God is so good. Here we are in India for another year of action packed ministry. We have a great team of people who love the Lord with all their hearts. Barrett, Kyle, Zach, Cassie, Yasab, Jami, Linda, and Billy. We are looking forward to all that God is about to do.
We flew out of Seattle on a 15 hour flight straight over the North Pole and down into Dubai. Our layover was short, so we didnt get to do a lot of sightseeing before boarding our connecting flight to Chennai. Add another 4 hours onto our total and we flew for 19 hours just to get here.
I always enjoy watching the new people’s faces as they are confronted with the sounds, the smells, the sights of India. It is a place of sensory overload. No amount of orientation or pre-India meetings can prepare them for what they are about to experience. Everyone on the team is looking around at the culture of India and is totally fired up to get started in ministry.
Our first day included a visit to a gypsy village, where we walked down the street greeting and shaking hands with the poor, untouchable, low-caste people. We gave candy out to the children, who received it with groping hands and broad smiles. To the adults we handed out bags of rice. Giving people the basic necessities is an important part in fostering a relationship that will open doors of opportunity to spread the gospel and begin to effect change.
Josh has been working with this particular group of gypsies for a long time, and feels that he is right on the edge of a breakthrough with them. This is why it was such a pleasure to be a part in developing that connection that will be so vital in bringing the message of new life in Jesus Christ into their community.
We also held a small evening crusade in the slums. We parked the car and walked a few blocks to the meeting place, being careful with our steps because people defecate openly on the roads and sidewalks. We had to dodge more than one. As we walked down those dark alleys, the reality of the living conditions hit home with the team. The crusade was being held right in a roadway between two buildings. There were a little over 100 chairs set up in front of a small stage, and the worship team was already hard at work, playing and singing passionately for the Lord.
Billy spoke for about 45 minutes with Josh as his interpreter, and during the call to repentance, just about everyone stood to their feet at pray. I’m not sure how many newcomers there were to the faith, because it looked like a lot of them were believers. Afterwards, we held an altar call for those who need the touch of God in their life, and almost everyone came forward. The team was able to break up and pray for people’s needs on an individual basis.
We ended the evening by eating out for dinner at a place called Tasty Johns, which is a small, inexpensive steakhouse near the ocean. Everyone was pretty beat from the jet-lag and we all slept pretty heavily that night.
I will upload some pictures if I can edit or change the format.
Will give you another update tomorrow. Thanks for all your wonderful prayers and support! By the way, you can stay up to date on whats going on by receiving new blog postings in your email. Simply click on the title to the blog and it should take you to the Sowing the Seed website, where you can subscribe to the blog. It will immediately send you an email that you MUST open to confirm that it was really you who subscribed to the blog. Once you do this, you will automatically receive every update via email.
Thanks again,
Blessings,
Billy
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Blessings!