India’s Koya Tribe for Christ

Last summer I was privileged to participate in the dedicatin of an ICM church constructed deep in a teakwood forest among the Koya Tribe. After many Koya’s coming to Christ, as a result of missionary effort, a new church was needful. Many in the local village have become saved as a result of their fellow tribespeople’s testimony to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. Now a beautiful 1000 square foot church stands among the teakwood trees in the Koya tribal region of southeastern India.

For ICM,

Brad Orchard

Connected to History

Considered by many the father of modern Christian missions, William Carey left England for good and traveled months by ship to India in 1800. His arrival and subsequent street preaching annoyed the British governor and other leaders. Seems that Carey’s outdoor proclamation of the gospel was bad for business. So Carey rented a boat and fled Calcutta up the Khamothi River. He had no destination in mind, but ended up at a jungle farm of another British transplant. Carey and his family stayed for 3 months. Many Indians came to Christ as a result of Carey’s ministry in the area. He led the first Bengali to Christ in the local village. In 1992, on the occasion of the 200th anniversary of William Carey’s service, ICM Partner Rev. Swapon Bose traveled to the village where Carey served from that old Bangali farm. Bose planted a small church there, not far from the Khamothi River. Today, the village is located in modern day Bangladesh. The church currently has 46 people and is known as the “William Carey Faith Bible Church.” Once, the church reaches the ICM minimum of 100 congregants, the plan is to construct a sanctuary to the memory of Missionary William Carey and to the glory of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, whom he served so faithfully.

For ICM,

Brad Orchard

In Bangladesh, a Miracle among Muslims

Educated in Islamic studies and traditions and steeped in the writings of the Quran, a Muslim leader in Bangladesh learns of the claims of Jesus Christ and receives Christ into his life. Eager to share his new found faith, and with the zealous support of his wife, son and three daughters, the man becomes a pastor. But Bangladesh is 90% Muslim and his conversion to Christianity is well known and a source of extreme consternation among his neighbors and former friends. Neverless, he sets out to build a church of bamboo in the courtyard of his own home. Soon the church is a place of worship and preaching for three local families. Late one night, local extremists burn down the bamboo church. The pastor and his son rebuild the church the next morning. The Muslims burn it down again. They build anew, but this time with bricks. The terrorists threaten to kill the man’s son if he builds it again. Undeterred, the pastor invites the Muslims to kill his entire family. He will not be intimidated into thwarting the growth of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Then one night, the Muslims set the pastor house on fire. As the family wakes up to flames and screams, the father and son attempt to douse the fire using buckets of water drawn from a nearby well. But their brigade is no match for the raging inferno. Suddenly lightening flashes across the sky, the thunder claps and rolls and a downpour descends on the burning house. The fire is quickly put out and in a few hours the sun rises on a fresh new day of sunshine and blue sky. The pastor soon learned that the unexpected storm occurred only in his modest and remote village. The miracle rain frightened the persecutors. The pastor finished rebuilding his brick church and was never attacked by his enemies again. ICM has constructed 36 village churches in Bangladesh, but the need is so much greater. With the help of faithful donors, ICM will continue the work of church construction and church planting in the Muslim nation of Bangladesh where the love and peace of the gospel is sorely needed.

For ICM,

Brad Orchard

(pictured walking in the rain to visit an ICM church in a village of Bangladesh, 7.5.12)

God’s Word: Delivered

Two Brothers in the Lord carry boxes of Bibles deep into a village of Nepal. These two servants regularly distribute the Word of God to many villages throughout this mountainous country. ICM partners with them to build rural churches and the implement the Mini Bible College, a devotional survey of the scriptures designed for small group home study. A major part of an ICM Partnership is the nurturing of believers through the MBC Program. It’s a great way to deliver God’s Word.

For ICM.

Brad Orchard

Healed by God through prayer

Nandini, the daughter of a village leader in India, was paralyzed and mentally handicapped, unable to function. Her father had taken her to several medical doctors, Hindu priests and witch doctors–they could do nothing for her. Their conclusion was that she would soon die.

When visiting the village, upon seeing the condition of the girl, our partners asked the father’s permission to pray for her. Being the head of the village, he never allowed any Christian activities and hesitantly said, “If your God can do anything, we are fine, already we lost our hope.” Our partners gathered every evening and prayed for the girl. Now she is completely restored to health and has received Christ as her savior and is an active member of the church. Praise God!

Site of Martyred Christians Near Site of New Church

Nestled in the woodlands of Bulgaria, one of Eastern Europe’s poorest countries, is the Muslim village of Kirchevo. The 1300 residents are poor, eeking out a living harvesting fruit and herbs from nearby mountains to sell to traders. Many use a stone pit to export red stone and rudimentary farming helps to feed families. The village is 90% Muslim with a long history of Islamic influence dating back to 1516. But the spark of truth was ignited in 1997 when the two daughters of Mitko Dimitrov Marinov came to Christ after marrying two men from a Christian Church in the nearby town of Lukovit. The women returned to Kirchevo and shared Christ with their mother and later their father Mitko. Both parents were skeptical Muslims, but later also received Christ. Mitko began to lead his family in prayer and the reading of the scriptures at home, which gave birth to a small church. Today, Mitko’s congregation has 40 adults and 20 children and is a beacon of light in Kirchevo. Situated in the center of the village is a plot of land once used by Turkish Islamic leaders to murder those who professed faith in Christ. Now just a few meters from that site, ICM is constructing a church for Pastor Mitko and his congregation. The fellowship consists of gypsies and poor farmers, all Muslim converts. God is at work in rural Bulgaria and we are following Him.

Brad Orchard
ICM

Witch doctor’s family comes to Christ

We have been visiting ICM churches in northeast India. Our partners have experienced opposition in several areas but through the experience the church has been strengthened. A witch doctor in one of the villages said he was going to run the church out of their village. He went behind the church and made sacrifices and incantations calling on his power to remove the church. He said even if he died he would come back to life and harm the people, including his family.

Two days later the witch doctor died. His family was afraid to go near his body because he said he would come back and harm them. The pastor was the only person who approached the body and said “he will not come back to life” and led the family and village people to the body. This demonstration took the fear away, and he was buried. After this incident, his family came to Christ and became active members of the church.

The Dead Zone

Crunching through the snow in the sub-zero temperatures of northern Ukraine, I found myself surrounded by Chernobyl’s ghastly legacy—the dead zone. As part of my field work with ICM, I spent an unforgettably frigid afternoon this past January at the site of the worst nuclear disaster in history. Nearly three decades later, the aftermath of the nightmare still affects poor families.

On April 26, 1986 at 1:23 p.m., an unexpected power surge caused an explosion and fire that released 400 times more radioactive material into the atmosphere than the bomb at Hiroshima in World War II. The poisonous plume instantly contaminated the air over Western Russia and Eastern Europe. 31 people died instantly even as authorities improvised a disjointed evacuation plan instructing families to leave their homes with nothing more than the clothes on their backs and important documents and photographs.

To this day, hundreds of homes in the dead zone have been left just as they were that spring day 27 years ago. More than 350,000 people joined the modern-day exodus to safety. But for so many, safety remained elusive. Over time, 6,000 children were diagnosed with thyroid cancer. Hundreds suffered deformities, lung disease and severe mental disorders.

The Soviet Government quarantined a radius of 30 kilometers that quickly became known as the “dead zone.” No one could live or work in the restricted area. Even the Chernobyl Nuclear Plant disaster repair technicians were limited to five hours of labor per day for one month followed by 15 days of rest in an attempt to limit the effects of the lingering radiation.

But now, government restrictions are being lifted and people are gradually taking their broken lives back home. Along with belongings they are packing, they are returning with questions. Why would God allow this tragedy? The answers, in part, will come from the hope and healing found in Jesus Christ. And, this year, in collaboration with our indigenous partner, ICM will build the first evangelical churches near the Chernobyl Dead Zone.

Serving the Lord in exile

While visiting a church ICM partnered to build last week, I was introduced to a guest who has been living at the church for some time. He is an Iranian pastor in exile from his homeland. This brother was once a radio presenter and Christian author in Iran, who boldly proclaimed Christ and defended the rights of Iranian Christians to worship the true God in peace. As a result, he was accused, prosecuted and issued a death sentence. Along with his wife, he fled Iran and now lives in an ICM church and teaches the Word of God, sharing Christ in the community in which he now resides  For security reasons, I cannot disclose his name, show his face or tell you in which country he now lives. Please pray for him and please pray for Iran. There are more Christians in that country than we imagine.

Nepal: Home to the Highest Mountain of the Most High God

At over 29,000 feet, Mount Everest located in Nepal is the world’s highest mountain. It’s a picturesque nation and a jewel in the creation of the Most High God.

It is said that Nepal is at “the end of the hippie trail.” The 1960′s brought student protesters, drug communes and hippies out of the west who were seeking an escape from the “establishment” and a place where they could indulge the smoking of marijuana without legal reprisal. The hippies traveled to and lived for a time in this mountainous country at the foot of the Himalayas. In recent years, ICM has been blessed to partner with two native ministries in Nepal. In a nation made up of primarily Hindu religionists, the gospel of Jesus Christ is being proclaimed boldly through the work of these brothers and sisters. ICM, by God’s grace and in conjunction with our partners, has built approximately 40 churches over the past few years. Additionally, ICM has constructed church-orphanages in Nepal, rescuing many children without parents.Our friends and ministry partners report that as recently as 1990, there were only 30,000 Christians in all of Nepal. Now there are nearly 2 million. As our partners continue to share Christ, implement ICM’s Mini Bible College (an audio devotional survey of the Scriptures available in multiple languages) and construct churches and church-orphanages, ICM and our donor partners in the United States will continue to be used of God to bring all of Nepal to the Lord. Many more churches and church-orphanages are needed and we trust, even as you read this, God might be calling you to reach higher. Perhaps as high as Mount Everest in beautiful Nepal!

For ICM,
Brad Orchard

brad orchard with nepalese child in july 2012

nepalese woman at harvest

nepals natural beauty