Annual Missions Conference

Our next annual missions conference is scheduled for February 12, 2012. Mark your calendars!

Open Wide the Gates…That the Whole World May Come In. "Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all peoples." Psalm96:3

Keynote speaker: Dr. Joseph D'Souza.

Dr. Joseph D’Souza is Chairman of the Good Shepherd/OM India Group of Inter-national Ministries. Joseph met Jesus as a university student in India. It was the teaching that the just shall live by faith that got his attention. Joseph had a Christian friend who gave him a New Testament and talked to him about the Lord. Joseph had been raised a Roman Catholic but prior to accepting the Lord, had become an agnostic. Eventually his heart was changed by the Word, and his faith became real.

Joseph has heard of the plight of the Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribes for 25 years. Joseph had married a woman from this caste. She would often recount to him what her people faced on a regular basis. Joseph says when he met his wife, they were both transformed and that the Christian faith removes all barriers. He knew that in Jesus we are all equal and deserving of proper, humane treatment. Joseph also knew that among extremist Hindus in India, Jesus was enemy no. 1, and Christians were enemy no.2. So to be a Dalit Christian was doubly bad. What was not evident on the surface was the reason for the hatred. The Dalit Christians were saying, “We’re not rioting, we’re not violent. Why attack us?” But for the last two decades, the Dalit Christians have been specifically targeted for abuse. This vicious situation continues to drives Dalits to look to Christianity and Jesus for hope and help out of these straits. Many Dalit leaders consider Christianity Option no. 1 for a Dalit to have both.

The Christian church embraced this movement and a major reform is the result. The Dalits are becoming Christians in record numbers, but the persecution increases. In the Good Shepherd Community Church movement, more than 3,000 new churches and 45,000 house fellowship groups have been established.