Saturday, July 25th, 2009
OK, here it is; my first full day in Trichy yielded this…prejudice. I don’t like to think that I am, but there I was, in a village, fresh off the bus and about to dedicate a project and I see a woman with a baby – no big deal right? Normally not, but this wasn’t a normal looking Indian baby, dark skin, hair and eyes – he was an albino and the first thought that went through my head was not a good one.
At that moment I got a stern rebuke from the Lord and realized that the peculiar one, the outcast was exactly the one that Jesus was most interested in. Here I was representing him and wasn’t interested in the very little one he came to save. So much for humility.
Thankfully, repentance works and my attitude quickly changed. As I held the little guy and he was pretty fussy at first, I was able to get him to settle down and fall asleep and it was then I had the honor of praying that he would find the Lord and serve him.
I am thankful for this experience because in it, the Lord reminded me how much I do need him and how easy it is to succumb to pride and arrogance.
My final thought for today came during a team meeting this Saturday morning. After reading the Prodigal Son out of Luke 15 I shared with the team the comment of the father towards the son who stayed true to his roots. The father’s response was that at any point in time he could have had a party and enjoyed the fruits of his labor and the riches of the father’s kingdom but he never asked.
I began to wonder why we never ask. So today we asked God to show us how we can have a party with him and enjoy the fruit of the Kingdom that has been stored up for us. Enough martyrdom, let’s have a party with Jesus.
In trying to figure out what that looks like we prayed and the Lord spoke one word – Celebration.
Celebration. Celebrate the fact that Jesus paid the price for our sin and we are now free. Celebrate the fact that he is alive. Celebrate the fact that we have power over the devil and sin. Celebrate the fact that were loved, called, chosen and a host of other wonderful things.
Celebrate in India all that God has done individually in the lives of those who have come to faith and celebrate the fact that water comes from the ground and provides physical life and quenches one’s thirst. Lead the people in the village in a celebration and tell them why they get to celebrate.
So that’s what we did today; we celebrated who Jesus is and how he has provided for us everything that we need for life and godliness; we celebrated life!
Posted in News and Stories, Trip Updates | 4 Comments »
Saturday, July 25th, 2009
10 new projects were dedicated and completed today with thousands enjoying a 24/7 flow of safe drinking water! In addition to dedicating each project, we named a baby Rachel or was it Rebecca? I am bad with names so thankfully it wasn’t me naming the baby! Anyway, here are some pictures with more to be posted to Flickr soon.
I will blog some more shortly about my thoughts these past 2 days. Tonight we catch a train for Chennai, a few hours at the Marriott to clean up and have breakfast then back to the airport for our flight to Vizag then a 1.5 hour drive to Tuni.
How fun it is at 100 degrees this close to the equator – hot and humid, but what else would you expect from India in July?
Posted in Photos/Media | No Comments »
Friday, July 24th, 2009
Despite the heat; 102 and climbing, we got through 8 project dedications. Thousands are now enjoying safe drinking water as a result of those who have given.
10 village projects will be dedicated on Saturday then in the evening a 6 hour train ride to Chennai, flight up to Visak then a drive to Tuni. This trip is going by fast.
Here are some pictures; I hope you enjoy them. They really do capture the moment.
Posted in Trip Updates | No Comments »
