In the thick of it...

I have now been in India for nearly 3 weeks. It had been so incredibly different than anything I have ever done. By now, we have visited numerous orphanages, churches, and participated in other ministries. There is literally so much going on here it is hard to comprehend. I'm amazed at how many people we have met and seen on a daily basis.

Currently, we are working all week at a place that takes in gypsy children during the day. Gypsies are people who live in communities of tents or shacks on the outskirts of villages. They don't actually belong to a caste and they make their living selling beads and jewelry. We literally go into the gypsy camp, pick the kids up, and take them to the house. There we teach them about english, give them baths, help feed them, and play with them. It has been in interesting experience especially since they don't even speak the native language here called "Tamil". They have their own gypsy language. Most of them have lice and don't ever get taught about hygiene. Once again I am reminded that I have no idea what it is like to grow up in their world, but I do know God loves these kids and these people.

Thank you again to everyone who is supporting me and my team in prayer. Please keep us in your prayers as we continue on these next few weeks. Outreach seems long at the beginning but them flies by quickly.

Isaiah 55: 10-11 "For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, and do not return there but water the earth, and make it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it."

Outreach so far...

By now, I have been in India nearly two weeks. The team got here last Sunday and we have begun to do some ministry this past week. Basically, our schedule is pretty erratic at the moment. We have Mondays off to recoup. So far, we have been able to speak at a cell group (a cell group is basically a small group of people who meet in a home and do Bible studies and fellowship) & spend some time with orphanage kids and do things like play games and sing songs. We also have helped our contact Joshua with some labor at his church. Yesterday, we were able to speak at some church services and minister to the people.

Joshua also took our team to a famous landmark here in Chennai known as St. Thomas Mount. It is believed that the Thomas of the Bible (as in "doubting Thomas") was martyred there. We also got a chance to help Joshua out with a local fundraiser on Friday night for a ministry that does a lot of work with the poor and sick here in Chennai.

It has begun to rain a lot here in Chennai and the season is known as the monsoon season. It has also been very hot during the days. Fortunately, we have air conditioning in our rooms which is a huge benefit. The food has been fantastic and we are so thankful to have Joshua's mother Maggie cooking for us with some of her friends. I am told by Joshua that some of the upcoming weeks we will get a chance to work with street kids, gypsies, and more churches & orphanages. Please pray our team stays healthy and grows in unity. Thank you for your continued prayer and support for our team. FYI: One of our students has been updating a daily blog that you can look at if you would like--> http://www.wix.com/scoastdts/IndiaOutreach09

In Chennai, India

I have safely arrived here in Chennai, India. My first realization of the country was coming into the airport where everyone's temperature is checked because if the swine flu epidemic. Afterwards, I was let outside where there are literally hundreds of people waiting. Some of them want you to take their taxi, some are waiting for loved ones, and some I think are just there. It is hot and humid here in India this time of year and I definitely felt it getting off the airplane. Luckily, my contact Josh found me and took me to his place. On the drive I noticed the amount of people in the streets. With a country of over a billion people, it's hard to put into perspective what that looks like. I am told by my contact Josh that there are roughly 8 or 9 million people in Chennai which is located in the state of Tamil Nadu. Here in Chennai, they speak a language known an Tamil. The country of India itself has thousands of different languages amongst which is the national language Hindi. Luckily for me, lots of people speak basic English as it is taught in some schools.

Life is so different in this place. Poverty is much more "in your face". It is heartbreaking to see so many people living on streets, sleeping on sidewalks, and living on the margins. The diversity of this city is astounding as well. The majority of people are Hindu followed by Christians and then Muslims. I have spent the last few days driving around with Josh and getting to observe this massive city which is the fourth largest in India. Because of the caste system, many people have no hope for getting out of poverty. Even amongst Christians, the caste system has influenced the way people marry.

We are fortunate to have an opportunity to spend time with some of the marginalized people of this city. We get to see what Jesus was talking about when He said, "the least of these". It is my prayer that this team and myself have a life changing trip here in Chennai. When you see the suffering of the poor and you help them, somehow they help you even more. The good news of the Kingdom of God is best received by the poor, because in the Kingdom of Heaven the least are the greatest. Please continue in your prayers for our team. The rest of the team gets here tonight.

Last Week Before Outreach

So it is now upon us....outreach is at the door. I will be leaving before my outreach team on the 16th of September because my visa in Australia is ending. Thankfully I will get a few days to get used to India and spend some time with God before the team shows up on September 20th. It has been a blur this past few weeks. Outreach preparations are such a stressful time. It is important to look at the big picture of why we go.

We are not going so that we can do a "good thing" and pat ourselves on the back. We are not going so that we can say, "I did my share." At the end of the day, it is about love. We want to show the world that God is love. We want people in India to see that Jesus is Lord and that it is good news. If Jesus came and said what He said and did what He did, this is the best news ever. And this is why we go. We believe that God's heart is that people know who He really is and He has shown the fullness of Himself in Jesus. So please remember to pray for us while we are in India. We have a lot of challenges ahead of us. Specifically for team unity, opportunities, and safety. Thank you to everyone for your prayers and support.

Jewish Roots

We are getting down to the final countdown with fewer than two weeks to go until outreach to India. Please pray for safety for the team and for health as we go into India. Specifically for me, pray for wisdom and grace to lead the team.

This week, we were privileged to have Joel Baker, a pastor from Nambour, speak on our school. Joel has a passion to share Jewish Roots with people after having lived in Israel for 10 years. He also played some Jewish songs on his guitar and taught us to sing "Hava Nagila." He talked about the tragedy of the treatment of Jews by early Christians and how they justified it. He explained the split of the synagogue and the church. One things I thought was interesting was that he showed how Christianity was like the younger brother of Judaism. Even Jewish history shows similarities such as Isaac receiving the blessing over his older brother Ishmael and also Jacob received a blessings over his older brother Esau. In one of Paul's letters, he explains how Christians are "fellow" heirs of the promise (Eph 2:6). Unfortunately, many people believe that the "Church" is the "New Israel" and God is done with them (the Jews). They call this "Replacement theology." It was actually the grounds for a lot of hatred between Jews and Christians that resulted in death ...NOT things Jesus would put His name on. Paul even goes on to explain in Romans 11 how we have benefitted from Jews and their gifts and promises are irrevocable (v.29). God has not forgotten them and neither should we. There are our older brothers who we owe gratitude towards and need to continue to advocate and pray for.

Relationships & Covenants

These last two weeks have been a blur as we have just finished up "Covenants of the Bible" with one of our favorite speakers Neville Strachan from Byron Bay, Australia. Neville is a regular speaker on DTS's here at the Sunshine Coast base. We were blessed to have him come in a basically look at the entire Bible through the lens of covenants that God has made with man. If you go back a ways on my blog list, I wrote about covenants before during the last school that I staffed last year.

Last week, we looked at "Relationships" with Tricia Hensser & Catrina Pennington. Both of them are wives and base staff here at the base. It was a great week of really looking at the value of all human beings and also the utmost importance of forgiving people. As we go forward in this DTS into outreach, it will be important to remember these principles. Outreach is a time when our integrity is tested.

Speaking of integrity, I was amazed when I was reading the Bible the other day, at the integrity of Jesus. The way I have come to understand integrity, is the way people act when the pressures of life are really squeezing them. A lot of us can understand integrity and even claim to have a lot of it, but the only way it can be tested is through trial. Jesus, after all He said and did and claimed to be, had His integrity truly tested during His trials and crucifixion. Being beaten, mocked, spit on, whipped half to death, abandoned by His closest friends, and stressed to the point of bleeding sweat, He responds by asking God Hid Father to forgive the people who have done this to Him. To me, that is an amazing example of integrity. He had every right, being who He actually was, to judge everyone who had done this to Him. He chose instead to love them.

So as I reflect on this, I begin to understand that outreach will be a time when the whole team is tested. Through extremely hot temperatures, food borne illnesses, sickness, annoyance with team members, lack of rest, and everything else that comes with outreach, I need to remember the example of Jesus, who endured much worse. Please pray for our team to have unity and love for each other. Thanks for all of your prayers and support.

Week of Prayer

Moving right along, this school is going so fast! After finishing up with Project Affwan last week, we jumped right into Prayer week. At our base particularly, we do something special during prayer week. From Monday to Thursday we put everyone in two hour prayer slots. Since this school is about half the size of a normal DTS, we go from 12 noon to 12 midnight and keep constant prayer going. It allows the students to have a chance to practice the discipline of prayer and waiting on God. Typically prayer week always sees many transformations for people. The students have been really going strong this week and pressing into prayer. God is faithful and has been blessing our prayer times. We have prayed for: family and friends, Outreaches in India and Indonesia, the Church and Islam, & Each other (especially for the future).

I was fortunate enough to be able to teach some this week about prayer. I used the Lord's Prayer among other topics. I had help from some other staff people also who really set the tone for this week and challenged the students. I am really fortunate to have such a solid group of people around this base. Next week, we are talking about relationships so keep us in your prayers. I am so glad to have more time now to focus on other things like outreach which is coming up next month. Thank you all for your constant prayers and support. I look forward to talking to you soon.