Second Annual
Camp Meeting in India

May 30 – June 1, 2008

by Reverend Raju Rayudu

The Apostolic Faith Church in India held its second annual camp meeting from May 30 through June 1. We were able to rent the village school ground for the services. Before the camp meeting started, we rented an auto rickshaw with an amplification system, and we went to nearby villages to broadcast invitations and give out handbills advertising the services.

Preceding the camp meeting, there was a lot of rainfall and we were concerned that it would also rain during our camp meeting. Since our services were to be held outdoors, this would have presented quite a problem. We prayed for good weather, and we sent a prayer request to Deanna Moen asking the saints in Portland to pray. Thank the Lord, the rain stopped and we had good weather during our camp meeting!

My wife, Suvarna, and some of the other women prepared and served food to the ones who came from distant locations. Many other church people worked hard to clean the grounds every day and provide water for the people to drink. They also straightened up the chairs daily and placed mats on the floor for people to sit on.

We had evening services only during our three-day camp meeting, and we enjoyed the presence of the Lord during each service. In the first service, there were over five hundred in attendance; the second evening there were around seven hundred; and the third evening around one thousand people attended the service! Also, all of the pastors who are affiliated with the Apostolic Faith Church in India were able to attend these services. On the last evening, several young people received the baptism of the Holy Spirit, and nearly thirty people came to the altar and prayed to be saved!

In India, we have a caste system that separates people according to their wealth and social status. There are wealthy high-caste people who live in our village, and some of our church people went to their homes and invited them to our last service. A few of the high-caste Hindu women came and sat on the front rows. They had never attended a Gospel service before, and we were able to plant the Word of God in their hearts. After the service they went to the altar and prayed. Please pray that the Lord will keep working in these women's hearts. While we were giving the altar call after the last service, it began to rain, but people still continued to come forward to pray and ask Jesus to come into their hearts. Our pastors went around and prayed with each one of them.

Located close to the school ground was a pond, and my father and I were privileged to water baptize seven people who were saved during our camp meeting—five women and two men. One of the women was from a very strict Hindu family, and she used to worship all kinds of idols. When she heard the Word of God preached, she prayed and gave her heart to Jesus.

We praise God for what He has done during this camp meeting. We also want to thank all the saints who have been praying for my family and the Apostolic Faith work in India. God has been faithful to us, and we ask that you continue to hold us up in prayer as we labor in His service.