Today is Sunday, so we spoke at two different churches in the morning. Zach, Linda, and Bill went to Josh’s church, while I went to Caleb’s church with Bryan. I can’t really say much about what happened with the others, since I wasn’t there, but I will tell you a little but about Calvary Ministries in Vandalur, where Bryan and I went to speak.
We have held crusades two different years in this village. The first time was back in 2007, when we had them outdoors in afield at the back of the village. There were several thousand in attendance, and there were lots of people saved as well as many testimonies of miracles that the Lord did.
Then we held them again in Vandalur in 2011, only this time we held them indoors. Just a week before the event, the local police shut down our plans to have them outside again. We felt defeated at the moment, but wouldn’t you know it, it was part of God’s plan to keep the crusades alive. Caleb found a building to hold the crusades, and we had them there instead. On the weekend of the event, it rained hard every night. We would have been rained out if it had not been for the police shutting us down!
This is also the church that is taking care of the gypsy kids who were abandoned by their parents. The day care center is a ministry belonging to this church, and is something we have been financially supporting for a few years now. So, we have had a great relationship with this church. 
The pastor approached me afterwards and offered me an honorarium. This is the first church in India to do so, and I refused to take it. Actually, I was pretty surprised by it. We come to bless these churches and support them in any way we can. They are extremely poor people here, and there’s no way I was about to take money from the church. But the pastor insisted over and over again. I continually refused, until finally I could see that I was actually going to offend him if I didn’t take it. I was deeply humbled by this gesture of appreciation. I really makes me realize how much they value our commitment to come here. This is a church that we will continue to work with, as they are just as passionate about fulfilling the great commission as we are.
Sunday evening was our last night of crusades in Chengalpett. As usual, the crowd was the biggest of all three, swelling tonight to about 1,500 people. That’s not the largest of crowds that we have drawn, but this year we had about half the budget, so we weren’t able to do as much advertisement or hire the buses like we have in the past.
has felt any discouragement at all. We have all been increasingly excited each night to preach the good news to people in this community.
Bryan shared his testimony before I preached the gospel. I used texts from Colossians 1 on who Jesus really is, and also from Luke 4 to tell them why he came. Hundreds rose to their feet when it was time to respond to the altar call. Its amazing when you’re standing on there and you see all these faces eagerly calling out on the name of the Lord.
After the prayer of repentance, we invited them once again to come forward for individual prayer, and as u
sual, the front of the alter was soon crowded with people looking for the touch of God on their lives and their problems. It took a while to pray for each and every one of them, but we didn’t mind at all. We were prepared to stay as long as it took.
Since it was the last night, we hung around with the worship band and jammed out for a few songs, and also hung out with the pastors and enjoyed plenty of hearty handshakes and good fellowship as the night grew long.
There was a testimony that came in about Saturday night. A woman came to church Sunday morning and stood up to the microphone to speak. She talked about how she had a difficult past that she wasnt able to let go of, and that she had feelings of loneliness and worthlessness. She was depressed and was ready to take her own life. She decided she was going to commit suicide, but first she went to the crusade on Saturday night to see what it was about. Then Linda got up and shared her testimony of how God saved her out of a life of misery and destruction. She said that her story was similar to Linda’s, and that she knew that if God could deliver Linda, then she could have faith in God as well. She has committed her life to Christ, and has decided that she can live and not kill herself! Wow! What a blessing. If Linda was wondering why she’s on this trip, there is not doubt about it anymore. God used her to literally save a life, and also to save this woman’s soul!
Monday is a day that we had a small pastor’s conference in the morning with about 15 pastors. It’s a small pastors fellowship that meets once a month to pray for the local community and support each other. We had a single, 1 hour teaching, which Zach gave, and had a lunch with them. The pastors talked briefly with us after the Bible study and shared how it personally spoke to them. I always enjoy these meetings because we it allows us to get a feel for how the ministry is going here. Most of these guys have been senior pastors longer than Zach or I have been in ministry combined, but they always seem to be blessed by our presence, and we are always blessed by theirs.