I know that I'm awful at writing blogs throughout the month and tend to post a slew all at once, so I apologize. But that's what us procrastinators do; we have good ideas, but sit on them for a while, waiting for the inspiration to actually write down and expand on said ideas. Then, usually all at once, productivity finally arises, which is good, except for the fact that now here I sit with only 8 days left in Andrha-Pradesh and I'm just now sharing with you readers what it actually is that we've been doing here. But trust me, my inspired writing is much better than my uninspired, so I assure you it's better this way. I also really like to write in retrospect, so perhaps that adds to the delayed blogs, too.
Moving on…
Team Holy F.I.R.E. has a really special opportunity this month, doing something that no World Race team has ever done before. We're working with an organization called India Christian Ministries doing media projects, honing their already existing social media and expanding their reach, and helping update their website. I think WR teams have been to ICM before, but not in this capacity. So, to do all this, we spend three days a week on the field–usually Sunday, Tuesday, and Wednesday–interacting with local village pastors, conducting interviews, via translator, following the pastors, meeting congregations, sharing God's Word, making house-to-house visits, and praying over more people than I would ever be able to count. The other three days-Monday, Thursday, and Friday–we are in the offices at ICM compiling videos and pictures, researching information, and working on various projects to which we've been appointed. Yes, you only counted 6 days there, but that's because Saturday is our Sabbath. Missionary's gotta rest.
Did I mention that I was a Public Relations major in college and that I LOVE social media and promotions?! Oh, and village ministry is pretty darn awesome, too. I was made for this project. Thank You, Jesus.
If you haven't read in any of my other teammates' blogs, I'll be the first to tell you: the work that Jesus is doing through ICM is truly inspiring. In the 2001 census, only 2.3% of all of India claimed Christianity as their religion. With Hindu politics in place, the government has some serious leverage to deter people from Christianity, including taking jobs and removing benefits. I wouldn't exactly call India the safest place to be a local Christian, either. We haven't experienced persecution personally, but in many places surrounding Andrha-Pradesh, and throughout the country, Christians are threatened or even terrorized by radical Hindus.
And yet India Christian Ministries continues to reach out to the people for the sake of the Gospel. Their main way of doing this has been found through their Covenant School of Apostolic Ministry, which not only trains and raises up new pastors and leaders, but also continues to teach and pour into existing pastors, CSAM graduates and not. The CSAM has graduated over 1,200 pastors and leaders to date and has over 2,200 churches in their network. By 2020, ICM's goal is to have a church in every village, town, and city in Andrha-Pradesh; that's 22,000 churches!
We're constructing a new website for ICM during the next week, but for now check out their other programs here if you're interested in learning more about what else ICM does.
You may be thinking that their goals are too extreme, that their dreams are unreachable, that their aspirations are just too dang high. I mean, to multiply your number of churches 10-fold in just 7 years is no small task. But Jesus, the one true God, the God we serve, and the God we love, is a God of "large tasks" if I've ever seen one. Don't ever doubt what He can do.
If you feel it on your heart to get involved with ICM, click to serve, to give, or to contact. And as always, please pray for them 🙂 ICM is fighting for Jesus and Jesus definitely fights for India. Will you join the battle?
