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As you read this you will see that I do not have names of individuals or areas. The ministry could be greatly jeopardized if their names and locations were provided.
When we made it to New Delhi our friend and national Leader Brother R was waiting for us at the airport. We were spending the night in Delhi then heading out for D early Sunday morning. It would take approximately 10 hours to get to our desired location. We had rented a private vehicle with a driver to make the long journey; since it would be just the 5 of us (including our driver) in the vehicle, we would have the opportunity to enjoy the ride, talk some, and enjoy the sights.
We were making pretty good time until we reached the state of Punjab, and wouldn’t you know it, they were having a religious festival and literally thousands of people were traveling! Every so often along the road there were eating stations, where travelers could stop and eat free. If you wanted, you could stop and eat every few miles as you traveled. Many were wearing something with the color orange, signifying their pilgrimage. Our traveling time had been considerably affected by all the people, then we made it to where
[caption id="attachment_382" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="The Pilgrimage"]
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[caption id="attachment_383" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Free Food"]
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everyone was traveling and the traffic came to just about a standstill. We slowly moved forward until we came to the destination where the main road had been blocked and we had to take a detour. We went off the main road and through side roads and dirt roads and paths to make it back to the main road an hour later. Our 10 hour ride turned into a thirteen and half hour ride!
When we reached our destination it was getting late and we were very tired from the long journey. Upon our arrival we were welcomed by our friend, the wife of our national leader, Sister D. It was late, but not too late to go and have a little snack and enjoy some time of fellowship with our friends.
Like I had told you earlier we are now on the Western side of the Himalayan Mountains around 6000 ft elevation, needless to say, this area is very mountainous. Everywhere you walk you are either going up or down, there are not many flat places. For flatlanders like us from Texas and Florida accustomed to very low altitudes, it was challenging at times.
We would be in this area for the next few days, our main purpose for being here was to spend time with our national leaders to encourage them and spend time together in prayer and worship. There are very few Christians in this area, our national leaders ministering here crave fellowship with other believers. The ministry in this area is very difficult, maybe one of the hardest. The people here are very difficult to reach for Christ; the national leaders have lead one person to the Lord in the last several years as they have been ministering here in this location. The streets are crowded with many people, several are here from the West, so we did not stand out so much (being of lighter color). There is a strong spiritual stronghold in this area; we spent time in prayer walks and just praying as we walked through the streets.
One of our prayer walks was on a specific path, many of the ones in this area follow this path chanting and praying. As you walk this path you encounter many statues, rock formations and other religious items signifying their religion. You feel an oppressive dark presence as you walk and pray to the One True God. As Ken, John, myself and our leader walked and prayed we got separated, not far from each other, and it was not planned. But I believe it was good, we were able to pray and come against the spiritual strongholds – separately. We had been reading Acts 16 before we made this prayer walk (if you don’t remember what it is about, read it, I can’t give a short summery). At times, I felt as though someone would turn and be pointing at us, yelling that we serve the Most High God. For me, I found myself aggravated at how the people were being deceived by this deceptive, oppressive spirit and I wanted to yell out against this spirit and rebuke it in the name of Jesus. Which I did do, but not in a yelling voice, I just spoke out against it in a louder prayer voice.
While in D we visited the various ministry opportunities that our Brother R is involved with. Not only are they trying to reach people who are following this religion, they are reaching out to the down and outcast in this area, also. They have a very vital ministry reaching those affected by drugs, alcohol, Aids and other life killers. They have reached out with the love of God to help many receive help and get clean, while others don’t. They have had some leave their Care home, only to fall back into the old life style, some have even died. Both Brother and Sister R would tell these heart breaking stories, with much sadness; I am sure many tears have been shed between these two people. There are several that have come through the Care home and have turned from their ways, received help, been restored, they have experienced the Love and Word of God in many ways, and they will not forget the God who loves, cares and speaks to them.
Our time passed by quickly, too fast for all of us; before we knew it we had to leave and travel back to Delhi for our flight to the USA. When we went through Punjab we took a different route and missed most of the congestion around the religious festival. Our trip back took us just around eleven hours. We spent the night in Delhi visited a few sights; I even climbed a very high tower (maybe a hundred feet or so) overlooking Old Delhi. Then before catching our flight home, the three of us had a facial, they massaged our head and upper body and I had a haircut, all of that for about seven dollars. Last of the big spenders! A little relaxation before our long flight home.
We left with mixed emotions; this trip has had some glorious times of Celebrating and Praying to the Most High God! We were energized, challenged and drained; all at the same time. We left in body but not in spirit! We have a partnership with National Indigenous Leaders to reach some of the most non-Christian areas in the world. We celebrate together our relationship and partnership with the MOST HIGH GOD!
[caption id="attachment_386" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="What a view to wake up to!"]
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[caption id="attachment_387" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="View from tower I climbed"]
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[caption id="attachment_388" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="John ans Ken enjoying the view"]
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[caption id="attachment_389" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Message and haircut 2 bits"]
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