Enthusiasm and joy filled the colourful tent at Gopalpur 0n Sea where 140 Empart Church Planters from Orissa sang and danced before the Lord. For four and a half days the group of youthful church planters took notes as guest speakers from Australia taught the word from morning till night, covering topics such as spiritual warfare, forgiveness, wisdom, purity, the pastor and the church, wisdom and faith.

Gopalpur was a great choice for the conference. As well as being a beautiful area it has an atmosphere less oppressed than some other parts of the state.  Orissa is India's poorest state with the biggest debt. It has more temples than any other state and has had anti-conversion laws since 1967. These laws were strengthened in 1999.

A mere two per cent of the population is Christian while Hindus claim 94%. Yet there are many places of natural beauty despite the spiritual oppression. It is home to 36,000,000 people and it is our prayer that many will come into the light of the knowledge of Jesus Christ.

This was my second visit to Orissa, having been there four years ago. I was thrilled to observe the growth and maturity of strong young leaders. The young pastors impressed with their sharp appearance, confident manner and spiritual hunger.

The freedom of the meetings was wonderful. It was hard to believe that these men face some of the stiffest opposition in India. 

Empart's state leader is young but has the authority and respect of a father in the faith. Pray for him as he trains others and leads the vision to ignite church planting movements among the great but mostly unreached state of Orissa.

It was a privilege to meet and listen to the stories of dedicated young men and pray with them.

You could not help but be inspired by their faith and passion.

Pastor Ron is in leadership at a church in Hobart, Tasmania. His skilful artwork, accompanying his messages, has made him a much loved teacher for all our Empart workers.