On Sunday, we boarded a train for the six hour ride to the East Coast of India where we conducted two conferences on Monday and Tuesday. Pastor Philip showed amazing hospitality as he hosted and chauffeured us around from one place to another. His kindness and servant’s heart blessed us abundantly.
The conferences were conducted in two different venues about one hour apart. Both were extremely well attended. But day two was a true surprise! The church filled up quickly with pastors from all over the region and it was soon obvious that we could not fit any more people in the hall. So the hosting pastor quickly transformed his own home into an overflow space. A live feed was connected to his TV screen. His living room and kitchen were filled with people and others were sitting on the steps leading to the church hall. Getting to the bathroom required stepping over people who were seated on the floor everywhere. All in all there was over 230 in attendance.
One thing was very obvious at both conferences. People came spiritually hungry, they were fed the Word and left full. Sometimes we wonder if what we do makes a difference. But when we see those who come to hear the Word of God, we know God will extravagantly pour out His blessings.
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” Matthew 5:6
We caught the early (6 AM) express train back to our jungle home on Wednesday. Elena spoke at a women’s’ event the very next day while Sal taught a group of pastors over Zoom while sitting in the car. That was a first for him and a bit humorous to see. It was a new twist on 2 Timothy 4:3 which commands pastors to preach the word in and out of season. For Sal it was preach the word in and out of the car!
It’s been a great week and we are looking forward to a few days of rest before we begin another round of conferences on Monday. In just four weeks we will be returning to the USA. We have a busy schedule until then. Please pray for us to stay the course and finish well.