Well, Sangart is in a hospital in our city as I write.
I walked over to visit him this AM with C. I arrived soon after our pastor Anoop and our Bible College Director, Madhu, had left. They prayed with the family and then went looking for me. But I didn't know that. I stayed and talked for a while, another believer had met up with me on the way and walked with me there and stayed for a while too.
After he left I shared the gospel with Sangart and instructed him how to pray the sinner's prayer if he was ready to do that. He wasn't able to speak and was in pretty bad shape, although the swelling had gone down considerably from the day before and he had gone to the bathroom the night before - something he had been unable to do for a while. So this was all good.
Ok, Back to Anoop and Madhu looking for me. While I was in the slums, they were running all over our city searching for me to give me a report on Sangart because they knew I was concerned. In their travels they went to our Primary school and saw an ambulance out front. They rushed over and were relieved to find that it was only the director of a Muslim Welfare Hospital in our city. They were holding some function and invited someone from our church to come.
After they talked about that Madhu asked the director if they knew anyone who would take a look at Sangart and shared the story with him. The man said, "Bring him to my hospital immediately." Madhu said, "No you don't understand, these people come from the slums, they only make (about $12) a month." The director said, "No problem, bring him over. I'll only take a consultation fee of (50 cents)."
Is that God's timing or what! So, Sangart is in the hospital. Since it is a charity hospital they are only asking whatever we can raise. They suggested at least $250, which is do-able. We'll collect donations - and blood - from everyone we meet. (You have to give your own blood here, so 2 Bible students gave today and many of us are standing by ready to give.)
It turns out that the director of the ONLY hospital* in our city with dialysis equipment just happened to come to our school today. Did you get that the first time around?
Sangart's diagnosis in the hospital today was 2 days to live without treatment. Let's see what happens with treatment - God's orchestrated it all so far. We're just going to keep on praying like that persistent widow...
*We were not informed about this hospital when Sangart was with the doctor on Saturday. It's possible that the 2 hospitals (far away) that were recommended to us give commissions for referred patients and this Muslim hospital doesn't. Sad but true.
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
Monday, February 27, 2006
Life And Death
A large number of people from a slum* area attend our church. They are basically squatters with no permanent place to live. As you can imagine they face many hardships.
Several years ago one woman from the community came to know the Lord. Since then several families have come to Christ and are active in church. A daughter of the women who first became a Christian attended a year of Bible College and is active in our Ladies Ministry. Vinita and I are mentoring her to be used more in leadership. We sang a duet in church yesterday. But that's all just a side point.
The Christian families in the slums minister to the other families who are Hindu. I got the news on Friday morning that there is a teenage boy named Sangart who is very sick. Both his kidneys have failed. He is from a Hindu family but he's been to church occasionally. His father left the family at some point and the mother was left to raise 4 children. She came to church for the first time yesterday with Sangart and we prayed for him as a body.
This is a pretty jumbled post. I'm not real certain where to start or what to tell. But I can tell you that since I heard about Sangart on Friday he hasn't been off my mind. I went with Christy and Vinita on Friday afternoon to visit several families in the slums and we visited Sangart's home.
It consists of a piece of plastic held up by some pieces of wood and a cot inside. It was so low I couldn't even duck, I had to squat to come in and eventually just kneeled which was fine since we were praying.
As soon as I saw Sangart I was filled with emotion. There is a picture of him on this post. He is in the left corner with a red shirt in his lap. It's a picture from October when we gave some rations and clothing that was donated for the poor. Sangart today is unrecognizable as the Sangart in that picture. His head and neck are swollen. He can barely speak or swallow. The the thing that tore out my heart was the look in his eyes. He knows he's dying.
His mother sat next to him and fanned the flies off his face with a piece of thin cardboard. She knows it too.
In church yesterday I could think of nothing else but sharing the gospel with this boy. I talked to my pastor today and he'll be there this morning. I think I'll be heading over in a little while too.
In case you are wondering. He was taken to the hospital on Friday. The doctor picked up his stack of test results, took a glance at them and, from what I was told, threw them across the table and said, "We can't help him." He's that bad. There are only 2 hospitals in our state that could perform the dialysis he needs. They're far and it's all very complicated and expensive. We took an offering in church yesterday to help the family during this time and we're praying for a miraculous healing. God CAN heal those kidneys and clean all that garbage out of Sangart's blood. But God may choose not to. We're just praying for his salvation.
*Slums are what they're actually called over here.
Saturday, February 25, 2006
A Clear Conscience
Tonight was the 2 year anniversary of our ladies ministry and our Abortion talk.
After a late start – no one comes on time, fortunately we planned a game in the beginning - we got around to the meaty stuff.
I was on first and I had the Biblical portion. I chose to speak through a translator and this always adds extra time. I go back and forth on this – do I speak directly in Hindi and lose out on being able to express myself exactly as I want to, or do I speak with a translator which adds extra time but I can say what I want exactly as I want to.
So I went for freedom of expression today. We do not have a good woman Hindi translator and this is a problem, but we made do. And the best part is – every point took a little time to express so at least we hope it sunk in!
It was a long talk but I felt like I needed to cover everything I covered. I think my favorite passage on this topic is Isaiah 46:3-4 "Listen to me, O house of Jacob, all you who remain of the house of Israel, you whom I have upheld since you were conceived, and have carried since your birth. Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you.”
When I was studying for the talk this week, this passage just opened up before me. See how God sees our life... Conception, birth, old age/gray hairs. Conception, yes, in God’s timeline of our life, He starts with conception. I just love that.
So, I talked and I was long, but I don’t feel bad. It was all the truth and the fact is, I’m generally a short speaker – so, you know, I had a long one coming.
Vinita spoke after me on some of the more medical stuff/practical stuff. She was really good and since Hindi IS her first language, she was quicker.
We’re both glad to be able to stand before God with a clear conscience one day regarding this matter. Proverbs 24:11-12 says, “Rescue those being led away to death; hold back those staggering toward slaughter. If you say, ‘But we knew nothing about this,’ does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who guards your life know it? Will he not repay each person according to what he has done?”
Our hope and prayer for each woman there tonight is to know the truth from God’s Word and, basically, to stop getting abortions! I hope we saved some today who were being led to death and slaughter.
After a late start – no one comes on time, fortunately we planned a game in the beginning - we got around to the meaty stuff.
I was on first and I had the Biblical portion. I chose to speak through a translator and this always adds extra time. I go back and forth on this – do I speak directly in Hindi and lose out on being able to express myself exactly as I want to, or do I speak with a translator which adds extra time but I can say what I want exactly as I want to.
So I went for freedom of expression today. We do not have a good woman Hindi translator and this is a problem, but we made do. And the best part is – every point took a little time to express so at least we hope it sunk in!
It was a long talk but I felt like I needed to cover everything I covered. I think my favorite passage on this topic is Isaiah 46:3-4 "Listen to me, O house of Jacob, all you who remain of the house of Israel, you whom I have upheld since you were conceived, and have carried since your birth. Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you.”
When I was studying for the talk this week, this passage just opened up before me. See how God sees our life... Conception, birth, old age/gray hairs. Conception, yes, in God’s timeline of our life, He starts with conception. I just love that.
So, I talked and I was long, but I don’t feel bad. It was all the truth and the fact is, I’m generally a short speaker – so, you know, I had a long one coming.
Vinita spoke after me on some of the more medical stuff/practical stuff. She was really good and since Hindi IS her first language, she was quicker.
We’re both glad to be able to stand before God with a clear conscience one day regarding this matter. Proverbs 24:11-12 says, “Rescue those being led away to death; hold back those staggering toward slaughter. If you say, ‘But we knew nothing about this,’ does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who guards your life know it? Will he not repay each person according to what he has done?”
Our hope and prayer for each woman there tonight is to know the truth from God’s Word and, basically, to stop getting abortions! I hope we saved some today who were being led to death and slaughter.
Why It Was Hard
God started speaking to me about the issue of abortion among Christians in India five years ago. One of the reasons it has been so hard to address is because it’s so open.
That sounds weird but think of it this way… I know for a fact that 3* of the Christian women in the room tonight have had or have thought about having an abortion. Why, because they’ve told me or I came to know about it through some other means.
Now, when I’m talking about this topic, those people know that I know. The same situation for Vinita. Do you get the point?
I thank God for one women who spoke to me for a long time afterwards. She shared with me a couple months ago that 5 years ago she had 2 abortions. We talked about it at that time, but I was wondering how she felt in the meeting.
First we talked about the translation and some of the problems inherent in that but then she said, as we were going through God’s Word verse by verse that she couldn’t help thinking about that time 5 years ago and her own abortions. She said, “I don’t think I was alone in thinking about it.” I said – I don’t think so either.
It was somewhat difficult for me to speak about this topic in a group situation with her there but she is a woman that I know has a very humble heart and that helped. I was glad that she was willing to talk openly after the meeting. Praise God.
She also mentioned that she wished the talk had been taped so it could be shared with more people. Actually, Vinita and I hope to be able to share on this same topic in other areas. We want to make ourselves available to our pastors’ wives working in other cities and villages to come and speak to their women on this same topic. Eventually all those drops might just fill up the bucket.
*Lots more than 3 of the women in that room tonight have had abortions.
That sounds weird but think of it this way… I know for a fact that 3* of the Christian women in the room tonight have had or have thought about having an abortion. Why, because they’ve told me or I came to know about it through some other means.
Now, when I’m talking about this topic, those people know that I know. The same situation for Vinita. Do you get the point?
I thank God for one women who spoke to me for a long time afterwards. She shared with me a couple months ago that 5 years ago she had 2 abortions. We talked about it at that time, but I was wondering how she felt in the meeting.
First we talked about the translation and some of the problems inherent in that but then she said, as we were going through God’s Word verse by verse that she couldn’t help thinking about that time 5 years ago and her own abortions. She said, “I don’t think I was alone in thinking about it.” I said – I don’t think so either.
It was somewhat difficult for me to speak about this topic in a group situation with her there but she is a woman that I know has a very humble heart and that helped. I was glad that she was willing to talk openly after the meeting. Praise God.
She also mentioned that she wished the talk had been taped so it could be shared with more people. Actually, Vinita and I hope to be able to share on this same topic in other areas. We want to make ourselves available to our pastors’ wives working in other cities and villages to come and speak to their women on this same topic. Eventually all those drops might just fill up the bucket.
*Lots more than 3 of the women in that room tonight have had abortions.
Thursday, February 23, 2006
Can I Get Off The Rollercoaster. Please.
I was right in the first place. We have til March 31st. Thank the Lord.
I doubt we'll be here that long since they're turning off our water supply...
The good news is - I am most definitely mentally and emotionally - Ready To Move.
I doubt we'll be here that long since they're turning off our water supply...
The good news is - I am most definitely mentally and emotionally - Ready To Move.
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
Oh, It Just Keeps On Getting Better
Not March 31st. March 1st.
That's when we have to move. 1 week.
Find a house with at least 3 bedrooms - NOT easy in India. Most homes have only 1 or 2 bedrooms.
O. will ask our house owner for a couple more weeks and he'll probably give it. Plus O.'s sister in another state is sick and he has to go see her. I said, please get our housing situation settled first...
That's when we have to move. 1 week.
Find a house with at least 3 bedrooms - NOT easy in India. Most homes have only 1 or 2 bedrooms.
O. will ask our house owner for a couple more weeks and he'll probably give it. Plus O.'s sister in another state is sick and he has to go see her. I said, please get our housing situation settled first...
Satan Knows Where To Kick
Before you read this, read the previous post.
OK, now that that's out of the way and you know all about the program on Friday I can move on.
Yesterday, during a Ministry meeting, Vinita was sitting next to me and suddenly she said she had to go. Before she reached the door she was collapsing. She said she had chest pains and within less than a minute, she passed out. She soon came to and someone went to get her husband. She said she'd been having the pain for a while and especially the last 3 days. Earlier she had gone for a check-up and had tests done, but the doctors found nothing wrong with her. She describes the pain as feeling like her chest is about to crack open.
Earlier that morning we spoke and decided to meet at 4:30 in the afternoon to discuss Friday's program. While she was being led away by her husband I thought, maybe she won't want to meet today. Even as I thought it, she turned in her husband's arms and said to me, "So today at 4:30?"
God bless her is all I can say. A cracking chest isn't going to hold her back.
We prayed harder.
Today Satan decided to pick on me. He knows the areas where we stress out. Mine is this house situation. Today (during a Church ministry meeting - what is it with the meetings?) I got a phone call that our house owner came this morning and told my sister-in-law that we have to move by March 31st (instead of April 28th like he said before) I hate moving - Oh, How. I. Hate. Moving. We just did this 13 months ago. (Once our house is built I'll never have to to it again - that's what I keep telling myself.)
Immediately, I tensed up. Satan just knows.
After our meeting was over O. came and showed me a house where we could move. It's certainly satisfactory. Nowhere near like where we live now and much more expensive, but beggars.... Thank the Lord we have a month and a 1/2 to search for another home. (Pray!)
After seeing the house, Christy, Vinita and I visited 9 homes and invited the women to come on Friday.
OK, now that that's out of the way and you know all about the program on Friday I can move on.
Yesterday, during a Ministry meeting, Vinita was sitting next to me and suddenly she said she had to go. Before she reached the door she was collapsing. She said she had chest pains and within less than a minute, she passed out. She soon came to and someone went to get her husband. She said she'd been having the pain for a while and especially the last 3 days. Earlier she had gone for a check-up and had tests done, but the doctors found nothing wrong with her. She describes the pain as feeling like her chest is about to crack open.
Earlier that morning we spoke and decided to meet at 4:30 in the afternoon to discuss Friday's program. While she was being led away by her husband I thought, maybe she won't want to meet today. Even as I thought it, she turned in her husband's arms and said to me, "So today at 4:30?"
God bless her is all I can say. A cracking chest isn't going to hold her back.
We prayed harder.
Today Satan decided to pick on me. He knows the areas where we stress out. Mine is this house situation. Today (during a Church ministry meeting - what is it with the meetings?) I got a phone call that our house owner came this morning and told my sister-in-law that we have to move by March 31st (instead of April 28th like he said before) I hate moving - Oh, How. I. Hate. Moving. We just did this 13 months ago. (Once our house is built I'll never have to to it again - that's what I keep telling myself.)
Immediately, I tensed up. Satan just knows.
After our meeting was over O. came and showed me a house where we could move. It's certainly satisfactory. Nowhere near like where we live now and much more expensive, but beggars.... Thank the Lord we have a month and a 1/2 to search for another home. (Pray!)
After seeing the house, Christy, Vinita and I visited 9 homes and invited the women to come on Friday.
2 Year Anniversary
Friday February 24th will be the 2 year anniversary of the start of our Ladies Ministry. I never remember these things but my friend Vinita does and she is in charge of the Ladies Ministry. We've planned a big meeting and spent a lot of today and yesterday planning, praying and visiting people encouraging them to come.
The topic will be Abortion. We haven't advertised that tho. We know no one would come if they knew.
Abortion is common among Indian Christians - and that's the understatement of the year. I first learned about it 5 years ago from my sister-in-law who would talk about life in the villages. If a woman found she was pregnant and didn't want to be, she'd go to the doctor, he'd give her an injection and within 3 days, with some cramping, she would miscarry. Even pastor's wives were doing this.
I was horrified to say the least. It was obvious to me that these women were living in darkness. They had very little idea of what they were doing - and I'd say, they didn't want to know.
As the years have gone by, I have heard abortions talked about openly and secretly by many Christian people. A large number of the Christian women that I know personally have had multiple abortions. And they're not afraid to talk about it! They use it like birth control.
I was and continue to be overwhelmed. I know God was speaking to me to address this but I thought - How? As I was in conversations with women and the topic would come up, I would counsel on an individual basis. It wasn't enough. It would never be enough.
Earlier in the year I spoke with Vinita about this issue and she was with me. She had the same call on her heart from God to do something about it. Now together we were two. Allies - against a lie an scheme of Satan.
At this same time my sister-in-law came home from college and had with her a Christian (Gospel for Asia) book on abortion. It is was full of much useful information, especially for the Indian culture. I got that book into Vinita's hands and the date for the meeting on the 24th was set.
We've been in much prayer over this since then. This is a stronghold of Satan. Oh, how he loves to murder the innocents. Vinita and I (with our core women by our side - AND a multitude of prayer warriors) are ready to bring the women into the light. Pray for us.
* Pray for some women who will be giving personal testimonies. They're nervous, but their stories are powerful.
The topic will be Abortion. We haven't advertised that tho. We know no one would come if they knew.
Abortion is common among Indian Christians - and that's the understatement of the year. I first learned about it 5 years ago from my sister-in-law who would talk about life in the villages. If a woman found she was pregnant and didn't want to be, she'd go to the doctor, he'd give her an injection and within 3 days, with some cramping, she would miscarry. Even pastor's wives were doing this.
I was horrified to say the least. It was obvious to me that these women were living in darkness. They had very little idea of what they were doing - and I'd say, they didn't want to know.
As the years have gone by, I have heard abortions talked about openly and secretly by many Christian people. A large number of the Christian women that I know personally have had multiple abortions. And they're not afraid to talk about it! They use it like birth control.
I was and continue to be overwhelmed. I know God was speaking to me to address this but I thought - How? As I was in conversations with women and the topic would come up, I would counsel on an individual basis. It wasn't enough. It would never be enough.
Earlier in the year I spoke with Vinita about this issue and she was with me. She had the same call on her heart from God to do something about it. Now together we were two. Allies - against a lie an scheme of Satan.
At this same time my sister-in-law came home from college and had with her a Christian (Gospel for Asia) book on abortion. It is was full of much useful information, especially for the Indian culture. I got that book into Vinita's hands and the date for the meeting on the 24th was set.
We've been in much prayer over this since then. This is a stronghold of Satan. Oh, how he loves to murder the innocents. Vinita and I (with our core women by our side - AND a multitude of prayer warriors) are ready to bring the women into the light. Pray for us.
* Pray for some women who will be giving personal testimonies. They're nervous, but their stories are powerful.
Monday, February 20, 2006
Narnia
This is the second time around for this post since the first time I wrote it the power went out and I lost it. Eh.
Last Sunday evening I went with E., C. and the other 4 members of my household (minus O.) to see Narnia. It was showing in a theater and hour and 45 minutes away. We made the drive because I really wanted to see it and we hadn't been out for something fun in a long while. The English version of the movie had already passed out of the theater but it was showing dubbed in Hindi.
I was a little reluctant for fear of bad/annoying dubbing but it worked out for the best since out of the 7 of us I was the only English speaker (both E. & C. prefer Hindi).
The dubbing was actually very well done and since I wasn't familiar with any of the actors' real voices it was less distracting than it otherwise might have been. (You cannot imagine how annoying it is to hear Shaggy, Velma, Fred, Daphne and Scooby speak in Hindi on the Cartoon Network over here.)
Back to the movie. I did enjoy it, maybe more for the night out and the popcorn and Pepsi than anything else... I thought the special effects were not as well done as they could have been and wished they had just toned it down instead of going for poor quality. And the story seemed really rushed to me but, then again, that is inherent in the tale.
However, the casting was superb. The children were wonderful, especially Lucy. My favorite scene was the battle when the animals and creatures came crashing together.
We all had a great time and I just wish that there were another English movie on it's way to look forward to but according to the previews the only one on its way is Dick and Jane...
Last Sunday evening I went with E., C. and the other 4 members of my household (minus O.) to see Narnia. It was showing in a theater and hour and 45 minutes away. We made the drive because I really wanted to see it and we hadn't been out for something fun in a long while. The English version of the movie had already passed out of the theater but it was showing dubbed in Hindi.
I was a little reluctant for fear of bad/annoying dubbing but it worked out for the best since out of the 7 of us I was the only English speaker (both E. & C. prefer Hindi).
The dubbing was actually very well done and since I wasn't familiar with any of the actors' real voices it was less distracting than it otherwise might have been. (You cannot imagine how annoying it is to hear Shaggy, Velma, Fred, Daphne and Scooby speak in Hindi on the Cartoon Network over here.)
Back to the movie. I did enjoy it, maybe more for the night out and the popcorn and Pepsi than anything else... I thought the special effects were not as well done as they could have been and wished they had just toned it down instead of going for poor quality. And the story seemed really rushed to me but, then again, that is inherent in the tale.
However, the casting was superb. The children were wonderful, especially Lucy. My favorite scene was the battle when the animals and creatures came crashing together.
We all had a great time and I just wish that there were another English movie on it's way to look forward to but according to the previews the only one on its way is Dick and Jane...
Sunday, February 19, 2006
The Ladies Meeting That Wasn't
It's been so long since I've been able to put up a real post that I'm not sure where to start.
It's been a full week to say the least and I'm still backed up, but I'm waiting for some files to attach so I've got them time. Actually, we have guests over right now and I should be downstairs visiting but ... well...
Back to my post. On Thursday the ladies ministry team from our church was called to another city almost 2 hours away to conduct a ladies meeting. We have a baby church there and we hoped to go and not just conduct a meeting but help them kick off a ladies ministry.
We were a little confused then when got a call from the pastor as we were leaving for the city asking if O. was coming. I said, No. He never planned on coming. The pastor called 2 more times, begging me to bring O. At that point we started to get the idea that this wasn't going to be just a small gathering of women.
It turned out that two days earlier the pastor got the idea to do a large outdoor meeting for everyone! Unfortunately he didn't tell us. O. never came and neither did anyone else. It was just us 5 women.
So, instead of a small gathering of 20 or so women in someone's home, we were the special guests at a meeting of over a hundred men, women and children.
Thank the Lord the lesson I prepared wasn't women specific and since there was no one else, I was the special speaker. ( I spoke on what I wrote a few posts ago - What I Learned.)
We were all a little dissappointed because we never got to do our little ladies meeting but we can always try again in a few months...
It's been a full week to say the least and I'm still backed up, but I'm waiting for some files to attach so I've got them time. Actually, we have guests over right now and I should be downstairs visiting but ... well...
Back to my post. On Thursday the ladies ministry team from our church was called to another city almost 2 hours away to conduct a ladies meeting. We have a baby church there and we hoped to go and not just conduct a meeting but help them kick off a ladies ministry.
We were a little confused then when got a call from the pastor as we were leaving for the city asking if O. was coming. I said, No. He never planned on coming. The pastor called 2 more times, begging me to bring O. At that point we started to get the idea that this wasn't going to be just a small gathering of women.
It turned out that two days earlier the pastor got the idea to do a large outdoor meeting for everyone! Unfortunately he didn't tell us. O. never came and neither did anyone else. It was just us 5 women.
So, instead of a small gathering of 20 or so women in someone's home, we were the special guests at a meeting of over a hundred men, women and children.
Thank the Lord the lesson I prepared wasn't women specific and since there was no one else, I was the special speaker. ( I spoke on what I wrote a few posts ago - What I Learned.)
We were all a little dissappointed because we never got to do our little ladies meeting but we can always try again in a few months...
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