Power? We Don't Need No Stinkin' Power

Hello dear readers, followers, prayer-warriors and friends of friends just checking us out,

On paper, today would've been considered a "light" day and while the ratio of minutes off to minutes on seemed to be leaning towards "minutes off", today was extraordinarily eventful.  We began the day at another school (the Spartan school) - and this one was amazing.  We led a program for over 1500 students, all ages/grades, and it was so much fun.  This was an English speaking school and we were able to lead and have them join with us in all of our singing.  We did the Daniel skit again, (classic...we're ready to take it on the road.  Wait...), John gave the message, Tim did his illusion (I'm telling you folks, it's the Christian equivalent of sawing a woman in half - he really does a fantastic job with it and the kids are awed every time) and this school had a band!  Like, a real rock band.  Guitars, drums, bass...I felt pretty inadequate getting up there with a single acoustic guitar, but halfway through Father Abraham, I hear a low, rhythmic rumbling sound.  I look over and there is Johnathon slamming away on bass.

I should probably take a second and introduce Johnathon since none of you know who he is and he's been David's right-hand man in this whole mission.  David has known Johnathon since he was a boy (John, that is - Johnathon is 33), Indian, speaks great English, a brilliant musician/singer and is up on all the worship songs, old and new.  He's like me, only Indian.  With talent.  And better hair.  The team loves him and we can't wait to get him over to the states.  I personally have become a huge fan of him and we've really had a ball worshiping together.  But I digress.

So, Johnathon jumps in and we start rocking Father Abraham.  Father Abraham has never rocked so hard.  Then, this 4 year old prodigy (ok, maybe he was 10-12) jumps on the drums and starts banging out some rock licks.  It wasn't The 8:30 Band, but man, it was so much fun.  The team has really gotten great at these things.  Pros.

After the program at the school, we headed out for a little break - grabbed an early morning dessert (yes, it is worth it to fly all the way to India for Black Forest cake) and swung by a grocery store for "lots of things" (that's the polite way of saying we bought up all of the toilet paper in the store).  We also picked up the Indian version of the Moon-Pie.  Tastes just like ours.  All ten of them.  We checked.  Then it was back to David's condo for some lunch and some rest.

The rest time really was by God's provision.  Tomorrow is shaping up to be a huge day, so we had a few hours off to nap/rest, thinking it would be helpful for the events of tomorrow.  However, we found out, in God's perfect plan, that the rest we got today...we needed for today.

We spent the evening at a new church dedication and we actually arrived early (who knew it was possible to do this in India?) so we headed out to a street corner to drum up attention by taking the guitar and just singing some songs together.  We pulled together a huge group, it was blessed.  But here was the problem, it was hot and humid - really draining on the team.  We are kind of used to this at this point, but the difference was the issue of water.  Here in India, you can't drink anything but bottled water if you're not from here.  David so graciously picked us up 100+ HUGE bottles of water.  He did not realize, however, that Americans are greedy camels who will drink 3-4 bottles a day.  Needless to say, we depleted that stock without much effort.  So, David ordered some to be delivered yesterday.  They were not delivered yesterday.  In fact, they were not delivered until this evening - AFTER we had left for the night.  So, we had about 2-3 bottles of water to share amongst the group.  This ended up resulting in a few of the ladies getting pretty ill on the way home.  Heat exhaustion/dehydration  = no fun.  Fortunately, they seem to be feeling a little better and we're hoping a good night's sleep will revive them.  Please keep Katie and Christi in your prayers tonight.

While the conditions were a little rough, it was an awesome evening.  We helped dedicate the new church space and then participated in their worship.  It is always a beautiful thing to worship with our brothers and sisters, even across the language barriers.  Just like Heaven.  Pastor Shuresh (he was the pastor who we introduced yesterday on the Skype feed at church) got up to preach and, we may not speak a lick of Tamil, but homeboy can really preach.  It's amazing how God works though...first, there were sound issues - and the Lord was good and Shuresh kept preaching through it until it was fixed.  Then, as is normal in India, the power goes out.  Completely.  What's remarkable is that the lights go out, the sound shuts off and without missing a beat, Pastor Shuresh just keeps continuing on.  And I am 100% convinced that his voice actually got louder AFTER the power went out.  It was amazing.  It just goes to show how all of the trappings of "Church", when they're taken away, God's Word still goes out, convicts and changes lives.  It was awesome to be witness to that.

While we had plenty of experiences tonight, not all of them were great...or even good.  This last experience should give you insight into the area, culture and persecution that the India Church faces.  As Katie Salley was walking back to the van, two girls came up and grabbed her hands to walk with her.  All of the sudden, another woman comes and attacks one of the girls, punching her in the head and face.  Katie tried to intervene and the pastor's wife had to come over to deal with the issue.  Turns out, the woman who attacked was the victim's mother.  She was mad that her daughter 1) danced to Father Abraham and 2) was holding hands with a white woman.  I don't think I included this in yesterday's blog (an oversight), but yesterday, we also witnessed some persecution.  After worship on Sunday, a Muslim man was hanging outside the church walls, leaning over and trying to get us to talk to him.  David indicated to us that this guy was a habitual trouble maker for the church (vandalism, harassment) and that, when the time came to leave, we needed to do so quickly.  Our bus driver pulled up close to the wall, just enough to open the door so we could get in.  Lee was our frontline and stood between the door and the wall to block the man who was trying to enter our van. Once we were all on, the man would not let go of the door and kept insisting that he get on.  The Lord was good to us and we were able to get out of that situation, but our hearts have been breaking over the fact that, while we were able to get out of that situation, that type of persecution is a daily reality for the Christians in India.  No pun at all intended, but this is completely foreign to us as Americans.  We have zero idea what persecution really is.  Which leads me to the prayer requests, which may be a little different tonight:

  1.  Please offer a praise to God for the arrival of the water.  This may seem small, but we are so dependent upon this.
  2.  Please ask God for healing and strength for the team.  Each day, the exhaustion increases.
  3.  Please ask God to bless the three events of tomorrow (2 school programs and a church dedication)
  4.  Please pray for the persecuted Church in India.
  5.  Please pray for the girl who was beat up by her mother that she would find healing and peace.
  6.  Please pray for her mother that she would receive conviction and accept Christ.

I'm sorry to end tonight's blog on a bit of a downer, but that was the reality of what's going on here in India.  But we know that God is still good and that He is able to do incredible, incredible things.  Thanks again for your support and your prayers.  We feel them.  Don't let up.

-Jeff