A Young and Busy Pre-Teen Evangelist

By James Varghese
Special to ASSIST News Service

Jojimon Ministering the Gospel.

KERALA, INDIA (ANS) -- A young and currently very busy pre-teen evangelist was mute until he was three, and then suffered from severe stammering until age seven.

Jojimon, 12, was born to orthodox Jacobite parents, Pastor Josemon and mother Kunjamma, on June 1 1996.

When Jojimon was seven, a pastor from Punalur in Kerala state had a vision about Jojimon, and later the pastor asked Jojimon's parents to bring their son to his house.

There the pastor prayed for Jojimon, and he was healed. Following the healing, Jojimon began praying for the pastor. (The pastor has asked that his name not be used in this story).

Study Shows Christianity Makes Men Better Husbands and Fathers

By Tim Waggoner

VIRGINIA, June 27, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - In a research brief this month, Bradford Wilcox, a sociology professor at the University of Virginia, analyzed three national studies in order to discover if "there is any evidence that religion is playing a role in encouraging a strong family orientation among contemporary American men?"   His research led him to conclude that men who regularly attend Christian services are engaged in happier and stronger marriages and are more involved in the lives of their children than men who do not.

"70 percent of husbands who attend church regularly report they are 'very happy' in their marriages, compared to 59 percent of husbands who rarely or never attend church," explained Wilcox, who also said that the studies indicated that wives experienced more marital happiness when their husbands attended regular religious services.

This is likely one significant reason why the studies showed that married couples who attended regular Christian services were approximately 35 percent less likely to divorce then those couples who did not. 

Wilcox's research also looked at the effect religion has on the relationships between fathers and their children.

Fathers who attended regular Christian services spent an average of two more hours a week engaged in youth-activities with their children than fathers who did not attend regular services.  Christian fathers also spent more one-on-one time with their children and were 65 percent more likely to hug and praise their children.

The studies also found that children born inside of wedlock had much more "involved, affectionate, and consistent relationships" with their fathers.  This is an important statistic given Wilcox's findings that church attending men are more likely to have children inside of wedlock then non-church going men.

Texas Lauches Program To Prevent Divorce - Churches Participate

But when asked earlier this week, she said she was unaware of a new $16 million state program aimed at preventing divorce through free, eight-hour marriage education classes. Beginning Sept. 1, couples who go through such a course will get a steep discount on their marriage license fee.

"I hadn't heard about that," said Dr. Patterson. But she likes the idea and wants to know more.

The healthy marriage initiative is known as "Twogether in Texas," and organizers are counting on clergy of all faiths to be a big part of it.

Many clergy don't know about the program. Of those who do, most seem strongly supportive, while still sorting through how involved they want to be with something that accommodates faith-based approaches but is itself secular.