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This is the newly rebuilt motor in my mustang.

I have read about lepers in the Bible a thousand times.  I usually breeze through those stories without pause or hesitation.  I have heard a professor friend of mine talk about his experience when he first saw a leper while on a mission trip to India.  I have even gotten adventurous and looked up “leprosy” on wikipedia and looked at some of the gross pictures.  

I was not prepared for what I saw.

The stories and pictures that I heard from others did not prepare me for what I experienced first hand.  I saw it with my own eyes.  No longer was this one of a thousand different stories in the Bible.  The picture that is tattooed on my mind is vivid and fresh.  I am not sure I could forget what I saw if I wanted to.  

As we walked into the Leper Colony, I prayed a quick prayer and asked God to give me strength for what I was about to see.  Then something odd happened, I saw joy like I had never seen it before.  This particular colony housed 18 families of folks that were stricken with this ferocious disease.  They are not all infected, but they all live there together (I am unsure of exactly why, but I will research and let you know).  Everywhere I turned these people were thrilled to see us.  They greeted us with the traditional “Jamisi” and smiled and gratefully accepted our gifts of rice and re-usable bandages.  And they smiled the ENTIRE time.

As we were leaving I told Jeff to punch me in the face if I ever complain about anything in my life.  As I type this post I can’t help but look down at my hands.  Leper Colonies remind you to thank God for all kinds of things- specifically fingers and toes.

The next time you find yourself anxious about finances, grades, relationships, or anything else… then take a quick glance at your hands or feet and remember it could be worse!

Grace and Peace,

Matt

This is a quick clip of us going to see the monkeys in the mountains near Siliguri, India.

Click below to hear us singing in India.

how-marvelous-india

Things are going great here.  Here is a little preview of us at camp…

Hey Folks,

Things in India are continuing to go extremely well.  Jeff updated me on a final count for the camp We have a total of 275 folks at camp this week!  This is truly amazing if you consider that it took 8 years at Vaughn Forest before we could get these kind of results.  If you include our team there are close to 300 of us here.  There are so many folks here that we had to up the budget for the camp.  There was a shortage of funds, due to the extra 110 people), but the LORD provided and all is good.

Last night we had a POWERFUL worship service.  It’s always hard to explain, but the HOLY SPIRIT fell.  The presence of God was so thick in the room that I almost thought I was going to choke.  People were raising hands and dancing and celebrating their forgiveness.  There is not holding back here.  The people dance and respond to God.  They are reckless in their abandonment to the LORD.  It is beautiful and convicting all at the same time.  I am trying to post a short video of this worship for you, but I have been having a few difficulties.

Keep on praying for us.  In addition to the worship last night we had 5 ALTAR CALLS!  It was amazing as we called people to accept Christ, to repent of sin, to be prayed for due to persecution, and then finally to come and surrender everything to Christ- even if it meant losing our lives!

Last night I was laying on the floor at the altar worshipping with my new friends and I literally felt their tears hitting the hard, marble floors.  One of them, a young English speaking Nepali man, was crying and sobbing these words,

“You’ve been so good to me, you can have my everything, my everything!  Jesus, You can have my everything!  I don’t care if I lose my family, my life, or everything else!  You can have all of me!”

As he prayed and cried, God ripped me in half.  We (Americans) are so comfortable and blessed, yet we don’t seem to ache and yearn for God like this.  I pray that I will be forever changed and speak loudly about Jesus!

Keep praying for us.

Grace and Peace,

Matt

Thanks so much for your prayers. Right now it is 12:30 pm on Tuesday. It is awesome to be sitting here in India in the middle of God’s work. I apologize for being unable to send an update before now, but we have been EXTREMELY busy and my first attempt at trying to get online was unsuccessful.

As you may know, we are leading a camp for students from India, Nepal, and Bhutan. We were praying for God to send us over 200 students to this camp. There are over 230 students present plus an additional 20 or so adult leaders. GOD BE PRAISED! The Holy Spirit is rocking our worlds through these folks. They are so alive, energetic, loving, and HUNGRY for God and His Word. By the way, preaching with Jiwan translating is about as much fun as you can imagine. Last night we worshipped and the presence of God was so thick that it was almost overwhelming. Tears are in my eyes as I type because the LORD is sufficient for these people. They don’t face many of the distractions or comforts that we face. Instead, they have a raw, trusting faith. They believe God for everything. You should hear the roar as they pray. Not quietly to themselves one at a time, but all at once with confidence and belief.

We have seen many come to Christ already and we have not even had an official altar call (that starts tonight). There is a stark difference in accepting Christ here vs. in the U.S. At home when someone accepts Christ we pat them on the back and congratulate them. In India when someone accepts Christ then many times they are ostracized and kicked out of their families. In this highly affectionate, social culture that is a extreme form of persecution. Our students are hearing stories from their small groups of teenagers being beaten and persecuted for following Christ. It is so humbling to be here and to get a chance to be a part of the kingdom.

Please prat specifically for the language barrier to not be an issue. We have a total of 12 small groups (not very small- the average size is 21) and communication can be a bit challenging. Pray for the Holy Spirit to fall tonight as we have a formal decision time. We are calling students to come to the altar if they are willing to go and die for the cause of Christ. At home this is a metaphorical challenge, but here it is real. If these students obey the Lord some of them will die in His honor.

Please pray for a HUGE movement of God. We are making plans to have a baptismal service tomorrow in a local river. I have had a dream for several years of baptizing someone over here and hopefully my dream will be realized. We will also be observing communion tonight and a foot washing service on Wednesday night.

1 Chronicles 16:30-31

Tremble before him, all the earth! The world is firmly established; it cannot be moved. Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad; let them say among the nations, “The LORD reigns!”