WOW!

We were in a Tea Village called Lohagar, which was only about 3 kilometers or so from the Nepal border. Jageswar did an EXCELLENT job of translating for me – I’m completely convinced that he filled in any and all holes I might have left in my presentation.

He and I only got to two homes this morning, and in the first home all but the father were already believers. Needless to say, they really wanted us to stay and present the gospel story to him. His name was Ramesh and he now believes and trusts in Jesus to save him from his sin. Please pray that he allow the Holy Spirit to do His ministry of sanctification in his life. While we were there, I prayed for his grand daughter, who has been ill for about a month. I’m not sure how you spell her name but it is either an Indian or Nepali female version of Elijah the prophet. Please pray that God would heal this little girl (a toddler) and bring her to full health so that the villagers there would know that the one true God is greater than all the false gods of Hinduism – and want to follow Christ.

In the next home we went was a woman, probably the matriarch of a larger family, who’s name was Birsi (their hut was multiple rooms.) Another lady joined us and then a gentleman who I think was her son came home for lunch. All three of them prayed to confess their sins and to trust in Jesus to forgive them and committed to follow Him only (neither of the homes we visited were Hindu, nor did anyone worship idols or other gods.) The son of this woman had learned about Christ in school when he was a child, and he had several questions about Roman Catholicism and Protestantism and Jageswar and I answered them (thank you Holy Spirit, for the right words to say…)

Please pray that all four of the Adivasi who confessed their sins and committed to following Christ in these two huts made sincere confessions/committments and that they will live their lives as Christians well – finishing strong.

After these two homes, Jageswar and I joined up with the rest of our team for lunch and then we did a little “program” in the center of the village. Anna and Katie lead the children in some songs (though it took a little work to get them to join us in singing – we actually had to teach them to words to one of the songs…) Then Gary did some magic. Marcia told the story about Jesus and the disciples on the sea, when Jesus slept and the storm threatened to wreck the boat. Bob gave the gospel and introduced Jarrod, who shared his testimony. Then Andrew introduced their new pastor to them, told them when and where their church would be meeting and the pastor prayed for him. We then got back on the Bible Bus and headed back to Siliguri (dropping off the interpreters we had picked up on the hour or so drive to this village along the way.)

OH, don’t tell Mike Wojtanowicz, but we saw, not one – but two, count them 2, elephants on the drive home from this village. (and a bunch of monkeys too…)

After breakfast and devotions (aptly lead by Gary) we climbed aboard the Gospel Bus and headed down the highway to the two house churches we were joining for services this morning.

Anna, Bob, Marcia and I went to Atal Tea Estate where we joined about 27-28 Adavasi brothers and sisters in Christ for worship. Actually, I think they’d already been going for 45 minutes or so by the time we arrived. We sang three or four songs and then Sanjay introduced us to this congregation (one of the few he is the pastor for). I then gave the first sermon of my short preaching career. Nobody threw anything at me or boo’d or hissed, and I didn’t faint or lose my breakfast. I didn’t notice anyone falling asleep. I was nervous but let God lead and hopefully the Holy Spirit spoke to some hearts. Besides, Bob (the double-palindrome), came up after me to fill in the blanks for the stuff I might have missed.

Then we got picked up by the other team, who had gone to Tokoria to meet with a different house church. You’ll have to ask Andrew, Gary, Jarrod or Katie for the details of their experience. Together we went to Merry View Tea Estate to meet with our interpreters and to share teaching about the church that Bob is going to preach next Sunday at the BIG gathering (and that we will be sharing with our discipleship groups later.

They fed us some lunch and we came back to our base camp, the Hotel Appolo. We’re getting cleaned up for dinner and I’m trying to get some photos and an audio clip sent for TACC worship service in a few hours.

We’re all checked in. We’ve had a couple of meetings already and Bob is just starting another with the SAS guys. We’ll be eating dinner in a bit and I hope to get some updates with pictures by then (or at dinner)…but wanted to let you know we’ve arrived at Siliguri and are unpacking and settling into our home away from home for the next week and a half.

Thanks for the prayers – keep them going!