October 2011

Hi Everyone!

We just got back from India a few days ago, and we’re excited to let you know about our mission trip! There is too much to tell everything in this one letter, but we want to at least share a few highlights.

First of all, it was great to spend some time with the children at Aasha “Hope” Children’s Home. The kids are doing wonderful, and it seemed that they were always full of joy. They constantly wanted to play games with us or to show us some of the English worship songs they had learned. We can’t tell you how happy we are to be able to help these children; before we began caring for these orphans, they were in terrible situations – some abandoned by their parents, living on the streets, or working in child-labor situations. Going over and spending time with them reminded us that these are real kids we are caring for, not just numbers on a page. They have feelings, emotions, memories, pain… and now they have HOPE. Thanks again for helping us take care of these precious children.

We also spent much of our time ministering in small rural churches and preaching in villages. One place seemed especially remote when we realized that to get there we had traveled by plane, car, motorcycle, boat, and auto-rickshaw! Most of the people we saw had never seen a white person before, so many people came to hear about Jesus just because they wanted to see a foreigner. It really meant a lot to these poor village people that we would care enough about them to travel all the way around the world and come into their churches or into their homes, and this made them very receptive to the Gospel. We are thankful to God that we were able to encourage the believers and lead many people to Jesus.

One highlight of this trip was that we were invited to the house of a village elder in Gummileru, one of the most influential people in the area. We were able to have dinner with him and to share with him about the Lord. Because of the Indian caste system, it is very difficult for the national ministers and pastors (which usually come from poor, low caste families) to reach out to the higher caste communities. One of the most beneficial things about us going to India is that because we are from a modern country we are able to help bridge the gap between the national ministers and the high cast communities. We pray that the seeds we planted into this village elder’s life will reap a harvest, and that he will soon give his heart to Jesus.

There is so much more to tell – about the national ministers and the new Bible school – but that will have to wait for another newsletter. Thanks so much for your prayers and support which have made this outreach possible.

God bless,

Josh & Anna

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