The Blessed

These women were thrown away by their family, having nowhere else to turn. I expected the trip to be full of sorrow and regret. As a nurse I have visited and served in many nursing homes back in the states. I always walk away feeling shocked and saddened by the neglect and depression of the elderly population. Today, I walked away feeling shocked by faith, prayer, encouragement, joy, and hope. These men and women are the prayer warriors of this nation. As we entered, we were overwhelmed by hugs and prayer, taken back by the joy that was so evident in their eyes. One woman, the leader of their home, was so joyful with the spirit, she danced for us at 80 years old. We were visiting to bring restoration to their souls, and they absolutely did that for us in a mighty way. As I prayed over them, they prayed over me, and the spirit moved through us in a way I have never experienced. God is faithful and mighty to save, humble, and restore.

Let the Children Come

The children of India have stolen our hearts.  There are no amount of words that can describe the joy they exuberate when the corners of their mouth turn up and their glow.  We have become addicted to loving on them.  I imagine Jesus walking down similar streets into similar villages and the children running to him.  I imagine the smiles that were given to him, and in a culture where children are unrated and thrown to the side…Jesus says, “let the children come to me.” I resinate with that more than I ever have.  You start to get a passion for justice, the same justice that Jesus exclaimed when he said ” if any of you causes one of these to stumble, it is better to tie a millstone around your neck, and be thrown into the ocean (paraphrase)”  I want our world to see the innocence that Jesus saw, that we have seen, when you look into the eyes of a child.  It’s an incredibly humbling experience, because you want to be like them.. joyful, peaceful, non-judgmental, free!  I hope this video cause you to pray and ask what you might do for the children of India…watch here

The Least of These

We put together another video of the Lepers

We are Broken India #2

The thing we asked today was “God break our hearts for what breaks yours,” and He graciously answered our prayers.  We were all broken today, infact as I sit here on my bed I am exhausted, not physically but emotionally.  We held the hands of “the least of these,” social outcasts who live in their own villages, with their own kind.  The Lepers would be better named lovers, smilers, joy in painers…and so many more adjectives. They absolutely destroyed us today in the best kind of way.  They begged for us to lay our hands on them and pray, which we conceded to with joy and humility.  I personally have not cried that hard in my life.  The love they showed us will forever change the way I live my life, and I know the team would say the same.  As we sat around the table afterwards we had feelings of frustration over the condition of Christendom, and really you would to if you saw a 70 year old woman who was missing all her fingers and toes leading all her fellow lepers in worship to God.  We desperately desire for our world to love our Savior as much as these lepers did.

We then headed over to the “red light” district to meet with former prostitutes who Harvest India rescued by paying for their release from their masters at the price tag of $1000 American dollars.  These women shared their stories of deliverance, and how through accepting Jesus in their lives they found significance and true love.  These amazing women now make purses and sell them.  You all will have the opportunity to buy one of these purses,  we bought them out.  There refuge is a church like building, built by Harvest India, which by the way sits next door to a Hindu shine that is an alive cobra.   It was like seeing the contract of light and dark…Suresh said they were not to happy about them building the church.

Right from the red light area we head to a village and handed out medicine to them all.  We all had a fun time showing the kids how to do the funky chicken…so funny.  They were so gracious and loving, these people who have nothing.  We all laughed so hard that we had stomach aches…the joy is in their eyes and smiles…it’s infectious.

Tonight we as a team washed the leadership of Harvest India’s feet, and they washed ours…it was very humbling.  All in all a very overwhelming day, please continue to pray for health and that God would use us in a powerful way.  Sorry about the video, when we downloaded it, it was messed up so we didn’t get a lot of the footage that we wanted to show you.  Were going to fix it tomorrow so check back and we will have another one uploaded. Click here to watch video..it’s powerful  

Traveling to India

Well…40 hours later we’ve made it.  Were all pretty exhausted and overwhelmed by all we’ve seen thus far.  The video will give you a good look into the last 3 day for us.  Everyone is feeling good, but very tired an sweaty…please continue to pray for us.Click here to watch the video

Here We Go Again

Well…as usual I am down to the wire, wrapping up last minute details before our team heads out for Tenali, India in the morning.  I have been blessed to be able see what God is doing in many countries, but India has definitely grabbed my heart. This will be my 2nd time working with Suresh at Harvest India (harvestindia.org) and I am so pumped for a new experience! God has brought an incredible team together, and I know he has great plans to stretch us and grow our faith!

We would love to have you join us in prayer as we invite God to teach us, use us, and open our senses to His presence. We go because He has asked us to, and our obedience is worship. God has invited us to be a part of His salvation plan for the world…It is an honor to serve the King!

We will be updating this blog daily with updates, pictures, and video clips…You won’t want to miss it!

Catch you guys on the other side of the world!

Ryan Axtell