The project seems to have now grown to focus on different areas of need of the commended workers and their families. The celebration of 25 year of ministry shows the hand of God in it and His blessing. Roy and Bizy have been very faithful in being our representatives in touching another part of the world other than our own. We are especially grateful for their faithful service in the Gospel as they encourage the Body of Christ in India through ministry in the Word and being a help to the thousands of committed workers in India. We congratulate Roy and Bizy on this milestone for Operation Barnabas and bringing it to this stage of development for India. Like them, our trust is in the Lord of Heaven who has promised His wisdom and strength. We pray for Roy and Bizy every day, that they will have the strength needed and a continuing vision for the Lord’s work in India. India seems to be harder than ever for the Lord’s workers and all that we can do is to support and to pray. For Bethany Gospel Chapel

In the Bible, Barnabas has a special place. Similarly, Operation Barnabas began to pursue that vision of encouragement and support of evangelists in India.
For the last 25 years, the ministry of Operation Barnabas enables and encourages the saints to pray for servants of God in different part of India and extending some practical need based help to them. Over quarter of a century, 2800 evangelists and their families became known to the body of Christ through their effort and a massive prayer support was raised for them. God wonderfully worked through these prayers and petitions and all of us see the outpouring of blessings on our ministry and the families of God’s servants. We may be feeble and insignificant but today we are known and prayed for by brethren in India and around the world. Now we know that we are not alone, there are brothers and sisters who constantly uphold us in prayer. We also received much needed financial support for our children’s education and medical expenses through OB.
Finally, I would like to share a personal experience I had with Operation Barnabas. Last year we experienced great floods in Kerala. Bro. Roy T. Daniel and I went to see the situation of our dear brethren across the state. Due to the flood the roads were under water and we were forced to abandon our vehicle and travel by a tractor and by foot to reach the brethren who were victims of flood. After this preliminary fact finding trip a report was submitted to the believers and over 70 families were helped to rebuild their houses. Not only that they provided funds but stood with them until the work was completed and the families are rehabilitated. This is a movement that the Lord has inspired and continues to use for His glory. The vision given to our dear brother Roy T. Daniel has become a blessing to the churches and the workers in India. One thing I have observed is that he never took any money from OB for his personal needs or his travel. He would rather spend it all for the benefit of the saints and evangelists. By faith, prayer, and clear-cut vision and with integrity and stewardship Operation Barnabas will continue to grow. Operation Barnabas has grown during lot of difficulties and it has done so over 25 years. It is clearly of the Lord. May the Lord grant all success through the years ahead!

The field survey and testimonies published in Insight India enabled the believers to know about the workers and pray more intelligently for them. It was the need of the hour. I greatly appreciate the good work being carried out through the Operation Barnabas Team especially in the field of medical assistance (MAP) for the full-time workers. The workers serving the Lord in the remote places especially the less privileged and unknown workers face a lot of hurdles and health hazards and their ministries are affected a lot. Now, because of the OB medical plan many are benefited in Odisha. MAP is for worker’s family only. But there are many who also take care of their aged parents, so I wish it could also be extended to include them. Not only in the area of health but also in the field of the education of worker’s children OB is of a great help and most workers appreciate it so much. Another matter I want to mention here is that OB also took much interest in publishing much needed study books in North Indian languages. This was one of the most needed ministries; for the edification and equipping of gospel workers. May the Lord help OB to be a greater source of help and encouragement to many servants of God who are toiling hard in the Mission fields of India. All blessings to the OB Team!

The little write-ups about the evangelists in the Insight monthly magazine was a great contribution and is continued. I have had the privilege of travelling with him to some mission fields to get first-hand information about various ministries and the ministers. Operation Barnabas has also taken initiative in extending their hands of physical fellowship to the needy. They also extend help to the brethren in our country in the field of education, health and other social needs. Few assemblies, especially in the northern part of India is blessed to have their own place of worship due to their faithful efforts. The present medical aid provided for the evangelists and their families is a great leap in the ministry of this century. This has given great relief to many in times of medical need. Being a beneficiary, I have been blessed by this medical aid during my ill-health. It was exceedingly difficult to convince our brethren regarding medical aid and it needed a bold step in introducing this among our brethren. I remember few of us discussing about introducing medical aid among the evangelists but none of us could take an initiative towards this cause.
Praise God! Finally, it was introduced for the benefit of the evangelists and their families through Operation Barnabas. Operation Barnabas has a well-qualified team of people holding strong expertise in this field and they continue to grow more refined as they reach out in serving more of the Lord’s servants. Any ministry among the assemblies, when introduced initially, has seen wide opposition but later it gets accepted. The ministry of Operation Barnabas has seen unfavorable situations, but it stood the test of the time and had been moving forward. As we read in Philippians 1:6, “Being confident of this very thing that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Jesus Christ.” Though the context mentioned in this verse is different; I would affirm that the ministry of Operation Barnabas is begun by the Lord and HE will bring it to a good end.

The apostles nicknamed him Barnabas, Son of Encouragement (4:36), and it seems like he earned it! When Bro. Roy Daniel initiated a ministry with the title Operation Barnabas, I was curious to watch its activities. And I praise God to see that the ministry stands true to its name till today. Effective Christian ministries are the servants of the church and they should be managed by Christian believers to express or spread their faith, the prototype being the Great Commission. Paul said he had become the church’s servant by the commission of God. This is true of all ministers who are effective. In fact, the word minister means servant. This is what Jesus said about himself: “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). Every effective minister must be a servant. This would seem to be fundamental to every ministry too. Operation Barnabas exists to serve the church in all possible manner.
Effective Christian Ministries should be Faithful Stewards of The Word of God. Operation Barnabas is second to none in being faithful to the holy scriptures. Effective Christian Ministries have the goal of presenting everyone mature in Christ. Paul describes the church as infants tossed to and fro by every wind of teaching. It is the duty of the Church and Christian ministries to see the potential in a young Christian, no matter how long they have been saved. They should see the calling that God has on their lives and the things God wants them to do through them. And, they begin to invest in them so that they start to mature in the Word of God; they start to do the works of service they were called to do. This is what exactly Operation Barnabas do: they help people mature.
When I was the Chairman of Tiruvalla Medical Mission Hospital Group, I got a unique opportunity to join hands with Operation Barnabas, supporting hundreds of our people suffering from an unprecedented flood in Kerala. Along with the monetary support we could share with them the love of Christ also in a unique manner. As Operation Barnabas celebrate their 25th Anniversary in active service, I take this opportunity to wish them a very active and meaningful future, if our Lord tarries. God has gifted OB with the strength and ability to shine brightly in His world. May God continue to bless the ministry with all the good things you deserve. Shine your light and make a positive impact on the world; there is nothing so honorable as helping improve the lives of others.

Many Evangelists received timely help and encouragement from the believers and also from OB. I would like to mention a particular incident for your encouragement. It was in 2003 July, one of the Evangelist enrolled his three children in the school. Since he could not pay the fee. On his request the school authorities gave him a period of one month to pay the fee. But he could not pay the fee even after the month. So, school Management was about to cancel the admission of the three children and the same was informed to the parents. Just about the same time he got a fellowship gift from one unknown believer by post, which as sufficient to pay all the fees for that year. The believer got the address of the particular worker from Prayer Handbook. Praise God for the way He used this Prayer Hand book to establish a link between the workers and believers who are concerned. Bro. Roy also personally visited most of the workers in Telugu states and published their profile in their magazine “Insight India”, which also raised many prayer partners and supporters. OB was also responding to the needs in time of calamities. There was a fire accident in Arundhathi village, nearly 120 houses and the Prayer Hall totally damaged. Immediately OB has sent help to all the families, not only believers but also to unbelievers. That was great encouragement to the families and an open door to the families to know how the Lord loves all the people. At the time of “Hudhud cyclone”, OB came up with support to repair more than 75 houses in that area and also to rebuild ten Meeting places of assemblies. It took many months to complete the work with good quality material. Personally Bro.Roy T. Daniel visited these areas and that was also a great encouragement to the believers. It was really a great encouragement to the Assemblies at the time. In the year 2009, there was an unexpected flood in Kurnool area which was the greatest flood in 100 years. Nearly 478 villages in 87 Mandals have been severely hit. OB has responded immediately and also Bro. Roy T. Daniel visited the flood affected area. Helped many families with financial aid and distributing food items, and other useful things such as cloths, bed sheets utensils etc. Workers in this Telugu states were much encouraged and benefited by the support of OB in many ways. There is one incident, which I need to present as an example for His Glory. It is about one Evangelist in coastal part of AP, he met with an accident and could not get good treatment in this state, so he was taken to Mumbai, which was beyond his financial capacity. It was informed to Bro. Roy T. Daniel on phone, and immediately without any delay sent a good amount of support to Mumbai. It was in 2014, before MAP was started. Through Medical Aid Program (MAP), many Evangelists were supported all over India, but Telugu States workers probably benefited the most. Their Education plan (EAP) is also helping many workers to pay the school fees for their children. I praise the Lord for the courage OB committee shown in taking up these great and costly programs for the Glory of God and for the encouragement of workers. Let me complete this writeup by saying the following statement. “I strongly believe that the ministry of Operation Barnabas is God given Vision, working according to the God’s guidance for the Glory of God.”

Assemblies have come up in 20 villages in our region as a result of the hard work of 19 people in our team. We are looking forward to develop a campus for training and further activities. We greatly appreciate the contributions that brethren from around the world has sacrificially made towards establishing the kingdom of God in the hearts of many. Your continual prayers for ministries in such places done through Operation Barnabas would be greatly appreciated.

To them it was a timely help and provided much relief. for their needs. When I introduced few workers and their problems, I am glad that the responsible people of this ministry responded favourably towards them. I pray that this ministry may continue to grow so that many more could be encouraged comforted and challenged in the service of the Lord.

Soon Br. Roy T. Daniel called me once and came to Mangalore. Staying with us for couple of days, along with me he took time to personally visit most of the Evangelists serving the Lord in different parts of the then undivided District of Dakshina Kannada of coastal Karnataka. Meeting them personally, recording their first hand testimony and introducing them to the brethren through the magazine, was a first of it’s kind in our area. I have heard many brothers and sisters from different assemblies testifying that the information they read about the evangelists in Insight India Magazine, helped them in praying and supporting the workers more meaningfully. Over the past twenty five years of their ministries, Operation Barnabas has stood as a support in many ways to several needs of the Lord’s servants in India. The assistance in educational expenses of the children of the evangelists, the medical aid program for the evangelists and their families are some of the ministries that have been a great help to many in their needs. The entire team of the Brethren working through the ministries of Operation Barnabas deserve an appreciation and the prayers and support of the saints. On this occasion of completing 25 years of service, I join the brethren in thanking and praising God for what the Lord has done through the ministry of Operation Barnabas. Christian regards and Prayers