India 2012 Day 5
We started off another day with a team devotion. We have plans to visit three churches today, so everyone is busy preparing some kind of encouraging thing to say to the believers.
Our first stop was at a small church in a strict hindu village about a half an hour drive from Kumar’s place. As we stepped into the church, we were all amazed by how small the room was. It could not have been bigger than maybe 15 feet wide by about 20 – 25 feet deep, but the floor was crammed with b with about forty believers who were anxiously waiting to hear the word of the Lord from us. Jackie Gillette stood up and gave them a very encouraging few words before Bryan Raeder stood to share some verses to build their faith. Then Kyle Skinner got up and shared the main message on the faith of Abraham form Romans 4. After the message, we laid hands and prayed for all the believers individually, before being hurried out to the vehicle so we could get to our next meeting on time.
The next church was in another village near Rajahmundry. We were dropped from the vehicle because the streets were so narrow that the car could not fit. So we had to hike a little ways through the neighborhood to get to the building. It was on the second story of a home and had a roof and three walls but was entirely open at the back. This was a larger congregation and they seemed to be very attentive and ready to receive the word of God. Sandy Blake shared for about 5 minutes and gave a great encouragement, followed by Zach Smith giving a 10 minute message from John 17. Steve Whinery gave the main message, teaching on the subject of Jesus taking us from Satan’s power form Ephesians 2. He shared the gospel at the end and gave an invitation for those who would want to surrender their lives to Christ, and many people responded. We were greatly encouraged and the church was strengthened by the meeting.
After this service, we were very honored to be a part of a a special ceremony at the new church building site that was donated by the government to Kumar’s ministry. We met the orphans and a crowd of believers at the place, and laid the foundation stone for the new building. Steve gave a short message before laying the stones, brick by brick, along with the mortar and anointing oil, dedicating the building project in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. We look forward to seeing the progress on future trips.
We went back to Kumar’s place and took some rest before heading out to the church at the quarry market. This is the most dangerous area to minister in. We have preached here for the last three years. Some of you may remember that in this place, the pastor gave his life when a local hindu radical came and decapitated him at the church. We were humbled to be standing on the blood of a martyr. Abbey Lalangan gave a great opening encouragement before Ryan Orozco stood and spoke for about 20 minutes on the subject of persecution. Billy K gave the main message on the supremacy of Christ from Colossians 1. At the end of the message, 1 precious soul stood and received Christ as her personal Lord and Savior, and we joined all of heaven in rejoicing over her. We prayed for all the people and ended our ministry for the day.
As we drove back to Kumar’s home, the team sang in unison song after song, giving glory to God for all he has been doing. We are so thankful for his mighty power at work in and through us, and for your prayers as we continue the ministry day after day. We finally got home around midnight and hit the sack for some much needed rest before another busy day of ministry on Monday.