India 2012 Day 10
It has been a long trip, and it has been a short trip. For those of us who have left family at home for two weeks, time has a way of dragging on and on. But on the other hand, when we look at the amount of ministry we have packed into the last 10 days, it really hasn’t been all that long.
Today we had our last pastor’s conference in Chetallapakkam at pastor Rajendran’s church. Steve and I arrived at about 10:30 to find about 20 pastors waiting to hear the word of God from us. Steve did the entire teaching, encouraging them and strengthening them with solid, practical instruction. It was good to see some of the same pastors that we have been working with for several years.
The rest of the team went to a handicapped children’s hospital for a few hours. This was very hard for some of them. A couple of people were still weeping when we met up with them for lunch. I don’t know exactly what they were able to do with them other than spend some time giving them love and attention, but it must have been difficult. Although I must admit, it was a great blessing to see that their hearts have really been impacted. Not that I thought they had hard hearts to begin with. This is what I hoped for when we built the team. You want people to come home different, and after this and many other experiences, I am sure that the entire team will never be the same.
This was our first night of big crusades in a place called Chengalpettu. It could be called Chenglapet as well. It is spelled differently on street signs and store fronts, so I’m not sure which is correct. We have been wanting to hold crusades here for a few years, but we haven’t had the budget for it. This is where pastor Joel is from. He is very well respected among the local pastors. When he wants to do something, everyone wants to be involved, so we knew that if we did any kind of pastor’s conference or crusade with him, they would be big.
They had some problem with getting permits for the meetings from the local police, for various reasons. One, being that there is a new nuclear plant being built near here, and they don’t want any foreigners coming around. Apparently, some protestors from Australia came and made a big raucous and now they are super sensitive to allowing foreigners around the area. Secondly, because exams are in a couple weeks for the students and they don’t want loud music and noise in the city when the students are studying. But, eventually we got the permission and moved forward, planning on keeping it a little more low-key than the original plan.
The first night, we had about 2,000 people come out to hear the word of God. Billy preached the gospel and nearly every person in the crowd stood during at the invitation to call upon the name of the Lord and receive the forgiveness of sins. We asked them to come forward with their prayer requests, and hundreds of them came for a touch from God in their lives. It is such a blessing to be able to pray with people for the needs in their lives. Just as in Rajahmundry, the crowd at the altar swelled as people pressed in, desperate for God to do a miracle for them.
I was reminded of the times in Scripture when crowds would follow Jesus and the disciples and press in upon them. People are no different today. We may have technological and medical advancements, but when it comes down to it, people still want God to move, and many people in many parts of the world have no other hope than a miracle. We believe God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. We don’t serve a dead God. Jesus Christ is alive, and he has the power to hear and answer prayer. So we prayed for every single person who came forward, expecting the Lord to show them his mighty power and to prove to them that he isn’t just another God to add to their stack of idols, but He is the only true and living God.
The team piled into the van and headed back, praying and singing psalms and hymns together, excited for what the Lord has in store for us tomorrow, and grateful for all the prayers and thoughts of our supporters back home! Thank you!