Blog weekly recap
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Tuesday 10/21
Welcome to India!
After multiple plane rides we safely arrived around 2am in Kolkata to meet our
Mega Cities organizers. They then took us to where we would be staying for the
next month, Church of the Nazarene. We had a brief meeting to explain the
region we get to minister to and a refresher on "Do's" an "Do
Nots". After that most of us caught
up on our sleep trying to get adjusted to the 12 hour time difference. That
night for dinner we found a restaurant named Ujans with great food and it was very
clean which is very important in a new and foreign country!
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Wednesday 10/22
The real fun began on Wednesday
as we went further into the city into region 1 to buy appropriate ministry
clothing. This was the first real taste of India and I think we hit the ground
running. We were blessed enough to have a taxi driver who we were able to talk
about Jesus with and wanted our phone
number to stay in contact with during our time here. After all the shopping was
done we had the great experience to find a way back to church we are staying
at. God is always good in providing people to help and multiple people
graciously helped get us all safely back home. The people are beyond friendly
and helpful. The Indian people especially loved the fact that some of us were
trying to learn Hindi phrases in order to somewhat communicate. An excitement
filled Day 2 in the books!
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Thursday 10/23
Day 3 in the city of Kolkata
brought its first ministry opportunities and this consisted of a day of open
air Bible reading and a group to prayer walk in order to lay a foundation for
the rest of our ministry. God opened up doors with groups of people who were
intrigued by what we were doing and gave us the opportunity to openly talk
about Jesus. The biggest surprise was that most of whom we talked had heard of
Jesus; but were so open they believed not only in Jesus, but all gods. For
lunch we again returned to, the soon to be favorite spot, Ujans and dinner we
had the pleasure of cooking our first meal in the new living quarters.
*Friday
10/24
Friday no matter where you live
is always a wonderful day this Friday did not disappoint. We decided to head to
the far parts of our zone and this required an exciting ride on Indian Train. The
ride to, was fun with very little other passengers due to a awkward travel
time, but after a morning of prayer walks in this neighborhood the ride back
was drastically different. During our morning
prayer walks one of our groups ran into a rickshaw driver who gave us a
flyer to attend his Christian church. If
the ride up there was fun then this made the ride back comparable to an
amusement park in excitement! There was standing room only and quite a bit more
passengers, but a great experience which none of us will forget! Day 4 again
involved a food stop at the delicious Ujans and
Bible reading in the afternoon.
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Saturday 10/25
Started off the morning as usual
with a great time of worship, and this day began the group starting to lead for
ministry. Some groups hopped on the train for Bible reading outside our
neighborhood and others went to the local square and held open air worship and
reading of the Bible. Indian people are extremely kind and often would invite
our groups to eat at their homes and would offer us chai tea at the nearest tea
shop. Every group finished this day with
more Bible reading in the streets which is planting lots of seeds as we can
easily share what we are doing.
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Sunday 10/26
This Sunday we were
told to meet the pastor at the train station, of who we were asked to lead the
service with worship and the sermon. The pastors wife showed us the way to the
church which is not very far from where we are staying, but to our groups
amazement it was the exact church the rickshaw driver had invited us to. Crazy
sometimes how God arranges things without us realizing it til it happens. The
service was amazing and we were incredibly blessed to worship with these group
of believers, and it was such a great time of God refreshing us for what He has
next for us!
Over all a great week to begin
our time here thanks to all the supporters and mostly to God for giving us this
opportunity. Be in prayer for the people here so that we may convey Jesus as
the only path to the Father as the Way, Truth and Life. That the seeds being
planted will produce lasting fruit, and for the Holy Spirit to go before us
preparing people's hearts. Also for the group overall for continuing to stay
unified and strength to do what God has called us to do, and for the leaders
for rest and wisdom. Again thank you to all those that have generously given to
make this possible, and for the past and future prayers. Stay tuned for the
coming weeks news and exciting announcements of what God is doing through us in
India and Nepal! God Bless!
