As we sang the song The Battle Is The Lord's this morning I am certain every heart was thinking about the first day of the Medical/Good News Outreach that opened its doors yesterday.
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| Villages wait patiently to see the Doc |
The bus left to gather people from a nearby village. About 40 were brought to the clinic. Each was processed and registered, seen at triage and then patiently waited their turn to see the doctor. We are always humbled by the patience these simple people demonstrate as they wait their turn in cue. After the doctor meets with a patient they are sent to our "pharmacy" center to have the proper drugs given. Leaving the clinic they are escorted to the Good News table. There they are told the gospel story if they are willing to hear it. Nine people were told the gospel. One was a Christian and 5 prayed to receive Jesus. Each person is recorded in a book and one of the local pastors will follow up. We are rejoicing!
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| Subash and his parents |
After the clinic closed we quickly cleaned up and got ready to visit a small village on the elephant corridor. The village of Cargudi is very poor. The people are considered squatters since they have settled on government land. The team enjoyed seeing a family of elephants along the road. When we arrived at the village we were graciously welcomed. Two years ago we led a young man named Subash to faith. He and his family were happy to see us again.
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| School girls watch from the wall |
The Good News players presented The Walls of Jericho. Everyone from the village gathered and children from a nearby government school watched from the wall. Cat shared the gospel and all the children and three women prayed with her. Every child received a tee shirt, a beanie baby and some candy. We also distributed toothbrushes and toothpaste to everyone, I will never forget the look of happiness on the face of one little boy about 5 years old. His arms were filled with gifts and he ran in his house to put them all on his sleeping mat.
We also stopped at the fence to speak with the children who attend the school. Pastor Benji spoke to them about the One True God and led them in prayer. Only God knows what was in each heart but the truth was told and we know His word will not return void.
On this first day there was also much spiritual warfare behind the scenes. For a number of reasons, I will not explain the details here. On March 6 at Lake Country Bible Church, Pastor Sal will bring a recap of the trip and speak of how God saw us through some tricky bends in the road. As Thomas would say, "The devil had a plan, but God had a better one." The battle truly is the Lord's.
