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INDIA
It's January 12, 2006, and Joyce Meyer stands on a stage in India overlooking more than 400,000 people. It's a marvelous sight that she has seen before, but a sight that never ceases to amaze her. It is the beginning of Joyce Meyer Ministries' four-day crusade in the 400-year-old city of Hyderabad—known as the "City of Pearls."
Over the course of these four days, a total of 1.2 million people showed up from miles around—some even walking for days—to hear Joyce teach the Word of God. And they got what they came for...and more. In addition to inspiring teaching, they also experienced powerful worship along with the anointed music of Delirious?, the popular Christian group from Britain that teamed up with us for this historic event. And by the end of the crusade, more than 400,000 people made a decision for Christ!
More than 200 of our ministry partners also joined us in India to get a firsthand look at some of our lifesaving outreaches and take part in some historical ministry moments...
First, hundreds of joyful residents occupied their new homes after Dave and Joyce dedicated Nireekshana Nagar, one of the three new villages we have entirely rebuilt for tsunami victims. Because of your support, these people who lost everything were able to move out of their makeshift shelters and truly experience a new beginning.
Also, while in Hyderabad, Dave and Joyce cut the ribbon on our brand-new 70,000-square-foot Asia headquarters. The new building boasts many state-of-the-art technologies that will enable us to do an even greater job producing our Enjoying Everyday Life® telecasts, which can be accessed by 600 million people all across India.
These new facilities will also allow us to greatly expand our missions efforts throughout the region, which are meeting both the spiritual and physical needs of millions.
RWANDA
The Rwanda Genocide of 1994 claimed the lives of more than 1 million people. But in the spring of 2006, you helped us bring healing and restoration to thousands through our participation in Hope Rwanda—100 Days of Hope.
From April 28-30, Joyce ministered to nearly 66,000 people at our Festival of Hope held in Kigali's Amahoro Stadium. Hundreds gave their lives to Christ and thousands responded to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Recorded as the largest Christian gathering in Rwanda's history, this conference was the turning point for what had been a long, traumatic journey toward healing for many.
In addition, we launched one of the most massive prison outreaches in the nation's history, delivering gift bags containing a Joyce Meyer book to every inmate in Rwanda. Joyce also had the opportunity to minister to more than 5,000 prisoners in the courtyard of Kigali Central Prison. |
This powerful week of ministry was the first time anything like this has been done within the Rwanda prison system, and more than 18,000 prisoners gave their lives to Christ!
Through your support, Joyce Meyer Ministries was able to provide new
homes for several families affected by the genocide. While in Rwanda, Joyce
not only had the chance to dedicate some of these homes, but she also had
the chance to spend some time just talking with many of the local families in Kigali and to bless more than 300 children with boxes full of toys provided
by Samaritan's Purse.
UKRAINE AND RUSSIA
In May, Joyce ministered to a total of 22,000 people during her two-day conference at the Sports Palace in Kiev, Ukraine. We were also joined by Hillsong Kiev and a 100-voice choir that was fully charged and energized for the conference. Joyce taught three powerful messages that connected right to the people's hearts, leaving them both inspired and challenged to come up higher.
While in the region, she also had the chance to minister to more than 4,000 people at Rick and Denise Renner's Moscow Good News Church in Russia. Rick Renner serves as the director of Joyce Meyer Ministries' office in Moscow.
ENGLAND, GERMANY AND SWEDEN
In November, Dave and Joyce set off for their European tour, stopping first at Abundant Life Church in Bradford, England. Within a two-day period, Joyce ministered to nearly 13,000 people in a total of six services!
Next, they traveled to Karlsruhe, Germany, where Joyce spoke at the launch of the Women of the Word conference. This conference was broadcast via satellite from Karlsruhe to 109 other locations, reaching 30,000 people!
The very next day, Dave and Joyce finished up their tour with their first-ever visit to Sweden. The full-capacity crowd gave them a warm welcome, and Joyce went on to share her own personal testimony, which connected with the hurt and pain of so many in the audience.
Friends and partners, in 2006 your generous support enabled us to extend the Word of Life to hundreds of thousands in need of the Gospel message...people around the world who were looking for God and longing for change. On behalf of all of these nations, we thank you for your heart of compassion and for planting powerful seeds of hope that will reap a harvest for all eternity.
Click here for a list of 2007 international conferences.
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I had only been a partner with Joyce Meyer Ministries for a few months when I signed up for the India trip. I believed in my heart that Joyce was doing great things—that she wasn't money—hungry like one of my friends suggested-but I had no real proof to back it up.
Within less than twenty-four hours into the trip,
I started to realize that Joyce was the "real deal." Even before I set foot on Indian soil, I could see God's
love shining through Joyce's staff members. These were men and women who actually enjoyed their jobs, who were working for the kingdom of God under the direction of one woman truly anointed for this work. Every time I saw Joyce, I cried. Although we, her ministry partners, took pains not to mob her, the Indians did
not hold back. And soon it became apparent why.
Joyce Meyer Ministries fully supports and operates forty-one orphanages in Asia. I visited one orphanage and was greeted by children of all ages who were singing, dancing, and tossing marigold petals in my hair. "What is your name?" they inquired, bravely offering their hands to shake. We were so taken with God's precious children that, more often than not, we grabbed their hands and pulled them in for a good hug.
Joyce Meyer Ministries also restored a hospital in rural Chandrakal that provides free medical services
to more than 100,000 people each year. One of my
team members was so affected by the residents of the HIV/AIDS ward that she removed herself from the group to cry. Several of the Indian children noticed her face in her hands and went to her side to comfort her. These were children whose parents were dying of AIDS, many of whom were infected with the virus themselves.
The ministry also built hundreds of homes for tsunami victims in an area so remote that the government wasn't able to offer funding. We were invited to dedicate the village, so we got the chance to pray over each home and the family that would live there. I cut the red ribbon on one home and was truly touched when the men kissed my hands, the young girls offered me hugs and their cheeks for kisses, and mothers offered their children
to me for prayer.
I was overwhelmed by all that God had called Joyce Meyer Ministries to do in India... but God wasn't finished yet. While serving rice on tin plates to fifty hungry people, Joyce shared with us her vision to do even more in the future. As she spoke, the analogy of window-shopping came to my mind.
Much of our stay in India was spent on planes, trains, buses and rickshaws, looking out smudged windows as poverty whizzed by. As an individual, I felt like a window-shopper. Behind the glass I saw tiny outstretched hands begging for nourishment, bodies huddled together under bridges and over smoldering fires, and a frown on the face of every person who had not yet heard the Gospel. I wanted to grab hold of them all...clothe and feed them...tell them of the great sacrifice that Jesus Christ made
for each one of them, and see their smiles. But I couldn't afford them. As an individual, I could possibly make a difference in
the lives of a few, but the majority would remain beggars behind windows. However, by partnering with Joyce Meyer Ministries, I can help change the lives of millions.
I'll never regret taking this trip to India or partnering with Joyce. Now I can say for sure that Joyce Meyer Ministries isn't money-hungry... they are hope-hungry.
—Katie H.
Joyce Meyer Ministries partner; Fairborn, OH |
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