The Future of Hyderabad

Last night we had the priviledge og attending the youth/young adult service at Baptist Church Hyderabad. This is a service similar to Kairos, with skits and testimony added. About 100 or so youth gathered to worship on this Monday night, as they do each week. One girl called it a festival as she gave her testimony of being from a Hindu family and attending this service for the first time. How did she get there? A friend invited. Hmmmm, what a novel idea.

Jeremy was the speaker tonight and used his unique personality and sense of humor to relay an awesome message of how God always sees things at the end of the story from the beginning. He found a great way of bringing the point accross.

After the service there is the mass prayer. This is where anyone that wishes goes up onto the platform and sits in a circle as they share their prayer requests and concerns. I tried to count and I think there was close to fifty people praying. Many were so open about what they wished to bring before God.

I titled this the future of India, this is the reason. Through out the night we saw young people that are trult and wholly soldout to Jesus. It was very rewarding and inspiring to see how they express their worship. All through this week we have seen how these young people live their faith, they don't just tell you they follow Jesus, they show you Jesus through their actions.

So many lessons can be learned from the youth and the rest of the people we have been in contact with. I think the future of Jesus in India is in very good hands. God has chosen the right people to work in this place. I just hope that we as a team can somehow find a way to bring accross what we have experienced and learned.

The one word that everyone keeps using is surreal, so we have to process everything and find a way to realy it to all of you.

The future of India looks very bright from a Christian standpoint. I definitely feel this a worthwhile partnership. I look forward to returning and seeing how things have progressed.

Another Day, Another Plaque

I think Kim is really starting to get used to this now. There better be something with her name on it when we get back home.

Why Are We Here?

Yesterday, during the morning service at Baptist Church Hyderabad, each member of the team was asked to introduce ourselves and to tell why we chose to come to Hyderabad.
After we returned to the platform it hit me just how surreal the entire moment was. Here we were 10,000-12,000 around the world and all eyes were watching us. I relaized just what awesome responsibility we were given. We were here at that moment not only representing Brentwood Baptist, but also our country, christians, and ultimately God. I don't mention this to draw attention to ourselves or out of pride. I only say this to try to portray to you just how humbling each experience is for us.

Thank you again for your prayers and support. We can tell that we are being lifted up in prayer.
We are off this morning for another church dedication, then tonight Jeremy will speak at the young adult service, which we hear is similar to Kairos. Hmmm, if that is the case, then Jeremy must be our version of Uncle Mikey ;-)

Thanks again for reading our comments and for your prayers!

When we arrived at the church dedication service this morning, Kim had a little surprise in store for her. She had been asked the night before to say a few words at the dedication, which she graciously agreed to do.

When we arrived at the church, she was rushed to the back to change into a sari. Once she was fully adorned, she was brought out to the church wall to make her remarks. She said a wonderful blessing over the building, and then the curtain dropped to reveal this plaque.

Scott, you're going to have to give this woman a raise.

Sunday Morning

It's Sunday morning and we are a few minutes away from leaving for a day full of dedications and worship services. Kim will be speaking this morning , then Nelson will deliver the message at tonight's service.

Yes, we are going to be very busy again this entire day, however it will be most rewarding.
Last night we had a wonderful prayer time and debriefing. It seems this team is really up to all the challenges and open to whatever God has in store for us.

I'm so amazed at how selfless each team member has been. We could not have assembled a better group of people on our own.

We are leaving now, so I'll have to close and continue later.