Power and Strength

God is truly our source of power and strength, is He not?!

During this trip, I've been part of a team that has gone above and beyond what we could do on our own. My conviction is this is only possible through the power of a risen Lord, the one, true, living God that that loved us so much He sent His Son in human form and had Him suffer death on a cross for our sins, to pay a debt we could NEVER pay ourselves.

Our team is still praying to experience miracles while we're here. Like the little boy in a village Saturday who has sores on his feet the doctors can't get rid of. When he is healed, his whole family will believe in Jesus. I prayed for and anointed him, believing for this healing. Or for the woman in another village who wants to believe, but wants God to heal her pain first...such a common occurance here. For her, I pray for strongholds of unbelief to be broken, that she knows God's peace and love in her life, even if she never experiences complete physical healing.

But even if we do not SEE these miracles in the next week, is our God not still faithful?! He is faithful when we are faithless. And besides, is it not a miracle of a different sort that around 20 adults, well-established in their ways, are learning to approach each other in love, whether it's pleasant or not? Or that my 60 year old teammate with a pacemaker, when shocked by a refrigerator, was not rushed to a hospital or worse as we gathered in prayer? Or that I'm learning to be a peaceMAKER, not a peaceKEEPER...a seemingly small difference, but with distinct differences!

And so, I praise my God, for the things seen and unseen. I thank Him for you, my supporters and friends, who He's wanting to draw closer to Him and each other in relationship.

Thank you for your faithful prayer support. Please pray for protection for our team as we begin our final week of ministry in India and fly home in less than two weeks. Pray that hearts (of Indians and team members alike) may be opened to all He has for us.

Pictures from top left to right:

1)praying for a young woman in a village who has helped raise money for the temple across the street from the church. In the past 3 days, she's visited the church at the end of the ladies' Bible study with us and church service, and let us pray for her at both.

2)Praying for a young woman at a church in the last city we were in

3)Drawing and talking with kids at the slums

"Pray for me"

Time is flying by in India. We have been ministering at some of the areas in the last blog entry 6 days a week and I'm enjoying it immensely. It's hard to believe I will be headed back to the States in less than a month!

This week brought work at a slum (pictures later) ~ we rebuilt their church from the ground up. Last week, I got to teach English with small children one day. It broke my heart. All I wanted to do was be able encourage them to speak a little bit. Many are so malnourished and shy that they hardly speak, but we were breathing life into them through God's love, our smiles and hugs, and food (for some, this is their only meal, sometimes eating only once a day).

Another wonderful answer to prayer was for a seminary student (they meet in a home for school) who fell from their roof. We prayed for him, and heard the next day he had no external injuries. Praise God! I look forward to hearing of his full healing!

One of the most common things I hear here is "pray for me". This is such an interesting statement to me, as Americans often say "I'll pray for you", either in earnest or not. Each time someone says this, I write down their need and name if I know it, to ensure I will remember them in prayer.

More to come as soon as I can....must let the next person have the internet!

A diverse week

This week, settled into a new place, I have a diverse week ahead of me. Please keep the following areas in prayer, 1)that hearts be open to the Good News and 2)God direct my thoughts, words, and actions:
* Church ministry (different team members present message, testimony, and song)
* Teachers' Seminar/In-service (teaching valuable methodology, strategies, etc + testimony/message)
* HIV/AIDS outreach
* Youth Group (teens or 20-somethings)
* Orphanage program on Saturday afternoon (we're about 12 hours ahead of Pacific Time here, give/take 30 min)

I'm excited for the week ahead and the new opportunities to get to know the hearts of the Indians I'm living with. Please join me in praising God for 1)improved health for our team--everyone's out of the hospital, 2)a positive result in a recent national court case (over disputed land between Hindus and Muslims) which helps avoid increased persecution, etc, and 3)God's presence in our lives every day.

Thank you for joining with me on this journey. I could not do it without your prayers and support. I welcome your comments and questions.

~Amy