"Years ago, I lost my husband and eveyrthing else with him, except this piece of land and my daughter. I went from bad to worse, until I found salvation in Jesus, through a passing evangelist."
"We have been worshipping in the open for over a year now, and I want to give this piece of land to put up a prayer hall. God, who did so much for me, deserves the best. But this is all I have. Please take this and build us a prayer hall. I will even spend my entire time in the new hall in prayer and fasting"
Excerpt of conversation with Teja Bai, from a remote hill tribe in MP
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Monday, March 14, 2011
MountainTop Experience
It is 11am. The sun is shining hot and the day is beginning to get warmer by the minute. We have been on the road for the past three hours through teak forests, rough peaks and even rougher roads. Right when we feel that we can go no longer before taking a break, the jeep swerves to the right and begins to climb a 60 Degree incline.
A few scary minutes later, we reach a mountain top and the jeep stops at the back of one of the homes. Before we can recollect our location, day or date, we are enjoying the local hospitality of a cot and hot tea under the shade of a huge tree.
We are introduced to the ‘man of peace’ who opened his house to the gospel for the first time. We are told of how the Lord healed him and his family and they immediately wanted to share this with other people around them. Soon the house they were meeting in was too small and so he put up a few sticks and covered them with plastic bags. This is where the present 60 people meet.
Seeing our vehicle people start to appear for the meeting. In an hour’s time we have over 60 people gathered there and they begin singing songs of joy, songs of hope and prayers answered. The meeting continues for another two hours and then it is time for people to be baptized.
We have to walk two kilometers to the nearest pond where twenty people receive baptism amidst great joy and fervor. By the time it is over, it is 4pm and we all head back to the ‘tent’, where we are joined by other believers and the Communion is celebrated. By the time everything is over, it is 6pm. The people have been at the worship service for over six hours and they are showing no signs of going to their homes.
After this fabulous celebration, we are led to a heap of handmade raw bricks. They tell us,
that we have baked four thousand of these bricks to build a house of worship. We are not able to imagine their joy, their passion, their sense of commitment and also their sense of God.
But wait, whose the pastor? Well, there is none. Preachers like Santosh who began the work are able to visit only two times in a month. They come and stay there overnight and lead the work, but at other times, the believers gather by themselves and the ‘man of peace’ stands up and speaks and encourages the people and the rest of them join in praying their hearts outs.
At 7pm we are back in our jeep and as we start driving downhill, I am saying to myself, “They have nothing, yet they give everything. And that too, again and again.”
“Why is Santosh not able to go each week?” You may be wondering. The reason: Santosh, by himself is leading three congregations like these which are over 30 kilometers apart and with a broken bicycle he can only do so much. Just as Jesus said two thousand years ago, the problem is not in the harvest, the problem is the lack of harvesters. And even if there are, it is lack of resources like a bike that is greatly limiting the work.
Would you provide a bike for Santosh (Cost: Rs 45000)? Can you believe to put a roof over the church for the believers here (Cost for roof tiles: Rs 35000)?
A few scary minutes later, we reach a mountain top and the jeep stops at the back of one of the homes. Before we can recollect our location, day or date, we are enjoying the local hospitality of a cot and hot tea under the shade of a huge tree.
We are introduced to the ‘man of peace’ who opened his house to the gospel for the first time. We are told of how the Lord healed him and his family and they immediately wanted to share this with other people around them. Soon the house they were meeting in was too small and so he put up a few sticks and covered them with plastic bags. This is where the present 60 people meet.
Seeing our vehicle people start to appear for the meeting. In an hour’s time we have over 60 people gathered there and they begin singing songs of joy, songs of hope and prayers answered. The meeting continues for another two hours and then it is time for people to be baptized.
We have to walk two kilometers to the nearest pond where twenty people receive baptism amidst great joy and fervor. By the time it is over, it is 4pm and we all head back to the ‘tent’, where we are joined by other believers and the Communion is celebrated. By the time everything is over, it is 6pm. The people have been at the worship service for over six hours and they are showing no signs of going to their homes.
After this fabulous celebration, we are led to a heap of handmade raw bricks. They tell us,
that we have baked four thousand of these bricks to build a house of worship. We are not able to imagine their joy, their passion, their sense of commitment and also their sense of God.
But wait, whose the pastor? Well, there is none. Preachers like Santosh who began the work are able to visit only two times in a month. They come and stay there overnight and lead the work, but at other times, the believers gather by themselves and the ‘man of peace’ stands up and speaks and encourages the people and the rest of them join in praying their hearts outs.
At 7pm we are back in our jeep and as we start driving downhill, I am saying to myself, “They have nothing, yet they give everything. And that too, again and again.”
“Why is Santosh not able to go each week?” You may be wondering. The reason: Santosh, by himself is leading three congregations like these which are over 30 kilometers apart and with a broken bicycle he can only do so much. Just as Jesus said two thousand years ago, the problem is not in the harvest, the problem is the lack of harvesters. And even if there are, it is lack of resources like a bike that is greatly limiting the work.
Would you provide a bike for Santosh (Cost: Rs 45000)? Can you believe to put a roof over the church for the believers here (Cost for roof tiles: Rs 35000)?
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