A Taste of India

Namaste! Hello!

I am so sorry for not posting this sooner! Since getting back I have had a million different things going on/needing to happen, plus trying to get used to the swing of things again has been fun and kept me on my toes! But, I am still very sorry for not sharing this out in a more timely manner.

One of the little girls

I am so blessed by everything that happened during my trip to India, and I am so incredibly thankful for your prayers and support! Looking back on the trip, it is so amazing to see God’s hand on everything from the first day I arrived in Kansas City at the YWAM base, to the last day, and just how good God was to me! God always provided what I needed when I needed it through you all or others, and I am so blessed by His goodness!

During debrief in KC after outreach we had a time of all the different groups sharing stories and experiences that happened to them during outreach, and they were amazing to hear! While we were on outreach we were not able to keep in close contact with the other tribes, so it was wonderful hearing what the Lord did through them. One of them was praying for a man who had a tumor, and his hand was resting on the tumor lump, and while he was praying he felt and saw the tumor shrink in size! Then there was a mute girl that was completely healed and was able to speak to her mother for the first time at age 9!  And those are just a couple of the many, many miracles that our school saw! One of the couples on our trip has been on over 20 mission trips and the man even said that that was the most numerous amount of miracles he had ever seen happen!  The Bible says that God will pour out His Spirit on all flesh in the last days and I definitely got to see that as missions, miracles, etc. have been accelerating over the last few years, and they continue to accelerate.

Praying after ministry times

One of the healing's we saw was really extraordinary and happened towards the beginning of our trip. Shortly after arriving at this certain village, our group divided into two teams (7 each) to invite the locals to the evening program. And as normal, we were surrounded by about 30 kids who wanted to talk and walk with us. So as our entourage moved down the street we encountered a motorcyclist who was try to get past us. But due to the large amount of kids on the street he had to stop and wait for us to pass. As we were walking past him, our guys noticed that he was wearing an all leg brace so they asked if they could pray for him. He was not very happy about being prayed for, but he got off of the motorcycle and allowed them to pray for him. Our three guys laid hands on him and started praying while we girls gathered around them and prayed. While we were praying he suddenly jerked his head up and began stomping the leg that had the cast on it on the ground. And his eyes were really big. And then he walked away from us and started walking up and down the street (occasionally stomping the foot again). We were not quite sure what he was doing, but his eyes had a look of unbelief in them and he had his hands on his head in shock. And then he started running up and down the street, which he did several times. He had not talked to us yet but by that time we had figure out that his broken leg had been healed! And he was simply running and stomping it to test it out. He finally came back to us and stopped and then got down on his knees and tried bowing to us and kissing the guys feet. The guys quickly had him get up off of the ground and had the translator tell him that it was Jesus who healed him. The translator did so and then the man started walking away again and then he came back. When he came back, Jack gave him the Gospel (which was hard to do because the man was still in so much shock that he kept walking back and forth, though he finally did stop long enough to hear the entire Gospel). After hearing what Jesus did for him, he gave his life to the Lord, confessed that Jesus was the only God, and then just walked off, still completely in shock of what had happened (he even left his motorcycle in the middle of the road, one of the kids had to grab it for him). We praised and glorified God and then continued inviting the villagers, very much encouraged with what the Lord had just done! And then that night he came to the program and gave a testimony of what God had done. Now, this is the crazy part. When we prayed for him, we had no idea who he was, while he was giving his testimony, we still didn't’ know much about him. After he gave his testimony (in Tellagu, which was not translated), our translator came over and told us about him. He was the local drunk and trouble-maker of the village, and regularly mocked the local believers and made trouble for them! And because he got healed, he got saved, and now he was testifying to the entire village of the power of Jesus Christ! It was amazing how one healing could open up the door for someone to get saved, and then be able to affect the entire village!

This boy had polio and had never been able to walk, but during the campaigns, he took his first steps!

Often when people go on mission trips there is the thought in the back of most peoples heads, Why not simply support a national missionary, instead of paying the cost to fly over their, etc? It was a question I questioned God about and He answered me while we were over there. Because the new Indian government is pro-Hindu and very anti-Christ, they had tried to silence some believers, and some Christians had stopped openly sharing their faith because they feared persecution. And then we arrived, and even though the government was in the process of trying to pass a bill that would make it illegal for foreigners to get on a stage and proclaim Jesus, we had favor and were able to minister to thousands of Indians with no fear of being black-listed, etc.! When the Indians saw that it actually gave the leaders courage and they were going to our Indian director and asking how they could do the same thing! So our obedience to go actually encouraged the locals to be more bold in their proclamation of the Gospel!

At the first campaign

Since getting back the Lord has opened up different ministry opportunities and I am excited that I will be able to work with Child Evangelism Fellowship again this summer as a leader with their Christian Youth In Action ministry to children in the surrounding cities. I’m looking forward to being able to share the Gospel again here locally and work with the CYIAers!

In September, my mom and I will, Lord willing, be going to Bosnia and Hungary with a couple from my DTS who print discipleship material and travel around to different nations that need discipleship material and find translators (they have found a way to translate books that is a lot quicker than the normal way), along with connecting with printers, etc. Bosnia has had civil war for the last 70 years (and there is still some fighting going on), and almost half of the nation are Muslims. There is a very small amount of Pastors (less than 50) in the entire nation.

It really has been such an exciting time the last nine months! Looking at who I was before the DTS, and then what God has taught me through the DTS has been amazing! The truths that I learned about God and seeing His hand so evident as we were ministering and seeking Him has definitely been something that has changed my life, and I can’t wait to see what new adventure God has for me!

The Dalit Village that we ministered at. After that I just wanted to go to their villages!

Thank you again for your prayer and support through this trip! I am so blessed through what the Lord did! (And sorry for the lack of pictures during the trip; my laptop charger decided to die right before leaving, and I could not get it fixed in time, so I had no laptop or cell phone during my stay in India). :-)

Please continue to pray for strength and boldness for the believers!

The Lord’s blessings on you all!

Love,

Sara

The Bay of Bengal

This is one of their gods, and they had statues and temples everywhere. They would dress the statues and feed the statues, and cover them so that they did not get wet, etc. The devotion with which they serve their dead gods puts us to shame in our service to the Living God.

One of the women getting water from the river

Giving the Gospel impromptu open-air style in one of the villages

Saying goodbye as we left to come home…. I'm going to miss them so much!