11/19-22/2013 (Delhi, India) - We
arrived safe at our midway destination in Delhi, India. We have joined the
team in India and we will have the pleasure of participating in the new church
dedication tomorrow. Everyone seems healthy & safe. Give thanks to the Lord
- He is faithful & good!
We will be leaving shortly to visit Latipur
village about 3 hours drive from Delhi. I use the word "drive"
loosely. Lord, continue to bring safe travel and guidance! However, first we made a stop at a new church plant
opportunity along the way to the village. We pulled up along the side of the
road, and there were about six men standing there to greet us. They were there
to show us the one-acre plot of land that was available for purchase and
describe their desire to acquire it. Apparently the owner had five acres and
was in need of medical attention and needed the money. It is a good deal at
$15K.
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| House Church Needs a Building |
We then went to the Delhi house church
that wants to buy this land. The "house" is a building smaller than a
one-car garage. Forty people somehow get
into this building for worship. We were introduced and then went inside, where we
spoke to the group and shared a testimony. The intensity of their interest was
palpable. Eventually, a man asked to address the group. He was neither a member
nor a Christian but was the town councilman for the area. We were later told that the group was fearful
of this man, and they did not know what he was going to say. He went to the podium and said that he would
do whatever it took to make the construction of a new church a reality. It
would appear that the Holy Spirit had a hold of the councilman’s heart; he was
given a rousing ovation. Back on the road to the Latipur Village we were met by
a man who is part of a team of church planters who had a proposal for us to
look at. We sat at a table in the village hotel and talked with them for about
90 minutes. They are passionate about their ministry, and they appear to be
good at it. Their written proposal was
impressive.
11/23/2013 (Delhi, India) - This
morning we were awakened at 5am by hordes of children starting their sports day
at the School across the street from our guest house. Buses took hundreds of
them out to the countryside, and then they ran back to town. It was loud and
boisterous. It is typical India. At 7:30am
we were picked up and taken to the Children‘s Orphanage. This facility is
managed by Khen Tombing's cousin Lian. He told us of his prayer to God at age
12 that he could do something for the orphans of the area. He went off to
seminary in the U.S. and then returned to start the orphanage. That was 20
years ago. Today, the facility serves 60 girls and 56 boys on-site, and another
430 off-site in various homes in the area but are managed by the facility. Lian
has a passion for this ministry and is perfectly placed to lead the effort. You
won't believe the videos. Tomorrow
morning, we leave early for the airport to fly to Manipur.
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| Farming Community near Lamka |
11/24/2013 (Manipur India) - Met with
Khen Tombing to visit a nearby church. We arrived at about 8am, and the small
congregation was there to greet us. We were introduced to the pastor, who told
us about the history of the church. It is about three years old and has about
60 people. We were introduced to several church members, including a man who
had almost died of a heart attack, which changed his perspective on
Christianity when he said he saw a vision of Jesus. He came to church to find
out more about Jesus and received Him into his heart. His wife has not joined
him in salvation. We laid hands on him and prayed that the Lord would allow him
to lead his wife to Christ. We left with
the pastor and were taken to a nearby Muslim area where the Muslims have been
totally resistant to the Gospel. We were taken to the home of a farmer who had
cattle and grew rice. He was not Muslim but lived in the area. The pastor had
been working on building a relationship with him as an entry into the
community. We were warmly greeted and were asked to sit down on the porch and
have a chat. We got around to talking about God, and he said that he had a
house god. He took us into the house and
showed us a corner of his bedroom where there was a little woven bamboo section
that cordoned off a small space of about 2x3 feet. He said he goes into this
little area and gets a blessing from the house god to ward off any evil that
might befall his home. He said that was all he knew about gods. Upon our
leaving, he thanked us for coming and appeared to be pleased we came. Later,
the pastor told us that the man said that he was very happy that the pastor had
brought Americans to his house because it apparently is a status symbol in the
town if Americans would come to your house.
He also said that he was thrilled to have been filmed on video. The
pastor saw this as a great opportunity to expand his relationship with the man
and share the Gospel with him.
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| Speaking about the Abandoned Babies Ministry |
We got back to the compound about 1:30pm,
and we had an appointment to film Rith Tombing (Khen’s wife) as she spoke about
her abandoned baby ministry. This was so moving, I can hardly describe it. Rith
talked about her miscarriages and her desire to have a baby. This affected her
deeply, and she asked the Lord to deal with it for her. Sometime later she was
asked to take care of an abandoned baby, and she jumped at the chance. This was the start of God calling her to go
into this ministry. The entire interview and the scenes of the babies will move
you deeply. The morning church service
started at 10am, and we thoroughly enjoyed seeing and participating in this
service. Then we left for the new Munhoih Church for the inauguration and
dedication service. This is the church that was built with money from Global
Missions. The entire congregation was standing outside when we arrived, and the
entrance had a blue ribbon across the doors. A song was sung, and then we cut
the ribbon, allowing the congregation to enter. Once the service started, Khen
spoke, we shared some skits and testimonies all through interpreters. The
congregation came to us afterwards with deep expressions of gratitude for what
God had done for them.
