Crazy Love

Hey everybody! If you’re following closely, you may have noticed a lack of blog yesterday. There’s a very good reason for this (well, bad one, actually) and I will do my best to get you caught up on ALL of the events of the past 48 hours. First, thank you for your prayers - we have had a few health situations come up and already we have seen God at work in them. Please continue to lift up the team and the Mission. We have had two really great days at Vacation Bible School and it’s really painful to think that tomorrow will be our last day of VBS with the kids. On Saturday we will have a 2-hour closing ceremony with the children and their families, but the relationships we’ve formed with the children and their teachers has been amazing. We’re actually learning a lot of phrases, songs, and Bible verses in Tamil. Today, I was talking with a few of the teachers who are College-age and they taught me the phrase, “Mamu matchi” - which, as they described to me, means “Non-blood related family”, “friend as close as a brother”. This completely sums up the depth of relationships that have formed over the past 4 days of VBS.

Instead of trying to recap the past 2 days completely (because at 11:30 p.m. I honestly am really struggling to remember what we did yesterday), I will hit the highlights. Today was a great day - as we talked about in debriefing tonight, everything seems to be flowing like a “well-oiled machine”. That does not at all omit the Holy Spirit from the Mission at all - it’s just our way of saying that God has brought all of this together through preparation, team unity, flexibility and His leading. Everyday your India 2012 Team goes out and gives everything they have and there is so much satisfaction in teaching and loving these beautiful people.

Yesterday during our debriefing time, we all acknowledged that as the days have progressed - and the attendance has grown - it seems like the kids, particularly the boys, have been getting more…unruly. That’s the wrong word. But in the final hour of our VBS, the attention span is pretty much shot and the kids will often behave a little more aggressively to the point that any kind of significant teaching is out the window. So, we decided that the best course of action would be to do most of our deeper teaching in the morning session and more active Grain Game illustrations/teachings in the afternoon. With that in mind, we planned to do Leon’s “Dawn and Pepper” demonstration which teaches about the power Christ’s blood has over sin (a container of clean water has pepper poured into it to show the effect sin has on the world and one drop of Dawn liquid soap - “Christ’s blood” - pushes the pepper away) and a new Grain Game illustration that Justin developed using the Pin Widget. In the afternoon, our only line of attack we planned was the “Hidden Bouncy Ball” demonstration that I’ll detail in a minute. We did Leon’s demonstration in the morning - and it went over really well - but because of time restrictions, we cut Justin’s PinWidget illustration. Fast forward to the final hour and we’re getting ready to start the session and Justin gets prepared to present the Pin Widget. I was a little surprised as I thought we just would skip it given the fact that the Pin Widget is one of the least active Grain Game demonstrations we have in our Toolbox and, as history had shown, I figured he would have a tough time engaging the kids. But because he has a commitment tomorrow morning (Friday), he wouldn’t have another time to present it. So he gets up with the PinWidget and goes to work - and the Holy Spirit of God moved. Yesterday, Hanneken came up with this illustration totally on his own. It’s not something we had in the Toolbox when we arrived - he was just messing around with the Pin Widget on Wednesday afternoon and developed this. It was a clear Gospel presentation using the PinWidget to lay out the story of Christ’s death and resurrection - and every single kid was totally tuned into what he was saying. That in itself was a miracle.

After that great presentation, we got to do the Grain Game demo that, I think, is the most fun one we’ve done so far. It’s the “Hidden Bouncy Ball” game. The teaching is based around how, in the Garden of Eden, God gave Adam and Eve a clear choice: to be obedient or to disobey. God does not make this choice hard - He lays it out completely and clearly. Then, we play a game to show how the world doesn’t offer us good, clear choices like this and that the Truth of God’s Word is clear and presents us with a clear choice, and a clear promise. But the game is all about guessing (to show how unfair that is). “Little Debbie” was the “Cup girl” and her job was to shake a paper ball in two cups and then slam them down on the table. The volunteer, who I was standing behind covering their eyes, would then have to pick which cup they thought the ball was in. If they picked the cup with the ball, I would hand them a lollipop. If they picked the cup without the ball, I would not hand them a lollipop. Also, I would slam a plate of shaving cream in their face. Needless to say, this game was a huge hit. We had about 40 kids come up and play - and even Pastor Gnanam played (and he got the pie in the face…mostly because we removed the ball and both cups were empty) and then the Pastor called on ALL of the VBS teachers to come up. They were reluctant…but they played along. And most of them got pie’d in the face. I am happy to report, though, that I was extremely kind and gentle with the girls because their clothing is so stinking pretty and they do their hair so nicely. It pained me to put shaving cream in a little girl’s face…but I do what the Mission calls for (I would barely put it on their nose). The boys, however, are still cleaning themselves off. Also, happy to report that after 50 or so people participating, Betty Jo was the last to go…and she picked the cup with the ball in it. Then proceeded to shove the plate in my face (fortunately, I had filled the plate up super high in the hopes that Betty Jo would have to get creamed - so I’M still cleaning myself off). As you can see, lots of great teaching is taking place, but it’s coupled with so much fun.

But, back to yesterday’s time of debriefing when we were talking about the kids and how their “spiritedness” seems to be progressing each day. While we were figuring out how to work within that context, Joy - Jonathon’s sister who is staying with us at the Mission Center until Saturday - gave us insight into why this is happening. She said it’s very uncommon for kids in this culture to act in ways that are so hyper. Certainly they are kids, but this is a culture that is very composed and exhibits lots of self-control. She indicated the reason this is happening is because of the relationships we are building with them. These kids don’t get the kind of intimate affection (hugs, kisses, high-fives, etc.) that we have shared with them. As a result, they are experiencing a type of freedom that allows them to express themselves and bask in that security that they are loved - they are reacting to what we have been doing. As we talked we realized…they are reacting to the love of Christ and are experiencing freedom…which is what we intended to do all along. It’s amazing how something that was becoming a challenge ended up being confirmation that the love of Christ is real and they are tasting and seeing that God is good. No other god makes them feel this way. No other god brings freedom and joy. Tonight, as we drove to dinner, we saw a long strip of roadside stands that were carving and crafting the many “gods” worshipped in India. I mean, these stands seemed to go on for a mile, no lie. Huge mounds of stone were waiting to be fashioned into “gods”. As we drove by, I was thankful for the truth that not ONE of those “gods” would ever, ever, ever make one of these children taste freedom. Taste unconditional love. Experience joy. Know the truth that they can be forgiven and that their salvation isn’t based on whether or not they can out-work their sin. Not a single one. Ever. It fills me with so much joy to know that this week, amidst the heat, the sickness, the utter exhaustion, the love of Christ has been communicated and it has been received. And if the love of Christ makes the kids go crazy…yeah. We’re cool with that. Your prayers are a major part of this happening. But this Mission isn’t even half over yet. There is still so much work to be done and a completely new Mission Center to start over with next week.

Along with the idea of crazy love, I need to update you on some developments within the team that require your immediate prayer. Yet, even in the midst of the trials I’m about to report, I hope that you are able to see God orchestrating a plan for His glory the way we are. First, yesterday Debbie Chiodo woke up with her ankle feeling much better and having greater mobility. Still not completely healed, but much improvement from the previous night. However, you can’t keep a good woman down. Debbie was a wild woman. She was back out with the kids, walking around, in and out, up and down stairs…in the midst of her pain, she was showing Christ’s love. However, by the end of the day, her ankle had radically swollen to the point that we felt she needed to confirm her injury was nothing more than a twisted ankle. So, Debbie C. left with David and Jonathon back to Chennai where she received insanely fast medical treatment. Actually, insanely fast doesn’t even scratch the surface. Before David had finished signing her in, she was on the X-ray table. Praise God it’s only soft tissue damage and nothing more, but she has been confined to staying off her feet for a few days. We were hoping she would be able to make it back today (selfishly, because we love her and she’s a vital part of the team), however, God had different plans. The reason there was no blog last night was because the computer used to blog is Debbie’s. So, she had it with her last night.

This morning we were made aware of the news that Sharon Nichols had been up throughout the night vomiting and she was showing pretty obvious symptoms of dehydration. After some TLC from Nurse Leslie and Auntie Betty, Sharon really didn’t show any improvement. We decided she needed medical attention, too. However, David was still in Chennai (nowhere near the Mission Center) - so a taxi was arranged to take Sharon back to Chennai where David would meet her and get her the necessary treatment. Fortunately for us, Joy was still with us. We knew a lady had to go with Sharon with the understanding that there was a good possibility they would not be coming back for a few days. Joy JUST joined us last night but was so kind enough to go with Sharon, at the potential cost of missing out on the mission. Within two hours, David called to confirm that Sharon had eaten something that had not agreed with her, resulting in vomiting…resulting in dehydration. And the doc said she needed to stay out of the heat for a day or two…meaning she’s staying at David’s condo until Saturday when she’ll join us at the church dedication in honor of her brother, Jay. We knew someone had to stay with Sharon…and sadly, we realized that the best person for that…was Debbie C. Since Debbie was instructed to stay off the foot and rest it up, it made the most sense to have her stay at thee condo so she could be in top shape to join us next week instead of pushing her to get out here and potentially cause more damage. That phone call to Debbie broke my heart because it meant that Debbie would not be returning to the Poonthanthalam Mission Center at all - meaning she wouldn’t be able to say “Goodbye” to the kids here. All of the team, including Debbie, agreed it was the right decision- it just also happened to be a really painful decision. She’s been such a trooper and the definition of a “team player” - putting the Mission before herself. The reason you’re reading this blog tonight is because Debbie knew that without the laptop, no blogs would go up. So she sent it to us through David and Joy at her expense. Give thanks tonight for Debbie and her sacrifices. When you spend MONTHS preparing for the Mission, missing out on 2-3 days is huge. We are all hurting from both her and Sharon being away from the team. Please lift them up in prayer tonight.

I hope you see that God is at work here. He really is. We’re seeing it every day in His provision, His strength, His wisdom on how to relate and the fact that relationships are being formed between people who don’t speak more than 5 words of the same language. But God’s Spirit is speaking and His love is being felt. Before I close tonight, I want to share one other thing that happened this evening. On the way to dinner, the guys were all riding with David and Pastor Gnanam and we had a chance to talk to David about the work God is leading him to do in India. We asked how many churches he has been involved in planting - the network that he oversees. His answer: 33. Three of those are enormous worship centers that have significant outreaches to the surrounding villages. God is using him in ways that we don’t even know - and he’ll never brag about. Ever. But this blew us away even more. I hope you’re sitting down (odds are pretty good). He told us that this week, all of the 33 churches (except for one) are also doing a 9 a.m.-4 p.m. VBS, reaching hundreds of kids in most of them. The one church that isn‘t meeting this week, the North River Church/Mission Center will be having their VBS next week…a schedule shift so that your India 2012 Team could participate in that as well. 33 churches hosting hundreds of children - thousands all over India. And the seven of us are in two of them. There is so, so, so, so much work to be done here. Please pray for wisdom that we as supporters of David Rajan and the ministry God has given to him and his team would know how to partner and work to see the love of Jesus Christ - the love that frees, forgives, brings joy and hope to - would be communicated to every child, every parent, every villager that God gives to this work. Our hearts are for India. Your hearts are for India. Most importantly, God’s heart is for India. Let’s beat on the doors of Heaven and commit ourselves to this work with all that we have.

Tonight, we ask that you pray for:

1) Healing and encouragement for Debbie C and Sharon.
2) That the love of Christ and the message of Christ’s salvation would be clearly communicated.
3) That God would stir our hearts for India and that we would commit ourselves to this work as God calls us.

Thank you, Warriors, for your prayers. You are doing vital ministry.