Missions 2009 Update #7

Friends, Below is a link to a few photos and a video in India. I am preaching most every day and having a great time in spite of the temperatures. It is 119 (46c) in the sun and 100 (38c) in the shade. I stay mostly in the shade. The Christians are beautiful; even when they are mourning. Rufus and I preached at a funeral two days ago. The old man was a believer so it was a delight to proclaim the gospel and send him on to real life. I also had the opportunity to tell of the offer for eternal forgiveness in the courtyard of a Hindu shrine. There were two sessions and in the evening many non-Christians joined the laughter as I attempted my gospel magic tricks. We all had a good time and those seven years old or younger were actually impressed. We had a wonderful meal together and belted out worship music with a large Indian percussion section. In another village, Vavilla, during the worship music, a woman named Sevarapu writhed on the floor in a believable likeness of the snakes so frequently worshiped here. After the meeting they brought her for healing and, thanks to the power in Jesus’ name, she left in her right mind, a lovely new follower of Christ. The children were the highlight that night. They participated with enthusiasm as we used them in skits to demonstrate the parable of the four soils and how we can be rescued by Jesus. Laughter is a universal language. During the worship time, the children fell face downward and praised God, especially the adorable five-year-old girl in the center of the picture. God’s love overflowed from these precious ones. We are experiencing the fulfillment of: Isa 66:18 –Isa 66:21 NIV “And I, because of their actions and their imaginations, am about to come and gather all nations and tongues, and they will come and see my glory. “I will set a sign among them, and I will send some of those who survive to the nations—to Tarshish, to the Libyans and Lydians (famous as archers), to Tubal and Greece, and to the distant islands that have not heard of my fame or seen my glory. They will proclaim my glory among the nations. And they will bring all your brothers, from all the nations, to my holy mountain in Jerusalem as an offering to the LORD—on horses, in chariots and wagons, and on mules and camels,” says the LORD. “They will bring them, as the Israelites bring their grain offerings, to the temple of the LORD in ceremonially clean vessels. And I will select some of them also to be priests and Levites,” says the LORD.