February 2022

Dear Friends in Mission,

Enclosed is your 2021 income tax receipt, and with it our sincere thanks for your continued support of this ministry! Again, it has been a year where we have not been able to personally travel to India or Nepal due to the pandemic. However, we have great national leadership partners and we have clearly seen that God’s work has continued to thrive and expand in the past year. We have been humbled to play a part in this work. The following are various ministry updates:

Coronavirus Situation: 

• After some additional partial lockdowns, things seem to be improving with generally mild illness and a resumption of many activities.  We were only recently made aware that generally, for the past two years, most children have not had any opportunities for regular schooling.  In response to this situation, our coordinator has started a program that offers regular lessons and tutoring to children.  This is being welcomed by parents, and they are now in the process of setting up a more permanent school program, hoping to have fifty students.  They already have over thirty-five children signed up and much of the interest has come from parents who have no church affiliation, but they are trusting the good work that they have already seen from our workers and volunteers.  You will see a picture of some of those initial classes in the local church sanctuary.

Agricultural Project:

• Getting this project operational has taken much longer than expected mostly due to complicated government requirements and slow-moving paperwork.  However, the basic permissions are in place and we should be moving forward soon.  Some initial land preparation and clean up has taken place.  Stay tuned for more developments!

Church Construction:

• The additional building beside our 2020 church construction project has been completed.  You will see a picture of both buildings above.  This location, just outside of a major centre, is becoming a key hub for various ministry happenings.  Along with regular church meetings, it has already hosted extra programs such as leadership training and a pre-Christmas outreach to the surrounding communities.  Many more things are planned for this space in 2022.
• In our last newsletter we mentioned the need for a new structure for a growing church that was meeting in a tent-like shelter.  After looking at the need in the area, and the amount of growth happening with new believers, we decided to go ahead in faith with a permanent church building.  The total cost will be nearly $13,000, and we have received donations to cover over half, with approx. $5,500 still needed.  The church is under construction and a picture is included above.  This growing congregation now has around 34 families compared to 18 families when we started!

Supported Pastors & Theological Education:

• In 2021 we added four new pastors to those receiving monthly support.  Recently we learned of challenges they face associated with the increased cost of living.  We feel strongly that one of our most important roles as a ministry is to support these dedicated Christian workers.  So, as of January 2022, we have increased the monthly support for the pastors by 17% now giving them $140.  All of the pastors are working diligently, and they have many wonderful stories of new people coming to faith and becoming part of these various church families.  Often, their initial interest in faith has come out of the generosity shown to them through food relief given during the pandemic.

Opportunities to Help:

• As mentioned above, we still need to cover approximately $5,500 in funding to complete the most recent church building.
• The Indian government is bringing in new regulations that every church should be registered, and every pastor must have recognized theological training and eventually be ordained.  This will be a priority for our supported pastors, who have a variety of educational backgrounds.  Fortunately, through the recommendation of our leadership in India, they will have access to recognized, biblical, high-quality training at a very reasonable price – training that they can complete over time without travelling away from home.  We have four pastors who will need to take the two-year diploma program and two pastors that are eligible to take a three-year B Th degree.  Books are provided for these programs free of charge, and as sponsorship funds become available, we want to start with the pastors needing the diploma program, which is scheduled to start in March.  The cost for those pastors in the diploma program will total $300.00 for the year and for the degree program $360.00 per year.

Please visit our website  - www.farcornersministry.org – to find out how to contribute to any of these current needs.  As always, we greatly value your ongoing prayer and financial support, acknowledging that our calling is to support our overseas partners in their vision, share their needs and depend on the Lord to move His people to give. 

Yours in the Lord’s service,
Rev. Dr. Shant and Ginny Manuel,
Executive Director and Administrator, Far Corners Ministry