Making Disciples of All Nations

10/40 Spotlight: Delhi, India

June 5, 2012 by Leave a Comment

The 10/40 Window = a term used to describe those regions of the eastern hemisphere located between 10 and 40 degrees north of the equator. This general area was named the 10/40 Window in 1990 by Luis Bush, because it represented the highest level of socioeconomic challenges and least access to the gospel on the planet.  This band of countries include Northern Africa as well as almost all of Asia (West Asia, Central Asia, South Asia, East Asia and much of Southeast Asia).  Roughly two-thirds of the world’s population lives in this window. The people in the 10/40 Window are predominantly Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Animist, Jewish or Atheist and most governments are formally or informally opposed to Christian work within their borders.  This area is significant when we look at making disciples of all nations. Following is a spotlight on one city in the 10/40 Window:   

 

DELHI

One could argue that the most influential city in all of India is Delhi. In 1911, the capital of India was moved from Calcutta to Delhi.  Delhi is the center of power and finance in India. Based on metropolitan populations, Delhi is the 8th largest city in the world with an estimated population of over 22 million. It is a vibrant melting pot with many distinct ethnic groups and languages spoken.

In Delhi, there is a visible intersection between poverty and lostness. More than 52% of the people in Delhi live in slums. This means that a majority of the people in the city lack water, electricity, and basic daily needs. As for religion, more than 82% of the people in Delhi claim to be Hindus. That is followed, by 11% Muslim, 4 % Sikh, 1.1% Jain, and less than 1% Christian.

According to Operation World, there are around 130,000 Christians in Delhi. There are over 3,000 churches. Many of the Christians in Delhi are migrants who have moved into the city from another province or country. Increasingly, it is difficult for Hindus or Muslims to “convert” to Christianity in Delhi and other parts of India. In fact, there are “anti-conversion” laws that have been put in place by the Indian government to prevent people from becoming followers of Christ.

Delhi is a key city for gospel advancement in India and throughout all of South Asia. As India continues to emerge as a world power, Delhi will increasingly play a crucial role on the global stage. The gospel is there, the church exists there, but there is much spiritual darkness that remains. Pray for the church in Delhi. Pray for God to raise up more leaders, disciples, and churches to see this influential city turned upside-down for the kingdom of Christ.

Facts:

  • Delhi has not always been the capital of India. Under the British, Calcutta had the honor for a long time until Delhi was reinstated in 1911.
  • The literacy rate in Delhi is over 81%.
  • Delhi is said to be one of the oldest existing cities in the world.
  • Another 10 million people are expected to move into Delhi by 2021.
  • There are over 3,000 slums in Delhi.

Prayer Points:

  • Pray for the millions of slum dwellers who have no hope apart from Christ.
  • Pray for the more than 589 people groups found in Delhi.
  • Pray for the local churches in Delhi to teach sound doctrine.
  • Pray for the more than 2 million Muslims in Delhi.
  • Pray for the ethnic communities in Delhi (Balmiki, Sindhi, Punjabi, and Burmese).
Filed Under: 10/40 Spotlights Tagged With: , , , ,

City On A Hill

February 2, 2012 by 3 Comments
Compassion Children Welcoming Us to Their Project

 After three days of traveling from Birmingham to get here, we were finally able to visit the Compassion project at Care and Share Mission in Bhubaneswar, India. Three of our elders, Keith Anderson, Dennis Blythe and Cory Varden are here to visit a couple of the churches where we support Child Survival Programs (CSPs) and explore how we might be able to enter into an even deeper partnership, and I’m lucky enough to be along for the ride.

Today we visited the Child Development through Sponsorship Program at Care and Share Mission. This program is different from the CSP we support. It is for children age 4 and up. The support for these children is provided through one-on-one sponsorship. Here in East India the children attend the project Monday through Saturday. They spend time learning from the Bible, singing songs, working on their academics and taking various skills classes including art, toy-making and henna tattooing (a few of us even served as practice subjects). In addition to this regular education, they also receive a meal, medical care, training in personal hygiene and any supplies, uniforms or tuition they might need for school.

Cory meeting his sponsored child.

There are 283 children in the project at Care and Share Mission, and only nine of them come from Christian families. The majority of the rest come from Hindu backgrounds with a few whose families are Muslim. However, Compassion is having a tangible impact on each of these families as well as their children.

The Project Director, whom I will call P., told us of how this region can be hostile to the gospel and Christians. He shared with us a story about how a couple of years ago there was a great deal of persecution of Christians within this region. Many churches were being attacked, and their buildings being destroyed. Care and Share Mission heard that they were about to be targeted by the extremist groups carrying out the persecution. Needless to say, they were both concerned and afraid. They weren’t sure what they were going to do but began to pray fervently for God’s protection and deliverance.

Our elders serving the children lunch.

The people of the community also heard that Care and Share Mission was going to be targeted. So, the families of all the children who attended the project, most of whom were not Christian, went to the church grounds and literally surrounded the facilities. When the persecutors came, they told them that the church was good and doing many good things, especially in caring for their children. The families said, “This is our project as well as theirs. We stand with them. You will not harm them.” The persecutors left and families continued to help protect the church, even going so far as to take turns sleeping there at night.

As I listened to P. tell this story, I couldn’t help but be reminded of our memory verse for this week, which comes from the Sermon on the Mount that Bart preached from on Sunday.

“In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” – Matthew 5:16

Care and Share Mission truly is a city on a hill for their community. The good they are working in the lives of children and mothers is shining so brightly that others who do not yet know God see the immense value and want to protect it at all costs. And through this work many of the children, and through them their families, are not only being impacted in the name of Jesus but are hearing the gospel and coming to faith in him. God is receiving great glory here, and it’s a privilege and honor that we are all able to be a small part of it.

Dennis showing his sponsored child where he lives.

P. let us know that, out of the 283 children in the project, 12 are still without sponsors. I was thinking that perhaps some of you might want to help rectify that problem. We have with us the sponsorship packets for four of those twelve. They are all four-year-old boys, Amona, Ashis, Manaj, and Sujit. You can see their pictures below.

Here’s what sponsoring one of these boys would mean: For you it would mean committing to giving $38 a month to Compassion, to praying for them (you’ll receive more information about them when you receive their packet), and to writing them letters however often you choose (you’ll also receive letters from them). There are even more opportunities to be involved in the life of your child once you sponsor, but these are just the basics. For them, sponsorship would mean the opportunity to continue in the project at Care and Share Mission, to know that someone they’ve never met halfway around the world loves them, and to hear the gospel, learn about Jesus and be given the opportunity to respond in faith as they grow.

Since we’re here, we’re even going to try to let those children know who has chosen to sponsor them and will do our best to take pictures of them for you and film a message to you from them.

All you need to do at this point is look at their pictures below. Then, if you want to sponsor a particular one or any of them, simply leave a comment to this post letting us know and include in your comment which child you’d like to sponsor (or no preference if you’ll take any of them). Be sure to give us your name and an email address when you leave your comment.

This is just one opportunity for us to join Care and Share Mission in letting our light shine.

 

Filed Under: India Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Global Stories – Max and Tyler

December 11, 2011 by 1 Comment

During this past summer, Max Bishop and Tyler Werk served together as Brook Hills Mid-Term Missionaries to India.  What follows are some of Max’s reflections on their experience.

After a month of living in India we were able to engage an unreached village of Muslims with Amit, the pastor we were working with.  This village had never been visited with the gospel so we were excited to go there.  We started walking and as we walked we prayed asking God to give us the words to say.  Words that were seasoned with salt and for wisdom as we graciously approached the people.  When we got to the village we noticed a hut with about 5 people gathered in it.  So we went to them and began to speak and hand out materials. They told us that the whole village was going to gather for prayer and they invited us to join them. A little boy led the entire village, about 35 to 45 people, in the Muslim call to prayer.  Tyler, Amit and I silently gathered and asked God to lift the veil from their eyes. When they had finished their prayer, they invited us in so they could talk with us and us with them. Amit looked at me and said, “You are going to share brother Maxwell”.

For the next thirty minutes I shared the Gospel. The time was amazing. The people were very attentive and interested. After I finished they wanted to take a picture together. So I went to get my camera.

At this point it was pitch black outside and I couldn’t see a thing. As I was gathering my camera, 5 men walked up to me and started to shake my hand. They began asking me questions in Hindi.  I knew enough to know they wanted to see the materials we had given to all the villagers.

So I gave them what I had. Next thing I knew the kids I had already given books and material to were coming up to me asking for more. I saw that the men were taking all the material from the villagers. So I went back in and told Amit to communicate that they should keep and read the materials. As Tyler and I sat there the men started to argue with Amit and looked upset. The pastor then came up to me and said they want to beat you for what you have shared and for handing out copies of the New Testament.  So when he told me this I said, “Well…..LET’S GO. So we got our things and left.

It was very interesting to see Gods sovereignty, because he allowed us to come and to share of his saving grace and of his son Jesus Christ and right as we finished, the Imams of the local mosque came and wanted to beat us. God proved that he is watching over us and has a divine purpose for us.

We pray for the people we shared the gospel with that day.  That the seeds of the gospel we were able to plant would take root in their hearts and using Pastor Amit and others, God would call them to himself so the people we met may know eternal life and share with others in their family and community.

 

For more information on how you can serve as a Mid-Term missionary (serving 2 months – 2 years), please visit brookhills.org/go.

Filed Under: Global, India Tagged With: , , ,

The Global Body of Christ

December 7, 2011 by 2 Comments

This is the second post from the team of 9 Brook Hills members who just returned home from Northeast India after serving for almost 2 weeks with our ministry partner NeverThirst.  Read about the experiences they had while teaching and engaging unreached peoples through a church based health and sanitation program.

From Warren Beason, team leader.

Team: Rod Anderson, Jessica Baggett, Warren Beason, Tommy House, Jonathan and Andrea Maddox, Tom McCoy, Virginia Ramsey, Catherine White

I think many times we have the misconception that mission trips are just an opportunity to awkwardly hand out tracts or to build something in an impoverished area. I enjoyed this trip because it really highlighted a healthy and productive way that we can benefit our brothers and sisters around the world as they seek to advance the Gospel in their culture. They are the most effective ones to share the Gospel in their culture, but can be immensely aided by our resources and availability. On this trip we were able to directly share stories from the Bible, present the Gospel and see souls come to Christ in areas where the church was already engaged and growing. That was awesome! On the other hand, we were also able to use teaching on sanitation and hygiene to open the door for the local church to engage Hindu and Muslim villages that had previously been totally resistant to their help…much less the Gospel. In those instances, our presence, in a way that our money and resources could not, is what God used to break down the barriers for the local church. The local church will be the ones that are able to present the Gospel and disciple new believers (as it should be), but God used his global body (i.e. us) to play a role in that process. I was really thankful for us to be a link in that chain.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bhglobal/6462515817/in/photostream/

Story Time

I was also very thankful for a team that was genuinely there to serve. Not only were they there to serve, but they were there to serve in the ways directed by the local church (not necessarily the ways we had planned). I was so encouraged by our team’s humility and flexibility. Unfortunately, many times we go with our agenda and can be disappointed (i.e. hurt pride) when we don’t get to do the things we prepared to do. However, our team did an excellent job of truly serving and being more concerned with what furthered the mission best, not what made us feel best.

The Team

Our field partner, Neverthirst, and in particular, Andrew, Roshni, Ashish and Johnna were awesome! They are daily working hard to advance the Gospel in some of the toughest places on earth. They deserve our encouragement, admiration and desperate prayer. God is using them in a mighty way.

Andrew and Roshni

Neverthirst Leaders - Ashish

Neverthirst Leaders - Johnna

Lastly, something I thought was funny and encouraging for Brook Hills…we were in a very remote city in Northeast India. Many have referred to this place as the “graveyard of missions”. As we sat at dinner in the ground floor of our hotel, 4 Americans walked in. These are the first foreigners we’ve seen in this area. Naturally, we introduce ourselves. It turns out, one is the International Mission Board (IMB) leader for the area and the other 3 are from a church in Louisville, KY. The IMB missionary jokingly laments…”You guys are totally blowing this for me. I told these guys we were going to one of the most remote, unreached places on earth. And, of course, who do we run into??? Brook Hills!” Ha!!! I’d love for that to be our continuing legacy!

Filed Under: Global, India Tagged With: , , , , , ,

One True God

December 6, 2011 by 2 Comments

A team of 9 Brook Hills members just returned home from Northeast India after serving for almost 2 weeks with our ministry partner NeverThirst.  Read about the experiences they had while teaching and engaging unreached peoples through a church based health and sanitation program.

Our Team: Rod Anderson, Jessica Baggett, Warren Beason, Tommy House, Jonathan and Andrea Maddox, Tom McCoy, Virginia Ramsey, Catherine White

A team of 9 Brook Hills’ members flew out Saturday, Nov. 12 headed for our final destination, a less-than tourist hotspot and unreached area in India. Because it is not a tourist hotspot, it took us 2.5 days to arrive. After a day of travel, an overnight stay in Delhi, an in-country flight, and a Talladega Superspeedway 3 hour driving experience, we finally arrived at our less than glamorous home for the next 4 nights.

Church-Based Projects

Dirty, grey, and drab streets were packed with pedestrians, bicycles, merchants, cows, goats, and dogs and the sounds of horns and bike bells. The only splash of color in all of the dreariness was the vegetables people were selling to try and earn a rupee to feed their family, as well as the bright sarees that women wear as traditional clothing covering them from head to toe. The smells were unpleasant and poignant and something that stayed zipped up in our luggage even as we travelled back and arrived in America.

Street of Northeast India

Each day we travelled 30 minutes from the crowded city out to unreached villages to serve as the body of Christ from America together with the body of Christ from India. The churches that we worked with overflowed with the fruit of the Spirit – joyful and humble hearts in their service towards us. Our goal each day was to continue to help build trust between the unreached village people and the NeverThirst India staff working through the local church.

Six months ago NeverThirst began the “Adopt a Village” program. The program mission is to equip 30 women in a village to learn about and mobilize their community towards clean water and total sanitation while ensuring spiritual integration through role playing and Biblical story telling. The women are illiterate and therefore oral and visual learners.

We were able to teach women from 7 small villages. Each time we walked into a village, we were greeted with blank stares. The women were timid and shy, uncertain of who we were. Majority have never travelled outside their surrounding area. Lack of resources and transportation other than walking and bicycles make getting anywhere exhausting and difficult.

Imagine dirt and animals and animal waste everywhere so much that you have to pay attention to where you walk. It’s common for villagers to handle waste, animals and work in the fields and not wash their hands before handling their children or food. It’s common for children to play in the dirt and run around, like children love to do, and never wash their hands before eating. Sickness and death is common because of the lack of knowledge of simple things. So we taught simple things. We spent 3 days teaching hygiene, sanitation, and disease prevention always through a translator and one time even through 2 translations.

This video shows two team members teaching on the importance of washing your hands properly to prevent the spread of germs and disease.

When it was appropriate we told stories from Scripture and presented the Gospel. Because of the women’s deep seeded Hindu or Muslim religion or their husband’s resistance to them coming to the program, NeverThirst and the local church were working to establish a relationship of trust with the women first through teaching sanitation. Our goal was to support their work, not force Jesus on the women and reverse the work that had already been done. The Lord always prompted us when to share and we saw 3 women begin a personal relationship with Christ!

If time permitted after our teaching time, we would interact with the children and the women. Once we began talking with the women, their shyness and timidity would fade and they would engage in conversation. Some expressed their excitement over learning the Hindi alphabet and how to write their name. Some expressed their anticipation over the future coming of clean water as a result of the “Adopt a Village” program. Some expressed that they have learned the importance of praying to God.

Prayer

Of course that always brought a smile to my face. The Hindu religion is everywhere – the belief in many false gods. It was always a defining moment to have 10 seconds or 1 minute to be able to share there is only One True God. The God who loves, protects, provides, saves, and forgives them. They listened and my prayer is that they will respond to Holy Spirit working in their lives and find Salvation and Hope in the One True God. Worship in heaven will be sweet with the Indian villagers.

Following are 2 statements from 2 team members that sum up the trip very clearly:

Rod Anderson: I am over 50 years old and have never seen the love of Christ and power of the gospel more effectively demonstrated than in the work of NeverThirst and the local Indian church in Northeast India. Even though I had read David Platt’s book, Radical, and it had impacted me, this trip literally made the material in the book jump off the pages and will significantly impact the rest of my life. It made clear to me how our materialism and busyness can be a lethal distraction to the power of the gospel in our lives.

Catherine White: How powerful a God we serve that He is able to command the attention of absolutely everyone. Myself and people from across the world, that look completely different than me and have completely different backgrounds, are both drawn to the same Savior and have the same purpose…. to further the kingdom of Heaven.

Filed Under: Global, India Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Stories of Hope from India 2

September 20, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Brook Hills partners with Compassion International in India helping to provide opportunities for mothers and children to be released from the cycle of poverty.  The Child Survival Program helps save the lives of babies and mothers in poverty utilizing local churches to assist mothers of at-risk infants and toddlers.  Through prenatal care, nutritious food and supplements, ongoing health care, training for mothers, spiritual guidance and education mothers are able to give their families a chance to be released from poverty all while being discipled through a local church in the area.

These are a few of the stories from mothers in the Child Survival Programs in India Brook Hills gets to be involved with.  God is mightily at work in the lives of these women and children.  Continue to pray for the work God is doing in the lives of these women.

*names have been changed for security

Anjali* grew up believing her god was a difficult god to please. As a part of the Santhal tribe of India, Anjali and her family worshiped Maran Buru. Their definition of worship? Sacrifice, pleading, obligations and fear. In spite of the family’s offerings, Maran Buru remained a vengeful god.

Maran Buru inhabited their water and made them sick. Dwelled in their home and led Anjali’s husband, Rajan, to drink. Reveled in the fights that broke out between the couple when there wasn’t enough money, wasn’t enough food.

Anjali could find no peace in her religion. Each month illness made her miss work, and visits to the witch doctors offered no relief. Rajan was often too drunk to find day-labor jobs. And when Anjali discovered she was pregnant, the idea of caring for a child in the midst of the turmoil of her life was too much.

When Anjali was 5 months pregnant, she learned about the Bal Vikas Bhavan Child Survival Program, run by a local church in her village. Anjali joined and received immediate physical benefits, including prenatal care, vitamins and food supplies. But her spirit was still heavy. Her religion was deeply steeped in her tribal culture. She had never known anything different.

Anjali’s struggles did not go unnoticed. Another mother from the program, Priya, became close friends with Anjali. Each day she prayed that Anjali would be rescued from the darkness she felt. Priya prayed with Anjali and offered her a spiritual support she had never experienced before. Bible stories, prayers and worship brought Anjali peace, a relief from her constant fear of making sacrifices that would not please her god.

The prayers of Priya and other mothers in the Child Survival Program (CSP) were powerful. But the real turning point for Anjali came when her infant son, Robin, became ill. Anjali could not help thinking about past illnesses she and her family had suffered. The fruitless sacrifices. The hopeless trips to the witch doctor.

And Anjali made a decision. For the first time in her life, she prayed to God. And within days, her son was well.

Today Anjali is an active member of the church and of the women’s fellowship at her church. Her husband, Rajan, also became a believer, as well as Anjali’s mother-in-law. The entire family was baptized in 2008.

At the CSP center, Anjali has learned parenting and vocational skills. She now knows how to sew and is able to repair her family’s clothes and serve as a seamstress in her village.

And this once-frail, beaten-down woman is now active in her community. She has learned to manage her family’s finances, and she and her husband work hard to find steady jobs to support their son.

“[Anjali] has learned to read and write and that makes me feel very proud of her,” says Rajan.  Gone are the days of fruitless sacrifice and a fickle god. Anjali and Rajan are raising Robin in a home filled with boundless grace and a living God.

“Getting involved in CSP was not by chance, but God’s plan to deliver us from the stronghold of Maran Buru to bring us into His saving knowledge,” says Anjali.

Filed Under: Global Tagged With: , , , , ,

How are they to believe in Him of whom they have never heard?

August 14, 2011 by 3 Comments

A blog post from one of our teams who just returned home from India. 

When God called me to go to India this summer, I did not know what to expect. I told God to use me for the advancement of His kingdom and that His name to be glorified through it all. I went as a blank check, ready to see God at work. As a Christ follower, my life is rooted into living out the Gospel. Jesus’ last commandment, Matthew 28:18-20, the Great Commission, is what brought me to India.

Our team prayed for months that God would prepare the hearts of those whom we would come into contact. When we got to North India, we went to the unreached and told them the greatest story ever known to us. Asking over 1500 people if they had ever heard of the name of Jesus and getting 1500 odd looks was breath-taking. It made me feel the words of Paul from Romans 10:14. Chill bumps covered my body after experiencing that. It was incredible that everywhere we went, we did not experience hostility to the Gospel, but rather, eagerness to learn more. God is so good! Although we were there for a week, God is using our partner, COI, to farm the seeds that God used us to plant. How great is our God?

What keeps my wheels turning day after day is that Revelation 7:9-10 is going to become reality really soon. “After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb…” This alone should keep the Church active in living out the Great Commission. We are here to bring glory to God which means we need to go to the unreached. Our Brook Hills partner, COI is doing just that by actively building relationships and pursuing the young generation. Although I am not there physically, I know the Spirit is well at work. I will be praying everyday for my brothers and sisters to be lifted up and for the lost to be found. May they no longer be blinded to the truth 2 Corinthians 4:4.

Praise be to God!

Andrew Bocchino

Serving

Filed Under: Global Tagged With: , , , ,

This is why we go

June 14, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Our India team working with our Neverthirst partner just arrived back home.  See in these videos some of the incredible ways God is moving in India and hear the stories of lives impacted for the Glory of God.

Brook Hills elder Dale Kendrick introduces a new sister in Christ.  Through the “adopt a village” program in her community, she will be discipled by church leaders and equipped to lead others in that area.  Please pray for Chun Du and her family as the Lord grows her faith and for other believers to teach her more about Christ.  Pray for God to use her life to make His name known in her community and throughout India.

Through last year’s Radical Experiment, The Church at Brook Hills was able to help local churches in India put clean water wells in.  Through our Neverthirst partner we have seen the church strengthened and Christ shared with those who had not heard.  Here are a few of those stories:

Filed Under: Global Tagged With: , , , , ,

Today’s Class

June 8, 2011 by Leave a Comment

These videos were shot today by our Short-Term team in India.  This team, led by Brook Hills elder Dale Kendrick, is working with our partner Neverthirst to teach women how to properly care for the water well in their village.  With proper sanitation led by these women, the entire village will reap the benefits of clean water through the local church. 

As the team arrived in one of the villages they are working in, the people greeted them with a beautiful celebration filled with dancing, music and flowers.  This act of hospitality and excitement is humbling to team member Tiffany Bittner as she describes what she is experiencing.

During the day class is held outside with the women of the village.  First lesson – how to properly care for the water well that the village gets clean water from. This is important for the health of the village and sustainability of the well.  Please pray for the times of teaching and that God would use our team to make His name known to the people you see in the video.

Filed Under: Global Tagged With: , , , , ,

Clean Water, Living Water

June 8, 2011 by 1 Comment

From Brook Hill’s elder, Dale Kendrick and his team in India.  His team is serving in a village in Northeast India with our Neverthirst partner.  The team is helping to establish the “adopt a village” program among women in this village.  Through the installment of a clean water well by the local church, discipleship is taking place with each woman in the program.  Read why we are working with Neverthirst to share not only clean water but living water to a village in India.

 

Tuberculosis. Malaria. Chronic pain. Mental illness. Skin diseases. Vision problems. Alcoholism. Inability to speak. Malnutrition.

These are just some of the things for which our team has been asked to pray for as we have visited some of the villages adopted by Neverthirst here in Northeast India. Our visits each day start with a two to three hour drive out from the city in which we are staying, to then be greeted by the entire village with singing, dancing, and gifts of flowers…and more flowers…and more flowers. The tribes in these villages definitely know how to execute a welcoming ceremony.

While our plan has been to primarily teach the women of the village, we have had opportunity at every stop to engage the entire village…men, women, children, newborn, and a variety of animals…with the story of Ruth. The women in these villages can easily identify with Ruth’s initial sense of loss, loneliness, helplessness, and hopelessness. We pray each time we tell Ruth’s story that the women would also come to know the joy, hope, and redemption that Ruth experienced, through a relationship with Jesus. While we have met several believers, most of the villagers are animists with little to no knowledge of Jesus.

After Ruth, the team teaches a lesson on basic sanitation and hygiene. Ideas like washing your hands before you handle food, washing your hands after using the bathroom, keeping clean water clean…ideas most in the West learn as children…are new concepts for most in the villages. This area is in a severe drought, and any type of water is a luxury…clean water is a mystery. One of the beautiful things about our partnership with Neverthirst here is that through the local churches, we are able to help sponsor an entire training program for women in the village to participate in for the next two to three years. Our prayer is that the provision of a clean water well, along with the training provided, will transform these villages for generations, and for the Kingdom.

There is still much work to do. After a presentation yesterday in a village with no access to water or electricity, and far from any type of marketplace, one elderly man stood and said, “This was a great presentation. But we are all already sick and desperately need medicine.”

Pray that the Father would overwhelm these villages with an awareness of His presence, provision, power, goodness, and joy. Pray for the social workers working alongside Neverthirst as they work through the daily tasks of teaching and training in the villages. Ask Him to do all this in a way that only He gets the glory.

Filed Under: Global Tagged With: , , , , ,
«Older Posts