I'm sure many of you have heard the expression sink or swim in your life. It refers to being thrown into the deep end of the pool and seeing what happens from there. The person will either sink or swim. That is what ministry and being on this new team has been like this month, and it has only been a week! We have been doing multiple ministries everyday, all different with different people and in different places. Yesterday we attended a school for the deaf and dumb and did a few short skits then prayed for all of them, then went to a women's bible study in the afternoon. Everywhere we go we are expected to bring "the word," they call it, and to pray for everyone. I have never prayed so much in my life, or been expected to sing or dance or give a message on the spot. We are being s..TrE..tcH…eD, but it is good. Talents and giftings are coming out that some of us didn't even know we had and I am getting to see sides of myself and my teammates that are both awesome, exciting, and funny.
Tonight we went to a village and started walking around meeting with and praying for the believers in the area. Before we knew it we had a crowd of about 20 following us, then as we continued on and ended up in the center of the town about 200 people gathered around us and we were able to preach the word of God and pray for all of them. Awesome! Be praying for more and more for us! We want it!
We are living with a family of five in a two bedroom unit of a building that we would call a duplex. Here it is called a house. There are seven of us, and five of them. Four sleep in the living room (including the pastor and his wife), three girls sleep in one room, and five in the other room. So to sum it up there are twelve of us in a two bedroom apartment. I call us the twelve disciples. Hahaha. With all the ministry we are doing and the way we are living I think we do bear a bit of a resemblance. The father of the family is a pastor of a small local church and has dedicated his whole life to ministry. We call him Pastor. He is an amazing man of God and leads us with strength and dignity and the with the power of the Holy Spirit. His wife is also amazing. She makes sure we get fed a minimum of three times a day and often goes to ministry with us. She has had to hire outside help to make sure the house stays clean and we stay fed and happy amongst our busy schedule. Her name is Helen. They have three kids; Kathy, Sam, and Smiley. The eldest girl Kathy is turning 22 next week and is planning to attend a bible college in Texas in the fall. Sam is next in line. He is 18 and just finished Intermediate College (which for us is grade 12). He is going into engineering and will be starting his degree next year. The youngest girl is 15. Her name is Smiley, and she lives up to her name! Except in the mornings. She likes to sleep and doesn't like to be woken up. So in the mornings I call her Sleepy.
It has been amazing being here. I feel like we have already done and been through so much, and it has only been a week. Two of the other teams are close by and we even got to see them last Saturday. I have heard some awesome stories coming out of them in their ministries as well. India is full of new sounds and smells and foods that I have never tried. I am going to learn how to cook Indian food this month because it is so so so good and I can't imagine going a month without eating it! I really love it here. I haven't left and already want to come back. The area is spiritually ripe for the harvest and the people are hungry for the Word of God. I am already prepping myself for how hard it will be to leave. God is so good. Blessings to all of you!
