Hey All,
How is everyone doing? I really miss everyone there! It has been an amazing trip so far. So much to tell. First, let me share with you that there has been a bombing, if you didn't know in India, but we are in the extreme South and the bombings were in the extreme North. So, we are safe. I do have friends in that area, so please be praying for that region.
I want to catch you up. We haven't had a connection to the internet until now, so that's why we haven't been on yet. The internet is different here and you never know when you can get connected.
On Wednesday, we arrived in Cochin, India. The flight was 29 hours total including layovers in the various airports; Denver, Frankfurt, Dubai, and then landing. What a mix of people we saw. $11 for a burger, fries and a drink in Germany, but that was all they had and we were hungry. A bottle of water was $3.50. I had been up since 5Am, so that made about 45 hours without any sleep. I can't sleep on airplanes, so we just dozed alot for a few minutes here and there (Danny snores). We just rested on the first day, but were gone at 5Am the next morning.
On Thursday, we drove 8 hours south to visit our first Mercy Home. They want to take us to every one that The Pursuit sponsors. Along the way, we saw beautiful green vegetation, rubber trees and even an elephant walking down the road like he owned it. We also saw wild Peacocks and even monkeys. We stopped to look at the Arabian Sea and even had a red banana. Driving here is, well shall we say different. We found ourselves praying alot. We met some UK doctors that are here working with the Mercy Homes, and they traveled with us. There were three different cultures all singing worship songs together. The Americans did their best to keep up. We also saw men working the old fashioned way with a team of oxen plowing a rice field. Really hard work! We arrived at our hotel. Lots of skeeters and other flying things that were unidentifyable. This was one of the nicer hotels. They did have western toilets (a huge deal).
We then went to a Mercy Home and met the kids. So many stories. On the wall of their home it said, "Purcute Mercy Home." The kids were so excited to see us, as we represented how they were now being cared for. The kids were so thankful. I mean, really thankful. The first words out of their mouths were, "Thank the Lord." Those were always their first words. The next were always thank you multiple times. That a church and people whom they had never met were praying for them and supporting them was overwhelming to them, and their response was overwhelming to us. And they know that we love them because of Jesus.
Most of the children had no fathers. Most had died of aids, or other illnesses, that were preventable. Some fathers just abandoned them. Some had both parents who had died and without the homes would also be dead. This home also served as the church for the village.
We went to a village meeting that night in that home and the litlle 10 by 10 room was packed with about 75 people. People brought in in wheelchairs, carried in, etc. Evidentally, they knew we were coming and were waiting for us to arrive. The smiles we received were amazing. They told us that they had been praying for The Pursuit daily. Their are 4 Mercy homes in this area and 9 church plants. Each church has about 25-40 members. Really in Acts 2 style. Lots of house churches, each with a pastor. These people were so passionate about God. Not embarassed, raisinf their hands, singing with all their heart; amens everywhere. All eyes were always completly focused on whoever was speaking. They just wantged to hear about Jesus. The 2 hours passed so quickly. And talk about prayer? These people knew the power of prayer. All they wanted to do was pray. After we shared encouragement from God's Word, I must have prayed with people for 30 minutes. They actually had to tell me it was time to go. Still, they wanted to pray more with the pastors from America. They couldn't believe that we would travel all that way to be with them. We had to really focus when sharing because Bugs, big ones, kept landing on our Bibles. I got dive bombed a couple of times by I don't know what!!! I prayed with one 28 year old woman who had just lost her husband to a heart attack 3 months ago. He was only 30. She was now alone with a child. Her name was Christina if you can believe that. Her future is so uncertain without a husband, but she has the church.
The home was so minimal. No real roof to speak of. No windows, only openings. The children and the pastor and his wife slept on the floor. They had smiles though. They were happy and content. They were materially poor, but spiritually wealthy. I wonder who needs more prayer. They are happy with food, a roof and some clothes. Most kids had a school uniform and another outfit.
Everyone was so hospitable, and of course they wanted us to eat (again we prayed alot for the food). They had said what a huge day in their lives it was to meet us. Wow....God is working and using The Pursuit in the lives of people.
More next time....Peace, Gary
No comments:
Post a Comment