INDIA
We live in Switzerland but every year we go back to India for about 2 months to join in the ministry his family is doing there. Simon’s father came to Jesus in 1998 and started a house prayer group. This house prayer group quickly developed into the church it is today: JCM Church. JCM stands for Jesus Comes Ministries and it embodies all the mercy ministries they do with the church. The calling of this church is to reach out to the lowest and poorest people. They focus on widows, low-caste, old and forgotten people. They reach out in the following ways:
- Handing out clothing and food for those in need
- Creative Children’s Ministry in surrounding villages
- Visiting old and poor people
- Providing school supplies for children
These are some of the ways that the church reaches out to the local community. They also have a weekly Sunday Service, Sunday School for kids, seminars and prayer and intercession times. Every year we join in with these ministries (which Simon has been a part of since he was a child!) and we get to witness the impact it has on the people and children who receive our care and attention. We have a heart to show the outcasts that they are welcome, and the poor that they are not overlooked and these practical ministries are a great way to do this!
In 2020 Simon did the School of Biblical Christian Worldview in Switzerland. Here he learned how to effectively reach out to meet the needs of the local community. Here he was inspired to set up a new project to make a change for the women in his community. From this the Women Empowerment Project was born!
In the district where Simon grew up there is one major problem that impacts the lives of the majority of the women: Beedi. Beedi is a cigarette particular to that area. This cigarette is equal to 5 normal cigarettes, it is very strong. As there are very few job opportunities for women in this place, and if there are they are often not allowed to leave the village for work from their husbands, most of them roll these cigarettes to make some money. They get sent the material to roll these cigarettes to their home, and roll them at home. This allows them to stay at home and work from there. Most of the women grow up learning how to roll this cigarette, as they are expected to know how to do this. This work is very unhealthy, as they are breathing in the tobacco while they are rolling the beedi and it has bad consequences for their lungs. Next to the bad impact on their health, they are also forced to work very hard to hit a minimum target. They also don’t get to use their creative gifts that God has given them, which breaks our hearts. `
To give these women more perspective and purpose, Simon set up a Tailoring School. This Tailoring School is a 5-month, free course, designed to teach women how to sew clothing and set up their own business. The goal of this course is to equip them to use their gifts and talents to create something new, to hand them the tools to make a living in a healthy way, and to get them out of the Beedi industry by offering them something else, something better! Every year we run the Tailoring School in a different village, so that the women don’t have to leave the village to get the training, and we offer it for free which makes it more accessible to them. We have run the school 3 times now and we had the privilege of witnessing many women get out of the Beedi industry and see them empowered to use their gifts and talents to make a living!