This,
my final month
of ministry
on The World Race…
...has felt like a breath of fresh air!
(Better yet…)
… a cool,
refreshing
drink of water…
after a grueling
absolutely exhilarating run,
on a hot day…
A very, long,
11 country,
11 month,
m a r a t h o n …
From the very moment we arrived, our contacts greeted us with a greeting unlike any other. It was much like the beginning of the race, when month one, our team was picked up in a white van. This too, was a white van, but a little different… it was actually, an ambulance!
Team Pneuma, Month 1, day 1 of official “ministry”.
(Antigua, Guatemala)
And here we are, day 1 of ministry, month 11,
(Kolhapur, India)
Handing us each a rose, instantly we knew this month was going to be different than all the rest. Very different. No doubt…
…set apart.
Such a beautiful start to a *glorious* finish!
This month we have been working at a hospital that serves the community, but focuses ministering to people with HIV/ AIDS. With an aspiring nurse and physical therapist on the team, (Rachel & Jacinda) this was a dream come true from the moment we even found out about our ministry. (As a side note, this was the kind of ministry our team was supposed to be doing in Malaysia, but it never worked out there. God wanted us to wait. God had much bigger and much better plans for our team.)
Not only is the ministry here serving the people in the hospital, but also helping people out in the community with HIV/AIDS. Once a month, care packages and routine check ups are given to local struggling families.
Part of what we had the privilage of doing was going on some of these routine house visits. Our organization averages about 2-5 visits a day, 5 to 6 days a week, every single month. That’s a *ton* of people that are being touched and reached in this city!
Here, as we have learned, people with AIDS are discriminated against for jobs, medical care is expensive and hard to come by. There is such a lack of knowledge of this disease, and thus, a serious negative stigma against persons with HIV/AIDS.
These care packages are supported by international and national sponsors and cost about the equivalent of $55 USD a month. (Sponsors receive a very detailed month to month report about how each and every single dollar is spent, and how the recipient is doing.) The care packages include rice, beans, vitamins, and other high protein foods for the recipient and their family. (E-mail me for more info if you are interested!) Recently added onto this program is the “Goat project.” Through the “Goat project” select families are given one female goat. When the goat has babies, one is given back to the organization, and the family keeps the others. This sustains the project, and adds to the family’s wealth and ability to provide for themselves.
As if all that weren’t enough, there’s something even bigger going on here. Not only is this property a hospital, but it’s also home. It’s home to many of the staff, as well as many children rescued from at risk situations. The children here have a wide array of stories how they came to be here. Many of them are in fact HIV+ as well. Some of them are orphaned, some of them have families that cannot care for them, and some of these children…live here with their mothers. Yes, even at risk women live here! Many of these women have come out of prostitution or abusive situations. They have become mothers to all the children here.
It’s safe to say, I have fallen in love with all of them. Mother’s and children alike…
The beauty of redemption stories abound in this place…
Even the very hospital building is newly remodeled.
Our team had the great honor and privilege of celebrating the re-opening of the hospital’s ICU unit on August 15th, India’s independence day.
Our team was dressed for the occasion:
The stories of miraculous healings and heart transformations that have taken place here abound, and bring me to my knees in humble awe of the tremendous love and power of my God!
But wait. There’s more.
My team and I came at a very special time, and were given a very special opportunity. You see, In Thailand, many people on my team, including myself, were so broken up about the sex trade industry that takes place there. A good majority of us were pretty bummed out that we did not get to mister to those women that month, as it was something that broke our hearts before we ever even came on this trip. This month however, God answered our prayers. Not in Thailand, but here, in this ‘small’ little city of Kolhapur. Yet another ministry that this hospital is involved in is doing outreach projects to the women of the local red-light district. Counseling facilities, tutoring classes, as well as jewelry making & sewing classes are all available for women trying to get out of sex trafficking.
It just so happens that shortly before we arrived, a new building space was purchased for the project’s expansion. It needed renovation, and they needed workers. We had the amazing blessing of being the hands and the feet that saw this restoration project through to completion.
The Z-house, or the Zephaniah house, is located just to my left where that pile of bricks is. This is me pictured with some people from the local community.
Now here is a little look at how the building looked before…
As you can see, it needed just a little help!
And here, some of the ladies and I having some team time break time camera fun!
It was such a beautiful process, stripping off the old paint, sanding it down, putting on primer, painting one coat, then another and then putting the detail work on the walls…
And here, ladies and gentleman, is what transformation looks like…
Outside decorated for the grand opening.
Local children helping us celebrate.
That beautiful mural you see, is the lovely artwork of Jacinda!
Team Pneuma even had the honor of cutting the ribbon to commemorate this New Beginning!
Some of the local women and their children were served hot meals, as well as given brand new, absolutely beautiful saris.
Team Pneuma and the local pastor, and his wife who help keep the Z-house projects going.
A new light in the city of Kolhapur.
A bright light in an area with so much darkness…
You know, it’s kind of like the whole process of sanctification.
It’s kind of like what God does to us, as He makes us more and more into the image of His Son.
It’s kind of like what God has been doing to all of us, over the last 11 months of this amazing journey, scraping off the old, and transforming us into something new!
“See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland…”
Isaiah 43:19
