Day 3
Friday the 15th is our last day of pastor’s conferences and crusades in Rajahmundry. The team is prepared to let it rip and go out with a bang.
Zach finished up teaching on the book of 2nd Timothy and Brice gave a teaching on 1st Timothy 3. Then we laid hands on all the pastors and prayed for their ministries. The worship was dynamic and powerful and we all clapped and raised our hands as we sang Hallelujah and danced before the Lord.
We did get some news about the night before. The Hindu man who has been opposing us called the police and filed a complaint, because it is illegal to preach the gospel. Not only that, but it is being preached by Americans who are on tourist visas. They know this because the government does not issue missionary visas. The police are obligated to come and see what is happening, but because of the amount of social work that Kumar and his network of pastors are involved in, they have a special relationship with the local government, which allows them to bend the rules a bit. So, the police intentionally came to the meeting place after the crusade was finished and all the people were gone, so they were forced to report that there was nothing happening. Ha ha! Praise the Lord! They know that he will be calling again today, but they have already agreed that they will not stop the meetings, but will come again very late. God has blessed us with good relations with the local authorities.
The third night, there were over 2,000 people at the meeting place. The people are becoming more bold to come to the crusades and listen to the word of God. The Hindu man is losing his grip of fear and intimidation over the people. As another show of strength to the rich man and to the believers, Kumar had a high ranking politician come to the meeting and say a few words before we began preaching. He would be the equivalent of a district representative in the state senate. He oversees a population of about 300,000 people. Even though he is a Hindu, he wanted to come and support us because he also wants the Christian votes. So, he came, spoke for a moment, and sat and listened for a while to the message. We laid hands on him and prayed for him before he left.
Talk about rubbing salt in the eye of the man who has been trying so hard to stop the gospel from going forth! Not only are the police not on his side, but then the government comes out in his own front yard and tells 2000 people to listen to the word of God! He is like poor Haman who gets knocked down every time he tries to take out Mordecai. I love it. Praise the Lord! Isn’t it funny how the Lord works?
The whole team got an opportunity to speak to the people who had gathered, and after delivering the main message, I did the altar call and was overwhelmed as the entire crowd responded and stood to their feet to call upon the name of the Lord. After a prayer of repentance, we asked them to come forward and receive prayers for their specific needs. The altar was quickly jammed to capacity as they all came to the front, desperate for the Lord to move in their lives. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever, and I believe that as people are humbly coming to him in genuine faith, he will move in their lives as he did when he walked the earth. In the last verse of the gospel of Mark, we are told that the disciples went around everywhere teaching and preaching the word of God, the Lord working in them and confirming his word with signs and wonders. We are looking forward to receiving updates from Kumar on what kinds of special miracles the Lord is doing in the lives of his children.
After three nights of crusades, we had 400 the first night, and all of them stood to receive the Lord. How many of them were Christians already, I am not sure. 1,200 people came to hear the word of God the second night, and over half of them prayed to commit their lives to Christ. On the third night, we had over 2,000 people in attendance, and they all stood to receive forgiveness of sins, and then came forward to receive prayer. Powerful stuff. Book of Acts stuff. The team is ecstatic. We are all blown away by the magnitude of what has been happening in the spiritual realm.
2 days of pastor conferences went extremely well. All of the teaching was solid and beneficial to the pastors and for us as well. It was greatly encouraging and strengthening for us to be there in the midst of these great men of God who are counting the cost for their faith in ways that we have never experienced in the US. They are still remaining steadfast in the face of persecution and suffering, and that is a great example for us to follow.
The prayer took so long after the altar call that we left very late. But still, the team is so fired up about the fun we have been having, it was not at all difficult to stay awake on the ride back to Kumar’s place. We have a full schedule over the next two and a half days before we head to Chennai. I will keep you posted as internet service allows…
Blessings to you all, and thank you for your continued prayers. God has been answering yours and our prayers so far by doing far above all that we could ask or think. Let us not grow apathetic, but continue to be earnest in prayer that He would bless this ministry as we have a short time left.