Only four more days left of our ministry in Chennai. God has done so much work in me this
month. Some of it blog-worthy,
some of it has been so startling and terrifying that I’ll carry it around with
me forever. A lot of the
terrifying stuff has to do with the spiritual realm I observed in India. I’m not going to give Satan credit on
here, but I’ll tell my readers that I saw a lot of demons leave a lot of people
kicking and screaming. I more
fully understand the reality of demonic oppression. I heard strange tongues, saw bodily contortions, other
worldly screams, and ugly manifestations.
More importantly I saw VICTORY in every single person. The blood of Jesus was prayed over them
and the demons fled. Satan rules
this earth, but Jesus’ love for his children will prevail each and every time.
The other stuff God worked with me on were things like bad
attitudes and a spirit of complaining.
I wish I could say this stuff was new, but let’s get real — he deals
with this every month. What?! Yes, every month. We’re so stretched every month! Sometimes squatty potties, foreign
food, hot weather and fatigue just GET to me! Ok!?
So this week was another blessed one with cottage prayer,
singing and preaching in the streets, and going into cottages and praying over
the household.
Our ministry site. The streets.
Singing songs, sharing testimonies.
Blessing the house and praying for their prayer requests.
One of my favorite days of ministry was when we took a bus
to a village a little more than an hour away. Most of the church went with us and we prayed over the
ground where Pastor hopes to raise a church soon. The rest of the day we traveled around the streets stopping
every so often to pray for people who were bringing their sick to us. It was amazing the faith they had to
leave their home and ask for healing.
They were all mostly Hindu’s, but heard our message and wanted something
different.
On the bus! It was loud and
crazy with singing and drums.
Praying over the future church.
Preaching the Gospel and drawing a crowd.
Village folks coming out to receive healing.
It was a really blessed day because I got the honor of
sharing Jesus’ life to people who had never heard his name before. A few little girls followed me around
the entire day and played with my hair and kissed my cheeks. You never really know the impact you
have on people when you come through a village like that. Whether they were bored so they came
out to listen, or whether God was doing a work in their hearts sparking
something, regardless — I loved those little girls all day and they loved
me. And that is ministry
sometimes. Just being there as a
life sized jungle gym, or Barbie doll to play with.
Beautiful girls.
Nothing better!
It’s bittersweet for ministry to come to an end here. This month has been really heavy for me
spiritually and hard for me physically.
I’m taking away a greater appreciation for prayer and spoken words over
people. I’m also coming away with
higher tolerances for living conditions.
God has done a major work in me this month and I’m grateful for every
second and I owe it to this group of faithful believers:
I will praise you,
Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all the marvelous things you have
done. I will be filled with joy
because of you. I will sing
praises to your name, O Most High
Psalm 9: 1-2
