Bangalore Recap: Part 2

[Continued from http://glmcindia.blogspot.com/2011/07/bangalore-recap-part-1.html]

…It was already dark when our humble bus put-putted into the even more humble town of B. Khota Khota.  I confess that my heart sank when I saw tee-pee like huts and thought to myself, “No… way, please don’t tell me we will be sleeping in a place like this”.  OH but the Lord is good and we pulled up to a beautiful and spacious white church—a definite improvement from our previous two nights.  “Five star hotel,” in the words of Missionary James. 

 We slept on mats on the floor (upgrade from sleeping just on the floor) but soon found out that the space was already occupied by a family (big family) of sparrows.  The chirping was shrill, the poop falling from the ceiling was “so nasty!” and “sick!” (a few terms coined by our very own team members).  We learned how to cohabitate, however, and even though the little menaces woke us up at the crack of dawn, we had thankful hearts.

[shudder -_-]

We partnered with Pastor Nazareth and continued our medical ministry at B. Khota Khota.  Things went super smoothly.  KCM team did their skits, songs and presentations for the villagers and we ministered to many people and prayed for every single one.  Our teamwork was impeccable and our hearts were aligned like the sun and the moon during an eclipse. (HEHE)

We even had our very own village boy helpers… another post will be dedicated to them.  Long story so I won’t get into it now. *SIGH*

We did the majority of our medical stuff at the church but also had an invitation to visit a school and had a blessed time ministering to the children there.

The following day, we had another “invitation” to a school in the area.  This small public school was situated right next to a large Hindu temple.  We went and proceeded to “do our thing” that we had become so accustomed to.  A couple minutes into our ministry, we began to sense some opposition.  The teachers, who were strong Hindus, caught on to the fact that we were only using medicine as a means to proclaim the gospel and got very upset.  They first asked us to stop praying for each child.  Then they began to question us.  Then they made us stop the presentations and asked us to leave.  Many of us left frightened and discouraged.  Pastor Arun, a humble pastor with a vision to plant 5,000 churches in India and our awesomely skilled bus driver, who has endured actual persecution (beatings, death threats and close calls) also later told us that he had felt afraid for us.  

Satan is at work.  We need to put on the armor of Christ and keep it on because the Christian life is a battle… we need to protect ourselves with the shield of faith.  I was thankful that even in our discouragements was a glimmer of hope.  God humbled us that morning at the school.  HE reminded us that His work is ALREADY done.  He has already won the battle.  We are merely servants and vessels to be used for His glory.  He reminded us of our weakness and reminded us to rely completely on Him. 

With that lesson learned, we continued on.  We did a home visit to encourage a Christian family/home.  We, Arun, Pastor Babu, Pastor Nazareth’s wife, among many other Christians had an in-home worship service.  It was so amazing hearing people worshipping in their native tongue.  A glimpse of what praise in heaven may sound like.  What an amazing blessing.

It was bittersweet leaving B. Khota Khota.  That place, including the bugs in the toilets, poop clogs, rude sparrows, no running water, etc, had become a place of great fellowship and transformation— we had found a temporary “home” in one another’s company; each day’s events and challenges, fought together, had become our shelter.  God’s presence overflowed in that humble church of B. Khota Khota.

Please take a moment to pray for Pastor Nazareth, his family, his church, and his church members.  Contrary to popular (and false) belief, Christian persecution is not rare in the state of Karnataka and so we must pray for our Indian brothers and sisters.  Pastor Nazareth and Missionary James were actually imprisoned there a few years ago.  But praise and glory be to God who used our team to actually BRING so many people to the church to hear the gospel message!  In an area that has such strong Hindu presence and resistance to the gospel, we can count it a miracle.  Thank you Lord for using us!

Let’s remember our brothers and sisters in Christ who are being persecuted for their faith.  People around the world are dying for believing in Jesus Christ.  It’s a reality that is difficult to believe but doesn’t it challenge you? Would you be willing to die for the gospel?  The faith it requires…