...more from India

Here is another note from my pastor friends son in India. Please excuse the broken english. I do believe you will be able to understand it though.Please note also, that when he mentions "tribal villages, he is speaking of small thatch home villages of 5 to 100 homes. Almost 3/4 of India's 1 billion plus people live in these kinds of small villages. Pastor Rao and his son with their ministry team have spent the last 15 years preaching in these villages. They will get a small battery operated PA system with an old cone stadium speaker and strap them to a bicycle. Then they will push the bicycle through these areas and preach the Gospel. This is mountianous terrain. The roads are rocky and dusty. Most of these go barefooted. But it does not stop them. Also, please note that once a month they have an all night prayer and fasting meeting. These people sit on their feet and pray. They have callouses on the top of their feet from praying. Hello? Ok, here is the note. Be blessed, challanged, and encouraged. God is pouring out His Spirit on India.Good evening uncle,This is James from India We very thank full to you, for your prayers and everythinguncle so thank you for financial support to minisrythank full to you and your jobs to got you we praisegod for you setelmentwe very great to you and thankull to and you promice to send money for mybiblestudies can take from in this support or you send ingfor separate,any how thank you for every thing Uncle I have prepare one albham about our ministry andour work in tribal ,so I want to send to you so pleasegive me your address, thank you for your response forevery letter so thank full to you I was so depressedabout your reply any how thank to god for your love tous, Uncle we love you very much here I am sending lastmonth report what we done in ministry in tribal REPORT1.\tlast month went for to preach gospel in tribal area.we covered nearly 12 villages every group we aredivided each batch three pastors and some youth we arecovered so many villages for god every evening wearranged one gospel meeting ,any how w very blessed todo ministry 2.\twe prayed for every sick people we visited everyhome 3.\tand after that we have a meeting sin our churchmembers house.4.\tevery Thursday we have a thanks giving meeting sowe are joined in that 5.\tand every month at end of month at last Friday wehave all night fasting prayer we in that prayer wevery enjoyed in that 6.\tWhen w are in all knight my cycle was stolen bysome body so I lost cycle please pray for return that,that will be very us full in visiting house, so pleasepray for that.7.\tplease pray for our ministry in tribal Tank youfor every letter to us, we praying for you in ourdaily family prayers and your ministry and everyperson so please continue to pray for us Yours in him Pastor rao and his son James P.S. from Lahry: I am a terrible fund raiser. I'm not begging for anything. But should you feel the conviction and wish to assist these faithful souls in their ministry, please contact me by email at lahry4u@yahoo.com. These people are the real deal, beloved. I know, I went there and saw for myself. It is very humbling to witness their faith, devotion and desire for souls.

...shut up in my bones. I thirst for India. I have so much to share with them and encourage them. It's and exhorter's paradise. \\o/ God knows that when His time comes, I won't need to be asked more than once. I'll be gone. Thank you so much for your kind encouragement. I'm so glad you are blessed, challanged, and blessed again. Once I accepted to go to India in 2000, they held two 48 hour prayer meetings in my advent. You talk about humbling. Your very heart cries out oh God, who am I. My first morning there, I am awakened at 5:30 am by loud singing. So I put on my robe and went into the living room. There was the pastors whole family standing singing praise and worship songs. Then they all sat down and each one read a chapter in the bible. They were reading Jeremiah. Even though not in my language, it ministered to me. Then they each one in turn prayed. I've never witnessed anything like it. The devotion was awesome. They gave me a song sheet that had some song in their own language, and some in english. They asked me about "How great thou Art", if I knew the melody. I said yes. So they asked me to sing it for them, as they had never heard the melody before. We all had tears in our eyes as they drank in this wonderful old hymn. Brother, this is "real living". This is one of the poorest places on the planet, yet the richness of their faith is sumptious and enviable, both at the same time. Again, who am I, oh Lord? Please continue to stand with us in prayer, that God will make a way. I don't care if it's only one way, I'll go. Shalom,Lahry

Even so, come quickly Lord Jesus. Many years ago, I asked the Lord for the desire of my heart. The desire of my heart would be to die on the mission field, with all my family serving there with me. Now I know that is a big request, but then we serve a big God. I must be transparent and tell you that by sight, the possibility looks quite bleak. But every now and then, God lets a little beam through the dark clouds to let me know He hasn't forgotten, and He is the worker of miracles in our hearts and lives. Some of my children are quite caught up in the flesh and the world currently. But within the last month, I have seen one come home to his faith. My son Gabriel has committed to going to bible college and then to the mission field. Oh sweet Jesus, the joy of my bones. How could my son honor me or His God any more than that?I could site to you many reasons why we are not "there yet", none of which involves the love of my Savior. It is His love for us that keeps us all hanging on. I could list many obstacles, but to do so would be at someone else's expense. If only I had done all I could do and knew to do, things would be so different in this hour. But the cold hard facts are that the greatest contributor to defeat has been my own failing to do what God told me to do, when He told me to do it. I didn't seek Him for far too many decisions I made on my own. But I have cried out for mercy from this monument of mercy from our Lord, that like Hezekiah, He would grant me 15 more years, and that I would offer each one to Him for His service as He would choose. So we shall see. I have laid it all down at His feet. I have confessed my sins. I place my hope only in Him, for the balance of this life, and for the life eternal yet to come.Having seen what I have seen on the mission field, I groan in my heart for those who have never had the priviledge of being there. I know many are not called to long term missions. But oh that each who calls themselves "christian" would go for at least 2 weeks. It changes you forever. It helps to unhook you from the cares and riches of this world, and to see true riches, there for the taking. Oh how we hold on to this life and in doing so miss the real abundant life. The abundance of stuff is not what Jesus had in mind. Let me share what I mean, if I may.I was in Jamaica back in the mid 80's. I had met this christian lady who began to tell me about her village, some 15 miles away. So I began to visit that village one day a week. This lady told me about the "Thomas family". The children were mean and unruly. They had a reputation all over the district for being very ungodly. The boys would catch this sister carrying groceries or what have you, and strip her burdens out of her arms, tear at her clothes, and then laugh at her. I did not know this family, nor did I know where they lived. One day, I was walking down this gravel road, and I came upon this house. It had a fenced yard, and there were children everywhere it seemed, playing as children do. Some adult ladies were hanging wash on the line. I nodded my head and spoke. It was obvious I was not from this area, and so they invited me to have a glass of water, which I accepted. I sat in the shade and begin to converse with a senior family member. All I had was rest on my mind, nothing more. Before I can even realize what is happening, I'm talking about the Lord to these people. One by one they all stopped what they were doing, and came and listened. I knew this was way bigger than me. All repented of their sins and pleaded to Jesus to be their all sufficient Savior. A couple weeks later, I met this same lady mentioned above in town. Actually, she saw me first. She let out a shout you could hear all over town. "Oh brother, Lahry" she cried. "Have you heard the news about the Thomas family, how they all got saved"? I still did not know it was the Thomas family the Lord had used me to minister too. She said, "they are all changed, from mean to sweet". "Instead of kicking and taunting me, they want to help me. They offer to help me around my home. The news of the change has spread like a fire all over the district".Can I share with you that this us joy unspeakable? As she witnessed to me, tears ran down my cheeks. I realized that it was the Thomas Family that the Lord saved that day. Oh how can a Holy God use a wretch like me to be a conduit of His mercy and grace? It is beyond my comprehension. I merely made myself available, He did all the rest. If you hang out with missionaries, dear saints, they can tell you story after story like this one. It's called abundant life. It has nothing to do with this world, and everything to do with the next. It is the wages of being the servant of the Most High God. The good news is that there is always more openings from this source of employment. Oh the benefits, oh the riches. Oh what a glorious and wonderful God we serve. Do we really have time to fret over the things of this world as they are perishing before our very eyes? Time is a gift from God. What will I do with mine? What will you do with yours? Who will we serve? There are only "two masters". To not choose one is to choose the other by default. Are we living by default, or by choice? If we have chosen Him, do we ever show up for work?Sigh, I'm just rattling keys again. I don't know how I got here. I'll just trust God, maybe there is one whom He is dealing with in this late hour. Dont' sign up for unemployment, beloved. Report that you sought work and found it, in the service of the King of Kings. Glory be to God. Enlist yourself in the Army of the Lord. There is not a better paying job on the face of the planet, or ever known to man. Selah.

I'm now getting email from a young lady in Bulgaria who is not allowed to go to church by her father. He thinks it's a disgrace to his family. Please pray for her and the father. Thank God for SI. It's one of her only resources for outreach and fellowship.