July 6 – evening / July 7 – morning

I’m sorry, I didn’t post this last night, but was wiped out after another amazing day of watching the hand of our awesome God work in the lives of many who were lost in their sin.

We went to another village that I think Taft Avenue Community Church (TACC) has not visited in past years. It took a long time, on a one lane road (plants literally touching both sides of the bus, and a couple of stops with discussions – in a language I didn’t comprehend – about whether we could make it further, or have to walk, or how best to navigate the current issue on the road in front of us) but we finally arrived in what looked like a relatively small village. It appeared to be a rice, rather than tea village, but quarter of a mile or so to the south was tea plants (the north end of Merry View). This village was not laid out as orderly as some of the others we’d visited – the homes were clustered rather than in rows, and some appeared to be more wealthy – maybe because of the rice.

Once again, as the bus pulled into the village, even before we got out (into a steady, heavier rain) the curious started to peak their heads out of doors and windows. Then they formed small groups here and there, as they likely were discussing the bus, even more so, as they discovered the riders on the bus were different.

The rain had cooled things down considerably, one of our translators was even shivering as we climbed out of the bus (my guess was that it was in the mid to upper 60s.) It was raining fairly steady and the breeze was light and there were puddles everywhere, some ankle/calf deep – Katie found one that was knee deep.

Anyway, enough “flavour”, on to the important stuff. Again, the team met with mixed results. The first home I visited had about 7 people, only one was a child – I’m not sure if they were all in the same, or extended family or if some were neighbors/friends. But all listened very intently and it seemed they got the story all through, anticipating the next piece. They all made professions of faith and we handed out three Bibles.

The next house Jageswar and I visited had half a dozen ladies who politely told us they didn’t have time to listen to us – maybe they were on a break – they were cooking on their porch. We moved to the next home (as we left this next home we saw Gary and this village pastor’s wife sharing with the ladies that turned us away.) Jageswar and I then shared the gospel with a young man, his wife and young child and probably his mother, maybe aunt or even grandmother (it’s not always easy to tell.)

The wife had to leave halfway through my story to tend to her baby, I think to lay him in bed as he had fallen asleep, but she never came back. The young man professed “Jesus is Lord” although I don’t know how to type it in his language. His matronly elder did not, but I found out she was hard of hearing and likely didn’t get the whole story. We gave him a Bible, told him about the church in his village and challenged him to share the gospel, first with the rest of his family and then with his friends and neighbors and then with everyone else he could.

Jageswar had to leave to take care of some family business and he took me to Andrew, who had a spare interpreter. This was a good thing, as Andrew wasn’t feeling really well and asked me to wrap up in this house (he had shared the good news and asked them to make their choices) we could tell that it had taken root – and they told us they were already believers, so I went through the last side of the cube which talks about the life of a believer and encouraged them that not only the other believers in their own village and the nearby villages, but in our village in America would be praying for them and welcomed their prayers for us. One was not feeling well and we prayed for her recovery.

We went back to the village center and did a program. We were set up under the porch roof of one building and them under the next (only a couple of feet apart.) Then we said goodbye and ate lunch on the bus as we drove to the next stop, about a kilometer away. Here, Gary, Anna and Marcia did a program for the kids while the rest went door to door. I had a new interpreter and had an interesting experience. A young mother with two teenage daughters – listened intently and liked the story. The mother was not interested in making a profession. She was a Hindu and believed that God loved her and because of her faith in Him, when she died, she would go to heaven. Her daughters, I sensed (Holy Spirit, not spidey-senses) were more than just curious, and I think were drawn by the Gospel. We gave the daughters Bibles and I challenged them to earnestly seek the truth – reading those Bibles and asking God to reveal His truth to them. I prayed (through the gospel again) and that Satan, who created the false gods (Hindu included) to deceive men and pull them away from the one true God, would be revealed as the Liar he is and that the Holy Spirit would reveal the true Truth and give them faith to believe in it and follow Jesus. This was a tough home for me and I wished I had more time to talk with this lady. I had never encountered such a close counterfeit false belief system before-which, in a way was good, because I had to trust in the work of the Holy Spirit in this family’s hearts and not come away thinking my great apologetic skills had win the day. Pray for this family, fervently!!

I gotta wrap this up. Today (Saturday) all but Bob are sabbathing with a drive to Darjeeling. Bob wants to work on his sermon for tomorrow. Pray that he prepares well and the Holy Spirit makes it abundantly clear what He wants Bob to share. Pray also for our safety as tourists today and that God is preparing hearts for tomorrow, and will bring many Adivasi to our big meeting, then give them understanding of the gospel and faith to believe it.