Asian Indian Church 4th Annual Report

January 25th, 2003

It is again with a great sense of gratitude to our God that we have come here for this dual celebration of our Youth Ministry’s first anniversary and 4th Anniversary of our Church. God has enabled us to start this Asian Indian Ministry with a vision to reach out Non-Christian Indians in and around Los Angeles Area, and God has been faithful in fulfilling our vision. We have started as a Indian Christian Fellowship in January of 1999 where we used to gather once in a month on last Saturday. After two years in 2001 we thought it was a good thing to gather together as Indian Christians to worship every Sunday. As we reflect back on the year 2002, we cannot begin to comprehend His grace and mercy to us in so many ways. Our Church has seen some major developments, we thank and Praise God for enabling us to do His work, not least in keeping us as a fellowship in unity, love and service for Him. Soon after the 3rd anniversary celebrations in January of last year, the elders of the Church gathered to discuss the possibility of starting a Youth Group keeping in mind the number of youngsters we see leaving the service every Sunday. On February 16th we had our first Youth meeting, which started off with a huge participation. Ever since, the Youth Group has been meeting once every month on the 3rd Sunday at 4:30pm. They have a time of Worship, activities and games providing fun and fellowship including a short session of Bible teaching by Bro. Kumar or other Youth leaders. You have just seen the youth in action. A big thank-you to all the young people for giving us that presentation and thanks to Bro. Prashanth Yeddu for leading them. Please pray that the young people will continue to enjoy the various activities and will be keen to attend. Pray that what is taught will not just be heard but really understood and taken in. On March 17th, the Women’s Ministry group celebrated their first anniversary. They meet once every month on the last Sunday of the month at 4:30pm. Their goal is to pray for one another and grow in the knowledge of the Lord, and share the gospel with the Indian women in and around Artesia.  Three representatives of Women’s ministry, Mrs. Srilatha Sundaram, Ms. Geetu Roy and Mrs. Mary Rapuri attended the 3 day LWML  conference in San Diego held in mid June. Their display of outreach ministry material and the booth was well received. In early April we published our first Newsletter. The newsletter is intended to give out the news about the ongoing programs at our Church and also share God’s word. We mail out the newsletter once every mid month to almost 60 families. You can also read the newsletter on our website. On April 20th, we have embarked on an outreach program. In an effort to achieve and fulfill our Church’s vision we in smaller groups started to take an hour a week, usually on saturdays to distribute Tracts and flyers on the streets of Artesia. We continued with this outreach ministry through out the summer. Summer was the time to fellowship outdoors. On May 18th we had a fun filled picnic in the Wilderness Park. We sang songs, had a Bible quiz, played games like Volleyball and badminton, had lots of food and barbeque. Children spent most of their time playing at the lake. The India Independence day celebrations held on August 17th in Artesia was yet another opportunity for us to reach out to the fellow Indians with the Good news and at the same time, letting them know that we do have a church for the Indians in the most convenient area for every Indian – that is “Little India”, Artesia.. Our booth received a great response where we distributed tracts, flyers and Bibles. Once again the youth group was in the forefront by actively participating. Our Bible Study group continues to meet once a week on Friday evenings at 8:30pm. We studied the Gospel according to Mark, in an attempt to teach and remind us on how we should be like our Lord Jesus Christ during his ministry on earth. We are currently on our journey to complete the study of Gospel according to Matthew. We arranged a one-day seminar in October with Prof. and Rev. William Cwirla to ponder over the topics like Justification, Sanctification, Lord’s Supper and Baptism. This was an interactive presentation where many people had their questions answered, and everyone had a good time knowing some important concepts in the Bible. October also saw the redesign of our website. With most of the world being connected to the web, this medium enables us to keep the congregation and others in close touch with the happenings at our church. We have been constantly trying to keep our website current with useful information, the latest Newsletter, upcoming events and lots of pictures. Since our redesign the traffic to our site has increased five folds. We have received some good response from you all. Thank you, and please introduce our website to your other friends. For those of you who haven’t visited our website yet, it is www.asianindianchurch.com. In November, the Women’s fellowship group organized a Harvest Festival in the Church parking lot. They showed their talent of cooking and creativity, and sold crafts, delicious food, artwork, and wall-hangings. They were able to raise funds for the ministry. Also in November, our pastor Israel Rapuri solemnized the first wedding in our Church of Bro. John and Sunitha in this very sanctuary. December was the month of celebration. The Christmas season brought a unique joy and expression of love, when each weekend we visited several families to sing our favorite Christmas carols. There was a splendid participation with the whole community coming together to sing praises to God. We hope God has blessed them with our visit. Also in December, for the first time in four years we had a Worship service held on Christmas day. The year concluded with a watch night service on New year’s eve. It was a time to reflect on the Year 2002 and offer up thanksgiving to our Lord through testimonies on how the Lord worked in our lives and lift up prayers for the coming year. We look ahead this year trusting the Lord for a closer walk with Him. May He continue to direct us in all aspects of service, one of which is to proclaim the gospel and spread the good news.