Julie and I hope all is well with you and that Spring will soon be knocking on your door. Wow, what a time we had in India! Please let me share a few highlights and I hope you will like the photos.
This was an incredibly rich and anointed time for me personally and for the ministry. Charley Jr. really honored me by giving his business class ticket on the legs to/from London and Dehli. My aging self that turns 54 this week is still thanking him. He, Sam, and I had fun along the way playing a card game called, “Man Bites Dog”. In this game, you make your own crazy newspaper headlines with each card that’s drawn. I never got the “Trump” card. One of the most special things for me was praying before the meetings in the hotel room with Charley and Sam. Hearing your ten-year-old grandson, who truly knows God and how to pray, is true riches. Another special thing for me was hearing and watching Charley Jr. preach and teach. My ego wanted to say, “Well if you have seen the son, you have seen the father”. He is a phenomenal minister and the real deal. It was Sam’s first time to hear me preach and be in a strong move of the Holy Spirit. He is a quiet one but I sure love his smile. Everybody loved him. Let me quickly share some of the trip’s ministry highlights.
We ended up with hundreds of pastors and leaders from all over India, Nepal, Burma, Bhutan, Indonesia, Bangladesh, and China. The church in India as well as these other nations is largely persecuted. With that, there’s a mutual love, respect, and a unity seen in these leaders that is truly beautiful. They were so hungry for the word of God and the outpouring of Holy Spirit. Our Father God made sure there were plenty of both. Charley and I were led to minister along the lines of identity. He also shared on leadership and church government. My last night to minister ended up in an outpouring with no time to preach but to only mention a few scriptures about impartation and then pray for folks. We started service at five and finished praying for people at eleven. We had a wild and fun time with the fire tunnel. Also, I never remember ever having such a flow of prophetic words like the Lord gave that night. Of course Heidi Baker’s presence and ministry was epic. Meeting her and getting to connect and know her a little was truly a divine appointment and blessing.
An amazing thing happened when we were summoned to the Governor’s home to meet with him on Saturday at 4pm. Governors are not elected but appointed by the Prime Minister in India. He is in his mid seventies, from the wealthy ruling class, very educated, very Hindu, quite salty, and just a little gruff I have to say. I really liked him. He gave us the full pomp and some gifts. Then he totally berated us as Christians for our lack of love for one another and lack of unity. He told us he was indebted to Christians because he was educated in a catholic school but still strictly Hindu. Basically he asked, “How is it that we Hindus can all worship a different god of our choosing (and there are millions) but all love each other? We can freely gather together and worship in any temple of the Land but the protestants and Catholics fight and have nothing to do with each other. Protestants all fight between denominations and will not or are not allowed to go and worship in the churches of the others?” What a wake up call. We could not answer him but it-
-was God speaking correction to his body through a radical Hindu politician. He also wanted to know why Christians have rejected yoga. We could not answer that one either. However, God stuck His toe in the door of his heart any way.
You see when he walked into the rather large and elegant receiving room, Holy Spirit gave me a word of knowledge that he had diabetes. By the end of the meeting the courage and opportunity came to step out. I told him that Jesus told me that he has diabetes and that He loves him and wants to heal him. He very humbly allowed Heidi and I to pray for him. He then said he “felt better and has new confidence”. His wife also has diabetes but turned down our offered prayers. In the collage is a picture of us ministering to him.
I truly connected with Pastor Shan and many of the other pastors there. Invitations were extended to return some day and minister in other parts of India as well as some of the other countries mentioned. I believe that Julie and I will go and do so. We are praying into it. This was a believer’s conference but we did see some salvations Sunday morning and night. In closing let me share this.
Though the jet lag has been brutal since returning, I have had the same dream three nights in a row. In this dream, I am an adult at my current age. I am riding in the back seat of my deceased father’s big black Bonneville, the last car he had. He is driving me. For context, my dad was a marine veteran of WWII and Korea, a trial lawyer, and a very brilliant man. He was quite serious and rather bottom line. Truly a man of few words. The dream is exactly the same every night. Each time dad drives me to a church. I don’t see it or myself get out of the car but the scene instantly changes and he is then picking me up after the service and driving me back home. He always asks me the same question. It is in a very calm but serious voice yet authoritative. There is a heavy tone of concern in the voice. “What about a soul? Did a soul get saved?”. I immediately wake up each time with very serious concern and it is kind of haunting me. What do you think?
Thank you for your prayers for Indiaand for all these pastors and leaders.God answered big! Holy Spirit gave renewal , strength, and they went home on fire and very encouraged. Please agree with us in faith for a catch up month. We have an evangelistic crusade this month in the barrio of Porvenir here in Rionegro. Therefore I am looking forward to my dad’s question being answered in the affirmative. Please pray, my heart is on fire and God is shaking me. A holy yet good kind of fear has settled upon me. Julie and I appreciate you. We and our team here in Colombia are praying for you. Much love and may the Lord bless you with fire and a burning compassion for the lost.
