India, June 2012

Hot work in India

I apologize for not writing sooner but it has been difficult to find time.  We get home just in time to eat and hit the sack.  It has been a great week, but a taxing one.  I have battled various ailments, upset stomach issues from the food, hay fever, jet lag, etc.  It is quite hot, around 104 each day and humid.  We have no air conditioning but plenty of ceiling fans at the training center.  I am spent by the end of each day.  But the Lord has sustained me and given me strength for what I am here to do.  In some ways it is tough work to train here, but I love the people so much that it makes it worthwhile.  The students have performed better than expected so we are delighted.  They are all engaged and eager to participate and catch on quickly.  It has been a great start for the training network.  

I have worked with the leaders on challenges they face in organizing the effort and planning all the logistics for 4 training levels across 14 states.  It really is an amazing effort and will take the Lord's provision to succeed.  I think we got some issues ironed out today that have had them confused.  We have a good plan, but it is dependent on so many people to accomplish that we know the Lord must work in each one to get it done.  There are still financial challenges ahead as well that must be met soon for the project to keep going.  If you would like to sponsor a trainer, a state network or just help with some of the cost we would welcome any help you can give.  Just contact me at my email.

I am attaching a few photos of the trainers and the surrounding area.  We finish training tomorrow and head south to Trichy early on Monday morning.  They are not as well organized down there so we are not sure what we will face.  But the Lord knows.

Al

Darkness in India

I am sitting in my hotel room overlooking a major street and intersection in Ahmedabad India.  I estimate that 10,000 people pass by here every 5 minutes or so.  I know that almost all of them are lost in darkness.  I am thankful to be working with a group of Christians who are aggressively doing something about that.  I was talking today with the leader and he was telling me of some of the problems in the church in India. 

Unfortunately many have moved away from the real gospel to either self satisfaction or to a health and wealth perspective.  I was reminded of the problems in Corinth where even spiritual gifts given by God became a stumbling block to the church.  Here many "come to Christ" through healing.  Someone prays for the sick and they get well and say they believe in Jesus.  But for many they never hear more of the gospel than "Jesus helps us".  Because they have never been told of the need for forgiveness of sins and the provision in Christ, their salvation is incomplete.  Many of these when they later become sick again and are not healed, return to Hinduism.  As in the time of the gospels where Jesus healed many who were never born again, even today many are being healed by God and yet apart from the gospel they are still lost.  The group I am working with wants to keep the real gospel central in the church.  Paul said in Romans that it is the gospel that is the power of God for salvation.  I fear that in the US we have the same tendency to make the gospel more what Jesus does to help us have a better life, than the true message that he came to save us from the wrath of God by taking the punishment for our sins.  

Tomorrow we start the training network that we hope will result in thousands of pastors being trained in the Word.  We are excited abut what God will do through His Word as it is preached in thousands of churches across India.  I will keep you posted about the progress of the week.

Al