"The month of May is special in our ministry!" says the director of Lutheran Hour Ministries' India center. Every year, the Chennai-based outreach center shares the Gospel with thousands of children through its Summer Bible School (SBS) program.
Calling it the highlight of the India center's children's ministries, the director reports that the 2017 SBS reached more than 15,000 youth with the Good News about Jesus.
"The program was organized in eight regions at 200 locations," he says. "A number of churches planned a 'Day of SBS' celebration around the event; our staff participated where we could and distributed graduation certificates.
"We have received contact information from more than 10,000 children. Nearly 900 came to profess Jesus as their Lord, and local pastors have reported that 378 have attended prayers at their churches."
One youth who participated in the SBS program-unexpectedly-was a 16-year-old named Anthony. "Anthony did not have a very good reputation," the director states. "He was disobedient at home and in school-and he was disliked by his teachers and classmates. He even ran away from home and spent a month wandering in unknown places."
When he returned home, some friends in his village invited him to come along with them to LHM-India's Summer Bible School, which was just about to start-and he agreed.
"Anthony attended all ten days," says the director, "-and came to know Jesus as his Savior. It was not long before his parents came in search of the reason for the dramatic change they had discovered in their son!" What they learned was that the change had been brought about by the power of the Holy Spirit, working through the Word of God and the Christian fellowship Anthony enjoyed at SBS.
We echo our director as he says "We thank God for this wonderful ministry!" and we thank our faithful supporters for the gifts that make this powerful outreach possible.