Last night was our final day of ministry and God never ceases to amaze us. We held a house church meeting in a small home in the neighborhood in which we've been staying. At the end of the meeting several women asked for prayer and the battle began. Several woman received deliverance after a good while spent in prayer. It was incredible to see these women be set free. The spiritual warfare that was taking place in that house was intense. It made for an interesting final night to say the least.
This evening we are off to Mumbai for debrief. For 2 days our team will just relax and reflect on out time here in India. Then its back to Africa! I will take lots of pictures! It will be a 30 hour train ride to Mumbai, but the Lord blessed us with cheap tickets for sleeper cars. The only downside is teh cockroaches. They are exceedingly abundant on the trains! So not sure how much sleep I'll get haha, but keep me in your prayers. You are all in mine :)
Until I'm back in Africa,
xo
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Friday, February 19, 2010
Last day of "official" ministry
My goodness time has just flown by! Today is my final day of ministry for my DTS outreach. We will be ministering in a small house church here in Trichy. Then tomorrow we'll be off to Mumbai! 30 hours on the chain... ohhhh boy :) But it will be well worth it. We will spend two days there in a hotel with REAL beds!!! Praise the Lord!
Yesterday we did a service ministry that you wouldn't think would be too riveting, but turned out being amazing. We simply helped out a local pastor by painting his church and man did we attract attention in this village. It is a predominately Muslim village that is not happy with the church's presence in the area. But we were able to talk to quite a few passerbyers and make some friendly connections. The newspaper even came by to do a story! They had never seen Westerners or Africans come and work in their area and they were so excited. The pastor expects his church attends will greatly increase this week. We were so blessed to serve this pastor who had a real heart for missions. And the Indian hospitality never fails- his wife made us the most amazing dinner. We are always getting so blessed with yummy food :)
We have had such a lovely time here in Trichy. Thank you for your (continued) prayers. Please pray for us as we embark on the long travel to Mumbai.
Love you all.
Yesterday we did a service ministry that you wouldn't think would be too riveting, but turned out being amazing. We simply helped out a local pastor by painting his church and man did we attract attention in this village. It is a predominately Muslim village that is not happy with the church's presence in the area. But we were able to talk to quite a few passerbyers and make some friendly connections. The newspaper even came by to do a story! They had never seen Westerners or Africans come and work in their area and they were so excited. The pastor expects his church attends will greatly increase this week. We were so blessed to serve this pastor who had a real heart for missions. And the Indian hospitality never fails- his wife made us the most amazing dinner. We are always getting so blessed with yummy food :)
We have had such a lovely time here in Trichy. Thank you for your (continued) prayers. Please pray for us as we embark on the long travel to Mumbai.
Love you all.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Final days
Just 9 day left and I'll be heading back to Africa. Oddly, I'm feeling torn by this. I have so enjoyed my time here in India and God has really given me a heart for these people. At the same time I'm excited to see the rest of my dts class and hear about their experiences in the other countries and in just a couple weeks, get back to the great northwest and see you all :)
This week has been incredible (as usual). Sunday was a very busy, but awesome day. We spoke at a church in the morning and then traveled to a far out village and had a youth conference with over 100 children in the afternoon. They put up a big tent and built a stage out of old wooden planks just for us and it so touched my heart. The children were so eager to see our program and even after the tent was full many gathered around outside in the direct hot, hot sunlight to stand and hear our message. Afterward they preformed some songs and dances for us. It was so sweet! Unfortunately, when my team was piling into our car to leave I was the last to get in, and the pastor of the village had come over to say goodbye. (There are usually about 14 people crammed into one SUV and it is customary for the last person to get in to shut the door before trying to squeeze in to sit somewhere). SO, being the last one and not knowing the pastor was right behind me I grabbed the handle and slammed the car door with incredible force, smashing it right into this poor pastor. IT WAS SO EMBARRASSING and I felt so awful! Luckily we were all able to laugh about it though. Later that night we spoke at a huge college near by our base. After we spoke the principle of the college had arranged for us to have a really nice dinner in a private dinning hall on the campus. A chef prepared an extravagant 3 course meal for us. It was such a blessing :)
We did an open air in a far out village Monday night that attracted a crowd of almost 200. But it was a bit of a tough crowd. A few people mocked and laughed at us and didn't receive the message well, but the Lord never left us. Its funny that just a few days before I read in Matthew 5:11,12 "Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you." So we gave our all and by the end of the night several people ended up asking our team to pray with them. On the way back to the base that night our team talked about the evening and all shared how we felt, and not one of us felt discouraged. God gave us all a gladness and a feeling of joy and accomplishment about the evening. He is so good.
As I told you previously the base that I'm staying on is running a school of Evangelism. Each week they have a new speaker (sort of like my dts did) and this week it is the pastor we stayed with in Coimbatore that our team became so fond of. Today my team is taking the day off so I was able to sit in on their class. He was teaching on faith in finances and the different principles in the Bible. It was a really powerful message in reminding us the importance of generosity and always being faithful in tithing and how God honors that. It made me think even more about how grateful I am to all of you who have sown into me so generously. May the Lord multiply that generosity back to you.
Last night we ministered (and played with) 40 boys and girls in an orphanage. It was so much fun! Although none of them spoke English, they lovedddd the song/dance "head, shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes..." They wanted to do it over, and over and over haha. Its amazing how much joy these children- that have absolutely nothing- have in their hearts. It can only be the Lord.
I have a special prayer request this week for some dear friends of mine in YWAM. They are converted Muslims who have had to live their lives on the run under an alias. They have recently been found out and are receiving all sorts of death threats. Because of this, they have to leave where they are currently staying and go into hiding. They have endured so many struggles in their life and the Lord is surely with them, but please pray for their protection and that the Lord would provide safe hiding for them and comfort during this difficult time. I'm not sure if or when I'll be able to see them again on this earth. Thank you in advance for your prayers.
I'm looking forward to next Saturday when we will be leaving for Mumbai, for a 2 day debrief time before finishing our outreach and returning to South Africa. I'll try and update you before I leave.
Blessings!!
This week has been incredible (as usual). Sunday was a very busy, but awesome day. We spoke at a church in the morning and then traveled to a far out village and had a youth conference with over 100 children in the afternoon. They put up a big tent and built a stage out of old wooden planks just for us and it so touched my heart. The children were so eager to see our program and even after the tent was full many gathered around outside in the direct hot, hot sunlight to stand and hear our message. Afterward they preformed some songs and dances for us. It was so sweet! Unfortunately, when my team was piling into our car to leave I was the last to get in, and the pastor of the village had come over to say goodbye. (There are usually about 14 people crammed into one SUV and it is customary for the last person to get in to shut the door before trying to squeeze in to sit somewhere). SO, being the last one and not knowing the pastor was right behind me I grabbed the handle and slammed the car door with incredible force, smashing it right into this poor pastor. IT WAS SO EMBARRASSING and I felt so awful! Luckily we were all able to laugh about it though. Later that night we spoke at a huge college near by our base. After we spoke the principle of the college had arranged for us to have a really nice dinner in a private dinning hall on the campus. A chef prepared an extravagant 3 course meal for us. It was such a blessing :)
We did an open air in a far out village Monday night that attracted a crowd of almost 200. But it was a bit of a tough crowd. A few people mocked and laughed at us and didn't receive the message well, but the Lord never left us. Its funny that just a few days before I read in Matthew 5:11,12 "Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you." So we gave our all and by the end of the night several people ended up asking our team to pray with them. On the way back to the base that night our team talked about the evening and all shared how we felt, and not one of us felt discouraged. God gave us all a gladness and a feeling of joy and accomplishment about the evening. He is so good.
As I told you previously the base that I'm staying on is running a school of Evangelism. Each week they have a new speaker (sort of like my dts did) and this week it is the pastor we stayed with in Coimbatore that our team became so fond of. Today my team is taking the day off so I was able to sit in on their class. He was teaching on faith in finances and the different principles in the Bible. It was a really powerful message in reminding us the importance of generosity and always being faithful in tithing and how God honors that. It made me think even more about how grateful I am to all of you who have sown into me so generously. May the Lord multiply that generosity back to you.
Last night we ministered (and played with) 40 boys and girls in an orphanage. It was so much fun! Although none of them spoke English, they lovedddd the song/dance "head, shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes..." They wanted to do it over, and over and over haha. Its amazing how much joy these children- that have absolutely nothing- have in their hearts. It can only be the Lord.
I have a special prayer request this week for some dear friends of mine in YWAM. They are converted Muslims who have had to live their lives on the run under an alias. They have recently been found out and are receiving all sorts of death threats. Because of this, they have to leave where they are currently staying and go into hiding. They have endured so many struggles in their life and the Lord is surely with them, but please pray for their protection and that the Lord would provide safe hiding for them and comfort during this difficult time. I'm not sure if or when I'll be able to see them again on this earth. Thank you in advance for your prayers.
I'm looking forward to next Saturday when we will be leaving for Mumbai, for a 2 day debrief time before finishing our outreach and returning to South Africa. I'll try and update you before I leave.
Blessings!!
Friday, February 12, 2010
What an interesting week
Our time at the 50th year YWAM celebration conference was wonderful. Several hundred of us gathered under a big tent and worshiped the Lord and heard some of the amazing testimonies of the last 50 years. It was also a very interesting time of seeing the vision for the future and where YWAM is going. We want to see every nation of the earth reached and joining the kingdom! Loren Cunningham is such a kind and humble man and he really encouraged us to "carry the flame forward". God blessed us with a nice church to sleep in while we were there and we were able to eat for very cheap at the conference so it was such a blessing. I truly believe god is calling Indians and Asians to rise up and spread the gospel and they are so on fire!!
This week we have been doing a variety of ministries, ranging from slums to churches and also more creative things. We live not far from a Muslim mosque that has a dirt road leading up to it and just behind it is a center for children with cerebral palsy. We ministered at the center last week and really got a heart for the kids. Many of the children are brought to the center in the morning by autorickshaws or on their parents motorcycles and it is very difficult to pass over this road because if has many many potholes. The surrounding roadside is covered with trash and debris and is just a mess. So our team decided to spend one afternoon fixing up the road. We chopped down much of the overhanging bush and picked up a majority of the trash and we were able to use mud and rubble from the roadside to fill in the holes. Who would of thought this would be such an amazing evangelistic tool? So may people stopped to watch what we were doing and some came over to talk with us or thank us. Eventually one of the Muslims came out and actually started helping us and we got to tal to him about the Lord! But there were also some people who were very skeptical about what we were doing and someone called the police. So two officers showed up on their bikes and came to chat with us. They were so grateful that they went and bought us tea and biscuits and came back to chat afterward! Then, not an hour after they left the local news team from S TV came and interviewed us and we were on the 8 o'clock news! We told them we were just working because we had the joy of the Lord, (which they edited out) but it was great! God had so much favor on us this day.
We have also done several open-air's this week and had prayer with many Hindu people in the slums of the city. It has been so powerful. The people have such a hunger for the freedom of Christ, but live in so much fear of all the other gods and idols they worship. Please be praying for them.
We just have a little over a week of ministry left here in India. Please be praying that God give us strength to finish strong and that we may really see Him move here in Trichy.
Love and miss you all :)
This week we have been doing a variety of ministries, ranging from slums to churches and also more creative things. We live not far from a Muslim mosque that has a dirt road leading up to it and just behind it is a center for children with cerebral palsy. We ministered at the center last week and really got a heart for the kids. Many of the children are brought to the center in the morning by autorickshaws or on their parents motorcycles and it is very difficult to pass over this road because if has many many potholes. The surrounding roadside is covered with trash and debris and is just a mess. So our team decided to spend one afternoon fixing up the road. We chopped down much of the overhanging bush and picked up a majority of the trash and we were able to use mud and rubble from the roadside to fill in the holes. Who would of thought this would be such an amazing evangelistic tool? So may people stopped to watch what we were doing and some came over to talk with us or thank us. Eventually one of the Muslims came out and actually started helping us and we got to tal to him about the Lord! But there were also some people who were very skeptical about what we were doing and someone called the police. So two officers showed up on their bikes and came to chat with us. They were so grateful that they went and bought us tea and biscuits and came back to chat afterward! Then, not an hour after they left the local news team from S TV came and interviewed us and we were on the 8 o'clock news! We told them we were just working because we had the joy of the Lord, (which they edited out) but it was great! God had so much favor on us this day.
We have also done several open-air's this week and had prayer with many Hindu people in the slums of the city. It has been so powerful. The people have such a hunger for the freedom of Christ, but live in so much fear of all the other gods and idols they worship. Please be praying for them.
We just have a little over a week of ministry left here in India. Please be praying that God give us strength to finish strong and that we may really see Him move here in Trichy.
Love and miss you all :)
Friday, February 5, 2010
Greetings from Tiruchirappalli
Hello! Writing you from Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu!
My team arrived here late Tuesday night. We are staying on a YWAM base and it has been nice to be around other students. They are having a school here called School of Evangelism and Pioneering, that is for students planning to start their own ministries or get into church planting. Most of the students have been in YWAM for awhile so its been really great to hear some of their stories, especially about their DTS and outreaches. We are really enjoying spending time with these people. Indian hospitality is like nothing I've ever seen before. They have even tried to make the food a little less spicy for us :)
Our first day we visited 3 Hindu temples in the city to pray and it was intense! There are hundreds of thousands of idols here. The spiritual heaviness inside the temples was incredible. Each one had a large market place in front of it where many sick people lie out on the streets and women and children beg. It was so sad to see the thousands of people giving offerings and bowing down to these idols.
One of the temples we had to climb 350 steps- and I was like dripping sweat and wheezing all the way to the top as all the Indians stared and effortlessly made the climb- but once at the top you could walk around the sanctuary that overlooked the entire city and the sun was just setting. It was one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen. Sadly we couldn't have cameras unless we paid a ridiculous amount, but one of my teammates brought hers in. I'll have to get her pictures.
Yesterday we did some programs in a center here for children with cerebral palsy. It really touched my heart to spend time with these children.
We have also visited several slums here and are really praying with the base and their vision for different ministries they want to start here. There is such great need. We did an open air the other night in one of the small villages and many people came for prayer afterward. Many are hungry for the truth.
Tonight my team and much of this base will be leaving on the bus for Chennai to go to hear Loren Cunningham (ywam founder) speak at the 50th year celebration! So that will be cool. He is getting very old and it will be cool to be able to say I've seen him. I'll also get to see the wonderful family we stayed with and got so close with in Coimbatore. We will be sleeping on a church floor there because we don't have any other accommodation, but that's okay. We weren't able to get train tickets for the way there and the bus will take about 10 hours, but we are leaving late tonight and are praying the seats should be nice enough to get some sleep on the way there. On the way back though we have tickets for the train in a sleeper car so that will be nice.
I will try and write more when we return from Chennai in a couple of days. Please pray that we may have safe travels.
xo
My team arrived here late Tuesday night. We are staying on a YWAM base and it has been nice to be around other students. They are having a school here called School of Evangelism and Pioneering, that is for students planning to start their own ministries or get into church planting. Most of the students have been in YWAM for awhile so its been really great to hear some of their stories, especially about their DTS and outreaches. We are really enjoying spending time with these people. Indian hospitality is like nothing I've ever seen before. They have even tried to make the food a little less spicy for us :)
Our first day we visited 3 Hindu temples in the city to pray and it was intense! There are hundreds of thousands of idols here. The spiritual heaviness inside the temples was incredible. Each one had a large market place in front of it where many sick people lie out on the streets and women and children beg. It was so sad to see the thousands of people giving offerings and bowing down to these idols.
One of the temples we had to climb 350 steps- and I was like dripping sweat and wheezing all the way to the top as all the Indians stared and effortlessly made the climb- but once at the top you could walk around the sanctuary that overlooked the entire city and the sun was just setting. It was one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen. Sadly we couldn't have cameras unless we paid a ridiculous amount, but one of my teammates brought hers in. I'll have to get her pictures.
Yesterday we did some programs in a center here for children with cerebral palsy. It really touched my heart to spend time with these children.
We have also visited several slums here and are really praying with the base and their vision for different ministries they want to start here. There is such great need. We did an open air the other night in one of the small villages and many people came for prayer afterward. Many are hungry for the truth.
Tonight my team and much of this base will be leaving on the bus for Chennai to go to hear Loren Cunningham (ywam founder) speak at the 50th year celebration! So that will be cool. He is getting very old and it will be cool to be able to say I've seen him. I'll also get to see the wonderful family we stayed with and got so close with in Coimbatore. We will be sleeping on a church floor there because we don't have any other accommodation, but that's okay. We weren't able to get train tickets for the way there and the bus will take about 10 hours, but we are leaving late tonight and are praying the seats should be nice enough to get some sleep on the way there. On the way back though we have tickets for the train in a sleeper car so that will be nice.
I will try and write more when we return from Chennai in a couple of days. Please pray that we may have safe travels.
xo
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