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Here’s a peak into what’s going on in India:

We (Team Banah Plus) are staying at an established missions base in Bangalore (in south central India).  There are students and missionaries here from all over India, and everyone speaks English (albeit with heavy accents).  For the first time in several months, we are being treated as friends, not as superstars.  It’s nice.  The base has several established ministries in the community here, and we’re lending our helping hands to what’s already going on.  We are mostly working with college cell groups (Bible studies).  We are also visiting slums and orphanages. 
 
 


This city is actually considered the “Bible Belt” because it is 26% Christian.  However, the surrounding district of Karnataka is only 1% Christian.  That’s less than the national 5%.  The dominant religion here in India is Hinduism.  (The following information is just a basic introduction.)  Hinduism welcomes all manifestations of god, so the people can worship any of the 300 million plus idols.  The goal is to become like a god and reach the state of Nirvana by living a good life to get good karma.  There are temples and shrines everywhere, and animals freely roam the streets.  (In fact, I read in Revolution in World Missions by K.P. Yohannan that cows and rats eat and/or spoil 20% of the food in India.  People let them because of this belief in reincarnation – every life is “sacred.”  Talk about deception and spiritual darkness!  For more great stuff, check out the Gospel for Asia website: http://www.gfa.org) 

My former teammate Mel (along with her team and two others) is based in the north part of India, near the Himalayas.  She writes “There are Indian believers here, but they are few, living among the highest concentration of Hinduism, Buddhism, Muslim in the world.  But the corrupt Indian government put a recent crack down on any new converts. Indians or Nepalese living in India are persecuted for their faith. In most places it is now against the law to convert from Hinduism to any other religion.  Many who leave Hinduism to follow Christ are ostracized and thrown out of their homes, abandoned by family and friends and most certainly not supported. Worst cases, they are beaten, stoned out of cities, thrown in jail, tortured or martyred.  … In the last year alone, the faith of one man and seeing God restore him led the way for 15 other families to discover a relationship with Christ. For the first time they were able to find value and dignity believing they were made in the image of God and not reincarnated from some rat, cow or elephant. That they really are more valuable than animals. Rather than believing in man made idols of wood and stone, that they began to see the One true living God who knows them and loves them. They have been set free from their strongholds and bondage within even though they worship in secret. They are being delivered and healed by the power of God that no other earthly gods could accomplish.  CLICK HERE TO READ MORE. 

The reason why I call my team “Banah Plus” is because, if you recall, we have welcomed Jacob and Ian to join us this month.  The ladies of Team Fuse are working across town with an organization that ministers to prostitutes. 

One of our squad leaders, Kelly, is with them, and she wrote about an excursion they took the other night.  “We covered ourselves in long pants and scarves and headed out to the streets.  To Market Street where you can buy a lot more than just fruits and vegetables.  To the train and bus stations where travel isn’t the main agenda.  To the alleys and corners where darkness isn’t only physical. … We were there to observe the FSW’s (Female Sex Workers).  Women who have been bought and sold more times than they can keep track of. … Most of these women were sold into this lifestyle by friends or family members desperate for money they couldn’t seem to earn.  Women probably isn’t the right word because many of them are little more than children themselves.  They were sold without their consent.  They stay out of fear. …
 

And CLICK HERE TO READ Marisa’s “Diaries of a Sex Slave: 2 Little Indians

The other two teams are based in Calcutta.  They have been under serious spiritual attack – with physical manifestations (illness).  But Bekah writes about streams of color, mazes of alleys, beggars, and understanding the heart of Mother Teresa.  CLICK HERE TO READ MORE.  

CLICK HERE TO READ UPDATES FROM ANY OF MY SQUADMATES.

 
India is gorgeous – the sights, sounds, smells – I love all of it!  Please PRAY for us and PRAY for the people of India.  God loves them deeply, and we are here because He wants them to know more about Him – He wants to FREE them from spiritual oppression!