Please keep praying...

Thank you all for your prayers and support of Luke and Jason as they have been serving in Chennai, India. Please continue to keep them in your prayers as they finish up their last week of teaching at Great Harvest Bible College and prepare to teach in the churches Friday, Saturday and Sunday as well. Pray that the Lord continues to bless their teaching and keep them healthy and encouraged. Also pray that the students and others they come in contact with would be drawn closer to the Lord.

little girls from the village

Luke & Jason with the students and staff of the Bible college

An Update from Luke

Today we wrapped up four days of ministering in Cheerala, 5 hours north by train.  This is Calvin's, the college warden's home town.  Calvin served as our guide and coordinator throughout.  We were able to minister to homeless tribal outcasts, hindu villagers, and local believers.  Most nights were spent walking village streets and stopping in homes to pray for healing or provision.  One afternoon we witnessed to a large group of youths playing cricket.  All were eager to hear about the Lord.  This morning we preached in two Lutheran churches and then Calvin's father's church. With the exception of Luke catching a pretty severe stomach bug it was a wonderful time.  The Lord really tested our faith and stretched our comfort zones.  Tomorrow it is back to Chennai for another week of teaching.  

Two Prayer Requests

Please remember to keep Ted in your prayers today and tomorrow as he is leaving for the States today!

Also, please keep Luke, Jason and John Calvin (the warden of the Bible college) in your prayers as tomorrow they will be taking a 5-hour train ride to the state of Andhra Pradesh, which is about 370 miles north of Chennai. They will be doing evangelism and discipleship there for the next 3 days. Please keep them in prayer as they travel and minister in Adnhra Pradesh. 

Sarah's Testimony

Today we heard an amazing testimony of the healing love of Jesus. A girl was possessed by a demon for 15 years. Her parents took her to temple after temple and various doctors trying to fix it. Finally they came to the Bible college and stayed for four days. The students stayed up all night praying for her and she was healed. Her family left their hometown, which is in a different state, and are renting a home here and going to the church. They have forsaken all else and are serving the Lord. The girl was named after an idol and today Ted renamed her Sarah. The whole family will be baptized tomorrow. Praise Jesus!

L-R: Sarah's father, Sarah, her mother, and grandmother.

Stories from the Village

Tonight Sunny took us to the nearby village. We first visited a home of a woman who had been tormented by evil spirits for a long time. She had horrible dreams every night. She payed a lot of money to local temples to help her with this problem, but nothing could be done for her. At the beginning of last semester (so about June 2010) Sunny came with the Bible college students and they prayed for her. She was delivered and she started coming to the church that they have at the Bible college. She got rid of all her idols. Her wooden front door had an idol carved into it. She carved it out! It was so ugly and beautiful at the same time!

We then went to the thatch roofed house of a blind man and his wife. When the blind man lost his sight he became an untouchable, so no one would come to visit them. Sunny and the students came and they accepted the Lord and have not missed a church service since. They were so excited to invite us into their tiny little home and it was a very precious time.

Praise the Lord that Ted has made it safely to India! Please keep him, Luke and Jason in your prayers! Here are some pictures of the Bible college and students. Please remember to pray for them, as well!

An Update from India

Thank you all for your prayers for Ted, Justin and Pat as they traveled through Asia delivering materials to our Brothers and Sisters. Please continue to keep them in prayer today as Ted travels to India to meet up with Luke and Jason, and Justin and Pat travel home to the States.

For the past two days, Luke and Jason have been teaching the Bible, hermeneutics and homiletics to the 16 or so students at Great Harvest Bible College. These students are from many different places around India, as well as countries like Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bhutan. Some have come because of relationships with their local pastors in their hometown, others because of a magazine advertisement for the college. Since there are many different languages present at the college, all the students have been taught English, and all the classes are in English without a translator. The classes are normally taught by 6 or so pastors from around the area.

In the evening around 25 children from the neighboring village come the Bible school and get free schooling from some of the women who cook for the college, as well as the students themselves. There is not much threat of religious persecution in the city of Chennai, where the college is located, so they are able to freely share the Gospel of Jesus with the children.

Many of the Bible college students come from areas where persecution is much greater than it is in Chennai and most of them seem to be ambitious about learning the Word of God and returning to their homelands to start churches/ministries there. They are being trained in ministering to the children of the neighboring village as a model for starting up a new ministry in their home towns.

Please continue to keep Justin, Pat, Ted, Luke and Jason in prayer!

Tuesday Morning from Ted

Here we are today in our third Asian country - the last couple of days have been a real blessing. On Sunday we travelled to our second country and delivered some Hmong material to a church. We had some real sweet fellowship with the young college students there. We had a time of worship and a nice afternoon meal. They were so glad to receive the materials and the flannel graphs. 

In the evening we met with a believer named Rose and provided her with a large bag of flannel graphs. She is an amazing gal who has trained over 3,000 children's workers for Christ. She has a heart for kids and for families and for seeing the Gospel transform lives. You can see the great joy of the Lord in her smile. 

Later today we will be delivering a supply of materials. We will also drive into a local village a meet a fellow worker we know through VOM.

Pray for us - we can't wait to take a team of you back with us this summer!

God bless you,

Ted

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Please also remember to keep Luke and Jason in your prayers as they settle into India today.

A Note from Ted

Hello Everyone,

Thank you for praying. We have been truly blessed on our trip so far. Justin, Pat and I have arrived in the second country we are visiting today (Saturday) and have loaded eight duffel bags of Hmong materials that we will bring into two other countries over the next couple of days. We had a tremendous time in China - along with the six suitcases Justin and I were able to bring - we also made three runs over the border on Friday. By the grace of God were able to bring over three hundred materials into China. We joined another team from Nebraska serving with VBB and filled three closets in the hotel room with the materials. It was really a sight to behold!

On Friday we were stopped by the customs agents on our first run and our materials were confiscated but we were able to pick them up later that day and eventually got them over. We have been learning about being dependant on the Lord in prayer.

Some neat highlights of the trip have been in our opportunity to meet some Asian believers. We met a pastor of a church named S.L. He was twice imprisoned for His faith and now preaches to thousands each week. Over three thousand people cram into several small rooms were he preaches every Sunday.

We also had the opportunity to meet Paul and Brooke Trey's friend Linda. Linda is a believer and her husband is a pastor of a house church. We met Linda at the hotel on Friday where we exchanged gifts and she shared her testimony. She shared how when she was living in China many years earlier and was pregnant with her second child, the Chinese government was going to give her a forced abortion. By the grace of God she was able to come to the States and have that second baby while staying with the Trey's! Her daughter is now grown. She also took two bags of materials and was very grateful. When I walked her to a taxi (helping carry the bags) I said "God bless you" as she was getting in the vehicle - she replied the same but wispered "God." Of course no one could know she had the materials either, we had to put other items in the bags to cover them up. It was really amazing to me to get a first hand look at what oppression Asian believers live under everyday. We should be so thankful for our liberty, but also pray for our brothers and sisters in closed countries and do whatever we can to help them get God's Word.

We continue our journey leaving tomorrow morning for the airport at 5:30 am. Please continue to pray. We miss you all and are praying for you back home.

God Bless,

Ted, Justin and Pat

Pray

Please keep Ted and Justin in prayer today as they shuttle materials across the border. They will be taking multiple trips. Also keep in prayer "Sam," whose grandmother just died. He was open to the gospel and Ted was able to witness to him.

First Border Cleared!

Praise the Lord - Ted and Justin have made it through the first border safely with all the materials! They are now on to the second country, where they will meet up with Pat and he will join them in the distribution of the materials in the second and third countries. Please pray for safety through these restricted borders. 

Also, please keep their health in prayer. Ted felt sick on the plane, but God is gracious, and he is feeling better. 

We're Off!

We are set and ready to go!  We will be flying to Seattle at 7:00 am Tuesday morning. Join us at the airport at 5:30 am for prayer!

Thanks for praying everyone!

Brethren, pray for us that the word of the Lord may run swiftly and be glorified....