Monday, December 17, 2012

Christmas Issue of The CALL!



Christmas Cover_The CALL

Dear Reader,

Even as I sat to write this editorial I was shocked to read the news of the Connecticut school shooting which killed 26 people of whom 20 are children. Is just “gun control” the solution? What about the knife attack on school children in China’s Henan province the same day (Friday 14 Dec) which left 22 children wounded. Just as our hearts are broken on account of these, let it heed to Jesus’ cry, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not hinder them” (Matthew 19:14). Misplaced priorities and inexpedient policies; instead of controlling guns, the Bible & Scripture classes are controlled! I remember reading a post in facebook, “Bibles are allowed in prisons and banned in schools. If Bibles would be given & taught to children at schools they will not end up in prisons.”

And since the world’s third most populated country is Facebook, what one shares on it and on other social media reflects ones character. The youth write up “A Tweeter is known by his Tweet” aims at nailing this thought. Let not shopping, Santa Claus and the similarities steal us away from the very reason of this season, as the Calltoon* in the Cover suggests! Seeing “OMG” this was prominent in my mind – “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out” (Luke 19:40 NIV). When the Lord is making stones speak, let not our hearts be hardened to not proclaim the Truth in this festive season. Let the passion of the lepers persuade us too, “What we’re doing is not right. This is a day of good news and we are keeping it to ourselves.” (2 Kings 7:9 NIV)

Let’s make use of this Christmas to “Be an Angel” in the lives of others starting from our families to our workplaces. “It’s your turn to pass it on” is a compelling story filled with ideas on how you can meaningfully to the act of passing Jesus and His joy on. Not being fussy with the little material things about dresses and decorations, “Overcoming family conflicts”, celebrate this Christmas with your needy neighbours, your housemaid, apartment guards and so on reflecting “The utmost necessity in this festivity” – humility!

Entering into a New Year the hunt to receive promises from every possible and probable prophet and priest would be on the rise, let’s not forget the “responsibility that keeps increasing in our lives” as promises increase which the Featured article, “Responsibility follows Promise!” puts forth.

Wishing you a meaningful Christmas and purpose driven New Year!

Mariyosh J

Chief Editor, The CALL


* ‘Calltoon’ is a series of sketches produced  by The CALL

Monday, November 26, 2012

Lending hands to help people LIVE!



Current Worldwide Suicide Rate


via chartsbin.com

suicide_india

It is alarming to look at the above statistics on Suicide.

suicide“Thirteen years after his (Elvis Presley, the King of Rock 'n' Roll, was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century) death, a text beside the photo of the singer proved that he had committed suicide…. The youngest Wimbledon champion Boris Franz Becker was at the very top of the tennis world and yet attempted suicide.” quote Dr Stanly & Dr Preena Stanly in this article “Lending hands to help people LIVE!” in The CALL and go on to ask, ““Have you ever lost in despair and thought to yourself that it is better that I die? Have you ever prayed: “I have had enough, Lord; take my life”?”

And just not stopping with these questions they analyse the various reasons behind attempts of suicides and bring out a Biblical and practical solution to help people suffering with such suicidal thoughts so that they may LIVE!

Read this article to know the ‘Psychological, social and biological reasons for suicide’, ‘Common Misconceptions about Suicide’, ‘Risk Factors’ and methods to help such people. To know how to subscribe to The CALL visit Subscription.


Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Knocking Down The Tempter: The Youth Article



"When I watched a Boxing match as a teen I thought, “Gosh! If only I could give such a punch on the face of the devil and knock him and the temptation down!” And I know that this is the heart cry of many teens and youth.... Here I am going to take you through a boxing match – or rather through “Sparring”, a practice fighting. So gear up to knockout the Devil!" writes Mariyosh in the youth article in this issue (Knocking Down The Tempter) of The CALL. Subscribe to read!

YFL


Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Are you Finishing in the Flesh?



"It is true that many of God’s children and servants begun in the Spirit; but it breaks our heart to see in the long run that they finish in the flesh. (Galatians 3:3)" writes Brother D. Augustine Jebakumar in this issue of The CALL and lists the actions of those that ended up in the flesh, so that we may safeguard ourselves from falling. Read this issue of The CALL - Knocking Down The Tempter!

FBWL

Thursday, November 1, 2012

Commission Coupled with a Promise



Ten months have passed by and yet the commission of the Lord is still calling us coupled with a promise! So let's arise and build God's kingdom!!

Year 2012 Promise_LR12

Monday, October 8, 2012

Knocking Down The Tempter: Cover Photography



Knocking Down The Tempter_Cover Photography

Clicks: Samuel Vincent
Cast: Jeba Kumar & Ravi Raj
Coordination: Selva Solvalangu

Cover Design: Alwin Aniz

Concept: Selva & Mariyosh

1

The CALL Team praises God for enabling the making of the cover of this issue of The CALL and prays that God’s purposes may be fulfilled through this issue too.

If you would like to subscribe to the magazine or would like to send to others click Subscription

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Knocking Down The Tempter



The TempterAh! If you are reading this post then almost all my efforts are going in vain. May be you should at least have a look at all that I tried to contain this. (May be this time I might succeed!) You can see my hard efforts at Ha-ha-ha-ha

 

1

When Hobart Mauer, the onetime president of American Psychological Association wrote, "For several decades we psychologists looked upon the whole matter of sin and moral accountability as a great incubus and acclaimed our liberation from it as epoch making. But at length we have discovered that to be free in this sense, that is, to have the excuse of being sick rather than sinful, is to court the danger of also becoming lost… In becoming amoral, ethically neutral and free, we have cut the very roots of our being, lost our deepest sense of selfhood and identity, and with neurotics, themselves, we find ourselves asking, "Who am I, what is my deepest destiny, what does living mean?" it appeared that he had come closer to the realization of the truth; but he did not commit himself to the truth for transformation.  Very shortly he committed suicide. Atheism and Psychology could not save him.

The article “Lending hands to help people LIVE” would equip to help such people suffering with suicidal thoughts, clearly stating the hope that is in Christ Jesus. When literally Google is everywhere its influence through its campaign to support Homosexuality and its rights at the workplace, is on the rise, the perceptive article in the Tentmaking column would help Christians at the workplace to stand for the Truth.

As the Olympics gold medallist Charlie Houchin said in the London Olympics that that it was his faith in Christ that made the victory sweet, the article “Knocking down the Tempter” shows the way to be victorious over temptations.

Even as you read this issue of The CALL our prayer is that you who have started in Spirit may not finish in the flesh, as the lead article “Are you finishing in the flesh?” urges.

Dear Subscribers, this issue of The CALL will be in your mailboxes in ten days time. If you do not receive The CALL and would like to subscribe click Subscribe!

Enriching Reading!

Chief Editor, The CALL

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Ha… Ha… Ha… Ha…



(Switch your speakers on & re-load this page to listen to the audio)

The Tempter

Ha… Ha… Ha… Ha…. So The CALL is getting ready to knock me down! That’s impossible! I am not going to let this happen this time. When I could provoke a king to do against his God’s will (1 Chronicles 21:1), I could easily provoke the readers to not read this! Moreover I have succeeded in implanting this thought in the minds of most Christians,

“Ha! What’s new that is going to be in this magazine. I have read many Christian magazines and I know what they write. May be they would ask for some money.”

1When not realizing that I am the mastermind behind every act condoning Homosexuality, many would follow suit the Google campaign “Legalize Love”; how will I allow this magazine, that unmasks my every craftiness, to reach people’s hands?

2“You are at your wits end and there is no other way but to end your life” is how I convince those damned souls and you… ha… ha… ha… ha… are trying to stop these through this issue of The CALL. Let me see how you do it!

 

3Young people enjoy the pleasures that I provide them and I have trapped them by my trickery – Temptations!! When they do not realize my baits, how else will they recognize the truths in this issue? Added to it they would also say,

“Yet another Christian periodical! I am done with all these. There will be nothing interesting or intriguing. Boring stuff! I am not going to read this.”

I have already corrupted the conscience of Christians with these concoctions,

“Lemme check out who are the authors. Hey, I know this guy. When did he start writing for magazines? It’s a joke. You are kidding me. I won’t read what he writes.”

“I am not familiar with these names. How can I trust their writing?”

“This is heavy stuff! It is better to watch some movie than reading this material.”

While I have mesmerized the whole nation through IPLs and T20s and when the captain himself is from the city of Ranchi how could you try to thwart my plans by trying to redeem these souls through STORM?

4I am very good at contextually presenting fake and false as true and good and when I known for disguising myself as an angel of light ((2 Corinthians 11:14), how could you expose the realities behind Yoga, for which I have even made a huge following out of Christians!

And all this I do so that people, believers and especially ministers who begin in the Spirit may finish in the flesh (Galatians 3:3)! How would I allow the eyes of the readers be opened? Let me see who is on the winning side??

Ha… Ha… Ha… Ha…

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Rent-A-Womb



N&V

“Customer service, tech support... these days we outsource everything to India. So why not pregnancy?” writes Abigail Haworth in Marie Claire magazine on 2nd July 2012.

"Surrogacy, one of the most dramatic of the new reproductive technologies, is an arrangement by which a woman agrees to be impregnated by assisted conception, carries the resulting fetus, and relinquishes all parental rights to the child at birth." write Dr Stanly & Dr Mrs Preena Stanly in The CALL in this article that explores and exposes the realities behind the issue of Surrogacy and creates a credible Christian perspective to the whole issue.

Subscribe to The CALL to understand this issue in the light of God’s Word. Click to know about the various option to subscribe Subscription.

Monday, September 3, 2012

P.R.O.F.I.T–A mantra for Workplace Evangelism



PROFIT

"I believe that the primary calling for a Christian at the workplace is to intercede for his or her colleagues and the company..... Many know that they are commissioned to proclaim Christ, but do not know how to do it at the corporate. This is yet another prescription of PROFIT to do-the-ACT of evangelism at the workplace following Peter’s apologia in 1 Peter 3:15..." writes Mariyosh in this article in PROfessionals Fellowship of International Talents (PROFIT) column of The CALL.


Saturday, September 1, 2012

Eight months have passed!



Eight months have passed but the Promise of God remains as forever! Let's be reminded of it and be re-energized to ARISE & BUILD His kingdom!

Year 2012 Promise_LR10

Friday, August 31, 2012

Back to the place where I began



MK

"I strongly believe 'every Missionary Kid is an investment made by God in His kingdom.' There is a purpose to be born in a missionary family, where he/she gets experiences which others do not." writes Ashish Daniel in the MK Memoirs column in The CALL.

MK_Ashish

"I said to myself "One day I should get into a good professional job, earn lot of money, build a house, get a car and fulfill every dream that my parents sacrificed after getting into ministry..... am back to the same place where I began... I am just 25 kms from the place where I began and 0 km from the centre of God’s perfect will!"" writes Ashish Daniel in this article in The CALL. Read The CALL to know Ashish's story and to be inspired!

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Before Falling In LOVE: The Video



This video is based on an article published in The CALL written by Bro. D. Augustine Jebakumar.

BFIL

Is it wrong to be in love?

Will this spoil my Christian witness?

Is it OK for me to look for a life partner when I am an adolescent?

What about those of them who have had love marriages, are they not happy?

Many such as these are the questions asked by adolescents and the youth. Apart from answering all these questions Brother D. Augustine Jebakumar prescribes 5 important aspects to consider before falling in love...

If you do not receive The CALL click Subscription to subscribe.


Video Info

Cast                             : Ananth Sobal

Editor                           : Anand Jeyasingh

Cinematographer        : Gideon M Durai

Song Courtesy             : Jason Gray’s “More like falling in love”

Monday, August 27, 2012

Parenting: God’s trust on us



Parenting

"Parenting children means helping or developing children to relate and love God, secondly to relate and love other human being, and making them feel they are unique, special, and significant in this society." writes Christy Bance in the article 'Parenting: God's trust on us' in The CALL. Read The CALL to learn how to parent toddlers, teens and married children too from this 'Get Equipped' column article.

Thursday, August 23, 2012

The story of a church



TMG

"Festivity is in the air, all are caught up in the celebrations and I am so excited. It is as if Haggai 2:9 has literally come true in my case – “The glory of the latter temple shall be greater than the former”. Yes, my glory is greater now than like never before for many reasons. Are you curious to know the answer for the reason? For you to know that we need to travel back in time – 109 years! A Time Travel – exciting isn’t it? Here we go!

The year is 1903, the time when the British were ruling India and the year of my birth. " write MJ Mathews & Gladwyn in The CALL on GEMS St. Paul's Church in Bettiah.

The church continues to tell her story which goes like this,

Though they had built a huge tower measuring 50 feet, they failed to realize that it was their virtuous lives that needed to tower high. At around 2:13 PM (IST) on January 15, 1934 a major earthquake measuring 8.1 magnitudes caused widespread damage in the northern Bihar and in Nepal. The 1934 Bihar earthquake was one of the worst earthquakes in India's history, in which around 30,000 people lost their lives.

Two big districts of Bihar Munger and Muzaffarpur were completely destroyed. During this earthquake my tower fell. Not many remained alive to narrate this incident; but there was this Muslim cook who always sat outside my compound, waiting to serve food to the British people after the service got over. He remembered that when all buildings in Bettiah fell in the earthquake, except for my tower, I stood tall; he remembered and shared this even at his grand old age of 90, in the year 1998. At that time Mr. Rutherford was the Manager of Bettiah Raj. His grandson Mr. Michael Rutherford too recollected this incident and shared it when he visited Bettiah in 2006.

Here is a rare video of the 1934 earthquake that hit Bihar -

(Video courtesy: http://www.harappa.com)

To read the complete article "The story of a church" subscribe by clicking Subscription

Friday, August 17, 2012

Make A Difference



19

“You are good for nothing.”
“He’s a waste; he’s dull; he doesn’t know anything. “
“I don’t want to be your friend anymore; you will never change.”

These were the words ringing in his ears as Anil lay half asleep on his bed...... writes Pavithra Joseph in The CALL. 'Make a Difference' is a story of every child who seems rebellious & a failure on the outside. A story that would inspire children, parents, teachers and elders to help such children.

To read the story subscribe by clicking Subscription

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Before Falling In LOVE



YFL

"Letter – 1
“I have been in love for so many years now..... no one knows about it. My love is true, sincere and serious."
Letter – 2
Is it wrong to be in love?.....
The influence of media is immense which makes individuals look at vanity
as reality and make them dwell in virtual reality.... Therefore, it has become easier for the young people to be trapped in the web of so called ‘love’." writes Bro. D. Augustine Jebakumar in this youth article in The CALL, prescribing 5 important aspects to consider before falling in love...

If you do not receive The CALL click Subscription to subscribe.

Friday, August 10, 2012

Who is my Neighbour?



FBWL

"It is undeniable that the answer to the question “Who is my neighbour?” is wide and far reaching" writes Bro. D. Augustine Jebakumar in this issue of The CALL. An article with practical insights to this question with the potential to inspire the reader towards practicing missions as well showing the way to do so. If you do not receive The CALL mail to thecall@gemsbihar.org or visit Subscription

Friday, July 13, 2012

What’s in the Awake & Arise Issue?



The CALL_July 2012

Dear Subscribers, this issue of The CALL will be in your mailboxes within a week. If you do not receive The CALL and would like to subscribe click Subscribe!

Saturday, June 30, 2012

The Awake & Arise Issue of The CALL



The CALL_July 2012

Just before leaving to Bihar after the vacations I visited a Juvenile Home in my hometown in the South and spoke with the 23 inmates who were of 10 to 17 years of age, arrested for various crimes. There was this one boy in the Home who was just 12 years old. He hailed from Bihar and as soon as he heard that I was going back to Bihar he held my hands and cried pleading me to help find his parents. When I conversed with him I came to know that he ran away from his home because his parents and elder brother fought very often. Dysfunctional families are growing and uncared children and teens go wayward. Deprived of love they long and search for it from others and get trapped in an imaginary and unreal world, not knowing the difference between “love”, “infatuation” and “lust”.

The insightful article “Before Falling In Love” is a response to the cries of such teens and youngsters who have strode that pitiful path and ended up tarnishing their teenage and youth. Realizing that it is also the responsibility of the parents to properly parent their children, the article on Parenting in the ‘Get Equipped’ column focuses on helping parents to know how their children act at different stages of life and equips them to be God ordained parents in the lives of their children.

The Children’s Chronicles column also brings the story of a failing and abused boy who needed help. While the story “Make a Difference” portrays how a friend of this boy made a difference in his life for the better, ‘MK Memoirs’ carries the true story of a GEMS MK who shares his very personal story with us and I am very sure it will inspire every MK and every youth to live for God no matter what deprivation or struggle one goes through. It’s also an example of how God can take one from the crossroad to conviction and to follow in the footsteps of his parents and forerunners, who chose to sacrifice and to give up all that they had, to be a God’s Missionary!

The Seventeenth SAARC summit was held under the theme “Building Bridges” and this leaves us with the responsibility to take certain concrete steps to build bridges to reach out to the SAARC nations with the love of Christ and the featured article in FBWL proposes this answering to the question “Who is my neighbour?” Reminding every Christian at the workplace that the ACT of sharing the gospel is for all, the article in ‘Tentmaking’ prescribes with the gears to gear up for workplace evangelism.

While the silver screen and the big screen has coupled up once again (big stunt to rise TRPs though) as in the case of Satyameva Jayate, the TV talk show on social issues, the producer and host Aamir Khan however real and convincing he might be seen on the show, he fails to realize that “life speaks louder than shows”. Apart from divorcing his first wife, the child born to Aamir Khan and his second wife Kiran Rao was through “Surrogacy” and the article “Rent-A-Womb” explores and exposes the realities behind this issue and creates a credible Christian perspective to the whole issue.

Whilst we live in a time when evil is packed and presented appealingly, Christians and Christian ministers are failing to live up to the standard of the Bible, pleasing to God. We hope that through The CALL we will continue to “awake” and “arise” the readers! (Ephesians 5:14 ESV).

Dear Subscribers, this issue of The CALL will be in your mailboxes within a fortnight. If you do not receive The CALL and would like to subscribe click The CALL Subscription.

Inspiring Reading!

Chief Editor, The CALL

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

How ‘Japan, Here I come!’ was born?



MK Memoirs_The CALL March 2012Hope you all enjoyed reading and were inspired by the story ‘Japan, Here I come!’ in the last issue of The CALL. This article was published in the MK Memoirs column of The CALL, a column written by MKs for MKs. To know more about this column and to contribute visit A call to ALL God’s own tribe.

MK Memoirs_March 12‘Japan, Here I come!’ is an inspiring story from the life of Silas, the son of Missionary parents who left the United States, their homeland to serve the Lord in Japan. Silas went on a World Mission Tour visiting and serving in 11 countries in 11 months through the Adventure in Missions program of World Race in the year 2011. As part of this tour he led a team to GEMS. Just before he left Bihar, in a conversation that we had, did I come to know that he is a MK who always had a heart for Japan and wished to go back there.

This January I was teaching Leadership lessons to the students at our GEMS Timothy Bible College, from the life of missionary Hudson Taylor.

Maria TaylorAs I was preparing the lessons, I noticed one interesting fact from the life of Hudson Taylor's wife. His wife Maria Dyer was born to English parents who served as missionaries in China who died when she was a very young child. So after their death she was sent back to England. But in her later teens she returned back to China saying that it is her home and served there as a school teacher and then married Hudson Taylor.

When I was reading this I remembered Silas - how he too carries the same vision and burden as his parents, for Japan. I sent him a mail requesting him to do a write up on these lines and thus was born ‘Japan, Here I come!’

The CALL thanks Silas for writing this inspiring story from his life and we pray that this would inspire MKs like him.

And even as I write this I am also reminded of that which Bro. D. Augustine Jebakumar penned in the report of the recently held GEMS AGM, reporting on the MK Department of GEMS,

“Having a unique blend of languages and cultures in them the Missionary Kids are indeed God’s own tribe!……. Gone are the times when MKs never wanted to follow in the footsteps of their parents. It is so amazing now to see our Missionary Kids join our ministries here in the North……. The multifaceted ministries of GEMS provides opportunities for MKs to bring in their gifting and areas of expertise into missions.”

This is not the end! In the next issue of The CALL, the MK Memoirs column carries a true story of an Indian, a very GEMS MK’s life story.

Look forward to be inspired!

- Mariyosh


If you are a MK or even otherwise you wish to read this article send your complete postal address to thecall@gemsbihar.org and we will send you this issue as a complimentary.

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Thursday, June 7, 2012

Delivery Drama @ Dalmianagar Continues….



Post OfficeIf you are a regular reader of this blog you might remember reading the post Delivery Drama at Dalmianagar in which I had written about the difficulty that we faced in posting the parcels to destinations abroad.

When it appears that you have known-it-all or all-troubles-have-ended, only then you are faced with new ones. And you realize that you need more of God’s grace and God given wisdom. This post is all about this – yet another experience to learn to be dependant on God for all things, old and new!

Being confident that I had written all the addresses well (Great Britain and not UK!), I sent Brother Selva, Brother David and Brother Kingston to the Post Office, as I was occupied with some work. After a while (when I assumed all parcels would have been posted) came a call saying that the clerk at the Post Office was not sending the parcels for lack of a FORM! “Here comes another hurdle”, I thought to myself and was wondering at what that form was. Immediately I plunged into a frenzy search in the India Post website, all the while PRAYING. Within a few searches, navigating around the website, I landed up in a page which had several documents, one which was 726 pages long!

‘Customer Guide – International Postal shipments and Customs matters’

And I frenziedly started reading it too – the guidelines for countries where I was sending the magazines. Realizing that it is going to end nowhere, not at least in that short time, I searched once again in the site and I found two forms ‘Customs Declaration CN 22’ and ‘Customs Declaration CN 23’. Going through them in a hectic manner and finding them appropriate, I printed them and rushed to the Post Office with Brother Peter in his bike, only to face the much reluctant clerks and officials at the Post Office. A lot of persuasion (showing the printouts and explaining to the postal officials) and much of prayers was required to convince them and to send the parcels. Finally, through the persuasion I figured it out that CN 22 was the right form! Then began the long ordeal of photocopying the forms, filling them and fixing them along with all the parcels. It was ONLY by the grace of God that the parcels were sent that day.

Seek God's HelpIt was an impossible situation – a new hurdle, less or no cooperation, reluctant staff, less time. But the promise was afresh like never before, “With Your help I can advance against a troop; with my God I can scale a wall.” (Psalms 18:29 NIV) When we rely on God’s help every impossible thing becomes possible and especially if it is meant to build His kingdom and for His glory! This is also yet another proof to the fact that missions are were all adventures lie – different in nature though, given the field! A place to experience God’s promises, provisions, guidance, grace and power so intimately!

Why did I remember this incident after so many days?? As I returned to office this morning after vacation, one of the magazine parcels that I had sent to Australia that day returned today after 64 days, with the Custom Declaration Form CN 22 intact! If you are sending a parcel to a foreign destination from India remember to visit this site and download the necessary forms/documents - http://www.indiapost.gov.in/Customs_Information.aspx

Above all seek God’s help and seek to glorify Him alone!

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Dear Chetan Bhagat!



“Of course the world needs revolution, revolution without ‘Masala’”

Also read the blog on this issue  - The CALL’s issue that revisits & responds the revolutions! If you are new to The CALL and would like to get the magazine, subscribe by clicking The CALL Subscription.


Saturday, March 10, 2012

The CALL’s issue that revisits & responds the revolutions!



Front Cover_The CALL Feb 2012_LR

The bygone year was indeed an eventful year or rightly put events that revolutionized the world. Several political revolutions that sprung up in the Arab world that came to be called as “Arab Spring”, resulted in the rulers being forced from power in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Yemen. Civil uprisings and major protests were also seen in Bahrain, Syria, Algeria, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Morocco and Oman and minor protests in five other Arab nations.

2011 also witnessed an economic revolution that affected the financial capital of the world, Wall Street, New York. The ‘Occupy Wall Street’ (OWS) protest was staged against the social and economic inequality, greed, corruption, etc. The editor and co-founder of Adbusters who initiated OWS said, “Anna Hazare is one of our heroes and mentors.” And the social & political revolution in India led by him to enact a stringent anti-corruption law in India as envisaged in the Jan Lokpal Bill saw a huge response.

That was not the end of revolutions. The media revolution affected the world when CNN International rated the song ‘Why this kolaveri di?’ as the world’s top song of 2011. And Indian author Chetan Bhagat was rated one among the world’s most influential by TIME magazine.

The church also gets caught and swayed away by these and not knowing that “it” is the answer, goes on to choose what it “feels” as right and also becomes “fans” of such frenzy! The saddest of all is the state of the youth and the cover story “What are you hooked on?” investigates and presents the truth. The church needs a revival so that it can become that answer; as all these revolutions cannot be a solution to the inner longing, hopelessness, depravity, peacelessness, security, etc. but JESUS and His church is! And this can happen only if the church of Christ readies itself for a revival, knowing that the Lord who has promised success is calling us to “Arise and Build”!

Two articles feature two writers, Chetan Bhagat and John Bunyan whose works have been made into movies. John Bunyan is spoken about and the movie on his book ‘The Pilgrims Progress’ is re-made even after four centuries, whereas even the movie makers who made a movie on Chetan’s work do not want to credit him! What’s the difference? Only truth stays forever! Read the articles for more insight. “Of course the world needs revolution, revolution without ‘Masala’” enounces the video on Chetan Bhagat created by The CALL team. Visit the YouTube channel http://www.youtube.com/gemsthecall to watch the video.

Most children would either be preparing or writing their final exams and they would see themselves in  the story ‘Noah and the tests’ where they can learn godly principles to face exams.

‘Muddy handprints of a little girl’ is the retelling of a heart-breaking incident in the life of a kid which resounds the call to Stand @ the GAP for the negative influence of media and the hurting children.

Let this issue reshape your thinking, echo God’s call in your life and inspire you towards divine and meaningful purpose!

Dear subscribers, this issue will be in your mailbox in ten days time. If you are new to The CALL and would like to read subscribe by clicking The CALL Subscription.

Blessed reading!

The Team

Saturday, January 21, 2012

Delivery Drama at Dalmianagar



Posting at Post officeEvery time the magazine goes to the press for printing, I anxiously keep waiting for its arrival. And when the printer calls and says that the magazine is on the way, I keep guessing how well it would have been printed. And when the magazine finally arrives, there is always mixed emotions – one of joy seeing it printed coupled with one of a little disappointment at the quality. And the disappointment keeps growing as I keep spotting errors one here and one there!

Then begins the work of sending all the printed copies to the subscribers and promotional offices – the task of dispatch. Every issue of The CALL is sent to different states in India and various countries around the world. We post the overseas copies from Dalmianagar Post Office. It is a computerised post office and the only post office in our surrounding where the Postmaster and the staff cooperate and work properly during the work hours!

On the 10th of this month I took all the parcels that had to be posted to foreign countries to the post office. Then began the ordeal of searching of options to send the parcel. Finally the option was found where I had to give my inputs too! One after the other the parcels were kept on the electronic weighing machine and the details were entered and the parcel was kept aside.

There was one parcel for Dublin (and a few individual copies to be sent to the same place). The staff searched the list and could not find the place. So I had to come for her rescue. I asked her to search for ‘Ireland’ and there it was! The details were entered and it was kept aside. There were three parcels for London and in the address the country was written as UK. The long search was becoming a vain effort. I asked her to search for ‘United Kingdom’ and very soon as though the place was found, the staff started to enter the address details. Only then did I notice that she had selected UKRAINE! So my parcel was being sent to UKraine instead of UK!! (Not sure how many other such posts sent earlier to the UK landed up in Ukraine!)

I stopped the staff from entering the details mentioning that it was not the meant country. I was in a deep thought…….thanks to Dr. Jeevan Kuruvilla’s (Nav Jeevan Hospital, Daltanganj) blog that I read a few months back, in which he had mentioned the same issue that he had faced in a post office. I remembered what he figured out – it was not UK or London, but Great Britain!

Finally all the parcels were sent and I returned back happily; only to come to know after 9 days that all the parcels were returned from Calcutta – as the option used to send the parcels was meant only for Indian destinations and not for overseas! Finally today found the right option to send them all again.

I could only recollect the lines that I wrote in one of The CALL’s blog in March 2011 on the making of the first cover images of The CALL:

Though it was tiresome, we tried together as a team

Though it was tough, we were through with His touch

Though it was testing, we knew that we were trailing in the tracks of tested testimonies

Though we were tensed at times, we weren’t troubled as we were trusting in a Truthful God

Though it was time-taking, we didn’t consider it to be trivial, because we were together in a task that will trumpet the Truth

Thursday, January 5, 2012