Time in Lonavala and Varanasi

Hello everyone!

Sorry for the delay in blog posts.  We haven´t had internet for a little while.  Let me update you on how God has been moving in India!

We spent a week in Lonavala, India at the YWAM base which was in the mountains.  The scenery was beautiful, the weather cooler, and since our schedule was not jam-packed we were able to rest up some and get spiritually and physically recharged during this time. 

Sunday (May 26): We visited a local church where Ben gave a sermon, we did our Savior drama, and Lukas shared his testimony. At night, we did slum house visits and sang songs and shared Bible stories. Mariah prayed over a lady to receive dreams and visions of Jesus and after she prayed the lady had fallen asleep so maybe God was answering the pray right then! In the house next to us, a child was being beaten and it was so hard that we couldn´t do anything but pray over the situation.

Monday-Tuesday (May 27-28): We did a kids VBS in a slum village and were welcomed by 100 energetic kids.  This was a great time to teach them the 10 commandments, action songs, Bible stories, and lots of games. We´ve been praying that God uses the things the children learn about Jesus to impact their families There was also a medical clinic run for the slum families that we were able to serve at. We did slum ministry in houses again at night and one night did an open air evangelism time with our drama and a time of praying for the people. Mikkel got a word of knowledge for pain in a woman´s stomach and prayed and she was healed! Mariah prayed with another lady that she had seen in her dream the night before!

Wednesday (May 29): We visited an elderly blind person´s home and were amazed by the knitting and weaving stations that the blind people operate. We sang some worship songs with them and Oddvar shared his testimony. Many of the residents were not Christians but one elderly Christian man was so sweet and asked if he could pray for us.

Thursday (May 30): We did slum ministry at the train tracks by performing our Savior drama, sharing the Gospel and passing out snacks. We could have gotten arrested or kicked out the country for this but God protected us. That night we went with the YWAM students from the base and did house visits.  Courtney shared a Bible story and her testimony.  We got to pray for many people and God gave us many words of knowledge for these people!

Friday (May 31): We left Lonavala and headed to Mumbai for the day. We visited the red light district where many prostitutes were lining the streets.  We did an outreach for the kids of the prostitutes by taking them to the local park to play games.  We rode on an Indian train and hung out the side which was so fun! The kids loved this field trip since they rarely get to do things like this.

Saturday (June 1) In the early morning, we flew out of Mumbai en route to Varanasi, India, the holiest city in India.  The Lord provided for us a great hostel a little bit outside the city which was nice seeing that the city was so spiritually heavy. In the afternoon, we visited a Buddhist temple where Buddha preached his first sermon to his 5 disciples. We prayed over the area, watched a ceremony, and talked with some people there.

Sunday (June 2): We visited an elderly widows home and got to sing and pray for these sweet women.  They have a gift shop and bakery that they run and we got some yummy treats and souvenirs here. That night we hit the streets of downtown Varanasi where the Ganges River is, the holy river according to Hindus. We took a boat ride and saw the different ghats (landing places) where people worship. Each ghat has a different meaning.  For example, if you want a child you pray at a certain ghat and if you pray and dip yourself in the water at 5 different ghats in the right order in one day, your sins will be forgiven.  Also, the Hindus believe if you put dead bodies in the Ganges River, the body will skip reincarnation and go straight to heaven. We saw dead bodies and dead animals floating in the river.  This was a very spiritually heavy place but we prayed over the city that God would break all the demonic activity and confusion that the enemy has caused here.

Fun Fact: Each night we got to eat “Western” meals like banana pancakes at a local restaurant and a sweet man with a lisp served us. After that, we had an epic evening and crashed an Indian wedding! We had so much fun and were the third group to get our picture taken on stage with the couple, right after the family pictures! We ate so much food and they asked a few of us to be in an arranged wedding so we all pretended to be married couples!

Monday (June 3):  In the morning, we joined other YWAMers for worship, teaching, and of course chai tea! That night, we went back to downtown Varanasi, and split up into pairs and struck up conversations.   We didn’t have a translator but we were able to talk to many tourists and some locals who spoke English. Mariah and Oddvar got to pray and encourage some American Christian girls who felt God call them to India to share the Gospel.  Ben and Marlena talked with a few Brahmins (highest caste in India) who were drug dealers. Pia shared the Gospel with a man who sat down close to our group and said Pia looked like his sister. Courtney and Mikkel prayed over the crematory while watching bodies being burned. There was a lot of spiritual warfare that night and Courtney was awakened most of night because of it.  But we were just reminded that the enemy is not creative at all and tries to scare us but God is always victorious! Always! This just pushed us more to share the love of Christ with the city of Varanasi.

Tuesday (June 4): In the morning, we visited a juvenile prison and did our Savior drama, Marlena shared her testimony about God´s forgiveness and Pia shared the Gospel.  Many men received Christ that day. Pia got a word of knowledge for an in mate and the man was blown away that God would reveal something to her about his life. He said he wanted to live his life for God and trust Him with everything. That night, we were back at it and hit the streets of downtown Varanasi one last time.  After a really spiritually heavy night before, we knew God had big plans for this night.  We struck up many conversations that night.  Oddvar got to talk to a Muslim man he met the night before. Courtney and Mariah talked to a girl that Mariah had met the night before and while sitting on the steps in the middle of a Hindu ceremony going on, that girl accepted Christ into her life! And what was so cool is that Lukas, despite having to stay at the hostel due to sickness, felt God say to pray for us at the exact same time the girl was accepting Christ! This was amazing how God was moving even in the midst of such darkness.  Praise be to God who is always victorious! This was a great way to end our time in Varanasi!

Wednesday (June 5): We flew out of Varanasi early in the morning and there was a mix up about our flight so we ended up staying in New Delhi for the night.  The Lord was so good to us here and provided an amazing hotel for us to stay at and have a great meal all free of charge.  This was so amazing after a challenging week in Varanasi.

We are now in Kathmandu, Nepal and excited for a week of ministry here and then next week we will be trekking the Himalayan Mountains to talk to unreached people groups!

Prayers:

• ·      The strongholds of the enemy to be broken in Varanasi and to turn to God for true life
• ·      Physical health and spiritual strength as much of our team has battled sickness
• ·      For amazing miracles and many people to come to Christ in the villages of Nepal
• ·      To finish outreach strong as we only have 2 weeks left!

Crashing the Indian Wedding!

Being silly with the YWAM staff at Lonavala, India

Outreach Day in Mumbai for kids of prostitutes in Red Light District

Funeral at crematory where they burn bodies in Ganges River in Varanasi, India

Week 3 and 4

Alive & Well in India!

We´ve been in Chennai, India for two weeks. The family we´re staying with has taken great care of us by providing some Western meals (pizza, omelets, pasta, and steak), air-conditioning at night, and thankfully the electricity is not as dodgy as it was in Coimbatore.

Sunday: We went to two churches where we did our dramas, gave testimonies, sang some songs and preached. Marlena preached in the morning and Mariah in the evening. Both were naturals. J We spent time praying over people at the end & many people were healed in Jesus´name. After praying seven times for one man who was half paralyzed, he was able to walk without a cane by the end!

Monday. This was a bit of a day off. We relaxed and did something called “treasure hunting”. We broke up into teams and spent time walking through the city letting God lead us and praying for direction from Him.

Tuesday: Exciting day! Our staff from Australia had gotten the word Tirumala for our team. Tirumala is one of the biggest temple cities in all of India 3 hours from Chennai and it´s biggest festival of the year was today. It´s a day where people shave their heads to their gods, pierce & whip themselves to use the blood to mix with rice so they can “bless” their houses with the mixture. Before we arrived to the temple we had to leave anything “Christian” at a local house because if they found out we were Christians we could be put into prison. We even had to cover the Bible verse bumper sticker on the cars! We met a guy who two days before had been riding on a train when he almost fell off, thankfully someone caught him, but when he looked back to see who it was no one was there. He believes Jesus saved him and we were able to spend the day with him.  It was definitely a divine appointment, and we got to pray for him and speak into his life. We also got to hold a monkey! After we went to a village that was known for its spiritual darkness. Again we sang songs and did our drama. Some people came to know Jesus and again many healings happened!!

Wednesday: A celebration day to Courtney! We as a team tried our best to make her birthday a memorable one! We took the day off to go paintballing, after we swam in the Indian Ocean, we went to the mall for Subway & arcade games, and ended our evening with yummy chocolate cake. Happy Birthday Court J We love you!

Thursday: We were able to go to the hill where Thomas the disciple spent time spreading the Gospel and was martyred. We prayed a lot, and it was crazy to see all the shrines and the idols the Catholics worship there…in the evening we again went to a village. This one was of the lowest from the caste system and they were the UNTOUCHABLES. It was all the people that no one loved or wanted. We spent time praying door to door & God moved through healings. Through our drama, people accepted Christ. It was such a blessing to be there!

Friday: We had the opportunity to help paint & move rocks for the construction of an orphanage. It was one sweaty, painty, and dirty time. It was about 45 C, which is 119 F. We roasted. In the evening Oddvar gave a message for a Bible study & we went door to door in a fishermen´s village to pray over people.

Saturday: Once again we spent the morning painting. At night we went to another fishermen´s village where we did our drama & Courtney led the Bible study. A few beautiful women came to know Christ that night J

Sunday: Busy day! At the first church service Ben preached, right after we went to a youth group where Lukas preached & we spent time playing games, sharing testimonies, singing songs and praying over them. In the evening we spent time doing an open air. It was a time of trusting God since we could be thrown out of the country for openly sharing the Gospel. There was a big truck that blared music that we followed around. We would stop every so often & perform our drama using the truck´s headlights to see. It was a joyous time of prayer and being covered in dirt from lying in the dusty street.

Monday: Another day off! We went to a market where the girls all loved buying jewelry & sunglasses. After we went to the movies where we enjoyed popcorn, cheering & clapping during the movie, and even a 15-minute intermission. Also, we were all blown away by there being toilet paper & soap in the bathrooms! Woo hoo!

Tuesday: We spent the earlier morning helping lead a VBS. We played games, sang songs, taught them the Ten Commandments and a Bible story as well. After we went to a leprosy colony. It was heartbreaking & also incredible to share with them. We gave them rice and new clothes. We also spent time talking, praying, doing the drama and letting them know that Jesus loves them. In the evening we went to do slum ministry. It was quite an experience. We did songs, our drama, and shared a testimony in two different places. After we would pray for people and let God work through us. The coolest thing was that one lady gave her life to Christ that night…her husband was oppressed by an evil spirit, and she realized that no one could help him but Jesus Christ. Her face started glowing after she had prayed the prayer, and it was the most beautiful thing. God is awesome.  On a funny note, Courtney got attacked by tons of fire ants while using the squatty potty and Mariah got peed on by a naked baby! It was funny!

Wednesday: Happy Wednesday to you! This morning we once again did VBS. Lukas & Courtney did a fabulous job leading the time. We then went to the construction site of the orphanage to finish up the painting! At night, Marlena led a Bible study at the beach and it was a great time.

Thursday: Last day of ministry here in Chennai! That means last day of VBS. The kids loved it! We got to pray for each one of them and are praying that everything they learned about Jesus impacted them. Then we got to go to a bible study with some ladies in one of the biggest slum areas here in Chennai! The Holy Spirit started moving in beautiful ways during worship, and it was so tangible to all of us. No matter how different our cultures are from each other, there was such a connection in the spirit. We were all ready to go, but then something very unexpected happened. One lady came up for prayer that had been possessed by an evil spirit for the last year! And as we prayed for her she started manifesting as a snake demon. She wasn’t able to say the name of Jesus. We pressed in with prayer with the pastors, and by the end she seemed a lot more peaceful, was able to say the name of Jesus and pray! Pretty crazy but so cool to see what God is doing here! It’s hard to believe that our time here is pretty much over, and therefore half of our outreach! It’s been a challenging, hard but awesome time so far! J

Next stop: Lonovala!

Prayer Request:

We’ve been hit by all kinds of sicknesses the last days, it’s nothing major, but we would love prayer for health…Also that we´d continue to be unified and that God would give us energy & motivation!

We miss you all! God bless.

This is the guy we met at the temple (Tirumala)

Work day at the orphanage

Open air at village

 

Week 2

Well it´s been a jam pack week to say the least.  Let me recap…

Sunday (May 5)

We traveled to the outskirts of Coimbatore to stay a few days with a pastor and his family.  We started our time there visiting his church.  Ben led a few worship songs and the church loved to dance so the pastor called our four girls up to the front to dance for everyone.  It was really funny! Next, Oddvar gave his testimony, we did our Savior drama for the first time, and Courtney shared a short message about believing God´s truth instead of lies. That night we had dinner and ministry time. We sang a few songs, Marlena shared her testimony, we prayed for the family, and we played games with everyone.  We were hoping that some Hindu women were going to come but they were prevented because their husbands wouldn´t allow them.

Monday (May 6)

The group ventured off to some markets for the girls to get sari´s and the boys to get lungies (basically a sheet that you can wrap up into a skirt).  The boys loved that they could wear skirts all the time! Haha! That night we had ministry time with the pastor and family. Ben led us in worship, Mariah shared her testimony, and Lukas gave a message on healing. After that we shared a meal crammed in a small bedroom.  We are blown away by how hospitable everyone is to us and how the Indian culture is so relationship-oriented.

The power cuts out 17 hours a day in Coimbatore so we had a fun time around 2 am when we got really hot and attacked by mosquitos.  No one could really sleep so we all crowded around to have Ben read “The Chronicles of Narnia” to us in his proper English accent. 

Tuesday (May 7)

We visited a leper colony and did kid´s ministry.  We sang songs, did our Savior drama, played games, and had a lot of fun with the kids.  Random fun (kind of gross) fact: We placed bets on who would be the first to get diarrhea and Ben won..ding, ding, ding..followed shortly by Pia, Mikkel, Oddvar and Mariah throwing up.  The look of desperation on Pia´s face was priceless as she tried to race to the bathroom but the door to the house was locked. No worries though, we´re all back to normal again!

The pastor and his family have been wanting to build a church, an orphanage and a home for children with polio and God miraculously provided a large plot of land for FREE but because of finances they have been prevented from building. So the team prayed over the land and asked God to provide and finish what He started.  This family is amazing and their faith is so encouraging!

Wednesday and Thursday (May 8 and 9)

We helped out at a kid´s Vacation Bible School and played lots of action songs, did some skits, arts and crafts, and led group times sharing about the fruits of the Spirit. We were wiped out by the end of the time but it was amazing to invest in these little kids.  We were told that 80% of the kids were from Hindu families so it was amazing to share God´s truth and trust that He will use these little children to impact their families.

Friday March 10th

*Sidenote* The previous Saturday we were blessed to go swimming at a 5 star resort. God had an angel in disguise named Vincy there who got us into the closed off pool for an hour which was a beautiful change of pace after our busy, hot week. We had the day off again on Friday so we went back to the Meridian hotel to swim in the pool.  We saw Vincy again and she blessed us again this time by letting the guys in even though they had their skirts on, turns out you cannot wear those to nice resorts. It was great to see her again and we found out she was a Christian by boldy asking about the cross necklace she had on. That night we went to the Fun Mall and ate Pizza Hut!

This last week in Coimbatore was full of beautiful people, good food, and a ton of kids! We’ve been so blessed by our contacts and the locals, that treated us like family! After a long overnight bus ride, we´re now in Chennai, and excited for two weeks of ministry here!

Prayer Requests:

·      Restful sleep at night

·      Team unity

·      Hear God´s voice clearly

·      To be moved by the Holy Spirit

·      Love and passion for the people of India

Thanks for your prayers and talk to you soon! Here is a picture from our time after visiting the leprosy colony. 

Week One. Here we go!

Let the mission begin

We left last Saturday morning at 4am. Our first flight to Singapore was 8 hours long and they treated us like royalty. Movies galore, good food, snacks, and even hot towels to wash our faces. Such luxury. We then had a 6 hour layover in Singapore that felt more like a vacation. Between the butterfly garden, game rooms, Starbucks, art area, and a few other gardens we were well taken care of. Our last real Western food was a piece of cheesecake that we split 8 ways.

Our next flight was 4 hours long, Courtney had the “pleasure” of sitting in vomit on the plane. It was a smelly, uncomfortable flight to say the least. And we landed in Coimbatore, India at 12 am their time, 5 am our time.

We are staying at a YWAM base, a few blocks from the airport, which has 10 students participating in a school of worship. The girls are all sleeping in one room with two other students & the boys are split up into two different rooms.

I suppose the best way to explain all we have experienced & been involved in would be to do a day-by-day account.

Sunday:

Every morning breakfast is from 7-7:45 and we eat bananas, toast and Chai tea. I should rephrase that, it´s the best Chai tea in the world! We met the school of worship leaders, Jo from Australia & Robin from India, and were given an orientation. They are such an amazing couple who strive to serve God. This day was full of resting, getting settled in and attempting to adjust to the heat & culture. We also had our first real experience with curry which we eat every meal and with our hands. It´s quite a freeing experience & we´ve all joked about how our mothers would be appalled at how we play with our food. After that we ventured to the mall. Pure chaos. Packed side by side is a jumble of cars, motorcycles, rickshaws, buses, mini cars, and they´re all flying by wildly honking & zooming in and out of traffic. 5 people are crammed onto a scooter, babies are dangling from their mother´s arms, and men are wearing short skirts (lugies). At the mall the girls were able to buy our first kootas. No exposed shoulders, arms, or legs are allowed and the only place we´re able to relax and breath is when we´re in our room or taking a bucket shower.

Monday:

Since the electricity randomly shuts off, we´ve all been having a difficult time sleeping. Once it goes off, it feels as though a warm blanket is trying to suffocate you because the humidity & heat are so intense. Without fans, it´s very difficult to get any sleep. We had base worship at 9 am. It was very refreshing. We also met our translator Jabe who we all adore.  In the afternoon, we went to an orphanage with so many precious children of God. We spent the time singing some songs, Lukas told a bible story of the Prodigal son that we all acted out, and we played some games. Because Oddvar was the father in the play the kids all took to calling him “daddy”. It was a bit overwhelming for some of us, but a good experience. It was heartbreaking seeing so many children without parents. The sight of them yelling goodbye & waving through the gate was one we shall not forget.

Tuesday:

Our motto has been to drink water and be flexible. Every moment is constantly changing and plans never prosper. This day was a long one, but rewarding. We traveled by bus for an hour to a village where there was a tiny church. In this village this little church oppressed and even while we were there a pasty faced, beady-eyed Hindu priest peaked through the door chanting that we must only pray and not convert. The head pastor had become a Christian 5 years ago and had followed Gods call to go to the unreached. Many children were at the church since the parents were mostly working. They had once been Hindu, but had converted to Christianity. It was also beautiful to interact with the kids because it was their first time being around foreigners. What an honor! We taught them some fun songs, we also did one of our skits called the “healing drama”, Ben did a fantastic job at bringing the word & we also taught them a memory verse. Funny tidbit: While trying to get used to the new foods, Courtney accidentally let loose a fart during Ben´s preaching and the pastor´s wife stared her down.  Haha! Moving on.. they clung onto every word we said. I should also mention none of us have ever sweated so much in our lives. It´s about 105 Fahrenheit and with the humidity it´s about 120. I´m not sure what that is in Celsius, but many of our shirts & kootas were changing color from our sweat. We also were able to pray over them & eat lunch with them. We learned that during prayer we´re suppose to say “soltrom” over & over again. It means “praise the Lord”.  We also had the moment during lunch that they offered us water & we all just stared at each other terrified and the pastor´s wife said “God will take care of you”. With that said, we´ve been praying over all our food and so far are very healthy! Funny tidbit: Right before we left Courtney & Mariah had to use the restroom. The wife lead us right outside the “back” door to where we all had just rinsed off our curry hands. It turns out where we had walked barefoot to wash our hands was actually the bathroom and we all had just traipsed through their pee. Later in the afternoon we went to Jaba´s house where we all collapsed onto his living room floor and slept. Pia somehow bought us snacks and Courtney cried tears of happiness when she saw Oreos. In the evening we visited a house where we gathered in the “prayer room” that had an empty plastic lawn chair for Jesus that we almost accidently sat in. We were able to pray over them and in return received some bananas from the tree outside. Jaba lead us to the church where the girls almost sat on the boys side of them. Again sang some songs, Mariah shared her testimony, we did our healing drama, and Mikkel freelanced it with preaching and did an amazing job. After we prayed over them, checked out the pastor´s home and went to another house to pray Funny tidbit: Since the restrooms have squatty potties and there is no toilet paper we´ve been having to bring our own. Courtney after using the bathroom asked for a garbage bin to throw away her used wipe and instead of showing it to her, they just took it from her. It was a long day with only bread & jam for dinner.

Wednesday:

We crammed into a taxi to go to the “Fun Mall”. Since we´re white as soon as we got in “My Humps” by the Black Eyed Peas started blaring through the speakers. We were able to be refreshed by McDonalds & buy some fruit since we´ve been deprived of it. In the afternoon we visited two temples. It was very spiritually heavy and difficult to see how lost these people are. Marlena and Mariah cried heaps.

Thursday:

In the morning we went with the school of worship to a retreat place where we had 5 hours of solitude & prayer. In the afternoon we traveled near the mountains to a small village. We met with a pastor from a persecuted church and within the village many dark spiritual things were going on. Funny tidbit: Mariah and Marlena told the pastor they liked his couch and he offered for them to take it home. 70% of the people there are tribal. We were able to do street ministry for the first time. Imagine 8 foreingers in a tiny village standing in the dirt street under one street lamp. It was a beautiful scene. We sang, Courtney shared her testimony, we did the healing drama, and Marlena brought the word. Afterwards we offered prayer and pretty much everyone came up. We prayed against pain, oppression, and many dark things. One specific woman came up and asked for prayer because she hadn´t been able to work for three days because of intense back pain. Pia sat her down and her legs were different sizes. Marlena and Pia prayed over her and her legs grew out. When she stood up her back pain was less, but they prayed again and it was gone. God is good. Soltrom. We thought she was wiping away sweat, but truly she was crying tears of joy. Some girls taught Mariah and Courtney Indian dances. The children love Ben´s height. And they adore Oddvar and Lukas. We had an incredible time.

Friday:

We spent quite a bit of time praying over each of the other teams sent out from our base. In the afternoon us six students went with Jabe to a home for the destitute run by Catholics. It was a home for cripples, mentally ill, addicts, mute and some blind. We sang worship songs for them and they loved it, then we did our healing skit. After that we prayed over all of the men individually. It was a beautiful time and the men were so grateful and open for prayer. The men had so much joy and life in them even though they were stuck in a home. We had fun taking pictures with them and playing music, Ben serenaded a group of old men. It was nice afternoon of sharing and loving!

 So its been a great week! Please pray we continue to have a unified team, for boldness as we speak, and for restful sleep despite the heat.  We have a big week ahead and will talk to you soon!

Here´s a pic of a village we visited: