These two weeks that I spent in India will forever change my faith and my life if I'm honest. I went into this trip with a few expectations, mostly what I had heard about India from a few friends who had been there. I expected a lot of people, cows in the middle of the road and for it to smell. All three of those expectations were met, in abundance. As far as the ministry side of this trip, I wasn't sure what to expect. I had been told stories of miraculous healings that have taken place and the general excitement from people to see us.
Miraculous healings have always been something that I have heard about, but I have never seen it in person. It's not that I didn't believe people when they told me they had seen healing or had been healed themselves, I just struggled to fully accept that without having seen it myself. I felt a lot like Thomas after Jesus had risen from the grave. He didn't believe it had happened and said he wouldn't if he didn't see it with his own eyes. I struggled a lot with that because it felt like I was doubting God and that I was putting conditions on my faith. But I felt the Lord telling me to pray about it. So, for two weeks leading up to the trip, I prayed to see a miracle. And not just a miracle of someone giving their life to Christ but specifically for miraculous healing.
The first week that we were in India, we worked with a local story group who had been meeting together long enough that it was time for them to launch a church in that area. This is what we were there to help them do. We met with them every day for five days, teaching them specific things that are important to know when planting a church. Things like there are two tracks of authority, Scripture and the Holy Spirit and there is One Head of the Church, Jesus. I enjoyed this because we got to meet with the same people every day and we got to get to know a few people. At the end of every meeting that we had, we got the opportunity to pray over people. The local pastor asked if anyone needed prayer to come up to the front. Now in this culture women are not supposed to touch men unless they are married to them, and men can only touch women on the head. So, I prayed over the women and my partner, Michael, prayed over the men.
Over and over again, women would come up to me asking for prayer. The majority of the time they were asking for healing from one thing or another. That first night, I didn't fully expect to be the one asked to pray for healing over these women. I didn't know what to say. I struggled to come up with the right words. The only good thing is that my prayers were not translated, so they didn't know what I said anyways, only that I prayed for whatever specific thing they were asking for. While I was praying for the first women, I remembered song lyrics and verses that said there is power in the name of Jesus. So, I made sure to end every prayer specifically saying, "In the name of Jesus I pray, Amen."
Every night we did this. We prayed over people. By the third night I began to get a little frustrated with God that the healings weren't taking place. Nothing crazy had happened. No one shouted out immediately after I prayed that they had been healed right then. I went back to the hotel disappointed. I talked to God about that and told Him how frustrated I was.
The final day, we got to officially launch this local church. We got to be a part of their very first church service. Which was so amazing! I loved getting to see this local church. I loved watching the way the people worshiped. I loved watching the way that they prayed, not one at a time but all together. Each one talking over the other. A cacophony of people crying out to God, praising Him. Of course, I have no idea what they were saying because they don't speak English.
But after the pastor was done teaching, he asked them if anyone had a testimony to share about how God was working in their lives. The first women stood up. She began speaking and at first my translator wasn't translating what she was saying, so I leaned over and asked him. He said she was talking about how at the beginning of the week she came up and asked for prayer to be healed of pain in her body. She was having arthritis pain. She said that I prayed over her and since then, she hasn't had any pain. I was speechless and my eyes began to water. This was the answer to my prayer. I had prayed for three weeks to witness a miracle and God had answered that prayer. And what is more, He used me to bring about that miracle.
These women weren't done though. I watched and listened as one woman after another stood up and talked about coming up for prayer and being healed. One couldn't hear properly and now her hearing was crystal clear. Another one was having stomach issues but now she had no problems. The next had arm pain and now it was gone. All together when they were done nine women had stood up and talked about how God had healed them, through me. I was full on crying at this point. Still when I think about that moment, I start crying. I was and am beyond grateful that God answered my specific prayer.
I still cannot believe that God used me in this way. I don't fully know what to make of that. But I know that my faith has been deepened. I have seen with my own eyes that God still performs miracles. It's not flashy and it's not loud, but it is still what He does. He is the God of miracles.
The next week was powerful as well, just in a different way. Instead of being with one group every day, we were with a different group each day. The goal of this part of the trip was not church planting but evangelism. We went on a few house visits each day and then we would throw what is called a Compassion Kit Party. Unfortunately, we were unable to make a lot of house visits because recently in India, persecution has been growing. In Rajasthan, Hindus are persecuting anyone who does not practice their religion and in Punjab, it is the Sikhs who are doing the persecuting. Either way, it is dangerous right now for foreign people to be seen going to houses. It was not dangerous for us but for the people that we had visited. We heard many stories while there about pastors who had been beaten and hospitalized for leading other people to Christ.
Still, we got to visit a few homes and pray over people. These were believers’ homes that we visited, so we got to hear their stories of how they came to faith and to pray for them. Hearing how despite persecution, the still believed in Jesus was so encouraging and challenging. These people knew that if they talked to the wrong person about their faith, they could end up getting beaten or possibly killed. It just reminded me how easy we have it in the U.S. I can go to sleep and not fear that someone is going to attack me because I am a Christian.
This week we had three different teams go out to different villages to share the gospel and teach at Compassion Kit Parties. At these parties we shared three different stories, a testimony, a hook story and the gospel story. We alternated every night who told what story, but the hope was that people would identify with one of the stories. That week we saw 127 people give their lives to Christ! So amazing to see all these people take this step.
Overall, this trip was so amazing. It stretched and deepened my faith in ways that I never expected. It also confirmed some things that God has been leading me towards. I have felt that the Lord has been leading me to missions of some sort ever since I got to serve the refugees from Afghanistan at Fort Pickett. This whole trip just confirmed that. I felt completely at home in India, despite the fact that I had never been out of the country. I loved meeting people that were a part of a completely different culture, and I loved seeing their faith and being able to pray for them and encourage them.
Thank you all for your support! I am beyond grateful. You made it possible to experience all of these things. Please continue to pray for these people in India, specifically those in the states of Rajasthan and Punjab. Pray for courage and boldness to continue to share their faith in spite of persecution and pray that their faith grows stronger and that leaders will be brought up to go to other villages and plant churches there as well.
Miraculous healings have always been something that I have heard about, but I have never seen it in person. It's not that I didn't believe people when they told me they had seen healing or had been healed themselves, I just struggled to fully accept that without having seen it myself. I felt a lot like Thomas after Jesus had risen from the grave. He didn't believe it had happened and said he wouldn't if he didn't see it with his own eyes. I struggled a lot with that because it felt like I was doubting God and that I was putting conditions on my faith. But I felt the Lord telling me to pray about it. So, for two weeks leading up to the trip, I prayed to see a miracle. And not just a miracle of someone giving their life to Christ but specifically for miraculous healing.
The first week that we were in India, we worked with a local story group who had been meeting together long enough that it was time for them to launch a church in that area. This is what we were there to help them do. We met with them every day for five days, teaching them specific things that are important to know when planting a church. Things like there are two tracks of authority, Scripture and the Holy Spirit and there is One Head of the Church, Jesus. I enjoyed this because we got to meet with the same people every day and we got to get to know a few people. At the end of every meeting that we had, we got the opportunity to pray over people. The local pastor asked if anyone needed prayer to come up to the front. Now in this culture women are not supposed to touch men unless they are married to them, and men can only touch women on the head. So, I prayed over the women and my partner, Michael, prayed over the men.
Over and over again, women would come up to me asking for prayer. The majority of the time they were asking for healing from one thing or another. That first night, I didn't fully expect to be the one asked to pray for healing over these women. I didn't know what to say. I struggled to come up with the right words. The only good thing is that my prayers were not translated, so they didn't know what I said anyways, only that I prayed for whatever specific thing they were asking for. While I was praying for the first women, I remembered song lyrics and verses that said there is power in the name of Jesus. So, I made sure to end every prayer specifically saying, "In the name of Jesus I pray, Amen."
Every night we did this. We prayed over people. By the third night I began to get a little frustrated with God that the healings weren't taking place. Nothing crazy had happened. No one shouted out immediately after I prayed that they had been healed right then. I went back to the hotel disappointed. I talked to God about that and told Him how frustrated I was.
The final day, we got to officially launch this local church. We got to be a part of their very first church service. Which was so amazing! I loved getting to see this local church. I loved watching the way the people worshiped. I loved watching the way that they prayed, not one at a time but all together. Each one talking over the other. A cacophony of people crying out to God, praising Him. Of course, I have no idea what they were saying because they don't speak English.
But after the pastor was done teaching, he asked them if anyone had a testimony to share about how God was working in their lives. The first women stood up. She began speaking and at first my translator wasn't translating what she was saying, so I leaned over and asked him. He said she was talking about how at the beginning of the week she came up and asked for prayer to be healed of pain in her body. She was having arthritis pain. She said that I prayed over her and since then, she hasn't had any pain. I was speechless and my eyes began to water. This was the answer to my prayer. I had prayed for three weeks to witness a miracle and God had answered that prayer. And what is more, He used me to bring about that miracle.
These women weren't done though. I watched and listened as one woman after another stood up and talked about coming up for prayer and being healed. One couldn't hear properly and now her hearing was crystal clear. Another one was having stomach issues but now she had no problems. The next had arm pain and now it was gone. All together when they were done nine women had stood up and talked about how God had healed them, through me. I was full on crying at this point. Still when I think about that moment, I start crying. I was and am beyond grateful that God answered my specific prayer.
I still cannot believe that God used me in this way. I don't fully know what to make of that. But I know that my faith has been deepened. I have seen with my own eyes that God still performs miracles. It's not flashy and it's not loud, but it is still what He does. He is the God of miracles.
The next week was powerful as well, just in a different way. Instead of being with one group every day, we were with a different group each day. The goal of this part of the trip was not church planting but evangelism. We went on a few house visits each day and then we would throw what is called a Compassion Kit Party. Unfortunately, we were unable to make a lot of house visits because recently in India, persecution has been growing. In Rajasthan, Hindus are persecuting anyone who does not practice their religion and in Punjab, it is the Sikhs who are doing the persecuting. Either way, it is dangerous right now for foreign people to be seen going to houses. It was not dangerous for us but for the people that we had visited. We heard many stories while there about pastors who had been beaten and hospitalized for leading other people to Christ.
Still, we got to visit a few homes and pray over people. These were believers’ homes that we visited, so we got to hear their stories of how they came to faith and to pray for them. Hearing how despite persecution, the still believed in Jesus was so encouraging and challenging. These people knew that if they talked to the wrong person about their faith, they could end up getting beaten or possibly killed. It just reminded me how easy we have it in the U.S. I can go to sleep and not fear that someone is going to attack me because I am a Christian.
This week we had three different teams go out to different villages to share the gospel and teach at Compassion Kit Parties. At these parties we shared three different stories, a testimony, a hook story and the gospel story. We alternated every night who told what story, but the hope was that people would identify with one of the stories. That week we saw 127 people give their lives to Christ! So amazing to see all these people take this step.
Overall, this trip was so amazing. It stretched and deepened my faith in ways that I never expected. It also confirmed some things that God has been leading me towards. I have felt that the Lord has been leading me to missions of some sort ever since I got to serve the refugees from Afghanistan at Fort Pickett. This whole trip just confirmed that. I felt completely at home in India, despite the fact that I had never been out of the country. I loved meeting people that were a part of a completely different culture, and I loved seeing their faith and being able to pray for them and encourage them.
Thank you all for your support! I am beyond grateful. You made it possible to experience all of these things. Please continue to pray for these people in India, specifically those in the states of Rajasthan and Punjab. Pray for courage and boldness to continue to share their faith in spite of persecution and pray that their faith grows stronger and that leaders will be brought up to go to other villages and plant churches there as well.