India Report #1

I am happy to report that phase one of my trip in southeastern India is paying off. Although, it did not start out well.

I am here to research for a new novel. With my prior novel, the storyline fell into place as the research progressed. With this book, called Mother India, I was getting more and more confused. No central story seemed to materialize; only disjointed testimonies from the villagers I recorded onto hours of tape.

Finally on the fourth day after much prayer, the Lord lifted the haze. I now have my creative direction and general plotline based on factual events. I am excited to begin writing towards the end of this year.

As I go about the interviewing process I cannot ignore opportunities for ministry along the way. Thus, I have had been demonstrating gospel magic at schools, encouraging small groups, and writing ministry promotional scripts.

We passed by the city dump with mountains of garbage, 50 feet deep. I spotted people picking through the rotting, smelly, fly-infested mounds. We walked out to them and noticed their huts built on top of the garbage.

A family of five was sorting through freshly dumped bags from the hospital. One man was eating leftover rice from a trash bag. I watched as another man with leprous fingers plowed through blood-filled IV tubes, soaked gauze pads, and needles to salvage hypodermic plungers. They were recycling plastic. A good day’s work will bring them 15 Rupees or 30 cents US each. Tough way to make a living.

As I spoke to them through my interpreter named Job, it came out that they were all born-again Christians. When they learned that I was also, they stopped all work and their eyes sparkled as I reminded them that in paradise they would have huge rewards for remaining faithful during their suffering on earth.

“You have brought us the word of God today,” the father told me.

With beaming smiles they thanked us profusely for talking to them.

I take so many of my own blessings for granted. They were just grateful that a comparatively rich Christian would stop to talk to them. Wow.

The monsoons are in full swing and everything is soaked, or under water. Many of the village roads disappear into the swirling runoff. Our rooms have been leaking until we could almost hold baptisms inside. The upside is the temperature is very comfortable.

Thanks for your prayers. They are having a strong effect. God is speaking, lives are touched, and food is staying where it is supposed to.

More soon…

Don--

India Report #1

I am happy to report that phase one of my trip in southeastern India is paying off. Although, it did not start out well.

I am here to research for a new novel. With my prior novel, the storyline fell into place as the research progressed. With this book, called Mother India, I was getting more and more confused. No central story seemed to materialize; only disjointed testimonies from the villagers I recorded onto hours of tape.

Finally on the fourth day after much prayer, the Lord lifted the haze. I now have my creative direction and general plotline based on factual events. I am excited to begin writing towards the end of this year.

As I go about the interviewing process I cannot ignore opportunities for ministry along the way. Thus, I have had been demonstrating gospel magic at schools, encouraging small groups, and writing ministry promotional scripts.

We passed by the city dump with mountains of garbage, 50 feet deep. I spotted people picking through the rotting, smelly, fly-infested mounds. We walked out to them and noticed their huts built on top of the garbage.

A family of five was sorting through freshly dumped bags from the hospital. One man was eating leftover rice from a trash bag. I watched as another man with leprous fingers plowed through blood-filled IV tubes, soaked gauze pads, and needles to salvage hypodermic plungers. They were recycling plastic. A good day’s work will bring them 15 Rupees or 30 cents US each. Tough way to make a living.

As I spoke to them through my interpreter named Job, it came out that they were all born-again Christians. When they learned that I was also, they stopped all work and their eyes sparkled as I reminded them that in paradise they would have huge rewards for remaining faithful during their suffering on earth.

“You have brought us the word of God today,” the father told me.

With beaming smiles they thanked us profusely for talking to them.

I take so many of my own blessings for granted. They were just grateful that a comparatively rich Christian would stop to talk to them. Wow.

The monsoons are in full swing and everything is soaked, or under water. Many of the village roads disappear into the swirling runoff. Our rooms have been leaking until we could almost hold baptisms inside. The upside is the temperature is very comfortable.

Thanks for your prayers. They are having a strong effect. God is speaking, lives are touched, and food is staying where it is supposed to.

More soon…

Don--

September Update

Zimbabwe: We continue to pray for direction and timing on when to go to back to Zimbabwe. We have agreed to return and work with Dave and Cynthia Fortescue of RNAM. We are awaiting God’s timing. For now Dani is undergoing medical treatments for Lyme disease and we must wait until at least the end of those treatments. We do not know how long the cure will take.

In the meantime, our lives are NOT on hold. God is blessing us daily as we learn what it means to live in grace and holiness. We can serve and learn as much here in Sequim Washington as in any foreign field, so we are content to go wherever and whenever the Lord so directs.

Secret Place: For security reasons I cannot mention the area where we sometimes serve, but you know the place. The pastors’ group continues to meet. Last week, leaders from 14 churches gathered and had a blessed time together. One brother gave a sermon about working for the Kingdom and not just their congregation. They prayed and worshiped. They are planning united undertakings such as helping the needy, praying over strategic areas of the city, combined worship, and various kinds of training.

God is on the move in this city.

We are praying about returning in 2010 for a special assignment that cannot be discussed here, but contact us directly if you want more info.

India: We continue to seek the Lord’s progress of a home in the southern mountains for trafficked children. We have set up a formal trust under the government of India. Its name is Alpha and Omega.

Right now Richard Harris is there investigating land for building. Richard is a godly young man from Chennai. He had some difficulty locating the place I saw when I was in Kerala earlier this year. I had little information for him to go on other than the name of the nearest village, a photo of a bridge over a river, and some subtitle confirmation that God was directing us to this particular place.

Richard eventually found the bridge based on the photo. We had heard there was a Christian pastor living near the bridge and so I suggested that Richard contact the pastor.

The pastor’s name is Kutappan and he is a real man of God serving the tribals of the area who are poor and without a written language. Richard sat in Kutappan’s house and as he explained our vision of a school and hostel the pastor began to cry. Next he called his wife and excitedly told her what Richard had said.

“For twenty years I have be praying for a school, hostel, and hospital for these tribal children. Two weeks ago God told me that a man would soon come to tell me how this hope would be fulfilled.” Pastor Kutappan wept for some time in joy. His wife and Richard also cried from joy of what God was doing.

When asked how the project would be funded, Richard was cautious and answered, “We are doing everything on prayer; step by step. We don’t have a single Rupee now but if God wants to, he can give us one crore.” (1 crore = 10 Million Rupees = $200,000 US).

At the mention of one crore, pastor Kutappan cried again. “Just a few days ago, I was praying about this and said to the Lord, ‘You are able to do all things. If you need to you can provide one crore just like that.”

Richard will be in Kerala for more than a week so he can attend pastor Kutappan’s church on Sunday and gather more information. He has already discovered that there is tribal land available by the bridge, if we can convince the chiefs of the legitimacy of this undertaking on their behalf. Unfortunately, another man recently came and set up a school and it turned out to be a scam. So the locals are understandably soured on the idea of another attempt. We will have a difficult time gaining the confidence of these remote people.

Please pray for Richard. There is a man following him around with evil intent. The man is a local pastor’s son and Richard believes this son and his father want to poison the project and shut it down before it is even birthed. Please pray against this wicked attempt.

I prayed with Richard over the phone and he is very encouraged by all the Lord is doing to reveal the right people and places to him.

GOD ROCKS!

Missions 2009 Update #10

Newsletter 10 – Final

Dani and I left Washington on March 30 and now, by Monday June 15, this trip will be concluded. For the last two weeks I worked with a Passion4People team in Delhi and Hyderabad. We had a great time and spoke at many churches and venues. I will only give a couple of highlights.

At a clinic near the slums, we were able love on children, help with a few medical diagnoses, and pray and counsel for hurting women. It is so good to know that those who are abused, pushed down, and forgotten on earth will be first in the kingdom of God for eternity. It is the only encouragement we could give to some of the dear souls we met.

I was smitten by the juxtaposition of the bright shining faces of the children who lived in abject poverty in the slums. The contrast of life’s most precious treasure set against the worst of earth’s filth and depravation became a living example to me of how God sees us. Those who follow Jesus are precious to God, and yet, here we are surrounded by a broken world. It is a paradox God fully intends to remedy. Praise to him!

Our final undertaking was to tour the Taj Mahal. It is the icon of India and breathtaking as it sets stark against the open sky. Truly a mammoth undertaking, the Taj was built in the 1600’s as a tomb for the favorite wife of a local king named Shah Jahan. It took 20,000 workers 22 years to complete the white marble wonder. What a testament to the man’s love for his late wife.

As I stared at the mausoleum, I thought, how awesome that I have a king who loved me so much that he paid a price far more expensive to build a permanent home that is more impressive then the weathering Taj Mahal. Even the wealthiest of earthly kings do not fathom the meaning of true blessing as do the children of the one true God.

Without your prayers, this trip and our ministry would be impossible. Thanks for your partnership in the gospel of peace.

1Ti 6:12 –1Ti 6:16 NIV
Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses. In the sight of God, who gives life to everything, and of Christ Jesus, who while testifying before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you to keep this command without spot or blame until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which God will bring about in his own time—God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honor and might forever. Amen.

JDC--

Missions 2009 Update #9

Newsletter #9

I finished up in Nellore, India by spending a couple of days with a batch of new evangelist trainees. Theses are villagers who have been converted to Christ and now want to spend their lives serving the one who saved them. Some of them are illiterate and most could not find the book of Luke in their Bibles when I was teaching them. Nevertheless, it is exciting to know that these humble soldiers have an equal, or better chance of being first in the kingdom of God and ahead of the wealthy religious leaders with their PHD’s.

I asked the evangelists to begin our time by telling us their testimonies. Amazing stuff! In the picture titled ‘Evangelist Trainees,’ the following stories apply to those pictured from the viewer’s left to right.

Marthanna and her husband, Irmiah, (next to her in the photo) had a daughter whom they arranged to be married but the daughter returned because her husband was beating her. The daughter swallowed poison and in spite of taking the girl to the hospital, she died.

In her grief Marthanna’s health began to fail. She and Irmiah began to be visited by a village pastor who encouraged them to give their lives to Christ. At this time, Marthanna had a vision of a hand touching her body for healing and sure enough, she started getting better right after that.

Next, their only son became a drunkard and he too took poison to kill himself. This distressed Marthanna so much that she now became suicidal. She tried to hang herself but the rope broke. She took it as a sign that God wanted her to live. At this point in her testimony, Marthanna wept.

The Christians took Marathanna to the hospital and she prayed that if God would save her son, she would give her life to his service. The son’s life was spared and now Marthanna and Irmiah are training to be full-time evangelists. Marathanna wonders how she can serve as a church leader in her male dominated culture, but she will trust God to show her the way.

Monohar was raised as a Christian. His father was an evangelist, but Monohar remained backward in the Lord. Some years later his baby was very sick and even after spending much money at hospitals the baby was still ill. Monohar finally decided to ask Jesus for help and when he did, the baby got better. In recognition of God’s healing of his precious daughter, Monohar decided to serve the Lord as an evangelist like his father.

Shekhar and his wife were Hindus. His wife became very sick and came near to death. He was filled with fear that she would die and he would have no way of caring for their children. Shortly after, he attended a Christian funeral and heard the gospel. The couple began to attend a Christian church near their village.

Whenever they went to the church, the wife had demon problems. During the singing, she would fall down and writhe on the ground. His neighbors and family criticized him, “She is having these problems because you are taking her to the Christians.”

Shekhar’s Hindu father supported him in attending the Christian church and gradually the demonic problems left his wife.

Shekhar had a vision in which he had two crops divided by a path. One crop was strong and green, the other weak and small. A man came and showed his wife how to use fertilizer and both crops grew strong. By this vision Shekhar knew God was calling him to serve him and learn how to care for God’s people correctly.

Three years ago, Kamalakar had a young son who drank his own urine and slowly ate his own body. They took him to the witchdoctor who said the boy would die. Next they took the boy to the Christian church and he was prayed for. When Kamalakar looked at the boy, he was dead, but when the Christians looked at him, they saw his eyes blinking. The demons were deceiving Kamalakar’s sight.

After praying for one month the boy was healed and five families came to the Lord as a result of the boy’s restoration.

Sorry, that is just James pictured in the middle; no great story here.

Anard was an idolater. At age 16 he had a vision of fire that consumed all people around him. Even when hiding inside buildings, people were dying. In the vision, he saw a man he knew and ran to him. Only this man, his daughter, and Anard were safe from the fire.

After the vision, Anard searched out the man in his vision and asked him what it meant. Then man did not have an explanation.

Because of the vision, many Hindus came to Anard for spiritual guidance. Anard and the man were able to leverage their new fame into a growing business where Hindu’s gave money for blessings from them.

At age nineteen, Anard married the man’s daughter, not knowing that she was a secret Christian. After some time, Anard developed a disabling back problem. His wife took him to the Christian church and got him to say that if God would heal him he would serve Christ. Anard resisted because he knew that it would mean giving up his income gained as a Hindu guide. However, the back pain was too great and he did ask the Lord for help.

The back pain gradually went away and when Anard heard a Christian testimony given in a church, he was touched and agreed to be baptized and serve the Lord. Five family members were baptized with him. Now he wants to be an evangelist because of the great things God has done for him.

Simon felt the Lord calling him into ministry but avoided the call because he had addictions he did not want to give up. His mother said to him, “Son you are called into the ministry and if you don’t heed God something bad may happen to your wife.”

Sure enough, one day Simon’s wife developed an acute pain in her stomach. She doubled over on the ground and was soon near death. Simon prayed and agreed to serve the Lord if his wife was healed and that same day his wife was better. Now Simon is eager to be an evangelist for Jesus.

Two years ago, Jacob was a heavy drinker and had a kidney problem. His boss took him to two hospitals but they discovered it would cost $16,000 to operate on him. The amount was impossible to raise so Jacob sat in his village an waited to die. He was unable to get up and urinated on himself and no one would help him. All his family and villagers abandoned him; his wife also left him. According to their tribal custom, family do not care for the terminally ill, but leave them where they are and move away from the body into a new hut in another location.

On the night he was expected to die, Jacob cried out a simple plea, “Jesus, please heal me.”

That night Jacob saw a pastor place his hands on him and pray for him. By early morning he felt better and in two days he walked into the Christian church. People were amazed to see him alive and encouraged him to continue on with Jesus who had rescued him. From then on, Jacob began to serve Christ.

I have been able to make some observations about these events and their commonality in India. God is sending healings, visions, and miracles into areas where there is little or no witness. The goal is not miracles, but conversion. In every case people come to Christ.

In the cities, there are long existent churches begun by missionaries years ago. Unfortunately, the majority of these churches are mired in denominational traditions and hierarchal preoccupations. The truly selfless, humble leaders are far and few between. These churches and missionaries complain that India is hardened against the gospel and have all but given up on evangelism.

Another factor is the politically correct blending of religions meant to foster harmony between three opposing faiths: Hinduism, Islam, and Christianity. Yesterday I saw a slogan painted on the wall of a Christian school that typifies this mindset: ‘There is one language, love; one God, love; one religion, love.’ These are attempts at removing the offensiveness of the gospel that Jesus assured us was necessary:

Mt 10:34 –Mt 10:36 NIV

“Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.

For I have come to turn

“‘a man against his father,

a daughter against her mother,

a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—

a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’

One more observation is in order. From inert churches that never witness the miraculous transforming power of God, to power hungry refusals to die to self, we are much like India.

The words of Jesus have been troubling me much:

Mt 10:39 NIV

Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

I hope you will enjoy the pictures which include a visit to a 14^th century fort of the last Maharajah, a Bollywood film set we stumbled across, the shoe shopping victory of team members Kirstan and Jenifer, a bit of Hyderabad, and the beautiful AIDS orphans I visited in Chennai. I made balloon flowers for the orphans as I listened to the story of a little girl who one year ago was near death with 1 and ½ failed lungs, a failed liver, heart problems, and a brain aneurism that left her left side paralyzed. Because of the power of prayer, you can see her healthy and shinning with her balloon flower.

All praise to our incredible, amazing God.

JDC--