Mission Indiana, PA

Long Time Coming

2010-06-02T19:56:00.013-04:00

Picture above is a welcome home picture from my Ransomed group.

It has been a long time coming for an update. A friend reminded me the other day that I have not written anything on this blog in a long time about my health. I have been writing on my other blog, http://www.aleris.blogspot.com/, but have not updated where we are at currently.

It has been a long road for us and many ups and downs emotionally, but God has been so faithful to us. My health has been improving over the past few months and I am currently off all medication and on a vitamin regime, which is a good thing. I am being monitored currently by my neurologists to watch as symptoms appear or disappear. I have been tested in many different ways and they are not comfortable with giving me a diagnosis at this time because of my “young” age.

The other day I was told that I have a few nodules in my thyroid that are growing and they are going to have to monitor. If they grow more then they will have to biopsy them to see if they are malignant or not. The good news is that the majority of these nodules are not cancerous and can be fixed by just taking them out or using medicine to reduce them.

The doctors have cleared me to job hunt, which I am currently doing and finding it to be quite an endeavor in this economy, but God is good and I know He has the perfect place for me.

My goal is to use the money left in our account to travel back to India in October to teach for a couple of weeks. Of course if I get a job prior to that, then I will have to reschedule according to the position, but I will use the funds to go back and teach. I still love our partnership with Jayakumar and the Academy of Church Planters, and will be part of this ministry in any way that I can for as long as God allows me.

Thank you for your continued prayers and for all your support and I am sorry for not writing earlier. I think part of my lack of writing is that I have to think about everything and it is hard at times to think about what could be in the future. We were told that I have to be monitored for the next five years at least to make sure that I am healing. With no set diagnosis and the couple of things they think it could be that have positive outcomes, I don’t want to dwell on it.

The awesome thing is that there are so many people praying for me that I can’t believe it. I keep meeting people that have been praying for my healing that do not know me, except by what they have been told. I can say with confidence that people from all parts of the world are praying for me. It is incredible!! People have emailed me and told me that God has woken them to pray for me at night. How wonderful is our Great God, that He cares for someone like me enough to wake people out of sleep to pray for me, and on top of that most of them are people that do not even know me that well. God is moving and those that have had these experiences truly believe that God is going to heal me.

Oh yeah, one last story. I found out that at the same time I started healing that there was a group of guys in town that were fasting and praying for my healing. How cool is that!!!? Coincidence? I think not. I am a testimony to prayer and the power it has over our lives.

Maybe I should be writing and dwelling on it more, because the more I do the more I see God’s hand in all of this and the blessing all of you have been in my life. Again, thank you for your prayers through this time in our lives. Continue to pray that God continues to use me for His glory and places me where He can use me most for His Glory.

Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord Almighty. May His Name be praised and preached through out the world!

HURRY UP & WAIT!

2010-01-10T12:28:00.004-05:00

James 5:10, “Brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the Lord’s name as an example of suffering and patience.”

I continue down the road of testing and waiting. It seems like every time we think that we may get a result it turns out to be just another piece of the puzzle that is being added for the neurologist to look at. So, we hurry up and wait.

It is easy during these times to become very frustrated and emotionally drained. Many doctors keep asking me if I feel depressed. I look at them as if that is a rhetorical question, then answer, who wouldn’t be going through this at least a little. Then I explain that I don’t stay depressed, as I know where my strength ultimately lies, which gives me a chance to witness. But, I wonder if they think that is another sign of something wrong.

Then there are all the questions you get when you open yourself up like I do in writing and my life. People are always asking you if you heard something, and they do it out of caring, but it tends to test your patience because you know you have nothing to tell them. And it just reminds you once again that you are waiting for an answer. I don’t say this to stop people from asking, but just to say that it is another way that God works on me waiting for Him and His time to reveal my health issue through the doctor.

Attitudes come into play as well. It can play on your reactions and your mood after a while when your life seems to almost be consumed by your health. After you talk about it with family and friends, then spend time reading about it, it takes it’s toll on you. Not to mention the medicines you are on that also effect your body and mood. You see symptoms being treated, but no diagnosis. . .hurry up, take the pill and wait.

If you’re not careful, this can certainly affect your relationship with God the Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. You become self-centered and think of yourself and start to slip in your communication with God if not careful. Then you stop reading and worshipping like we are called to in any circumstance, and ultimately we become farther away from God, even though this is the time we need Him most.

I have been given this burden and challenge and want to be patient, just as the prophets were, and they went through far worse then me. My goal is to see how I can use this to witness to those going through the same thing, or the doctors God puts in front of me. Maybe even being an example to those watching me that my attitude would be like Christ Jesus through this.

Have I failed in this? Oh Yeah!! But I am going to press on and move forward and strive to be patient in all this and have an attitude of Christ. If this is my cross to carry, or the thorn in my side, or just a test, I want God to be proud that one day when I am standing before Him, He will tell me: “Well done good and faithful servant.”

If there are any out there that I have not been an example to, been short to, or have demonstrated a poor attitude through this time, then I am sorry. I repent and ask your forgiveness. It is not my intention to ever present my Savior in a bad light. My goal is to be like Christ. I will strive to be more like Jesus.

Philippians 2:5, “Make your own attitude that of Christ Jesus,”

Why Ask Why -- Just Praise Him!

2009-11-13T19:24:00.004-05:00

If you did not read the blog below, then please read it first, as it will make more sense. Again, this is a repeat of my other blog, but some do not receive it and I wanted to inform others who support me in prayer.

Romans 10:17, “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”

Through this time in my life it would not shock anyone if I went through a time of asking “Why me?” The problem is up to this point I have been counseling and teaching, and many times about sin, discipline, and struggles even the righteous go through in their walks with God. I kept saying to those I taught and those in discussion, instead of saying “Why me?,” shouldn’t we be saying, “Why not me?” Seriously, I start to wonder where we came up with the right to ask such questions as we go through trials, tribulations and whatever God deems necessary at the time.

Now, don’t get me wrong, as I fail at this all the time. I would love to have the answers as to why God sees it necessary to have me go through my current struggle, as it not only impacts me, it impacts my family and friends as well. I see and watch my wife go through hurt and shock. I watch my mother try to be strong, though I can see the hurt in her eyes. My father tries not to cry on the phone, and even friends have no idea what to say. What can be said? I may not remember anyway in a few years if the doctors are correct. Of course, like my senior pastor, Gino, has said many times, they have all been wrong before.

When the doctor first told me that I might have early onset Alzheimer’s or Frontal Lobe Dimentia, I did not know what to say. I walked to the parking garage trying not to break down in front of anyone. As you read I lost control of my emotions and cried, but what I did not tell you was that I asked why. I called my wife and asked, why would God take away the one thing that I used the most in my life, the one thing many times I of course took to much pride in, which is my mind. God has gifted me over the years in my studies and application of them and now I am looking at losing that, and I asked why.

But, did I have the right, was it “natural” or was it sin. For me God was showing me in one way something I held way too high, which was my intellect, so in part it was sin. If I completely belong to God, then He has control even over that, and I think we try to hold onto this aspect too much at times, whether it is intellect, looks, or whatever. We tend to have this “one” thing that we do not want God to touch, but if we are His, then He can touch what He wants.

Romans 9:15-16 says, “For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion.” So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy.” If God is in complete control, and He chooses/allows this course for my life then that is what it is; God’s. Not mine, my wife’s or any other family member, but His. If He heals me through His mercy, or takes me home, I will follow, because He is in control. This earth is going away and a new one is coming. We all are going to leave this planet one day, either through death or rapture. We all have to carry our cross till that time, some have different ones to bear. But the one thing we cannot do, is try to tell God He is wrong, or waste too much time in the “Why,” but move forward and continue on until He takes us all home.

For me, God has shown me through Romans that it is not my place to ask why, but to serve Him. If He heals, praise Him, if He allows dementia, praise Him. Reminds me of a song: Praise Him in the morning; Praise Him in the noon time; Praise Him when the sun goes down; Praise Him, Praise Him!!!! That is my goal. To Praise Him!!!

Romans 9:18-20, “Therefore He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens. You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault? For who has resisted His will?” But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, “Why have you made me like this?”

Just Another Day

2009-11-13T19:21:00.003-05:00

Some of you do not get my other blog, so I am adding here again for those who do not receive the blog I write on regularly. Forgive me if you received this already.

Philippians 1:21, “For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”

As many of you know who read this, I had to return from India due to medical issues and have been going through tests to figure out what is wrong. It has been an interesting journey to say the least. Many of you also know that I was going for more testing, though many do not know what kind, and I am still going to keep you in the dark on that one for now.

I was in a good mood, as church was great, as the church I am attending, Calvary Evangelical Free, is an awesome church and the pastor really preaches to challenge and help us grow as believers. This past Sunday was a great sermon on how to live it out daily in our lives. Then I had the pleasure of being part of a great discussion with an awesome bunch of college students and young adults. Sunday was a blessed day, and typically is one of my favorite days because of the above mentioned.

On the way down to my next round of testing in Pittsburgh, I was listening to a sermon that was talking about Philippians and how our joy is not based on circumstance, but on Christ the object, and happiness is based on circumstance. The pastor was talking about complaining in our circumstances, and then comparing them to Paul’s situation he was in while writing Philippians. Paul was in jail and soon would die while writing this great letter. It would turn out to be quite an interesting sermon to listen to for what I was about to hear shortly.

Going into my appointment I had these two sermons in my head: living out my faith intellectually, as well as testimonial, as I believe one can’t really have a testimony without knowing who Jesus Christ is anyway. Anyone can just be nice, but I digress. Either way, I had heard two great sermons that were about to challenge me in so many ways that I did not realize.

After my testing, I asked the doctor what he thought, as I already knew I was crazy, I was looking for more substantial answers. What he told me was something I was not expecting, as the main two he mentioned would ultimately take my life and though there is medicine to shorten it, it still would not stop the ultimate end, death. Not what I expected to hear!! A literal shock to my system.

I made it down to my car and called my wife right away, and as soon as I heard her beautiful voice, I lost control of my emotions and cried for quite a while. How could this be the cause? If true, I may not see my youngest graduate high school. Again, it is not absolute yet, but they are testing for them. It makes you think of those things. After I gained composure, I left and put on some worship music, as I needed comfort from the One true source, Jesus Christ. I listened to Casting Crowns and just let myself think upon God.

I asked why. Who wouldn’t, right? He actually answered in a whisper, or bringing to mind different things, but either way God just brought to mind a few things.

He brought to mind all the things He has allowed to be done through me and my wife. He told me how I was used to work with nearly a hundred at-risk youth, and even to the point of some living with us. He spoke to me how I was allowed to work in the church and mentor and disciple many men and women of God. He sent me to India many times, and even for a year to teach church planters who will go into communities where the Bible has yet to be taught. Where churches do not exist yet, and will someday, because God allowed me to be part of His plan. How Awesome is that? Then He even allows me to counsel those that are hurting and help to heal their relationship with Jesus and those they love.

I have been blessed. What can I complain about, as God has used me in huge ways. Ways that I never thought I could be used, or even dreamed of, or could imagine. My mother told me from a young age that God was going to use me in great ways by God. He showed me today that He has done that already. Maybe there is more yet, but if not, I know that what my mother said has already come true.

God has been so gracious to me and has allowed me to be part of His plan in so many ways. If the diagnosis is the worst earthly diagnosis, I can live it out and continue to be the witness of His Grace, Truth and Love. I pray they are wrong, as they have been many times before, but as stated above, “to live is Christ, and die is gain.”

Philippians 2:14-16, “Do all things without complaining and disputing, 15that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, 16holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain.”

Truth Game

2009-08-06T15:27:00.005-04:00

Everyone knows that I had to return from India because of Late Stage Lyme Disease. It has been an interesting road to recovery. It has caused me two hospital visits. Once because it put my heart into afib, which was not an exciting adventure to go through. It appears now I am on the road to recovery, as my energy is coming back, pain is rescinding and the veil over my mind seems to be lifting. God has been good and is using all this to help us grow and trust in Him more. Our love has only deepened and our faith strengthened through this, because only through Him can I truly recover.

We were heart broken to have to return so early, and strongly desired to complete our two year stint, but God had other plans. I will, once recovered, go back to teaching in Bangalore for a couple of weeks during summers, but at this time we are not going to be moving back. With a new baby on the way and making sure my health stays stable, we believe that it is best to remain in the states for now, but I will go for two weeks each year to continue to teach and train church planters.

Through this I have been praying and seeking the will of God and He has continually brought me back to start an outreach on the college campus in Indiana, PA. This campus has 15,000 students and a heavy drinking and drug problem associated with it. My goal is to open a center where students can come and escape these enticements, because there is nothing else here besides bars and gas stations for them. We will utilize Wii’s, Play Stations, and Xbox’s to draw them in and then evangelize them through a variety of avenues.

We will have two rooms to hold Bible studies, mentoring programs and tutoring opportunities. During gaming contests we will have special speakers come in and give testimonies, or have different videos shown on the gaming screens. Our goal is to create an environment that will be safe and secure and give churches a place to reach those on the college campus. We will align with strong evangelical churches in order to move the students into ministries within their congregations, as we desire to feed the church.

Our goal is to be a tent making ministry, as we are going to sell the video games that we allow to be played on the systems in the center, and we will charge a small fee for using the gaming systems as well. We will also be selling coffee, food and work on becoming a distributor for a Christian clothing and gadget company. These will all help in off setting the costs for ministering to the campus students.

The goal is to be able to allow the students to play for free, but in order to do that we have to have the income coming in to allow us to cover those costs as well. Our desire is to give free game play to those students who are showing Christ like qualities and demonstrating it internally as well as externally.

We will also hold high school time slots, as we desire to reach them as well, but our focus is on the college campus. Using the mentoring as a way for the college students to give back to the community, we will set up college students with high school students, thus making a roll down effect. The college students will have mentors and then they will mentor, which helps us attain our goal: Impact a culture and change a generation!

This is where you come in, as you trusted us in India, I am now asking you to put trust in me again with this outreach. We need your prayers and your resources to help us get off the ground and started with this ministry. We would like to use IUP (Indiana University of Pennsylvania) as a starting hub, and if this is successful start other locations throughout the country, but we cannot do it without you.

Many of you had a two year commitment with us for India, and I am asking if you would consider giving your second year commitment to our new organization for this college outreach, Verum Venatus, which means Truth Game. I hate having to ask for money like this, but it is the only way I know at this time to move towards the goal of reaching these college kids for Christ.

We have a large vision, and the gaming center that will be used for mentoring and outreach is just a small part of it. We desire to open a counseling center along side of this outreach, but again this will cost money, as college students cannot pay a lot for counseling and will not ask parents out of embarrassment many times. We also have plans for helping to train those that have a desire to go into missions, as there are leaders in India, Africa and America that will partner with us to help bring up a new generation of people that will sacrifice their lives for the cause of Christ.

Again, much of this depends upon your prayers and God moving, and secondly on your willingness to give to this new ministry. I know God owns the cattle on a thousand hills, and He will provide. I am just asking you to be part of that provision. I have a detailed plan if you desire to see it and would love to talk to anyone who has interest in this outreach.

If you feel led to donate please make checks out to and send to:

Verum Venatus

33 Shady Drive

Indiana, PA 15701

All donations are tax deductible, as I have started the 501c3 above for this outreach purpose.

Very Truly Yours,

Alan Seymour

Lyme’s It Is!

2009-06-18T14:17:00.001-04:00

Psalm 7:17, “I will praise the Lord according to His righteousness, And will sing praise to the name of the Lord Most High.”

It has been a while since I posted anything here, but we have been busy unpacking and getting settled back into the U.S.

I met with the neurologist a couple of days ago and once he looked at the blood work, he immediately said it was Lyme’s Disease. In my case it is late stage Lyme’s disease, and according to the doctor the likely hood of killing it all together at this stage is very rare, but possible.

They are going to do a lumbar puncture to see how active the Lyme is and also do a test to make sure it is not MS, but as of right now he is pretty sure it is Lyme from the blood work that was performed in India, as it shows the virus active in my blood.

After the lumbar, they will place a pick-line into my arm or chest, not sure yet, and every day for the next 6 to 8 weeks I will have strong antibiotics injected into my system. Then, as an added plus, after 10 days to 3 weeks of treatment, I will become very ill and in a lot of pain (sarcasm about it being a plus). If it is Lyme this means it is being killed, because as Lyme is killed it lets off a toxin into the body that has to be flushed out of my system. If I go through this, then we know for sure that it is Lyme’s disease. After the week of sheer pleasure, I should start to feel a lot better and prayerfully the Lyme will go into remission. If it has not been killed or in remission, I will have to go through a second round a month later. . . .yeeehaaaa!

Lyme is the best of the worst circumstances, though, as there can be relief for long periods of time and if God allows, it can be killed. Our spirits are high, as we know that God is in control and He will use even this to conform me more to Christ’s image, and ultimately use it for His glory.

We have been so blessed by family and friends that have been helping us as we settle. The amount of love shown has been immeasurable and we are so thankful. Also, since I am not going to be able to seek employment during treatment, REAP (our missionary arm), has agreed to extend our support through October to make sure that we have funds in case I have to go through a second round. Donations will still be accepted for me through October that will be used for our living expenses here. God is good all the time, and we see it through all of you.

I am still performing my duties on the committees that I have committed to in India, and we have already started a Sunday night Bible study out of our home for college and career. We are actively still in ministry as much as my health and God will allow. I have also restarted counseling, and I am looking at some other ministry opportunities that God seems to be presenting to us.

Please pray that the Lyme is killed, or at least put into long term remission and that He guides us in the next step of our life.

Psalm 21:13, “Be exalted, O Lord, in Your own strength! We will sing and praise Your power.”

The Return Home

2009-05-29T13:31:00.006-04:00

We are now back in the United States and settling into our home. We are so thankful to everyone who has helped prepare our home and those who donated food and furniture for us. You have made us feel so loved and we are thankful for every one of you. Your help has made this transition smooth and stress free for us.

I, Alan, will be starting testing shortly to see what is exactly going on in my body, and I appreciate all your prayers. Please continue to pray that our insurance will be easy to attain and that our crate will make it to our place very shortly.

During our last week in India three young adults came to visit and see what the ministry is all about and what I did during the past year. Though a week is not really enough time to see everything and truly get a feel for what is going on, they were impacted nonetheless. It is hard not to be when you personally see what is happening in India and how many Christians live, often in severe poverty, and so contently.

We took them to Khandili to visit the medical center and then had the pastor take us into the villages to visit some of his congregation. All of them lived in mud huts with thatched roofs made of palm leaves, but they were so welcoming and loving that it is overwhelming if you are not prepared for it. They are totally reliant on Christ for everything and they are so content.

They gave of what they did not have. They gave us coconut juice and coconut to eat, and then cut up mango to eat and then handed us a bag of fruit to take with us. Their demonstration of love to visitors is amazing, as they were giving their very own food that they “need” to live as gifts to us. We prayed at each house we visited for the family, and it had to be done through an interpreter, as none spoke English.

It was a bittersweet experience to leave India, to say the least. Of course, we were saddened to have to leave early due to health issues. We grew to love the people and the country and had thoroughly adjusted to our new way of living. We were blessed to be involved in ministry right up until the end, teaching and mentoring and preaching. Much still needs to be done in the ministry there, but much was accomplished, as well. God was so good and blessed our time there and made it very productive and fruitful for His Kingdom.

My involvement with India will not end because I am back in the U.S., as I am still a part of committees and will continue to be part of helping BBCM/ACPL grow and develop from here. We are looking at avenues where I can continue to mentor and be part of the ministry. As areas develop, I will let you know what is happening within the India ministry.

Thank you for your support and prayers and continue to pray for us as we look at where God is going to place me next, and as I start medical testing.

Comfort in the Changeless

2009-05-02T09:32:00.002-04:00

“The godly man does not arrive at spiritual maturity instantaneously. It is a lifelong process, but every stage of that growth must come from the Word.” Dr. Morris

At the church we attend, the Pastor has been talking about the immutability of God’s precepts, meaning that God does not change in what He commands. He has been going through the Psalms to demonstrate this very fact. Last week, he stressed that if we would follow these precepts that God would give us Victory (Psalm 119:87), preserve us for His purpose (119:93), give us increased wisdom (119:104), and guarantees us that we will have enemies and that we will be despised (119:141).

It was a challenging sermon to say the least, and very convicting in what was presented by Pastor Jayakumar through the Scriptures. A day later, I get a phone call and find out that I am to preach on May 3rd, tomorrow for me, and that I am to continue with the theme he has started. Now, I had asked for May 10th, as then I could choose what I wanted to preach, as my friend who is preaching on the 17th is able to do. He gave me a section of Psalm to look at:

Psalm 119:33-40, “Teach me, O Lord, the way of Your statutes, And I shall keep it to the end. Give me understanding, and I shall keepYour law; Indeed, I shall observe it with my whole heart. Make me walk in the path of Your commandments, For I delight in it. Incline my heart toYour testimonies, And not to covetousness. Turn away my eyes from looking at worthless things, And revive me in Your way. Establish Your word to Your servant, Who is devoted to fearing You. Turn away my reproach which I dread, For Your judgments are good. Behold, I long forYour precepts; Revive me in Your righteousness.”

My prayers and studying were focused on how to tie this verse into the immutability of God and His precepts. If you are a regular reader of my blogs, then you know I have written on the immutability of God already and given that defense, so I will not do that here, nor am I going to in my sermon. Taking that out, I started to think upon and asked God what can He say through me in this Sunday. This is what God gave me to preach.

Psalm 119:33-35 tells us that we should observe His Precepts/Word until the end, then, says “Make me,” which indicates a battle going on within David, not unlike the battle we all struggle with today. What can be called the Old Man (sinful nature) battling the New Man (Salvation), as we see Paul talk about in Romans 7. We need God to do it, as we cannot do it on our own.

1 Samuel 15:29 says, “Furthermore, the Eternal One of Israel does not lie or change His mind, for He is not man who changes his mind.” Malachi 3:6, “For I am the Lord, I do not change.” You can think of precepts like boundaries for our life. We all should have healthy boundaries in our relationships that are aligned with God’s Word.

A boundary is like a fence with a gate. The gate allows good to come into your yard, or boundary, and it also keeps out and helps you get rid of the bad. Whether that is sin in your own life, or allowing sin of other people to effect you as well. Precepts/boundaries protect us and keep us safe. They are for our own good and we can know that since God made these precepts that they are good and pure. We can rely on these boundaries if they are in tune with the immutable precepts of God.

Psalm 36-38 tells us that we are to direct our eyes straight on the path. Again, realizing that we cannot do it on our own and need God to direct our eyes, but have to do it through God. If God is pointing us in a direction that He desires we can know it is the right direction, because God does not change and if He tells us it is good or bad then we can rest assured that it is. All we have to do is obey. James 1:17, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.”

Lastly, Psalm 39-40 requests God to keep me on that path and protect me from the wrong direction. Knowing we cannot do it on our own, we must ask God to keep us on the path and to guide our ways, because as anyone knows who has tried to make it on their own, we tend to move toward sin or against His precepts. God will not take us in a deceitful direction, and we can rest assured that if He tells us to move in a certain direction we can be sure it is for our own good. Numbers 23:19, “God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?”

Taking all this together there are some comforts that we can take away in the fact that God is changeless. For us there are many times that it is good to change. We change from evil ways to righteous ways. Those who are believers changed from condemnation to eternal salvation in regards to eternity. We change our attitudes for the better, and at times for the worst.

As humans with a beginning, which means we are finite, we change. We get older, we think differently at different times, changing our thoughts. We change the way we dress to keep up with the latest fashions. We change the music we listen to. We are a people that change. God is the beginning and the end, the Alpha and Omega, and even the name He gave Moses also says that He is infinite, which is “I AM.” Being eternal means He cannot change because He is without end or beginning.

We can rely on what we read within the Scriptures as being what God said with confidence and that certain aspects are not going to change. If God could change His mind then maybe He will one day change His mind on the requirement for Salvation. If God can change His mind then it is possible that He could change His mind about salvation, right? But if He cannot change then we have security in our salvation. For the Muslim they cannot have this confidence, because God can lie and deceive, which is why they live in fear, the wrong kind of fear, because they are hoping their “good” works to out weigh the bad. They have to live like this because their God can change.

We know that He loves us continually and is passionate about us, as is proclaimed all through out Scripture. If He could change then He could change His mind about the way He feels about His creation. Yes, He hates sin, but He longs for relationship with His people. 2 Peter 3:9, “The Lord does not delay His promise, as some understand delay, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance.” A Muslim cannot ever rely on this, because Allah according to their Koran can change and lie and deceive. Of the 99 names they have for their God, the only one that comes close to a relationship is that God is close to your jugular, which is not love at all. It actually means that God can kill you at any moment.

He would not be God at all if He could change. Only something that has a beginning can change from one aspect to another. If you could literally change God’s mind that would mean that you in some way gave a defense that showed God He was wrong in some fashion, whether it is emotionally or logically. He is wrong in the way He is being merciful or wrong in the way He decided to perform an action. Either way that would make you smarter than God. What kind of God would that be? 1 Corinthians 1:25, “Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.” If God could change that also means that He had a beginning, and a starting point somewhere, which means that someone then had to create Him as well.

Lastly, this change means that we can rest assured that the Word of God that has the precepts of God can be trusted as reliable and preserved throughout the ages. God said His word would not change, that not one jot or tittle would be eliminated from His word. Matthew 5:18, “For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.” Luke 16:17, “And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one tittle of the law to fail.”

Through Him we can rest assured that as 2 Timothy 3:16 says, that this book is God breathed and everything in it is true. If God wrote it and cannot change then we can rest assured that if we live by what it tells us then we are pleasing Him. If He can change then we can never know for sure. We know that He is not going to change the way of Salvation through Christ, because He does not change.

Precepts of God are good and will not change, but they will change you and me if we follow them. We are the ones that need to change, and not God. We always want God to do things our way, but in reality life would be so much easier if we did things His way by following the precepts He laid down before us in the Bible.

Psalm 119:38-40, “Establish Your word to Your servant, Who is devoted to fearing You. Turn away my reproach which I dread, For Your judgments are good. Behold, I long for Your precepts; Revive me in Your righteousness.”

Biblical Worldview

2009-05-01T05:10:00.003-04:00

Below is an article that I wrote and is to be published in a Christian Indian Magazine, India Church Growth Quarterly:

“Worldviews are the most fundamental and encompassing views of reality shared by a people in a culture. The worldview incorporates assumptions about the nature of things—about the “givens” of reality. Challenges to these assumptions threaten the very foundation of their world” (Anthropological Reflections on Missiological Issues, Paul Hiebert, 38).

Everyone’s worldview is tainted in one form or another. All of us have our own set of biases in how we perceive our world. Your sex (male or female), your parents, your country, your schools and teachers, your friends, the experiences you have had in life and the temperament that God created you with are all ways in which your worldview is tainted for either the bad or good. The only way to straighten out our worldview is to bring our current worldview into a Biblical Worldview through discipling. The question is then, “Is there a Biblical Worldview and if so how do we attain it?”

All cultures change to some degree, as none remain stagnant. If you were to pick any culture and look at their history for the past couple hundred years you would see a continuum among them in their customs and relationships that tend to stay for long periods of time, but there are several areas that always start to incorporate change within the culture and ultimately within the worldview of the culture. One aspect that changes the worldview is the education systems within villages, cities or rural communities, as children never learn perfectly and this will result in some change. Some of these mistakes become habitual among the younger generation as well, because they perceive them as being current, progressive, or it differentiates them from their past generation.

People are also naturally creative and will devise new ways in presenting their culture through art, music, novels, or invention. They may also visit other cultures and adopt their customs because they prefer them to their own. They may visit other market places, or social gatherings; and even wars change the customs of a culture’s worldview. Lastly, people may just outright choose a different alternative to their normal customs, as we generally see in the youth; whether it is how they dress for church, or whether or not they go to church at all anymore. The goal of ministries, churches and parents is to help direct our culture into a Biblical Worldview, which does not mean the entire culture has to change, but only those practices that are outside the will of God, which is seen in the infallible Word of God.

Dr. Hiebert, in Transforming Worldviews, says, “To say there is no biblical worldview is to deny that there is an underlying unity to the biblical story, to say that the God of Abraham, Moses, David, and Jesus are different gods, that the New Testament is discontinuous with the Old, and that Scripture is simply the record of individuals and ever-shifting beliefs shaped by history and sociocultural contexts” (Transforming Worldviews, Paul Hiebert, 256.)

Dr. Hiebert is exactly right, in that, there is a Biblical Worldview that has been laid out for us in stages and completed in our Bible, and to say otherwise is to negate what God has been doing through the different dispensations throughout history. As leaders within the ministry of God we have led those under our tutelage into a Biblical Worldview, which means helping them line up their innermost being with the Word of God. Romans 12:2 says, “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” For the purpose of this article, I will be focusing on three different areas that will help in moving towards a Biblical Worldview: Wisdom, Discernment and Contextualizing the Gospel correctly.

“Wisdom, then, is the consistent outworking of belief, action, and discernment from worldview. It is the process of sanctification” (G. C. Berkouwer, Providence of God, 133). We first must remember the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. (Proverbs 1:7, 2:5, 9:10; 10:27, 14:26-27, 15:16, 33, 16:6, 19:23, 22:4, 23:17; 2 Chron. 19:7-9; Job 28:28; Psalm 19:9, 34:11, 111:10; Isaiah 11:2-3, 33:6; Acts 9:31; 2 Corinthians 5:11). We are to become mature believers and one of the most important disciplines is growing in wisdom. Just praying will not gain you wisdom, as this plays a different role in your relationship with God. We forget about the thinking aspect many times in our Christian walk and instead look for the warm, bubbly feeling. What I call the soup feeling, when you eat soup; you get the warm, bubbly feeling. Growing in wisdom should lead to changes in our worldview and in how we behave within our cultural system. We need to have a right belief that leads to right action, and cannot have right actions without right beliefs.

Wisdom is the person of Christ and all that He is and stands for. Wisdom is found in the Bible, and to look for truth in other places that do not line up with the truth of Scripture is following a false truth. How many of us pray to be more like Christ and then complain when we are persecuted or what seems like a tough time comes along? Your worldview is not truly lined up with Christ then. Wisdom is not about right and wrong, but about what God thinks. Right and wrong may fit into this at times, but our main concern should be Christ. Our thoughts must correspond to His in order for us to be wise. More than right and wrong it is seeing good from evil. This will help us figure out orthodoxy (what we should believe) and orthopraxy (what we should do). We must take responsibility for becoming wise. It is a matter of willing it and going after it, and it sometimes causes pain and it is a life journey with no end, but it is a journey with eternity in sight.

James 1:5-8, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all with out reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts are like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.”

“Belief systems guide thought processes, and enable people to focus on experience and formulate theories to help them solve the problems of life and to pursue their goals” (Understanding Folk Religion, Hiebert, Shaw, Tienou, 40).

This leads to the second aspect of defining a Biblical Worldview, which is discernment. Hundreds of thousands of Hindus each year claim healing by their God and return to their temple of Venkateswara at Tirupathi, South India to fulfill the vows they made for their healing. 15,000 claim healing at Lourdes, and more then that at the Virgin of Guadalupe near Mexico City, (Louis J. Luzbetak, The Church and Cultures: New Perspectives in Missiological Anthropology, 375). All the “special” signs are used in almost all religions (tongues, miracles such as healing, exorcisms, and prophecies). Remember Satan can act as an Angel of Light. We must even test the experiences of people and test the spirits (1 Cor. 12:3; 1 Thess. 5:20-21; 1 John 4:1-6). We are to be careful not to be led astray, as Paul told Timothy quite often in the Timothy Epistles. In order not to be caught up in wrong cultural actions, we need to apply wisdom in discernment.

There are some tests for this: Does it give glory to God rather than humans (John 7:18, 8:50)? Does it recognize the Lordship of Christ (1 John 2:3-5; James 2:14-19). Is the power through the Holy Spirit emphasized, or the flesh? Does Scripture confirm it? Are the leaders making any claim accountable to the Church? Do the leaders manifest the fruits of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-25)? Does this lead to Spiritual Maturity (1 Cor. 12-14)? Does it lead to Unity in the body of Christ (John 17:11; 1 John 2:9-11)? (Ibid.). As Christians we must not take the beliefs of those we are trying to reach lightly. We must take them seriously, as we want to understand them so we can reach them. For many their beliefs declare the way things truly are. Why things happen the way they happen and for the reason they happen.

Following as Long as You Live or Until You Die

2009-04-16T05:09:00.003-04:00

Philippians 1:21, “For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”

During graduation we gave out four honorary degrees to men well deserving of them. They have impacted the world for Christ nationally and internationally. One of them gave the Commencement speech for the graduating class. He talked about leadership within the church community and how we should live, and it impacted me and many listening deeply.

Through each of his three steps he kept coming back to one thing: “If you believe you are chosen by God then you are to serve Jesus faithfully while you live or until you die.” Meaning if you want to be a follower of Christ, it is a full commitment and not just a partial act. You take this part and that part of Christianity, but throw out the hard parts. No, you follow Christ head-on while on this earth as His follower until He takes you home.

It does not matter where you are in life. Maybe you are in a secular position, then you must serve Christ full-on until He calls you home. If you are in Christian ministry then let nothing stop you until Christ takes you home. There are no time-outs in this game, as there is eternity at stake for those who have not heard. Are you a student, then serve and tell people about what you have, or are you embarrassed? Are you sick, then you have a captive audience with nurses and doctors, or do you instead use your illness not to talk about the love of Christ?

Luke 14:26 proclaims, “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple.” Wow! Read it again and let it soak in for a while. Your love for Christ in comparison to anyone else is like hate. He comes first before anyone, not your mommy or daddy, not your wife or children. If you have to choose between doing what Christ says or what family says, guess what, you choose Christ. Better to be hated or disliked temporarily then have to stand before the eternal God and answer for what you did.

How many of us have not walked the line because of church politics, or to keep peace within your family? How many of us have not walked full-on for Christ because we were afraid of what someone might say about us, or think about us? How many of us do not follow because we think the Bible does not really mean what it says? How many of us would rather have temporal fame and/or recognition then an eternal reward in Heaven? The questions can go on and on and on.

Think about how many ways we do not follow Christ fully, especially in the areas you know better. Think about your thought life when you are alone. How about your language? The Bible says not to use foul language, but how many of us do it just for shock or so people do not think we are pious. How many drink alcohol and use the excuse that the Bible says we can in moderation, but do not even know what they meant by wine in the context of Jewish culture? Do you mix your wine with 8 to 20 parts water? If not then you are not drinking moderately in the Biblical context, but as what the Jewish culture during that time would call ‘heathen’ drinking, because they knew it would intoxicate you.

As Christians we are called to follow Christ fully without the excuse that you do not want to be seen as a “tea-totaler,” or “pious,” or a religious fanatic. When persecuted for the faith you are to celebrate. When you are following the Bible in its context and what Jesus proclaims then you will be all those names I mentioned above, because the world hates it when Jesus is followed to the fullest. We forget the Spiritual world.

So, for the Christians reading this, I ask you. Are you following Christ fully and willing to do so completely in your life until Christ takes you home? If so, then do some things need to change? Start today, as we do not know when Christ is returning. Pledge to follow Christ no matter the cost.

Matthew 6:24, “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.”

Winding Down....But Not Really!

2009-04-04T12:39:00.001-04:00

It is hard to believe we only have about 7 weeks left in India. As the time draws closer, I find myself, Erin, getting teary eyed as I say goodbye to different people and do some things here for the last time. I know God’s plan is best for us, and this is certainly His plan right now, but still, I don’t feel quite that I have had my fill of India yet and all that God is doing here, and allowing us to be a part of. We have certainly not been slowing down in ministry, which is a good thing, and has been our prayer, that God would use us so effectively in the time we had left. You do not come to India for ministry and sit idle; there is much going on and much to be done! Pastor Jayakumar is certain to keep all of us busy at all times, which is such a blessing.

Alan has just finished up teaching. He taught six courses in the short 8 and a half months we have been here so far! He is still called on to preach at church occasionally, as well. Right now, he is grading tests and papers, and getting grades finalized as the school year comes to a close, and those graduating do so on April 13th. He helped another seminary with their PhD program and recently taught a seminar for a conference week they had at our seminary here. Now, he is teaching an apologetics course on Saturday mornings for the duration of April at a local church. He will be preaching the first message for the Lenten series this week on Monday night, as well. Like I said, they keep us busy, even right up to the end, and it is such a blessing. Alan will continue to help Pastor Jayakumar develop programs for the school and work on missions’ projects from the states, as well. Thank goodness for technology! Alan also hopes to come back during summers again in the future to teach classes at the seminary.

I have had the opportunity to teach again at a women’s Monday Prayer meeting recently. I also just taught the message at our Friday Bible Study Fellowship this past Friday. I have been helping Pastor Jayakumar with editing and formatting articles and papers that he wishes to get published for ministry here in India. Also, I am working with his wife on typing and formatting sermons to be circulated to the church plants here in India as resources. These are things I will continue doing in the states via the computer, which will be a blessing. The children’s curriculum at the church has been operating for several months now and is going well, and curriculum is still being developed, now by a team of Indians, which is a blessing as we want these lessons to be indigenous and culture appropriate!

We are very sure that we will be doing active ministry here until the day we fly out! And this is an answer to our prayers. Thank you for all of your support.

Wandering Around Electronic City

2009-03-25T07:29:00.002-04:00

Picture a small house that does not have a yard but a road that comes within two feet of the front door, maybe 500 square feet. It is a pale yellow in color and very dusty. It is a typical looking India style, or Spanish style home. It has a flat roof and is very square in its structure. You would think that maybe a small family lives in this home, or just a young couple starting out. And if you did you would be very, very wrong.

After taking off your shoes, you walk into the home and as soon as you walk through the door there are two metal picnic tables very close together. You can tell they are suppose to be white because there are still blotches of the paint here and there, but for the most part they are now just plain metal.

Then you realize they are so close together because right behind them are three bunk beds pressed together. These bunk beds are also metal with no safety rails of any kind and again were probably another color at some point in time, but now just plain metal looking. Your eyes look at the mattresses and you try not to look shocked, but you almost cannot help it because of how dirty and worn out they are. They look as if someone put three pieces of cardboard together then put cloth over them.

The walls are yellow and there are still decorations up from Christmas, probably to give the room some added color. The walls are pretty clean, but the paint is peeling and in need of a new coat. On the wall hangs a piece of black chalk paper that has been used so many times that a small whole has worn into it because of so much erasing. There are a few posters up with verses and also a picture with a flower scene and a Bible verse also wrapped within it.

I was then escorted into a room on the right, which was one bedroom, and in this room were 5 more bunk-beds, and they were crammed together in twos to make sure that there was enough room in the bedroom for all the beds, and again they looked exactly like the others in the living space.

From there they showed me the parent’s quarters, which was another room off the right and in this small room was their bed, the refrigerator, because the kitchen was too small, two plastic chairs and a small television with some shelving surrounding it. Off their bedroom was the only bathroom for all 16 people in this 500 square foot house. It was a traditional Indian bathroom, which means there is a porcelain foot pad that is flat on the floor and in between the foot pads is the toilet that is also flat on the ground and porcelain, as it is all one complete piece.

Their kitchen was small and a typical Indian kitchen that has a burner, not an oven, some cabinet space and cement flooring. As usual the main dish for the entire family was rice.

I was given the privilege of meeting all the orphans that this wonderful couple, who had two children of their own, were taking care of. They would come home from school and then fill buckets with water outside and then go to the side of the house and wash, as they have no inside means of washing their bodies. It was all done outside. These beautiful children ranged in ages from 6 to 14 and were so fun to be around. They immediately pray upon entering the home and they were all smiling and when they introduced themselves to me they started by saying, “Praise God.” How many of our children do that? What would happen if they did in our U.S. culture?

Before leaving, they sang me a few English Christian songs they learned, and it was wonderful. They sang them with all their hearts and enjoyed doing it. They were all very well behaved and well mannered. I will never forget that orphanage. I was asked to close our worship, singing in prayer, to which I was deeply honored.

One last reason I will not forget it is because of what I got to see upon leaving. There was a lot of brush around the place and I asked if there were the worries of snakes being around here in the brush or in the big rock quarry that was across from their house. They said there were snakes, to which I shivered, and that they have to watch and the children have to be careful when playing. As we started to drive away, a very big snake, probably 6 feet in length crossed the street in front of us. We were no more then 20 yards from the house. I think for my benefit they said it was one of those non-poisonous snakes, but it sure looked like a cobra to me. For my own comfort I took their word for it and locked my door.

I will forever be impacted by their faces and the parents that took on such a position, as it is a tremendous sacrifice. This time I was the one taught and not the one teaching. It is not about having stuff, but someone that loves you, and more importantly knowing that God loves you. A lesson we all need to be taught again and again.

My love to you all.

Matthew 19:13-14, “Then little children were brought to Him that He might put His hands on them and pray, but the disciples rebuked them. But Jesus said, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven.”

Unexpected

2009-03-19T07:27:00.000-04:00

You ever hear the old saying, “funny thing happened on the way to work today. . .?” Well, this actually applies to me, which was funny for many that I minister with, but not as funny to me at the time. I can laugh about it now, but it was quite a learning experience.

We hosted another Ph.D. seminar at the Seminary that I teach at and since I was teaching 3 Seminary courses already, I was not scheduled to teach at this Seminar, or so I thought. I was part of the committee and helping with coordinating it and making sure everything was running smoothly, but truthfully I was relieved to know that I was not to teach at this one for a couple of reasons. The first being I was already teaching three courses and the second being that I have no expertise in Church Planting, which was what the Seminar was to be covering.

I was looking over the schedule of the speakers that were to come in and speak over the next two weeks and I noticed on the last day that my name was on there, but I did not think much of it because a man by the name of David Bosch was on there and his topic was the Theology of Mission. I never thought twice about it, just thought I was to be present to help Dr. Bosch in any way I could, which would be little in the way of teaching, as I have no experience planting a church.

What I found out the first day of the Seminar was that David Bosch was a dead author who wrote a book entitled “The Theology of Mission,” and I was to lead a discussion on this book for 8 hours. If you are following along, you probably have figured out that I have never read the book, as I thought the guy was still alive and just teaching the course.

I explained to Dr. Jayakumar that I have never read the book and do not know this Bosch guy. He says, “no problem,” and goes to his book shelf and pulls down this book that is probably the thickest book on his shelf. I flipped to the end right away just to see that it was 653 pages in length. Somehow, I was to read a 653 page book in 13 days and be prepared to discuss it at a Ph.D. level standard. I believe that with God all things are possible, but with Alan they are not.

Needless to say, I started reading immediately and kept reading every free moment for the next 13 days, while at the same time teaching and trying to correlate my thoughts on how to discuss this book, which was not impressing me very much. Meaning that I had to work even harder to keep my attention and not have my mind wander to everything else.

If that was not bad enough, on Thursday a call was received by us that the scheduled speaker had an emergency and had to leave and would not be able to make it. Guess who took his place? I was going to use Thursday to prepare my notes, as I had read the book by then. No chance.

God used it in the end and we had some great discussions in class, but one thing I have learned, is when you see your name on any sheet make sure you know why it was put on there and do not assume anything. You’d think I would have learned that by now.

Preaching Indigenously

2009-02-15T05:19:00.003-05:00

Today I had the privilege of preaching at a church that is truly Indian. They typically do not preach in English at all. Everything that is done is done completely within the context of the culture.

The music was lively and exciting. They sang for over a half hour. Their main instrument was a set of large bongos and a tambourine. Their prayer time was another half hour of time. I wished I could tell you what they prayed about, but it was in their own language, but if it was like anything I have seen in multi-language churches they were praying for everything from very general to very specific.

There were two services, one in Tamil and the other in Kerala. I had the pleasure of worshipping with them and then sharing the Word of God. They were a great people who accepted me and were very generous with their love. After I preached, everyone of them came up and thanked me the best way they could, which for the men is shaking hands and the women put their hands together, as prayer hands, and bring them to their mouth.

The other experience I had was this was the first time I had to drive my motorcycle downtown, which was a 40 minute drive. I had someone to ride with me for directions, but it was an experience I will never forget too soon. As my passenger said, it is like driving on an obstacle course, where the obstacles move quite often and erratically.

I have also been teaching two courses at the Seminary, Worldview and Apologetics. Starting this upcoming week, I will be teaching Pastoral Counseling and continuing my Apologetics class. Due to the fact that I have to leave in May due to my medical condition, I am staying as busy as my body will allow me for now.

This month has been a very productive and busy time. We are going to host another Ph.D. seminary in March. I will not be teaching, but will be helping to coordinate and make sure everything goes smoothly through the two weeks they are with us.

Thank you for your support and making all this possible. Your prayers are felt here and we are so thankful for all your wonderful support. We pray that God blesses each of you and that you are richly rewarded for all the support that you have given me and my family.

In the Love of Christ.

Jesus Wept!

2009-01-30T08:07:00.001-05:00

Today I went to a viewing for a brother of an Elder of the church who passed away. The bodies of the family members are brought to the home in a glass box that is kept chilled in order for the body to be preserved.

The entire seminary went together and we all crammed ourselves into this small living room, about 30 of us in all. After we all found a place to sit or stand, we sang three hymns that pertained to the resurrection of Christ and for our forgiveness of sins. Then one of the Professors spoke from God’s Word and delivered a sermon that lasted about fifteen minutes.

The professor talked about emotions, resurrection and then made the point that even Jesus wept, as said in John 11:35. It is very true, and we tend to forget this aspect of Christ many times, especially men. Jesus did cry, weep, and to weep means a hard cry from deep within your soul. If Jesus wept, then surely there are times when we should be weeping as well. This was definitely one of those times.

In America we have a viewing where the body is at the church or a funeral home and everyone comes and pays their respects and then leaves, but here they worshipped God, even in death. What a testimony to their faith. What does it say that in the midst of grief and sadness, they sang hymns, heard a sermon and prayed together. There was no idle talk, except to pay respects afterwards. Then we all piled back into the busses and returned to the seminary.

What would happen if as Christians we started holding our viewings like this? What would it say to those who do not know Christ? We do have the service separate from the viewing, right before the burial, but many that come to the viewing will miss the funeral for various reasons. What if we just took the time to sing a couple of hymns and just said a prayer? How would that impact those around us? Not just the unbelievers, but the believers as well. It was encouraging to see them sing and pray like this in the time of death.

I am not saying our way is worse or theirs is better, just maybe thinking upon how we can witness for Christ in all situations we find ourselves in this world. I am not sure I could have a viewing in my home. I just found the challenge that even in the death of a loved one, can we still say, Jesus is my salvation and my joy? I pray that I can.

I was thankful that they allowed me to be part of their ceremony, and felt humbled by the way they demonstrated their faith in their time of grief. It was a great blessing and challenge for my faith, and one I pray that I will remember and take to heart.

A Real Blessing

2009-01-16T00:56:00.002-05:00

We have been so amazed by the love of people and the help that has been offered. It just fills us with joy and happiness. We are so thankful for you all from the bottom of our hearts.

One young lady has decided that God has led her to come and help us with the move back, and to minister while she is here with us in India. She will help Erin with the girls and with all the moving requirements. Then I will use her in some ministry aspects with women and children while here as well.

Kari is thinking about serving as a missionary full time, and this will give her a taste of third world countries, which truly helps in decision making. She will be with us for a week. Her letter is added below and we ask you to consider and pray over her request.

Thank you all again for your love, support and prayers. God uses them all and we are so blessed to be held in the palm of his hand.

Kari's Letter:

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Greetings in the name of our Savior, Jesus Christ! I hope that God is doing as many wonderful things in your life as He is in mine. Upon returning from serving as a missionary in Spain in 2008, I’ve been working in Indiana, where God is gradually unfolding his plan for my life.

I want to share with you a challenging ministry opportunity that God has presented to me. From May 11-21 God has offered me the chance to serve in Bangalore, India. I will be assisting Alan and Erin Seymour with their move to the United States due to Alan’s medical condition. In addition, I may help with college women and children’s ministry.

It is so amazing that God has opened the door for me in this way, but the exciting part is that you will be able to share in this ministry in several ways. First, you can help pray for me and the workers in India. I will need prayer that God will prepare me for my visit and bless my efforts, as well as encourage the permanent missionaries in India and give Erin and Alan a smooth transition to the United States. I will also need prayers that my financial needs will be met. At this time I need to raise $1,400 for the trip, which includes international airfare, visas and vaccinations.

Another way you can be involved is to help provide that financial support. Would you consider supporting me? I will need to raise all my funds before May in order to pay for airline tickets. You may send support to P.O. Box 144, Indiana, PA 15701. Whether you feel led to contribute financially, through prayer, or both, all of your support is appreciated.

I look forward to serving the Lord in India and letting you know how God has worked through me when I return.

Because of His Grace,

Kari E. Randall

2009-01-12T10:17:00.001-05:00

This will be coming to most of you in letter form as well with updates on our ministry, but wanted to post for those that do not receive our quarterly newsletter.

Blessings Everyone,

It is with a heavy heart that I have to write this letter, but in accordance with my doctors, I unfortunately have no choice now.

For the past few months I have been seeing doctors here, as some of you already might know. They found lesions in my brain that are typically seen in the start of MS according to my Neurologist and Radiologist in the U.S. They also may think it could be Lyme disease, but there is much testing to be done for this.

I have done some blood tests and they came back abnormal as well in three areas, thyroid, CPA count and my IgM (fights autoimmune diseases). There is definitely something going on within my body. My symptoms have become worse to the point it affects my everyday work abilities and my fine motor skills.

I only say all this to you so that you may understand why the decision is made. We are going to have to go back to the U.S. so I can attain the healthcare appropriate for me. It will also give us the support for my wife and me as we look at the possible diagnosis of either MS or Lyme. Both have negative outcomes at the time, if I have Lyme it is in the very late stages of being caught and the damage already done cannot be repaired and if MS it will continue to deteriorate my body.

We have decided with the doctor’s permission and warnings to leave at the end of May (May 21st to be exact). There will be a couple people coming to help us with the process. Dr. Jayakumar has also agreed to this, and also warned like the doctors that I may have to go earlier if the symptoms become even worse and I can no longer manage them.

We requested and received release from our two-year commitment within the country, as I have to attain proper medical attention. We requested that any money left over would be saved for me to travel back and forth to India to continue teaching at the Seminary after I receive clearance from my doctors.

We truly love India and so desired to stay for the two years, but because of this we are not able to keep that commitment, and it breaks our hearts.

Thank you for your time and energy to this ministry and for all your prayers and donations you have given. It is a privilege to serve here, and I look forward to continuing this in the future in any fashion that I can. The money will be used for ministry that is in the account, and hopefully for me to some day return and teach in short stints.

If you still want to donate in order for me to return and teach periodically, then please continue to send your support and mark for the ministry of Dr. Alan Seymour with the REAP/BBCM organization/ministry.

In the Love of Christ,

Alan & Erin Seymour

Trip to Khandali

2009-01-05T01:21:00.013-05:00

“I open my mouth and pant, longing for your commands” (Ps. 1:1-2)

“The transformation of a mind through the study of God’s Word cannot be accomplished via shortcuts.” – Glenn McDonald

Last week I had the privilege of sitting with many Christian Indian leaders. We were planning courses and curriculum for some Seminaries around the country. I felt truly humbled being with them, as most of them were pioneers in the mission field in India. One morning they gave me the task of holding devotion prior to breakfast.

It was a wonderful experience to be around so many missionary pioneers, as combined there was well over 70 years of missionary experience. Our days were filled with sitting around 6 plastic tables put together and a table cloth thrown on top. The three day meeting was held at one of BBCM/ACPL’s medical clinics. This is also where we slept. We slept on single beds with mattresses that were like sleeping on cardboard, and that is no exaggeration. That is actually how they like their mattresses here, hard like rock.

Our days were spent composing curriculum to be used by IIM (India Institute of Missiology). We would build a curriculum with two others and then the rest of the group would critique, which made the time very efficient, as we were able to develop 6 courses completely and then just tweak the others. Another aspect of the meeting was to adjust the credit system and work load for Seminary and Doctorate students, because it was lacking in both areas.

The days were long, as we would rise at 7am, so we could have our own time of devotion, then have breakfast. Afterwards we would sit and spend time in meetings until lunch at 1:30pm. It was very efficient, as we would work with little distraction and then during lunch we would stop and socialize. The Indian culture uses meals for socialization and work is not discussed at all. It is quite amazing. After lunch we would work till 7:30pm and then have dinner and same rules apply as above. After dinner we would work until around 11pm and start over the next day.

We did take one long break where I was able to walk with a few men to see the village. This is an extremely poor area, and it was very apparent upon entering their village center. My camera decided to break and I was not able to get as many pictures as I would have liked, but it was nothing to see little children running naked and men sleeping on the side of the road. It is always a humbling experience being in these areas. It would probably be like going into the poorest communities in the U.S., but without welfare availability or social services available. Not to mention they don’t care here about little children running naked in India.

These men to my surprise were extremely open and vulnerable with one another during our group devotions. They talked about not putting their wives first in their Christian walk, dealing with humility in their own life, about some personal struggles within their families. They said it was sinful and said they need to repent continually over these issues and asked us to pray for them. I was extremely humbled by the answers and it allowed me to be open as well. These are men who have lived up to 20 years in the ministry field, or are still in the field. Men who have lived each day waiting on God to deliver their meals sometimes, and would at times live off 2000 Rupees a month ($50 USD). Trust me it is not much in India either. The average poor family will still make around 6000 Rupees a month at least.

In my eyes they were true men of faith who have sacrificed the easy road for the sake of Christ. You can see how God has blessed them and how their faith has been used to bring many to Christ in India. Again they were teaching me and the other Americans there about vulnerability and openness with other men of faith. They truly longed to walk closer with Jesus and to develop a deeper relationship.

It presents a great challenge for all of us as believers. Are you afraid to be open with other believers? Why? Do you care more about what they think or what Jesus thinks? Why are we so worried? Maybe they will tell others. And? If we are truly walking with Christ we should not be worried about it. If there is something you are so afraid of sharing with other believers, then you truly need to work on that sin and even more so need to find help in overcoming it through your pastor or Christian counselor. Even then, you would probably help many by sharing your struggles, especially if you are a leader. People need to know that everyone struggles, as we all fall short of perfection.

The only way to truly overcome is by knowing the truth as Christ says in John 8:31-32, “ ‘If you continue in My word, you really are My disciples. You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.’” We have to be in the Bible, and truly long to follow the commands it tells us, as that is the only way to overcome. We have to long to follow what Christ says about overcoming sin and developing a deeper relationship with Him.

What is the hardest part of following Jesus for you? Have you shared that with other believers so they can pray for you? If not, why not?

Can you say like Jeremiah did in 15:16, “Your words were found, and I ate them, And Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart; For I am called by Your name, O Lord God of hosts.”

“The further we move ahead as disciples, the more we discover that God speaks to us through the same text of Scripture in ever deepening ways.” – Glenn McDonald

Sunday Night Christmas Program - Church Youth

2008-12-27T03:58:00.002-05:00

A skit for the Sunday night program performed by the youth. It portrayed the 'Silent Christmas' in China that must be celebrated quietly in underground churches.

The young children (plus Lydia, who technically is not in this Sunday School class - but follows Kayla wherever she goes) performing songs for the program.

Another skit, quite funny, put on by the youth that pokes fun at the very zealous hospitality of the Indian culture. You must offer tea/water/coffee and biscuits (cookies) to guests who come to your house, like Christmas Carolers, and they poked fun playing Carolers who are very expectant of their food and drink at each house and quite upset if they don't receive it. This got some great laughs from the crowd. It is always good to be among a people who can laugh at themselves!

Christmas Decorating

2008-12-22T10:37:00.002-05:00

Lydia is painting homemade clay ornaments. All of our Christmas decorations are stored in the States!

Our Christmas tree in process.

Our final product - a homemade Christmas tree!

Our homemade ornaments and our 'bendy figures' nativity scene!

Saturday Night Christmas Program for our Friday Bible Study

2008-12-22T09:54:00.016-05:00

Uncle/Pastor Jayakumar preaching at the program.

Seminary students singing for us at the program.

The young people from the Bible Study put on a skit based on Charles Dickens' 'A Christmas Carol' that was rewritten by Havilah (Uncle's daughter) with a salvation message.

Again, the skit performance.

The children (left to right: Lydia, Sidarth, Prianka, Anjuli) acted out the story of the Christmas story from Scripture. Anjuli recited the verses, Sidarth and Prianka were Joseph and Mary and Lydia was a sheep.

A close up of Lydia playing the sheep.

Kayla portrayed the angel in the story.

GiGi and her husband Baskar said the closing prayer. GiGi's father, Uncle Matthews, hosts us at his house each Friday for Bible Study.

A pastor (with a long Indian name that escapes me right now) giving the benediction on Saturday night.

Friday Night Seminary Christmas Program

2008-12-22T09:38:00.006-05:00

These ladies are students and workers at the seminary and are beautiful singers, too!

The gentlemen of the seminary (students, also) singing, also very talented!

The students performing a skit.

The guys with the big white hats and pink vests are Roman guards!

The skit had a wonderful message about serving the Lord with your life because of what He did on the Cross. The night focused on Christ's birth, life, death and resurrection. The Indians, even at Christmas, are very determined to give the whole gospel message with every opportunity they get!

Our Indian Christmas

2008-12-22T00:39:00.005-05:00

More Christmas Carols in our home. These are Alan's students from seminary.

These are gypsy children who live next to the seminary with their families in tents made of tarp and duct tape. They came to the Friday night Christmas Program and the children sang! Here they are singing 'Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star' and 'My God is So Big'. The seminary students tutor the children and witness to the families. Praise God! Please pray for these families!

This is at our Saturday Christmas Program for our Friday Bible Study Group. From Left to Right are Sidarth, Prianka, Anjuli, Kayla and Lydia!

Christmas Approaches

2008-12-17T09:54:00.007-05:00

We have no snow in India this time of year (or any time of the year!). Christmas music is not blaring over loudspeakers in the stores. We haven’t seen any ‘holiday’ commercials. Yet, we know that Christmas is approaching. Yes, they have Santa Claus here, I saw him in one of the stores the other day. And I saw one store that sells Christmas trees and decorations. So, there are signs, even in the secular sense. But it is not nearly the bombardment we see in the states!

However, despite the lack of ‘national frenzy’ over the holiday, the believers here are excited and preparing for many festivities. Christmas Caroling and Christmas Programs are in abundance in the churches here. We were so blessed the other night to have a group of men from our church come to our home (and many others) to sing carols to us and pray over our household and for our family. Listen to the videos below, and you will get to see and hear how blessed we are here this time of year!

We will be having a Christmas program for our Friday Bible Study this weekend. The kids get to be in it as well, which is so much fun! We are doing a play based on Charles Dickens’ ‘A Christmas Carol’ that has been adapted with the salvation message. The kids play a small role as carolers who are shooed away by Scrooge! They will also be sharing a song and memory verses in the program.

The church has several programs going on. The children will be performing songs and verses. The youth are performing, as well. And these are in addition to the general church program for Christmas. I am so excited that the girls are getting to participate in so many of the programs and activities that are emphasizing the true meaning of Christmas.

In an update, Alan had the privilege of preaching once again at church about a week and a half ago. He is currently working on several projects in between teaching classes. He is developing, with my help, a Missionary Handbook to help develop better policies for incoming westerners, as well as ways the transition can be made smoothly for those adjusting to India as missionaries, using our own experiences and the goals and visions of the ministry here. He is also continuing to assist in the development of the Doctor of Missiology program. His teaching resumes in February, and he will be teaching Missiological Worldview, and is preparing that course, as well. He is also continually studying the Hindu religion, as well as studying how to both speak and write in Hindi.

Since we either sold or stored all of our Christmas decorations in the states, the girls and I are making all homemade decorations for the house. We have made homemade clay ornaments using flour, salt, water and the microwave! You learn to be thrifty and even more frugal than usual in these circumstances! We also made a very tall handprint Christmas tree to hang from the wall (using file folders taped together) which will serve as our actual Christmas tree! It has been really fun, and the girls love having such a hand in the decorating!

We are looking forward to experiencing an ‘Indian Christmas’. And praise the Lord, due to the work of those spreading the Gospel in India through ministries like BBCM; we can have a blessed Christmas, even in a country where Hinduism and other false religions abound. Please continue to pray for the work of the Indians here, as again, they are the ones going into the field and putting their very lives on the line to spread the Gospel. And pray that our efforts in preparing them for this difficult but rewarding work would be effectual and glorifying to Christ and serve to advance His Kingdom!

To Be Humbled.....

2008-12-04T11:53:00.006-05:00

I had the very humbling experience of teaching at a women’s prayer meeting this past Monday. I am always humbled to do anything in ministry, especially when it comes to teaching, and I was admittedly very nervous when Auntie Prema asked me to speak on prayer.

This instance was particularly humbling for several reasons. These women meet every Monday in someone’s home for three hours that are filled with testifying to the Lord and what He is doing in their lives, singing praises to Him and praying at His feet. These women are truly warriors in prayer. To be asked to speak on the topic of prayer to a group of women who are so committed to prayer and so faithful to testify the Lord in their lives was amazing to me.

Monday morning came, and Lydia and I walked to the end of the road and waited. After about ten minutes, a small three-wheeled auto pulled up with Auntie Prema inside. I, in my salwar, and Lydia, in a ballerina tutu, crawled in beside her. The small open auto weaved through the bumpy dirt roads to another house. We stopped, and though we had no more room, another ‘auntie’ climbed into the auto with us. The four of us sat very close to one another in the back of the small open car, and continued our trip.

After braving the insane Indian traffic, we were dropped off among some shops along side of a busier road. We continued on foot on smaller dirt roads that led us to rows of long one-story cement buildings. We stopped in front of a set of stairs and took off our shoes. We entered a doorway, one of many along the yellow cement building, which seemed to go on forever as one structure down the dirt road. The room we entered was not quite ten feet by ten feet. This was the living room. There were already about twelve women seated on furniture and on the floor in this tiny space. To the right was what I assumed to be the bedroom. To the left was the kitchen, a very tiny space. I had to take Lydia to the bathroom when we arrived, which was also off to the left.

The bathroom was so small that even Lydia and I felt crowded in the room together. There was little plumbing, except for a faucet coming from the wall. Buckets filled with water were in the corner of the tiny room. In the middle of the wet floor was an Indian style toilet. Only those with the financial ability have western style toilets in their bathrooms. Here was a porcelain hole in the floor. After trying to get Lydia to squat over the floor, I finally took all of her clothes off and had her straddle the floor to pee. This whole ordeal took us ten minutes. Finally, we emerged from the bathroom and the meeting began.

Lydia sat at my feet and played with toys, as there was no room besides this for her to sit and play. By the time the meeting began, there were 22 women sitting side by side, and the floor was filled. The entire meeting was in Tamil, as most of these women do not know English. There was singing, praying and women gave testimonies of what the Lord was doing in their lives and the lives of their families. The Indian people are very careful to make sure they give public praise and testimony when the Lord chooses to bless their lives and answer their prayers. If only I was so faithful in my thankfulness to God!

I spoke on prayer for about an hour to this group of ladies, and Auntie Prema translated for me in Tamil. I was humbled. These ladies may not be very academically versed in Scripture, but their faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ and their faithfulness to prayer could rival most. They were attentive and while I had to leave the meeting early, right after teaching, to get Kayla off of the van from school, Auntie Prema told me later that the ladies enjoyed my teaching. That whole experience taught me more and blessed me immeasurably more than what I could have possibly given in that meeting.

I was struck by the hospitality of the woman who owned the home we met in. She did not apologize for the very small size of her home. No one thought twice of sitting on the hard marble floor shoulder to shoulder. Though it was obvious the family had little, she offered Lydia bananas to eat throughout the meeting. And afterwards, she planned on serving lunch to the ladies in attendance. I thought about my own hospitality in the states, and how I was always concerned with how clean my home was or what people would think of where I lived. This woman was not concerned with impressing people with her home, nor was she embarrassed or apologetic about its size. She was concerned about serving the Lord and serving her sisters in Christ. She wanted to be a part of God’s work, without regard to the world and its opinion.

I am continually pointed to Christ in all I see and do in this country. It is easy to see the Lord’s hand and to see His presence in the lives of believers here. With few distractions from the world and material wealth, it is easy to see His hand and His provision. And I am constantly humbled by what I used to have, and even what I still have here compared to others. And then I remember that no one is better off than another, as long as we share the love of Christ. And these women surely shared the love of Christ with me, a better gift I could not ask for.

RED ALERT

2008-12-01T06:25:00.003-05:00

As many of you probably knew before we actually did, Mumbai was attacked by Terrorists who held the city under hostage for nearly three days of terror. This was recorded as the worst attack of terror on Mumbai in Indian history. We woke up to this news report, and I had to catch my wife so she did not put our daughter on the bus, as we were called and told not to leave the house for our safety.

We were glued to television and watched the news, knowing we were in a city that could be next if they were truly targeting Americans and British. We felt safe because we were a safe distance from the areas of Bangalore that they might target, but when you are ordered to stay indoors you start to think of all kinds of scenarios. We watched to see what was going to take place.

I was amazed at how long it was taking for the Indians to take control of these terrorists and it just made me that much more appreciative of our military system. Those who take their safety for granted should spend some time in a country like India, where it takes them 3 days to catch ten young terrorists. My wife and I both knew that if this happened in America they would have had these guys in hours. Delta Force and/or other agencies would have been in there and taken these guys out quickly with no remorse. There are pictures here with the soldiers afraid to fire back. It is just a different world. Thank your military and police for the safety they provide you and do not take if for granted.

Now we are praying and just wondering how these young men get trapped and caught into these enticements? What causes young twenty-somethings to think that this is the best scenario for their lives? Why aren’t we reaching them for Christ? They are lost and they took so many lives with them, who also may be lost.

The country is now looking for redemption and vengeance and who knows what is going to happen next. They are blaming Pakistan and being very hostile even in the media. This is why Indigenous ministry is so important and what we are trying to accomplish here is so worth while, as we are training people who will hopefully go back to places like these and reach these young men before they are reached by these terror groups.

Please continue to pray for us and send your support as we train men and women to plant indigenous churches in villages that will reach men for Christ and ultimately bring peace instead of terror.

John 16:33, “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”

Hearing Differently

2008-11-16T07:55:00.002-05:00

Every once in a while I will just sit and listen to all the noises outside. The many different horns. There are the moped horns that sound like a little toy squeaking, and then there are the typical car horns, and then there are the big truck horns. The truck horns are un-mistakable, as they sound like one of the horns you would hear on an RV going down the road.

There are the different animal noises that you can don’t expect to hear in a city. You can hear dogs 24 hours day, barking, howling, and fighting. Now, that might be a shocker, but then there are the cows that you hear mooing throughout the city, as they meander wherever they want. Every once in a while you can hear monkeys as they move around the city looking for food.

It is enjoyable to hear all these wonderful sounds, well except the dogs at 1am, but they are God’s creation and we get to enjoy them in the city. While I enjoy these noises there is something that taints it and does not allow me to completely enjoy this wonder of God as much as I would like.

Lately, I listen to voices differently, especially at night. Being in a state where the church is experiencing persecution for proclaiming Christ and knowing that most of our neighbors know why we are here, it makes you listen more carefully. You start to listen more intently and more carefully to your surroundings, wondering what others are saying, because they are not speaking your language. Your mind starts to play these tricks on you, just as when you are alone at night in your bedroom and your imagination grabs a hold and runs away with your thoughts.

Here we get the privilege of living our faith for Christ in a real sense that Jesus talked about in His day. Where in the States we have been hated and disliked for our views, it is typically not acted upon by breaking into church services and arresting the pastor for converting people to Christ, though recently in Michigan a Church service was disrupted by a radical group with different beliefs.

We have had our views of the exclusivity of Christ challenged by even those in the Church, but only verbally, but here it is followed up physically. I have seen on Facebook groups where some pastors that preach in college groves are wished dead. Persecution is part of the call, it is part of the privilege and part of being the Church.

When you are alone what do you hear in the world? Is all well in your life? Do you hear nothing at all? If so then you are not following the same Christ that is in the Bible? Read the Gospels again. Listen to the words of Jesus.

Matthew 5:10, “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

John 15:18-19, “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. 19If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.”

CULTURAL CONFUSION!

2008-11-11T05:12:00.001-05:00

Have you ever heard something then actually stood there and thought, “Did I actually just hear that?” That happens to me quite often hear in India, as there are concepts that I just don’t get or quite understand why they would even contemplate such a resolution.

Let’s say you’re a single mother and your daughter of around 18 year’s old has a young man that is interested in her, but he is not the right man for her. He hangs out with the wrong crowd and your daughter is not really interested in him. Now, in India, the parents have a very heavy say in who you marry and the children listen. There is a very high respect in this way. Marrying off a woman in particular, because you have to pay a dowry to the husband’s family, so there is always a heavy involvement of the parents.

You agree that you do not want this young man as a son-in-law, and the daughter does not want him as a husband. Easy enough, right? One day your daughter is walking home from the store the same way she always does, and this young man knows this and is waiting in one particular area that is pretty secluded with a car. Upon the arrival of the young woman the man kidnaps, or “takes” your daughter. What would you do?

Would you go to the police? Not necessarily here, because then there would be a report and that could taint her chances of getting married because she would be considered unclean and no one would want her. Plus the police would not necessarily do anything anyway, and would wonder how the woman coaxed him. She would be guilty until proven innocent. After fifteen days you receive a call that your daughter is alright and will be returning.

Now what would you do? Would you make sure the girl remains as far away from this young man as you could so she could heal emotionally and physically? Well, not here. You have her marry him, so she becomes pure. She ends up living with the very man who kidnapped and raped her. If this is not confusing, I do not know what is.

When I was told this story, and it is a true story, as I have met the young woman, I just stood there and tried to clean out my ears. I could not believe what I was hearing. How can this be in Bangalore? It is suppose to be a “Modern City.”

I could give my opinions all I wanted, and they understood and agreed with me, but there is nothing they could do, as this was their culture, this was how their Hindu practices worked. My heart broke for this poor woman. What is proclaimed as a peaceful, tranquil religion around the world allows such atrocities.

We have to look at what lies beneath everything. Hinduism in the end is man-made with demonic influence and will make room for such horrific suffering. Hopefully over time we will be able to witness and demonstrate the love and forgiveness of Christ to this young woman.

Prayer Request--Just Received!

2008-11-08T03:58:00.002-05:00

The note below we just received from another Indian in Northern India. I have also included links to verify the story that he is claiming. I pray nothing comes of the appointment here, but please keep in prayer.

Note:
Dear friends in Christ,
As Christians we are called to do God's will. Bible says that all authority has given by God. Pray for America President Barrack Obama and intercede for him in prayer.US President-elect Barack Obama has picked Indian-American Sonal Shah, an eminent economist who heads Google's philanthropic arm, as one of the advisers to help him assemble his White House team.

The 40-year-old economist has been associated with the overseas activities of the Sangh Parivar (Hindu fundamentalists). She was a national coordinator of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad of America campaign to raise funds for Gujarat earthquake victims in 2001.

This Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) has played major role in Gujarat religious riots (between Hindus and Muslims) and the recent persecutions against Christians in India.I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people.

Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them. Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity. This is good and pleases God our Savior, who wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth. Our God is in control. No human power can prevail church.
God bless: Name Taken Out for Confidentiality

Links:
http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?sectionName=Cricket&id=c92bdef7-a366-47df-bf51-daae396caeec&MatchID1=4816&TeamID1=6&TeamID2=1&MatchType1=1&SeriesID1=1212&PrimaryID=4816&Headline=Obama+team+member%2c+Sonal%2c+has+VHP+links

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Ahmedabad/Obamas_Gujarati_aide_has_RSS_roots/articleshow/3687115.cms

http://www.vhp-america.org/dynamic/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=13

Watching from India

2008-11-05T23:52:00.000-05:00

Walking the streets of India has become so much more familiar for us. However, Lydia still screams in delight every time she sees a cow (which is a lot), but we are feeling comfortable with the neighborhood, and the streets and the shops. Once in a while, walking down the street, I will look around at the faces, the shops and the cars and it will dawn on me, “I live in India now.”

The girls are ‘becoming Indian’ in many ways! Kayla likes to shake her head from shoulder to shoulder to say ‘yes’, as is the Indian way. Lydia, instead of saying ‘yes’, will simply grunt, as is the Indian way, as well. They eat their rice with their hands, even if I have laid out utensils for them to use. Kayla knows how to sing some songs in Hindi, and apparently pronounces the words better than she has ever spoken English!! They call all of the adults (whether we know them or not) ‘auntie’ and ‘uncle’, which is the custom here.

We have made a lot of progress with the children’s church curriculum. We have the format set for writing an entire year’s worth of lessons for three age groups of children. Connie, Elizabeth and I each wrote example lessons to be followed. Teams have been formed to write all of the lessons for the curriculum and the writing is underway. The very encouraging thing is that all of the lessons are being written by Indians, as most curriculums here are very westernized and there is a need for one that is culturally relevant for the children here. Our prayer is that as young Indian children are equipped with the Gospel, they will be the ones to enter the seminaries and the tribal villages as missionaries and the Gospel will spread through India, and in a very indigenous way, as is the goal of this ministry.

Alan has now finished teaching two Masters level classes and will begin teaching PhD courses in the next couple of weeks. He is also mentoring several students as they work on their Master’s thesis papers. He is still grading exams and papers from the Pastoral Counseling course, is preparing for the next classes, is teaching Bible Study on Fridays on a rotating basis and continuing to help formulate the Missiology Program for the seminary.

It has been interesting to view all of the political events of the past few months from across the ocean. And even stranger to find out the results of the election from the internet from a totally different country. The people here in India have been watching the developments, as anything that happens in America on this scale affects the rest of the world, and Indians will remind you of this.

It has also been interesting to hear of and speak to people about the economic status in America right now while we reside in a third world country. I have told family and friends, especially in political conversations, that now that I live in India, talking economics is wasted on me. I have a whole different perspective on America’s economy. At the same time, I do not mean to undermine serious issues like people losing their jobs; I understand this can be devastating. But, when I am sitting here, and as I type, we are without any power – again, and this happens on a daily basis, it is hard for me to see it from an American perspective any more.

We lose power all of the time as part of our daily lives. This means I must wait to do laundry, I cannot use my microwave, and I cannot iron or watch TV. In the evenings, it is difficult to see, even with our emergency lights, and I often cook dinner on my stove top in mostly dark conditions. I don’t own a convection oven, so I do not bake anything. Everything I make must be on my stove top. I could purchase a convection oven, but have chosen not to in order to save money, as these are a luxury in India. I hang my clothes to dry (which I am very used to now). We run out of hot water regularly for showers, so there is no ‘soaking in the shower’, it is in and out if you want a hot or warm shower. We do not have a car and so we often walk places when we can, and only get an ‘auto’ for long trips.

And we are living the high life compared to those around us. I don’t list these things to complain, we have become very accustomed to these things, and in light of how others live here, these are very minor issues. But, these are things I would not face in America, nor does the average person.

Alan and I are still very careful about sharing our faith with the native Indians. Our goal is to equip Indians to reach their own with the Gospel, as this is much more effective for them and safer for us. We have found out recently that women are going around and asking about people’s ‘churches’ or ‘seminaries’ so that they can go and report these same people for trying to ‘spread the Gospel to them and harass them’, which ends in the arrest of the church or seminary participants.

Please pray for my relationship with an ‘auntie’ who runs the nearby grocery store. We have been to her home to see her artwork and I am trying to slowly form a relationship with her. I have mentioned her in earlier blogs. She is a Hindu, so I must take it slowly and form a relationship. The other day she asked me if she could borrow some money to go to see the doctor, as she does not have her pension money yet. She will pay us back, but we decided this could be a way to continue forging this relationship. She was very thankful, and my prayer is that our friendship and acts of kindness can open doors for us to share the Gospel with her and her family.

Also, please continue to pray for the persecution that is still occurring in parts of India. And for Alan, as he continues to teach, preach and build relationships with the students, that God would use him to build up Indians to spread the Gospel in this country. Also, for the work that is going on with the children’s curriculum, that the Indian writers would be motivated for this work as the children are the future of India, and the future church planters and missionaries.

Here & There

2008-10-26T06:27:00.000-04:00

2 Corinthians 1:3, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.”

Within the Indian culture it is at times hard to tell if you are impacting or not, because of the respect they have for you. This may sound weird, but it is true. They will listen to you, take notes and thank you afterwards for your teaching, preaching or training. Indians have a strong inward respect for elders, and those that are in “authority.” It is changing, according to many, because of the secularization of Bangalore. Yes, the Western philosophy is wearing down the Indian culture that is seen in many areas.

The other day I finished teaching my class on Pastoral Counseling and one of the students came up to me and asked to talk for a minute. He wanted to thank me for my teaching because it helped answer a lot of questions he was struggling with as a believer. He was telling me that he was going to go to Africa as a missionary, and that his Visa did not get accepted, which he took as God saying no for now. God seemed to be telling him that he needed more education and then he found ACPL, and now he is attaining a Master’s in Missions degree that he will be able to use in the field.

This was a great blessing to hear that God is using me to impact the students and helping to strengthen their faith. God has also been blessing us in our witness to many in the U.S. as well. God has used our moving and following God to impact many and strengthen their faith. Because we lost Tobiah, there have been many opportunities to talk to people who are suffering because of the same situation. Our faith has been impacted deeply and people here and there have watched how God walked us through this time and used it to bless us and them.

In the short time that we have been in the mission field, we have been able to see many instances where God is using us not only here in India, but in the U.S. as well through the internet. God uses all the tools available for His glory if we only make use of them, and we are privileged to see this in our ministry here.

What Satan or this world might do to us that seems to be evil at the time, God will use in the end for His glory for those who love Him. And we sure love Him and have seen how He has used all our sufferings thus far for His purposes and for His glory, and that is all we can ask.

Romans 8:28, “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”

Short Term Missions

2008-10-10T04:13:00.002-04:00

Despite Benefits,
Few Americans Have Experienced Short-Term Mission Trips
This is taken from www.barna.org, exact web location at the end of the article.
October 6, 2008

(Ventura, California) - A century ago, missionaries had to commit to years of service. With the comparative ease and affordability of travel, church and non-profit leaders now encourage a different form of congregational engagement: short-term mission trips. These journeys, typically lasting from a few days to several weeks, allow people to put their religious beliefs in action by taking people to other countries or areas of great need to serve the poor or disadvantaged.

A new study from The Barna Group shows that most of the people who embark on service adventures describe the trips as life-changing. In fact, three-quarters of trip-goers report that the experience changed their life in some way. Yet the research also shows that few adults - including a small percentage of Christians - have ever gone on a short-term service trip.

Heart Change

The label "life-changing" is pasted on many things, but the description fits most short-term service trips. Only one-quarter of those who have participated on such a trip said it was "just an experience," while a majority said it changed their life in some way. The most common areas of personal growth that people recall - even years later - include becoming more aware of other people’s struggles (25%), learning more about poverty, justice, or the world (16%), increasing compassion (11%), deepening or enriching their faith (9%), broadening their spiritual understanding (9%), and boosting their financial generosity (5%). Others mentioned the experience helped them feel more fulfilled, become more grateful, develop new friends, and pray more.

Missing in Action

However, despite the accessibility and personal benefits, most Americans have never experienced such a short-term service project. Just 9% of Americans have ever been on one of these brief service trips, including only 11% of churchgoers. What’s more, most of the people who have ever gone on such a journey did so more than five years ago. To put that in perspective, only 8 million of the 228 million adult residents of the U.S. have been on a short-term mission trip in the last five years.

Some population subgroups were more likely than average to participate in short mission trips: adults under age 25, residents of the South and the West, college graduates, political conservatives, and people who are associated with a faith other than Christianity. The most active group of people in terms of short-term trips was evangelical Christians (23% of whom had taken such a trip).

In contrast to evangelicals, residents of the Northeast, Catholics, and political liberals were among the least likely to go on service trips. One surprise from the study was that upscale adults were no more likely than downscale adults to have participated on a short-term service project.

Trip Advisor

The research provided additional snapshots of service trips:

Most people take service trips outside the country; however, 33% of the mission trips were to locations in the U.S.

A person does not have to go far in order to grow personally through serving others. People who took domestic service trips reported the same degree of life-changing experiences as did those traveling abroad.

The typical person who has been on a mission trip has taken two such journeys. Two percent of Americans are service trip enthusiasts, having been on five or more such adventures.

People frequently go on short-term trips with immediate family members, most often with siblings. Only 14% of these trips were parents facilitating a family learning experience. This means that just 1% of Americans have ever taken a mission trip as a family.
Researcher David Kinnaman clarified that "this research does not measure the benefit to the people being helped, since we only interviewed Americans for this project. But short-term missions clearly benefit the people providing the assistance. Many pastors, parents and teachers are searching for ways to transform hearts and minds. One promising way to go about changing people’s perspectives is to go on a service adventure together."

Generational Appetite

The Barna study gives evidence that the emerging generation wants to serve the needs of others in short-term missions. For instance, young adults are more likely than the Boomer generation to have ever been on a service trip in the past (12% versus 7%, respectively). Moreover, young adults (defined as those under the age of 25) express strong interest in participating in future short-term service trips. Overall, 10% of young adults said they would definitely go on such a trip in the next three years, compared to just 3% among older adults.

Barna researchers refer to the under-25 segment as the Mosaic generation because of their eclectic lifestyles and diversity. Kinnaman, who is president of The Barna Group, pointed out that "Mosaics are globally aware and cause-oriented. They relish risk, stimulation, and diverse experiences. And they are more sensitive to issues related to justice and poverty. Their craving to take journeys of service could fuel a resurgence of global engagement. Yet, the danger would be if leaders and organizations waste the Mosaic generation’s readiness by simply allowing young adults to be mere ‘consumers of cause’ - selling them a t-shirt or a wristband, instead of challenging them to life-shaping service projects."

Source: The Barna Group, Ltd. 2007

About the Research
This report is based upon telephone interviews conducted by The Barna Group with a random sample of 1005 adults selected from across the continental United States, age 18 and older, in August 2008. The maximum margin of sampling error associated with the aggregate sample is ±3.2 percentage points at the 95% confidence level. Minimal statistical weighting was used to calibrate the aggregate sample to known population percentages in relation to several key demographic variables.

"Evangelicals" are born again Christians. In the survey, people qualified as evangelicals if they met the born again criteria (i.e., said they had have made a personal commitment to Jesus Christ that is still important in their life today and also indicated they believe that when they die they will go to Heaven because they had confessed their sins and had accepted Jesus Christ as their savior) plus seven other conditions. Those include saying their religious faith is very important in their life today; believing they have a personal responsibility to share their religious beliefs about Christ with non-Christians; believing that Satan exists; believing that eternal salvation is possible only through grace, not works; believing that Jesus Christ lived a sinless life on earth; asserting that the Bible is accurate in all that it teaches; and describing God as the all-knowing, all-powerful, perfect deity who created the universe and still rules it today. Being classified as an evangelical is not dependent upon church attendance or the denominational affiliation of the church attended. Respondents were not asked to describe themselves as "evangelical."

The Barna Group, Ltd. (which includes its research division, The Barna Research Group) conducts primary research, produces media resources pertaining to spiritual development, and facilitates the healthy spiritual growth of leaders, children, families and Christian ministries. Located in Ventura, California, Barna has been conducting and analyzing primary research to understand cultural trends related to values, beliefs, attitudes and behaviors since 1984. If you would like to receive free e-mail notification of the release of each new, bi-monthly update on the latest research findings from The Barna Group, you may subscribe to this free service at the

http://www.barna.org/FlexPage.aspx?Page=BarnaUpdateNarrowPreview&BarnaUpdateID=318
Barna website www.barna.org.

© The Barna Group, Ltd, 2008.

Copyright Disclaimer: All the information contained on the barna.org website is copyrighted by The Barna Group, Ltd., 1957 Eastman Ave. Ste B, Ventura, California 93003. No portion of this website (articles, graphs, charts, reviews, pictures, video clips, quotes, statistics, etc.) may be reproduced, retransmitted, disseminated, sold, distributed, published, edited, altered, changed, broadcast, circulated, or commercially exploited without the prior written permission from The Barna Group, Ltd.

Life is Busy in Bangalore!

2008-10-09T11:43:00.004-04:00

Alan teaching at Friday Bible study. Auntie Prema, to his right, translates in Tamil for those who have limited English.

Connie leading worship at Bible study.

Bible study. These children are Uncle Matthews grandchildren, he owns the house where we hold the study.

Uncle Matthews is the older gentlemen to the far right.

Alan teaching at Bible study.

Alan preaching this past Sunday. The picture is not great because I was all the way in the back. I had come up from children's Church to take the picture! Auntie Prema is to his right translating in Tamil.

Trucks, cars and places of business were decorated one day this week as people celebrated their occupations.

After some hard work on the children's ministry curriculum, Connie and I took the girls for a day out at the park!

Kayla and Anjuli.

Kayla and Anjuli playing at Connie's house, while we worked on the curriculum.

Kayla and I took a walk to the store and ran into a herd of cows!

Kayla and Anjuli. The families got together for a game night.

Alan, Chuck and Asha.

On our way to Connie's house to work, the girls insisted on wearing these outfits to walk the streets of India!

Alan getting ready for his first driving attempt on the haphazard streets of India! He is borrowing Uncle Jayakumar's bike here while he is out of town for the month.

A Way to Donate Without Giving!

2008-09-30T04:46:00.003-04:00

Here's a new easy way to raise money for REAP, our Mission Organization. Just start using Yahoo! powered GoodSearch.com as your search engine and they'll donate a penny to your favorite cause every time you do a search! In addition, do all of your shopping through their online shopping mall, GoodShop.com, where you can shop at more than 700 top online retailers and a percentage of your purchases will go to the charity or school of your choice. You pay the same price as you normally would, but a donation goes to your cause!

Here's the web site — http://www.goodsearch.com. You can also read about GoodSearch in the NY Times, Oprah Magazine, CNN, ABC News and the Wall Street Journal.

The Two Month Mark

2008-09-23T02:09:00.001-04:00

It has been an interesting ride since arriving in India. From someone being sick every week the past two months, literally, to losing our baby, it has been a challenge and at the same time the movement of God has been noticeable.

If you have read the other blogs, then you know how God has used our loss for His glory, and we are so thankful for that blessing. We continue to see the fruit from such a traumatic time, but as always God uses such times of distress to further His kingdom and for His glory. We are but His clay, and He is the Great Potter!

I have completed my first class and it has been an adjustment again from teaching students in the U.S. Accent is one of the biggest struggles to overcome. They all speak English and can read and write in our language, but their accent is very thick and we both have a hard time understanding each other, but we are now becoming more acquainted with one another. I had to readjust my teaching method from using a power point to just writing on the dry-erase board, as I would move too fast for them with the power point and writing it out slowed me down. I also forgot and found out again that anything you write on the board or put on the power point, they will write it down. Even if you tell them not to worry about it and no reason to write it down, they would still write it down, which led to them paying more attention to the notes on the screen then to me talking.

My next class will be in Pastoral Counseling, which I am excited to start. This will be a two week intensive class, as we have to fit a semester of classes in 10 days. After the completion of this class, I will be challenged with teaching a Ph.D. level course on Worldview comparisons between Christianity and Hinduism. The outcome is to hopefully find some new perspectives and approaches to the Hindu faith. This would lead then to developing more advantageous outreach programs that work within the Hindu culture, as most today still try to use Western approaches that just do not work within the Indian culture.

While studying to teach this class, I have found Hindu Philosophy to be very complex in its very nature, but simple within its main tenets. Hindu faith has no problem with something being correct and incorrect at the same time. Meaning you can have one story regarding how Vishnu came into existence and his story, and the village next to you can have a completely different story of how Vishnu came into existence. They have no problems with the discontinuity. How do you witness to this when there is obviously no concern for absolute truth? At the same time they do have some basic tenets, as with Brahma and how he is the creator of the universe. There appears to be a resemblance of a trinity as well that can be developed for the purpose of showing the true Trinity.

I will be starting to counsel very shortly as well, which will be an interesting adventure with cultural norms being different, not to mention words mean something different here, even in English, at times. When someone says you look pale here it means you look tired and not that you look sick or more pale, which would be hard for me anyways. My counseling sessions will have to accommodate for all these differences and making sure that I am truly listening in a different fashion. It will be a great test and a great way to witness in a safe environment.

Another ministry in the area, which offers Ph.D. degrees in Missiology and who I am teaching the class for, has asked REAP if I would be part of their restructuring committee for their degree program. The last leader was very liberal and taught distinctions that are not evangelical in nature and was becoming unproductive and against the mission of the agency. They had to fire him and now are formatting the classes and I will have the opportunity to be part of this process.

Along with all these other responsibilities I am in the process of writing a handbook for the Doctorate of Missiology degree that ACPL wants to start in July 2009. Working alongside Jayakumar and another gentleman, we are putting together the entire program. Currently, I am writing the handbook for the program. Then lastly, every other month I am teaching at a local Friday afternoon Bible Study that is translated into Tamil, though most of the people speak English.

Thank you for donations that have allowed us to be able to minister in so many fashions. We are training indigenous Church Planters and teachers. We will be working with emotionally hurting individuals through counseling sessions and we are impacting the local community through Bible Study. We are also making friends of the local Hindus as well through buying our groceries from their stores and we have bought a piece of art from another in hopes of continuing to build a friendship and to potentially witness to them. As we were told to be careful witnessing without truly knowing the person, we are taking it slow with the people we are making friendships.

God has been very faithful and wonderful through everything we have been through in the last two months, as He has given us the emotional, physical and spiritual strength to be productive in spite of all the sickness in our family and then the loss of our child, Tobiah.

I will end with the meaning of Tobiah’s name: God is Good!!!

Pictures of Life in India

2008-09-17T02:49:00.006-04:00

Our kitchen, which now has stuff in it, since our crate finally came!

Lydia's room, now with wall hangings and her Princess rug.

Kayla sporting fashion that clashes east and west.

Kayla in a traditional little girl's Indian outfit.

Auntie and the family came over and cooked us dinner and ate with us shortly after we lost Tobiah.

Havilah doing the dishes.

The men, deep in conversation.

Auntie Lizzy playing with the girls!

Our living room, updated post-crate.

Living room.

Kayla wearing another Indian outfit.

Lydia - I just love this pose!

Kayla getting off the van after school.

Sambar and rice, one of my favorite Indian dishes.

Not a good picture to place right after the food, I guess! This is a GIANT bug that landed on our porch. We later found out these also bite. I am not sure how someone would live through that, it was a huge bug!!

Lydia and I walk to the grocery store together sometimes. On this particular day, we saw an entire herd of cows, and Lydia was so excited!

The building going on across the street. How they do this all by hand amazes me.

You can see here how the women carry large bowls on their heads filled with cement.

More building.

The girls have now moved up from baths in buckets to baths in plastic bins!

Kayla's room with wall hangings.

Lydia in an Indian outfit.

Alan and Lydia before church. I hope to get some pictures at church one Sunday, it is difficult because it can be disruptive, as you might imagine! I also hope to post pictures of Alan's classes soon, as well.

Alan and Kayla before church.

Persecution Hits Karnataka

2008-09-14T03:50:00.008-04:00

John 15:18-19, “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.”

Many of you may know that persecution has been happening in India, and in particular towards Christians in Orissa and now in Karnataka. If you are familiar with India you will know that Bangalore is in the southern part of Karnataka.

Last week two American Missionaries were arrested in Bangalore. They were witnessing to Hindus at a Ganesh temple during the week of Ganesh’s birthday. The young men the Americans were talking to said they were being harassed by the Christians and made a complaint, which led to their arrest. Upon their arrest there were 50 Hindus protesting outside the police station. This is all I know of for now, and the papers are not saying much about the event any more.

Northern Karnataka is seeing more and more persecution in the form of threats and minor incidents towards the Christian community. Just this morning, Sunday September 14, news has broke of several churches just west of us, possibly as close as four hours from us, being attacked by radicals, and people have been injured and hospitalized. This is the link to the news article: http://www.persecution.in/node/3109

Please know we are not worried or afraid for our safety or our children’s, but we wanted to ask for your prayers for safety for those being persecuted and ourselves if it comes to that. Pray that we will stand firm and continue to walk according to the will of God.

The growth in persecution tells me that the Spirit must be moving in India, as there is much battle and anger going on in the hearts of those who want to refuse God and turn the other way. Persecution, I think, tends to weed out the goats from the sheep; those whom truly love God and those who are only posing as followers, as those who truly love Him will not turn from Him when persecution comes. They will always admit they are followers of Christ. I am not saying that running is not needed at times, what I am saying is that those who follow Christ will not stop following Him no matter where they are or what is being done. Their minds are not changed because of tough times.

With that said, we have had to take down our address on the blog, just as others have had to take down information that can lead to their location. I do not want to purposely put my family in danger, thus we are taking precautions. I have already had an email of some brothers and sisters in Orissa who have had their facebook group being hacked and they are being threatened to either take the group/site down or more would happen. We are no longer going to use the names of Indians we work with or engage in witness too, as we also do not want to put them in danger.

The leader of our organization is trying to halt all other American groups affiliated with our organization from coming until the violence and persecution has slowed down for safety purposes. There was a medical group coming in January and he is trying to reschedule that and any other American groups (groups with white people) from entering for safety purposes. This leads us to believe that the problem will worsen before it gets better, definitely be in prayer.

If you do not have our address then please ask us via our email.

Peace that Surpasses Understanding

2008-09-11T05:00:00.001-04:00

Philippians 4:6-8: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”

Many of you have read the latest blog of Erin losing the baby and how she has been handling the loss. If you want to read my thoughts on it, though I think Erin did a wonderful job, you can go to my blog. I also handle the question of whether or not babies go to Heaven, http://www.aleris.blogspot.com/.

Erin is healing slowly physically and emotionally, but we both know that God will deliver her through this time. We have been so encouraged by what God has been doing through this struggle and loss. We have had the privilege of seeing a young woman at the hospital impacted by the birth, though we do not know to what extent as we were not able to talk to her. God has used this in my classes to help people with understanding how sometimes we just do not know what God is doing, but we rely on Him no matter how strenuous life becomes here.

Our prayer is that through this time we can glorify God. And through this, that Tobiah’s short life would allow us to speak out on behalf of the unborn, and to be able to comfort others who have lost an unborn child.

We have received emails of encouragement and others telling us that our example through this has helped their faith. Through our writings and being open about our experience, we have also been able to impact those that have been thinking about where they stand on the issue of “choice.”

Then there was the overwhelming love we received from the Indian community. Everyone in our building came down to pray and check on Erin. Everyone brought food and is still bringing food as Erin continues to heal. They continually call, and stop by to make sure she is healing and resting. We have been truly blessed with the love and care we have received here.

I, Alan, have completed teaching my first class and it has been a great time of interaction with energized students desiring to move into the mission field. Some questions you are asked, though, are cross cultural. I have now been asked in two countries what happens to the people who live in places that never hear the Gospel. I will let you work on this one yourself.

Jayakumar, myself and another Professor are on a committee that is developing a Ph.D. program for another local seminary, and at the same time, Jayakumar, myself and a Missionary from the U.S. are developing a Doctorate in Missiology program for ACPL.

The next class I will be teaching will be Pastoral Counseling for Master in Missiology students. I have been assigned my first mentoring student in the M.TH program, which will be exciting as her dissertation is going to be on reaching out to teenagers and their parents through a Christian perspective. In her town there is a disconnect within the Christian community pertaining to dealing with troubled teenagers and how parents’ roles can help or enable their pattern of behavior.

Kayla attends school every morning until lunch time. She is doing very well making friends and completing her work. We are very proud of her, as the school has almost all Indian children who attend. She seems to be adjusting very well in this area, as well.

Once life gets back to normal (hopefully within a couple of weeks), Erin hopes to help the church here with children’s ministry curriculum, a great need right now. Current lessons need to be developed for each Sunday, as well as a curriculum to be used starting in June that will operate on a 3 year rotating basis. Connie, who has been here as a missionary for four years now, has begun to develop this three-year curriculum, and Erin hopes to assist her in this undertaking.

We thank you for your prayers and support. We have undergone some trials in our short time here, but are experiencing God’s peace in the midst of it all. Please continue to pray that God’s kingdom be advanced in this country and that we would glorify Him despite what comes our way!

Tobiah, "God is good"

2008-09-05T03:28:00.006-04:00

James 1:2-4 - "Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing."

Life is precious. Even the tiniest little ones are a precious gift from God. From conception, these tiny babies are people. They are not a ‘fetus’ or a ‘ball of cells’. They are human beings who deserve care and protection. I know some would disagree with me, but I think if they had experienced what I did on Thursday, September 4, 2008, they would change their minds.

This is the day my third child, Tobiah Edward Seymour, was born. I held him in my hands and I could not believe what I saw. I was shaking, and crying. My legs gave out under me and I almost dropped to the floor. My baby was only ten weeks old.

I was almost 3 months pregnant when I woke up in the middle of the night. I crouched on my bed in severe pain, bleeding. I knew what was happening. I was having labor pains. And my baby was only ten weeks old. I was rushed to the hospital. The ultrasound confirmed, that indeed, my baby was not alive.

Only several hours later, Tobiah entered this world in body. The little person I held was only one inch long. Yet, he had eyes, a little nose and mouth. He had arms and legs. And the image that I cannot escape, the one that is continually bringing me to tears, are his five little slender fingers. I stared at those little fingers in unbelief. Some would proclaim that he was not a viable human being. But, his fingers, perfect, tiny little fingers prove otherwise. He was my little boy, my baby.

At ten weeks old, Tobiah could kick and straighten his legs. He could move his arms up and down. He had a developed brain and a beating heart. He was aware of his body parts and probably wrapped those tiny little fingers around the things in his environment to feel his surroundings. He had fingerprints. He could suck his thumb. He could squint, swallow, move his tongue and make fists.

Tobiah was with the Lord before I had the chance to see him. He lay still in my hands. But, at that same time, the time I spent looking at his precious little body, he was with Jesus, in heaven.

I will be missing out on Tobiah’s life here on earth. And this is painful. But, I find I am not mourning for Tobiah, I am mourning for myself. I miss my baby. But, I rejoice in the fact that I have eternity to get to know my child. I look forward to meeting him someday, and spending eternity with him.

My family continues to grieve the loss of our little one. While, at the same time, my baby rejoices to be with his Lord, free of the shackles of sin that now bind the rest of us and surround us in this broken world. My little one will never know what it is to fight the temptations of the flesh, to see the evil in this world, to experience sickness. He is blessed beyond the rest of us. He was rushed off to see his Lord. He knows nothing of the struggles of this world, God has truly protected and shielded him, and for this I am thankful. We miss you and love you Tobiah.

First Full Week of Teaching

2008-08-31T00:49:00.000-04:00

Matthew 28:18-20, “And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.”

I have now completed my first full week of teaching and I can say that I love to teach and engage the students. It is great to hear their testimonies of where they are from and how a majority of them want to go back to their villages or where they were evangelizing and plant a church.

Out of the ten students, eight of them plan on going back to the mission fields to plant churches. Two of them said they may want to go on to their Doctorate program in order to help teach the future church planters. I think this is a great distribution between church planters and academics. This will truly help to bring BBCM-ACPL to a fully indigenous ministry. They now have teachers in training and at the same time have the majority going into the villages to plant churches.

My days right now are filled with study, preparation and teaching. I am now on a committee with another Indian Ministry called IIM and they offer Ph.D. degrees. They are revamping their entire program and asked me to join, helping them with its redesign. They have asked me to teach a Ph.D. class on Worldview as it pertains to the Hindu faith and the impact on Christianity. The goal will be to be able to look through the eyes of a Hindu and then attempt to put into place a ministry system that will effectively witness to them.

According to all the leaders that I have been talking to here, they have all stated that just about all ministries reaching out to Indians still try to utilize methods that were brought to fruition in the West. The West then brings them here and tries to use the same methods and they do not work, as the average Indian Hindu thinks completely different from the average Western person. We tend to assume that a person has at least heard of Christ (whether correct or incorrect), or been to a church once in their lives, or at least have heard about Christianity through some medium. In the West we are taught more from the possibility that there is not a God in schools, and in the East, in particular India (as that is where I am), they are taught with the belief that God created the universe. Many have never seen a Christian church, nor heard of Christ, the Bible or anything to do with Christianity. We are worlds apart in many ways as it pertains to spirituality and our thinking regarding spirituality.

Fortunately there are many organizations and leaders here that are realizing and starting to team up to rethink, retrain and reorganize to become more indigenous in their outreach to the lost in India. I am just excited that we all can be part of helping them move toward this new outreach mission. Though I am here in person, it is all of us together, as it took all of you to allow us to be here to help in any way we can.

Continue to pray for our transition and that as I plan the Ph.D. class that it will be done according to God’s will. Through it the students will gain insight into new methods, drawn upon by their studies and through the Spirit, that will allow them to reach more Indians for Christ.

Pictures......

2008-08-27T06:34:00.008-04:00

Kayla ready for her first day of school!

Kayla at the Promise Centre (her school) with new friends.

More shots of this amazing building!

The school has all Indian children, one Asian child, and Kayla. I have been told the kids think Kayla is like some kind of walking Barbie doll, with her blonde hair, fair skin and blue eyes!!

The kitchen area at Kayla's school. Stairs go down into the back, so that the adult standing in the kitchen is at the level with the kids when they are washing hands and preparing foods (kids get to help make foods - fun!)

Circle time!!

Another shot of the school. In the back is a cloth-made tent area with toys inside. Kayla likes to play in this area!

Praise and Worship at the Spiritual Life Conference

This missionary spoke and gave an update of his work in India. He works mainly with people who practice polygamy and it is a slow process. They fear that he will tear their families apart, and he must painstakingly form relationships with these people first. Please pray for his work.

This is Dr. Gary, whom Alan and I wrote about earlier. He was one of our favorite speakers.

Elizabeth, a young lady staying with Uncle Jayakumar and helping with the minstry for a year, standing with the children she taught at the Spiritual Life Conference.

I had the privelage of assisting Elizabeth in teaching.

Keziah is the daughter of Pastor Phillip (see the Slums and Cemeteries blog article). She and Kayla became very good friends.

This is Abel, Pastor Phillip's son, and I can see him following in his father's footsteps. He and his sister truly love the Lord.

These two students did not speak very much English. I was impressed with how they worked with us despite this, and even memorized some Bible verses in English!

My girls love their Ta-Ta (Uncle Jayakumar).

Kayla and Lydia having a bonding moment!

Electricity & Classrooms

2008-08-19T08:24:00.002-04:00

I will make this short and sweet, as I have trouble at times writing these types of emails, but they must be written and I do not want to take an opportunity away from anyone to help.

If any of you have been to Bangalore, India then you know the troubles there are with electricity. There are rolling blackouts and everyday the Seminary loses power for a period of time that disrupts class time and events. If a teacher is utilizing a powerpoint presentation then it will fail, because there is no power. If there is a church service or outreach presentation then we are stuck because we lose mics and again projection, making it very frustrating. Many of you have lost power during a storm for a few hours and maybe a day, but think about how frustrating it would be every day for up to three hours. What if that was at night? It is hard for the students who stay in the dorms as well, especially when they need to cook, study, utilize computers and move around with no power at night.

A generator is needed that will automatically turn on when the power goes out. It is charged while the power is on and basically uses that power when it goes out, recycling itself. All major business, universities, schools, hospitals and the like have one. For years they have been doing without, but with growth and looking at more outreaches, it has become a great hindrance and frustration.

Secondly, the school needs to add classrooms to the structure so they can accommodate more students and staff, as we are all tripping on ourselves. The goal is to add four classrooms to the top of the building. This is not a way to attain more property, as the rooms are being added to the top and only room is being accommodated that is absolutely needed, which I appreciate when working with donated funds, the Lords money.

The generator, to cover a building with 4 floors costs $3,000 American dollars, or $120,000 Rupees. The second floor addition would cost $28,000 American dollars, or $1,120,000 Rupees.

If you are lead to give or help in anyway you can either donate online through the FirstGiving Widget on the left side of the blog, or send a donation to REAP, and the address is on the left side of the blog. Just indicate what the money is to be used for and it will be put into that account.

Remember, 100% of your funds will be used for the purpose indicated, as REAP takes no administration costs. FirstGiving online does take a percentage of 7% for admin and credit card usage costs.

Love in Christ!!

Looking Out The Window........

2008-08-18T06:19:00.002-04:00

A bus stop. Probably still operational. It is made of plain gray slabs of cement. The cement is worn, chipping away. A green wooden bench sits sad and dilapidated in the center of the slabs. Trash, mounds of trash, litter the ground inside and around the bus stop. The noise of traffic is blaring. People are walking all around this dirty structure, along the streets and between the cars, hardly noticing.

Sitting in the back of a van, stopped in traffic, I look out of the window at this ramshackle site. My eyes scan from the top of the bus stop and suddenly my gaze fixes, unbelievably, on the ground of the bus stop. It takes a moment for me to process what I see, that it is real. On the ground, literally on the trash, sits a baby, probably six or seven months old. Just sitting, in the midst of old food containers, dirty papers, slimy bags. Next to her, also sitting on the ground, is a little girl, maybe six or seven years old. She is skinny. She is dirty. Her hair is a matted mess atop her head. She reaches into a bag on the bench. She takes out what looks like a medicine bottle. It holds water. Probably the little bit of clean water they have to drink, something they managed to scavenge. She poors capfuls of the water and feeds them to the baby.

I sit watching this, in disbelief, for about ten minutes, as we sit in traffic. I look around. I see no adults, no one is claiming these little ones. I wonder, are they alone? Have they sought shelter here for a while, before moving on to another trash-ridden destination? I look over at my own children, only 4 and 2 years old, and my eyes begin to swell with tears. I think of my own baby, who will be six months old before I know it. It is like I am picturing my own children in those conditions and my heart is breaking for these little girls.

It amazes me that I can be so touched by a scene like this, and in my own self-centered world, push it to the back of my mind just several hours later. By the time the girls went to bed this same evening, I was exhausted. Alan was working the evening, at a conference at church. I just wanted to go to bed, early. I put the girls to bed around 7:30pm and got ready for bed myself. I crawled under my sheets and started reading around 8pm, hoping to be asleep by 9 o'clock. But, for the next hour, I could hear Lydia, clicking her lights on and off, pattering around the floor of her room, knocking on her bedroom door. Finally, at 9 o'clock, I went into her room to try putting her to bed yet again. As soon as I walked through her bedroom door, I could hear music blaring and loud voices coming through her window.

They are building new apartments right behind ours. At night, when the workers are done, it often gets noisy. Many of the workers just stay the nights in the buildings they are constructing (yet another sad fact). They play loud music and often talk to one another loudly. As I tried to put Lydia back down to bed, I felt anger rising inside of me. My eyes teared up and I thought, 'How can I tell my little one it is night time and to go to sleep with all of this noise filtering into her room!?'

However, I put her to bed, and stomped back off to my room. I lay in bed, angry and crying about the noise in Lydia's room. I wondered if that was what had been keeping her up. When Alan came in, I immediately began venting to him about the situation. I went back to bed and lay there. It suddenly hit me that my attitude was really slipping. I decided (like it is an epiphany or something) to pray. As soon as I started praying, God flashed that scene at the bus stop into my head. I immediately started crying uncontrollably as I processed what I saw earlier that day.

After crying for what seemed forever, it dawned on me what my recent attitude had been. How dare I stomp around about noise in my house, when my little girls have beautiful princess beds, in beautiful bedrooms, where they fall asleep surrounded by dolls and stuffed animals! And of course, picturing those babies again in light of this, the water works went back on. I repented for my horribly selfish attitude, and for taking for granted all that my family and I have been blessed with.

Hebrews 12:11 says, "Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it."

I have to say, this past week has been one of painful chastening. But, I know it will yield in me the righteousness of Christ. A righteousness that does not covet, does not complain, does not take for granted. A righteousness that praises, that stays contented, and that thanks the Lord for every blessing in life.

Surgery of the Heart!

2008-08-16T05:47:00.001-04:00

Jeremiah 4:4, “Circumcise yourselves to the Lord, And take away the foreskins of your hearts,”

This past week was the Spiritual Life Conference at the Seminary. All the missionaries and church planters in the southern parts of India come in for a time of spiritual renewal and then to present what has been happening in their ministries. The theme of the conference was from Jeremiah 4:4 and circumcising our hearts. The guest speakers were to talk surrounding this challenge.

By far my favorite speaker was Dr. Chris (I could put his last name in, but you would not be able to read it), and he spoke specifically to Jeremiah 4:4. He challenged us all to look at our hearts and see if there is anything that needs to be cleaned. Is there something in our deceitful hearts that is keeping me and you from a closer presence of God? If you read further in Jeremiah you will see him talking about how deceitful the heart is and how we need to clean it. We need to repent and turn from those hidden or out in the open sins of the heart. I know when I looked I did not like everything I saw. I had to repent and make reconciliation with God.

Dr. Chris talked about four pictures of a circumcised heart:
1. Plowing: Turning over the soil of the heart and working up what is in there and removing the stones that cause bad patches in the field.
2. Operational: This is surgery, where you slice deep into the heart and surgically remove the infestation or cancer.
3. Washing/Cleansing: Clearing up the infection/cancer and making it clean and sterile.
4. Commitment to God’s Army: One who is committed to living a life for God through the Spiritual battles that take place in this world.

Jayakumar was another speaker that I greatly enjoyed. He challenged the missionaries and clarified for me why I am here teaching these men and women of God. Jayakumar talked about how 175,342 people die each day in India, and according to him through some mathematical figuring only 6,000 are Christian. It broke my heart to hear this.

How many did not accept the truth, nor had the opportunity to hear the truth because we do not have the people trained to go into these villages? We are so worried about buildings and stuff, because we can see it that we loose the trees for the forest. We need to get our priorities straight and that is people and their salvation. Training people to plant churches, whether the church is in a house, building or a field. We need to stop spending our money on the tangible temporary and start investing in the intangible eternal. Buildings are great, but in the end it is just dirt. People are eternal.

If you knew that giving up a couple of golf games a month and investing that money into helping teach people to plant churches that would ultimately lead to the salvation of many, would you do it? If you knew that giving up buying that video game, movie, or not eating out as much and investing it in church planters would lead to the Word of God being preached to a village that yet has to hear about Christ, would you do it?

Maybe God is calling you to the ministry. Are you being prompted by God to go in the mission field? Are you willing to give up your comfort zone and go to places that do not have a church, or where they need help teaching church planters, missionaries, or going and receiving training to become one yourself?

Maybe it is simpler then that. Are you willing to lead a Bible study in your neighborhood, at your school, or within your work place? Are you willing to serve as a deacon or elder? Are you able to serve in any matter that the church needs? It is not about you and not about me, but about the kingdom of God. Are you on board or just sitting on the sidelines?

Jaykumar left us with this question and I am going to leave you with it. It is not why I am here – But why are you still here?

Psalm 42:1, “As the deer pants for the water brooks, So pants my soul for You, O God.

More Photos!!

2008-08-10T10:50:00.004-04:00

Kayla wearing her sahlwar, even the pants!!

Lydia.....just cute.

Lydia ready for church.

Kayla, ready for church, waiting on the balcony for 'Tata' (Uncle Jayakumar) to pick us up.

Lydia having fun at the mall!

Climbing and burning energy.....a good thing!

Lydia loves slides!

Kayla 'having a ball'!

Some of the traffic on the way to the mall.

The handmade scaffolding used to make even large buildings is amazing. Most structures here are built all by hand, very interesting to watch. However, as we approached the mall, and were closer to Electronic City, buildings were massive and the typical machines used in building could also be seen.

On the way to the mall, because we were approaching Electronic City (the part of Bangalore where all of the IT companies are located), the buildings not only got larger, but more impressive!

Lydia and Prema-ma. We had lunch at her house!

Kayla and Aunti Havi. The girls just love her! Here she is cleaning shrimp. She made a delicious lunch that day that included shrimp in a spicy sauce that was amazing! And she can speak four languages. At age 22, I would say being an amazing cook and fluent in four languages is more than impressive!

Kayla and Prema-ma. They had many wonderful conversations that day, it was fun to see them bonding! Auntie Prema also took me to the grocery store that same day (this is them in the car), to stock up my kitchen with needed 'Indian cooking' items!

A eunuch, a camel, and gypsies....oh my....

2008-08-10T10:21:00.002-04:00

First, an update on the sick ward. I seem to be on the upswing of my cold, and did not have to visit the doctors. However, both Alan and Lydia are now taking a turn with whatever this sinus thing is, and hopefully will not have to make a doctor visit either! Kayla usually has an iron immune system, and rarely gets sick, so hopefully she will escape this one, as well!

Since his last post, Alan taught our community Bible study on Friday. As is typical Indian custom, he was informed an hour ahead of time!! Fortunately, he has many prepared materials from his years in ministry and schooling to draw upon. He taught on 'Thinking with a Christian Worldview.' It went very well and it was nice to have him at Bible study. Uncle's rule about our Friday Bible study time is that only one of his main teachers are to attend at a time, so that the others are being utilized elsewhere, and also so that they do not become the dominant ones at the study.

Today, Sunday, we attended church. It was the first time I have been able to hear Uncle preach, and it was a wonderful sermon on the blessings and responsibilities we have as believers.

This week is our Spiritual Life Conference for BBCM. Every year, missionaries working for BBCM (mostly indigenous Indian missionaries) from all over India come together so that their work can be assessed, as well as how they are doing in the field. It is also a time for education and the theme this year is 'Having a Circumcised Heart'. The children are separated during the educational sessions, and I have been blessed to be asked to be part of this aspect of the conference. So far I have only been able to help prepare materials and send them to another girl I am working with and we have done some brainstorming over the phone. Sickness in our household right now is keeping me from meeting with the team, but I have still been able to contribute in part. I am praying that the girls and I are healthy enough that we can attend the conference this week so that they can benefit from the children's activities and teachings and I can be there in person to help out with the lessons.

I know you are all curious about the title of this blog. Alan and I took the girls to a mall yesterday that has an indoor playground (pictures to come). It was nice for the girls, who have been climbing the walls at home lately, to have something else to climb on!

Anyway, the car ride to the mall has been our most interesting one as of yet. Indian traffic is pretty horrific, and so you stop and sit on the road alot on your way to most destinations. It is when you are stopped in traffic that the ride becomes interesting. Men weave through the cars trying to sell you things from fruit to rugs to flags of India. One particular person, who I thought was a large woman, came up to our back window and in a very deep voice said to Kayla 'hello baby'. This is a typical way for Indians to address small children, who are truly adored and cared for here. However, this person did not look or sound at all typical. Alan then informed me after the 'woman' walked away that this was a eunuch. I know, isn't a eunuch a type of animal or something? No, a eunuch is a man dressed up as a woman who begs for money! This was the first of several interesting things on our drive.

We also had the pleasure of seeing our first camel! It was right alongside the road! So, now we have seen wild dogs, roaming cows, running monkeys and grazing camels!

Lastly, again as we were stopped in traffic, three little children came weaving through the cars and ran eagerly up to our car (ooohhh......Americans....). The girl was about nine years old and the two little boys were around six or seven. The girl seemed to be telling the little boys what they should be doing. She began, right next to our car in the middle of the road, to do gymnastics and other 'double jointed' things to entertain us. She continued this for a couple of minutes and then the children put their hands up to the windows and began begging for money. It was so sad! It is okay to give these children small coins, worth one or two rupees, but we did not have anything this small with us. They are gypsy children, and their parents make them do this to help earn money for the family. That night, Kayla and I had a talk about how she is so blessed and has so much and how these gypsy children have nothing. She was shocked to hear the conditions they live in and that they have no toys, no beds, and no 'potties'. She began talking about which of her toys she wants to give to these children to make them happy. It is really neat to have these object lessons for her, coming from a society so focused on 'things'. Unfortunately, I also wish conditions like these did not exist so that these lessons were not even available. But, I am hoping that these experiences do impact my children for the better, and they seem to be doing that already.

Alan starts teaching soon, but as you can tell, we are already in full swing of doing ministry here in the three short weeks we have been here! It has been busy, but so fun and encouraging to be able to dive right in and be doing tangible things for the Lord already! Thanks for all of your prayer and support!

Sickness Hits the Home

2008-08-06T01:26:00.001-04:00

This week sickness has hit our house. Erin has sinus issues and a sore throat, and we are trying to get it resolved, but so far we have not had any luck. She may be the first to visit the doctors in India, which is strange for us, because it is typically me (Alan) that ends up in the doctors regularly.

The interesting thing is that a doctor’s appointment would only cost us $7, and that is without insurance. This is important because we do not have insurance. We are thankful that God has provided us with a brand new hospital to utilize and the cost is below what we would have paid in the U.S. with insurance.

With Erin being sick and me watching the children; we have been in the apartment for the past two days. This normally would not be a bother to us, but since our crate has yet to arrive the girls have three toys each to play with and they are not really that entertaining, as we bought them for the plane ride. We heard that the crate is in Bangalore and we were told that it would complete the customs process and be delivered in the next week, but we were told the same thing a week ago. Please pray that the crate gets cleared soon, as there are many items we need besides the toys.

I (Alan) have started working on the Doctor of Missiology program that is to start next July. We are designing classes, that I have been assigned to write descriptions for, that will be specific to the Indian culture. This is very exciting as until now they have been utilizing western thought and trying to apply it to Indian culture and it has not been as effective as they would like. There are too many sociological, cultural, philosophical and religious differences that make the western motive impotent here.

These classes will prayerfully help us with creating a total theology and philosophy structure that is completely designed with the Indian culture in mind. Below is a couple of the courses we will be designing and offering to the students next July:

Worldview, Evangelism, Mission and Church Growth
Description: A comprehensive study into the current Worldview issues surrounding Christianity today from the perspective and understanding of the past generation. Comparing and contrasting how the past church perceived the world and how the church today comprehends the world. Understanding in light of the current worldview perspective, how it would impact our missiological perspective.

Missiological understanding of Apologetics
Description: Utilizing Apologetics that will focus heavily on comparative religion between the Hindu faith and Christianity. Looking at the Upanishads, we will investigate the claims of the content and employ apologetics to answer the questions that are raised and explore how we would use this information to witness for the sake of Christ.

These are the two classes that I will be teaching. Actually, I will start teaching these this November to some Ph.D. students who will be attending from several surrounding Seminaries for these particular modular classes. Please pray that I will be able to effectively prepare the class in the short time that I am allotted.

Erin, when not dealing with sickness, has been helping me by typing notes and helping me with editing and phrasing of class descriptions. She has started attending a community Bible study with the girls and we are looking at the possibility of starting one at our home in the near future. Please pray that as we consider this we hear from God the direction He wants us to head in this particular endeavor.

I preached my first sermon this past Sunday: Men Striving for Perfection was the topic I was given and it was a great time of preparation and study. God really demonstrated areas that I still struggle with and encouraged me at the same time in areas that I have been walking as He desires. I will be teaching chapel this Thursday on talents and the Christian life.

The Seminary is starting a building project to add more classrooms. We are now teaching classes in the church chapel, offices and any other place we can find space in the building, as there is just no space available any more. If anyone would like to help with the building project, you can send a donation to the REAP address on the blog. They are still short $28,000 American dollars. Designate classroom building fund in the memo line of your check if you feel led to help out.

The Seminary also needs a generator that costs $3,000 American dollars, which is $120,000 Rupees, just to give you an idea of the cost here for the school. This will help the professors, students, leaders, and church with the daily occurrence of rolling power outages. The generator will help the Internet, power points, lights, and all other electrical devices continue to work while the power is out.

All of you have been such a blessing in our lives and we are so thankful for your prayers and your help. We pray that God will continue to bless and keep you. I will end with the benediction verse that I used in my sermon, as it applies to how we feel about all of you as well.

1 Peter 5:10, “But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. To Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.”

India Week Two - Additional Pictures

2008-08-01T02:28:00.006-04:00

Kayla and I took a very long walk one day to several grocery stores, and saw a lot of 'roaming' cows along the way!

These are all Hindu markings on the outsides of homes. They are often for either warding off evil spirits or inviting prosperity into the home.

To the left is an outdoor vegetable stand that sells all fresh vegetables. The cart to the right is one that comes right down our street to our home and we can buy fresh vegetables (and fruits) right outside of our home! This is very nice.

These are views of the city from on top of our apartment building.

This is the outside of our very blue apartment building!!

India Week Two!!

2008-07-31T11:52:00.010-04:00

We have now been in India for just two weeks, but we are so settled and feel so at home, it actually feels longer (in a good way!). We are still awaiting the arrival of our container that we sent from the US. It contains Alan's books, some clothes, some pots and pans and the girls' toys. This has been the only stress so far, and is still a very minor one. We just heard that the container finally made it to land on Sunday, July 27th. It takes about one week to reach us, and then it will take three to four days for it to be inspected (since we are on tourist visas, they must okay everything that we had sent.) This should not be an issue, since we sent no large or expensive items.

Alan is busy preparing for the classes he will be teaching at the seminary starting in about three weeks. Besides the two master's level classes, he has also been informed that he will be teaching a Phd level course starting in October. He is currently working on the proposals for this course, as he gets some say in what courses should be offered at this level. He will also be preaching at church this Sunday on the topic 'Men Seeking Spiritual Perfection'. So, he has been preparing his sermon, as well. Uncle Jayakumar wastes no time, and we are getting busy with ministry already, which is so exciting!

On Friday, July 25th, the girls and I attended the Friday Bible Study that is held weekly in the home of an Indian man named Mr. Matthews. The pictures above are some who attended, both men and women. About 20 people total were in attendance, mostly Indian, with a few Americans, too. Bo, in the picture farthest left, is one of the Americans here teaching at the seminary and led the study that day. I was awestruck by the pace of the study. It was never rushed, as if there were some set time to begin and end. We were there for three hours. We spent a lot of time in prayer, praying for specific things and people, without rushing due to time constraints. What a lesson in placing our time with God, both as individuals and corporately as the Body of Christ, as our top priority in our day.

This same day, the news broadcast that seven bombs had gone off in Bangalore within one hour. While none were very close to where we live, they were still in the same city. However, once we learned that it did not come from Indians themselves, and that these explosions are very small and not meant to kill, but only send a message, we felt a little better. A good way to explain it is if you live in or very near to large cities like Cleveland, Ohio or Chicago, Illinois and the south sides of those cities have gun shootings and other violence going on. They do not have guns here, so they create these small explosives to go off instead. Also, it is a rarity in Bangalore to have this type of thing happen. So, it is not an event for us to be constantly worried about. The very next day, we went into the downtown area called commerical street (picture below) to buy our clothes for church, and everything was back to normal.

Below are some pictures of our new Indian clothes (just a few things, mostly for church) that we picked up on commercial street.

The next set of pictures were taken on Saturday, July 26th at a youth event that took place at our church. These pictures show the praise band, made up of church members, that led us in worship that night. Rufus, Uncle's nephew, a wonderful young man, is on drums. Chuck, another American who is here working for the school, is on guitar. And another young man is singing. There is also a picture below of him singing a solo, with the very talented guitarist accompanying him. They were wonderful, both incredibly musically talented.

Pictures of India - Week One

2008-07-25T11:07:00.004-04:00

Wild dogs. These are everywhere and the girls think it is amazing! They don't bite or bother anyone. We tell the girls not to touch them. This is more for hygiene, and of course, they are never to touch any dogs they don't know, anyway. But these dogs do not bother anyone, so they are not a danger at all.

Kayla's bedroom, a typical Indian cot, a very small bed with only the wooden frame and a single mattress.

Kayla taking a 'bath'.

Our living room. We were able to get the couch and both chairs (which are pleather), for about $250 American dollars - an amazing deal - as were all of our furnishings.

A standard countertop stove. These are purchased separate and placed right on the counter with a large gas tank source. We purchased a two-burner, the least expensive, they also have three-burner and four-burner stoves available.

Pictures of India - First Week

2008-07-25T10:53:00.003-04:00

Kayla and Anjuli

Auntie Prema and Sister Havilah (holding baby Asha)

A road on the way to our place.

A very small grocery store nearby.

The view from our balcony. Down to the left is a small shack in which a family lives. Though we live in what is considered a middle to upper class neighborhood here, the poor are scattered everywhere.

Our First Week in India!

2008-07-25T10:51:00.001-04:00

Okay, so it is difficult to figure out where to start. This has already been quite an adventure, and I still can’t believe we are in India! It took three separate plane rides and 21 hours of flying time, but we are here. The girls did pretty well on the planes, though I know Alan said he would have rather shot himself in the leg! I guess a mother’s perspective is sometimes different. Not that it was a wonderful experience, but they at least slept a little and we didn’t have a lot of screaming from Lydia except for the last couple of hours off and on. And all three of us girls trying to cram into the airplane bathroom on at least one occasion proved a little difficult, as well.
We were greeted at the airport by Uncle Jayakumar, Connie, Chuck and their two children. Connie and Chuck are an American couple who have served here for five years now. It was so nice to see them, as we were beginning to truly feel for the first time what it is like to be the minority. Connie and Chuck’s children are 3 and almost 1 year old, and so as is the nature of children, Kayla (four) and Anjuli (three) became instant friends! What a relief to a mom, to see that her children will adjust probably even better than she will to a totally new country!
Auntie Prima, Uncle Jayakumar, their daughter Havilah, and Chuck and Connie, have been an endless help in the last week. Whether cooking for us, shopping with us (and negotiating for us – the Indian people are master negotiators and negotiating is done at almost all shops), providing transportation for us (we have no mode of transportation and driving is crazy here, so we will not be doing any driving on our own for a while), teaching me how to cook, and generally making us feel at home, we have been very well cared for.
The transition itself and new things are what have made me realize all that I took for granted in life and now must be patient for and rely on the Lord. I cannot provide meals easily for my family. Now that I am collecting utensils and cooking ware, this is becoming easier. But, as many American foods are not available, I am having to slowly learn to cook Indian which is so delicious and such an art, but also difficult to do until you really get comfortable with it.
Communication is very interesting. While most people speak English, not all speak it very well. It is often difficult to understand and be understood. I am learning to speak in their accent, which makes it much easier to be understood. And I am also getting a better ear for understanding those speaking to me, as well. Auntie Prima told me that I have a very clear accent and am easily understood, so that has been an encouragement!!
The girls are doing amazingly well. They are adjusting just fine. They are eating rice at almost every meal, and trying new foods every day! They love Uncle Jayakumar (whom they call ‘ta ta’), and his wife. Auntie Havilah loves to play with the girls and they were even upset when she had to leave the other day. Chuck and Connie and their children have become like family to our girls. Kayla and Anjuli are fast friends, and want to play together every day! I am so impressed with my girls. We do a lot of walking here, and it is sometimes hot, and they are real troopers! What wonderful exercise for us.
Soon I will be getting involved in the women’s bible studies and group bible studies and the other ministry aspects mentioned in the last blog. I am impressed with how much is happening here and the way the community is being reached. And through the seminary, all of India and its remote villages are being impacted for Christ, as well. I am sure my family will be blessed and grow more in our own walks with the Lord than we could have ever imagined!

Settling In?

2008-07-23T02:19:00.000-04:00

1 Timothy 6:11, “But you, O man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness.”

Pictures will come with the next blog, as we still do not have our internet connection at our home, meaning Erin cannot upload from her computer.

It has almost been a week since we arrived in Bangalore, India. The first week has been hectic and a lesson in patience. We were taken almost immediately to buy our furniture, actually the very next day after waking up and settling the children.

Our flat (apartment) is very nice and the perfect size for our two year stint. After buying some furniture, we had to buy a fridge, a stove and then groceries. Unlike in the States, even when you rent you buy the appliances. The fridges are about a quarter the size of American ones because you tend to shop almost daily for your needs and you do not spend as much on junk food. Meaning, I should be able to lose that 30 pounds hopefully quickly (the Indian diet).

We found quickly that India works on its own time schedule when it comes to deliveries. They told us they would deliver the furniture the next day buy 10a.m., but I guess what they meant by 10a.m. was 9p.m, as that is when it arrived. It was a great lesson in patience, as there was nothing we could do. We were at the hands of the companies. This also applies to the crate we have sent. We were told it would be at port on the 20th and then delivered shortly afterward, but I just found out today that it is not even at port yet. God is in control and we know there is a reason, learn patience and what it is like to do without, as most of us again in America do not have to wait for anything we want.

Our daughters are doing great and have adjusted wonderfully. The only area Kayla (our 4 year old) is struggling with is the foods, as they are much different. Their time clocks have caught up, but the way life is here they stay up later in the evening, because dinner is not served until 7 or 8p.m., meaning the girls tend do not head to bed until around 9p.m. or 10p.m.

I (Alan) will start teaching two classes (Apologetics and Pastoral Care) in the next couple of weeks after all the dust has settled and everything is kind of running smoothly at our flat. Jayakumar wants Erin to feel comfortable with the surroundings and the differences in the culture. Cooking is done much differently then it is in America, as well as laundry and grocery shopping. What we take for granted in America is not taken for granted here.

They are also arranging for me to counsel two nights a week for the Bangalore community, which will be a great way to reach out to adults who are not saved, and then helping those that are but struggling. I will also be mentoring students in the Master’s of Theology degree as they work on their dissertations. While working in these areas, we will be starting the new Seminary in Northern India and working on an Indian Theology.

After Erin is settled and feels she can take on more, she will be working on children’s Sunday School curriculum and teaching English as a second language. This is also a great way to witness to adults as Erin will utilize the Bible for teaching.

As my time is limited, I will end, but you are all in our prayers and we greatly appreciate your support. I pray our wonderful Savior, Jesus Christ, will bless you all richly. Without you, none of this would be possible. If you wish to have this directed directly to your email then please sign up with the Alerisindia group above.

A Lesson in Travel

2008-07-15T11:54:00.000-04:00

Philippians 4:6-7, “Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses every thought, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Romans 12:12, “Rejoice in hope; be patient in affliction; be persistent in prayer.”

I am currently experiencing déjà vu. Last year Jeremy and I (Alan) traveled to Bangalore, India for a month and on the day before our travels I rechecked our travel schedule and found that it had changed dramatically. We were to fly out around 1pm, and the flight changed to 9am, thus we had to arrive at the airport by 7am, making for a very early morning, as the drive is almost 2 hours to the airport. This was a little frustrating, but manageable, as we were all adults and could handle the time schedules.

Now, fast-forward one year. I decided to check on our flight schedule this morning, 24 hours before we leave, and wouldn’t you know it, the flight is now leaving at 10:30am in the morning; when it was suppose to leave at 1pm in the afternoon. Now we have to be at the airport by 8:30am, meaning we have to leave a little after 6am from our current location. The only difference is that we now have two little girls going with us and getting them up at 5:30am is not an uplifting thought at all, or at least I thought.

My first response was frustration and panic, because everything changed and now I had to make sure our driver could take us and we had to rearrange “our” whole schedule. Did I stop and pray first? No, because that would make too much sense. I took control and moved forward, and if anyone has worked with me, they understand that once my mind is focused it is hard to deter at times. Here I am making calls and talking out loud in frustration and flustered because this is just going to be awful, as the girls will be cranky and we are going to be stuck at JFK for almost 5 hours.

My wonderful wife, then made the comment that she was not worried, which is quite a statement from a professional worrier (just kidding honey). She mentioned that she said a quick prayer and then said, “You know what, who cares. This is no big deal.” Prayer? You mean you turned it over to God? What a concept! So, I said a quick silent prayer and then we talked together and it will actually work out for the positive.

For one, we will not feel too rushed at JFK, as we might have with the other flight if it was delayed at all, as there was only a 2 hour transition time. On international flights, or at least to India, they coral you at least an hour before boarding the plane. Secondly, the girls will be extra tired and should sleep then a good part of the flight to Paris, where we catch another flight to Bangalore, India.

What we deemed a negative when we took control, and what Satan may have tried to use to frustrate us (and it worked unfortunately for at least me), God used for a better travel plan for our family. If we can just get out of the way of God and just go with what we are handed life would be so much calmer. I write this with little worry and anxiety, as I have prayed and know that God will guide us and get us there when He wants and not necessarily when I want. I am positive there is a reason for this change, and maybe just to point out that I still try to control my life way too much and not give it up to God.

How do you do in these situations? Were you more like me in this story or my wife? If you are like most us, we continually try to take control and it never works. To truly be in a relationship with God, we have to give Him full control and not worry so much. Who cares about a couple of hours? In the perspective of Eternity, big harry deal. Again, I find myself repenting and saying to God, “Not my will or way, but Yours. I am sorry for trying to take control of a situation that I cannot control and not relying on You for it. I sinned by taking on your position, and I am sorry.”

Seems to be the story of my life, but I am so thankful for a gracious God who is always there to forgive me and teach me as I move toward eternity to with Him.

James 5:16, “Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The intense prayer of the righteous is very powerful.”

Blessing

2008-06-09T13:56:00.002-04:00

A couple of weeks ago Jayakumar, who is the head of BBCM/ACPL, came and spent some time with us. I tried to keep him as busy as possible, as we are continuing to build our support network. He was a true blessing to have in our home and as you can see by the picture the girls loved him immediately.

During out time speaking at a few locations, we were so blessed by the response of people who have decided to support our ministry in India that it was overwhelming. Many times I just did not know what to say to people’s generosity, except thank you Jesus. We have seen His hand and provision all through the preparations for this trip. Everyone answering His call to support us has helped tremendously, as it has just lifted a major stress off our shoulders of how I would support my family while teaching and preaching for BBCM, and has been a major blessing to see God move in such a fashion.

From the bottom of my heart, I am so thankful for all of you who are praying and financially giving to our ministry. It is an honor that I take very seriously and will work very hard to further the Kingdom of God through the power of the Holy Spirit. My prayer is that God will in turn richly bless each of you, as you have blessed us. You are all in my prayers.

We are coming to our departure date of July 16th, very quickly and it is very hectic around the Seymour household. Ordered chaos is what I call it right now, as we are selling furniture, closing the counseling practice and winding down the college ministry I have been directing the past two years. It has been pretty much non-stop the past three weeks of our lives and probably not going to slow down for at least a few more. It does make time go faster though.

Jayakumar and I spoke on many things and found that we agree on many avenues in our theological thinking, which we always did on the essentials, but we have not had much time to talk in detail on some other topics. It was a great time of conversation and growth for me, as I look to Jayakumar as a mentor and someone that I know I can learn a lot from during my stay in India. I look forward to helping him in any fashion that I can. I know that I will be teaching Apologetics, which I have taught before, and then another class as we are settling into Bangalore. After the first session, which is a time of adjusting, my teaching load and other duties will increase.

Even though it was Paul who wrote it to Philemon, I think it fits as the perfect ending to this blog, “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God, making mention of you always in my prayers,” (Philemon 1:4).

Uncle John and Aunt Maria Visit!

2008-05-19T14:11:00.005-04:00

We were so blessed on Saturday, May 16th to have a visit from our good friends John and Maria. We were doubly blessed to meet John's mother and their new baby girl (who is already 9 months old!) Jenita! Below are pictures of the visit. The girls just loved Jenita, even Lydia wanted to hold her and 'baby' her!
John and Maria were a big confirmation on my part of the decision to go to India. I met them before Alan's last trip and before the option to move to India was even on the table. Their visit greatly impacted me at the time, though I could not have known back then why this was the case! Now, of course, it all makes sense. And seeing them again, even though they will be in Texas during our 2 years in India, just made me even more excited to go to India and be part of that culture. And, we have an invitation to visit John's mother in the neighboring state! How wonderful to have friends to visit in a new country!

At the Speed of Light

2008-05-12T20:07:00.001-04:00

We are only 64 days away from moving to Bangalore and starting next week we will be running at a frantic pace. We are having our first moving sale Saturday and we are packing and going through everything that we own and figuring out what to keep and what to get rid of. It is amazing how much “stuff” you can accumulate, and as we can only take 200 cubic feet of stuff with us, it really makes you look at what is truly important. And it really turns out not that much “stuff” is important when it comes down to it.

After the yard sale, we have guests from India staying with us Sunday Night and then Jayakumar, who runs the ministry we will be working with, is coming into town for a few days. If you are in the Indiana, PA area and you want to hear about what we will be doing and meet Jayakumar, we will be having a dessert function on Wednesday, May 21st, 2008 at 7pm. He will talk about India and what the ministry God has given him is doing. The dessert will be held at Graystone Church in the Gathering Place. If you plan to come to this event please email us at alerisindia@aol.com so we know how much dessert to buy.

We will then be going to Hudson, Ohio the following day to hold another dinner function and then to some other smaller meetings. It will be a great time, but a very busy time. If you are in the Cleveland, Ohio area and would like to be part of the dinner function then email us at the above email and we will follow up with you.

We are so excited about our calling and we are trying not to become anxious as the time arrives for our departure, but we are very excited to see what God is going to do with us over there and the opportunities that will present themselves.

Pray for us if you think about it over the next several days and weeks as we start to tie up all the loose ends that comes with such a large change.

Audio of Alan Giving Testimony Our Decision for India

2008-05-06T14:52:00.002-04:00

Click on the link below and you will be taken to where you can listen to Alan talk about our decision for moving to India. Once at the site, you will need to scroll down until you see a wonderful picture of Alan on a motorcycle in India. Right underneath is the play button to listen to Alan's five minute testimony.

http://www.graystonepc.org/index.cfm/pageid/531/index.html

Ignorance is Bliss!

2008-04-22T11:09:00.001-04:00

I was teaching a college group not too long ago about salvation being through Jesus and Jesus alone, just as we are taught in Acts 4:12, “Salvation is found in no one else [but Jesus], for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.” Every time I have taught this there is the inevitable question that comes up. What about the person who lives in the remote areas of the world who have not been told about Jesus yet? Are they going to Hell because no one told them about Christ? Anyone who has evangelized or taught on this topic has heard this question. It is almost a guarantee.

There are many testimonies about missionaries reaching remote villages and finding that the people already understand the Trinity, and all they had to do was put the names to what they called “The Great Spirit,” which would be the Father, an “Interceding Spirit,” which would be Christ, a “Spirit of Guidance,” that would be the Holy Spirit. Once they heard they fully accepted. Ravi Zacharias told a story about a Muslim soldier who had a dream about Christ for a year until he accepted Him as Savior and then the dreams stop. There are many examples of God working out His plan without us, but it does not dissolve our Great Commission. “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age" (Matthew 28:19-20).

As I was thinking and reading on this topic, it hit me that if ignorance is the answer for helping people get into Heaven then why the Great Commission? Maybe we should do the exact opposite if ignorance of Christ will get people to Heaven. Instead of telling people about Jesus we should never mention Him and burn all the Bibles and stifle the spreading of the Gospel that way more people will enter the Kingdom of God. Isn’t that what this line of logic says, “Ignorance is bliss.”

If this is the case then there is no way we should be going to Bangalore, India to train pastors to go into those remote places to tell them about Christ. This would make them have to choose instead of entering Heaven out of ignorance. Before we would go in their reasoning would be that they enter Heaven because a Good God would not send people to Hell that have not heard yet, but if we go in and they hear and do not accept then they are definitely going to Hell. This would not be a “good” thing then either for a “Good” God to do, as that will definitely allow people to choose to go to Hell. Why not just keep them in their ignorance?

That is not what the Inerrant Word of God tells us though; it tells us to go and make disciples of all nations. We are excited about God allowing us to be part of that Great Commission, and we look forward to seeing what He does through us.

Another question I have for those individuals is what are they doing about the people that are around them? Maybe if they were telling their neighbors about Jesus then one of them would go to the remote parts of the world to find those people they are questioning. Why not go themselves if God has put it on their hearts? We should be concerned with where God has us and trust that God knows what He is doing with the people in the remote regions of the world, and if God places on your heart the spiritual needs of another culture or location in the world then pray what God wants you to do about it and not use it as an excuse not to accept Christ as Savior or to negate your responsibility in the Great Commission for Christ.

Maybe, just as God has placed India on the heart of me and Erin, God is placing a nation on your heart as well. Do not be so quick to dismiss it and see what God wants you to do about it. Maybe it is pray for them, donate to missionaries in that region, or you are to go yourself, but if God has placed a certain people on your heart be part of the Great Commission and not part of the complainers who question God. Read Job if you want to know how God responds to questioners of His plans.

Matthew 5:13, “"You are the salt of the earth. . . .”

Unusual Confirmation

2008-03-05T14:51:00.004-05:00

Alan and I prayed continually for a couple of months before making the final decision to go to India for two years with our family. During this time, we asked for specific confirmation from the Lord, and received it in several different ways. One way was very unexpected!

One night while sitting at dinner, Kayla (who was almost 4 at the time) leaned forward over the table towards Alan and said very seriously, "Daddy, there is something I have to tell you." Alan and I shot each other a glance, expecting the usual pronouncement that comes from a child this age, like 'I have a booger', 'I tooted' or some other sort of oh-so-important information. Instead, Kayla said, "Daddy, we need to move to India to tell people about Jesus." Our jaws dropped. We had never mentioned the move, the country or the evangelism part of things to Kayla. Now, even though this was highly unusual, I guess we could have shrugged it off as a fluke. After all, Alan had been to India the past summer. So, we let it go and made a point to continue praying and never discussed anything with Kayla.

However, Alan also had the same thing happen while he and Kayla were sitting on the couch. "Daddy, I have to tell you something." Again, Alan waited for the announcement of something quite trivial. "We need to move to India and tell people about Jesus." Okay, obviously, God has a sense of humor!

Kayla proceeded to build block towers out of legos and pronounce, "Look, I built India!" She would spot "India" while walking down the street (no exxageration!). It was quite obvious that our 'almost' 4 year old was one of God's vocal confirmations about this journey.

And so, we prepare to leave on July 16, 2008! Kayla is very excited and continues to announce to everyone that we are indeed "moving to India to tell people about Jesus!"

Our Letter to You

2008-03-04T11:21:00.001-05:00

During my (Alan's) recent trip to teach at the Seminary in Bangalore, India, Jayakumar (the founder of the ACPL Seminary), asked me if I would think about moving there for two years to teach and to help him start a Doctorate of Missiology program. After a month of praying and talking to several confidants, Erin and I believe God has directed us to accept the invitation. We will be leaving in July of 2008 for Bangalore, India for at least two years. We will spend two years in Bangalore teaching pastors and future pastors from all over India. These students come from the smaller churches in the outer areas of India to be trained for teaching and preaching within their small villages.

Your support will benefit many churches and villages, as the teaching we present will be utilized for many different communities. We will also be making a greater impact in Northern India, as we will be starting a new seminary there. I will be teaching at this new school twice a year in short stints until professors are found.

Other responsibilities will be to mentor students, teach at leadership training conferences, and develop Missional Counseling classes to be utilized in the field as an outreach tool and for missionaries, church members, and villagers who are hurting.

This will take the cooperation of many of you helping prayerfully and financially. Our desire is that you would consider partnering with us and donating to our mission in India. Help us make it possible for indigenous Indians to become Christian leaders and pastors so they can go to the 400,000 villages yet to hear the Word of God.

The total cost of the trip per year is $42,000.00 first year and $39,000.00 thereafter, which covers moving, travel, housing and all living expenses. All money donated will be used solely for our mission, as no money is taken out by the mission agency for administration costs.

I am asking you to prayerfully consider helping us with the opportunity God has put before us. We are moving in faith, and would be excited to have you partner with us to help make this trip possible. Join us in helping to impact many communities in India.

If you wish to donate, please write and send your check to:

Reap International, Inc.
P.O. Box 10484
Knoxville, TN 37939-0484
Please include our name with your donation.

Thank you for your prayer and consideration.

What the Ministry Does

2007-10-23T15:20:00.000-04:00

ACADEMY OF CHURCH PLANTING AND LEADERSHIP

ACPL:

is a facilitating instrument for Bible Believing Churches and Missions for reaching India through planting indigenous missional churches.

intends to produce Church Leaders with Vision, Courage, Commitment, Character and Consecration for discipling the population of India through missional churches.

produces pioneering Church Planters, missional-pastors, mission executives, and missiological research through 4 disciplines.

is affiliated with “Indian Institute of Inter-cultural Studies” and all courses are accredited by them.

is also an associate member of “Asia Theological Association”.

has the endorsement of “India Missions Association” as our parent body. Bible Believing Churches and Missions is a bonafide member body of IMA.

has a positive rapport with major denominations and mission agencies of India.

ACPL has …

trained 200+ men and women from various parts of the country. Most of them are serving as powerful and productive instruments in the area of Church Planting and growth.

the joy of sharing that our trained instruments serve God in thirteen states of India.

the pride of sharing that our graduates have been securing the first two places among all other students versus the affiliated institutions of IICS in the past two to three years.

ACPL presently ...

is enhancing the boundaries into regional segments.

is in the process of getting accredited in all our subjects by Asia Theological Association, as well.

is developing three extension centers in order to reach leaders more effectively.

ACPL in the future ...

desires to produce 100 Church Planting complimenting human instruments in every year.

plans to publish missional and missiological books for the Indian mission academic needs.

will offer a Doctor of Missiology prayerfully by 2010.

Why We are Going

2007-10-23T15:18:00.000-04:00

During my recent trip to teach at the Seminary in Bangalore, India, Jayakumar (the founder of the ACPL Seminary), asked me if I would think about moving there for two years to teach and to help him start a Doctorate of Missiology program. After a month of praying and talking to several confidants, Erin and I believe God has directed us to accept the invitation. We will be leaving in July of 2008 for Bangalore, India for at least two years. We will spend two years in Bangalore teaching pastors and future pastors from all over India. These students come from the smaller churches in the outer areas of India to be trained for teaching and preaching within their small villages.

Your support will benefit many churches and villages, as the teaching we present will be utilized for many different communities. We will also be making a greater impact in Northern India, as we will be starting a new seminary there. I will be teaching at this new school twice a year in short stints until professors are found.

Other responsibilities will be to mentor students, teach at leadership training conferences, and develop Missional Counseling classes to be utilized in the field as an outreach tool and for missionaries, church members, and villagers who are hurting.

This will take the cooperation of many of you helping prayerfully and financially. Our desire is that you would consider partnering with us and donating to our mission in India. Help us make it possible for indigenous Indians to become Christian leaders and pastors so they can go to the 400,000 villages yet to hear the Word of God.

The total cost of the trip per year is $39,000.00, which covers moving, travel, housing and all living expenses. All money donated will be used solely for our mission, as no money is taken out by the mission agency for administration costs.

I am asking you to prayerfully consider helping us with the opportunity God has put before us. We are moving in faith, and would be excited to have you partner with us to help make this trip possible. Join us in helping to impact many communities in India.

If you wish to donate, please write and send your check to: Information Coming Soon.