Life Changing Words Ministry

Missionary Journal

November 7, 2004

Since Bill and Pastor Paul are in Delhi, I am going every morning to the church to teach the English class, actually more like tutoring since we are to two adults for a few days. Today after class, I went with Lily to get a class register and a few things that are needed, such as a florescent light and tube. The light is needed because the children are at the time having the English class in the evening. We have brought them light... in many ways.

Lily is so excited to teach these children. She has been ministering Sunday school to them this past year and she counts it such a great privilege to get to teach them this new language. She thanks the Lord so much for this gift for them. My prayer is that the Lord will provide the wages and transportation for two teachers — one for Warli Pada and for Ghatkopar — until He grows the church enough to support both schools. This is the vision of the Immanuel Prayer House Church.

Pastor Paul’s father was taken to the hospital last night with dizziness and chest pain. Lily, Graceson, and I went to the government hospital to see him. Lily picked up some snack for him to eat. Government hospitals here remind you of MASH hospitals because there doesn’t seem to be enough of whatever you need. Paperwork needs to be filed before any medications can be given. There are no ‘private’ rooms and wards are the common format.

Joseph is suffering from the effects of being a welder in India - too many years of being around the vocation. He tried to retire, but he likes having rupees in his pocket, if only a few. But since no one is supporting him, he goes back and then gets sick and ends up in the hospital again. His kids say he doesn’t listen to them. Well, Holy Spirit, he is your kid. We guess you will have to talk to him for Love’s sake.

I went to the cyber café and forgot to send my newsletter. Can you believe it? Isn’t there a scripture that says that it doesn’t pay to stay up late working? This is proof!

Today I learned 12 Hindi phonograms. My heart is excited. I feel like the English students. I am learning them the same method I am teaching English phonograms. It is refreshing to me to see that I am not too old to learn a new language! How about that?!

Because Bill and Pastor Paul are in Delhi, I am not allowed to go to the villages. I am at the church, sometimes with Lily for English tutoring, or with Graceson letting him practice his English.

Church life is not dull here. Analamma (Hannah) is probably in her 70s and she stays here in the church. She doesn’t get out in the slums as she used to but she does pray and attends every meeting, even English, although she doesn’t know any. She brought us all to laughter when the 3rd bedsheet salesman came by... she told him that even if he gave one to her free, she still didn’t want one.

Kuriakose came to see us at the church. Dr. Pillai had called him to say that we were here. He was a teacher at Grace Bible College in 1996 when I taught there. He was my substitute when I had to be somewhere else. He was pleased when I greeted him with a hug. He wants us to come and share at his Sunday evening service, but he will have to wait till the guys get back to ask. He also asked if we could come to Orissa in January. Again, we will have to see what happens in Nagaland. I told him we would need to call him in December. He understood when I told him we were trying to stay focused on what we are doing in Mulund in teaching the church people to be evangelistic believers. Even if we can’t minister this time, he has invited us to dine with him before we leave at the end of this month.

Florie is Mrs. Pastor Paul. We lovingly call her Mrs. Pastor because she is on fire for souls and loves to evangelize and preach. If you don’t know Jesus, you will by the time she gets done and she will be having you promise to be in church on Sunday. If you don’t show up, she is on your doorstep finding out why. It is a delight to see her teach other ladies practically by taking them with her. She specifically takes each lady to a place where her mother tongue can share the gospel. If the lady does a good job of sharing her testimony and giving the gospel (that Florie taught them because they are illiterate), then that lady is assigned to attend the prayer group in that area to oversee the growth of the ladies and new ladies coming for the first time. She and I will be leading the communion service on Sunday morning.

It is election day. My heart has been heavy and my prayers are for grace and mercy for our land. Thy will be done, O Lord. Strengthen your people’s heart for the days ahead. In the India Times, they print that Kerry should be elected, then the terrorists will have it easy. It is clear that unrighteousness is desirable for the world. Osama wants Israel and Clinton wants UN Sec-Gen position. Sounds like a concoction for destruction to me. But we are not of this world, we are to light this world with God’s truth and pray for it to be revealed to all. Enable us Lord.

It has been a couple of days since I have written in the journal. My days are full from 9am when I am fetched from where we are sleeping to the church and the day’s activities until I am returned to my bedroom between 11 and midnight. Even at that time Padmini is wanting to feed me something before bed. I try to at least be gracious with only a token amount to eat so I can sleep at night. But even if I cannot, I use the time to pray thinking about the day’s activities.

The day we went to Warli Pada the other side, it was fun to meet new children, new to Florie and Lily, who are always scouting for new children to reach for the gospel. This time we could also announce that English medium is available at the crest of the hill at Ravi’s house. We had 12 new children come to school. We have one week to see who will come faithfully.

After school, while the meal was being prepared by the ladies, Luxmi’s four year old son, Ramesh, was playing by the door. He was bitten by a scorpion. Ravi killed it and brought Ramesh into the house and tied a handkerchief around his ankle. I ran to get my Melaleuca oil and we applied it three times in the name of Jesus. I knew that it would take out the pain of the sting. They rushed him to the closest hospital by auto rickshaw.

At the hospital, the doctor said he would do nothing and they would have to go to the big hospital far away. They had no money for the hospital expense, so they came home to where we were waiting for them.

While they were gone, some children heard about Ramesh and met in Ravi’s house where we held school. They all sat on the ground and prayed for him. The Lord gave me the verse from Luke 10:19 — "Behold, I have given you authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall injure you." We declared it out on behalf of the child. Then shared with the children the power of the name of Jesus that they can use because they live on the edge of the jungle where leopards, tigers, and cheetahs roam and take wild dogs, cats, people for their food. They can live in the protection of the name of Jesus, His name is a strong tower and they can be safe for danger.

I learned that even when a tiger or animal as such takes a person, it likes the taste of human blood and seeks to get that more than the wild animals. The government officials will capture the guilty animal and put it into the zoo for a few days, then release it again. It is the government way to keep people from building out into the jungle areas.

So much high rise building is going on here. It is sad in many ways. The poor people in the government slums are promised that they will have new homes in the high rises, but there is no safety features for fire fighting. The way they build, there is not adequate room for fire trucks to get through — if there is even one available in the area. There is so much illegal and mafia related activities to cheat people. The more affluence there is from overseas businesses, the less the poor get.

I read in the newspaper that China is going to outsource to India small jobs to see how they can negotiate political gains. And that the cooking cylinders that lasts maybe 15-20 days at Rs 270 will be going up Rs 5 each month until it reaches Rs 430. That is a 63% increase. How will the poor manage? Only those who know Jesus will not be concerned about these things for He will provide. (The tribal people cook with fire sticks... campfire to us)

At last night’s prayer meeting, a family came for prayer. The mother in law got saved the week before and brought her daughter in law and two men from her household. The daughter in law lost her baby in the eighth month and now with this second pregnancy the doctor said to abort the baby because he saw that it was deformed in the ultrasound picture. The mother in law told her daughter in law that Jesus could do what the doctors cannot, so she was to come to church for prayer.

During the meeting, a lady gave her testimony of the goodness of God. When she got pregnant, a tumor began to grow in her body along with the baby. The doctor told her to abort the baby because the pain she felt, the baby would feel in regard to the tumor. She came to the church to tell Pastor and Florie and ask for prayer. They prayed the prayer of faith and fasted for this lady. Her son was born healthy and she does not know when the tumor went away. She was thankful to God for His goodness to her.

After the meeting, I talked to the daughter in law, Nita, and asked if she would like to invite Jesus into her heart. She said yes. So Lily, my interpreter, led her in prayer. Then I gave scriptures for her to speak in faith declaring the promises of God for her and her baby (3 months along). De 7:13, "And He will love you and bless you and multiply you... He will bless the fruit of your womb... " Ps 127:3, "Behold, children are a gift of the Lord; the fruit of the womb is a reward." Is 8:18, "Behold, I and the children whom the Lord has given me are for signs and wonders... " Ro 4:20-21, "... yet with respect to the promise of God he did not waiver in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully assured that what He had promised He was able also to perform." This took a little time, but we made sure that she understood everything.

Then I asked the first man what he wanted. He wanted any job to support his family. In asking more specific questions, he revealed that he was a drunkard. I asked how he expected to support his family if he was drunk? I explained that he had a hole in his heart that only Jesus could fill, that is why he is drinking. Tears came to his eyes and I asked him if he would like Jesus to come into his heart and fill his empty place. He said yes and Lily led him in the sinner’s prayer. Then I asked the Lord to give him an office job that came with training so that he would know the love and goodness of God toward him.

The second man just wanted a promotion with increased salary for his family. We prayed for that and Lily wrote out the scriptures I gave in Hindi for Nita to say in faith.

The Holy Spirit prompted me to share with the mother in law not to speak anymore negative words about her family. That every night before she went to bed, she was to forgive everyone who offended her and to forgive herself too. Then she is to only have a smiling face at home, to speak only good things, kind words from her mouth so that her house will become a place of peace. We prayed that the Spirit of God would come to her house and be teacher to her and her family. (Her daughter in law confirmed that this was correct about her.)