June 2021 Prayer Letter

D. K. and Choity Sarkar | Serving in India

We are at war. The whole world is fighting against an unseen enemy. We do not know who will be affected and when they will be affected. Still, we are fighting. We do not have enough weapons to fight. Still, we are fighting. We are fighting because we do not want to die; we want to save our lives. We are using masks so that the virus cannot enter into our body, keeping distanced so that we should not come in touch with others. The enemy keeps us so busy that we cannot reach others. So, no preaching, no evangelism, no prayer meetings, no fellowship, and no outreach programs. The churches are shutdown; we are hiding ourselves.

Dear believers of Christ, in India, the second phase of the virus is so powerful that it is increasing every day. The death toll crossed 10,000 per day. There are no beds in the hospital, no medicine, no oxygen. People are dying without receiving any medical treatment. New channels are covering the procession of the dead. Everywhere there is lamentation, weeping, and great mourning.

Still, there is some good news at EFM Kolkata. We had to close our service for eight months. There was no house fellowship or staff meetings. Even we could not send the money to the tour staff in time. Still our staff worked hard to win souls. The church was closed but our staff visited house to house and preached the gospel in and around our homes. God is good. He saved us from all kinds of sickness, especially from COVID-19. He gave some reward; some fruits.

Here is brief description of our reward:

• Church and House Fellowships – By his grace, we started a church in another district named South Dinajpur. Also, we started a church in North 24 Parganas district. The name of the place is Ichhapur. Another new church was started in Nadelli, Nainital, Uttarakhand. We have established 60 new house churches in different districts in West Bengal and Uttarakhand. Praise the Lord. Thank you very much for your prayer.
• Holy Week Program – Last year in 2020, we could not have any holy week program due to lockdown. This year, by the grace of God, we had a very good holy week program. We distributed tracts and booklets, and organized programs in different churches.
• Baptisms – On 31^st March 2021, we had public testimonies of baptism. In Kolkata there were four, in Malda three, in Murshidabad one, in Gosaba one, in Shyanagar four, and in Nazatt six. This the reward from the Lord. Praise be to his name.
• Coaching Centers – Our five coaching centers are running well. These students are very poor. With the permission of Wabash Friends Church, we distributed relief among the parents of the coaching classes. The local people are very happy seeing our attitude to the poor. A total of 130 families received the ration from our church.
• Relief Distribution – With the help of EFM, we distributed relief among the poor people. We had two disasters: 1) Cyclone Amphan, and 2) COVID-19. Many people of the coastal area lost their houses due to the cyclone. Then, because of COVID-19, people lost their jobs, businessmen lost their businesses, and common people were in serious trouble. The hospitals were full – no beds, no medicine, no oxygen. In this situation, people were surviving. Many people died and many are still suffering. We distributed rice, dal, soyabean, and oil to 600 families around our churches. The name of the Lord and his churches are glorified. Praise the Lord.
• Administrative Work – We had only a one-time in person monthly staff meeting in the last few months. However, we were able to meet four times through Zoom. We shared the word of God, our prayer points, and we prayed together. We had a wonderful time with the Lord. Praise his name.

Please pray in spite of all the oppositions and obstruction, we can preach his salvation. We are called for that job. May God give us wisdom and strength.