Written by Helen.
The book of Acts was one of the topics we looked at today. As part of his teaching, Mike explained that Acts 1:8 was a quick summary of the whole book, and I was reminded that we are all called to be part of the mission of Acts 1:8, and to be witnesses for Jesus in his mission field far and wide.
As we draw near to the end of the mission in India I am beginning to reflect on our time here. It has certainly been a huge blessing to be involved in this mission. Many of the things that we have experienced in the last 2 weeks are so vastly different to how we do life in rural Australia. If you have been following the blog you would have read about the crazy traffic and crazy drivers, the spicy food, the sugary tea, the colourful saris and much more.
But of course it’s the people we have met who have made the biggest impact on us. What has stood out to me has been their humble hearts and servant attitude towards us. We have been treated so well! They are people who love to sing and give praise God. Their enthusiasm for sharing the gospel with the wider community is both encouraging and motivating. They are so thankful we have come to teach them.
As I write this blog, our team is sharing an evening meal together, so I will seek their input on their experiences today with our Indian friends.
Adele – Well I have to say that I have never had so much respect for Indian women – it is certainly not as easy to wear the beautiful clothing as one would think! To deal with the amount of material and the humidity – amazing!
Elyse – We realized that in Australia it is Friday the 26th of February. So sitting in our finest Indian wear, after ordering our Chinese food we sang ‘Happy Birthday’ to Helen who tried to hide that it was her birthday. The best thing is that we get the 5.5 hours that it is her birthday in Australia and the full 24 hours here. Happy Birthday Helen!!!!
Mike – I had the privilege of chatting with a pastor today. He shared about ministry opportunities and was very keen for support and help. We prayed together for God to work powerfully.
Ross – They are such friendly people. I have shaken so many hands (and they say “praise the Lord”… it’s the only English some of them know). It’s been so encouraging to fellowship with Indian Christians.
Roy – Looking forward to 5 flavours fried icecream on top of tambourine playing to praise songs. A fit ending to a fantastic day!
Norm – The pastors in our group were very animated today and there was much discussion on the key points of spiritual matters and anticipating what heaven is like.
George – I have appreciated so much, the pastors and church leaders are a great encouragement, the dedication of the Life Centre was amazing, the food wonderful and the traffic is just crazy. Today, our autorickshaw driver took us against the traffic some distance on a three lane road!
Keith – It was so sweet to see a small girl asleep on a hard tabletop and a small boy also sound asleep on another table while everyone all around was singing and talking.
It has been both a privilege and a blessing for me to be part of 2016 India Mission Team. It’s also exciting to be part of a much bigger mission of training pastors of India who will take the gospel to the unreached people of rural India. If there are future trips, I would encourage others to be involved!
Thank you again, for your support and prayers.
