Final reflections:

It’s hard to put on paper ones thoughts and experiences from all we have seen, heard and been involved with. India has no doubt a special place in our hearts and more importantly in the Lord’s. These comments are personal to me and do not necessarily reflect that of the other members of the team.

There is such an obvious change when a non believer comes out from the darkness of this infested land of 330 million gods to the one and only true God who brings light and life and eternal hope! Apart from me there is no other Saviour.  Isaiah 43:11 (para)

Most of the believers we have met express outwardly such a joy and a radiance that is hard to find in the western world (when you consider the burdens and difficulties and hardships they face daily); I have even questioned my own outward expressions at times on looking back on the past, where it has seemingly been difficult to worship in the way in which I should. During some of the services I have seen with my own eyes such beautiful worship from somebody and then later only to find that same person kneeling before me and weeping as I pray over them. How can this be? Why are some of us such a closed book in western culture……? Why do some of us find it difficult to come forward for prayer when given the opportunity…... is our self reliance so strong that we starve ourselves and deny this privilege of ministering to one another?

We have been richly blessed by seeing the Lord touching lives here and there (as so many of our meetings have been small numbers) and then to see amazing responses to the gospel when groups of all ages give their hearts to the Lord. What a sight to behold and if only we could hear the angels rejoicing in heaven! We eagerly await forthcoming testimonies to speak of what God has been doing through us and with your prayer support……..let us rejoice together!!

Not everything goes to schedule and at times we find that frustrating, almost a difficult pill to swallow if you have not been here before! You might be thinking I have rose tinted glasses well that’s not quite true. Sometimes Indian mentality is enough to test the patience of any saint, as programs change to what you think has been arranged, the same mistakes are sometimes repeated, and the chilled attitude towards time can take it’s toll…… when we come from such an organised culture, but we lovingly move forward. Other things like noise and pollution are in excess of our norm, and yet they pay close attention to keeping their houses neat and clean, but outside the home anything goes; even believers do not seem to care about litter outside their personal domain.

I am still amazed how we can turn up in the middle of a village almost an hour to an hour and a half later than planned and ‘church’ just begins within moments. Chairs appear from almost nowhere, people begin to gather and without any fancy PA equipment worship commences!! Even if people are already assembled they patiently wait for us to show up and just continue to worship in song. They are so eager to have fellowship, to hear you speak into their lives and to pray with them that time is not important, only just to be with God’s people!

Believers here have a heart of servant hood where nothing is too much trouble or too difficult. They seem to go to extraordinary lengths not only to welcome you but to serve and they feel it is their minimum duty! In many ways all that we witness is like what we read in the book of Acts. There are many elements that I would love to see adopted into our churches in the western world as there is freedom from striving for perfection and dare I say even military precision which could overtake the simplicity of ‘fellowship’. I realise that this does not apply to all churches as we operate at varying levels; also that here we do not have to be as responsible and accountable for our time as we do in the western world!

Never the less there is a richness here that makes us seem poor by comparison as we perhaps wrestle to live in our own society with such high demands upon our time and energy. God gives us so much in the way of families and friends and church family and yet we seem to strive for better things seemingly, that actually deprive us of spending precious time with the things He considers more important! There is so much to learn, so much to apply and time vanishes before us. The mission for this year is over and it is important we take proper rest as this has been punishing at times.

Already our programs are memories and photos and sadly as we relax in modern hotels in Kerala we see many Europeans (Italians, French and some English) pushing there way around the buffet tables as if there were only 3 spoons of rice left! After spending so much time with the nationals what we now experience is not a pretty sight, and I realise I can be just as guilty if I am not careful. There is beauty in being with our brothers and sisters in India and it’s so easy to make them laugh or smile. Even to relate to ordinary people in match factories who we have never met before just by getting down to their level brings a man or woman to beam a smile without even being able to speak their language! God bless India and bring many more into the kingdom of God!

         

Adopted.........by God!:

Our last service was a truly blessed one .... wonderful worship, good responses to preaching and to conclude with a baptism.

I baptised 3 believers this morning and count a real privelige to do this and these people were delightful. The irrigation tank was outside near to the church building and many gathered to witness this event.

Afterwards we came back in and had a good chat with our co-pastors in this region and also a wonderful time with the 20+ orphans who IVCM helps. We provide clothes, food and some basic education. It is absolutely minimal help as we don’t currently have enough funds to run a proper program. These are the kids who want to stay at our eventual new building on the land we own nearby. 

The kids enjoyed having sweets, and all were given the knitted teddies (see pics), such a simple gift brought great joy to their hearts as they don’t get much help. Some bed sheets were also distributed.

It seemed strange to think this was our last service and time of ministry, all the programs, outreach, bible distribution had come to an end. We love these people as they are so special, warm and loving. They have so little compared to Western standards and yet are rich in Christ! Thanks for your prayers and support without them we would not have managed! We are now aiming to rest and take some personal refreshment, as we are totally zapped!

Bless you in Jesus name.

Strange encounter?:

While sat having breakfast in this small hotel we are having discussions between ourselves about the Sunday service/baptism etc. At the far end there is a family also taking breakfast. Just as we are about to leave the husband comes over and says in very good English he heard our conversations, and asked if he could come to church with us! (be careful what you say in public is a useful reminder)….

We said that we were travelling at least one hour to the church and had a full program, and before we could say anymore he said that he needed to come as he had been baptised yesterday and did not have peace!

We then had to ask David if this was Ok and felt it was one of those God divine appointments. David was surprised and said why would he come so far but agreed. This man came in our car with his own driver following… much to his amazement and without his family (they had guests but he insisted he needed to come to church).

During our journey he asked many questions and also regarding his business, we kept speaking into his life, it was strange set of circumstances. Part way into the journey he then changed his mind and said could we go into his car as this might settle his driver who thought he was crazy, but we refused as my warning bells put me on high alert!

This man was a director of the hotel and had other businesses, also he spent 2 years in England a while back. So what was this mans true intentions? Again question after question came and he began to relax, then he suddenly said that he now had peace and need not come any further.

We prayed over him and he then got out and thanked us, returned to his car and we went ahead to our original destination. Where we gullible at his story of faith or was God using us to speak into his life? It’s hard to give all the facts here but it was an amazing encounter. We were kept safe and had a truly blessed morning!

Liberated, lively and loved:

Our last youth meeting was amazing! In fact awesome!! Around 70 kids were expected but actually 140 showed up , so many that they literally filled the hall sat on mats. These were younger kids but some older ones and a few adults as well.

Again some minor problems setting up while they were in worship as again a late start. One song in particular was so lively they were all dancing and waving there hands, shouting what sounded like Jeshua!

They were a lively bunch and very responsive. We had two sessions (adjusted) went well and half way thru the first one I felt this oppression lift and felt free and liberated, I sensed that somebody had been praying! We concluded with a re commitment and prayer for believers, and an altar call for non believers. 26 people inc 3 adults came forward...Praise God!

Light in the darkness!!:

The last two days as a team we have felt a real spirit of oppression and there have been countless problems and difficulties as the numbers of those coming to faith have increased. We have been praying real crazy, and are also now physically exhausted and emotionally drained, this night we got home and into bed at 1.30am and had not eaten an evening meal. It sounds crazy and was not planned this way but the programs and events just turned out that way!

We changed the venue of this meeting due to the circumstances prev mentioned and unfortunately there were significantly less people who attended! Setting up equipment was fraught with minor problems and as usual time was much later than planned for.. Indian time takes some getting use to!!

A cultural show was put on and then it was time to speak after worship. Many children came as well as adults. Our theme was Jesus is the light of the world. Our visual aids included sparklers, glow sticks and magic candles. The gospel was preached and was interspersed with a short film clip on the stars and planets in relation to our world. Projection was thrown onto a tightly stretched bed sheet but it worked. it was not possible to play sound as the Audio people in the prev meeting left my jack adapter behind in their amp. I was too tired to check as we left late again!

Despite the problems the Gospel was preached and about 30 adults and 10 or so youth came forward, and as they were gathered the power went out and we were in total darkness in the middle of this vacant plot of land! But then all we could see was a scattered array of glow sticks which looked beautiful! Within minutes (to my relief) the power came back on and we could lead them thru the prayer of confession and give out New testaments.

'Judo-Christian' school??!

We returned to our usual school which is for mostly Hindu children , but is operated entirely on Christian principals with a strong Bible influence and this is so evident amoung the teachers and children.

We were greeted by all the kids standing and waving in one long double human aisle all the way from the road to the new building at the far end. Having been showered with garlands, flowers and incense among several other traditional greetings we moved like some royal procession!

The children had put on several displays, programs including Judo and Karate, dances etc. This took up the whole morning! After lunch Kym preached to the staff in the newly opened Chapel, (still in need of some finishing touches when funds come in); it was amazing to think that last year only raw foundations were in front of our eyes!

I then was asked to talk to the parents and children (Peter having done his talk in the morning); so many parents turned up that even they were surprised! Some of the kids had sit outside as we were overflowing. At first this was a disappointment but I then realised the Lord had a purpose for me to aim my talk to the parents.

After concluding with the Gospel around 35-40 parents came forward and committed their lives to Christ, and we could introduce them to the Pastor who visits this school and runs a service on Sundays (currently only 10 believers) ...he travels 100k every time there and back by moped to get here. Pray that he can move nearer soon! Now his membership will increase. An awesome time spent on this day... Thank you Jesus

Finally Kym was given a beautiful Saris by the Principal (fine Christian lady) . see for yourself in this picture

Loving Lepers......

We put out the word at the last minute from the orphanage to ask some lepers to come to one hall for ministry in a practical way. A small number gathered along with some beggars with cancer.

We aimed to meet them and show the love of Christ by spending time and to provide rice and some small amounts of money. Nothing could have prepared us for what we would witness today! We had been instructed how to behave and the do's and dont's so in a sense we were a little on edge if I am honest!

Pastor Jay sang a few Christian songs, prayed and then we met each one individually as they sat along one long wall inside this hall. What we saw was in some cases quite shocking, and all of them were in filthy clothes best described as rags. Nobody wants these untouchables it seems!

Pastor asked me on the spot to do a short preach.....?? Oh says me ...Holy Spirit come!! Fortunately I had popped a magic candle in my pocket and a box of matches and told them about the Light of the World. It all seemed a bit in adequate and my faith was not enough to expect instant healing although many times our hearts desire for such a thing.

With God's strength I felt compelled to tell them the Gospel and that one day we would have new bodies and there would be no more suffering if we put our trust in Christ. Even more surprising I decided to put my faith to the test and asked for any who might want to accept Jesus as Lord and Saviour. Approx. 20 made that choice and we led them to Jesus... what an amazing day! We gave each one about 2kg of rice and
some money and sent them on their way! Although there was rejoicing I'm afraid I literally wept after the event was all over. My heart just broke with emotion with what we witnessed and saw take place!

School Visit.......
Today we returned to the St.Joseph's school and spent the whole day being guests of honour. This place blows your mind at the welcome and hospitality we receive. It's a Christian run school but the children are mostly Hindus. They put on numerous programs and exhibitions for us to see and watch..absolutely spectacular from Karate and breaking tiles to a series of cultural dances.

To see such excellent behaviour and well disciplined children was a sight to behold, all proud to be part of this very rural school...note at our 1st visit 2 years a go they had not seen a white person before!!

Peter did his story of Jesus in the storm which always goes down well, and then after lunch Kym preached to the staff members in the recently opened Chapel. Last year we prayed over the foundations and now we were inside!

I then preached to the kids and their parents who had arrived. It was packed as so many parents had come, so much so that the very small kids had to sit outside which seemed a shame! It seemed a very disorientated start as people were moving around and various other minor interruptions took place ,but eventually the atmosphere changed and I changed my message to suit the large number of adults who gathered. The gospel was preached and between 25 to 40 parents came forward at the end.

This is amazing stuff, we introduced them to the newly appointed pastor of the chapel and he encouraged them to come to the chapel on Sunday. The Power of the Gospel in India is so powerful, evangelism is just so exhilarating and we want to see more souls brought into the Kingdom of Christ!

Thanks for your prayers ...please continue, there is till more time yet!

Training Timothy's

One great thing here is the fact young men and women are here from the remote villages of north India. They are extremely poor and are cared for here and assisted in their training towards being a pastor, and eventually sent back to preach the Gospel.

What a privilege to teach and encourage and pray with these delightful young people! After a time of worship and teaching we asked them to reflect on what they had learnt with the help of my lap top and a worship song with pictures of creation. Closing with prayer and calling upon the Holy Spirit to give them a fresh vision for God and to be filled a fresh, turned out to be a powerful and moving event. God showed up big time…… many broke down and wept and cried aloud to God in open prayer. This was so controlled and yet an awesome experience! I have never seen before so many people crying out to the Lord with such passion and sincerity . The leader who teaches this group of about 50 students encouraged this opportunity to express them selves and kindly interpreted some of those audible prayers.

We were all greatly moved by the hand of God touching lives in such a powerful way, a memory we will always hold close to our hearts! I know how right it is that we must seek further training ourselves so that we can become even more equipped to bless our brothers and sisters in Christ, there is a passion welling up as we see God using us through your prayers…thank you in the name of Jesus!

Orphan children at ICMC:

You may recall that we have been involved with this orphanage for almost 20 years now, and so on this occasion we returned to pay a visit to see developments. Little Rajeet (pronounced this way) came running over to meet us within 15 minutes of our arrival…somehow it did not take long to know we were back! This time he brought a puppy called ‘Snowy’ to show how he was caring for him!

 

There are, as usual, many projects going on and we are amazed to see expansion programs and new developments, these are hard to explain, but the following pictures say that the orphans are being cared for and have shelter food and clothes. They are loved by those who care for them and by us, there is no doubt that you cannot fail to be touched by seeing so many kids singing and praying before your very eyes! You can see them hear waiting to hear our every word.

Some of the sights are not so pleasant as we see deformities and illness and sadness, but we thank Jesus He can change lives!! This boys legs and feet tell the story, we pray for God’s touch and mercy upon such young
ones!

Children love stories and here they are doing the actions to Peters story of Jesus calming the storm. 1000 kids doing actions!!!!!!

The familiar thing is the constant demand for having their pictures taken and then showing it to them. A thousand kids means a thousand pictures!!!!!!!

Vibes in the tribes!:

We are now at the Yercaud hills and intend spending a day and a half rest, but tonight we went into a distant tribal village. We meet a local pastor and his wife which is located in a nearby village, who then took us on foot into probably the most remote village we have experienced so far. It was delightful , narrow paths & scattered huts and small houses on a hillside surrounded by coffee bushes and dense undergrowth.

We stopped in the middle of a path 6ft across and within moments about 6 chairs turned up and a few mats laid out also for any children. Only a handful of believers were expected to come and the balance would be made up of locals and kids. Within 20 mins we had a small crowd of 25 people and about 10 children and the service began. 

It was amazing as always to see these pastors strike up a song without any musical accomplishment and lead worship and watch and see other people come out from nowhere and join the meeting. About 5 more people turned up and a few widows who stood against a shed behind us to observe what we might be saying. Doing ‘Church’ outside without any scheduled timetable or major organisation is just an amazing thing to behold. 

Kym delivered a short message and then I spoke briefly to the kids and adults which then progressed into a gospel service, at the end of which approx 10 people came forward and gave their hearts to Christ. This is just so amazing to witness and see for real before your very eyes! This local pastor who is not currently working in this village has agreed to come back and help these people move forward, and hopefully embrace them into his own church!

Again please keep us all in your prayers, we are feeling very tired now and a days rest tomorrow is going to be greatly appreciated.

A challenging delivery?!:

We went to a hall to conduct an evening meeting which was at the beginning fraught with minor difficulties…. Within moments the main power went out and we were in total darkness! It was in a kind of basement so it was impossible to have light penetrating from outside from those who had generators.

The Catholic church was holding a meeting opposite us and insisted we kept the windows shut, so no fresh air could come in!

The guy on the keyboard was playing like an organist in Blackpool tower! He continued to play while I was preaching eventually. They put up special hanging lights over our table from which I could not see the congregation, so when the power did come back I had to move off to the side which meant it was more difficult for David to interpret.

Although they were mostly Christians I felt compelled to preach the Gospel towards the end…and invited people to come and see me to one side rather than an alter call. One person came ONLY, but then perhaps not a surprise and so led that person to Christ.

What happened next was amazing..!! One mother brought a teenage daughter to me and intimated I was to pray for her daughter.  She was very dirty and in very poor clothes. Through a co-pastor I soon realised that we needed more prayer support as this young lady was possessed with an evil spirit! With the aid of Pastor Solomon we prayed fervently over her and her body began to contort. She then went down onto the ground and was rolling around. We called upon Almighty God and summoned Heaven to deliver her from this spirit and commanded it to leave in Jesus name. She stopped and came out of this trance!

After more prayer and counselling we were able to lead her to Christ  ………Praise the Lord. During this time her mother just wept profusely. It was probably one of the most emotional and demanding moments of ministry I have witnessed. It transpires that she was going to commit suicide the previous night, and throw herself in a well! Her mother asked he to come to this meeting, when I asked what stopped her she said…Jesus told me I must come tonight.

I gave her a cuddly knitted toy which had a huge smile and when she got it as a gift her face lit up! This is why we are here ! This is why we need your prayers!

Keep them coming!

Photo's:

There are some fantastic pictures being sent through from  Rod, Kym and Peter's trip. Don't forget you can view them all (plus pics from other trips) by clicking here or on the picture above.

A reminder too to visit the IVCM website too to find out more about how this trip fits the vision of IVCM!      

IVCM

Filling Pasta (well Pastor's anyway!!):

Approx 60 independant pastors came for fellowship and teaching...a really fantastic morning and since we have rec'd many good comments...PTL enjoy the photos and pray for these men that God would bless there ministry! One way transport and lunch we provided for them. 

Street Ministry: At one village we preached and Peter did a childrens talk. As you can see lots of children came, wondeful to be out at night and then we prayed for them ! 

Some bibles being given out at one meeting:

No longer backwards coming forward!:

Yesterday morning we went to a remote rural village, it was delightfully primitive and there had been no major Christian witness, in fact it was only in the last few years could anyone go into this place in this capacity. We were to hold a meeting in the centre surrounded by tiny houses, outbuildings and goat pens.

Pastor David was expecting about 20 people to turn up and as such a few chairs was scattered around in a very compact way. Within moments of our arrival people gathered from nowhere it seemed. Bear in mind this was around 10.30am but almost 80 people inc children arrived.

People brought their beds out onto the street to sit on:

We arranged for a few more chairs to come and within 10 mins a man with a bicycle appeared with a large bundle strapped to the back of his bike!! (Chair team watch this space!!!)

David led worship by singing a song (no keyboard here)..and people just listened as there appeared to be no Christians. I noticed just one woman tho, and it turned out she was called Naomi, and had been praying for Jesus to come to her village for many years!!!!!!!

Kym spoke first which was short message and challenging , some of the younger generation moved back and hid behind a cow shelter. I then spoke and expanded on her talk with an illustration and then preached the Gospel. I yelled at the boys to come out and told them I could see them hiding and so did God.

  

We felt God's presence, and I gave an alter call and to my amazement approx 40 came forward and gave their hearts to Christ. It was so powerful to see the Lord working and changing hearts! Old and young, men and women and some of the lads!!

This blew us away as this meant a new church had just been started and  what would be the next thing? Pastor David was so excited as he had been wanting to start a church here for some time, now he has to find a pastor and so thats the challenge for us back home, we need another £25 a month plus a small home to rent or build. Please be thanking God for this great witness and for the necessary funding !

It did not end there, as one man (Just given his heart to the Lord) came up and said he had some land and would allow us to buy it ONLY for a small church building....how cool is that !! The very man who comes to Christ wants to start a church... how do such things happen out here like this?

It was hard to leave this place it is such a beautiful village and the people so loving and grateful, a place we will never forget!!

Please pray that the Lord will guide us and make His will clear, the land will be about £3500 to buy and another £1500 + other fees. The land is big enough to build a pastors house (sound grand but actually only two rooms), David thinks we could do this ALL for around £6500-7000. Lord you own the cattle on a thousand hills... speak to the hearts of many!

Lastly one young man stared at me from a distance with a glazed face.. and marks on his face, arms crossed! He came up to me and said 'Hare Krishna'.. at once I knew what he was about!! BUT he wanted to give me a copy of his bible Krsna (in English) , BUT wanted one of ours to read!!!!!!!! So we exchanged bibles.....please pray for this man, as needless to say I challenged him and he kept saying his god was more important despite the witness... PRAY IN JESUS name that the Holy Spirit will reveal the truth!

PLEASE keep praying as the Lord is about His fathers business and using us here, we are tired and looking forward to a day and a half break. Pray for refreshment and continued anointing.