India Update #5

• Yesterday afternoon we watched the fishermen come in with their spoils, help each other pull their boats up on shore, and carry their trophy fish up the hill to the fish auction. Many were large, one was huge and went for $120, one was an octopus, flies were everywhere. They are hard workers and seem to enjoy what they do.
  
  But as Bangalore had shanties made of cardboard and metal siding, Muttom has homes made of woven palm fronds. You can imagine how long they lasted in the Tsunami. Many have been rebuilt in the absence of another place to stay, and after having looked in several today, I would rather live in my Coleman tent.
  
  And so Homes of Hope has built over 400 small but solid homes for villagers in Muttom and surrounding villages. Over 100 more are currently under construction, and we witnessed ceilings being poured (concrete) and walls being painted today. Right in the middle of this Roman Catholic stronghold, this evangelical group is still building homes. They say many secular aid groups have come and gone, but now comes the true test of showing the love of Christ—the long haul.
  
  The plan is that in the very near future a church planter can come down to follow up, reach out, and shepherd these people who have heard the gospel, and received homes.
  
  Almost time to fly home. Let me summarize the situation and needs for prayer for my church, other churches, and other individuals who may want to get involved through prayer and action:
  
• There is a need, of course, for funds. There is a never-ending stream of street children in need of love, homes, food, and the gospel. House parents are needed to love and care for these children, houses need to be identified or built.
  
• There is a need for interns to come love these children for a month, or semester, or year.
  
• There is unbelievable opportunity to organize, mentor, and train pastors in the southern 2/3 of India. I can not stress this enough: I saw 100 young pastors this week who are hungry for training, passionate about their work, and unafraid of potential persecution. Local resources are vastly insufficient, and for the time being, teachers are needed from the US.
• Women are also needed to come alongside the less educated wives, trained men are needed to teach seminars for one or two weeks at a time. What a great ministry it would be for a pastor in the US to say, “I’m going to let God use me, and learn what God is doing around the world, by committing to travel to India for one or two weeks each year to teach these men, as long as there is need.
  
  Pray that God would send laborers into his harvest…and maybe you are one of them.