DownshoreDrift

We're still here. Our three man team has been in North India for almost a week now. We flew into Delhi and immediately travelled north to a northern state near the Himalayas.  We had a driver who drove us approximately 8 hours through the plains. Driving here is very dangerous, as cars, trucks, motorcycles, ox carts, and auto rickshaws are flying at you from every direction. It is very scary, but after awhile, you just become numb to it. We have connected with a children's home and school and are working with them as a base of operations. They are connecting us with places to do a series of public health conferences in the fall as a platform to talk about true transformation. We have had three encounters that have gone really well.

Our first day out, we went into the Himalayas. We met with a doctor who has started his own hospital and is doing development work among the hill people. He is working with fresh water projects and providing community health care in the villages. We travelled to a village and met with a village head and heard about the problems there in the area. We later travelled into a valley between some mountains where we met with a Nepali congregation that had been started by a young church planter. We worshipped with them and I spoke from John 17. The congregation is very new and has about 20 families. God is doing amazing things. Throughout the trip, the fog and clouds were rolling in amongst the mountains and the mountain roads were very dangerous, but God provided safety. It was an amazing day. We will have a conference among the mountain villages here.

After this, we went to a hospital run by believers in the plains. They are doing community development work as well, and are sending teams out into the villages to do public health training. It is a large operation and they are doing a great deal of good. We will also have a one day conference in this area as well.

Yesterday, we pulled together 8-10 leaders that represented community development ministries and organizations in the mountains and the plains in North India. They are all doing church planting work as well. As a matter of fact, they had collectively started about 150 churches and were doing training and equipping of church planters. They are combining the spiritual and the social aspects and are engaging in holistic ministry among the people. We will do a two day conference with them and their workers as well that from a holisitic development approach. The amazing thing is that these ministries had never come together in this way before, and, after our meeting yesterday, are now talking about forming a network of transformational missionaries. This is far beyond what we thought we would be doing, and we are frankly, in over our head. I love it.

All of our work has been with indigenous people. Phone and computer access has been rare, so this is a short update. I have tons of pictures and many stories to tell, but I have to be careful about details for security reasons. Let me just say, that God is doing AMAZING things and doors are opening for incredible work in the future. We are serving as catalysts to bring people together and to help maximize their work. Tomorrow, we travel to one of the holy cities on the Ganges, and then we will spend a couple of days back in Delhi before returning home. This trip has far exceeded all expectations, and I wish that I could begin to tell you even a tenth of what we have experienced. Please pray for our safety and continuing success with divine encounters. I'll write again as soon as possible.