Pastor Joshua Gowda
Director of The Elijah Challenge Training Center India
The Elijah Challenge Training Centre | An
effective model for reaching Indian villages
Elijah
Challenge events in India
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Joshua (Y.D.D. Gowda)
Elijah Challenge Evangelistic & Feeding Events in India
Led by Pastor Joshua Gowda & Pastor Simon Haqq
Elijah Challenge Training Centre directed by Pastor Joshua
Evangelistic Feeding Event, July 2007
Evangelistic Feeding Event, September 2007
Elijah Challenge Event
"I was born and brought up in a Hindu family. Being the first son in the family my parents dedicated me to a Hindu god and goddess. Since my childhood way of living was totally like a Hindu priest my parents and relatives were very proud and happy about me.
I was very much found of cricket; while I was playing cricket the ball hit my lower part of the stomach since then blood was bleeding when ever I go to toilet! I face pain!
When I shared this with my known friends and my relatives said that one day I will die because of this problem when I went doctor he told me you will be operated damaged tissue has to be removed as early as possible, I was so afraid of operation my parent said “you may die or live” after few weeks I became very weak, I was just 21 years old I was going through tension and depression in my personal life because I was suffering with dangerous stomach pain, I was worried! What will happen to my life?
In 1989 August one my classmate came to me and asked about my sickness he told me pray for my physically healing I was very thin every one told me word of sympathy, after three days my classmate again came to meet me asked me how are you? I said you know my problem he said I prayed for you Spirit of God told to me to give this Holy Book to you (Bible) and he asked to read particularly Psalms Chapter 15 as I started to read yes its true that I was worshiping lifeless god and goddesses, now question was who is real God next day morning I managed go to his house there I met a pastor he told about The Lord Jesus Christ, he asked me to pray for forgiveness of sins, I confessed I received Jesus as my Lord and Saviour of my life, that very moment I experience the touch of God that day when I went to toilet I did not see any single drop of blood or blood colour passing since then I am absolutely delivered from the problem, I told the miracle happened to me but my parents and relatives against my faith in Christ Jesus. Becoming Christian I faced a lot of persecution from my own people.
My parents and my relatives did not understand me; again they forced me to do same Hindu rituals andI disagreed with them, at last my parents asked me leave the house, I shared with my pastor he gave me shelter, I took baptism 10th of December 1989, by faith I started to live! Lord miraculously used me for His kingdom before I joined Bible College I led 207 people to Christ I can sense that God is calling into ministry, in 1990 I joined Bible College where I met Simon Haqq we were together in the same college, after the Biblical studies we moved to the field of North India where God called us to reach the unreached with gospel the Lord Jesus Christ and heal the sick!
I would like to tell about population and religious composition and the challenge believers in Christ face today in India.
Then He said to His disciples, ”The harvest truly is plentiful, but the labourers are few.’ Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into His harvest.” Mathew 9:37-38
Religious Composition of Indian population as per 2001 census is as follows:
(POPULATION BOMB)
Religion --- Population ----- (%)
Hindus ---- 827,578,868 -- 80.5
Musl__ms --- 138,188,240 -- 13.4
Christians -- 24,080,016 --- 2.3
Sikhism ---- 19,215,730 --- 1.9
Buddhists --- 7,955,207 --- 0.8
Jainism ------ 4,225,053 --- 0.4
Others ------ 6,639,626 --- 0.6
New religions -- 727,588 --- 0.1
Total --- 1,028,610,328 ---- 100%
• Death rate in India 8.39 million per year this means that 23,000 people everyday – 958 people every hour or 16 people every Minute ……• Birth rate in India – for every minutes there are 29 births in India. Deaths are 16 every minutes; it means the difference is 13!
I see that the only “The End Time Model of Evangelism” is more applicable and effective to reach our nation is to equipping every believer according to John 14:12 to heal the sick as Jesus and His disciples did to demonstrate to the world that He is the only way to Father. The Elijah Challenge teachings are key and instrumental in equipping the Church to fulfil the Great Commission. Like the apostle Peter we do not bring you “silver or gold" but what we have we give you: we will equip you to heal the sick in Jesus name (Luke 10:9) to reach the most gospel–resistant people groups in India.
As Director of TEC Training Centre what I want to see is thousands of believers trained every year in India and every believer involved in bringing souls into His Kingdom."
Pastor Joshua
109 – Pocket # - I, Dilshadgarden, Delhi, India
Phone No +91 098 1036 4986
Email: [email protected]
Luke 10:9 "Heal the sick who are there and tell them,
'The kingdom of God is near you.’"