India 2011 Days 8,9

Day 8

We began the day by going to a small pastor’s conference in the village where we had the crusades last year. About 30 pastors came to the meeting. It was great to worship, fellowship, and enjoy good solid teaching with them. Most of these pastors are not educated and have small congregations, so we wanted to provide them with encouragement to continue the good fight and not to grow weary in the work God has called them to. It was so hot in this place. The building has a tin roof, and the fans inside did nothing but draw the heat from the roof down onto us. It was the hottest part of the entire trip, by far.

Zach Smith received a great word for them from Acts 3 and 4, about how the word of God went out with power, even though the disciples were not educated men. They had simply been with Jesus. Then Zach Lamberson gave instruction on our responsibility as shepherds and what that is supposed to look like. I followed them with and encouragement to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus and keep an eternal perspective in all that we do in ministry and in the world.

After leaving the meeting, we all dressed down into more comfortable clothing and made our way to the gypsy community. This is a place near Caleb’s church. They began to reach out to these people by taking their children in to a day care center. They would bathe them, clothe them, feed them, and teach them basic elementary level school. We came here last year, but since then the gypsies have moved on. Some of the young men in the local village tried to force themselves on one of the gypsy girls, and this caused a fight to break out. After a small skirmish, the villages banded together and came to the gypsy colony and beat them severely. They did not spare the women or children. They completely destroyed their tents and their homes. Many of them were put into serious condition in the hospital. After picking up the pieces, the gypsies moved on to find another place to settle. Sadly, many of them left their children behind in the hands of Caleb’s church because they have no other hope of a better life outside of their help. So these are the children we came to see and spend time with.

We played some cricket, had lots of hugs, taught them Bible stories with our own animation, and listened to them sing songs that they had been taught. None of us wanted to leave, but we still had a full plate of ministry left before the day was out, so we gave out candy and said our goodbyes.

We headed straight to the leper colony from here. When we arrived, there weren’t many people moving around. I don’t know if its always that quiet here or if it was just because of the heat. So, we walked up and down the streets of the colony, stopping by people’s homes and asking them to come to the community center. This place is a picture of utter despair and complete lack of hope. I could not imagine being in their shoes. Most of them will never leave this place of suffering until they are dead. It was a long walk down those pitiful streets.

But we brought good news. As we gave them bags of rice and medical supplies, we also told them about the only hope available to any of us, Jesus Christ. It is so important for us to come here. Nobody else will ever show them any love. Only the Christians will come to help them and offer their compassion and service. Some of the pastors come here every week to share the love of Jesus with them. We laid hands on and prayed for all those who came forward and asked for it. It was a blessing to be able to be there for them and touch them. Imagine being locked away in a place of suffering like that, and no one will help you or touch you in fear that they may contract the deadly disease. Then come the Christians, full of love and support, telling you about a God who loves you and wants to give you life in a place where there will be no more suffering, pain or death. It was a powerful and moving experience, not only for us, but hopefully for the lepers as well.

From here, we went to visit a group of vagabonds called irrulars. They make their living by catching snakes from the fields of farmers, and then selling them to hospitals for the anti-venom. I was hoping we could see them do the snake-charming thing, so we could get some pictures of a real live cobra, but we got there too late in the evening. As we walked down the row of huts that they called home, we were introduced to the only Christian in the community. She was healed by God of cancer, and got saved. Then, the believers who led her to Christ began visiting the village and providing food and other provisions, so they now consider her to be good luck, even though they are very hard to reach with the gospel. Zach Smith shared a great word with them and explained the gospel in a clear, simple way. Then I pulled off a little bit of amateur magic for the kids to get them excited. We gave out bags of rice to each of the families and headed home for the evening.

It was a pretty long day, but we have another full day of ministry tomorrow. God has been doing His work through us in mighty ways, but at the same time, I see him doing great work in us as well. Until the next post, may God richly bless you for your continued prayers.

Day 9

First on our agenda for today is to go to the biggest pastors conference in Chennai. It is at pastor Christuldas’ church, and about 100 pastors came to the meeting. We arrived an hour early, because we were supposed to go to the Saint Thomas Mount, (believed to be the place where the Apostle Thomas was martyred) but we never went because the traffic leading to that place was a nightmare. We knew of we tried to go, we would be very late for the conference. So we skipped it for now.

Zach taught first and delivered a great message on shepherding. It was the longest I have ever seen him go. Then I got up and taught about humility and love in our service. We handed out copies of The Shepherd’s Staff, a publication that has been designed as a pastor’s handbook for distribution in third world countries.

In the evening, we went to another orphanage and visited the children there. We played with them and polished up our acting skills with a few skits. We also passed out candy and even did the magic show again. Kids love it. We also passed out blankets that a group of students back in the US made specifically for them.

The children in this orphanage all lost their parents in the tsunami of 2004. It is such a blessing to give them love and spend time with them. They are all so excited to see us and want us to hold them. Every one of them wants to shake your hand. They have such big, beautiful smiles. I try not to think about their situation and the hard life they have ahead of them. It isn’t hard to ignore their plight when they are so cute and rambunctious. It was another moving experience for all of us on the team.

Tomorrow is Good Friday, and we have plenty of things going on, so its off to bed at this point. Until then, God bless you.

Please remember to pray for us!

India 2011 Day 7

Day 7

Its our first day of ministry in Chennai, and we are going to come out of the gate at full speed. We have an all day pastor’s conference with the SCY pastors. SCY is for South Chennai Youth Pastors. It is a group of pastors who meet once per month to discuss what the Lord is doing in their ministries and plans on how to come together to accomplish goals and establish the kingdom of God in Chennai.

The core group, or leaders, if you will of SCY is about 7 pastors, but the whole group consistently gets about 150 pastors together for meetings and combined outreaches.

For this meeting, we had 32 pastors and their wives come to a resort on the beach of the Indian Ocean for a day of teaching, fellowship, and relaxation to spend with their wives. The majority of these pastors are far too poor to afford to take their families to a place like this, but we wanted to bless them with a day of solid teaching on the family unit and also treat them to some great food and fellowship with each other. Often pastors go to a pastor’s meeting alone and get a bunch of good teaching, but don’t get a lot of time to spend getting to know each other.

So, we had several goals for the day.

One, to give them solid teaching on what a biblical portrait of marriage should look like, especially for those of us in ministry. Also, there was great instruction on child-rearing and also handling our finances in a godly way.

Secondly, to give these men and women a chance to get to know each other and develop relationships for the future of ministry in Chennai.

Thirdly, to bless them with a wonderful day in a great place with their wives. They enjoyed a fantastic spread of food, beautiful scenery and a relaxing time away from it all with their wife.

I was really looking forward to this meeting because we had such great feedback from last year. It seemed to have a great impact again, so we left confident that God would use the time for his glory. We all had a lot of opportunity to fellowship with them and get to know them personally.

Immediately we began receiving words of appreciation for the teaching and also for the time there. We hope to be there again next year and have them spend the night with their families. Then we could have some more teaching in an evening session as well. We'll see what the Lord allows.

Sorry for the delay in getting more posts up for you. It has been really hectic since we got here in Chennai. More posts are soon to come!

India 2011 Day 6

Day 6

Its our last day in Rajahmundry, and we have a lot to do before we get to the airport. Our flight leaves at 3:30, so it leaves the morning wide open for us.

Today, we baptized 24 new believers. The location is in the irrigation canal in a local village close to the city of Rajahmundry. The water was very dirty, but also very warm, so it was not at all uncomfortable.

We shared a word of encouragement, prayer, and also a brief explanation of baptism with them before they came down into the water. As they came, we lined up in a row and baptized them 5 at a time. This was the first time baptizing for some of the team members, so it was a great moment for all of us.

After the baptisms were finished, we also were very excited to be able to place a brand new Bible in their hands. A Bible is a very precious commodity here. Not everyone can afford their own Bible. The cost is about $6, equal to one week’s pay for many people. It was a blessing for them, and a great blessing for us to give them this gift.

Again, we encouraged them to dig deep into the word and grow in the knowledge of Jesus Christ, prayed for them, gave them their new Bibles and left back to Kumar’s place to pack and say our good-bye’s. Thank God for Kumar, his family and their generous hospitality. Please pray for this wonderful family.

Josh met us at the airport in Chennai and we wasted no time at all going to Sparky’s restaurant. Here, travelers to India can get some real American food. You have never seen 5 guys get their grub on like this before. Needless to say it was not a problem to clean up our plates.

We settled in to our new temporary home and get psyched up for another week of full on, fired up ministry in Chennai. I will keep you up to speed as things continue to develop.

Blessings to each of you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Please remember to pray for us!

India 2011 day 5

Day 5

Today is Sunday, and we have a full schedule with 3 different churches to speak at. Our first service is at the village medical clinic, which also serves as a church. It is about a 2 hour drive from Kumar’s home, and the roads are not the best leading to the clinic, but it is well worth the effort to get here since these believers rarely get to see foreigners and hear their encouragement. Last year, in this area, there was a small crusade being held and the local hindus got upset and came to the meeting place to stop the preaching. Luckily, the altar call had already been done and many were turned to the kingdom of God. Sadly, the hindus were not satisfied to see the people dispersed and they beat one of the pastors very badly, and he wound up in the hospital. We were humbled to be in the same place, providing encouraging words from the Scriptures to give them strength in the face of persecution.

We delivered the message and laid hands on every person and prayed for them.

After the meeting was over, we toured the grounds of the medical clinic and Kumar showed us the future vision for this place. There is a very big foundation in the ground which they began about 10 years back. The building project, when complete, will be a cancer center where they will house the many cancer patients they treat. Because of low funds, the building has stopped at the foundation, but God has been at work and they have a plan to finish the building. A very generous woman from Finland has donated the land and also provided funds to start a teak tree plantation on the property. In about another 10 years, it will be ready for harvest and will be worth about $500,000 USD. Then, they will be able to build the hospital and also a church building on the site.

We discussed the possibility of holding the pastor’s conferences and crusades in this place the next time we come.

The next church was about another hour’s drive even further into the jungle from here. There were about 65 people huddled into a 15x20 shelter. It was very hot, but the people we eager to hear the word of the Lord from us, so we were took strength from their anticipation and preached God’s word. After the service, they all came forward for prayer and almost all of them had their own bottle of anointing oil for us to anoint them in the name of the Lord. Many people came forward with all kinds of sickness and disease. They were desperate for a touch from God on their lives, and we were happy to pray for God’s blessing on them.

We took the long drive home, each of us recounting our experience to each other on the way, rejoicing in the Lord and his mighty power.

After getting some food and taking some much needed rest, we went to the evening service which was at a roadside church in the city of Rajahmundry. 6 years back, the pastor was beheaded as he prayed before the people. A hindu man was very angry with him and warned him to stop preaching the gospel, but he refused and after a short time, the man came to the church and approached him from behind as he prayed and took his head. It was a humbling experience to be standing on the blood of martyrs as we preached the gospel to them.

After the service we laid hands on everyone and prayed for them before heading back to Kumar’s place with another full day of ministry under our belts. It seems that our time has been eaten up so quickly because we have been so busy.

Thank you brothers and sisters, for standing with us in prayer. God is continuing to work miracles and blow our minds apart. Looking forward to coming home and sharing the excitement with you…