India is so beautiful. The culture. The people. The food!
This past month we have stayed in a pastor’s home and done ministry in the neighboring villages working with other pastors.
Their stories have truly touched my heart. They tell of stories where God told them to leave their home village and travel to a new one they have never been to before where they don’t know anyone. They have slept under a tree with their wife and child waiting for God to provide because they had no money. They have seen a woman in a coma die and then be raised to life. They have seen the blind regain their site. They have been beaten and thrown in jail. They have cried out to Jesus for financial support as they all try to support their families on only $9 USD per month.
Jesus is moving in India.
Each night our ministry consisted of traveling to a different village nearby where we were staying, often stopping at houses along the way to pray for fellow believers. At the village, the people would sing a few songs in Telagu (the language in this state in India) and we would sing a few in English. Then we would share some testimonies and someone would preach. Our words encouraged the congregation’s hearts and it was beautiful to watch as they listened and hung on our words (well, our translator’s words). Most of the pastors do not have an actual church building to meet in so we met right in the middle of the street, with the light of only one lightbulb shining on us. This lightbulb often went out too as the electricity here is not reliable. But God’s word never fails. We do not need a building or a lot of light to have a church and worship our Lord and Savior.
God did not waste any time by dropping us right into the deep end when dealing with prayer and the Holy Spirit. On day three of ministry we encountered a woman who was demon possessed. It was so powerful as we prayed over her and watched God show up as she ended up accepting Jesus into her heart. (If you have questions about what any of that means, just message me!) God gave us many opportunities to pray for healings and blessings over our brothers and sisters in Christ. But the best part was praying for the pastor whose village we were in each night.
When we would arrive at each village, we always knew where to go – sitting in the plastic chairs. The rest of the village people sat on mats on the ground. The most humbling thing I ever saw was the pastor sitting on the ground with his congregation. The chairs were for guests or higher up people (such as our driver and translator). But not a single pastor in any village we visited sat in a chair.
In one village we visited, the pastor did not have a very large congregation. Many people who came out that night were more excited to see the white people than to hear the word of God (but thankfully they heard the Word anyway). That night was hard as most people were busy taking pictures of us rather than listening to what we were saying. But the pastor sat on the ground with a little flashlight and his Bible open intently hanging on every word we had to say (he had to use a flashlight because the one light bulb just wasn’t bright enough to read the words). I wanted to cry for this man of God who was so faithful even in the midst of a people group so lost. This pastor had left his home and was praying to God for a church building so he could have somewhere when his congregation grew (because of course he knew God was faithful and would bring more people).
We ended each night of ministry by praying over the pastor of that village and his family (after they served us an amazing dinner. SO GOOD). Many of the pastors wept as we prayed blessings, strength, perseverance, and love over them. Even if they couldn’t always understand all of our English words, they knew our prayers were being heard by God and they were incredibly touched that Christians in American would come all the way to India to pray over them.
There are so many things that happened here in India that I could tell you about, but I really wanted to share these pastor’s stories. They are the true missionaries and heros to India. I will be praying for them and I hope you will join me. Pray that finances will come in so the 67 pastors can live on $45 USD per month rather than $9. Pray that churches will be built so they no longer have to meet in the street or a stable. Pray for the pastors who are in charge of more than one church that they will have strength and guidance to properly lead their flocks (our translator was also a pastor who runs three churches and our driver was a pastor who also runs a boy’s home with 10 young men living in it). I have never seen such hard working, godly men. My heart is forever touched by them.
If you would like to help support these pastors monthly, please click on this link! Or just let me know and I can contact Drea. My wonderful friend Drea who I met in India is working very hard to help raise support for these incredible pastors.
https://icm.kindful.com/?campaign=256021
Love you all! Thank you for the continued prayers. I promise I will try to write more blogs in Nepal!
