Railway Kids
One of my favorite parts of the trips was getting to spend time with railway kids in multiple locations. Railway kids are kids that usually live in railway stations or in the slums near the stations. Most of the railway kids are orphans who trying to survive on their own. These kids are referred to as the railway children because they support themselves through the railway system. As a train comes into the station the kids will jump on and collect food scrapes and empty water bottles. Two pounds of empty water bottles (we think this around 100) is equal to 50 rupees, about 1 US dollar. Your heart breaks for the children who live in extreme poverty at these stations. Here are pictures of some of the various slums we visited. (more…)
Planting Churches and Developing Communities
A lot of time in India was spent meeting with house church and community leaders who are planting house churches. As we listened to their stories you could see the passion in their eyes to reach the people around them for Christ. Together these community leaders planted over 6,000 first generation house churches last year and this number doesn’t count the house churches that planted other churches. An organic movement of people is rising up and making a true difference in India.
What’s so unique about this ministry is that these leaders don’t go into communities as pastors they enter as social workers. These “social workers” meeting the basic needs of the community before ever preaching the gospel. Through this avenue they have a chance to do holistic ministry that doesn’t comprise the gospel, but also helps meet the needs of people where they are.
There are two differences between Indian and American culture that you have to get to understand why this method works so well. First, India is a culture based on family and community. Keep this in mind. As Americans we function as individuals, but in India people function as villages and families. This means that the village leader holds the key to reaching the village. The other difference is that in India people aren’t open to Christianity. “Indians are Hindus” is mentality of the people, therefore when someone becomes a Christian they are breaking a huge cultural norm. Persecution of people who have converted to Christianity is a normal occurrence.
So why does this idea of going as a social worker instead of a pastor or missionary work so well? (more…)
God is on the move in Central Asia!
After our 10 day journey through 4 cities in India we are back safe and sound. As we return I keep coming back to one phrase…God is on the move in India. We hope over the next week we can give you a small glimpse into what He is doing.
During our time there we had the chance to meet with a lot of believers. From leaders planting churches to ordinary woman who love Jesus. Each one of them have made a huge sacrifice to follow Christ. We heard story after story about people who had given up so much for Jesus. Here are two of my most memorable stories…
Monica
As a twenty year old woman Monica found out about Jesus. She started following him but her entire family wasn’t on board. She immediately started praying for her family and slowly her mom and sisters started believing. Her father, however, was another story. He refused to believe that Jesus was the one true God. Monica fasted for 3 months and as she fasted and prayed the idols in their home literally started falling off the walls. (Hindu’s believe that there are over 33 million gods and typically have shrines to them set up in their homes.) As Monica started praying her father fell ill. He was told that he was going to die and in response to this he told his daughter if you pray for me and your God heals me I will believe. Monica prayed for him and he was healed and became a follower of Christ. The next day after meeting Monica we sat in a room full of leaders who are planting churches. One man started sharing his story and we soon learned it was Monica’s father. The man who once refused to believe is now planting churches and training leaders!
Woman at the Conference
One woman at the conference shared how her entire village had turned against her because her and her entire family had become Christians. In an attempt to convert them back to Hinduism the village had started taking away their land and possessions. Through her tears as she shared her story she did not pray for justice she prayed that the village would come to know Christ and that her family would be strong in the face of persecution.
As each person shared their story we got to see God at work. In a land that worships millions of God the one true God is revealing himself by healing the sick and freeing the oppressed. I know that is hard for us to grasp, but everything that Jesus did in the New Testament is happening in India. People are literally being healed of their illnesses and in many cases that is how they are coming to know Jesus. People are literally being freed of demon possession through the power of Christ. God is revealing himself to those in India who are seeking him and a movement of people who are devoted to Christ is continuing to grow.
Here are some of the beautiful people we met...
Can’t wait to share more! Stay tuned!
Safe and Sound
Brooke reports things are going extremely well and can’t wait to share all about it! However, the lack of internet means the stories will have to wait until they return. Stay tuned.
Counting Down to Central Asia!
We are heaing out just a few days! Visiting 4 cities, hanging out with railway kids, and encouraging our friends in Central Asia are just some of the many things on our itinerary. Here are some pictures from previous trips just so you can get a glimpse of what we’ll experience. We’ll be updating from now until we get back, so check back often or just subscribe to get email notifications of when we update!
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