Diocesan Missionary Conference
The Diocesan Annual Conference of the evangelists and their families of the Diocese of Mumbai took place at Kamseth Mar Chrysostom camp centre, near Lonavallah from Thursday, May 4th to 7th, 2017.
The conference was inaugurated by the Diocesan Bishop Dr. Geevarghese Mar Theodosius on Thursday at 6 p. m. The conference is attended by the families of 40 persons who have come from Maharashtra and Gujarat. They are stationed in 40 places and cover about 300 villages. The evangelists are mostly Marathi speaking members who are born and brought up in Maharashtra.
The evening witnessed the dedication service of 5 evangelists who had the training of one year in the Diocese supervised by Rev. K. C. Chacko. They were also trained in the Mission Fields by sending them to different fields for practical training and exposure. Achens and members of the Church gathered together to witness the Event. The candidates were given certificates and copy of the Holy Bible in Marathi. One among them gave a testimony speaking about how he became a Christian and later decided to go for full time evangelism. We praise God for their commitment to the cause of the Gospel.
The Conference invited Marathi speaking leaders, Rev. Kiran Gaikward to take classes on the Theme and Rev Sanjay Makasare to conduct Bible Classes. Apart from the talks, the Conference was rich with the family session conducted by Dr. Mrs. Dinu Shibu, witness session by the evangelists, reporting session by the groups, Cultural Programmes by different age groups and the like . On first day, time was allotted to hear and discuss about the activities at Pune Reigard region and Vidharbha Region.
On Friday morning , there were baptisms of the family members of the evangelists. Anil rai and Velankanny who grew up in Nav Jeevan centre got married and God gifted them with a baby boy. The baptism of that child was the high light of the day. Later in the evening the Reports of Thana Region and the Palghar Region were heard and discussed. Each region has got a Coordinator to coordinate the activities of the Evangelists.
Third day (Saturday) started with the Holy Qurbana Service conducted in Marathi and led by Rev. K. C. Chacko, the Missionary of the Diocese. Almost all the adult members participated in the Holy Communion. The conference discussed the ways and means by which the bond between the Mission Centre and the Sponsoring Parish can be improved. Lists are prepared to find out as to how many Mission Centre do have more than 20 Believer-families so that some of them can be recognized as Mar Thoma Congregations in the immediate future.
The evangelists will go back to their stations after the sessions on Sunday. It is with renewed strength that they will be going back to their stations. They have better insights on how to minister in the villages, how to conduct Bible Classes and how to bring them together for regular worship. The youth members of the Diocese from various parishes, especially from the Mulund Mar Thoma Church, conducted classes for the children and the young adults who came to the conference from near and far. They were spiritually fed with various sessions conducted specially for them.
All of them were eager to take group and individual photos to keep their memory fresh. A group of members were working tirelessly, day and night, in preparing sumptuous food for all the participants. We praise God for all the blessings The Almighty has showered upon the delegates of the Conference.
Mar Theodosius+
Diocesan Episcopa
