"Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature" (Mark 16:15)

NEWSLETTER
July/August 2005
Volume Fourteen

Udaiyammal:
 A Hopeless Leper Finds Hope
United States missionary Kathy A Smith and Pastor Britto from Independent Church In India visit a remote village to preach the Gospel and to help a poor widow with the horrible disease of leprosy, who is utterly struggling to provide for her orphan grandson. After hearing the Gospel and witnessing the Christ-like love and compassion of these missionaries by putting medicine on her leprosy wounds and wrapping up her feet, many in the village including Udaiyammal are touched and commit their lives to the Lord Jesus Christ

Watch Udaiyammal's testimony: Choose your connection"
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NEWSLETTER July/August 2005 VOLUME FOURTEEN
INDEPENDENT CHURCH IN INDIA PO BOX 238 FREDERICKSBURG, PA 17026
website: www.indchurch.org email:info@indchurch.org

PAGE  5

Rocku's Testimony - Set Free From the Chains of Darkness
(Note: This testimony related to ICII by Rocku, a former Hindu)

Her name was Rocku. She was the oldest of five brothers and sisters who lived in a remote village in southern India. At the early age of seven, she would diligently worship at the Hindu idol temples, and worship the Hindu gods privately at home in her small dark hut. When she was older, one day at one of the Hindu temples, she was worshipping alone and she felt as though an evil spirit had entered her body. After this strange incident, her body got lots of pain and tiredness. She began to vomit and to have severe headaches. Rocku could not get any relief by any medicine, so her parents took her to various people who practiced astrology. Many times astrologers would come to her house and put mantra powder on her, and hit her on the head with their heads. When that did not help, she went to those who practiced necromancy and she would have to stay with them in the graveyard all night. The witch doctors said that the spirit liked her and they had to beat the demonic spirit out of her. Because of this, her body became even weaker. When this didn't help either, the village people suggested taking her to a Hindu snake temple. At the snake temple they bound her hands and feet and again beat her. Then they told her to offer animal blood sacrifices to the gods to get deliverance.

Having done all these things, Rocku only suffered more in her health and would often cry out in her sleep. She finally went to the hospital, but the doctor told her that there was nothing wrong in her body. Rocku's brother got married and left the house and then she had to take care of all the responsibilities at home. Even though Rocku was only in her twenties her body grew weaker and weaker. She continued to have many attacks and pain in her body, and she suffered terribly just to do work around her house. Her family was very poor and they began to have disunity. On top of all this, her family life became very unpeaceful.

Jesus has brought joy into Rocku's life.

Rocku shares; "Everywhere I went and everything that I did I had lots of problems and I wondered why do I want to live? After none of these things helped, I only became worse. I wondered who would deliver me from this demonic possession? Many times I tried to commit suicide because I had absolutely no desire to live anymore under these horrible conditions, but I could not even succeed at that. I had so many problems sometimes I began to think that there was no god. But other times I would call upon a god, but I did not know who he was. Many more people came to me and did witchcraft practices over me.

These were people I did not know or trust. I became to even have no self-knowledge of what was happening. My parents told me not to talk to people any longer, so I became fearful to even talk with others. I had no peace in my heart, only fear. At that time, when I was at the end of about all I could take in this life, the Gospel team of Independent Church In India came to my village.
The pastors praying over Rocku at her baptism.

At that time a spark of hope entered my mind that maybe God had sent someone to my village to touch my life, so I began sharing some of my problems with the Pastor. Pastor Britto and US missionary Kathy Smith shared the Gospel door to door in my village, and I got a lot of joy to hear and see them. Then they prayed for me. They told me if I follow the Lord, and I come to the church, the Lord would deliver me. After a short time they came a second time to my village and again they came to my house and prayed for me and this is when I gave my heart and life to the Lord Jesus. After this I got faith and strength to come to the church".

Rocku began coming to ICII's Vadipatti Church and the pastors prayed several times for her deliverance. Rocku got total deliverance when she decided to give everything over to the Lord, and cleanse her house from the pictures of idols, and occult objects which she allowed the pastors to destroy. After Rocku's deliverance, her life has become free. She now has peace in her family, and a job because she now has new strength to work. Her body no longer has weakness or sickness because the Lord has brought healing to her.
Rocku walking to Church
with her Bible.

Rocku shares; "After I was delivered I never even thought about going back to the idol worship or any of those things in my past, because now I have a lot of love upon the Lord Jesus. After I have received Jesus and have been going too church regular, I have gotten lots of courage. Jesus is the only one that delivered me and I put my trust fully in him. My family is for the first time seeing joy in my face. Now slowly they also are beginning to give up worshipping idols because they are noticing a change in me of what Jesus has done by giving me total deliverance. My parents now even allow me to pray for them. I give all the thanks to the Lord Jesus. I am praying for my whole family to receive the Lord. If the Lord saves my whole family in my life that is enough for me".