Friday, October 26, 2012

From Abraham to Isaac to Tiramisu

"The angel of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven a second time and said, 'I swear by Myself, declares the Lord, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you and make you descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.'" -Genesis 22:15-18
"But Moses said to God, 'Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?' And God said, 'I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.' Moses said to God, "Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, 'The God of you fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is His name?' Then what shall I tell them?' God said to Moses, 'I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: 'I AM has sent me to you.'" -Exodus 3:11-14
"Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestors to give them. Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. Have i not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go." -Joshua 1:6-9
"The angel of the Lord came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a wine-press to keep it from the Midianites. When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, He said, 'The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.' 'Pardon me, my Lord,' Gideon replied, 'but if the lord is with us, why all this happened to us? Where are all His wonders that our ancestors told us about when they said, 'Did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt?' But now the Lord has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian.' The Lord turned to him and said, 'Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian's hand. Am I not sending you?' 'Pardon me, my Lord,' Gideon replied, 'but how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.' The Lord answered, 'I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites, leaving none alive.'" -Judges 6:11-16
"The Lord was with Samuel as he grew up, and He let none of Samuel's words fall to the ground. And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba recognized that Samuel was attested as a prophet of the Lord. The Lord continued to appear at Shiloh, and there He revealed Himself to Samuel through His word." -1 Samuel 3:19-21
"David took up residence in the fortress and called it the City of David. He built up the area around it, from the terraces inward. And he became more and more powerful, because the Lord God Almighty was with him." 2 Samuel 5:9-10
1 Kings 19:9-13, Jeremiah 1:4-12, Ezekiel 3:22-27, Ezekiel 34:11-16, Micah 6:6-8, Matthew 5:1-12, etc.

You get the point. God both promises His presence to be with you, and that you would rest (live) in His presence. What an amazing thing this is to know! God is absolutely showing me just how true this is. He constantly reminded His people that He is with them. His presence is shown in clouds, pillars of fire, quaking of the ground, a whisper, many things. Yet He yearns to live within us, and promises to do so, as we live within the calling He has put on our lives. His promise to be with His people, His prophets is so often accompanied with the word "go" in some way. It is an active faith that is at the heart of our calling. This calling is simple. I've realized how much I don't like the sentence "I just don't know what I'm called to do." or "I'm just really trying to see what God is calling me to do." As there is (or can be) certainly wisdom in these statements, the answer is simple. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your mind, with all your soul, and with all you strength. And love your neighbor as yourself. That's it. The rest just comes with going, moving for Him. We are the gospel's hands and feet, pushing forward by the Spirit to bring disciples of all nations before the cross' redemptive power and holiness! And the only reason I speak so passionately and blatant about this is because not so long ago I was the one who was living in the crippling fear of, "Well, I just don't know what God has for me..." and I am seeing the harvest of living out Luke 10:25-37. We remember so easily the story of the good Samaritan, yet we (I) so easily forget the context of this parable! The teacher of the law asks, 'What shall I do to inherit eternal life?' I mean, how big of a question is that?! Isn't that the question that we are placing our hope, our faith in?! And when Jesus asks him what is in the scriptures, he quotes Deut 6, Love the Lord your God, etc, and Jesus says, "You have answered correctly. DO THIS and you will live." It's right there! He isn't saying that we need to do anything to gain life (salvation) but He is saying that our faith life should be active, as an active faith life ALWAYS POINTS TO JESUS! It has to! It's kind of the point of living faithfully! And I cannot tell you all how much God is showing me this while living here in India. He is teaching what it means when He says, "Go, for I will be with you." What an incredible promise that we can take part in! Amen?!

Last night, I met a man named Isaac. Isaac is an evangelist in a very remote area in Andhra Pradesh (where I am haha). I was told that I needed to hear his testimony, so I listened as he began, and then waited to have it translated to me. Give me a break guys, I've been here three weeks. I can barely say thank you for the water at this point. That may sound random, but, come to SE India, you'd say it all the time too! haha Back to Isaac. He began telling his story, and I was immediately amazed. "He was in an accident, a bad car accident two months ago." The pastor who was translating began telling me. "I broke my back, near the top of my spine, and could not walk." The pastor then began to fill in a little bit of the back story for me as well. "Just a month and a half ago, we came to pray for him. He was stuck on a bed, laying down, having gone to the bathroom all over himself as he couldn't move. He had gone to the doctor, but they couldn't operate on him because one, he's a leper, and two he had no money. On top of it all, there was a small small chance that the operation would even help." Let me stop there. Yeah, don't forget that this guy is freaking telling me this story himself. At the church. Three blocks away from the house we first saw him at as we drove by. Continuing... "We went up to him, me and three of the other pastors, and began to pray for him. We prayed for healing, for a miracle, and for God to give him a testimony that cannot be silenced." Isaac jumped in again, as the pastor had then let me know that he left for America on a trip the next day, so he did not even know what happened. "God came to him in a vision," the pastor was telling me, "and awoke him from his sleep. He looked up, and saw me coming at him. I jumped up above him, standing on his bed, straddling him with legs on either side. I took a small wire, pulled him upright, and pushed it down through his neck. I then tied it off. I let him lay back down, looked at him and smiled. 'Do not worry.' I said to him. The next day he woke up, and stood right up!" Wait, what?! Are you freaking kidding me?!?! This guy freaking stood up! This leper! This man who doctors said surgery couldn't fix. They told him to essentially go home to be with your family, and die. "So he went to the doctor that had sent him away. The doctor was amazed, he could not believe his eyes. (No way? haha) 'How did this happen?' he asked Isaac. They took an X Ray, and yeah, you guessed it. Nothing. Wrong. With. His. Back. Let me repeat that. Isaac, who had been in a terrible accident not even a month before this, who was bedridden, laying in his own waste, who was told surgery was useless, and he just go die, was healed completely. 'Like a young man' the doctor told him!" Isaac then went on to tell the doctor (who is a doctor in a prominent, high class Hindu area, and a high class hindu himself) that it was all God. That Jesus had come to him in a vision as his pastor and healed him. The doctor could not deny this, as the testimony was being told to him firsthand by the man he'd told to die! How freaking awesome is that?! Now here's the really awesome part. This man was telling me all of this outside of the church in the dark. We went inside to take a picture together (I'll get it up as soon as possible), and then I saw him. He, having been born a leper, has only his big toe on his right foot, all of his toes are half on his left, his right hand is missing every fingertip, on his left hand his ring and pinky finger were grown only halfway, and he is blind in his left eye. Oh yeah, and he was paralyzed a month ago in a terrible car crash. This man exuded a joy that was blinding with the light of Jesus. Blinding I tell you. It was one of the most wonderful experiences I have ever known, and I am truly honored to have met a man of such great courage and faith. He was and is a true walking-out-his-faith believer, and God is certainly with him!

Today was a little different, but pretty great nonetheless! It started out with a wonderful devotion. I have the devotion book Jesus Calling, and have been in it everyday (as it's designed). It has been a great encouragement, and I recommend it to anyone who is looking for a devo right now. I then went to my pastor's house to work on a couple of projects with him. They are trying to build a recording studio here, so they can produce their own worship music to give out to evangelists as an outreach tool, which obviously I love. Today, I went to the building where the studio is going to be built and took measurements of everything, I mean EVERYTHING to send it to a man in America who is going to build it for them in late March, early April. That took quite a while, but it was so much fun. Two other pastors came with to help, and we had a really fun time, laughing the whole time through. It was nice to just laugh and make fools of ourselves. It has been a while since I've done this, and it felt as refreshing as a well timed song can feel. I then went back to my pastor's house to help him with some emails. Since I can type in English a little bit faster (okay, a lot faster. He's Indian...it's not a fair fight!) I send out many emails for him to teams and people in America who are planning trips to come here. Before doing this, however, I had lunch. And oh my, let me tell you about this. It was this lamb curry kind of stuff (it wasn't exactly curry, but yeah...curried lamb is all I can call it) but it was incredible. Melt in you mouth incredible. Over rice, my mouth watered the entire time I ate. Then we worked. Then my pastor made a phone call to have someone shop for vegetables for me. Side note, upon receiving the veggies tonight, it was very apparent to me that this man knows how to shop. Oh man did he get me a TON of veggies, far more than I had asked for. I am quite excited! I cook for myself most of the time, so this is a good thing! Back to the pastor's house lol. Right as we are about to leave, his wife asks if she can make me a treat, and asks me to wait a few minutes. I figure, yeah, of course I can wait for you to make me a tasty desserty treat! I mean, this was the woman who had made the lamb. Come on! Well, she made this stuff (again, pics will be up when I can!) that was made out of biscuits (cookies that look like giant Ritz crackers and have a hazelnut flavor) with some kind of cream sauce and espresso in it. It was like an Indian Tiramisu (a super tasty Italian dessert for those unfortunate souls who don't know what this is). Needless to say, it was incredible and I ate way too much of it. It was SO good though! Then, when I got back, I continued to write a short story that I'm writing here, which will get posted on here when it's finished...maybe...lol then I took a small nap, listened to a sermon, some good music, and had dinner. That's about it! Overall great day!

Well guys, I hope this has been a blessing for you! I love you all VERY much and think of you often! Please continue to pray for me. Pray that His words would overflow from my mouth, and that His Spirit and Presence are felt and seen in me in all that I do. Thank you! Love you!

Monday, October 22, 2012

Set fire to the rain

This has been an incredible, wonderful, crazy week indeed. Let me just tell you about it!

It all started at a church in a village called Marripadu. We arrived at the church at roughly 11am local time. I was told that this church was a fairly young church, having opened in the last year, and is in a very hindu village. What happened next was something that I never expected, nor will I ever forget. In the midst of their worship, which I spend in prayer and reading through the passage that I am about to teach on, going over the message again and again in my mind in preparation, I hear my friend say "Joel, there's a possessed woman! Go pray for her!" I look up, and in the back, I see this little old lady 'dancing' around, apparently not paying attention to anyone. She was swaying back and forth, with a blank stare on her face. "Go, man!" he repeated to me, giving me a little push towards getting out of my chair. I had no choice but to go at this point, so I got up, and walking through the crowd of men, women and children, I made my way to the back of the room, near the door. Once I got there, I did all that I knew how to: prayed. I prayed for peace, for authority, for gentleness and solace. I prayed that the grip of the enemy would be destroyed. I prayed that only God's presence would be known. As I was praying, I felt like God was compelling me to declare His righteousness and authority. So I did. As I began to pray this, I felt this overwhelming feeling of power that I have never felt before. It was a sense of authority, of confidence that only my God had power in that place. As I prayed, the woman's actions subsided, and she fell to her knees on the floor crying. I continued to pray, hands raised, for the church as a whole. I prayed that God would make His presence known in ways that had never been seen by these people before. I began to laugh, in a way that I can only call a holy joy. God was doing something in that place, and it was very evident to me. I declared amen, put my arms down, and walked back to the front. As soon as I reached the front, my friend said to me again, "Joel, there's another woman possessed, go!" I turn around, and see a woman on her knees, her sari covering her face, shaking. Women around her were backing away staring at her. "Go, man!" he said again, in such away that one might ask "how much does this chapstick cost?" Again, I walked up to the woman, closed my eyes, raised my arms over her, and began to pray. I prayed this time that any lies and evil spirits that have taken ahold of this woman, any burdons and traps over her life would be taken away in the powerful Name, the one Name that is above all names, that created all and saved all. Her yelling out and shaking slowed, and finally stopped as I prayed over her. God was using me, a broken vessel, for His glory! It was incredible! We then took the whole service outside, because the rains had dried up and it was warm and beautiful again. I felt like God was telling me to speak on His love. I had prepared a lesson from Luke 19, talking about the small Zachaeus. Instead, He put it on my heart to speak out of Romans 8. If our God is for us, who can be against us?! Amen! Nothing can separate us from His furious love! This is the message I gave, through the Spirit. This led to the manifestation of four (yes four!) more possessions of which we prayed vigorously. Needless to say, it was the craziest, most incredible and beautiful service I have ever been to! It rocked my world. It stays with me as fresh as it was in the moment! Just typing it out sends chills through my body knowing how much God did that day.

The next few days were filled with bouts of ridiculous rainfall, with sparatic moments of gorgeous sunshine in between. It dumped inches of rain in the matter of a couple of hours. It was kind of awesome, and definitely felt like a bit of home here in India. I was given two and a half days in a row off, which is not something that happens. I used this time to spend in great prayer, meditation, and praise. It was so refreshing. I didn't feel like I "needed it" like we so often tell ourselves...I just NEED to spend time with Jesus. When don't we?! Anyways, I felt so renewed after this time. One of the days, a day I was supposed to preach, I was instead taken to the beach on the Indian Ocean. It was so beautiful. The water was warm and clear, and the beach was all but empty. It was a sandbar that separated the ocean from a river that fed into it, which is how, by boat, we got to the beach. I was with my host and his extended family, so much of the time was spent simply praising God at how ridiculously awesome my whole situation was! I mean, there I was, chilling in the freaking Indian Ocean! Come on! We ate some shrimp and fish curry, and then came back to the orphanage. It was so simple, so serene, so blissful. I can say that I am finding a great satisfaction in Christ, and it is exuding throughthe ministry that He has called me to here.

I feel like God has put it on my heart to make Eph 3:14-21 my prayer for the churches of this ministry. He has made Eph 4:1-3 and 1 Thess 5:16-18 the prayer of my heart for myself. I would appreciate all of your prayers as well, that He would continue to lead me, continue to be faithful and good with all that He gives me, and that I would remain in Him in everything. I thank you all for partnering with me and this ministry in seeing His kingdom come here in the lives of so many wonderful Indian people. Thank you for sparing your time for reading about what He is doing, and for praying with me. It is so cool to think that we are partnering in ministry together, though we are two oceans apart! I love you all so very much, and pray for you often! Have a blessed day!

Monday, October 15, 2012

Miracles and Mountain Dew

Let me tell you a story or two!

Long ago, King Solomon gathered his wisest and best subjects and told them to gather all of the wisdom in the land, and write it in a book. Three years later they came back wih twelve volumes of all of the knowledge they could find far and wide. "This is too much!" Solomon said, "do it again!" So they went out again. One year later, they returned, this time with one volume, counting over a thousand pages, filled with all of the wisdom of the lands near and far. "This is still too much!" Solomon said. And again they were sent out. Five years later, they returned, again with one book. But this book had but one message in it. This too shall pass.

In the beginning of this trip, I found myself corrupted by fear and loneliness, haunted by the thought that this may not have been what God had intended me to do. What if I were here on my own accord? What if I had lied and convinced myself into a trip that was never meant to be? Questions continued to circle my head, echoing louder and louder, until a small voice whispered softly, "Be still and know that I a God." What? I asked. "Be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the Earth!" Psalm 46 verse 10. This loneliness and fear that I felt began to dissipate from my heart. Its grip lessened with every cry for Him my heart could bear. "I will never leave you, never forsake you." (Hebrews 13:5) "Come to me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give them rest." (Matthew 11:28) "For I gave you not a Spirit of fear, but one of power, and of love, and of self-control." (2 Timothy 1:7) The Lord continue to reveal and remind me of His great truths. He reminded me that He is. He is. God is, always was, always will be. His character does not, can not, and needs not change! As the things of this world changes, He does not. As my circumstances change, He does not. And one beautiful truth about Him is He has imparted Himself via the Holy Spirit in us, and is with us always! He reminded me that this too shall pass. This present fear of what's to come, this present loneliness of all these things unfamiliar, this doubt of My plan for you, this too shall pass.

And as always, He was ever so right! God allowed me to be refined and tested in the fire as soon as I got here, and taught me that I am ready for this, because He is leading me. I can nothing apart from Him (John 15). God has allowed me to bring the word to a dozen villages, bring worship to Him in over half of those, I've taught at a memorial service, and I spoke at an evangelist conference. I have written six applications to appropraite funds to this ministry in hopes of expanding on what they do here. I have begun journaling in preparation for writing a newsletter about what we do here that will be published in America. And that is but the beginning of the ministry He has for me here. Are you kidding me? All of this in a little over a week. How could I be anything but face down in praise at the opportunities He has opened up thus far? At one church, I met a lady named Mary. She was told by her doctor to go home, and enjoy her last few days of life, as she was sure to die soon. Well that was weeks ago, and the day I met her, she was excited to tell me that that morning, she got up and made breakfast for herself! What worship she showed me. The simple act of making breakfast was one of thanks for her. I met another man who had been paralyzed and diseased for many years. He heard the songs and testimonies ring out of the speakers of the local church, and prayed to receive God's love in the field. The next day he worked in his fields for the first time in a long time, all the while bewildering his family. They are now all saved, and attend that church. Two days ago I met a woman who was diagnosed with cancer of the stomach, and given less than a month to live. She had recently turned to Jesus, so she prayed for healing. That was fifteen years ago! God is alive and working in His people and in His church, amen?!

I am also learning a great deal about the people, their language and culture here. I have learned several 'key' phrases, and will continue to learn as I can the language. The driving here, though scary at first, is now second nature. I sometimes wonder what driving on the right side of the road will be like again... I have found some pretty sweet things though! One is Limca! If I can just figure out a way to bring this soda to America, I will make a killing! This stuff freakin rocks! It is soooo tasty! Whenever we go out, we always stop once or twice for "a cool drink" on the side of the road. I almost always get Limca. Why? Because it freakin rocks!!! I have also began to cook for myself almost full time, which is interesting. In a country that boasts 70%, yes 70% of the world's spices, there is not a huge selection of things at the local market for me to be able to cook. I am making due with what I have so far, however, and will continue to cook and try new things to best keep myself fed! I have found out that when other missionaries come, which will be fairly often come November, I will be cooking often for them. Basically this means I have GOT to find some sweet recipes before they come! haha I'm not too worried about this, however. I found out they've got top ramen here. Not the same flavors that we have, but some decent ones for sure. This morning, for instance, I made some potatoes o'brian and tasty fluffy scrambled eggs. Yeah. Like a boss I am! lol I also decided this week that I miss hot dogs and pizza a lot. Like, so much. When I get home, I am going to call one of my very best friends Justin (who works at Papa Murphy's) and have him make me ridiculously awesomely hugely meaty family size pizza. And I am going to get case of ice cold Mtn Dew. And I am going to eat until I hate myself, as my good friend Ashley often likes to say! I told this to Rufus, and he told me "You know, we have mountain dew here!" No. You. Didn't! Turns out, they do. Also turns out- not the same. Like at all. It's good, but it ain't the dew, just sayin.

So that's what's goin on with me right now! God is good, and remains with me always. I am learning to abide in Him, in His presence and truth, and to preach His gospel in ways that I have never been able to before. It is a challenge, but it is one met with His Spirit, and for that I fear not! Love you all so very much, and though this loneliness once felt is now (praise the Lord) gone, know that I miss you very much. I think of you often and pray for you! Please keep us in your prayers as well, as we share reach the unreachables. Thank you!

Joel

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Old letters bring old wisdom

Hey all!

I have now been here in Southeast India for near a week, and let me tell you, it has definitely been an interesting beginning! First and foremost, the trip here! I arrived to the PDX at promptly 6:15ish, and went directly to the Air Canada ticket counter. The line was pretty short, so within five minutes, I was up at the counter and talking to the lady about my trip. After handing her my itinerary, she realized it was definitely a big ordeal! "So your bags are getting checked through Frankfurt, correct?" Well, this was only partly correct. They were getting checked through Frankfurt, however, they had a whole flight more to go before they had completed their journey! By some computer anomaly, she could not see my bags all the way there (one of which being my guitar!). It was a mess to say the least. Well, after an hour (yes, an hour!) at the counter, two different airline workers, and several phone calls, it was finally settled that I was going to meet my bags in India! And that's when I find out that my bag weighs too much. Turns out, it was 15 lbs too much! Oops! To be fair, I was packing for a FIVE MONTH trip! That, however, turned out to be quite the financial setback. Do not, I repeat, do not let yourself have a bag that is overweight, whatever you do! It sucks to pay the overage fees! lol

The flights here were very good, albeit long! I first flew to Toronto, Canada, which I must say is a very nice airport. Going through customs was a breeze there. In fact, it went so fast, she had to tell me I could go, because I didn't realize it was over! haha I got an overpriced burger and some fries at a place called Cactus Jacks. However. The bacon that was on it. Oh dear. It was some of the BEST bacon I have ever had. I then walked over to my gate, and began to (re)read The Hobbit. (Disclaimer- I plan to read it three times before the first movie comes out!) The next plane, from Toronto to Frankfurt, Germany was definitely the best of the three flights. The two women I sat next to were great. One was an elderly woman on her 12th trip to Bangalore, where she would be doing two months of church work! So cool! And the other was a young woman, about my age, who was a traveling paramedic. Basically, she gets to travel to places, and then travel with an injured person on their flights home. Kind of awesome! We spent much of the flight talking, the three of us, as well as catching a couple of movies. Men In Black III was not a total disappointment! The last flight, Frankfurt to Chennai, India, was probably my least favorite. For being a large plane, the seats were really small, and not much leg room. Also, I was in the middle row, which was a row of four seats. And wouldn't you know it, the row in front of me, the front-most row, housed four babies. FOUR! There's got to be some law disallowing that many babies on flight. I'll look into it...

Upon arriving here, I was told that it is currently a period of resting for the staff, because they had been crazy busy for the two weeks prior. So, I would be spending the week doing very little. Which is exactly what happened. I spent the week doing very little. And that, my friends, was not easy for me. I spent much of my time reading, and playing guitar, which can only keep me occupied for so long. I realized the extent of loneliness that I was to face in the coming months, and it forced me to look unto God in a way I had never before. I felt homesick for literally the first time in my entire life, and more so, I missed the ability to be with people, people who I knew and who knew me. But in my loneliness I remembered my own prayers and the ways God was revealing to me to be ready for this trip. He took me to 1 Thess 5:16-18. "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." (ESV). Thank you, Spirit, for reminding me that You are always with me, always good, and that my faith and joy do not rest in circumstance, nor do they rely on situation. They only rest and rely on You, who never changes! This is what God has revealed, and is revealing to me about what I am to learn while here in India. That I would find rest in Him. Psalm 62, one of my favorites, begins with "My soul finds rest in God alone." I have made this my creed, my cry, and my hope. And He will supply this to me! Of this I am sure!

Monday, October 1, 2012

Prayers of a Tourist

In less than thirty hours, I will be embarking on what is undoubtedly going to be a life altering trip. I am going to be traveling to Southeast India, where I will be a part of some incredible work, work that will stretch me and certainly change my heart for the rest of my life! I will be living at an orphanage and visiting churches, where I will be teaching the living, breathing word of God! How great a blessing must await me in these next few months! God is so good!

My hope and prayer as I leave is simple. Lord, make me Yours. Wholly and completely Yours! Make the work of my hands a blessing to You, and a blessing to Your people. Make my heart like that of David, a man after Your heart! I hope and pray that what I do, how I do it, and who I am in doing it is pleasing to You, Lord God. Lord I also pray for those who receive me. May they find me well, and may I find them blessed and ready for my coming. Allow Your words to infect them, give them joy and peace, God. Prepare the hearts of the men and women who will hear me speak. Give them open ears to listen, and hearts of flesh, that they might come to know Your truth, Your goodness, Your salvation! Create an everlasting fire in India, Lord God, that is seen by all! Begin a work in them now, Jesus, speak to them! Please, God! Let us see revival, true revival that destroys the hearts of men, and leave only Your Spirit! Thank You, God! Thank You for all that You do, all that You are, and all that You have left! Amen.

Please join me in praying for these wonderful people, and for the ministry that God is sending me with and to! Thank you for your partnership in the plan that God in unveiling in my life, and the lives of many people in the poverty-stricken portion of Southeast India!