Thursday, November 06, 2008

An Invitation to India

A small prayer group based in Texas provides spiritual support for the work of God in Gujarat, India. They continually pray for a revival of Holy Spirit baptism in a predominantly Hindu nation. The leader of this group, Sister Elizabeth, has a tremendous passion to see her homeland come to know the saving power of Jesus Christ. Not only does she pray, she contacts ministers in the U.S. and asks them to go to Ahmedabad to teach and preach in one of their annual church and minister’s conferences.

Two years ago, Brian Henry and I accepted one such invitation and went to India to minister in the conference. Again this year Christian Life College was contacted to see if we could send someone to teach and preach in this conference. I accepted the invitation and prepared to go. Initially, another minister planned to go with me and applied for a visa. Two weeks before our departure he advised me that he would be unable to accompany me for ministry in India.

After agreeing to go to Gujarat, I text messaged my son, Rhette, in Arizona, “How would you like to go to India?” He instantly replied, “I would love to go to India!” I was happy to hear his enthusiasm and we began to make plans for him to join me on this ministry trip. This will be his first international trip other than Mexico or Canada. He has an interest in international business and is currently enrolled in college classes working toward a degree in this field. It means a lot to me to be able to share this trip with him and give him the opportunity to see the broader picture of the world and ministry in a very different culture.

International travel has certainly affected my worldview and given me a different perspective of the Scriptures, such as “God so loved the world,” and “Go into all the world and preach the gospel.” Our world can be mighty small if we never see more than our home town.

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