Dear You,
Hi! Thanks for reading this today/tonight…whenever you are reading this. On behalf of the team, I cannot tell you how much your support means to all of us. Even more, the prayers you are lifting up are being felt in big ways. In our debrief session tonight, we gave thanks to God for the answered prayers - we asked you to pray for our strength, a decrease in humidity, wisdom, less bugs…and it was so evident that you have been faithful. Not only that, but to whoever prayed for “a breeze”…God bless you. You are good and kind. Tonight feels wonderful with a great breeze helping us cool off. Please keep this prayer going!
Today was a great day of mission. We started off our morning with a time of devotion and worship that reminded us that while we love India and these children, we are here, at our core, because of our love for Jesus. This is what is keeping us going. This morning at the General Assembly, we jumped around and sang with the kids. Pops led the “Impossible Passageway” Grain Game where, by simply cutting a piece of regular paper a certain way, he is able to make a hole in the paper big enough to fit an entire person through. The teaching along with this is that, when Moses and the Israelites escaped from Egypt, they were pursued by Pharoah and his army. Trapped between the army and the Red Sea, the Israelites faced certain death. But God made a way where no way existed and rescued His people. We share that, just as easy as the body passed through the hole in the piece of paper, in Christ our lives will pass that easily from death into eternity with him. This is not the first time the kids have seen this demonstration, but they love the “reveal” when a selected child is able to pass through the paper. Karena led our “Energy Stick” demonstration where we use light-and-sound energy sticks to communicate to the children that just as the electrical circuit is complete when we hold the light stick (and each other’s hand), so in Christ we are one family. Even though we are from different countries and speak different languages, we are one in Christ. It’s a beautiful picture and the kids love the connection to the team (we love it more).
Following our General Session, our plans changed yet again…and yet again, for the better. We anticipated breaking up with the different classes and doing some hands on Bible teaching. But God had a better plan and instead of that, we took a drive over to the FIRST church David had a hand in planting where they were also simultaneously running another VBS. Here’s the thing…David is connected to 30 churches and 3 mission centers and ALL of them (except for our 2nd week location) are running VBS programs. This is why we need you to commit to go on these trips. How great would it be to know that, with our partnership, we would have the possibility of supporting all of these different churches and increasing the reach in their community. A yearly team of 6-8 people is not enough to accomplish this. One of the reasons we put this blog together is to paint a picture for you of the work that is taking place and how you absolutely must get over here to see this and play the role God has called you to. Please pray about the possibility of partnering with us. The more that commit, the more we can go and the more work for the Kingdom can be accomplished.
So we headed over to the church where we lead part of an assembly for just about an hour. We repeated the Grain Games from this morning and added the “Balloon Animals” Grain Game. This is where we play a guessing game with the kids. We’ll start shaping some balloons trying to get them to guess what the finished product would be. Obviously, no one knows except the balloon maker. We tie this back to Psalm 139 and how God has purposefully created each one of us and knows everything about us. Others may look at us and question who or what we are, but we can rest in the knowledge that we are special to God and He created us with His purpose in mind. It’s a lot of fun. Then, we spent the next 20-30 minutes making balloon animals for EVERYONE in the church. Everyone.
We returned to Poonthandalam for the closing portion and after dismissal, God gave me the opportunity to share and encourage three other pastors who were here. Correction, I was encouraged. The pastors (both full-time and lay pastors) are from an orphanage that is a long way away. The pastors and 25 of the orphans they serve, traveled all night on Sunday evening to join us for VBS. When we think of “orphans”, I guess most people get images in their head of orphans portrayed in movies - poor, destitute, ratty clothing and dirty faces. Couldn’t be further from the truth here. These children were some of the best, most beautiful kids we’ve seen here. At the end of each day, when Pastor Gnagnam quizzes the kids on the lessons learned that day, the kids from the orphanage are the first ones up and have their stuff together. It’s amazing. They are so brilliant - and a few girls were talking tonight about their plans to become doctors. It was a blessing to sit and talk with the pastors about the work their doing and what God is doing in India.
And now, to explain tonight’s blog title. In our conversation, we discussed God’s work in America (as a whole) and in India. What we discussed was how present the Spirit of God is in this country - how the Church is committed to Christ above all. You know how someone with less than you can ask a question about what you have and you get really embarrassed? Well, it was like that tonight…except on a spiritual level. Instead of asking how big our congregations are or how much money we have in our church accounts, they asked a question I’ve never been asked before: “How long are your services?” The question wasn’t worded exactly that way, but that was the gist of the question. See, here in India, the church services start in the early morning and end…sometime. Usually 3-4 hours later…and then the church sticks around and has lunch and fellowship together. Sunday worship is a big deal to them. To those who follow Christ, Christ is EVERYTHING to them. They long for corporate worship. They long for the Word of God. They long to be with each other in fellowship. They absolutely DELIGHT in serving one another. I was embarrassed because, knowing this, I had to acknowledge that the typical worship service in America is usually about an hour to an hour and a half, with some singing and some preaching. Then, we tend to wrap out and leave because, face it, there are other places we’d rather be. Sometimes we’ll skip church altogether if we get a better offer. A better offer. Like, sleeping in. Or a sporting event. Or we made stupid, sinful decisions the night before because we don’t place our commitment to Christ and His call to be His bride over ourselves. I told them how, in India, Christianity is on the rise. In America, it’s on the decline. This is what happens with the Bride falls out of love and places herself over the Groom. In fact, Pops’ devotion today ended up being precisely about this - before this discussion ever happened. Surely not a coincidence. I shared with the pastors how (and I’ll use the simple language that was being used to communicate across the language barrier) “America has lots of stuff: big houses, money…but little Jesus. India has little stuff, but big Jesus. I want big Jesus.” While the Grammar Nazis may hate that last sentence, it was understood well.
And then today, multiple times we had the opportunity to take big group pictures with some of the kids. You know what they say when the camera goes up? Not “Cheese”. They chant “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus…”. We were at the Mission Center - they chanted “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus.” We were driving to the beach going past a Hindu temple - they sang, worshipped and chanted, “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus.” We were on the beach, surrounded by people who don’t follow Christ, in a culture where religious persecution is rampant - they chanted, “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus.” I heard the name of Jesus so much today - it was incredible. And sad. Sad because I realized, I don’t hear His name nearly this amount in America. And I don’t know if it’s that we’re ashamed of it - maybe we are - or if we just don’t love Him to the point that our heart cannot contain His name. Whichever it is, it all boils down to love for Jesus. These people, these kids - the orphans! - have so little compared to us…but they have “big Jesus”. And that’s enough for them. God, may it be enough for us. We want big Jesus.
I realize that you’re not supposed to learn a big lesson and go heavy on people this early in a mission trip - but one commitment we made was that as God worked we would be faithful to share what He is doing. Today, it was about our love for Him and calling every one of us to go deeper. I was going to share this later in the trip, but that’s what happened today. Thank You, Jesus.
Sadly, we found out that the pastors and the orphans are going back home early tomorrow morning. We already miss them and we ask you to pray for them that they would all have safe travels on a very long trip. A bit of exciting news, though - David asked if we would be willing to take the team to Mission Center #3 for a day of VBS there. This is really exciting because we’ve never been there before and we love the idea of branching out to new locations and encouraging the Church there.
Tonight, we again thank you for your generosity and commitment to prayer. You all have been a blessing to us and we can’t thank you enough. Tonight, we ask you to join with us again in prayer for these things:
1) That the orphans and their pastors would have a safe trip home
2) That God would renew our strength - we know that the “hot days” are still to come
3) That we would give our best attention and love to each new child and relationship that we make
4) For continued favor with the weather - the lack of humidity and this breeze is such a blessing
Also, this needs to be shared. Betty Jo is lined up to do one of her Grain Game demonstrations that calls for a glass cup. We bought the cups on Sunday at the store. We searched high and low tonight and couldn’t find the cups. We looked everywhere. In every suitcase, in every bag - you name it, we looked for it. Finally, Leslie found the cups in a bag from the store that was sitting in the middle of the floor. I looked in that bag. I lifted things out and ran my hand all in it and couldn’t find them. Actually, this is not a big deal at all because, as my beautiful wife will attest, I’m the least observant person God ever created. However, Betty Jo Bennett is NOT. She is extraordinarily thorough in EVERYTHING. She also checked that bag before I did. There is no way those cups were in that bag if Betty Jo couldn’t find them. You may write it off, and that’s fine, but I’m counting it as a miracle. A big one.
Finally, Annette Spain, I found out that Matt still hasn’t called you like I told him to (and offered my phone for him to do it). So, he’s fine, still. He’s having a life-changing experience and it’s already two days in. He’s cried already and he’s had two marriage proposals/inquiries so far (the crying and the proposals are not related to each other). I’ll keep you up to date daily here.
Thanks for being a part of this mission. You are vital to its success.
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Monday, May 13, 2013
A Bug's Life
Well, here I sit in total darkness, “warm” and joined in my writing by thousands of Poonthandalam’s finest critters. Today has been a perfect example of a day in India. Nothing has gone according to plan or on time, but God is working. We’ve had a full day today and there’s no way we can do anything but give God praise for what is taking place here. So, here’s what our official Day One of serving has looked like.
As I mentioned last night, the ladies shipped off to Poonthandalam Mission Center yesterday evening and the “plan” was for the men to roll out at 6 a.m. from David’s condo to make the long trek out to join them. However, God saw fit to answer a bigger prayer and work out His bigger plan overnight. In the middle of the night, around 1 a.m., a MASSIVE storm blew through the entire area. Lightning, thunder….and RAIN. Beautiful, beautiful, much needed rain. So, this was a huge blessing to Chennai, but it certainly posed a problem for the mission team. How do you haul an entire open-top truck full of luggage in rain without getting it wet? Answer: you buy a tarp. From a store that opens at 7:00 a.m. Fortunately, God has blessed us with a huge support team of villagers/servants who have helped meet every need we’ve had. They even found a way to haul David’s refrigerator to the Mission Center so that we could have some cool drinks throughout the day. We are so blessed by the sacrificial spirit of our Indian family. They are the most giving and generous people we have ever met. For instance, as I wrote that last sentence, one of the pastor’s daughters, Sweetie Angel, was walking around in our upstairs living space. Betty Jo called her over to give her a treat - a sticker - and as soon as it was placed on her hand, she immediately turned and give it away to Matt. We couldn’t outgive these people if we wanted to. And we’re trying.
So, onto today. Due to the change in schedule, the men arrived late to VBS. But when we arrived, the children had already been worshipping for almost an hour. Our arrival was amazing. It was so great to see the familiar faces of some of the children and friends we made in our previous trips, as well as make immediate friends with those new to the VBS. It honestly felt like a reunion and the continual connection is a great source of encouragement for them AND us. Once we were settled, David turned the program over to us. The extent of what your Impact India team pulled off cannot be understated. Your team, on cue, jumped into action and broke into a raucous (as if there’s any other kind) of rendition of “God O”. If you don’t know “God O”, it has become our go-to VBS anthem because it is such a crazy song with lots of dancing. The kids love it. But looking at the team after the first time through, we looked like we had all jumped into a pool. We were soaked, head to toe. And it was the first song of the day. And, as totally expected, David Rajan - the “Godfather” - looked at us and said, “That was good. Do it again.” When Godfather tells you to do something, you do it. Without question. Fortunately, we added some new tunes to our lineup this year as well. And Godfather had us do them multiple times. What’s crazy about this is that, due to jetlag, most of our team didn’t get very good sleep last night and so we walked into this environment physically drained before we started. However, God provided, through your prayers, I have no doubt, the energy to do everything we needed to do. God is so faithful.
Following the opening portion of our General Assembly, we introduced some new skits: Jesus feeding the 5,000 and Paul and Silas in prison. We have chosen stories this year that explicitly point to the power of Christ and His sovereignty. We also Matt lead the group in the “Pillow Fights” Grain Game and Little Debbie rocked the “Bubbles” Grain Game. And this was a huge deal because today, Chip, Clifton and Luke (The Grain Game Gurus) were in the audience. These guys are the pros and they came up with this stuff, and now, after their training, we sent in a rookie and a team member who REALLY doesn’t like public speaking and made them lead their demonstrations. Imagine taking piano lessons for a few years and then playing Mozart with Mozart in the audience. Aside from how weird that be since Mozart is no longer with us, you might be pretty nervous. And Matt and Little Debbie did great. Sadly, because of their other commitments, the Grain Game Gurus had to take off tonight. Aside from Chip, we didn’t know these guys until less than 48 hours ago and it was really un-fun to have to say “Goodbye” to them. It is such a treat to get to work with guys who are on the cutting edge of missions and ministry. Please pray for them tonight. Pray for safe travels for their team as they look forward to some much needed and well-earned downtime. Pray for their ministry as well. We can’t speak highly enough of the Grain Game - it is one of the best missions/ministry resources I’ve ever seen and these guys are all over the globe teaching the truth of Jesus Christ. Pray that their ministry would expand. It needs to expand because it is so effective and life-changing. Check out www.thegraingame.org and get a feel of what this brilliant team is doing.
Because we were so late today, we didn’t have the opportunity to hold a full VBS - but tomorrow we are planning on breaking up the classes and the Team will be in charge of teaching two classes. We found out tonight that the way we planned on doing this at home has changed today. However, God is gracious and it actually ends up better for all of us. Instead of splitting our team of eight into three groups, we will only be breaking up into 2 groups. Our preparation, even aimed in a different direction, will still be totally effective without having to change much of anything! And this also gives us a chance to work with smaller groups and develop better relationships with them. This is God at work Our plan would’ve been ok. His is great.
So, now we’re at the end of the first full day of missions. God is moving already and we can feel your prayers. There is no way we could have survived today if His strength had not been with us in full. Thank you for your faithfulness in praying. You are effective.
But we still need your prayers for rest tonight. David has been so gracious in setting up new living arrangements for us and he even installed new beautiful bathrooms. This also has been made possible due to your more than generous support. Thank you. For the guys, it means we are sleeping, basically, outside - we’re on the top level of an open air facility and the bugs are HUGE fans of us tonight. Also, due to the stormy weather overnight, today was incredibly humid. Hot, definitely. We knew that was coming. But the humidity has been the “not able to breathe well” kind of humidity. It’s heavy and unforgiving. We would ask that you would pray that God would send some relief - or strength. Again - we’re finding out how much better it is when He works out His plan, so we would really love some relief, but want to see Him working more.
Tonight, as most of the team is out like a light already (pardon the irony - the power keeps going off and on, so we lose lights and fans!), they have requested that you lift up these specific requests tonight:
1) For good rest tonight
2) For relief from the humidity and the bugs
3) For wisdom, especially in how we can best communicate to the Indian children
4) For the Grain Game: the Gurus, their travel and to God increase their ministry all over the world.
5) For increased strength
6) To not miss any opportunities to minister
Also, please be in prayer for Donny Caleb as he will be taking a two day ESL test tomorrow and Wednesday. I told him we’d pray for him. I didn’t tell him we’d have an army pray for him J
One other praise that I want to lift up before we bring this day to a close. Often, as we prepare for India, David will become aware of some ministry needs he has. This year, he asked us if we would be able to bring a projector with us so that he could show some Tamil movies to the children/church during VBS and that we could transport it back home after the trip. Because of your generosity, I was able to tell him that Faith wanted to bless and equip his ministry. So, instead of loaning him a projector, we were able to give him the necessary funds to buy a nice, brand new projector for the ministry here. The projector arrived last night and it was up and running tonight. It looks and sounds great and the friends here love it. Again, God has used you all. Pray that He continues to move and that lives would be changed tomorrow.
We love you all.
As I mentioned last night, the ladies shipped off to Poonthandalam Mission Center yesterday evening and the “plan” was for the men to roll out at 6 a.m. from David’s condo to make the long trek out to join them. However, God saw fit to answer a bigger prayer and work out His bigger plan overnight. In the middle of the night, around 1 a.m., a MASSIVE storm blew through the entire area. Lightning, thunder….and RAIN. Beautiful, beautiful, much needed rain. So, this was a huge blessing to Chennai, but it certainly posed a problem for the mission team. How do you haul an entire open-top truck full of luggage in rain without getting it wet? Answer: you buy a tarp. From a store that opens at 7:00 a.m. Fortunately, God has blessed us with a huge support team of villagers/servants who have helped meet every need we’ve had. They even found a way to haul David’s refrigerator to the Mission Center so that we could have some cool drinks throughout the day. We are so blessed by the sacrificial spirit of our Indian family. They are the most giving and generous people we have ever met. For instance, as I wrote that last sentence, one of the pastor’s daughters, Sweetie Angel, was walking around in our upstairs living space. Betty Jo called her over to give her a treat - a sticker - and as soon as it was placed on her hand, she immediately turned and give it away to Matt. We couldn’t outgive these people if we wanted to. And we’re trying.
So, onto today. Due to the change in schedule, the men arrived late to VBS. But when we arrived, the children had already been worshipping for almost an hour. Our arrival was amazing. It was so great to see the familiar faces of some of the children and friends we made in our previous trips, as well as make immediate friends with those new to the VBS. It honestly felt like a reunion and the continual connection is a great source of encouragement for them AND us. Once we were settled, David turned the program over to us. The extent of what your Impact India team pulled off cannot be understated. Your team, on cue, jumped into action and broke into a raucous (as if there’s any other kind) of rendition of “God O”. If you don’t know “God O”, it has become our go-to VBS anthem because it is such a crazy song with lots of dancing. The kids love it. But looking at the team after the first time through, we looked like we had all jumped into a pool. We were soaked, head to toe. And it was the first song of the day. And, as totally expected, David Rajan - the “Godfather” - looked at us and said, “That was good. Do it again.” When Godfather tells you to do something, you do it. Without question. Fortunately, we added some new tunes to our lineup this year as well. And Godfather had us do them multiple times. What’s crazy about this is that, due to jetlag, most of our team didn’t get very good sleep last night and so we walked into this environment physically drained before we started. However, God provided, through your prayers, I have no doubt, the energy to do everything we needed to do. God is so faithful.
Following the opening portion of our General Assembly, we introduced some new skits: Jesus feeding the 5,000 and Paul and Silas in prison. We have chosen stories this year that explicitly point to the power of Christ and His sovereignty. We also Matt lead the group in the “Pillow Fights” Grain Game and Little Debbie rocked the “Bubbles” Grain Game. And this was a huge deal because today, Chip, Clifton and Luke (The Grain Game Gurus) were in the audience. These guys are the pros and they came up with this stuff, and now, after their training, we sent in a rookie and a team member who REALLY doesn’t like public speaking and made them lead their demonstrations. Imagine taking piano lessons for a few years and then playing Mozart with Mozart in the audience. Aside from how weird that be since Mozart is no longer with us, you might be pretty nervous. And Matt and Little Debbie did great. Sadly, because of their other commitments, the Grain Game Gurus had to take off tonight. Aside from Chip, we didn’t know these guys until less than 48 hours ago and it was really un-fun to have to say “Goodbye” to them. It is such a treat to get to work with guys who are on the cutting edge of missions and ministry. Please pray for them tonight. Pray for safe travels for their team as they look forward to some much needed and well-earned downtime. Pray for their ministry as well. We can’t speak highly enough of the Grain Game - it is one of the best missions/ministry resources I’ve ever seen and these guys are all over the globe teaching the truth of Jesus Christ. Pray that their ministry would expand. It needs to expand because it is so effective and life-changing. Check out www.thegraingame.org and get a feel of what this brilliant team is doing.
Because we were so late today, we didn’t have the opportunity to hold a full VBS - but tomorrow we are planning on breaking up the classes and the Team will be in charge of teaching two classes. We found out tonight that the way we planned on doing this at home has changed today. However, God is gracious and it actually ends up better for all of us. Instead of splitting our team of eight into three groups, we will only be breaking up into 2 groups. Our preparation, even aimed in a different direction, will still be totally effective without having to change much of anything! And this also gives us a chance to work with smaller groups and develop better relationships with them. This is God at work Our plan would’ve been ok. His is great.
So, now we’re at the end of the first full day of missions. God is moving already and we can feel your prayers. There is no way we could have survived today if His strength had not been with us in full. Thank you for your faithfulness in praying. You are effective.
But we still need your prayers for rest tonight. David has been so gracious in setting up new living arrangements for us and he even installed new beautiful bathrooms. This also has been made possible due to your more than generous support. Thank you. For the guys, it means we are sleeping, basically, outside - we’re on the top level of an open air facility and the bugs are HUGE fans of us tonight. Also, due to the stormy weather overnight, today was incredibly humid. Hot, definitely. We knew that was coming. But the humidity has been the “not able to breathe well” kind of humidity. It’s heavy and unforgiving. We would ask that you would pray that God would send some relief - or strength. Again - we’re finding out how much better it is when He works out His plan, so we would really love some relief, but want to see Him working more.
Tonight, as most of the team is out like a light already (pardon the irony - the power keeps going off and on, so we lose lights and fans!), they have requested that you lift up these specific requests tonight:
1) For good rest tonight
2) For relief from the humidity and the bugs
3) For wisdom, especially in how we can best communicate to the Indian children
4) For the Grain Game: the Gurus, their travel and to God increase their ministry all over the world.
5) For increased strength
6) To not miss any opportunities to minister
Also, please be in prayer for Donny Caleb as he will be taking a two day ESL test tomorrow and Wednesday. I told him we’d pray for him. I didn’t tell him we’d have an army pray for him J
One other praise that I want to lift up before we bring this day to a close. Often, as we prepare for India, David will become aware of some ministry needs he has. This year, he asked us if we would be able to bring a projector with us so that he could show some Tamil movies to the children/church during VBS and that we could transport it back home after the trip. Because of your generosity, I was able to tell him that Faith wanted to bless and equip his ministry. So, instead of loaning him a projector, we were able to give him the necessary funds to buy a nice, brand new projector for the ministry here. The projector arrived last night and it was up and running tonight. It looks and sounds great and the friends here love it. Again, God has used you all. Pray that He continues to move and that lives would be changed tomorrow.
We love you all.
Sunday, May 12, 2013
The Longest Day
Good evening, friends and family!
Well, maybe "evening" is the wrong word depending on where/when you're reading this. It's about 8:30 p.m. in Chennai, which means it's 11 a.m. on the East Coast. Quick help. If you want to know what time it is in India, take the current Eastern Standard Time, subtract 2.5 hours and flip the a.m./p.m. It sure seems like our "a.m./p.m." has been flipped. We left for India on Friday night at 9:30 and have yet to "go to bed". We caught some sleep on the plane (some more than others) and have spent the day making preparations for the work that begins tomorrow. Needlessly to say, we're all sort of really super exhausted.
Also, Happy Mother's Day to all of you moms out there. Especially to my wife, who is the greatest mom to me and the kids. I'm very thankful for Jen, because without her, I wouldn't be able to have this experience. And that goes to all of our families as well. Thank you for sharing us and for your sacrifice. Also, a special "Happy Mother's Day" to Annette Spain (Matt's mom), who has yet to hear from her son because, in his words, "The worry will make the reunion that much better." Matt is fine. He's falling asleep standing up, but he's fine.
Today was another one of those days that we had a "bucket list" experience. Well, maybe it wasn't a "Bucket List" experience, but that's probably because this experience was so nuts that we didn't ever think it would be a reality. After a very successful trip through customs/immigration (thank you for your prayers!), we got ALL of our bags (thank you for your prayers!) and made to David's condo. We unloaded and then had a little downtime where we were able to get a few hours of rest before we started back up again. About an hour before lunchtime, we joined together with David and the Grain Game Gurus (Chip, Clifton and Luke - wonderful gentlemen, all of them) as well as some of David's family from Sri Lanka for a time of worship. This culminated in a room full of people singing old hymns together while David accompanied us. On accordion. That was not an auto-correct. Accordion. Somehow, though, it was a beautiful sound and we got to impress David's family with our pitiful attempt at "Power in the Blood" in Tamil. Each year we get better, so I suspect by Year 5 we should have it pretty close to good.
We left David's condo to head to "Skymall" - a 5 story shopping complex where we pick up the supplies that would be difficult to bring from home. But before we did that, all 15 of us (including a new friend - Donny Caleb) stopped at Pizza Hut for some lunch. I'm delighted to announce that Pizza Hut in India is super good. Let me take a second to introduce Donny Caleb to you. He is a 27 year-old Indian brother who is hilarious, speaks perfect english and is one of the greatest servants you'll ever meet. He is running to help us do whatever is needed and we are doing everything we can to keep up with him. He has become a fast friend to everyone on the team and I can't wait to tell you more stories about how God is going to use him.
After our eating/shopping excursion, we made it back to the condo for a planning/strategy session. We did this because, due to the vehicle we're riding in and the size of the group here, we had to send half of the team to our first mission location this evening. So, the women have all packed up and moved on to Poonthandalam Mission Center where they will be staying the night. Tomorrow, the men have to get up, load up and get out the door by 6 a.m. so that we can be at Poonthandalam when the VBS program begins. We ask for your prayers over the work that will take place tomorrow. As it always happens on any mission trip, you always prepare one way only to find that you will have to make significant changes when you arrive. We already anticipate this happening tomorrow and are trying to do our best to be able to go with the flow. But for Americans, this seems especially hard to accept and embrace. In our culture, we expect things to run like clockwork and go according to plan. That doesn't happen on mission. And that CERTAINLY never happens in India. Funny story. This morning we were fellowshipping with Pastor Nandakumar. Pops asked him when his church had their Sunday morning worship. His response? "9:30-10 a.m.". We thought that seemed like a short service, until David explained that he was referring to the start time. "Sometime between 9:30 and 10 a.m. Whenever." is basically the gist. We all had a good laugh about that one - especially picturing ANY church in America trying that out. But this where we are and this is what we've been called to. Please pray for us that we would be able to get plugged in and roll with whatever God throws at us. Chip reminded us this morning in our devotion that God has dropped us in a situation where we have no control - but it's in those situations where we see God at work the best. When we sit back and let Him do what He wants to do, it ALWAYS works better than our scripts. So, we're not asking for prayer for everything to go according to plan. We're asking you to lift us up so that we would be excited about this prospect. That we would wake up in the morning and not worry about our plans, but focus on the calling and the opportunity God has given to us to see Him at work.
And we also ask for prayer for strength. I believe the two toughest days on an Indian mission trip are the first day and the last day. On the last day, you struggle with the emotions of saying "goodbye" and leaving your Indian family knowing that Satan is after them daily. But the first day of mission here is also tough. The jetlag really has already taken it's toll. We try to acclimate as fast as possible, but it's really tough to shake our bodies out of routine in one day - especially when that routine has us working on an internal clock that is flipped almost entirely upside down. And then the heat. Between the heat/humidity and the lack of sleep, looking at the team tonight, you would think this is the last day of mission where we are so physically exhausted. And when people get hot and tired, they get cranky. So far everyone is hanging in there, but when you couple all of these factors with a situation that you feel unprepared for precisely because it's so unknown, it's an environment for Satan to work and do some damage. We need prayer. We are begging for it. Please help us and lift us up to the only One who could give us what we need.
Tonight, we ask for prayer for these things:
1) That God would be glorified
2) That we would be able to get rest
3) The God would restore our bodies and spirits
4) That we would have a proper focus on the mission and not give into stress/frustration if things don't go how we planned
5) Pray for our families back home. We're so grateful to them and the team talked tonight about how we are missing them already.
Thank you so much for making this journey with us. We have prepared the best we know how. Tomorrow, the work begins. We love you all.
Well, maybe "evening" is the wrong word depending on where/when you're reading this. It's about 8:30 p.m. in Chennai, which means it's 11 a.m. on the East Coast. Quick help. If you want to know what time it is in India, take the current Eastern Standard Time, subtract 2.5 hours and flip the a.m./p.m. It sure seems like our "a.m./p.m." has been flipped. We left for India on Friday night at 9:30 and have yet to "go to bed". We caught some sleep on the plane (some more than others) and have spent the day making preparations for the work that begins tomorrow. Needlessly to say, we're all sort of really super exhausted.
Also, Happy Mother's Day to all of you moms out there. Especially to my wife, who is the greatest mom to me and the kids. I'm very thankful for Jen, because without her, I wouldn't be able to have this experience. And that goes to all of our families as well. Thank you for sharing us and for your sacrifice. Also, a special "Happy Mother's Day" to Annette Spain (Matt's mom), who has yet to hear from her son because, in his words, "The worry will make the reunion that much better." Matt is fine. He's falling asleep standing up, but he's fine.
Today was another one of those days that we had a "bucket list" experience. Well, maybe it wasn't a "Bucket List" experience, but that's probably because this experience was so nuts that we didn't ever think it would be a reality. After a very successful trip through customs/immigration (thank you for your prayers!), we got ALL of our bags (thank you for your prayers!) and made to David's condo. We unloaded and then had a little downtime where we were able to get a few hours of rest before we started back up again. About an hour before lunchtime, we joined together with David and the Grain Game Gurus (Chip, Clifton and Luke - wonderful gentlemen, all of them) as well as some of David's family from Sri Lanka for a time of worship. This culminated in a room full of people singing old hymns together while David accompanied us. On accordion. That was not an auto-correct. Accordion. Somehow, though, it was a beautiful sound and we got to impress David's family with our pitiful attempt at "Power in the Blood" in Tamil. Each year we get better, so I suspect by Year 5 we should have it pretty close to good.
We left David's condo to head to "Skymall" - a 5 story shopping complex where we pick up the supplies that would be difficult to bring from home. But before we did that, all 15 of us (including a new friend - Donny Caleb) stopped at Pizza Hut for some lunch. I'm delighted to announce that Pizza Hut in India is super good. Let me take a second to introduce Donny Caleb to you. He is a 27 year-old Indian brother who is hilarious, speaks perfect english and is one of the greatest servants you'll ever meet. He is running to help us do whatever is needed and we are doing everything we can to keep up with him. He has become a fast friend to everyone on the team and I can't wait to tell you more stories about how God is going to use him.
After our eating/shopping excursion, we made it back to the condo for a planning/strategy session. We did this because, due to the vehicle we're riding in and the size of the group here, we had to send half of the team to our first mission location this evening. So, the women have all packed up and moved on to Poonthandalam Mission Center where they will be staying the night. Tomorrow, the men have to get up, load up and get out the door by 6 a.m. so that we can be at Poonthandalam when the VBS program begins. We ask for your prayers over the work that will take place tomorrow. As it always happens on any mission trip, you always prepare one way only to find that you will have to make significant changes when you arrive. We already anticipate this happening tomorrow and are trying to do our best to be able to go with the flow. But for Americans, this seems especially hard to accept and embrace. In our culture, we expect things to run like clockwork and go according to plan. That doesn't happen on mission. And that CERTAINLY never happens in India. Funny story. This morning we were fellowshipping with Pastor Nandakumar. Pops asked him when his church had their Sunday morning worship. His response? "9:30-10 a.m.". We thought that seemed like a short service, until David explained that he was referring to the start time. "Sometime between 9:30 and 10 a.m. Whenever." is basically the gist. We all had a good laugh about that one - especially picturing ANY church in America trying that out. But this where we are and this is what we've been called to. Please pray for us that we would be able to get plugged in and roll with whatever God throws at us. Chip reminded us this morning in our devotion that God has dropped us in a situation where we have no control - but it's in those situations where we see God at work the best. When we sit back and let Him do what He wants to do, it ALWAYS works better than our scripts. So, we're not asking for prayer for everything to go according to plan. We're asking you to lift us up so that we would be excited about this prospect. That we would wake up in the morning and not worry about our plans, but focus on the calling and the opportunity God has given to us to see Him at work.
And we also ask for prayer for strength. I believe the two toughest days on an Indian mission trip are the first day and the last day. On the last day, you struggle with the emotions of saying "goodbye" and leaving your Indian family knowing that Satan is after them daily. But the first day of mission here is also tough. The jetlag really has already taken it's toll. We try to acclimate as fast as possible, but it's really tough to shake our bodies out of routine in one day - especially when that routine has us working on an internal clock that is flipped almost entirely upside down. And then the heat. Between the heat/humidity and the lack of sleep, looking at the team tonight, you would think this is the last day of mission where we are so physically exhausted. And when people get hot and tired, they get cranky. So far everyone is hanging in there, but when you couple all of these factors with a situation that you feel unprepared for precisely because it's so unknown, it's an environment for Satan to work and do some damage. We need prayer. We are begging for it. Please help us and lift us up to the only One who could give us what we need.
Tonight, we ask for prayer for these things:
1) That God would be glorified
2) That we would be able to get rest
3) The God would restore our bodies and spirits
4) That we would have a proper focus on the mission and not give into stress/frustration if things don't go how we planned
5) Pray for our families back home. We're so grateful to them and the team talked tonight about how we are missing them already.
Thank you so much for making this journey with us. We have prepared the best we know how. Tomorrow, the work begins. We love you all.
Thursday, May 9, 2013
Will You Join In Our Crusade?
(I apologize for the title if you are not a fan of "Les Miserables" and don't get the reference. We don't take ourselves that seriously by any means - but it seems thematically appropriate with just enough "epicness" for our kickoff post.)
Greetings...from Maryland! That's right - our departure to Chennai, India is only 24 hours away, but before we began blogging from deep in the heart of southeast India, I wanted to take a moment and introduce our Impact India 2013 mission, as well as send out a plea for help.
First, what is Impact India?
Well, thank you for asking. For those who have heard the title in passing and just thought it was a result of a deep appreciation for alliteration (see what I did there?), I assure you it is much more than that (but we do love alliteration). In 2010, Faith Baptist Church in Glen Burnie, MD sent a team of 14 on an exploratory trip, visiting villages, slums, churches, schools and mission centers seeing how God was at work and how we might be involved. This stemmed from a relationship with David Rajan. For a more detailed description of David and his story, I can't urge you enough to revisit our 2012 blog and read his story. It's powerful. But in a nutshell, David and his family moved from India in 1986 to the United States, landing in Baltimore where he got connected with Faith Baptist Church. In the years that passed, David felt God leading him back to India to establish mission centers, plant churches and take the Gospel of Jesus Christ into unreached villages. In the past 13 years, David has planted over 30 churches and has built 3 mission centers.
David has been a faithful member of Faith Baptist Church and we have been a primary source of financial support for years. However, we felt that God was leading us to play a bigger role in supporting the ministry in southeast India, and so in May of 2012 we sent six members (as well as joining with two other former members of Faith) to be a part of the massive Vacation Bible School program that David hosts in his churches/mission centers. After serving two weeks in different mission centers, the eyes of those who were on the team were opened. Big time. So often we look at other countries and see the physical poverty and struggles they endure. Certainly, that is evident in India, particularly in the villages. However, the most alarming thing there is not the financial poverty and physical struggles, but the spiritual poverty.
At every turn, every corner and in between corners, you see idols and temples erected to false gods. Snake pits are mounted in backyards where nightly worship of serpents takes place. Pastors are frequently called upon to cast out demons. In one village, a "She-demon" prowls and entices men away from their homes. Pagan festivals are celebrated all night long and worship of the false gods can be heard from miles away. I've said it before but it bears repeating: this is Satan's playground and he is having a field day.
But right in the middle of one of these pagan villages and centers of idol worship, a mission center stands where the truth of Jesus Christ is going out and changing lives. This is why we return to India. This is why Faith Baptist has accepted God's call to partner with David Rajan and the ministries over in the villages and slums of Chennai for the next 5 years. The "Impact" on India is already being felt - we just want to follow in obedience to God's call to support that crucial work.
So what does that look like for us?
Again, thanks for asking! This year we will be working with some of the same groups and locations as in our 2012, but with increased responsibilities. Your Impact India 2013 team will be working in two VBS programs, communicating Bible stories through skits, teaching songs about God's greatness, leading "Grain Game" demonstrations and teaching individual Bible classes. We will also be taking part in village church worship - and whatever else God has in store for us.
We are going as a small army made up of teenagers, college students, parents, grandparents, doctors, chuckle-heads, young and...other...because God is calling many people's hearts to be turned toward India. We will also be joining up with the brilliant and brilliantly creative Grain Game Gurus who will working to document the work in India.
Here's the team:
Raymond Higgins
Jeff Higgins
Matt Spain
Betty Jo Bennett
Leslie Thrasher
"Little Debbie" Gilligan
We will also be joined by two fantastic missionaries from Fort Myers, Florida:
Karena Hanneken (wife of Justin Hanneken, who joined our team in 2012)
Cassie Smith
And so now, our fervent plea for help.
We need you. We need you in a huge way. So many of you have financially supported this mission work and we gave thanks to God for your generosity and willingness! Now, we need prayer. Big time prayer. If there's one thing we learned in 2012, it is that this mission work is an intense spiritual battle. We've witnessed persecution. We've felt the spiritual and physical attacks from the enemy. And yet, we've seen God show up and work absolute miracles. Eight Americans can't accomplish what has been accomplished before on our own power. We will take no credit for anything because it is not in our strength that this work will successful.
We need your prayers. Daily. Hourly. Prayers for strength. For wisdom. For the ability to love and communicate across language barriers. For provision. For our families back home. For the work of the enemy to be stifled. For the Name of Jesus to go forth and change lives like we all know He can. This is an intense spiritual struggle and our greatest weapons are the prayers that you lift up. We are not asking selfishly. We are asking because you are as vital to this mission as those who walk on Indian soil - and those who will be walking on Indian soil acknowledge this daily. When you pray, God moves.
For instance. We found out on Monday - 5 days before our departure - that there was a problem with Little Debbie's visa. Not only had they not sent her passport back to her...they hadn't even begun to process her visa. FIVE days out. The next day on the phone, she found out that they no longer did 24-hour emergency visas. We took to Facebook/Twitter asking for prayers about this very issue. Yesterday morning (Wednesday), she was in the visa office in DC trying to work something out. They made no guarantees and it was not looking good for her to even participate in this trip she had been saving and planning for since January. That was yesterday morning. Today she received the call: "Your visa is ready for pick-up." 24 hours later. They don't do that anymore. This is just the beginning of what God has in store. When you join with us, things like this happen in abundance. We cannot express how dependent we are on your partnership in this mission.
As you pray, we will be diligent and faithful to report the miracles we're seeing every day. Please follow this blog. Each day we will let you know what God has done, what He is doing and how you can specifically pray for the work going on in India. We also would ask that you consider being a committed prayer partner for this work and sign up as an intercessor/worshipper on behalf of those serving. You can join up here: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/9040E4FAFA62BA46-pray
Ephesians 6:12
For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
2 Corinthians 10:3-5
For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ.
We are heading off to the most significant type of war - a battle being waged over the future of Indian children and their generation. We are not merely going to "love on kids" - but to use that love and relationship as a platform to communicate a truth that confronts EVERYTHING they've been taught about God, salvation and religion. Would you join us? Would you be a part of the work God is doing and intercede -not just for the Impact India team - but for the hearts and minds of those we will come in contact with? When you partner with us, you share in every victory, every blessing that God gives. If you don't have or want anything to do with Christ but you just checked out this blog because someone shared it, please stick around. You will hear stories of God working miracles that can be explained no other way than the active work of the Creator. I promise.
God is about to do something massive. Join us and be a part of it.
We'll see you in India!
Jeff
Impact India 2013
Greetings...from Maryland! That's right - our departure to Chennai, India is only 24 hours away, but before we began blogging from deep in the heart of southeast India, I wanted to take a moment and introduce our Impact India 2013 mission, as well as send out a plea for help.
First, what is Impact India?
Well, thank you for asking. For those who have heard the title in passing and just thought it was a result of a deep appreciation for alliteration (see what I did there?), I assure you it is much more than that (but we do love alliteration). In 2010, Faith Baptist Church in Glen Burnie, MD sent a team of 14 on an exploratory trip, visiting villages, slums, churches, schools and mission centers seeing how God was at work and how we might be involved. This stemmed from a relationship with David Rajan. For a more detailed description of David and his story, I can't urge you enough to revisit our 2012 blog and read his story. It's powerful. But in a nutshell, David and his family moved from India in 1986 to the United States, landing in Baltimore where he got connected with Faith Baptist Church. In the years that passed, David felt God leading him back to India to establish mission centers, plant churches and take the Gospel of Jesus Christ into unreached villages. In the past 13 years, David has planted over 30 churches and has built 3 mission centers.
David has been a faithful member of Faith Baptist Church and we have been a primary source of financial support for years. However, we felt that God was leading us to play a bigger role in supporting the ministry in southeast India, and so in May of 2012 we sent six members (as well as joining with two other former members of Faith) to be a part of the massive Vacation Bible School program that David hosts in his churches/mission centers. After serving two weeks in different mission centers, the eyes of those who were on the team were opened. Big time. So often we look at other countries and see the physical poverty and struggles they endure. Certainly, that is evident in India, particularly in the villages. However, the most alarming thing there is not the financial poverty and physical struggles, but the spiritual poverty.
At every turn, every corner and in between corners, you see idols and temples erected to false gods. Snake pits are mounted in backyards where nightly worship of serpents takes place. Pastors are frequently called upon to cast out demons. In one village, a "She-demon" prowls and entices men away from their homes. Pagan festivals are celebrated all night long and worship of the false gods can be heard from miles away. I've said it before but it bears repeating: this is Satan's playground and he is having a field day.
But right in the middle of one of these pagan villages and centers of idol worship, a mission center stands where the truth of Jesus Christ is going out and changing lives. This is why we return to India. This is why Faith Baptist has accepted God's call to partner with David Rajan and the ministries over in the villages and slums of Chennai for the next 5 years. The "Impact" on India is already being felt - we just want to follow in obedience to God's call to support that crucial work.
So what does that look like for us?
Again, thanks for asking! This year we will be working with some of the same groups and locations as in our 2012, but with increased responsibilities. Your Impact India 2013 team will be working in two VBS programs, communicating Bible stories through skits, teaching songs about God's greatness, leading "Grain Game" demonstrations and teaching individual Bible classes. We will also be taking part in village church worship - and whatever else God has in store for us.
We are going as a small army made up of teenagers, college students, parents, grandparents, doctors, chuckle-heads, young and...other...because God is calling many people's hearts to be turned toward India. We will also be joining up with the brilliant and brilliantly creative Grain Game Gurus who will working to document the work in India.
Here's the team:
Raymond Higgins
Jeff Higgins
Matt Spain
Betty Jo Bennett
Leslie Thrasher
"Little Debbie" Gilligan
We will also be joined by two fantastic missionaries from Fort Myers, Florida:
Karena Hanneken (wife of Justin Hanneken, who joined our team in 2012)
Cassie Smith
And so now, our fervent plea for help.
We need you. We need you in a huge way. So many of you have financially supported this mission work and we gave thanks to God for your generosity and willingness! Now, we need prayer. Big time prayer. If there's one thing we learned in 2012, it is that this mission work is an intense spiritual battle. We've witnessed persecution. We've felt the spiritual and physical attacks from the enemy. And yet, we've seen God show up and work absolute miracles. Eight Americans can't accomplish what has been accomplished before on our own power. We will take no credit for anything because it is not in our strength that this work will successful.
We need your prayers. Daily. Hourly. Prayers for strength. For wisdom. For the ability to love and communicate across language barriers. For provision. For our families back home. For the work of the enemy to be stifled. For the Name of Jesus to go forth and change lives like we all know He can. This is an intense spiritual struggle and our greatest weapons are the prayers that you lift up. We are not asking selfishly. We are asking because you are as vital to this mission as those who walk on Indian soil - and those who will be walking on Indian soil acknowledge this daily. When you pray, God moves.
For instance. We found out on Monday - 5 days before our departure - that there was a problem with Little Debbie's visa. Not only had they not sent her passport back to her...they hadn't even begun to process her visa. FIVE days out. The next day on the phone, she found out that they no longer did 24-hour emergency visas. We took to Facebook/Twitter asking for prayers about this very issue. Yesterday morning (Wednesday), she was in the visa office in DC trying to work something out. They made no guarantees and it was not looking good for her to even participate in this trip she had been saving and planning for since January. That was yesterday morning. Today she received the call: "Your visa is ready for pick-up." 24 hours later. They don't do that anymore. This is just the beginning of what God has in store. When you join with us, things like this happen in abundance. We cannot express how dependent we are on your partnership in this mission.
As you pray, we will be diligent and faithful to report the miracles we're seeing every day. Please follow this blog. Each day we will let you know what God has done, what He is doing and how you can specifically pray for the work going on in India. We also would ask that you consider being a committed prayer partner for this work and sign up as an intercessor/worshipper on behalf of those serving. You can join up here: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/9040E4FAFA62BA46-pray
Ephesians 6:12
For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
2 Corinthians 10:3-5
For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ.
We are heading off to the most significant type of war - a battle being waged over the future of Indian children and their generation. We are not merely going to "love on kids" - but to use that love and relationship as a platform to communicate a truth that confronts EVERYTHING they've been taught about God, salvation and religion. Would you join us? Would you be a part of the work God is doing and intercede -not just for the Impact India team - but for the hearts and minds of those we will come in contact with? When you partner with us, you share in every victory, every blessing that God gives. If you don't have or want anything to do with Christ but you just checked out this blog because someone shared it, please stick around. You will hear stories of God working miracles that can be explained no other way than the active work of the Creator. I promise.
God is about to do something massive. Join us and be a part of it.
We'll see you in India!
Jeff
Impact India 2013
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