Vision and Mission for Bhoyachapada
Introduction
Praise God for the wonderful ways God has been leading this field. We are completing 20 years this year and God has been really faithful. This field was started in 1996 by the members from Immanuel Mar Thoma Church, Borivali. This is also the first mission field that we have in Mahrashtra. We have one Church at Bhoyachapada currentl and also a beautiful mission house where our present evangelist resides. Evg. Samuel Mauli and wife are presently serving at Bhoyachapada.
Ministry till Now
At present we are having ministry in 17 villages. On record we have 243 baptised believers comprising of 65 families. Due to many issues the number has reduced. We have Sunday worships at three different places: Bhoyachapada, Kuhe and Nagle. We have also purchased land at Kuhe Gram Panchayat where we soon intend to build a church.
Sunday School
We have four weekly Sunday Schools catering to around 80 children. At the same time we have an annual VBS and this year we also had a one day Children’s Retreat. The Borivali MTC also provided school kit for our children.
Youth Ministry
We had three youth meetings from the start of this year. It’s difficult to gather all the youths since they belong to different villages which are very far away from each other. But the ministry among the youths is not just limited to youth meetings as the evangelist helps them in their spiritual growth on a personal level.
Women’s Meeting
Women’s meeting is held once every month and is usually led by the wife of our evangelist. This meeting helps is catering more personally to the women’s issues and helping them to come out of it and grow spiritually and relationally.
Medical Clinic
A medical clinic is conducted thrice every week from our mission house. One doctor comes and serves all the people who have come there. It’s a huge blessing for the villagers as they are able to avail the services of quality medical service at a very cheap rate.
Holy Communion
Holy Communion is celebrated on the third Sunday of every month. Most of the people attend the Holy Communion. Rev. K. C. Chacko celebrates the Holy Communion service and the people here have started giving importance to this Sacramental Service.
Sponsoring Church
Immanuel Mar Thoma Church, Borivali has been generous, mission oriented and vision oriented in its approach to the mission here. They have considered it as their own responsibility to see to it that the people are growing in the Lord. At the same time they help the people here and do visit the field regularly.
Programs.
Melas are held every year during the Diwali or the summer vacation. This is something that the people look forward to as it’s a time of fellowship and also gives them an opportunity to grow more in the Lord. We also have Children’s mela during the three days of the mela.
One Retreats and Bhajans are kept frequently in different villages where resource people are sometimes called from other areas.
Medical Camps are held annually. This year the medical camp was held at Kuhe Gram Panchayat where around 400 people availed the services of the doctors.
Vision for Bhoyachapada
- It’s a very difficult but really important task to bring back the people who have gone back to their own ways due to personal/ religious problems. Meeting them and talking with them is one of the primary agendas in the coming months.
- Ministry among the children needs to be enhanced a lot and hence plans have been made to start tuition class at Bhoyachapada village and if possible at one more village nearby. There are also plans to increase and widen the Sunday Schools in this area.
- Villages like Kuhe and Bahmanpada are coming up which can be developed as future centres. Especially in Kuhe Gram Panchayat we have reached to people in 7 padas and people are growing to be very strong in the Lord. A church at Kuhe and tailoring class there are the immediate plans for the Kuhe Panchayat.
- More One day Retreats and bhajans are being planned so that the people can grow spiritually.
Conclusion
Looking back after 20 years it’s a huge success story of the mission in Mahrashtra. The people have grown a lot not only spiritually but also physically and in many other ways. Looking back it’s a time to Praise God and looking forward it’s a future with hope, a hope which Jesus gives as we are just Partners in God’s mission for the entire creation.
