Much to Be Thankful For

It’s the perfect time to reflect on all that we are thankful for here at REAP.

An Amazing Second Annual Picnic in the Grove

We had our best fundraiser to date this year. We’re so grateful for everyone who came out and even more thankful for everyone that helped us raise $160,000 to go towards church planting, the Bakri Project, and the Springbuds!

Springbuds Growing

We were able to add 9 new children to our home in Shihaphumi this year. A true blessing! With COVID restrictions finally being lifted, we will also be able to begin work on the new school building for our Springbuds.

Lives Changed + Souls Reached

Our church planters have done so much amazing work over the past year. We could not be more grateful for these amazing men and their families.

Our Incredible Donors

“Grateful” is not a big enough word for how we feel about you — our donors and supporters. Thank you for believing in the mission of REAP and giving towards it faithfully. We could not do this work without you.

Our Faithful Father

Above all, we are overwhelmed with the faithfulness that God has shown us over this year. Time and time again He has shown up, met our needs, and allowed us to continue our mission. All praise to Him for everything we have been able to accomplish this year.

We hope you have an amazing Thanksgiving and holiday season filled with love, gratitude, family, and friends.

Church Planting Update | October 2022

This month we are excited to share many different updates on our church plants in the Karnataka region. Take a look below for developments in our church planting efforts and how you can join us in prayer.

Pastor Surendra

This is Pastor Surendra's church. This particular area has been extremely difficult, and at times, dangerous to navigate. In fact, last week anti-Christian fanatics bribed the local police to disrupt their service on Sunday. They were also banned from gathering in a building they had previously rented for services. These people are passionate and brave though. They continue to show up, fellowship, and worship regardless. Truly amazing!

Pastor Pampapthy

Pastor Pampapthy recently met the first two men in the photo above. One of the men's legs is paralyzed and Pastor Pampapthy has been visiting him regularly, serving him by applying oil to his legs and praying over him. We’re so grateful for his servant’s heart.

Pastor Nagaraj

This is Pastor Naharaj at his church plant. It’s so exciting to see families and community members joining him in fellowship each week! We are excited about the growth of this plant and the people attending.

Pastor Yeriswamy

This is Pastor Yeriswamy with members of his church plant. He is constantly working to grow in wisdom and knowledge so he can best share the Gospel with both those already a part of his church plant and in the local community.

Pastor Yenkappa

This is Pastor Yenkappa pictured outside his church plant with many members. His plant is set in the Lambani community. We are hopeful that the Gospel will be received!

Pastor Sathish

This is Pastor Sathish. The family here’s here with in the photo are new to the church plant and to learning more about the Christian faith. One of their children is special needs. Pastor Sathish and his church plant are working to minister and support them as they navigate challenges and work to create the best environment for their child.

Let’s Lift Them Up in Prayer

Every single one of these incredible men has been faithful and diligent in the church planting process and continues to work hard, against all obstacles to serve the people they come across.

We are blessed to have so many godly men working in our organization.

Let’s lift up special prayers for each of them this month.

Honoring Ram Bahadur Thapa

In 2007, our team set out to begin bringing the Gospel to a new region of South Asia - The Himalaya.

The Region

The Himalayan mountain range extends across 5 countries that border each other in South Asia. Beginning from Pakistan in the west, it runs along India, Nepal, Bhutan, and China. The region is comprised of rough terrain and fertile plains that extend from Kashmir all the way through parts of Arunachal Pradesh. Huge concentrations of populations live in these plains as well.

Pastor Thapa

When we began this new adventure, we knew we would need the right person to lead the charge. God faithfully brought us Ram Bahadur Thapa. He became the coordinator of our church planting efforts.

Under Pastor Thapa’s leadership, we have planted 8 Churches in the Eastern part of the Himalayas (Nepal, Bhutan, Sikkim, and North Bengal) and 20 churches in the Western part (Nepal).

Additionally, this past July, we cast a vision to reach 25 prospective church planting areas that Pastor Thapa had identified. Each of these regions was chosen because of its incredibly limited access to the Gospel.

Sadly, two months ago, Thapa was tragically killed in a roadside accident and went on to be with the Lord. Thapa was a devoted husband and father to two sons. He worked diligently within our organization for 13 years and we simply wouldn’t be where we are today without him.

In his honor, we wanted to continue to move forward with the plans that God had put on his heart and we wanted to honor Thapa's vision that he had cast.

With that said, we are thrilled to announce that in January of this upcoming year, we will be sending out the fourth batch of church planters in the Himalayan region.

Not only would this not be possible without the faithful service of Pastor Thapa, but also his incredible wife, Rachel. Even after his passing, she has faithfully served and taken care of these church planters, making sure all operations happened from day to day, cooking for them, and providing support.

We mourn the loss of our good friend and the Lord's servant, Thapa. But, we could not be more grateful for the incredible legacy that Pastor Thapa leaves behind and we cannot wait to see what lies ahead.

Precious in the sight of the Lord Is the death of His godly ones. - Psalm 116:15

How You Can Pray

Prayer Points:

• For the 4th batch deployment: Wisdom and the needed resources to plant churches.

• For Thapa’s family: Pray for his widow Mrs. Rachel Thapa, his sons Rocky (27 years) and Roshan (22 years).

• A new Co-ordinator: Pray that the Lord would help us identify the right replacement to fill in the shoes of Pastor Thapa.

• For the Nepali people: There are hundreds of villages without a single church.

You can also download our prayer guide right here.

Sri Lanka Church Planters Update

Since the Easter bombings in 2019, Sri Lanka has never fully recovered. There have been many setbacks that have brought the country to the verge of bankruptcy. Additionally, the safety issues in the country have kept tourists away, which is the only industry that keeps their economy afloat. 

Unfortunately, coupled with the COVID-19 pandemic, tourism has still not picked up leading to widespread unemployment and a shortage of money circulating in the economy. 

But God, in his infinite mercy, has allowed the ministry of our church planters to continue to happen. 

Here is a brief report from our church planters.

Church Planting Report

Pastor Satheesraj

Pastor Satheesraj’s ministry is continuing to grow at a steady pace. In the beginning of his church plant, he faced a lot of opposition. However, this has changed and he is now recognized as a “servant of God” by others. Incredible! 

Currently, there are 15 adults in his church that previously were a part of other faiths, but have accepted Jesus and attend their church gatherings weekly. Another 6 families have trusted Jesus but have not become part of the church yet. Another 10 families continue to seek Jesus but have not trusted quite yet.

Please keep these people in your prayers.

Pastor Antony

Antony is currently shepherding 14 adults and about 11 families total. The location of his church plant is anchored in Hinduism. From time to time he faces some opposition because of this. 

Additionally, he has been facing a lot of interruption by other Christians and leaders of other denominations, which has been disheartening. Another challenge he is facing is that they do not have a long-term location to gather in so, he literally gets kicked around by the landlords. 

Even with all of these challenges, he is faithfully training the 14 adult believers to disciple others.

Please add Antony to your prayer list and ask God to give him peace, encouragement, and open doors.

Pastor Thevaraj

Thevaraj has led 12 non-Christians to trust in Jesus so far. Amazing!

However, he is experiencing some challenges as well. Due to the COVID-19 lockdowns, he and his fiance have not been able to go through with their wedding yet. Because of the culture in this area, being unmarried is restricting his reach among people. We are praying that this will change soon so that they can have their wedding and begin their life together.

His church plant doesn’t have a dedicated building at this time, so members take turns hosting the weekly gatherings in their homes. However, because this area is very spread out, he needs to be able to drive to the different locations. The shortage in supply of gas has greatly hampered his ability to visit with people in the church and has kept him from being able to reach as many people as he would like. 

Lift up Pastor Thevaraj with us: That his wedding would be able to happen soon and that he would have access to the transportation he needs.

Pastor Baskaran

Pastor Baskaran has been struggling with his church plant. Their numbers have fallen to 4 families now. The reason for this is that there are many larger churches in the area that people have migrated to post-lockdown.  

Pray that Pastor Baskaran would be able to find those people who truly need discipleship, mentorship, and a close-knit community. Pray that those currently interested in the Gospel that he is ministering to would receive it and come to know Jesus. 

Pastor Gajendran

Pastor Gajendran is not only currently planting a new church, but he also oversees all of our church planters in Sri Lanka. He has done an excellent job at supervising all the church planters, especially given all of the obstacles and challenges they have been facing.

While he continues to oversee these faithful men, we are also seeing his own church plant growing well. His span of ministry has substantially increased and he is doing additional ministry over the phone to cater to the spiritual needs of believers that cannot travel because of the gas crisis.

Pray over Pastor Gajendran and all of the important responsibilities he is currently juggling. Pray that his church plant will continue to grow and thrive. 

Thank you for taking the time to read the latest report on our church planters in Sri Lanka. We are grateful for your partnership in sending these men out to share the Gospel across the world. If you’d like to give towards these church planting efforts, you can do so by clicking HERE and selecting “church planting efforts” on the drop-down menu. 

A Tribute to Prema Jayakumar

This month, we’re sharing a special tribute to an incredibly special person in our REAP family - Prema Jayakumar. We lost Prema in May after long fought health battles. Our team put together a beautiful tribute for her that we’re sharing with you today.

Prema Jayakumar


June 09, 1954 – May 24, 2020

It has been 30 years since Jay founded the ministry of Bible-Believing Churches and Missions in India. While all of you may be aware of the ministry’s growth and impact, only a few know of an important person who remained backstage and co-labored to make all this happen.

On May 24, Prema, Jay’s most trusted companion in marriage and ministry and a beloved mother to her two children, departed into the presence of Jesus.

Born on June 09, 1954, Prema was the second of four children born to her parents Mr. Rajagambeeram and Mrs. Gnanamani. At age 11 she lost her parents within six months of each other. Once the family and security around her vanished life became an everyday struggle, until she married Jay in 1979 and had her own family.

The marriage also brought her close to the Lord. Over time she became an essential part of many families that she discipled through the years. In 1983, when Jay decided to pursue a full-time career in Christian ministry, Prema fully supported this decision and stood by him like a pillar of rock. She decided to do so, knowing fully well that she would be revisiting the “everyday struggle” she had previously been through in her youth. The only difference being that this time around, she would be doing it with her family by her side and also with her newfound faith in Jesus.

From 1983 to 1993, Prema labored hard to fund the financial needs of the family. She was an electrical engineer, but back in that day employment for her was merely a dream in a severely under-developed economy. She would walk a little over two miles every day to save on transportation costs while going to work. In addition, on weekends she would do the same to visit with families she was ministering to. She not only supported her family, but she also bore Jay’s tuition expenses for seminary.

In 1990, when the ministry was founded, Prema pledged all her jewelry and contributed all of the family’s savings to fund the capital needed to start. She was the first donor to the ministry. By 1994, the ministry was stable enough to support the basic needs of the family. About this time, Prema also developed an injured knee because of several hours of kneeling down in prayer as well as all the walking she had overdone. After resigning from her job, she began to invest more of her time in ministering to women that were demon-possessed, victims of domestic violence, victims of other forms of abuse, addicts, etc. This not only opened the doors to let Jesus into their homes, but it also gave their offspring the chance to grow in godliness.

Many of the people she ministered to were in utter poverty! Now their children have become homeowners! All this because while discipling people, Prema encouraged parents to educate their children despite all the odds stacked against them. She encouraged their children to do well in their academics. She also raised money from her network of contacts to support some with their tuition. Today some of them have become doctors, engineers, businessmen, and more. A few have even settled overseas in the developed world.

There were not many women graduates from seminaries in India during and before the 90’s. God provided for Prema’s seminary education through Jay. Her husband Jay is a great expositor of God’s word and understands the cultural realities better than any expert. Prema would write down pages and pages of his sermons and other Bible teachings. She would implore discussions with him, make arguments, and analyze in her own way to better understand God and his purpose. She would teach a lot of her learnings from Jay to the women she disciples. Many times, the women would easily understand her teaching more than what Jay was teaching. She broke difficult concepts down to a level even kids would understand. She is one of the chief architects of the children’s ministry at Calvary’s Grace Bible Church.

Prema was a prayer warrior! She spent several hours per day praying. She would rise early in the morning to enjoy the quiet time to sing, praise, and pray. She was very organized in her prayer time. She was passionate about prayer meetings, fasting and praying, supporting marriages in prayer, upholding others’ health needs, praying that her friends and relatives would be freed from the bondage of debt and other shackles. Her faith upon Jesus was unshakeable!

Even when she endured leukemia for more than a year or when she was bed-ridden during knee replacement surgery, her trust in God was unwavering. She believed God had a purpose in allowing these situations. She embraced these trials joyfully and endured its pain willingly.

Prema was an excellent mother! She did well to raise godly children, her son and daughter are very active in ministry today. Her son Samuel is currently leading the ministry of Bible-Believing Churches and Missions. He also serves as an elder and executive pastor. Her daughter Havilah is a speech-language pathologist and leads worship and the Teens ministry at Calvary’s Grace Bible Church. When Jay was away on ministry commitments, Prema held down the fort and made sure that Jay’s absence was minimally felt.

From being an excellent mother, God promoted her to be the favorite grandmother. She was blessed to see and be involved in the formative years of her four grandchildren: Jasi, Jay, Jude and Ronit.

Prema was also a faithful giver! She lived her entire life without saving one penny. There was no savings because whatever extra she had, she would give it away to someone in need. She said that in doing so she was saving up in heaven. In addition, she was a great hostess! God moved her and the family to 11 rented accommodations until she was blessed to have a home of her own. Almost every day there was someone or other that would come and visit – friends that live close by and friends from around the world. She would take a break from all her activities to attend to them. Almost every week, there would be people coming over to live in her home for a few days. She would serve and make them feel as comfortable as possible. In this way she has served people from all around the world.

As we bid a tearful farewell to Prema, we are reminded that she was not perfect! At the same time, through her life, we get to see how one is perfected in their lifetime as they seek to pursue the author and perfecter of our faith!

Looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. - Hebrews 12:2