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.