Tonight John fed us prawns, which were delicious.  We spent some time under a solitary light learning more about his history and ministry.  John has been working in the ministry for most of his life.  He has founded many churches in the area, including one in 2010 that has grown to 80 people even though they have no floor, fans, lights, or front steps. They only have a cross…but isn’t that the only thing we really need?

John oversees many pastors in his ministry and demands respect from those pastors.  He is tough, but it is that toughness that has enabled him to unapologetically spread the gospel in a culture that is openly hostile to the gospel and believers.  John believes in the power of prayer as we spent much of the day in prayer with those we met and the places we visited: new believers experienced church leaders, the sick, the young and the poor.

He told us about the caste system in India, which is little more than institutionalized racism.  The fact that your lot in life is often determined by your last name seems so contradictory to the instructions of Jesus.  Yet, they are so ingrained in Indian culture that John believes the caste system will endure until Christ’s return.  Most of the people we encounter are considered the Untouchables.  The most we can offer them is the touch of Jesus, who sees and loves all regardless of status.  Please continue to pray for us in our ministry here in India.

See more photos of the team here:

We had nearly 80 pastors attend the pastors conference in the small village church. Pastor John had a small band play music as we marched to the church. Everyone was very excited to see us. It is not often that Americans come to visit these people (at these cast levels). Kevin started the conference talking on practical evangelism. Chris shared about GHI and the importance of discipleship. We tried to make the sessions more of a discussion and hear from the pastors. Several were very eager to speak and share what God was doing in their church. I think everyone found the interaction beneficial. I briefly shared on my own experience with disciplineship and gave some practical instruction on how to disciple (during the hottest part of the day when the power was out; I had sweat pouring down my legs). Beth invited the pastors to share some of their victories in Christ and there was a time of celebration.

Passing out the pastor bags and t-shirts was a little chaotic. We forget how little these people have and anything we give is a great gift. It was an example of how we could show God’s love in a practical way.
You have to have a lot of patience on these trips. We spend a lot of time waiting for things to happen. We waited for 2 hours after breakfast to start the conference. There was a Hindu festival today that made traffic bad. We waited after the conference for other activities (granted we saw some monkeys). but the waiting always pays off. This afternoon Chris and Kevin got to bless five goats going to local widows in the community. This is part of the sustainable agriculture that GHI is endeavoring to deploy. While it seemed awkward to pray over five goats, we knew our prayers were really to bless the families. Beth could tell us the sex of each goat. As an aside, Beth has greatly enjoyed seeing the agriculture and the animals.

Sometimes you have to pinch yourself to remember that, yes, we really are on the other side of the world. I spoke briefly with my mom this morning (it was Sunday night in the States, dad is not doing well, he is back on a lot of oxygen and will have a lung biopsy on Monday – please pray) and she said it was snowing in Durham. It was hard to imagine the cold snow back home as I watched the sunrise over the small city and Indians bathing on the rooftops. But I think that is one of the things I like about this trip, while it is all so foreign, it is all so familiar the second time around.

See more photos of the team here:

Among millions of faces in a land of many different religions we had the wonderful experience of worshipping the one true God today.

We started the day with Pastor Sunny and the sweet Hindi language congregation at Centenary Baptist Church. How awesome it was to hear voices lifted in prayer and praise to celebrate our Savior! The church was beautiful and Sunny was a wonderful host.

Chris taught a very powerful message on Revelations chapter 3, how we compare as churches and individuals in relationship to the 7 churches outlined in the passage. The congregation was so sweet and welcoming! The most powerful and wonderful thing was the prayers they lifted for Rebecca’s father as Mr. Keel continues to recover from a lung replacement surgery.

We then went to Hyderabad Full Gospel Church where Kevin shared about the importance of the living water provided by God based on John 7:37-39. The church was absolutely filled with children and members of the community. Raja and his crew have created one of the most amazing environments for children that we have ever seen. And, words can’t describe how beautiful it is to hear 70+ little voices singing praises to God in Telegu, clapping in perfect beat and saying “hallelujah” enthusiastically!

Following the service we had the opportunity to pray for members of the community. We also learned that no matter where you are on this Earth, the needs of the Spirit are the same: widows, health concerns, marriage, projects at school, broken hearts….the same as they are in NC!

Raja’s sweet wife prepared a delicious meal and we shared candy with the children. The children waited patiently while we handed out conversation hearts, Swedish fish, and sour patch kids. Everyone shared and enjoyed the treats.

Later, Pastor John met our group and we traveled four hours to Khammam. We will be spending the next few days in their nearby villages. We look forward to meeting pastors in this area, encouraging them, and praying with them.

How awesome it is that God is the same no matter where you are, no matter what language you speak, or what resources you have!

See more photos of the team here:

Please join us in praying for their travels, their ministry, and their health.  We are excited to hear what God is going to do in and through them.  Stay tuned and continue to check our blog for trip updates and stories.

I was a Hindu for most of my life but my life changed when I got typhoid fever.  I visited a local doctor and took medicine for several days. Unfortunately I could not afford the medicine so I stopped taking it though I was not completely healed. I remained terribly sick. My neighbor, after seeing my miserable condition shared that a man named Jesus could heal me. I did not want to know about this Jesus and leave my Hindu gods. I didn’t even want to go to church. That same night in a dream I heard a voice saying to me “Come unto me all ye that labor and I will give you rest.” I shared this dream with my neighbor and she took me to see the pastor.  There the pastor told me that it was Jesus talking to me and he will surely heal me if I believed in Him. I was convinced in my heart, and believed in Jesus. I prayed for Him to heal me and He did!  I started coming to church regularly.

One day our pastor told me that the church would like to help me by giving me a cow for my livelihood. He said that the cow was donated through an organization named Global Hope India. I was so happy to hear this and said it will be a big blessing to my family. A few days later I was given a cow that is now pregnant. It will give birth in one month. We are now able to sell the cow’s milk to provide a steady income. Thank you to all of the people who helped me with this cow. I give thanks to Jesus who healed me, saved me, and has given me new life.

When Tom and I sat down last year to set our Goals, Values, Plans, and Dreams for 2011 he told me that he was being called to India. My first 2 questions were ” Is God telling you I have to go too?” and “How in the world do you expect to pay for this?”

I was relieved to find out that God was not calling us both at this time — our son is getting ready to start kindergarten and has medical issues. I was able to commit right away to being a single mom for those 2 weeks and taking on all of Tom’s house duties.

However, there was still the money issue. With both of us working full time, we still are living on a shoe string budget. A Passport, Shots, Visa, Airline tickets–that’s a lot of money. We opened a savings account that evening for Missions and started directing funds each month. Tom decided to take on more overtime. Even still, I knew there was no way I was going to be able to fund this dream on our salary. Tom smiled at me each time I started stressing (every payday) and just said God would make it happen.

We went to the meeting and met part of the team and I expressed my concerns to Kevin. He told me in no uncertain terms —”God will provide the money if Tom is supposed to go”.

After several weeks of work, we were able to send out letters asking for support and posted it on Facebook. As I dropped the letters into the mail, I prayed one final prayer over them reminding God that if a single person sent in money–Tom “had” to go. It wasn’t a challenge to God–more of a surrendering that I believed that he was going to make this happen.

Within 24 hours, we received a text message from a local friend stating he had sent in a donation. Three days later, I had to call my best friend (a single mother and proclaimed agnostic) to find out if she had made an error when donating. She stated no– she had prayed and that was the amount that kept popping in her head. Donations just started pouring in– former employers, our physician, co-workers from previous jobs, and high school friends we haven’t seen in over 20 years. On July 4, a friend that Tom knows from Sicily closed out his account with a bang. He was fully funded within 29 days!!

Even weeks later, money is still coming in. We have support to help cover Tom’s shots and Visa so the trip is not a financial burden on us at all. God set the path for Tom and he listened–and God did what He promised to do.

Here are more photos from Tom’s trip:

By Emily Miller

I wanted to go to India to experience what poverty was really like and to see it with my own eyes. I had always heard people talk about it, but that wasn’t enough. I wanted to feel it and embrace what it was really like. I knew that if I went to India, God was going to open my eyes to a whole new world and change my life. Most of all, I wanted God to break my heart for the people of India.

Upon arriving, I immediately fell in love with the children. At the orphanage, in villages, at the school, on the streets, everywhere!- I just wanted to love on the kids. I remember walking down a street in one of the villages where we did kid jams with multiple children holding on to each of hand hands. I loved it! I was very emotional during the trip. All that these kids wanted was someone to care for them and love them. At one point, each orphan wanted to be picked up high in the air- not because they necessarily wanted to be picked up- but because for one second, all of your attention was on them. I learned that the power of a touch is unbelievable. It breaks my heart that at the end of the day these kids can go to sleep feeling unloved. I wanted to show them the love of Christ- a love they may have never experienced.

India showed me the power of prayer and how the Holy Spirit moves. Every bus ride we would pray and then we would see God move and answer those prayers. Then we would pray, God would answer the prayers, and we would pray again. God never failed to answer our prayers. In India, even though it is such a spiritually dark place, the Holy Spirit is alive! I’ve never felt anything close to it in the United States. I realized that the Christians there had no choice but to depend on God. The feeling of putting all of your trust in God, because you don’t have anywhere else to put it, is indescribable.

We saw many people came to Christ. Even if just one had, it would’ve been so worth it. At one of the kid jams, the gospel was being explained and kids from the streets were being told about Jesus. I was watching this little boy who paid close attention to everything that was said and when the kids were asked if any of them wanted to accept Jesus Christ, his hand shot up. I will never forget watching him pray to accept salvation with such eagerness.

My life has been changed so much by this trip. I no longer see poverty just as something that happens in third world countries. I see poverty and hear God calling us to do something to help those in need, to help our neighbors live a better life. I also gained a passion for helping kids and the less fortunate who are here in America.

My heart constantly longs to be back in India, back in a third world, where God is all you have. I cry as I write this because I miss the children, the noisy streets, not being able to open my mouth in the shower, and the feeling of always relying on the Holy Spirit. India has a special place in my heart and always will. India taught me what loving others truly means. As I said bye to one of the orphans, Kyishina, she wiped my tears, kissed me, and told me not to cry. I have fallen in love with the people of India.

Here are more photos from Emily’s trip:

Children are the heritage of God and it is the need of every child to have access to good living conditions and education. Since 1999 Full Gospel Church, L.B Nagar, Hyderabad has accepted the task of providing shelter to homeless children.
Presently there are 78 boys and girls living in the children’s home. The children (ages ranging from very young to teenage) live in a dormitory type accommodation. With only one floor of accommodations for the children, the living areas were much too congested. In order to provide more comfortable accommodations, Pastor Raja Partap Kumar made a dedicated effort to having a new floor built to the dormitory.
Jesus answered his prayers and with generous donations from Global Hope India, the children’s home now has a brand new floor. The construction work was completed earlier in 2011 and now the fixtures were completed at the end of January 2012. The cost of the construction is around Rs.7 lac ($13,500 USD) and the total living area will be 1,000 s/f.
The new construction has bought smiles of joy to the faces of the girls of the children’s home. Jerina, a 13 year old student of 6th class said, “I am very excited about the construction of the new floor as it gives us more space to study and succeed with the blessings of the Lord.” Another resident, Deepen, who studies in 8th standard agrees with Jerina and says, “Living in one room, we were not very comfortable and now with the new floor we are very happy to have more space for other works such as stitching bags.”

Pastor Raja Pratap Kumar says, “The construction of a new floor offers the girls more protection and as it is one of Jesus’ wishes that every child should have a roof over his/her head, we are only following His wishes.”

Madhavi has been living in the home for the past 10 years and is studying nursing. This 16 year old teenager is very excited about the construction of the new floor and comments, “With more space we can now help others in need and also give them a chance to enjoy the blessings of the Lord.”

Pastor Raja also says, “The children pray each day and thank God for the facilities that have been provided to them. I ask everybody to pray for a teacher for the children who wish to pursue technical courses such as Engineering and Medicine, also another $20,000 is needed to provide new cots and storage areas for the children. Now we are praying for better accommodation facilities for the boys.”

Would God have you to help? Please pray and let us know how you can join Him.

In May 2007 Centenary Baptist Church – Secunderabad, AP India (CBCS) under the leadership of Rev. Dr. Nalla Thomas, planted an outreach church in Kollur Village, Aleru Mandal, Nalgonda District of Andhra Pradesh, India.

Pastor Guguluthu John started the church with just 3 families. By God’s grace today there are more than 75 baptized families in the church. Villagers say that the church has brought the blessings of God to their community.

The church is 1 of 40 outreach congregations of the Centenary Baptist Church. Their goal is to plant 100 new outreach churches, and they are moving closer to this goal by planting a cluster of churches around Kollur. They are currently in the process of building a Community Development Center on 4.5 acres of land named Sharon Fields.  This center will serve 20 villages with a total population of 200,000 people. This is only the beginning as CBCS is praying and planning to construct a Home for the Elderly, Orphanage, Mission Center, and Charitable Health Center on this land. The construction of the Community Development Center will take 5 years, but the initial phase is scheduled to open in March 2012.

God has given a new Vision in 2012 to CBCS to start a Community Health Center with a 5 room Charitable Medical Clinic. This will cost $20,000 USD to construct. Pastor Thomas says, “We request you to pray for this CHC.”

Mr. N. Chandraiah a 43 year old man who works in agriculture shared his story with us. “I was born into a Hindu family and was very particular about my religion. When I heard that a church was being constructed in my village of Kollur, I was very upset,” he stated.  “During the inauguration in May 2007, I heard Pastor Thomas saying that our lives will be saved when we ask the Lord Jesus to come into our lives. I was in debt and addicted to alcohol. I started coming to the church against my family’s wishes. I became more and more interested in Jesus. I started having peace in my life and within my family. I was baptized in 2010 by Rev. Dr. Nalla Thomas and today I am proud to be a Christian. I don’t know how to read Bible, but my sons and my daughter read it to me and my wife, Kalavathi. I attend Kollur Baptist Church regularly and Pastor G. John visits and motivates us to walk with God every day.”

Mr. R. Nagaraju and Mrs. Pavani are a newly married couple in the church. Both are daily labor workers. Nagaraju says, “I work as a mason and was married in Oct 2011. Since October, I have come to this church every Sunday. After hearing the pastor preach, I stopped smoking and slowly I am leaving my bad habits. I want to change completely. Pray for me that I might take baptism. My wife Pavani knows Jesus and prays to Him every day. I want to know more about Jesus. Please pray for us.”

Pastor Guguluthu John says that the church has been praying for a good public audio system and some musical instruments for the youth. They are also praying for a baptismal tank and a bore well so that the villagers can draw water from the well. In result, the church gets the opportunity to give the good news to them and offer the living water of Jesus.

There are 20 Villages in and around Kollur with approximately 10,000 children total. This August, a GHI team plans to spend 3 days in Kollur conducting Kid Jam Bible clubs for the children. This has enormous potential of bringing change in the lives of many children and their parents. It also gives the local church an opportunity to invite many non-Christian children to come and hear the gospel. Our prayer is that God would in result use the children to relay the message of Jesus Christ to their parents.
Please be praying for Baptish Church Kollur and Global Hope India’s partnership with Centenary Baptist Church.

Click here to find out how you can join the August team and go with GHI to minister in these villages.

More photos of the Kollur: