By the time I got back from Bombay my girls were in the midst of school exams, so there has been lots of studying for things like Math, and English and Social Studies. I send them to someone else to study for Hindi. Not much time for blogging or computer in general.
I was also annoyed for the last few days, I think going away from home does that to me. I was only gone for 1 1/2 days but little things get changed. Our wheat ran out and someone bought the wrong kind to replace it and it was old and yucky. E.'s school uniform shirt turned up missing and I still haven't found it... Little things like that throw off my balance, but other than that the trip was a blessing.
The only negative thing was the feast P. and I gave to the mosquitoes all Tuesday night, they kept us awake. Unpleasant. Getting home tired probably didn't improve my mood.
My talks did go well, I think. I had two sessions with women in the afternoon and then I was the special speaker at a church's 10th anniversary. In addition to speaking, I think I prayed individually for about 150 people. Not Kidding. My favorite prayer request was a lady who came forward with two small, grungy looking children and said (as her prayer request), "They bug me all the time." I said, tell me about it, I've got four!
All in all, a good time. I did get a call from the pastor's wife last night saying that her husband had been suffering for three days with chest pain due to high BP and to please pray. His name is Dennis.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
O. Back In Rajasthan
O. left for Rajasthan yesterday and will stay there until I arrive with our girls on Thursday of this week. We've been wanting to visit the family who was injured but school and Bible College exams are going on. We'll leave after the last exam on Thursday and stay until Sunday.
There are elections in Rajasthan on Tuesday so O. went early to vote.
There are elections in Rajasthan on Tuesday so O. went early to vote.
Monday, January 25, 2010
Travelin' To Speak Tomorrow
I'm booked for two speaking engagements tomorrow near Mumbai (Bombay). I'll drive (be driven) there early tomorrow morning.
The first is from 2-5PM among the women in friends of ours' church. The 2nd meeting is a church opening and I don't know them. I just happened to be in the area due to the Women's Meeting and was utilized.
I'll be speaking on "Walking in the Light" for the women's gathering and on 2 Samuel 24:24 for the church opening. Pray for me if you remember.
O. will be home with the three girls. He relishes the chance to play Mr. Mom.*
*One day out of 366
The first is from 2-5PM among the women in friends of ours' church. The 2nd meeting is a church opening and I don't know them. I just happened to be in the area due to the Women's Meeting and was utilized.
I'll be speaking on "Walking in the Light" for the women's gathering and on 2 Samuel 24:24 for the church opening. Pray for me if you remember.
O. will be home with the three girls. He relishes the chance to play Mr. Mom.*
*One day out of 366
Saturday, January 23, 2010
O. And Team Back At Home At Last
Everyone got home from Rajasthan about an hour ago. It was a long wait for them today.
As they ate food (gobbled it up really) they were recounting the numerous ways God moved in miraculous ways. We just talked about the hundreds (I said no thousands) of people who prayed.
I cannot tell you how many responses I got from people saying that they - and their whole church - are praying. Praise the Lord. The amount of prayers prayed in regards to the situation this past week is uncountable and awe inspiring to me.
As they ate food (gobbled it up really) they were recounting the numerous ways God moved in miraculous ways. We just talked about the hundreds (I said no thousands) of people who prayed.
I cannot tell you how many responses I got from people saying that they - and their whole church - are praying. Praise the Lord. The amount of prayers prayed in regards to the situation this past week is uncountable and awe inspiring to me.
Friday, January 22, 2010
More Good News: Men In Jail
About twenty minutes ago I got a phone call from O. who was at the courts. The men who beat the believers on Sunday night were before the judge for sentencing (or non-sentencing.) According to O. they came with a lot of RSS* support and bribe money. O. said, "Pray."
I prayed and called someone to have both our Karuna kids and Bible Students pray right now, and I prayed some more.
About fifteen minutes after the first phone call O. called back - the judged sentenced the men to jail time until at least January 26th. After that, we don't know, but it was a great miracle and answer to prayer. Talk about holding your breath!
Thanks to everyone who has been praying. Don't stop.
Hopefully, we'll get our husbands back home soon now...
* RSS = Hindu Nationalist Organization, totally anti-Christian
I prayed and called someone to have both our Karuna kids and Bible Students pray right now, and I prayed some more.
About fifteen minutes after the first phone call O. called back - the judged sentenced the men to jail time until at least January 26th. After that, we don't know, but it was a great miracle and answer to prayer. Talk about holding your breath!
Thanks to everyone who has been praying. Don't stop.
Hopefully, we'll get our husbands back home soon now...
* RSS = Hindu Nationalist Organization, totally anti-Christian
The Police Are On Our Side
There has been a great breakthrough in the ongoing case of the beatings in Rajasthan. As of yesterday the police are now on our side. Since the beginning they have ignored, harassed, not helped and basically been unpleasant to us; but after two days of standing at the police station waiting for justice and inundating the police with phone calls from human rights groups, etc. from all over India, they gave in.
On Thursday night the police sent four security to escort some of the believers who were beaten back to their homes. One of the security men was supposed to stay there all night. This only happened through prayer. As God softened the heart of Pharaoh, he soften the heart of the police inspector, at last. Thanks for praying. After the past four days of hindrances on every side, this really was a great miracle.
The story gets better. After the security man was sent, O. and the guys with him returned to his home village in the evening. It's located about 3 Km from Tidi village where the attacks happened. As they pulled off the main road into the village they saw the security man sitting around with another man, drinking. He's supposed to be in Tidi protecting the villagers from more attacks and here he is three kilometers away, drunk.
O. got fired up, called the police inspector, threaten all kinds of stuff and got it all sorted it. But the end of it was that we caught the police corruption first hand and on film.
They are now much more willing to do what needs to be done.
On Thursday night the police sent four security to escort some of the believers who were beaten back to their homes. One of the security men was supposed to stay there all night. This only happened through prayer. As God softened the heart of Pharaoh, he soften the heart of the police inspector, at last. Thanks for praying. After the past four days of hindrances on every side, this really was a great miracle.
The story gets better. After the security man was sent, O. and the guys with him returned to his home village in the evening. It's located about 3 Km from Tidi village where the attacks happened. As they pulled off the main road into the village they saw the security man sitting around with another man, drinking. He's supposed to be in Tidi protecting the villagers from more attacks and here he is three kilometers away, drunk.
O. got fired up, called the police inspector, threaten all kinds of stuff and got it all sorted it. But the end of it was that we caught the police corruption first hand and on film.
They are now much more willing to do what needs to be done.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Photos Of The Persecuted
I received these photos this morning from two men who came back from Rajasthan last night. It took me a while to just get myself up to even looking at them. These are people we know and love. Our family in Christ and in blood.
These photos have all been taken over the last 3 days.
Pastor Surjit (This is the father of the president of our ministry.)
His hand was cut while using it to stop the ax that was coming toward his head.
O.'s sister with a broken leg. They didn't get any medical treatment until over 24 hours after the incident happened.
Ramesh, with his injured foot.
The man who held the meeting. It was at his house where the fighting broke out. He and many others have not been able to go back home due to fear of repercussions.
He was hit in the head with an ax.
Pray for them. Pray for O. and the others following up with the police and in the courts. This case may have to go all the way to the capital in Delhi.
These photos have all been taken over the last 3 days.
Pastor Surjit (This is the father of the president of our ministry.)
His hand was cut while using it to stop the ax that was coming toward his head.
O.'s sister with a broken leg. They didn't get any medical treatment until over 24 hours after the incident happened.
Ramesh, with his injured foot.
The man who held the meeting. It was at his house where the fighting broke out. He and many others have not been able to go back home due to fear of repercussions.
He was hit in the head with an ax.
Pray for them. Pray for O. and the others following up with the police and in the courts. This case may have to go all the way to the capital in Delhi.
* ignore the dates stamped on the photos, they're all wacky.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
What Really Happened That Night
My sister-in-law, Martha, talked to her sister, Laxmi, who was there the night of the beatings in Rajasthan and got the full story first hand today.
Here's what happened: about 15 believers: men, women and children, were gathered at the house of another believer for a prayer meeting. They had started to make rice and sang only a couple songs when some people came to stop the meeting. When they came and told them to stop, the pastor stopped everything and everyone was going to leave but the people then started to come at them with ax and heavy pieces of wood.
They beat everyone. The numbers of believers and beaters were about equal but the believers had several small children with them. Even they were beaten. The pastor, Surjit, was beaten the most and when he was on the ground they came at his head with the ax, but he stopped it with his hand. He has a bad cut on the palm of his hand and forearm from it.
O.'s sister, Laxmi, was beat several times on her legs and one leg was broken. Someone also came at her with an ax but at the last second someone pushed it away so that it only hit her leg slightly.
There were three young men among the believers; Ramesh, the Bible College graduate who was missing but later found, fought off as many men as he could and was able to rescue most of the children and get them out of there. He was later beaten badly, he was just one against fifteen. He was able to escape by jumping into some body of water and pushing three of them into it (they were drunk).
The two other young men who are very new believers were also there and were beaten. Laxmi told Martha she was worried that after this their faith would fail, but they have both said that Christ suffered so much more for them that this was nothing. Amen to that.
Once you get the story from the mouths of women you get a much clearer idea of what happened.
The other side continues to hold onto that the believers were drunk and had killed a cow. Lies, but it's what the police and everyone else is choosing to believe. That's the uphill battle that O. is fighting, trying to get the truth out and accepted as the truth.
The beaten believers are still in much pain; the pastor was taken back to the hospital today because the pain had become too severe.
There was an encouragement and unity meeting this morning and about 200 Christians came from the surrounding areas, which is great. O. and his team are back at the police station tonight trying to get an honest report on file. Keep on praying.
Here's what happened: about 15 believers: men, women and children, were gathered at the house of another believer for a prayer meeting. They had started to make rice and sang only a couple songs when some people came to stop the meeting. When they came and told them to stop, the pastor stopped everything and everyone was going to leave but the people then started to come at them with ax and heavy pieces of wood.
They beat everyone. The numbers of believers and beaters were about equal but the believers had several small children with them. Even they were beaten. The pastor, Surjit, was beaten the most and when he was on the ground they came at his head with the ax, but he stopped it with his hand. He has a bad cut on the palm of his hand and forearm from it.
O.'s sister, Laxmi, was beat several times on her legs and one leg was broken. Someone also came at her with an ax but at the last second someone pushed it away so that it only hit her leg slightly.
There were three young men among the believers; Ramesh, the Bible College graduate who was missing but later found, fought off as many men as he could and was able to rescue most of the children and get them out of there. He was later beaten badly, he was just one against fifteen. He was able to escape by jumping into some body of water and pushing three of them into it (they were drunk).
The two other young men who are very new believers were also there and were beaten. Laxmi told Martha she was worried that after this their faith would fail, but they have both said that Christ suffered so much more for them that this was nothing. Amen to that.
Once you get the story from the mouths of women you get a much clearer idea of what happened.
The other side continues to hold onto that the believers were drunk and had killed a cow. Lies, but it's what the police and everyone else is choosing to believe. That's the uphill battle that O. is fighting, trying to get the truth out and accepted as the truth.
The beaten believers are still in much pain; the pastor was taken back to the hospital today because the pain had become too severe.
There was an encouragement and unity meeting this morning and about 200 Christians came from the surrounding areas, which is great. O. and his team are back at the police station tonight trying to get an honest report on file. Keep on praying.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Opposed On Every Side
O. just called and said that they continue to get negative responses from everyone - doctors, news media, police, lawyers, politicians. The other side (the ones who beat them) continue to spread lies and these seem to be the stories that everyone is accepting.
O. says tomorrow they will put a case against the people from the side of his sister, hoping that will hold some more weight because she is a woman and also seriously injured. He asked for prayer for that and also for a good lawyer.
He also called all the pastors from the city and surrounding villages to come together in unity tomorrow. He's hoping for a turnout of at least 100 pastors. Please pray for them to come together and stand as one in Christ.
Continue to pray for Onkar, the team, and those who were injured. Thanks for visiting my blog, I've had more visitors today than I think in the last 6 months combined! Pray!
O. says tomorrow they will put a case against the people from the side of his sister, hoping that will hold some more weight because she is a woman and also seriously injured. He asked for prayer for that and also for a good lawyer.
He also called all the pastors from the city and surrounding villages to come together in unity tomorrow. He's hoping for a turnout of at least 100 pastors. Please pray for them to come together and stand as one in Christ.
Continue to pray for Onkar, the team, and those who were injured. Thanks for visiting my blog, I've had more visitors today than I think in the last 6 months combined! Pray!
Mintu in Assam
While all the information is coming in about the attacks on our Christian brothers and sisters in Rajasthan, I got another phone call from the Northeast corner of India, Assam. Mintu, a recent graduate of our Bible College, is church planting in the state of Assam. Since June, he's already planted a church and trained someone to care for it and is in the process of planting another. He's full of zeal for the Lord, yet often discouraged. He's alone in the work, unmarried and without a partner in ministry.
Last month he called me and told me he was getting married. Good news! But the road ahead of him is still very hard. Last night he called and said that 2 days earlier there had been a terrorist attack and a bomb had exploded right in front of him. Two people were killed before his eyes.
The terrorist attacks in the state of Assam have become so frequent that people do not even go out of their homes after 6PM. He asked for prayer and shared his struggles in sharing the Gospel and planting churches in such a violent environment. Please pray for him.
Last month he called me and told me he was getting married. Good news! But the road ahead of him is still very hard. Last night he called and said that 2 days earlier there had been a terrorist attack and a bomb had exploded right in front of him. Two people were killed before his eyes.
The terrorist attacks in the state of Assam have become so frequent that people do not even go out of their homes after 6PM. He asked for prayer and shared his struggles in sharing the Gospel and planting churches in such a violent environment. Please pray for him.
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