....I was awakened at 5:30 am to loud singing. So I put on my robe (bath robe, not a church robe, lol) and peeked out of my room. There in the living room was the pastor and his family singing praises unto God at the top of their voices. Then each one read a chapter of God's Word.They were reading in Jeremiah. Then each one prayed as led by the Lord. It was so awesome. They begin every day of the year this way. The Holy Spirit just filled the room. I was so ashamed of me. They handed me the words to the hymn "How Great Thou Art". They asked me if I knew the melody. I said yes. They asked me to sing it, because they had never heard it before. With my eyes full of tears, we worshipped God together, enjoying His Spirit in the words of this awesome work of music. It was heavenly, to say the least. It took them 4 years to build their home/church. The government told them they could not build a church on the ground. So they built their house, and then the church on top of that. They built as they could raise funds. Now catch this, they layed hands on each and every brick and prayed God's anointing over it before it was layed, brick by brick. Needless to say, it is a wonderful place to have church. The people arrive 2 hours before church starts to kneel and sit on their feet on hard concrete to pray. They have callous on top of their feet from praying. Is that hard to imagine or what? Is it any wonder thay are winning souls and destroying the works of the enemy? In the village churches, there are anywhere from 10 to 100. Some have no church building to meet in. So they just gather and have church. Usually, the pastor and maybe one or two more will have a bible. The members simply have no funds to purchase one, even though one can be purchased locally for $2.00 US. I was preaching in this one village. When the service concluded, Pastor Rao called up this old lady. She had a plastic bag folded and held it over her heart. He took the bag from her and opened it up. Inside were a few pages of the New Testament. It wasn't much, but it was all she had. Indians carry their bibles over their heart, for it is very dear to them. Anyone who owns one is considered very fortunate indeed. These young men who have been raised up to pastor these churches are so clean, physically and spiritually. You just love being near them. They are un-tainted by the world, and it just reaks off them. You just instantly fall in love with them in the Lord. They are delightful to be with. When we were out visiting the tribal villages, we went from place to place in a jeep, much like the one in the photo album. It had an old tape player in it, with the speaker wires just twisted together, but it worked. They had this tape of Paul Overstreet singing "God is good all the time". They played it and sang it over and over and over again. When you lay your head down at night, it is all you can hear in your heart. God is good, all the time, He put a song of praise in this heart of mine. India has little or no appeal to the flesh. But God gives you such amazing grace and eyes to see above the surroundings. Oh, how my spirit growns within when I consider what can be seen above what is seen by the eye. White harvest, as far as the eye can see. Over 1 billion souls. In the cities, the need is just completely overwhelming. In the rural areas, there seems to be a meger balance and everyone gets a little something. But not so in the city. Old people just lay on the sidewalks, waiting for their turn to die. Children wander aimlessly, abandoned by their parents who hope someone will take them in. Shelter comes from whatever you can find, usually trash. Food is searched for in piles of refuse and garbage. I'm not trying to be gross here, just telling you what I've seen with my own eyes. It just makes you feel so helpless, because you have so little to offer, not even enough for temporary relief from the anguish of hunger and pain. Yet, time moves on. Souls die without Christ, while we worry about who is going to bat first at the ball game tonight. God help us all.Lahry
