I arrived in Delhi on Tuesday morning at about 3 AM, got to bed at 4 AM, and awoke 2 hours later. After breakfast, I was then transported to the conference site where I saw lots of familiar faces. This year, HMU, the organization with which I work, was unable to bring many of the pastors from distant areas due to the lack of finances. Nevertheless, the venue was packed and we had a wonderful day of worship and teaching and interaction I taught the morning session and another one after lunch. In attendance were the wife and college-aged daughter of Pastor Sanjay, one of the primary directors of HMU. Pastor Sanjay unexpectedly passed away last year. In the course of teaching I made reference to the time a few years ago when, after a long day of travel we were taken to their apartment and shown gracious hospitality. It was like an oasis at the end of a very long day. They greeted me following my session and it was good to see them both there.
Yesterday, Wednesday, I taught the morning session again, and then we all participated in a graduation ceremony, with 10 graduates from their Bible School in the Punjab state. Also participating was an American pastor from Astoria, Oregon, who is there for the first time along with his wife. The graduates are always so joyful, and most of them will now go out on to the mission field where they may plant churches.
Here is one of the crazy things about what I do here. A young pastor from the north of India approached me yesterday afternoon to tell me something. He said that he has had this “burden” on his heart to leave what he is doing and go to another city and plant a church. He said that he had struggled with it and had been confused as to what to do. He’s told me that after my message that morning, it all became clear to him and that he was now convinced it was time to step out, so he is now going to leave his job and ministry in his city and venture forth and follow his vision of planting the church. Yikes! It was a very sobering thing to realize that what I , or any other speaker, may say creates such a bold response. He was so thankful to me for what I had said. I guess that’s why I’m here.
I had been fighting a cold but am feeling great now. Thanks for the prayers. More tonight, with a couple of photos.
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