My time in India so far has been really great. A day or two after my last post, my team took a bus about 3 hours north to work with a regional pastor. We spent the first night at the pastor’s house. He happened to know of a lady who had a tiny apartment for rent, so we decided to check that out as a more permanent living place in India. It certainly took a lot of work to clear it of all of the spiders and bugs but we have made it our little home. Each day we have been travelling to a different village. When we arrive, we begin going house-to-house and praying with the people of the village. If they haven’t heard the gospel we are able to share it with them. We end the night by doing a meeting for the believers in the area but nonbelievers are invited and encouraged to come as well. Just in these first couple of weeks we are already beginning to see the amazing power of our God. We have seen Him miraculously heal to strengthen the faith of the people. We have seen Him overpower and conquer demons so that the people afflicted can walk in true freedom. We have seen such receptiveness to the gospel. Our prayers have truly been answered; He has gone before us. In a culture that is centered around a polytheistic religion that most people that I have encountered don’t even understand, hearing the Truth of Jesus is just what they have been hungry for. Personally, I am doing really well. I have not been sick. I have not been homesick. I really love what we are doing. God continues to reveal himself to me more and more everyday. On average, it has been taking at least a couple of hours to get to each of the villages. I have spent most of that time reading. I’ve already finished 3 books since we have been here. One of the books that I read was “Compelled by Love” by Heidi Baker. If you haven’t read it, or know nothing about Heidi Baker, I highly recommend picking it up. She is an amazing woman and her book challenged me in a way that very few books have. Thank you for your continued prayers. As we enter into a last week of ministry in India there are a few things that you can pray for. Every one on my team has been sick except me. Some of them are still sick. Pray for restoration of their health and for continued health for me. Pray for energy. It has been an exhausting couple of weeks and would be very easy to lose focus because it is the last week. Continue to pray for the people we are going to encounter and that God is preparing their hearts before we even arrive. Couple of other things I wanted to let everyone know. On the left side of the page, you can subscribe to my blog and you will get an email every time I post a new one. Lastly, I encourage you to follow the blogs of my team members (i have posted the links at the bottom of the post). Most of them are a little more consistent in blogging than I am and may be able to give you more frequent updates and details than I will.
I love you all
austin
Michael Green
Crosby Brooks
Layne Thomas
Jenifer Jones
Ally Blackwell
Cassie Hendrix
