Praise, yet A Longer Prayer Request than I first Expected

Hi team!

Thanks be to God! 8 of the 9 pits that were scheduled to have their bases filled this past week were filled, despite rain the night before. What a moment of learning that was for me. I stood at the entracne to the Constriuction site, hands held together in prayer for God to keep the dark, menacing rain clouds which were ahead of me away from our plot of land. I said, "The Lord can make it rain everywhere else but our little spot... kind of like Elijah (or was it Elisha... I often mix up the two names & stories :E), whose soaked sacrifice testified to the Lord power against the false god of the day.

There certainly is false god's around Hyderabad. The colourful, obscene and selfish religion of Hinduism is set against the harsh, rigid pride of Islam. All flesh testifies to our Fallen state, to our incapacity to live the holy lives in relationship with God that we were meant to.

And so I thought (indeed I prayed) that the Lord would show his power in this way at hte Construction site. But, surely minutes after I stood and faced the rainclouds the rain began to descend. "What is this?" my heart pondered. "Wasn't I praying for God's glory to be shown? So wouldn't that be according to His will. He said we would be mountain-movers... didn't he mean us... the modern-day Church? Maybe he only meant the disciples..." You can see now that my knowledge of the mysteries and truths of God is SO small in comparision to all there is to search out from God's Word. So my first lesson from this event: I am the humble servant with so very far to go. And my response: I am going to follow.

My second lesson: The Lord does not operate as man does. Even towards one who thinks she is 'performing' the will of GOd, He reminds:"I will do it, for my glory". I... not you. How refreshing, how resplendent, how radical that thought is. In the pattern of both the works which God has prepared for us to do and the power through which He would supply our every need; in the balence of the faith we are to hold and the great actions we are to undertake with that faith; in the knowledge of His unsearchable wisdom and unwavering love - we are simply to do the obeying. Not "we are to do the miracles." Woah.

So, in that light and observation I give you the update: The rain that fell merely delayed the planned pillar construction work by a few hours (which I think actually would have given enough time for you to be mobilized for prayed, accounting for the tiem change). Almost all the pits (8/9) to be filled with the metal forms and then their bases filled with cement were filled. Praise the Lord! Marie, who is the most involved supervisor for this project, was pleased.

Now to put things into perspective for you for those who would continue to pray for the new Church building: There are actually 52 pillars to be laid for the Church, and thier pits and bases are being laid in stages. Here's a picture of what the Church will look like. New troubles are that as all pits have water in them (even those which had bases successfully laid in them), some walls between the pits are falling completely. Also, some pits have up to 6 metres of water in them. I joke that that is enough water to drown almost any Indian :).

MY CURRENT PRAYER IS THAT THE LORD WOULD ALLOW THE FOUNDATION TO BE LAID (meaning that all pit-digging, base-laying and pillar-laying must happen as well) BEFORE I LEAVE INDIA, ON AUGUST 8th. Like the rain, I thnk that this would glorify the Lord, and I am confident in the ability of the Lord to do it. Whatever way He wants to is super-great in my opinion. But I don't want to miss this opportunity to both learn and be involved in God's glory while I'm here.

Thank you to all who have prayed so far. I belive that includes my parents and Forest Baptist Church in Forest, my Miles' and Calvary Baptist Church in Guelph, and of course the Kishore's and New Life Community Church here in Hyderabad.) Yay for international prayer teams! And yay for you, my loving support. I am finding out a lot what it means to be quiet. (Some of you closest to me might give a hearty Amen to that! :)). And I have been particularely aware this past few days of how very much I appreciate and miss those whom I hold dear. I am looking forward to distributing big hugs upon my return.

Praying God's blessing upon each of you ths July, in the work, and rest, and quiet time that you have with both the Lord, friends and family.

In Christ, and with increasingly open eyes,
Leona

Prayer Needed at the Construction Site

Dear friends and family,

I would like to enlist yor help in the construction of the new Ministry Centre of New Life Associates. Since my first few days in India the pits that are to hold the foundational pedestals and pillars of the church building have been a major
diffictulty. The pits have been, and still are filled with water, due primarily to the high water level of the ground-soil. A few days ago the wet walls of the pits began to cave in, compunding the problem. The very dar kto picture to the left shows the seven or eight football sized frogs that have taen up residence in the several feet of water in some pits. A few pits are now joined together, with a strip of land along the top of them. Until the pillars go in, the Church cannot be built - that is clear.

So I request that you would pray for this situation. We are on the brink of the
rainy season, which should last at least two months. Somehow, the cement pillars must be put into the reservoirs or what used to be pits. Here is a picture of a machine that workers have been using to drain water out of the pits, but it seems as though that method will not do it. Today I heard something about wood frames being used, but as life in India seems to go: you don't get a flowery card with a lifetime guarentee on it for any activity.

God, our Sovereign, used a dry pit in Joseph's life, and I trust that He has a plan
for these wet ones in the life of this organization. You can be a part of His plan. I have told both Marie and a friend at the construction site that I would enlist you in this little prayer battle for ground. I will get a song of thansgiving prepared.
Thank you, and I send my love!

Why I am no longer squeamish during Dad's extended sermons

I can best describe India by its warm breezes and warm hospitality.

From the Churches I have been to with Kishore over the past week, I can also add ‘warm heart toward the Word of God’ to that list.

What shocked me this past week, with a fresh view of what ‘Life in the Word’ could look like, is the length of the sermons people will listen to here. Kishore and I have been discussing this. Many of his audiences would listen for hours if he continued preaching the Word of God beyond his normal 1 hr 20 min. Kishore also shared with me, in a troubled voice, his concern for the Western Church, that 20 minute sermons based on one or two Bible verses is cutting the Holy Spirit short of an actual movement in our lives. I share his concern. Many of us Churchgoers are Christian babies, unable to sit through a good hour of the Word expounded. The day that we can't stop soaking in the Truth because we are so hungry for it is the day that our country starts changing radically for God. I can’t see any other way to spread the gospel; anything else upon which to found our lives.

I have followed Christ all the way to India to find out that being a Christian means I am fully committed to the WORD OF GOD- not snippets of it pieced together in a somewhat close representation of the God I serve. From this Eastern vantage point I now see more clearly the position I am in beneath God’s omnipotence, and gentle patience of the Saviour, who really does lead us into all Truth. Praise God for His WORD, revealed to us.

“Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.” Psalm 119:105
“Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth.” John 17:17

Trophies and Ice Cream

Dear FBC and other supporting friends!
Time for another weekly update!
God is doing big things here I India. This past week I have attended both a Revival Meeting and Youth Retreat where Kishore was asked to speak (Note: Kishore is asked to speak may places, including internationally for both his PhD, ministry and most of all easy-to-understand Biblical message.). At those Gatherings I gave greetings, sang or led group discussion. Those Churches (both Baptist, actually) treated me like royalty... giving me flowers or a trophy, or a special seat. India is like that... very dramatic yet simple all at the same time. However, it really made me rethink the way I treat Newcomers, and especially immigrants, in Church at home. I USED to think that I was a hospitable person…
This week I also helped out at the Office, at the construction site of the new Ministry Centre, and in the Choir teaching English songs. I am writing out Praise and Worship Lyrics onto PowerPoint, and them teaching them to Winny (a very gifted girl who sings for the English Church service). The LORD has provided an excellent student in her, and I am sure that she will pick up the songs quickly. My goal is to leave 100 English songs here, ready to go, by the time I leave in August. The Church currently has about 16. In my research into the Worship Industry for this project (and I use the word Industry on purpose) I found several videos and software that would be excellent additions to the New Life Ministry – if we wanted to spend the money to get them. In any case, the LORD is our sufficiency.
Tomorrow I begin Lesson #1 of 9 weeks of Sunday School. The theme I believe the Lord has given me is: Know and follow the Light (based on the first 3 chapters of John – Thanks Dad!). I am SO excited to meet the children... my little group to inspire to change the world by living for Jesus.

I am doing a lot of living here - making notes of the culture and considering the value & deficits of both Canadian & Indian life. I have also been eating MUCH Indian food... my host-parents seem to want to make me fat while I’m here! I tried to make a deal with Kishore that if I gain weight in July and take pictures as proof of their excellent care of me, then I can lose the weight by the time I go back to Canada. However, Kishore also discovered my soft spot for ice cream, and brought some home special for us tonight. How thoughtful! : P

Safe in Hyderabad

Greetings friends & family!
Today is my 3rd day in India. I arrived safely Friday morning after two flights via Luftansa - one sitting in the very last seat beside a very talkative Turkish man, and the second bumped up to Business Class. From rags to riches - praise the LORD. Thank you to those who prayed for my travelling arrangements.

Already India has become my 3rd home, and the Kishore couple my 3rd set of parents (that is of course to the exclusion of all my parents at FBC). I have been downtown shopping, to Kishore's friend's grandchild's thanksgiving ceremony, to the Church at both English & Telehu services where I gave greetigs from FBC & Canada, and to the Recorsig Studio to observe Kishore record a TV Program. On Friday I also was given the tour of the New Life Miistry Centre, the huge, 4-building facility which is currently under construction. Please pray for the suuccessful completion of the pedestal & pillar construction for the Church building. To clarify: each of the 4 buildigs of the new centre (Medical, Administrative, Pastoral Training & Church buildings are all beig built at various stages, and all at the same time - and I have listed them by order of most completed.


Many people do speak Eglish here. However I will be trying very hard to learn the language so as to communicate better with the workers here (Samata, Rama, Jairo, Rajama et al.) PLease pray for success in this language learig for me, especailly as the Telegu lagague has a very different alphabet (over 50 consonants, and ofer 25 vowels).

I praise God for the many friends He has blessed me with already. Several youth at the Church invited me out to the Youth meetings on Saturday nights (:) Similar to UNASHAMED, eh?), and I am quite clse with Samata (a girl who works here in the house). Thank you for your prayers. Please contiue to pray for the humility, & reliance upon the LORD which I most desperately need in order to be of help to Kishore, Marie & the dear people of Hyderabad whom I will be serving.

In Christ,
Leona