India (MNN) ― Grace Ministries International's Subash Muthyala writes that they are in desperate need of a place for worship. The team works in Hyderabad, India in church planting and discipleship.
It's not the first time the Muthyalas have been forced to relocate. They lost their church building in late 2003 after a neighboring Hindu filed a complaint against them.
While a Hindu on one side of the street objected to their presence, one on the other side welcomed them and helped them rent the space. The ministry flourished in the new location even as Hyderabad began to take on a "Silicon Valley" look and feel.
But GMI's Sam Vinton says at the end of December, things began falling apart. "They have up to the end of this month to vacate the property that they were renting, which I think the owner wants to rent to someone else--a different kind of facility so he can make more money. We're expecting a miracle from the Lord because otherwise, every one of our efforts have been futile thus far."
The Muthyalas planted three churches in the Kakinada area and are also involved in leadership training, youth ministry and Sunday school teacher seminars. For them not to have a headquarters or a central gathering place would cause their forward growth to stutter.
Because of the new economy in India and the money coming to cities like Hyderabad, real estate is at a premium. Vinton says rental prices in Hyderabad have exceeded what the team can afford. At other times, landlords have turned them down because they are Christians. Vinton notes, "To find a place of worship without moving completely out of that area (which then would mean that all the people living in that area would not be able to attend) -- that's really the pressure that they're living under right now."
The only thing they can use is "prayer, because we hope we can just keep extending this for a few months while we have more of an opportunity to find something new. Pray that the Lord will open someone's heart who would be willing to rent property to the church."
