India

The view from our saturday hike after three hours of uphill climbing.

My time in India is suddenly almost over as I wait in Delhi to catch my flight to Nepal. I am so blessed to have visited this nation and especially the team who is staying up in a town named Mcleod Ganj. It is a 13 hour bus ride from Delhi up a very bumpy road to the foothills of the Himalayas. Mcleod Ganj is know to be the home of the Dalai Lama as well as many Tibetans who have escaped from persecution. It is also very popular location for people on vacations and spiritual journeys. I had an amazing week with the team as I got to meet with each of them, join with them in some ministry as well as go on an amazing hike on our day off. 

Every time I would tell people that I was going to India, their first comment was something like “I can’t wait to hear what you think” and I never really understood what that meant. I didn’t know if I should be really excited or a little scared. Amazingly as I arrived the first night I was a little bit of both! I followed my taxi driver out of the Delhi Airport and into the foggy night air and felt like I was dreaming. I could definitely say that I experienced culture shock as I was in a place like none I had been to before. Even at 11pm the business of the streets was overwhelming as we darted through traffic on the left side of the road listening to what it sounded like was an oldies Indian music station. At one point the driver was flipping through the stations and passed up a song by the band U2 and I almost yelled to leave it but as he kept switching I knew in my heart I needed to embrace everything going on.

 As we came to a red light at a three way stop I noticed that cars in the very left lane just kept on driving and the oncoming motorcycles just had to dodge them and plead the cars to stop. This was just the beginning of my adventure and it only became more intense as I hopped on the cramped bus the next night. On the bus I just watched out the window for about an hour as I witnessed a man laying on the ground with his motorcycle nearby and people surrounding him. Thankfully I saw his arm moving and began to intercede for his full healing. I also broke out into intercession when I noticed a man driving a motorcycle with a woman on the back sitting sideways holding a very young baby in her arms! I became very grateful for our modes of transportation that we have in the States and structured driving system that we have. I could probably write a few pages on traveling experiences but I will move on.

I had an amazing week with the team as I was able to meet with each individual. It is a blessing to hear about outreach and bring encouragement. I realized how much I love pastoral care! Even in the midst of doing one on one discipleship with each person I was able to get time to do ministry with the team and also on my own as I walked the streets. One amazing testimony that I have heard of and seen here is with the “Baby Moms”. They are Indian women who carie a baby on their shoulder and go around begging for money, rice and milk. Some of what they are doing is a scam where they have you buy them milk for their baby and then go back to the store and sell it back for the money. Since the team has been here for over a month they have been able to build relationships with these moms and pray for them constantly. Now instead of just coming up to them and begging for food or money they are asking for prayer! One of the students named Steven and I were waling back from lunch when one of the moms was walking up to us and I assumed she was going to come beg for food but she simply came up to Steven and asked him to place his hand on her head and pray! I was blown away! The simple acts of obedience to stop and pray for these women has completely changed their lives! I know this because I was walking by myself a few days ago and since they don’t know me they came to beg for food but I asked if they would receive prayer and it was almost like something shifted. They girl waived to another two women and all the sudden I was surrounded by three women who all wanted prayer! It was such a testimony of how God was shifting things in this small town. These women were discovering the abundant love of Christ! 

Still many people who encounter Gods love in this way have a very hard time leaving their buddhist tradition since it is so ingrained into their culture. Thankfully we have a God who is relentlessly pursuing our hearts! I have so many more things I would like to write and will try my best to continue to update you on what God is doing in these nations. My next stop in Nepal where I am hearing numerous testimonies of salvation and healing! Thank you for your prayer and support! God bless!

Girls in the tent city

 

         Ravi from the Tent City                             The Streets of Mcleod Ganj

Cambodia

I am currently in Battambang Cambodia and I am finishing up a visit to one of the 11 outreach teams. I am blown away by how much God is doing in the city of Battambang! In the past two years there have been so many new developments in both building and also at the Youth Center I am staying at. The Youth Center is a very successful training center that mainly teaches english to around 300 students every three months as well as other practical skills like guitar, art, dance, photography, etc. In these classes the teachers are allowed to have one day a week to discuss Jesus with the students who most if not all of them are Buddhist. Many of the students who grow up in Cambodia learn Buddhism as part of their culture and it is hard for them to depart from that lifestyle. Through the classes the teachers are able to share the truth of who Jesus is and many students have come to give their lives to Jesus! There is also a Discipleship Training School that runs every six months as well as other training courses that Youth With a Mission has to offer. 

I have spent almost three weeks with this team and have had the opportunity to see many people that I had met last time I was in Battambang. I even was able to go with the team to an orphanage that I visited two years ago and most of the children remembered me! Last time I visited the orphanage it didn’t have electricity, running water, beds to sleep in, as well as a next door neighbor who had a pig pen in his backyard. I never knew how nasty pigs smelled until I lived next to them for a week. This time when I went back they had electricity, running clean water, beds for all the children, and the pigs had disappeared! They told us that one day they all got together and prayed to God that the pigs would be gone and the next day the pigs were gone! I think I have learned more from these kids the past two times that I’ve been with them than many people. They have such a dependance upon God their Father because they literally have no parents. These are some of the most joyful kids I’d ever met and they really have no material things that I had when I grew up. I know what they do have though because I heard them singing and praying three times a day! It is no surprise that going back to that orphanage would change my life even more. I know where true joy and happiness come from and it is from knowing God our Father!

It has been such an amazing time getting to be with the team here. I getting to be more of an outside perspective as well as get to join in with ministry and have individual time with each person. I am beginning to see that I really do have a pastoral heart. I love seeing people walk in more and more of who they were created to be! I love seeing how a little bit of love and encouragement can change someones life! God is so faithful! I have felt the Grace of God throughout this whole first leg of the trip. I have thankfully been healthy so far and feeling really good every day. I have a two day trip to get to my next stop in India where I will be meeting another team who are in the mountain city of Mclead Ganj. 

Please pray that I would continue to walk in the Grace and Joy of the Lord and that I would stay healthy as I venture into India. Also please pray that I get there safe since I am traveling by myself into an area that I don’t know. I am still in need of $500 for the rest of my trip. If you would like to donate you can find information in my support tab at the top of the page. 

If you are feeling down and need some joy I highly recommend praying to God and singing your heart out to Him! When we turn and focus on Him we tend to get pretty joyful because He is really good! Bless you and thank you!

Transitions

I am in a point in my life where I am transitioning from one extreme season to another. I have just finished up the lecture phase of the 6 month Discipleship Training School that I am running and moving onto the outreach phase. The first three months have been packed with teaching and discipleship of 75 students and 25+ staff and encountering the God of Love move so radically in our lives. It is such an amazing environment to get to focus very directly on Jesus and be transformed with a group that is all wanting the same thing. It never gets old to see peoples lives go from hopeless and broken to alive and moving in power! I have now seen eleven teams launched from our base in Kona, Hawaii to some of the hardest and darkest nations on the planet.

It has been such a privilege to be in the position of a school leader during this time because of the outside perspective that I am granted. This can sometimes be overwhelming when I am hearing every single problem that is going on throughout the school but I am only forced to be at the feet of Jesus constantly. Despite my weakness and my failures, God used this past three months to reveal His Love that demands a life change. From leadership to staff to student, there is such a transformation that happens in each individual as they are put into this greenhouse like environment and allowed to grow. I am excited to see my generation filled with courageous leaders who live to see the Kingdom of God advanced in the earth!

 I am very appreciative of where God has me. I think sometimes about what I am doing and what it is costing me to live like this here away from family and friends and I can only look to Jesus and trust His call in my life. There is something about the peace and joy that comes from having a relationship with Jesus that makes it possible to live such a different life. I do have to face the fear of lack of provision or fear of failure as well as many other insecurities but, whether I am living the life of a missionary or back in Cleveland working a more normal job I am set on being a man of faith and courage!

After recently hearing a message from Andy Byrd who is a base leader here in Kona, I was very convicted about ways that I was not taking initiative as a man and not being courageous in the face of fear. I believe that there are promises that God has given us that He simply has "given" us. He has already blessed us and handed them to us but we have to take initiative and take what is ours. It is not our responsibility to sit back and observe whether or not we are capable but to go and take what is rightfully ours! I had to repent of passivity which was causing me to sit back as a leader and watch and observe situations until I felt comfortable and secure enough to act. I realized that I was not putting any faith in the Creator of the universe but in my own capabilities. Thankfully I had some good friends to walk me through repentance which is calling out my passivity as sin and choosing to walk in faith.

After getting some quality with my girlfriend Sarah-Jo as well as closing up finances for our school I will be heading out October 8th to Battambang, Cambodia for my first of four pastoral visits. These visits are crucial for a successful short term outreach. They are almost like a diagnostics check on how the team is functioning. It allows me to bring outside perspective to the team as well as remind the team of the bigger picture of what we are doing for the Kingdom of God.

Please pray for this trip. I will be traveling by myself in Asia and I definitely need your prayers as a covering over me. Also, pray for these teams to see salvation in these nations!

Psalm 67:2-4 "May your ways be known throughout the earth, your saving power among people everywhere. May the nations praise you, O God. Yes may all the nations praise you. Let the whole world sing for joy, because you govern the nations with justice and guide the people of the whole world."