One of the Deacons of Grace Baptist Church, Peel, Ray Richardson, went to India to visit the work of Grace Third World Fund in November 2014. Timothy, is not only the proprietor of Grace Children’s Home, he is also the pastor of Grace Baptist Church, N.G. Palem, the church inaugurated by our founder Matthew Else. Ray wrote the following short report on the work being carried out by Timothy Babu’s fellowship in the small village churches in the area.
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“We visited four very small village fellowships which were all about one and a half hours drive away from GCH, deep in the Indian countryside. The meetings took place in the evening because the people who attended the services were working in the fields during the daytime. The drive was through the pitch black, down narrow winding lanes in what my mother would have called ‘the back of beyond’, and I had the privilege of speaking at each of the meetings, and Timothy translated my words into Telegu.
The venues were extremely basic, as you can see from the photos, but they were wonderful gatherings—vibrant and with a gracious sense of the Lord’s presence. After each meeting food was provided which was, as you can probably guess, curry and rice! Timothy and his brother Samuel have taken an interest in these small fellowships, one of which lost their pastor to illness a few years ago; a pastor from another fellowship has been looking after this church as well as his own.
The churches were really only huts, with banana leaf roofs; the floor was made from cow dung! These floors last two or three years with regular use, and have the added benefit of repelling mosquitoes—a great advantage I can tell you! It was heart-warming to meet these people who are lively singers, and very keen to come to the meetings. Some of them had walked miles after a day working in the hills. Indeed some of these folk came to more than one of the meetings, and many came to ask for prayer. We had no idea what they were saying, and they couldn’t understand our prayers—but the Lord knew, and that’s what mattered. James and I prayed that God’s grace would be sufficient for them and that He would meet all their needs.
James Caley, who came with me from the Isle of Man, left some money with Timothy so that they could buy a few bibles to give to the folk there, and also to help towards a church building project in the village. Pastor Samuel, Timothy’s Assistant Pastor, is seen here presenting them a week or so after our return”.
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