The end of September 2011 I went to India with a team of 10 others to make good on a promise I’d made to Pastor Lazarus Victor some years ago; that I would visit the ministries of Cornerstone Prayer Fellowship, to pray, preach, teach and bless them on behalf of our Lord Jesus and the people UBC.
Pastor Lazarus and his dear wife are both with the Lord now, but the ministries we shared with them in life are pulsing with faith, hope and love! In our whirlwind trip we visited all the Paul J. Sumanth ministry sites, the CHORD school outside Hyderabad, the church and academy in Guntur, the new church facilities and clinic (underwritten by the gifts our Student Ministry raised) in Bodawada and Mydavolu. We looked into the eyes of hundreds upon hundreds of happy, polite, enthusiastic children and into the mouths of the same during our dental clinic work. We ordained two pastors and appointed a school administrator. We held worship services in the church buildings and gospel meetings that went ran deep into the night (services beginning at 8pm and ending at 1am).
I am happy to report to the people of UBC that the ministry facilities your gifts have helped build are functioning in ministry to the glory of God. The names and faces of many UBCers can be seen and read on many of the dedicatory plaques posted on the buildings, ie. Barbara and Tom Maxey, Angie Lyne, Ginger Mokher, Ginny Hammond and all the names of teens from UBC Student Ministry.
It was an arduous and challenging ministry schedule. I preached seven times in ten days, with an additional half day of teaching leaders at the Hindustan Bible Institute in Chennai on Biblical Interpretation. (What an inspirational story of kingdom impact they have.) We also visited their school for girls, orphans, who David Sumanth promised, as he did everywhere we spoke to children in poverty, “How ever far you want to go in school – college, university, PhD level – money will not be your problem. We will get you what you need to get your education.” The cycle of poverty will be broken and lives will rise changed in Jesus’ name.
We traveled by jet, bus, van, car and train. Grabbed power naps as our bodies demanded, still adjusting to the new time zone and jet lag. To say I sweat profusely is an understatement. It was pouring off of me like never before. We stayed fully hydrated thanks to the generous provision of bottled water. And my tastebuds stayed lit up by the savory and spicy curries we had for most every meal.
India is a fascinating land of amazingly diverse cultures and languages. It felt like a collision of ancient/future to me. High Tech cities are rising up and carrying India into unprecedented prosperity, yet at the same time povery, unsanitary conditions and the polytheisms of their past are tenaciously present tense in the culture. People are friendly and spiritually hungry. Women dress traditionally and modestly. Men dress stylishly contemporary. Traffic was congested and chaotic, but flowed like schools of fish who seemed to understand each other’s ways so as to move tightly yet avoid collision. Honking was incessant.
It was a tremendously inspiring and rewarding adventure for me personally. Especially since I was following my daughter Corrie’s ministry from 10 years prior. The first three places we went I met people who remembered and loved her from her time with them. I also am thankful for the life and memory of Paul J. Sumanth, whose commitment to Christ and guileless life gave birth, albeit in death, to this magnificent outreach and ministry. I saw his face repeatedly in my mind’s eye as I looked at the children who will now have an opportunity to follow Christ and live lives fulfilling God’s redemptive potentials in them as they learn and grow and serve others the way Paul did. To God be the glory, great things He has done!
