Lalith Pereira and the 4 Step Retreat

Over the past five years we have been blessed to have some very anointed people ministering to our communities and joining their number this week was internationally acclaimed preacher Lalith Pereira who came down to the UAE to conduct his popular—and powerful—4 Step Retreat. As I listened to him, I found myself fascinated, not for the first time, at how God uses different people to deliver his messages in different ways and in different styles. There were over 250 people in attendance in St. Francis of Assisi Church to listen to him and be blessed by what he had to share.

Notes on the "4 Steps" will be found in my blog Christianity and the Art of Mountain Climbing shortly.

Interview with Paul Wilbur

Dr. Dominic Dixon, Director of Holy Spirit Interactive media ministries VeritasTV and HSI MoreLove Radio, interviewed Paul Wilbur on the sidelines of a workshop on worship conducted by the singer and his team. The full interview will be available soon on HSI MoreLove Radio. Here is an excerpt from that interview where Paul urges Christians to be united as one. Please click on the play button.



Paul Wilbur pleads for Christian unity

The conference, itself, was wonderful, and although I enjoyed all of it, it was the last talk by Paul Wilbur on worship that sent me in a tailspin. You can read about what happened in my new blog: Christianity and the Art of Mountain Climbing.

Making History in Dubai, UAE

Dubai hosted the first ever Christian gospel concert in a public auditorium as messianic singer Paul Wilbur and his team led the people of the city in soul stirring worship. This wasn't our project, but we were delighted to be involved in it, albeit in a small way, especially as it made history for yet another reason: the concert brought together Christians of all denominations under one roof in the city for the very first time. HSI represented the Catholics.

We pray that the Voice team of Sabu George, Gladson Ronad and Pastor Allan Paul, who helped make it all happen, be immensely blessed. Christian unity won't become a reality just by talking about it. It will take the combined efforts of people of vision, courage and character from all sides of the divide to come together and act. Click here for an article that I wrote about Christian Unity.

Mumbai Community Completes First Quarter

The HSI School of Discipleship in Don Bosco Church, Borivili completed its first quarter today, and from all indications has proven to be a far greater success than anybody — including us — expected. A total of 101 confirmed members in the Community that include men, women and children of ages ranging from 7 to 70, testifed to the wonderful impact this program has made on their lives. Click here for their testimonies. While those who are opposed to this ministry continue to malign it, these testimonies are all that HSI offers in its defence. A ministry, like a prophet, can be recognized by the fruit that it bears.

Discipleship Program, Ramnagar, Hyderabad

St. Francis of Assisi, Hyderabad July 24-26

L-R: Fr. Tony, Fr. Arun, Fr. Varghese, Fr. Sleeva, me, and Rajeshri

God had been letting us know in several different ways that the mission to Hyderabad would be extremely successful, and going by the number of people who registered for the post-session School of Discipleship — a phenomenal 120! — it surely was. The church was packed to capacity on all three days and included six Franciscan priests, among the nicest I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. They included resident priests Fr. Sleeva, Fr. Varghese, Fr. Tony and Fr. Arun, whose love, warmth and hospitality touched my heart to the core. Theirs was true Christian witness and I could only pray that more priests and lay leaders had hearts like theirs. I had a translator for the program, an anointed lady named Rajeshri who matched me in word and action, much like my translators in Africa.

New Community Begins in Borivili, Bombay

HSI's newest community commenced today in John Bosco Church, Borivili with over 40 people in attendance. The community has the blessings of the Church authorities in the Archdiocese of Mumbai, who will be closely monitoring the community to see the fruit it bears. Having witnessed the enormous success of the first community in Dubai and successive communities in other parts of the world, I have little doubt that this will be everything we expect it to be — and more!

Talk to the Youth

A brief talk to the youth of Don Bosco parish

I concluded my mission in Borivili with a briefing to a few people who seemed eager to walk the straight and narrow path, and help others travel on it as well. God willing, we will have another HSI Community started here in a couple of weeks.

Earlier in the day I had given a talk to the youth. 180 young men and women had registered, but nearly 300 showed up and as none of them seemed to regret they had come I was very happy. It was the first time in five years I was giving a talk in public wearing something other than my traditional black and white.

Lenten Mission, Borivili

Love one another ....

A section of the huge crowd

Discipleship Program March 19-21, 2009

Whenever there are obstacles, I know I can expect great things, and seeing as how there were more hurdles than usual to get this mission going, I knew it would be terrific. I wasn't wrong. The three day mission in Don Bosco Church in Borivili, Bombay from March 19-22 kept getting more and more anointed and over 1,500 people felt the power of God on the final day. Because of the crowds expected, the sessions were held in the open.

I was blessed to be with some of the loveliest priests I have encountered in Fr. Ronald, the parish priest of Don Bosco and Fr. Allwyn, who was instrumental in arranging the program. They - and the other priests - all went out of their way to make me feel welcome and comfortable. I will be ever grateful, especially to Fr. Allwyn who has the energy of a ten year old boy and the zeal to match it.

New HSI Community in Dar Es Salam, Tanzania

HSI launched its fifth Community (after Dubai, Fujairah, Chembur and Jebel Ali) in Dar Es Salam, Tanzania today. Fr. Siffredius Rwechungura will be supervising the community which has the blessings of Cardinal Pengo. Local resident Cajetan (Jerry) Misquita is heading the Community along with Pravina Rodrigues.

Lenten Mission, Pune

Immaculate Conception Church, Pune (March 10-12)

Fr. George, parish priest of Immaculate Conception Church, more popularly known as City Church among the populace, invited me to conduct a Lenten Mission in his parish. Knowing him to be a wonderful pastor, I didn't hesitate accepting his invitation and found myself blessed for it. The Church overfilled its capacity, but those standing didn't seem to mind the effort in the least. I spoke once again on the Seven Deadly Sins. My hosts - Michael and Maria Rebello - were the wonderful couple who had hosted me in the past - and probably will in the future as well, as I have been invited to do the Discipleship Program in two parishes in July. During the visit I paid my respects to Bishop Valerian D'Souza, another extremely blessed shepherd of God's flock.

Lenten Mission, Thane

St. John the Baptist Church, Thane (March 6-8)

After a hiatus of four months, I was back on the missionary trail with a Lenten Mission in St. John the Baptist Church in Thane, India. The subject was the Seven Deadly Sins and though it was the first time I was doing this series of talks it went down very well. Fr. Milton invited me to start a community in the parish beginning July 29, which pleased me immensely, because there were several people who expressed the desire to be part of something that would help them grow. This was one of the rare times when I have returned to a parish to preach, preferring to reach out to new people in new parishes.

HSI Celebrates 5 Years!

Little kids put on a show as part of the celebrations

HSI completed five years on December 30, 2008, and despite its relative youth has become one of the most successful Catholic lay apostolates in the world currently reaching well over a million people each week through twelve ministries. We had a little party to celebrate the occasion on January 30 and over 250 people attended. We thank God for His blessings and protection over us through the years.