Dear friends,
We want to start our update by wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year. The rainy season has arrived in Southern India. Days of scattered showers and heavy rains a week can pass without seeing the blue sky. Children look forward to rain days just as kids in Canada love their snow days.
Just a few weeks ago we finished with our last team from Canada. A total of four teams this year. Each team was a blessing to us and to the people we minister to. We are now gearing up for the busy Christmas season.

On Oct 23 we welcomed the WM team to Chennai. This team focused on women, children and widows. The team was led by Sandra Gill WM director for Canada. In just a short 10 days the team visited 3 three schools and entertained, educated and blessed over 1400 children. In the evenings we visited our widows a total of 75 over a period of 3 days. On Saturday Oct 30th we held a one day WM event with over 200 ladies attending.

School children learned about life in Canada they also had a special visit from Joy the clown. Joy talked about creation and how God created everyone special and beautiful. The team planted seeds of hope and love in these Hindu children’s hearts.

In the evenings we visited our widows, some nights visiting them right in their homes. This gave the team a look into the life that these desperately poor women live. Left alone and often abused having the team visit them is an event these ladies will never forget.

One night the ladies walked more than a KM through the mud and rain to hold a meeting for our widows. Slipping and sliding all the way the ladies finally arrived. Between the showers Sandra blessed the ladies with a message and then each widow received a new sari and a bag of groceries.
Flourish! That was the theme for the WM event. You are beautiful, you are worthy, you can grow and flourish. Much needed words of compassion and love to these ladies. The WM team reached into the hearts of ladies and encouraged them blessed them and gave them hope.

We want to thank each and every member of the WM team for choosing Indian and for all of the hard work that was done. A big thank you goes out to Sandra Gill and to Donna and Dan Davies that helped co lead the team. They overcame many challenges along the way but lead this team with grace and love. We also want to thank “Covered by Love” quilt project and Sandra Morton who brought us so many beautiful quilts.

As we look to the New Year we can’t help but wonder what God has in store. Early in the year the new addition to the children’s home will be completed and we will be able to accommodate many more new children.
Our church plant in the town of Avadi will soon be finished and we will be able to hold services inside a brand new building.
Christmas brings challenges being stretched in many different directions and the distance between family and friends always feels a little further at Christmas. At the same time it’s a honour to serve those around us.
Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas,

Prasad, Dawn, Hannah and Asha

Dear Friends,
The months have flow by and we are now heading into the rainy season. Days of rain and mud puddles that resembles small lakes.

The past months have been full with teams and visitors from home. After returning from our regional retreat in July we were visited by our second team this year. We welcomed APC "Agincourt Pentecostal Church" Scarborough. This was a special time for us because the team leader Pastor Laura Bogner and her husband Andy have been friends of ours for many years.

The team focused on children’s ministry. During the day visiting schools and in the evening holding children’s crusades. Hundreds of children were touched, loved and moved by the team’s ministry. Magic tricks, puppets and games were just a few of the items the team had brought along with them.
The team reached out to some of the poorest of the poor including a visit to a leper colony and a fabulous party at our children’s home. We want to thank the APC team for all of their hard work. You did an awesome job!

In August work started again on our church plant. Thanks to the HEART project started by Murray Cornelius. The walls were going up when work was shifted to a much needed home for the pastor of the church. Pastor David and his family were forced to move three times this year and could not find a home suitable for his family. Thanks to the HEART program Pastor David and his family will have a place to live.

Because of the construction of the home we still need $10,000 dollars to complete the project. Please pray that we will see the funds raised for the project. Our prayer is that we will be able to hold a service in the new church by Christmas.

In September we began preparation for our next team KRT "Kennedy Road Tabernacle"Brampton. KRT has been supporting our ministry since 2006 when a team came and began construction on “Hope for the Children”. They visited again in 2007 to build the compound wall around the home.

This time KRT came to begin construction on the home of an additional building to house the boys at the home. Not only did KRT help build the foundation but thanks to Pastor Jamie Stewart and Zia Moradi they also helped in a huge way to fund this project.

Over the past two week the team carried cement “Indian Style” on their heads. Dug holes and moved mountains of mud. All the work paid off and at the end of the two weeks they had laid the foundation for the new building.
In the between the construction they took part in outreach, a children’s party at the home and a very exciting visit to a leper colony. We thank them for all their hard work and flexibility.
A look forward our next team arrives the end of this month our WM (Women’s Ministries) team will be focusing on women and children ministries.

Please continue to keep us in your prayers as our ministry continues to move forward.

Prasad and Dawn

Update April and May

Dear friends,
Spring has gone and we are now at the end of the summer season. Temperatures that were above 40C and humidity at 86% for many weeks have now cooled down to 35C. It has been a busy season for us.

In March we held Pastor Conferences with several hundred pastors attending. Many of the pastors traveled hundreds of KM to attend. Thank you to Pastor Marshall Eizenga from Waterloo Ontario who spoke at the conferences. We hwldo two days seminor.The first day Pastor Marshall spoke on the subject The Holey Spirt. The second day he spoke on the subject Leadership. It was an eye opener and we got some very good feed back from the local pastors.

Also during the same time we held a special woman’s meeting our special speaker Sandra McIntosh shared. Over two hundred ladies attended the meeting. Sandra edified and uplifted the ladies speaking to them about how beautiful they are in God's eyes. How special and precious they are to him. These ladies were touched and ministered to by Sandra and her word.

In May we held special revival meetings. The dates were the 18th 19th and 20th of May. The day the meetings were to begin a tropical storm blew in and the weather forecast was rain, wind and thunderstorms for all three days. We asked people to pray that the weather will hold. The first night the weather was beautiful with just a sprinkle of rain from time to time. Our special speaker Brother Williams who spoke and sang the word of God. Brother Williams spoke on the righteous path, the path of peace, the path of purity and the path to heaven. Over one thousand people attended the first night.

On day two the storm was full force our stage, banners and most of our lights were destroyed, blow away or damaged. By three o'clock in the afternoon the decision was made to cancel the meeting.

But by the third night the weather had miraculously cleared and we went ahead with the third day meeting. With over one thousand four hundred people attending brother Moses Rajasekar spoke, sang and testified of God's goodness. Brother Moses is compltely blind and is dependent on dialsis and yet travels throught out India and the world singing and preaching.
We want to thank everyone that prayed for the meetings we saw many people come forward for healing and salvation. It was a true miracle that we were able to hold the two meetings!

Things have been quiet at the children’s home the past month. Many of the children go home for summer holidays. While the children were away God provided the funds so that we could have a play ground installed at the home.

Construction has stopped at the church in Avadi. We were able to finish the foundation and floor and start the construction on the walls. We can not continue this project with out your help. Please pray that we will be able to finish this project before the rainy season. If you are interested in more information about our church building project please have a look at our prior blog you can email us prasaddawn@hotmail.com.

Looking to the coming month, in July we are expecting a team from Agincourt Pentecostal Church. We look forward to this team Lead by Pastor Laura Bogner focusing on children’s ministry.

This year we have at least two more teams coming our way. 2010 is becoming a very busy year for us.

Please continue to pray for our family our budget is still in deficit and we are believing that God will work a miracle in this area.

Blessings,

Prasad and Dawn

Dear Friends

I am writing this Blog to ask for your help with our latest project.

One of the churches we give leadership to is in a town North of Chennai called Avadi (some of you have visited this church). We were meeting in a large church building provided by a family member. It was a solid structure and quite adequate to hold the church of about 200 members.

In 2007 we were told to leave their church building. The congregation was given only one month to find a suitable building to meet in. Out of desperation the whole congregation went to the land lord’s house and begged him to reconsider. He would not and told them to leave immediately.

This left the church with no meeting place and Pastor David (our associate pastor)
and his family with no home. They had been living in a small apartment above the church.

We began looking for a piece of land to build a temporary building for them to meet in. The land prices in the area were very high and nothing seemed to be available. Just when we didn’t know where to turn God came through. A Muslim man offered us a piece of land for half price. It was right beside the old church building and in a good area. Right away we put the money together and bought the land. As we left for Canada in 2007 they were able to build a small hut where the people could meet for church.



At Christmas time they extended the building to hold the crowds of people. Still every Sunday people sit out side in the hot sun to hear the sermon.

As you can see the church is very small. The walls are made of coconut leaves covered on the inside with cloth. The roof is also made of coconut leaves that leak in the rainy season. Despite their church building Avadi is a healthy growing church. They are praying for a new church building one that is big enough for

the entire congregation.

On our visit to Canada in 2009 we began to raise funds for this project. So far we have raised $5000 of the $20,000 needed to complete the project. By faith we have started constructing the building. In March Prasad laid the first bricks to begin the project,



Here is where we need your help. First we are asking for everyone to pray for the church in Avadi. Pray for Pastor David his wife Gitsey and their two children. Pray for Pastor David and his family that they will continue to see the church grow as they reach their community for Christ.


Second we ask you to join us as we raise funds for a new church building. As I mentioned we have raised $5000 of the $20,000 needed to complete the project. Without help we will have to stop the construction. Please pray that God will provide the funds needed to finish the church.

If you would like to help with this project you can make check payable to the PAOC. Memo the Samson's Avadi Church Planting Project.

Thank you for your support. You are making a difference in India.

Blessings,

Prasad and Dawn

After four months in Canada it is great to be home! We arrived back in India on Nov 1. As soon as we left the plane the smell and heat of India struck us. Even at 2AM it was stifling hot and humid. Still is was great to see familiar faces and be back at home.

We want to thank everyone that opened their doors to us while we itinerated in Canada. It was great to reconnect with people and to meet so many new ones.

On December 19th we help our annual widows meeting. It was a great day. It is so much fun to see the ladies playing games and fellowshipping with each other. As always they received a new sari and a Christmas dinner.

Christmas time means children’s programs and the children’s party. It is always great to see what the children have put together each year. The programs are full of dances, songs and skits. This is a great outreach to the community because they are all held outside and many people come by to stop and watch the fun.

On Christmas Eve we held our Christmas party at the Children’s home. Songs, candy, presents and fireworks were enjoyed by everyone. Celebrating Christmas with these beautiful boys and girls is such a pleasure. Almost all of our children are from Hindu homes, so few of them would have ever heard the Christmas story or experienced the joy Christmas. We want to thank everyone that made this Christmas party possible for us.

We celebrated the New Year with both a New Year and old year service. Already 2010 is looking to be a very busy year.

In February we hosted our first team Kitchener Gospel Temple. Besides painting the children's home Pastor Burton held revial meetings.

It was a great time and we saw many miracles and several cam to Christ. We thank the team and Pastor Burton for all of their hard work and sacrfice.