This place was very special to me personally because a lot of the attendees are people who had come to Christ through the cellphone preaching. Before the service began, Kumar told me that these believers all knew me and were anxious to see me in person because he had conducted the cell-phone preaching at this place a number of times. So at the end of the meeting, I asked him to address the crowd and ask how many of them had become Christians through the cellphone meetings. I was a bit overwhelmed when most of the people there raised their hands. It was a real encouragement to continue the work of the cellphone ministry.
Trevor delivered the main message and we laid hands on a prayed for every person there. the children were giddy and having a wonderful time. We were wondering why the security was so tight and why they looked so nervous. As we left, Kumar explained that just six months ago, the pastor was threaten
ed by Hindu radicals to stop preaching the gospel. After he refused, he was attacked from behind in the middle of a Sunday morning service by a man with a machete, and had his head cut off in front of the whole crowd. We were both shocked and humbled because persecution became very real and also because it was an honor to preach from the pulpit of such a brave brother in Christ, who stood his ground in the face of death.The evening crusade was in a familiar place. It was just a few kilometers away from our baptism site. As we were weaving our way through the alleyways and streets of the village, Kumar received a phone call and he instructed the driver to stop and shut off the lights. A group of Hindus were at the crusade causing a disturbance and threatening violence. We didnt know if we should be nervous or not. This wasnt the first time on this trip that the hindus were trying to obstruct the work of God. But, soon, the phone rang and we were on our way again. Apparently, there was some sort of deal struck, and we shut off a few of the loudspeakers in order for them to leave us alone.
Our stage was set in the middle of the roadway, and the chairs were lined up the street as far as we could see. The music was so loud. We chuckled together as we surmised what it
would have been like if we hadnt shut off half the speakers. Kumar was still upset and said he wanted it to be like"thunder from heaven" upon the entire village. When the speaking began, we could not see how far the crowd went back into the street. There was row upon row of people coming out to hear the gospel. I preached about the fruit in our lives demonstrating what we really are, no matter what we may claim to be, and what it looks like to be a child of God. Then I shared the good news of the gospel with them and offered them an opportunity to come to Christ publicly. The altar filled up rapidly and after praying with them to receive the Lord, we laid hands on them and prayed for every person.We headed back to Kumar's place, knowing that this was the last day of ministry in this dark city. The need for the gospel is so great in Rajahmundry. We all openly expressed our desire to come back and plant more seeds on this fertile soil.
Monday was a day that was burnt up in travel back to Chennai, so the next blog will begin on our first day of ministry in the city of Chennai, India.
In local news, me, the wife and the kids went down to Columbia Park for the 4th of July festivities last night and handed out over 800 tracts before we settled into a comfortable spot to watch the fireworks. I was pleasantly surprised by my kids as they handed out hundreds of tracts alongside their dad. I'm training up more evangelists!
See you on the streets!