India
(MNN) — June began monsoon season in Southern Asia and India. An average rainfall for the period ending in
September is approximately 70 inches of rain.
That's not always spread out over the course of the
season. In 2005, torrential rains in Mumbai
dropped 37 inches of rain over 24-hours. That led to flash floods and whole villages being washed away or buried
under mudslides.
In 2007, June's eight-inch downpour in the southern state of
Andhra Pradesh resulted in more of the same. Annually, flooding also causes hundreds of deaths and damage to
infrastructure, homes, and farms across India.
Audio Scripture Ministries' Tom Dudenhofer says partner
World Cassette Outreach's ministry center in Bangalore hasn't fully recovered from the
damage suffered from last year's storms. "The building that the residence
currently is in is over 100 years old. We spent some money to repair the roof,
to seal some of the obvious cracks in the residence that's there. These fixes are only temporary."
The repairs are expected to last the current monsoon season
and perhaps the next. However, as the
aged building has already suffered significant water damage, the structure
can't withstand much more.
Dudenhofer notes that the audio Scripture work the team does
is often disrupted by repeated flooding. Repairs further delay translation and recording projects. That's why they're trying to raise funds for
a replacement center. "What it's going to do is give these folks just the
basic protection from flooding that would be available to anybody who had a
house that was built at the right grade. It'll keep their cars out of the
water, and the residence area for the staff is going to be up a floor. So they
should never have to worry about flooding."
Plans
for refitting a new Ministry Center in India are completed. Pray
that God will continue to supply the finances needed to complete this building
without incurring any debt. The total cost will be $375,000.
Among the things WCOI distributes is "The Word for the Family" project. It has been receiving a
good response among the believers. Teams
have distributed more than 3,500 "Word Listening kits" in Andhra
Pradesh, Orissa, Jarkhand, West Bengal and
Tamil Nadu.
