Week 3 Update
I'm sorry for not getting the blog update earlier. I have had problems uploading the content to the blog.
This week has been an incredible week. So much has happened that I'm sure that I am going to miss out on something important. The week began when David and I went to Jabalpur to pick up three guys from the Indianapolis area that were visiting David. Their churches are supporting churches of MICM for many years. We left on Monday night in order to go and meet with some of the guys from the movement. There were about 20 guys who were their to meet together. Later that night we went out to the slum area where some of these guys live. They wanted us to come to their house to pray and worship together. I'm pretty sure that this was one of the most incredible experiences that I have had in my life. These men who have nothing except for the hope and love of Jesus praying and worshipping the Creator of the Universe. We sat on plastic cement bags that was laid out on the floor of a palm leaf roofed hut. These men have been enslaved because of the Hindu caste system for years and now they are coming to Jesus and are leaving Hinduism and the caste system. All I kept thinking was that I am experiencing the same type of innocent and pure worship and prayer as was seen in the 1st century after Jesus has raised into heaven.
The next morning we went to pick up these guys flying in from Delhi. After we picked them up we went and and visited several churches that have been started in Jabapore. They were the traditional style churches and were nice. But after we saw two of them David wanted to show these guys a gathering of the men from the movement. It was the same experience that I had witnessed the night before but this time I remembered my camera and got some good pictures and video so that I could capture the experience. There were over 30 men and women that met again. There was a man who was there for the first time. He saw a bunch of guys walking to the meeting and asked where they were going. They told him and he joined them. By the end of the prayer meeting he was praising the name of Jesus and playing the drum.
When we left that meeting we drove back to Damoh but we stopped at a village that David has been trying to witness to for over 10 years. I think it was six months ago he went and presented the gospel in the same manner as this movement has come about and the whole village has now come to Christ. We stopped in at the place where they gather for worship and prayer unannounced and there were over a hundred people their to welcome us and worship with us.
The next few days David and I showed the guys from Indiana around Damoh and all the aspects of MICM. It was good because some of the places I had not seen yet. Thursday we went to another village where we met this man, Bugot Gi, David has converted through the movement who is around 80 years old. In 1940 he started worshipping only one god. He was introduced to Jesus in 1960 but didn't get the connection. David gave him a Bible a year ago and read it cover to cover. He told David, “this is the God I have been looking for since 1940.” Bugot Gi has a following over over 30,000 people who have bought into his beliefs over the past 60 years. Now he is preaching that Jesus is the one true God. We all were amazed at his prayers and worship when we met with him. The guys from Indian left Friday afternoon to head to Delhi to fly home.
Saturday was a national holiday for India, so no one had to work. I attended a flag raising ceremony early this morning. Then David and I left around 2pm to go to the state capital Bhopal to attend a district rally of the “potters caste.” The leader of this caste is a Christian and is presenting the ideas of this movement to the group meeting. There are over 60 million people in this caste throughout India. So the rally was another step for this movement with the potential of 60 million to come to Christ. Praise God and keep praying for this movement. It is incredible and I thank God everyday for allowing me to see this first hand. If you can pray for David and Sheela as they keep reaching out to people in this movement. And pray that God will continue to reveal to me why He has brought me to India during this incredible time for His Kingdom. Thanks for the prayers.
