Mercy, Mercy

Last night, the team visited an area known as the “red light district”.   This area is known for prostitution.  It was heartbreaking to see young girls, really women of all ages, being forced into prostitution.  Even more heartbreaking, was seeing the many children of the women growing up in such an awful environment.  It was an honored to pray with them and pray for them

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Just a few minutes down the road, we held a Mercy Outreach for the people in a neighboring community. The outreach consisted of us singing a few songs with them, and feeding people one piece of bread, one banana, and one boiled egg. Praise God that we had enough to feed everyone in the crowd!

A quick walk took us to the nursing college. It was cool that the nurses on our team got to encourage the nurses at the Harvest India Nursing College.  They were filled with such promise and it was evident in their eyes and in their smiles.

It was a good day.

 

Our days in India have been simply amazing!  God is definitely at work here and we are honored to be a part of it all.

We got the privilege of visiting Kallurugudem Children’s Home, where we were able to feed and fellowship with the children.  They were just as excited to have us there, as we were to be there.  The children performed songs and dances for us, and we even joined them in a few crazy songs and dances of our own. It’s always interesting to experience different cultural dances. A couple of the team members shared their testimonies about how God has influenced their lives, and the kids were all ears.   The crafts we did were a big hit for not only the kids, but for the caretakers of the home! A similar day followed, but this time we were at the Vanukuru Children’s Home. Above the food, fellowship, and crafts, our main goal is to show everyone that crosses our paths, the love of Jesus!

Today, Saturday, we had a leprosy camp. About 400-500 lepers traveled from 8 different villages, many miles away to attend this camp. We first fed them, and then we had songs, testimony, and an awesome message. The most touching is that most of them just wanted prayer, and that was provided many times over. It was beautiful to see each team member not even hesitate to place their hands on someone’s head and began to speak the words that Jesus had put in the mouths. Emotions were high, and the compassion was spread.

Welcome To India!

After 30 hours of travel, the team arrived safely in India. However, 17 of our bags decided to take a detour, and we are still patiently awaiting their arrival. A quick 8-hour bus ride brought us to Tenali, which is our home for the next two weeks.

Shortly after our arrival, we were visited Rock Harbor Children’s Home. The kids greeted us with a welcome song and flowers being thrown at us, yes AT us, as we walked the path towards the home. About 300 children performed songs and dances, and a few of them shared their testimonies. By the end of the first day, the team was exhausted!

After a good night’s rest, we traveled about an hour and a half to a leprosy colony. There we served food, prayed, shared testimonies, and sang for the lepers. What an awesome experience! We were all humbled by the gratefulness from everyone in colony. A short journey took us to an elderly home. Again we sang songs, and not only prayed for them, but they in turn prayed for us.

We are looking forward to what God is going to do on the remainder of this trip.   We are honored to be the hands and feet of Jesus as we spread the Gospel worldwide!  Please continue to lift us up in your prayers.

CS & COC India Mission Team

India Bound!

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I. Send me!” Isaiah 6:8

The time has come, and our team will soon be bound for India! We are excited about this opportunity to be the hands and feet of Jesus as we spread the gospel worldwide. Please pray for safe traveling for both teams as we lead, encourage, and serve others. You can follow our journey here, and we will update it when we get the chance.

Thank you for your prayers and support!