It’s no surprise that India is a vibrant nation. The colors seen in the homes and attire, the spices tasted in every single dish (even breakfast), the people we have met in all walks of life… all have a certain vibrancy about them that is unmatched by places we have been before.
For the past two weeks our team has had the privilege of experiencing this vibrancy by working with Rise India Ministries in Bangalore. Rise India’s heartbeat is desperate for this nation to know the love of Jesus Christ. It works with other ministries around Bangalore to support them in their care for the Indian people and sharing of the gospel. In our short time here, we have been able to come alongside pastors in the slums to visit and pray for over 30 families, helped with manual labor and playing with the children at Accept (a home for kids with HIV), visited patients at an elderly and terminally ill care facility to keep them company for the day and pray for them, met with women that have been rescued from the entrapment of human trafficking and are being cared for and trained for jobs by Vidyaranya Ministries, played with darling angel kiddos at a foster home for children from broken and homeless families, and visited residents of a facility called Home of Hope that rescues people living on the streets and restores their lives medically, physically, emotionally, and spiritually.
Needless to say it has been a busy couple of weeks. But I wouldn’t have it any other way.
[first and last photo cred to the lovely Katie Stuart]
Our day at Home of Hope sticks out in my mind as a day that will forever change my faith in God’s power and belief in prayer. Home of Hope currently houses 450 men, women, and children that were found in mangled states of destitution with open flesh wounds worst than I ever thought was possible, broken bones sticking out of skin, and bodies so frail it takes everything in them to even take a breath. These men, women and children, basically left for dead on the streets, are brought in and doctors perform surgeries and procedures on them in-house. The ministry focuses on getting the residents to physical restoration, if possible, and then caring for them long term through the love and giving heart of Jesus Christ. But physically, the doctors and staff can only do so much. Many of the residents, although in a much better place living at Home of Hope, are plagued with terminal diseases or mental disabilities. Many people sit or lie in the same position they were stuck in on the streets because they cannot help but fall into the same state of mind as before. It is an intermingling atmosphere of healing and heaviness everywhere you look. Its common to see one smiling woman that can’t stop singing songs of praise right next to a woman with a scowl on her face that lives in pain and severe mental confusion.
When we went to visit the men’s ward we were stopped by a volunteer working there. His name is Song, he is 79 years old, and he is one of the most joyful and loving men I have ever met. He couldn’t help but ask us to come with him to visit the room set aside for the men in their last stages. He explained to us that these men, who may not be able to hear or comprehend anymore and definitely can’t pray for themselves anymore, were at the point that prayer was their only hope. We walked into the room and saw three men lying on tables. They were hardly breathing and their eyes had a certain pain in them that instantly brought me to tears. We stood there and each prayed in our hearts as Song prayed aloud over them for the immediate healing of their souls that only comes through Jesus Christ. Song prayed with an urgency for their souls that I don’t often find myself praying with. He knew that their only hope was in the love of God and for all he knew these men did not know about the love that God had for them as His precious creations yet. Song and our team boldly prayed like our prayer was their last chance. We begged God to reveal Himself in that very instant to save them in their desperate time of need. Not to save them of their physical ailments, but to save their souls for eternity.
The magnitude of the moment in that room weighed heavy on us as we prayed. We were fully dependent on God to save His children, knowing there was nothing we could do to save them. The fervency of our prayers came from a place of anguish for these men. We were terribly brokenhearted and desperately desired true life for them. So we prayed hard that God would intercede for their eternity.
A couple of days later we had dinner with Song. He explained to us that two of the men that we prayed for died a couple of hours after we left. The urgency of prayer and salvation never hit me harder.
You would think Song would be a morose man because he lives and serves in such a sorrowful place. But he lives in pure joy because of the hope he has in God’s promises. My time at Home of Hope taught me that it is okay to feel a heaviness for the lost as long as we in turn pray with hope for them that our Father will do a supernatural healing in their hearts. Whether we are meeting families in their homes, terminally ill patients in a hospital, kids at a foster home, or a woman begging for money on the streets, our prayers for them should always have that same boldness and fervency that only comes from anguish for the people we are praying for.
I want to passionately beg God for Him to save the souls of the lost and bring them into true eternal life with Him immediately. I want to fully believe in God’s power and love to save them. I want passion and hope to come out of being brokenhearted for each person we meet that still doesn’t know.
There is hope for the heavy and His name is Jesus.
Our team is leaving Bangalore tonight and will be heading to Chitradruga, India to serve at a conference for women whose lives have been dedicated as temple prostitutes. Pray for our hearts to be broken for them so that our words and prayers shared with them will ignite passion and urgency to know Jesus Christ.
