Posted this in a note on facebook the other day, but I thought I would put it on my tumblr as well ;)
Well, it's been a little bit since I went to India, but I did want to write an update for those of you who donated/prayed for my trip. I can't even begin to tell you the amount of things God did in India. I am so excited to share some of the testimonies. To list every life that was touched would be impossible and to  even state each testimony would take days to write out. So I am going to just highlight a few. Mostly, I wanted to say thank you. You helped me change hearts, renew minds, and lead entire villages to Christ. Thank you!
Most of these testimonies are directly copied from a word document I was using right after the trip. Read as much as you have time for. Again, thank you!!
The first week in India was spent spreading the gospel in remote villages near Bangalore. First of all, India has a cast system. Whatever "cast" you are born into, you stay in your entire life. So a low cast village would be lepper colony or just the lowest of the low. The high cast are sometimes still in poverty but they are very high in the religious system. So if you were to preach the gospel to the high cast, it would most likely not be accepted. Also, it is illegal (a printed law) that you are not aloud to preach the gospel or convert to other religions in India. ESPECIALLY if you are on a tourism visa, which we were.
One of the first villages we went to was the village where the Hindu bible was created. We split up into groups (usually 3 bethel people and one translator from Kingdom Foundations). The people of India saw us white people and kindly invited us in to their homes. They wanted to hear what the white people had to say. We began talking about why we traveled from the other side of the world, and then we began to share the gospel⊠And just about every person who heard this good news accepted Chirst!! This was a miracle in itself for these high cast people. I remember one lady from our team sharing the gospel and as she was talking an Indian man said to our translator âA man justwalked in to the roomâ None of us saw this man except for this guy⊠Jesus had justentered the room! The man then said,âThis God is real and I want to accept him.â We don't know how or why Jesus decided to show up like this but He did. We are pretty sure that this man was close to death. It is just like the Lord to find His people in just the right timing.Â
That same day, we met another lady who was dying from disease (the village said she had cancer in a very late stage) and many of our team members had gone by to pray for her for healing. I had the privilege of sharing the gospel with her. She repented from witchcraft and accepted Christ by squeezing our hands because she couldnât speak. She then starts waving her hands strangely in the air. We asked her daughter what she was doing. We finally found out the the lady was having a vision of Jesus Christ walking around her. This happened as soon as she had accepted the Lord! She kept waving her arms in the air and her daughter said, "now she sees Godâs face and the people in front ofher are blocking her view!" This again was God supernaturally showing himself to this woman. I had never experienced anything like this before. It was definitely new to me, but it was very cool how Jesus was revealing himself that day.
Later that week, we went to a village where one of our leaders in Kingdom Foundation had been about 5 years earlier. Five years ago, he was beat to almost death for sharing the gospel. I was very thankful that he told us this after we shared the love of the gospel in the same house. The lady AND her son accepted the Lord. Amazing! God was so good. This was miraculous. These were Hindus with idols all over their homes who are now pointing up to the sky saying "Jesus!". As they received the Lord, they said that they felt evil spirits leave their houses and had never felt peace and joy like in their lives. WOW! Amazing.
Salvations for the Kingdom were obviously the best thing we saw (in my opinion)⊠when you see a child return to Father God, it is always the best. However, God also did some other amazing miracles as well.
Another ministry set up a medical clinic while we were there (being a nurse, I loved this). And one day, some of the team prayed for people as they received their medication from the pharmacy. The funny thing was that as our team prayed for the sick, we began seeing them healed! God was showing up! Again, seeing people healed like this is something that I knew was possible but had never seen it to this extent. Blind eyes were opening and pain was leaving. People eventually started trying to give their medication back to the clinic because they no longer needed it! Everyone that our team prayed for was healed that day⊠except one. There was one man in an advanced stage of Tuberculosis. He couldnât walk and could barely open his eyes. After prayer, the team was discouraged and strapped him on the back of the motorcycle with a man in front and a man behind him holding him on. The next day our leader received a call from the village pastor saying this man waswalking around- the first time in a month!! God is good. He is healer. Don't ask me why we don't see this more in America. I am not sure, but I know it is possible.
Sunday was spent at a church of thousands of people in Bangalore. So many miracles and salvations on that Sunday, but two were very close to my heart. I had the privilege of going to the youth service. Our leader spoke a great sermon of how to carry the Kingdom of God with you at all times. After the sermon, we were the prayer servants for people to come up for prayer. As I was praying for kids to do well on exams or to find jobs, a special girl came up to me. Her first prayer request was for weight loss. Immediately gripped by her heart, I began speaking truth over her. She continues to tell me that she is the only Christian in her household and that the rest ofher family worshipped idols (Hinduism) and that her dad was an alcoholic. She then started speaking of her attempts of suicide. My heart broke, I couldnâtimagine being in her situation. For the first 3-4 minutes I just held her and let her cry (hugging is definitely counter cultural so I knew that it was needed). I then began praying and declaring Godâs heart for her to her. As I was praying, I watched as her whole countenance changed. She began to smile and laugh. I then asked another team member to come over and speak to her as well. As Lindsey went back to her seat, I saw her smiling and journaling everthing that was said. That night, she was on the front row of the big church service smiling and waving to me. There is nothing like watching God touch someone's heart!
The next day we went to another high cast village. I went to a house and got to speak the gospel in power and in love. The family receives Christ and we share some starbursts with them. (It is amazing how simple the gospel is, just telling them the simplicity of Jesus Christ) As we were leaving this house, our translator suggests that we actually stay a little longer because thepolice were there to arrest us for sharing the gospel! So we stayed and enjoyedstarbursts a little longer. Â Finally we got the ok toleave and we asked a team member what happened. A police officer came to arrestus and a magistrate came to video our arrest (we think) and our team gatheredaround the policeman and prayed for him. God intervened and the policeman wassaved and the magistrate came to our lunch and blessed what we were doing inthe village. Godâs provision and protection showed up so greatly!
My favorite story: At this same place, some of our group went to the bathroom. As they were trying to find this hole in the ground. A crowd formed around our team member Matt and he began to preach the gospel. About 15 people gave their lives to Christ just on a bathroom run⊠The team looked around and realized at that moment that they were on the front of a new building. They asked the locals what this building was⊠it was the new hindu temple that had just been built. People had just received Christ on the front of the new hindu temple.  At the same time that this was happening, another group was leading the priest of this temple to Christ!!! Godâs timing and intervention was ridiculous awesome! God is beginning to change a hindu temple to a church! Praise God!
Side note: Before we went into these villages, Kingdom Foundation's ministry had already found at least one person, one Christian, to pastor the village before we love the people to Christ. :) So they aren't left out not knowing what to do with their newfound faith.Â
The second part of our trip was spent at Mother Teresa's house of the dying and destitute. This was a time where we loved on the unlovable. It was very different from the first part of the trip. I was able to take a lot of blood pressures and pass a lot of medicines. God showed me what it looked like to just love on people without any motive but to love. I was so honored to be able to serve under Mother Teresa's vision. I remember not being able to communicate at all but just looking into the eyes and seeing Jesus. It was amazing :)
There are many more testimonies that I could write. If you'd like to hear more, then please message me and I can give you more! I am so thankful for your support. I plan on staying in Redding, CA at Bethel church for one more year. I will do at least one more year of the ministry school and soak up all I can of the Kingdom culture here.Â
Just as an update, while I am here in Redding, I am working part time as a nurse. I am also volunteering as a chaplain in the local hospital (I can go to any room and pray... YAY!) and I am also working with a youth group down in Red Bluff, CA. We are also trying to reach out to the lower income neighborhoods here in Redding by throwing block parties. I say that because I want people to know that the mission field isn't always overseas, but that there are people who need Jesus' love in our own back yard.Â
Whatever you do, just do it it to the glory of God, whether that is in accounting, medicine, law, teaching, the world needs to be loved. And how you love is different in every person. Be who He created you to be.
Thank you for everything. I can't wait to catch up with you in person!
areudirty
discoholicmusic
dailybridgerton
pixelskylines
ellievsbear
germansingergirl