08 Jul Summer LINK India: Vic and JJ Expos?
Posted at 17:31h
in
South Asia
by Emily Squires
Delhi, India
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| On the flight to Delhi (Credit: Logan Dickinson) |
We flew from GSP on Saturday June 28th to Newark, NJ where we had a brief layover before boarding our flight to Delhi. The flight was an uneventful, not very restful, 14 hours. We passed the time watching movies and sleeping. When we arrived in Delhi we went through customs and met “G-man” who is working here in India. After introducing us he took us outside for first glimpse of India. The air in Delhi is hot and thick and a layer of smog hangs over the city. We loaded our luggage into his car and got our first taste of traffic in India. For those of you who have been to India before I’m sure you can relate. The only traffic rules followed are stop lights. Everything else is a suggestion. “G-man” took us to a “transition house” to stay for a couple of days while we were in Delhi. The next day after eating at a local restaurant “G-Man” took us to around Delhi to get a feel for the Indian culture. One of the places that we visited was a part of the city known as Old Delhi. In this part of the city we went to the Spice Market. The special thing about the Spice Market is that there are a ridiculous amount of people in this tiny open-air market where there are hundreds of stands that included spices (obviously), raw meat, and anything else that your heart desires. We finished the day by visiting the India Gate and playing a pick up game of soccer in the surrounding park with some of the locals.
The next day we got an opportunity to explore Delhi on our own. We visited Humayun’s Tomb, known as the Red Taj, and the Hauz Khas Deer Park. Some college-aged locals introduced themselves to us there and we were able to talk to them for long time. We eventually were able to share the g0spel with them. However, we did not see any fruit from the conversation but we are called to proclaim the G0spel and leave the spiritual work to G0d. We finished up orientation, left Delhi, and flew to I-town on Wednesday.
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| India Gate (Credit: Logan Dickinson) |
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| Humayun’s Tomb (Credit: Logan Dickinson) |
I-town, India
In I-town we were welcomed by the families working here as well as some other short-term teams like us. We did some sight-seeing around the town to get some sense of direction and “P-man”, one the guys working here long term, went over a discipleship program known as the Four Fields that includes G0d’s vision, proclaiming the g0spel, discipling new believers, and church planting. We have also gone to some of the popular malls where we have been able to meet some local students. One of our goals is to have G0spel-centered conversations and try to build a relationship with them through follow ups.
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| Just landed in I-town (Credit: Logan Dickinson) |
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| Street corner in I-town (Credit: Logan Dickinson) |
Our main goal here in I-town is to assist the long term workers in mapping out the churches in I-town and meeting with local pastors. On Monday several of us had the opportunity to go to a meeting with nearly 30 local pastors. Another group of us went to visit a local pastor who is partnering with the longterm workers here. On Tuesday we called many of the pastors we met and set up appointments for the coming week. We were also able to visit with three more local pastors around the city.
What We’ve Learned
We have been experiencing great community here with the long-term teams here. “P-man” has been leading us through 1st Peter,”Ten Questions to Diagnose Your Spiritual Health” by Donald Whitney, and group discipleship training. We will soon begin one-on-one mentoring with the long-term workers. We also have house worship with the families on Thursday nights and go to the local churches on Sunday mornings.
Please pr@y that G0d uses us to serve the national and international workers here and that we boldly proclaim the g0spel to the locals. Also, pr@y that G0d will bring unity among the pastors and churches with the Four Fields strategy.
