In the last days

The day began with a bang.

We had to be on the road at 5am to drive three hours and reach the service at 8. It took some extra time to navigate rough roads, avoiding trucks and pits and carefully driving through long bridges without any railings on the sides. We lost some time collecting few more precious people along the way and by the time we reached Chapri, it was already 9am.

The sun was beginning to shine its best and we were looking to park our car in a shade, but there was no shade to be seen for miles and so we decided to park it along the main street. And then we were escorted inside.

Few people were waiting to welcome us while I could hear the worship inside. It was only a few minutes and someone opened the doors of the church building and we took a sneak preview of what was happening. Women, children and men were worshipping with abandon for the last one hour and their joy and their passion was contagious. I wanted to go in right away.

Inside the tightly packed hall, no one exactly knew what was happening. Some were singing, others were dancing, while others were just enjoying the presence of God. A young girl, hardly in her teens, was leading them in worship. And she was leading under the anointing. The way she sang, moved, lifted her hands and waved, all had a sense of power and authority and anointing. People responded to her leading without a problem. It went on and on and on. By the time, they asked me to speak it was 10.30am, but by then, I had nothing much to say. All I was thinking as I was worshipping and enjoying, was, ‘I think I am witnessing the end time move of the Spirit. This is it. This is it.’

How would you explain two and a half hours of worship in the Spirit? How would you explain being led by a young illiterate girl in worship ? How can you explain the passion and fervor they exhibit? How can you explain the fact that they are missing a whole day’s wage just to come and worship, a second time in the week? They have nothing. They work as day labourers in other states on farms, on construction sites and road projects. But the way they rush to put in their offerings and their special vows (everytime they experience a miracle, whether in their home, or in the farm or with their children, they bring it to the house of God and put it separately ), is also mind boggling.

And how will you explain an illiterate former dacoit as being their pastor? Well, that’s a different story.