India Outreach 2010

AUGUST 2010  |  You sent us to India and the trip was VERY fruitful. By faith we can say that you have stored up treasure (i.e. people) in heaven. This letter will barely tell half the story. About 30 years ago, Kathy became friends with Bobby Gupta, current President of Hindustan Bible Institute (HBI) in Chennai (Madras). From 1996-1998, Mark traveled to India to teach pastors at HBI, and there he met Danny, Bobby’s brother.

Danny, with his wife Viji, founded a home for orphan girls, bringing 15 girls into their family. Some of these precious girsls might have lost their lives had they not been rescued. We were thankful to see the loving home and family that Danny and Viji provided for the girls within a city mixed with beautiful people, rubble, and squalor. Their hearts are large and tender. While there, we soaked each girl in prayer. They loved the individual attention and care. God used us all to mutually strengthen and refresh each other.

Initially, we thought we were only going to minister to the girls in Danny’s home. Then God, through Danny, provided a unexpected, wide-open door for us. Danny asked if we could perform music and drama. We said yes. So then Danny worked very hard to secure opportunities for our team to minister at 18 Christian schools in Chennai. Wow!

A “Christian school” is not the same there as in the U.S. Most of the students are Hindu, including 2 school principals, and some teachers we met. Sometimes school officials are not allowed to say the name “Jesus.” But for some reason, we could say and do what they could not. This, and the weather, were evidences of God’s favor on us. August is the rainy season in Chennai. It rained hard right up to the time we arrived. Yet there was no rain for 2 weeks during our outdoor school presentations! And then, after our final presentation, we watched in awe as dark storm clouds filled the sky! Only GOD!

We presented the Gospel through songs, worship dances, skits and preaching, using the theme of “treasure.” We are each treasure to God, which is an incredible message to Hindu culture. We wish you could have seen the thousands of rapt faces that reflected the impact of that truth. We could not directly ask students to personally respond to the Gospel, nor spend extended time with them. That did not deter us. In faith we “saw” the unseen realm and have this confidence: God took our Gideon army, our loaves and fish, and prayers, which will change the face of India through the seeds we planted and watered!

Connie and Pamela were favorites with their worship dances. They stepped into God’s grace when they felt they could not go on. Chennai is on the thermal equator, and 100° sticky, humid heat in outdoor sun stretched us all. Even so, the girls said they felt angels dancing with them! Our good friend, Amy Reece, learned more of the India that God has called her to. Amy provided fun and loving leadership over the girls. She remains in India. Ryan Jones, with sincere enthusiasm, saw God’s hand in the worst of situations. And Scott discovered he could act, and did it so well that he pulled the students into identifying with his character and ministered to them deeply.

An unexpected blessing was meeting Danny’s son, Prabu. It turns out that Prabu is a junior at a SC university just 30 minutes south of where we live! He’s already been to our home, and planning to come frequently. He desires discipleship and we are delighted to fold him into our family and CDM. His testimony of what God did in him through our trip to India makes the whole trip worth it all by itself!

Craig Lane, a good friend from Raleigh, NC, joined us (this was his 20th trip to India). Craig was invaluable: he caught a last-minute flight to DC to get our India visas just 2 days before we traveled! Craig helped design and build Danny’s home (called Vijaya Deepam Home) where we lodged, and he shared much godly and cultural wisdom with our team.

Now read some of the remarkable statements we heard from some of the teachers:

• Two teachers, two days in a row, summarized the content of our presentation to the students and preached their hearts to them! One was emboldened to ask, “Who will look to this light and walk in this light?” (Principal). Nearly every hand shot up with zeal. Kathy believed something happened in each heart when hands were raised.
• “I saw the students’ masks come down. They believed that they were a treasure to God!” (Teacher)
• “I came to school stressed and am now entering my day in peace.” (Music Teacher)
• “When we share the gospel, we do it as instruction; when you share the gospel, you do so with smiles and joy.” (Head Teacher)
• “What a beautiful way to share the gospel!” (Principal)
• “Soon. I am not far” (from turning to Christ) (Spoken by a Hindu Principal because a bold teacher has shared Christ with him for the last 25 years).

Danny told us over and over why he loves missionaries. Danny’s dad, formerly a high-caste Hindu, became a Christian because he heard a missionary loudly declare God’s Word in the streets. Yet now future opportunities to do Gospel presentations, even in Christian schools, may not be permitted. Years ago, Mark freely preached openly in villages in India, but a recent anti-conversion law prohibits such activities. So we were privileged to share the message of the kingdom of God to the students, to their parents, and local neighbors who gathered outside the school gates to listen! We pray such opportunities will remain open.

Finally, and ever so important: each of the young people we took to India experienced the zeal of God to reveal Himself to an idolatrous nation. They experienced miraculous answers to prayer. They felt brokenness over the Hindu temples and parades through the streets. They prayed for the lame, blind, and sick. They will never be the same, and neither will India.

True discipleship is not a scratch-n-sniff. It is our joy to envision, mobilize, and strengthen young adults to seek and discover God’s heart, and surrender their lives to love Him fully. In order to gain God’s heart for the lost means that we must go to them. Therefore, will you please pray and consider making a regular investment in CDM? Our part is to “do it near, then take it far.” We want you to know that we are deeply grateful for your past prayers and support. And we remain joyfully dependent on the family of God as we serve Him together into the future.

Much love,

Mark & Kathy

“Great feedback from the schools ... they enjoyed you ... tell them to come back again. They loved the way you presented the gospel ... more than half of the school Principals called and thanked me—which I never get. Five parents called to say thank you ... I am shocked and I have never had a response or feedback like this before. One of the parents said thier daughter came home and shared Mark’s message: ‘My daughter has changed since that day.’ Thank you for the impact you left on our children in all the schools.”

— Danny Gupta