In 2004 HCT was contacted by Pastor Zion Samuel of Emmanuel Gospel Faith Ministries, in Viskhapatnam, Andhra Padesh. Pastor Samuel had read the Bible teaching on the TMI website and requested that Rev. Nicky Smith visit him in India to hold a series of conferences for his pastors. On 4th April 2005 Nicky and co-worker Mike Butler flew out to Andhra Pradesh for a ministry visit. Here is Nicky's account of the ministry visit.

"In April this year we visited Andhra Pradesh to minister to 'Emanuel Gospel Faith Ministries' in Visakhapatnam City and the surrounding areas.

It was the first time Mike and I had visited India, so we were uncertain as to what we would encounter. However, we were kept by the power of God, not suffering any health problems and surviving the incredible heat and terrifying roads!

We were impressed with the generosity and commitment of the Christians to their faith. Conversion to Christ comes with a high price in India.   Believers often loose family and income upon conversion and are faced with huge difficulties, even in just coping with the basic necessities of life. They have an earnest desire to walk with the Lord and see the Good News of the Gospel preached. We spent time in the village churches in very remote areas, as well as conducting two conferences for pastors.

We visited some of Samuel's 26 churches, which are spread over an area approximately the size of Britain.   We were shocked to discover that he had no transport to travel between the churches. As we discussed this, we were led to pray that God would provide a Landrover to meet the need. When we arrived back in the UK we continued to pray. On a Friday night in May 2005 Samuel telephoned, to say that another ministry was selling a vehicle for £2,600. I only had £60 donated at that point in time. I said we would believe God to provide the rest. By Sunday evening I had been handed denotations bringing the total to £2,600, a great miracle in Samuel's eyes and an even greater on for me, knowing the people who had donated it. This will make such a difference to Samuel's ministry. Many thanks to those who gave.

We also had the opportunity to minister to a large number of pastors at the conference. In Visakhapatnam, I taught for 3 days, to a large number of pastors, who do not usually have an opportunity to study.

The majority of pastors of small rural village churches have little education and only very basic knowledge of Christian theology. It was a tremendous experience to see such a thirst for God's word and a desire to understand the truth. Pastors were prepared to sit for many hours a day, listening to teaching. Their desire and commitment puts us to shame! They considered themselves 'short changed' if a session lasted under an hour! When we return in February 2006 we will be able to build upon this conference, with specific sessions for pastors and their wives.

Books and study materials are very expensive and so we now send specific materials for Samuel to use with his pastors every month in teaching. The sending of such resources are only part of the task, as Samuel then has to translate it all into Telagu.

At end of the 3 day conference we baptized 7 people in the sea, in the Bay of Bengal. It was a great time and for me a highlight of the trip. It was a privilege to be able to take part and see people making a real commitment to walk with Christ, knowing the cost of conversion for a person in India.   Another blessing for me was the temperature of the water. I hate cold water, (well, I hate being wet at all really!) but the Bay of Bengal was so hot it was like stepping into a really hot bath. Certainly this was the warmest baptism I have taken, even compared to our heated baptismal pool, here in the UK.

Samuel has a number of churches in the district of Bobbili and we visited a few of them. We spent time with the 'untouchables'. These are people who are considered the 'lowest of the low' in India. They live their lives below the lowest of the castes and have little or nothing in life. However, while we were in a small house-church, the room filled up with many people, until there was no room to move and barely room to breath. Then an elderly blind man stood up and started to sing praises to God. The presence of God was really to be felt in that meeting, as we all squeezed into a house the size of a normal British kitchen. Our seats were in the bedroom and most of the rest of the village was standing outside the doors, looking in to see what was happening.

Pastor Moses' church meetings are held on the roof of his house, which is very small and so we overflowed on the roof of the house next door. It felt like a real 'New Testament' experience that evening, to meet with the believers and worship on the roof. It reminded me of Peter's experiences in Acts.   Lots of people attended and as praise and worship started, their music section consisted of a man who played the tin bucket. His heart's desire, he told us, was to be able to serve the Lord well, in his ministry, although he had no instrument, just a bucket!

We were privileged to share food at the pastors' houses after the meetings, and it was again an experience to have the whole village crowding around the doors to watch us eat. It was also, at times, difficult to be certain what was being offered. Samuel did tell me before we left, that some of the people eat rat as there is nothing else to be had. Well, if it was rat, it tasted OK, although the hard part is accepting food from people, who you know can ill afford to part with it.

The vision is to enable all of Samuel's pastors in each village to have an acre of land to use, to feed their people, especially those who are starving as a result of their commitment to Jesus Christ.

Reverend Nicky Smith 2005