Well, its been two years since I’ve been to India, but here I am, back in this incredible place, sharing the gospel and encouraging the churches. I am traveling alone for the first half of the trip, and one of the youth pastors from Calvary Chapel Tri Cities is meeting me here on Wednesday the 17th. I’ll give you an update to catch you up to where I’m at today.
I left Honolulu on Monday the 8th, and arrived in Chennai in the evening of Wednesday the 10th. Travel was pretty easy. Little different route than normal, but alright. Because of the time changes, this time i lost 15 1/2 hours when I came over, but on the way home, I gain those hours back. So when I fly out of India on the 27th at 3:30 am, I still arrive in Honolulu at 9:00 in the evening of the same day.
We began ministry on Friday at an afternoon prayer service. There were about 25-30 people there, mostly women, as the men are out to work. I gave about a 45 minute message and then we prayed for people individually. This prayer service is vital for some of these women. They are married to husbands who would never allow them to got o a Christian church at a normal service, so they are able to come to this service and have fellowship. Some of them are coming from abusive homes, which is not uncommon nor illegal here. Theres had prayer requests for more ordinary things like healing or financial provision.
In the evening, we held a small crusade in a village near the city of Chengalpett. The pastors we worked with on this effort have just built a new church in the village, and this coming Sunday is the first service. There were about 300 people in the audience, 75% of whom had never heard the gospel before. It is an unreached village, and this is the first time anyone has ever held a crusade like this here. After the message, when the altar call was given, almost everyone in the crowd stood to receive Christ. It was really amazing. I didnt soft peddle the gospel off to them either. It was a very clear presentation about repentance and faith in the one true living God. So we are hoping that the new church is filled to capacity!
Saturday we worked with a familiar church in Chennai. City Rock Church is a vibrant place with a lot of young faces. They are an event oriented church, which means they like to advertise and hold lots of special events. Saturday night was kind of an outreach night, and the place was packed out. I was asked to speak on relationships.
Sunday we went back to Tuthi Thotham church, (where we had the prayer service) to preach in the morning, and in the evening it was back again to City Rock Church to pump up the youth.
Monday I flew up to Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) to speak for the week at YWAM DTS on the topics of the Character of God and Hearing God’s Voice. When I arrived, they put me to work right away speaking. Two 1hr 15 min sessions, followed by a half hour break, then two more 1hr 15min sessions. I’ll have to continue that all week. But it’s no problem. I love to teach, and there is plenty of material in the Word to speak for days on those subjects. Ive got the week split up into two parts. First half on Character of God, and second half on how to Hear His Voice.
As I type this update, I am sitting in the hospitality room on the base, enjoying the fan and preparing to teach in about half an hour.
Trichy is a smaller town than Chennai. I would say its a lot like Rajahmundry. Less traffic, more space. But its further inland so it is also much hotter and more arid. That’s why I’m enjoying the fan, especially because there is no AC. The food has been great, and the hospitality is excellent.
One of the staff members here is from Rajahmundry, and when I met him he immediately asked if I had ever been to Rajahmundry. When I said yes, he said he saw my face on a billboard there a few years ago advertising one of our crusades. Small world!
Anyway, my internet is limited to my cell phone service here, so I don’t know how many photos I’ll be uploading to Facebook. But if you follow me there, or the Kyllonen Family Mission page, you should be able to see some photos. I will update you again soon. Thanks for your prayers!