Day 10
Its Friday morning and we are all realizing how fast the time has slipped by. We have a full agenda today, packed with great ministry. Today is Good Friday, so there are church services this morning that we are to speak at. The plan is to split up into gro
ups of two and hit three different churches at once.
Zach L and Zach S teamed up and went to Caleb’s church in Vandalur. They held their Good Friday services in the same building that we rented for the crusades. From what I heard, the place was packed out and Zach preached part one of a rip-roaring sermon series that he would finish up on Sunday.
Brice and Bill G went to the same place as the orphanage we visited yesterday. The pastor of the church built the orphanage on the second story of his church. There were many people who came to listen to the word of God.
Josh and I went to pastor Rajendran’s church, the place where we held our first pastor’s conferences in Chennai. This pastor was the one who put our crusades together last year in his village. Josh is a great guy to work with in terms of preaching and getting translation across.
The team regrouped at Josh’s place after the meeting and got some rest before heading back to Vandalur for our first night of crusades. Its about an hour drive to get there. We have to hold the crusades indoors this year because the government won’t allow any public demonstrations or rallies of any kind until next month. The state of Tamil Nadu just held elections last week, and they will not publicize the results until next month. There is potential for a huge power shift, so they expect riots or demonstrations no matter who wins. So, they are not allowing us to hold our crusades outdoors because of this reason.
Caleb found a meeting
hall that we could rent out. The place is small, but it has a second level, where we set up a couple of big screen TVs with a live feed of the meeting downstairs. I would say the maximum occupancy for us would be about 500. I have to admit I was a little disappointed at first about the building, but it turned out to be the hand of God. God makes all things work together for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purpose.
I say this because it started to rain on Friday. Not just a little rain, but heavy enough to have spoiled our crusades, had they been outside. We would have been rained out if it were not for the building. Praise the Lord for going before us and preparing the way!
The place packed out on the first night. There were all sorts of cool dances and skits that Caleb’s youth performed, followed by dynamic worship led by Josh and Caleb. Zach Smith gave a brief greeting and then I launched into the gospel. When we did the altar call, 75-80% of the crowd stood to their feet and cried out to God in repentance. It was powerful and moving to see so many people eager to receive God’s forgiveness in Christ.
We asked them to 
come forward after we prayed so that we could lay hands on them individually and pray for their specific needs, and many came to the altar for all sorts of requests. The team is really fired up now, as we are continuing to see the same hunger for God in this place. We are excited to see what else the Lord has in store for us over the next few days.
We’ll keep on sending the updates as time and internet service allows. Thank you for your prayers, brothers and sisters. You are doing battle in spiritual realms and we are winning victory after victory by the power of God!