Ministry Update

So, I asked if I could do some more ministering in the villages while I'm here, and my prayer has been answered! Starting tomorrow (Sunday), I will be speaking in a different village EVERY NIGHT for the next SEVEN nights! I am so excited, but I also realize this is a lot! I am asking that you will pray for the Lord to fill and prepare me for what I need to share, and also that miracles, signs, and wonders will happen, as well as many people coming to the Lord as a result of this. I will be praying for the people at the close of each service, and will be giving altar calls each night. Let's believe together that the Lord will do many mighty things in this next week!

Leave me your comments and encouraging words (you don't have to have a blogspot account to leave a comment) as you are thinking of me in the next few days.

I'll report back good things! :)

Life is in the Details

So I've discovered one of my personality traits that works well on missions. My tendency to get really excited over really small details...haha

Like:

- Having clean clothes (which I now have! such a good day!)

- The Beach (which we went to when the team was here...ahhh, my favorite thing in life)

- Eating a piece of chocolate (which I got to do last night)

- The Indian Fair. Yes, Lorianna, I went to the fair in India. Jealous? Well, don't picture the FL State Fair or anything, but a cultural experience none the less. And I even rode a couple rides, and live to tell about it. :)

- Coffee and tea (which is always readily available, and I take advantage of often)

Sidenote: Are there any countries that really don't like coffee/tea? Because everywhere I've gone, it has been a big thing. It's always been a little different each place, but always good. This has become my number one comfort item while traveling. :)

Random tidbit: So when people here Chai tea, they think India, right? But if you go to India and order Chai, you will just get normal tea, because the word "chai" means tea. If you want what we as Americans think of as Chai, you have to order "masala chai" which is more of the spiced tea we are familiar with. (This might only apply to the part of India I'm in, but is still interesting!)

Isaiah 54: 4-6

"Do not be afraid; you will not suffer shame.

Do not fear disgrace; you will not be humiliated.

You will forget the shame of your youth

and remember no more the reproach of your widowhood.

For your Maker is your husband-

the Lord Almighty is his name-

the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer;

he is called the God of all the earth.

The Lord will call you back

as if you were a wife deserted and

distressed in Spirit-

a wife who married young,

only to be rejected," says your God.

The 7th time through the fire

I was actually lonely here today. Oh well, it was inevitable that it would happen. Life here is just so different from my everyday life. More than anything I think it's the unpredictability and complete and continuous discomfort that comes with having everything be "new."

New places, new people, new food, new smells, new place to stay, new tasks, new dreams, new adventures, new fears, new hopes, new passions, new love, new questions, new let-downs, new trust, new relationships, new, new, new...

It's bringing up new reactions in me as well. Some good, and some not so good. The emotional discomfort stretches and squeezes and some type of reaction invariably comes out. Reminds me of the Scripture in Psalms or Proverbs that talks about being purified in the fire 7 times. That always kinda bothered me. Wasn't enduring once through the fire plenty? Why another 6 times. Because stuff continues to come out. That's how I feel here. Missions is not a "new" thing to me at this point (I figured out this is my 10th overseas trip), but every environment and situation plus my life phase are always different enough to continue purifying. The fire isn't fun, but the result is purity. That's my prayer.

Ministry, Sweet ministry

I love doing ministry. Today I got to preach at an Indian church, and I absolutely loved it. Then I laid hands on and prayed for about 50 people after the service (not added into the info below). That has to be my favorite thing. I've been adding up some of the ministry "stats" from when the team was here. Pretty impressive.

Together we did:

2 Conference Meetings (one for pastors - between 500-1000 people, and one for district pastors - abuot 25 people)
4 Church Children's Homes Services/VBS
2 door-to-door village prayer times
2 village outreach services
3 Church services
1 youth service
3 times at Sarah's Covenant Homes
5 Hope Child Development Center VBS Services
1 open-air "Jesus meeting"

30 testimonies were given
5 sermons were preached
2 evangelistic alter calls were given
15 alter calls for general prayer and healing

OVER 1,500 PEOPLE WERE PRAYED FOR INDIVIDUALLY WITH THE LAYING ON OF HANDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That last one absolutely gets me. Try and tell me this trip wasn't worth every penny to get all these team members out here to India. We will never fully know the fruit that comes from this trip.

Oh India...

Today I took my first shower out of bucket.

I also drank a mocha.

I love cities.


I've been enjoying working with Sarah so much. She is the wife of our main contact here in India and she runs Sarah's Covenant Homes, which are homes for special needs children who were institutionalized because of their disabilities and no one wanting them. She quite possibly has the biggest heart of anyone I've ever met. She also blogs way more than me, so you should check out her blog for more details about what I've been doing. www.sarahscovenanthomes.blogspot.com

The Whirlwind

On the 13th (day after my birthday) we headed back to take the team to fly out for the states. Somewhere on the drive, we got a call that Sarah wanted me to fly up and meet her further north to help with some of the special needs kids who were up there getting surgeries. We got the team a good meal, did some sightseeing and got them to the airport for their flight late that night. I have to say I enjoyed my night in the hotel and a chance to relax briefly. The next morning, I went back to the airport for my own flight to meet Sarah. I'm up here now and spent pretty much all day yesterday at Indian hospitals. There are still 3 kids in the hospital getting stable enough to leave. Medical stuff is a stretch for me, but I am happy to be here to help Sarah and give her some company. The challenge was I had only packed for an overnight that is now turning into a several day trip though. That's ok though, cause it's a bit of an adventure.

When I got here, there was a woman with Sarah. As we could get a few moments of privacy, Sarah filled me in that she met this woman randomly at a coffee shop and she is homeless and depressed after just having lost her mother, who was her only family member. Sarah offered her a position as the woman spoke English and had some other skills, so she was traveling around with us. Only, as time went on, the woman seemed to get stranger and more unstable (for my psych friends, I'm thinking mood disorder plus schizophrenia...Is that schizo-affective?). I think there is definitely mental illness present. After several strange encounters and dreams, we felt it best to part ways with the woman who was getting more and more demanding and was unwilling to do the job Sarah was offering her. We somewhat had to escape from her at a time when she was not paying attention to us. I am hopeful that she will get all the help she needs. It is such a struggle to balance the desire to help others while also maintaining personal safety. She was given many chances and opportunities by Sarah (probably more than I would have had the heart to give, unfortunately) but she did not accept them, and at that point it's hard to do anything else for someone. I just pray she will receive the emotional, mental, spiritual and physical help and healing she needs.

For now we go on to more hospitals....