Breaking Ground in Kolkata

Hi all!
It is a peaceful Sunday afternoon here and we just got back from a refreshing church service at the Church of God here in Kolkata. The NF accountant led worship and our own Raymond Lengtat preached. Both did great and it was a joy to be there fellowshipping with them.
On Thursday we arrived safely back in Kolkata and said goodbye to the SGF team who left early Friday morning. We have been setting up a room in the West Bengal office which is in the same apartment complex as many of the workers homes (names undisclosed) and the National Fellowship office. My parents stayed behind to get us situated and they will leave on Wednesday. Unfortunately at this point due to law changes our itinerary has changed. We have decided to stay in Kolkata until the beginning of April and really devote ourselves to starting a regular youth program that could then be running well by the time we leave. (see email for details).
In early April the “plan” is to go back up to Eternal Light English School and visit local church leaders there as well as teach in the school for about a month. We then will come back to Kolkata to make sure the youth program is doing well and stay for about 2 weeks and then fly over to Thail.and for the remainder of our trip and work with the orphanage there. This plan is very likely to change but for now, it sounds good! Please pray for this next week as the last of the team leaves and we try to start and develop this youth program. It is difficult to find the youth and draw them in so we need much prayer in this area! As we walk around the city we can see lots of young people going to parties or going to the idol worship dances, mainly because it’s something to do. Our passion and desire is to give them a place to be as well as build up leadership in them so that the next generation in North India might be saved through them!
For those of you who like statistics, this will help you understand the type of place we are living:
• There are more people in India than in North and South America combined
• While the Christian church in India is estimated to be growing by 5,000 people per day, the nation grows by 55,000 per day
• India is 1/3 smaller than the size of the US geographically and four times bigger than the US in terms of population.
• There are 4635 people groups in India and 1652 languages
• There are an estimated 18 million people in Kolkata
The need here is great! The workers are certainly few and the harvest is extremely plentiful. Please continue to pray for us and all of the workers who are giving their lives for the gospel. Please pray for this next week that we would be effective in gathering the young people and starting a program that is effective!!!!
Jeremy and Anne Beaumont