INDIA OUTREACH WEEK 4 UPDATE

Last Week in India (4th week of outreach)

Monday 10th of November

                I know what you are thinking yes today is Monday, and normally our Sabbath day, but this week we changed it up. We all headed farther into the heart of Kolkata and visited mother Theresa's house. Quite an inspirational experience, to think that one women feeling the call of God to help so many people really did make a change in history. Goes to show if God calls you, He will give you the tools and strength to do it! This just happened to for shadow the next stop in our day. We headed to an orphanage that is run by a family and some volunteers, but houses 17 little girls. These girls were the most adorable little girls possibly ever.  We did a kids program for them involving a couple of dramas and games, but we were very surprised to find out they had a special dance to show us also. Correction that was the most adorable thing ever! Then we hopped on the metro and headed back to the church we stay at for a goodnights rest.

Tuesday 11th of November

                Today was a special day because all the teams staying in Kolkata met for a meeting that is called corporate. It was a very awesome time of sharing testimonies, fellowship with other students focused on what God has called them to do in Kolkata, and a group time of worship that was much needed. The meeting did not stop there each team was paired up with other groups for a giant time of evangelism in the city. There were a total of 16 teams at this meeting and each has their own zone to do ministry in that way the entire city can be targeted at one time. Our group went from 10 students to about 32 people, and because of this we headed to a busy train stop to do a time of open air. Such a great time and what made that all worth it was that 2 people asked Jesus into their hearts, and when all the teams came back together we found out that the total number of people who accepted Christ that day was 16!!! God was moving on this day, and all praise to Him because it was not because of our dramas or speeches that they wanted Jesus, it was all the Holy Spirits moving them. We are so grateful to be just a small piece in something so big that is changing the world.

Wednesday 12th of November

                Now today was our free day! Again some of us went out and others decided to spend the day resting and refreshing in order to be ready for the upcoming time of evangelism. Always good to have an extended quiet time! A great day to reflect and prepare though.

Thursday 13th of November

                Morning began with intercession and a time of worship, and after that we started the teams planning for the next couple of days. See the students were given this morning to plan for upcoming ministries they would like to help in and be a part of through the following Monday. Team 1 planned out this afternoon and we had a time of personal evangelism like handing out tracts, and 1 on 1 witnessing to people that lived around the neighborhood of the weekly kids ministry we have. Then we headed up onto the rooftop for our time of kids ministry. We taught the story of Daniel and the lion's den, and explained that when Jesus is in our hearts He will never leave us or forsake us no matter how bad the situation looks. The sad part was saying good bye because this was the last time we would be able to come to this location and see these kids before we left for Nepal.

Friday 14th of November

               

Today was a great, and it started off by the whole team heading to a local church to build a bathroom for them. There were two hired men assisting in the build, and had already done. We did help quite a bit though ,and then we had to stop because we needed to split into two teams in order for one team to stay and have a kids program with the church and the other was to meet up with another pastor for a time of open air preaching. Both went spectacular at the open air 1 brave man came forward and wanted to accept Jesus into his heart, while the team at the kids program enjoyed their time also with the children. We also were able to enjoy some wonderful Indian cuisine some of us twice depending if we went with the open air preaching group. Any day someone gets saved it is a great day and that is why today was so great!

Saturday 15th of November

                It was an awesome experience today as we were able to meet the team that would be in our zone after us and also to be able to cook for them. We all enjoyed lunch while getting to know the team and then we got to pray for them as a group, and they right after prayed for us. Such an

awesome time to get the discuss what God had used us to do and to hear the vision God had put in the groups heart. We then went to the local soccer field where we had held previous ministries before, but this time with a different plan in mind. The whole group brought trash bags and began picking up trash in order to show that we appreciated their openness to us, and to usher in the gospel by doing something physical for them. Some kids loved it and jumped in to help in the efforts which helped out a lot. After that we played with the kids and some had a small soccer match. Great night of making a physical difference and getting to be Jesus' hands and feet to these kids. We want our walk to prove more than our talk.

                                                                                                                   

Sunday 16th of November

                Our last Sunday in India was similar to the first. We attended the same church that first open their doors to us during our first Sunday in town. It was a great service we were again asked to preach and lead worship, and it was such an honor to get to encourage the church here. This same

church was the one as doing local open airs and personal evangelism times we were able to get the people who were interested info in order to attend this church. After this we went back to the place where we did our first open air preaching, and held a kids program for the kids there. The kids loved the crafts and songs. It was impactful to be able to go back to a place where we had preached to also have fun with the kids. By doing this the message of Christ's love for us has a tangible picture to it. We did not come to teach a new religion, but to express the love that the Father has and wants a relationship. Such a great way to end our last Sunday here and knowing that we were able to help the church here.

                                                                                                                                       

INDIA OUTREACH WEEK 3 UPDATE

Week Number 3 of India

Monday 3rd of November

                As usual Mondays have been the day of rest for the group and that did not change this week. Some did head to a local mall we found that week, while others stayed at the church and also went to play basketball with some of the new friends we made. Pretty chill day to prepare for what God had in store for the upcoming week.

Tuesday 4th of November

                This morning we split into 3 different groups and hopped onto the train to embark on an epic prayer walk.  Little did we know what God had in store but we were ready! While on our own journeys one of the teams was practicing their Hindi, which is the national language of India, met a extremely

nice local man. After talking for awhile he stated that he would like to help in any way possible and we talked it over and decided that we would meet the next day for a possible time of food distribution. We then had lunch and finalized all preparations for that nights kids ministry. We did a skit of "House on the Rock" for the kids and explained that when you build your life on Jesus and what the Bible says then when bad things happen it won't be able to shake you, because Jesus always has our back! Those kids are just beyond awesome and are always a highlight of any day to spend time with.

Wednesday 5th of November

                The plan for this morning was to finish all our sermons and to prepare to give "open air" Gospel messages. Great morning of hearing from God and getting to get ready for the busy upcoming couple of days of ministry. Then after we headed to meet the man from the previous day in order to find a spot for the food distribution and to see if there were any new possible sites for ministry. So we again headed for the most fun trains in the entire world. Let me tell you the youth of India makes anyone feel like a movie star. Every kid runs up to you and wants to take pictures and you to write your name on their papers. So precious and such a great time to be Jesus hands and feet and a great way to talk about His love to them by loving on them in person. Directly from that stop we headed to a church we had previously been to in order to lead the service. We led the worship and preached, and it is always such a great time of refreshment to fellowship with believers here by where we are staying.

Thursday 6th of November

                We finally found more than one translator, praise God, and we met them the previous day while planning the food distribution. Come to find out they live right down the road from us yet we met them a couple of towns away. We had a time of personal evangelism with our new translator at the train station. It went very well, for one of the first times we could fully communicate with anybody in order to share the Good News. We then headed to meet a pastor who we had preached at his church for the last two Wednesdays, in order to do a time of open air evangelism. We visited, for our open air time, a little group of houses right along the railroad which none of the people had heard the Gospel message until that day. Two people asked Jesus into their hearts and publicly came forward in front of their families. What an honor it is to be a part of times like these. We all fall short, but God still uses us
in our weakness or in ways we would have never thought possible. Directly from here the pastor took us to his house and we were given the best chai tea ever. We then had to rush across town in order to be on time to a bible study we were to lead that night. We did a couple
worship songs then had a time of group prayer with them. All in all this was one of the best days since being here!

Friday 7th of November

                The days had been getting longer and longer, but it was well worth it because more and more people were accepting the message of Jesus that we were blessed to share with them. We had a time of intercession around 3 in the afternoon and from that we went to the local train station and held a time of open air evangelism. This night did not differ from past nights again two people accepted Jesus into their hearts. We were also able to pass out a ton of tracts and help people get plugged in to local churches in the area.  This is what God called us here to do and we were doing exactly that!

Saturday 8th of November

                This morning began like all great mornings do with a time of worship and then intercession. We then got ready to go to our food distribution site. A couple of us went a little early in order to get all the supplies we would need. This was not the usual food distribution because we had a kids program first and then a time of open air evangelism before handing out the food. We stayed at this location for quite awhile to spend time with the kids, and talk with all the adults who also were just presented with the free gift of salvation also the choice that comes with it. Had a blast with the kids some of us played tug-o-war, while others just played music for the kids. From here we split into 2 teams and one went to another location for an open air evangelism time, and the other headed to a church to lead worship. The open air went great another girl asked Jesus into her heart, so the entire day was summed up in just moment. If all of heaven parties when some accepts Jesus, we sure as well better be excited too. Lives are not the same not only the people in India, but us as students are forever changed as well.

                                                                                                                                               

Sunday 9th of November

                This Sunday was going to be our busiest day yet and no better way to start it off then at church. Then right after service we headed outside and had a huge field kids program that totaled seventy plus kids! We did the story of Jonah and The house on the Rock, followed by an older kids craft and younger kids coloring time. We then had a blast doing relay races and yes everyone joined in even the leaders.

During this church service we realized that there was another YWAM team at the

church too so they stayed for the whole kids club too. The church then cooked us up some great Indian food to say thanks for the kids program!  After this we headed back to church we are staying at as a little rest time for the night to come. Again we split into two teams one again went to a house church then the other group headed out to the train station for some personal evangelism time. God is so great, before leaving we prayed that He would send the people He wanted to speak to through us into our path that night. Let me just say He did exactly that! Three people received Jesus into their hearts other were told how to find the local churches. While having a conversation on the Gospel with a man, he told the students he was talking to, "I don't know why I am even talking to you in all honesty, I never walk this way coming home its always too busy." He not only invited those students for dinner to his home the next night, but also became a lifetime friend. This is in part some of the things that are changing all of us students, as we offer the Gospel that has the power to change generations, the reactions are lasting and changing us! Stay tuned into the blog for all updates and praise reports. All the praise to our Father for the gift of Jesus, that now those who were once blind may now see and in turn go preach in His name!

                 

                      

DTS OUTREACH TO INDIA WEEK 2

Week 2 in India                

Monday 27th of October

                This Monday was a rest day, or Sabbath if you will, due to having ministry on Sundays. We all did a variety of things, some went and explored some more of Kolkata and some also others stayed back to catch up some necessary reading. Not too much goes on during these off days, just preparing for a upcoming wonderful week of ministry.

Tuesday 28th of October

                Started the week of right with a morning of worship and great intercession, followed by afternoon of open air Bible reading. The Bible reading in public is such a ice breaker to begin to explain to people not only why we are here, but also to present the message of Jesus clearly to them. Later today we had our first kids ministry with some of the greatest kids worldwide! We were blessed by getting to act out the story of Jonah and the whale accompanied with coloring sheets, followed by a exciting time of duck-duck-goose.

Wednesday 29th of October

                Started this day by Bible reading in the streets ,so yes this morning did not differ from past mornings by any means. Though it really helps to read publicly because people everywhere knew who we were and knew a little about the Bible also. In the afternoon into the evening we went to our ministry sight where we held a kids ministry. Let me tell you these kids love duck-duck-goose, and foreign students attempting to speak Bengali, we also did a drama and story of the "Good Samaritan". I know some readers are wondering things like "where do they eat every night?" and let me tell you, Thank God for Ujan's!!! We also cook at the church we are staying at quite often for lunch and dinner, but tonight was a special treat. We went to a restaurant named Chaplin's it was extremely good, and change of pace for those adventurous students.

Thursday 30th of October

               

Great morning, a time of preparation and then some street Bible reading. The Bible reading was becoming more and more popular by the people who live around us. We kept returning to certain spots that had good results previously ,and because of this, we made friends locally and some invited us for food and tea. How great God is that any situation can be used to talk about this Great News we know of, and to share it with the world. Just wait this night gets better! We were once again asked to lead a church service this time it was in a neighborhood by us. Such a fun service they also did worship songs but in Bengali so it was so awesome to be a part of that. Best of all 2 people asked Jesus into their hearts after the message, so great to be used by God especially in our weakness. Easily the highlight of the week so far! This is the exact reason we came to India as harvesters in very plentiful harvest fields! Thank You Jesus!!!

Friday 31st of October

       

         Friday started off a little easier with the ministry for the day taking place again at the location we have for the kids. This time we told the story of David and Goliath. We used the story to show Jesus will never let you down and with him in your heart not even a giant can stop what God has planned for you! The best part was a couple of local teenagers had to translate for us. After when we were thanking them they answered that they were glad to because it was for God, and by helping translate they were helping God. How encouraging to hear and even a little "self check" to make sure that we are always viewing it that way, to always be ready to help even if it doesn't look beneficial to us in the moment because the outcome is always to glorify our Creator.

Saturday 1st of November

               

On this Saturday we divided into 3 teams led by students and the students picked then decided on a type of personal evangelism they felt God was leading us into. One group went to the local square and held a time of worship and Bible reading. Again reading the Bible in public is like a huge magnet that draws people to ask questions. That afternoon we headed to a soccer (football) field about a 15 minute walk from the church we stay. Playing soccer around cows was quite an experience but one we won't soon forget. Part of the group played worship music while the others played a pickup game with the guys there, and then the opportunity to explain why we're here was more than easy to explain.

Sunday 2nd of November

                Today started what was to be a very busy Sunday we had to split into two groups. One went to a church near our "kids club" and the other headed to a small house church where we met the most amazing guy who said he would translate for us whenever we needed. Which could not have come at a better time, God definitely knew what we needed and provided for us. That night we again went to the square as a team this time and held a night worship time and passed out tracts that are in Bengali to everyone who stopped. That way if we could not give the Gospel in English then we could still handout the Gospel in Bengali!

Week in review

                This was the greatest week so far easily due to the fact that people accepted Jesus into their heart. India is getting more and more normal so much less culture shock this week. The trains no one will get used to but still an experience riding those! Thanks again to the supporters due to you all of us could be here spreading the love of God. I also wanted to apologize personally as the student who is to be keeping up with the blog, I have done a poor job of keeping you all involved and informed. Thank you for all your prayers and continue to pray for unity as a body of Christ and for seeds that will produce a 100% crop. People that will accept Christ and begin to spread this love across India! Til' next time!