Sorry for the delay in updates. We have not had internet access for awhile, so here are the next four days.
Every time I come to Rajahmundry, Dr Kumar likes to take me on very long drives. We have a joke between us that when we are about to go to some place for ministry, I will ask him how far away it is, to which he will usually respond, “It’s not too far, brother.” After an hour in the car, I start to wonder, “Too far compared to what?” I have come to expect that most of the time when we leave the house, its is going to take a while to get to our destination. The joke is that if Kumar says its 20 minutes away, I know that it is probably more like 60 minutes. There is Billy-time and Kumar-time. That may not be funny to you, but its funny to us, and anyone else who comes to Rajahmundry and sees just how true that is.
Saturday in Rajahmundry was a day we set aside for dedicating a new church building. It was not too far away, if you consider distances like Dr Kumar. Something like one hour Kumar-time. Last year, we visited this church when it was under a hut. They packed more people than you would believe under that hut for church services. About 9 months ago, the pastor became sick. When he was lying down suffering with the flu, some hindu people came to him, acting friendly and offering him some lemon juice to help him. He drank the juice, but it turned out to be poisoned with cyanide, and he died very quickly. Then, once the pastor was out of the way, the hindus convinced the local authorities to force them to tear down the hut church, saying that it was dangerous and a fire hazard. As all this was happening, Dr Kumar stepped in and began to act on behalf of the Christians. He secured some land within about 100 yrds of the hut church for the construction of a new church building. Then he informed us about the plight of the local believers.
There was a generous man in our church who had compassion on the situation and offered to donate the funds for the construction of the new church. We wired the money over and construction began right away. There were some minor obstacles that they had to overcome along the way, but the church was completed before our visit today, and we held a dedication and ribbon cutting ceremony for the new building. We had a moment of prayer for the church and the believers, then cut the ribbons and went inside, where several of us had the opportunity to speak to them and deliver some encouraging messages. After the preaching, we held a medical camp inside the church, in which 120 people were examined an diagnosed, then given shots or antibiotics for their illnesses, and we prayed for each one of them before they left.
We endured the long drive back to Rajahmundry, and Jean Mary took some of the girls shopping for silks while others of us took some rest before our evening meeting.
It started to rain. We were a little worried that our outdoor meeting would be canceled, but we waited to see what would happen. The rain did not stop, so we moved our meeting into the pastor’s church of that area. There were about 50-60 people gathered inside, and Zach delivered the message to them. There were a lot of people there who responded to the call of salvation, and we were so happy to see them so eager to accept Christ. It seems that everywhere we go, people are hungry for God’s word and God’s truth, and they readily accept the offer of salvation in Jesus Christ.
We know that Sunday is going to be our busiest day yet, so we all hit the sack when we got back so we could be rested up and ready to roll out in the morning.
Day 13
Usually we try to stop by as many churches as we can in Rajahmundry on Sunday mornings, but this year we planned to go to the neighboring state of Pondicherry for our Sunday services. Very recently, there were a bunch more pastors in this area that have come under Dr Kumar’s network of churches. Pondicherry is a state in India where there is more persecution than Adnrah Pradesh, which is where Kumar lives.
It was another short drive to Pondicherry, probably 60 minutes Kumar-time, but we all knew what to expect and were prepared for the time in the car. Kyle kept us all grimacing and rubbing our ears in pain by singing as loud as he could to his iPod. At least it gave us all something in common to loathe even more than the ride. (Sorry, Kyle)
We preached at six different churches in Pondicherry. Each one was unique in its own way. From brick buildings with 75 or so members to huts with 40-50 people inside, and even one church where we held the meeting outside on the open ground, each individual church had its own qualities that we will remember. At one church, a storm came through just as we entered the building. It was a great light show, with loud thunder, heavy rain, and strong winds that swirled and blew in all directions. But it was over within about a half hour, so it did not spoil the rest of our meetings.
Each of the men spoke at least once, and each of the girls shared some encouragement before the main message. Most of the time, we felt like we were the ones being blessed rather than those we came to minister to. Everyone on the team was excited to be a part of what the Lord was doing.
We certainly hope that our time and testimony in India has been a blessing to you as you read this blog and stay connected with us on Facebook and emails. Believe me when I tell you that we all appreciate your prayers for us and for the ministry. We could not be goers without being sent, and we share our joy with you.
Thank you for your support. God bless you today.
India 2013 Day 14, 15
It’s our last day in Rajahmundry. Although nobody wants to be done serving these wonderful people, I think just about everyone on the team in anxious to get home after 14 days of intense ministry.
Today we went down to the Godarvi river and baptized 16 new believers. It was a bit of a bumpy ride to get there, but once we did, we had a short walk through beach sand and cow dung to get to deep water, where we spread out and each of us baptized 2 people.
It is always interesting when you baptize the people here. They don’t swim for recreation, so most of them have never gone completely underwater. They get really nervous about being put under, even when you are holding onto them, so it is a situation where they cautiously put their trust in you. You can tell that they are afraid, so you have to say soothing words to them and be gentle.
After the baptisms, we went back to Kumar’s place, showered, packed our bags, and went straightaway to the airport. We had to get to Chennai and immediately go from the domestic terminal to the international terminal, where the team split up. Five of us went to the Sri Lankan Air desk to get our tickets to Colombo, and three team members got on their Emirates flight back to the US.
Actually, we had something of a miracle in that whole process. Originally, only four of us were supposed to go to Sri Lanka, and four were to go home, but Yasab changed her mind and decided that she would like to extend her trip and come to Sri Lanka. So I checked with Sri Lankan Air to make sure there were still seats available on the flight, which there were, and then we called Emirates and changed her itinerary to fly back on the 26th. Once we changed the dates there, I called Sri Lankan Air again and tried to buy the ticket, but they told me that they don’t allow people to purchase tickets online or over the phone within 24 hours of the flight. There were only 6 seats left on the plane, and we couldn’t get to a Sri Lankan Air desk until we landed in in Chennai, 2 hours before the flight! So I was pretty stressed about that, because we definitely weren’t about to leave her in Chennai by herself if the flight was booked by the time we got there.
I called Lynton in Sri Lanka to make sure he would have a large enough vehicle for one more person. It’s a good thing I called, because he thought we were flying into Colombo on the 23rd, not the 22nd. Thank God Yasab changed her mind, because I would not have confirmed that with him a second time if she had not joined the team. We would have landed in Colombo, with no cell phone service, and Lynton would have been 6 hours away from the airport in the middle of the night. We would have been stranded in a strange city for a whole day.
We got to Chennai and the flight was booked. No available seats. Then we purchased her a ticket on the next available flight to Colombo at 9:30 the next morning, and decided that Zach would stay in Chennai with her overnight at Josh’s place and meet us in Colombo tomorrow. We went to the check in counter and got our tickets, and begged if there was any way to get her on the flight tonight. At first they weren’t budging on it, but once they understood the situation, they told us to wait until the check in closes and if there are any people who don’t show up, she could have their seat. After about a half hour wait, they charged us a 950 rupee fee (about $20) and put her on our flight with a first class seat! Praise the Lord!
The bigger miracle was that I actually called Lynton and we got our dates straight. I had just talked with him a couple days before and confirmed everything, but there was some confusion and he thought we were coming one day later. I probably would have had a meltdown if we flew into a strange city in the middle of the nigh with a team of 5 people that I was responsible for, and had no one around who we could trust.
We arrived safely in Colombo, got through immigration and met Lynton outside. Our drive from the airport into the city was a big surprise. Sri Lanka is a beautiful place. Nothing like I expected. I didn’t know what to expect, so I guess I always imagined that it would be worse than India, but its actually quite nice.
Lynton’s son Lester lives in the city of Colombo, so we rode about an hour or so to his house to crash for the night. His house was a very nice place, and his family was extremely hospitable and accommodating to us.
In the morning, after taking some showers and freshening up, Billy and Yasab had to make a quick stop at the Emirates office to pay for changing her itinerary, while Zach, Linda, and Jami went with Lynton to McDonalds for breakfast. We met up afterwards and left the city around noon to make the 6 hour journey to Badulla, where Lynton’s home is.
The scenery is absolutely gorgeous. We travelled slowly, deep into the mountainous jungles of Sri Lanka on narrow roads that wound tightly around the steep, jagged hillsides, all the while captivated by the enchanting beauty of the majestic terrain before us. As we continued to climb higher and higher, the hot muggy climate became more cool and comfortable. The city of Badulla is nestled in a valley among the mountains, and is nicknamed The Dustbowl of Sri Lanka, although I cannot figure out why because we have not seen any dust. The hills are full of tea plantations around us, which makes for a lush, green, countryside. It is very pretty.
It took us most of the day to get to Lyntons house, but once we did, we settled in and pretty much crashed for the night. He has a wonderful home, which is very accommodating. It was purchased for him by some missionaries from America a few years ago after he had everything taken away for him.
Will update more tomorrow for you, as internet service allows.