Praise the Lord! February 2006

Praise the Lord! It has been a long time since we have spoken to you. We sent out a few small updates, but ministry wise there has been a lot that went on since we arrived here. Please don’t forget to check the pictures below.

I am not sure where to begin but I think it will be appropriate to start giving thanks first to God and then to ERDO for sponsoring the flood relief work in Chennai, India. Ever since we came to India in the beginning of October the monsoon rain pounded Chennai up until the end of December. Heavy rain and floods swept away houses and killed hundreds of people and animals. One of our churches (please see the picture) was the victim of this flood. Some of our church believers lost their homes. There were relief work being done by other churches and charity organizations. We contacted ERDO to see if we can do something for some of these victims’ on of behalf of ERDO and PAOI (Pentecostal Assemblies of India). ERDO immediately sent some financial aid and during the first few weeks of January we were able to give away over 400 10kg bags of rice to the flood victims in 5 different villages. We also gave a small amount of financial aid to some families whose house was damaged by the flood. Many thanks to ERDO for making the relief work possible.

In December we helped the widows of our churches with saris (Sari is a kind of dress women wear in India) and put a small amount of money in their pockets for Christmas. These widows here basically have nothing. There isn’t anyone to take care of them and no financial help or pensions from the Government for them. One amazing thing is when we stretched our personal funds to do this and ran out of money for one church, A Hindu man who owns a company in the city heard the story and was moved by what happened. He bought 80 saris for this church more than enough for the widows in that church. God is so good. Now Dawn is writing to her friends and other ladies to see if we can support these widows with a small amount of $10 a month.

At Christmas time we bought Christmas gifts for the Orphanage children here. This was the first gift they had ever received. The joy they had when they received the gift brought tears to all 4 of us. It was definitely worth it all to see their eyes when they received those in-expensive plastic toys and school back packs. My children Hannah and Asha decided that they will buy some toys next Christmas for these children from their own money (I know it will come from our pocket to their little purses anyway). In December also Peter McIntosh (South East Asian Director) visited India. We had a meeting and members from all 5 churches attended the meeting. Peter spoke and we were blessed.

In January over 20 people got baptized. Praised the Lord! Please see the pictures below.

Last Sunday February 5th I was invited to speak in a church. God showed up with His Spirit. It was powerful. After the service many people reported seeing a wave of anointing during the service. I am still receiving some amazing testimony from the people what happened and what they saw that day! May to God be all the glory and honor. Several people received the baptism in the Holy Spirit and received the gift of speaking in tongues. Several got delivered. This experience made me so humble and I have been praying early in the morning ever since this happened, asking God to help me to be more sincere if you are going to continue to use me in this way.

We have been complaining to you and to the house owner that the house we rented when we fist arrived had a lot of problems. Water, plumbing, electricity to name a few. Finally we moved on February 1 to a new house. This was our third move in six months.
We are looking forward to the months ahead with a lot of activities though we are not looking forward for the hot days ahead. It is February now and we can not stand outside for few minutes. We may be scrambling our eggs using the suns heat saving our cooking gas!
Special Prayer Request:
A few weeks ago we added a new Pastor to our staff. His name is Paul Daniels. We are asking for special prayer for Phillip who has Sevier heart complications. The doctors have told them that there is nothing more that they can do for Phillip and that he cold die at any time.
Please pray for this precious child that God would do a complete healing in his little body. Also please pray for this young pastor and his wife that God will encourage them and give them strength. We will continue to keep you updated on the situation.
(Before we could publish this news letter, baby phillip has gone to be with the Lord. Please see the updat below)

Update on baby phillip:Last week we sent out a email to you asking for prayer for baby Phillip. So many of you responded and we are so greatful to you.
I wanted to let everyone know that on Sunday at 6:30 PM Phillip went home to be with Jesus. His funeral was held Monday morning at 10:00 AM.
Please pray for Phillip's parents Pastor Paul and Elizabeth Daniels and their family as they grieve the loss of their only child. Pray that God will comfort them in these difficult days ahead.
Thank you again for your prayer support.

We will continue to update you what is happening in India.

Please visit our Web Page at http://www.samsonweb.org/ for more photos.

In Him
Prasad Dawn Hannah and Asha
“You are either a missionary or a mission field”
---Nugget Notebook

The Stresses of Moving are Great

We have not been able to spend much time on the Computer lately. We have been very busy with moving. Not yet unpacked but that will happen over the next few weeks we hope.

The following are a series of photos of recent activties that we have been involved in.

Thank you again for praying for us. We are very much aware of God's wonderful guidance and presence.

Prasad and Dawn, Hannah and Asha

Above is a photo of Prasad being welcomed to a church. The custom is to present the guest with a gift.

These two photos following are of an outdoor service. Dawn is speaking in and I am interpreting for her. This is when your wife can tell you what she really thinks - and you have to receive it. The second photo shows Hannah and Asha singing in this outdoor meeting.

Asha found a new pet - a grass hopper - a little bigger than the Canadian kind!

January 1, 2006

Happy New Year to each of you! May God bless this new year for all of you. We are continuing to pray for each of you. Thank you for praying for our family.

Christmas this year was very different from the Christmas holidays we remember in Canada. What is the difference? NO SNOW. No Cold and no ice to slip on. We miss it - a little.

The warmth of our new home does not require a furnace to repair nor windows to keep out the cold. How can we possibly describe the warmth, the beauty and the wonder of this country. You will definitely have to come to visit us!

For Christmas this year we were able to have all of the Orphans come to our home for a meal. We bought Christmas presents for each of them - stretching the personal budget to some degree - but it was worth it all. What joy to have them in our home. In the near future we hope to be able to have you help us with sponsoring these children.

The PAOC World Missions department is helping us set up the sponsorship program for these children. It will be such a blessing as you join us in helping each one. We are your hands and arms in India as God allows us to minister to each one on your behalf. Please begin praying about sponsoring a child in 2006.

We would love to hear from you soon. Our email addresses are prasaddawn@hotmail.com OR psamson@paoc.org

May you have a Peaceful and Blessed Christmas

At this Christmas season we miss all of our family and friends in Canada. But in an amazing way God has give us our growing family in India. It is so good to be where God wants us to be.

Would you please pray that the Lord will open new doors for us as we settle in our new home.

We look forward to hearing from you soon.

Our hope is that you and your family will find Peace and Blessings from the Lord.

Prasad, Dawn, Hannah & Asha

Samsons - November 25, 2005

Greetings to you from India! The girls and I arrived safely in India on the 27th of October. We had a safe and smooth journey; it was wonderful to see Prasad at the airport. He was a sight for sore eyes!
The girls and I have settled into life here beautifully, we didn't' suffer from jet lag at all. Praise the Lord! Although the fist time we saw a cow on the city street we realized we weren't in Canada any more.

Last Tuesday I met the orphans that have been livening with my in-laws, such beautiful children with such sad stories. All had lost at least one parent, I met three brothers their father just walked away one day and never looked back. Their mother unable to take care of them on her own had to give them up so that they could have a better life. The heart ache is that because of lack of funds they had to send some children away. We look forward to giving these children a proper home and the love they deserve.

Sunday the 6th we took part in a church service the people were so humble. The church is located in one of the villages outside of Chennai, many of the people are illiterate and all of them are desperately poor. We were late arriving due to the monsoon rains that we have been having here many of the roads were flooded with water. When we did arrive they were so excited to meet us. We were greeted by little girls who hung wreaths of flowers around our necks. Their enthusiasm to worship and to listen to God's word was powerful, even after sitting on the cement floor for many hours (the church doesn't have any pews). Please pray that we will be able to bless these brothers and sisters in the Lord.

We just got connected to the internet and I am trying to get caught up on all our emails. I am righting you in semi darkness; we have had a power outage something that happens almost daily here.

Please continue to keep us in your prayers; the house that we have rented was abandoned for a year after the tsunami. There is something that always needs fixing. We would like to move to a house that we would have room to build housing for the orphans.

Much love and prayers,
Prasad and Dawn