In 1863 there was one Seventh-day Adventist for every 373,143 people in the world, so taking the gospel message to all the world seemed to be an overwhelming challenge. In less than 50 years, however—by 1900—we had one member for every 21,487 people! Another 50 years, 1950, and we had one for every 3,300. In 2000 there was one member for every 519 people. And by the end of 2007 it was one for every 429 people on earth. What amazing progress!

The church now claims almost 16 million members, or 25 to 30 million members if we count the children, as most churches do. We are no longer just an English-speaking church in North America. Spanish is now the church’s number one language. One third of the members live in Central and South America. One third lives in Africa. And the final third is divided up between North America, Australia, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, the former Soviet Union, and the rest of the world.

The Southern Africa-Indian Ocean Division now has one Adventist for every 68 people. Inter-America has one for every 90. South America has one for every 114. The East-Central African Division has one member for every 119 people. The North American Division has one member for every 319 people. In 18 countries Adventists make up more than 5 percent of the population. And in several countries Adventists are 10 percent or more of the population!

This is fantastic progress. We have much for which to be thankful. But before we pat ourselves too much on the back, let’s look at some other statistics:

• 53 countries have more than 10,000 people for every Adventist.
• 20 countries have more than 100,000 people per Adventist.
• 10 countries report more than 1,000,000 people per Adventist.

Let me illustrate it another way.

Let’s pretend we can climb the tallest building in South America and have all the people living in the South American Division file by one per second, single file, 24 hours a day. How often would we see a Seventh-day Adventist walk past? Every 1.9 minutes.

But if we climbed the Mount of Olives in Israel (or the mountains of Central Asia) we would have to wait 148 minutes (2.5 hours) between every Adventist. And if you came with me to Egypt and we sat on a pyramid and had the people of Egypt file by one per second, single file, 24 hours a day, we would have more than a day between each member (25.1 hours). For Saudi Arabia it would be 284 days (9.5 months) between each Adventist!

In Matthew 9:37, 38 Jesus says our focus doesn’t need to be on the harvest, because the harvest is already ripe. He says we should be praying for laborers.

From “Wanted: Laborers for the Harvest“, Adventist World, June 2009

The night of November 18, 2009, Brother Solomon and I walked the streets of Hyderabad, nearby Nampalli railway station, looking for the poorest of the poor to distribute food packets or inviting them to a meal at one of the restaurants.

The first man we located was fast asleep on the concrete sidewalk wrapped in cargo wrapping paper.  He was oblivious of the heavy traffic going by, of buses, trucks and people on their way home. We woke him up and he told us he had come from Bangalore and was tired and hungry.  He was happy for the meal at the restaurant and ate it with delight.

As we were shaking him awake a group of young people gathered around us and wanted to know what we were doing.  We explained to them our purpose and they responded with words of gratitude and thanks.

About 20 feet away was an elderly man just staring, with a look of hopelessness with his hands propping up his face from his knees.  He was unshaven and had matted hair.  Found he could speak English quite well.  He too was happy to join us at the restaurant for a meal.

Up the street nearby the entrance to the railway station was an elderly man with his back up against an electrical pole.  He had no shoes and his clothing was ragged and torn.  Most of his chest was showing.  He told us he had not eaten in two days because he could not walk.  He showed us his foot with infection on the side and it looked gross.  We provided him with two sack lunch meals of rice and curry.  He began eating it immediately.

That evening we had seen a sad state of humanity and to ourselves we said “Oh Lord Jesus Come”.

After supper, I slept for a couple of hours before going to the airport to meet Pastor Marvin.  Pastor Marvin had missed one of his flights in journey and therefore had a 24 hour layover in Singapore. He had been unable to find a hotel so just walked around in the airport.  You can imagine how tired he was upon his arrival.  Time I got back to the hotel that night it was 1:30 am.  Harsha Hotel had a night watchman and we were able to check Pastor Marvin into his hotel and I want next door to where I was lodging.  However, the metal door was pulled down and I began banging on it with my metal key to awaken the office crew inside, who were sleeping on the floor.  The driver informed me that I was banging at the wrong door.  No wonder no one was answering me. After banging on the right door, I was soon inside and fast sleep.

The morning of the 19th November, Pastor Jeff’s daughter arrived at the train station in Hyderabad at 5 am.  Her flight home was to leave at 8 pm so she took a room at Harsha Hotel also and left for the airport at 3 pm. heading back to USA.

Pr. Marvin and I spent the day shopping for some clothes and different items for him.  We met his wife Lois and Dr. Belkis at the airport at 9:30 pm and were in bed by 11 pm.

The morning of the 20th, Pr. Methuselah phoned me at 5:30 am and arranged to meet me at the hotel.  We then left for the train station at 6:30 am with Pr. Marvin his wife Lois and Dr. Belkis.  After finding our correct platform at the train station,  we left our luggage with the driver and went looking for some breakfast.  Found a fast food restaurant and ordered some Idly, Upma, and Masala dosa.  By the time we finished eating our train had arrived and was about to leave.  With some fear, we rushed to where our luggage was, thinking the train would leave without us.  Our train compartment (bogie) that we had arranged had stopped right beside where we placed our luggage on the concrete platform.  Quickly we loaded the items on just as the train was pulling out of the station.  God truly takes care of us inspite of our poor planning.

Sitting across the isle from me, was an elderly looking man (Dr Mohan Rao) and his wife.  Come to find out his wife is 80 and he is 75.  They live in Beaverton Oregon and were on their way to their son’s wedding.  They invited us to join them.  It was to take place at 5 am on the 22 November of 2009

Our train arrived in Warangal at 10 am.  The three hour train ride cost Rs 200 which is about $ 5.  After checking into the hotel and eating another breakfast at 10:45 am. we went looking for a grocery store.  I wanted to buy some eatables to carry with me and have in my room.  For supper I ordered a Thali.  It is composed of a large amount of rice in a bowl with some bread items and 11 small bowls with different curies.  Some more spicy than others.

We left for the meeting site at 7 pm. where Pastor Marvin conducted a 15 day evangelistic effort for 10 villages.  Members from nine of the villages rode in trucks to attend the meetings each night.  The 10th  village was the location of the meeting site.

We started the meetings at 8:00 pm which began with singing led by Mrs. Lois.  Then at 8:20 she told a children’s story.  At 8:30 the health lecture began and lasted for 20 to 30 minutes.  The Jesus video came next then the offering.  It was normal to start the sermon lecture by 9:10 pm.and end by 10 pm.  After the meetings, large numbers of individuals would come forward for personal prayer.  The first night there were 400 in attendance.  We held the effort in one of the Maranatha’s churches constructed a couple of years ago.  All 10 of the groups that came had in their villages a Maranatha Church. The people were packed in wall to wall.  We arrived back at the hotel at 11:15 pm.

Sabbath, the morning of the 21st of November each of the 4 of us preached in a different church.  I preached at Pydipalli Church.  After the sermon they put flowers around my neck and had me pray for the church members.  One man gave me a piece of paper and asked me to pray for the names on the paper, which I did.  Seems the mother and daughter were sick in the hospital. One 5 year old child had her intestines growing on the outside of her body from the belly button section about the size of a medium size balloon. 

Because of the lateness of the hour I was unable to eat lunch until 3 pm.  At the evening meeting that night 450 showed up.

On the evening of 22 November, 500 showed up at the meeting, so part of the congregation had to sit outside having to listen to what was going on in the inside.

November 23 Mrs. Lois and I began visiting members in the village, she going one direction and I in another.  We finished by 12:30 noon.

That evening they had placed a tent structure outside and began the meetings in the out of doors.  We used the steps into the church as the stage for the speaker and tied a sheet between a couple of poles.  Then mats were placed on the ground and some 100 chairs at the back of the tent for the elderly. We had a good crowd and the light breeze was refreshing.

24th November Dr. Belkis took the 5 year old child with the medical problem, to the doctor with her father and found that they would do an operation on the child for free   The doctor actually knew the child and parents and wanted to do the operation several years ago.  But the parents are afraid their child will die in a government hospital. So they have done nothing.  Dr. Belkis is afraid that the sack, holding the intestines, will be punctured and the child will loose her life.

Each evening the people sat quietly soaking up the message like a sponge.  It is so rewarding seeing their eager faces with joy and peace.  Up front we had placed a table with Bibles on it so the people can purchase one for themselves at 1/3 the cost of the Bible.  The system works very well and we have noted that the young people are the one’s purchasing the majority of the Bibles.  About 600 showed up for the meetings.

November 25, we again visited in the village.  We found lots of young people and very poor houses.  Many of the houses were made of sticks and grass. Over the grass was a plastic sheet and over the plastic sheet were burlap bags tied together to help keep the house room warm.

We are rejoicing for as the meetings came to a close on the weekend of Dec 5, the final report was that 294 had taken their stand for Jesus.  Praise be to God.

Pastor Robert L Robinson

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Those wishing to join in volunteer work, sponsor a church, or help with school construction would be most welcome.  

Other details:

1. The cost of purchasing land and building a church $5000
2. Cost to conduct an evangelistic effort in an entered area which already has a church $ 1,200
3. Cost of a Bible $2.50
4. Hotel per day $30
5. Food/water per person per day $10

November 5 & 6 turned out to be long days.    On the first day I was at the office answering e-mails from 3:30 to 4:30 am.  Then left for the Bangalore airport at 5 am.  Depending on the traffic one can make the trip in 1 1/2 hours or up to 3 hours.

The one hour flight landed me in Hyderabad by 9:30 am.  They served a nice Veg meal on the plane.  How they accomplished serving everyone in the one hour flight is amazing.  They use to serve both Veg and Non-Veg meals but apparently they found that the Veg meals cost less, so they now only serve veg meals.

Phil our 73 year old volunteer from USA helping at Miryalaguda school requested me to purchase 60 Bibles while I was in Hyderabad so that he could give them to the upper grades. Of course my wife wanted me as well to get some monthly lab work done in Hyderabad  to see what my inside was doing.  Beware men! Our wives are now wanting to know what we are doing on the inside as well as the outside.  Was able to find 35 English Bibles and made an order for the other 25.  I did do my lab work and the results showed a stable atmosphere on the inside.  My wife can now rest assured I am okay.  I assume they call that ‘Love for husband.’

Stopped by the Big Bazaar and purchased some dried oats flakes for breakfast food and soy milk.  Used to hate the stuff as a kid but rather enjoy it now.

6th of November met Pastor Jeff and his daughter,  Kim at the airport in Hyderabad  at 3 am.  Then we began the journey by car towards Manchilipatnam stopping for breakfast at 6 am at a road side truck stop and lunch at Pr. P.J.’s home.

Pastor Jeff has come each year to hold a 10 village evangelistic effort for the last 9 years.  Over 8,000 have been baptized during his evangelistic efforts and he has provided the funding for 82 churches.  Thank God for His blessings and for such dedication to His service and the advancement of the work here in India through men like Pastor Jeff.

At the South Andhra Section Office we collected 6 boxes of Telugu Bibles and noted the cloud cover indicating heavy rain.  We began to pray that God would prevent the rain from bothering our evangelistic program and the boxes of Bibles tied on top of the car on the car rack.  We arrived in Machilipatnam at 3:30 pm.  Checked into our hotel and began getting ready for the meeting.  The cloud cover was still very dark and we continued to pray for God’s intervention.

We arrived at the Evangelistic site at 8:30 pm and found the people all waiting for us and no problem with the rain.  The people had traveled in the open trailer, pulled by the 9 tractors from 9 separate villages and were not bothered by the rain at all. God surely answered our prayers.  We thank God for His Miracles and His intervention on our behalf.  The evangelistic effort is being conducted outside in a large open tent which seats up to 1,000 people.  We arrived back at our hotel at 11:15 pm.  Sleep was sweet.

November 7, I awoke at 6 am and prepared my favorite Oatmeal breakfast with some grapes.  Because it was Sabbath we visited the local church and Pastor Jeff preached about the boy who gave his lunch to Jesus to feed 5,000 men plus women and children.  Elder Jeff made the story come alive.

Babu Rao, the principal, invited us for lunch.  Again the dark rain clouds began to form and we again pleaded for God to blow them all away and not allow the rain to stop our meetings.  The Machilipatnam day school has 350 enrollment.  Plus they have taken over the youth camp site at the Bay of Bengal and have 35 boarders which come daily by government bus to Machilipatnam to our school.  At the youth camp we found the students in the church studying their Bibles.  We have about 4 acres fenced in property where our boarding school students are living. 

A sad note was that some years ago we lost about 6 acres of land just outside our enclosed fenced area, because of our lack of funding required to be paid to the government.  The government has now given the land to local fishermen.  Now, it is quite a large village with lots of children running around on the sandy ground.

We can see an opportunity to bring the gospel message to these fishermen by holding an evangelistic effort on our property and inviting them to come join our church .  Possibly God may even provide funding to construct a school.  We will see what the will of God may be.  Please join us in prayer in this venture.

We visited on the sea side for a few minutes watching the waves roll in.  Amazing how God controls the sea.  Then returning to our hotel we left for the effort site at 7 pm.  Again we found that God had stayed the rain and kept our evangelistic effort site from flooding and the people traveling in the open tractor trailers safe from the rain.  450 showed up for the effort.  Praise be to God.

 During the night and early morning there was heavy rain fall.  Again we prayed and at 9 am we drove to one of the 10 villages to begin our visitation, trusting God to intervene.  Arriving at the village it was quite muddy, but doable and we visited house to house praying and inviting the people to the meetings.

At our tent site (cloth hanging between poles)  in Ankiyya village the rain just drenched the ground, in and around the tent causing it to sag with sign of collapse. The place was fully flooded inside and outside.  What a mess.  What to do was the question?  We decided to find some river sand and pay for a few truck loads to fill in and around the tent.  However, because it was Sunday no one was working and this was their day of rest and relaxation.

Next we tried to buy some rice straw, but the farmers wanted to keep it for their animals.  Then we thought of rice husk, but failed in that also.  So we just prayed and took the problem to God.  It was now 4:30 pm. and the meeting was to start at 8 pm. After praying one man said he thought that there was a truck of sand just parked not far away and maybe we could purchase the load and hire some workers to spread out the sand.  It seemed that the driver and owner  of the sand was just waiting for us to ask.  So within 30 minutes we had the sand dumped at our site and hired 5 men to spread the sand and solved the problem.  That sand did the trick and has been a real blessing ever since.  One comment of one of our pastors was that the Devil tried to stop the meetings but God won the match.

November 9 was a pleasant day with warm mild weather.  Again at 9 am we left for visitation in another village.  The village was large so our team divided up into three groups.

At noon time I realized my blood sugar was low ( I am a Type 1 diabetic) and yet there was only one house left to visit and pray for the residents.  As I approached the two ladies standing in the yard, one stepped forward and asked for prayer, because she was being bothered by an evil Spirit.  But I was in no shape to even listen let alone dialog with this woman.  I quickly phoned PJ and issued an SOS.  He came quickly and took over.  I was afraid that I might offend the lady so just kept quiet as PJ took over.  However, God had my wife phone me at this moment in time and so I excused myself and then ate some sweets I was carrying for such an occasion.  After PJ left I went back to the Lady and explained to her the power of Jesus and told her to call out loud the name of Jesus over and over when the evil spirit comes to bother her.  She smiled and thanked me.  Please put this lady on your prayer list.  At the meetings that evening over 500 attended.  Praise God for His divine guidance and control.

November 10 we went to Pichukulpaldu village where we baptized 22 individuals wishing to join the Seventh-day Adventist Church. We had three buffaloes in the water being washed at the same time of the baptism.  Quite a sight. On the way into the village they escorted us through the village by playing loud Christian music and having a few musical instruments to make a joyful noise.

At the meeting site that evening we had over 600 in attendance.  As the Jesus video was being shown the people clapped when Jesus was being baptized by John the Baptist.  After the meeting each evening many come forward for special prayer.

November 11, 32 were baptized at Ankiyya village.  What a joy to be a witness at such occasion.  As we know, all heaven rejoices over one sinner which repents and is baptized.  God is still holding back the rains from spoiling the effort.  At the start they lead us through the village with music.  They had two bikes tied one in front of the other.  On the first bike was the generator and on the second was loud speakers with an electric piano on the back platform of the bike.  They had four men with clarinets, one with oboe and two trumpets leading us through the village.  Good advertisement you know. At the end I took one of the trumpets and played ‘What a Friend we have in Jesus.’

November 12, 25 were baptized.  There are two other Christian churches in this village.  Some of the folks said that they had already been baptized and was it necessary to again be baptized?    The last three young girls (about 14-16) were afraid of the water.  When the first one went under the water she struggled and tried to get away from the hold of the pastor.  He was gentle with her and walked her to the bank and did the same for the other two.  They were happy when it was all over and very joyful. 

November 13, 34 were baptized at Kalaigunta village.  It was really strange.  There were not many that came to greet us as in other villages.  For one hour we waited for someone to get on the tractor.  Finally one by one they came and climbed on the tractor to go be baptized.  We found out that 5 Pentecostal pastors had showed up to discourage the people from taking baptism.  Two of the pastors were from Hyderabad.  Praise God for winning this match also.  Truly we have an awesome God.

One of the men stated he had been praying for years to have an Adventist church in his village.  He was the last one baptized and his face shown with radiance.

November 14 we traveled to Donabanda area to dedicate 4 churches which Pastor Jeff had sent the funds for previously   On the way we stopped at Pastor PJ home and ate breakfast which his wife so lovingly fixed for us.  Idly, cooked carrots, beets, onions, apples, banana, and two curries.  So delicious. 

We arrived at the first site of the church dedication at 10 am and the church was full.  The program involved the unveiling of the donor plaque, the cutting of the ribbon to enter the church, a march around inside the church.  Then all sat and listened to a sermon which Pr. Jeff prepared.  His first sermon was about the lost sheep.  Then the congregation stood and made a pledge to honor God in all they did and especially in the church.

We were not able to spend much time at each church because we needed to get back to the effort that evening.  At the third dedication they had prepared lunch for us.  By that time it was 12:30 noon.  The final dedication ended at 3 pm  What a joy to see the results after one year and to see each of the churches packed with believers.  To God be the glory and honor.

By 4 pm they dropped me at the South Andhra Section then they returned to Machilipatnam to continue the effort.  I visited the principal (Mr. Jaya Joseph) and he invited me to join in at the AYA students meeting.  There were 734 boarding students listening to the speech of Devadas.  Many of the students knew me because of being here in India for the last 9 years  I offered the closing prayer.

We then went 40 km to meet Pastor Samuel who is the regional director for 22 churches.  We found that his home was too small and his two daughters age 11 & 14 are having to sleep in the same room, in the same bed with their parents..   They requested that an additional room be added to the pastor’s quarter. I estimated it would cost $3,000 to provide them a proper kitchen, an inside toilet and an extra bedroom.  I made a sketch and we will see what God will do with this problem.  Also the two girls need a sponsorship to go off to boarding school.  They are presently going to the local public school.

November 15 at 7 am Mr.Prasad and I took a bus to Miryalaguda.  We arrived there at 10:30 am.  I saw  Mr. Phil (the 73 old man) and Miss Lisa and they were just as happy as could be.  Phil had purchased some play-ground equipment and he was showing the kids how to use it.  He  was doing very well in playing badminton.  I was really impressed.  Found Miss Lisa in the classroom giving instruction on how the staff could improve there language skills.

I inspected the construction and noted the progress.  I am reminded of the old saying.  Rome was not built in one day.  At 3:20 pm I was at the train station in Nalgonda, but found that the train was late and would not be arriving until 6 pm. Next we went to the bus station and saw that the line to purchase the bus tickets was very long.  The question is even if we stood in line would there be a seat for me.  Just then a luxury bus comes into the terminal and I went quickly to see if it was headed for Hyderabad and it was.  However they said there was no seats.  I told them I would stand and without hesitation and waiting for a reply I climbed on.  I found there was one seat left.  I know God had reserved that seat for me.  I arrived in Hyderabad at 6 pm. I paid the conductor an extra dollar and that took care of the problem  He was very helpful in helping me off the bus.

Continue to pray with and for us and for these dear ones that are making their stand for Jesus.

Pastor Robert Robinson Reporting

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Those wishing to join in volunteer work or would like to sponsor a church or help with school construction would be most welcome.  

Other details:

1. The cost of purchasing of land and building a church $5000
2. Cost to conduct an evangelistic effort in an entered area which already has a church $ 1,200
3. Cost of a Bible $2.50
4. Hotel per day $30
5. Food/water per person per day $10

“]A Seventh-day Adventist student missionary who was teaching at the Adventist school on the Pacific island of Yap was found dead on Wednesday, the victim of an apparent homicide off the school’s campus, church leaders said.

Kirsten Elisabeth Wolcott, originally from Laneview, Virginia in the United States, had reportedly gone jogging alone before morning classes and did not return, church leaders said. Her body was later found in a wooded area with stab wounds.

Police have made an arrest in connection with Wolcott’s death, said Louis Torres, president of the church’s Guam-Micronesia Mission. He and other church leaders from the church’s regional administrative headquarters took the one-hour commercial flight from Guam to Yap Wednesday evening to assess the tragedy affecting the school and provide grief support for other teachers.

“This is a difficult situation for the school, the mission and the Island of Yap,” Torres said. “The police officer said nothing like this has ever taken place in the past to a visitor.”

Classes are suspended for now and a memorial service was held Friday for Wolcott, who taught second grade.

“This is devastating news, not only for the family but for the school and the Adventist Church,” said Homer Trecartin, associate secretary for the Adventist world church and director of Adventist Volunteer Service.

“Throughout the history of the church many have made the sacrifice to go serve and some have paid with their lives,” Trecartin said. “Our prayer is that God will raise other people to finish the work that Kirsten and others started.”

Torres reported that women from the community are now taking turns staying overnight at the apartment of the female teachers to help them feel safe. “The island feels a great loss,” Torres said. “The parents of the children are enraged and heartbroken.”

Wolcott, 20, had taken a year off of school at Southern Adventist University in Collegedale, Tennessee, where she was a junior education major. She graduated from Richmond Academy in 2007 with high academic honors and was on Southern University’s distinguished dean’s list.

She was also known for her love of music and running, a university media release said. Wolcott played the harp and piano and sung in Bel Canto, the university’s women’s chorus. She won several 5k runs, placed third among women in the Toys for Tots 10k Race in Newport News, Virginia, and competed in the Kinetic Sprint Triathlon in Spotsylvania.

Wolcott had previously volunteered on week-long mission trips to Alaska and the Galapagos Islands, said Jose Rojas, the church’s North American Volunteer Ministries director, citing her student missionary application.

Wolcott wrote in her application that she wanted to be a student missionary to challenge her walk with God by pushing herself to do something more than she had ever done before.

“My goal is to be the teacher that inspires them academically, pushes them spiritually, and comforts them emotionally,” she wrote.

According to Ingrid Skantz, director of marketing and university relations at Southern, an on-campus memorial service for Kirsten will be held the week after Thanksgiving break. Details about the service will be announced, she said. The school is also offering counseling to its students.

“At a painful time such as this, we remember in prayer Kirsten’s parents, friends, fellow student missionaries, and all on our campus who knew and loved her well,” Skantz said in a statement.

Yap SDA School opened in 1987 as an elementary school and subsequently expanded to a kindergarten through 12th-grade school. The school is highly rated on the island and is operated mostly by Adventist college students volunteering as teachers. About 10 student missionaries are serving this year in Yap, Trecartin said. Teachers live in apartments on campus.

Yap, about 16 miles long and four miles wide, is one of four island states of the nation of Micronesia, a U.S. protectorate.

The Adventist Church currently has more than 780 student missionaries serving around the world, Trecartin said.

Left for Hyderabad on Oct 26, 2009 to meet Phil a 73 year old man coming to help at Miryalaguda school with evangelism and construction.  The taxi to the airport came 30 minutes late to our home to pick me up plus he had to gas up on the way.  So stopping at a service station which had the lights off, the driver proceeded to shout and finally had to go shake the man to awaken him.  The tank was filled with petrol and we were on our way.  I verbalized my concern for the taxi driver being late and arriving at my home with an empty tank of Gas.  He wanted to know what time my flight was and I would only tell him he was 45 minutes late. So at 5:30 am with light traffic, I think we broke the speed limits getting to the airport on time.

From Bangalore to Hyderabad was a one hour flight.  I purchased some supplies for the school and then went to bed early. At 2 am I was at the airport to meet Phil.  We then drove for 3 1/2 hours to the school.  Looked over the progress and then was on my way back to Hyderabad arriving at 8 pm.  We had lots of traffic to weave in and out of and an exhaust to inhale.  Left for Calcutta (Kolkatta) in the morning and arrived at the office at 2 pm.  Found the guest room and then headed to a restaurant for something to eat.  After lunch I slept and when I woke up a couple of hours later was happily surprised to see Mr. Chuck.  Chuck is the one supervising the construction of our school on the Sunderban Islands.  I had brought him a hammer drill with some bits and we discussed the project.  Click Here so see the floor plans.

The following morning we meet our SDA Architect, John Masefield, rented a car and headed for the Sunderban islands to see the school project.  The taxi we hired took us 4 hours to make the trip, stopping for lunch on the way.  Immediately arriving in Ramganga we took a boat across the water to Pathar Partima Island where we are in the process of constructing the school. See above for visual.  I am the bald headed guy sitting on the edge of the boat in the picture and Mr. Chuck is on my right.

Anyone wishing to come over to help would be welcome, but we have put out a swimming advisory.  Crocodiles are always hungry and yield to temptation.  Remember, “We will keep the lights on for you.”

Pr. Robert Robinson Reporting

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Those wishing to join in volunteer work or would like to sponsor a church or help with school construction would be most welcome.  

I met Chris at the Hyderabad airport at 2:20 am on Oct 7, 2009. He had come to volunteer as a helper at our school and was so excited to be back in India. However, all the way to the school at Miryalaguda he kept telling me about a lady he had been seeing who always invited him over for food and how nice and cordial she was to him. I thought to myself, “very interesting. Why would a guy come to India and leave such a lady behind? Oh, well, I guess time will tell.”

Before the day was over we had purchased for him 10 cases of water, set him up with a mosquito net, and a bed, outlined work for him before heading back to Hyderabad. The round trip by road from Hyderabad to Miryalaguda was a 7 hour journey. I had hoped to be home in Hosur that evening with my Brenda but was not able to travel until the following evening. So EARLY the next morning I went to visit our school at Zaheerabad, another 7 hour journey. A Canadian group is sponsoring the construction of a Cafeteria and girls dormitory there. I was pleased with the progress of the construction work and we took a few pictures to send to the donor. Right now the Cafeteria is being used as a dormitory and the dorm should be ready by the end of November.

The next morning I was back in Hosur. After being home for a few days, Chris phoned me and said he was home sick and wanted to return to USA. I really think it was a case of Love Sickness. While there he installed a clothes line 7.5 feet off the groud, I think he was floating on cloud 7.

On the 20th October, 2009, I awoke at 2:00 am and headed for the office to answer any e-mail that might be pending. (I have noticed that when the night watchmen see me coming they just run and open the office doors, without being asked.) I spent a couple of hours at the office answering correspondance, before heading for the airport. I left in time to arrive 6:45 am. After checking in and going through security I was in the airplane by 8:15 am again heading for Hyderabad. The flight is only one hour and cost Rs 2,080 [$45]. Other-wise by train it would take 12 hours. Checked into a hotel for Rs 550 [$12] per night. I then meet Chris at the Union office, took him to the bank to cash foreign currency, arranged a taxi to the airport for him and had a good lunch together before he returned to USA that evening. Since he has a 10 year visa I hope he comes back with a wife next time. The old saying “a way to a man’s heart is through his stomach” may be true. “So long Chris, hurry back with a wife.”

The following morning we (I invited Solomon and his wife to join me) met Lisa at the airport at 4:40 am. She had also come to volunteer – she as a math and science teacher for the Miryalaguda school. After clearing customs and immigrations it was 5:30 am as we headed for Miryalaguda. Since we were heading east on the Hyderabad, Jayawada road we were able to witness the beautiful rising of the sun. Along the way we stopped and everyone ran around the vehicle for exercise. At the 65 km mark we stopped for breakfast at a Dhaba restaurant and ordered Roti (Rothi). They specialize in Rothi as well as other foods. The meal for all five of us cost Rs 157.00 ($3.41). It sure was good. You are always welcomed to come and join us.

We arrived at the school at 9 am. We met the Principal, Henry, and his wife along with the other teachers and then did a tour of the school. We are in the process of constructing a girls dorm, four-plex for staff housing, and a classroom block for the students. Since the facilities are under construction, most of the students are sleeping in the classrooms and attending school in other classrooms. Our enrollment is about 300 students at present. Majority are dormitory students age 7-13. After giving Lisa a phone, a place to stay, and water, we headed back to Hyderabad. Of course we stopped at the Dhaba restaurant and I again indulged in some Roti’s while the others ate rice.

After dropping Solomon and his wife off at the Union office, the driver took me directly to the airport and although it was early, they allowed me in the terminal. So in the restroom in one of those small cubicles I used my t-shirt as a wash cloth and remembered the times I used to be in the hospital as a diabetic & took a wash cloth bath. I felt better with clean clothes on and at 7:40 pm I was on a flight back to Bangalore. My wife met me at the airport. What a delight and a happy occasion. Since I was not feeling too well, I held her hand for comfort and by the time I was walking in the door at 11 pm, I had been electrified back to life. Sleep was welcomed.

Those wishing to join in volunteer work or would like to sponsor a church or help with school construction would be most welcome. See information below.

Send all donations to the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventist, % Stanley Ponniah, India Project Code 1,000, 12501 Old Columbia Pike, Silver Spring, MD 20904-6600.

We have evangelistic groups coming these dates.

1. November 6 – 20, 2009 – Elder Jeff Wilson, GC Director of Trust Services
2. November 20- Dec 5, 2009 – ShareHim, Pastor Marvin Moore Group (editor of the Signs of the Times) & others
3. December 4-19, 2009 – ShareHim, Ron Oliver group & Others.
4. December 26 – Jan 12, 2010. Nancy Worley’s group
5. January 8-23, 2010 – ShareHim, Australian group & Others
6. January 15-30, 2010 – ShareHim, Pastor Milliken & Pastor Sabnani’s groups, & others
7. January 22-Feb 6, 2010 – ShareHim, Sunnydale Academy, Iowa group & others
8. Feb 6-21, 2010 – ShareHim, Russell Schultz group & Others
9. Oct 8-23, 2010 ShareHim in Andhra Pradesh
10. Nov 5-19, 2010 ShareHim in Andhra Pradesh
11. Dec 3-18, 2010 ShareHim in Andhra Prades

Other groups can be scheduled as request

God bless and keep you always

Dear Friends,

This morning I was notified by my friends in Pakistan that armed Taliban fighters entered the campus of Pakistan Adventist Seminary and College (where I had been president for eight years). The district and local police arrived and closed down the campus. Everyone was given only 30 minutes to leave. Hundreds of students and faculty and staff fled with only what they could carry in their hands. Most of the students went to their homes but many who lived in the cities of Quetta, Peshawar, and other areas could not go home because those places are no longer safe. Those students went to Adventpura near Lahore where the Union office is located. Many faculty went there as well.

Yesterday the Taliban attacked the National University in Islamabad where several were killed and many wounded. The Taliban say that they will mount Attacks against all schools in the country until the government removes the troops from the border areas with Afghanistan. It appears that our college was the next on the Taliban’s list. Fortunately, God’s hand was over the students and faculty as we have no reports of any being killed. The district police are on the campus and the army is searching the area for the Taliban. In any case, the college and seminary are closed until further notice. This afternoon all the schools in Pakistan were closed.

My friends, the situation in Pakistan and many other parts of the world are most serious. We must stay close to the Lord and pray for these dear people and for ourselves.

Below is a notice which came from our church office in England regarding the Pakistan Adventist Seminary and College.

BUC News: Newsflash (23 October 2009)

Email Newsletter of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the United Kingdom and Ireland

PAKISTAN ADVENTIST SEMINARY UNDER ATTACK

[FRIDAY 23 October] Reports just in indicate that the Seventh-day Adventist Seminary and College at Farooqabad, near Lahore has come under attack by six Taliban fighters. Aftab Barki, accounts clerk at the South England Conference of Seventh-day Adventists based in Watford, England, has been in contact with his father who is head of security at the college. He reports that thankfully the police and army intelligence were able to give staff prior warning of the attack allowing students and staff to be evacuated from the campus. Pastor Petras Bahadur, one of our SEC ministers is also closely monitoring the situation. His brother, Pastor Pervaiz Bahadur currently serves as Vice President for Academic affairs at the seminary and college.

The situation remains critical and prayers are being requested on behalf of the students and staff. The staff are currently working closely with the security forces.

For more information on the Campus itself visit: http://www.pasc.edu.pk/about.htm

When you see these things. . .”

Whole villages were flattened or washed away after four tsunamis hit in rapid succession in the South Pacific region of Samoa and Tonga after a killer earthquake measuring 8.3. Death and destruction were everywhere. In rapid succession there has been massive unprecedented destruction in the Philippines as a wave of typhoons has hit that area causing millions of homes to be destroyed or damaged. More than a million people are homeless. Again, more destruction is seen in Indonesia after an 8.0 earthquake hit the area collapsing thousands of buildings and homes causing death and destruction everywhere. … Read more

Pastor Bill Tucker,

Quiet Hour Ministries president and speaker

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Jamaica, an open door for evangelism: After years of encouragement and support, God has opened every possible door for Quiet Hour Ministries — by request of the church in Jamaica we will be holding meetings in the city of Mandeville, from November 6 to 21, 2009.

As you read this message, Christians in Jamaica are preparing the harvest by inviting friends, family and neighbors to their Bible study programs and services. Here in the U.S. mission team members are collecting medicines and other supplies to take with us when we go. … Read more

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The Cruise and the Kodiak … Revelation 14:6 talks about the sight of another angel “flying in the midst of heaven…” with a gospel for those that dwell on the earth, regardless of culture or geography.

Quiet Hour Ministries is an invited guest on the Morning Song eStore Caribbean Cruise. The highlight includes a group of artists used to the hustle and bustle of travel – rushing through airports… the typical challenges of planes, trains and automobile rentals. … Read more

September 25, 2009 my wife and I headed for Erode, Tamil Nadu. For several years brother Moses had invited us to come to his school of nursing, where some of our workers & pastors children and other poor young people have been trained to become nurses with minimal tuition fees, but we were never able to do so until that evening.

Now on that particular night we were to be at the train station by 23:55, O clock. The instructions were that when the train came into the station we were to count the bogies and ours would be number S-6. Each bogie holds about 60 people and we were to find Moses’ son in Bogie # S-6 who would have our tickets in hand and would help us find our place of lodging on the train.

I did not have the name of the train, nor a train ticket, and the question in my mind was could I find the compartment (Bogie Number S-6) with the gentleman who had made arrangements and was to meet us on the platform having boarded the train in Bangalore.

At the enquiry window I asked the clerk what the name of the train was that would be heading to Erode from Bangalore at 23:55 O’ clock. He indicated that it would be on platform # 2 on the other side of the station. It was scheduled to arrive on time but would only wait about 2 minutes to have passengers board.

Up over the trestle we went with our baggage to the other side, found a place to sit down and waited for the train. As the train came into the station I began counting the bogies and when I got to number S-6 I saw a young man stick his head out the doorway and say “Hello Pastor Robinson”. Now that was music to my ears. But the train just kept on going.

It finally came to a stop a LONG ways down the track. We began HURRYING down the platform while Moses’ son jumped off the train and ran to help us with the luggage. The conductor was telling us to quickly jump on the train or get left, so we hopped on at the nearest door.

We walked along on the inside narrow passage of the train as it was moving, rocking from side to side. Most of the passengers were already sleeping with their feet hanging out over the edge of the seat. Other obstacles were luggage, food and shoes. Quite an obstacle course you know.

Making it to our destination inside the train, we found our compartment was composed of two three-tier and one two-tier bunk beds. We were happy that our beds were the two lower ones of a three-tier bunk bed. There was NO bedding furnished, so we laid down on the plastic covered seat which was about 6 feet long and 30″ wide. We used our bags as pillows and I hung my feet over the end of the cushion as did others. A couple hours into the journey I decided to go to the toilet, which was located at the end of the bogie. After completing the task, and as I layed back down on to my bench ( bed), the thought occurred to me that I would be more comfortable with my shoes off. You know going to bed with shoes on is not that comfortable. So I swung my feet over the side of the seat and just then a large cockroach went scurrying by on the floor just in front of my feet.

I thought shoe on the floor, cockroach in the shoe, NO THANKS. What to do? I wanted my shoes off for comfort, but not with a cockroach inside. I decided. Oh Bob this is India. What are you afraid of any way. Just a cockroach. I took off my shoes and placed them on the back side of my bench and went off to sleep.

I was constantly waking up from time to time, but finally we did reach our destination at 4:40 am. To my surprise, the Erode Nilgiris Section President Pastor N. Gnanaprakasam and Treasurer Mr. Selvam Swamidass along with Mr. Moses were there to meet us.

Moses had arranged for his nursing school bus to meet us at the train station. They took us to a lovely hotel where they assumed we would want to wash up a bit and rest, but NO we had come to see the school and other points of interest. So even though it was still very dark outside, we left our luggage and proceeded to see the construction progress of the church for which a kind donor had sent funds in the amount of $5,000. It was just nearby. It was still dark when we arrived (5:30 am), but we could inspect the premises and we were very happy with what we saw – very well built and very well located within the village. It was only a matter of painting for the church to be completed. Of course the brethren requested funding for an additional two church sites..

Next we visited the Section office and a local grade school. Afterwards, Brother Moses took us to the location where he wanted to relocate his school of nursing on 9 acres of land. He had drilled a well and constructed a holding tank 20′ X 20′ for water. Fruit trees are already producing.

As I was standing there on his property, I asked him what he wanted me to do. Of course he wanted me to give him funds to construct a nursing school with kitchen and boarding facilities. I asked him about his children and whether they had the same passion to help poor students complete nursing/midwife RN training at his nursing school. He was not so sure they had the same aspiration as he did, but he indicated that he wanted to give the facility over to the church in the future. However, he wanted to wait until it was all built before he gave it to the church. I asked him how old he was? He said he was 70 years old. I asked him if he planned to live forever? He told me that God would give him at least another 10 years. He looks very healthy and I am sure that the Good Lord will do that, but I encouraged him to give over the property now and he could continue being in charge. We would then be in a better position to possibly find funding to help develop the school, but not as a private personal entity. However, he stated he would consider it at a later date. Anyway we trust that God will keep him alive many years so he can continue to help the poor young people improve themselves and be a continued benefit to mankind.

It was now 8 o’clock so we were taken back to the hotel to eat and rest. We had some eatables in our bags, because being a diabetic I always travel with some food.

We rested until 10 o clock and then went to the church. I spoke to those that gathered on allowing God to take full control of our life and allow Him to dwell within us and reflect his image in our conduct, speech and actions.

After the service we went directly to the school of nursing and saw where they are training 45 Christian Young people for service to mankind. Moses had rented two houses in the center of town. He had fixed them up with desks, labs and all that was necessary to run a government approved RN 3 1/2 year nursing-midwife training program. I was amazed. It was so wonderful what they are doing with so little. The cost for board, room and tuition is only $700 per year X 3 1/2 years = $2,450 for the full training. If you would like to make a donation to sponsor a nursing student to this school, please feel free to do so by sending your donation as stated at the bottom of this e-mail.

At 2 pm they gave us a portion of the rice and curry they had prepared for the students. What a delight!

By 3 pm we were on our return journey back to Hosur and arrived home at 8 pm. It had been a full day but one which we will long remember.

If you would like to be part of our missionary endeavors and help in any of our up coming evangelism efforts, please feel free to do so..

Send all donations to the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventist, % Stanley Ponniah, India Project Code 1,000, 12501 Old Columbia Pike, Silver Spring, MD 20904-6600.

We have evangelistic groups coming these dates.

1. November 20- Dec 5, 2009 – ShareHim, Pastor Marvin Moore Group (editor of the Signs of the Times) & others
2. December 4-19, 2009 – ShareHim, Ron Oliver group & Others.
3. December 26 – Jan 12, 2010. Nancy Worley’s group
4. January 8-23, 2010 – ShareHim, Australian group & Others
5. January 15-30, 2010 – ShareHim, Pastor Milliken & Pastor Sabnani’s groups, & others
6. January 22-Feb 6, 2010 – ShareHim, Sunnydale Academy, Iowa group & others
7. Feb 6-21, 2010 – ShareHim, Russell Schultz group & Others
8. Oct 8-23, 2010 ShareHim in Andhra Pradesh
9. Nov 5-19, 2010 ShareHim in Andhra Pradesh
10. Dec 3-18, 2010 ShareHim in Andhra Pradesh

Other groups can be scheduled as request

God bless and keep you always