The Lie....

Hello ladies,

Here comes my second India story for the week. As many of you know we spent a couple of days in India with David and Jemimma Raju and their family and the orphan children at the Redemption Ministries Nash Campus. The second part of our trip was spent with another couple of very dear friends, Abraham and Valsa Thomas.

Abraham and Valsa have an outstanding Godly ministry in the southern states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Thekkady (there are probably a few more I've not listed). Since 1998, through God's work and Abraham and his minister's diligence, over 9,000 men, women and children have been converted to Christianity to the Glory of God. I'm utterly amazed by those numbers and even more so since I have traveled twice to India.

Converting people in India is no easy feat. Imagine for a moment someone coming to you and trying to teach you a different concept religiously than you have ever known. Imagine someone trying to change your lifelong beliefs to a totally different belief. This is the very thing Abraham and those who minister with him are doing.

Every Christ Evangelical Fellowship Church we preached in while in India had a Hindu temple or shrine nearby. It was not abnormal to hear Hindu prayers or music blaring from loud speakers while we were worshipping at church (sometimes we even felt we were in competition as to who could be the loudest). It was also not uncommon to see a shrine almost next to the church itself (the picture above with the concrete platform is a Hindu worship site which was located directly beside C.E.F. Church). There is not room enough on this blog to explain in depth what these precious missionaries are up against when it comes to reaching the lost for Christ in India. They despreatly need our prayers and support.

On our last day in India, before heading to the airport, Abraham took us to one of the largest Hindu temples in India in Maudrai. This temple was at least three city blocks long- it was huge to say the least. We were told thousands of people come to the temple daily for prayer and worship. Not one memeber of our team knew what to expect when we were taken inside. We were overwhelmed with the feeling of opression. Although most of our team didn't understand our visit to this temple-I totally got it. Abraham is a very smart man. I believe full well that he needed for us to see the day to day battles that he and his minister's face as they attempt to reach people for Christ. How else could we understand their world if we didn't see how the majorty of the world lived and worshipped.

The story I'm about to share with you still brings tears to my eyes and I hope in some way it will widen your thinking about the mission of the church. The other picture you see above is of a concrete cow that was inside the Hindu temple we visted. This again was one of the many idols worshipped inside. I stood in utter horror as I watched women brinning their children to wisper their prayers into the ear of this cow. The moms would cup their hands around the ear of the cow as the children would speak into their hands. I was told they did this to insure the prayers were heard.

As I watched this scene unfold everything within me wanted to shout "Lie!!" My heart was broken for these dear people. In no way do I seek to disrespect these precious people by this post. What struck me so was the faith and belief they have in multiple gods. The work they pour into trying to become what these gods expect in hopes that in the next life they will come back better off than they have been.

Everything within me wanted to scream "You've been taught a lie! But I know the TRUTH!" I stood their realizing I knew the way to true salvation and hope- I held the knowledge of their future in my hands. I know that their eternity will be forever spent in hell without Jesus Christ. I knew the Name upon which every knee will one day bow and confess- JESUS. Beloved, the vast majorty of the people worshipping in this temple have never heard His name. But I knew it. You know it. They do not.

Once you have seen the hardship the majorty of Indian people face daily your heart breaks even more. Here they were crying out for help and no help will be given. They are in desperate need of hope and peace. Know this---there was absolutley no PEACE in what our team witnessed taking place in this temple. The only thing I saw was broken lives and broken dreams and a people in desperate need to know the TRUTH. These people live in captivity to a religon that is full of lies. They are in grave need of the freedom that naming Jesus as Lord brings to ones life.

How will they ever learn the truth? Through people like Abraham & Valsa Thomas and David & Jemmia Raju. Both of these dear families are sold out to reaching the lost world of India for Jesus. And, with God's help, they are doing it! One life at a time they are making a difference and helping to grow the Kingdom of God. Please pray earnestly for them. There days are long and many are ridden with fear and discouragement. You may recall me mentioning the young Bible school students who will graduate this May and go out in to the world of India to plant churches. When we asked them what they had struggled most with in their ministries before coming to the school they told us the beatings. Can you imagine? You and I have no idea the sacrifice these ambassadors of God are making daily.

Although this post seems a bit sad- there is much to rejoice in in the midst of this overwhelming job of reaching India and many countries just like India. We rejoice in God for he is always at work.

Blessings to all,

Lori

"For you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."

John 8:32