India Trip Video

Harvest India – Day 6

His Strength!

We had our last day of VBS today. It was also our last day in Tenali. We pretty much ran the same program as yesterday. We just love these kids to death and it has been a blast hanging with them. They have really caught on to the songs and have done a great job learning the verses. Linn and Rock did a ‘Little Man’ skit for them that was hilarious. Linn shoved 3 bananas in Rick’s face and the kids loved it! When the day was over, there were tears from all the team members as we had to say our goodbyes to these amazing joyful kids.

VBS - Day 2

Pastor Linn goofs off with the kids

Kids listening to instructions

Fish props for Feeding the 5,000 story

Brian sings "I am a friend of God" with the kids

Rick Calcutt as "Little Man"

Celebration and our last day with Harvest India

Saying our goodbyes

After an amazing day at VBS, we made a stop a river that Suresh says is a holy river. Both Robin and Kory wanted to get baptized in India. What a way to finish up our last day with Harvest India. Both Suresh and Marty baptized both of them as Pastors Abraham and Joseph sang praise songs. We all celebrated at the beach and let our flowers float away in the water. The day was capped off with a round of “Amazing Grace”

Kory and Robin getting baptized

Harvest India – Day 2

We started our day by hosting two leprosy camps (there were too many that showed to have one). There were about 200 people who came from far distances to be here. This was a humbling, emotional experience from the team. Many of these people are missing fingers and toes. Many of them won’t be around in a year. Robin shared his testimony again and Brian gave the gospel presentation at one camp and Travis gave his testimony and Josh gave the gospel at the other one. We distributed food and Harvest India comes in and helps with their needs. It was amazing to see the joy in their faces despite their circumstances. What an incredible moment for the team.

Next up was the elderly home. Most elderly in India aren’t cared for and are abandoned. Harvest India comes in and gives these people a home to stay in. They are an amazing group of ladies. They did nothing but love on us and each one has such a huge heart for the Lord. Each day they pray three times a day and all day on the second Saturday of the month.

Harvest India hosted a free medical camp in a remote village. They give free check-ups and administer medicine to those that need it. This is just another way Harvest India reaches out to the community.

We had our second outreach at a village in Vemuru. This one was special because the India team dedicated the church at this location last year. Kory and Gary led worship, Meg gave her testimony and Brian gave the gospel message. It was an amazing night in which God was glorified.

Two girls singing

Brian gives the gospel

Harvest India – Day 1

 

The Cornerstone Team

Today was our first day out with Harvest India. We took rickshaws out to a schoolhouse that educates orphan children. The kids were excited to see us and greeted us with flowers. We went around to each classroom and met with the kids and their teachers. They were excited to show us what they had been learning.

We spent time relaxing at Suresh’s house after a long day at the school-house. One of Suresh’s teachers came up to him and told him she needed surgery for a potentially cancerous gland.  So prayed for her as a team for healing.

Harvest India also helps rescue women out of prostitution in the red light district. They actually buy the women out of slavery and provide a job for them. The women here are sewing clothes for a little money. Harvest India also helps rehabilitate them so they can re-enter society again someday. Check out I.P.P. to learn more about this amazing ministry!

We got more time with the kids as they danced for us. It’s amazing to see the joy in their faces.

We had an outreach in a remote village that night. After Suresh introduced the team, Brian & Kory led us in worship. Robin then gave her testimony followed by a gospel presentation from Marty. Several people stood and said they wanted to receive Christ. We as a team went out and prayed for each one. What an amazing first day!

Arriving in India

Cornerstone team at Sky Harbor

On the airplane

Arriving at Chennai

After 20+ hours of flying through Chicago, New York & Brussels, the team from Cornerstone finally made it to India. We were tired, but excited to experience what God has in store for us.

On the bus to the hotel

Some of us went for a stroll around the streets of Chennai. Below are some pictures.

After lunch, we headed to the train station for our 6 hour ride to Tenali. We were greeted by friends from Harvest India who made us feel welcome.

Train to Tenali

Being greeted from Harvest India staff in Tenali

Once we arrived at Harvest India, Suresh met us and had dinner for us. He immediately got us fired up with his stories of how God had been working in India.

 

Suresh telling us stories about Harvest India

Late night dinner

– T. Timmons

Less than 3 weeks away…

 

India team

In less than three weeks, this team from Cornerstone will be traveling to India to partner with Harvest India.

 

Child Sponsorship Day/Mama Zipporah visit

During our ‘Lost Crusade’ series at Cornerstone today, Pastor Linn spoke about impacting the Kingdom beyond our short time here on earth. God wants us to leverage the resources that He has given to us to impact other lives. Here is a video of the different stories from those who have been impacted by your generosity:

One way you can make an impact is by sponsoring a child through one of our three focus countries. Cornerstone offers child sponsorships through Food for the Hungry (Peru), Huruma Children’s Home (Kenya) and Harvest India (India). For just over a $1 a day, you can make a difference in a child’s life, their family and the community.

Today was an amazing day as several people stopped by the child sponsorship booth to sponsor children.

We were also blessed by a visit from Mama Zipporah from Huruma Children’s Home in Kenya. Mama spoke from main stage on how the generosity of the people of Cornerstone have impacted the lives of the 140+ orphans at Huruma. She then took time to visit with those that sponsored children at the booth and the team headed to Kenya in August.

Pastor Linn and Mama Zipporah

Caroline, Mama and Sylvia sing Kenyan songs to the August team going to Kenya

June 2010 Second Saturday Missions – Chandler, AZ

We, 15 of us, paid a visit to Yolanda, foster mom and gave the house an extreme makeover. Yolanda gives 3 girls a loving home and a family to call their own. The team is very pleased to be able to cheer her along on her journey to look after unloved kids.

A Place To Call Home places kids from trouble families into foster homes. Yolanda is the first recipient of home assistance and it is also Cornerstone’s first partnership with this agency. As a full-time professional lady, Yolanda has 3 kids to raise and is overwhelmed with the chores of the home without a male figure in her home. As a kind soul who has spent her life giving and giving, Yolanda felt completely overwhelmed to be at the receiving end of the service shown to her by Cornerstone CsMissions.

The Lord gave this team mighty warriors in shining armors and kingdom daughters with gentle hearts to touch this family. We build a ton of relationships. We arrived strangers at this home and by the grace of Jesus, parted as good friends.

When our team first arrived at the home, one of the girls told her mom to make us leave. She does not want strangers wandering in their home. By the time we left all the girls call me by my name and gave us hugs to say goodbyes. How sweet.

Our team were on our toes right off the bat from the moment we entered the house by the garage. We had willing laborers ready to take up positions and lead in their areas: furniture removal from the patio (Shaune), building storage racks (Hugo), paint matching (Deb), plumbing (Andrew), blinds (Rich), weeding (Brig), living area (Tom), mister (Carey), garage (Bruce & Donna). If you want to see how it is to be firing on all cylinders, this is it!

During our time we enjoyed breakfast together, prayed together in the garage, partied together over iced popsicles, laughed together as well as getting a ton of projects accomplished with Yolanda, including reclaiming her back patio, weeding and spraying the backyard, also we haul furniture away to Goodwill and South Mountain, organize the garage with racks, install a mister over the patio, an HDTV wide screen mounted on the wall, re-configure the living room re-wire the entertainment unit, do plumbing work in two bathrooms, hang a vertical blind unit up and repair two screen doors which otherwise Yolanda was going to just throw away!

Her 9 year old adopted daughter performed for us and boy can she sing! Her dream is to be an American Idol. We invited her to come to Kaboom!

To all the team members, I am so completely PROUD of you and salute you for all the hearts and deeds! You held the light of Christ high up today.

Extreme Makeover, Mission Edition.  

– Śımon Çħeng

Peru 2010

Good morning! Just a quick post to let everyone at home know the Peru team has arrived safely in Lima. We’re off to Chincha after breakfast. Already eyes are welling up at the thought of seeing old friends!

Tijuana: Day 3

Before we crashed last night, Frank Grubbs of World Vision did a presentation on child sponsorships. Frank is an incredible man with a huge heart for sponsoring children in poverty-stricken countries. He sang some fun songs and talked with us about the vision of World Vision. It was an awesome site to see many people from the different churches step up and sponsor some kids.

Frank Grubbs and Eddie Passmore

“…I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me…”   –  Jesus Christ

Brooks Buser of New Tribes Mission

Our final day was the same as before with devotion, breakfast and a time of worship. Eddie brought in a guest speaker from New Tribes Mission – Brooks Buser. He and his family are serving Yembi Yembi people of Papua New Guinea. What an incredible testimony he had of leaving everything behind to go and serve in an unreached area where the gospel has never been preached. The rest of our day consisted of building another shelter house for a young family without a home. It was a bit of a challenge as their house was on a hill, but we did get a nice cool breeze as we worked. We had another incredible day of just serving these people and working together as a team. We then headed out back to the dorm and packed up our things to head back home.

Would you consider serving on a short-term trip sometime? Guarantee it will change your life if you go!

-T. Timmons