Newsletter #J 15

Oct. 23, 2018

A Time for Rest 

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:…

a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; …

A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;

a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; Ecc. 3:1, 2, 5

To The Finish Line 

By Sandra Horner

It has been a long year and a half. The young men had come from families where there was little restraint or direction and they could go and come when they pleased. But over the last year and a half there has been a lot of discipling and training. They had learned much. Several struggled with completing the course or not. But now the big day had come! They made it! 6 young men (from the original 15) pressed forward to the finishing line! Now classes and work were over and it was time for graduation. Each of the young men shared from their heart of the joys and struggles, the ups and downs that they faced in training and their plans to work for God afterwards. It was an emotional time. What will the future hold for them?

The 6 young men stood at the completion line, not perfect, not passed in everything but ready to go where God would lead. Along with them stood 12 young ladies who had just finished their Advanced Tailoring course. They had the opportunity to learn much more in tailoring and a number were busy preparing to go back home to open their own tailoring shops. Others were planning to go help do groundwork for gospel meetings planned next year in India.

Everything was prepared. The church was decorated and the young people were ready. But at this time one of our teachers fell sick and was getting worse and worse with a bad case of typhoid fever. So just after handing the certificates out, several of us needed to rush him to the hospital. Unfortunately the hospital personnel were not able to give him proper treatment so he had to be taken to another hospital. Through much prayer and the use of natural remedies along with medication the turnaround came and in a few days he started improving. As with Hezekiah, where God blessed a fig poultice to bring healing, so God used such simple things as corn silk and melon seed and fomentations to hasten his restoration. God heard our prayers and preserved his life! We praise Him for His great love and mercy.

It has been good to hear positive reports from these young men and ladies since they have left. In the month following graduation they have been lights to their homes and five or more are headed to help in preparing for gospel meetings coming this next year. Some of the young ladies are already busy sewing and others sharing the gospel in their communities. Others have gone to the south of India seeking continued education to prepare them to be better workers for God.

Wedding Bells 

Karuna came from a polygamous home. She grew up in the city with school and dance filling her days. Her mother’s sickness made the mother and daughter seek help from God. In His great mercies he helped and strengthened her. One of Karuna’s teachers encouraged her to come receive training at our place, after all the

blessings the teacher had personally received in our program. She came and her life was turned around. When her training was finished she received a call to help a lady in southern India. Her experience there was very different that what she expected. But during her time there she met a young Seventh-day Adventist man, Ajit, in a training school she visited on Sabbaths. Through the months they got to know each other much better and fell in love. I had the privilege of helping them with their engagement program and in preparations for marriage. With Ajit’s home so far away and none of Karuna’s family being Christian we were their Christian family. So right after graduation we all started busily preparing for the wedding celebration. God helped so much! Many of the students stayed by and helped with the preparations as well as staff. Then the large group from the groom’s side came and joined us. God blessed and the day was beautiful. Though it was still the rainy season the Lord held off the rain and it was a beautiful day. (The next day it poured and almost destroyed all the pandals (cloths used to make enclosures for the wedding) we had put up!) Though Karuna’s family were Hindu and Ajit’s family were from various religions yet God blessed and the wedding went smoothly and beautifully. I felt so happy to be able to help these fatherless young people to be able to take this important step in their lives in an honorable way that would please God and be a good witness to their relatives.

Teacher’s retreat 

After farewells and cleaning up from the wedding we got the bedding, kitchen supplies, and food from our tailoring center and headed up the mountain. The staff from our Advanced Tailoring Course, Bible Seminary, Bible Workers, and Children’s Program teachers along with a couple of students and close friends gathered at our mountain Center, Jyotiko Danda. God blessed and gave us good weather and a precious time of sharing. It was a real retreat, spending time together and with God. Each of the teachers and Bible Workers shared their testimonies of

how God had transformed them through the Prerana Lifestyle Education Center. I shared from my heart some topics to encourage them in their walk with Jesus: “How to gather warmth from the coldness of others”, “How to overcome temptation”, and “Our responsibility to the world”, etc.

The testimonies of each one were so precious! I wish you could hear each of them. I will try in the next few months to share some of their testimonies with you. How they had been living lukewarm Christian lives with weekly church attendance, but little knowledge of God, but after coming for training they came to truly know Jesus. Their lives were changed. They began to understand the Bible. Although they experienced many struggles, they gained many victories. They found new life in God and began sharing His word with others. Other teachers shared how they had come because a relative sent them. They told their family they would not become Christians, and would only learn tailoring and health and return home. But God had other plans for them. They met God and their struggle with the world was fierce. But God gave them the victory. They found the joy of service to God. One other teacher shared how much she wanted to come, but experienced great challenges when she tried to come. And even when she came, Satan tried to kill her. The battle raged so strongly for a few minutes it seemed as though she had lost her life, but God heard the earnest prayers of her friends and teachers and she revived. Satan tried again and again to overthrow her, but through prayer, fasting and personally resisting the power of Satan she gained the victory. Now she shares how God is using her to reach the people in her village through massage, treatments and children’s programs. The testimonies go on. I will share more of these stories in upcoming newsletters.

Farewell 

The time came for the team to say farewell. With challenges in the politics in India and Nepal it has been much harder to get long term visas. Since my mother’s and my visa for India ended and we could only get a short visa for Nepal, it seemed best to take a break from the training programs for a few months. Timothy and Joseph will continue the publishing work in Nepal and I will work from here in the States. As the Lord opens the way, we hope to begin training programs hopefully towards the end of next year. Some teachers are now conducting programs to train others how to run Sabbath School programs. Others are teaching in LIGHT programs, others in Bible work or tailoring. The work continues to spread and widen. Please keep these young people in your prayers that the seeds planted may continue to grow and strengthen and through them the coming of Jesus may be sooner.

In the Blessed Hope,

Sandra and Terri Horner

Thank you for your prayers and help. As the Lord impresses you to help, mark your gift “Nepal Project” and send it to: Laymen’s Ministries, 414 Zapada Rd., St. Maries, ID 83861