Blessings during the Festival of Praise in India

Despite the difficulties the COVID-19 pandemic caused, the National Alliance Fellowship of India (NAFI) was able to hold its conference virtually. More than 100 people participated, including leaders from other countries. Their time together was a blessing, and they truly understood the theme “Festival of Praise.”

As an Alliance, we have learned a lot during the pandemic. We have learned about suffering, sadness, patience, loneliness. But the Lord has also allowed us to comprehend good things. The National Alliance Fellowship of India (NAFI) was able to organize their annual conference on Zoom, August 9-10. It was a time to understand the meaning of praise and worship.

The theme of the conference was “Festival of Praise.” The goal was to inspire churches and leaders to always be thankful and praise God, even amid the COVID-19 pandemic and its difficulties. In Roland Lumawag’s words, it was a time to express gratitude to God for using the Alliance World Fellowship family to help Christians and non-Christians severely affected by this crisis.

More than 100 individuals attended the conference with enthusiasm on both days. The attendees included Alliance leaders from outside of India, pastors and leaders from all Indian synods and Kolkata, and members of C&MA churches in India. One church in the Maharashtra Synod gathered as a group to take part in the meeting.

Alliance leaders from the U.S., Canada, Nepal and Indonesia also participated. Jura Yanagihara (president of the AWF) and A.V. Alexander (pastor of the New Bombay Alliance Church) delivered two challenging sermons. On the first day, Suresh Thomas taught a heart-touching webinar on “Integrity and Unity,” and on the second day Paul Dass taught a webinar on “Ministry Road Map in the New Normal,” emphasizing tent-making ministry.

Two teams from Gujarat Synod and the Maharashtra Synod led worship at the beginning of each day. There were challenging testimonies and COVID-19 thanksgiving reports from the Gujarat Synod, the Maharashtra Synod, the Maharashtra City Synod, and the Alliance churches in Kolkata. Crispus Christian presented a brief report on the structure of the C&MA of India. God also allowed for cultural programs from Gujarat and Assam.

The Indian Alliance is thankful to our Lord for the lives of Jura Yanagihara, Roland Lumawag (AWF Regional Coordinator for APAC), and the three Synod Presidents – Stenly Christian (Gujarat Synod), P. Mackasare (Maharashtra City Synod) and Yakob Ingle (Maharashtra Synod). They also thank all the workers who, directly or indirectly, made this meeting a success.

May the Lord continue to bless the Christian and Missionary Alliance churches in India and use them for the extension of his kingdom.