Church Ministry Archives - The Christian Observer

TCONEWS ADMINAugust 29, 2023

79min93

Chatbots for Retail and eCommerce: Capabilities, Benefits, Development

chatbot e-commerce

The e-commerce landscape is already changing with the adoption of chatbots. Forward-thinking brands are using chatbots to improve customer service, provide faster responses, gather more data about their customers, and overall creating a more enjoyable shopper experience. The chatbot uses artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, and natural language understanding (NLU) to mimic human speech. Businesses are always adopting chatbot e-commerce chatbots and incorporating them into their workflows to answer customer questions and work around the clock. Although chatbots have some weaknesses – they are not very intelligent – they can be useful when they do the right work. By utilizing TheBigBot SaaS platform, you can leverage the power of chatbots, automate marketing campaigns, streamline e-commerce operations, and enhance customer engagement across multiple channels.

  • GPT-powered chatbots can handle customer inquiries, process returns, and facilitate exchanges, leading to increased customer satisfaction and repeat business.
  • The flow should also be straightforward, and the answers should vary at different stages of the customer’s journey.
  • This is when you need to offer comparison tables between you and your competitors, and essentially convince the user to choose you.
  • Your team will need to work with your Facebook Messenger chatbot to round off the customer experience.

Virtual assistants can provide this function by making suggestions to users based on their preferences and what you already know about them. This is a great use of AI in retail for clothing brands, where you may already know a customers size. Searchspring; AI-powered search and merchandising solutions that can help improve the customer experience and increase sales. Over-reliance on AI can lead to errors and mistakes that could damage a brand’s reputation. For example, if a chatbot can’t answer a customer’s question or provide appropriate assistance, the customer may become frustrated and turn to a competitor.

Increased sales and better service for your online shop!

Whether you’re shopping for makeup, need expert advice as you decide on a product, need to order an Uber, or simply need to see the weather forecast before you plan your hiking trip, bots are expected to make life easier. Through offering quizzes to better understand individuals their chatbot serves up personalized makeup advice, how-to guides and videos as well as product suggestions. Sephora is hoping to engage and turn active Kik users into paying clients as well. Currently, there are thousands of chatbots available for platforms such as Android, Messenger, Kik, Slack, or Telegram, and more are being introduced every day.

  • This, of course, translates to increased revenue, leads to higher customer retention, brings about more repeat customers, and generates more useful data as well.
  • Your very own chatbot can bring all those customers into the exact dialogue flow that you want them to join.
  • To understand how chatbots can mitigate some of these frustrations and improve the user experience, we need to first look at how customers are choosing to interact with businesses today.
  • Chatbots are still trending massively and many believe they’ll be the No.1 contributor to Gartner’s prediction that 85% of customer interactions won’t be handled by humans by 2020.
  • The computers/servers in which we store personally identifiable information are kept in a secure environment.
  • So, this can be utilised in relation to food orders, product suggestions, customer support, arranging meetings, and even looking for a particular service.

With chatbot and AI technology recording usage history and other data, Alexa will remember for them. The bot would have direct access to the basic Facebook profile data whenever a user starts engaging with a chatbot. This way, through more quizzes and questionnaires, it would become easy to gather data and save the main attributes. We will phone or set up a video call to explain our analysis of how you can empower yourself to ignite your online business.

Deploying a chatbot, e-commerce style

Additionally, they have native integration with many e-commerce platforms, including Magento. In building voice assistant content, the first practice your businesses should consider is selecting a voice personality that suits your brand. Most of the time, buyers judge information based on the context, if your business brings out a fun image, an uplifting voice will be more engaging https://www.metadialog.com/ for customers. By improving context awareness, you can also improve the voice assistant’s answer. This can be done by making the experience more personal and using data to understand and partly predict how users will react. Collectively, they enable your businesses to create convenient and seamless shopping experiences for customers within an integrated and personalized platform.

https://www.metadialog.com/

By providing them with a topic or keyword, they can generate unique and high-quality content optimized for search engines. For example, an apparel brand can use these tools to create product descriptions, blog posts, and other content that includes relevant keywords and phrases. This can help improve the store’s search engine rankings and drive more traffic to the site. Technology solutions like Nosto and Crossing Minds incorporate AI to provide personalized product recommendations, targeted marketing, and other AI-driven features. By leveraging AI for personalization, e-commerce merchants can stay ahead of the curve and provide a superior shopping experience for their customers. Offering customer support across multiple platforms and channels isn’t a luxury service in today’s digital landscape.

The increasingly popular Flowers in the US even enables consumers to send flowers to their loved ones via voice. Thankfully, just about all of us have moved on from the days of old sales techniques such as picking up the trusty Yellow Pages and pestering potential clients through cold-calling. Tommy Hilfiger recently paired up with A-list model, Gigi Hadid, on chatbot e-commerce a fashion line. Users of the bot can view the entire collection (modelled by Hadid), go behind the scenes to their design sessions, and purchase the pieces. Our new website has just been released; we welcome your feedback allowing us to provide a better experience… Integrate our compliant solution with your existing systems for a seamless implementation.

chatbot e-commerce

Thanks to machine learning, chatbots are capable of providing a personalised experience to your users, learning with and about them. They adapt to their preferences and needs easily, making tailor-made suggestions to each user and each request for help or information. For this leading e-commerce marketplace with over 8 million active customers a year, it was vital to implement large-scale support. Respond quickly to all customer requests and expertly guide them through the online shopping process without compromising the quality of their customer service. This raises concerns among brands and retailers, especially around the spread of fake news.


TCONEWS ADMINAugust 4, 2023

146min159

6 Ways Ecommerce Sites can Benefit from AI in Digital Marketing » Figment Agency

ecommerce chatbot use cases

Those who shop online demand highly personalized experience which adds value to their lives. It’s best to start small when adopting ML technologies in your business. You can use new solutions to analyze the data sets and test the insights.

  • The intelligent software puts retailers in a strong position to make specific assortment and planning decisions, and track the business impact of those actions.
  • Here are some key examples of industries, use cases and business areas where we highlight the potential application and benefits that a chatbot can deliver.
  • In fact, even if you only use your chatbot for simple tasks, it can be useful to have them offer the user the option to flag a human.
  • There are indeed, and they are precisely what we’ll be exploring in this post.

This frees their customer support team to cater to those customers who need support for more complex problems. As such, a chatbot, if designed to carry out the company’s refund and exchange policy, can certainly execute these tasks instead of customer support agents in your company. Slush, an organization that holds entrepreneurial events all over the world, did exactly this and experienced very positive results. In 2018, the LeadDesk chatbot on Slush’s website successfully handled 64% of all customer support requests for the Slush customer support team—a significant load.

Top IT Development Companies in Canada 2023: Meeting the Software Demand

Between 2020 and 2022, global eCommerce payment fraud losses were estimated at around $41 billion. Some of the most common frauds impacting online retailers are payment fraud, fraudulent purchases, and identity theft. Business owners should train their employees to use AI, specifically machine learning, in their workflow.

https://www.metadialog.com/

With automated intelligent services, a business can improve customer satisfaction by reducing the wait time. Analyzing large amounts of data takes a lot of time for an individual or a small team. But thanks to AI, companies can breeze through it and deliver accurate insights on consumer buying habits.

Test Chatbot

Used properly, chatbots can be one of the best business tools currently available. That said, badly deployed chatbots may create a lot more problems than they solve. Ecommerce businesses are foreseeing immense potential of artificial intelligence to increase their income in ways that they never could before. That is why such companies as Facebook, IBM, and Yahoo have already publicly expressed their focus on developing AI as a new source of business and are investing heavily in artificial intelligence initiatives.

This must be considered when you decide to bring in chatbots as part of your customer service or marketing mix. By personalizing the questions a chatbot asks, you can direct customers to the best way to buy and create a better user experience along the way. Because chatbots are built to ask questions, collect answers, and automatically direct customers, window shoppers, and new customers can get a lot of value out of simply being asked what it is they’re looking for. Chatbots can help your business acquire customers more easily than live human agents. Plum, a company which creates an AI-equipped, money-saving software, uses a chatbot  to teach incoming users how their product works. Their chatbot starts by introducing their software and giving social proof and then asks users whether they’d like to learn more.

The prompt is the set of instructions given to an AI in order to obtain a desired response. On a large scale, prompting is the technological ingredient that makes it possible to build a trusted chatbot with AI that meets retailers’ challenges. Generative AI often appears as a “black box” to its users, meaning that businesses should be prioritizing transparency and control.

Heard on the Street – 6/12/2023 – insideBIGDATA

Heard on the Street – 6/12/2023.

Posted: Mon, 12 Jun 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]

From personalized product recommendations to chatbots and virtual assistants, there are numerous ways to leverage AI in ecommerce and gain a competitive edge in the digital marketplace. Conversational AI platforms like chatbots and virtual assistants are used to handle the different processes involved in sales. In this way, chatbots and virtual assistants help in improving the sales management of an organization. Chatbots can be integrated into warehouse systems, databases, and CRM systems to simplify and streamline.

Consumer Goods and Services

As employees will later be operators, they must understand how these technologies can benefit their work. In reality, many companies don’t have the resources to invest in the infrastructure and tools required to run AI systems. You can outsource AI-powered tools, but they will cost you hundreds of thousands of dollars annually.

ecommerce chatbot use cases

Before buying products/services, today’s customers like to do research. And during their research quest, they often try to contact a business/service to learn more about a product’s ecommerce chatbot use cases price, i.e., a quote, in order to make a decision. For businesses, implementing such a service requires a huge investment in necessary hires, infrastructure, and technology.

If you have a salesperson/team, this will also free up their time to focus on high value queries. Chatbots can help you shorten your customer service response times and increase customer satisfaction. 1.4 billion people are using chatbots for sales, with the UK part of the top 5 chatbot-using countries (alongside the US, India, Germany and Brazil). Chatbots and AI voice assistants provide uninterrupted support outside regular business hours when human agents are unavailable, such as on Christmas day.

Uber Matching leverages machine learning to match drivers and riders based on geographical factors like traffic. Image Clean-Up helps eCommerce retailers improve their listings’ visuals without a third-party image editor or a professional camera. With a few clicks, sellers can remove the background elements of an image, creating a cleaner look that appeals to potential buyers.

Pros of chatbots

So wherever your customers encounter a Zoom-powered chatbot – whether on Facebook Messenger, your website or anywhere else – the experience is consistent. Laiye’s AI chatbots include robotic process automation (RPA) and intelligent document processing (IDP) capabilities. They seamlessly utilise support integrations to allow human agents to easily enter and exit conversations via live chat and create tickets. Zendesk’s unique approach to Al revolutionises customer experience solutions by delivering intelligent responses to customer enquiries thanks to its ease of use and deep expertise in customer service.

ecommerce chatbot use cases

Consequently, opportunities aren’t missed, the process is transformational for an end customer, and forecourt salespeople have mundane work taken off their hands. A key component of any artificial intelligence solution is data – the more data you have, the faster your AI chatbot can learn and improve. In short, more context leads to better https://www.metadialog.com/ chatbots and more personalised conversations. A chatbot can ask your customers what language they prefer at the start of a conversation or determine what language a customer speaks from their input phrases. Zoom Virtual Agent, formerly Solvvy, is an effortless next-gen chatbot and automation platform that powers good customer experiences.

Providing a personalised experience is a big part of satisfying customers. It can engage customers and provide quick solutions to keep them satisfied, gently moving them to the next stage in their journey. As per a report from Microsoft, 47% of customers switch to another brand because of poor customer service. Product finders don’t just rely on artificial intelligence – they need high quality, up to date product content, copywriting and user research in order to succeed. This takes careful planning and obviously isn’t a technology challenge – it’s all about imaginative communication.

Which industries use chatbots the most?

The real estate industry uses chatbots more frequently than any other industry—the ability for these small businesses to answer customer questions around the clock in a timely fashion is critical when it comes to making a sale, or renting a unit. It's easier than you think to implement a chatbot.

How chatbot can help small businesses?

Chatbots are becoming increasingly popular for small businesses because they provide a great way to improve customer service, increase sales, and better understand your customers. Chatbots can gather customer feedback, which can later be used to enhance your products and services.


TCONEWS ADMINNovember 28, 2018
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2min8730

By Manasi Inamdar

Christian Institute of Management (CIM) jointly with the Board of Theological Education Senate of Serampore College (BTESSC) and Asia Theological Association (ATA) conducted consultations for the leaders of Theological Institutions/Bible Seminaries in the five regions of India – South, West, East, North Western and Northern region consultations were held recently.

The regional consultation for Western India was held at Hotel Samrat, Pune  on Monday 19 November 2018. Representatives from  leading theological Institutions and well wishers  attended the programme.  CA Raja B. Singh (Chartered Accountant) , Mumbai in the key note address titled ‘Legal and Managerial Scenario of Churches and Missions in India’, spoke about  the ignorance of the tax system of the country, and discussed financial laws applicable for Institutions and churches.  He particularly talked about  and lack of awareness on GST and FCRA by Christian organisations . Rev. Dr. Praveen Paul,  Principal  of Union Biblical Seminary, Dr. Aby Alexandar, CIM and Dr. Reji Samuel took various sessions.

Regional consultation for Northern India  was held at Navajeevan Renewal Centre, New Delhi, on Wednesday 21st November 2018.  Key note address was presented by  Dr. (CA) Sanjay Patra, (Exec. Director FMSF), on ‘Emerging Legal and Managerial Scenario of Churches and Missions in India.’ He highlighted on the challenges faced by organizations and institutions from externally and internally. He also encouraged Christian community to be prepared  to respond positively and be a good model to the nation. Mr. Anand Joshua , Executive Director, CIM  and Dr. Reji Samuel took various sessions.


TCONEWS ADMINNovember 22, 2018
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4min6990

By Leah Sable

Pune:- SALT – “Salvation At Lords Throne” was a youth camp that was organized by One-Way Team from 14th to 17th Nov 2018. The main motive of the camp was to utilize Diwali vacation as an opportunity to build a strong foundation for the youths in Spirituality, Biblical Teaching, Mental & Physical Fitness, Counselling.

Joseph Dass the Founder of One-Way team said “The youth camp benefited 100+ eager youths and taught them how to be discipline in life, be matured in their talks, taking initiatives in church activities by voluntarily helping and how to build their Career.

The Guest Speakers of the camp were renowned individuals who inspired the youth with their guidance, counseling and motivation from the WORD of God.

Ps. Joyson Cherian, Senior Pastor Hope Manna taught on the topic of Love Sex Marriage. He stressed and focused that todays youth should avoid making mistakes and take counsel before making any decision related to LOVE SEX Marriage.

Ps. Paul Dass Senior Ps Freedom In Christ spoke on the topic of Vision and Goal in Life that how the youth need to sit and decide and understand the importance of having a vision and goal to achieve because without them you will be unsuccessful in life.

Ps. Joshua Motiwala Senior Pastor of Abundant Life Church spoke on the topic of Holiness, how oneself should keep themselves pure and holy in their Mind and actions and how to be like Jesus Christ.

Ps. Joesph Pawar Senior Pastor Jesus Loves Fellowship shared the Gospel of Jesus Christ with the youth which is the basic foundation of Christianity and also the power of God.

Br Joel Sunil Sable, National President of National Christian Council (Youth Wing) was invited as a guest speaker and he taught the youth how to Build their Careers giving a biblical touch. He also mentioned that it is one of the most important factors in today’s situation.

Br. Sheldon Boodle a professional Musician & the Founder of Maqsad Band a Christian Gospel Worship team taught about music and shared his experience which helped the youth.

Br. Alisha Konesagar, the President of Hadapsar Constitution – National Christian Council Youth Wing taught the youth about Faith with Works and how to apply it in day today life and Never Give Up.

Praise & Worship was lead by various renowned worship teams like Kings Men, , SEBER, Abundant Life, Divine Majesty, Freedom in Christ Worship Team, Bakshash. The anchor of the Youth Camp was Apurva Kamble who did a splendid job from start to finish.


TCONEWS ADMINOctober 21, 2018
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3min67120

By Jatin Adhav

Pune:- In a time where the youth are ignored completely, especially in the professional area, The National Christian Youth Council, (NCYC) an interdenominational Christian youth body working for the  development and concerns of youth today, organised a Career Guidance and Business Development Seminar on Saturday October 20, 2018 at The Hindustan Convent Church, Solapur Road, Pune.

The objective of the organisers was to appeal Christian youth to have a holistic approach towards personal and professional life and generate job and business opportunities for them through the platform.

Talking to Rohan Gaikwad, Founder, NCYC, said “The Seminar benefited 200+ eager experienced, unexperienced, skilled, unskilled, employed, unemployed youth who were guided by eminent and experienced key resource speakers, and various exemplary dignitaries from the field of education, business,  legal, theology and medicine”.


Mrs. Sharvari Govande, Principal, St. Mary’s College of Education stressed upon the need for a balance between one’s spiritual and secular life, while Mrs. Sangeeta Kadam, Principal, Epiphany School laid emphasis on the dignity of labour in today’s context of unemployment amongst youth.

Adv. Markas Deshmukh, Bombay High Court, Legal Advisor to many financial and educational institutions, guided the youth to learn more about the government schemes and other benefits available for minorities, and appealed them to educate and equip themselves to face the bigger world that awaits them.

HRs, Managers, Business Owners from top companies  like ExL Services Private Limited, HDFC Life Insurance Limited, Skyskaper Consultancy Services Private Limited, eLearning Solutions Private Limited, Nutrilite and Amway and many others and in and around Pune  arranged for on the spot interview rounds and recruitments at their respective desks.

The youth thanked the NCYC for thier management and support in helping them in securing jobs and offering business opportunities to them through such a large and convenient platform.

The program ended with lunch and more than 70% youth securing jobs and business opportunities.


TCONEWS ADMINSeptember 30, 2018
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5min9270

The Christian community across India, irrespective of denominations, is observing a one-day prayer meeting on October 1 for the persecuted Church in India.

Talking to Shibu Thomas, Founder, President, he said “Persecution Relief, an ecumenical body, that records persecution against Christians in India, is taking the lead and appealing to all the believers, to pray for early release of 100’s of Christians jailed for alleged religious conversion cases. We are glad that The Christian Observer – www.tconews.org , India’s premier Christian Newspaper, who have been publishing exclusive Christian News across 45 countries and with a readership of 4.5 lacs, have accepted joining us as our Media Online Partner.”

100’s of Worship places, have been closed down, attacked and vandalized. Men, Women and Children have been indiscrimately beaten up during the Sunday Worship services inside the Church. Believers are forcefully stopped from attending Prayer meetings in many villages & cities. False FIR’s against Pastors & Priests are made literally every day across India.  We desperately need God’s supernatural intervention, to strengthen the persecuted and their families so that they may not deny Christ; that they will have more power to withstand hardships; that they will not run away from the faith; that they will continue to seek guidance and comfort of the Holy Spirit amidst attacks and humiliations.

Persecution Relief has recorded more than 1000 cases of Christian Persecution. In the last 9 months, we have recorded more than 60 cases in Uttar Pradesh alone, with 100’s of Worship places shut down with the help of the Police; 100’s of false FIR’s have been registered against Pastors of various Churches.

What is ICDPP?
The first of its kind in India, ‘Indian Christian Day of Prayer for the Persecuted’, was commemorated for the first time on 01 October, 2017, at a national level. Persecution Relief dedicates this day of prayer to Christian men and women across all denominations, who are joyfully and faithfully serving Jesus Christ, despite persecution and discouraging circumstances in India.

In 2017, participation from several Churches, Bible Colleges, Christian Institutions, small-group meetings, exceeded expectations, to make this day memorable.

Shibu appealed to the community saying that “Join us once again, on Monday, 01 October 2018, to commemorate the 2nd “INDIAN CHRISTIAN DAY OF PRAYER FOR THE PERSECUTED” (ICDPP), to raise awareness and lift up the persecuted Christians in prayer.” (As 1st October is a Monday, Churchs will be joining on 30th September & 7th October 2018 across India to Pray as a congregation.)

Why 01 October?
When Peter was kept in prison, constant prayer was offered to God for him by the Church, and the angel of the Lord delivered him. The same way many men & women of God have been delivered by the power of Prayer.

One such inspirational true story is of Pastor Philip George, who was released from prison after 666 days on 01 October, on account of the miraculous POWER OF PRAYER.

Dr. Jayakar Ellis, Founder Editor of the tconews.org said “Let us join our hearts in solidarity with believers, and respond to the Holy Spirit’s call. Let us set our personal agendas and voices aside and join on our knees, seeking God’s heart and His hand on behalf of our persecuted brethren in India.”

For details, please contact the below:-

Shibu Thomas,
Founder, President
PERSECUTION RELIEF
INDIA:  +91-99932 00020
founder@persecutionrelief.org

For all queries write to us: persecutionrelief@gmail.com
Report Christian Persecution in India 24×7 Toll Free – 1800-1234-461
www.facebook.com/persecutionrelief
www.persecutionrelief.org
www.twitter/PersecutionR


TCONEWS ADMINSeptember 8, 2018
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5min7500

On September 5, we celebrate the birth anniversary of Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, the Second President of India, who was a profound philosopher, a reminiscent teacher and a great humanist at heart.    His birthday has been celebrated as Teachers’ Day in dedication to all the teachers for their immense contribution in nurturing leaders, visionaries and responsible citizens of our nation.  On this day, I thank our Lord Jesus Christ for all the teachers all over for their lives of great service to the nation and humanity at large. The gentle gesture of holding a hand and guiding and the noble way of enlightening young minds simply bestows upon them the characteristic of being the most influential person in students’ lives.  Teachers impart good values to children and turn them into accountable, empowered and caring human beings.  Looking back on the years gone by, we all are grateful for the vital role our very own teachers have played in shaping our lives.  Malala Yousafzai, the youngest Nobel Prize laureate has aptly said, “One book, one pen, one child, and one teacher can change the world.”  Indeed, the positive influence of teachers lasts for generations to come. They are the nation builders, the architects of our society.

Today, with the emergence and rapid technological advancements, the landscape of education has changed.  Consequently, the role of our teachers too has changed over time.  Speaking about integration of technology in education, Bill Gates has beautifully stated, “Technology is just a tool. In terms of getting the kids working together and motivating them, the teacher is most important.”  Technology is here to transform edcuation and not to replace educators.  It is the role of the teachers to use it fruitfully to transform lives and enhance learning outcomes.  I strongly believe that while technology does its bit, teachers as facilitators add the desired human touch and instill values for holistic development and uplift the essence of education.

Teachers are an integral part of the educational system.  And in this ever evolving globalized world, teachers cannot afford to remain stagnant or old fashioned in their teaching pedogogy.  Teachers need to constantly upgrade themselves in order to keep pace with ever evolving learning patterns and diverse learners themselves.  John Dewey would say, If we teach today as we taught yesterday, we rob our children of tomorrow.”  There is alwaays something new to learn and if teachers fail to do this, they are doing injustice to their noble calling.  Education system demands teachers to be resource persons who as facilitators will be able to provide or guide students in getting the right information they are looking for.  Although things are available on just a click of a mouse, students need support from their teachers to understand and learn new concepts and skills.  Students look up to teachers as mentors and role models who inspire, encourage and boost their confidence to always strive to bring out the best in them and live life to the fullest.  Finally, on this Teachers’ Day, dear teachers, we acknowledge and appreciate your valuable contribution to the society.  We urge you to continue to live your vocation to the fullest and pray that may God bless you and keep you and be gracious to you.”

Wish you a Very Happy Teachers’ Day!

Madam Grace Pinto

Managing Director

Ryan International Group of Institutions


TCONEWS ADMINJuly 27, 2018
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5min7010

The Bombay Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA) in its recently held 141st Annual General Meeting nominated and unanimously elected its new President to the YWCA Board of Management along with a set of office bearers who will function as the officially elected members of the Board to provide governance to the YWCA of Bombay. Mrs. Priyadarsini John, Professor with the Dr. D.Y.Patil University and a long time Navi Mumbaikar has taken this role. Mrs Priya John is the wife of Dr.Pearl John, Consulting Director with CEB, a member based Advisory Organisation and the mother of Miss.Divya John. Mrs. Priyadarsini John called fondly as Priya is a multi-faceted personality; a talented singer, gifted musician, ardent social activist, an exemplary teacher, a devoted wife and a dedicated mother. She dons the multiple hats she wears with considerable ease and gives her best to every role she is required to take. She hails from Trivandrum, lived most of her life in Bengaluru, studied in CMC Vellore and currently lives in Navi Mumbai. A committed Christian she espouses a deep rooted faith in Christ and sees her mission as giving Christ His due within the YWCA framework.  Stree reproduces the Presidential Address delivered by Mrs. Priya John on June 25, 2016 at the 141st AGM of the Bombay YWCA.

In the words of Mrs. Priyadarsini Joh:-

“Greeting to you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. I am humbled as I stand before you this afternoon in awe of God’s grace and delighted by the confidence posited by you to elect me to this key portfolio of the Bombay YWCA.

As I reminiscence on my journey within the Y, I have so much to be grateful for. I entered the Y world as a young 26 year old, the warmth I experienced here was palpable. The senior members ensured I felt at home and soon was integrated into the ‘Y’s committees and activities. I cannot thank enough the spirit of camaraderie and support that exists within the ‘Y” organization. The senior members have provided leadership and direction to the organization with practical wisdom and a service mindset. Let me use this opportunity to thank all the past presidents and members of the board for the unwavering focus, active engagement and sacrificed service. Further I would like to thank the staff of the Y for your strong commitment, sincere efforts and excellent work ethic.

I am blessed to be part of such a group of dedicated, immensely talented, fully committed members of the Y to serve this great organization and together achieve the vision espoused by the Y.

As we progress the baton we would do well to focus on the following priorities for the ‘Y’ during 2016-17.

  • Existing Members: Leverage the skills, capabilities and time of the senior members of the Y to advance the organizational goals and objectives.
  • New Memberships: Enhance the memberships particularly infuse young members into the Y and strengthen the Y-Deepa such that the rich heritage of the senior members of the Y is effectively passed on to the younger generation in shaping the community at large.
  • Social Action: Enhance our relevance to the society by the following specific segments:
    • Target and campaign against drug trafficking by concerted efforts of the diverse constituents of Y
    • Focus on Justice beyond borders and ensure we activate and contribute to a society that is founded on earnestness, equality and equanimity where principle of justice becomes the bedrock of every action of every enterprise

The task at hand is large and time to deliver is minimal. I count on your continued support, consistent efforts and constant engagement that we be the beacon that we are called to be in this dark world and bring the light of Jesus to our every touch point. Thank You.”

We at The Christian Observer wish Mrs.Priyadarsini John the very best in her efforts at the YWCA.- Dr.Jayakar Ellis, Editor


TCONEWS ADMINJuly 20, 2018
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1min4120

The Ryan International Group of Institutions was recently recognized for its efforts for charity by the Guinness Book of World Records.

The Group’s school in Sharjah received this accolade for participating in the world’s largest charity donation for the poor. The students collected over 205,122 items of clothing for donation. This was verified by the authorities of Guinness World Records and was declared as a record.
Speaking on this achievement, Ryan International Group of Institutions Managing Director Grace Pinto said, “We are grateful for the vision that Lord Jesus Christ has given us to nurture responsible and compassionate future citizens of the world.”

Ryan Schools are well-known for providing holistic education to students and undertaking large scale initiatives to reach out to the underprivileged to build social responsibility amongst them.
Chairman Dr. A. F. Pinto, CEO Ryan Pinto and others celebrated the feat with the students of the school.


TCONEWS ADMINJuly 20, 2018

5min5080

Riot of laughter followed every dose of spiritual enrichment administered by the king of comedy in Bollywood, Johnny Lever. His talk on ‘Enriching Life Through Laughter’ at the Vishnudas Bhave auditorium in Vashi on June 8, 2013 organized by The Christian Observer (TCO) www.tconews.com, India’s 1st Christian Newspaper since 2000 inspired the predominantly assembled youth to realize and channelize their energies in the right direction with hundred per cent faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and themselves.

“Our problem is – we feel empty, when in fact God has made each one of us very beautiful and strong. The devil makes us weak and small. I assure you that nobody is bigger than you” stating so Johnny Lever began the session with an apologue. ‘An adamant child insists and compels his father to take him to the village fair. The poor father having no money agrees on condition that the child will not demand to buy anything in the fair. Soon after reaching the fair the child irritatingly demands the various delicacies being sold there. Suddenly the child is lost in the crowd, cannot find his father and starts crying loudly. People try to pacify him by offering all the delicacies that he had been demanding from his father a short while ago. The child refuses and insists on wanting his father only’. So too, stressed Johnny Lever, that even after getting everything we want in the material world, there will always be a void, which only The Lord, our Creator alone can fill and 2000 years ago He sent His son, Jesus, to fill this void.

The comedian preacher stunned the audience with a new syllabus of what the alphabets A to Z stand for in the new digital world, from A for Apple, B for Blackberry……I for Internet, J for Joystick…. to Y for Youtube and Z for zip file. He admitted that he was a living witness to the Love of the Lord, which never deserted him, ever since he could remember as a child. “I talked to the Lord and He talked to me. I did not tell anybody as no one would believe me. When I began going to the church, a relationship with the Almighty grew and it was humbling and a great source of strength. Do not take pride on your intelligence, strength and riches.

Take pride in your understanding and knowing the Lord”, Johnny Lever stated. Narrating parables and own life experiences Johnny Lever emphasized the need to stay away from the arrogance of having ministerial and bureaucratic contacts as these positions are temporary. He said that instead one should make good place in one’s heart for a permanent relationship with the Lord. Preaching to live with heavenly wisdom, he called upon the youth to shun greed and to put hundred per cent effort in whatever vocation they are into.

He assured the gathering that if they had true and complete faith in the Lord they could do much more than what he could achieve. Stating that he had seen very few people really happy in-spite of material success, Johnny Lever extolled the virtues of enriching the soul, enlarging oneself from the inside by loving one’s enemies and neighbors. Quoting Jesus he said that when one repents for one’s wrongs, life changes for the better. ‘Keeping the family happy, serving parents and elders will bring light and blessings to your home. Follow the words of the Lord Jesus Christ and do not give the devil a chance to shake the foundations of your Divinity, your relationship with the Creator’, Johnny Lever advised in his inspirational talk.

Johnny Lever prayed for and blessed ‘DISHA’, an NGO initiative by TCO in association with several other youth organizations like Goa Youth Christian Welfare Association and Joshua Generation, to channeling the youth in the right direction.