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!
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| Crashing the Indian Wedding! |
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| Being silly with the YWAM staff at Lonavala, India |
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| Outreach Day in Mumbai for kids of prostitutes in Red Light District |
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| Funeral at crematory where they burn bodies in Ganges River in Varanasi, India |
