Month: April 2011

Day 2

After taking in a good night’s sleep, we awoke to a delicious breakfast of boiled egg, nan, toast, and curry. We had to get out by 8:00 to our first pastor’s conference. The conferences are being held in the same location as the crusades, to save money. It is about an hour and 15 min drive from Kumar’s home.

In the last blog, I wrote about the rich hindu man who has been opposing the work of the Lord. I have some more information for you. Apparently, about 6 months ago, he began actively opposing Kumar and all the local pastors. He tried to get them arrested and pass new laws to stop the ministry. He even bought 1,000 cows that he has been using to give milk to local people in the name of Hinduism so that he could combat the things that Kumar has been doing in the name of the Lord. He has been using his power and influence to frighten the believers from being involved in the churches. If they are seen going to church or known as a Christian, he will have them cut off from the community. They wont be able to get work, sell goods, get married, etc.

This man has been doing very bad things to oppose the ministry. In a show of defiance, and of strength, Kumar has decided to have the meetings right in this man’s front yard! There is a big section of land right in the front of his house that we have rented and are conducting the pastor’s meetings and crusades in. The speakers are so loud, there is no way this man can do anything but listen to the message. This also gives the believers and the pastors encouragement because they can see that this man does not have the authority he says he does. So, after our first crusade with about 400 people, we are expecting a great turnout for the following night.

We could have had the crusades in another location and had many more people, but this place was very important so that we could give the believers and the pastors greatly needed encouragement in the face of persecution.

So here’s the rundown form day 2…

We arrived at the meeting place to find about 150 pastors along with a few women waiting for us. They were very anxious to hear what we had to bring them. All the pastors are dressed in white slacks, white dress shirts. I was happy to see a lot of familiar faces from previous trips. The worship was powerful as we joined them in praise to the Lord. Even though we could not understand their language, we were one in the Spirit as we lifted up our voices to the King.

Zach took the first two morning sessions and taught through the first two chapters of 2^nd Timothy. We have to teach for about 45-50 minutes and take a break and sing some more songs to keep everyone’s attention. It is so hot here, like a sauna.

After breaking for tea at noon, I taught the next two sessions on three topics. First, the fact that God has committed to us the ministry of reconciliation, and our responsibility to Him and to our flock. Second, how to convey the message of reconciliation in a way that brings understanding to the mind of the sinner. In short, how to make grace amazing in the eyes of the world. Thirdly, how to get on fire for God and stay there. Kumar asked us to encourage them to stay strong in the face of persecution, so this included teaching on keeping an eternal perspective on life and ministry so that we can finish strong.

We ended the first day of pastor’s conferences at about 3:00 and headed back to Kumar’s home for some rest before coming back to the evening crusade.

We were surprised to find that our crowd had tripled in size on the 2^nd night. After having 400 on day one, we ministered to 1,200 on the second day. Praise the Lord!

Brice delivered the message of the gospel and half the crowd stood to their feet when he asked who would want to call on the name of the Lord. He’s now a bona-fide evangelist! Praise the Lord! All glory and power and honor and blessing to Him! This is why we came here. This is why we stood out in the cold selling donuts and spending our time raising money for the trip. The fruit of all that labor is unfolding day by day here.

Thank you to all of you who have donated your resources and your prayers to this work. You are impacting lives in ways that can only be measured in eternity.

Until next time…

Billy

Hello friends,

Here we are in India and I am going to do what I can to update regularly on this blog. Our internet service is spotty, so you may receive more information on some days than others.
Here is the account from our first day…

Day 1

Wow, India is a place that will give you sensory overload. The sounds, the smells, the things you see, and even the food you eat are all totally different. Its fun to watch the reactions of the team as they experience India for the first time.

We arrived in Chennai on Tuesday night at about 11:45. As soon as we stepped off the plane, the heat and humidity stuck to our bodies. We all got through customs smoothly and our got our bags together before meeting Josh outside. We went to his home for a few hours before heading right back to the airport for our flight to Rajahmundry. Josh’s brother-in-law hooked us up by taking us straight through the long line to security, and even had our boarding passes pre-printed and got the medical packs checked for free along with our luggage.

We arrived in Rajahmundry at about 10:30 and got settled in to Kumar’s home. We are all staying in one room, but praise God for the air conditioner!

After getting our things in order, we headed out to our first crusade. On the way, Kumar received a phone call and received some bad news. There is a rich hindu man who lives nearby the area we are holding the crusades. He complained to the authorities that our PA system was too loud and tried to stop the meetings. He also is using his influence to frighten the people from coming to the crusades by threatening excommunication from the community. The police did not stop the meetings, but they made us turn down the volume. We expected a crowd into the thousands, but unfortunately because of this man’s threats, there were only about 400. But still, we were very anxious to preach the word of God and to share the love of Jesus Christ with them.

Bill Garrity shared a few words to kick things off, followed by Zach Smith. Then, Zach Lamberson gave an encouragement before I preached the main message. Many people responded to the altar call and everyone in the crowd stood to their feet when we prayed to receive Christ as Savior and Lord.

We returned to Kumar’s place rejoicing in what the Lord had done on our first night and took some much needed rest. I think the guys were more worn out from stressing over the driving habits than from our travels. Ha ha! Lots of white knuckles and near death experiences on the roads of India.

I have some pictures to share, but the internet is so slow it wont upload the images, but I will keep you posted as things develop here. Please pray for us, for the Indian people, and for a rich harvest! Pray for the man opposing us, and for those he has been frightening. Pray for our families back home who are anxiously waiting for us. Thank you brothers and sisters!