Well, the bags have been packed. The seats have been assigned. In less than 20 hours we'll be in the air. The team is so excited and again, thank you so much for your support and the commitments to prayer. We feel them. Thank you.
As mentioned in the previous blogs, tonight will be a "Toolbox Talk". As we want to paint a picture for you to help you get an idea of what we will be doing (and what we have been doing), we want to give you a peek "backstage". As we learned in 2010, so much can change so quickly and, as true for any mission experience, you have to be ready to move wherever and however God leads. But it is still incumbent upon us as missionaries to prepare ourselves as best as possible for what COULD happen and how we believe God will lead. So, here's the rundown (and we'll close with a GREAT story - please stick around for it!)
For the past 3 months, your India 2012 team has met pretty much every single week, sacrificing weeknights and some weekends to prepare as best we can for this mission. Most of the work we've done in preparation for this mission could be divided into two categories: "Programs" and "Grain Games". First, the "Programs". David Rajan uses this word to basically mean we are his performing monkeys and we do everything he tells us to, when he tells us to do it. Kidding...just kidding! The programs consist of a few key elements that help lead in worship or are used to simply encourage the Church in India and the Christians there. Knowing now how the programs work, we developed a number of "tools" to use that can be pulled out whenever David has need for us to serve and lead. One part of this (a large part) is music. Together we developed an "India 2012" songbook. This includes about 10-12 songs aimed primarily at children (think standard Church Camp songs): "Father Abraham", "Hallelu, Praise Ye The Lord", "This Little Light of Mine". Along with that, we identified 6-8 songs that can be pulled out in Church settings ("How Great Thou Art", "Amazing Grace", "I Love You, Lord") - as well as our old favorite, "Power in The Blood", complete with lyrics in Tamil. When you see a team member, ask them to sing it for you in Tamil. They can. And we will. We cannot wait to sing with our brothers and sisters again in their language. In 2010, my main responsibility was leading singing...until 2 days in and I lost my voice due to allergies for the entire duration of the trip (until the last day when I was able to eke out a quick tune). So, in light of the possibility of this happening again, we've learned the songs in different keys so that at a moment's notice, anyone can lead the singing at any time. Hopefully we won't have to use this, but we're ready!
Along with the songs, each team member was responsible for developing at least one script for a skit. Each team member was the director and coordinator of a skit pulled from a story in the Bible - and the person in charge of developing the script is also the Narrator for their script. Due to the obvious language barriers, our typical Sunday morning worship skits won't work. So instead, we have to develop skits in which the dialogue is minimal and the Narrator can carry most of the story (to allow the translators to interpret throughout). This leaves everyone else on the team responsible for acting out the action - often in humorous ways. For this trip, here are the skits that we have ready to go:
-Daniel and the Lion's Den
-Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego
-David and Goliath
-The Good Samaritan (which is now a comedy)
-Noah's Ark
-Three Parables of Jesus (Lost sheep, lost coin and prodigal son)
-God Created
Each skit is designed to tell the story and teach an applicable truth. It's great to see how the team used their creativity and gifts to work these skits out. And finally, we worked together on evangelistic communication using the EvangeCube and salvation bracelets. Both of those things were huge hits in 2010 and we look forward to seeing how God will use them again.
Which brings us to "The Grain Game". A quick overview: "The Grain Game" was developed by Chip Riley, who lives in Alabama. Chip is a former youth pastor who saw that there was a lack of well-done discipleship teaching targeting youth. In response to that, he developed "The Grain Game" which is a resource he has taken all over the world which is designed to teach a theological truth through an engaging illustration or game. Some of it involves simple chemistry, while others are straight up pillow fights and blowing bubbles. But in each illustration, a theological teaching is brought out so clearly - when we show you some of this stuff when we return, it'll blow your mind how cool and effective this stuff is. For instance, one simple illustration is based on the teaching in Ephesians 1:13-14 that talks about how the Holy Spirit is given to us as a seal and deposit for our future inheritance in Christ. To illustrate the permanent hold the Holy Spirit has on us upon a decision to follow Christ, we duct tape a kid to a tree. And then walk away. We then teach that if duct tape - simple tape - can hold a kid to a tree, how much more will the Holy Spirit of the Creator of the universe hold us to Himself? It's a beautiful teaching that the kids will never forget - especially the one still taped to the tree. Here's a quick glimpse at some of the illustrations we are ready to run:
-Build a human pyramid to talk about Christ's call for servanthood and the role it has in the Church
-A bubble blowing contest that leads into talking about how God gives us purpose and life
-Pillow fights to talk about God's love for us as sinners
-Using hula hoops to talk about unity in Christ
-Using water balloons to talk about God's holiness
-Putting shaving cream in a kid's face to teach about the foolishness of covering our sin by good works and the need to allow Christ to come and remove the sin for us
-Using food coloring to show the perfect marriage of Christ's humanity and Deity (it's a lot easier to do than you'd think!)
There are so many more that would be too difficult to explain in this short space - but when we return, we want to show you many of these - you will love them as much as we do. In fact, if you want to see some video footage of the kind of work we'll be doing, head over to www.thegraingame.org. It is such a fantastic mission group that you need to know about and pray for. The work God is doing through Chip and TGG has helped prepare us far beyond what we could've done ourselves and we can't wait to share this with the beautiful people of India. And Chip was instrumental in helping us understand our role as we go serve. When teams go on mission trips, so often the emphasis is on evangelistic decisions that were made (Youtube "Numbers by Justin Hanneken" to see an amazing perspective on this). Chip reminded us that in India, there are hundreds of gods and so many theological lies that are ingrained in these people from an early age. For us to be the most effective, our job is not so much focused on the evangelistic emphasis and decisions, but using the truth that God has communicated to us to chip away at the work Satan has built up. We are to go in, share the truth of Jesus Christ and be instruments used by God to break down the stronghold of the enemy. As we are obedient in doing this, eyes can be open to the liberating truth of God's grace and unconditional love. Please pray that we would keep our eyes focused on this goal, to understand the severity of this need and to boldly communicate truth so that lives would be changed for God's glory.
Ok, so before we wrap this up, I want to share a crazy amazing God-story that surrounds this whole Grain Game business. David Rajan wrote me back in January telling me I needed to get in contact with Chip Riley - inventor extrodinaire of this thing called "The Grain Game" that David was such a fan of. Not two days later, I get an email from Chip reaching out telling me he'd be willing to help us. Long story short, Chip DROVE from Alabama to Glen Burnie to do a three-day training session with our team to help us prepare for this mission. As we sat around the table for dinner that first night, we started to see a bit of how God's hand was orchestrating everything to come together. As I mentioned, Chip is a former youth pastor who branched off to establish The Grain Game ministry - and he was successful in getting into many other countries. But one place he couldn't develop a contact was India. He was serving as a Youth Ministry consultant to the Youth Pastor at Chapel Hill Baptist Church when a little fellow by the name of Dr. James Nichols (former Faith BC pastor) answered the call to be their Senior Pastor. One day, Chip was explaining to Susan Nichols (Dr. J's CONSIDERABLE better half) what TGG was all about and how he was burdened for India, but was without a contact. The Nichols, knowing David Rajan and his ministry so well, connected Chip and David together. In that time, both Chip and TGG, and Faith partnered with David in ministering to the villages. Fast forward to this year and Chip is sitting in the Office building of Faith where Dr. J used to serve and as Sr. Pastor in his new position was able to connect Chip with David.
The story doesn't end there, though. As we shared stories of our partnerships with David, Betty Jo (a repeat India mission team member) was talking about one of our experiences at a church dedication at the North River Church in India. Chip responded, "My church in Alabama is the North River Church". We thought this was just a name coincidence, until Chip said, "You don't understand - my church sponsored the North River Church in India. You guys were the ones we have pictures of at our church, dedicating our sponsored church the Indian villages". Totally unbeknownst to anyone, God had radically orchestrated all of these relationships and the more time we spent together, the more we were convinced that God is actively moving in bringing people's hearts and minds to India.
As we draw near to our departure, our prayer for YOU is that you understand how much God wants to do in India and that together, in the power of Jesus' Name, eternal damage can be done to the enemy. So please, tonight/today, please pray for David Rajan and the work he is doing. Pray for Chip and The Grain Game that is exposing theological truth all over the world. Pray for us that God would anoint our trip - the journey process and the work. And finally, pray that every one of us will have our hearts stirred with passion for the people of India who need the love and truth of Jesus Christ.
Here we go.
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