people of India.
We have helped WME (World Missions Evangelism) to take birth, and recently we spear-headed the first anniversary of the WME, and the jubilation was accompanied by a well-planned conference and seminar designed to touch base at expanding realities, and also to explore ideas and mechanisms that will equip the pastors of independent churches with courage and prudence, as well as the confidence they need to march on with the possibilities despite the threatening clouds on the political horizon.
Today, India is being seen as the Global Economic Powerhouse of 2007. Large international giant companies are jostling with one another to get some space under the Indian sky. The “largest middle class in the world” – India – is ready to take up the lead. Today India holds true purchasing power at the marketplace and not just because of population. India with its geographical location on the globe and with English as the mother tongue in business, gives the country an edge over China and many other countries for business and overall economic exchange.
But at the spiritual level, there is an overwhelming numbness, a large gaping wound, with a shocked people not knowing how to respond to events like the killings at Noida (where dozens of children were molested and killed in a barbaric manner, and there are suspicions linking the killings to the sale of organs), the “beggar mafia” which tortures and maims people to make them more efficient beggars, rape, murder, terrorism – who can doubt that this is a country at its most crucial and critical crossroad. The battle is not physical, moral or economic. The battle is spiritual.
This country is STARVING for the saving and redeeming grace of the Lord Jesus Christ.
India needs Jesus like never before.
The UEMI mandate for action comes to the fore.
Now more than ever.
UEMI has been building itself up for this moment for the past 19 years. UEMI is all set to make a difference, globally, exponentially. To use this word in evangelistic circles, is to say this: when we talk about the exponential growth of an organization, we are talking about an organization MULTIPLYING its power to do good.
In His Service,
John Peter
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