Wow. What a week! We just got back from another few days of being off the grid doing village ministry. We’ve had an incredible week seeing the Spirit move in people’s hearts and lives in India. It’s an indescribable feeling seeing people from all walks of life being pursued by the Father. Like wow!!! He just softens our hearts towards Him in His own loving way.
Just to recap, we attended our first Indian church service on Sunday. As we pulled up (late of course) we heard the worship music bumping over the speakers. We walked in to the sounds of tambourines and lots of other percussion instruments, worship in their native language (Telugu- spoken by millions of Indians in southern India!), and the sounds of claps and shouts and people praising the Lord in their own way.
Now this next part is where it gets interesting. We had been warned about spiritual warfare and demonic spirits manifesting during worship times because there is such a war going on between holiness and evil. (To all my friends back home – tangible demonic activity is very common overseas in less materialistic societies. At home we suffer from spiritual warfare but sometimes in different ways). So as I was taking in all the sights of a traditional worship service, I was asking the Lord for discernment on anyone who might be oppressed. Soon we saw a woman worshipping who fell to the ground and seemed to be in great pain. I immediately went to her and my team joined in on praying for freedom for this sister!!! We felt righteous anger and went to battle! We believe whatever was attacking her left by the power of Jesus! It was a very cool experience for me because despite being fearful of unknown things, God gave me the opportunity to gain more confidence in walking in His authority. God is Lord of ALL! He has all authority on earth and in heaven.
On Monday, we left for a different village to stay a few nights and do ministry. We weren’t sure where we were going, we just hopped in the auto and were along for the ride. Typical World Race. However, after riding for about an hour, the air suddenly changed from stifling heat to a more cool, salty breeze. You should have seen the joy on our faces when we realized we were headed to the beach!!! The village we were visiting is right on the edge of the Indian Ocean. On our second day there, we got to take the kids to the beach and go swimming with them!! (In all of our clothes of course, modest is hottest in India). By the way, it felt amazing to jump in that water. All we have done this month is sweat!
The rest of the time was just used for loving on people. Praying for villagers is so unique. They are afflicted by body pains, or financial problems, or sickness, loss, debt, bondage, depression and just the brokenness of this world. But they immediately invite us into their homes and give us tea or soda or snacks until we are begging them to stop! They are so generous!! I absolutely love praying for them. Sometimes we get to share the Gospel. Sometimes we pray and declare healing over a sick child with a raging fever. We pray constantly for miracles. We get to feel God’s love for them and play a role in lavishing that upon them. I love it so much. The Spirit leads, and we follow.
It’s mind-blowing that we already only have a little over a week left in India, but God has already done so much! Please go check out my other teammates blogs and consider supporting them financially.
Thanks for reading! Please continue to pray for my safety along with my team’s. It is very obvious that I have people praying for me back home. And I definitely need it!
Thanks for reading!
