Day 6 The Day We Saw Elephants

Praise God for another day of no rain!  In the morning, on the way to the conference center, Pastor Greg encouraged each of us to pray for our seatmate on the bus.   While we were praying for one another, we spotted 2 or 3 elephants on the street.  From the beginning, we had been talking about and hoping to see elephants on this trip.  It was the kindness of God to give us this simple gift.  Imagine how tickled with delight He must have been to see His children so excited! 

 

AAAHHHHH!  Elephant!  Screams of excitement were heard throughout the bus as people frantically reached
for their cameras to take a picture.

 

We arrived at the conference center during worship time. 

 

Women are required to cover their heads during worship.

 

After worship, Michael and Jamie spoke to the single young men about God's wrath.  The men were eager learners and hungrily took in the message, asking questions.  Michael even spoke with a young man who was an aspiring pastor. 

Michael and Jamie ministering to the young single men through sports activities.

 

God has given us His creativity in teaching!

Jamie shared about the Hooshga Project, which is a means of sharing the gospel with children.  Children would receive a stuffed animal turtle along with a picture Bible.  The VBS children will be receiving these tomorrow afternoon.

 

Hooshga turtle with Bible.

 

Hooshga turtles, picture Bible, a ball, and candy packed in bags, ready
to be handed out to the children tomorrow.  Can't wait to see the children's
faces when they receive them!

 

Pastor Greg shared with the young couples on communication, and important topic for any relationship.  Praise God - the talk went well!

 

 

Tracy shared with the women on Romans 7 and 8.  God's grace was very evident during her talks, and He proved Himself faithful yet again....  One woman said she was encouraged, knowing that the Lord is with her.  Another said that God's beauty shines on our faces.  Another said to always give thanks, even in pain. 

 

Ann and Tracy with a few of the women from the single young women's group.
They were such a blessing to us in their eagerness to learn, simple faith,
encouragement, and humility.  They loved having their pictures taken.  :)

 



The India team had their group picture taken after the morning sessions.  What an honor and privilege to serve as part of a team who loves God.  He really helped us encourage and pray for one another.  When one member was in need of prayer, other team members gathered around and prayed and offered God's Word in encouragement.

 

Back row, from left to right: Pastor Greg, Mark, Amy, Jamie, Oliver, Michael, Chris.
Front row, from left to right: Melissa, Carie, Maddy, Linda, Margy, Tracy, Phyllis Jean, Molly, Ann.

 

Ann and Linda taking a break in the afternoon.

Phyllis Jean and Molly being goofy.  :)

 

 After lunch, VBS was held while Pastor Greg spoke to the families on conflict resolution.

Slum children being trucked into the conference center.  Two trucks
carried nearly 200 children today.  The children are always excited for VBS!
 



Here they come!

The VBS team taught on Jesus' death and resurrection through various teaching methods.  There was a time of worship, followed by a skit.

Jesus (Mark) and His disciples (Margy, Amy, Melissa, Oliver) in the Garden
of Gethesemane shortly before Jesus was taken by the Roman soldiers.

Jesus (Mark) taken away by the Roman soldiers (Michael and Jamie).

After the skit, it was game time!  The game reflected the lessons learned over the past few days.

Here are the boys lining up for the game.

Linda blindfolding a boy during game time.

 Then came crafts...

The kids glued pictures onto a paper plate, which told of Jesus' death and resurrection in
 picture format.  They are so proud of their work!

 

Melissa helping with crafts.



Molly handing out craft material to the kids.



 

 

 

Phyllis Jean with the girls.

Molly with one of the boys.

Maddy with a couple of the boys.  Many kids would ask
to have their pictures taken, and then say "Thank you".

After VBS came the hardest part of they day... saying good-bye to the kids...

 

 

Is it so hard seeing them leave.  They always leave with happy faces, waving at us and saying good-bye.
Approx. 100 kids were packed into one truck.  We are so touched by the slum ministry workers
who moved into the slums so they could reach the people there.

One the way back to our hotel, we passed some homes.  The people in these homes wave to us every day.  Their living conditions are far worse than what we are used to living in, yet they are happier...

 

 

Back in the hotel, we debriefed and shared with each other on how we saw God work today.  After a short time of prayer, thanking God and asking for wisdom and grace for the next day, we retired for the night.

 

God has been sooo good to us on this trip.  He has been ministering to the team members as they minister to the Indian people.  His kindness knows no end.  Tomorrow will be the last day of ministry before leaving.  It seems that time has flown by so quickly, and our time here too short.  Relationships among the team have grown so much over the past 5 days.  We started out on the trip, some of us almost strangers, and now we are a cohesive team of brothers and sisters called to serve in India to further the gospel while serving one another.  We have seen how God equips those He calls, and His strength and wisdom are always ours for the asking.  Things haven't always gone perfectly, but God's grace for us has always been perfect for our situations.

 

Thank you again for your prayers.  Know that God has heard and is answering them according to His wisdom. 

 

Prayer Requests:

 

1.  Please pray for those who will be speaking tomorrow: 

• Pastor Greg will be speaking to the young couples on the topic of romance (Song of Solomon).  This will be an awkward topic for the Indian couples to hear because of their culture.  Please pray that Pastor Greg will present the material in a way that benefits them the most. 
• Carie will be speaking to the young single women on the book of Esther.  Please pray for wisdom as she makes final preparations tonight and restful sleep.  She was not feeling too well today.  Please pray for healing and strength.
• Jamie will be sharing a message to the young single men for the first time.  Pray for clarity of material presented, and wisdom.  

2.  Please pray for continued dry weather.  God has been holding the rain back this week, and it's been wonderful.  :)

 

3.  Please continue to pray for the health of the team.  Several team members have not been feeling well and have had stomach problems.  Praise God that nothing has been serious so far. 

4.  Please pray for soft hearts in the Indian people being ministered to.  A lot of truth has been taught over the past few days.  Pray that the Holy Spirit would use the truth gained to transform their hearts and bring them closer to Christ.

5.  Please pray for those who will be taking lessons learned back to their respective churches, that the truth will be communicated clearly as it is passed along to other believers in their churches.

Thank you for following our blog and partnering in the gospel with us!

 

God bless you! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day 5: The Day God Held Back the Rain

Since Tracy is busy tonight preparing for her talk for the young women's group, today's blog is being composed by a guest blogger. My apologies if names are misspelled!

 

 

 

 

 

To start off, here are some pictures from yesterday:



 

Maddie was preparing some craft materials for VBS in the VIP room at the conference center.

More of the VBS team in the VIP room. How kind of God to give us a room with an air conditioner.

 A random picture of Michael and Jamie.

 Chris, Mark, and Margy in the VBS tent.

Amy in her Indian garb. :)

 

 

The following are all from today....

 



A big praise for the 5th day (2nd day of ministry) was that although we were thinking it might rain, God held back the rain. This was a huge relief for the VBS team since VBS was held outside and the rain would complicate their plans. On the bus ride to the conference center, Amy reported how awesome it was that God had been giving them creative ideas for VBS. For example, when the VBS team was struggling with leading the children in song, God gave them the idea of incorporating sign language to facilitate learning the song(s).

 



The congregation humbly worshipping God. One song that we sang was "How Great Thou Art." How beautiful that we could sing that in English with them as they were singing it in Hindi.

 

 

The day started with corporate worship, which was followed by break out sessions for young men, young women, and couples. Jamie had an opportunity to teach the young men about prophecy, which he really enjoyed. He said that God's grace was evident during his talk. He explained that normally, he has a lot of difficulty with public speaking; however, God graced him with the ability to teach quite effortlessly. Not only that, he really enjoyed being able to teach. In the young women's morning sessions, God graced Ann with the ability to share about the book of Ruth. God, in His kindness, moved a young woman to encourage Ann after the talk by saying thank you and that she really learned a lot. She was struck by the young women's humility and willingness to learn.

Oliver relishing the delectable piece of mango during our lunch break.

 

 

During the lunch break, one of the translators for Pastor Greg's session was asked if he was feeling tired, to which he responded that he wasn't. He added that he had joy [from serving God]. What an example of Nehemiah 8:10 "...the joy of the Lord is your strength."

 

Precious Indian children lifting their hands in praises and singing "Hallelu, hallelu, hallelu, hallelujah..."

Melissa enjoying her chai tea, posing with a few boys from VBS.

More pictures of the children, most of whom were from the slums. Oh Lord, give us the eyes to see their spiritual poverty, and not just their physical poverty!

A precious boy with the mat that he wove.

Amy and Margy helping the kids with the weaving. What a privilege to serve and pray for the slum children!

 More pics of the precious children engaged in the craft.

Molly taking goofy pictures with some of the boys.

Carie (Ma Ma Bear) with Phyllis Jean. Friendships were formed and fellowship was sweet...all because of our Savior.

 

Back at the hotel, we had a time of fellowship among the 16 members of the team. We were all blessed by Mark, who led worship. We shared about our day and evidence of God's grace and we prayed for one another. Pastor Greg passed out notes to each one of us which an individual at church had written to each India team member. How kind of God to compel her heart to do that! Someone on the team had commented how awesome it was that our team was really unified. Amen to that!

 

Please pray for the following:

 

1) That God would continue to hold back the rain, unless, of course He thinks having it rain would be best!

2) For Pastor Greg, Michael, Jamie, and Tracy who will be speaking tomorrow (well at least 3 of the 4 will be, not sure if it will be all 4).

3) That God would capture the heart of each and every attendee at the conference.
4) That each of us on the team would be sensitive to the Spirit's leading.
5) That God would do immeasurably more than we could think of or imagine.

Dear readers, thank you so much for serving our Lord by praying for us!

Day 4: Start of Ministry Week

Today's blog will be short.  I will be investing time in preparing for the message I will share later this week.

Praise God all went well today at VBS and the family conference.

Here are the day's events at a glimpse:

VBS for slum children:

Playing a game.

 

Unexpected visitor.

 

VBS children were trucked in from the slums...

 

 

Young couples' and family ministries:

Pastor Greg preaching.

 

 

Single young men's ministry:

 

Michael and Jamie sharing.

Single young women's ministry:

Linda sharing from Isaiah 55.

We saw monkeys on the way home from the conference center. :)

 Please pray for:

1.  Weather - tomorrow is expected to rain.  Pray that God would continue to hold the rain back.
2.  VBS team - they spend hours outside in extreme heat ministering to children.  Pray against health issues arising from the heat.
3.  Family conference speakers who will be sharing tomorrow: Pastor Greg, Ann, Michael.  Pray for continued wisdom and preparation of heart and message.
4.  God's protection against sickness and injury.  Praise God that those who have been feeling sick are starting to feel better, and all were able to participate in the day's activities.

Praise God for His unchanging faithfulness even through unexpected turns of events.  Evidence of His grace is so clear on this trip thus far.

Thanks so much for your partnership in the Gospel.  God bless!