This morning the India Team boarded the plane in London and they will arrive home tonight! Thank you all for your prayers and support for the team!

There are no words that can accurately describe the depth of feelings swarming inside of me right now. Over the past several days I have seen and felt the extent of the existing persecution that the precious saints of India encounter on a daily basis. Yet, despite the constant threat on their lives, the endurance and perseverance of Jesus Christ remains strong in their hearts. And for that, I am forever changed.

I finished up participating in the Sports Camp that we put on for the kids of the CICM Children’s Home running around the soccer field with a little boy named Ashish laughing and smiling with unexplainable joy on my shoulders. As I made racecar noises and ran faster and faster, he simply laughed and continuously cried out “brother” and “running” in my ear. Needless to say, my heart melted. I want so badly to bring him home with me. And even though there was some sadness in the fact that I knew I couldn’t, I was able to rest at ease at the sight of the CICM Bal Bhaval (Children’s Palace) staff embracing every child into their loving arms. As our team was surrounded by these precious little ones receiving their medals for the Sports Camp and brightening our hearts with their smiles, we had peace knowing that these children of God were in genuinely loving, compassionate care.

Soon after, all the men piled into several SUVs and went on a mini safari through the torn and broken backroads of rural India. We saw (and ran over) more wild animals than we could have imagined. If you’re interested in hearing about the tragic deaths of two birds, a fox, and a gigantic stubborn cow please be sure to speak with Pastor Joel Fairley upon our arrival.

We drove for what seemed like days until we finally reached the small town of Katni. Once we exited the cars, our brothers and sisters of the local church we were visiting rushed to us and greeting us in their traditional way — collar after collar of yellow and orange flowers around our necks. I had the privilege of preaching and encouraging these faithful people, and as I spoke I saw the weariness from the persistent persecution they faced day after day. Yet, when the word of God went forth, as we sing in the song With Everything, hope rose and darkness trembled. After the message, a flood of people rushed to the altar to receive prayer for healing and family members and endurance. The Holy Spirit moved as many were overwhelmed by His touch and presence. Many tears were shed, but more hearts were strengthened for the continuing work to fulfill the Great Commission. When leaving, the pastor of the Katni church asked us to continue praying for them since persecution was still very heavy in their area. We left speechless. However, the fourth chapter of Act came to mind when it said that despite Peter and John’s arrest and threatening, 5,000 souls were won for Christ that day. That same movement is happening throughout India.

And I am forever changed by being a small part of it.

David Robbins

Praise the Lord! We went to devotions here in Damoh at the CICM mission this morning and as always we were walked to the front of the church and greeted so lovingly. It is Aly’s birthday today so they brought her and her husband Cody up on stage, covered them in flower lei’s, brought out a cake and sang a three verse version of happy birthday! They asked the whole team to come up on stage and they presented us all with personalized plaques that thanked us for coming here to help them, it brought many of us including me to tears. We then went to Ajai’s office where he brought in five pastors to share their testimonies with us. They all spoke of incredible persecution and how Christ has been their rock through it all. One man was a Hindu extremist and used to kill Christians but due to his wife becoming ill and no doctors being able to help her he prayed for Jesus to heal her and our faithful God did just that, it was after that moment that he gave his life over to Christ. Another man was riding his motorcycle with his pregnant wife one day when some Hindu men stopped them and started to beat them because they knew they were Christians. They beat him so hard that he went unconscious and didn’t wake up for days. When he awoke his father told him that his wife and unborn child had been killed on the spot and that he had missed the funeral. The testimony that affected me and many others the most was by a man named Emanuel who went to start his ministry in a town that was run by Hindu extremists. Many people had tired to go into this town to start churches but had been run out by these men. Emanuel and his wife had started to make relationships with people in the town and slowly they got some interest from the villagers about Jesus. They were having a church service one night when 40 Hindu men surrounded the church and came in and started beating people up. The people in the church were very new and naturally got scared and ran away but Emanuel and his wife would not budge. The men then dragged Emanuel and his wife into the jungle and started beating them telling them that they had to sign a legal document saying they were Hindu and that they didn’t believe in Jesus Christ but they refused. The men then tied Emanuel to a tree and told him again to sign the document but he again refused. They then told him to sign or they would rape his wife in front of him and his wife told them they could do whatever they wanted to her but they were not renouncing Jesus Christ. The men then went on to rape Emanuel’s wife and until her screaming caused women on a nearby street to come running and chase the men away. The women told Emanuel and his wife to report what happened but they refused and said they wanted to stay in the town because God had called them there. Emanuel told us that several months later 5 of the men that had been involved in the rape of his wife came to church and were baptized by them. All of these stories are proof of the amazing faith that is living here in India. We live every single day able to share our faith so freely, what would you do if that wasn’t an option? What would you do if you were told you’d be killed if you didn’t renounce Jesus?

I’d choose Jesus.

In His Name,
Amanda

I can say with full confidence that no one will come home unchanged from this trip. I have seen unimaginable poverty, love that’s overwhelming, and worship at its purest that has shook me to my core. Today was no exception. This morning we left at 8:30 to go to a village church only half an hour away from CICM and witnessed the most pure and passionate service with worship like I’ve never seen. We drove in through a very poor neighborhood, down a rough, swampy dirt road, and arrived at this very small building in the middle of nowhere. You could hear the songs of praise echoing through the streets as we pulled up. Over one hundred village people sat cross legged on the floor in this small building and they welcomed us in their honorary way by bringing us up to the front of the room, seated us in chairs facing them, and covered us in many flowers. We were the only one in chairs, other then the pastors brother who sat in a chair in the back. The worship can not truly be described, but I’ll try. They were a traveling group going from church to church- very honestly no words can describe them. They had a man playing an iron rod, another playing a tambourine like instrument, and all the others were village made. This team a while back was drug from their homes and beaten in the streets over and over again for continuing to profess Jesus as their Lord and Savior, yet it has given them more reason to praise Him and travel to all the local village churches. They sat in the front rows of the church facing the same way as the congregation, completely blended in with them, and yet somehow we were the ones honored with the chairs. Their music was so beautiful though, and powerful! It sounded like a sort of jungle praise. At some points one of the men from the group would get up clanging his instrument, singing and dancing around in the front. Caleb noted it reminded him of David dancing in the streets. They too were over flowing with the Spirit, and joy, as David was. Maegan gave a great warm welcoming to the church, and Caleb gave an awesome message on 2 Corinthians about how in our weakness Christ makes us strong. He had a classic ending, “Well… that’s all I have.” It was great!! And then the pastor asked if anyone had any questions or anything to say, and something beautiful happened. A few men stood up and shared their testimonies of how they have personally been beaten almost to death, having to be hospitalized for months, and said they agreed with what Caleb taught them and cheered saying it is true. The
two men that started this church were saved years back at a wedding, being new baby Christians they left that church and on their way home were beaten over and over with an iron rod until they almost died, and this also only made their faith stronger and now they sit in a building filled with Christ followers. Their faith and strength is inspiring and fully precious in the sight of the Lord! As Satan always does, he instantly tried to take our joy from this worship experience though. We got back in our busses, traveling to the top of a hill to literally pray over the city, when we slowly passed by three women brutally fighting in the streets, trying to rip each others faces off. Maegan and I noted that the hardest part in seeing this was the pure evil in their faces. It hurt my heart so badly I lost it, along with many others. Before we could be defeated we all began praying for them. When we opened our eyes, we were on the hill, and all joined together in praying again over this city and country. We know, and have seen with our own eyes, God moving here in incredible ways and are one hundred percent sure this is only the beginning. We can see growth happening right in front of our eyes. Tonight the girls, and guys separated. The girls were blessed with a rare opportunity of attending a village ceremony for a wedding that’s taking place tomorrow. Once again we were blown away with their love. We showed up to this party, not knowing anyone, and they brought out chairs to make a new front row IN FRONT OF THE GROOM, and sat us there and began giving us henna tattoos before any other guests! Their love and hospitality is like nothing we’ve ever experience before and makes us want to strive to live this way! After this ceremony their grandmother welcomed us into her house and gave us gifts! Really, there are no words. The boys will be getting back soon from a village church that was two and a half hours away, (it is 12:15 at night now). I have said so much, but nothing at all. I wish I could explain, but you can’t know until you come yourself. At this point no one is sick, so thank you for all your prayers! We have an incredible team! We miss you all at home and love you so much!

Aly Padrnos