This is easily my longest post yet but the most important thus far. If you read it, read it all.
There is power in prayer. I know a few thoughts are brewing and stirring for you as a reader.
-You are growing tired of getting Facebook notifications (don't lie...it's true).
-You are reading stories that are rolling together in your minds and seem redundant.
-You may even assume incredible things happen daily and it's like the book of Acts all over again.
Let me clear up a few things before launching into the story from today (January 31st).
-There will come a time when the stream of posts trickles off and my entries will be few and far between.
-Most of these stories are similar because we have set up a routine for ourselves to structure and monitor our schedules. God doesn't necessarily desire that for us all the time.
-More often than not, we wake up and share without immediate fruit. We are often frustrated and confused. People here are not seeking Jesus. The warm interactions and men of peace (see Luke 10) are a dime a dozen. Even in Acts we are looking at a long span of time and seeing the highlights. There is life that happens between the "mind-blowing" moments.
I didn't say all of that to depress you and make you think our labor is somber and uneventful. Quite the opposite! I want to invite you into the deep recesses of my mind and give you the opportunity to empathize with us here. You cannot fathom the heights we feel without first grasping the depths we see and experience as well. Regarding our victories thus far, there have been flashes in the pan and I have been quick to type them up and send them your way. I do not embellish or stretch these stories to give you a higher respect for me. I am, through much conviction, devoted to telling you about my adventure with God as it really is. I owe everyone that courtesy. We have shared the good news about 20 or so different times to something close to 30 people. That estimate that is probably low, it may have been more. Of all of those people, probably 10 of them received it well and acknowledged that what we were saying was different and interested them. None of them met us again despite making contact with us and promising a second meeting. Although its still early, we only anticipate 5 or so will actually see us again. Those are the facts after three weeks of being in India.
I went to bed every night with a balanced scale of encouraged and discouraged emotion. It seems contradictory but its how I felt. We were scattering the seed of life and all of these people heard the Gospel where they wouldn't have ordinarily. But no one was actively seeking us out to meet again and appeared hungry for more. My partner and I have extensive discussion about it. We share what we feel God is telling us and are constantly trying new approaches. The lack of logic in this culture was killing us and we fell into that pitfall every time. We had no options. I went to the roof of our house with a chair as I do every morning and looked out at the city. What are we missing? What can we do different? I needed answers to these questions. I read a little bit and prayed a lot.
Please have mercy in them God! Show them Yourself. Forgive them of their sin. Show them that they are sinful and need help. Do a miracle!
I prayed this all day long. We had no choice! All of our tactics and efforts were ineffective and powerless. We admitted that we had nothing left in the arsenal to try other than this. Simple and sincere prayer went a long way. We assumed that God would answer our prayer weeks from now in the form of a man of peace coming to Him through us. We went out for a little bit today looking for him. The man of peace was nowhere to be found.
We went to the slums as we always do on Thursdays to teach. I had a rough outing with the children that night and I can provide specifics if you really want over a message or when I get back. It was bad. I was teaching a group of 4th grade girls to read when the pastor of the slum tapped me on the shoulder and pointed down. He doesn't speak English so I just had to guess what he wanted. I assumed he wanted my teammate and I to go downstairs because it was time to go home. I said my goodbyes to the kids and followed him. He stopped off of the second floor of the building and pointed into a room. We didn't know why but went in. In that room stood 6 young men around our age with big smiles on their faces. What's all this about? No one this old ever comes around the church in the slum. We were told through a translator that these boys are really questioning Hinduism and want to know truth. They like Jesus but have many questions and struggles and need men their age to help them along. They want to follow Him but have no guidance. They asked if we could meet with them every Friday at 6:30 to help them.
This is the work of Jehovah-Jireh. He is the God who provides.
I almost cried. I shared with them and they applauded the story of Jesus in my life. There is literally no way I could ever begin to take credit for this. I didn't do anything. God literally answered the prayers of you and me and plopped these guys in our lap out of nowhere. These kids knew what this building in the slum was. Everyone does. We knew that since we weren't leading anyone to Christ on our own, we had to be the ones who stand in the gap for this nation. Someone had to step up and fight off Satan from these people because they surely aren't doing it. They're inviting him in. It was as simple as prayer.
But there is power in prayer.
We begged God for this and decided there was nothing more for us to do. Prayer was my Alamo that day. It was my last resort. My back was completely against the wall and needed God to do all of the heavy lifting. He did it. I don't know why I was so surprised. I have a book in my room that tells of nearly every instance in which He has been faithful for the first few thousand years of life. Why would I expect any different? It amazed me because I was just sitting in the valley hours before it happened. It desert made me appreciate the oasis all the more. This is why you need to know how bad it was and how desperate we were. All sorts of doubts and insecurities about ourselves and this place invaded and consumed us. It was the most vexing week of my life. God redeemed it as He does all things. He redeems neighborhoods, cities, nations, and hearts. He smiled down on a couple hopeless servants today and gave them reason to hold on a bit longer.
So I ask you to hold on as well. Don't give up on this trip just yet. We have seen dark days here but God is a Father who gives light. Nothing is guaranteed and we still have a lot of praying left to do. Our work is cut out for us and its a messy job. We don't know them. They could be faking to get American friends. They could be faking to take advantage of us financially. They don't speak a word of English. They aren't true believers right now. They work 13 hours a day and have limited availability. But on Fridays they want to meet and hear about Jesus because they see something in him. Lets get on our knees and beg God for a miracle in these hearts. It could yield a harvest of millions of hearts years down the road. God works well with a few people that have the Spirit. Look what 12 men did after Jesus left.
