Praying for 70 people

Today we prayed for each student individualluy
Ron will stay in Nellore. I will teach in Chennai for 3 very intensive days.

We are happy

We just came back (It's Thursday night here) from a recap meeting for the students. 6 students testified to their experience, and it was so very positive. They have been living together for almost 2 weeks now, and we haven't sensed any "murmuring". Rather, their enthusiasm has increased. Most of them have never had an experience like this, and there is a great respect for the teaching of the Scriptures.

Your prayers have been critical in keeping the situation so positive.

The picture is of some of the girls when we were out evangelizing in the villages. They spoke with this woman on the street. We had about 40 people working in 8 different villages.

The Bike

The motorbike is a Yamaha 150. It will be used to reach villages with Gospel preaching and following through to encourage new believers.

It replaces a 10 year old bike that has rusted away from being used in seaside villages. I think Vijay plans to send the old bike to its eternal reward.

Thanks for your offerings and prayers to make this tool available.

Here they are

We have at least 62 people registered, far more than the 30 we anticipated.

I finally got the gadget that connects my netbook to the 3g network in Nellore. This is a relief, and gives me more liberty on posting things.

Today Vijay finally picked up the motorbike. But he brought it to his apartment! I haven't seen it yet. I'll try to get a picture up as soon as it comes.

It's beastly hot. We have over 100 degrees just about every day. Ron melts away more than I do, but it is really quite an experience.

Thanks again for the many prayers that are being offered.

Tuesday evenng in India

You just have to adjust to things taking longer. For example, the motorbike is bought, but it was too late to take delivery last night. Then there was a general strike today, which closed the dealership. All the shops in town closed down until evening to protest high prices.
We also got a card to connect the laptop to the 3g network in the city here, but the network is so new that the places where you buy the time for the network don't have the appropriate card yet. This has prevented us from experimenting with skype communication so far.
But we are not discouraged at all. When we see the energy of the students, and when we see how people are responding in the villages, we realize that we are in a special time of responsiveness in this part of India.
This evening we had dinner at Vijay and Rebecca's house. It was so pleasant to come into a home.
When we bought the motorbike, it was stressful until the final meeting. There we met an employee who followed Christ, and that made a big difference. We were able to relax.
The previous blogs are a little short on detail. That is because I was sending them from my Verizon phone (which, for some reason, works here). It will only send short messages though. I wanted to get messages out while they were "hot."
We sense your prayers. We feel a spirit of victory. We feel that needs are being met.

We got the bike

Yesterday after several days of frustration we finalized the purchase of Yamaha motorbike for Vijay. He should pick it up today and I hope to have a picutre up.
The Bhagavad Veda has a verse that says "if blood is not shed there is no forgiveness." What a tool for evangelism!

Miracles

A man heard the singing and sent people to invite them to his home. He had broken his back falling from a palm tree. The man received Christ and immediately offered to provide land for a church.
We are feeling pretty good about this evangelization. Right now the group is going into the third village we are visiting this morning. This is a live report.

Direct from the village

THE WOMEN SING WHILE THE MEN DISTRIBUTE LITERATURE AND SEEK THOSE OPEN TO THE GOSPEL. ron and I stay in the car keeping a low profile.
Vijay is in a home that asked for prayer.
God is working.

It's hot

We have now finished a full week and interest is still strong. We have around 65 people in class every day.
Ron and usually take turns and escape to the air conditioned room when we're not teaching.
This weekend the students will evangelize in 4 unreached villages. We are renting 2 vans to transport them.

Thursday evening

Today Ron was particularly funny. It's good that the students respond so well after so much intense teaching.
This weekend the group will evangelize in 4 unreached villages.
Vijay plans to get the motorbike on Saturday.
We sense that we have strong prayer support.

We are well

There was a problem when the account was hacked. My son got it up again.
We have 43 people sleeping at the venue. On 36 beds. The others sleep on the cement floor. Many have already memorized Eccl. 12 and 1 Cor. 13. They are working on Rom.8 now. Lots of energy.

Monday

Ron and I were both feeling well today, and had a full day. Ron taught the first class and the afternoon class, while I taught the session from 11-1.
We went to look at motorbikes, and have our choices pretty much narrowed down. Vijay will have to decide. Everything costs more, of course, but it isn't out of the range of possibility.
In the evening we went back for an hour session. We were going to show pictures, but I had forgotten the plug adapters in the room, so I taught on 1 Corinthians 13.
The students had already learned Ecclesiastes 12 by heart, and asked for another challenge, so we put on the love chapter. I have a list prepared to keep them memorizing as long as they have enthusiasm for it.
It's hot, and it feels good when a breeze comes up.

Sunday

Ron and I both had a rough night on Saturday, perhaps because of something we ate. We had to make adjustments in the Sunday teaching and preaching, but we got through the day, and we seem to be feeling better this evening.
We need your prayers.
I've had some messages that the blog was canceled. I hope it's up for you to follow. I'll be watching to try to solve the problem.

Good Start

We finished the first day. 62 people registered. Most of them are young and energetic. A couple of them are as young as 15. They are also small, so they look like they might be 12. They are responding well. Ron was having fun getting them to give back to him 5 marks of a mature believer from the book of James, and when they finally caught on to the game, they shouted back the answers.
I taught on Zecharias and Elizabeth in Luke 1, and we are having a drama group illustrate it tomorrow morning. Yes, tomorrow, Sunday. We will do it as a kind of Bible class, followed by a regular service. Then a teaching in the afternoon as well.
We have assigned the students to memorize Ecclesiastes 12:1-8. It's ostensibly about being young (remember your creator in the days of your youth) but when you read it you realize it's about being old (the "grinders" cease because they are few!). It should be fun teaching through it.
Cape Cod Covenant has a 24 hour prayer chain going for us while we are here. That gives us fresh courage in the face of the heat. Others are praying as well--in Argentina, Honduras, Pakistan (and the nation of California as well).

Good News

Today I talked with Ron, and through the generosity of Cape Cod Covenant Church, together with other funds from individuals, we have enough money to pay for the project and to buy the motorbike that Vijay needs.

The only possible glitch is that Vijay says we might have as many as 70 people, instead of the 30 we had asked for. When I was thinking about how to cut the number of students, Jesus' words to the disciples when they needed to feed 5000 people came to mind: "You give them something to eat."

So God is increasing our faith and our outreach.

I'm writing this on Tuesday night. We leave on Wednesday. I leave from Minneapolis. Ron leaves from Boston. We will meet up in Frankfurt, and then fly to Chennai together. When we get there, Vijay will meet us (at midnight Thursday) and we will drive a few hours up to Nellore. I hesitate to use the term "crash", but we will get some rest there after the very long trip and a jet lag of 10 1/2 hours for me and 9 1/2 hours for Ron.

Closer to the goal

We have committed funds for all but about 1400 dollars of what we need for the trip. We are praying for generous offerings this weekend.

Ron has a meeting on Cape Cod and I am presenting the project at Anoka Covenant Church.

We're thankful to International Bible Givers for a donation of English Bibles for the English speaking students.

Vijay tells me he has lined up 4 interpreters for us.

The weather all next week in Nellore is sunny and 100 degrees. Maybe Ron and I will lose weight while we are there!

video from India

Progress

We are getting closer to what we need for the project. We still need about 1700 dollars. You can give through the Herald of Faith website, http://heraldoffaith.org/

I am working on a book to help pastors teach through the Gospel of Luke. It won't be ready in time for our school in Nellore, but I expect to have it translated into Telegu and in print by the end of the year.