India Final Update

I have just returned from the 3 week trip to India. It is good to be back in Guatemala and I am grateful for the awesome experiences in India. The final week of ministry was conducted in a small village called Velagode. The first night of the gospel and healing festival was attended by about 500 people. Each night the crowd grew larger as word spread in the communities that Jesus was healing people! The final night we saw over 5000 people attending. During the week we had many miraculous healings of blindness, deafness, pain in joints, heart conditions and sicknesses. The last night the people crowded the altar area seeking healing for Jesus the One True God. They experience his healing power but more important than this thousands came to know him as Lord and Savior throughout the week. I had the privilege of sharing the message last Friday night and spoke on the story of Lazarus and the rich man. That night and each night of the festival we had a tremendous response to receive Christ as Savior. Throughout the 5 nights we witnessed over 3500 people complete cards indicating they accepted Christ, many more also made decisions but did not complete the card because they cannot read or write. God touched so many lives and I believe the community will never be the same. The local pastors have a huge amount of work to do to try to follow-up and meet with the new believers. Pray that a follow up discipleship program will be something that can be added to these meetings. It would be a great boost for new believers to immediately receive instruction in the faith and become members of a local church that preaches the gospel. The Pastors and Leaders Seminar was attended by about 200 people. They all enjoyed the teaching and fellowship. It was a privilege for me to be able to teach on leadership and evangelism. Pray that the fire that was kindled in their lives during the seminar will continue to grow and that the things they learned will be practiced each day in their lives. On the last Sunday Darrell and I were invited to dedicate a new Christian School, the first and only Christian school in the village. Pray that God will truly bless the school and that through the education the children will receive will bring transformation to the community.
Thank you for your many prayers during the time of ministry in India. I have been invited to teach at the Assemblies of God Bible School in Hyderabad whenever I can work it into my schedule. Please pray that I will be able to return soon.

India Update

India Update
We have finished the first week of Pastor’s conferences and the Gospel & Healing Festival. It has been a tremendous time of ministry with 200 pastors in attendance and over 3500 people making Jesus their One True God. We have seen healings of blindness, deafness, pain in joints, tumors in the abdomen, chronic headaches and people set free from demonic possession. Attendance at the festival grew to about 7000 people and even though we received rain on the final night of the festival and had to give the altar call before the normal time we still had a great crowd and a lot of people standing in the rain to receive Christ as their Lord and Savior! Please pray that the harvest of souls will be retained through the visitation of the participating pastors and their church members. Discipleship is the next step that must be taken to help these new believers grow in their faith and understanding. Many of the new converts have come out of the Hindu religion and have admitted that they worshiped idols that they will now leave behind. One man who gave testimony after the service said he was a very wicked man and caused a lot of evil to happen in his community but now he was a new person in Christ. Another man told me that he literally felt his sins being lifted off his body when he prayed for Christ to be his Savior. It is such a thrill to see God touch the spirit, soul and body of the people at the festival.
We are also busy dedicating fresh water wells and new church constructions. Clean water is such a blessing to the communities and the residents have noticed a difference in their health. I attended a church dedication and was surprised when the Oasis World Ministries translator told me that I couple was coming to have me “name the baby!” I had about 10 seconds to come up with a name for their newborn son. The first name that popped into my mind was “Timothy” so that is his name. The parents are pastors in full time ministry and were very happy with the name of the baby. Another husband and wife come up after this couple and wanted me to cut a lock of hair from the babies head and then pray for the baby. It is an Indian cultural custom that I still do not fully understand but was happy to do it. After the dedication the church served a big meal for everyone. I have had to be pretty strong to keep them from putting way too much food on my plate. It has been fun to be a part of the celebrations involved with the dedications. The people are so appreciative of the help they have received from individuals, couples and churches in the USA that have donated the money to drill the wells and construct the churches. We have several more wells and churches to dedicate during the final week in India.
Please continue to pray for the next festival and pastor’s conference that will begin in a new location on Wednesday night. The monsoon season has started early, pray that God will hold back the rain so we can conduct the evening meetings. Pray also that the people will not be hindered from attending and that God will pour out his Spirit upon them as the gospel message is proclaimed. Pray for the pastors that will be attending the seminars for them that they will be encouraged and equipped in their ministries and that they will conduct the follow up with the new believers from the festival services. Pray for protection for the people as they travel to and from the festival. Some of the vehicles are overloaded with people but transportation is limited so they do what they need to do to be able to come. Pray also that the messages that are shared will be anointed by the Holy Spirit and penetrate through the veil of darkness, lies and deception that have kept the people from receiving Christ as their Lord and Savior.