How fast time flies, each day blurring into the next.. 10 days in India and here i am back on home ground once again, breathing in the M'sian heat (not as bad as India tho... there in the afternoon, its sooo hot i do believe we can cook an egg outside...in May it apparently reaches up to 40 degrees... pheew!), feasting my eyes on clean even roads (something we don't appreciate often enuf, unless you are bumping along in India, trying to avoid cows, people, buses, motorbikes who all have their own rules..!); this morning when i was being driven home, we saw the most beautifuul sun rise greeting us.. fluffy blankets of gold, yellow, orange clouds blended in a wonderful burst of colors across the sky... what a fantastic painter God is..!
The team spent 5 days in Hyderabad, supposedly one of the most mod cities of India, it being the IT capital and all...but the only ting we saw mod was the brandnew airport, just opened to public, very spanky nice even by international stds. We didn't go into the city proper, but the small hotel we stayed in was decent enuf, and slap in the middle of a suburb town, so there was chance to do a little shopping on the side, after our ministry in the nearby villages. The thing that struck me most abt Hyderabad were the rocks everywhere ... it's really tough ground, they literally dig out mountains of rocks for building; homes are square little brick boxes, the poorest ones are just a small dining room in size - go figure out how a whole family sleep, eat, and live in an area as small as 500-600 sq. ft. Kitchens and toilets are of coz outside (with just enuf standing or rather squatting room). It always amazes me that despite such conditions, the people take great pains to bless us by the only way they know how... preparing simple yet simply sumptious food to feed us... and its like a kenduri... the host household cooks by the pots to cater to the whole community of people who gather to hear us. Such is the warmth of the brotherhood of believers in Christ Jesus; which goes beyond our different skin colour.
The highlight of the ministry was a visit to the Lambadi tribe, this particular gypsy group, their women folk distinguished by big ornamental rings in their hair, nose and on their arms, was a semi-permanent cluster scattered over wide fields...so we drove field-hoppping, distributing soaps and bread. Tho they accepted our gifts, they were very vocal, indeed some of the women were even agressive, and resistant to our sharing of the gospel. But even in the midst of opposition, the word of God got thru, to the children and to the few adults who were willing to listen. So it was that for the first time in their lives, some of them got to hear about a God who loves them so much He died for their sins to give them life, for the first time, they heard the name of Jesus, in their language YesuPrebu. And for me, that was enuf... my job is done, God will do the rest in His good time.
And talking about good time, we witnessed the baptism of 2 indian men in one of the outreach churches. One was a totally paralysed old man who had to be lifted out of a chair and into the baptism pool. The other was a miracle case, a younger man who had been totally paralysed but after much prayer had recovered to the extent of being able to hobble around, since his 2 feet remained swollen. The next day we were off to some other village, word came that the guy with the swollen feet had passed away. All of us had thot it would be the older guy who actually looked more sick than this one... Much as we share the grief of the bereaved wife, but looking at it from God's perspective, it was such perfect timing, as we managed to give this brother a grand send-off from earth by baptising him before his passing... wat better way to go off in style; at the height of his faith publicly declared through water baptism!
Last time i was in Mumbai, didn't get a chance to looksee or shop at all. This time, God is good; we managed to slip in a bit of sight-seeing into an old fort in Hyderabad - fort Golconda is apparently only 1 of 2 places in the world which boast a remarkable open air acoustic system, where if you stand and clap at certain places at the bottom of the fort, way up high at the top it can be heard. And in one little enclosure, someone whispering in one corner can actually be heard very clearly in the opposite corner - truly a case of walls have ears! Such technology already available in ancient days, even before modern acoustics were ever invented. There was even an underground 8 km tunnel which served as an escape route for the king in case of invasion, big enuf for a horse to be ridden thru (King not supposed to walk mah!) It was quite worth the 3 km walk up the hill just to hear the sound effects. And we ladies marvelled at the huge dressing room of the queen and concubines all... it's as big as 1 1/2 bedrooms! How quaint that in those days there were no mirrors, so there was a reflecting pool for the ladies of the court to check their make-up!
Well, that was a good break from all the preaching and praying, which in itself we did only by God's power anyway. I was really blessed; beyond the satisfaction of proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ, seeing souls respond to receive Jesus into their lives, and praying for the people, God gave me beautiful visions at almost every rally I ministered at... esp at the very first meeting, i looked at 100s of empty chairs and my heart was going down, down, down, having so little faith and asking God, how can all these chairs be filled...i was dreading that i would hv to end up preaching to empty chairs; already once i had to preach to cows!! .... but God is faithful, even when i m faithless... the chairs were filled somehow.. and He let me see the most fantastic vision of angels lined up before Jesus on His throne, scepter in hand, crown on His head, hovering over the rally grounds... my heart was just lifted up and soo encouraged... i saw God's holy fire in a burning bush spreading into a huge cross, i saw crystal drops of Holy Spirit rain falling down and living waters gush out of bellies of people, i saw this church unveiled in all glory as a bride of Christ, pillars held up by living saints joining hands and shoulders upward.. and all i can say is thank You, to an awesome awesome God who allows me to see such wonders of heaven, with these earthly eyes of mine! How true is God's promise...
Call unto Me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not... Jeremiah 33:3
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