Update on outreach: INDIA

Hello friends!
My sincerest apologies for not keeping up with the blog. Things got a bit hectic towards the end of lecture phase with the preparation for outreach and now being on outreach I've had limited access to the internet. I'm going to do the best I can to fill you in on the past couple of months.

The last few weeks of the lecture phase of my DTS were amazing. The last weeks were on Holy Spirit and Spiritual warfare :) You know those were exciting and eventful. We were so blessed to have such anointed disciples from around the world come and teach us. I personally received some serious inner healing and knowledge to equip me for war against the enemy for outreach.

And now here I am.... In INDIA! It's about my 6th week of outreach and, wow. Many amazing kingdom advances I have seen and am continuing to see. I feel so honored that the Lord has chosen to use me in this way at this time. India is such a country desperate for our Savior. The spiritual atmosphere is very intense and the enemy has been trying very hard at times to scare us away, but we are standing strong as a team (of 9 students) and taking ground for the Lord.

We spent the first 3 weeks in Kolkata. We arrived on Christmas Eve and spent the 3 weeks at the YWCA in the middle of the city. And the blessings began the second we stepped off the plane. We were contacted by another YWAM group holding a school in the same city and wanted to know if we could cover them for an obligation they had. So we agreed and were so blessed! We spent Christmas Eve singing Christmas carols of a 5-star hotel in the city and in exchange the hotel let us eat afterward at their LUXURIOUS all you can eat buffet! Hahaha. It was incredible or at least a very memorable Christmas Eve. The remainder of the time we spent working for a YWAM organization called Life Connection. This was a boys home (boys 6-19) who live at the train station. Its a day program where the boys come for 2 meals, a shower, and worship. The boys sleep along side the tracks and collect plastic bottles passengers throw off that they can return for a few rupees. They are all runaways who came from abusive or neglecting families and many are using glue to get high. This place so touched my heart. I couldn't help but grow so attached to these children. One day in particular, the Holy Spirit really showed up when we were laying hands on the boys and everyone was just weeping in His presence. It was so powerful.

As of now I am in Coim Batore. It was a 3 day train ride down South and it is WARM here hehe! We are helping pioneer a YWAM base here with the most wonderful family. It is so much nicer to stay with a family and they treat us (and cook for us) sooo nicely! The first week we were here our host took us to a large market so we could take in the city. I was still having a tough time adjusting to the heat so while my teammates were running around the market I decided to sit down and lean against this big all in the shade. As I was sitting there watching the ground around me alive with ants and the trash they were moving I started thinking about how scary it would be if one crawled on me. At that moment I decided to reach my hand back to my hair the was braided down my back and as I laid my hand down, my braid came to life. A giant cockroach, the size of a silver dollar buried itself into my braid to escape my hand. I. FLIPPED. I immediately jumped up and started dancing and screaming, bringing the whole (non english speaking) market to a halt. Some stared and horror, but most laughed until my host, Esther, ran over and beat the monster out of my braid. It hit the street with a thud and she had to stomp on it several times to kill it. Oh my goodness, that was a rough day haha.

We are doing a lot of open-air ministry here. Open air consists of us traveling into small village slums and attracting a crowd with song and dance, then we will do some sort of drama or skit, share our testimonies, and then share the gospel. I have to admit, I was SO nervous at first, and still always am right before, but it has been truly incredible. We are a bunch of lousy dancers and singers and don't have instruments usually, but we always pray that the Holy Spirit would show up and do the work and the Lord would just anoint whatever we do, and He is always, always faithful. We usually end up going into the slums and the afternoon and not leaving until late in the night because so many people want prayer after. Many of the villages we go into are covered with idols and creepy looking statues and so many of the families are tormented by the enemy. We have seen POWERFUL things happen in prayer. Just last week we saw a demon possessed woman be set free and the same night a deaf woman regain hearing.

Next week we'll be on the train again to another YWAM base in Treachy. I will try and keep you updated on the things that happen there.

My time here in India has been such a faith booster. Although I'm quite homesick at times, I am infatuated with what the Lord is doing here and feel honored that He has chosen ME of all people to be a part of it. I really want to thank you all for your support in prayer and your support financially. I am truly grateful and pray that the Lord blesses you tenfold for sowing into His kingdom through me.

Until I write more soon, love and blessings to you!