Village Visit #2

“Yesterday [Monday] was amazing. Even though we only got about 4 hours of sleep, we were up early and ready by 9… The village we traveled to was a good 30+ miles passed last week’s village, over roads which got worse with every mile. It was the first time we had taken the Jeep anywhere and while it’s not the most comfortable vehicle, it’s very good for the kind of work we’re doing… All the time we were driving out [to the village]I kept thinking ‘there is no place I’d rather be than bouncing along a hot, dusty, rutted road in the middle of nowhere on my way to a small village to spread the Gospel’. I kept thinking ‘how many time I’ve dreamed about this.’” -excerpt from Chelsea’s journal, Tuesday, February 1, 2011

We arrived at the village at about 12:30pm, so we immediately went to the home of one of the believers and ate a delicious lunch of wata, egg curry, and rice. (These are some of my, Chelsea’s, favorite foods in India; especially the wata.) The Indian’s customarily take a rest after lunch when they can. We gladly followed this custom since we had so little sleep the night before, but we didn’t actually sleep. Instead we took our Bibles and sat in a corner of the courtyard, reading and watching everyone go about their business. One of the women soon gathered the other women and children and came over to sing to us! It was wonderful! Bethany and I love the unique sound of the Indian music, especially the Christian songs. Soon we were trading songs with them, they would sing us a song and then we would sing one back. We sang 3 of our Telugu songs and several English songs. Pastor David, who had been trying to nap, came out and then we had a translator too.

Wata and Egg Curry (and my hand) The Believers singing to us

Bethany insists that I tell you what English songs we sang for them… That morning we had been discussing songs from our childhood we could use in Sunday School, so among others we sang “I’ve Got Joy Like A Fountain” and “Father Abraham.” Pastor David is still learning to use our video camera, but here’s a clip of me leading a group of women and children who have little or no idea what I’m doing in the motions to “Father Abraham”…

We also had the privilege of hearing the testimonies of two of the evangelists working with HBA. I’m going to share one of them with you. Paul’s wife came to Christ after a fellow fieldworker shared the love of Jesus with them. But Paul only pretended; he did not actually commit his life to Christ. For many years, he would go to church only on occasion and close his eyes when his wife prayed just to make her happy. One day, he went into the forest to hunt for rabbits even though his wife didn’t want him to go that day; she said she had a bad feeling about it. When he reached the edge of the forest a figure of a man appeared to him and told him to go back to his wife, but he continued on his way. After a while he sat down under a tree to rest. When Paul stood up, a cobra was in front of him. It struck his leg and didn’t let go (normally, the cobra would just bite and then let go and wait for its prey to die). The poison began to travel up his leg and he collapsed. But as Paul’s eyesight began to blur, a vision of Jesus appeared to him and healed him. From that moment on, Paul has followed Jesus fully. He has been a Christian for several years now but has only been an evangelist for 3 years.

Once it got a little cooler, we left the compound to go street preaching. This still a very new experience for Bethany and I, but we are growing in our ability and comfort. We were so blessed to walk around the village. We prayed for several of the believers in their homes for healing and health and that they would know the Lord more. We were also privileged to be asked to pray for several of the non-believers in the village- we prayed for one woman that she would conceive and two other s that they would regain good health and for one man that his broken hand would heal properly and for a little baby that he would stop coughing. Many, many things to be praying for… please pray with us if the Lord brings them to mind.

We left the village very late that night because we did something historic for HBA. We played the Jesus film in Telugu for the villagers- the historic part is that this is the first time HBA has been able to use all their own equipment. Pastor David was able to purchase a used LCD projector last fall and we had a used laptop donated which we were able to bring and give Pastor David. (Pastor David expresses HUGE thanks to the person who donated the laptop). It was also an opportunity to grow in faith and prayer, as there was no electrical plug and no generator… but there were POWER LINES!!!! Hope was renewed and two of the evangelists used a long pole with a hook on one end and a piece of wire to connect to the power lines while Bethany and I prayed for their safety, and the safety of all the equipment. Praise the Lord, there was no KABLUEEE! (Bethany’s word) and the video was able to play without incident. It was a wonderful opportunity to plant seeds in the hearts of about 40 villagers. Please pray with us that the words they heard would continue to sound in their hearts and minds, that they would be filled with questions about what they saw, and that they would come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.

The HBA evangelists and all the equipment

Tuesday and Wednesday were wonderful days of rest (much needed after two late nights, Sunday Skyping with our church at home and Monday arriving back from the village), study, and play. Nathan (age 6) David’s youngest son, has been home sick this week and so he has been spending a lot of time with us. (He is feeling much better now and will be going back to school tomorrow.) We have had a great time teaching him games, spelling words in English with the Scrabble letters we brought, and just hanging out. He has quite the personality and the more we get to know him, the more we enjoy spending time with him. This goes for Havilash (older son) and Suhasini (David’s wife…also called Bulah) as well. Wednesday evening was the usual gathering of believers and we shared about the joy of the Lord, how it is different from happiness, and why/how to have joy even in difficult circumstances.

“…in Your presence there is fullness of joy…” Ps 16:11