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July 19, 2008

Namasthe,

This past week has been very eventful for us here in India. Our team was divided in half, and we were able to visit two towns nearby, Saharanpur and Pathri. We'll share first about Pathri.

Pathri

Our half-team of eight people arrived in Pathri on Tuesday morning. Graduates of NTC are running a Christian school there called Khrist Jyoti Academy (the same as many BSS schools are named), as well as normal church ministries. The school has grown tremendously in the past four years, with enrollment growing from about 50 to over 350, and more parents are signing their children up every day.

When we arrived in Pathri, our cars made their way down a narrow, muddy road to the new school building that has only just finished construction. Our teams have visited this location over the past two years, but at that time it was only an empty piece of land; we feel privileged to be the first team to see the building, and also to be the first team to stay overnight there for a few days as we partnered with them in their ministry. We were greeted by the smiling faces of the teachers as we entered the building, and we were soon introduced to Principal Santosh and his wife Linu who are leading the ministry here. They were excellent hosts to us, and the team members are all very grateful for the hospitality we were shown.

Our days in Pathri were filled with activity. After praying together in the morning, our group of eight split into two groups of four, and we would teach two of the classes for the entire day. Each classroom had its own personality, and it was great getting to know the kids as we did our children's ministry activities, such as games, songs, Bible stories, and art lessons, as well as teaching English and Math. The students were bright and receptive, and we were thankful for the opportunity to tangibly share God's love with them.

After lunch in the afternoons, another group of children would come from 4-6PM for a ministry sponsored by Compassion India and led by Brother Ajay. These children are from very poor families in the community who cannot afford to send their children to school, so the Compassion ministry tries to give them some basic education, teach them moral principles, and provide nutritious food to eat. About 190 children are part of this program, but since we saw many of them every day we were able to build some close bonds with them.

Throughout the day and evening, one of the greatest blessings to the team was getting to know the school's staff. Hearing their stories over meals and working with them in the classrooms, we got a glimpse of what it means for a person to surrender his or her life to Christ and faithfully do the ministry. As we saw them rise early each day to begin the ministry and go to sleep late each night, we were challenged that they were always ready to join in songs and games with the kids and give their best so that the students would know the love of Jesus Christ.

The ministry does face many challenges here. Located between Hindu and Muslim villages, families from both backgrounds are thankful for the quality of education their children are receiving, but are also opposed to anyone converting to Christianity. We were able to meet one new believer from a Muslim background while we were at the school, but he has not been able to openly share his faith with his family or community yet. This is the story of many new believers in this area. Additionally, the school has material needs that they are asking God to provide for, including a wall and gate to go around the school property, more classrooms (they are already beyond capacity), a permanent electrical connection, more staff living quarters, and a paved road from the main road to the school. The paved road will be especially helpful to them; when it rains the roads become muddy, and sometimes the children either cannot come to school, or they come soaked and muddy and need to be cleaned up before classes can start.

On Friday we were joined by the rest of our team that had been in Saharanpur. It was great to see all of them again and to introduce them to the children and teachers that we had spent the week with. We were able to eat lunch all together, and then finished our time in Pathri with a short worship service. It was a blessing to praise God together with our team and all of the teachers, and we prayed together that the Lord would continue to grow the ministry there and provide for all of their needs.

We have now returned to Dehradun and the NTC campus. There is a conference for pastors going on here this weekend, so we are getting to know some of the church leaders from the surrounding areas, and it has been good to worship and pray together for what God is doing in northern India. There are only a few days left before we leave NTC; please pray that the Lord will continue to bless us here and solidify the lessons that we have been learning.

Susamachar ke liya (“For the Gospel”),
India Team