Yes, we are on the road! What an amazing journey it’s been so far. A time of change and adjustment marked with highs and some lows, experiencing that thing called ‘culture shock’ and the reminder again that all this is about God – EVERYTHING that we do revolves around God and nothing else.
And then on 7 March, after two priceless nights see our families again, we departed for Incredible India (via Hong Kong). Wow, what a colorful country India is! We spent three nights in Delhi. During this time we were blessed to spend a day with a South African who has been working in India for a few years. She helped us prepare for our time of ministry by giving us a short lesson on the culture and religion of India. We were also able to attend a comedy evening at Capital City Church Delhi (previous affiliated with NCMI) – a wonderful evening for the team.
After Delhi with eager anticipation we headed off to Kota (Rajastan) to work at an orphanage for three weeks. What a humbling experience this was. We arrived at the orphanage trusting God to build into the children’s lives – and we certainly trust God that He was able to use us. However the kids certainly taught us so much more than we could ever teach them. They were amazing examples of what it means to love one another and to serve one another. They have been through so many tough times in life and situations that are so foreign to you and me. And through this, they have such a deep love for God and I believe God is going to use them in amazing ways in the years that lie ahead (as He has with many children that have passed through the orphanage)
Our goal at the orphanage was to paint the church at the orphanage and spend as much time with the children as possible. On most days we would work on the church building project from 7am to 2pm. Then from 5pm to 7pm we were involved in running the evening program for the children – ministry time. Then after dinner we would spend time with the children in their rooms. Each team member was allocated rooms that they should spend time with a build relationships. As team leader I wasn’t allocated specific rooms, but spend most of my time with the boys in room 21.
Apart from just visiting the rooms in the evenings, we had the opportunity to sleep in the rooms a couple of nights – this was a real treat for the children and wonderful for us to experience life with the children in a more real way. When sleeping in the rooms we would wake up with the boys at 5:30am for morning prayer. Another wonderful opportunity we had to show love in a practical way was when helped the boys clean their rooms – I’m not sure if ourselves or the rooms got a better wash J. And then of course their was the traditional cricket match of the orphanage boys against Global Challenge. Needless to say, Global Challenge have never beaten the boys and it remains this way. They gave us a royal beating!
I had the wonderful opportunity to spend time with and pray for the boy room leaders as well as the hotel leader, Jesu.
As mentioned, most evenings we prepared an evening program for the children. This included worship, games, drama, dancing and the message. As a team we felt that God laid on our hearts to share with the children that God has a purpose for each of them in life – just as God had a purpose for David to be King despite the fact that he was just a shepherd boy. During the last week we felt on our heart to share with the children the important of intimacy with God – that from a place of intimacy there is hope, life and peace.
And yes, we also painted the church! First we scraped the old paint off the walls and sanded the walls – and we scraped and scraped and scraped! Then off course we painted the church – much more fun. We didn’t have any proper scaffolding so we had to improvise with what we had. Some team members were even daring enough to hang off the building with ropes!
My personal walk during this time has been wonderful – there have certainly been challenging times, but these are the precious times that God grows us and molds us.
Since the last newsletter I was asked to join Elbe to co-lead team Northbound. It changes the dynamics completely as a team leader. You need to lead by example and seek God not just for yourself but for the whole team. God has been so gracious in really walking a close road with me and guiding me in leadership – there have been so many lessons learnt (and so many in progress J). God has opened up numerous opportunities to preach which has been an amazing. I trust that God will use this in the future.
God is really refining me in my walk with Him. I’ve had to learnt to let go of control. It’s almost as through He is taking me through a bit of a spiritual detox – cleaning out all the rubbish in my life and refining me into the man He desires for me. Praise God!
God is taking me on a journey to love others unconditionally and specifically my team members. To serve them and spend time with them. Love = Time.
May you be encouraged by the scripture in 1 Peter. May you rejoice in whatever trials you are going through.
1 Peter 1:6-8
In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith--more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire--may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory,
We are currently in Varenasi (one of India’s holy cities). We are here to pray and claim this city for God. We are here until the end of the week. On the weekend we get to visit the Taj Mahal in Agra. Next week is still open in terms of plans – we are really praying for God to guide us on the way forward despite very minimal finances. We leave for Thailand on 17 April.
Thank you all for your prayers and support! I look forward to sharing on what God is doing and to hear what God is doing in your lives!
Love in Christ,
Jonathan
Prayer requests:
- Finances – despite God providing for me personally, our team is still very short on finances for the year. We are really trusting God for his provision! If you feel led to contribute, please see the banking details on the website under "support us" (Reference "Northbound"
- Spiritual protection for the team – especially being in Varenasi which is a spiritual stronghold in India
- Week from 11-16 April – That God will show us what to do and that He will provide financially
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