Dear Brothers and Sisters in Hudson Valley Congregation,

Greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

I and my wife, Bindu, consider this as a God given opportunity to be here in this beautiful land. It is only because of God’s kindness and by your continuous prayer. We reached here on 10th June 2010. Thank you for the nice and warm reception. We are thankful to all of the Hudson Valley Congregation members, the Board of Trustees especially, the Secretary, Mr. John Eapen, for making our journey possible. I also extend my grateful thanks to Rt. Rev. Thomas Samuel Bishop for appointing me to this congregation.

Here I remember the former Vicars, who worked here in the last years especially Rev. Mathew P.  George and Rev. Thomas Ninan. May God bless their ministries.
                 
You know, July 4th is the Independence Day of the US.  On that day this nation salutes the leaders who worked for getting freedom. The word Independence means the state of being not dependant or controlled by other persons or things.   But in Galatians 5:1 St. Paul says  “Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free and go not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.”  The word liberty means firstly, the state of those who are not slaves secondly, the quality of personal and social life thirdly, which is a God given position.   To most reasonable people, ‘freedom’ means more than just ‘free to do whatever I want’.  Taken literally, that approach would produce problems. None of us has to live that way. Certainly freedom does mean the right to do as one pleases - to think, believe, speak, worship, move about, gather, and generally act as you choose - but only until your choices start to encroach on another person’s freedom. 

But in biblical point of view, freedom is so complete surrender to God as to be called slavery to God, to justice and righteousness. For freedom Christ has set you free.  That is freedom from sin and evil.  Sin is a bondage.  St. Paul advises us that not to go to the yoke of bondage. If a man lives a sinful life he is always in bondage.  For Paul, we have been called to liberty not to use it as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. It is a new way of living and understanding life and freedom: not ‘according to the flesh’, which leads us to selfish and to destroy others, but ‘according to spirit’. The spirit of God is love, fellowship, justice, righteousness.  Jesus said:  “If you abide in my word you are my disciples indeed.  And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.  The Christian faith makes men free because Christ is truth.  Where truth is sought, known, proclaimed and abide by only there is freedom. Therefore as people of God, we have the responsibility to proclaim the delivering power of our lord and to live as a channel before others for finding the truth. May God help us to do so.

In the last month our Family Retreat was held.  It was our first common programme. The theme  "How Do You Live? By Conviction or By Convenience" was very impressive. The insights we have received may help our coming days powerful and blessed.  Most of our family members attended the retreat.  I congratulate all the family members and the coordinators.

As we begin a new style of life and work with you here, We request your prayer and fellowship. Prayer of the entire congregation is needed for a leader to work.  The progress of a congregation depends on the co-operative work of the Vicar and the Members. So let us go together not for our credit but for the kingdom of God. May God bless us.

With Love and Glad,
Binu Achen