A Wonderful Trip
January 29, 2023 Update
Dear RHM Friends,
Greetings in the Name of our Precious Lord JESUS.
Now back in the US for a couple of months, I can reflect back on this most recent trip to India. Because of Covid, I had not been able to go to India since October 2020, except for a 30 day tourist visit last May. So from late September until mid-January there were great opportunities to visit with the widows and elderly people, about 155-160 elderly believers who are scattered in many different villages and towns near the southeast coast of India.
I'm learning to relish every minute that I can spend with the children and their families (which is often only a mother, a dad or a grandmother). We have over 50 children that we work with to varying degrees, and every one of them are precious, even though they might not always be in a good spiritual position. I love Titus 3:3-5a,
"For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another. BUT when the kindness of GOD our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us..." Wow! Doesn't sound like we deserved anything, so it's good and right to have compassion on others, even when they are messed up, because we also were (and probably ARE) messed up.
In December we had so many opportunities to share JESUS and the Gospel via the Christmas programs. We don't usually (not yet anyway) have alter calls, so we don't have any count of souls coming to the Lord (in reality, we can only count decisions, not conversions). But we can clearly see lives being changed, families being transformed, and gradually more people being added to the churches we work with. We are very thankful for that, because it is only His grace and mercy which can change the heart. The Lord also provided us with ample funds to take the children on various excursions (like mini-vacations). Most of them were short one-day trips to a park or somewhere locally, and a couple of them were 2 or 3 day trips. When I was previously part of a children's home in India, I had the blessing of seeing the children every day, which I miss. With the ministry we are doing now, the children are with their mother, grandmother or someone; because there are so many children, and limited staff (2 couples working fulltime with the children), we try to see as many of them as possible at least once a week. So when we have these excursions, we get to spend much more time with them, which has provided us with a great opportunity to bond and get to know them more intimately. Those were very precious times.
Only one prayer request at this time: please continue to pray for the young believer Bajji, about 25 years old or less. He is needing a liver transplant. It's a long story, but even with some govt assistance they are still needing another $15-20,000 to get the transplant. Please pray that the Lord will do a miracle, either with supernatural healing, or with the provision to get the transplant. Either way, only He can heal his body. He and his wife Navya both seem to be very sincere believers. I'm thankful that Bajji is still alive, because he has been getting weaker and thinner over a period of more than 3 months. If you know of any ministries or organizations who might be willing to help in this, please inquire for us.
Please scroll down for precious photos & captions of the work in India. There is much information within these captions about what the Lord is doing in India via this ministry and through your donations and prayers. Continue to pray that the Lord will grant us more donors/donations to help more, reach more, and do more for those who have larger needs in their lives, such as Bajji and Chanti (her brief story with her photo below).
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: Pinky (14) is sharing Scriptures and Bible books during the Christmas program at her school in December. She did very well. She is in the 9th grade.
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ABOVE: This is not a "Christian" school, yet the Lord has given us much favor with the staff here where we are assisting 20 students with their education expenses. These 20 are all children whom we are also ministering to at their homes. Here, Brother Prasanth is leading the school assembly in a final prayer during the Christmas program. How often will you see this in a secular school?
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ABOVE: Navya (11, 6th grade) is receiving a gift from Mr. Ramesh, one of the teachers in the same school mentioned above. I don't know or remember what specific reason she received this gift, but the principal of the school recently spoke very highly of Navya. He said that she's making the best grades of anyone else in the school, which has nearly 170 students from nursery through 10th grade.
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ABOVE: The Lord has certainly blessed us with Sister Mary. She's a Sunday School teacher in one of the local churches, and also helps to lead the children's ministry during our monthly gathering of the children we work with. She also helps us with tutoring several of our children after school each day. She's not married, and has given her life to do the Lord's work. Praise the Lord for the commitment He's placed within her heart.
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ABOVE: Sister Mary giving a gift to Jaison earlier this month. In December we had a Scripture memorization competition among the children, and Jaison did the best among the children who are not able to write the Scriptures, but said them verbally. He was able to say all the Scriptures on the test.
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ABOVE: Again Navya is receiving a prize, this time for having the highest marks for writing the Scriptures during our recent competition. Brother Raju (who leads our children's ministry) and his wife Pavani are with Navya in the photo.
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ABOVE: Sister Chanti (middle) is one of our widows. When she got married about 2009, she wasn't aware that her husband had already been married 3 times previously, and also had HIV. She has one son, Paul (right), he and his mother both having HIV. His father died of AIDS when Paul was about 5 or 6 years old. The doctors say he has a worse case of HIV than his mother, but he is currently strong. Pray for his mother, who has many health problems, surely related to a low immune system. The girl on the left, Akshaya, is slightly mentally impaired and has seizures. Her parents are asking for help with her meds, so we are currently inquiring more about her.
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ABOVE: Baisa and Bhavana are giving cake to Bhavya Sri, who turned 10 this month. Bhavya and the boy, Abraham, both had birthdays about the same time, so we celebrated both on the same night. We are assisting Bhavya Sri and the girl on the left, Sai Bhavya, with whatever needs they have. The parents of Bhavya Sri (getting the cake) both died of AIDS when she was a baby. The mother of Sai Bhavya committed suicide when she was 2 months old, her father dying of cancer a few years later. We are so THANKFUL to be His loving Arms extended to these precious children, both living with their grandmothers, who are both on our widows list.
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ABOVE: Precious Martha, getting ready to take baptism. We've shared much with you over the last year and a half about Martha and her twin sister Mary. They had almost nothing when we met them, but the Lord has used your donations and prayers greatly in their lives. They are now 17 and studying in the 12th grade. On this blessed day, both Martha and her mother took baptism.
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ABOVE: Boys from one of the local churches are singing during the Christmas program in a village called Madala Narayana. We had Christmas programs in 9 different locations in December: one school, 2 towns, and 6 tribal villages. Praise GOD for providing abundantly for these programs!
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ABOVE: Here, Navya is sharing the message of the Gospel through an "object lesson". I was particularly blessed by this meeting, as the Gospel was shared in many different ways to the people in this location: through the object lessons, through skits, through action songs, through preaching. Trusting Him for lasting fruit within the hearts of the people. Most are church attenders, but many others heard who are not in church, including many who could hear from their homes.
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ABOVE: We had a wonderful opportunity to take 13 boys on an excursion to a fishing harbor in the town of Nizampatnam, which also has a lighthouse and a beach. Nine of these boys we work with regularly, visiting their homes and helping in various ways. Four of the boys are from a hostel, but we have known them for many years.
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ABOVE: Some of the boys with Brother Raju in front of the lighthouse. It was interesting to actually see this lighthouse for the first time, as we can see it's lights shining through the sky in our towns and villages 20-30 miles away.
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ABOVE: The building in the background is called Charminar, a famous tourist spot in the city of Hyderabad. There are different stories concerning why it was built, but it is agreed upon that it was built in 1591 by a Muslim ruler. During this trip to Hyderabad (all our excursions paid for by donors before I came to India last September), we had 5 adults and 14 girls. It was truly a great time of bonding with each other. We don't have an actual children's home, so don't see these children on a daily basis. On these kind of trips we are with them 24/7 for 2 or 3 days, which is a special time.
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ABOVE: This pic is taken from halfway up Charminar, looking down on some of the literally hundreds of shops that surround this tourist spot. THOUSANDS of people are on every side. Most of our girls had never experienced this kind of crowd, and two of them were slightly overwhelmed and crying. We had a group of 21 people (including another friend and his daughter), and had to walk through this crowd!
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ABOVE: One of the first places we visited in Hyderabad was a fort/city built several hundred years ago called Golconda Fort. One internet site says that this ancient city is about 3 miles all the way around. Several kings and rulers lived in this fortress, but as with all the kingdoms of this world, they all died, and so did all their splendor.
"All flesh is grass, and all its loveliness is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades, because the breath of the Lord blows upon it. Surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the Word of our GOD abides forever." Isaiah 40:6-8
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"Whatever you do, do all things to the glory of GOD." 1 Corinthians 10:31 |
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