Day 3 Visit 1

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On this day, we were all hiking in an area underneath a huge temple. We figured we would find the soil of hearts to be pretty hard to our message, but we were wrong!

My team this day had made really good time and opted to keep going around to another section of the mountain. We had walked a long time and had seen no people or any houses. We had just had a conversation that maybe all God had in store for us this day was to pray for the people in this area. Not long after this, we met two older gentlemen on the trail.


Conversation began and they were willing to hear a story. One of the guys with us started sharing the story of the prodigal son with them. They were listening very intently. When the name of Jesus was mentioned, these men were asked if they had ever heard the name Jesus before and their response was no. Even though we went into this trip knowing we would encounter this, it was heart wrenching to hear those words verbalized and realize in a deeper way the reality of it.

A third man had joined us. He had heard the name of Jesus before and shared what he had heard. It was quite a bit...his conversation was not fully translated for us, so I'm not sure what all he said.


While more was being shared with these men, those of us not speaking were praying for the Holy Spirit to blow through this valley. As we prayed that, a big wind blew through where we were sitting (and continued through the rest of our visit...even after we moved to one of the men's house.) It was such a visual reminder to us of God's presence with us, and how He longs to be at work in lives.

The best news of all is that these two men accepted Christ and were taught other stories from the Bible. They have also had follow-up visits from those living in India. We praised God for allowing us to see the eternities of these men changed after their first exposure to Jesus!

Prayer Requests:
* Pray that these men will rid their lives and homes from any false gods/idols. Pray that they experience God in such a mighty way that false gods will not even be a temptation to them.
* Pray that the daughter-in-law and grandson who overheard the sharing will surrender their lives to God.
* Pray that these men will begin a house church and become spiritual leaders of their community.
* Pray that they will impact the city, where they will move for the winter. Pray that follow-up can be continued despite the move (or that God would send someone else to disciple them during this time.)
* Pray for their safety and for protection from persecution.

A Night Visit

A few of us had the opportunity to go back and visit a family my team visited during the day that was open to watching the Jesus Film.

After our discipleship training (outside at sunset overlooking the mountains), we ate a very quick dinner and headed on the road again. We originally planned to visit two homes, but one was too far down the mountain for it to be considered safe to travel there at night because of wildlife. This was confirmed on the way when two leopards were on the road!

We were so surprised when over 25 were at the home, since we had thought we would be coming the next night. We spent some time taking pictures and singing some songs with hand motions with the kids before we started the Jesus film. To give them more room to watch the movie, it was decided that only one team member stay inside with them. Somehow I got the privilege, and it was wonderful getting to watch them and pray for them as they experienced this film on the life of Christ. Some adults and children in and out, but the room always stayed full.

Thankfully we had brought more than one copy because the first one messed up before we got to the crucifixion scene. It was also amazing because when it was time for Christ to be on the cross, the father had everyone (including the rest of the team) come in to watch the remainder of the story. Amazingly we all squeezed in. After the film was over, our translators had some conversation with them and asked and answered questions.

We left at almost 11 p.m., even though they really wanted us to spend the night with them! It was an amazing time.

Please pray that the images of the movie will continue to replay in their minds. Pray for one of the sons, who has been exposed to Christianity at the university and has quite a bit of knowledge about it. Pray for their son, who is a very famous Garwhali singer that travels around the world performing. Imagine the impact he could possibly make for the kingdom if he became a believer! Pray that the eyes of this family will be opened and they will be willing to leave behind all their traditions related to false gods and that they will follow the one true God and share Him with their neighbors and friends.

A Visit with Johnson's Family

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We had the opportunity to visit the home of Johnson, one of our translators. He was the translator for the prayer team the day I was on it. He is a very soft spoken and godly man.

At his home, we were able to pray over his family and his ministry. They have recently moved from a city where Johnson had actually experienced threats on his life because of sharing the gospel. It's amazing to know that even though he has moved away, he still goes back to that city to continue ministering to some contacts there.

Johnson works closely with our American friends who are working there. He has also been involved in the follow up from our trip and the pastor's training that I told you about on Moses' entry.

Please pray for fruit for Johnson's labors. Pray for his safety as he travels and as he shares. Pray for his home to be a place of refreshment for him and for marriage to be protected from the enemy. Pray that he and his wife can raise their son in the ways of the Lord. Pray for more house churches in the town where he lives.

Prayer Day Visit

There was a store on the road where we were walking. Even though they had not been very friendly or open during a visit during the summer from another team, we decided to give it another try.

We ordered chai and cookies, and then we had Johnson, our translator pick out items from the store for his family, who we were going to visit later in the day. This not only helped Johnson, it really helped soften the store owner's attitude toward us.

He actually accepted the music we were distributing, and he even began playing it immediately even with other customers around.

Showing the customers their picture.

Please pray that he still continues to play the music and that he, as well as his customers will believe message of Christ they hear about and allow Him to be Lord of their lives.

Day 2 - Prayer Walking Team

On day two, I had the privilege of being on the Prayer Walking Team. It was amazing to spend the day in prayer over the valley in which our other teams were sharing. As we looked out over the valley, we claimed it for God and prayed that His Spirit would move in mighty ways there.

We were able to spot some of the teams as they stopped and shared. We prayed that they would clearly communicate the gospel and that the Indians would have ears to hear the message.

Checking on the map where a team should be.

As we walked along the road, Doug, our team leader, had some of us share our journies in faith and how God has worked in our lives. It was neat to hear more about fellow team members and better understand where they had come from and how God had orchestrated events in their lives and had used difficult situations to grow them and reveal Himself to them.

We spent time praying God's word over the Indians and the teams out ministering. It definitely felt like we were doing ministry and not just having an "off" day from hiking.

Please pray that the Bibles distributed will be read. Pray that there are now believers in this valley and that those believers will boldly share with their family and friends.

Moses, a translator

Moses and his family:

Moses has fairly recently relocated to the area where the American workers live to partner with them in sharing the gospel with Indians. Moses was the translator for my group on the first day. He was great about asking us, "Wouldn't you like to ask them (or tell them) this..." when we were uncertain what to do or say. Throughout the week, he also provided helpful insights to help us minister more effectively during our visits. Moses has also been participating in following up with the people we visited in October.

* Please pray for safety for Moses as he ministers in a country where the threat of persecution is present for believers.
* Pray for him to be nurtured and to experience growth in his faith.
* Pray for the health and safety of his family.
* Pray for local pastors to be raised up to continue ministry.

This past week, Moses helped invite and teach pastors throughout India to a Pastor's conference. They had 27 there, including wives and children...ministry is a family endeavor. It sounds like some great training took place! Here are a couple of pictures from that conference.This is Moses with the pastors.

This is Moses teaching a session.

Final Visit on First Day

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The remainder of the hike was pretty much uphill the rest of the way. We turned around after leaving the women and saw they were halfway up this steep incline where there was not even a trail...and we were the ones that were supposed to be Team Extreme!

We passed a very Cujo-type dog and were very thankful that it was on a leash! We were excited to find one more house to visit before we reached the road again. The older parents were home, as well as one of their grown children and some grandchildren. We were offered some type of a grain/rice mixture that had been fried (and was pretty OK) and some type of vegetable that looked like some type of giant orange squash, but tasted like a cucumber. The gap illustration was shared with this family as well, and they were open to us coming back and showing them the Jesus Film, which I will tell about later.

The head female of the house was experiencing pain, so we prayed over her and for the family as well. It was a great visit!

Prayer Suggestions for the Women

After I realized I had forgotten to put prayer requests with the previous entry, I was too scared to try to add them at the bottom because I kept accidently deleting photos when I did that one and it was making me crazy!

Hopefully you came up with some on your own, but if you need suggestions, here are some:

* Pray that their husbands will treat them lovingly and with respect and not as property.
* Pray that they are pondering about how Christ died for their sins.
* Pray for their safety as they work. It seemed that women do much/most of the labor in the fields and with the livestock.
* Pray that they will study and share the Christian resources given them.
* Pray that they surrender their lives to God.

A time with some ladies

As we were hiking along to our next house, we passed a couple of women on the trail. We tried to have conversation with them, but they weren't really willing to stick around. We kept on and the numbers had grown. We tried talking again, but still not much interest. We did get a picture though.

We were very surprised when we rounded and bend and found a whole group of ladies there waiting and ready to talk with us! We were able to share the gap illustration with them that discusses sin separating us from God and Christ's death on the cross bridging that gap. We also asked each other questions. They were very open and friendly. Before we left, Kasey Jo and I asked them to show us how to fix our head coverings. I think they were amused! I think ours had much more material than they were used to!
We didn't know it at the time, but the prayer team could see us from the road and knew exactly when we stopped and shared and could be praying for them and us at that exact moment! How cool is that!? Thanks to Larry's powerful telephoto lens, we have some bird's eye shots of the moment:

A visit with a family

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Heading back up from the trail from the school, we visited the family that was so curious but shy. The father was very open and talkative, but the women and the children never quite became comfortable with us. They stayed in the area where we talked, but never really interacted with us. We started on a blanket out in the yard, but were then invited in the house for chai. If you looked at the pictures, you saw that we had to climb a ladder to get to the upstairs room.

We shared the plan of salvation with the family. The father dialogued and said he believes in one God too, but that He has many names, like Shiva, Hare Krishna, etc. Please pray that he will soon understand about our one TRUE God and that he will not just add our God to his gods, but that he would surrender his life to God. Despite our differences in beliefs, he was very thankful for our visit and asked us to share more from the Bible with them, so we did. We also left Bibles and the music as well.

The man told us he was 75 and was proud that he could still farm and carry loads up and down mountain. Before we left, we prayed with the family. Kasey Jo and I had left our head coverings down on the blanket, so we asked permission to use a blanket off the bed instead and huddled together underneath it during the prayer...they probably think we are a bit strange!

Because we had spent so much time with this family and had a far way to go to reach the other homes and our ride back, we decided to move on and not visit with the other small cluster of homes nearby in hopes that those who were in the room with us would share our stories and gifts with them. Please pray that there are many conversations among these neighbors about our God and His Word.

This family, like many families, had a shrine for their family god (it's the concrete pyramid shape in the pictures). Please pray that this shrine would be torn down and that this family will worship only the one true God.

A new school

This construction site for a new school was the first visit my first team made on our first day of hiking. We were able to talk with the workers for a few minutes and got permission to visit the families nearby. Some children were watching us from their home up the hill a bit, but were very shy despite their curiosity. That family will be my next entry.

Here are some things I ask you to pray over this school and these workers:

* Pray that these workers will read and listen to the Bibles and music that were distributed in the area. One of the workers came to the home where we were visiting. Pray that God will work in their hearts and draw them to Him.

* Pray that the workers will be safe as they finish construction.

* Pray that this school will be a blessing to the families in this particular valley. Some children have to walk 2 hours both to and from school each day. Hopefully this new school will give children more time with their families.

* Pray for Christian teachers and leaders for the school.

Much smaller...but beautiful also!

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I wanted to show you some of the beautiful flowers we saw while in India.

Beautiful Mountains

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I wanted to show you some of the beautiful scenery we witnessed as we were hiking and from our balconies.

Why Go?

1. God tells us to go. Matt. 28:19 says, “Go and make disciples of all nations…” and is just one example from the Bible. Although that in and of itself should be enough reason/motivation, it often is not. Here are some other reasons:
2. You better understand the work, struggles, and prayer needs of our missionaries.
3. You get a broader view and understanding of the Church, which is Christ’s bride and not limited to us Americans. We have brothers and sisters in Christ around the world.
4. You get a better understanding of how rich and blessed we are as Americans. We often forget that clean water is a gift. Having the Bible in our language is a gift. Having religious freedoms is a gift. Having churches and Christian fellowship are gifts. I could go on and on and on.
5. You are removed from your daily life distractions and taken out of your comfort zones, which tend to help you more clearly see God at work and depend on Him more fully.
6. We are extra hands, and feet, and mouths with gifts and life experiences to reach more than the missionaries can reach alone.
7. As Christians, God dwells in us, so as we go, we take the presence and light of God into places of spiritual darkness.
8. You provide much needed fellowship and encouragement to missionaries and national believers.
9. You have precious bonding experiences with your team members and often see in new ways how God equips and uses His children.
10. Jesus can’t return until all have heard. See Matt. 24:14

First steps in getting ready for a mission trip:
1. Fill out an application (this is for Living Hopers). This is a one-time step no matter how many trips you take. It is general information about you and your spiritual journey.
2. Begin saving money. There are costs that go along with a trip…start budgeting money to save for participation in a trip.
3. Choose an area of the world or a missionary family to adopt in prayer. Most missionaries have newsletters and/or blogs that let you know about their ministry and how you can pray.
4. Get a passport. Passports are valid for ten years. Apply months before you actually plan to take a trip.

Bonfire and BBQ

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We were treated to a bonfire and a BBQ one night. It happened to be the coldest night we were there, so it was nice to sit around a fire. We had some great food and some fun fellowship! Here are some pictures from the evening.

Team Extreme

The name of our team was Team Extreme. Before I went on the trip, I thought it was named that because of the hiking we would be doing...now that I've been, I'm not so sure that the travelling is not much more extreme than the hiking! The travel was definitely more difficult for me than the hiking (and I'm not even considering the plane and train travel in this!).

In India, there were not lines painted down the center of the road to determine lanes. The one time I remembering seeing lines, they were not regarded anyway. I think the general rules of thumb are pick where you want to drive and blow your horn to warn others to get out of your way.

The larger cities are sooo congested with traffic. There are more cars in a row than lanes and it's crazy. Most Indians probably have hearing damage from all the loud horns that are constantly blowing.

On the mountain roads, it was no less scary though, and because I get car sick, I always had a front of the bus view to the craziness. Thank goodness for horns though because you at least would know most the time if there was another vehicle around that S-curve. Thankfully we survived the trip accident free!

In country training

Here are some highlights that are applicable no matter where you are living and serving:

* We are not salesmen, we are treasure hunters looking for the treasure of faith. We often have to dig around in the soil of lives to find it.
* We must obey God and His Word and encourage other people to obey.
* How you feel is not relevant in how God can use you. He has prepared you.
* Put your life in the right place to be blessed by God. (An example was shared that if you have a dirty foot, you must place it under the running water for it to get cleaned.) Align yourself with God's plan for you, and you will be blessed beyond measure.
* We are to make disciples that are disciple makers.

The in-country servants use eleven discipleship lessons with those who are open. They then encourage the student to teach these lessons to others. Each element has a simple picture and sometimes a hand gesture, which allows these lessons to be taught, learned, and shared by even those who are unable to read. The lessons begin with Christ's death and resurrection and progress to five healthy habits of a believer and conclude with lessons on how to have a house church.

I am so excited that they have such a thorough plan of follow-up for those we visited. Pray for safety, endurance, and discernment as they share.

Creative Ways to Dispose of Chai

You are offered chai (tea with milk and sugar and sometimes spices) at nearly every house you visit in India. The easiest and most logical way to empty your cup is to just drink it...but when you dislike it as much as I do, you search for alternate ways to dispose of this steaming hot drink. Here are some of the ways I discovered:

1) Take small sips and/or pretend you are drinking it and then either switch cups with or pour it into the cup of a VERY kind team member. This was my most common way to drain my cup.

2) Pour it off the side of the porch when the host steps inside or looks away. There are already flies swarming everywhere anyway, so fear of attracting them is lessened. This only works if you happen to be visiting outside.

3) Have a little kid kick it over. This actually happened, and I was elated...until the man of the house thumped the little kid for knocking it over and then proceeded to fill my empty cup with chai from the cup he had been drinking from. I quickly found myself claiming Phil. 4:13... "I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me."

While I was visiting a house one evening, I was actually the only team member in the house because there wasn't room for everyone to watch the Jesus film. I was served chai and I was so excited because I actually drank the whole cup by myself. It was the tastiest of all I had been served thankfully. Unfortunately Round 2 came out at 10 p.m., so I actually doubled my top "score." Even more unfortunately, I wasn't able to sleep that night because of all the caffeine!

Unfortunately, not all homes strain the tea like the man in the above picture!

Blazing the trails

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During the trip, we had 4 days of hiking. Each day, our team was divided into four teams, each of which had a translator. Google earth had been used to mark out various locations we were to visit. A map and a communication device was given to each team to help us locate the different homes in that area.

Although the trails were divided into easy, medium, and hard...those terms didn't necessarily reflect what the trail actually looked or felt like! The fourth team was a prayer team that would usually stay on the main road and pray as they walked the area being hiked. They would also stop at shops that may be on the path and buy chai and snacks to help build goodwill with those working in the area.

Each day, the teams were made up of different members. This allowed us to work with different team members and translators throughout the week. It was cool to watch how the different gifts and abilities would join together to help make each team more effective.

Information was recorded about what happened during the different visits. Our translators were all nationals who are in the ministry. The exciting thing is that they will be participating in follow-up with those who made decisions and those who were seeking more information.

Monday's Devotional

Each morning, we would begin the day singing worship songs. On Monday, our in-country leader shared a study on the Ark of the Covenant. We discussed that three of the elements in the ark were the 10 Commandments (God's agreement with them), Aaron's budding rod (God chose the high priest), and manna (God will provide).

The mercy seat was where God's presence would come dwell with the ark of the covenant when a blood sacrifice was offered. In Hebrews (9:7-11, 23-24), it talks about that as great as the Ark was, it was only a copy, not the real thing.

In I Sam. 5, this copy Ark was stolen by the Philistines and placed in their temple. The Ark was so powerful, it had power against God's enemies, and their idol gods fell down and their hands and head fell off in its presence. The people also broke out in boils and cancer.

He told us that WE are the Ark of the New Covenant. Ezek. 36:26-27 talks about God giving us new hearts (of flesh not stone) and that He will give us the Spirit to dwell in us. God writes His law on our hearts. Eph. 2:4-5 talks of how we are chosen by God, even while we were dead in sin, and our rod is made to come alive. John 6:48-51 talks of Jesus being the real Bread of Life that allows us to live forever.

Col. 1:21, 22, 27 says that even though we were once enemies of God, believers have Christ in them...this means the mercy seat is in us...this means Christ dwells in us!

Why does this matter today? Because we must realize that as Arks, we are to bring access to God to those villages we are to visit. We are to remember that because God dwells in us, we bring God with us when we enter those villages. Like priests, we are to be channels to God. Where God is present, there is holy ground...how amazing to think we can turn the enemy's turf into holy ground just by being there!

Here was the summary statement we repeated each day: Because of Jesus, I am the Ark of the New Covenant. Therefore, I have access to God and power against Satan.

New Hairstyles for the Carlisle girls!

While I was gone, Annye and Maddie got their hair cut. Annye got 12 inches cut and donated it to Locks for Love (they make wigs for cancer patients). Maddie chose a picture of rock star hair. If you don't style it sticking out (which we haven't)... then she just has bangs.

I had grown my hair out a bit for the trip, and I was READY to get it chopped. Thankfully Jamie had an appointment on Monday morning!

Jeff has promised Maddie's team that he will shave his head if they win all their games (even though they don't officially keep score!) He's performing a wedding this weekend, so he told them they would have to wait until after that!

An uphill battle

Travel for our trip was progressing smoothly until we got closer to our final destination. After our train ride, we had to wait 1 1/2 hours for our bus. One of the drivers was in the hospital and another was finally secured five minutes before we got there, and a road was temporarily closed by a gov't official. While we were touring some temples in the holy city, the bus was leaking gas. When we were done, the bus wouldn't start. After having people push it and getting it started, it was taken to the mechanic, where it was determined a new alternator was needed. This would take two hours, which would make us miss a check point on the mountain that closes at 8 p.m. Two new vehicles were secured. While we were moving luggage to those vehicles, two team members fell off the sidewalk into a 4 foot drainage canal (with sewage in it). Thankfully the injuries were fairly minor. Even though the drivers had originally been hurrying us, they then had to stop and get gas as soon as we were loaded up. Thankfully we made it through the check point. On the way up the mountain (3 hours on S-curves that actually took 4 1/2 hours this night), one of the vehicles got a punctured tire and we had to stop. One of our team members got extremely sick on the ride and then we encountered an unexpected check point, where the army officer wouldn't let us through. Finally, after our leader had to give more information than he desired to give, we were allowed through. We finally arrived at our hotel at 11 p.m. We were greeted warmly with horns and drums, flower leis, and flower petals thrown in the air. It felt like we were movie stars, not a team from Kentucky! There was a big buffet dinner awaiting us. It really helped all the miles we had travelled melt away!

It felt apparent that Satan does not want to give up this mountain, but we were not going to let the obstacles keep us from our hike the next day. We went forth with our hikes, and the name of Christ was proclaimed throughout the villages.

India Team Update

Satan did not want the team to make it to the mountains. Traveling from the train station the bus broke down. They had to wait for another bus. Then after traveling for a while a bus tire blew out. They put the new tire on and traveled some more and then the almost didn’t get through a police checkpoint. But after a day and a half of ministry in the mountains, it is evident why Satan didn’t want them in the mountains. They have shared Christ to around 50 people. It has been amazing how God is opening up doors that once were closed. The group went to a grocery store that has always been negative toward hearing the gospel from teams in the past. They talked with the owner and gave him a gospel tape to listen to. He put it in the player immediately and started listening to it with many people in the store. Part of the group was trying to share with some ladies tending some animals. They were very closed to what the team was sharing. Later, our group saw these ladies with more ladies from the village and they shared with them again. This time they were very open and asked the group to share more. Tonight a team of four people are hiking down to show the Jesus film to a group that were very open to the message of the gospel.
They have a day and a half left in the mountains to share. Pray that many are sensitive to the gospel. It is exciting because the translators are also the master teachers for this area. That means if people are open to the gospel then these master teachers can follow up with them and disciple them. It is amazing to think that a small group from south central Kentucky is being used by God to start churches in the mountains of Northern India.
All the team is healthy and regrets not being able to email friends and family. Being in the mountains is truly a blessing, but technology is limited. Please continue to pray for their health and safety as they hike.

The team pulled out Friday morning at 9:30 am. They arrived in India around 11 AM our time Saturday. That my friends is some serious travel. There is more to go. Today they have a nice long train ride and a bus ride before they get to the hotel. Everyone got there healthy and to my knowledge they got all their luggage. I know it will be a great trip for them. Be praying for them to have a good level of energy as they travel. If I hear anything new...I will blog it. Thank you for lifting the team up in prayer.
- Jeff

A day of learning

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I was glad to be back working with the Burmese this week after being sick last week. I had my camera again and wanted to share some pictures. On Tuesday, we sorted more clothes and made a delivery. We had a great visit. Jeff talked with the Burmese who are getting baptized this Sunday (5 of them...I'm so sad to miss it...thankfully it will be videotaped), the girls played, and I got involved in another English lesson. One of the new moms is VERY eager to learn the language and is working so hard.

Tomorrow our team begins our journey to South Asia. I'm so excited! Check back here soon and hopefully there will be an update!

Thanks for all of you who are praying and who have and are doing so much to help our efforts.