A Wonderful Trip to India
June 17, 2022 Update
Dear RHM Friends,
Greetings in the Name of our Precious Lord JESUS.
"Isaiah 40:31 (NKJV)
31 But those who wait on the Lord shall renew
their strength. They shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint." Isaiah 40:31
I can clearly say that this was a theme Verse for the recent trip to India in May. I don't quite have the strength or stamina that I did when much younger (a vast understatement), but I saw His Hand of strength and renewal almost on a daily basis while there. At times feeling exhausted and not sure if I could get up the next morning for another early departure for the day's activities, He continually strengthened me, even though I slept very little. Thank you so much for your prayers! Thanks also for your prayers for health, as the journeys to and from India were completely illness-free. Praise the Lord! Other than a runny nose for a couple of days, I think all of us involved in ministry enjoyed good health. This famous, beautiful Scripture in Isaiah 40:31 came to my mind throughout the 30 day trip.
Forgive me for the lack of communication since late April. I asked the Lord to help me (which He did) to get as caught up as possible with the computer/admin work before I left for India so that once I reached there we could devote as much time as possible to spend with the elderly, families and children. So, other than a few blogs and a quick update about Rani & Aswini's marraiges, I didn't communicate much. Now back in America, again playing catchup on the admin work. Please remember, even if the updates and newsletters are slow in reaching you, we try to average close to 20 blog posts a month on the
RHM blog (located within the
RHM website). Many or most of the blog posts we are also posting onto our
Facebook page. For those of you who desire to keep up with what's going on with the RHM work in India, this blog is very useful for you, as it covers a wide spectrum of ministry going on each month.
A few highlights from the trip (it would take hours to read if I shared everything in detail):
* By His grace He enabled us to accomplish most everything He had put on our hearts to do during this trip.
* Had good meetings with the widows and elderly, visiting many of their towns and villages. Many of them we saw in group gatherings, and many in their homes. I also had the extra blessing of seeing and visiting with quite a few of the widows who were either involved in some of our meetings, or went with us to excursions we had with children.
* It was a great bonding time with families and children, many of whom I had never met in person before (we started getting involved with helping them after I left India in October 2020). So many great memories of sharing with them, praying with them, talking & laughing with them, playing with them, being in their homes, etc.
* Two major events, for which we are so thankful for His provision through our donors, was a one day trip with younger children and some family members to a city called Vijayawada, and a 4 day trip with mostly teenagers and some family members to the big city of Hyderabad. Even the massive amount of time spent traveling in the bus and vans was very fruitful in my opinion. It was actually some of the best bonding time, getting to know some of the children in a deeper way.
One of the side effects of such a trip is having a heavy heart for many needs and desires for ministry which we are not able to meet at this time. A few examples:
* A van to be able to do more effective ministry, regularly take children and youth with us as we work among the people.
* Meeting the physical needs of many more people, always with the greater desire of bringing them closer to JESUS. This includes paying salaries to those who have the love of Christ in their hearts for the poor. (the largest salary we have is less than $250 a month!)
* Land and small homes for 5 or 6 tribal families who are currently living on private or govt property (less than 300 sq feet per home; their current huts are less than half that size). We've invested much love and time into these families, but I'm concerned that they will soon be required to vacate these properties.
* One of our co-workers among the people has a burden to do weekly ministry in a particular area where we're involved with many children, elderly & families. I told him I would pray, but we're not able to commit to this at this time (maybe $70-100 a week).
* Occasionally someone we're involved with needs a major operation (more than $500), and we're not able to help them, or can only help in a very limited way. Presently, we know of a pastor's daughter who needs a hip surgery, with meds costing more than $3,000. We're in the process of getting more details, but RHM can't touch it at this time.
I am NOT asking our current donors to give more than what you are already giving. But I am asking you to PRAY that the Lord would grant us more donors in His love. Please bear with me: many feel that this is not a time to ask for more funds, as many people are struggling. I would never ask someone to give what they do not have (I don't ask anyone to give anyway, but only ask people to pray). But RHM is a small organization; GOD is a big GOD, who says
"the silver is Mine, and the gold is Mine" and has believers all over the world who are still able to give. According to 'Giving USA', Americans gave $471 billion to charity in 2020; that's only in America (when Covid was increasing)! Surely the Lord is able to direct some of those funds, as well as funds from around the world, toward our work in India. Nothing is impossible with our loving GOD! Pray for us!
Scroll down to see photos & captions from this wonderful trip to India, as well as praise reports and prayer requests. Bless you always for your prayers and support!
Brother Dan
"So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith." Galatians 6:10
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ABOVE: Sister Mary, a Sunday School teacher, has devoted her life to work with children. Here she is sharing with children under the trees. There were nearly 70 children altogether, 15 of them living with widows we are involved with.
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ABOVE: Sarojini, who has so many problems at this time. Besides her obvious neck problem, her son is mentally impaired and sometimes violent. Because of his behavior (and believing the lies of hopelessness from the devil), his wife committed suicide. Not long afterward, he forced his young teenage daughter into marriage, and now she is crying, as she is not being treated well by her new husband's family. She also is feeling very hopeless. This son has another son of his own, who obviously needs some proper guidance in his life. Please pray for Sarojini (a widow) and her family.
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ABOVE: This was taken at a large park called NTR Gardens in Hyderabad. In the photo are 20 girls, a boy, an aunty, Sunday School teacher, grandmother and 2 mothers. Precious children! |
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ABOVE: Ten awesome boys went with us on this Hyderabad trip. The Lord used this trip as a time to bond with these boys. Even now, some of these boys are attending meetings for several days, and sharing testimonies about how the Lord has been speaking to their hearts. Praise the Lord! They are all from difficult backgrounds (2 of them living in a hostel most of the year), but we are expecting great things in their lives.
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ABOVE: During the 1st day of the Hyderabad trip, on the journey we stopped and visited this museum. It was a little boring for most of us, but again, the time together was the best part of it. Brother Raju is on the right, he and his wife Pavani overseeing the children's ministry.
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ABOVE: The morning of the 2nd day in Hyderabad (more than 6 million population according to Wikipedia stats), we went to a famous museum called Salar Jung Museum, much more interesting than the previous day. It has at least 38 galleries with over 1 million objects in their collections. It was very crowded, but we had a great time. Thank you to all who donated specifically for this trip!
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ABOVE: This is also at the NTR Gardens. From left: Arun, Jaison and his big brother Jone. Arun's Daddy died with AIDS, his mother also having HIV and on our widows list. Jone & Jaison's Daddy died from problems related to alcohol. Their mother was forced into marriage at 11 years old, and didn't have Jone until about 22 years later. Most of our children have these kind of stories, but the Lord is redeeming their life from the pit of destruction (Psalms 103:4). Hallelujah!
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ABOVE: This is the group that went on our 1 day trip to Vijayawada, many of them smaller children. We had 27 children and quite a few adults, including 4 grandmothers. This place is called Bhavani Island, a nice island of 133 acres in the midst of the large Krishna River. This trip also was full of special memories with the children and adults. |
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ABOVE: On the 3rd day of the Hyderabad trip we went to the zoo. We got really tired walking around this zoo (380 acres; only 3 USA zoos are larger in size), but it was really nice. Even the animals, fish and birds testify of the goodness of GOD.
"Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory!" Isaiah 6:3
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ABOVE: Brother Raju is leading the Hyderabad group in a time of worship on our last night in Hyderabad. Several children were touched by the Holy Spirit and crying before Him.
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ABOVE: Aswini was married to Rajesh on May 27th, just a few days before my departure from India. Very thankful that the Lord has helped Aswini. Most all of her relatives are Hindu, including her Aunt on the right. A few of her relatives had told her previously that if she married a Christian, she will no longer have a family. This brought much pain to her, but she stood firm and finally (after about 2 years of pressure from her relatives; she has no parents), she got married to a young Christian man. We were very thankful that many of her relatives traveled a long distance to attend her wedding. Praise the Lord!
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ABOVE: Had the blessing of attending Prasad & Rani's wedding on the 9th of May. Rani (the bride) has been helping us with children's ministry for the last 2 years or more. She will likely start doing some kind of ministry again once her and Prasad settle into married life. Her sister, Amrutha, is now doing the children's ministry in their own village, Prasad and Rani living in Vijayawada where Prasad works. This also is such a blessing, as Prasad seems to be a great match for Rani, both of them having a deep love for the Lord.
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ABOVE: We mentioned in our main text above that there are 5 or 6 tribal families that will likely be forced to leave their huts in the near future (unless the Lord does a miracle). This is part of one of those families which we have been reaching out to. In this family there is one Dad and 2 mothers (he has 2 wives, although it's doubtful either of them are legal marriages), with 11 children. This woman has 9 of the children, but the 2 mothers seem to have much care for each other, the children freely staying in both huts (maybe 100 yards from each other). I really bonded with the little girl on the right, Poojitha. Since their hut is about 100 feet from one of the churches we're involved with, Poojitha and 3 other local girls had many opportunities to go with us to meetings and family visitations. We're now helping her and the older boy in the photo, Sankar, with education.
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ABOVE: We recently did some house repair work for our widow Salome (her granddaughter Blessy on our children's list). There were many unfinished or unstarted works on this home, so we're just doing things one step at a time. In April the raised porch was done (left), along with adding a water tank on the roof, a drain pipe, a kitchen sink and other plumbing for the water supply. Praise the Lord for His provision! Later this year, or next year, we hope to do most or all of the plastering work on the home.
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ABOVE: This is one of our widows, Kamalamma, sharing her testimony of how the Lord has used this widows ministry to bless her life. Several other widows came (those to the right) to share their needs, hoping we will add them to our support list. We are praying.
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ABOVE: We have told you that World Challenge (who sponsors most of our widows) gave $10,000 to Brother John (a pastor) in memory of his 13 year old daughter Joy, who passed from this earth in April 2021. They gave these funds to support his church ministry. He and his wife didn't have an actual church or home, so they have used these funds to build a small church/house. One of the last nights I was in India, we had the blessing of having the very first meeting conducted in John's church, which is still under construction. Very precious people, some of the children we are involved with in different ways.
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ABOVE: One of the families who are part of Bro. John's congregation (above photo) have been living under this roof without walls for a few years (only tarps, sheets, etc. partly covering the walls). The parents have not made wise decisions, but the Lord is having compassion upon their family, the 3 children we are assisting when they have any needs. We could not commit to completing the walls all the way to the roof, but it is looking much better than it did, and they have more protection from thieves, rats and snakes. The funds we have given has taken most of the walls up to the window level, and provided a door. Pray for this precious family.
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"Whatever you do, do all things to the glory of GOD." 1 Corinthians 10:31 |
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