The Asian Missions Congress has gotten off to a great start.  Over 250 leaders from that part of the world have assembled for planning and teaching. Dr. Crandall is one of its featured speakers.

Another participant is Creation Speaker Jerry Layton from the Philippines.  In the last 3 years he has spoken to over 70,000 people and has seen 15,000 people come to Christ through Creation Evangelism. Glory!

Dr. Crandall and Jerry Layton meeting with three of WorldWide’s next International Training Seminar candidates from Malaysia and the Philippines 

A note from Ken Ham:

AiG is thrilled to be able to congratulate our Director of AiG’s WorldWide outreach, Dr. David Crandall, for receiving the honor of being named “Alumnus of the year” by the Baptist Bible College and Seminary—Clarks Summit, Pennsylvania. Dr. Crandall wrote to me:

I am very much honored that Baptist Bible College and Seminary alumni have selected me as alumnus of the year. Thousands of alumni vote every year on this selection. On October 10^th I will be honored at a special banquet on campus. All four of my children are flying in for the event—it is the first time in years that all four have been with us at the same time. Only problem—10 grandchildren at the same time.

I praise God that He has chosen to use me in His ministry. I am especially thrilled to be with you and AiG and to see the global impact that is being made.

-David  (Philippians 1:21)

You can read about this at this link: http://www.bbc.edu/alumni/past_award_recipients.asp

Greeting from Saipan, where America’s day begins. During the last two weeks AiG’s days have begun here too!

The Saipan team has completed the medical outreach portion of the trip. Tuesday evening the final patients were seen. We have spent time dealing with infections and allergy problems primarily over the last couple of days. A big issue here is helping the students deal with the change in climate and change in diet. Counseling about preventative health issues has been a theme throughout the clinics.

The nightly seminars will continue through Friday night. We have had a full house every evening for the sessions. The kids from the local community school have been on the front row each night, armed with many, many questions. One child has even started bringing his unsaved mother to the talks. Liz has spent a lot of time witnessing to her.

Each presentation has been translated into Chinese, but this has not thus far seemed to be a problem. The language barrier has been overcome. It seems that my Southern drawl is much easier to translate than Ken’s Australian accent!

The ESL classes continue to go well. Laura has thoroughly enjoyed teaching, and the students continue to eagerly practice their English in the evenings at the seminars. One recent topic in class was the difference between the phrases “Good evening” and “Good night.” One of the students had been going around greeting everyone at church saying, “Good night!” The funny part was that once the students understood the difference and that “Good night” is used as a way to say “Goodbye,” when Laura left class (in the middle of the afternoon), one student jokingly said, “Good night!” With students like that, you can understand why she enjoys teaching the class!

The team will leave for the states very early Saturday morning, travel for about 27 hours, and arrive in Kentucky on Saturday afternoon. Oh, the joys of the international date line. Please pray for travel mercies for a very weary team!

Saturday brought a welcome rest for our Saipan mission team. The entire day was devoted to sightseeing. There are all sorts of interesting things to visit on Saipan, many relating to events of World War II.

The team first visited Banzai cliff on the northern tip of the island. During WW II many people took their lives by jumping from this cliff onto the rocks below. There are several memorials here remembering this sad event. It is difficult to imagine such a horrible tragedy occurring in such a beautiful place.

Bird Island Sanctuary was also one of the stops during the day. The lookout point here provided one of the most breathtaking sights of the trip.

Since Dr. Mitchell is one of the team members, food was a primary concern. All are happy to report that Dr. Mitchell’s problem was taken care of. After feeding Tommy, some shopping was done along with a short visit to the beach.

The team enjoyed dinner at a Thai restaurant with the teachers who are hosting Laura while our team is here.

Then the team returned to prepare for the seminar session Saturday evening. The team sends its regards to all who helped make this trip possible. A difference is being made in Saipan.

The question of the week in Saipan has been, “Did Adam have a bellybutton?” Over a dozen young men have come to Dr. Mitchell eagerly curious about this question. Some Chinese even come in groups and send their best English-speaker to find out. All are genuinely amazed at the answer. They seem genuinely relieved to learn that Jesus did have one.

On Tuesday, Dr. Elizabeth Mitchell explained to the kindergarten classes at the International school how dinosaurs fit into the six day creation week. The boys from the K5 class were eager to show that they could already recite Genesis 1:1. Each child got a “creature card” or a “dinosaur card” to keep.

Medical clinics continue to attract a steady flow of patients throughout the mornings and afternoons. The predominant problems have been minor orthopedic complaints and respiratory infections. We are trying to deal with preventative health issues as much as we can. Clinics will continue until the end of next week.

A personal note from Laura:

Imagine being 23 years old and never hearing about the Bible. Never hearing about God creating the world…never hearing about Jesus and how much He loves you.

I don’t know about you, but that’s really hard for me to understand. The first night our team arrived, I met Ashley (her English name)—a student from China who is studying here at the college. She is 23 years old, and the first time she heard about Jesus was in her classes here. We’ve had the opportunity to hang out this week, and it’s been so cool to talk with her about God. Right now, she’s still just trying to take everything in, but the thing that amazes me the most is her openness of talking about God. She’s not opposed to it at all—I shared my testimony with her, and she was very interested in it. But at the end of our conversation she sweetly said, “You grew up learning about God, but I didn’t. I’ve just started learning about Him, so I need more time.”  She also shared that at first she didn’t enjoy coming to the church services, but now something has changed. She’s noticed that the people at church are very happy, and that makes her happy too.

In the States, it seems that most people I’ve interacted with are either not interested in talking about Christianity or already have reasons for not wanting to talk about God. With Ashley, she just hasn’t even heard about Him until recently. Many of the other students here are in the same position—please pray that God would continue to work in their hearts and that they would come to know Him as their Savior.

Clinics by day and teaching by night. That’s the schedule in Saipan this week. The medical clinics have started in space provided by Eucon College. In the first few days we have provided care for various infections and routine orthopedic problems.

Yesterday began the ESL classes! Laura had about 25 students who were all very eager to improve their English skills. Their skill level varies from only knowing basic English greetings to being able to carry on a simple conversation in English. They have such an enthusiasm to learn—we are quite excited to have the opportunity! We will be having classes each day for the two weeks that our team is here. The students are all attending the sessions given by Dr. Mitchell each evening, so they have the added pressure of knowing that their teacher may give them a “pop conversation quiz” at any time!

Each evening a good crowd of Chinese- and English-speaking people gathers at the Christian Bible Church to hear Dr. Tommy Mitchell, with the aid of his translator, speak about the importance of biblical authority in Genesis. He’s already taught about the age of the earth and dating methods. With sessions each night, he’ll be exploring many more topics. Many students at the college have come to him with questions. In addition, a local school teacher brought her class last night and held a special session with Dr. Mitchell; the teacher asked him to explain to the children why Genesis is important. The enthusiastic students plan to return every night.

On Friday morning our first Answers WorldWide Medical Outreach team, Drs. Tommy and Elizabeth Mitchell and Laura Perrien, left Cincinnati for Saipan. The journey from Kentucky to Saipan took almost 27 hours. Here you see a photo of our three gallant travelers before the trip began. The photo of the team after arrival is not shown for humanitarian reasons.

There was a praise point for this outreach effort almost before it began. The flight schedule had the team connecting in Houston, Texas, for the flights to the Pacific. As you are aware, hurricane Ike was bearing down on the Texas coast that very same day. The Houston airport was to be closed around noon that day due to the threat of this severe storm. Fortunately the team’s outbound flight left Houston at 9:30AM, about two hours before the airport shut down. Rerouting the team at that late date would have been extremely difficult. Fortunately, all went well and the team arrived right on time!

On Sunday morning Dr. Mitchell spoke at the English service for the Christian Bible Church. His message was about understanding the nature of God as Creator.

Sunday evening Dr. Mitchell spoke again at the church giving an overview of the messages to come this week. The Chinese interpreter made the message plain for the Chinese-speaking members of the crowd. Following the service, while enjoying a snack supper celebrating the Chinese moon festival, Tommy answered many questions that had burdened his listeners and more questions the message had raised.

There have been many calls about the meetings scheduled at the church. Dr. Wei even got an inquiry from a Korean couple who were visiting the island. They read about the talks in a newspaper ad about the conference.

The medical outreach is scheduled to begin Monday morning. Please pray that the both the physical and spiritual needs of those who come can be met.

Thank you for your continued prayer for our brothers and sisters in India who are facing horrible persecution. Dr. Crandall recently received this update from our friend Jyoti who is currently in India:

Brother,

Last night I couldn’t really sleep, today is Lord’s day. Many have lost their beloved ones, their house has been looted and ransacked, villages after villages have been burnt down. Their only crime was they were Christians. Thousands of Christians have nothing left to them except the clothes they are wearring.Only Red Cross has been allowed to enter into some places. I just can’t imagine that I will start and end a day with my Bible, that was the first thing they burned, cross, and the Bibles from Christian homes.

A very close friend of mine professor from Serampore College, his brother and nephew was slaughtered into 15 pieces. This was in the national news this evening, I couldn’t have my dinner properly. Their face comes in my memory.

20 families were forcefully re converted into Hinduism yesterday.  

 Will you please please pray. I was in contact with few more friends from that area, news are so disturbing. I will write another update soon.

Meanwhile would you mind to generate a movement in USA in your local church at least to send a protest letter to the chief minister of Orissa state, and the Pri Minister of  India. And to the President too. Few line emails or fax will do a lot.

More later. Meanwhile thanks for your prayers. Have a wonderful Lord’s day remembering the Lord.

Jyoti

Thank you for your prayer.

Answers WorldWide is sending out its first medical missions team this week! The team will travel to the island of Saipan which is located in the Northern Mariana Islands. Please be in prayer for them. They will be gone from September 12^th to September 27^th. Drs. Tommy and Elizabeth Mitchell, along with WorldWide's assistant Laura Perrien, will represent AiG in Saipan for 16 days of medical and teaching ministry.

The Mitchells will use their medical skills to treat pastors from China, many of whom have never seen a doctor. Clinics have also been organized to meet the medical needs of the local people. The clinics will give the team the opportunity to share the truths of God’s Word. Laura will assist in the clinics, and she will also teach English as a second language both in the Christian school and college. Dr. Mitchell will speak to all of the international students daily at Eucon University and at the church fellowship on several occasions.

You can stay up-to-date with the team’s activities on the WorldWide blog: http://blogs.answersingenesis.org/blogs/worldwide

Thanks for your prayer!

In His Royal Service,

Dr. David R. Crandall

One of our close ministry friends, Jyoti Chakravartty, from India just informed Dr. Crandall today of some severe persecution toward Christians that has just begun in India. Apparently, a Hindu leader was murdered and the blame has wrongly fell on Christians there who are now being persecuted and forced to run to the jungle to flee for their lives. Dr. Crandall has been in touch with Jyoti who is safe and has assured him of our prayer.

From Jyoti:

“Dear friends,

This email comes with a very heavy heart.. I don’t know whether the western medial has shown the recent attack on the Baptist, Catholic and Gospel of Asia churches and World Vision offices. IN case if you want I can send you website URLs of the news from Indian News Papers.

 

Yesterday I was suppose to leave for Hyderabad along with Pastor Nathan Hazra to attend the Annual General Meeting and Board meetings of India Missions Association (largest Umbrella body of Indian Missions, evangelical church bodies) from August 27-30.2008 and on Sunday August 31.2008 I was invited to preach (message on Biblical Creation) in two large Churches. I was all excited so was Nathan Hazra, as we will be able to meet friends from all over India leading various Christian ministies, many of them I know of more than 20 years since my days with SGM and SIL/Wycliffe. We decided to take a 42 hours train journey basically to shut our phones and sleep on the sleeper coach.

 

Well  I left 5 am in the morning after having 2 hours sleep as I was trying to finish my work. The train was suppose to depart at 7.25 am when I arrived at the station met some old friends including one of my students from Calcutta Bible College, he recognized me and came and introduced himself. Now leading a large church in the North of West Bengal, well we waited and then we heard that the train was rescheduled and will be departing 11 am then after that we heard that again it was  rescheduled and will be leaving at 1610 hrs. But later we found that the train was cancelled due to  turmoil in Orissa (same state where Australian Missionary Graham Staines were murdered few years ago) and there is a state wise strike in protest of a Hindu leader who was murdered by the Maoist. But the blame came on Christians and scores of Baptist, Catholic and Gospel for Asia and Penticostal churches are burnt down attacked. My friends in World Vision were beaten up and their office was ransacked and many fled in the Jungle to hide.

 

Even today I was not able to contact my friends over the telephone not even in their mobile. This evening I was able to contact a friend in state capital Bhubaneswar. His voice sounded very scary, he informed me that I was not able to contact others as many of them have fled in jungle and there is no Tower to catch signals. Please pray for this situation. The School Colleges are closed in Orissa till first week of September.

 

Some places are just cutup, specially Beharampore I was not able to contact any of my friends there. In 2006 we had one of our largest Creation seminar organised by the locals who were so generous. Sadly I was not able to get in touch with them over the phone till now.

 

I am forwarding the following email from a friend who use to be with the World Vision but now heads EFICORE. I recount enjoying delicious meals at his house.

 

Please do pray for our dear brothers and sitsters those who have lost all their belongings, have been suffering and persecuted for their faith.  

 

With Christian greetings

 In His Grace

 Jyoti  Chakravartty

 

“ Dear all,

The following information collected from different fields of riots affected areas of Orissa directly from the victims for your information and sincere prayer.

 In Phulbani, the district headquarter of Kondhamal district, more than 25 houses were attacked, all house hold things/ properties burned in front of the houses. RC church and Baptist church were attacked and ransacked in the presence  of the police.

 In Raikia, 40km from Phulbani, 10 shops belong to Christians burned and looted yesterday while the dead body of late lakhanananda Saraswati was carried towards Phulbani and than cremated in Chakapada where Mr.Swaraswati lived for many years and continued all the activities.

1. In Tikabali, which is near to Chakapada  Mr.Swaraswati, more than 10 houses were set ablaze and one Church completely demolished. Now all Christians with families live in the jungle.
2. Pastor Sikandar Singh(Missionary Association President, Kalahandi)was attacked by a group of fundamentalists today morning 9am. His house is looted and demolished. Believers from Indian Christian Revival Mission were attacked too.
3. In  Jeerango, a  village 32km away from Parlakhemundi and around 90km from Berhampur, one church was blasted and 11 houses were destroyed. Activists were not from the local area.
4. Twelve families in Rupanagar, 3km away from Chakapada, were attacked, houses were set ablaze one woman was burned alive apart from a nun who burned alive in Baragada ashram. Fundamentalists are basically from neighboring states.
5. Mr.Prabir Kumar Swain from Jagatsinghpur ADP, a project of WVI, is  gharowed by the fundamentalists since morning. They are arguing and forcing  the house owner to take   Mr.pravir and pastor out of the house. House is famous person in that small town and gracious to these two families. But the fundamental activities waiting out side the house to attack pastor and Mr.Pravir's f amily. Night 2 am one vehicle will come from Bhubaneswar to take them. Though it is very much risky but they  do not have any alternative. Please pray for them.
6. In Baliguda Rev.Gurubandhu Sansad, Ex.UESI staff an UBS graduate is under attack. House owner suddenly asked him to vacate the house as fundamentalist activities would attack him at evening. When  I called Rev.Gurubandhu at evening he was not in a situation to talk to me over phone as he was about to be attacked and asked me to pray and put down his phone. We are not able to contact him.
7. In Divyajoyti a RC pastoral centre in Angamendi village, near Nuagoan and 20km away from baliguda,Father Thomas Challen was bitten mercilessly and stripped, was made to walk necked in Nuagoan and baliguda.  A Nun who was in that centre was raped yesterday at about 3 pm. Last time when I went to Kondhamal area for relief I had stayed in this centre and Father Tomas had given me shelter
8. Around 3 people were killed in  the  village Piangian 3km away from Rikia. This news has to be confirmed yet. Now at this moment house burning is going on in Rikia by more than 200 fundamental activities. Police is simply following them helplessly. Police is watching the situation being inactive.
9. Many  fundamental activities are entering into Kharihar Road, 150 km from Raipur and around 10km from Nuapada (Orissa), through Nuapada to attack kharihar Mission Hospital. They burned two shops in front of the Christian hospital. Now the hospital is protected by the police. Activities have bitten up the local pastor Isudananda Senapati.

Whole night burning is going on in different parts of Orissa especially in Kondhamal dist.

Please continue to pray for the situation. Please remember that tomorrow you and I may face the same situation.

"But if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance will come from another place but you and your father's family will perish………………………" (Esther 4:14)

Yours sincerely

Lalit Mohan Jena”

Thank you for lifting our brothers and sisters in India up in prayer.

In His Royal Service,

Dr. David R. Crandall